Chapter 4. The Masked Man's Identity
“Your Highness, I'm coming in.”
Kirio Tites heard a sound from inside the Treatment Room and hastily opened the door.
He was worried that something might have happened while he was briefly away.
This was someone who had just barely escaped death. What was this ominous noise in the room of a patient who required absolute rest?
“Oh? Kirio.”
Fortunately, the Prince was sitting on the bed, picking up a water pitcher that had fallen on the floor.
Kirio looked around inside the Treatment Room.
Fortunately, everything was calm without anything disturbing. It seemed the sound was just the water pitcher falling.
“What's the matter? Coming in so urgently.”
Kirio felt awkward at the 8th Prince's gentle words.
“It's nothing. I thought I heard a sound.”
“I see.”
“Yes, I suppose I worried for nothing. More importantly, the water pitcher seems to have fallen. Should I bring a new one?”
Radel wiped the corner of the water pitcher clean and shook his head.
“It’s fine. I suppose I made you worry.”
Kirio asked to be called if anything happened while he was outside and then left again.
Radel, confirming his departure, sighed in relief.
“Phew.”
He almost got caught.
Radel wiped the blood off the water pitcher more meticulously and put it back in its place. He then looked at the masked man still tied to the reception room chair.
“Your skill is excellent, as expected.”
He thought the masked man must have some way to hide since he was able to infiltrate without being interrupted until this point, but he didn't expect him to escape Kirio’s notice as well.
The masked man was certainly a more excellent expert than he thought.
“Mmh mmh!”
“Ah, I had his mouth covered. I'll take it off now.”
Radel took off the cloth covering his mouth.
The masked man then changed to a triumphant demeanor and raised his head.
“Hmph. This is called magic.”
Could there be anyone in this world who didn't know what magic was?
Seeing the masked man's arrogant expression, he seemed convinced that the magic he was talking about was something different.
Radel decided to humor him.
“That’s amazing! This is real magic.”
The masked man then raised his head smugly.
“Yes. I also cast Soundproofing Magic in case something like before happened.”
Actually, he was terrified of Kirio coming back in.
‘Why is the Supreme Deity’s servant here? If I get caught by that lunatic Inquisitor, I'm dead.’
No, the problem was that merely dying wouldn't be the end of it.
Among the Inquisitors, who were experts in torture, Kirio was famous for his high skill. He was quite a celebrity among secret organizations.
The fact that such a person was here meant that the 8th Prince was a person of interest.
“What is your relationship with that Priest?”
The masked man couldn't contain his curiosity and asked. A certain connection might have already formed between the 8th Prince and the Supreme Deity Order.
“Pardon? I saw him for the first time today.”
‘He looked quite close for a first-time meeting.’
The masked man did not drop his suspicious gaze.
‘Not only did he threaten me, but his closeness with that torture expert can’t be a coincidence.’
The masked man thought the 8th Prince was as vicious as an Inquisitor. It was possible they had built up a relationship a long time ago.
“Don't lie. You won't be able to fool me.”
“It’s the truth.”
“How long do you intend to hide your identity?”
“Hmm, I think you should tell me your identity first...”
Radel felt that a proper conversation would be impossible in this state.
Since the masked man had conveniently cast Soundproofing Magic, no sound from inside would leak out from now on.
He approached the masked man, gripping something tightly in his hand.
“And I’ve been wondering.”
The water pitcher, with its peculiarly dark red corner, gleamed in Radel’s hand.
“Why have you been using informal speech to me since earlier?”
Radel decided to give the masked man some physical therapy.
***
It was a refreshing morning.
Radel woke up early, opened the window, and inhaled the fresh air.
Chirp, chirp.
The chirping of the birds flying outside the window sounded pleasant. A fresh breeze blew by, brushing against Radel’s forehead.
It was a peace he had never felt before.
‘Was the world this beautiful?’
Before he almost died, he didn't have the luxury to feel this way.
He lived each day holding his breath, so even the scenery outside the window evoked no feeling in him.
‘What changed?’
The fact that he gained the Troll’s Heart?
The fact that he almost died?
The fact that he recalled his past life?
All of them were true, but there was something most important.
‘Isn't living life as I want the best?’
He ate and slept as he pleased in the Treatment Room for a few days, and it was incredibly comfortable.
‘I want to continue living comfortably.’
To do that, he first had to stay alive.
Only by living could he feel this fresh breeze and hear the pleasant birdsong.
Radel resolved to protect this peace. The first step was to eliminate everything that tried to kill him.
“Is it because I have a goal, I feel somehow fulfilled. Haha.”
Radel turned back with a refreshed expression.
There, tied to the reception room chair, was the masked man, covered in bruises and swollen all over his body.
‘Lunatic.’
His eyes were cursing Radel, but his mouth opened automatically as if he was brainwashed.
“...That is correct. You are truly magnificent.”
“Thank you for saying that, Armandy.”
Radel chuckled awkwardly at his words.
The masked man, no, Armandy, held back another curse rising to his throat.
‘That crazy bastard...’
Did it make sense for a person to look so refreshed after keeping someone captive for two days?
“Oh? But did I just tell you what my goal was?”
Armandy’s expression instantly froze.
He had fallen into a malicious trap again.
“How can you say I’m magnificent without knowing my goal? I’m curious.”
He was a real, absolute lunatic. He tested people relentlessly whenever they seemed to forget.
Armandy opened his mouth, being careful not to let his voice tremble.
“I thought the sight of you waking up early and resolving your goal was magnificent.”
“Ah, I see.”
Of course, Radel’s intentions were different from Armandy’s imagination. He was just genuinely asking.
He was also curious about how Armandy knew to praise a goal he hadn't even mentioned.
Perhaps it was from the moment he found Armandy's name in the notebook.
Armandy grew quiet, perhaps touched, when Radel called out his name to surprise him.
Seeing him, after accompanying him with some physical therapy, become more proficient in formal speech and polite over time, unlike at first, the saying "sincerity touches the heart" came to mind.
At the feet of the now polite Armandy, the water pitcher with the dark red corner rolled.
Radel was satisfied with this situation.
“Shall we head out now?”
He felt he should visit the Ability Management Bureau, the place that sent Armandy to Radel.
He had many things he was curious about.
***
The Ability Management Bureau in the Cretian Imperial Palace.
“Director, communication with Armandy Stein has been cut off.”
“How long has it been?”
“It’s the second day today.”
The Director’s face darkened at the report.
Armandy was an agent who carried out his missions flawlessly. A communication cut-off for a day was one thing, but two days was unprecedented.
‘He couldn’t even send a distress signal despite his skill.’
It would be impossible unless he was confined to a secret room and monitored all day for 24 hours.
‘Armandy’s Illusion Magic should be the best in the Empire. Such a thing is impossible.’
The Director momentarily looked away to clear his dizzy head. Then he noticed something inexplicable.
‘What is that?’
Armandy, who was supposedly on a mission and missing, was loitering suspiciously in front of the Ability Management Bureau.
‘Armandy?’
The Director doubted his eyes at the sight of Armandy, tightly bound and being dragged by someone.
Moreover, the one dragging him was the 8th Prince.
‘I sent him to monitor the 8th Prince... Did he get caught?’
The Director couldn't imagine how the 8th Prince, who had just manifested his Ability, could possibly capture an agent of the Ability Management Bureau.
“D-Director! Right now, the 8th Prince is...!”
The Director pressed his throbbing temples and replied.
“I saw him too.”
“No, not that, he is holding Armandy hostage and blackmailing us!”
***
Radel said his body felt completely recovered and left the Treatment Room to return to the 8th Prince's Palace.
Kirio was very sad and asked him to be sure to visit the Temple later.
“Thank you for everything, Brother.”
Next to Radel, who was bowing politely, someone muttered inwardly.
‘...That abominable bastard.’
It was Armandy, who had cast Illusion Magic not to be seen by Kirio. This vicious 8th Prince had eventually brought him outside.
Furthermore, the brazen request to be guided to the Ability Management Bureau was absurd.
‘Does he think he can find it if I take him there?’
The Ability Management Bureau he belonged to was a place of strict security, a place that absolutely did not permit external visitors.
Moreover, the Ability Management Bureau building was protected by state-of-the-art security magic, which an ordinary person couldn't even recognize.
‘Tch, he doesn't even know how amazing that high-level magic is.’
Indeed, the 8th Prince was a brat who didn't even know the first letter of magic.
He was worlds apart from his twin brother, the 9th Prince.
‘Compared to him, His Highness the 9th Prince is like the source of all magic.’
Although they were twins and their faces might look somewhat similar, their stature was different.
Though he did mistake Radel for His Highness the 9th Prince when he suddenly saw his face up close... that was when he let down his guard.
The two had fundamentally different attitudes towards magic.
The 8th Prince was a shameless brat who, far from being impressed by Armandy's real magic, just used it for convenience and ordered him around.
‘His Highness the 9th Prince felt a strong magic power wave near the Ability Management Bureau and tried to neutralize it himself.’
Since it was defensive magic created with the utmost care by the Empire’s Archmages, even the 9th Prince couldn't break it.
However, the sight of him discovering something different and approaching it magically was deeply touching to Armandy.
‘How brilliantly the Empire’s magic will develop when he becomes Emperor!’
His heart swelled thinking of that future day.
Armandy internally ignored Radel, who was far inferior to the 9th Prince, and wandered appropriately near the Ability Management Bureau.
He calculated that Radel would eventually tire out on his own by wandering around like this.
It was then that they were passing in front of the Ability Management Bureau.
He thought they were perhaps too close, but Armandy was quiet because he had a safety net.
‘Would a measly person like him even recognize it?’
But he didn't know.
That Radel had Status Effect Nullification...
[Wide-area security magic is interfering with the user's perception.]
[Status Effect Nullification is activated.]
[The Ability Management Bureau reveals itself.]
Radel was thrilled when the Ability Management Bureau building appeared before his eyes.
“Thank you, Armandy!”
“Mmh mmh!”
Unfortunately, his mouth was covered.
‘Crazy, he recognized this?!’
Radel, hearing his cry of astonishment, patted his back as if to ask if he was that happy.
“Mmh mmh!”
Armandy was going crazy.
Not only had he failed his mission and been captured, but now it was as if he had brought the 8th Prince, his surveillance target, to his own organization!
Moreover, when entering the front of the Ability Management Bureau, all magic protection is forcefully disabled. That meant Armandy’s Illusion Magic was also instantly broken.
His pathetic appearance, tightly bound by the 8th Prince, was exposed to the public. Furthermore, the end of the rope was held tightly by the 8th Prince.
‘I feel like a dog, seriously...’
Armandy wanted to die...
Radel, regardless of Armandy's feelings, dragged him toward the main gate.