“Do you want me to tell you why?”
I stood in front of Raven, who was silently glaring at me.
“First, there’s no way there wouldn’t be a spy among the transfer students.”
Not a freshman, but a transfer student.
A transfer student who joins midway is inevitably at a disadvantage, both competitively and academically. How many would deliberately choose that path because they actually wanted to?
“No matter how talented a mercenary might be, it’s hardly necessary to bring them in as a transfer student midway.”
And so, any transfer student who was not a spy fit one of two scenarios:
Someone who was forced into it by imperial pressure, biting the bullet unwillingly.
Or, someone who either had no significant skill gap compared to existing students or who simply didn’t care about that gap.
The latter would apply to someone like Emily; most would fall into the former category.
So, where does Raven fit?
Why had he entered the Cradle at this specific time?
If someone wanted to put a leash on Raven, there were plenty of ways to do it. No real need for imperial coercion there.
Then, was it his own desire?
Did he urgently need the education right now? Was there a pressing reason?
It doesn’t make sense in the first place. Someone of Raven’s skill could easily wait and enter the Cradle next year.
He had enough ability to enter fair and square, without risking exposure or suspicion unnecessarily.
Especially if he were genuinely just a mercenary.
“Second, you went out of your way to criticize me in such a righteously indignant manner.”
“……”
“The ‘boy brimming with justice’ act is good, but it contradicts your character as an experienced mercenary. And even that you glossed over with your oddly unnatural way of speaking.”
The process leading up to the duel request.
That entire sequence had definitely been strange. A commoner mercenary challenging a noble to a duel?
Was he crazy?
“This might be the Cradle, a place that’s fairly lenient on that sort of thing, but there’s no way a lifelong mercenary would behave that way.”
Even if he tried to gloss it over by claiming he’d picked up his odd way of speaking from that strange book he mentioned earlier.
No, there’s actually one more thing.
He’d acted like a typical adolescent boy who had a crush on Ollie.
Of course, even that could’ve been an act, but it certainly made it harder to doubt him straight away after seeing those behaviors.
“Third, you accepted defeat far too easily in the duel.”
This foolish copycat was sloppy at everything.
“On the battlefield, defeat means death. Yet, as soon as a sword touches your throat, you immediately acknowledge your defeat?”
You lose when there’s a blade to your throat.
Well, technically, that’s correct. At that point, struggling is probably pointless.
However, someone who fully knows defeat on the battlefield equals death shouldn’t have immediately surrendered without even a hint of hesitation.
That’s not a decision you can simply rationalize. The reason second-year students don’t go all out during duels is precisely because of that.
Since defeat directly means death, no matter what the situation was, you wouldn’t easily accept defeat.
That’s why Cradle students usually avoid going all-out, and that’s exactly why that incident happened before.
“And fourth. Hey, idiot….do commoners casually stroll into fancy restaurants like it’s nothing?”
“Isn’t that just speculation?”
“Absolutely. It is speculation.”
Honestly, all the points I’ve made until now could easily be refuted.
They’re somewhat suspicious, but they’re not impossible.
Maybe he was genuinely a justice-filled kid, or perhaps he was blinded by love and acted irrationally. Maybe he was trained before entering the Cradle to keep himself in check, which would explain his easy surrender. Fancy restaurant? Maybe this guy just happens to be a gourmet.
In other words, everything I’ve mentioned is simply bait designed to provoke him.
“Honestly, I wasn’t even sure. I was just bluffing, but you confirmed it yourself, didn’t you?”
“Then, how did you…”
“I planned on poking around at all the suspicious transfer students one by one.”
That’s my specialty, after all.
I did something similar before when figuring out Melana’s identity. Like grabbing students and interrogating them one by one.
But this time around, since there were fewer transfer students, it’d be even simpler.
It didn’t matter if, in the process, I ended up being labeled as a lunatic.
After all, I’d never been particularly concerned with my public image.
What did it matter if people thought I was crazy a few times, as long as I caught the culprit?
“Oh, by the way, that antidote is real. It’s not part of the bluff.”
“……”
Anyway, using this method, I’d successfully uncovered the spy.
In the process, I’d also found out the spy himself was rather clumsy.
For a spy, he’d been discovered far too easily.
Judging by how he immediately responded with “How did you know?” upon my bluff, it was clear he hadn’t received any professional training or anything of the sort.
“It was Loki who sent you, right?”
Right now, the only group capable of sneaking a spy into the Cradle was the imperial family.
Considering the emperor personally approved every candidate, no terrorist organization could’ve interfered.
And even if they had, Olga Hermod would’ve sniffed them out instantly.
In other words, whoever infiltrated the Cradle as a spy must have been backed by someone from the imperial family, someone untouchable even if I uncovered their identity.
Within the imperial family, only two individuals would resort to something like this:
Emperor Abraham, or the Second Prince Loki.
I already knew from the Oracle that Abraham didn’t have any other spies here.
In fact, the Oracle herself was basically playing the role of the emperor’s spy.
So, the only remaining option was Loki.
“And Loki isn’t exactly the kind of person you should pledge your loyalty to, is he?”
“You speak the prince’s name so carelessly. Aren’t you afraid?”
“Are you really saying that, when you’ve already been discarded?”
“……”
“You’ve probably been poisoned yourself, haven’t you? Because that’s how Loki controls all of his subordinates.”
Loki was that kind of vile man.
He didn’t believe in the word “loyalty” and suspected everyone.
That’s why he made sure all his subordinates were affected by his poison.
This was the reason Loki feared the existence of an antidote.
Even the mere knowledge that an antidote existed could weaken the unity of his faction.
“…What is it you want from me?”
“I’m not asking for much. I have no intention of using a clueless fool like you as a double agent.”
If you were a properly trained spy, you would have looked at me like I was crazy when I probed you earlier.
You’d have realized instantly that I was pressing you based only on suspicion without any evidence.
But since Raven couldn’t do that, he was nothing more than a disposable pawn.
“Just keep your mouth shut. If you do, nothing will happen. And if you don’t leave the Cradle for the time being, Loki won’t be able to touch you anyway.”
“That’s not enough. Now that I know about the antidote, if I report it, I might even be rewarded by Prince Loki.”
“Do you really think so?”
A reward from Loki for doing well? From someone who never bothers to care about another person’s feelings?
“Sure, he might say he’s grateful. And then you’ll die. Because now you know the antidote exists.”
“……”
“Listen, Raven. This is the turning point. If you want to live your whole life as someone else’s slave, do whatever you want. But if not…keep your mouth shut.”
It’s not as if you truly serve Loki out of loyalty, is it?
“Anyway, think it over.”
That was the end of the conversation.
I had no intention of forcing him. All I could do now was trust Raven to make his own choice.
Of course, if he ran straight to Loki and handed over the antidote only to become a lump of poison in return, there’d be nothing I could do. A man’s life was his own responsibility and none of my business.
Simply telling him about the antidote meant I’d already achieved my goal.
At the very least, Raven could no longer continue spying.
If he chose not to hand over the antidote, that meant he’d betrayed Loki.
If he chose to hand it over, knowing about the antidote would still mean he wouldn’t survive.
Either way, he’d be free of Loki’s gaze for the time being.
The only thing at stake was his own life.
“Johan.”
Just as I was about to leave, Raven called out to me in a trembling voice.
“Not everything I said was a lie.”
“……”
Then, as if making excuses, he shouted,
“It wasn’t all a lie!”
“Who’s saying otherwise? You don’t need to bother explaining something that obvious.”
From the start, I never thought he was trying to deceive me about everything.
After all, he’s dating Olly right now.
A spy sent to keep tabs on me wouldn’t waste time on something that inefficient.
Even if the goal was to play the role of an ordinary student, that would be taking it too far.
He was off on dates instead of keeping an eye on me like he was supposed to.
“Johan.”
“What now?”
“……By the way, is this all the antidote you have? Could you give me one more?”
“Ah, right. That makes sense.”
Loki probably didn’t poison only Raven.
He must have poisoned the people around him as well, hence his request for more medicine.
That would be just like Loki, meticulous as ever.
I took another vial of antidote from my coat and tossed it to Raven.
Unlike earlier, Raven threw himself forward to catch it, clutching it as if it were the most precious thing in the world.
“Thanks. I may already be as good as a traitor, but I swear I’ll never betray you from now on.”
“No need for vows.”
At least one thing was certain. Raven had saved his own life.
Now, the bait had been cast.
Let’s see how Loki takes it.
***
The Second Prince.
Loki Vicious van Miltonia was gazing up at the sky beyond the window.
It was time for his regular report, yet there had been no word from Raven.
“Ah…”
Loki immediately activated the poison he had planted in both Raven and the mercenary who had raised him.
Since no report had come, he killed them. To Loki, a human life carried no more weight than that.
“Wonder if he survived.”
Yet, even after using his ability, Loki doubted Raven’s death. Raven wasn’t the kind of man who would abandon his benefactor, even if it meant losing his own life.
Then what?
If he had deliberately avoided making contact, it could only mean he had found a way to resist Loki’s poison.
“Interesting.”
The timing was blatant.
Just when Loki had narrowed down the list of those who stood to gain from this incident…
The spy he had planted in the Cradle suddenly went silent?
It was an obvious sign that something inside the Cradle was at play.
“So you want to play?”
It was as if someone were calling him out.
If you’ve got the guts, come and try.
At that blatant provocation, Loki’s lips curled into a twisted smile.
The sky beyond the window was heavy with dark clouds, ready to spill rain at any moment.
“Mother.”
Loki had killed his mother the moment he was born. It hadn’t been intentional; what could a newborn possibly know?
It was simply a matter of misfortune.
Loki had awakened his ability while still in his mother’s womb.
He was a child who had torn his way out of his mother’s body from within her corpse.
“How could someone who devoured you at birth be anything but an emperor? I doubt this thirst will be quenched until I’ve swallowed the whole world.”
Loki pulled a book from within his robes.
Something that had come to him long ago.
A guest who had been the first to perceive his evil and had stayed in silence ever since.
The book of Lemegeton seemed to be radiating an ominous aura.
“At this rate, it seems I’ll be driven into a corner.”
Loki was prepared.
If he could not become emperor, there was no point. If he could not devour the world, he would see it perish along with him.
A child who killed his Mother at birth.
One who had not inherited the red hair said to be the very emblem of the imperial family.
A serpent that had clawed its way up from the most hostile and nightmarish of beginnings.
“It seems our contract is nearly due, Hela.”
Loki tucked the book of Lemegeton back into his robes.
It was now time to head for the battlefield.
“Even if my jaws are torn apart, I will swallow it whole.”
Loki began to move.
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