"I've fulfilled my end of the bargain. When do you plan to honor your promise, Lord Hvin Rambis?"
"Not too long from now. The preparations are mostly complete. At most half a month, and you'll see the results." "Hvin Rambis," controlled by the ancient dragon Ariehogg, answered confidently.
As he spoke, his gaze shifted toward Baron Larry, who was in Vera's hands, and he asked, "May I take him now?"
"To avoid suspicion, it's better to keep him with me for now..." Vera gently shook her head, then added with hidden meaning, "Besides, we still need to leave behind traces of a struggle."
"In your hands? And still leave traces of a struggle? Yes, that's how it should be... After all, if there's no sign of a fight—or if I managed to escape with him—it would only raise more suspicion!" "Hvin Rambis" smiled as if suddenly enlightened.
"Now that's more like a royal advisor..." Vera nodded, then asked, "Since you've taken control of him, you should already know everything my dear brother planned regarding Larry, right? Care to share?"
"Of course, beautiful Princess." Hvin Rambis gave a gentlemanly bow and chuckled.
"That Baron Larry was originally just a scapegoat thrown out to divert attention, someone to shift the so-called 'Ghost Empire' clues onto other factions...
"But he got lucky and received help from Intis intelligence. Somehow, he actually managed to escape back to the Northern Continent!
"After that, due to the ambiguous attitude of the Loen military toward him, and the considerable losses suffered by various secret organizations trying to track him down, people began to half-believe he might really possess some valuable intel.
"Right then, MI9 discovered that Madam Panis—who had been sheltering Larry—was actually Bianca, the military attaché from the Intis embassy in disguise. That envoy, Mr. Owen, who belongs to the same secret organization as His Majesty and 'me,' seemed to want to use this to uncover some of Loen's secrets.
"So, on 'my' advice as royal advisor, His Majesty George III decided to adjust the plan. One part involved secretly relocating Larry, removing him from your and others' sights. The other part was having someone pose as a detective he hired, to deliberately investigate Duke Negan's mistress...
"Then 'I' suggested His Majesty arrange for Prince Edessak's butler, Finkel, to make contact with Larry, giving him a sliver of hope...
"And all of this was to prepare for pinning the blame on Baron Larry once the 'Negan assassination case' and the hidden danger surrounding the Prince exploded, and then further shifting the blame to Intis for aiding Larry.
"After all, compared to the 'Aurora Order,' who constantly talks about 'responsibility,' the narrative that Intis spies and a defected native baron colluded to assassinate a conservative Duke and destabilize the kingdom is far more likely to gain the Church's trust.
"The same logic applies to Prince Edessak... A simple tale of a prince being obsessed with a witch—even if it cost him his life—might not convince the Church. But if Intis used a traitorous baron to exploit the prince's naivety and cause disaster, then the royal family would bear less blame, and it would make much more sense.
"And evidence wouldn't be hard to find. After all, the real Madam Panis was murdered long ago. With the Church's means, a thorough investigation would definitely uncover the truth.
"Heh, thinking back now, the previous 'me' thought Larry was completely off your radar once he entered Backlund. Who would've thought you had already planned ahead and placed that item on him—ultimately helping 'me' become myself.
"Your luck was quite good, too. Your subordinates happened to 'coincidentally' discover Baron Larry's whereabouts, which also helped cover up the fact that you'd planted something on him...
"Even if He investigates afterward, with this fog obscuring most of the information, the one he'll suspect more is that little girl named Xio.
"What's even better is that little girl has close ties with the 'Hero Detective.' That might just divert His attention toward the 'God of Knowledge.'
"And in His eyes, you might just be an ambitious person who used a Sealed Artifact to kidnap Larry, attempting to gain the royal princess of the 'Ghost Empire'...
"That's probably another reason why you wanted to take Larry and stage a fake confrontation with me, right?
"Incredible! You even accounted for the 'God of Knowledge'!"
After speaking, "Hvin Rambis" deliberately looked at Vera with an admiring gaze, while also observing her expression.
Vera's face remained unchanged as she gently shook her head and replied, "Why would you think that our actions weren't within the 'God of Knowledge's' expectations?"
"Uh..." Although the current personality of Hvin Rambis possessed all of Ariehogg's memories—as if the ancient dragon had seized his body—it lacked the relevant memories of the "Dragon King" Ankewelt who had awakened from Ariehogg. So he didn't have the necessary understanding of that true god who once betrayed the dragon race.
"Also, you talk too much! Your descriptions are unnecessarily verbose and fragmented. That's not in line with Hvin's usual manner." Vera pointed out another flaw in his performance.
Such issues would never occur with human Beyonders on the Spectator pathway, because if their "acting" was this poor, they would have lost control long ago.
But the dragon race was born as mythical beings. Their powerful bodies allowed them to resist losing control and turning into monsters to a large extent—after all, they were monsters to begin with—so their performance was relatively rough around the edges.
"That's Ariehogg's habit... He likes to ramble to himself about things..." Hvin Rambis offered a simple explanation, then took out an ice-blue metal cylinder from his pocket and changed the subject:
"This is a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact entrusted to 'me' by the Psychological Alchemy Society, called 'Rotting Meteor.' Its origins are unknown, but it's certain that part of its material came from the stars!
"This ice-blue cylinder can fire special dark green projectiles. Anyone hit by them is instantly poisoned and begins to rot—even their spirit body won't be spared. It's effective even against demigods.
"Its side effect is that the holder may be watched by gazes cast down from the starry sky, unknowingly becoming corrupted. If He hadn't placed some seals on it, I definitely wouldn't dare to carry it with me!
"However, precisely because of His seal, if I use it in the future, the chances of someone detecting something unusual are quite high...
"That's why I want to hand it over to you... After all, it's impossible for me to 'escape' from you without paying some price... This also makes the story more believable."
Vera accepted the metal cylinder, gave it a quick glance, then summoned the surrounding mist to wrap it up before finally looking at him and saying, "Alright, I'm going to make my move now...
"You'd better 'transform' into your dragon form first. Otherwise, with just a Sequence 4 body, you might actually die!"
...
In the dark sewer, a shadow clung to the base of the stone wall, swiftly gliding in one direction.
He was the "Apostle of Desire" who had previously attacked Duke Negan. But now he was in a rather sorry state, because just as he was about to escape, he encountered a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact from the Church of the Evernight.
It was an extremely terrifying suit of armor. Just one strike had forced him to abandon his physical body, fleeing as a shadow.
But even so, the armor was still gaining on him!
His only chance was to use the fact that the bloodstained armor was tall and heavy, making it difficult to maneuver through certain narrow parts of the sewer—and shake it off!
Or... survive until the armor's side effects erupted!
...
At the same time, in another section of the sewer.
Ebner was using the "Magic Mirror" to sense "Desire" and monitor the target's every move.
Seeing the pursuer and the fugitive getting closer and closer to his location, Ebner put away the mirror and took out a beautifully crafted card painted with a skeletal dragon. He sighed:
"The Hero Bandit 'Black Emperor' really didn't show up...
"Did he finish digesting the 'Magician' potion?
"Or is he certain that I'll make a move to help my teacher eliminate the threat?"
(End of Chapter)