Chapter 155: Ventilation

“Let’s go to the White Bunker!” Kamma shouted as he barged into the room, having run all the way down the hallway.

“No,” Karl said curtly.

“What do you mean,

no

? Is this the time to be lying around? Damn it, all the troops have gathered in Cove!” Kamma shouted, looking incredulously at Karl who was lounging on the sofa, eating fruit.

“We have to sell Fran’s information, don’t we?” Kamma lowered his voice as he tried to persuade Karl. “To do that, we need to go to the White Bunker, right? Huh?”

“We do need to sell Fran’s information, but we don’t have to go ourselves, do we?” Karl argued. “Do I need to remind you? Master said we’d have reliable reinforcements come to us...”

“Then when is that so-called reliable guy coming? What if the war starts and we all die? Who’s going to be responsible then?”

Karl Mack, clearly used to Kamma’s whining, simply shook his head, grabbed his apple from the table, and took another bite.

“Just wait. We don’t have to sell Fran’s information to Tuli alone.”

“What do you mean...?”

Knock, knock, knock.

At that moment, Karl Mack cocked his head and asked, "Could they be... the reinforcements?"

Tap, tap, tap!

No sooner had Karl spoken than Kamma dashed to the door, moving faster than he ever had in his life.

“Mikhail! I've been waiting for you for so long...”

Opening the door with a broad smile, Kamma was taken aback by the unfamiliar person standing there.

“Who... who are you?”

"Nice to meet you. I’m glad to finally be able to reach you amidst all the chaos. Are you the head of the Ravat Guild?"

"Ahem, I'm not the head, but I am the administrator here."

Kamma cleared his throat, wearing a rather haughty expression as he spoke to the young man at the door.

"My name is Ledios. I'd like to do business with the Ravat Guild."

Seeing the young man's clean-cut appearance and outstretched hand, Kamma laughed heartily and led him in.

"Hahaha, a customer! Come on, show this gentleman in."

"Yes, sir."

A servant in the hallway approached and escorted the man to the reception room. As he entered, Kamma muttered irritably, “Business, in this mess? We're on the brink of war. Where did this idiot come from? Right, Karl?”

But Karl, seemingly uninterested in Kamma’s grumbling, suddenly stood up, still chewing on his apple. He tilted his head, deep in thought.

“Ledios...? That name sounds familiar.”

Seeing Karl ignore him, Kamma snorted in disbelief, “You little...”. And just as he clenched his fist to give Karl a flick on the forehead...

“Aaah!”

“Khh—! Geez, you scared me!”

Startled by Karl’s sudden exclamation, Kamma unclenched his fist and stepped back.

“Wh-What is it, you fool—?”

But instead of responding, Karl covered Kamma’s mouth with his hand and brought a finger to his lips, signaling to be quiet.

“Shhh! Quiet.”

“Hmpf...? Mrmph?!”

After whispering into Kamma’s ear, Karl scanned their surroundings.

“Don’t you remember? Ledios, one of the people Master told us to watch out for?”

“Oh...!! Mmm!!” Kamma unwittingly shouted as he finally remembered, but Karl was quick to silence him once again.

“Ledios and Douglas. If you stay here long enough, at some point, one of them, or maybe both, will come to you. Find out whether they are aligned with Tuli or Fran, and then sell them the information.”

Before leaving Cove, Karyl had called Kamma and Karl Mack to give them these instructions.

"And if you can find out who’s backing them during the deal, even better."

"It’s probably Fran or Tuli, right? Or the other dukes supporting them."

"That’s the most likely scenario, but it’s not certain.”

"What do you mean? Who else could it be?"

"You’ve heard of the Wooden Cloud, haven’t you?"

"What?! That rumored secret organization of the principality? Why them?"

"Yes. I’ve been trying to find them. It’s a personal matter but also a continental issue. They’re hard to track down."

"They probably know about me by now

,” Karyl went on.

“But during my investigation, I’ve realized they might not be working solely for the principality."

"So, you want us to investigate the Wooden Cloud independently from the principality."

"Exactly."

The quick-witted Karl Mack nodded, understanding Karyl’s point right away. Upon arriving in Cove, they confirmed that Fran Lurein was part of the Wooden Cloud, but not everyone in the organization supported him.

In other words, there could be factions within the Wooden Cloud. If their goal were to fight for the dukes, they would have aimed to establish a new nation following the principality’s fall, not a religious order.

"I can’t explain everything. But remember, don’t take unnecessary risks even if you find them. This isn’t Tatur. Your priority is to return safely."

"Understood."

Karl Mack recalled Karyl’s instructions as he removed his hand from Kamma’s mouth.

"Old man, you know what we have to do, right?"

In response, Kamma finally gave him a playful knock on the head.

Smack!

"You brat. I told you to call me

administrator

, not

old man

," Kamma grumbled as he quickly adjusted his attire, his expression turning serious. "We need to sell our information to the real client. From here on, it's an adult's business. Just watch and learn, kid."

He flexed his hands and grabbed the doorknob of the door leading to the reception room.

"It's been a while..."

Despite his excitement, Karl Mack was confident Kamma wouldn’t fail. Although often underestimated due to the formidable people around him, Kamma was still an administrator in the lawless Tatur.

Kamma opened the door and stepped into the corridor. He then turned to Karl and said, "Watch me work my magic."

***

"Phew... This smell is awful..."

As they traveled south, Gordon wrinkled his nose at the terrible stench.

After waiting two more days at Marquis Vestal’s estate and confirming that Olivurn was preparing to return to the empire, Gordon set out with Karyl toward the south. Their destination was the Ghost Castle, and despite the considerable distance, the towering barrier they had to cross was already visible in the horizon.

"It's because it's the land of the dead,” Karyl explained. “Besides, this isn’t the only place with dead soil. When you're dead, it's all the same. Just bones and decaying flesh."

Gordon's face twisted in disgust as the stench grew stronger. Even Miliana pulled her veil tighter around her face, trying to block out the foul smell.

“It may all be the same, but at least normal corpses can serve as fertilizer. This kind of stench is a first for me.”

The Lord of the Rolling Hills, the Sand Serpent, also seemed displeased by the smell, letting out a low, guttural sound.

"It took quite some time to get here," Gordon commented.

"Actually, we got here relatively fast. If we’d taken the Cargon, it would’ve taken at least fifteen more days,” said Karyl.

"Who's going to take that when we have an airship?"

Gordon shrugged proudly at Karyl’s words, but Milliana scolded him.

“Really? You abandoned the prince, and now you're heading back south, letting the emperor know? That would be the end of the Guidance Mercenary Gang”

"Don't worry. We'll confront Digon before that happens," Gordon shot back.

"Who's

we

? The empire, or just your Guidance Mercenary Gang? If you want to fight, we can do it right now," Miliana challenged.

Gordon laughed at her fiery response.

"Haha, this cheeky young thing..."

“Those two... Are they okay?” Aidan asked Karyl, concerned. To an outsider, it probably seemed like they were about to fight, but to Karyl, it looked like a father and daughter bickering.

"When do we launch the assault?" Miliana asked.

"We're not going in immediately. Everything must be done in order. The Ghost Castle is unlike any dungeon we've faced before," Karyl said, pointing to the barrier.

"Hmm..." Miliana murmured, waiting for more information. "So what's the plan?" she asked.

Karyl then turned to Aidan and asked, "Aidan, when you return to a house that's been empty for a long time, what's the first thing you do?"

"Umm..." Aidan thought for a moment before saying, "You need to ventilate it."

"Exactly. And this is no different, only much worse. No human has walked in this land for over a thousand years, and it's filled with ghosts and corpses. If we just go in, breathing alone will be like ingesting poison," Karyl said, drawing a line across his throat with his thumb.

"We need to purify the area around the barrier first so we can enter safely.”

"It’s like a giant poison trap." Aidan shuddered, recalling an ancient Eastern poison technique, where various poisonous creatures were confined together, creating a potent toxin.

"Right. Over time, accumulated poison can become more potent than black magic or curses," Karyl added.

“That poison has been building up for over a thousand years.”

“You’ve never seen it, have you? It’s one of his specialties,” Karyl said.

“Whose?”

“Simon Coden. The master of your Eastern Lands.”

Casually mentioning his name, Karyl surprised Aidan, who looked at him wide-eyed.

“You know the master of the Eastern Lands?”

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

“Well, not exactly. Just a bit.”

His vague answer intrigued Aidan. Given how secretive the Burning Darkness was, even the existence of a top leader of the Eastern Lands was supposed to be a top secret.

Did he hear this from Dushala?

Aidan wondered.

Even though there was a good chance she knew, the black market wasn’t known for having much information about the Eastern Lands. Among the people living on the island, only a few members of leadership had seen Simon Coden.

I really don’t know,

Aidan thought, chuckling softly. It seemed nothing could surprise him anymore.

“You’re right. If we’re going in, we should open the door wide. I definitely don’t want to enter with that foul smell lingering in the air.” Milliana nodded at Karyl’s words.

“Agreed.”

Creak... Groan... Grind...

Karyl smiled faintly, imagining the countless undead waiting for them behind the wall.

“It’s time to bring down that thousand-year-old wall.”