57 – 26. Corruption Dominion, Brookes (2)
The man Bianca rescued from the zombie horde seemed to be of old age.
He identified himself as a researcher working under Count Velos.
The moment she heard his words, Bianca realized that this was an opportunity.
“If it’s this man….”
Wouldn’t he know the secret that destroyed the Dominion?
Although there were memories from her childhood that interfered with her journey, it was something Bianca could sacrifice.
It would be better to resolve it if possible.
“That way, I can preserve my memories and it will also help Ariel.”
Isn’t Ariel suffering from consecutive failures? If she handles this well, it will be a remarkable achievement.
Because of this, Bianca paid attention to Pheps’s words.
“What did you say?”
The fact she heard from him was incredibly shocking.
“Right now. What did you say? Cyril and Vanessa are the culprits behind this disaster?”
Bianca’s trembling voice made the air vibrate slightly.
Pheps simply nodded at her vehement reaction.
“Yes, as you heard. This incident was caused by the resistance, specifically the hardliners led by Cyril. And Vanessa pushed forward this operation as Cyril’s closest aide.”
Pheps’s explanation was simple.
The fanatics she had seen before were these zombies who were stained by Lord Velos’s failed experiment.
In order to heal them, Lord Velos had put in all his efforts. But due to an attack from the resistance, the zombies were released.
Pheps, the man, revealed everything to Lord Velos in order to restrain her from carrying out her mad plan.
Up to this point, the story was shocking enough. But what shocked Bianca the most was none other than the main target.
“Vanessa….”
“… Ever since she formed a close relationship with that woman, Cyril has become strange. He has become obsessed with the lives of the powerful and has started craving power and authority. Do you know anything about her?”
“There’s no way I wouldn’t know. Vanessa is like that…”
“I’m her sister. When our family fell apart and dispersed, no one knew how she was doing. She’s been like this ever since.”
Vanessa Matthief.
Bianca’s thoughts about her sister were not very favorable.
She had a flaw in her personality, but the biggest problem was her way of thinking.
“Vanessa has always been obsessed with becoming stronger. It’s quite strange.”
It was too extreme.
Cursing those who tried out the newly acquired black magic as a joke.
She even attempted eccentric actions like secretly offering the cat that Bianca had been raising as a sacrifice for training in black magic.
I even saw in her diary entries that she wrote that it might be better to sacrifice the youngest sibling, who was suffering from an illness from a young age, since she would die anyway.
“Father and mother made countless efforts to cure her.”
The appearance of her parents, who had made efforts to improve her sister, was still vivid.
Black magic had always been a despised field of study, and even when the Matthief family’s reputation was at its peak, it had been met with suspicion.
If a woman was acting like that in such a situation, what would happen?
I tried very hard. I scolded her severely, and I even tried to comfort her gently.
I tried all the methods I could think of, but the result wasn’t good.
“There were no signs of improvement. And at the moment our parents were making efforts, our family collapsed.”
Vanessa in Bianca’s memories was just a crazy girl drunk on power.
That’s why.
“What this person is saying… it might be true.”
I was able to trust Phephs’ words.
Because at least in the memories, Vanessa was a person who could create resistance and turn Bruckers into a battlefield just to enhance her strength.
As the sense of guilt washed over her, Bianca bowed her head, and Phephs was the same.
“This. I made a mistake. I thought she was family.”
“No. I should have stopped her before she did such things.”
“I don’t know what kind of person Vanessa is in your memory… But at least the Vanessa I saw is not someone who can change even if it is her family, her grandparents. So you don’t have to blame yourself. Uh… I wouldn’t need to.”
“Oh … Where are you hurt? Just a moment, I can handle simple healing magic.”
“Treating is fine. It’s already too late…”
Although her biggest strength was black magic, after the hatred of black magic users spread throughout the empire, Bianca started dabbling in other forms of magic.
I had also learned a simple healing spell, and I was going to check Phefus’s injury.
“Uh….”
“I told you. It’s too late… “
I closed my mouth when I saw the blood pouring out from his clothes. I could barely see in the dark, but Phefus was covered in blood.
“What on earth happened?”
“Don’t worry. It’s not a zombie attack. It’s a blade wound.”
“That, that’s not the important thing, it’s about getting cut with a knife? Who would do such a thing.”
“Cerilda. Embarrassing, but she’s my wife.”
It couldn’t be accepted easily…. but what was even more unbelievable was the reason behind it – Phefus’s workplace.
“My wife stabbing her husband. It’s unbelievable….”
“I didn’t want to say this, but… truthfully, my wife is insane. After being with Vanessa, she started dreaming of the life of a ruler.”
“A noble’s life?”
“Noble… She wouldn’t be satisfied with that.”
The nobility might enjoy tremendous power, but don’t they have an emperor over them? Cerilda didn’t want that kind of life.
“Superficially, everyone says they will create an equal country. But her ambition is probably to become the leader of the country and rise to the top.”
A world with no discrimination is the utopia that the resistance envisioned. But Phefus didn’t think that was right. Anyone can say nice things in theory. In theory, the country that the resistance is envisioning might not be bad. But ‘reality is different.’
No matter how much they shout for equality, whenever a group is formed, leaders are bound to emerge. Those who have tasted power, will they try to give it up? For those who have already lived oppressed lives? The resistance will surely try to claim what they haven’t enjoyed under the pretext of the reward mentality and, as a result, the empire will face a crisis. Phefus was also a commoner, but he could still distinguish right from wrong.
“Revolution without proper preparation will only cause chaos… I thought I should stop it, so I told the Resistance and Viscount Velos all the facts.”
“…”
“But… it was a failure. The resistance pushed the operation beyond imagination, causing the zombies to cover the village. And I ended up like this.”
“Ah….”
“Don’t feel too sorry. After all, I finished Cyrilida with my own hands.”
Fortunately, I succeeded in thwarting Cyrilida’s ambitions. But it was not yet a time for relief.
Vanessa, as long as she remains, the calamity will not end.
“May I ask for one favor? Please stop Vanessa. She was never interested in the Resistance’s wishes from the beginning. She plans to overthrow the royal family using zombies.”
“Well…”
One could argue that it might be an overinterpretation, but Bianca thought that if it was the Vanessa she knew, it was only natural to think that way.
‘If it were my sister…’
Wasn’t she renowned for her extraordinary talent in black magic?
If she could control even ghouls to her will, then she could also control zombies, Bianca reasoned.
In the end, Bianca could only nod.
“I’ll do my best…”
“…Thank you. I’m counting on you.”
With those words, Peppes closed his eyes comfortably.
His body collapsed and his breathing stopped.
The life he had fought to protect was extinguished.
Bianca held onto the surging shame and guilt tightly.
‘If I had paid a little more attention, could things have been different?’
When she repeated the questions she didn’t want to recall and answered them herself, she arrived at an answer.
‘One thing is for sure… I have to protect the Brookes Domain.’
The city where childhood memories lingered. The only place where she could feel the presence of her family.
She couldn’t let it be defiled.
Having made up her mind, Bianca headed towards the mansion’s lobby through the ventilation shaft.
While suppressing any noise to avoid alerting the zombies, she moved carefully. Fortunately, she reached the lobby without any issues.
As soon as she arrived in the lobby, jumping down from the skylight, she could see it.
“Bianca, you’re alive!”
Ariel and her relieved comrades rushing towards her, smiling brightly.
And then…
“Sister! I have good news! While coming from the courtyard to the lobby, I encountered someone… Do you know who it was? Your family!”
The woman with ash-colored hair behind Ariel.
It was a familiar figure to Bianca.
“Oh my… Bianca, is that really you? It’s been years!”
“Vanessa…”
It was the moment she encountered the archenemy.