Chapter 25: Full Moon Festival (2)

[ Main Quest is renewed! ]

[ Main Quest ]

[ The villain is trying to capture you! ]

[ Skillfully overcome this ordeal! ]

[ The faster you resolve it, the better the reward! ]

[ Reward: Branch benefit from the main scenario! ]

Seeing this pop up, I looked at the person in front of me.

Marquis Galdier Riverback, also known as the 'Purifier'.

'…To be honest, this guy is nothing special.'

He's but a puppet that moves as he's told.

He's just a clever little worm, not worthy of being a Chapter 1 boss with the enormous status of a Viscount.

Nonetheless, he's still a successful transport businessman and a famous philanthropist, who runs a charity foundation that's well-known even within the empire as a whole.

Their slogan was giving opportunities to talented individuals who are unable to develop their potential due to their circumstances and undesirable environment.

'He's very articulate in this sense.'

But in fact, this was simply to lay the groundwork.

He builds trust with the people, then slowly gaslight them in listening to everything he says.

Naturally, this results in death.

Take the people he brought with him right now, all of whom looked strong.

More than that, they are willing to sacrifice their lives for his sake. All it takes is a word from Marquis Riverback.

I secretly glanced at the tattoos on their necks.

It is the seal of the PURIFIER, a group of devil worshipers.

'Is it one of the factions?'

The main enemies of the scenario are devils and devil worshipers who they influenced.

Basically, they hate humanity and peace, and consider unleashing chaos and evil in the world as their lifelong goal. They have nothing else to do.

And the PURIFIERS are especially obsessed with the Tristan Family.

The story goes that the devil lives in the Tristan Family's bloodline.

They are aware, to some extent, of the fact that the resurrection of the 'Gray Devil' is related to this lineage.

They are the ones who threw a boulder at Elnore in the train, sneaking professional assassins into the school and detonated the bomb at the freshman welcome party and releasing the caged monsters.

"Princess Tristan, long time no see."

Seeing him smile as he saw Elnore, I really want to applaud his straight brazenness.

Meanwhile, when Elnore entered the restaurant and saw Marquis Riverback, her expression hardened even more.

'Pretty sure they aren't in good terms.'

Marquis Riverback is one of the representative political opponents of the Tristan Family.

He's acting as a liaison for a group, that was secretly working behind the scenes, to be exact.

"It's been a while, Marquis Riverback."

"Yes. How have you been?"

"If you're just going to talk nonsense, would you please step back? This is the least desirable time for me to get disturbed by you."

But despite her chilling tone, Marquis Riverback continued to smile and even beckoned to the people around him.

"I want to respect the princess's wishes, but I have something to do here."

Then, he snapped his fingers and the men standing near him moved in unison.

It's basically telling to follow his direction, otherwise…

"I'll borrow this man for a moment, Princess."

"Who says-"

Elnore was about to raise her voice but suddenly stopped midway.

I came closer and whispered something in her ear.

"…"

After that, I smiled at Elnore, whose eyes slightly widened.

"It's fine."

"…Dowd? That's-"

"It will be over soon, it won't take long."

"…"

Elnore mumbled something under her breath.

Uh. It will be over really soon.

In the first place.

It may already be over.

●

"It seems like you're in good terms with Princess Tristan?"

Marquis Riverback said so with a smile.

" 

" 

"Yes. Is there any problem?"

Across him, Dowd Campbell opened the tray lid while slightly frowning at those words.

He was about to start eating.

He had thick nerves, seeing as he didn't even pay attention to the fact that he was invited by a person with unknown intentions. Much less, reading the atmosphere.

'…He looks incompetent.'

Marquis Riverback thought so as he glared at the other party.

He has heard several reports of this person being strangely close to the hero candidate, and his target, Princess Tristan.

So he was expecting, at least, something special from the man to warrant this phenomenon.

However, the man in front of him was disappointing.

He was the embodiment of a talentless fool that it was almost unbelievable.

'But the Prophet…'

He swallowed saliva with his dry mouth at the thought of his 'Master'.

A being called the Prophet by devil worshipers.

All devil worshippers, including the PURIFIERS, were merely tools to him.

Marquis Riverback's position as a Viscount and his reputation as a prominent businessman in the empire were all due to a single word from the Prophet.

The Prophet's influence, power, and evil had already seeped like poison into the three hegemons, and its tentacles had reached every corner of the continent.

Compared to him, Marquis Riverback's position as a Viscount was nothing but a bug.

"…"

And yet, such an existence was interested in this insignificant man in front of him.

Marquis Riverback couldn't figure out why, but one thing is clear.

His original plan of approaching the hero candidate was changed to approaching this man because of the Prophet.

"Do you know why I called you here, Mr. Dowd?"

But first, he has to 'encourage' this man to his side, just like what he intended to do with the hero candidate.

To be exact, it's to blackmail him into cooperating with them.

'Things are going perfectly.'

He doesn't know what the hell this man was thinking, but he delivered their main target, Princess Tristan, in front of their doorstep.

Its currently the Full Moon Festival so the security is at its weakest due to the festive atmosphere.

'The grace of God shall descend to this Heaven and Earth.'

Devil energy is sensitive to chaos and fear. So if blood and death drown this festival, the slumbering devil inside Princess Tristan will definitely respond.

The Prophet has professed the Tristan family's lineage as related to the devil.

Now, all his extensive preparation and years as a Viscount is finally culminating today.

'The plan is perfect.'

The Prophet had bestowed the position of Viscount upon him for this moment.

There was no room for error, not the slightest mishap.

"…"

Now, this Dowd, person.

If he doesn't comply, then Marquis Riverback could just threaten him with death. And since he seems to have a good relationship with the Princess, they can use that as well.

He's like a dung bettle rolling around in manure.

As Marquis Riverback was deep in his thoughts, Dowd, who had been munching on a piece of meat, suddenly looked back at him with a blank stare.

"What?"

"…"

Hearing such a lax tone, Marquis Riverback sighed inwardly. It felt so stupid.

Why did the Prophet had him meet this guy?

But he suppressed the pathetic feeling and continued.

"I asked if you knew why I called you here."

"Ah, that."

Dowd Campbell's voice was still relaxed.

"Aren't you just going to babble about resurrecting the devil or something?"

He said those words with such leisure.

Meanwhile, Marquis Riverback unknowingly held his breath at this sudden turn.

"…What?"

"It's currently the Full Moon Festival where the security is at its weakest. Aren't you aiming to create a bloodbath to resurrect the devil?"

He was casually listing out information as if he had read Marquis Riverback's mind.

"Since the Marquis deals with transportation business, you should have no problem in smuggling the goods inside the Golden Triangle. You can easily disguise the monsters as something else in the transport."

This was his plan that, other than the Prophet, was kept hidden from the devil worshipers' executives specifically for security reasons.

"You set up bombs all around and detonate them at once, and unleash the monsters. Meanwhile, the knights on standby will have to deal with the assassins."

Everything flowed out of his mouth without pause. It was no different than an attitude one would use in chatting, while eating a delicious meal.

Dowd took another bite and continued.

"The multiple assassination attempts on Princess Tristan and the monster stampede at the welcome party don't really matter. In the first place, the fact that the monsters and assassins successfully caused a disturbance meant that the basic conditions for using them were met. You were initially just testing the waters. "

It wasn't just his plan, but even the moves he's taken and his intentions. This guy had seen through everything accurately.

The same plan that he thought was perfect until now.

The plan that only he and the Prophet knew, and worked hard on for many years.

In just a few seconds, everything was laid bare by the man he thought as a fool.

"It's obvious, really."

" 

" 

Ah, this sauce is delicious.

Dowd Campbell said with a smirk.

Still.

It looked like he's more interested in the meal than 'that kind of thing'.

Watching this, Marquis Riverback unconsciously clenched his chair's armrest.

A thick drop of sweat ran down his forehead to his nose, but he didn't have time to pay attention to it.

"You, just who are you?"

"Aren't you always the reckless and aggressive type? What are you pretending to be polite about for?"

Despite his growling, the response from the other party remained composed. It's as if he had always known him.

Like he knew him well from long before.

"Well, as for what I just said, I've taken care of everything."

"…"

"The President even personally moved the knights for me, after I reported this."

Marquis Riverback gritted his teeth.

'…I've miscalculated…!'

The intention was to raise devil worshipers by sponsoring and nurturing the empire's talents. However, the alarm was ringing in full volume right now.

He doesn't know how, but this man has seen through and foiled the entire plan on his own.

It was no different than him taking a leisurely stroll.

A rustling noise sounded.

'…I was the fool.'

This guy is a monster.

He isn't exuding any sort of aura like that of the hero candidate or Princess Tristan, but he's probably more dangerous in terms of threat level.

Typical monsters are like brilliantly burning flames, impressive both in appearance and their ways, and always exuding an intimidating presence.

But, this guy.

He's like frozen steel.

You won't know just how cold it is until you actually touch it. It doesn't appear as dangerous at all.

But the moment you mess with it, it'll eat your flesh up without mercy.

He know understands a little bit why the Prophet wanted this guy.

'They're birds of the same feather…!'

He looks harmless on the outside but insidious on the inside, like raising dozens of snakes in a hole.

He controls the atmosphere!

"…I admit it. You're no ordinary person…"

Then Marquis Riverback grabbed his necklace.

"But you should know that."

He pressed a button on it which sent a 'signal' to all those wearing the same necklace.

"Everything is not in your palm."

He smiled slyly.

As with all schemers, every plan had to have an insurance.

This guy will never be able to stop this.

●

–Let's if you'll have the same conviction after.

Looking at Marquis Riverback, who is smiling triumphantly, I couldn't help but think so.

[ Skill: Fatal Charm has been Activated! ]

[ The villain is in awe of your slyness! ]

[ Rewards Available! ]

"…"

What slyness?

Seriously?

Well, anyway.

"My men should already be on their way downstairs to subdue Princess Tristan. They are the cream of the crop that's been selected through the House of Purification project."

Marquis Riverback said with a look of composure.

I guess he was talking about the guys from before.

"You may have disrupted my plan, but we can still proceed with it as long as you're here. They are all strong individuals who are comparable to knights. Even Princess Tristan will be subdued."

He seemed confident in himself.

'…Well, they're not really bona fide knights.'

Knights are super humans rumored to have blue blood flowing in their veins.

Regardless, if Marquis Riverback's men are comparable to the level of a knight, then it's understandable where he got such confidence.

It's just that I had to interrupt you in your speech.

"Try it, then."

When I said that, Marquis Riverback was bewildered again.

"…What are you talking about?"

"Try it."

I brought Elnore to this place for a reason.

Even if she's the final boss, there haven't been many opportunities to see her majesty properly until now.

In the first place, she was always suppressing her madness because of mental limitations.

However, as far as I know.

'…It's better to let it loose sometimes.'

Considering the context, it's just right.

It's not that there isn't a way to get rid of it completely, but it's currently impossible.

Until then, it's better to let it out.

More importantly, these are 'devil worshipers', so she can proceed without any guilt.

"…"

If she can release it without any restraint, one would see why she is the final boss.

"It's good that they're elites."

Simply because…

"They'll be good punching bags for Elnore."

Elnore didn't get trapped.

They were trapped with Elnore.