~Chapter 62~
“Please, donāt act in such a rushāthink about your health first, Your Highness!”
Jason shouted with a desperate voice.
But even if I weighed human lives and Cambiata on one side, and my body on the other, the scale had already tipped to one side.
And once I decided it wouldnāt be bad for Nocturne either, I organized all my thoughts and made up my mind to resolve this incident.
It was a sudden situation, but no matter how I thought about it, acting immediately was the answer. There were things you could lose because of haste, but there were far more things you could lose by dragging your feet.
Having made up my mind, I began to persuade Jason.
“Iāll take full responsibility, so donāt worry. Iāll just tell Nocturne I brainwashed you and forced you to bring me here. Since thereās a precedent, heāll believe it.”
“Itās not about whether I get scolded by the Duke or not. If someone who just barely escaped death pushes themselves like this, then this time you might reallyā¦!”
“Iāve realized something in the past weekāpeople donāt die that easily.”
“ā¦Did you come from a different world than me?”
Jasonās eyes cursed at me.
Yeahā¦ maybe that was a poor choice of words. I cleared my throat and brought up something else.
“I looked over the whole village, and itās not that big. I think we can clear it within three hours. Letās finish it as quickly as possible and go. People are dying even as we speak.”
“Ughā¦”
When I mentioned human lives, Jason couldnāt easily object. I didnāt miss the opportunity.
“Iāll report the situation to Tita, and if thereās a high-grade Eshape left at the hospital, Iāll request backup. Any others?”
“Yes, among those on standby, there are three B-grades, and one A-grade, though theyāre support type.”
“B-grade is a bit iffy.”
“Call them all. The enemy numbers are already in the double digits.”
“Alright. Then, should we start scouting ourselves?”
“ā¦Yes, understood.”
Jason reluctantly nodded at my words.
āThat was faster persuasion than I thought.ā
Now that I think about it, Jason had once drawn his sword at Nocturne simply because of the suggestion to protect me.
Maybe he liked me more than I realized from the start.
The problem was that my power was still weakening. Hmā¦ to use my empathy ability to search through the Cambiata hideout, I might need fire.
“Jason, do you have matches or something?”
“I donāt, but why do you ask?”
“Hmmā¦”
I hesitated, glancing toward the slums.
Greymos.
In this city, the center of northern trade, Nocturne was wrapping up his investigation into the Cambiata Club.
Over the past several days, he had disguised himself as a noble merchant and thoroughly mapped out the clubās internal structure, leadership, and security systems.
He had planned to finish all the groundwork and wipe them out in a single day.
When raiding the Cambiata Club, he would naturally have a partner. Eshape operatives usually worked in pairs, so moving with a partner would improve efficiency.
āBut thereās no need to increase the risk factor unnecessarily.ā
Nocturne rubbed his tired eyes and set down the documents on the table. His black hair fell over his face, shadowing his fatigue.
āSheās probably sleeping by now.ā
As usual, he thought of the princess who should be at the hospital.
She had been thin before, but after narrowly escaping death, she looked even more fragile. She had lost what little muscle she had, looking like sheād fall over if a breeze blew.
The doctor had said she was recovering smoothly and could be discharged soon, but to Nocturne, she still looked like a patient.
Even though he had suggested partnering up, he had never intended to send her into combat in that condition.
His real goal was to keep her by his side under the pretense of partnership, make sure she didnāt have time for other thoughts, and help her recover first.
The mental healer said she was still in a precarious state. He didnāt want to worsen her condition with unnecessary stress or stimulation.
āYes, her full recovery comes first.ā
He couldnāt allow even a single variableāabsolute safety had to be guaranteed.
Having finished that thought, Nocturne rose from his seat. It was already late, and he needed rest for tomorrowās schedule.
“Duke!”
At that moment, his aide burst through the door in a hurry.
“Duke, urgent news!”
“What is it?”
A bad feeling made Nocturneās expression harden.
“We just got word from the hospital. Itās been two hours since Her Highness left, and they have no idea where she is!”
Nocturneās face froze instantly.
“ā¦What?”
Cambiata member Jean stepped out of the breeding pen with his companion. At the corner of the alley, they faced each other and lit their cigarettes.
Sssāfwooo.
Jean exhaled a long stream of smoke and said,
“Hey, do you think itāll be finished today?”
“What will?”
“The S-class King Wraith.”
They had been ordered to feed the souls of slum residents to wraiths to create an S-class. They were trying their best, but Jean wasnāt sure they could really make one.
When he voiced this worry, his companion snorted.
“I donāt know, man. Youād have to see an S-class monster to know.”
“If you saw one, youād be dead.”
Jean grumbled.
“I mean, thereās only one S-class among humans. How are we supposed to make an S-class monster?”
“Right? And yet that prince just happened to succeed in cloning one.”
“ā¦Cloning an S-class?”
Jean tilted his head. His companionās eyes widened slightly.
“Wait, you didnāt know? Thatās the whole reason weāre raising wraiths. To clone an S-class Eshape, you need an S-class wraith core.”
“How do you clone an S-class Eshape? Honestly, I get why our organization failed after 150 years of nonsense like thisā¦”
“They did clone one. The prince of the Ramsar Empire.”
“ā¦What are you talking about?”
When Jean frowned, his companion glanced around and lowered his voice.
“Youāve heard the story that the Imperial Princess woke up from a coma after half a year, right?”
“Yeah, but she ran away.”
“Thatās not the pointāturns out sheās not the real princess.”
“What?”
Jean blinked blankly, then suddenly realized something, his expression turning shocked.
“Wait, is sheā¦?”
“Yeah, apparently the real princess died in the war. The prince worked with researchers from our old lab and cloned her.”
“Holyā¦ is that for real?”
“Why would I lie to you?”
Jean almost jumped.
“I heard that prince will be emperor soonā¦ so the Empireās working with us?”
“Basically. Thatās why the boss didnāt interfere when the imperial hospital came into our territory.”
“They smashed everything before, and now they come crawling when they need somethingā¦”
“Exactly. They say if the Empire had come to our church for faith lessons sooner, the war wouldnāt have happened.”
“Pfft, whoever said that is 100% right. Theyāre just like us, but they painted us as the villains. The Imperial Family acts all warm and friendly, but in the end, the prince and the princess, haā¦”
“That prince is the only ānormerā left in the royal family. With all the others Eshape, it mustāve been tough. Normers should stick together.”
Jean stared off for a moment, then laughed.
“So that princess was reborn using the same tech she despised.”
“Heh. The worldās funny, isnāt it?”
They exchanged smirks.
“Iām feeling motivated again. Does the King Wraith have anything left to feed on?”
“Only our people are alive in this village now. Letās feed the current wraiths to the King Wraith first. If thatās still not enough, weāll move to another village.”
“Yeah.”
As their cigarettes burned short, footsteps sounded from behind the alley.
This village shouldāve had only wraiths left. Jean turned his head warily.
But what came into view was a woman.
Jean had never seen such a beautiful womanāhis breath caught.
āSheās not a wraithā¦ did she come from another village?ā
A human. And such a beautiful one.
Her long blonde hair and pale skin made her look unreal. For a moment, she reminded him of the princess heād seen in newspapers, but the thought quickly passed.
The princess had noticeable scars, but the woman before him had flawless skin.
She glanced at the cigarette in his mouth and the lighter in his hand, then spoke.
“Hey.”
“Uhāy-yeah?”
Jean answered awkwardly. The woman smiled softly.
“Can I borrow your fire?”
So there is a connection. Sort of.