Chapter 32 - Brotherly Love
We flew for half a day at the speed of the griffin.
By the time we almost arrived, the sun was about to rise, but the sky of the Black Citadel was always gray.
Flying through the clouds, we landed in front of the Black Citadel without any sense of it being daytime, even though it was.
A Butler with a heartless impression greeted the Youngest Son at the entrance.
“Welcome, Fifth Son. Welcome to the Fourth Son’s Black Citadel. The master is waiting for you.”
The Butler bowed his head, hiding his faintly trembling eyebrows.
The evidence he had refused to believe was all proven true by the mere appearance of the Youngest Son.
The Balum family was walking a path nearly equivalent to ruin.
It was because the Family Head who had led the knights out was killed instead, and that someone was a hot topic in the East.
The Butler, who had incited Balum, had considered the possibility that the protagonist of that topic was the Youngest Son, but.
‘To think it was actually true.’
Even if he didn't want to believe it, he could tell just by looking at this griffin.
‘Everything Kerard said is true, and the one who killed Kerard’s father, the Black Guillotine, is the Fifth Son himself.’
Even as he thought it, a wave of cognitive dissonance washed over him.
The Black Guillotine, Cardmun, would have unleashed his Demonization even if he was on the verge of death.
‘Then the Youngest Son’s full power is enough to overcome even a demonized Cardmun so perfectly…?’
A scoff escaped him.
It was a ridiculously unfunny joke.
How on earth did a guy who was cooped up in a decrepit old estate just waiting to die until a while ago.
How did he defeat Cardmun Balum, a seasoned warrior, and come to command a griffin powerful enough to defeat him?
Moreover, the griffin was a flying type, known to be among the most difficult of undead to control.
Even the First Son had only recently acquired a flying undead.
‘Dangerous. The Fifth Son is a dangerous element. He must be killed at this opportunity.’
The Butler smiled faintly and gestured with his eyes behind the Youngest Son.
“The person behind you is.”
“My guard.”
Another low-quality joke came out.
Cloth armor without a single iron plate, and a beard covering his lower face, streaked with white hair.
He looked less like a guard and more suited to be a security guard at some shop.
“I understand. Sir Knight, please follow me closely as well.”
The Butler guided the two outsiders into the Black Citadel.
It was massive when seen from the sky, but standing on the ground and looking up, the citadel was truly a citadel.
Its top was impossible to see, and the sheer size of the castle exuded a pressure that felt as if it would crush you just by looking at it.
The Butler gave an awkward smile.
“As you can see, the castle is so large that we can’t clean the outer walls very often. I have unintentionally dirtied the Young Son’s eyes.”
“Don’t mind it.”
The Butler was just talking in circles about how big his home was.
Because the castle was so vast, I had to listen to his boasting the entire way.
During the walk, masterpieces and sculptures lined the path, so my eyes were not bored, and the Butler was a reasonably good curator.
Just as his explanations were about to die down.
“Who is that statue of the knight modeled after?”
“How much is that masterpiece?”
“The armor on that armor stand seems to be made by a master craftsman. Who made it?”
The Youngest Son would devilishly wedge in new questions to keep his mouth moving.
The Butler, for the sake of his reputation, could neither refuse to answer nor fail to answer.
He couldn’t rest his mouth until the Youngest Son reached the top floor.
The Gatekeeper, watching this, chuckled to himself.
‘To give him an excuse in front of the Young Son. You’ve walked into hell on your own.’
To his eyes, which had almost been forced into a maid’s apron by the Youngest Son, the Butler was a foolish brat.
‘You might as well pour oil on yourself and jump into a fire. Tsk, tsk.’
Of course, since it wasn't his business.
The Gatekeeper pleasantly listened to the explanations that the Butler-turned-curator-for-a-day squeezed from his brain.
And so, we arrived at the top floor of the citadel.
He had tried to escape from the middle by using the circular lift inside the castle, but the Fifth Son didn't let him.
He wouldn’t listen even when he tried to slip away by mentioning the Fourth Son.
The Butler massaged his jaw, which felt like it was about to fall off, and knocked on the Fourth Son's private room.
“Young Mph, Master. The Fifth Son has arrived.”
Instantly correcting his loosened tongue, he threw the door open.
Only a kinsman could enter the room of a kinsman.
The Gatekeeper waited at the door, and the Fourth Son’s guards once again crossed their spears to forbid anyone else from entering.
It didn't matter.
He, who could hear the sounds of the estate from the main gate, quietly listened to the sounds behind the door.
***
I walked into the Fourth Son's private room.
The owner of the room peeked out just his head to look at his kinsman.
Green eyes peeking out slightly over the high back of a chair.
They were a spitting image of his mother’s.
Those vivid green eyes sparkled continuously, filled with joy, curiosity, and excitement.
I couldn't be sure, but the feet hidden behind the chair were probably fidgeting restlessly right now.
First, a greeting.
“Older Brother. Have you been well─”
“Heeheeheeik!”
A laugh followed as soon as I opened my mouth.
The Fourth Son hid behind the chair, giggling, then waved his hand as if to apologize.
“Sorry for cutting you off! I’m just so happy that the moment I wished for so much came so suddenly!”
After a brief cough to calm his excited voice, he walked out from behind the chair.
“Alright, alright. Shall we do this properly now? My younger brother, Dante.”
“Yes, Older Brother.”
“Heeheet. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing you call me Older Brother. Do you know my name?”
Of course.
The Fourth Son of Millesdusk, known to the world as the little giant.
“Jamie Black Millesdusk. That is your esteemed name, Older Brother.”
“Hahahahat! That’s right! That’s my name!”
The Fourth Son, with a boyishness still on his face, clasped his hands behind his back in an ill-suiting posture, a smile like a flower garden blooming on his face.
It was true that the Youngest Son was tall thanks to the vampire's blood, but it was also true that the Fourth Son was particularly small.
Jamie gestured to the seat in front of him.
“Shall we talk the rest over here?”
“Sounds good.”
“I’ve prepared tea too. Let’s talk for a long, long time while we drink.”
The Fourth Son picked up the teapot and poured the tea himself.
A rich green tea, the same color as his eyes, filled the cup.
Steam rose pleasantly from the comforting warmth.
The preparations for the long-awaited conversation with his younger brother were complete.
The Fourth Son rubbed his hands together and leaned back in his chair.
“What brings my youngest brother all the way here? Is it to join this brother in crushing the vile First Son and the witches, of course?”
“Unfortunately, no.”
“…Then?”
The Fourth Son’s smiling eyebrows flattened.
The standard by which he showed affection was whether something had even the slightest chance of killing him.
The moment there was even a hint of it, or the moment it appeared, the little giant would summon real giants to trample everything.
Despite that, his smiling lips, unlike his cold green eyes, enjoyed the warm green tea.
The Youngest Son, without even touching his teacup, continued.
“Hinek. And the Physicians' Council.”
A small hill formed on the Fourth Son’s eyebrows, which had been as flat as the ground trampled by giants.
The Youngest Son did not stop there.
“These are two things that have been bothering me recently. At first, the Physicians’ Council was the problem, but Councilor Hinek, who gives them power, was the bigger problem.”
“Uh-huh. I see.”
The Fourth Son’s reaction was limited to a nod.
A moment ago, he acted as if he would give his beloved younger brother his liver and gallbladder.
Millesdusk was Millesdusk, and what the Fourth Son wanted from the youngest was blind brotherly affection.
If things went wrong here or failed to capture the Fourth Son’s interest.
‘I’ll end up hanging on a wall as a doll with my limbs cut off, turned into a pet.’
It was the most probable ending that could occur in the current situation.
The task from now on was to gradually shift that probability elsewhere.
“Councilor Hinek is on our oldest brother’s side. And as far as I know, the current chairman is quite old.”
“So what’s your point?”
“My point is that Councilor Hinek is the next chairman. If things continue as they are.”
That statement was an established theory that held true whether in the Citadel or here.
The First Son, born earlier, had planted his seeds in the Citadel sooner than others and nurtured the great tree named Hinek.
That great tree, having grown up receiving plenty of nourishment called the First Son, was marked as the next chairman of the Citadel.
It was a future that would not change if no one moved.
“My second-oldest brother wouldn't want that, would he.”
“Who says? That I don’t want it. That damn Citadel. It doesn’t matter if I have it or not.”
“Then it seems I have come to the wrong place.”
The Youngest Son smiled and shook his head.
“And here I thought you were waiting for the Physicians’ Council to attack Councilor Hinek.”
“…….”
“I don’t know why someone who isn’t interested in the Citadel would have co-opted two of the five councilors, but since you say you’re not interested, I will take my leave.”
“…Wait.”
Kuuung─!!
The guard knights who threw open the door pointed their spears at me.
The normal exit was completely blocked.
The Fourth Son, having stopped his younger brother thus, had a smirk on his lips.
“How did you know, Dante, that I was aiming for Hinek through the Physicians’ Council?”
“If you are curious, you will have to stop lying. It will have no nutritional value in our future conversation.”
“Isn’t it the older brother who asks the questions first? Dante, you just answer.”
An incomprehensible situation.
For the young genius, the most uncomfortable situation was the best way to displease the Fourth Son.
The Butler felt an unidentifiable anxiety and looked at the Youngest Son.
‘I don’t know what kind of guts he has, but he’s about to die. It’s bad enough that he isn’t treading lightly around the Fourth Son's mood, but to issue a warning. He’s crazy.’
And here in the Black Citadel, no less.
Furthermore, the Gatekeeper’s thoughts were not much different.
‘Youngest Son. Show me. How you can walk out of there to here.’
The Youngest Son, at the end of everyone’s gaze, opened his mouth.
“If you ask how I knew.”
A moment of silence fell.
“It’s simple. Financial power. Military power. Political power. Though I fall short of you in every one of these, in information power alone, I have surpassed you.”
An utterly cold silence followed.
The Butler smiled faintly.
‘Farewell.’
But his words, which sounded like a final testament, were not yet over.
“I know a way to bring down Hinek. If you do too, then kill me.”
The corner of the Fourth Son’s mouth crept up slightly.
It was partly because his younger brother’s gutsy display was cute, but there was also curiosity.
“Then why don’t you go to the councilors who are not under my command with that method?”
“Then those councilors will go to Hinek. Because Hinek’s position is more solid than mine.”
“So you came to me for help?”
“At the same time, you are also asking for my help. We are useful to each other.”
The Fourth Son’s lips, which had been closed for a moment, parted.
“The Physicians’ Council took Hinek’s ledger. I can just sit back and watch Hinek’s downfall, so why would Dante be useful?”
“The Physicians’ Council cannot bring down Hinek. Even if the councilors you’re backing join them.”
“Hmm. You answer so readily, you must have known that the Physicians’ Council took the ledger! This is a bit surprising.”
Of course.
I personally witnessed that moment of misunderstanding, and the ledger is in my hands right now.
But everyone here believes the ledger is with the Physicians’ Council.
It was the biggest thing I could use right now.
“If it’s me, not the Physicians’ Council, I can bring down Hinek. In the hands of the Physicians’ Council, the ledger is nothing more than a pearl necklace on a pig’s neck.”
“Uhehehet.”
This time, the Fourth Son didn’t ask a question but laughed lowly.
After all, comparing the youngest who flew here at ten on a griffin to a mere medicine peddler was absurd.
“I will take responsibility for bringing down Councilor Hinek. To do that, two conditions must be met.”
“Hng. Tell me!”
Interest flickered in the Fourth Son’s expression.
Bewilderment spread across the Butler’s face.
The Youngest Son held up two pale fingers.
“The first is the annihilation of the Physicians’ Council’s main headquarters, which is hidden but ‘I’ know about, and securing the ledger. The second is that Councilor Hinek’s seat must be vacant.”
“Vacant? What could that mean?”
“By leaving that seat vacant and distributing Hinek’s power among your four councilors, we prevent the two independent councilors from feeling a sense of crisis and defecting to our oldest brother.”
The Butler almost slapped his knee without realizing it.
‘…Right. Even if we hastily create three people on our side, there’s no guarantee when the current chairman will step down. Then the independent councilors will go to the First Son.’
That would be like creating two Hineks.
Unlike the Fourth Son who sought to gain the Citadel out of rebellious sentiment against the First Son.
The First Son coveted the Citadel because he wanted it.
He would actively try to balance the power.
Hinek’s seat could be obtained later.
The little giant, who understood the situation just like the Butler, then watched the youngest’s hand as it approached the teacup.
“No!”
Thwack─!
Clang─
The teacup that was swatted away shattered as it flew.
“Don’t drink it! It’s drugged!”
Why would one use drugs to ruin a head full of information whose limits were unknown?
He shot up from his seat.
“The Physicians’ Council? I’ll stomp them out. The ledger? I’ll get it for you. I understood the vacancy part too. Then there must be only one outcome, right? And that is?”
The brothers mirrored each other with the exact same smile.
“The death of Hinek.”