Chapter 92: Assassination is Done Secretly
“I'm watching you guys. Behave yourselves. Got it?!”
After a lengthy commotion, Gale, who had been huffing and puffing, calmed down.
Calling himself an old man, yet unable to tolerate others calling him one.
Elwin wondered what kind of mindset that was, but skillfully swallowed his thoughts and spoke to Gale.
“Didn't you tell me before, Gale?”
“Huh? Me? ...What?”
Seeing his completely clueless expression, Elwin smiled wryly and added.
“You know, about what happened in Nevera Valley before. When you secretly ran away from me, you said you saw a Depicio submarine upstream of Nelly Falls.”
“Ah~ Right, right, I did. I saw it clearly back then...!”
Gale, finally remembering, nodded his head and then flinched. He rolled his eyes, glancing nervously at Nahrhan.
Elwin didn't seem to mind much that Gale had run away, but...
“...Run away? Dare to run away, leaving Master behind?”
Wouldn't his fervent fanatic think differently?
“Sir Gale. Is what I just heard true?”
“I’m sorry. Please just spare my life.”
An ominous aura seemed to emanate from the brightly smiling Nahrhan.
Gale confessed truthfully. A quick confession was the only way to survive.
Elwin and the Spero members paid no attention whatsoever to the two kneeling on one side, hands raised, being scolded.
Nero chuckled at the blank expressions of Jana, Hake, Candela, and the beastkin, wondering ‘Is this right?’.
“That remark really bothered me, you see. So when the Clover Trade Company matter wrapped up, I went to check it out.”
“Which part bothered you?”
Sercia asked.
“Hmm, it's a combination of various reasons. But if I had to pick just one, perhaps it's because of the submarine.”
“The submarine?”
Elwin habitually rested his face between his thumb and index finger, shaped like a sickle, and tapped the armrest of the head seat with his other fingers.
It was a habit he had since childhood whenever lost in complex thoughts.
“I know Depicio staked everything on assassinating Mr. Aajen, but mobilizing a submarine, unlike an airship, is clearly strange.”
“Ah! Right... that’s true. Using it in a waterfall instead of the sea doesn’t make much sense in many ways.”
The sea is vast and deep. It's unknown what lies beyond the distant abyss.
In contrast, a waterfall is relatively shallow, falls from top to bottom, and inevitably reaches the bottom someday.
“Building a single submarine requires enormous capital. Even in Nevera Valley, considered one of the world's most rugged terrains, it’s not deep enough to warrant diving with a submarine.”
Unlike airships, submarines could be freely manufactured as long as one had the financial resources, even if they weren't the highest authority of a country.
Even in modern times with advanced science and technology, the mystery of the deep sea remained an unsolved riddle. Even in this world with magic, a mystery that diverges from science, it was difficult.
‘Because all sorts of Geoma lurk in the sea.’
Geoma appearing on land could be periodically cleaned up as people traveled. Because of this, there were relatively many lower-grade ones, but.
‘Ordinary humans cannot live in the sea.’
Therefore, Geoma not exterminated in time festered and festered, eventually transforming into high-grade Geoma.
Except for a few major sea routes, there were almost no areas in the sea where humans could operate safely.
‘But those safe sea routes are monopolized by powerful hegemonic nations. Maybe once or twice is fine, but it's not easy to use them every time, paying those expensive usage fees.’
Thus, people devised a method.
A way to traverse the sea without attracting the attention of the Geoma occupying the surface.
-The deep sea! We move through the deep sea!
Geoma are beings that prey solely on humans. They didn't descend into the dark deep sea where humans didn't live.
Thus, the 'submarine' was created.
“Wait a moment. The fact that the submarine was upstream of Nelly Falls means...!”
Just then, Sercia, realizing something, exclaimed, and Elwin nodded as if confirming the correct answer.
“It means Depicio 'deliberately' moved it there. Bringing that huge, heavy submarine all the way to the upper reaches of Nevera Valley... This is strange, no matter how you look at it, right?”
Elwin’s chillingly calm gaze turned towards the young beastkin.
“So I went there, and the submarine was nowhere to be found, only those people were tied up tightly with the White Snake’s Web. It was probably Gale’s doing, right?”
“Hiiik!”
The frightened beastkin didn’t even dare to meet his gaze and hid behind Candela again.
“Upon interrogation, I found out these beastkin weren't members of Depicio.”
“What? They looked completely suspicious?”
Gale, who was listening to Nahrhan’s nagging with his hand raised high, was startled.
He had assumed they were definitely Depicio members because they were various beastkin wearing black masks and black attire.
“True. They did seem a bit too incompetent in their actions to be Depicio.”
“I-Incompetent?!”
The beastkin trembling behind Candela bristled. The most assertive-looking one among them shouted.
“We are the self-defense force of the Batevil tunnels that silences crying children!”
“...Trainees of the training center created by them.”
“...Candidates.”
“Ah, is that so.”
As their voices trailed off progressively, Gale concluded.
“To sum it up, you’re just small fry, aren't you?”
“Small fry?!”
The beastkin, bristling again and about to argue, were promptly hit on the head by fierce fists.
Pak! Pak! Pak!
“Kuaaaak!”
“Huong, Boss...! It hurts!”
“Oh? Is that really the first word out of your mouths now?”
“Ma’am. Do you know these guys?”
Gale asked Candela, who was coldly looking down at the beastkin clutching their reddened heads and complaining of pain. She answered.
“Yeah. These guys. They’re the youngest members belonging to my subordinate self-defense unit. I haven't seen them around lately, so I thought maybe they were holed up in some cave doing some training... but they were up on the surface?”
Candela tilted her head crookedly, her fierce eyes flashing.
“Disguised as Depicio, no less? How? No, more importantly, you brats! Don’t you know how scary people can be! Where do you think you’re going, carelessly heading to the surface! Are you out of your minds?!”
“Ugh! Well, Boss...”
“Aha! No questions asked!”
“Hiiiiiiik!”
It took some time for Candela, who was rampaging and disciplining the youngest members, to calm down.
“You guys. Tell me straight. How you ended up on the surface, why you were disguised as Depicio. I clearly warned you not to go outside without my permission.”
“Heuk! B-Boss, well...”
As Candela was fiercely reprimanding them, a gentle voice interjected.
“Horned Lizard. Don’t scold them too harshly, nya. Those kids probably don’t know the detailed reasons either.”
“...Stray cat. You, what do you know?”
“Whatever it is, I know more than you, nya.”
Nero, smiling slyly, said while swishing his tail. Candela frowned.
“You guys entered the cave deep inside the labyrinth, didn't you, nya? The entrance blocked tightly by thick tree trunks.”
“Uh, that’s right! We accidentally found that cave while genuinely searching for a training spot.”
“To finally become official members of the self-defense force this time! We went in determined to undergo wall-gazing training!”
“But as soon as we entered, strange lights shone from everywhere... and when we came to our senses, we were on the surface, you know?”
And after defeating the black-masked figures who attacked them on sight, they shrewdly put on their clothes and pretended to be on the same side.
Although still young, the beastkin thoroughly trained by Candela possessed the skill to easily defeat Depicio's rank-and-file members.
“Then suddenly, they told us to move a crazy big chunk of iron?”
“We followed orders for a while, then just as we were about to beat up the guys moving it with us and escape...”
The young beastkin’s gazes turned towards Gale, who was still being punished.
“We were caught by that mister.”
“We thought he was an enemy and attacked, but got completely wiped out in one go.”
Candela placed a hand on her forehead, looking at the downcast beastkin.
“...Wait, wait. So, you didn't leave on your own feet, but were teleported?”
“That's right! We're wronged too, Boss!”
“We didn't mean to do it either! We were so anxious for days, afraid of revealing our identities to that heinous murder group!”
It was Elwin, who had brought them here, who sided with the protesting beastkin.
“We can prove that. Just 30 minutes ago, myself, Nahr, Mr. Nero, and those beastkin were on the surface. How do you think we could have entered the tunnels so quickly?”
“...Don't tell me?”
Candela, sensing something hidden, asked back in an anxious voice. Nero answered with a sly grin.
“The labyrinth between the surface and the tunnels is complex enough for even natives to get lost sometimes, nya. So Depicio took advantage of that and secretly created a 'portal' deep inside, nya.”
“What...!?”
Candela instantly felt goosebumps all over her body. She had no idea!
A portal was magic that connected the coordinates of two designated locations, allowing free travel between distant spaces.
It was a useful means of transportation, but to use it smoothly, various complex magical devices had to be set up 'in advance' at each connection point.
“Does that mean...!!”
“Caught on now, nya?”
Nero chuckled sinisterly as Candela’s complexion turned deathly white.
“They probably intended to wipe out your tunnels whenever the time was right, nya. Useless resources, useless personnel. Everything that loses its value is disposed of.”
At that moment, Nero’s bright yellow eyes glinted with a deadly light.
“Assassination is done secretly.”
“...”
“That is the fundamental principle of Depicio, after all.”
A thick darkness emanated from Nero now, making his usual relaxed attitude feel incongruous.
The damp, eerie aura peculiar to those who make a living taking human lives.
“Same as ever, you. I thought you changed after becoming a Hunter.”
“Nyahaha! Do people change, nya? The essence doesn't change. Stupid Horned Lizard.”
Candela clicked her tongue, tsk, watching him laugh leisurely again.
After letting out a long sigh, she averted her gaze awkwardly, then bowed her head deeply towards Elwin.
“S-Sir Lewin. Thank you. They are troublemakers who always give me headaches... but they are precious children.”
“Booosssss...!”
The beastkin moved by her words were a bonus.
“Not at all. I’m glad my goodwill was well received.”
Although Candela didn't express it directly, Elwin understood the implication of her words.
‘She’s probably thankful that I didn’t kill these suspicious-looking guys dressed like Depicio lackeys and brought them back to Candela unharmed.’
Elwin smiled faintly. The purpose of keeping those beastkin alive was to win Candela's favor, or perhaps to blackmail her altogether. But that wasn't all.
“Actually, their courage was a great help to us.”
There was also a sense of gratitude, in its own way.
“Thanks to them, we were able to prevent the worst-case scenario.”
“H-Helpful? Prevented the worst-case scenario? ...Those kids?”
“Boss...”
“Hing. Boss, that’s mean...”
At her deeply skeptical voice, the beastkin surrounding Candela lowered their eyes sadly.
“I had ordered the recovery of the Depicio submarine found floating downstream of the waterfall, you see.”
Suddenly, Elwin let out a hollow laugh as if finding it absurd, and said.
“...That submarine was filled with something outrageous.”
A mixture of disbelief and bewilderment was evident in his tone.
At that, curious gazes gathered around him.
“What was it?”
“Huh? Kid, was there something in there that surprised even you?”
“...?”
Especially the Spero members, who knew Elwin's true identity, couldn't hide their curiosity.
Everyone in the audience focused on his next words, without making the slightest noise.
“It was, you see.”
Finally, Elwin opened his mouth.