168 – Opponent’s identity
It was not difficult to locate Drake.
I looked down from the sky at the back of the guy running towards somewhere.
Perhaps he’s trying to ask for help from an unknown bastard.
There was no reason to leave it alone.
One way would be to wipe out the destination he is heading to, but he doesn’t have to take that risk and just dig up the information himself.
Watching on it quietly, aiming for the timing when no one was nearby, it lightly came down to the ground.
“Ugh!”
Drake stunned and slumped backwards when I blocked his way.
“Where are you going in such a hurry?”
“You damn bastard…!!”
I couldn’t believe the reaction of the leader who created the phantom thief followers. Now you openly reveal your true colors.
“Was it a lie when he said he would let me go without hesitation!? Are you mocking me!”
“Don’t misunderstand. Didn’t you do anything wrong and send it away? It’s a different matter than meeting you again here by chance.”
“Don’t be ridiculous!!”
It’s really unfortunate, but there’s nothing you can do about it if you don’t believe in yourself.
I slowly moved closer to him, step by step. Then, with a hard expression on his face, he backed away.
This makes me feel like a bad villain.
It’s hard to see the thief as being on the side of justice. Thinking like that made me realize once again how abnormal this guy was even if he held me up as a flawless hero.
“I don’t want to do anything bad to you either. I’m just wondering why you would spend your money and time doing this. If you tell me honestly, I won’t touch you after that. This is true.”
It doesn’t change anything about beating Drake anyway. It’s because there’s a high probability that he’s just a jobber who just followed the instructions from above.
“Don’t be ridiculous! Do you think I’ll just let you know!?”
“Hmm. If you come out so uncooperative, you will only lose.”
I tried to go as far as I could, but I couldn’t help myself if it came out like this first.
“Let’s see how long that stubbornness will last.”
Perfect!
As soon as he snapped his fingers, he hypnotized Drake.
It is impossible for ordinary people to resist magic that is difficult for even a wizard to escape. He was immersed in the world of images without even realizing that he was hypnotized.
“Ooh.”
I looked around and admired the space, which was implemented much better than I thought.
Anyway, thanks to the last battle with the Reaper, it seemed that his hypnotic proficiency had improved considerably.
Compared to the hypnosis used on Evan in the past, it is safe to say that it is the difference between heaven and earth.
“What, what is it…?”
Drake can’t hide his embarrassment when the scenery around him suddenly changes completely.
He couldn’t even imagine that he was hypnotized.
Then you should make the most of that illusion.
“Do you know where you are now?”
“…To be brought to the torture chamber. What are you going to do with me here!?”
As soon as he answered, the surrounding scenery shook and turned into a dark, eerie torture chamber.
A heterogeneous situation where you don’t even notice the space is changing right in front of your eyes.
That’s why you’re completely hypnotized and can’t even fully realize it.
In other words, it is similar to a state in which cognition is completely lost after falling into a deep dream.
You may think that you are moving according to your own will, but when I activate the magic, I am controlling Drake’s emotions and thoughts to my heart’s content.
“Don’t you know best what to do? Why don’t you just speak plainly now?”
“Ugh…!”
Dark fear flickered in his eyes as he sighed.
A seemingly very heinous torture device that is beginning to form in my hands.
Every time he comes up with a terrible imagination, it is projected into the world of images one by one.
In other words, it is no different from torturing yourself. It was like an infinite loop in a vicious circle that alone could never escape.
Unfortunately, Drake’s imagination was very rich and creative. Even all sorts of torture methods I had never thought of popped up in my imagination.
In the end, it wasn’t long before the white flag was raised.
“Please… Help me. I’ll tell you anything. Please! Help me!!”
“It’s cooler than I thought. Still, a promise is a promise, so I can’t help it. Hurry up and tell me everything you know.”
Drake began to chat while sitting on a chair in the torture chamber.
The truth revealed was shocking.
It was an astonishing story that made fun of all the scenarios I had in mind.
“…Leonhard.”
With the name of the lion’s heart, they are little known to the general public, but they are the core aristocratic cult that dominates Britannia.
And in effect they were the nucleus of a central power gathered under the influence of a single man.
His name is the great Richard Grace.
He, who is called the greatest hero, was behind the scenes of this incident.
***
After realizing the truth, my head gets rather complicated.
I never would have imagined that name would be relevant here.
I was just at a loss as to how to solve it from now on.
Originally, I would have started with Drake and tried to destroy them all step by step.
I don’t know what the exact purpose was, but it was clear that they were trying to use me.
But the size of the opponent who showed up was too big. Once you understand how central Leonhardt is to the aristocratic world, you will realize that antagonizing them is, in effect, antagonizing all of Britain’s nobility.
Of course I was already an enemy of the nobles. It is safe to say that no one among the nobles likes me unless I am an outlier like Yulia.
The problem was Grace. I’ve already turned him into an enemy, but he went over without a big deal, so I put it off and it feels like I got hit hard in the back of the head.
It was a little strange when you think about it with common sense. Why in the world were the nobles of Leonhardt, who are considered to be more noble than anyone else, plotting this in secret? What is the reason for creating a revolutionary organization that calls for the overthrow of the aristocracy?
If you conclude that the reason is to f*ck me, doesn’t it sound pretty plausible?
The phantom thief followers shout for the abolition of the monarchy and the overthrow of the nobles. The thief, the landlord of such people, is also a risk factor that needs to be dealt with immediately.
It is a natural development flow that anyone can nod their head at.
If I become such an extreme position, people who were kind to me will feel reluctant and have no choice but to turn around.
If my guess is true, it was a terribly naive yet effective method.
If I hadn’t paid attention to the organization called the phantom thief followers, I would have been beaten by public opinion and branded as an evil thief without knowing what caused it.
Even if I noticed it a little too late, it would have been close to impossible to reverse. It’s very difficult to turn someone’s heart once hardened.
I never thought they would secretly push for public opinion like this.
No matter how many times I thought about it, the back of my head felt tingly.
Now that you have realized the identity of your opponent, you must prepare countermeasures.
But to be honest, breaking through head-on is impossible. Even the guards I encountered at Lappano’s mansion were much stronger opponents than I was.
Perhaps Grace deliberately selected and prepared talented people. That means I foresaw the possibility that I might reach Lappano for information.
Even if that wasn’t the case, since Drake was kicked out anyway, it was obvious that the fact would reach Grace’s ears anyway.
The opponent will be very wary of me and set up countermeasures. Under such circumstances, it was too risky a gamble to risk head-on armed conflict.
So what should I do? The answer was surprisingly simple.
I just have to pay the same amount as the other person.
Be as naive and effective as possible. Shouldn’t we retaliate against public opinion wars with public opinion wars?
I came up with a good idea just in time, so I’m going to move right away without having to wait.
[What are you going to do?]
I calmly answered the goddess’ questions full of curiosity.
“I just want to use all the cards in my hand.”
It’s an all-out war, so to speak. It pours everything except combat to defeat the opponent.
Sir Grace is like a spider that weaves a very fine web to tie up its prey, but in fact I’m quite confident in conceiving the big picture.
Since then, he is a romantic thief who boasts an undefeated myth.
Can Sir Grace, who is called Britannia’s greatest hero, break through my tricks?
With a little pounding heart, I started preparing one by one.
The first thing to do is right.
“Hey, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you! I thought he must have died because there was no contact at all!”
“hahahaha. I’ve been busy managing my business lately.”
It was to make an appointment with his brother, Gilbert.
“So what are you doing today? I didn’t know you would ask to meet first.”
“Ah. It’s nothing else…”
I sipped my tea leisurely and told him about my business.
“That suggestion you made last time. I will accept it.”