novelraw Chapter 91 : Chapter 91
Chapter 91 : Chapter 91
Chapter 91: The Price of Cooperation
“Ah?”
Candela, momentarily stunned as if bewildered, stammered.
Although she usually had a hearty disposition, it felt incredibly strange hearing the wish she had only cherished in a corner of her heart spoken by another.
“A-Are you serious?”
“Of course. I've never lied once in my life...”
Elwin, who had naturally tried to bluff, met the distrustful gazes of his colleagues and changed his words.
“...to say that would be a lie, but I don't lie about matters like this.”
“Does that mean?”
Candela swallowed hard and asked. She wasn't ignorant of the implications in Elwin's words.
She just wanted confirmation in more specific words.
“Please tell me clearly. What do you intend to do about Depicio?”
“...”
At that, Elwin looked at Candela with peculiar eyes. A gaze that blatantly observed her.
Does a gaze have weight?
She felt suffocated and stifled, as if crushed by a heavy stone.
“Kugh...!”
Her body, sensing danger, instinctively flinched. As if telling her to flee this place immediately.
‘...No. Absolutely not!’
Kuuuk!
She stabbed her own thigh with the envelope knife from the desk and held her head high. Drip, drip, drip. Bright red blood flowed like dripping eaves, falling to the floor.
Paying it no mind, Candela shouted vigorously.
“Please, I implore you, answer!”
It was an indomitable will. To hear Elwin's answer even if it meant going against her instincts.
“Haha.”
Finally, a satisfied smile graced Elwin’s lips.
Candela suddenly thought. It seemed she had 'passed' some kind of test with that action just now.
“It’s exactly as you heard... but if you insist, I’ll tell you again.”
Elwin opened his mouth.
“Because I’m a Hunter. I can’t just leave an atrocious and heinous assassination group like Depicio alone.”
Suddenly, a shadow fell over Elwin, and his bright yellow eyes shone brilliantly.
“They must be cleaned up. Such vermin.”
An arrogant declaration to erase Depicio from this world.
Ossaak-!
For a moment, everyone present felt a chill run down their spine. They were overwhelmed by the formless charisma Elwin subtly emanated.
Whether Elwin knew this or not, he added with a bright smile.
“Candela. If you lend a small hand, that time will come even sooner.”
That was precisely the answer Candela had been waiting for.
“...Ka, kahaha.”
Candela clutched her stomach and burst into hearty laughter.
Something ticklish deep inside seemed to rummage through her entire gut. She couldn't hold back this laughter!
It was exhilarating! She wondered if she had ever been this excited outside of battle.
“Kahhahahahahat!”
After laughing like that for a while, she wiped away the physiological tears gathering in her eyes and spoke.
The red pattern near her eyes curved. Then, the corners of her mouth turned up in a wide grin, revealing her fangs.
“This is the best~! I absolutely love it!”
Candela wasn't exceptionally bright, but she excelled at objectively assessing situations.
‘I’m not that smart. I manage to keep the tunnels running somehow, but I’m completely useless against nasty schemes and plots.’
She knew this best herself. Even by her own assessment, she wasn't cut out to be a politician or ruler.
But there was one thing Candela prided herself on.
‘Instinct.’
Candela was a half-breed, born between a mother from the Elta Tribe, a combat race of the Southern Continent, and a lizard beastkin father. She had inherited only the strengths of her parents.
That's why, despite being a half-breed, she could be born with instincts as strong as some chosen beastkin.
That instinct spoke.
‘I must seize this chance...!’
Perhaps now was the only time to escape Depicio's clutches!
The Batevil tunnels are barren. The only life forms native to this underground city built deep beneath the earth are damp mushrooms and moss.
They occasionally procured food by mining and selling precious gems or minerals from the coal mines, but...
It was sold by non-humans disliked by LAMPAS. No matter how valuable or high-quality the goods, it was difficult to sell them at their proper value.
Hard labor. Compared to that, the compensation was sorely lacking.
The food that could be bought with what amounted to pennies was also extremely meager. Shriveled wheat and grains, meat with only bones left, dry vegetables and fruits, etc...
They had to sustain themselves on such pathetic food. It was far from enough to feed hundreds of people until they were full.
-We should be grateful to the heavens just to be able to eat... like this!
The simple people of the Batevil tunnels were content with that.
Despite being skinny and emaciated, their faces were full of happiness.
Paradoxically, they enjoyed peace because they didn't know the vast world outside.
‘Contentment with one's lot.’
Sometimes, not knowing the world outside the well brings more happiness.
Because the pain of knowing often begins with comparison to others and longing for what one doesn't have.
-...What is this!
However, to the eyes of the young Candela, newly appointed as the ruler of the Batevil tunnels, everything was unsatisfactory.
Because she, who had made a name for herself in the Northern Continent, had been tricked by the previous ruler of the Batevil tunnels into becoming the new ruler.
-That damn old man! He said I could live extravagantly, ruling over vast territories and loyal people... I was completely scammed?!
The harsh environment of the Batevil tunnels didn't match! The rosy future Candela had dreamed of at all!
-This is annoying!
The tunnels, which looked like a beggar's den to anyone, and herself, who had followed along happily without even realizing she'd been tricked.
-Welcome to the Batevil tunnels, Lady Candela! I've heard much about you from the previous ruler! That you are strong and merciful!
-Wow, waah~! Boss, a new boss!
-Hoho. You must have had a hard time coming from afar. The maze-like paths are quite complex, aren't they? We've heated bathwater in advance, so please rest comfortably.
...And the tunnel people, who were always getting ripped off like pushovers yet stupidly walked around laughing heartily.
-Ah, damn it! This is my life. What can I do!
Candela complained endlessly, but in truth, she quite liked the Batevil people.
Otherwise, she would have fled the tunnels the moment she realized she'd been deceived. She was skilled enough for that.
-Precious and delicious food, soft fabrics, a comfortable and cozy daily life... I'll provide it all. I don't like it, but they're my people now anyway... I'll take responsibility!
It was the bold ambition of the youthful Candela.
But ideals are ideals, and reality is reality.
-...
She was a strong person, but unfortunately, she lacked the power to overcome reality... the authority to realize her ideals.
-Lady Candela. If you join hands with us, we will provide ample resources. Depicio desperately needs your help.
Money was needed to sufficiently feed and clothe the starving tunnel people, to allow them to live human lives like the LAMPASians on the surface.
Candela had no choice but to join hands with Depicio.
She received many resources from Depicio, and based on that, Candela made the tunnels prosper richly. And through Depicio's distribution channels, the tunnel residents could trade the minerals they mined at their proper value.
-Woooow! That's our boss~!
-Sob! Lady Candela, thank you so much...! For allowing us to pass on a better future to our children.
-To think I'd live to see the scenery of our homeland so developed in my time. Thank you, Ruler...
The people were very happy. That alone satisfied Candela.
-Not at all. It's all thanks to everyone working hard. Now, on a joyous day like today! Let's drink!
She wanted to protect those pure, innocent smiles forever.
-Ha, what do I do now...
However, Candela never forgot, not even for a single moment, that she was always walking on a knife's edge.
That the greedy Depicio would someday plunge her and the Batevil tunnels into the abyss.
-I need to cleanly sever ties with Depicio someday, but I can't give up the benefits they provide either...
At the very least, she needed a sales channel where she could sell minerals at their proper value. But besides Depicio, did such an organization exist?
In this Northern Continent where fear and hatred towards non-humans were still rampant?
-Things would be better if it were the Southern Continent... But how could I take our fragile kids there.
It felt hopeless. Like sailing on the sea in a small boat.
Aimlessly, just seeming to drift in one place...
Because Candela knew better than anyone that no matter how much she racked her brains, she couldn't come up with a groundbreaking plan herself.
“What do you want to gain from me?”
Therefore.
“What must I do... for you to give me the price I desire?”
She absolutely could not miss this unprecedented opportunity! Elwin laughed out loud at Candela's unconcealed inner thoughts.
Because he preferred people who came out boldly like that, rather than those who were intimidated and dispirited.
“Anything.”
Elwin lightly snapped his fingers.
Tak!
As the crisp sound echoed, as if it were the trigger.
Kwadeudeudeuk-!
Suddenly, a group burst through the ceiling and fell down.
Candela, who had reflexively jumped up from her seat at the sudden situation, spotted a familiar face among them and immediately pointed a finger.
“...Youuuu!”
“Long time no see, nya?”
Nero, meeting her eyes, grinned. Then, Tsk! He clicked his tongue loudly, as if showing off.
“Ferocious Horned Lizard. Tough, aren't you. You’re alive and well, nya. You should have properly found a place to die.”
“Th-Th-Th-This damn stray cat-!”
Whatever ill-fated history existed between the two, sparks seemed to fly from their gazes meeting.
“Nahr.”
“Present.”
Elwin took something from Nahr, who had appeared behind him at some point, and clapped his hands a couple of times.
“Alright, alright. You two, please don't fight, could you look over here?”
Then, Nero and Candela, as well as the Spero members and Jana who had been quietly watching the situation, all turned their gazes towards Elwin.
“Candela. This is a gift for you. Proof of my goodwill, shall we say?”
“What do you mean... Huh? You, you guys?!”
Candela's eyes widened as she spotted the rope leash Elwin held out, and the people tied together in a line behind it.
“B-Booosssss~!”
“We missed you, boss! Uheheheuk!”
“No... Why are you guys here? Hey, hey, don't cry. Don't cry.”
The young-faced beastkin burst into tears as if reassured upon seeing her face.
Meanwhile, Candela, not understanding the situation, comforted the crying children while bewildered.
“Huuuuuhng!”
Although their bodies were tightly bound, they hopped towards her and surrounded her. Then they sobbed as if aggrieved.
They looked like lost children who, after wandering for a long time, finally reunited with their guardian and were complaining about where they had been.
“Hmm. I feel like I've seen them somewhere.”
Gale, watching the scene, felt a strange sense of déjà vu and puzzlement.
“Ah, ah-!”
Then, Gale’s eyes shot wide open as the unforgettable scene from that day clearly came to mind.
“Youuuuu guuuuuys!”
His enraged voice echoed ominously.
“I remember you clearly, see!”
The identified young-faced beastkin flinched in surprise.
“How dare you...!”
As Gale trembled uncontrollably, they sneakily watched his reaction.
“Call this vigorous young man an old man, you ill-mannered brats!”
“...Eh?”
The beastkin blinked blankly, completely unexpected by his words.
One of them cautiously raised a hand and said.
“...Uh, sorry, but I don't think that's it. Mister.”
“What, brat? Say what you just said again.”
“Say what? Mister?”
“...”
Gale, trembling in place, suddenly shouted.
“So! I! It's okay for me to call myself an old man! But I can't tolerate others calling me an old man! You brats-!”
“Ah! Someone stop that guy! His legs! Grab his legs!”
“Ooh-ooh? Oh!”
“Ha... Such an unruly child.”
Those nearby rushed over hastily to restrain Gale, who was rampaging wildly.
“Hiiik! Ma’am! That mister is scary!”
“He hit us, he hit us!”
“Save us, ma’am!”
Startled, they quickly hid behind Candela. With tears welling in their eyes, the sight of them trying to somehow squeeze their large bodies behind her was utterly pathetic.
“You guys? Ha... What is going on.”
Their identities(?) were the clueless Depicio assassins Gale had coincidentally met in Nevera Valley while fleeing.