I Thought Your Friend's Sibling Wasn't a Girl? - Chapter 65

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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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Chapter 65
* * *
A man presumed to be Leon’s older brother.
The influence of that name was immense—so much so that even Yugin, who had been coordinating the situation elsewhere, appeared at this very scene.
“Are you conscious? Do you remember your name?”
“Y-yes. Etan.”
“We’ll move you to the Medical Clinic right away. You need treatment first.”
“Hah… w-wait. Leon, where’s Leon?”
“…Leon is being protected by the brigade. Don’t worry.”
Etan regained consciousness not long after being taken outside. Only after confirming Leon’s safety and seeing Dorothy sleeping peacefully in Olivia’s arms did he relax, drifting back into sleep.
But those watching over him bore not relief on their faces, but wariness.
Aiden approached Yugin to report what they’d learned, speaking in grave, measured tones.
“Those mercenaries weren’t the whole operation.”
“That much is obvious. But… we lost the priest.”
“How so?”
“By the time we arrived, the hideout was already empty. He caught on and fled. We’re tracking him, but it won’t be easy. The weather’s ruined any trail we might have found.”
Dorothy had been handed over to a knight called Ruka. Among the Lux Knight Brigade members, he was one of the few who found Olivia most disagreeable, and the coldness with which he processed the handover—barely looking at her directly—was unmistakable.
Then came the moment.
“So what you’re saying is, this is really—”
“Commander! We have an emergency.”
“What is it?”
Sena cut through their words. Her expression rigid, she spoke to them directly.
“We’ve lost contact with the unit dispatched to Raven’s location.”
The moment she finished speaking, Aiden pushed off from his seat and bolted from the room.
* * *
Patter. Tap-tap.
Heavy raindrops struck the pale face forcefully. The man stood vacant-eyed, gazing up at the sky as water poured down. The rain showed no sign of stopping.
Smiling faintly at empty air, the man soon doubled over, coughing violently. Blood pooled beneath his hunched form.
Then it happened. The heavy rain suddenly ceased. Someone had approached and unfurled an umbrella over the man’s head.
“Ah. You’ve come.”
“I’ve completed all the tasks you assigned.”
“Good work. You confirmed everything to the end, yes?”
“Yes. I confirmed everything, including discovering Etan.”
“Our knights should appreciate my gift. Don’t you think?”
Hack! The man who spoke coughed up another mouthful of blood. His face was already a mess of gore.
Behind him lay Lux Knight Brigade members sent to monitor him, all collapsed and unconscious. Zeta’s handiwork.
Raven.
Leon’s older brother and an operative of Contemplating Night. Or rather, a man who had been playing such a role. His lips, stained crimson with blood, curved upward in a chilling smile.
“It was quite the pleasant excursion. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“But you’ve overextended yourself. There was no need to go this far—”
“No, Zeta. There are things in this world that must be done directly. No matter how trivial they may seem.”
He had gained much. The results of this excursion were deeply satisfying.
“I’ve collected nearly all the Fragments, and acquired quite a few materials too. For merely spitting up a little blood, I’ve gained a tremendous amount.”
Raven was a collector of Fragments—the scattered remnants of power that had never been sealed away by heroes, scattered to the four winds.
Since he was the original owner of those powers and their final destination, absorbing them required little effort once he found them.
The Red Stone Mercenary Company? That was merely one of the methods Raven primarily used to gather materials.
He would select expendable refuse—things that posed no great problem to dispose of whenever—and set them to work, then clean them up when the time came. He had long resolved irritating matters in precisely this manner.
“They grow so fervent in offering me tributes with but a drop of power. Makes the priest’s work rather worthwhile, wouldn’t you say?”
He extended his hand, letting powdered stone fragments fall to the ground. The power contained within the stone flowed back to Raven and was absorbed. A change that had come after securing the Fragment from Rochen Village.
Now he had gathered nearly all the Fragments. The day when he reclaimed his complete Authority drew near. When that day arrived, he would recover even the power that had wandered astray and taken temporary shelter in another’s body.
Thinking of his old brother, a satisfied smile played across Raven’s lips.
And there was one more piece of invaluable information he had obtained from this excursion.
“So? Does it truly seem the sword ‘chose’ its owner?”
“…Yes. The young lady of House Kishear wielded the sword without difficulty.”
“Really? You’re certain?”
“I confirmed it twice. There’s no doubt.”
“Hah. So the sword truly has chosen an owner!”
Defensor. Once the Demon King’s Sword, it had been sealed away and lost after the Demon King’s death.
And that sword had chosen an owner? It was astonishing.
“The Demon King’s Sword in the hands of someone other than the Demon King… How extraordinary. Don’t you think?”
The reason Raven had deliberately used his Authority on the village people, the reason he had coughed up blood in such quantities, all lay here.
He had wanted to confirm it himself—whether Defensor truly had betrayed them and begun to serve another as master, and if so, what manner of person that master was.
“They seemed rather ordinary, though. What could have caught that sword’s attention…?”
What was her name again. Olivia Kishear? The youngest daughter of House Kishear, if he recalled.
“Ah, it must be the Authority.”
“Mind Control Power…? You mean to say—?”
“Precisely. If someone truly knows how to wield such a power, I confess I find it tempting.”
But he could not claim it all just yet. Rush too much and one chokes.
And there was no need to hurry.
“Now that I’ve set these wheels in motion, even those haughty Guardian Houses won’t be able to remain idle. And where there is motion, there are always gaps.”
Their time was drawing near. A smile of anticipation graced Raven’s lips.
“Let’s go.”
He turned back without hesitation. Behind him, Zeta in black garments followed in silence.
And minutes later.
“Good grief, Nick! Gerard! Get ahold of yourselves!”
“Search the perimeter! These tracks are fresh!”
Members of the Lux Knight Brigade arrived at the scene. The quiet courtyard erupted in chaos in moments.
Aiden, his expression grim, immediately threw open the door to Leon’s House and strode inside.
“…This is—”
What greeted him upon opening the door was a piece of paper and a pen, neatly placed beneath a vase on the table. Aiden slowly picked it up.
The message was brief, yet its weight bore no relation to its length.
[From. Despera]
Aiden closed his eyes and exhaled a long, heavy sigh.
* * *
The case was closed.
Of course, not everything was truly finished. Multiple villagers had been involved, and there were at least a dozen mercenaries in custody.
But the rest was quietly buried. There was no way to confirm the identity or base of the group called Despera, and the mercenaries who might have explained the circumstances all perished at the same time.
They died coughing blood as if by covenant.
“It was the Backlash from using Power.”
“Backlash? But Authority shouldn’t—”
“Authority has its limits too. Use more power than your Vessel can hold, and you inevitably suffer damage. They lacked a Vessel entirely and yet wielded excessive power.”
“It was indirect, wasn’t it?”
“That they survived at all was likely because it was indirect.”
Thanks to this, Yugin found himself frantically occupied, bearing responsibility for his failure to properly manage the case perpetrators—or so it was said.
In any case, the incident ended unsatisfyingly, and Olivia was forced to return to her ordinary life.
Though returning to daily routine didn’t mean her heart found peace.

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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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