Chapter 328
A Suspicious Light Novel
Sizzle.
With a noise, a video plays on my smartphone.
I cranked the volume up to the max.
On the smartphone screen, the image of the Professor in a prison uniform appears.
“Professor…?”
Wilhelmina’s eyebrows twitch as she recognizes his face.
She mutters in a small voice.
Soon, theProfessor’s voice fills the quiet lobby through the smartphone’s speaker.
[The death of the Five Crowns was indeed orchestrated by the League Master, Messiah.]
The moment the Professor finishes speaking, the lobby freezes cold.
It was the moment when the hidden truth behind the major incident from ten years ago was revealed through a confirmed witness, the Professor.
Olivia covers her mouth, while the other heroines hold their breath.
“……”
Wilhelmina’s eyes shake.
Unbelievable.
That was the look on her face.
It was the same shocked expression seen in the animation.
And honestly, it made sense.
The death of her younger brother, Damian, was the fundamental cause of Wilhelmina’s descent into villainy.
The reason she grabbed the hand that Messiah extended was to resurrect Damian.
But that didn’t mean Wilhelmina, known for her suspicious nature, fully trusted Messiah.
After all, her relationship with Messiah was based purely on necessity.
However, that cooperation was possible only because Wilhelmina was unaware of the truth.
[Ten years ago, I heard from the League Master that in order to create the New World, the death of the Five Crowns, symbolizing the order of the old world, was absolutely necessary. He said he would erase all the Five Crowns to signal the start of the New World project.]
Wilhelmina’s hands tremble.
Her face turns pale, and her lips grow blue.
[…Finally, it was also Messiah’s scheme that prompted the mysterious villain to kill Damian Heisenberg. He explained all this to make me fall into villainy, preaching the legitimacy of the New World plan.]
Thud.
The video abruptly stops playing.
Thump.
Maybe her legs gave out, as Wilhelmina collapses into her seat.
With her head bowed, she trembles and speaks in a shaking voice.
“This testimony… is it really true? Messiah… killed Damian… Damian…”
“An… Damian…”
“Right. As the Professor said, the true culprit who killed your brother is the Messiah.”
I confirm the gloomy mumblings of Wilhelmina.
She flinches.
Wilhelmina’s body trembles.
“…”
A moment of deathly silence ensues.
As everyone stays silent, Wilhelmina stands up.
With a voice filled with rage, she mumbles,
“…I can’t forgive… my brother, my brother… I will kill the Messiah. Right now…”
Ivory-colored magical waves burst forth from her body.
The focus vanishes from Wilhelmina’s golden eyes.
Drip.
Tears flow from her empty-looking eyes.
Complete rampage mode.
She’s ready to kill the Messiah at any moment.
[Partner, what will you do? You need to calm her down. If this goes on…]
The Black Prince urges from my mind.
Even without his pushing, I had no intention of sending Wilhelmina to the Messiah right now.
While the Undertaker rampaging and attacking the Messiah is a scene from the original work, that happens in Volume 19 during the climax, where the Messiah is already wrecking the academy and executing his New World plans, and the protagonist is gathering heroines and allies to face the Messiah.
Moreover, true to the light novel format, the Undertaker, who recklessly charged at the Messiah in the original, almost got seriously hurt and was saved by the protagonist just in time.
A classic light novel scenario of frustrating and drawn-out plotting.
She faced such dire consequences in the original, so if the Undertaker recklessly charges at the Messiah now, when he hasn’t shown up yet…
She will definitely die.
The Undertaker is indeed a powerful character in this world, but the opponent is the damn final boss of this light novel world.
Facing the Messiah alone is a suicidal act.
‘I can’t let that happen.’
The Undertaker must not die now.
For the sake of facing the Messiah, and to heal my parents through the Immortal Heart.
I absolutely needed the Undertaker.
I can’t allow her to be needlessly killed in a reckless charge.
“Thank you for revealing the truth. Black Beast. So, I…”
The Undertaker turns around with a shadowed face.
She wipes her tears and bites her lip.
Damn this light novel world.
These humans treat life like it’s worth less than a used shoe.
For the sake of others, for the sake of achieving their goals, they act as if they don’t care if they die.
An incomprehensible mindset.
“If this goes on, you’ll end up dead. You’re not strong enough to defeat the Messiah alone, are you?”
I first try to dissuade the Undertaker.
She flinches at my words.
She turns her head.
Drip.
Tears continue to flow from her golden eyes as they look at me.
She squeezes her eyes shut and, looking at me, says,
“What does that matter? It’s about avenging my brother…”
Just as expected, she’s blinded by vengeance like in the original.
After all, her brother’s death is so significant to her that she even wants to resurrect him, trying to make the impossible a reality.
Even though her brother is dead, she values him so much that she’s trying to defy death and bring him back to life, which makes absolutely no sense.
The identity of the bastard who killed such a precious family member has finally been revealed.
It’s no wonder she can’t keep her cool.
But charging in blindly is just a bad idea.
“You’re not after bringing Damian back; you want revenge, don’t you?”
Here, I needed to clarify her motivation again.
The Undertaker’s primary goal is, after all, Damian’s resurrection.
Revenge is just her secondary objective.
“······!”
The Undertaker’s eyes waver upon hearing my words.
Her hands tremble slightly.
“But… my brother… the one who killed him… the enemy… the Messiah… tricked me… .”
The Undertaker’s hands shake uncontrollably.
While she didn’t trust him completely, she still had some form of cooperation with the Messiah.
In the original story, the Messiah tempted the Undertaker with sweet promises that if the New World came, her brother Damian could be resurrected, even supporting her research costs and materials.
But it turns out that the Messiah was the one who really killed her brother.
If that doesn’t feel like betrayal, then what is?
“Revenge can wait until you’ve finished with the resurrection. Haven’t you heard? A gentleman’s revenge is never too late, even if it takes ten years! Focus on Damian’s resurrection for now.”
I throw out some proverb I picked up from martial arts novels to remind her of her primary goal.
The Undertaker bites her lip after hearing me.
Her fingers twitch in agitation.
She’s in an internal struggle between revenge and resurrection.
This was proof that my persuasion was working.
Now, I had to seal the deal.
“······And about your brother’s soul, it’s still on the surface, sealed away.”
This was knowledge that even the Professor didn’t know—only I and the Messiah, who had read the original story, were aware of this information.
It was my secret weapon to sway the suspicious Undertaker completely.
The Undertaker’s eyes tremble again upon hearing my words.
“?!”
The existence of the soul is a core factor in the Undertaker’s resurrection research.
To achieve the resurrection she desires, both the body and soul must be intact.
But until now, the Undertaker had no idea where her brother’s soul was.
After my words, the Undertaker squints at me.
She steps a little closer.
“The Messiah said that too… If I follow the orders… He’d tell me where the soul is… But how do you know that…”
The Undertaker speaks slowly.
The Messiah said that?
Is that why the Undertaker appeared before me sooner than expected in the original?
Did he dangle the bait of her brother’s soul to move her?
Seriously, the Messiah used such high-level bait already.
This is proof that his New World plan is advancing quicker than in the original.
It was unexpected that he directly mentioned the whereabouts of the soul, but that didn’t matter.
I just needed to inform her of another truth.
“Your brother’s soul is sealed within the Soul Gem, which the Grand Elder of the Cult possesses. The Grand Elder is the one who, under the orders of the Messiah, killed your brother—the identity of this unidentified villain. That’s why he has your brother’s soul.”
“The soul gem with the sealed soul is in the possession of the Grand Elder. The Elder was the one who executed your brother under Messiah’s orders, the identity of an unidentified villain. That’s why he has your brother’s soul.”
The Grand Elder, Diego Morales.
The main villain of Volume 17.
In his villain days, he was known as the Soul Reaper.
True to his name, he possessed a gift that allowed him to handle souls.
Wilhelmina must have known at least that much information.
Furthermore, the Elder and the Messiah were in a cooperative relationship.
It wasn’t an illogical tale.
No, it was rather a strong possibility.
“……”
Wilhelmina fell silent again after hearing my words.
Her shoulders trembled slightly.
Wilhelmina lifted her head.
Her shining golden eyes, a hollow and chilling gaze, were directed at me.
Wilhelmina spoke in a quiet voice.
“How can I… trust what you say…?”
I knew she would doubt me.
After all, if I casually spilled top-secret information that no one should know, it would be quite normal for her to be suspicious.
The Undertaker was fundamentally a suspicious person.
It’s strange that in a light novel world, people believe everything they hear.
But I had prepared for this as well.
‘Now, it’s your turn.’
I called for the Black Prince in my mind.
The Black Prince, receiving my command, spoke.
“[I, the noble Black Prince, will vouch for my partner’s trustworthiness with the honor of the Bonaparte royal family. The partner’s testimony is an indisputable truth. Sister, don’t tell me you can’t trust my words?]”
“That is…”
The Undertaker appeared flustered by the Black Prince’s words.
She fell silent.
Even though she was overly suspicious, that was still according to light novel standards.
In this mysterious world, trust is born when someone trustworthy backs up a claim.
What a gullible world it is.
“……”
Silence lingered.
After a long pause, the Undertaker spoke in a trembling voice.
“……Alright. If Raul says so, I… believe it…”
The Undertaker bit her lip.
Her hands trembled.
“……Black Beast……”
The Undertaker called out to me.
Tears streamed down her eyes once again.
Thud.
The Undertaker abruptly sat down.
Covering her face with both hands, she began to cry sorrowfully.
Despite being older than the President, her appearance was similar to his, resulting in the unintended scene of a young girl crying because of me.
Honestly, it was quite embarrassing.
“So, what should I do? P-please tell me… Everything I believed in… I’ve been deceived until now… I can’t even take revenge… What should I do… Huh, huh, waaaaah…”
The Undertaker cried like a child, and with her youthful appearance, it was even more pitiable.
Just then, I heard Hoshino Kasumi’s voice near my ear.
“Junior, you’re a natural demon who can make even a child cry with your words without a drop of compassion…”
I couldn’t believe it. How did it turn out like this?
