Chapter 177 – EPISODE 177 – BLACK MOON (2)
Terms used in this chapter:
Four Freedoms – These are goals that US President Franklin D. Roosevelt said in his speech in 1941. He proposed that there are four fundamental freedoms that people everywhere in the world ought to enjoy. These are the freedom of speech, the freedom of worship, the freedom from want, and the freedom from fear.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The entire building was shaken by a series of explosions, and all the windows broke and shattered.
“Boss!”
Pon shouted with a frightened look that was unbefitting of his large build, but Karma Bonn was not shaken. Rather, he even had a confident smile on his face.
“Don’t panic, Pon. This is the Rogue Master’s trap.”
“Trap?”
“Yes, she’s trying to disperse us by creating a commotion. But Pon, don’t forget. The Rogue Master’s goal is the treasures of this vault. So no matter what the f*ck she does outside, that b*tch is bound to come to this room in the end.”
So just wait.
Be patient.
We’ll eventually capture the Rogue Master once she appears here.
“Ohhh, I see…”
When Pon nodded his head in admiration, Karma Bonn smiled, and the other Five Fingers except for Philia also smiled and laughed at Pink Bomb.
“Come. Just taking away your four freedoms aren’t enough.”
Karma Bonn spoke in a low voice and creepily laughed.
And 10 minutes pa.s.sed.
20 minutes.
30 minutes.
The explosions had already stopped.
The loud noise from outside the building had also stopped.
But Pink Bomb had yet to appear in the room with the vault.
‘What’s going on?’
Why?
Why isn’t she coming?
Is she trying to catch us off guard?
Will she do a surprise attack the moment we think that it’s over?
Indeed.
She is indeed the Rogue Master.
Her name may be ridiculous, but her skills are the real deal.
“Don’t be shaken. This is the Rogue Master’s trap too. It’s a trick to catch us off guard by making us think it’s over.”
“Ohhhh…”
Pon was impressed again at Karma Bonn’s words, while the other Five Fingers remained silent.
They felt like they should stop, but Karma Bonn wasn’t wrong either.
10 minutes pa.s.sed.
20 minutes.
When 30 minutes had finally pa.s.sed.
“Boss?”
“Master?”
The quiet Philia spoke after Pon, and the other Five Fingers looked at Karma Bonn in doubt.
What happened?
Why is Pink Bomb not showing herself here?
‘What’s going on? Did she give up?’
Because we didn’t move no matter how long she waited?
Because she didn’t dare to infiltrate this room with the vault?
‘Is that truly the reason?’
So she knows her place?
Karma Bonn unconsciously snickered before he shared his thoughts to the Five Fingers, and most of them nodded their heads.
“But don’t let your guard down until the end. We’re not leaving this room until the sun rises. Do you all understand?”
“Yes, boss.”
“I understand.”
Philia answered after Pon, and the other Five Fingers also accepted his words by nodding their heads or answering.
‘Rogue Master.’
It will be my victory this time.
With a satisfied face, Karma Bonn looked at the notice card that he had crumpled before he smiled.
And at the same time.
In a completely different place.
Scarlet stood under the light of the twin moons, Selene and Helene, and asked with wide open eyes.
“What? How the h.e.l.l did you steal that?”
“Ufufu. I did it through that.”
“That?”
“It’s a Rogue Master’s trade secret, okay?”
Cordelia cheekily but cutely answered, and she handed over the ‘doc.u.ments she had stolen’ to its real creator, Jude, who pretended to skim the doc.u.ments before nodding with a pleased expression.
“Don’t ask too much, Scarlet. We’ll be competing for the Rogue Master’s position next time, right? So we can’t tell you our secrets.”
“He’s right. Because you’re a strong opponent. We can’t let our guard down, okay?”
Cordelia cutely spoke as she tilted her head and stared at Scarlet who pouted her lips.
“Tsk. Okay. I understand.”
But contrary to her words, Scarlet continued to say ‘tsk-tsk’ as if complaining.
She was sulking and tapping the ground with her toes.
‘Oh my, how cute.’
She was taller and older than Cordelia, but she still looked cute.
Cordelia smiled like a mother as she watched Scarlet, and then used magic to Jude.
[As you said, they locked themselves in the room and didn’t come out at all.]
[That’s good. I’m glad that Karma Bonn is a really patient person.]
If you knew your enemy, you could win every battle.
a.n.a.lyzing your opponent before a fight was one of the basics.
Karma Bonn’s personality.
The paths he took to make the Black Moon the best thief guild in the royal capital.
Jude’s data was sufficient, and a.n.a.lysis was his specialty, so his profiling of Karma was correct as always.
‘Because our goal is to make it look like Pink Bomb stole something.’
There was no need for her to attack the room with the vault or fight against Karma Bonn and the Five Fingers.
The Black Moon would naturally say that their vault was safe as proof that they were not beaten, but that wouldn’t do anything.
What mattered were the facts that Pink Bomb attacked the Black Moon’s headquarters and the evidence that Black Moon was plotting acts of terror.
‘It’s incomplete though.’
The Lucas and Kajsa routes did not completely show how the royal family was annihilated.
But that did not mean there was no information.
Lucas and Kajsa did not follow the exact same route. But if someone combined the perspectives of the two in their different routes, they would be able to get a lot more information than they would expect.
‘There’s also the cinematic movies.’
Even if it was impossible to get a full picture of the event, it was easy to identify the main goal of the Black Moon and the overall flow of the event.
‘And what can be deduced from it.’
The Black Moon’s hideouts.
The various weapons the Black Moon were hiding.
As Jude had thought several times, that wasn’t everything.
It was only a small part.
‘But it’s useful information.’
The situation was similar to the time when they caught the demon followers in Langesthei.
It was easy to attack once you knew their hideout.
And they were criminals too.
If the place where they hid their illegal items were found, they would be forced to give up their hideout, and it wouldn’t be easy for them to suddenly set up more than 10 new hideouts even if they were the Black Moon.
‘Because there would be people who would interfere.’
Jude wasn’t referring to the royal family or the royal capital’s guards.
He was referring to the rest of the underworld that was centered on Blue Moon.
The Blue Moon were Pink Bomb’s pa.s.sionate helpers who wished for the fall of the Black Moon.
‘Even if she is revered as the Rogue Master, a thief is still a thief.’
So even if Pink Bomb shouted that she would protect the royal capital with her own hands, no one would believe her.
Thus, Jude prepared a different slogan instead.
‘The downfall of the Black Moon.’
‘The underworld of the royal capital will be led by the wolves and not the hounds.’
‘The era of the Blue Moon is coming.’
It was impossible to make the Blue Moon and the other thieves to defend the royal capital, but it was possible for them to attack and destroy the Black Moon.
“Anyway, I did well. I kept my promise.”
Jude and Cordelia simultaneously nodded at Scarlet’s words.
“Yes, yes, you did a good job. And as promised, let’s compete for the Rogue Master position next time.”
“No matter who wins, you’ll accept it without any complaints. Are you fine with this condition?”
“Yes.”
Cordelia, Jude, and Scarlet spoke in turn.
Scarlet acted haughtily again as she cleared her throat and removed the rabbit ears and tail which were the symbols of Pink Bomb. She then said as she turned her hair back into red.
“I’ll wait for the day of our match, so don’t make me wait for too long like last time.”
“Yes, I’ll contact you soon.”
Cordelia waved her hand as if she was saying goodbye to a friend, and Scarlet faced her and reluctantly waved her hands too before she jumped and disappeared from the roof.
And so, only the two were left.
Jude and Cordelia exchanged glances, and they b.u.mped fists just like how they did a long time ago.
“Shall we go back then, Milady?”
“Yes, Milord.”
Both of them had worked hard today.
Right after they bowed to each other, Jude turned around while Cordelia jumped and climbed on Jude’s back.
“Merge in the rooftop! JuDelia!”
Cordelia was in high spirits because of their successful mission, and she playfully shouted while Jude fixed her position in his back before saying.
“Hey, be honest with me.”
“What is it?”
“You really like the name Pink Bomb, right?”
It’s something that fits your taste, right?
“No, it’s not. I don’t like it, okay? Mister black-hearted Black Cloak is completely mistaken, okay?”
“Well, if you insist.”
“Hey, I really don’t like it, okay?”
“Yes, yes. If you say so.”
“No! Ah, you’re really annoying!”
“Coochy coo, coochy coo. Is my princess angry?”
“Die! Just die! Go die or something!”
Cordelia began to strangle Jude who ran across the roof like a gale despite being choked by her.
And early in the morning of that day.
Information about the Black Moon’s terror plan and their hideouts in various places became known throughout the entire royal capital.
***
It was hard to decorate things, but it was much easier to mess it up.
It was unlikely for the royal family to take the terror plan seriously and destroy the Black Moon.
But they would still move.
Because the founding anniversary was just around the corner.
It was a time when they had to pay attention to information that they would normally ignore.
And that was it.
Even if only a part of the Black Moon was. .h.i.t, it would become easier for the rest of the underworld, especially the Blue Moon, to attack the Black Moon.
As for their terror plan.
‘A secret loses its value when it is revealed.’
Secrets were valuable because they were a secret.
Once their terror plan was known, the Lord Protector and the Black Moon would need to revise it, but they didn’t have much time left.
Creating a new and hastily-made plan would likely lead to a poorly-made one.
‘That would cut off the limbs of the Lord Protector.’
They would limit his moves and prevent him from doing what he originally planned.
And they would block the Lord Protector with First Sword.
‘Strong people like my father, my father-in-law, Gaël, and Adelia would also have their own roles to play.’
All to prevent the tragic genocide of the royal family.
‘And there’s one more thing that I need to do.’
Revealing in advance that the Lord Protector betrayed the royal family would not work.
Because the Lord Protector was the hero of the country.
It would be Jude who’d be suspected if he tried to say anything like that.
So he shouldn’t be too greedy.
He should just build a closer relationship with the royal family, so that they would listen to him better on that day and not be stubborn.
‘Yes, so this is a must.’
It was not his personal desire, but a public necessity. Furthermore, it was like a sacred and historical mission to save the world…
“Does it suit me?”
Cordelia shyly asked as she wore a white one-piece swimsuit with cute frills, and Jude nodded as he wore tight-fitting black trunks while showing off his statue-like figure.
“It looks perfectly good on you.”
“Hmph.”
Cordelia snorted for no reason before she took a quick peek at Jude and smiled a bit as she blushed.
Because Jude’s muscles were amazing every time she saw it.
‘Those are some fine muscles.’
She had mentioned about those muscles several times to Scarlet.
‘I want to touch it.’
Jude’s fair-skinned, firm, and flexible muscles.
‘Is it as firm as a rock?’
But wouldn’t it be soft since it’s a human’s body?
Cordelia was lost in her thoughts for a moment, but she eventually shook her head and dismissed her thoughts.
What mattered now wasn’t Jude’s muscles.
It was the evening after their attack on the Black Moon’s headquarters.
Despite the night air being cold since it was still winter, the two were wearing swimsuits. They then held each other’s hand before they walked together.
They had to become close to the royal family, who would be waiting for them in the night pool not far away from their location.
Princess Daphne and Prince Dion. And Princess Darianne too.
Jude recalled the faces of the three and added one more objective.
‘If possible, we need to catch the summer fairies too.’
It was a place where they had no information about any fairies appearing except for Princess Daphne’s story, but he somehow felt like they would be able to meet the fairies.
Jude would naturally think that since tonight’s Cordelia completely looked perfect.
‘Perhaps those fairies that didn’t appear much would finally appear?’
Jude glanced at the large white ribbon on Cordelia’s hair before he looked away again.
Under the sea of stars that seemed to fall down from the sky any minute, Princess Daphne immersed herself in the hot and steamy night pool as she waited for the two.