Episode 131: What Is That, Decade Fans?
After repelling the unexpected attack by Cassas, I was brought by Adrang to none other than his mansion.
Adrang boldly opened the main gate and strode in without hesitation, heading straight into the largest room of the inner quarters.
“… So you’ve arrived. Adrang.”
“Ah, I see the young man who was at the meeting earlier is also here?”
Seated around the round table in the room were familiar faces.
In one corner were the Gold Knight and Paek Eun, whom I had seen earlier at the meeting. There was also an unfamiliar face added to the group.
‘Who is this person…?’
The man, with coarse features and grayish-blue hair, was adorned with various swords on his waist, back, and limbs.
Given his identical ceremonial uniform to Adrang’s, he appeared to be a Cavalier.
“Thank you, Big Brother Wolf… hahaha… Heehee… Our wedding isn’t far off now…”
And there sat Elfride, whom Adrang had been eagerly anticipating.
She was muttering to herself with a smirk, though she seemed a bit intimidating. I decided it would be best not to pay her too much attention.
“…”
Glancing beside her, I noticed Knightrea from Unterland was also present, taking up one of the seats—silent throughout the earlier meeting.
“What is this, Adrang?”
I directed an intense questioning gaze towards him.
However, Adrang, instead of answering, casually strolled to the center of the room’s round table, slouching into a chair.
And spoke in a brief tone: “Nameless Knight… Portia has perished.”
All sound in the room ceased instantly. It felt as though time had come to a halt.
The silence was eventually broken by Adrang’s calm voice:
” moments ago, I received the final results of today’s preliminary tournament from my daughter. The deed was done by the assassins who invaded the Sacred Festival, targeting witch hunters.”
A heavy silence enveloped the room.
Tap, tap. Paek Eun, the Silver Knight – Eos Pol – began tapping on the table with his fingers, the sound reverberating throughout.
Eventually, he let out a sigh.
“… Hmm. Do you have proof of that?”
“I, too, have just been attacked by one of them.”
“…”
“I was lightly pierced in the gut, but managed to repel the attacker with Elfride. We apprehended the assailant, but during a moment of carelessness, he swallowed poison and committed suicide.”
“…”
“So afterwards, with the help of Jung Yong, we managed to deal with a second attack without much trouble. All the assailants were eliminated.”
Adrang’s calm and detached recounting of events left Paek Eun silent, his gaze averted and his expression filled with deep sorrow.
“Any more questions?”
Adrang briefly glanced at Paek Eun with a curt question, but Paek Eun only shook his head in silence.
Adrang stared blankly at some point on the table, then abruptly announced: “First, let us observe a moment of silence for our fallen compatriot.”
One, two, three.
A brief three-second pause. Everyone closed their eyes as a solemn and heavy atmosphere filled the room.
I watched this scene with confusion, then Adrang’s next words struck me.
“Let’s begin the emergency witch-hunter’s meeting.”
I stood there dazed after hearing his words.
Eventually, I grasped their meaning and swallowed hard.
‘These people…!’
They were the group targeted by Cassas’s apostles—the Witch Hunters.
Looking around the gathered six members, I finally lowered my voice.
“Adrang…”
This needed to stop. I boldly approached Adrang.
And with a loud bang, I slammed the table and asked seriously:
“Witch Hunter? What exactly is that?”
Carhalas had said it before – if I wanted to know about witch hunters, I should ask Adrang directly. Stop chattering amongst yourselves and explain it to me too.
Direct and to the point. Nothing fancy. And I was prepared to take a hit if things went wrong.
“Oh, so you haven’t been explained this before?”
Adrang, blinking his eyes, surprisingly replied in a casual tone:
“A small elite group hunting the witch Diana.”
“…, ah… okay.”
What? I thought it was supposed to be some secret alliance. But here he is explaining it so easily.
I guess Adrang always talks openly about these things anyway. While the agents’ identities are kept secret, the organization itself isn’t a secret?
CIA? Come on!
“Beyond sporadic demon king hunts, we aim higher – to kill the mastermind witch and stop the demon king appearances altogether. That’s us.”
Realizing my perplexed expression hadn’t changed, Adrang elaborated further. Scanning the group again, I noticed the members seemed to have transformed into entirely different people after learning their affiliations.
*
As I processed the situation, Elfride suddenly raised her hand.
Gathering everyone’s attention, she began.
“So, even if we start this emergency counter strategy meeting… if we don’t know our opponents, what should we prepare for, Big Brother Wolf?”
Adrang nodded briefly in agreement: “That’s why we’re also looking into uncovering their true identities.”
“Indeed! Big Brother Wolf always has a plan… Hee hee, your intellectual side is so cool…”
With a flushed face, Elfride twisted in her seat, completely enraptured.
At that moment, the unnamed Cavalier seated opposite casually raised his hand.
Adrang seemed pleased and gestured for him to speak.
“Speak, Geom Rim.”
Geom Rim – Knight of Steel.
I remembered seeing his nameplate when I first visited Adrang’s mansion.
‘His real name is definitely…’
Yeah. Gatrec Ronan.
With all the names I’ve been memorizing lately, my brain must be getting sharper because I remembered this one clearly.
“Adrang. Before we get started, who is this man?”
Clang. As Geom Rim raised a finger, the swords hanging from him clattered against each other.
He was pointing directly at me. I could only give an awkward smile in response.
“Heh heh.”
That’s right. Where do I fit in, and why am I exactly here? Everyone seems so busy and serious. Why am I sitting here like a spare grain of millet? Did they just need another gossip buddy?
Getting curious myself, I stared intently at Adrang. With a wry smile, Adrang finally responded.
“This is my guest, brought to the Sacred Festival at my daughter’s insistence. Given the possibility of him being mistaken as one of the witch hunters, I’ve brought him here for protection.”
“… Even so, I, unlike you, keep my witch hunter status a secret. Making it public like this was rather unexpected.”
As Geom Rim spoke his objections, a deep sense of displeasure was evident on his face.
Noticing this, Adrang grinned. Contrarily, a firm confidence was evident on his face.
“He is the key to uncovering the assailants’ identities.”
“Key…?”
Geom Rim’s gaze swept over me.
He looked suspicious, but Adrang nodded as if understanding his hesitation.
“You weren’t at the state’s meeting, so it’s understandable you might not know. This young man’s intervention during our discussion today was a significant breakthrough for our witch-hunting team.”
At this, the others started murmuring among themselves. Adrang’s lips twitched upward in his usual wild smile.
“The secretive organization that has been pressuring our witch-hunters – Jung Yong testified about them today.”
“Is it about the ‘Apostles of Cassas’ you mentioned?”
Responding to Adrang was Knightrea, the intellectual woman with short blue hair from Unterland.
Wow. I’ve been in meetings with her all day, and this is the first time I’ve heard her speak. Her cold tone matched her appearance.
“Is there a problem?”
Adrang responded to Knightrea’s question with a raised eyebrow. Knightrea looked over towards me and continued promptly.
“Yes. The issue lies in verifying whether his testimony is true. We need to confirm that at the very least.”
At this, even Paek Eun, Eos Pol with the golden hair, and Elfride nodded, creating a similar atmosphere to before in the previous meeting.
Adding further, Elfride said,
“Big Brother Wolf… Even someone as skilled in dark magic as me, who ranks among the world’s best, would find it difficult to simultaneously control so many resurrection sect members…”
“Perhaps it could be done with a lost collective-control dark magic.”
Adrang immediately countered, causing Elfride to shrink back while her face turned bright red.
… Why is her face getting red?
“It… It might be possible if it’s lost magic… but lost magic isn’t called lost for nothing. How could it have been restored?”
Her authority in dark magic seemed to cast doubt in the room, making my credibility further erode.
But Adrang quickly shook his head with resolute confidence, looking straight at Knightrea.
“I was at the scene in Kern where the resurrection sect wreaked havoc. As Jung Yong testified, there were numerous chimera lifeforms that resembled the results of lost black magic. The abnormal unity of the resurrection sect can also be explained by dark magic.”
“… It can’t be…”
“Then explain it otherwise.”
“That… That is true… Big Brother Wolf is so cool for thinking logically…”
This was something I could personally attest to, having fought against the resurrection sect.
Their actions without a single word – such coordinated movements couldn’t be achieved through training alone.
Unless there were alien species linked by neural pathways in this world, some form of sorcery was clearly at play.
“A few years ago, the moves of the resurrection sect were drastically different. Assuming the involvement of another organization fits the facts. This also explains why they were interfering with us – we are an organization that upsets the world’s balance.”
“…”
Knightrea, fiddling with her blue hair, seemed to ponder before eventually nodding lightly.
“Fine. I’m convinced for now.”
“That’s enough. We’ll get to the real work now.”
Satisfied, Adrang nodded and declared in a grand tone, addressing everyone in the room:
“I’ll proceed on the basis of the organization of Cassas’s apostles being real, and that the attacker who struck me belongs to this organization. Let’s proceed under that understanding without any misunderstandings.”
“…”
“I will provide the information on the Cassas Apostle who killed Portia and also attacked me.”
No one challenged this statement.
Adrang searched through his coat, pulled out a bundle of papers, and began scanning them, speaking as he did so:
“Alias is Selphy Helman. Barely passed at the expert level during the grading review, but from actual combat against her, her strength would be estimated in the mid to low 300-levels. She had short red hair and green eyes. Similar in age to me, she was rather tall and bulky.”
After this, Adrang looked up from the papers, scanning the room.
“Does anyone have a guess as to who she might be?”
“…”
“…”
Silence enveloped the meeting. No one seemed to have any guesses.
Adrang, who apparently anticipated such a situation, let out a brief sigh.
“I couldn’t find any useful information from the top informants in Crosspade’s alleys either. Even though the resurrection sect was able to identify the captives we apprehended, their concealment is like navigating through fog – a first for me.”
“…”
“…”
Everyone was silent, but the atmosphere was undoubtedly one of strong agreement.
After debating whether or not to open my mouth, I eventually raised my hand.
“Umm… Mr. Adrang. Where is the body of the one who attacked you currently?”
Everyone’s eyes immediately turned towards me.
Quit staring already! Scared, I took a step back as Adrang, on behalf of everyone else, asked me:
“Do you mean… the body of Selphy Helman?”
“Yes, that one.”
“It’s currently being temporarily laid in my residence’s storage room, but why do you ask?”
“I can figure out the real name of that guy, at least.”
Upon hearing my statement, another wave of overwhelming silence engulfed the room.
For heaven’s sake, stop overreacting to every single thing I do. How am I supposed to know how you’re supposed to react?
Awkwardly scratching the back of my head, Adrang eventually managed to voice a response:
“Is that true?”
“What wealth could I possibly gain from lying? None, I assure you.”
“Then, we should go examine the body immediately!”
Uncharacteristically stumbling over his words, Adrang leapt to his feet with visible excitement. It was clear that uncovering the identities of the attackers was incredibly meaningful to him.
Despite the situation, I couldn’t help but smile slightly.
“But, could I ask a small favor?”
Adrang’s movement abruptly halted.
“Ask?”
“Yes. It’s not much, but I’d like to briefly enter the Sacred Festival arena.”
Adrang’s previously bright face darkened slightly.
“Hmm. Entry into the arena for anything other than the competition is strictly prohibited even for the challengers…”
“But Mr. Adrang, you can supervise me closely. I’ll just go in briefly.”
“Hmm…”
Adrang exhaled several times, his narrow eyes fixed firmly on me.
It wasn’t suspicion so much as… yeah. Uncertainty about my intent.
Deciding to ease his concerns, I shrugged and added:
“It might be a clue to catching the tail of the Cassas apostles.”
The moment I said this, a sharp and decisive approval came.
“Very well, let’s do it.”
As expected, Adrang. Always making decisions so smoothly.
I finally felt a bit relieved. Once I restore the residual memories, I might learn something more.
‘At the very least, I’ll find out who killed me.’
I briefly smiled wryly, quickly erasing it before Adrang’s gaze could reach me.
Then I turned and led the way out of the meeting room.
“Shall we go?”
“Alright.”
Adrang and the others quickly followed behind me.
Thus, we left Adrang’s room, heading towards the storage located at the far end of the compound.
