Chapter 259: Birds Hear the Words of the Night and Rats Hear the Words of the Day

Translator: Leyy3

10 minutes ago...

“Your Majesty, Rothschild’s movements are out of the ordinary.”

Aluko’s report was quite interesting.

“I was also thinking the same thing.”

Kang Chul-In nodded his head.

Rothschild’s response to Kang Chul-In was too passive.

He didn’t take any action even when all of his alliances isolated him by himself.

I did expect he was planning something.

When Kang Chul-In heard Aluko’s report, he felt like an uncomfortably itchy spot had been scratched.

“Alright. Then report.”

“Yes, your Majesty.”

Aluko began his report.

“First of all, Rothschild had brought an immense amount of gold from the ‘other world.’ It’s an unimaginable amount of...”

“I expected that.”

Kang Chul-In nodded his head.

Wasting money?

Being born with a diamond spoon in his mouth, he always ran away to Earth when he was in trouble, and returned after asking his daddy for money.

However...

“Yes, your Majesty. I thought so up to there, too. However, right after the second Lords’ Meeting ended, a large casket was delivered to Rothschild’s territory.”

Aluko’s continued report piqued Kang Chul-In’s curiosity.

“Casket?”

“Yes, your Majesty.”

“The source?”

“It seems to be from Overlord Andrei Ivanovich’s Blood Castle territory.”

“...!”

“The casket is 1.5 meters wide and 3.5 meters long and it has old letters that I’ve never seen before. Also, a strange but powerful energy was flowing out of it.”

Kang Chul-In narrowed his eyes.

It was definitely strange.

A vampire that he didn’t know existed in the past became an Overlord, and gave Rothschild some casket?

Something’s fishy.

Kang Chul-In immediately sensed something suspicious in their connection.

“So.”

Kang Chul-In tossed Aluko a question.

“So, what happened?”

“Yes, your Majesty. From what we saw, Rothschild moved the casket into a locked door and hasn’t left since.”

The locked room was the space where Rothschild created his dolls.

“I see.”

Kang Chul-In nodded in understanding.

“Good work. You’ve done...”

“Your Majesty. I still have something else to report.”

“Hm? Rothschild locked in there but you still have something to report?”

“Of course, your Majesty.”

Aluko spoke in a confident voice.

“There’s this saying in Fox Valley.”

“...?”

“Rats hear the words of the day and birds hear the words of the night.”

“Isn’t it that birds hear the words of the day and rats hear the words of the night?”[1]

“Pardon?”

Aluko tilted his head. It was a typical movement of birds.

“Your Majesty, owls sleep during the day...?”

“N-Never mind.”

Kang Chul-In waved his hand.

“Continue with your report.”

He knew it was foolish debating whether or not the saying of Fox Valley was right or the Earth’s.

What did it matter what listened when?

“Yes, your Majesty.”

Aluko continued his report.

“It’s true that it was hard to observe the closed room. However! You know that it’s not just demi-humans at Fox Valley, right?”

“Hm?”

“We have the shredder.”

“...!”

“They’re species that are equivalent to the underground rat species. Also, their firm toenails are powerful enough to break iron.”

“That means...?”

“Yes, your Majesty. The Shredder has succeeded in planting a miniature magic-engineered periscope in Rothschild’s closed room!”

“...!”

“Thanks to that, we were able to collect information on most of what happened inside of the room.”

It was an incredible achievement.

Even Kang Chul-In hadn’t been able to get inside that room. The abilities of the agency at Fox Valley was amazing.

“Is that so!?”

Kang Chul-In’s voice was raised.

“Yes, your Majesty!”

“So? What information did you collect?”

“That is... there was a shiny black cocoon inside the casket.”

“A cocoon? Like from an insect?”

“Yes, your Majesty.”

“So?”

“Rothschild entered the cocoon, and the cocoon wrapped around him like it was alive. And until this morning, it squirmed creepily.”

“...”

“Then, this morning, Rothschild looked extremely strong when he ripped the cocoon open and came out. His hesitant appearance completely disappeared.”

And just then, a thought hit Kang Chul-In like a bolt from the blue.

‘A cocoon, cocoon... could it be?’

Necromantic Bay.

It was the undead research lab of the now dead Aleister.

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Dorian said that he had also seen a cocoon inside the Necromantic Bay. Didn’t he say that the thing born from it had chased him until the end?

Something seems suspicious... I don’t want to just go over it.

Andrei Ivanovich, and the cocoon.

Both these things didn’t exist in the past, and it didn’t quite make sense that it was all because of a butterfly effect.

“After this, Rothschild...”

Aluko’s report continued while Kang Chul-In was thinking about something else.

“You may have heard already, but they say he’s been going out to hunt a monster.”

“Monster hunting?”

“Yes, your Majesty.”

“What kind?”

“That is...”

“...?”

“They say he’s hunting a gold dragon.”

“...!”

“He’s recruiting strong adventurers with a large amount of money and is creating a team of his own with his soldiers.”

“Look at this guy.”

Kang Chul-In’s voice took on a condescending tone.

“So that damned bastard is putting me aside and doing growth quests, is that what you're saying?”

“I-I don’t under...”

“It’s nothing.”

There was no need to explain the growth quests that were given to Lords, so Kang Chul-In changed the subject.

“Oh, and your Majesty.”

“What is it? Do you still have something to report?”

“Of course.”

Aluko shot his eyes open.

“Your Majesty, don’t be too surprised.”

“...?”

“According to the information from the shredder, Rothschild cannot use his connected bodies anymore.”

“What!?”

“...!”

“Is that true?”

“Y-Yes! Because of the penalty of him losing 4 of his bodies with the Laputa incident...”

It was then.

“Hahahahaha!”

A maniacal laugh escaped from Kang Chul-In’s mouth.

“So that’s what happened? Hahahaha!”

It was a loud laugh.

Kang Chul-In laughed like he was letting out all the laughter that he had suppressed.

Of course he would react like this.

Even after finding out that Rothschild had dolls he controlled, he wasn’t able to get rid of them.

But he couldn’t use the bodies?

This was crucial information that let him know the chance to kill him had finally come.

“Aluko of Fox Valley, listen.”

An imposing order came from Kang Chul-In.

“From now, all forces follow the hunt of the Gold Dragon and report back to me.”

“Yes, your Majesty!”

“Also, after this, all of you at the Fox Valley’s intelligence agency will be given the third rank promotion and you and the shredder will be given the Martial Arts Medal.”

“Y-your Majesty!”

Aluko was surprised.

The Valhalla Martial Arts Medal.

This was the highest ranking medal in the Valhalla Kingdom.

No one had received it before!

“H-How...!?”

“No.”

Kang Chul-In shook his head.

“You deserve the Martial Arts Medal.”

“...!”

“Give it all you got to finish the task I’ve given you!”

“Yes, your Majesty!”

Aluko shouted in response.

“I’ll definitely carry out your orders with the honor of the Fox Valley’s intelligence agency on the line!”

Who would be able to resist him?

It was extremely rare for Kang Chul-In to tell others to ‘give everything they had.’

***

Inside the tent of the Valhalla commanding forces...

“Ugh... ughhh...!”

A pained groan escaped Kwak Jung’s mouth.

“These cowardly powerful bastards! They’re weak as fuck but their numbers! Argh!”

It was a spew of curses.

Kwak Jung was stressed to the maximum creating strategies against the Gullveig Coalition.

“...”

“...”

“...”

Silence filled the tent. Everyone blinked with blank faces.

But there was nothing they could do.

Each of the soldiers of Valhalla were strong, but they didn’t have the brains for coming up with strategies.

“Whew... what to do, no, if this...”

Because of that, Kwak Jung suffered from carrying the forces.

Ping, ping!

It was so much that you could almost hear Kwak Jung’s head spinning.

“I have an electronic brain... electric brain... ha, no this isn’t it...”

Kwak Jung muttered like he was drunk and wasted.

However, once he was done explaining his orders to the Valhalla forces, their faces became filled with shock.

“Look. Tiger Division, and here, Red Dragon Division. These divisions will defend the canyons, and secretary Lucia will quickly...”

There was no weakness in Kwak Jung’s strategy.

No one would be able to look at this without being astonished.

“Wow... you’re the brain of Pangaea!”

“An actual genius!”

“Mr. Kwak, I’m amazed so many times these days!”

Electronic brain.

It sounded like a joke, but Kwak Jung had calculated every single detail, like he was some kind of program with an algorithm.

“Nothing else is needed, just do it like this. I’m not accepting any complaints. Alright, everyone, leave. Leave!”

Kwak Jung demanded that they leave because he was tired.

Reading and analyzing all the reports and coming up with strategies took quite a toll on your mind.

After the conferences ended, he would put a towel on his forehead from the headaches.

Knowing this, the executives of Valhalla left so Kwak Jung could rest.

“Whew.”

Kwak Jung sighed when he was left alone.

“I’ll really die at this rate... my head is working fine, why am I so busy?”

Just then, a purple light flashed in Kwak Jung’s vision, but because he was so tired, he didn’t notice it.

“Fuck it!”

***

“If only I clear this quest...!”

Rothschild clenched his fists together seeing the status window in front of him.

The details about the quest were the following:

-

Growth, Marionette Master

Goal: Take care of the gold dragon.

[Growth effects]

All stats +20% / Controllable bodies +1 / Connected body stats +30% / Proficiency of creating connected bodies +50% / Ability to magically engineer connected bodies

[Clear Rewards]

+7 levels / Lords Points 2,000P / 10,000 Gold / Random Epic Item +1

The target of the quest was the strongest monster, a gold dragon.

It was a monster that even Kang Chul-In couldn’t fight one on one. However, it’s rewards were incredible.

If he completed this, he could get rid of all the humiliation and loss he felt.

“Alright, this is my last chance. Wait, Kang Chul-In. I’ll take your life soon. This strength, and growth... this will be enough.”

Rothschild clenched his teeth.

1. a Korean idiom for “walls have ears.”