Chapter 59
I received Tora’s ledger from Aleph. When I inserted the chip into the terminal to check, I found transaction records spanning over a dozen years.
"You're as resourceful as ever, Young Master. To think you've already negotiated with La Vie en Rose."
Aleph said this as he saw me off. Even without an introduction, he already knew where Grace was affiliated.
Aleph didn't ask me what I intended to do with Tora’s ledger. He was a clever man—quick-witted and adept at catering to the powerful.
Grace and I left the arena.
"Sir Luka, do you trust Aleph?"
Grace asked bluntly. She was in the middle of grabbing a pickpocket’s arm and snapping it. The sound of a cheap prosthetic breaking echoed.
"Do I look like I trust that man? If I did, you might as well rip out your remaining eye."
"That's exactly why I'm saying this. Diva would be a better—"
"Your boss is no different. An unpredictable, fickle woman."
As I spoke ill of Martina, Grace furrowed her brow slightly. Her loyalty was impressive.
‘Why did she quit as a cadet?’
Grace had an inherently military disposition. That was why she had passed the selection test and been chosen as a cadet.
"I don’t know what terms you offered, but Aleph is the kind of man who moves toward whichever side the scales tip. If things go south, he’ll betray you."
"I'm well aware of Aleph's reputation. You can leave now. Today's business is done."
"I will escort you to your office."
Grace said this out of habit.
"Haha, who’s escorting whom?"
I laughed. For a brief moment, Grace’s face reddened. She couldn’t exactly argue against my words.
"Go report today’s events to Diva. That’s your job, isn’t it?"
After sending Grace off, I stepped into an alleyway. I linked my terminal with my retinal display and reviewed Tora’s ledger once more.
‘Ken told me to look for companies starting with B.’
I narrowed down the list and accessed the cheap network of the lower districts. My terminal’s firewall activated, filtering out viruses.
‘They've all gone out of business long ago.’
With my level of information access, there was no way to trace the remnants of a defunct company. The lower district's networks and data were highly volatile, riddled with corrupted records and misinformation. If the shell company belonged to Kinuan, he would have undoubtedly planted dummy data.
I needed an authoritative and untainted database. The Imperial Guard database I had access to didn’t store such trivial records.
‘Nikolaos Custoria.’
A name surfaced in my mind.
Nikolaos, the eldest son of the Custoria family. A high-ranking imperial official and a highly competent man. Technically, he was also my brother.
I manipulated my terminal to switch the line. It was a single-use line with the highest security clearance. Using it once would cost a lower-class worker their entire wage. The thought left a bitter taste in my mouth. My sense of money was closer to that of the lower class.
Regardless, I sent a call to Nikolaos, and before long, the connection went through.
- I’ve set aside my busy work for you, little brother. Hmm, I’ll give you five minutes to talk.
Nikolaos spoke from the other end of the terminal. Memories surfaced—there was a time when I told Nikolaos I’d give him five minutes to convince me.
"I want access to the Empire’s central database. I figured you might have the clearance."
- I do. But I can’t grant you access. I’d still like to keep my head on my shoulders for now.
Of course. I had anticipated his refusal. My plan was to follow up with an easier request.
"Then could you investigate a few shell companies for me? Think of it as me owing you a favor."
- Luka, would this help elevate your status within the family?
"Most likely."
- Send me the list.
Nikolaos readily agreed.
"Just within two days would be fine."
- A quick scan tells me I won’t need more than two hours.
His efficiency was exactly to my liking.
"I’ll repay this debt."
- Brothers should help each other. Let me know if you need anything.
Nikolaos feigned goodwill as he ended the call.
No doubt he would collect on today’s favor with interest. He would demand something difficult from me in the future. That was a problem for another time. For now, I had more immediate concerns.
* * *
‘Ken Noma, gang syndicates, La Vie en Rose, Aleph of the arena.’
I had been handling these matters back-to-back, and it had been three days since I last got proper sleep. At best, I had managed with brief naps and short meditative rests. My accumulated fatigue weighed heavily on my head.
Inside the elevator ascending to the upper district, I closed my eyes. It felt like I could finally drift off.
I wanted to check the materials Nikolaos had sent, but this was really my limit. My mind wasn’t working anymore. It felt as if something foreign was lodged in my cerebral cortex, dulling my thoughts. If I could, I would have cracked open my skull, taken out my brain, and washed it clean with water.
I returned to my quarters. On the way, I saw cadets from the lower classes training. I had been like that too. It was only two or three years ago, yet it felt like a distant memory.
‘Please, let no one call for me…’
Right now, even if Hemillas summoned me, I felt like I would just snap at him.
I collapsed onto my bed without even washing up. I was already at my limit, so I could fall asleep right away. I was holding onto my consciousness purely by willpower. My brain was already prepared to shut off the lights at any moment.
Let there be darkness.
Murmuring softly to myself, I closed my eyes.
My consciousness faded. A silence like the void engulfed me.
…Exactly six hours later, I woke up. Not down to the exact second, of course.
Checking my sleep time on the wall display, I saw there was only about a ten-second margin of error. My internal clock hadn’t gone out of sync. That meant my condition was good.
Beep.
I linked my terminal to the wall display. Messages and notifications had piled up through the Imperial Guard’s internal network.
My gaze stopped on the cadet activity records. Ilay’s name appeared unusually often.
‘Ilay, just how many missions did you take on while I was gone?’
Ilay’s mission logs remained. Among them were several that were difficult to dismiss as minor.
‘He even volunteered for things he didn’t have to do.’
No wonder I hadn’t seen him.
Both Ilay and I had been busy with our own duties. Since we hadn’t been assigned to the same missions, it had been quite some time since we last saw each other.
‘Normally, Ilay would have come to find me by now…’
I wasn’t the type to be friendly. I didn’t seek people out without a reason. But Ilay often came to see me.
Now that there had been no contact from him, I felt a slight pang of disappointment. Well, if I was that bothered, I could just go find him myself.
Alright, just this once, I should be the one to check in on him.
With that decision, I stepped into the shower. After quickly washing up, I changed into my cadet uniform and left my quarters.
“Luka, I don’t know what you’ve been up to lately… but if you keep this up, you’ll fall from the top spot soon. There isn’t much time left until graduation.”
A fellow cadet I ran into in the hallway spoke to me.
"None of your business."
I answered indifferently.
"Ilay has been going crazy lately. He might even set the record for the most missions in the history of the training academy."
He wasn’t exaggerating. Even I was surprised. In cadet evaluations, real combat experience—meaning mission performance—was weighted the most.
"Then let Ilay take the top spot."
"You’re so relaxed now that you’ve joined the Custoria family, huh? Damn. If I had been adopted by the Commander of the Imperial Guard, I’d be taking it easy too."
I wished I could be at ease. Not knowing a thing about my situation, my fellow cadet kept running his mouth. I wanted to smash his face in.
Out of all our peers, I was the one walking the sharpest edge. I had climbed too high to step down now. One misstep, and all that awaited me was a fall. Wasn’t there a saying about riding a tiger and being unable to get off?
Now that I had come this far, quitting would only mean being "disposed of."
The responsibilities I had taken on in exchange for the Custoria name were immense and tangled.
‘Sometimes, I miss the old days.’
Back then, I didn’t have to think about complicated things. I only had to sharpen myself and push forward. My superiors decided who was an enemy and who was an ally. All I had to do was swing my blade and pull the trigger.
But what about now?
Now, I had to judge for myself who was a friend and who was a foe. I had to decide whom to follow and whom to trust in a situation where nothing was clear. It was maddening. More than once, I had wanted to walk away from it all.
‘I know! I know this mission is something I need!’
I screamed internally.
If I wanted to succeed as a member of the Custoria family and as a high-ranking officer of the Empire, I had to develop skills beyond combat.
If I could overcome all the challenges ahead… I would become someone far greater than I am now. Someone like Kinuan or Hemillas. They were human too. They weren’t born monsters. They must have gone through trial and error just like me as they grew.
‘I have to become like them.’
If not, I wouldn’t survive.
"Luka? What’s with that look? I wasn’t trying to mock you. If anyone knows you deserve the Custoria name, it’s us who’ve trained alongside you."
My expression must not have been good. His words lightened my mood a little. Even a noble-born kid was watching my reactions.
This was the status and power I had wanted. It wasn’t granted to me by someone’s generosity or mercy—I had seized it with my own strength.
I wouldn’t let go of even this small bit of power. Like a snowball rolling downhill, I intended to keep growing it.
"Haven’t slept in days. Turns out being a noble’s heir isn’t for just anyone."
I extended my fist, and my fellow cadet bumped his against mine. That was how we greeted each other as we passed.
I made my way to Ilay’s personal maintenance room. I had sent him a message in advance, but he must have been busy—there was no reply.
The holographic nameplate on the maintenance room displayed "Ilay Carthica." That meant he was using it at the moment.
Beep.
As soon as the sensor recognized me, the door slid open.
The first thing that caught my eye was the maintenance arms descending from the ceiling. Beside them, an android was assisting with the adjustments.
Ilay was lying on the maintenance chair, his limbs fully opened up, exposing the internal components. Precision robotic hands were busily swapping out parts of his prosthetics.
"Yo, Luka."
Ilay turned his head to greet me.
"I hear you’ve been pushing yourself pretty hard lately, Lord Carthica."
Leaning against the wall, I remarked casually. My eyes traced over him, from his feet to the top of his head.
‘Ilay has changed.’
In just three or four months, his aura had shifted.
His artificial skin, neglected due to his constant missions, was marred with scratches. The exposed parts of his prosthetics were worn. That meant he had been through battle after battle.
‘He’s seen it all in such a short time.’
Ilay had always been more talented than me.
I’d said it before—Ilay had never truly needed to "work hard" at the academy. Just by putting in a decent amount of effort, he had achieved results equal to mine.
Meanwhile, I had trained like my life depended on it, pushing myself to the brink.
That was an undeniable fact. Ilay possessed a natural talent beyond mine.
And now, that lazy genius had finally found a goal—he was honing himself.
Ilay had thoroughly chewed through his real combat experiences, digesting them until they became a part of his very being. Even without him saying anything, I could tell—Ilay had grown stronger.
‘…Meanwhile, I had been focusing on things other than battle.’
Facing Ilay, a sense of urgency surged within me. I recalled what that cadet had said earlier. The difference between first and second place didn’t really matter… but if I hesitated, that bastard might leave me behind for good.
During the Lilian Lamones incident, Ilay had lost control in the worst way possible.
‘And now, he’s losing control in the best way possible.’
With maintenance complete, Ilay’s prosthetic arm and leg sealed shut. The robotic arms from the ceiling finished securing the joints, sealing them tightly.
"Luka, follow me. I’ll show you my trophies."
Rising from the maintenance chair, Ilay threw on his coat as he spoke. He didn’t even ask why I had come. He must have already known that this visit was just to check in on him.
Realizing that made me feel strangely self-conscious.
"The great Luka, coming all this way just to check up on me? Incredible. It’s nice to know our friendship actually means something."
Even as he left the maintenance room, Ilay didn’t forget to tease me.
"Screw off, dumbass."
Cursing under my breath, I followed him.