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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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I didn’t want to see this side of Sen again.
It wasn’t as bad as when we first met, but the current Sen seemed closer to the Chokugen Faction than a student.
‘I shouldn’t have brought her if I knew this would happen.’
Thanks to Sen, we were able to easily find the hidden pirates, but I didn’t like the fact that she was in an environment that forced her to change so drastically.
I thought she had completely overcome it, but the shadow of the Chokugen Faction was cast deeper over her than I thought.
Of course, it wasn’t entirely bad.
In a way, Sen’s actions were also an attempt to break free from the Chokugen Faction. That’s why I couldn’t stop her.
I could only cheer her on from behind.
Even now, people were gathered around her for the search.
“It must be camouflage magic that doesn’t use any mana. Using mana is the same as leaving traces.”
“Their camouflage prioritizes blending with nature. Even their breathing will seem like the natural movement of the wind. If possible, use a staff or something to tap the ground as you move.”
“If there are rocks or animals gathered in one place, search a little further away. Using a conspicuous place as a decoy is also a method.”
Sen was spitting out information she knew in a dry, impersonal manner, like a professor giving a lecture.
Normally, the dragon-kin would have scoffed and ignored her, saying that a little kid didn’t know anything, but.
Perhaps because of the killing intent Sen had just shown, they listened to her for now. And they began the search.
“But will they really be there?”
I answered Eve’s question honestly, as she stuck close to me just in case.
“I don’t think they would have hidden only four people. But I’m not sure if they’re hiding in the field, but…”
I looked at Sen’s back as she strode ahead, leading the search.
“I believe in Sen, so I think they’ll be here.”
As if satisfied with my answer, Eve smiled faintly.
“Why? Is something strange?”
“No, I just thought Daniel and Sen were like siblings.”
“Ah, right. She does call me ‘brother’ sometimes.”
She adds ‘brother’ as a decoration only when she needs something. Well, it doesn’t make me feel bad, and at those times, Sen feels like a normal younger sister.
“Since I only have an older sister, it makes me feel strangely good.”
Since Sister Diana had a strong personality from a young age, I was mostly dragged around by her.
“I have too many younger siblings. They’re always clinging to me.”
Eve patted her shoulder as if she was tired. But a happy smile appeared on her face as she thought of her siblings.
“What are your siblings doing now?”
“Well, since it’s past lunchtime, they’re probably studying. There’s a private academy nearby, even if it’s not as prestigious as Aios.”
“Really?”
“I got into Aios because I did well on the written test. You have no idea how much my siblings cried when I left.”
Siblings.
Siblings, huh.
I was lost in thought when I heard a man’s forceful shout from afar.
“Die!”
The place that looked like it was just covered in pebbles suddenly distorted, and a person popped out.
I had been told by Sen that the Chokugen Faction’s camouflage techniques were excellent, and I had also used camouflage myself in the Demon Realm Forest, but.
Honestly, I didn’t know they were this good.
It would have been difficult to notice if we had just passed by.
But Sen, as if she had expected it, smoothly ducked to avoid the sword and immediately drew her dagger, stabbing it into his foot.
“Ugh!”
The man’s eyes turned bloodshot.
But Sen showed no mercy. She twisted her body as if she were swimming and drove her heel into his chin.
The pirate collapsed heavily.
Perhaps because he was camouflaged, he seemed to disappear again when he fell.
And at the same time, pirates popped out from the distorted ground.
Literally, people popped out from all directions and attacked, but they couldn’t get past the wall of Inquisitors and the cardinal, who were already on alert.
“Gah!”
“Urgh!”
The pirates were cut down as soon as they appeared. It felt like catching fish in a stream, but in reality, it was a scene of carnage.
I gently covered Eve’s eyes and watched the situation.
Among those hiding, there were a few humans, but most of them were dragon-kin.
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“We’ve restrained them for now, but there’s no suitable place to detain them.”
Although more pirates than expected were captured, there was no suitable place to hold them.
It would have been nice to use the old guard’s detention cell, but a large hole had been created by shelling during the pirate attack.
All we could do was tie the pirates to a large rock, like tethering horses.
“It doesn’t look very effective.”
Sen looked dissatisfied as she observed the restraints. She muttered that she could escape if she were them, then…
Crack!
“……!”
She walked over and broke the ankle of the bald dragon-kin suspected of being from the Chokugen Faction.
He glared at Sen with resentment, but she just brushed off her foot as if she had stepped on a bug and came towards me.
“Just in case. There are some people in the Chokugen Faction who can escape even restraints.”
Seeing her say that as if it was nothing made my heart ache, so I pointed to the guards who were shocked by Sen’s cruelty.
“Don’t worry too much, they’re guarding them.”
“……”
“This won’t do. You need to rest.”
In that short time, I felt strongly that Sen was reverting back to her Chokugen Faction ways. It wasn’t pleasant to see her exuding that old atmosphere.
I had something to tell Sen, but I thought she wouldn’t take it well in this state, so I deliberately held back.
I’ll go find her later when everything is over.
‘It’s true that the pirates are connected to the Chokugen Faction.’
According to the information from the Rin of the second iteration, the pirates were the source of the drugs used by the Chokugen Faction to raise their successors.
They have a unique relationship, joining forces when necessary, and abandoning each other without hesitation when not.
As if they had completely discarded emotions, they would cooperate as long as their pockets were full, as if the past wounds and bloodshed had never happened.
I had to assume that the Chokugen Faction and the pirates were still cooperating.
Wanting to keep Sen away from the prisoners, I was heading towards the lodgings with her when I spotted the Dragon Priestess talking with Eve.
The two seemed to be chatting quite amiably, and the atmosphere didn’t seem too bad.
As we approached, I could hear their voices.
“Now that you’ve revealed that there were dragon-kin among the pirate remnants, the elders won’t be able to bring up the compensation issue so easily.”
“It’s thanks to Your Holiness’s help. You defended us at the oracle.”
“The elders weren’t always so corrupt. I guess they feel like they’re sailing on a vast ocean without knowing the will of Shakarim.”
“I suppose so. The Dragon God still hasn’t given any answer.”
Eve subtly sounded her out, but the Dragon Priestess nodded with a regretful expression.
She was quite the actress.
That’s how she could deceive the elders and all the other dragon-kin while talking to Shakarim alone.
I thought it was a good opportunity and was about to join the conversation, but Cardinal Theosander came running from afar.
With heavy footsteps but light breathing, the cardinal shouted urgently,
“Pirates! Pirates have appeared!”
The atmosphere changed abruptly.
I thought one incident had been resolved, but the flow of events started to accelerate like a sudden storm on a calm sea.
But when we went to the beach, all we could see was an endless horizon with nothing there.
“W-What? Where are the pirates, Cardinal?”
“I’m not sure. It seems to have been a false alarm.”
The urgency from a moment ago disappeared, and the cardinal calmly apologized.
The Dragon Priestess, who already disliked him, sighed and glared at him coldly before turning around.
But then, Sen sniffed the air. She suddenly turned her head, widened her eyes, and ran off.
“I smell blood.”
Led by Sen, we hurried towards the rock where the prisoners were being held, but when we arrived, there was only blood splattered everywhere. No one was there.
And Cardinal Theosander asked from behind with a sinister smile,
“Now, everyone. Prove that there were dragon-kin among the pirates.”
It was a ridiculous joke, but the cardinal was confident. Even though the evidence that there were dragon-kin among the pirates had been so brazenly erased.
This was their land, and the people living here were dragon-kin.
The cardinal was certain.
That things would eventually go their way.
“Cardinal…!”
The Dragon Priestess glared at Cardinal Theosander with an incredulous expression, and Eve and Sen also gave him looks of utter contempt.
‘This is good.’
I thought the situation was turning out to be very favorable for me.
“…Eve, what are you doing?”
Eve was meticulously cleaning her clenched fists with a handkerchief, as if polishing a weapon.
At Sen’s question, Eve glanced at Sen and smiled chillingly.
“I’m getting ready.”
“Ready?”
“Yes, I made a promise.”
Sen, who couldn’t understand what she was talking about, turned her gaze back to the coast blankly.
She realized that she had never been out to the open sea while living in the Chokugen Faction, and she suddenly wanted to go.
‘What does the Chokugen Faction want now?’
She didn’t know that they were working with the pirates.
At the time, Sen wasn’t officially a member yet, but she had been praised as a promising talent by the cold-hearted executives.
‘This is giving me a headache.’
The bitterness on my tongue was so strong that it made it sting, mixed with the salty smell of the sea, and I wanted to rinse my mouth.
‘This is not the time.’
The prisoners, who were the evidence that there were dragon-kin among the pirates, were all dead.
I didn’t know where they had hidden the bodies, but anyway, they had taken a brute-force approach.
As I was thinking that we would end up paying compensation if we just stood around like this, Eve chuckled beside me.
“Don’t worry too much.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s not lose sight of our original goal.”
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[Your Text Here]
noo i caught up