CH 31

There was a man.

His role was to do evil in the country. He did illegal things, but his greatest vice was to kill people. He bears all the black parts of the country and kills evil people who disturb the country without anyone’s knowledge.

The reason why he kills evil people is because he was ordered to do so by the country, and his family’s role was to destroy and control evil except for himself.

The man who is also the head of a dark organization spends his days fighting.

No matter how much he saved people in the shadows, no matter how much he took on a stigma for his country, no matter how much he wielded his power for his family or faction, there were few people who would follow him around or behind him. It was not that he wanted anyone’s approval.

But he was afraid of feeling that what he was doing was meaningless. He hated the royal family, the people under his control, and the skills that had brought him to be alone.

But after hating and grieving for everything but himself, he realized that no matter how much he grieved, he couldn’t hate others or their skills. No matter how much he grieved and hated others and skills, it was useless.

What he sought was overwhelming power.

In search of the power to overwhelm all evil, the man hurt his own body to the limit and tried to gain as much power as he could.

It was not just power that he needed.

He sought overwhelming strength that would make anyone run away in fear.

He trained himself and endured every pain.

The man who gains strength and stands up to evil destroys it.

He wrestled down malice with overwhelming strength and struggled to protect his country, his domain, and the one person who understood him.

However, no matter how strong the man becomes, no one understands him, and in fact, the country considers him dangerous because of his strength.

In the end, the man is forced to bear all the sins of the world, and he is defeated by the country.

No one knows that the man has been fighting for his country unnoticed.

Therefore, he became an enemy of the state by falsifying his achievements and publicizing only the dark parts.

Why?

The power he acquired to fight evil is now being wielded against those of the same country he was supposed to be protecting.

The man wailed as he lowered his bloodied sword and was bathed in the blood of his enemies.

Absolute wakes up from a long dream.

“…… This dream again? Absolute’s life, which was never told in the original story…it’s really repulsive.”

Sometimes Absolute has strange dreams. The content is like the life of a person who looks like him, but it is so realistic that he assumes he is seeing the life of Absolute in the original story.

“He’s been killing people since he was my age, probably without feeling guilty because death is a part of his everyday life. It’s different from me who has memories of my previous life, and rather the original Absolute would be more normal in this world. However, I can’t justify killing people like the original Absolute because it’s for the sake of my country. After killing so many people, who am I to judge…what am I doing?”

Absolute was torn between the values of his previous life and the values of this world.

The Absolute of today has been killing people with the cause of a national order. Like the original Absolute, he has an unrelenting cruelty when it comes to killing evil and enemies, but the values of his previous life have held him back, and he recognizes killing people as a sin.

Therefore, he repeatedly told himself, ‘I am evil,’ and tried not to justify his actions.

“You are surprisingly nice.”

Every time I think back to the words Alicia told me, I repeatedly deny it in my mind.

(No, I’m evil. I kill people even though I don’t want to, and I don’t care if anyone other than myself and my friends die. Killing people is evil, even if it’s at the request of the state.)

I started the morning in the worst mood because of a dream I hadn’t had in a long time.

Absolute, who had a day off from school that day, returned to Ark territory for the first time in a while.

The reason was that his father wanted to talk to him.

He presumed it was because he wanted him to do some shadow work.

Absolute, who doesn’t like shadow work, heads for his father’s waiting room with heavy steps.

On the way, he meets some old servants whom he hasn’t seen for a long time.

The old servants greet him and congratulate him on his return.

(I always find middle-aged people and old people in this house. I hate the declining birthrate and ageing population. It’s so disgusting and I want to get out of here…)

While complaining in my mind, I knock on the door of the room where my father is waiting for me.

“This is Absolute. I’ve just returned.”

Waiting for a reply, the butler comes out from inside and asks Absolute to enter the room.

“Welcome, Absolute. Sit down.”

Absolute sat down on the sofa across from his father.

After taking a sip of tea that the butler had made for him, Absolute spoke.

“What is your request?”

“You are as impatient as ever. Well, we can talk about that later. I want to talk about something else first. Absolute, have you thought about the engagement to Princess Haniel that I told you about?”

Absolute had received an offer from the royal family to marry Princess Haniel, the crown princess. He frowned at the idea of another such proposal.

“Are you talking about that again…? I have no intention of marrying Princess Haniel. It’s an engagement to bind me to the royal family. I will not have an engagement that doesn’t bring me any benefits.”

“What do you mean by “no benefit”? If you get engaged to Princess Haniel, your position in the Ark faction will rise. You’ll also have more power to use, and there will be less public criticism of us.”

For some reason, my father was in favor of the engagement.

However, since Absolute is now basically in charge of the reins of the dark organization and the shadow national defense, even his father and head of the family, Villain, cannot decide on this engagement without his permission.

“Ha! Status? Power? When have I ever wanted such things? Besides, we are evil. We don’t need status or honor anymore.”

The prospect of a royal engagement was too much of a hassle for him.

So, he thought that if he could get engaged to Alicia, he wouldn’t be tied down by the royal family and could safely get rid of his shadow national defense duties, but since she refused, he was forced to deal with the troublesome matter in this way.

Villain sighs after hearing Absolute’s answer.

“I can understand your feelings. But the king is serious about this engagement, you know? I know you don’t like it, but there may be a face-to-face meeting soon. When that happens, you’d better be there, okay? Now then, let’s get down to business.”

Absolute receives an order from his father.

“The “Gileus” dark organization of the Suiroku Kingdom lost the power struggle with the emerging power “Black Fairies” and moved its roots to Rainana. So they have approached us about joining the Ark family. Depending on what they have to say, go ahead and annihilate them.”

The kingdom of Suiroku is currently under the active control of a dark organization.

It is so dangerous that civilians cannot go out alone even in the daytime.

The reason for this is the current situation in the kingdom of Suiroku is that the nobles and the dark organizations are in close contact and they haven’t been able to eradicate them.

“I understand now. But I have a question. How in the world did the Gileus people get into Rainana?”

Rainana is strictly controlled by the security force in the front and by the Ark family in the back. The idea that a lot of people from other countries’ dark organizations are in the country at once is unthinkable.

(There are two possibilities: either the members of the Ark family led them in, or they used a negotiator in the kingdom of Suiroku……probably the latter)

Negotiator…… is a famous alias in the underworld. He calls himself a negotiator and works mainly for dark organizations, but he is a man who will do any job depending on the money.

He has the skill of transference, which makes him a nuisance to catch, but he escapes quickly. In the original story, he was the main culprit who released a large number of monsters and caused many deaths during the large-scale expedition test held as part of the school’s examinations.

“I won’t give them any help from my home. There’s no value in such a crumbling organization. The members of the Ark faction wouldn’t make enemies of the Ark family by bringing in Gileus. They probably used that negotiator. He’s a total bastard.”

Villain made the same decision as Absolute.

(Depending on the timing of when he used the transfer, we might be able to catch him. In the original story, the hero found him when he couldn’t use his ability to transfer and killed him. Worst case scenario, it’s enough that he’s still there. We have a trump card.)

I felt fortunate that the person I had originally tried to manage during the large-scale expedition test had come along.

“I’ll get that information out of him and take care of it. Then I’ll be on my way.”

“Oh, that’s right. And I’m going away on a mission for a couple of weeks. If you need anything, please leave it with the butler.”

“Understood.”

Absolute received detailed information about “Gileus” and moved into action.

[Gileus’ point of view]

At a tavern in the Flower Territory, south of the capital of the Rainana Kingdom, the bar which was usually deserted was filled with men of bad character.

The men were members of Gileus, a black market organization that had escaped from the Kingdom of Suiroku.

Orion, the leader of the Gileus organization, was irritated.

Gileus, once the most powerful faction of the dark organization in the kingdom of Suiroku, had lost a battle with the newly emerged Black Fairies, and had ended up defecting to another country.

For the prideful Orion, this was nothing but humiliation.

“Damn it… I will never let it end like this. I will accumulate power in this country and definitely take revenge…”

“Of course, boss. But what do we do now?”

“It’s great that we hired a negotiator to get us into Rainana, but unfortunately, there are only 50 members left, even though there were thousands. Let’s figure out what to do now.”

One of the members asked Orion to decide on a policy. Orion had been drinking, but his mind was clear. He responded to his subordinate’s question.

“……I’m sorry, but there’s nothing we can do about it now. That’s why I’m going to join the dark organization in this country. The dark organization in this country seems to be under the protection of a high ranking noble family called the Ark family. If the nobles protect me, I can do whatever I want in this country. Under his protection, I will accumulate power and take revenge.”

“Are you okay with that? I honestly don’t think we are worthy enough to be welcomed by the Ark family right now…”

The Gileus, who had lost the status and wealth they had built up and many of their friends, were nothing more than a bunch of thugs.

“It’s alright. Before we came to Rainana, we kidnapped a good-looking kid from the nobility, and we’ll give him to them. Besides, we are Gileus, who used to occupy the shadows of the Suiroku Kingdom. We are more useful than those thugs, and we have information about the kingdom of Suiroku. I won’t be ignored. Damn that negotiator…I paid him to negotiate, now negotiate and go home.”

As they were talking, one of his men came back to the bar with a bloodthirsty look on his face.

“Boss! Someone claiming to be from the Ark family is here.”

“What!? How many?”

“One. One man.”

(Well, we’ve cleared the first hurdle for now. If they want to destroy us, they should have a large number of men, does that mean that the Ark family is willing to welcome us?)

Orion, who had been thinking of annihilating them, secretly patted his chest.

However, he soon realized that this was a mistake. A man entered the space of the bar filled with the members of Gileus. As soon as he stepped into the bar, the members of Gileus were subjected to tremendous pressure.

(What is this pressure…this man is not ordinary. I’ve been through a lot of battles and I’m trembling.)

The man opens his mouth disregarding the members of Gileus are unable to move due to the pressure.

“You are Gileus, aren’t you? I’m from the House of Ark. I have heard of your business. You want the protection of the House of Ark, do you not?”

Orion, the leader, licks his dry lips and manages to reply.

“Yes. We’ve been at the top of our game in the kingdom of Suiroku for many years. We will definitely be useful.”

Orion, sensing that he would be in trouble if his mood was spoiled, desperately appealed for their usefulness.

“Let me ask you one question… How did you guys get into the country of Rainana? Did you use a negotiator? When did you commission them and when did you part?”

The Ark family man asked in rapid succession.

“Yes. The country of Rainana is heavily guarded, so we requested a negotiator three days ago, and when all of us had been transferred, we parted ways yesterday. Was that bad?”

Orion broke out in a cold sweat, as if something had tugged at the man’s heartstrings. The man closed his mouth as if deep in thought, and the space in the bar became even tighter.

“Oh, yes! I have a tribute for the Ark family. Bring it to me, all of you!”

Orion instructed his men to bring the tribute.

The man of the House of Ark wrinkles his brow at the sight of it. The Gileus men brought twin children, each about 10 years old.

Both were covered in scars and one of them was dying, probably from an assault.

“They are twin sisters kidnapped from the kingdom of Suiroku. Both of them have odd eyes, which is rare, and with their beautiful looks, they will sell for a high price in the future. Gileus is an organization that has been mainly engaged in kidnapping. We will surely benefit the House of Ark!”

(According to the negotiator, the Ark family has a slavery business, but they don’t do kidnapping. There must be a way for us to get in.)

“I see. I understand your enthusiasm and your usefulness has been conveyed.”

“Well, then.”

The members of Gileus smile at the thought of being sheltered.

“I’ll tell them then. You are not hired.”

“Eh!?”

The tavern where the members of Gileus had been found was covered with dark magic.

“You are not worthy of evil.”

[Dark Hall]

Over a thousand magical arms sprouted from all over the tavern and attacked Gileus.