Chapter 126 – The Trap
#126.
“Hmm…”
Sitting at the table in front of the window, Kaldran Orgius let out a long sigh and was lost in thought.
Calidora’s eyes are cautious as she sits across from him and drinks tea.
10 minutes into the room, he didn’t say anything. Something serious must have happened.
As Calidora was caressing the teacup with a much more nervous expression than usual, he opened his mouth.
“… Apparently, that free knight was a pretty great guy.”
“Yes? What do you mean…”
“He’s raiding the rendezvous point. None of them went missing, but that’s more of a problem. It means he is cooperating with them.”
Kaldran Orgius gnashed his teeth savagely. He couldn’t believe that the foundation he had built over the years was being shaken so easily.
It is no exaggeration to say that the relationship between the doppelganger king and the normal doppelganger is that of parents and children. To betray that things born from the king’s shadow were in danger of dying. It was impossible.
Kaldran Orgius looked down at the garden straight ahead and brought up a business.
“Calidora. Make Sergio LeBreman your puppet by all means. I will assign Hanson as an escort knight, so cooperate.”
Calidora immediately bowed her head in response.
“… Yes. King I will devote my body and soul to follow you.”
“Yes, you are trustworthy. Calidora.”
He said he was trustworthy, but what stood in Kaldran’s eyes was rather closer to doubt. Calidora also knew that, so he dared to add the rhetoric of devoting his body and mind.
After looking down at her for a moment, Kal Dran cleared her doubts and stood up. He whispered softly as he made his way towards the door.
“Calidora. There is no place for us in this world anyway. Keep that in mind.”
“… I will keep that in mind.”
After saying that, Kaldran left the room.
‘I’ll have to move the mercenaries.’
It’s a trump number I hid for later, but I can’t stand by and watch the free knights rampage any longer. It needed to be killed before it dug deeper.
Kaldran nodded in response to the servants who were greeting him, and headed towards the building where the Steel Knights resided.
Several knights were engaged in sparring at the Knights’ gymnasium. After passing the gymnasium, he came across a stable.
Heading toward the office as if he was just passing by, he sent a telegram to the stable keeper, who greeted him with a kind smile while feeding his horse.
-Put the mercenaries on standby. Tell them that there are things that need to be moved soon.
The stable keeper’s eyes trembled slightly, but he quickly regained his original expression, and he just bowed his head and said yes.
After leaving the stable and arriving at the office, he nervously loosened the apron that was clamping his neck and sat down in a chair.
‘It’s not long now…’
With just a few months to spare, he could have completely turned the Count into a puppet and restored his demonic energy. Since this had happened before, I couldn’t help but be impatient.
I don’t know why he didn’t tell the temple about this, but this was an opportunity for Kaldran. If you get it done before it’s too late, you can prevent it before it gets worse.
Reconstruction is possible as long as the temple is not intervened. When the demonic energy is restored, all the traitors must be purged and the doppelgänger mass-produced again.
‘Yeah, that’s enough.’
No matter how much he flies and crawls, in the end, he is nothing more than a free knight at the level of 7 stars. It’s still a mystery how they tracked them down, but that’s something you’ll have to figure out slowly.
“Whoa…”
Kaldran raised his burning eyes and gazed at the sun rising high in the sky.
***
Late night time. Four dolls were crossing a quiet back alley.
“It’s a deserted place.”
“… That’s what you’ll have to do to get together secretly. It’s the first place I’ve been to.”
“I know. I’m not really asking.”
Gaon reassured Madame Daria, who looked at her innocently. She bit her lip and picked up her speed a little more to continue her guidance.
Gaon thought as he followed her.
‘I guess he was caught?’
This morning, she said that an official notice had come down to Madame suddenly asking her to come to a certain place. She didn’t specifically specify only her, and all the personnel managing her meeting place were supposed to gather.
In the meantime, Gaon and his party, who had raided three more contact points through weeks of tracking activities, decided to move only after checking the official documents issued in all of them.
Just in case, I checked the movements of Kaldran Orgius through Lucipheon, but he did not show any sign of action.
As long as he wasn’t the guy, he’d be able to handle everything, so he wouldn’t have to worry too much.
After passing through her back alley and moving for about 30 minutes, Madame stopped her steps. She glanced over the corner and looked at Gaon, she said.
“This is the building in front of me. You should be able to move through the basement.”
“Okay. Please guide me further.”
Arriving here is just the beginning. You can reach the meeting place only after passing through the underground passage.
But at Gaon’s gesture, the madam shook her head and pushed her back.
“Wait a minute! Doesn’t my role end here? I mean, I don’t even know about this! Above all, what should I do if something big happens!”
“… Yes?”
“I am just a normal person. If they find out that I betrayed them, they will try to kill me!”
The madam’s face had a faint look of fear. As soon as she was caught, she was embarrassed to see a woman who tried to kill herself by biting her tongue out like this.
But her opinion was valid, so she couldn’t force her guidance. Gaon opened his mouth to persuade.
“When this is over, stay in the guild. I will probably protect you.”
“Then what about now?”
“… I will protect you.”
That said, I had no intention of letting Madame die. I wouldn’t know if it was in a place out of reach of her own, but it wasn’t harsh enough to stand by, right next to her.
However, despite his confident answer, she was not convinced at all. She pointed to Chorin and Hayeon and said.
“Even so, if those two are in danger, I will give up without any regrets! Is it my first time here too? It won’t help!”
It didn’t seem like he was making excuses just because he didn’t want to go into a dangerous place. Gaon pondered for a moment, but Hayeon, who had been watching quietly until then, stepped out.
“I have no conscience.”
“… Yes? What does that mean all of a sudden… ?”
“I have no conscience. Master saved his life and says he will protect you, so what’s the problem?”
“Yeah, but…”
Ha-yeon’s words are a little rough, but they are not wrong. Even though she treats her moderately in her own way, she should have ended her life in the first place, but the way she tried to avoid it somehow by focusing only on herself and her life was a bit brazen.
The confrontation between Hayeon and Madame continued for a while. Madame was busy shrinking and averting her gaze.
Gaon watched the two of them and interjected with a sigh.
“I just had to stop Joo Ha-yeon.”
“No! I can’t end it at this level. You look at me funny because Master is so nice!”
Ha-yeon’s heart touched her and she ate it, and she laughed. Gaon sneaked up to her and stroked her hair.
“Are you okay. Madam’s words have a point. It may be dangerous, but there is no need to carry luggage. Yes?”
“That is true. … If Master says so, I will stop.”
Hayeon understood and fell behind her.
Gaon said to the madam, who eased the tension in her body as if she had finally taken a breather.
“Go to the Pre-New Guild. You must not run away.”
Gaon deliberately relaxed the atmosphere and used a slightly playful tone. As if that had worked, the hardened expression of the madam softened a little.
“Oh, of course. Even if I ran away, where would I go? Don’t worry, it won’t happen. Then I will go.”
Madame quickly went back the way she had come. Contrary to her impression when I first saw her, that woman was also secretly timid.
Soon, Cho-rin and Ha-yeon clung to each other as Madame turned the corner and disappeared.
“Gaon-san, you are kind.”
The words themselves seemed to compliment him, but the subtle jealousy in his voice made him difficult.
“… Not really.”
It’s not like there was a mixture of selfishness or anything. There has never been an emotional exchange between Madame and Gaon. He felt a bit resentful at the ridiculous misunderstanding.
When I replied to Chorin, Hayeon said.
“Master, just in case, didn’t you have sex with that woman?”
“… Why do you think so?”
“That’s right. Because you made up a reason and covered it.”
What kind of person has Gaon become in Hayeon’s mind? He couldn’t do a favor just because he barely brought his body.
It wasn’t that he was so hungry for sexual desire that he would violate any woman just because he opened up to him in the first place.
Gaon looked down at Hayeon with a dry gaze, then turned his gaze to Chorin.
“Chorin, let’s go. I don’t want to be later than everyone else.”
“Yes! Song.”
Gaon went to the building with Chorin.
“Oh! Wait, Master! Wait!”
As the two moved away from each other, Hayeon shouted and hurriedly followed. She whined at Gaon even as she apologized.
Gaon stared at the building while giving a rough answer.
‘Did I say underground?’
There were several passages leading to the secret location underground.
People from other guilds, including Milena, were infiltrating into the underground space following the guidance of others who managed the meeting place like Madam.
I’m not sure if I can capture all of them, but if I successfully complete this sweeping operation, I can deal a huge blow to the power of the doppelgangers.
‘I’ll have to talk to you once I’m done with this job.’
Through weeks of surveillance, Gaon noticed that the doppelgangers were also more normal than he thought. It is true that they took a human life, but in the process, they also felt that they had no choice.
However, there should be no arbitrary forgiving or doing things simply out of sympathy. That’s not something he can do.
The punishment of the offender is to be determined by the victim. The most obvious and biggest damage in the work so far was Priscilla, and I had to ask her opinion.
While thinking about this and that, they entered the building before they knew it. Inside, there were two doppelgangers watching. They hit the neck of those who were about to stand up and shout, silenced them, and suppressed them through point blood.
After passing those who collapsed with stiff joints like wooden dolls, I went straight down through the basement stairs.
The underground passage was narrow. The cramped interior, where you could reach the walls with your hands stretched out to the sides, stimulated people’s instinctive fear.
Gaon turned his head and made eye contact with Chorin and Hayeon to calm him down and slowly moved forward.
I looked all over the place, but there were no pitfalls. In the first place, among the doppelgangers, there were ordinary individuals who did not even know how to handle mana, so it was natural in a way.
In Gaon’s field of vision, he could see the end of the aisle in the distance. It’s dark and hard to see, but it seems to be in the form of a wide cavity.
After moving for about 5 minutes, Gaon and the others were able to get out of the passage and set foot in the joint.
The cavity was so dark that not a single light could be found. I wondered if this was really the secret place where the doppelgangers gathered, so I looked around and heard footsteps somewhere in the distance.
The direction the sound came from was the same long passageway they had passed through. The total number is three. It is presumably the group of Milena, Cain, and Volkar.
Because of the round bone metamorphosis, even in this place where there is no light, the approximate outline of objects could be distinguished.
After a while, when the rest of the party just showed up in the aisle, the magic circle engraved on the wall flashed and activated, and then a translucent barrier wrapped around it, paralyzing the senses.
Sensation is the act of widening mana and expanding one’s senses. To paralyze such feelings means that this barrier is an anti-magic barrier.
If this is the case, magic cannot be used at all.
‘It’s a big deal.’
It is difficult to notice the changes around you if your senses are paralyzed in the darkness where it is difficult to see.
Gaon is alert and wary of the surroundings, but Quaang! I thought I could hear the sound of an explosion coming from all directions, and then the passageway they passed collapsed.
At that time, Gaon was preparing for the next threat by covering Chorin and Hayeon.
Crush the wedge—!
A rain of arrows pierced through the darkness and rained down on them.
