Chapter 84: Reality
The Valley Base, Inside the Log Cabin.
Kaito sat upon his throne of bleached bone, his finger bones tapping an absent-minded rhythm against the armrest. Before him, Greed knelt on one knee, his form as motionless as a shadow.
"The business with the bards," Kaito began, "how is it progressing?"
"Reporting to the Master," Greed replied. "The first wave of thirty-seven individuals has followed your directives. They have infiltrated various towns across the Holy Empire of Gusteko and the Odri Empire."
Greed finished his report but did not rise. He hesitated for a heartbeat before adding, "However, My Lord... they are, in the end, human." A note of uncertainty crept into the vampire's voice. "We have placed no binding contracts upon them, nor have we subjected them to mental domination. Can we truly rely on their individual will to remain loyal? If one were to have a change of heart, or be bought by the foreign powers..."
Kaito's gaze settled on Greed.
"A lie is a lie, Greed. They have no need to fabricate, nor to exaggerate. They only need to recount exactly what they have seen in Iron Fortress and Jade Territory."
Kaito's tone remained a flat, unmoving calm.
"Furthermore, that sense of genuine belonging and pride... that is something no amount of acting can replicate. An audience is not made of fools. They can distinguish between a script and the truth."
Greed lifted his head cautiously. "The Master's foresight is beyond my reach. Yet... the cowardice and fickleness of human nature remain an unpredictable risk. I still believe a secondary layer of insurance would be more... secure."
"Greed," Kaito's voice rang out again, "did you truly believe I dispatched the Shadow Guards merely to protect their physical safety? Any tongue that dares to defile the name of the Evernight Empire will find that the price of slander is quite high."
Greed lowered his head, all objections silenced. "As you command, My Lord."
Jade Territory.
After a long and winding journey, Reinhard had returned. He stood before the small, inconspicuous door he knew so well, his heart a chaotic storm of conflicting emotions.
Every scrap of intelligence he had gathered on the road had made his heart sink further. Jade Territory—the land his father had died to protect—had been formally annexed into the Evernight Empire. Count Barton, that venerable elder who had taken him in, was likely already lost.
But there was a sliver of hope in the reports. The main force of the Undead Scourge had seemingly moved on.
This is my chance.
Reinhard's grip tightened on the staff hidden beneath his traveling cloak. The defenses within the castle had to be at their weakest. He would seize this opening, infiltrate the city, and find the residents enslaved by the dead. He would drag them back from the abyss of despair. He would prove to them, through his actions, that hope was not a memory.
The Noble of the House of Andrew had returned.
Reinhard steadied his breathing. Using the stealth techniques he had practiced in the Capital, he soundlessly nudged the small door open.
The scene that greeted him caused his battle stance to crumble and his prepared speech to die in his throat.
The hellscape he had envisioned didn't exist. There was no gloom. No rhythmic wailing of the damned. Instead, he found a scene bursting with life. The streets were scrubbed spotlessly—far cleaner than they had ever been under Count Barton's rule. Along the roads, rows of trees he didn't recognize were in full bloom, their small white flowers releasing a delicate fragrance into the breeze.
A group of clean, well-dressed children were laughing and playing around a towering Skeleton Soldier. One particularly mischievous boy was climbing the skeleton's back like a jungle gym. He reached up, plucked a white flower from a branch, and tucked it into the skeleton's empty eye socket.
The skeleton didn't roar in fury. Instead, it extended a bony arm, gently bracing the boy's back to ensure he didn't tumble to the pavement.
Reinhard's mind went white.
Impossible.
This is an illusion. A high-tier curse cast by the dead to ensnare the minds of the living.
Inside Reinhard's soul, the pillar of conviction began to shriek in denial. He could no longer endure the "lie." He burst from the shadows, lunging forward. He snatched the laughing boy from the skeleton's shoulders, dragging him down and shielding him with his own body.
"Don't be afraid, child! I'm here! I've come to save you!" Reinhard screamed at the bewildered boy. "I will slaughter these monsters and give you back your freedom!"
The boy stared at the trembling, frantic stranger for a heartbeat. Then, he violently wrenched his hand away from Reinhard's grip. The child spread his arms, blocking the path between Reinhard and the tall Skeleton Soldier.
"Teacher says bullying is wrong!" the boy yelled. "You're the bad guy!"
The Skeleton Soldier tilted its skull slightly, the white flower in its socket swaying with the movement. It looked at the frenzied youth but made no aggressive move. In its simple logic, it assumed this "older child" simply wanted to join the game.
With a dry clack, it reached up, removed the flower from its socket, and extended it toward Reinhard as a peace offering.
The nearby residents noticed the commotion. They stopped their chores and began to gather, but their eyes held no recognition for Reinhard—no pleas for help. There was only confusion and sharp vigilance.
"Who is this guy? Where did he come from?"
"Is he mental? He looks unstable."
"Quick! Someone call the Punishment Legion! Don't let him hurt the kids or the skeletons!"
Reinhard stumbled back. One step. Two.
He looked at the faces of the citizens—at the genuine, un-faked peace and satisfaction written in their expressions. He looked at the boy defending a monster. He looked at the skeletal hand offering him a flower.
Everything Reinhard had fought for, the heavy mission he had carried, the "righteousness" of his cause... it all disintegrated into a hollow, absurd joke.
He spun around like a cornered animal and bolted. He ran toward the small courtyard where his mother had lived.
The garden of flowers.
The one who planted them was gone.
The one who admired them was dead.
Now, only a madman remained, desperate to bury the world.
He burst into the hidden basement, dumping every letter and gift his mother had left him onto the floor in a frantic heap. He seized a letter at random, his hands shaking so hard the paper rattled.
It was her script. Warm. Gentle.
"But never forget: you are a noble of the House of Andrew."
Noble.
The word sounded like a scream in his ears.
Did this world even need nobles anymore?
Reinhard collapsed onto the floor, clutching the parchment. Over and over, in a voice only he could hear, he began to whisper to the dark.
"A proper noble... must remain composed..."
"I have to liberate the people of Iron Fortress..."
"I will... become a true noble..."
The Next Day.
A new fixture appeared on the streets of Jade Territory: a rambling, incoherent young man.
Sometimes he would kneel in the dirt, catching the sleeves of passing residents to tell them of the cruelty of the undead, only to be met with looks of pity or annoyance as they stepped around him. Other times, he would sit in an alleyway, clutching his head and chanting about "nobility" and "responsibility" like a broken record.
When the reports of the disturbance reached Greed, he treated the matter with significant interest. After all, this was the first recorded case of a human mental breakdown under the Evernight Empire's administration.
He traveled to Jade Territory in person.
Greed stood at the end of the street, watching the tattered, hollow-eyed figure in the distance. A slow, predatory smile spread across the vampire's face.
"So, you aren't dead after all."
Greed strolled up to Reinhard, looking down at the shattered youth. He could feel his own Mana—the trace he had left behind—pulsing actively within Reinhard. He was merely curious why it had taken this long to detonate the boy's sanity.
"The girl, Lilia... the feedback she gave me indicated she had successfully ended a life," Greed mused, tilting his head with genuine amusement. "I assumed her mission was complete. I suppose I should blame myself—I completely forgot you even existed because you were simply too pathetic to keep in my records."
"I was wondering where that Holy Sword went. To think you were the one who carried it off."
Greed reached out, patting Reinhard's cheek with a gentle, patronizing touch, as if soothing a pet.
"Well then. Since you've managed to stay alive, we shouldn't let you go to waste. As luck would have it, Avarice has been looking for some fresh experimental materials."
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