I Became A Thief Who Steals Overpowered Skills - Chapter 81

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 81. No, It’s All a Misunderstanding

‘The problem is that prerequisites would need to be met for that to work.’

Hilnider held that thought and gazed at Krash, his smile never wavering.

“Why don’t we speak candidly with each other?”

The moment Hilnider spoke, Krash looked at him with a puzzled expression.

Seeing that puzzled face, Hilnider’s lips nearly betrayed him.

But he, too, was destined to lead Starion in the future.

Though not quite on the level of Sizzley Epania, the genius the Empire had produced, he had nevertheless cultivated countless techniques and keen instincts to stand at the apex of the political world.

‘He’s deliberately showing no reaction in front of me.’

He was trying to goad the first prince himself into acting.

‘Interesting. The rumor that he’s shed Balheim’s half-wit reputation certainly seems to be true.’

So Hilnider decided to ease up on his probing.

That Krash had cast off Balheim’s half-wit label.

He had noticed it wasn’t accomplished merely through the flowering of talent alone.

“You seem to have business with me as well.”

Even to this remark, Krash’s response remained composed.

Seeing that reaction made it perfectly clear.

Whether it was the moment he brought up candor, or now.

Krash showed not the slightest intimidation despite standing before the first prince.

Because he already knew everything Hilnider was about to say.

“It’s you who came seeking me, so I wouldn’t call it my business.”
“True enough. I thought this was business only I had. But looking at your eyes, it seems that’s not quite the case.”

Hilnider smiled without a shred of awkwardness.

“The reason I came here today is to see if we might form a favorable connection. Recently, many talented individuals have concentrated at Rahelern Academy, and factional struggles rage within it. And the current figurehead of the Four Kingdoms faction is your sister.”
“You mean Charlotte.”

Krash’s reaction suggested he already knew this as well.

And if he knew that much, he would also know what the situation was now.

“If you know that much, you must also know. Charlotte is ill-suited to the position of figurehead.”

Charlotte lives solely by her own convictions.

She is free-spirited, reckless, and utterly beyond anyone’s control.

She is strong as an individual, but she is not suited to drawing out the strength of a group.

For that reason, the current clash of wills between the Four Kingdoms and the Empire was drifting in an unfavorable direction.

Rather, because Charlotte was so overwhelmingly powerful, the Four Kingdoms could not rashly field another representative.

Meanwhile, the Empire was actively uniting around Sigrin.

It was a situation where the balance could easily tip.

“Given that Rahelern Academy has concentrated more talent than initially expected, I frankly believe it would be dangerous if the Empire takes control of the board.”
“Are you comfortable saying something so important in front of me?”

Hilnider let out a soft chuckle.

“I suspect you already understand roughly why I’m saying such things.”

So he had stopped testing him.

And true to form, Krash voiced a remark that pierced precisely through Hilnider’s intention.

“Next year, enter Rahelern Academy, seize control of the Four Kingdoms, and contend with the Empire. And Starion will back you in doing so. Isn’t that what you want to say?”

Hilnider’s eyes curved into even narrower crescents.

Despite the fact that Krash’s words were quite disrespectful before the first prince of Starion, they only heightened his interest further.

“Is it appropriate for me, still merely the first prince, to speak of Starion’s backing?”
“We’re discussing something a year hence, so it would be.”

At these words, Hilnider stifled a laugh.

Next year, Hilnider would formally secure the succession to the throne of Starion and enter the true phase of his succession.

From that point onward, the scale of Hilnider’s power would transform entirely.

The nobles who had been holding their breath beneath him would then be free to offer their wholehearted support.

Krash spoke as if he had already anticipated that fact.

This information, which still circulated only within Starion’s royal family.

“……Is that the interpretation from the Balheim side?”
“I am not particularly close with my house, so it is merely my personal assessment.”

There was a smile in Krash’s expression that said: you know that well enough yourself.

Hilnider swallowed down a sense of absurdity.

And beneath the smile he had fixed on his face, a fine bead of cold sweat had formed.

The thing was, while it was certain that Hilnider would succeed to the throne, the fact that it would happen next year was still known only to his innermost circle.

‘Since the opening of Rahelern Academy, friction has been quietly building between the Four Kingdoms and the Empire. Precisely to secure the succession before such tensions grow worse, and to ensure that as the heir I can navigate future disputes without being torn apart before His Majesty steps down, the succession lessons have been accelerated.’

Krash had known this fact beforehand.

Even before Hilnider had broached the subject.

‘And yet he calls it merely his personal opinion.’

Hilnider dismissed the claim as a lie.

Krash clearly had the backing of Balheim.

And Balheim had indirectly shown Hilnider that they possessed ears capable of understanding the royal family’s situation through Krash.

So he began to slowly revise his thoughts about the man called Krash.

‘……Balheim has been supporting Krash all along and hasn’t revealed it on the surface, deliberately framing him as a half-wit.’

His recent growth rate was abnormal, even by Balheim standards.

But if he’d actually been hiding his true strength all along, the pieces fit together.

‘And I made him show his recent movements so I’d take interest. No—it wasn’t just me. Any number of people with the power to approach Balheim’s youngest would have seen it.’

What did Balheim gain when those who held power like himself drew near?

It was that Balheim could form a coalition with the royal family without facing checks from the other nobility.

Until now, as the Starion’s supreme house, Balheim had naturally incurred the jealousy of the other noble families.

The Starion Royal Family itself had been maintaining a careful distance, fearing Balheim might one day exceed the crown’s power.

The lesser nobility below them went without saying.

They were too busy checking Balheim’s strength lest it grow any greater.

‘Balheim exploited that very weakness and created Krash as a half-wit.’

Just as Hilnider had once tried to make Krash the royal family’s hunting dog.

Countless powers would certainly approach Krash, all aiming at the monolith that was Balheim.

The result: those who came to manipulate Krash to their own advantage would instead be bound by the trap that was Balheim.

‘Because so much passed through Krash would ultimately rest in Balheim’s hands.’

The kingdom and the Empire would eagerly feed wood into the fire that was Krash, trying to fan it into a blazing torch.

Without realizing that firewood was actually reinforcing the structure of Balheim’s house.

And meanwhile, Krash was watching Hilnider with an indifferent expression.

‘I can hear the sound of that brain turning from here.’

Hilnider was clever, no question about it.

Even with Balheim standing behind him, he had single-handedly fought the Empire with one kingdom and not only survived but ultimately persuaded the other kingdoms to drive the Empire back.

It was through Information Investigation and political acumen that he’d discovered the Empire’s internal fractures, and it was purely Hilnider’s ability that had drawn the other kingdoms into the effort.

Of course, even a Hilnider of such caliber couldn’t prevent the world’s Apocalypse in the end.

In any case, Krash held him in fairly high regard.

‘And that point is the trap.’

He was sharp.

What did that mean?

It meant that from even fragmentary information, he possessed an exceptional mind capable of tracing back the entire sequence of events to determine the source—a skill born of extraordinary intellect.

This quality would undoubtedly serve him well in governing a nation.

His Process Deduction ability, while not quite on par with Sizzley’s, boasted an impressive accuracy rate, and it had proven correct countless times in practice.

That was precisely why his succession to the throne had become all but assured, despite his youth of merely fourteen years.

And Krash had exploited this very trait.

There was no way Hilnider could have anticipated that a fourteen-year-old boy would boldly reveal critical information drawn from memories of his past life.

‘My backing being Balheim—he’ll have no choice but to naturally arrive at that conclusion.’

When it came to Intellectual Combat at the level of Hilnider or Sizzley, Krash harbored no illusions about his own abilities.

He understood all too well that opening his mouth in a game of wits among true geniuses would only entangle him further.

‘So I simply make my move boldly.’

Let Hilnider’s exceptional mind piece together his strategy as it saw fit.

Just as a commoner could not comprehend a genius,

a genius could fail to perceive a commoner—and that was the chink he had exploited.

“Hm.”

Hilnider exhaled slowly, his face still shrouded.

‘Whether I should call this a clean catch, or rather feel fortunate to have arrived first and understood it.’

Exactly as Krash had foreseen, Hilnider had completed his entire analysis within the confines of his own mind.

“You deliberately revealed this to me. So it’s safe to assume that Balheim doesn’t intend to oppose Starion?”
“Balheim within the Starion Kingdom would have no reason to oppose Starion.”
“Good, hearing that puts my mind at ease. I’m rather fond of Balheim, having produced so many heroes.”

Hilnider, smiling as though truly reassured, asked his next question.

“So then, what do you think of my proposal?”

It was the proposal Hilnider had outlined earlier, the one Krash had heard directly from him.

Even knowing that Balheim was using him, Hilnider’s proposal remained unchanged.

Krash tapped the armrest lightly with his index finger.

Then, after a moment, he smiled faintly.

“What if I made a counter-proposal instead?”
“……It seems you have other thoughts in mind?”

Whatever Krash intended was, in essence, what Balheim intended.

So as he waited patiently, Krash spoke.

“Krash of Balheim is, when all’s said and done, just a half-wit. The Hunting Dog from the Hathenharze days was in shambles, hunted by the Empire, and in this recent matter of Laqradion, it took a Master-class talent like Laqradion himself and Pendalord joining forces to bring him down—that’s all.”

A flicker of puzzlement crossed his eyes.

“……Surely you know you can’t blot out the sun with your hand?”
“Indeed, a hand cannot cover the sun. But what if that hand belongs to the Starion Royal Family? Rather large, wouldn’t you say? And if we add Balheim’s hand to the effort, well, that becomes quite substantial.”
“Hmm, but rumors like that rarely last a full year.”

The world is vast.

So it is that false information thrives even as true information spreads.

For this reason, the Empire and the kingdoms are meticulous about verifying the truth of their intelligence.

No matter how information is concealed, once it spreads, the truth eventually comes to light.

The year Hilnider mentioned referred to precisely this.

“That will suffice. It should be long enough until I enter the academy.”

Hilnider’s eyes widened.

“……So you’re saying that once you’re enrolled at the academy, the rumors that had been dismissed as hearsay will begin circulating in earnest as fact, drawing the attention of each kingdom and the Empire toward you, naturally placing you at the center of it all. The Four Kingdoms and the Empire, seeing you attend the academy, will scramble to attach students to you in hopes of making contact.”

Rumors are, after all, like fire.

A blaze that burns brilliant and bright, only to extinguish just as quickly.

So Krash was now deliberately smothering that flame.

So that later it would burn far more spectacularly, leaving all mesmerized and unable to look away.

And if Starion and Balheim made a show of suppressing the information, keeping it hushed, then all the more would that information gain credibility.

Hilnider broke into an astonished laugh.

“Ha! Well, I thought we might build this up grandly with the royal support. But here you were all along—a tiger hiding its true size.”

This amounted to saying that everything was already in place.

Starion was merely adding a spoon to the dish.

“I’m fortunate Balheim stands with the Starion Kingdom.”
“Balheim is grateful to work alongside such an understanding Starion Royal Family.”

Krash offered an appropriately measured smile.

“Good. I’ll do what I can. This meeting has left quite an impression on me.”

Hilnider, having said his piece, rose from his seat.

There was much work waiting for him back at the palace.

“Will you not stay for a meal?”
“Best to nip rumors in the bud early, wouldn’t you say?”
“I won’t dispute that.”

Hilnider smiled at Krash’s candor.

Then something occurred to him, and he turned back to regard the young man.

“Now that I think about it, just how strong are you, actually?”

Rumors were useful enough, but to stand at the center of Rahelern Academy, one’s actual ability remained paramount.

So when Hilnider posed the question, Krash laughed briefly.

“There’s no one in the Academy who could beat me.”

In those words, Hilnider caught a glimpse of Charlotte.

The arrogance she carried was matched only by the strength behind it.

Yet that was mere personal power; fundamentally, she could not work with others.

But what of Krash?

He not only spoke with the same unguarded arrogance as Charlotte, but had just now offered a remark capable of startling even Hilnider himself.

Perhaps the true star of Balheim had been quietly waiting in the shadows all along.

“I may need to revise my assessment of Balheim somewhat.”

He turned away after offering Krash words of encouragement.

But in some corner of his mind, he carved the name clearly: Krash Balheim—a figure worthy of note.

After Hilnider left, Krash’s shoulders sagged back into the chair, the tension draining from his posture.

He pressed his fingers to his forehead and released a quiet sigh.

“Crimson Garden.”
-Ugh, this kind of thing isn’t my style.

Crimson Garden materialized before him and settled into the chair Hilnider had just vacated.

“Let’s figure out exactly how far that man’s delusions have run.”
-Why not just let me tell you what he thinks?
“Because then I’ll become someone who can’t do anything without you.”

Crimson Garden studied Krash in silence for a moment.

She understood the reason for his fixation on doing things alone—something in his past had left its mark.

-Child, how many people standing beside you have you already lost?

What Krash was doing now was clearly a contingency—preparation born from losing people every time someone fell.

When Crimson Garden asked with that heavy expression, Krash offered no real answer.

He was the same Krash who had stood at the forefront of Starry Generation alongside everyone, facing the Apocalypse itself, and had swallowed every Curse imaginable in hopes of saving those companions.

For such a Krash, numbers held no meaning.

“I’m just spending time trying to keep up with those geniuses.”
-Sigh… you stubborn fool.

Krash began to reconstruct the conversation Hilnider had held, this time walking through it with Crimson Garden.

Hilnider could arrive at his conclusions in a single leap of logic.

But Krash had to retrace the entire thread of dialogue from the beginning, examining it piece by piece, before understanding could take hold.

As had been said before — just as a genius cannot fathom the criminal mind —

so too does the criminal fail to grasp the genius’s thoughts.

—Later, then.

Crimson Garden broke the silence.

—When there is nothing left for you to lose, think on it once more.

Krash let out a hollow laugh.

That would be a very distant day indeed, he thought.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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