Chapter 124: Cecil’s Choice
Angora impatiently asked Edward and the others about the ‘infiltration’ right after he joined the Players.
“I see. It was those two…”
He immediately understood why Cecil was so angrily accusing him after learning that Terrosche and Silva had bravely volunteered to infiltrate Cecil’s keep.
To a certain extent, his eldest brother really wasn’t trying to frame him—he ultimately did order the Players to infiltrate Cecil’s keep, and from those two idiotic Players customary foolish behavior, they would not have refrained from attacking Cecil if he was in their way…
Moreover, the corpses of Players would disappear if they were not revived within a certain amount of time, and it was therefore no surprise that Cecil couldn’t present the corpses of his ‘a.s.sa.s.sins’.
“What the h.e.l.l is all that?” Angora firmly scratched his head, and could not help suspect that coming back to Tunaya was the wrong decision.
“By the way, I don’t know if it has anything you want, but I have found some letters in his room.”
Edward saw that Angora was left so distressed that he could lose hair, and so handed the letters he found in Cecil’s room, feeling very hopeful that more hair would drop off.
Be that as it may, Angora took it and could not help showing an indifferent face after glancing through the beautiful handwriting in the letter. “You’re mistaken. It’s just a letter my father wrote to his good friend Ainsworth a long time ago.”
After all, what Angora wanted to see was proof that the G.o.d of Games’ Church was being revived that his eldest brother mentioned, and those old letters that were almost as old as Angora himself clearly wasn’t that.
“Although I have no idea why Cecil would have it, it definitely isn’t what I want—”
That was when the relaxed Angora paused.
Frowning and then sitting straight, he grabbed the letter from the table to carefully read through it again and realized his hunch was right. “D*mn it, could Cecil be that stupid?”
He had thought that Cecil was coveting the System which he gained from the G.o.d of Games and therefore mentioned the ‘the divine relic’, although that did not appear to be the case now.
“What is it?” Vela, who had been waiting upon him asked worriedly.
The other players could not help turning their eyes to him as well.
Hence, Angora told him what happened before, sparing the part about his roots.
Edward couldn’t help lifting a brow after he had finished hearing his story. “That’s nothing to worry about, right? He is going to inherit your father’s dukedom sooner or later, not to mention that he and his lackeys were only capable of that much…unless you’re still afraid that he would go for a coup?”
“There’s nothing humans won’t do when they are desperate,” Angora countered.
“Yes, but wasn’t the best opportunity to rebel was when he and his men surrounded you and your father?” Edward countered firmly in turn rationally. “Wouldn’t a coup afterward be a little stupid and a little impractical?”
Angora, however, exposed the secret as to why Cecil did not take action.
“You don’t get it. It would have been meaningless even if they had numbers then, because my father is under the covert protection of the castle’s chief guardian. He was a high-ranked priest formerly ordained at the Church of Glory, and he would probably have been promoted to bishop if he didn’t take the job as this castle’s chief guardian. Mob characters like Cecil would never win against him.”
“What’s more, my father is a duke and a follower of Kratos, the G.o.d of War. Although his ability wouldn’t exactly be outstanding, he has the protection of the G.o.d of War from the Temple of Glory. Normal people would never hurt him easily.”
“Well, your father wouldn’t have to worry about your eldest brother doing him harm if he’s that awesome, right?” Edward asked, feeling a little surprised since this was the first time heard of some seemingly useless n.o.ble having such levels of protection.
“That should be the case…”
Troubled, Angora scratched the back of his head.
He just couldn’t stay calm with Cecil’s glare of malice when they parted ways.
He could only hope that nothing happens.
But even as he prayed for that, someone was knocking on the door that everyone had a hard time repairing (although it still looks crooked and bent).
Every Player who had been engrossed in the Edward and Angora’s discussion were therefore startled, a.s.suming defensive stances by instinct.
Angora, who was relatively composed, gestured for them to stay calm while opening the door by himself.
Then, the girl named Kinley lunged at him from outside, and sobbing just as Angora whipped out his wand. “R-run! Cecil has gone crazy!”
Every Player and Angora were left at a loss by the turn of events.
“What is it? What happened?” Angora asked mildly. He was the first to recover as well, and was stiffly pushing the girl away while stiffly meeting Vela’s cutting glare.
“I’m not too sure either…” The girl seemed to calm down a bit then, but she was still stuttering. “I was sleeping… when I woke up, I could hear the whole castle caught in an uproar… I ran outside and found Cecil leading a bunch of monsters and attacking the guardsmen… then, Cecil turned into a monster and killed Uncle Greg (the castle chief guardian)… Uncle Faust is leading the guards to fight the monsters… oh, right! He told me to find you and escape with your people…”
“Monsters…” Angora could not help frowning.
What was all this? He had a.s.sumed that it would be months before Cecil would bribe some n.o.bles and churches to stir trouble albeit covertly, but he made a move the moment he went back to his keep? There was no way it was legal…
In that split second, a System notification rang in Angora’s mind.
[Ding]
[Urgent quest started: Devil May Cry]
[Quest: The Demon G.o.d’s power corrupts the world once again. Driven by his negative impulses, someone has conducted a forbidden ritual within a castle and turned into something which existence is not to be permitted—a demon. Every lackey he once had in his disposal are now reduced to Lemures under the corruption of his evil powers. Hence, slay the demon before its vile acts could harm the world any further!]
[Quest details: Lead the players in destroying all Lemures, and slay the demon morph.]
[Quest Evaluation Objective ①: uncover the roots of corruption]
[Quest Evaluation Objective ②: interrogate the enemy to discover the ‘mastermind’]
[Quest Rewards: determined by Quest Evaluation Objectives]
[Note: Allowing the person to die as a human before his corruption into a demon is complete might be the greatest kindness you could offer now.]