I Became the Teacher of the Imperial Family’s Bastard

053. City of Shadows (3)

The tenth day of Yuren’s entry into Igrosia.

The northeast cleanup was completed.

Until recently, the area known as ‘Hayas’s Hand’ was now called ‘Kulkaran’s Club’.

The entire gaze of Igrosia was drawn to the northeast by the shocking move.

The ferocity of a powerful elite minority instilled vigilance in the existing local powers.

Naturally, there was an investigation into Kulkaran.

It was a very swift and precise action.

After all, what kind of city is this?

Isn’t it the city of shadows where all the information of the continent gathers?

Kulkaran.

A thug from the southern Fey Viscountcy.

With his swordsmanship, he rose to the rank of Expert Lieutenant at the age of 41 as a swordmaster of the marketplace.

He expanded his power around the viscountcy, dominating the area, and a month ago, he went on a rampage targeting the viscount’s daughter, then suddenly disappeared.

The information agencies said,

“It seems he fled to avoid the knight order.”

“No matter how much of an Expert Lieutenant he is, he can’t win against a trained group of experts.”

He fled from the south due to his excessive greed and came to Igrosia to establish a new base.

Of course, there was a discrepancy with the truth.

This was something no one in the world knew.

Who would have known?

That Kulkaran was captured by the enraged viscount that day and is still being tortured in the basement of the lord’s castle.

That the Fey Viscount is a subordinate of Erilda.

That the one who took on the name of Kulkaran is Yuren.

Even Igrosia, skilled in information warfare, had its limits, and this operation exploited that gap.

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So far, everything had been perfect.

Beatrice, currently using the alias Moira, felt quite amazed by the series of events.

Even amidst all this, she was doing her job, adjusting magic with a flick of her prosthetic hand.

“You look good, don’t you?”

“Ah, should I say it feels like being back home?”

“Do you like it?”

“I’m just indulging in some nostalgia. Why does your tone sound so harsh?”

“Harsh to the crown prince?”

“Talking back to your master?”

“······.”

Northeast, former headquarters of Hayas.

Sitting in the conference room were Yuren and Kallios, with dancers clinging closely to them.

Even with outsiders present, such conversations were possible due to Beatrice’s capabilities.

4th rank enchantment magic, Whispering Shadows.

In the dancers’ perception, the two were nothing more than thugs boasting about their achievements.

Kallios chewed on the fruit the dancer fed him and said,

“It’s quite uncomfortable, playing with women.”

“Bear with it. We need to create an alibi. Among them, there must be an informant. They need to keep reporting our movements and conversations.”

“I know, that’s why I’m enduring it. Ha, I wish this woman would stop groping me.”

“That means it’s true love. Even if you’re bald.”

“···Enough.”

Beatrice let the conversation flow past her.

She continued to adjust the magic while glancing at Yuren.

As the caster, Beatrice could see Yuren’s original face beyond the disguise.

A face mostly filled with indifference and annoyance.

But from her constant observation, he seemed quite comfortable now.

‘Good.’

She thought.

More than anything, she was glad to be of help.

After all, it was he who saved her from the devil’s temptation that day and pulled her out of despair.

So she wanted to be of help in any way possible.

To repay the debt she owed him, and perhaps, with a bit of greed, to become friends.

She grew her hair for that reason.

Because he said it suited her, and for some reason, that comment stuck with her.

Beatrice twisted her hair again as she thought.

It was a bit disappointing that he hadn’t said anything about it yet.

At that moment,

“So, the northeast is done. Where to next? East? North?”

It was Kallios again this time.

Beatrice muttered just loud enough for him to hear.

“Impatient, aren’t you?”

“Huh?”

“······.”

“What did you say? That sounded like a challenge···.”

“Both of you, stop it.”

Tsk, Yuren clicked his tongue and intervened.

Beatrice immediately shut her mouth.

She didn’t want to be hated, and besides, she already felt like she had disappointed him, so she wanted to make a better impression.

If she had known it would be like this, she wondered if it would have been better to get closer when they were engaged.

Such thoughts crossed her mind.

Of course, it was a late regret.

“Why do you always act like you can’t stand the sight of His Highness?”

“You’re doing well! Keep going!”

“Your Highness, please shut your mouth.”

“······!”

Kallios glared at Yuren, filled with betrayal.

Yuren looked at Beatrice as if he was annoyed.

Beatrice bowed her head deeply.

“I’m sorry.”

“Let’s stop this, then.”

“···I’ll be careful.”

She replied, but Beatrice wasn’t confident.

Her dislike for Kallios was due to a very complex set of reasons.

She acknowledged his superiority as the crown prince.

But, aside from that, he was really hard to like as a person.

Every incident they were involved in was like that.

When he was infatuated with Rebecca, he had his knights block her way just so he could meet Rebecca.

Sometimes, he would send official event notices to the Magic Tower, and there were times when he issued monster subjugation requests.

With the sole purpose of distancing himself from the system.

Though it wasn’t mandatory, it was an imperial order.

To settle comfortably on this land, mutual respect was necessary.

How angry he was at that moment.

It wasn’t just that.

After escaping the temptation, he felt another kind of unpleasantness.

After the incident, they seized the opportunity to exploit the weaknesses and took a large amount of scrolls and reagents from the master of the tower, complaining about the treatment of the disciple.

So, in Beatrice’s eyes, Callios was a truly selfish person who only reaped benefits while riding on Yuren’s back.

Beatrice and Callios’ eyes met.

Beatrice frowned slightly, and Callios let out a hollow laugh.

It was a situation where further conversation was difficult.

Yuren pressed his temples and spoke.

“…Let’s get back to the main point. Our next step is internal stability. We’ll take care of the areas we’ve taken over.”

“The purpose?”

Beatrice opened her mouth to respond.

“Five days from now is the Igrosia Assembly. It’s a council where the leaders of all the influential groups in Igrosia attend, and we’ve been invited.”

It was the first time she spoke so long to Callios.

The reason was to assert that ‘I am more helpful.’

“The Dagger of the Observer will also appear there. Whether it will be the person himself or a representative, I don’t know.”

Yuren took over the conversation.

“If we approach, it will be there. We want to reorganize the business in our area and aim for a central role. We intend to open the way in that manner.”

Only then did Callios nod.

Beatrice sneered inwardly.

‘Not helpful at all.’

Seeing his nature of only knowing how to receive reports, she was asserting that at least in this matter, she was far more helpful.

She felt a lowly sense of superiority.

“Ah, it’s almost dinner time. Let’s go. We need to eat.”

Yuren ordered the dispersal.

Beatrice only stood up after Yuren got up and followed closely behind him.

* * *

Looking back on the past, it was an interesting experience in its own way.

That’s how I would summarize it.

Beating something without any repercussions and dealing with people reminded me of the distant past.

It seems that human nature doesn’t change that easily. Even though it was more than 20 years ago by my reckoning, playing the role of a scoundrel came as naturally as wearing a well-fitted suit.

But I have no intention of indulging in such sentiments.

One must be moderate in their scoundrel behavior.

When I return to the capital, I must conduct myself properly so that my sister won’t worry.

More importantly, there was another reason why I had to quit this job.

It was time to start working.

‘It’s ambiguous.’

I had been consistently looking around Igrosia.

If the guys who fled from the capital came here, or if the ones moving Gilroar were up to something, there would surely be some signs.

But it was hard to grasp.

Not for any other reason, but because Igrosia itself was a sick city.

‘It’s a place where people have been dying from the beginning.’

In a place like this, how could a few more deaths be seen as peculiar and cause a sense of incongruity?

Surely something was happening, but I couldn’t figure it out.

Asking around would be even more suspicious.

If only there were internal collaborators, I wouldn’t be suffering from this lack of information.

Tap, tap.

I continued my thoughts, tapping my fingers on the desk.

‘Should I create some underlings?’

No, what could I trust?

They are criminals in the first place.

Expecting any rational help from them was unrealistic, as their nature was specialized in betrayal.

‘Then external support?’

No, that might backfire.

Even though there was a plan up to this point, I barely managed to secure a stable position with some luck.

Bringing in outsiders recklessly would be a bad move.

What should I do?

I was lost in such thoughts.

Knock, knock—

“Hey, come in.”

In response to the knock, someone opened the door and came in.

I felt the same emptiness I had felt a few times before as I looked at him.

“Hehe, brother! Are you resting well?”

A man with a scar on his left cheek, hair matted like a rag, a long head, and sly features rubbed his hands together.

“Yeah, Peto.”

“You, you remember me! Brother!”

“How could I not know you?”

He was one of the soldiers I dealt with in my past life.

Peto.

The head of our unit’s reconnaissance team and a quick-witted spy.

Lastly, the guy who often quarreled with Liam, who got along well with everyone else.

Would he have known it was me?

I never thought the guy I had as a subordinate would be from Igrosia.

‘Well, I heard he got caught stealing…’

But since he never talked about it in detail, what could I know?

In fact, if you piece it together, it wasn’t strange.

Igrosia completely collapsed after the assassination of Girgoor, and the criminals who lived there spread to various cities during the chaos of the war.

Peto was among them, and if he got caught stealing in that state, it made sense.

He was a capable guy.

True to his thief origins, and with the excuse of survival, he was very good at finding traps and paths, and he had helped me quite a bit.

So when I first met him here, I was glad.

The thought of past connections even made me feel cheerful.

Since I knew him, I thought I might as well use him as an informant.

I even considered it.

But there was one reason I didn’t.

‘He’s not someone to trust.’

How should I put it, if you beat him up and order him, he’ll do it grudgingly, but if you leave him alone, he often has other thoughts.

He’s attempted desertion more than a dozen times.

In other circumstances, I might have taken him along, but for something requiring this level of secrecy, I have my doubts.

Anyway, I cleared my thoughts and spoke.

“So, what brings you here?”

“Well, I’ve found a suspicious guy.”

“A suspicious guy?”

Pedo bowed his head even lower and spoke slyly.

“Yes! Isn’t there an old beggar who’s been spying on your room around here for a while now? So, I caught him and came here!”

His eyes were sparkling.

Is he expecting praise?

For now, I’m intrigued.

‘A beggar, an old man.’

And he’s been spying on me.

Isn’t that a method quite fitting for the ‘Observer’s Dagger,’ who uses the poor as informants?

Already drawing attention?

Moreover, showing interest in me?

Whether it’s a good or bad omen, it’s worth looking into further.

So I asked.

“So where is this old man?”

Then came the reply.

“I left him there.”

“?”

“Well, I thought he might be hiding his strength, so I came to report first.”

“You don’t know where he went?”

“Well, yeah.”

Pedo blinked his eyes.

I stared into those eyes.

Then my fist moved first.

Smack!

“You idiot.”

“Oh…!”

The fist did not stop. This idiot didn’t even take follow-up measures like holding the old man there or planting someone to tail him?

Then why did he come to report at all?

Did he really think this would make him look good?

Smack!

Smack!

Smack!

“B-brother! Please stop…”

“Stop? You b*stard. You need to be hit more.”

Smack!

“Ugh!!!”

It was then.

Hesitation—

The fist stopped.

It wasn’t anything else, it was because something had caught his ‘eye’.

‘…What is this?’

From Peto’s coccyx, something like a thin thread of supernatural power was extending outward.

At the end of it, another human was connected, and mana that wasn’t Peto’s was entangled in the thread.

The moment I confirmed it.

Click, Peto stopped.

Peto’s mana was momentarily engulfed by something else.

‘Soul-binding magic?’

In the instant I realized it, Peto, whose face had lost expression, muttered in an old voice.

“Tonight, at the time when the moon wanes, come to the leather-roofed house on 38th Street.”

And then,

Thud—

Peto collapsed.

My brow furrowed.

* * *

I immediately summoned the Crown Prince and Beatrice.

And then I told him what had happened to me.

The Crown Prince offered his opinion.

“It’s highly likely to be a trap.”

It was reasonable.

The fact that someone had conveyed a message through soul-binding magic without revealing their affiliation or identity was indeed suspicious.

However, it couldn’t be ignored.

“It could really be the Dagger of the Observer. We don’t know exactly how they operate.”

A possibility, however small.

If there was even a slight chance that they were the Dagger of the Observer, we had to act.

Besides, the current ‘Kulkaran’ shouldn’t be intimidated by such an approach.

A runaway carriage with no regard for front or back.

That was Kulkaran’s way.

“Is it self-contradiction?”

“I think it’s rather an opportunity. Even if it’s not the Dagger of the Observer, it’s fine. If it’s another group seeking a deal, we can use them to extract deep information about this place.”

One 5th-rank mage, two expert knights.

That was our strength.

No matter how the enemies came at us, we could at least escape.

I spoke to Beatrice.

“Did you track the soul-binding magic?”

“Yes, it ended at 38th Street. It wasn’t too far, so we could catch it. There were two mana reactions, the caster and… a child? Seems like an ordinary person.”

I nodded at her words as she adjusted her prosthetic arm over her eyepatch.

“Let’s prepare for battle and go. What do you think?”

After a moment of contemplation, the Crown Prince nodded at my words.

“…Let’s do that. There’s no other way, and we need some information before the tournament, whatever it may be.”

Thus, until the moon waned, we shared our opinions in the same room.

Just like before, with the dancers and the enchantment magic on.

Urging the subordinates to keep bringing in drinks.

The dancers passed out, drunk.

The moonlight faintly filled the room.

The Crown Prince shook off the dancer leaning on him and spoke.

“Let’s depart.”

“Yes.”

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We slipped out through the window.

We were cloaked in a perception-blocking barrier.

Thus, we arrived at 38th Street.

The peculiar structure known as the leather-roofed house was easier to find than expected.

It was a house with a half-collapsed roof sewn together with old leather.

The moment we arrived in front of it,

Creak―

The door opened automatically.

My eyes scanned the surroundings sharply.

Worried that some other magical treatment might befall us.

But,

‘Nothing.’

The space itself was surrounded by a barrier, but it wasn’t harmful to us.

To be precise, it seemed to be a type of magic that erased sound and presence.

I was certain because I had seen it a few times.

We entered inside.

Then, someone greeted us.

“Welcome.”

It was an old man.

His left eye socket was empty, and he was taller than the prince and thinner than Beatrice.

Immediately, he bowed his head and said,

“I am Rabon, a servant of the Observer. I greet the pillars of the Empire.”

Thud, my body froze.

＜ Girgoor (1) ＞