Chapter 51. Tell Me Everything
“Ugh…”
The dagger was stuck like a nail, keeping Noien’s hand fixed on the table.
Noien Mayu couldn’t even pull his hand back and was whimpering.
Just by seeing him not causing a commotion despite screaming, one could tell he wasn’t just a simple thug.
“Sir Sirius… It seems there’s a misunderstanding.”
Noien, with sweat dripping from his forehead, spoke out.
Seeing him like that, Sirius chuckled.
“A misunderstanding.”
“Yes, a misunderstanding.”
“I’m curious about this misunderstanding. Explain it so I can understand.”
Noien was desperately racking his brain.
“I… I’ve always hated the Guild.”
“Very intriguing prologue. Go on.”
Despite the sarcastic tone, Noien somehow continued.
“It’s because my family suffered at the hands of the Guild. So, I wanted revenge on the Guild…”
“So, you intentionally infiltrated the Guild?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Noien nodded wearily.
The table was sticky with blood flowing from Noien’s hand.
“Sirius, can’t we talk without this?”
“If we remove it, more blood will come out.”
“I can use magic to stop the bleeding.”
“Oh, really?”
Sirius took the dagger from Noien’s hand.
As Noien urgently used magic, the bleeding stopped immediately.
“Yes, then let me explain…”
“Just a moment.”
Grabbing Noien’s hand, Sirius examined the wound.
Though traces remained, the wound seemed to be closed as if stitched.
“Your healing magic seems superior to Belied’s.”
“hahahaha, I graduated from the academy a while ago… Ugh!”
The dagger pierced Noien’s hand again.
“My lord, what’s happening… Ah!”
Hearing a scream, a servant rushed in from outside, but Alayon knocked them out with a single blow.
“Master, I’ll make sure no one else comes in.”
“Good, leave it to me.”
Alayon went outside and closed the door.
Sirius looked back at Noien.
“Then continue talking.”
“Aren’t you being too… harsh?”
“Should I remove it again?”
“…”
Even if it’s removed now, won’t it be stabbed again eventually?
Noien trembled.
“So… you infiltrated the alliance?”
“Y-yes. I became their comrade to obtain internal information to overthrow the alliance.”
“If that’s true, it’s quite a remarkable story.”
“I-it is true. So… please…”
Noien spoke with difficulty.
“If you are moving to overthrow the alliance, Sirius… I can help.”
“Hmm…”
“I’ve managed to avoid suspicion as I’ve tried not to reveal my true intentions. Verdian over there… must be in a similar situation.”
Noien’s gaze shifted to Verdian.
But Verdian, having grasped the situation, remained silent.
“So if I assist… we might surprisingly bring down the alliance easily.”
“Is that so?”
Sirius nodded slowly.
“Noyen.”
“Yes, Sirius…”
“Do you think I would believe that sound?”
“…”
“It seems plausible for a story made up on the spot, just plausible.”
“How can I make you believe? I will do whatever it takes… Ah!?”
Noyen let out a short scream.
It was because Sirius drew his dagger without warning.
Noyen grimaced, thinking he would be stabbed again as before, but that wasn’t the case.
“Veled.”
“Why?”
“How many times have we done this?”
“Six thousand five hundred.”
Sirius had instructed Veled in the Triple Strike Sword Technique practice.
He had promised to move on to the next stage once reaching ten thousand strikes, but progress was faster than expected.
While Alayon could reach a thousand strikes in a day, Veled had never learned swordsmanship before.
Initially, swinging a hundred times a day would have been difficult.
But now… he was close to ten thousand strikes.
“Veled, let’s fill it up to six thousand six hundred here.”
“Here?”
“Against him.”
“Hmm…”
Veled made a face indicating he understood.
Of course, Noyen had no clue what was going on and just stood there, bewildered.
“Both of you, what are you talking about…”
“Noyen Myu.”
With a sword in hand, Veled approached Noyen.
“I wanted to show respect to you, the esteemed head of the Myu family.”
“Lord Veled…?”
“However, you’ve committed an act beneath dignity, and even attempted to deceive… I’m afraid I can no longer show respect.”
“Wait, what are you doing now…”
Thump, thump, thump…
As the Triple Strike Sword Technique unfolded, Sirius turned his gaze to Verdian.
“Verdian, I plan to get a confession from Noyen… Can you confirm if he’s telling the truth?”
“…”
Verdian remained silent, avoiding eye contact.
Letting out a sigh when Sirius released the pressure, Verdian finally spoke.
“I won’t disclose any internal information to you.”
“Isn’t this a bit too much?”
“I, from the start, didn’t know what Noirienne usually does.”
“You didn’t know?”
“I’m a newcomer from the Eastern Branch.”
Saying so, Verdiene’s face took on a bitter expression.
“No, it’s better to call me an outsider. That’s why people from the Eastern Branch didn’t share much internal information with me.”
“Is it because the Dark King sent you to the Eastern Branch?”
“Yes, so please don’t try to dig up detailed information about the Eastern Branch from me. It would be faster to extract it by torturing Noirienne.”
“….”
Verdiene saying these words probably meant not to bother him anymore.
However, this was important information for Sirius.
It hinted at the existence of various factions within the Alliance.
The Eastern Branch was likely affiliated with a faction of a different senior officer, not the Dark King.
Therefore, the Dark King might have been internally wary of Verdiene, whom he had sent.
“Six hundred fifty-nine… Six hundred sixty…”
“Ugh…!”
During their conversation, Belied completed the Third Sword Technique ten times.
Sirius stood up from his seat and approached Noirienne.
“Noirienne Myou, are you going to confess soon?”
“S-Sirius, what exactly are you trying to achieve…?”
Noirienne, crouched on the floor, spoke in a trembling voice.
“Do you think things will resolve smoothly just because you get my confession? It will not happen… ever.”
“….”
“Until now, the Alliance has simply watched over you because you haven’t directly harmed the Alliance. But now that you’ve created this situation, we can’t just let it slide.”
Noirienne opened his eyes wide and glared at Sirius.
“The Eastern Branch won’t stay idle. They will seriously move to kill you.”
“….”
“Of course, you might win against the Eastern Branch in a fight. But that won’t be the end of it. The entire Alliance will turn against you. Can you handle that?”
Listening to Noirienne’s question, Sirius smirked.
“Even if it’s the entire Alliance… I can’t quite grasp the actual size of the Alliance.”
“Sirius…!”
“Anyway, you don’t know the whole picture of the Alliance either, right? Looking at it so far, it doesn’t seem like there’s much information shared among the members.”
“….”
Noirienne bit his lip.
“Of course… the Alliance could really be an incredibly powerful organization. It might possess power beyond my imagination.”
“T-That’s right. You are currently challenging that Alliance in a fight…”
“But.”
Interrupting Noirienne, Sirius spoke in a firm voice.
“If such a huge organization is hiding in this world and committing all sorts of atrocities, then we must properly expose it and uproot it.”
“…!”
No matter how powerful the Alliance was, Sirius had no intention of backing down.
Destroying such an organization is truly what Sirius must do as the true leader of Murim to be.
“So, Noien… Tell me all the information you know. I’ll consider it after hearing it.”
“Sir, Sirius, what on earth…”
“Vellid, it seems Noien has no intention of confessing yet.”
Calling Vellid again, Sirius turned away from Noien.
“Give it ten more times.”
“Well, I can’t help it.”
“Now, hold on…!”
Although designated as Vellid’s sparring partner, Noien urgently raised his voice.
“Lord Vellid! I am the head of the Maiwu family! Is it permissible to treat me violently like this? You, the second son of the prestigious Albraim family, should not behave like this!”
“Ah…”
Vellid looked puzzled and glanced at Sirius.
“Sirius, what should we do?”
“We have no choice.”
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Sirius approached Noien again.
And he grabbed Noien’s wrist.
“Ugh…!”
Is he going to stab with a dagger again?
Noien shrank in fear, anticipating it.
But Sirius had no intention of doing so.
“If you want something non-violent, let it be so.”
“…?”
Sirius began to inject Bai Lang’s energy into Noien.
Realizing that his wrist was suddenly becoming cold, Noien widened his eyes.
“W-what is this…?”
It wasn’t just his wrist.
A cold chill was seeping into Noien’s body.
“S-Sirius, this is… now…”
“I won’t use violence.”
Something strange was happening.
Noien trembled, not out of fear but because of the cold.
But soon, even trembling became impossible.
His body was completely freezing.
“Ah, ah…”
The blood flowing from the wound he received froze.
Even ice was forming on his skin.
“Wow…”
Vellid admired the sight.
Even Verdi was wide-eyed, staring.
“S-Sirius, Sir, please, please stop. If you continue like this, I’ll freeze, freeze to death…”
My tongue was so stiff that I couldn’t even pronounce properly.
Staring at the frozen Noien with cold eyes, Sirius asked, “Who is leading the Eastern Branch?”
“T-The, the branch manager is…”
Noien’s frozen lips trembled.
“I, I don’t know the name. They always wear a mask, so I don’t know their face.”
“You don’t know anything?”
“I, I do know some things. They use Brainstorm Magic.”
Brainstorm Magic.
A magic that creates lightning as the name suggests.
It is quite difficult, so users are rare.
“It might be 7th Circle… or even 8th Circle.”
“It could be 8th Circle…”
“The person leading the Eastern Branch… was appointed as the branch manager by that person.”
“Who appointed that person as the branch manager?”
“T-That… is…”
Moving his frozen lips, Noien barely managed to speak out the name.
“Emperor… Brainstorm.”
Emperor Brainstorm.
Hearing that name, Sirius turned his head to look at Verdian.
Verdian had his eyes tightly shut, taking a deep breath.
“Alright. If we take out the branch manager, that person called Emperor Brainstorm will make a move.”
“T-That’s…”
Whether it’s Emperor Brainstorm or Venom King… It’s better if they make the first move.
No need to go looking for trouble.
But this time it’s Emperor Brainstorm ‘Your Majesty.’
Verdian also called the Venom King ‘Your Majesty,’ and it felt strange.
What could be the reason?
“Fine. Keep talking, Noien.”
Sirius injected more coldness into Noien.
Verdian, though brainwashed not to speak even under torture, couldn’t keep a tight hold on the gracefully raised Noien from the Maio family.
“Tell everything you know about the Union.”
In the midst of freezing terror, Noien struggled to nod his head.