Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 180

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

A café run by the heir to the Dark Guild.
180
“I’m heading back to the Imperial Palace soon. I’d like you to come with me.”
“Is this about Raven helping you, sir?”
“That’s not what I mean. I want to formally offer you a place in my own knight order—not as part of Raven, but as my knight.”
“…?!”
So he was asking me to join the Black Eagle Knights.
I stared at him, trying to understand his true intention, and Biedler’s face flushed crimson.
“It’s a sincere offer. You have skill and talent. Women have joined the order before, though it’s rare.”
He twisted his head, rubbing his face with his fingers as he continued.
“We worked well together this time, didn’t we?”
“We did.”
“I found myself wanting you to be there for the path I walk from here on.”
Working through various tasks with him to eliminate Desikan had shown me enough of his capabilities to think it only natural he’d feel this way.
“Have you decided? How far will you go?”
“Now I truly have to see it through to the end. When I go in, I’m going to bring down Arthur.”
I could feel the resolve hardening in Biedler.
If this succeeded, the path he walked would be bathed entirely in light.
At the end of the path I’ve walked so far lay only shadow.
Standing still at this boundary, Biedler reached out his hand, urging me toward the light.
“Once you capture Juliano, the one pulling strings behind the scenes, you’ll accomplish your goal easily. I doubt there’s much I could help with.”
“I’m not asking you to help with this task. I simply want to watch your growth up close, over a long time.”
For some reason his words sounded different, and a strange tension arose between us.
“You don’t need to answer right away. Take your time and think it over carefully.”
“…All right.”
Biedler finally relaxed his expression and changed the subject.
“Your contribution to this matter was enormous. Is there a reward you’d like?”
“I didn’t do this for a reward.”
“I’m not asking personally. I’m promising on behalf of the Imperial Household that I’ll give you anything you want.”
Since I needed little, I thought for a moment before recalling just one thing.
“Then I’d prefer if no one knew I was involved in this matter.”
Biedler’s brows twitched slightly, as if that wasn’t the answer he expected.
“Not jewels, not honor, not gold. And you want to be hidden away?”
“Yes. Oh, and please make sure Seniel is taken care of. My share too.”
“Everyone else tries to exaggerate what they’ve done, but you only want to hide it.”
“Because I didn’t do this hoping for recognition. I moved to protect the people precious to me.”
I had people I wanted to protect now—more than one. Something my past self could never have imagined.
The mere realization of that was already reward enough.
Biedler looked at me with a frown, as if he couldn’t help it.
But he wasn’t angry. If anything, the light in his eyes was almost too soft.
Biedler with that expression—compared to when we first met, I had to wonder if he was truly the same person.
The moment I realized I’d been staring at him for far too long, I bolted upright.
“I’ll think about it and give you my answer.”
“I’ll wait.”
Biedler’s gaze followed me stubbornly, but I pretended not to notice and turned away.
“Where is Cayden, the priest?”
“On the third floor, in the recovery room.”
On my way there, I met someone from the Temple and learned where Cayden was.
Worried about his condition, I went straight to find him, but High Priest Rifed was sitting in front of the door.
He’d been slumped with a complicated expression, but straightened weakly when he saw me.
“Are your legs all right?”
“That was simple enough to heal, but Cayden… he’s still unconscious.”
“May I go in?”
“Of course.”
I entered the recovery room through the door Rifed opened.
Seeing Cayden lying on the bed as if dead, my heart sank.
“Everything else is falling back into place. Where are you wandering off to, alone?”
I sat beside him and stared at his ashen face.
Perhaps he was dreaming a nightmare in the depths of unconsciousness.
I gripped Cayden’s hand tightly in both of mine as he continued to furrow his brow in apparent anguish.
“Come back. Now you can finally live your own life. It’s too cruel to die now, isn’t it?”
I didn’t know if my voice could reach him, but I kept calling his name and holding his hand for a long while.
Then I sighed and lowered my hand to the bed. As I reached to pull the blanket up, his fingertips trembled—a barely perceptible movement.
“Cayden?!”
Startled, I jerked upright and checked on him. But he didn’t open his eyes, no matter how long I waited.
“You heard my voice, didn’t you? You were telling me you’d wake up?”
I whispered to him softly, clinging to hope.
“You must come back. I’ll wait for you.”
I brushed his hair gently and left the recovery room with heavy steps.
“When do you think he’ll wake?”
“Hard to say. He used so much strength in Purification that… we’re not sure if he can even wake. We’ve had other Guardians waste away and die in that state.”
“If Cayden hadn’t done what he did, there’s no way we could have stopped Desikan. You’re going to sacrifice his entire life and then say you don’t know?”
My voice rose as anger flared at the Temple’s passiveness.
“We’re looking for solutions. We’re planning to take him to Helitria and try everything we can there.”
The thought of Cayden’s grave in Helitria made me uneasy.
“Are you taking him there to bury him in that grave? If you’re going to let him die, I’ll take him with me.”
As I turned to go back into the recovery room, High Priest Rifed grabbed me urgently.
“Absolutely not. We acknowledge our sin. We will never forget the sacrifice of Priest Cayden. We will spare no effort in seeking true healing—please believe us.”
“Please. Cayden deserves at least one chance to live the way he wants to.”
High Priest Rifed took my hand, his eyes drowning in sorrow.
I decided to trust the sincerity I felt from him.
“Could you send me regular updates?”
“Of course. Write to me anytime.”
“Thank you.”
My heart heavy and tangled, I walked down the corridor when Seniel came scurrying toward me.
“Big sister! I’ve been looking everywhere!”
“What is it?”
“Your friend is waiting for you.”
At the word “friend,” I tilted my head, then realized who it was. I had only two people I could call a friend.
“Where?”
“I’ll take you.”
As Seniel and I walked, he talked excitedly about Raven’s exploits.
“He was incredible in Verdian Territory. Your best friend, the older one you mention. He used Aura better than me? I don’t understand why someone with that kind of skill is in the Dark Guild.”
“Raiely uses Aura?”
“You didn’t know?”
“…No.”
From Seniel’s animated expression, devoted as he was to the sword, I could tell how much Raiely had impressed him.
But I had never felt that Raiely’s skill surpassed Seniel’s, and I was bewildered.
“Wait here. I’ll call him.”
In one of the large rooms of the Mage Tower, set up like a training ground, all the Black Eagle Knights had gathered.
The fact that Raiely was mixed in among them was surprising enough, but I saw members of Raven’s group there too.
They were mingling naturally, arm in arm, sparring without reserve.
When Seniel called out Raiely separately and he came to us, I could hardly believe my eyes.
“That appearance… what is this?”
“Does it suit me?”
He was wearing the Black Eagle Knights’ uniform, and it looked entirely natural on him.
Seeing him look like a nobleman, at ease in the garb, mixed emotions swept through me.
“Well, faces matter. Don’t fall for me.”
When Raiely opened both arms to embrace me, I slipped straight past him.
“Couldn’t you give me a hug once in a while? I was worried.”
“Everything turned out fine. What about you? Why are you getting close with the knights?”
“Raven already took Biedler’s hand—technically, it’s the Aide. In the end, all the elite joined the Aide.”
It was something I already knew, but it seemed that fighting together this time had made him more certain of the Aide’s scope and numbers.
“Since the mastermind behind all this came from the Strophane Clan, the Crown Prince is finished now. The thread we caught is the golden thread. There’s nothing bad about getting close to them, right?”
“You’ve become a merchant.”
I smiled at Raiely’s words, which carried the scent of Quinn, and bumped my fist against the one he offered.
“Raiely, thank you.”
“What? Why are you saying that? Are you hurt somewhere? You look fine on the surface….”
Raiely looked alarmed and examined my body carefully.
“That’s not it. I just… I don’t think I’ve ever said it before. For being there beside me… I’m… I’m grateful.”
“…That’s awkward.”
“…Yeah.”
Raiely and I couldn’t bear the mood, so we both rubbed our noses and turned our heads away.
“So what now? The café is destroyed.”
When I didn’t answer right away, Raiely mimicked Sophia.
“Of course you have to come back to Raven! …That’s what she said. She made sure to tell me to pass it on.”
I could vividly picture Sophia hanging from me this morning, pestering me to come back at last.
At the same time, the offer to join the order that Biedler gave me came to mind.
Though not a perfect decision yet, my heart had already settled on where I wanted to go. I opened my lips to speak to Raiely.

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