NOVEL WEB Chapter 75: Conversations
I wasted a day. I was so tired from the fitting for clothes yesterday that I fell asleep as soon as I hit the bed. When the sun came up, I realized that I still had school and could only visit Dregorn late at night. As usual, Claire looked at me warily during our school day. She looked left and right before leaving, as if she was anticipating an assassination attempt. Now that I had confirmed her powers, there was no way I would meddle with her.
After putting Alicia to sleep as usual, I sneaked out from my dorm to the castle. There, I climbed to Dregorn's guest room through the window. Samuel had diligently placed wind alarm magic tools all over the place, so I purposely activated one.
"Hello." I waved a hand. "Sorry for the late introduction. Could you get Dregorn?"
"What do you want?" Samuel prepared his dagger.
"I thought you hired us to assassinate some princess? Why the rough welcome?" I tried to act coy, but it was terrible.
"I see. You picked my commission, huh?" Dregorn came out from his room. Castle guest rooms were not simple bedrooms; they were more like small apartments or condos with spacious interiors. To lower his guard, I removed my darkness mask, revealing my real face. Samuel already knew my face anyway, and Claire, too. It was futile trying to hide it anymore.
"Heh… I thought Samuel was joking when he said you were a reaper. Apparently, it was true. So, what is it? I don't think reapers have a habit of introducing themselves. What makes you approach me?"
"The assassination failed. Apparently, Claire figured out that you were responsible. Please be careful."
"Oh. You're the rising star among reapers, right? Was this your first failure? You're surprisingly calm about it. How could you fail against some random princess with meager skills like Claire? You wounded our pride. You were the only one we failed to obstruct after all." Samuel frowned when I announced I had failed. I never thought he would put his pride in his rankings like that.
"Claire has premonition skills similar to mine. Any kind of ambush will not work on her. I believe her premonition skill is better, though. She did set up that trap against me yesterday." I mixed some lies with the truth. It was true that Claire set an ambush for me, but it was false that Claire was my target. It was these two Elderans before me that I wanted to kill. It's ironic to see this triangle of hate: I wanted to kill Dregorn, Dregorn wanted to kill Claire, and Claire wanted to kill me.
"I see. So, what should I do? Are you saying Claire will kill me?"
"What do you think she will do?" I asked back. I wanted to lure Dregorn outside the castle. That way, Claire wouldn't even know he was dead. Maybe he didn't need to die outside; the castle's escape way would prove to be sufficient. Dregorn frowned hard.
"If I may be so bold, why would you want Claire dead anyway? Didn't she help your country when we tried to attack you?"
"Is that how reapers are nowadays?" Samuel smirked.
"I might be a reaper, but I am also a noble. I understand why some of us want her dead due to the succession crisis and our differing ideologies. But what about you?"
"I see. You sided with Ludwin's faction, huh?" Dregorn smirked. Knowing I was not on Claire's side seemed to put him at ease. He then began to talk about Elderan's internal politics.
"Our country has senates which stand above kings. Many Western nations, including Lustria, have adopted such a system. Claire has amassed wealth beyond reason. Through the power of her bribery, the Senate is effectively under her control. We can't allow that."
"Sir Dregorn, should I take some precautions against Claire's henchmen?" Samuel asked.
"Nah. She won't do anything to a small fry like me. It won't sit well with her saintly image. Useless too. She wanted to become the empress of the entire western and theocracy factions."
"I see. So, you are a small fry within Elderan. I heard you were a prominent member of the monster tamer guild, though?" I faked a smile. It's ironic, but I would prefer Claire to control all Western Nations. We are not saints, but from the book, Western nations were worse. Some of them are good, but the system they employed was like a dystopian capitalist country.
"Hm? How did you know?" Dregorn turned his eyes to Samuel.
"I had a chance to play around Elderan's headquarters during the war. So, I knew about your monster-taming institution. Samuel was there. You are such a slave driver. Even though he just lost his eye, you forced him to donate mana to the monster spawner." I smirked and Samuel's gaze turned harsh. He reached for his dagger, almost drawing it before topping himself.
"It was for the cause. And I didn't order it. The military department was the one who did it. I'm from the civil department. Want some tea?"
"Civil? Are you planning to use monsters like horses or cattle?"
"That's the idea."
I tilted my head. Using monsters for such work might seem remarkable, but it costs so much mana to maintain the slavery collar. They might as well open up a ranch for horses. "Why not use horses?"
"Horses need feed. Elderan mostly imports their food. Grass and such are uncommon."
"I see." Elderan's food or politics was not my problem. But now, I need to find this so-called military department for Elderan's monster tamer.
Kill Elderans, kill them all. Kill all monsters.
I nursed my head when Elidranthia's soul whispered to me from deep within my heart. Keeping monsters except for military purposes was illegal here in Althemer. So, even a civil worker like Dregorn might face prison time, but it was justifiable; all of them are bad guys. However, as usual, Elidranthia wanted blood directly.
"Thank you, Mr. Dregorn. I will ask Ludwin to send you more food. Althemer isn't exactly a breadbasket region, but we do have a self-sustaining food industry."
"Just do your work as a reaper. Claire is the most important threat to the nation right now." Dregorn shrugged.
"Very well. By the way, do you know the castle's secret routes?" I asked him while smiling. The maze inside the escape routes was a perfect place to murder him. People seldom traversed there; if Dregorn was killed there, his corpse wouldn't be found for at least a day. A week if I was lucky.
"Hm? Secret routes?"
"Here are some of the maps of the castle's secret escape routes. Just in case. I apologize for my failure."
"Hm?" Dregorn tilted his head, only to be answered by Samuel.
"Reapers are similar to us, Elderan's Counterintelligence Agency, in an ironic way. She might share these escape routes in hopes you would put in a good word for her when a handler arrives. Her failure, and the fact that she let out the information that you wanted to kill Claire, might lead to severe penalties after all."
"But a failure is a failure. I won't pay. But I will surely put in some words to the handler. These routes will serve Elderan nicely." Dregorn accepted the paper and put it in his breast pocket.
"Of course. See you." I left. Dregorn's part was done. Now comes the dangerous part: Claire. If she had that ability, this method would also determine which timeline I was in. However, since Claire kept surviving, I should assume that this is always the last timeline, meaning it was Claire's best timeline. She should know what I want to do.
I left the building and returned to the dorm. The peace treaty will be conducted tomorrow. I couldn't waste any more time. Claire's room should be on the third floor of the dormitory. After I climbed to her room from the window, she just sat there staring at me menacingly. She didn't bear the charisma of an innocent maiden but the calculating gaze of a princess who seemed to know everything—the saint of Lustria. She then held out her hand. At that moment, I knew that she already knew what I was about to tell her. I succeeded. I managed to inform her about Dregorn without explicitly saying anything.
"Sorry." The fact that she was sulking and seemed to know everything meant I had killed her at least once. I hadn't done anything to her in this timeline, so it might seem unfair for her to direct her anger at me. But it was me in another timeline who killed her, so I kind of understand why she seemed to be in a bad mood.
"At least your knife is sharp. It didn't hurt that much."
"It wasn't the pain that made you hate returning back in time, was it?" I reminisced about the web novel. Claire in the novel hated her power and often explained it as a curse. The book described her returning in time as painful beyond words.
"Hm?"
"I heard the pain was akin to being torn asunder and then remade into whole."
“….”
"My apologies. Here is the introduction to the reaper guild."
"You are forgiven. However, I must tell you that I need this peace treaty to succeed. His life is no concern of mine afterward."
"Noted. I am glad we could come to an understanding. I didn't want to harm you, you know."
"We shall see. I have yet to find proof of your innocence. If what you said is true, here is the recommendation for the monster tamer's guild. By the way, please limit the revenge to one person. I still need that institution for the upcoming battle."
"I can't make any promise on that."
"Then you need to repay me back later."
"I will try my best. By the way, I am R666."
"What an ominous number. See you at the banquet, R666." She put the introduction letter inside her pocket and gestured for me to leave. I nodded and exited through the window. She never showed a single smile during our course, which made me anxious. With that, the preparation for my plan was complete. I returned to my dorm and slept, only to be awakened by Alicia a mere two hours later.
The sun had risen, and I hadn't slept enough. As expected, the reaper's life is tough. I pouted, whined, and rolled on the bed in protest at Alicia, who woke me up without consideration. Despite my efforts, she didn't relent on waking me up for school.