Chapter 72. The Crimson Fragment (3)
Verden knew that the Listener would come looking for him. No, to say he lured him would be more accurate.
Gluttony, who confronted him, had killed everyone except Theon, and Theon had been dragged away by Locke. On top of that, he even took the red fragment obtained from Gluttony as he pleased.
There was no reason for the Listener not to come searching for Verden at the Ark.
The Listener neatly folded the newspaper, placed it on the desk, and savored the hot coffee. Then, he asked Verden,
"Sir Asher, just in case, may I ask, do you have any thoughts of joining our Ark?"
"No."
Verden answered immediately.
"Then I'll be direct. Stop involving yourself with Gluttony any further."
"The reason?"
"As you know, they are a danger separate from the trials. You took care of the Doctor, you dealt with the transplantees, you even stole the heart of the Salamander, but all of those were close to accidents of chance. Fortunately, thanks to those unpredictable variables, Gluttony still hasn't recognized your existence, Sir Asher."
That was why he had to stop.
If he went any further, there would be no turning back. Verden would become Gluttony's target.
"I admit that you are a special mage, Sir Asher. Your ability to subjugate the Soul Tree and then to deal with numerous transplantees alone. Power that surpasses your tier, certainly, you deserve confidence as a mage. But the world is always relative. To create enemies you cannot handle before your talent has fully blossomed is, quite literally, suicide."
"So you're telling me to play it safe?"
"Semantically, yes. Courage and recklessness are different things."
Courage and recklessness are different.
It was what Verden had once said to Iris. And perhaps, it was fitting for the current situation. But to Verden, such advice was unnecessary.
"I refuse."
"…What is your reason?"
Why would he deliberately antagonize Gluttony?
Verden had several reasons.
First, it was bothersome.
The Doctor, the Salamander's heart, the missing persons. Once, maybe twice could be coincidence, but already it was the third time. That meant the chances of meeting them a fourth, a fifth time, were high.
For now, he had no intention of leaving the principality.
Running into such unexpected situations again was, in many ways, irritating. And for Gluttony's side to notice Verden's existence by accident and launch an attack as well.
Leaving the principality like a fugitive, of course, was out of the question.
Second, it was unpleasant.
The countless corpses piled up like objects, sacrificed to Gluttony. That was not just death. It reminded Verden of his past, and showed him a despairing future different from now.
Like the tower master Bohemirn and the mages, who treated humans as nothing more than materials. That perspective alone was more than enough reason to erase them from this world.
Lastly, third, Gluttony was strong.
Indeed, the transplantees fought in ways he had never seen before. Without the Ring of Rune, he would have struggled considerably.
That fact, he liked.
He had reached the upper level of the 4th tier, with the 5th tier just ahead.
Fighting against weaker opponents, whether many or few, no longer gave him much experience. What Verden needed now was the harshness that could push him to his limits.
If Gluttony was dangerous, then he would simply make use of it.
Verden had confidence in his magic power, his spells, and his knowledge.
Of course, he had no intention of explaining each of these reasons to the Listener.
'Well, if I had to sum it up.'
"I don't like them. Is that reason enough?"
"Because you don't like them…?"
At such an absurd answer, the Listener momentarily lost his words.
Then, quietly sipping his coffee, he let out a dry laugh.
"You're more emotional than I thought."
"If I had no emotions, I wouldn't have made it this far."
Reason was important.
It allowed one to see situations more objectively, to make more rational and necessary choices even in urgent moments.
But Verden's driving force had always been emotion.
Even if he didn't show it outwardly, inside, he was always seething with cold fury, with hatred.
His duality, outward and inward.
That was what made Verden all the more human.
And the Listener respected his choice.
The Ark never forced, it always respected the will of the individual.
"Understood. If that is Sir Asher's decision, then I will not try to dissuade you any further. But how do you intend to find Gluttony?"
"Before that, I'd like to hear the information the Ark has gathered on Gluttony."
The Listener hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
"However, I can only tell you about the matter concerning the Duchy of Riviant."
"That's enough."
He didn't need information about other countries.
Because right now, Verden was in the Duchy of Riviant.
"According to what we've found… it seems one of Gluttony's Fangs is here. More precisely, within the upper ranks of the principality."
The upper ranks?
"You mean it's connected to the nobles?"
"I can't give details, but we are nearly certain. And given that Gluttony has been revealing more and more movements, it may soon cause something big. We are watching, but responding preemptively is nearly impossible. Unless we can uncover the Fang hiding among the nobles."
So what was happening now was the preliminary symptom.
The next question followed.
"Theon, the one Locke took, what became of him?"
"He's under interrogation, but we believe it's highly likely he has not been infected by Gluttony's fragment. There were similar exceptional cases before. It's nearly the same situation. But since his standing within Gluttony was weak, it doesn't seem he'll provide any significant information. Working under the Doctor was major, but the Doctor is already dead…"
If there was no information, so be it.
It was only supplementary anyway.
He asked about the red fragment as well.
But even the Ark had yet to uncover its purpose. At best, they only speculated that Gluttony's traits were related to devouring.
It was no different from what Verden had already expected.
"Then my last question. How much does Gluttony know about the Ark?"
The trials of the Ark.
Depending on their scale, they drew the eyes of the world.
If Gluttony knew about the trials, then it might be possible to identify the candidates of the Ark.
Verden and Leira, who subjugated the Soul Tree, would be suspicious enough.
To that question, the Listener shook his head.
"You need not worry about that. The trials haven't existed for very long, and there are very few who know their precise definition. Moreover, the scope of the Ark's activity far surpasses Gluttony. Gluttony, always scurrying in hiding, can gather almost no information."
"The last time I saw, a transplantee knew about Locke."
"Ah, Sir Locke is an exception. Rather than trials, he is focused on subjugating evils like Gluttony and criminals. The spread of information there is inevitable. He's nearly been killed several times because of it, but not once has he bent the justice he chose. Even at his young age, he is truly admirable."
The Listener's voice was filled with respect as he praised Locke.
Well, that was of no importance.
What mattered above all else now was that Gluttony had no way to identify Verden.
'At least the minimum condition is satisfied.'
Verden took out the Doctor's mark from his spatial bag and handed it to the Listener.
The moment the Listener saw the red Fang, the trace of a smile vanished from his face.
"This is… Gluttony's mark. Not a fang, nor a molar, but an incisor. Don't tell me, you took it from the Doctor?"
"I found it in a hidden basement the Doctor had."
"Why didn't you mention this earlier?"
"Because there was no need to."
Answering what wasn't asked.
That usually did nothing but stir up unnecessary trouble.
But the situation was different now. More precisely, it had gained a use.
"I've heard that Fang serves as a kind of identification."
"For the most part, yes. It's not something to be used for any particular purpose, but rather, it bears Gluttony's very symbolism. I know there are a total of seven."
"Then it's perfect bait."
Gluttony didn't know the Doctor's whereabouts.
That was why they had taken Theon, to find out where the Doctor was. So this mark could be bait they simply could not resist.
The Listener gave a soft exclamation.
"Bait, huh… It's certainly possible. No, it will surely work. The Doctor was a precious existence to Gluttony. But this alone won't be enough. Even if Gluttony takes the bait, if their Fang hides in the shadows, then it's over. The moment they sense anything suspicious, they'll cut off the tail."
"I'll handle that part myself."
He already had something in mind.
What Verden wanted from the Ark was only the 'manpower' necessary to make his plan feasible.
When he asked for temporary control of the Ark's lead, the Listener fell into thought.
But in truth, the answer was already decided.
Verden's contribution in cornering Gluttony within the principality was overwhelmingly high. He might not be a member of the Ark, but he had every right to see his plan through.
'And it's also a great benefit to us.'
To eliminate Gluttony, and at the same time, build a more favorable relationship.
Recruiting him into the Ark immediately was impossible, but in the long run, they had to steadily work to establish trust with him.
Because Verden was the kind of talent the Ark absolutely had to embrace.
The Listener judged so, and thus, he had no intention of refusing Verden's request.
"Understood. I'll persuade the others. So, what would you have us do?"
***
Verden received the materials he had requested from Pale.
He laid them out on the desk, then placed the red fragment at the center.
"Then, let's begin."
Sshrrrk.
He scattered powdered high-grade magic stone onto the floor, constructing the base of the magic circle. Upon it, he began to draw circles of increasingly complex composition.
Three magic circles.
Letters and geometry, everything intertwined without the slightest error, and he modified their intersections independently to link them into one.
As he infused mana, the circles began resonating with each other.
The time consumed thus far was three hours.
Having burned a great deal of concentration, a wave of dizziness struck him for a moment. Verden exhaled deeply, shaking off the fatigue, then meticulously inspected the circles.
"Fortunately, no errors."
Then the next step.
He crushed a red plant called 'Andra's Blood' and extracted its juice, then poured it into mana water and heated it. Before long, the mana water had all evaporated, and what remained was no longer red juice but a blue liquid.
Andra's Blood.
It destabilized any material it touched. Solids became closer to liquid, metal corroded when stained, and skin would melt away as if burned by deadly poison.
Dangerous as it was, it was a material often used in alchemy. Stable substances were difficult to use as ingredients, but unstable ones were easier to combine.
Verden intended to make use of that instability.
He submerged the red fragment into the blue liquid.
After some time passed, he retrieved it with tongs. Unlike before, it had grown soft and pliable. He placed it onto the first of the three circles.
The Circle of Division.
The Circle of Combination.
The Circle of Stability.
Magic circles designed solely for alchemy, of the highest difficulty.
From the red fragment, the alien energy fused with mana began to separate. At that instant, he placed another magic stone at the center, and the energy merged into the new stone.
The resistance was fierce, but he forcibly suppressed it using the circles.
The violently quaking magic stone gradually calmed.
The result was a stone imbued with a black hue unlike anything seen before.
"…It worked."
He waited just in case, but it had already stabilized on its own.
The alien energy extracted from the red fragment had harmonized well with the mana within the stone. With that, the preparation was complete.
Verden took out the 'Compass of the Black Hour' from his spatial bag.
An artificial artifact that amplified the mana held within a stone to locate its owner. Though limited in range, within the principality, it was more than enough.
Carefully, he placed the stone into the compass.
The needle slowly began to move.
Before long, its point fixed northward.
***
A wide estate surrounded by walls, with a luxurious mansion at its heart.
Its garden, designed and maintained by experts, was splendid yet without excess, a clear display of the master's noble dignity.
Furthermore, the mansion was thoroughly guarded by all manner of magical items, circles, and private soldiers.
Inside that mansion, a father and son sat across from one another at a long dining table.
They ate slowly, with refined gestures befitting nobles.
The father sipped a mouthful of brandy and spoke to his son.
"The date of the agency has been set."
"This year, it's quite late."
"His Majesty the Grand King had intended to hold it earlier, but certain circumstances arose. You've likely heard, about the incident in Lorian."
It was impossible not to know.
It was the hottest topic in the nobility.
"It was… the Soul Tree, was it not?"
"I heard it was on par with a special-class entity, and that such a monster was subjugated by the Bloodied Sword, the next mithril-rank adventurer, and some mage. Surely, it must have been exaggerated."
Special-class entities were powerful enough to shake nations.
Even anything less than that was no different. To think that just two had resolved it, that only meant the foe had been far weaker than a special-class.
The son smiled, his neat white teeth gleaming.
"Either way, I'm glad no one was harmed. It's fortunate there were no meaningless sacrifices."
"…Yes, fortunate indeed."
The two continued their meal.
The father glanced at his son. The son deftly cut his steak, savoring each piece.
Beside him, plates had piled up high, far too many.
Even for a glutton, the amount he ate was abnormal.
Yet the father did not mind.
What did it matter, if he ate much? What did it matter, if he was not human?
None of it mattered.
So long as he remained healthy, as his son.
So long as he remained, his son.
The father cared not for anything else.