After coming out of the city hall, Nick dragged his feet back to his assigned post. Although he continued to move and his artifact was activating again, his movements appeared soulless.
‘What should I do?’ That was all he thought of. Before he realized it, he was in front of the scarecrow again. The scarecrow was still wearing his daughter’s shredded clothes blotted in blood. As he stared at him, it seemed to laugh at him cruelly.
Sling! He unsheathed his sword but didn’t swing it immediately. He carefully removed his daughter’s clothes from the scarecrow, leaving only its bare, shabby body left. There was no need for him to hesitate now.
Bam! Nick’s sword struck the scarecrow once, twice, and thrice. A series of heavy blows clashed against the scarecrow and changed it into crumbled wooden pieces and scattered everywhere. Yet, Nick wasn’t satisfied and stomped on the small wooden pieces into even smaller pieces.
“Haa! Haa!” Nick heaved. He wasn’t tired by this much. Although he was weaker in comparison to Til and oversaw domestic duties in the Wolf’s Canine, he was still the vice-captain. His heavy breathing simply displayed the explosive emotions whirling inside him.
Crunch! After aggressively stomping another tree branch, Nick shouted, “Uhahahahah!” His angry outburst expressed his inner turmoil most perfectly and his daughter’s blood-stained clothes shook wildly in his grasp.
* * *
The day became dark. After laying the blanket on the ground and lighting up a bonfire, Nick became lost in his thoughts. He no longer cared about the mission. The culprit everyone was searching for was him, so he had no one to look for anyways, and his mind was only focused on his daughter’s whereabouts. The meat skewers he had placed next to the bonfire to eat for dinner dripped with oil as they cooked, but their delicious scent failed to distract him from his thoughts.
‘Is Til the one behind this?’ Nick thought, but shook his head. ‘No, if he was the culprit, there’s no way he will be moving according to my letter.’
Til had run away because of Nick. Through a letter, Nick informed Til of Walter’s kidnapping and ordered him to escape outside of the city without saying anything to anyone. In his letter to Til, Nick had included the memento Walter got from his mother and carried around everywhere to increase the persuasiveness of his letter’s contents—just like how Nick saw his daughter’s clothes and became convinced that someone had truly kidnapped his daughter. Since Til had been labeled as the most likely mastermind behind the monster invasions as Nick had planned, it seemed too much of a reach to label Til as the suspect.
‘Then, is it my collaborator?’ His collaborator had realized his desires and provided him with a variety of support and power; furthermore, he knew most of Nick’s plans. If it was him, it would make sense how the children had been kidnapped in the middle of their travels.
‘But why?’ Nick couldn’t think of a reason why his collaborator would do such a thing. After giving him an astounding artifact called the One-Sided Pyramid of Lamentations, would his collaborator immediately backstab him?
‘Would he even have a reason to do so?’ Now that he thought about it, there hadn’t been a clear reason why his collaborator helped him. Then, perhaps his collaborator had something to gain by backstabbing him.
‘Those bastards!’ Nick soon became sure that his collaborator was the one who kidnapped his daughter and burst out in anger.
Then, suddenly—Creak! He heard something break and turned his head. Someone was standing a bit of a distance away from him. It was the sound of a person stepping on the tree branch that Nick had dropped. Nick immediately clutched the sword next to him, and his agile reflexes displayed the skills and experience he also possessed.
“Who is it!” He evidently heightened his guard as a mysterious figure appeared in this late hour, especially in a dangerous place where monsters could appear. Additionally, the figure was wearing a robe that covered his face.
‘Is that guy the collaborator?’ After kidnapping Ellie, they might have come to officially reveal their true intention. Yet, it wasn’t his collaborator. The figure slowly walked near the bonfire and removed the robe covering his face. Nick’s eyes stretched wide open.
“Y-You…”
After discarding his robe, Til asked Nick coldly, “Have you been well?”
Nick fell into a daze. What in the world was Til doing here? Til should have been quietly waiting for him in a designated spot according to his orders. However, Til seemed unbothered by the fact that Nick was surprised and said, “Sit.” Then, he cut a nearby tree and threw the woodblock next to the bonfire in front of Nick, clearly giving it to him as a substitute for the lack of chairs. Til also hastily organized some tree branches and sat on top of them, and the entire time he did this, Nick simply stared at him, dumbstruck.
Til picked up one of the meat skewers stuck on top of the bonfire and said, “Eat. It’s going to burn.” Then, he slid a piece of meat off from its skewer with his mouth and ate. Seeing how calm Til appeared as if nothing had happened, Nick’s head became a mess.
‘What is he thinking?’ Did Til perhaps know that the one who sent the letter to him was Nick? If he did, then how much did he know? Perhaps, did he also know that Nick was behind the monster invasions? All kinds of thoughts popped inside Nick’s head and disappeared to only appear again. Then, Til’s following words instantly threw Nick’s muddled mind into a blank state.
“Did you get the gift I sent you?”
“…Gift?”
“Ellie’s clothes.”
An intense shock like a hammer made of adamantium banging his head overcame him.
“How did you…!”
“Even if it became unwearable, I thought it was only right to return it to you.” Even while talking, Til didn’t stop eating. After collecting himself from a great sense of shock, Nick’s eyes slowly reddened.
“…Did you kidnap Ellie?”
“Maybe?” Til threw the skewer he finished eating at the campfire and then said, “Don’t worry. Ellie’s fine.”
“You bastard!” Nick pulled out his sword and put it towards Til’s neck. However, Til didn’t even blink an eye.
He didn’t even seem like he was going to retaliate; instead, he just stared intently at Nick’s eyes. “I don’t think your actions right now will help Ellie.”
“Shut up! Tell me where Ellie is right now!”
“Don’t waste your energy, Nick. You can’t beat me anyway. If you fight me here, you’ll die a pointless death, and Ellie will soon follow you.”
“You fucking bastard!” Nick pushed his sword a bit closer to Til’s neck. A stream of blood flowed from Til’s neck from the sharp blade.
However, Til’s voice was still calm. “I’ve been friends with you for a very long time, and I also think of Ellie as my daughter. I don’t want to hurt you two if I don’t have to. So Nick, put down your sword.”
“You…!”
“If you don’t, the next thing you’ll get is Ellie’s finger.”
“…!”
“Don’t think that I won’t be able to do it.”
Nick didn’t have any choice but to withdraw.
“Sit.” At Til’s order, Nick dropped on top of the mat. However, his eyes glared murderously at Til.
“So let me hear it. Why did you kidnap my daughter?”
“Because there’s something I need to do.”
“Something you need to do?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s that?”
“That’s none of your business.” Til grabbed another skewer and began nonchalantly eating another skewer again. “I need to do something in the Denest Mountain Range, but the security there is too high. I’ll be using your designated area, so keep your mouth shut about it. Of course, you can’t let others take charge of your area either.”
“What business do you have at the Denest Mountain Range?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Til laughed mockingly. “It’s to use the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls.”
“…What?” Nick made a shocked face again.
However, without considering Nick’s confused expression, Til relentlessly continued, “If you just do everything I say, I’ll let Ellie live, so stay quiet and cooperate with me.”
“…You’re saying you have the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls?”
“Why are you acting stupid? The city should have caught on by now. Has the information not reached you yet?”
“N-no, that’s not it but…” Of course, the city thought that Til was the most likely suspect to possess the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls—Nick also knew this. However, this didn’t make sense at all. ‘I have the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls!’ he thought to himself.
However, Til was saying that he had the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls. ‘Perhaps, are there two Pyramids of Vengeful Souls?’ However, the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls was not a common object that could be found anywhere on the streets. Moreover, judging by Til’s words, he was acting as if the monster attacks had been part of his plan all along.
‘But I was the one who made that plan with the collaborators…’ After thinking this, Nick reached another conclusion. “Were you the collaborator!” If this was true, everything made sense. Nick was sure of his thoughts. However, the reaction he received was contrary to his expectations.
“Collaborator? What the hell are you talking about?” Til looked at him strangely.
Nick’s brain became muddled again. ‘He’s not the collaborator?’ Was he lying? However, if he really was the collaborator, there was no reason for him to lie right now. There was no reason for him to lie after giving so much information.
‘Then what happened!’ While Nick was confused, Til finished his second skewer and then got up.
“Anyway, I’ve told you my requirements, so I’ll be going.”
“W-wait! I have more things I need to a…!” However, Til shook his head and shut Nick’s mouth. Then, he tapped Nick’s shoulder a few times. “I leave it up to you Nick. Let’s continue to stay close friends. Then, Til disappeared into the darkness. Nick stared speech at the darkness for a long while.
* * *
After blackmailing Nick, Til moved through the darkness with ease. The destination he reached was a small hut in a forest.
“Pweh!” Til went inside the hut and let out a sigh.
“Good work, Mr. Til.” Til stared in the direction of the voice. A person came out from the shadows in the corner of the hut. “Your acting was excellent.” It was Zich. He had an extremely pleased expression on his face.
“Bluffing and tricking others is necessary for my field. Acting at this level is a must.”
“It’s also true that you did a great job.”
“I’m not sure if I should be happy.” Til sat on a stool inside the hut, and Zich sat on the opposite side. Til wiped his face with his hand. The chilling expression that he used to blackmail Nick was completely gone, and there was only deep fatigue on his face.
“You seem very tired.”
“It doesn’t feel great to blackmail my friend, especially when I’m blackmailing him with his daughter.”
“Yes, that’s natural for ordinary people, especially for a good person like you. However, you must keep this in mind, Mr. Til.” Zich leaned his upper body towards Til. “Nick tried to do the exact same thing to you.”
Til’s washed-out eyes stared at Zich.