"You were the broker?"
"How cheap. What the hell do you mean, broker? I'm a major player in the labor market, you punk."
Armand sat down across from him. He sent all the staffers away.
In the wide space, only the two of them remained.
"Good. I won't talk in circles, so let's get to the point. Let me into Orvik."
"Shit, that's always been your problem. You only care about yourself. Where did you sell off the order?"
"What order?"
Armand raised his one eye.
"What happened in the capital? Why are you the only one who made it out alive?"
His tone seemed to ask about the Zima family's situation. Ran hesitated, not sure where to start.
'Is Armand also part of the plan?'
Ran was also curious. If Zima had plotted everything from the beginning with assassinating the emperor as the ultimate goal, then who else was involved?
At the very least, Ran didn't know. Maybe Zima had designed things so that even he was completely in the dark, only to play a decisive role at the right moment.
"Armand. Just how much do you know?"
"Know? What do I know, you bastard? I'm asking because I don't know. My father came to see me a few months ago. Said something big was about to happen soon."
"'Something big'?"
"Yeah. He told me to be ready since the brothers might show up here. And right after, word came out that you, you bastard, were wanted."
Armand buried the bottom of his face in his clasped hands.
"Tell me what happened. Why are you suddenly the one who assassinated the crown prince? What about the other brothers? You didn't do it alone, did you? Where are they?"
"..."
"I'm only telling you because you don't know already, but I'm also the security chief of Orvik. What I mean is, the longer you keep your mouth shut, the worse it'll be for you."
Ran and Armand's expressions began to diverge. Armand sprawled out, almost as if to show off his relaxation.
"Hey, do you not get the situation? You're fucked. The main bastard who wrecked my life is right in front of me, and do you think I'm some saint who'll just let you go? Especially when you're acting all smug by yourself?"
"Father is dead. He died trying to assassinate the emperor with me."
"... What?"
"Corbinian and Eden sacrificed themselves to send me to Father. Peco was executed after being exposed as a member of the Revolutionaries."
"W-wait. Hold on?!"
Armand's pupils froze. He sprang from his seat and paced for a while.
He recalled the last time he'd seen the brothers. His mind went blank.
He forced himself to calm down and sat back down. He still looked as if he couldn't believe it.
"F-father tried to kill the emperor? Why the hell?"
"I don't know. That's why I asked. Just how much do you know?"
"Screw you, you son of a bitch. Are you telling me you went along to kill the emperor without knowing the reason? And you expect me to believe that?"
"If you're a hound, then bark when your master tells you to. Since when did we know the reasons for barking?"
Armand grabbed his hair down to his chin. His complicated emotions were laid bare.
Not even sadness came. It all felt unreal.
The death of the father who took him in, the brothers he'd grown up with, the fact they were at the heart of some huge conspiracy—
"... So that's how it was."
A swirl of resentment for being excluded from the plan and guilt for not being part of it mixed within him.
Armand slowly closed his eyes. He mourned his father and brothers. The lonely end they must have met replayed in his mind, and he shook his head to force the image away.
He regained his composure. Ran was the person he'd nursed a grudge against for so long.
But he couldn't deny that Ran was family, too.
The brothers who had left first seemed to remind him of that fact.
"So this is what Father wanted me to be ready for. Fine. Why are you so eager to get into Orvik? Do you think it's safe here?"
"You don't need to know that much."
"See, you make me lose the desire to help. Seeing you act like this. Just fuck off and die for all I care."
Ran crossed his arms indifferently. He didn't like Armand either, though not as much as Armand disliked him. Ran wasn't the type to put on a friendly smile for someone who so openly despised him.
"Do you always question your client's motives? Just take the money. Out of old ties, I might even throw in extra."
"Hey, you're seriously mistaken. If I wanted, I could just report you. That's way more profitable for me than helping you."
Tsk!
When Ran extended his right arm, a blade popped out from inside his sleeve. Armand recoiled in surprise. Ran placed a dagger on the table with a thunk.
"Try it."
"... You son of a bitch."
Truthfully, Armand had no intention of going that far. He just couldn't speak nicely when he looked at Ran's face.
"Put it away. And for the record, I don't take money from family. That's my rule."
"So what do you want, then?"
Ran put the dagger away. Armand calmed down as well. He tapped the table absentmindedly with his fingers for a while before speaking.
"I'll make sure to get you into Orvik, but you need to take care of a person for me. Maybe more than one."
"What do you take me for? Just hire a mercenary if you want something like that."
"I hate to admit it, but you're pretty skilled. It's too much for me alone."
"Who is it?"
"... The Church's High Priest."
Ran's eyes flickered. Armand looked serious as well. Ran subtly shifted his posture in his seat.
"Why the Church's High Priest?"
"It's a long story, but you know, right? The Lord of Orvik once sided with the rebels."
He remembered upon hearing that. Ran was not the type to remember every detail of the outside world, but Armand explained further—how the former count of Orvik had been purged, and now Margherita, his official wife, acted as the lord.
Ran remembered from there.
"She survived because she's a distant relative of the royal family."
"Yeah. Guess the Special Unit hasn't been just loafing around. That's pretty hush-hush info."
"... Anyway, so?"
"The problem is that the Holy Church is trying to swallow all of Orvik. These bastards are seriously planning to bump off—no, get rid of the lady. I was just getting ready to take them down myself."
Everyone knew that after the war, territories and nobility titles would be redistributed according to merit.
Now, Ran could understand some of the context.
Why the Holy Church on the mainland was openly revealing its ambitions.
They were using the chaos to snatch up existing nobles' lands and strengthen their own base. Having decided to collude with the emperor, they feared nothing.
"The Church bastards are cunning. The emperor showed his last mercy because she's a distant relative, but they're betting that she won't be able to rely on royal protection anymore. They're planning to get rid of her quietly by any means necessary. Maybe the emperor wants that, too."
"I'm more surprised that you know all these complicated circumstances."
"What's wrong with your ears? Even if I look like this, I'm the Orvik security chief."
"Isn't this a bit above the pay grade of a mere security chief?"
"... That's because my brokerage business might get blocked!"
One of Ran's eyebrows twitched. Armand clearly looked flustered, and his cheeks reddened.
Ran watched Armand without pressing further.
"... I also owe a lot to the lady and her daughters. So, are you going to do it or not? If asking as your brother is too awkward, consider it a business deal."
"All right."
"Hah, bastard. I like you for once. But don't get the wrong idea—I'm not over my feelings for you. Let's keep work and personal matters separate."
The two agreed to meet again early the next morning.
Peco, Corbinian, Eden.
He'd only decided to accept those he once thought of as passing acquaintances as brothers just a few days ago.
If Ran ever happened to meet his other brothers again, he promised himself he'd treat them differently than before.
As always, handling emotions was the hardest thing.
Ran stood up first. As he approached the door, a nonchalant voice called out from behind.
"You still can't sleep unless you're lying on a woman's lap?"
Ran paused. Without turning, he answered.
"Look who's talking, you still can't resist women yourself."
Creak.
Ran left and silence settled.
"... Was it that obvious?"
Armand muttered, touching his eyepatch.
"Fucking bastard."
He once had a dream. When his days in the Zima family were over, he planned to join a troupe.
Today, his long-lost eye ached more than usual.
A one-eyed man can't stand on stage.
* * *
The Next Day.
Camus and her party finally arrived in Orvik. Two carriages belonging to House Rel moved under the Orvik security force's escort toward the guest residence.
Toby, peering outside, suddenly sneezed.
"Achoo! Whew. It already feels like midwinter here, my lady."
"Orvik is the coldest place in the western part of the continent."
Camus answered simply and straightened her posture. From the moment she entered Orvik, there was a new look in her eyes.
Her role was to bring Iel to Orvik and make sure she met Ran safely.
'The emperor's conspiracy.'
The Rel family had sided with the Imperial army during the civil war—not out of any deep conviction, but because all hereditary nobles of the empire took pride in the loyalty oath made with the royal family since their ancestors' days. Punishing rebel nobles who broke their vow was both a duty and an obligation for nobles.
But Camus lost her whole family in that war. She was too young then to face it with composure.
"... Camus."
Viola quietly took her hand. Camus managed a brave smile.
'I will see the truth with my own eyes.'
In the days she suffered loss, she also had to shoulder enormous responsibility.
Then, her aunt returned.
It was only recently that she heard the shocking truth from the aunt who had endured all manner of humiliation and persecution at the hands of the emperor and the Holy Church.
"You've endured so much. It's because you were that kind of lord that we made it this far. Don't doubt yourself."
"... Auntie."
She might end up recorded as a traitor who hindered humanity's salvation. The long history of her family could end in her generation.
Camus nodded.
Viola said that if Ran went to Igrein and found the Apocalypse, he could save humanity without anyone's sacrifice.
She didn't know the details, but trusted Ran all the same.
And Camus trusted Viola. She also trusted herself for making the choice by her own conviction, not anyone else's will.
"Welcome to Orvik, ladies."
A sturdy man in armor opened the carriage door, bowing with formal noble decorum.
"Orvik Security Chief, Armand, at your service."
Armand knelt on one knee and held out his hand. Iel, Viola, and Camus each took his hand and got off in order. As Toby was about to dismount, Armand quickly stood up.
"This is the residence for our esteemed guests. Please relax from your journey. I will see you safely to the mansion afterward. Now, this way."
Armand led the way, and two of his subordinates escorted the group from each side.
At the very back, Toby pouted.
'There's something about him that's annoyingly familiar, but I can't put my finger on it.'
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】