Fortunately, Til was inside the forest. Since the place where Nick had successfully eavesdropped on the conversation between Til and the robed figure had also been in the forest, Nick’s heart raced. He thought he would gain valuable information like the last time he was in a place like this.
‘He’s there.’ Nick saw Til’s figure between the thicket of trees. Til wasn’t alone.
‘It’s that guy!’ It was the robe-wearing bastard who betrayed him. Since a robe covered his face, Nick wasn’t completely certain that it was the same guy who ridiculed him, but that wasn’t the important part. The organization the robed figures belonged to was already his enemy, and to not get found out, Nick went behind a big bush and lay flat on the floor. Then he craned his ears toward the conversation. He could hear their voices.
“That’s enough about the plan.”
Nick automatically scowled at the robed figure’s raspy voice, forcefully created to hide his identity. In addition to the robed figure’s voice, the fact that the conversation about a plan had already ended enraged him much more.
‘Damn it! I should have taken the risk and followed them more closely!’ Nick thought. However, if he had actually done that, they would’ve easily determined his position. Yet, he couldn’t help but feel regretful. Then, hoping that “this plan” would get brought up again, Nick focused on their conversation again.
“Then, is that all you needed to ask?” Til asked.
“No, I have one more thing to say.”
“What is it?”
“It seems like the guy named Zich is sniffing around where Walter and Ellie are,” the robed figure replied, displeased.
Nick’s heart pounded so fast that it felt like it would burst; his heartbeat was so loud that Nick clutched his chest, but even as he did this, he focused all his senses on his ears.
“What the fuck do you mean by that!” Til didn’t speak that loudly, but Nick could clearly feel a sense of urgency in his voice. “I thought you guys said you would protect them well!”
“Don’t worry. No matter how amazing that guy is, he won’t be able to find the children right away. Even if he pinpoints a specific spot, it’ll be easy to relocate the children. We already have the preparations to do so. What you are worried about won’t happen.”
“Our opponent is a Karuwiman Honorary Holy Knight. His fighting prowess doesn’t lack behind me by any standards. Are you guys really telling me you can hold on against a guy like that?”
“We won’t need to hold on. We can just take the children and escape. Even if our opponent is a Karuwiman Honorary Holy Knight, we can at least complete a mission of that level.”
“You never know,” Til said doubtfully, but the robed figure didn’t say more. The robed figure’s attitude seemed to indicate that he didn’t care whether or not Til believed him. The conversation between the two stopped momentarily as a strange tension flowed between them. Hoping that they would reveal the location where the children were imprisoned, Nick continued listening to the conversation while holding his breath. However, in the end, neither Til nor the robed figure brought up anything that could specify where the children were. The robed figure spoke again.
“…Anyways, you shouldn’t worry and just focus on the plan. In the worst-case scenario, we can use Nick’s daughter to make a deal and take your son somewhere else.”
“You must keep that promise at all costs,” Til growled like he was making a warning. As if he also had no intentions of pushing this matter further, he also changed the conversation topic.
“But what will you do if you really end up handing Nick’s daughter over to Zich? You won’t be able to manipulate Nick however you like any more then.”
“It doesn’t really matter. Our plan is almost in its final stage, and you won’t have to come to the Denest Mountain Range anymore. Nick would have much less use then.”
“Don’t forget, that guy has the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls.”
“Yes, we have to take that back.”
Nick carefully touched the area around his chest and felt the hard exterior of his magic box.
“If we lose Ellie, we will immediately lead that guy into a trap, kill him, and take away the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls. Are you satisfied now?”
“Yes. Good.”
After this last exchange, the two parted. Til and the robed figure disappeared in opposite directions and Nick came out of the bush. While holding the artifact, he continued to chase after Til. Yet, from then on, no matter how much Til increased his speed, the artifact quickly lost its aim and spun. He failed to trail Til today too. Yet, unlike before, hope sprouted in his heart.
‘So, Zich might know where Ellie is?’ Considering the urgency in their voices, it seemed like Zich had a high chance of saving Ellie.
‘As expected of a Karuwiman Honorary Holy Knight!” All the negative emotions Nick first felt about Zich were already gone now, and appreciation of the man replaced them. Ellie wasn’t saved yet, and in the process of saving her, something could go awry. Yet, he had to prepare for at least that much.
‘If I just keep getting dragged back and forth by these guys, there’s a low chance Ellie would stay alive.’ They could kill Ellie to get rid of the evidence. Nick thought that Til might let Ellie live, but he couldn’t be certain of that either.
‘Rather than relying on that, it’s better for Ellie to be saved.’ Thus, Nick prayed that Zich would be able to save Ellie. Yet, he couldn’t rest in peace by leaving everything up to Zich.
‘After all, they said they’ll kill me if Ellie is taken away.’ Nick’s eyes turned dark. If those guys tried to lead him somewhere, that meant Ellie was no longer in their grasp either because she had been saved or killed.
‘There would be no reason for me to do nothing when that happens. Those guys need to pay for what they did.’
* * *
‘Did everything go according to plan?’ Zich saw Nick move out of the forest and took off his robe. ‘With this, if the robed figures try to converse with him, he’ll think that Ellie was rescued and immediately try to attack them.’ Since the hostage who tied him down would be gone, Nick would rush towards them in vengeful fury. However, his plan wasn’t perfect yet; there were still some seasonings he needed to add to his plan to make it perfect.
‘It was definitely there, right?’ Zich stared in the direction of his next goal. A chilling smile played on his lips.
* * *
Glen was at his assigned post. However, like Nick, he wasn’t interested in patrolling the area. His only interest was fulfilling his plan, but his head hurt because the situation had gone awry at some point. ‘Why the heck is that Nick bastard still so quiet?’ If everything was going to plan, Nick should have found Til and let people know. To be more exact, Nick would produce that result by blackmailing Til, but the truth was not very important. However, Nick was still quiet even when the expected time had long passed.
‘Does he really have some kind of secret plan?’ Since Nick had released the control on the monsters, he was already the number one culprit for killing his underlings. ‘Is this bastard also deviating from my plan?’
Glen tightly clenched his fist. No matter the situation, it was annoying as hell to have a pawn, who always faithfully followed his plan, suddenly deviating from it. ‘When I saw him last time, there didn’t seem to be anything suspicious about him.’ However, he looked much more down and anxious than usual—it was as if his child really had been kidnapped as the rumors said. ‘I need to first make contact with him.’
Since he didn’t want to get caught by Zich, Glen had been minimizing contact with Nick as much as possible. However, since the situation had already gone way off, he needed to make contact with Nick. Glen pondered about when, how, and where he should meet Nick when he suddenly felt a presence near him. Glen flinched because the presence felt way too close. Or more specifically, he flinched because he couldn’t detect their presence until they were extremely close to him. It was even more surprising because the person didn’t seem like they were particularly trying to hide their presence.
There was only one person nearby who could possibly do this. Glen’s mood plummeted to the abyss.
“Ah, you were here.” Zich waved his hand towards Glen.
Glen almost scrunched his face, but he put on a straight face and a mask like usual. “Why, if it isn’t Mr. Zich. May I ask for what reason have you come all the way here? What was so important that you would leave your assigned post?” While not showing his annoyance, Glen slightly mixed critique into his words. If other people heard him, they’d simply think that he was scolding Zich for abandoning his duty.
Zich shrugged. “I don’t have anything to say about leaving my assigned post, but I have something to ask you.”
“Is it more important than our mission?”
“Yes.”
Zich was saying that there was something more important than finding Til, someone who could immediately annihilate Pialu. Was he just imagining it? Glen felt an ominous feeling. “What is it?” he replied without revealing his emotions.
Zich asked Glen various questions. Most of them were information that had already been confirmed about the army of monsters. Zich wanted information that was a bit more detailed.
There was no need for him to lie, so Glen replied truthfully. After Zich finished asking for information about the number of high-level monsters and the army of monsters in detail, he soon nodded his head. “Thank you for your help, Mr. Zenard.”
Glen felt his lips grow chapped as he furtively asked, “It wasn’t a difficult task, but why do you want this information?”
Zich smiled brightly; his smile felt extremely ominous to Glen. “I think I’ve found a solution to stop the army of monsters.”
Glen desperately had to stop himself from swearing.
* * *
Glen asked what Zich’s method was. On the surface, he merely showed his curiosity, but on the inside, he fervently worked to fish out this information from Zich. However, Zich sealed Glen’s lips shut by saying it was a secret. Again, Glen had to desperately suppress himself from swinging his fists at Zich.
“If I’m successful with this, Pialu won’t have to worry about monster attacks anymore.” With just these words, Zich left. It seemed as if Zich said these words to him to make him feel less worried, but rather than feeling relieved, Glen felt as if his insides were being flipped over. He stared at the area where Zich disappeared for a while and then he fell to the ground.
‘What’s the solution?’ The army of monsters gathered together in the Denest Mountain Range was such a formidable force that even Glen wouldn’t attempt to defeat them without the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls. What could be the solution to defeating such a large group of monsters?
‘Is he bluffing?’ If it was any other person, Glen might think that they were bluffing cause they were out of their mind. However, the problem was that it was Zich who told him this. He was the type of person who could come up with a new method to solve this mess.
‘If a solution really exists, and it works…’ Then, Zich’s reputation would reach the heavens. Glen couldn’t let that happen. ‘I need to immediately go and meet Nick.’ Before Zich could carry out his solution, Glen needed to fix this situation.