Episode 170. Where the Sound of Firecrackers Barely Reaches (2)
“Is that true?”
As Rubin revealed the truth one by one, Chloe reacted in various ways.
She got angry, then laughed in vain, then pursed her lips and puffed out her cheeks. Of course, she was aware that she was attending a banquet, so she didn’t mess up her dress or hair.
‘What on earth are you listening to?’
A barrier has been created again in the banquet hall.
Due to Chloe’s stubborn attitude, Celesne had no choice but to wait outside the barrier. As the conversation went on, Chloe’s reactions changed from moment to moment, which aroused her curiosity and anxiety.
Celestia bit her fingernails without realizing it, breaking even the neat and orderly attitude she usually maintained.
“… Enzo Lorenzini is hiding in the Rhapsody Hall. I never would have dreamed of that.”
“After the banquet, stand at the main entrance of the Rhapsody Hall with Per at midnight. Then Enzo will appear before you.”
“Is it okay if I just stand there?”
“Yeah. But before that, I have to calm Per down. Per has been good at deceiving people up until now, but meeting Enzo is different. He has a deep affection for his father, and it’s been a long time since he last saw him.”
“Per… you mean Oscar Tunio.”
No matter how many times she replayed it in her head, Chloe still had a hard time accepting the fact that Oscar was soon to be Per.
It was a reaction that Rubin had expected. He would have to check with Oscar himself to believe it.
“Can I tell Per your story?”
Chloe asked.
One of the most surprising things Rubin told me was that all of this happened without Per’s knowledge.
It was he who saved Enzo and protected Per from other forces.
“You can do it. I’d appreciate it if you could also say hello.”
“greeting?”
Now that I think about it, there was a strange atmosphere in Rubin’s attitude right now. For some reason, I had a feeling that this might be the last time.
It feels like it’s Chloe’s job to go find Enzo with Oscar and tell Oscar the truth.
It was Rubin who actually did all the work.
“Luden. You speak as if you’ll never see me again. Oscar and I will be returning to Americmana soon, so is that why you’re saying that?”
“I’m leaving Capotini too, Chloe.”
“Really? Where are you going?”
“Of course I can’t tell you that.”
Chloe glared at Rubin again.
If you don’t even know where you’re going, you won’t get the answer you want if you ask what it is.
“Luden. I know you are not royalty. I know the faces of all the current royalty.”
“That doesn’t mean you can’t say they’re not royalty.”
“… … .”
Since ‘Witherspoon’s true name’ has been revealed, it is true that royal blood flows through her body.
“Do you realize how dangerous what you just did is? Not all royals can receive Witherspoon’s loyalty. Only His Majesty the Emperor can have the ‘Witherspoon’s True Name.’ If His Majesty finds out about this later… … .”
“I’m not the only one, but Witherspoon would be in real danger, since she’s swearing allegiance to a royal family other than the Emperor.”
“… … .”
That was right.
If the day comes when Telmach confirms ‘Witherspoon’s true name’ with Chloe, it would be better for her to take her own life.
Of course, it is unlikely to happen from the beginning. The only time the emperor establishes the ‘Jeong-eon-myeong’ is when the head of the Witherspoon family changes. The current head of the family, McEwan, was Jeong-eon, and then the two older brothers were in good health.
“… Well, there can’t be a woman living on the continent.”
Strictly speaking, there was, but Rubin just laughed. That woman would be in a realm that Chloe could never reach.
‘I guess I should start moving soon.’
Time is running out.
A huge crowd of attendees will flock here. The number will be far greater than expected due to the fake invitations, and the host family will be thrown into confusion.
And by that time, Rubin will be waiting for Rosenthaler at another location. It will be just a stone’s throw from the fireworks of the festival. Amidst the fireworks and the sound of singing pushing through the night sky, Rubin will risk his life to tie the final knot.
“Hmm, what should I do…? Dahlia will be disappointed.”
Then Chloe looked around and said.
Part of the banquet hall was damaged by Chloe’s psychic powers. Dahlia seemed to be worried about the disappointment ahead of the big banquet.
“It’s all your fault, Luden. Couldn’t you have told me in a gentler way?”
“Anyway, this isn’t the place for the banquet.”
“Not here? Then?”
“Outside. This banquet hall won’t be able to accommodate the number of attendees.”
Well, even by Chloe’s standards, it wasn’t a very big banquet hall. But it should be enough to accommodate a hundred or so attendees. What do you mean, “It can’t handle it?”
But Rubin didn’t have the luxury of adding more words. He looked around and decided which way to go.
There was only a wall blocking the way in that direction, but it was no longer a restriction because of the ‘shadow curtain’.
“I guess I should go now.”
“Luden, will I never see you again?”
“You and I have a contract, so we’ll see each other again someday. Take care of Oscar. And he practiced his dance really hard today. If you happen to dance with him, let him know. It’ll probably be something to brag about for the rest of your life.”
Rubin started to walk to one side. Chloe, who had cleared the way by removing the barrier, tilted her head. The entrance to the banquet hall wasn’t on that side.
“Luden… There’s no way out there… … .”
Instead of responding, Rubin started running, and his back was immediately lost in the thick darkness.
After a while.
The distant sound of Rubin’s footsteps suddenly stopped.
* * *
Saaaaah.
Rubin, who passed through the wall of the banquet hall, did not slow down his running speed. Instead, he increased his speed.
The evening twilight had gradually fallen. The vast territory of the Ielos family began to light up here and there, one by one.
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Rattle rattle.
Tadadadadada.
The sound of carriage wheels and horse hooves is heard along the main street of Yeongji. Both those who received the original invitation and those who received the fake invitation are flocking in.
-Is this what you meant when you said you were going to dance with Chloe?
Earlier, Rubin had jokingly told Haneke, who wanted to know the plan, that he would dance with Chloe at the ballroom.
Of course, there was no dancing, but instead it was Rubin who held hands and got ‘Witherspoon’s signature’.
‘You seem disappointed, Haneke.’
-I don’t have much to add about your trick, but it’s a shame I can’t enjoy the banquet. After today, I won’t be able to get this close to the wizards.
Haneke smiled, brushing his beard away. It was a smile that had a hint of bitterness.
Banquets and battles.
Two conflicting situations that are about to unfold.
Now, waiting for Rubin could be called a dance, if it were a dance. It would just be a sword dance with blood drops flying.
Suddenly, the thought occurred to Haneke that this might be the fate of the assassins.
On one side there is a banquet, on the other side there is a sword fight. Moments of hidden murder and danger.
Hahahoho, if there is a banquet where people smile and cover their mouths with their hands.
There is also a desperate moment where you wipe the blood flowing from the corner of your mouth with your hand.
… After a thirty-minute dash, we arrived at a place far from the banquet hall, one of the many wine cellars within the Ielos estate.
Squeak, squeak… … .
The sign flutters in the wind. The sign with the number of the wine cellar is not hiding its age. The entrance leading underground is half-collapsed. It was a warehouse abandoned by the Ielos family ten years ago.
There was a flood at the time, and part of the warehouse collapsed. The deep underground area was clean, so they tried to salvage a few oak barrels containing wine.
But it was all in vain. Every time they sent down workers, the number of corpses from falls increased.
Eventually, it became a completely forgotten warehouse. Since there were enough wine cellars in the large estate, they decided to leave this one alone.
Kukukukung.
Rubin exerted his strength to move a portion of the collapsed rock, revealing a passage leading deep underground. It was a gap that wizards would not dare to enter, but one that an unmanned person could easily pass through.
‘This is the only place where even unmanned combat won’t be detected.’
This was the perfect place to have a showdown with Rosenthaler.
A wide and solid deep space. Since the flood, the ground has become more solid, so even if five-star unmanned units engage in a fierce battle, it will not be easily noticed by the outside world. It will not collapse easily either.
Tadah. Tadah. Tadah.
Rubin jumped down and went deeper into the underground canyon. He saw several dead bodies of workers who had fallen to their deaths along the way. Rats were scurrying inside broken oak barrels.
“… … .”
And the deepest part.
Hundreds of oak barrels were neatly arranged around a wide, flat piece of land.
Phageit.
He lit the fire in a way that was unique to assassins, not by magic. Rubin spread out the map of Ielos’ territory under the flickering light. He wanted to get a sense of the current situation.
On the map, if you draw a straight line east from the banquet hall, you will find a place marked with an X.
‘There is a Kuze here now.’
Kuze’s role in this operation is to capture Naif Greas.
Naif, who received an assassination order from the Imperial Edict, will be captured by Kuze today and will not be able to do anything. He will just be tied up in a false place and lose time.
Knock… knock, knock… knock…
The sound of burning branches.
Rubin closes his eyes quietly. His wide-open darkness encompasses the entire wine cellar.
Every movement of the mouse, every sound of the dewdrops falling, creates small ripples in his senses.
‘The banquet is about to begin.’
Far away. Far away, there is a banquet hall. The sounds of the banquet hall were slowly reaching Rubin.
‘By now Rosenthaler… … .’
He must have been mingling with the crowd at the banquet hall. It was Rubin who had sent him a secret letter, not a forged invitation to the celebration.
I requested a contact, and Rosenthaler replied that he would appear at the banquet hall.
‘You will come looking for me, but… … .’
Of course, Rubin is not there. Instead, a different character. No, characters are waiting for him.
The one responsible for luring Rosenthaler here was Tina. In other words, it was a transformed Tina.
Could Rosenthaler not react? Could he just laugh it off as his own delusion? Quite the opposite. Rosenthaler would chase Tina, no matter how far away.
And Tina, with her blood type trait of ‘speed’, can never be caught.
* * *
At that moment, in the banquet hall.
Rosenthaler frowned and looked around, completely unable to understand what was going on.
From what he understood, this celebration was an event with an extremely limited number of attendees. He said that at most there would be about a hundred people, but this was far beyond his expectations.
‘How many people are there? There must be hundreds? What the hell! Where is Rubin?’
It was Rubin who brought him here. Rubin was one of the few who had received an invitation to this joint celebration, and he had said that he had ‘made arrangements’ for Rosenthaler.
‘Is this what they mean by action?’
A huge crowd surrounded the banquet hall. At first glance, it seemed like it could easily exceed a thousand people. There were nobles, commoners, magic professors, and assistants. Their status and occupation were diverse. Even at this moment, the number of attendees continued to increase.
The Ielos and Delin families are sweating profusely and are at a loss as to how this could have happened.
Still, Rosenthaler chuckled, because it was nice to see those wizards looking so embarrassed.
‘What the hell did Rubin do?’
I think he forged the invitation to cause this situation, but he was an interesting guy. He ruined the nobles’ banquet like this just to contact the imperial edict.
Rosenthaler looked around. He thought Rubin would be watching him from somewhere, and that he would soon see him.
But at that time.
“… … !”
Rosenthaler glared. For a moment, it seemed as if he had seen the dead face of Kaizen through those eyes.
But how could that be? If it was his body, I would have dug it up properly. Rosenthaler shook his head and laughed softly.
I walked around the outside of the banquet hall a bit more. It seemed like the banquet would be delayed until the two heads of the household came up with a new plan.
“This is… crazy!”
Rosenthaler doubted his eyes again. This time it was not Kaizen. This time the face that appeared was Enzo Lorenzini.
‘Is Enzo here?’
You didn’t see things wrong.
When Enzo was in the ‘Valley Prison’, I had seen him from afar. Not once or twice, but many times! So I remembered his face clearly.
He walked briskly towards Enzo.
He quickly approached Enzo and tried to place a thick hand on his shoulder.
As if he noticed him approaching, Enzo turned around and started walking hurriedly in that direction.
‘Damn, are you trying to run away?’
Enzo continued to move away, weaving through the crowd of people blocking his way. Rosenthaler couldn’t give him up so easily.
‘If it’s really Enzo… no, it has to be Enzo.’
Rosenthaler gritted his teeth. He thought that if he wanted to regain the trust he had lost from Rulfo, it had to be Enzo.
