How To Live As A Third Son Of A Failure [EN]: Chapter 247

망작의 삼공자로 사는 법 248화

248. Alione Rodkius (2)

“Magic stone?”

“…….”

His eyes are unsettling.

At the same time, I felt like I was getting a grasp on the substance of the unease that had suddenly come to mind.

Blood is thicker than water.

Even the iron-blooded tyrant who holds all the power in the world becomes a kind father in front of his own child.

He can brand the scarlet letter of the pentagram on the chests of pirates, who are the same humans and the same living beings, without hesitation, but he can’t do that to his own children.

He can greedily seek the blood of others without hesitation, but he hesitates to shed his own blood.

Rodkius, that bastard.

At the same time, a hollow laugh escaped my lips.

What would happen if I told this ignorant guy the truth? How would his expression change if he learned about the plans of those who used the kingdom as a chessboard? What would happen if he learned the ugly truth about his father?

A vile pleasure and an irresistible desire surged up at the same time.

So, I reached out to the subspace pocket. Then, I took out the information about the Nebiros Order that I had been keeping there.

He narrowed his eyes as he looked at the paper I handed him.

“What is this?”

“Pandora’s box.”

“What does that mean?”

“Shut up and read it.”

Alione frowned for a moment, realizing that I wasn’t joking, and began to read the paper I handed him with a wary look.

Soon, Alione’s eyes began to widen, and he finally shouted briefly but intensely.

“Bullshit!”

“Lower your voice.”

“This kind of absurd… Even if our family is uncooperative with the royal family, how can they try to frame us with such fabricated stories?”

“Fabricated? Do you really think so? Even considering the circumstances?”

What if that’s the case?

The seed I planted will take root deep in Alione’s heart. He’ll probably run simulations.

What if the things written on the paper are true? Then, is there any contradiction in the circumstances?

There’s no way!

As expected, Alione gritted his teeth and began to refute the information I had given him.

“I came here with the mission to build a settlement. Not to extract energy by grinding humans!”

“Why are you working with pirates to build a settlement?”

“It was to reform them.”

“Reform?”

“For a long time, the Southern Islands have been a hotbed of pirates. Our family wanted to reduce the sacrifice of the territory’s people and expand the family’s territory by reorganizing the Southern Islands and creating new settlements. There was also the goal of consolidating naval supremacy by strengthening naval power. In the process, the captured pirates were being reformed for the purpose I mentioned earlier.”

Unbelievable.

If someone who didn’t know the truth saw it, they would really believe it. If it weren’t for me, wouldn’t the royal family have judged it the same way as Alione when they obtained information about the Southern Islands?

I smiled bitterly and asked.

“So, you built villages on each of the Southern Islands to allow people to live there?”

“Did you see that? Then the story will be faster. Yes. It was a process to incorporate the Southern Islands into our family’s territory. People have to live there to start reclamation.”

“Where did those people come from?”

“We received applicants from the territories of several southern families.”

“Did you see them?”

“What?”

“Did you see those applicants yourself?”

“…….”

“You couldn’t have seen them. And you wouldn’t know that those people lost their usefulness and burned to death in pits.”

“That’s… a plague swept through the village, and the dead were cremated.”

“Did you see that too? Did you actually hear the stories from the sick? No, you must have only received reports from your desk. So, let me ask you one thing. In that grand Southern Islands colony project, what did you directly observe or do with your own hands?”

“I…….”

“You were just stuck in the safest rear, playing house without knowing anything. But aren’t you curious? Why did Rodkius entrust you with this fake job of reclamation in such an isolated place and leave you as a scarecrow?”

Why would he do that?

The answer is clear. The emergence of an unexpected disruptor named Cain, and the gears that started to go awry because of it.

From the beginning, there was only a common goal, and there was no strong camaraderie between Rodkius and Nebiros. Wouldn’t they need a safety device to prevent each other’s betrayal as the progress went awry?

I don’t know what kind of safety device Rodkius received from the Nebiros Order.

But I’m sure what the Nebiros Order received. Because it’s right in front of me now.

“You were a hostage of the Nebiros Order.”

“Nonsense.”

Alione strongly denied it.

But somehow, there was an unhidden confusion mixed in with that denial. Perhaps he himself felt it, as he gritted his teeth and said.

“Just because the circumstances fit doesn’t mean it’s the truth. They could have obtained information from a spy planted in our family and maliciously pieced it together. So, I’ll ask you. Where is the evidence to judge the truth of your story?”

“Evidence?”

I chuckled at Alione’s desperate question.

“Just wait a little bit. You’ll see it so much that you’ll get sick of it.”

And if he learns the truth, Alione Rodkius will probably become the most important key in this war.

* * *

Alione was silent for a long time.

He’s probably deep in thought with many worries. The fact that he’s asking for evidence means that he’s not blindly denying it, so maybe he’s been feeling uneasy about the situation.

What about my position?

What if Alione isn’t lying, and he’s really not involved in the behind-the-scenes conspiracy?

That’s okay in its own way. I have an Unholy Knight I captured anyway.

The fact that Alione was with them is undeniable, and that will be evidence that Rodkius and the Unholy Knights were working together in an organized manner.

Then all that’s left is the royal order.

‘Since there are signs of an illegal conspiracy, the Rodkius family must faithfully cooperate with the investigation and detail everything they planned in the Southern Islands.’

If they refuse, that will be a clear justification.

If they accept? Then I’ll pack my bags and rummage through the Rodkius family. No one is free from dirt when shaken. The tail will definitely be caught.

Nodding my head, I slowly looked around. The movement of the torches was gradually decreasing. It seemed that they had judged that continuing the search like this was meaningless.

The torches that stopped were gradually drawing a circle. Are they forming a siege?

Maybe they’re waiting for dawn. Maybe they’re thinking of searching again when the troops who went to capture Jescal and Peter return and the darkness clears.

I glanced up at the sky. Already, a bluish energy was rising from the horizon.

The sun will rise soon. That means the time I promised Fleta is getting closer.

‘If I’m not on the beach…….’

According to Fleta, the detection range of the ring is not that wide. If they find out that I’m not on the beach, what will they do?

Will they just leave, thinking it’s a mission failure?

That’s unlikely.

It’s not unfounded hope. First of all, my comrades will cautiously look around the island, and then they will easily discover the siege surrounding me.

In that situation, Fleta or Peter will easily deduce that I have escaped from those guys. If necessary, they could capture anyone and find out the story.

Anyway, if they find out that I’m still alive and haven’t been caught, they will definitely start taking action.

Kugung!

Just like now.

A violent roar erupted from the beach far away from the island.

It’s a sound that anyone can tell was artificially created. And there are only a limited number of humans who can make such a sound.

“What sound is that…….”

Alione, who woke up from his thoughts at the unexpected roar, had an uneasy look in his eyes. So, I approached him and grabbed his shoulder.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

“Keueuk…….”

I knocked Alione unconscious by hitting his chin and carried him on my shoulder. Then, I jumped straight from the top of a tree of tens of meters.

The height was high, so I felt a tingling sensation in my ankle. I looked around in the posture I landed in.

It’s quiet. It seemed that no one was around. for now.

Kung! Kwang!

Even in the meantime, roars were repeatedly heard from afar. No matter how eccentric Lordain is, he is an expert when it comes to combat.

To make the most of the surprise attack, there is no need to fight noisily. And he knows that best.

But the fact that he’s doing that means there’s a definite reason. Maybe it’s to let me know my location.

I kicked off the ground and started running. Alione’s limp arms and legs fluttered like kites.

“What?”

“It’s him!”

I wasn’t the only one heading towards the source of the sound. There were pirates who saw me running through the forest and were embarrassed.

Threatening or capturing them is a waste of time. I drew my sword and slashed horizontally.

Behind the smoothly swung trajectory of the sword, blood spurted out.

Leaving him behind, I hurried again. I ran for a while, and in the meantime, I cut down three or four more pirates.

I arrived at the boundary line dividing the forest and the beach, and at the same time, my vision cleared.

The sun, which had already fully appeared, was painting the sea red. And I saw the beach, which was also red.

However, the redness of the beach was not created by the sun.

The paint was human blood, and the brush was a long sword in hand.

Lordain stood tall on the blood-red beach, like a master of the time.

Kwwaaaang!

And Lordain was fighting against eight Unholy Knights on the painting he had drawn.

‘That monster is a monster.’

They are not the small-fry Unholy Knights I faced in the North.

They are the elite of the previous island exploration that Taylor and I barely faced, and in fact, we would have lost if it weren’t for the opponent’s carelessness or Aphen’s existence. He faces eight of those beings.

Faces? Should I say faces? To me, it feels like eight mice in front of a cat.

[Didn’t you say four?]

Aphen’s pointed out in my head as I stopped for a moment.

That’s right. There were four Unholy Knights left on this island. My gaze moved back to the beach. Several ships were anchored on the coast.

“It looks like the guys who went to support the island where Jescal and Peter were ran away.”

[After seeing that elf, mister?]

“That must be it.”

Maybe they felt something was wrong after seeing their allies smashed by Lordain and retreated. And my comrades must have chased after them and hurriedly came to this island.

[Where are the other friends?]

“They’re in the sea. They must be trying to protect the ship.”

And the reason why Lordain is not finishing off the opponent with all his might like that is obvious. He must be worried about the possibility of me being captured. They have to capture me to negotiate or find out my whereabouts.

Then, what’s left is easy.

Nodding my head, I came out of the forest and opened my mouth.

“Lordain!”

A deafening shout spread across the beach. Lordain, who was wielding his sword, turned his head and looked directly at me as if he had known in advance.

“Let’s go! Finish it!”

At my words, Lordain smiled and swung his shoulders around.

“I’ve been waiting for those words.”

As Lordain exuded a completely different energy than before, the Unholy Knights instinctively felt danger and began to back away.

Leaving my back to Lordain, I passed the beach and jumped towards the ship floating on the sea.