My Disciples Became Scoundrels - Chapter 76

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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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An offer to deal with the monster sinking the ship. The Lord paused before speaking.
“I’m not certain you can manage it.”
His words were one thing, but his eyes had changed from before. Dein seized Gai by the scruff of his neck and hauled him to his feet.
“Even if we fail, you lose nothing, Lord. The cost is simply handing him over to us.”
Dein wore a smile, but it was hard rather than soft.
The Lord regarded him, then turned on his heel with hands clasped behind his back. A reluctant tone followed.
“I’ll file a formal request through the Management Bureau. Take him and go. Should he escape, I’ll hold you accountable.”
“As you wish, Lord.”
After hearing a few words from the steward, Dein and Gai were able to leave the parlor.
As they exited the Lord’s mansion, sunlight poured down overhead. Gai looked up at the sky and spoke.
“Well now, to escape intact and see daylight again. But Teacher, couldn’t you loosen this?”
He held up his rope-bound wrists with a remarkably composed face. Dein dragged him forward with an expression as warm as stone.
“First, I’m not your teacher.”
With each step across the gravel path, Gai’s footfalls landed irregularly. He whined softly.
“Come now, it’s not as though using a title wears it out. Then what about ‘sir’? Will that do?”
“Second, what you’ve done means rope won’t be the worst of your troubles.”
Dein jerked the rope sharply. He seized Gai’s shoulder before he could fall, then whispered.
“I don’t care if you swindled someone, if you did whatever you did. As long as you didn’t touch my student.”
Sending Cesare to the Fighting Arena, wounding him, making him bleed—Dein had endured it for Hayden’s sake, but now he didn’t have to.
“If you harm my student, I will kill you. All I need is Hayden’s body.”
The sun disappeared behind clouds. As shadow fell across his face, Dein remained perfectly still.
Gai was the same. No trace of fear showed in him. He simply held the other man’s gaze steadily.
Violet eyes gleamed through the shade, then sunlight broke through. As the clouds parted, Gai slowly lifted his head.
“Understood, understood.”
A voice so light it seemed all tension drained from it.
“I’ll behave myself. You’re quite the worrier.”
He smiled even at the threat. Whether he was accustomed to such things or something inside him had broken, it was unclear.
As Dein dragged him toward the inn, he said nothing. Only Gai chattered on.
“But what’s this about being resurrected from a coffin? Could I take a look before we go? Just crack open the chest a little.”
Dein kept his eyes forward.
“Before we head there, couldn’t we stop by a clothier? There’s no law that says a fugitive has to dress in rags.”
Dein continued walking ahead.
“Say, did you see that Ruby Necklace? Quite fetching. I’d have been able to afford it if I’d had a bit more.”
“Was that why you approached the Lord’s wife?”
“Yes. You’ve got it.”
Dein thought of Cesare. Of the money he’d earned, squandered carelessly by Gai.
Just for scraps of cloth, trinkets—had Gai done this? Just for such things that Cesare……
Only after returning to the inn room did Dein finally untie the rope. Gai flexed his reddened wrists back and forth.
“I thought my wrist would dislocate. Anyway—would you all please stop staring? You’re making holes in me.”
A cool sea breeze flowed in through the window. But the air in the room was sharp and hot. It came from their eyes.
Dein’s students were there. Every face showed they wanted to tear Gai to pieces on the spot.
Cesare was the worst of all. Though he said nothing, his body language radiated suppressed fury.
He sat backward in a chair, gripping the backrest so hard the wood creaked.
One more ounce of pressure and the chair would splinter in two. Gai seemed not to notice, simply perching easily on a dresser.
“You all look quite curious. Shall we hold an inquiry?”
He dragged a finger through the dust on the dresser, then blew it away. As though all this were beneath his notice.
Tentacles writhed from between Jenia’s clothes and slipped free. They extended slowly toward Gai.
“Hayden, did you kill him?”
“I can’t speak to all the details, but it wasn’t I who killed him.”
Gai answered firmly. Though his expression still lacked gravity, Bella spoke with the sun behind her.
“Why are you using Hayden’s body?”
“At the time, I had no choice. And I must say, this face is handsome—I’ve grown rather fond of it.”
Gai poked both cheeks with his index fingers as he spoke. Not a single person laughed at his cutesy gesture.
At the cold reception, Gai withdrew his fingers. A sullen tone emerged.
“You think I enjoy this vagrant life? I’d like to settle down too.”
The disciples’ expressions didn’t change.
Arkel looked toward Dein.
“Master, his every word is untrustworthy. Why not kill him and bring back his corpse? I’ll preserve it frozen.”
“You’re right that it’s impossible to tell truth from lies. For now.”
Dein faced Arkel directly.
“Remember the Champion we met at the Fighting Arena? The Holy Knight Kihano?”
Arkel’s shoulders flinched at the name—as though hearing something he’d rather forget. Cesare’s expression, by contrast, brightened slightly.
“Ah, that madman! He can sense lies, can’t he?”
“Exactly. So instead of killing him, let’s bring him along. It seems he’s hiding something.”
“Then we’ll keep him locked up until then. Break his leg and he won’t be able to run.”
Dein glanced at Gai. His expression remained unhurried, unflustered.
“I have no intention of locking you up. In exchange, you’ll cooperate with us.”
“Being dragged along is already annoying enough, and now you want me to work? Why should I cooperate? Because I’m worried about my leg?”
He waggled one long leg in the air, the gesture playful as splashing water. Dein spoke without moving a muscle.
“You’d want to be resurrected with your body intact, wouldn’t you?”
Gai’s foot froze mid-air.
“You’re curious about the method, aren’t you? How I came back whole.”
He didn’t answer—neither denying nor confirming—but the silence itself was answer enough.
“If we find a way to revive Hayden, I’ll share the method with you. If you cooperate willingly.”
Gai’s gaze touched Dein’s face, then drifted lower—to his chest, where a heart would be. He pointed at Dein’s torso with one finger.
“If I cooperate willingly, will you let me examine what’s in there?”
“I’ll give you a chance to call it a joke.”
“It’s a joke.”
He smiled with artless innocence, his chin-propped face looking quite satisfied.
“Fine. I’ll cooperate. I want to know how to be resurrected whole too.”
The disciples didn’t object to Dein’s decision. That didn’t mean they accepted it.
Cesare’s expression darkened further. The scratch of his fingernails against the chair’s backrest became audible.
“Cesare. The Spirit Crystal.”
Dein raised his arm as he spoke. The crystal embedded in his bracelet gleamed with ethereal light.
“If we attach this to him, even if he runs, you should be able to track him.”
“……You took the one with my mana poured into it, but you’re going to give it to that guy?”
The strength drained from Cesare’s hands as he gripped the chair. Whether resentment or disappointment, his lips trembled. Dein pulled down his sleeve, concealing the bracelet.
“No. This one is mine, so I won’t be giving it away. I have some leftover raw stone from processing, and I plan to use that instead.”
Only then did the trembling stop in Cesare’s hands. Relief mixed with laughter spread across his face.
“Master, you scared me……. If it’s just leftover, that’s fine! Actually, this works out perfectly. I’ll arrange the crafting as soon as we get to Aspenhel.”
The sullen expression finally softened into a smile. Even Arkel and Jenia’s eyes relaxed.
Only Bella watched Gai intently. She turned back to Dein.
“Master, are we returning to Aspenhel just like this? What about the Lord’s request?”
Dein relayed what he’d heard from the Lord—that a ship had been attacked by a monster, but it happened so quickly they couldn’t identify it.
Cesare spoke with confident enthusiasm.
“If it’s a monster, we just beat it down, right? We can get on the ship right away. Nobody saw it anyway.”
“Is your brain just for decoration? Do you think with nothing but muscle?”
“If you have enough muscle, thinking becomes unnecessary.”
While the disciples bickered, Gai remained a detached observer, watching silently.
His gaze met Dein’s. For a moment, his violet eyes seemed to turn black.
They were eyes that gave nothing away—eyes in which one couldn’t even guess what he was thinking or what lay within.
* * *
Bella, Jenia, and I headed toward the outskirts of the city. Despite being a resort town, this area was shrouded in an eerie stillness.
Before us stood a grimy, mouse-colored building. Its appearance was ominous—as befitted a prison. Jenia asked a question.
“Master, is this the prison where the survivor is supposed to be?”
“Yes. They said that person is the only witness.”
None of the other survivors had seen the monster. Not a single one—except for this one. Bella stared at the prison’s sealed doors and asked.
“Why is the survivor locked up here?”
“Apparently they threatened Calimera. The details should become clear once we see for ourselves.”
I showed the guard outside the prison my silver badge, and he, already informed it seemed, opened the doors without resistance.
As we stepped inside, a stale stench wafted over us. From somewhere down the corridor, the sound of water dripping rhythmically continued without pause.
While the guards walked ahead, Bella spoke.
“It would’ve been nice if Arkel came along. Still, was it alright to leave just those three at the inn?”
“It should be fine. Probably.”
I couldn’t wander around with Gai, so I’d left him at the inn. That meant someone had to stay behind to watch him.
The boys took on that role. Cesare was somewhat anxious about it, but with Arkel there, they should manage well enough.
“Arkel said he’d tortured them. I want to see it too.”
“……Tortured?”
“Ah! I meant interrogated.”
I need to get a quick look before we move on. Just then, the guard walking ahead of us came to a halt. He turned his gaze toward the cell bars.
“It’s her.”
Before the words had even finished, a metallic clang rang out from the cell at the end of the corridor. The prisoners in the other cells pressed themselves against the opposite wall in unison, as though seized by fear.
As I drew closer, I found a single figure crouched inside the cell. I understood at once why the Lord had said I’d know her when I saw her.
She wore a large captain’s Tricorn on her head. Her left leg was a Prosthetic Leg, and she had an Eye Patch as well.
Sensing our presence, the woman opened one eye. Its glare radiated an overwhelming intensity.
“What do you lot want?”
Despite being locked in a cell, she showed not the slightest sign of intimidation. I took a step closer to the bars.
“We’re currently investigating recent incidents of Monsters attacking ships. We heard you witnessed one of these creatures.”
“And?”
“We need your cooperation.”
“I have no reason to cooperate. I already negotiated with the Lord for a pardon, but he refused.”
So that’s why she was keeping silent. Pardoning a pirate wouldn’t be easy, after all.
Jenia had crouched down and was studying the woman with great curiosity.
“You look just like the pirates in storybooks.”
“A pirate?”
At those words, the woman’s face twisted as though she’d been gravely insulted.
“I am not a pirate.”
Despite her unmistakably pirate appearance, she denied it? Jenia tilted her head in confusion.
“Then what are you?”
“I’m a Monster Scholar.”
“I heard you threatened Calimera.”
“No, that was self-defense!”
The woman struck the floor in frustration. Her single eye flashed with fury.
“We were simply sailing on a research expedition regarding Monsters. We were attacked by one, fled in the chaos, and happened to drift slightly into territorial waters—soldiers came after us and sank our ship, that’s all.”
Which is exactly what most pirates say, isn’t it?

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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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