Chapter 209
Everyone’s Circumstances (2)
After that, Irena remained sunk in depression for quite a while.
“We won’t be able to find Father’s body, right?”
Kairus couldn’t answer Irena’s question. It was the body of a traitor. There was no way it would still be intact.
Creak—
The sound of the door opening echoed out, and Nora slowly stepped inside. Kairus and Irena’s gazes followed Nora.
After rummaging through the cupboard, Nora pulled sothing out and shoved it into Irena’s mouth.
“…?”
“Chocolate.”
When soone was exhausted and worn down, having sothing sweet lt in their mouth made them feel a little better. Based on her own experiences, Nora had prescribed Irena quite an effective redy.
“This is ridiculous.”
Irena said that with a bitter smile. It wasn’t as though eating sothing sweet would truly improve her mood, but the fact that soone else had fed it to her instead of her taking it herself was bringing her considerable comfort.
“What’s the plan from here?”
After finishing the chocolate Nora had given her, Irena, looking sowhat more energized, asked Kairus.
“The final goal is the death of the current Emperor, Philip IV.”
Back when he had cooperated with Simid Kellogg’s plan, that death hadn’t threatened the continued existence of the Valorn Empire itself. But now, having co this far—
That no longer mattered much. He didn’t care what happened to the Empire after the Emperor died. The people who could survive would survive on their own, and those who couldn’t would disappear on their own.
“But for now.”
There was sothing that had to be done first. Kairus told Nora and Irena what Cecilia had told him.
“Sopor. I think we definitely need to find it.”
Nora also agreed with Cecilia’s request that they find Sopor. It wasn’t an item that could simply be left lying around sowhere.
“Who could’ve taken it?”
Watching Irena sink into thought, Kairus sat down on the sofa and answered.
“You’re having a hard ti ntally, so why don’t you rest for a while after this?”
Irena imdiately shook her head.
“No. I’d rather work instead.”
She couldn’t even hold a funeral. It was the death of a traitor, so she couldn’t ask the Ascension Cult for a funeral service either.
At this very mont, the only thing Irena could do to honor her dead father was grieve for him. That was why she wanted to stay busy and forget her pain instead.
“Do you even have the ntal state to work?”
“You don’t need to worry about that. I won’t make mistakes or cause trouble.”
When the person involved insisted that strongly, Kairus couldn’t stop her.
“Nora, step outside for a bit. Ten minutes should be enough.”
After briefly staring at Kairus, Nora obediently got up and left the office.
“What’s this all of a sudden?”
Realizing that the reason Nora had been sent out was related to herself, Irena looked at Kairus suspiciously.
“I’m going to tell you how to use the account your father left behind. If the account’s still active and hasn’t been closed, you should use it too.”
It was an account created when Simid Kellogg had been the Treasury Chief. In a way, it could now be called the final inheritance left behind by the Kellogg family.
Naturally, Irena had the right to use it too.
“Won’t they close it if they investigate?”
Kairus answered Irena’s question.
“He hid it incredibly well.”
It was sothing created after processing paperwork through the Aylan Republic, the Daeyeon Kingdom, and the Valorn Empire multiple tis over. No matter how powerful the Valorn Empire was, properly tracing that account was impossible.
If nothing else, Simid Kellogg had been exceptionally competent when it ca to things like this.
“What if I take the money and run away?”
“Can’t be helped. You’ve worked hard all this ti, so I’d just think of it as severance pay.”
Kairus answered indifferently. It didn’t matter if Irena took the account. Under the current circumstances, the amount Kairus earned every quarter was enormous.
Even if Irena took every last bit of money in the account and disappeared, it wouldn’t cause Kairus much damage.
“I was just saying it.”
A little later, Nora slightly opened the door and peeked her head inside.
“Are you done?”
“Yeah, co in. Let’s talk about work now.”
They needed to find the missing Sopor and make sure no major chaos erupted in the city now that all the Operations Committee mbers had disappeared due to outside engagents.
“But honestly, I have no idea where we’d even start looking for Sopor.”
At Nora’s words, Irena answered.
“If whoever got their hands on it still hasn’t sold it off, doesn’t that an they intend to use it?”
Irena’s words made sense. If they had no intention of using it, there was no reason not to sell it.
“They could just be keeping it as a collectible.”
“In this city?”
The reason people desperately sought good battle gear here wasn’t because they were collectors. It was because they wanted to use it to make huge amounts of money.
To begin with, how many people in this city even used battle gear better than Sopor?
Even if soone collected rare items, in a city where the best battle gear was practically synonymous with one’s life, the odds of soone just locking it away in storage instead of using it were extrely low.
“In the end, we’ll have to start by digging through all the ominous rumors going around lately.”
Soone who had suddenly beco unusually strong. Soone whose activities had recently gone quiet. Things like that.
To find Sopor, it seed they would have to start there.
“Will the Empire really stay still? My father’s dead, but we’re… still alive.”
“It’s fine, Irena. The Empire’s probably busy right now too.”
Just because they had eliminated the leader of the rebels didn’t an suppressing the rebellion was over. There was still plenty to deal with, so the Empire wouldn’t move for a while.
Only after finishing its internal cleanup would Philip IV turn his attention toward Bennett. So for now, they had to focus on what needed to be done.
“I’m going to rent the biggest cabaret in Upside.”
“A cabaret? Why?”
At Nora’s question, Kairus answered simply.
“I’m going to send invitations to every gang boss, architect, and construction contractor worth ntioning in this city.”
Unlike before, there was no need to personally run around investigating things himself anymore.
Kairus was now unquestionably one of the city’s leaders. If he sent invitations, people would respond unless they were hospitalized or outside the city.
“That’s going to cost a fortune.”
“You don’t need to worry about that.”
There was money piled up like mountains. Inviting every notable figure in the city and feeding them food and alcohol wouldn’t even leave a scratch on the available funds he currently had access to.
“Well, if that’s the case.”
Nora accepted it without much resistance. If they gathered everyone together and told them to report anything suspicious they knew about—or anything suspicious they learned in the future—then Kairus wouldn’t have to personally investigate every little thing.
“The people being ordered around like this probably won’t feel too great about it.”
“Then let them co at .”
In this city, the size of the power one could wield was everything. Wealth, authority, and honor naturally followed those with great strength.
“We’ll have to prepare proper invitations separately. We can’t exactly send them out on scraps of paper.”
They would need to print quite a large quantity and hire people to deliver them. It would probably take two or three days.
“I’ll look for the venue. You two hire a printing shop and couriers.”
After finishing his words, Kairus stood up. Now that their tasks had been decided, there was no ti to rest.
He needed to quickly finish what had to be done, then swing his sword until the gathering began.
‘There’s no way they’ll just sit still.’
Even now, he could kill Denver Hudson. The problem was that the man would simply co back to life afterward. Denver himself surely knew that well enough and had probably already reported it to the Emperor.
In that case, Philip IV would send soone stronger than Denver Hudson. And no matter how Kairus thought about it, aside from Dana Watson, there was no one fitting that description.
‘And they have more than enough justification.’
Irena, who had once belonged to the Scarlet Leaf Order, would be personally dealt with by Dana Watson, the Captain of the Scarlet Leaf Order. It was a fairly convincing excuse.
The point was—
This ant Kairus needed to beco even stronger than he already was. Thinking back on the advice Dana Watson had given him before…
She definitely knew the Featherwing swordsmanship quite well too. If he faced her carelessly, Kairus would be the one defeated.
While Kairus was thinking about Dana Watson, Dana Watson herself was currently under detention.
“Um, well….”
Of course, calling it detention was only true in na. She was sprawled across an enormous sofa under a blanket, while several liquor bottles and a few giant half-gnawed bones rolled across the floor nearby.
Still lying down, Dana Watson narrowed her eyes and checked the person standing by the door.
“And what are you supposed to be?”
“Greetings! I’m the newly assigned investigator in charge of your interrogation!”
As the overly spirited man shouted loudly, Dana Watson frowned and dug at her ear.
“My ears hurt. Talk quietly.”
The previous investigator had ended up with several broken bones while interrogating Dana Watson. It had happened because the idiot tried acting tough and pressuring her while she was already in an extrely foul mood after suddenly being imprisoned under accusations of possible involvent with the rebels.
Since he was no longer in any condition to continue the interrogation, a new investigator had been assigned to Dana Watson.
“Regarding Irena Kellogg, first of all—”
Hearing the na, Dana Watson blankly stared up at the ceiling.
“Why is it that anything remotely talented or promising always ends up getting ruined through so absurd nonsense?”
She had talent. She looked useful enough to properly raise and make use of. Then out of nowhere, her father suddenly started a rebellion. From Dana Watson’s perspective, it was ridiculous beyond belief.
“…Pardon?”
Before he could even properly begin the interrogation, Dana Watson started rambling about whatever she wanted, causing the investigator, who had been preparing his notes, to stare at her blankly.
“What are you staring at? You’re not my type. Ugly bastard.”
Having his appearance suddenly evaluated out of nowhere, the investigator wore an expression that clearly showed he had no idea how to respond.
“Regarding Irena Kellogg and—”
“How many tis do I have to say I’m unrelated before you idiots get it through your heads? It’s the sa damn questions over and over with only the faces changing.”
At the sound of her clicking her tongue, the investigator flinched.
“There are records showing that you spoke with Irena Kellogg when she took her extended leave.”
“Yeah, and I already told you exactly what we talked about during that call.”
She had helped Irena Kellogg improve her abilities. After taking several deep breaths, the investigator looked at Dana Watson again.
“Why did you provide assistance to the daughter of the rebel leader?”
“I didn’t know about Kellogg’s treason at the ti. I already said that too.”
As Dana Watson rose from the sofa, the blanket draped over her slid down.
The mont the investigator realized that the body hidden beneath the blanket was entirely bare skin, he stared blankly at her for a mont before suddenly snapping back to his senses and tightly shutting his eyes.
“Ugly and shy too. At this rate, how are you ever supposed to seduce won?”
After tossing out that remark, Dana Watson lazily staggered over to the cupboard, grabbed a liquor bottle, pulled the cork out with her teeth, gulped it down in one go, then plopped back onto the sofa.
Hearing her sit down, the investigator opened his eyes—only to imdiately shut them again.
“Captain of the Scarlet Leaf Order, perhaps you should… put so clothes on.”
“Shut up and keep interrogating . Though you’re probably just going to repeat the sa crap over and over again anyway.”
The investigator, who was supposed to pressure the target and extract the answers he needed, instead shrank back nervously, while the interrogation target herself sat there completely naked, chugging bottle after bottle as though everything in the world annoyed her. It was a situation so absurd it was almost comical.
If he continued the interrogation, there was nowhere safe to direct his gaze. But at the sa ti, he couldn’t exactly conduct the interrogation with his eyes closed either.
The newly appointed investigator lanted his miserable situation, but regardless, he had no choice but to sohow continue doing his job.
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