novelraw Chapter 152 : The Higher the Mountain, the Deeper the Valley (2)
Chapter 152 : The Higher the Mountain, the Deeper the Valley (2)
Chapter 152: The Higher the Mountain, the Deeper the Valley (2)
Suppressing the rising anger with great effort, I asked the core question first.
“The Bernhardts have probably already tried everything possible within the Empire. There’s no way they squeezed that much money out of their own side for absolutely no reason. Right?”
“…….”
The bastard’s face was filled less with pain and more with terror.
Seeing that, I became certain.
He knew a horrifying secret so shocking that even the tremendous pain of fractured bones couldn’t register properly.
‘Or maybe… he simply found out something he never should have.’
Either way, it didn’t matter.
I grabbed Jeff Halenber by the collar as he recoiled in horror with his head lowered.
“No need for detailed explanations. Just give me the keywords. I’ll figure out the rest myself.”
“…The moment I reveal this secret, the Bernhardts will try to kill me.”
“Really? Because if you don’t reveal it, Francia looks ready to kill you instead.”
Behind me stood Francia, glaring at him like she wanted to tear him apart immediately.
“You’re alive because I stopped her. Otherwise, you’d already be dead.”
“Y-You think you can kill the head of a marquis family under protective custody? And still walk away safely afterward?”
“Ha, this bastard’s still trying to scheme.”
This time, I snapped the middle and ring fingers of his right hand in one motion.
“A, AAAAAGH!!”
As he screamed and rolled around desperately, I seized his shoulder violently and slammed him against the wall.
BAAAANG!
“It’s about time you woke up to reality, Jeff Halenber.”
“Ghhh…!”
“You think you still have options left? Even now?”
I spoke even more firmly.
“Think carefully, idiot. This is your last chance to survive.”
“…….”
“Spit everything out honestly, serve your punishment properly, and come back out afterward. That’s your best option.”
And it truly was.
While he served his sentence, the Bernhardts would inevitably collapse.
And by the time we raised Edel to the throne, the Empire—and the entire world—would already be in ruins.
Once things reached that point, the Bernhardts and everything else would no longer matter.
Then after a long silence—
“…They said they were creating an Imperial Guard.”
Wiping away cold sweat with difficulty, Jeff Halenber finally began revealing the truth.
“At a research facility called the ‘Flos Advanced Research Institute.’”
The moment the word Flos left his mouth, one particular name immediately surfaced in my mind.
“Ian… Flos.”
The name engraved on the identification tag I’d discovered after the battle against the three Abattoir executives before.
‘Wait, when I asked Ain Kabbalah about the original owner of the Book of Bones back then too….’
“Count Ricola, 1034, Berkshire No.16, ossification, Skeleton Sword, Colin Bommer’s nightmare, demon worship, cursed arm, if you wish to house a demon then sacrifice the child you love most, 1419, Imperial Palace bombing, division, youngest child of the Flos Family, military enlistment, missing, last sighting in ’44, criminal organization, Abattoir….”
The chaotic information that had spilled from the black magician guiding me at the time had somehow remained in my memory.
Rubbing my forehead, I pressed Jeff for answers.
“That research institute… where is it located?”
“The Ivric Region… at Berkshire No.16… I heard they named it after the family that once owned the place.”
“…I think I understand now.”
Count Ricola Flos, original owner of the Grimoire Oste.
The Flos Family had likely worshipped power through demon worship since long ago.
A family willing to sacrifice even their beloved children without hesitation if necessary.
The Ribenia Empire was a representative holy nation. There was no way they would’ve tolerated such acts—especially in the past.
After the Imperial Palace bombing incident in 1419, the Flos Family must have completely fractured apart.
Though naturally, their infamy likely remained to this day.
And Ian Flos, the youngest child of such a disgraced family, probably only had one place willing to accept him—
The military.
But even there, he failed to adapt and eventually disappeared.
In the end, he joined the criminal organization Abattoir and later died in a self-destructive attack during his battle against me.
That was probably the full story.
“The purpose of the institute… is Beastification?”
“H-How did you know that?!”
“I was attacked by Beastified humans before.”
Answering Jeff’s shock indifferently, I sank back into thought.
First of all, Chloe Bernhardt was unquestionably involved.
It was practically confirmed at this point that she had been the one who tried to kill me back then.
There was no way the direct family head Edgar Bernhardt and branch family head Mikhail Bernhardt were unaware.
For the same reason, the eldest son Robert Bernhardt was likely deeply involved too.
His role within the family was the military industry and mercenary business.
Either way, if they were carrying out something as horrific as human Beastification, they would’ve prepared at least enough troops to avoid exposure.
‘…I’ll need a team.’
If they were still conducting those experiments there, we absolutely had to secure evidence.
Too many people would increase the chances of them noticing beforehand, so an elite small unit was the correct choice.
And for public opinion warfare, we needed clear visual evidence from the scene itself—meaning we also needed someone to record everything.
‘Luckily, I know the perfect candidates.’
After forcibly pulling the despondent Jeff Halenber upright and making him sit properly, I signaled to Lea.
While Lea went to notify the guards that the visitation was ending—
I comforted Francia, who still hadn’t calmed down, and asked quietly,
“Are you alright?”
“…I don’t know.”
Covering her eyes while staring blankly at Jeff’s miserable appearance, she spoke weakly.
“…I didn’t struggle all this time just to see an ending like this.”
“No. And it shouldn’t be.”
Not long afterward, the prison guard returned and cleaned up the situation.
Leaving Jeff Halenber behind, we exited the facility.
After glancing nervously at Francia, Lea poked my side lightly and whispered,
“You’re continuing to use the carriage, right?”
“Mm.”
“Then I’ll head back first. I need to report this to Master too.”
“I’ll leave it to you.”
And so only the carriage and the two of us remained in front of the Correctional Bureau entrance.
After looking at her face, still clouded with complicated emotions, I spoke softly.
“…I think the world is unfair.”
“…….”
“At this very moment, somewhere, someone’s probably ending their own life because they can no longer endure exploitation. Somewhere else, another person is slowly dying on a battlefield filled with Beasts.”
I had seen such scenes far too many times.
“The rise and fall of families are no different.”
“…So you’re telling me to just accept it? Because the world’s always been this way, and I was simply unlucky?”
Transparent tears streamed from her glaring eyes.
Meeting her gaze directly, I shook my head.
“That’s why I’m trying to change this world.”
This place where demons who abandoned even their humanity for wealth and power continued living proudly.
This place that showed not even the slightest respect toward those who threw away their lives before Beasts in order to save even one more person.
This place where people mocked those trying to change such a world, saying, “Stop doing pointless things and just give up. Life gets easier that way.”
“To do that, the Empire itself has to be torn down first.”
The first step had already been taken.
Now it was time to truly move forward.
“We’ll build a new Empire with our own hands, Francia.”
I extended my hand toward her.
She stared at the outstretched hand for a long time before finally taking it.
“…So that victims like us will never appear again.”
…In truth, I already knew.
As long as humanity desired the struggle of all against all, sacrifices would never end.
Even if Beasts disappeared from this world entirely, someone would still suffer.
Somewhere, another Francia Brida would be born.
And whether that new Francia would be consumed by revenge or overcome it—
I neither knew nor wished to know.
I had no interest in what came afterward.
Save all of them, survive, and achieve peace.
That alone would mark the end of the foolish ten-year journey I had continued all this time.
Because that was the only thing that mattered to me.
Snort, snort.
After helping Francia into the carriage, I climbed into the coachman’s seat.
“So now… we’re heading to Ivric?”
Without taking my eyes off the road ahead, I answered the question from behind me.
“There’s somewhere we need to stop first.”
Then I lightly turned the carriage around.
Our first destination was the train station in the capital city, Arpe.
From there, we would head to Centre and visit a newspaper company located in northern Centre before moving on.
‘If we want to wage a public opinion war, we need undeniable evidence first.’
---
Thursday, April 7th, 7 PM.
Ribenia Spiegel, a massive newspaper company located in the heart of Solveto, a northern city of Centre.
The place was bustling day and night due to consecutive major successes, and today, unexpected guests had arrived.
Inside the president’s office on the fifth floor sat four people.
Even the countless stacks of documents piled atop the long gray desk couldn’t fully hide the enormous man’s massive physique.
“As instructed, I brought them here, President.”
“Well done, well done.”
The seated man rose with a creaking groan.
“Oho! Isn’t this our war hero who helped Spiegel achieve the greatest sales record since its founding?!”
“…….”
“Welcome, Colonel Carter! I’m Alberto Spiegel. Pleasure to meet you!”
Alberto Spiegel.
President of the Ribenia Empire’s largest newspaper company, Ribenia Spiegel.
His body alone reflected his overwhelming frame—over 190 centimeters tall and weighing more than 110 kilograms.
Known for his fiery personality and unwavering devotion to journalism, he had never once bowed to pressure from either the Bernhardts or the Imperial Court.
Furthermore, before reaching middle age, he had personally worked the field more actively than anyone else as a reporter, so his personal combat ability was far from negligible.
Some even claimed there was no way to suppress him other than legally pressuring him through official laws.
Despite such eccentric traits, the newspaper company’s influence among the citizens was so immense that neither the nobility nor the Imperial Court could openly oppose him.
“So then, what brings the busiest man in the Empire all the way here these days?”
As Eugene accepted the handshake, he answered with a faint smile filled with fighting spirit.
“I came to help you break another record.”
At that, Alberto burst into hearty laughter.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
His voice was so loud the entire room echoed.
“Just hearing that excites me! Bigger material than the exclusive report on the Joint War of Mallet, you say?! Let’s hear it!”
“There’s a condition in exchange for telling you.”
“Well of course there’s a condition! Go ahead!”
Glancing briefly toward Francia behind him, Eugene continued.
“What I’m about to do this time is practically a military operation… so to avoid interference, I’d like you to hold publication until I say it’s alright.”
“That’s easy enough. Any other conditions?”
“Would it be alright if I personally selected the accompanying reporters?”
“Oho? And who would that be?”
Before anyone noticed, Eugene had already raised three fingers.
“Reporter Stefan Taurus, reporter Mike Bedell, and Head of Social Affairs Ernest Kael.”
Alberto muttered while mulling over the names.
“Stefan… I suppose that one’s because you worked together recently. But why Mike and Ernest?”
“They have strong journalistic ethics.”
“…….”
“I’m joking.”
More importantly… because it’s dangerous.
“They need to at least be capable of protecting themselves, but most of my information network is concentrated around the Special Task Force and Karbenna. I heard both of them graduated from Karbenna and also served in the Special Task Force.”
“…I see. So that’s why.”
If that’s the case, then it’s worth paying attention to.
“Go bring those two here, Stefan.”
“Ah, yes!”
Eugene and Alberto exchanged deeply intrigued smiles.
At this very moment—
Another alliance was being formed.