Chapter 41 : Chapter 41

Chapter 41 - D, a Bait Called D

Edwin D. Hacid, the Stationmaster of D-District.

It hadn't been long since he received his stationmaster's badge, yet he was already savoring prosperity.

Above all, the house he lived in had grown larger.

The house he lived in as a Branch Manager was by no means a poor one, but it was only slightly better than a commoner's house.

However, a stationmaster's house was at least three stories high, a mansion with a garden.

It was a mansion used by successive stationmasters, each imbued with their personal tastes.

Edwin's taste was found in the vast bookshelves.

An avid reader, he had lived surrounded by books since his days as a Branch Manager, and getting rid of them was a problem.

But now, such a problem did not exist.

If he put his mind to it, he could turn a large room into a study, so it was no issue at all.

“Stationmaster. Where should I move the books you recently ordered?”

“There should be empty bookshelves. Place them there.”

“As you wish.”

He even had mansion caretakers, so the master of the house just had to use it comfortably.

A life that not only he but everyone dreamed of.

Every time he lay in bed and opened his eyes, he would prostrate himself and bow to the benefactor who gifted him this life.

Of course, his benefactor wasn't before his eyes, but he bowed his head in the direction of the Pantheon.

Bowing once, twice, three times before falling asleep was his daily routine these days.

The recipient of those bows appeared in person in the middle of the night.

“It looks like a good place to live.”

“M-My Lord. You’ve come. I’ve been meaning to express my deepest gratitude if I ever had the chance to see you again.”

“Skip it. If you’re truly grateful, hurry up, get dressed, and come out.”

“Where are you going at this time of night?”

While his mouth was asking, his body was already heading toward the wardrobe.

Following his words had now become completely natural.

Rather, it felt like an opportunity.

A chance to take a big step toward another round of prosperity or a dream.

Or a chance to seize it directly.

So, even if it was the crack of dawn and not just the middle of the night, he had to change his clothes.

“If this is a secret matter, should I also wear stealth attire?”

“That’s not necessary. But why do you have stealth attire?”

“I have never seen you, Fifth Son, operate publicly. Yet you have grown this much. So, just in case… Hah hah.”

In short, it meant that since he was a guy who survived in shady and sinister places, it was highly likely to be the case this time as well.

As I had said, it wasn't strictly necessary, but it wasn't entirely wrong either, so I had nothing to say.

“Follow me.”

I took Edwin and went out to the garden.

And so, the Stationmaster of D-District came to know the truth of the rumors.

“Ha, ha ha ha…! The Griffin was yours, my Lord! This is truly unbelievable…!”

His voice trembled, but his eyes were filled with elation.

A lifeline he had never grasped in his entire life.

The line he had haphazardly latched onto now felt like a steel bar.

That was how it felt, at least until he climbed onto the Griffin's back.

He wasn't afraid of flying.

It was the story he heard while flying that was terrifying.

“We are now going to hunt Councilor Hinek.”

“……”

The words to get off didn't quite come out.

Anyone would be the same, seeing the commoner's houses shrink to the size of ants beneath the vast wings.

So he said something realistic that fit the realistic situation.

“I won't be of any help.”

“Right. Far from being helpful, you’ll just be a hindrance and end up getting squashed like a bug.”

“……”

An even more realistic reply came back.

But reality also had this side to it.

“I killed Hinek for no reason other than that he is of the Millesdusk bloodline. If I act like this, the other side will also act unreasonably.”

That was why justification was important.

“A detailed explanation is difficult, but it's a situation where I must fight Hinek head-on.”

“…Certainly, I know that Councilor Hinek has suffered great damage recently due to the Fourth Son. Were you also involved in this, my Lord?”

“I am deeply involved. I have to be the one to finish it, and I brought you along for a clean finish.”

I gestured with my chin downward.

The Pandemonium Hall was visible.

The Pandemonium Hall was a fortress in itself, so security was still tight.

Therefore, the anxiety of not knowing from where a blade might fly was hard to quell unless one was inside the Pandemonium Hall.

This place would now become a battlefield.

Of course, a warm-up was needed before that.

“Edwin D. Hacid.”

“Yes, yes.”

The awkwardness of that single word attached to the middle of his name was now gone.

Many people strive and many people die for that one word.

But Edwin Hacid had obtained it.

From now on, it was his turn to show how he got it.

“I believe there is no better bait than you. Go on.”

“Wh-where…?”

The bait was well-packed on the hook.

The next step was to cast it onto the water's surface.

Just as Chapman did.

The Youngest Son also came here today to feel the thrill of catching a big fish.

Grab—

A hand seized Edwin's back.

“…My Lord?”

“Remember. Skeleton Armor.”

I threw the bait hard.

Even the bait had no time to scream as it flew, no, fell.

The D, falling as if launched at an angle, aimed precisely at a certain room.

The one I had robbed the safe from and escaped through the window.

It was Councilor Hinek's room.

CRASH—!!

“Kugh…”

A man appeared, shattering the glass window.

“……”

The owner of the room looked at Edwin D. Hacid with an emotionless gaze.

Having rolled through the glass shards, he brushed them off and got up, clutching his back.

What the Youngest Son had said at the end. Skeleton Armor.

If he hadn't deployed that basic sorcery in time, it wouldn't have been the window that shattered, but his own body.

But now was not the time to be in pain.

“Ah, hello…? It’s been a while. Ha, ha ha…”

“…Edwin Hacid.”

Because the target fish was right there before the bait.

.

.

.

Not even a hollow laugh escaped him.

He had cut off his own limbs to prevent his neck from being cut.

But it was a fact that his four limbs were severed, and it seemed he couldn't escape the pain.

So, as he was wetting his throat with liquor.

Shards of glass poured into his glass.

The man who appeared, or rather, crash-landed with that spectacular prelude. Edwin Hacid.

In other words, the Fifth Son's right-hand man.

Jubel Maxman had little interest in this man but had done much for him.

That was because the Fifth Son had taken this man as his subordinate.

“…What brings you here? Smashing my office so violently.”

As he spoke, he ground his teeth.

As expected, the Fourth Son's Butler was right.

The real enemy was the Fifth Son behind this man.

This fellow, Edwin, straightened his sleeves and cleared his throat.

“First, would you please dismiss the Cursed Knights outside?”

As soon as he finished speaking.

“Councilor! Are you alright!”

“We’re coming in for a moment!”

From outside the door, the clanking of armor and the clang of spears and swords echoed continuously.

Hinek glared at Edwin and then opened his mouth.

“It's nothing. I'll handle it, so stand down.”

The knights retreated at his single command.

It wasn't that they were obedient.

It was just that the current Hinek was, by anyone's standards, at his end, nothing more than weak prey soon to be devoured.

They didn't feel the need to use their bodies to protect him, but they had at least asked.

At the sound of their fading footsteps.

Edwin realized what he had to do.

‘My Lord called me a bait.’

Bait is for fishing.

‘I have to make Councilor Hinek bite me.’

Gulp.

He couldn't help but swallow his saliva.

His mouth was dry.

But he had to do it.

The bait had already been cast into the waters of the Pandemonium Hall, and the big fish had come right before his eyes.

If he just stood there foolishly, the big fish would just eat the bait and run away.

Then the fishing would be a failure.

‘I’ll die a dog’s death.’

From the bait's perspective as well, the fishing that had to succeed at all costs had begun.

“Councilor. It is a bit much to say this from the start, but your current state, Councilor.”

Yes. Councilor Hinek.

“Don't you think it's laughable?”

Go on, take a good bite out of me!

***

Zzzzzzzing—

As if his eyes were opening, Hinek's eyes turned yellow.

Edwin knew its identity.

‘Gu'an….’

A type of curse, it was Hinek's unique technique, held in his eyes instead of an object.

True to its straightforward name.

The moment it focused and the user's will was applied, it fired a shockwave at the place it was looking.

And Hinek was now looking directly at Edwin.

‘It wouldn't be strange if I died at any moment.’

Though that thought crossed his mind, Hinek did nothing, said nothing.

‘But the Councilor also has a reason why he can't kill me.’

The reason was the same: justification.

‘The moment Councilor Hinek kills me, he gives my Lord the justification to attack. Because I am my Lord's man.’

So Hinek was weighing his options.

Not whether he could kill Edwin or not.

He was judging whether he could take down the Youngest Son without suffering any damage.

Edwin's life also hung on the outcome of that judgment.

He mustered a little more courage.

“Councilor Hinek, until just a short while ago, when you presented me with the badge, you possessed a more powerful aura than anyone I had ever seen.”

But now.

“You look even more pathetic than the branch managers who once stood shoulder to shoulder with me in the past.”

Hinek chuckled dryly.

“Edwin Hacid. If you thought such a low-level provocation would work, you're mistaken. Don't worry, I'll kill you even without you doing that.”

The problem was that this was the Pandemonium Hall.

The Pandemonium Hall might be perfect for blocking attacks from other councilors.

But the Fifth Son wanted a stage with many eyes like this place.

That was why he had sent Edwin crashing through the window, and the knights had noticed him.

First, he needed to change the location.

“How about a walk?”

“Let's do that.”

They left the completely destroyed office and walked down the corridor.

It wasn't a long time, but it felt different.

Edwin couldn't even breathe properly until they reached the Central Hall.

The magical power and presence he emanated unconsciously felt like it was twisting his stomach.

Despite that, he endured.

He maintained a composed expression.

A bait must act like a bait.

The big fish seems to have a scheme, but there were things he could do even then.

Kuuuuung—

He opened the great doors of the Pandemonium Hall's Central Hall.

“Do you remember? You received your badge there.”

It hadn't been long, so Edwin remembered it clearly.

“Yes. I even remember how many steps I took from here to there. Shall I walk it again?”

Edwin really did walk just like he did then.

The first half, listless, slumped, and trembling.

The other half, powerful, confident, and dignified.

“……”

Discomfort once again settled in Hinek's eyes.

The same sense of unease and displeasure he had felt then seemed to be rising again.

Edwin stood on the platform.

And then, as he was about to stand on the spot where he had last received his badge…

“That wasn't your spot. It seems you don't remember everything.”

He stood in the presenter's spot.

It was Councilor Hinek's spot.

“No. This is the right spot. It will be soon enough.”

With his feet planted there, he looked back at the old councilor.

…Something was strange.

The great mountain that had seemed so distant when he walked the platform.

Looking at it from on top of the platform, it couldn't have looked so small and weak.

The position makes the man.

Edwin smiled faintly and repeated what he had first said.

“Seeing you from here, Councilor.”

That old man, too, was just an ordinary human when looked down upon.

“Your state is truly laughable.”

There was no fear in the eyes that opened as he spat out the words.

There was no tactic to buy time, no pretense, no bluff.

There was only sincerity.

That insolent stationmaster.

He had ignored him, a councilor.

“Yes. I have been very patient.”

The Gu'an flared.

Pooooow—

Thud—

“Keuhhh…”

Two holes appeared in his abdomen.

Even for a sorcerer, it would be difficult to survive.

So, as if waiting for it.

Kuuuuung—

The closed doors of the hall opened once again.

“…Fifth Son.”

Receiving piercing gazes, gazes that said he had survived, I slowly took my steps.

“I sent my subordinate to recruit you, Hinek.”

“What…?”

“But you refused and tried to kill my subordinate. I barely managed to save him.”

Two pairs of bone marrow extended from behind my back.

Human Transmutation, a basic sorcery of the Path of the Beast that had now reached a proficient stage, was cast upon the fallen Edwin.

Just as it did for the werewolf Remus, Human Transmutation filled the empty space.

“Hah… Hah… I thought… I was going… to die.”

He smiled faintly and turned around.

“Enraged that my cherished and capable subordinate was attacked, I attacked you. How is that? It is a script for you.”

“A poor piece of work. The protagonist is about to die.”

“We'll see. The villain always loses.”

The protagonist and the villain faced each other.

If there was a commonality, it was that both were smiling, confident of victory.

The protagonist declared.

“I'll yield the first move.”

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