Chapter 268: Victory is a Side Reward (5)

The Great Thief Shade. It was a grand title for a mere criminal, but Shade was a thief who deserved such a name. A lunatic who always sent a warning before stealing. A lunatic who never once used that warning as a bluff. A lunatic who had never once failed.

Most notably, he had stolen from the emperor himself. Afterward, he even boasted that there was nothing in this world he couldn’t steal. However, an emperor was still an emperor. Shade, who had believed he would never be caught by anyone, was eventually caught by the emperor and brought to the execution platform.

On the day of his execution, thousands of spectators gathered. The executioner told Shade to leave a final message, and Shade shouted as if he had been waiting for the moment.

“If you want my treasure, I’ll give it to you. Go ahead and find it. The strongest swordsmanship! The greatest elixirs! And endless piles of gold! I left it all there!”

It was his answer to the crowd who had demanded to know where he hid the countless treasures he had stolen.

Then, Shade’s head fell as he finished riling up the crowd. Everyone believed that the world’s greatest thief had died that day. However, most people believed Shade didn’t die, and for good reason.

Shade had been a master of disguise. From child to elder, from height to build, even voice, his technique, the Ever-Shifting Deception, let him change everything.

After Shade’s so-called death, countless adventurers and treasure hunters set out seeking his treasures, and an age of grand adventurers rose for a brief time. As a result, many hidden relics and treasures were discovered, and even architecture advanced dramatically in order to prevent theft.

Moreover, even some of Shade’s treasures were found. Among them was the Seven Tools of Shade.

Keter showed one of those tools now, a master key, and said, “It’s true I have that man’s belongings, but unfortunately, I’m not his apprentice.”

Zioran folded his arms and scoffed. “Keter, I do not know how a noble like you has any connection to Shade, but if you tell me his location, movements, or anything related to him, I may overlook everything.”

“Listen. I won Pigasso’s

Widow

from gambling. I didn’t recognize it at first, but there was Shade’s signature on the back. I took it for that reason alone, and only later found out it was the incredibly valuable

Widow

.”

“Are you saying you gambled with Shade?”

“I can’t say for certain. Shade is a master of disguise, isn’t he? But it didn’t feel like him. The guy I gambled with didn’t know about the painting’s value nor Shade’s signature.”

“The more I hear, the stranger it sounds. There is no place in this world where Pigasso’s

Widow

would end up appearing on a gambling table.”

“Isn’t there one place?”

Even though Keter’s tone wasn’t serious, the sincerity in his behavior made Zioran pause to think for a moment. Then the answer came to him right away. There was only one place in this world where a Pigasso piece could be just laying around.

“Liqueur?”

“Correct.”

“In that case, Lord Keter, are you saying you’re a Liqueurian—”

“That seems to be the case.”

“

Hmmm

.”

Zioran, who had raised his spirit without caring at all that Keter belonged to a noble family, immediately lowered that spirit the moment he heard he was a Liqueurian.

“Lord Keter, you have a strange talent. I can sense both truth and lies from your words as if I suddenly became some kind of psychic.”

“Honesty is my weapon.”

“Then tell me just one thing. Shade left a handwritten signature on the backside of

Widow

. A signature he used to brag about stealing from Dranak. Yet, why did you send it to us after seeing it?”

“I told you from the start. I was sure someone would come.”

“

Huh

, so you took the risk of potentially becoming enemies with Dranak... just to save Deputy Patriarch Hissop?” Zioran narrowed his eyes.

“You sound like saving him isn’t a big deal. I don’t like that. Even a layman like me could tell

Widow

was a good piece. If I sold it for a high price, I could easily make millions of gold. But the only place that could rescue Hissop immediately was Dranak.”

“You must deeply care for Deputy Patriarch Hissop.”

“Is that how it seems?” Keter scratched the back of his head and snapped. “When you tried to take Hissop away, how did Crown Prince Rukan look?”

Zioran hadn’t paid close attention to the crown prince’s face, but even without seeing it directly, he could sense the atmosphere well enough to answer easily.

“He pretended otherwise, but he looked very displeased.”

“

Haha!

Isn’t that great? A situation where he wanted to keep my brother Hissop as a hostage, but had no choice but to let him go! Isn’t that exhilarating and fun?”

“

Huh?

Mmm

...”

Watching Keter spread his arms like a child, delighted, Zioran thought to himself.

Is he insane?

At the same time, he found Keter irritating.

“You fear crossing Crown Prince Rukan, yet you’re not afraid of crossing Dranak?”

Comparing a kingdom with tens of millions of people to a single organization might sound foolish, but strictly speaking, it was reasonable. Even Crown Prince Rukan bowed before Dranak. Given that, even a noble family like Sefira wouldn’t be able to handle them easily.

Yet, Keter casually said, “Dranark didn’t lose anything, did you? You found

Widow

without spending a single coin, and honestly, you found something even more valuable than

Widow

.”

“More valuable than Pigasso’s

Widow

...?”

Keter pointed at himself with his thumb and grinned. “Sefira’s Solver, Keter. A man who will soon become someone you won’t be able to meet even if you want to.”

“

Hah

...

hahaha!

”

The tension that had taken over Zioran melted away. Soon, he wiped the faint tears that had gathered in his eyes and shook his head.

“Lord Keter, it seems you don’t know what humility means.”

“It’s one of the hardest things in this world. However, I doubt you’ll find it easy to hate me.”

“

Bahahaha!

Every word you say is a masterpiece!”

Zioran slapped his own knees, unable to hold back the laughter he tried to suppress.

Keter felt satisfied watching Zioran’s reaction.

He’s someone who doesn’t judge good and evil. It would be okay to form a connection with him.

Zioran was someone who didn’t act emotionally. Even if he became an enemy, he was the type who could always become an ally again through calculations. Keter liked those kinds of people.

“Six.” After calling for Six, Keter continued speaking to Zioran. “This is my business card, and please give me Dranak’s coordinates. The teleport gate is free of charge.”

“You can even open a teleport gate? Truly talented. I’ll take your card, but there’s no way I’ll give you the coordinates.”

After receiving Keter’s card, Zioran also handed him his own. Then, he took something like a dice out of his pocket and tossed it to the floor. The tiny dice, no bigger than a pinky, suddenly swelled up and instantly turned into a doorway large enough for a person to pass through.

“It’s a portable teleport gate. The latest magic device from the empire.”

“If you’re going to brag, at least give me one too.”

“I’ll consider it if you come to Dranak.”

“Then I’ll consider going to Dranak,” Keter answered immediately.

“

Hahaha

... you’re amusing. So amusing that I want to stay next to you, but then I’d grow tired of you too quickly. So to savor it, I’ll leave for now.”

Zioran stepped into the portable teleport gate. As the doorway began to shrink, Zioran suddenly stuck his head back out.

“Saving Hissop alone doesn’t feel like it fully paid for the value of

Widow

, so let me give you one more thing. Keep an eye on Crown Prince Rukan. I sensed a trace of an Old God from him.”

Zioran said only what he wanted to say and then disappeared, and the portable teleport gate soon closed and vanished.

***

Keter stroked his chin after Zioran had left because of the term he had mentioned, Old God.

So Rukan, that wheelchair, believed in an Old God, huh?

As expected, Rukan didn’t act without reason. He clearly had something backing him. Old God was nothing more than a refined expression, as they were beings called Malignant Gods. They were different from evil gods, and to put it simply, beings like Liqueur were Malignant Gods.

Someone who openly says they are a bad person and goes around stabbing others is easy to prepare for. But Malignant Gods are troublesome.

There were many who pretended to be perfectly normal on the outside, acting like benevolent gods who gave without asking anything in return. However, this world was so rotten that it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that everyone in it were Malignant Gods.

“If that’s the case, the Family Wars might not even have been a means to grow stronger in the first place.”

What Malignant Gods wanted was ultimately humans. They loved taking things like souls and the lives of others.

“What if the Family Wars were opened just to offer sacrifices to a Malignant God?”

It wouldn’t be possible to ignore the invasion of foreign nations and start a civil war, so they would compromise to some extent and hold a Family War. Even so, thousands to tens of thousands of casualties would occur at the least. Or perhaps the negative energy from the war itself could become food for a Malignant God.

Just then, Keter heard the voice of his brother Myle from afar.

“Keter!”

Behind him were two squads of the Order of the Galaxy. He must have sensed that Zioran was someone powerful and brought support troops.

Hm. I always think this, but Sefira really has too few Transcendentals.

The quality of their forces alone could be considered top-tier. Their archery proficiency, the resolve of the soldiers, everything was sufficient. If Sefira truly chose to defend, they could stand firm even against an entire noble family.

However, they had one fatal flaw. They had no Transcendentals. They would be able to somehow deal with a six-star Grandmaster, and if they used all their resources, they might even be able to kill one. However, a seven-star Prime was out of the question.

Of course, a Prime wasn’t invincible. Even a five-star Master could kill one. But the problem was that a Prime would never be alone. The advantage was overwhelming when both sides had armies, but only one side had a seven-star Prime.

That was the current condition of Sefira. They had a few five-star Masters, but not a single six-star Grandmaster, let alone a seven-star Prime.

It must be a fundamental issue of Zodiac Archery.

If Besil and Gasilius hadn’t stepped up, Keter would have stepped in himself to solve the problem, but Besil and Gasilius acted first. The fact that they entered private training was proof of that.

They wouldn’t have undergone private training just to look for a clue. That would be pointless. Sefira is always barely holding on to the edge every single month. There’s no time for something like that.

It was more accurate to assume that they had already found a clue, and entered private training to master it. That was somewhat reassuring. At the very least, it meant the two of them could return as six-star Grandmasters.

A Prime would probably be impossible.

Keter believed nothing in this world was truly impossible, but even he thought Besil and Gasilius reaching Prime would be extremely difficult. That realm was simply that far away. No matter how genius one was, it wasn’t something one could reach easily. It was a realm where one became aware that they were no longer human, where one had to give up something precious. That was what being a Prime was.

I managed to reach that realm after paying a heavy price in my previous life.

In truth, Keter could become a Prime right now if he wished. He had already reached it once in his past life, so all he needed to do was repeat the process. However, he didn’t do so. He didn’t need the power of a Prime yet, and moreover...

What I want isn’t self-destruction.

Keter’s goal wasn’t to kill the queen even if that meant he would die too. It was actually the opposite. He wanted to kill the queen so that he could live. Killing the queen was merely one step in the process of surviving.

In that case, what did it mean to live? Was simply remaining alive the same as truly living?

Of course not.

The Order of the Galaxy surrounded Keter to protect him.

Myle approached with worried eyes and asked, “Keter, are you hurt anywhere?”

“Isn’t this what it means to be alive?”

“

Hm?

”

“To be worried about, respected, acknowledged... I think the taste of life is found in these exchanges with others.”

Myle wondered why Keter said such things, but because it was very like him to do so, Myle burst into hearty laughter.

“Right, Keter. So you’re unharmed.”

“I plan to keep it that way.”

“I wish I could keep things that way too.”

For Myle, it was a dreamlike wish he could never achieve, but that wasn’t the case for Keter.

“You will.”

To Keter, this entire world was a dream.