Chapter 100 – Arrest (4)

Chapter 100 – Arrest (4)

Sina stared at Juan with her eyes wide open.

However, Juan continued speaking without the slightest change in his expression.

“Did someone with the same voice as mine appear in the dungeon? Was he wearing a black robe, with bandages all over his body?”

“Um, yes. You already knew that? Have you seen him before?” Swallan answered.

“I have. It seems like he was the one who overpowered me and brought me back from my rampage. That’s good to know, since I had no idea what happened after I lost consciousness. What did he say to you?”

“...He asked me to look after you. He didn’t seem to have any hostility towards you,” Swallan said as she studied Juan’s face.

Everyone here that knew Gerard Gain had stabbed the emperor in the back. Swallan couldn't help but be careful when talking about such a sensitive topic to the person directly involved.

However, Juan didn’t seem to care much and appeared uninterested.

“I see.” Juan simply answered Swallan as if he already knew.

“Wait. Gerard Gain has the same voice as you, Juan? Why is that?” Sina asked impatiently upon hearing what Juan had said.

“Gerard Gain has the same face and voice as me. The only difference is that he is younger than me and has blonde hair instead of black hair. The public often used to get confused; they thought we were the same person.”

Sina opened her mouth wide in astonishment upon hearing such a fact—she had no idea that this was the case.

‘Gerard Gain, an apostate who is an official enemy of the empire, has a face that’s almost the same as His Majesty?’

Juan was rather surprised by Sina's shocked reaction.

“It’s more surprising to me that you had no idea. Isn’t Gerard Gain treated as an official enemy of the empire? How are you supposed to catch him when you don’t even know what he looks like?” Juan asked.

“...the Church describes Gerard Gain as a devil, but they don’t inform people about his appearance. He is only described as a being full of jealousy and hatred for His Majesty. But things make more sense now that you’ve told me about what he looks like. I guess it’s understandable for the Church to want to hide the fact that the one who assassinated His Majesty looks almost the same as his Majesty... but wait, does that mean Gerard Gain was the biological son of His Majesty?”

Juan smiled, and Sina’s face stiffened when she saw his smile.

“Ah, it’s nothing. I just thought of someone who asked me a similar question back then. Unfortunately, your guess is wrong. Gerard Gain is an adopted son, and that’s the truth. I didn’t have even a single biological child. But... Gerard Gain is a little special compared to my other adopted children.”

“How so?”

“Gerad Gain was created by cloning my own soul.”

“What?”

“It was done without my consent by my teacher, Dane Dormund. He said that it was something that he had to do for humankind, just in case anything happened to me. But I couldn’t forgive him. And so, I decided to expel Dane Dormund from the empire and at the same time adopted Gerard Gain as my first son. There was no telling what could have happened if a child made by cloning my soul fell into the hands of the wrong people.”

Sina looked dazed upon hearing Juan’s sudden explanation of an extremely secretive and private affair of the empire. The fact that Gerard Gain was the emperor’s replica was already shocking enough to shake the entire empire, but to top it all off, Juan was saying that the Grand Magician Dane Dormund, the one who assisted the emperor ever since the emperor’s childhood was the one who had committed such an act.

Although there were a lot of rumors about the sudden disappearance of the Grand Magician after committing a big crime during the early days of the empire’s establishment, Sina didn’t think that there would be such a story behind it.

“Come to think of it, you guys don’t even know that the emperor had black hair, do you?” Juan asked.

Sina silently nodded her head. In general, the emperor was described to have brilliant blonde hair. It was unclear whether it was because of the bright golden halo or because the emperor actually had blonde hair, but Sina had a feeling that the Church chose to describe the emperor as having blonde hair as that had a more "holy” appearance. Or it could be that even the Church didn’t truly praise the emperor.

Once Sina’s thought reached this point, she felt the chills running down her spine—the existence known as the ‘emperor’ who had been praised and served for almost half a century had become unclear. A lot of bloodshed and atrocities had been justified and even celebrated in the name of the “emperor”.

But now, Juan’s existence was shaking those beliefs and that foundation. Rread latest chapters at novelhall.com

‘Then who is the unknown existence that the Church has been serving all along? What was the reason for so much bloodshed and for so many lives to be sacrificed?’

Sina bit her lips. She had long been feeling that the system she believed in had something wrong with it, but she never thought that its entire foundation would be denied like this. At this point, Sina found it hard to believe anything about the empire and the Church.

“Why are you telling me all these things so easily? All these things must be the confidential secrets of the empire right? Is it okay for you to tell me about all of this when I am nothing more than an outsider?” Sina asked with difficulty.

Upon seeing that Juan was telling her all these secrets like it were nothing, Sina began to doubt whether Juan was trying to use her for his plan.

However, Juan only grinned.

“Someone has to know the whole truth and record it, don’t you think?” Juan said.

“My writing skills are terrible. Besides, you killed all my comrades and almost maimed me. Do you really think that I’ll record everything without distorting it all against you?”

“It used to be possible, but not anymore. Its frame has gotten rusty due to the sea breeze, and the stone has been eroded quite a bit. I guess it’s only natural for weapons to become rusty when there are no enemies to use it on,” an unfamiliar voice said.

When Juan and Sina turned around toward the voice, they saw an old woman with a small figure walking toward them in an unwavering manner despite the strong sea breeze. The old woman’s empty right sleeve flapped and shook in the wind. She rolled her only remaining eye and moved her gaze from Sina to Juan.

“You must be the current hot topic of the empire. My name is Hela Henna,” the old woman said with a smile on her face.

Hela Henna gave off a strange impression. She hummed with a smile on her face while looking closely at Juan’s face. Juan made an unpleasant face upon being observed this explicitly, and Hella quickly raised her only hand to apologize upon noticing the change in Juan’s expression.

“Oops, excuse me. My bad. People get shameless as they grow older, especially toward young people, you know?”

Although Hela was smiling, behind her smile was a sharp gaze observing Juan.

While Juan couldn’t sense any mana or power from Hela, he could see that she was not an ordinary old woman.

“You’re Hela Henna?” Juan asked.

“Call her Duke Henna,” Horhell warned Juan from the back.

Juan ignored Horhell’s words and raised his handcuffed hands. “Hela. Do the people of the eastern territory always treat their guests like this? Eastern people’s hearts must have dried up alongside the land,” Juan said,

‘A guest?’

Sina wondered what Juan was talking about.

“Only dogs and sinners are bound by chains and handcuffed in the eastern territory. You should know your place.”

It was Horhell who answered instead of Hela.

Juan once again ignored his words and stretched his hands tightly.

“Enough, Hela,” Juan said.

Hela seemed to be perplexed for a moment, but soon grinned and beckoned to Horhell.

“Uncuff him.”

As soon as she gave the order, Horhell approached Juan without asking any questions.

Sina thought that Horhell would stop the Duke from uncuffing Juan due to being concerned for her safety and for the safety of the surroundings, but he carried out her order as if he was a machine.

In the end, it was Sina who stepped up.

“Please wait, Duke.”

“Who is she?”

Instead of directly asking Sina, Hela turned her gaze to Horhell.

“This is Dame Sina Solvane. She said that she was tracking down this sinner by the order of the Church. I brought her with me because I felt that she would be helpful during the interrogation,” Horhell answered.

“I’m Sina Solvane, a knight from the Order of the Blue Rose. I’ve been tracking this sinner all the way from the southern province of Tantil. I lost countless comrades and saw a lot of blood being shed due to him. This man is extremely dangerous. It will be difficult to guarantee your safety if you uncuff him,” Sina said.

Despite Sina’s respectful tone, Hela looked at her coldly.

“I can guarantee my own safety, kid. You might have seen this young man for a longer time than me, but I’m sure that I have better eyes than you. Now, if you try to interfere in my decisions one more time, I’ll make you understand why the people of the eastern territory call me a bitch more often than the duke.”

Sina was taken aback upon hearing Hela’s cold words.

Meanwhile, Horhell uncuffed Juan’s hands according to Hela’s order.

When Juan was finally uncuffed, he stroked his stiff wrists with free hands. Although the chains connecting the handcuffs had been released, the handcuff still remained on Juan’s wrists like a bracelet.

This was the most the Duke could do for Juan.

Juan couldn’t use his mana freely, but his equipment wasn’t taken away, his surroundings were open, and above all, Hela was close to him. Taking Hela’s life would be quite easy if Juan wanted to kill her at this moment. But Juan did not do so.

“I would like to request some bread and salt, Duke Henna.”

Hela burst out laughing at Juan’s request.

“I’ve never seen anyone who knows such an old-fashioned tradition other than Horhell. Good. You seem to be quick-witted. I have a feeling that our conversation will go well.”

Hela took the lead and beckoned him to take a seat.

Sina couldn’t figure out what was going on at all.