TSSAH 22

Chapter 22

“What kind of hypothetical is that…”

Ruenelk Ains frowned as if the very thought was dreadful, but still offered an answer.

“Just cut Greer Knox immediately and put a suitable person in that position. If you lend a little of the real intelligence division’s power in the process, they’ll settle in quickly. If you just change the stupid guide, the ship will sail in the right direction.”

Even though a mere low-ranking squad member dared to call an executive “stupid,” Killian felt no desire to punish Ruenelk Ains.

“But you have no intention of doing that. And there’s no need to either.”

“No need?”

Killian’s narrowing pupils captured the insolently jutting lip like prey.

It was a change that neither of the two standing face to face noticed.

“If a dragon is bleeding, everyone will come running with eager cries. They’ll think it’s an opportunity to bring down a colossal being that no one has ever dared to challenge. But.”

“But that blood isn’t the dragon’s—it’s the blood of already-hunted enemies.”

Ruenelk Ains nodded sullenly, as if to say, “You already know, so why ask?”

Without taking his eyes off that sight, Killian downed the liquor in one gulp and spoke.

“The squad member says so. What do you think, DuPont?”

At the brief summons, a tall man revealed himself.

It was DuPont Clanshire, who had been listening to the entire conversation from a space secretly hidden within the pillar of the office.

“Wait, where did you suddenly come from…”

Ruenelk Ains’s eyes went wide as he kept glancing toward the pillar from which DuPont had emerged.

But that curiosity didn’t last long.

*Grab!*

DuPont Clanshire seized both of Ruenelk Ains’s shoulders with his large hands, almost pouncing on him.

“It’s been a long time indeed.”

A strange gleam flickered in DuPont’s eyes.

“A proper talent has finally come in.”

“Take him and teach him to be useful, DuPont.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“W-wait a moment!”

Ruenelk Ains struggled desperately to escape DuPont’s grip and cried out.

“Then does that mean my answer was correct?”

“Hey.”

DuPont, looking flustered, tried to restrain the squad member who was like a newborn pup.

But at Killian’s light gesture, an invisible force pushed him back a few steps.

Killian set down his glass and stood before Ruenelk Ains.

The moonlight cast his shadow over the impudent, pale face.

“So what if it was?”

“Give me the antidote.”

“Did I give you poison?”

“It’s not poison, but you did give me something similar, didn’t you?”

And with that, he glanced subtly at DuPont—a sight both amusing and pathetic.

It couldn’t possibly benefit him to catch his eye.

The little one was growing cuter by the moment.

*’He even knows how to choose his words.’*

DuPont Clanshire was as good as Killian’s own limbs.

Yet even in front of DuPont, Ruenelk Ains didn’t want to reveal that he had drunk Killian’s blood.

He was someone who didn’t know how to feel at ease, or how to trust anyone.

“I’m afraid not.”

Killian looked down at the lips that had once been smeared with his blood and spoke.

“It was entertaining enough, but it wasn’t the right answer.”

The correct answer was “Eclipse.”

The Eclipse—when Killian, the center of Knox, was consumed by dragon’s blood—was truly worthy of being called Knox’s darkest secret.

But if he had come back knowing about the Eclipse—

“Why, why are you looking at me like that.”

Though it was only for a very brief moment, Ruenelk Ains noticed the chill in Killian’s eyes and stepped back, thoroughly frightened.

He was as sensitive as a small wild animal.

*’It seems time will be needed to tame him.’*

Quietly reaching that conclusion, Killian spoke in his usual tone.

“The answer you offered was only half.”

“Half?”

“You’ll learn the rest if you follow DuPont.”

As Killian gestured toward the door, the invisible wall that had been blocking DuPont also vanished.

“The antidote will be given when you prove yourself worthy. Leave.”

“…Understood.”

Ruenelk Ains, despite his face plastered with discontent, managed to take his leave and shuffled out after DuPont.

Without looking back, until he stepped out of Killian’s long-stretched shadow.

“……”

Killian felt the dragon’s blood within Ruenelk Ains’s body gradually receding, and absently stroked his office desk out of habit.

—

***

—

After leaving the office, I wasn’t granted the fortune of returning to my quarters.

Instead, I was heading somewhere, following DuPont Clanshire.

He showed no sign of telling me our destination in advance, so I had no choice but to silently follow, watching only the heels of his boots.

“Don’t ever speak to His Grace that way again. Understood?”

“Yes, understood.”

“Consider yourself lucky that His Grace was in a good mood today. You nearly died.”

As if I didn’t know that.

Every word DuPont Clanshire, walking a step ahead, laid out flowed straight out my other ear.

My mind was foggy.

*’I’m alive.’*

Having passed through a life-or-death crisis once, the wave of exhaustion that washed over me was no joke.

My body, which hadn’t eaten or slept properly for five days, suddenly felt like waterlogged cotton.

Blinking my heavy eyelids, I turned my gaze to the window that ran along the corridor.

Who knew the fortress scenery I’d grown accustomed to over the past year would feel this welcome?

I rubbed my nose—which had inexplicably grown stuffy—and thought.

*’The Eclipse must be over, then.’*

As DuPont Clanshire had said, Killian Knox did seem to be in a fairly good mood today.

He was like a completely different person from that savage figure under the Eclipse’s influence last time.

*’Killian Knox, you son of a bitch.’*

The back of my neck, which had barely escaped the trap of a hideous beast—whether dragon or serpent—still throbbed with fear.

Good thing I hadn’t uttered the word “Eclipse.”

From the moment Killian Knox brought up “the darkest secret,” I knew it referred to the Eclipse.

But even if that was the correct answer, it wasn’t the path that would extend my life.

It was obvious how a low-ranking squad member who learned that the head of Knox had a period when he became closer to monster than human would be dealt with.

I’d die if I gave a boring answer, and I’d die even if I gave the right answer—that was the fate I was handed.

Today’s exceptionally bright moon was so detestable that I whipped my head away.

*’Maybe I should just spread the word everywhere.’*

I had learned about the Eclipse when I was still with Wickers.

But I discarded that information without telling Edward.

The Eclipse was like Killian Knox’s reverse scale.

A reverse scale that, if touched rashly, would incur a dragon’s wrath.

At the time, I only wanted revenge for my family, and I didn’t want to die a pointless death by provoking Killian Knox before achieving that goal.

*’And it’s not even a weakness.’*

During every Eclipse, Killian Knox only became more cruel and more powerful.

Thinking about it that way, I really had nearly died just now.

To survive a trap set by Killian Knox himself.

As the tension eased and my body temperature dropped, I brushed the cold back of my neck and asked.

“By the way, where are we going now?”

“Quick to ask, aren’t you.”

DuPont Clanshire muttered as if he’d never seen such an odd fellow.

“Don’t make a fuss and just follow quietly.”

“…Yes.”

As if he would have told me even if I asked anyway.

Whether this one or that one, everyone in Knox was displeasing to me.

Whatever it was, I just wished it would end quickly.

I desperately wanted to take off this necklace that felt unusually heavy today and collapse onto my bed.

But as I followed DuPont Clanshire, my doubts only grew.

And so I found myself standing at the end of the west corridor on the fourth floor of the main building, before the enormous portrait of the first Duke of Knox.

It was a vivid painting of the first duke’s golden eyes and the red eyes of the crow perched on his shoulder.

“DuPont Clanshire, sir, why are we here of all places…”

“Shh.”

With one sharp glare, DuPont Clanshire silenced me again and pressed several jewels embedded in the frame.

The moment I saw that familiar touch, my mind snapped to attention.

Ah, this isn’t good.

I had a feeling I was about to get dragged into something extremely troublesome and annoying.

“I’ll take my leave now…”

But DuPont Clanshire grabbed my arm as I tried to flee and half-shoved me into a secret passage that had now revealed itself.

That’s right.

There was a secret passage behind the portrait!

“Don’t make things difficult for either of us. Walk ahead.”

Was this the words of a Knox executive, or a thug from a dark alley?

As I hesitated, dumbfounded, DuPont Clanshire’s long, sturdy fingers jabbed me in the back.

“Understood. I’m going, I’m going.”

The passage, lit only by the moonlight seeping in from outside, led upward in stairs.