readsfreenovel Chapter 220
Chapter 220
The Approaching Crisis (1)Inside the moving train, Cecilia’s demands continued.
“The one coming must be only the Captain of the Scarlet Leaf Order. Once it’s confirmed that Dana Watson has arrived on the outskirts of Bennett City, we’ll send Kairus and Irena out of Bennett City.”
Cecilia’s words did not please the man who had come to deliver the Emperor’s message.
“No, bind them yourselves and offer them to the Empire.”
“I don’t want to. Kairus Featherwing is the owner of Veil of Plumed Mist, and he’s already defeated several captains of the Imperial Order of Knights, hasn’t he?”
Only then did Cecilia finally take out a handkerchief and leisurely wipe away the water still soaking her face.
“To subdue Kairus Featherwing, you have to be prepared for great effort and losses.”
He was not someone they could casually suppress and toss over. Considering everything Kairus had done after obtaining Veil of Plumed Mist, at the very least, two members of Bennett’s Operations Committee would have to lose their lives.
“And it would be troublesome if the Imperial Army attacked Bennett immediately after the transfer.”
So no, she refused. Since the Empire wanted it, they would expel the two from the city. But subduing and transporting them was something the Empire could handle on its own.
In other words, if they wanted the result the Emperor desired, Dana Watson had to succeed in subduing Kairus and Irena.
“And if, by any chance, she fails to subdue them.”
“From that point on, we’ll have no choice but to side with Kairus Featherwing.”
They would accept him back into Bennett, and he would continue holding his position as an Operations Committee member just as before.
“You call that something a person should say…?”
Cecilia sneered at the Emperor’s messenger.
“If Dana Watson fails to subdue him, that means she dies in the process of trying to suppress Kairus Featherwing.”
The Captain of the Scarlet Leaf Order would be dead, and the other captains would be incapable of facing Kairus and Irena. That was already a proven fact.
“If the knight orders can’t fulfill their role, then the Imperial Army is nothing more than noisy chunks of meat. There’s no reason to fear them.”
Rather, siding with Kairus Featherwing, who had taken Dana Watson’s head, would be far more profitable. Anyone who wasn’t a fool would cooperate with Kairus Featherwing.
This was the agreement reached after the Operations Committee members, excluding Kairus, contacted one another. The messengers sent by the Emperor to the other committee members were probably hearing the exact same thing.
“Y-You shameless, insolent bitch.”
“My answer won’t change. Dana Watson comes here, subdues Kairus Featherwing and Irena Kellogg, then transports them to the Empire.”
The man glared at Cecilia for a while before abruptly rising from his seat. He was skilled enough to jump off a moving train without issue.
“You’re leaving already? I happen to know a little physiognomy.”
“What kind of bullshit are you trying to spew now?”
Cecilia still wore a smile, while the man shot her another gaze full of hostility before opening the train window.
“Ah… Mm, I can see it. Your daughter’s name is Angelica Lewanson. She gets kidnapped. She loses her hearing, and her vocal cords are ruined. The joints in both her legs are shattered, so she can’t even walk anymore.”
The man stopped in place.
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
“She gets sold to a remote island. It’s an island where women are scarce. She becomes everyone’s wife, receives an abundance of love, and gives birth to many children.”
Cecilia was prophesying events that would happen in the future. And unlike the nonsense spoken by ordinary fortune-tellers, her prophecy was horrifyingly detailed.
“You’re searching for your daughter. You struggle for years, but fail to find even a trace of her. All the while, you spend your days drowning in regret and madness, remembering the prophecy I told you here today.”
Cecilia slowly traced the rim of the empty water glass with her index finger.
“Ah, back then, I shouldn’t have thrown water in the face of that red-eyed criminal bitch… something like that. A regret that comes far too late.”
“You, what are you saying right now…?”
Cecilia rose from her seat, caressed the man’s cheek, and smiled.
“I saw your wife’s future too. Are you curious?”
Then, she lightly flicked his forehead once.
“That’s a secret. There are prophecies that are more entertaining when left untold.”
Clap!
The sound of applause echoed through the cabin. The door opened, and members of the Rose Garden organization entered.
“Our guest is leaving. Would you escort him out?”
“Understood, Representative.”
The organization members immediately restrained the man and threw him out the window. With that, the meeting came to an end.
“Do you think the Survivor will win?”
One of the organization members asked Cecilia. Cecilia stared out the window as she answered.
“Who knows? That’s an important question for Kairus and the Emperor of the Empire.”
To Cecilia, it was not a particularly important question. It was fine if Kairus won, and it was also fine if Dana Watson won.
For her, either outcome was acceptable.
“What matters to us is what comes afterward.”
How should the Rose Garden act once the Red Comet falls?
If Featherwing crashes down, how should they profit from it?
Those were the questions Cecilia needed to ponder and prepare good answers for.
“Still, if we want to gain a huge profit this time, it’d probably be better if Kairus wins.”
“Most of the groundwork we laid was inside the Empire, after all.”
After the Lantern Gang collapsed last time, Cecilia had extended her reach toward the Aylan Republic. Naturally, this time she had scattered fertilizer and planted seeds on the Empire’s side.
So if possible, Featherwing’s victory would be preferable.
‘Though the odds… aren’t exactly high.’
It wasn’t to the point where she would say Kairus defeating Dana Watson was impossible, but it was undeniably extremely difficult.
Her judgment differed from Denver Hudson’s assessment that victory was absolutely impossible.
And if people saw Dana Watson currently standing in the wilderness near the Imperial Capital, many would probably question Cecilia’s judgment.
“Hmm.”
It had once been the site of a small mountain, but now nothing remained. Only wind swept across the shattered earth.
Dana Watson, with an absurdly massive greatsword stabbed into the ground beside her, gazed at the ruins she had created as if admiring a work of art.
Carefully, a knight who appeared to be her adjutant approached and spoke to her.
“Captain, your energy is truly impressive.”
After the investigation had completely concluded, Dana Watson had spent an entire week surrounded by alcohol and men. As though compensating herself for the stress that had piled up while being locked away and interrogated.
Then she had suddenly said, “Maybe I should loosen up a little?” and headed toward the hills near the Imperial Capital before erasing the entire mountain.
“Kairus Featherwing, and Irena Kellogg.”
An imperial command had been issued. Dana Watson no longer referred to Irena Kellogg with nicknames like “youngest” or “cutie.”
She was the daughter of a traitor and an enemy of the Empire. Dana Watson was debauched, but at the very least, she could be called a debauched patriot.
“I heard this is supposed to be a solo operation. Will you really be alright?”
The entire process of capturing Kairus and Irena from Bennett had to be completed by Dana Watson alone.
Pulling the greatsword out of the ground, Dana Watson scoffed.
“What kind of stupid fucking question is that? Of course it’s fucking awful. But what else can I do? Even if it’s bullshit, an imperial command is still an imperial command.”
“…His Majesty ordered that they be captured alive.”
At the adjutant’s words, Dana Watson burst into loud laughter.
“What bullshit. I’m killing him.”
Dana Watson knew perfectly well that Emperor Philip IV wanted Kairus alive. He probably had some grand plan of his own.
But Dana Watson didn’t give a damn about that.
“That crazy bastard had his entire family wiped out and rotted in a labor correctional facility for years.”
And on top of that, every bit of it had been a false accusation. Just how intense must the rage and desire for revenge Kairus carried be?
“And the even shittier part is… he’s got power to go along with that vengeance.”
He was an element that endangered the Empire. Capturing someone as skilled as Kairus alive would be difficult. It was better to execute him on the spot.
That was the conclusion reached by Dana Watson, Captain of the Scarlet Leaf Order.
“But if you do that, His Majesty’s wrath…”
“I’ve eaten well and lived well in the Empire all this time. If the Empire wants my death, then I should die for it.”
She had no lingering attachment to life. She had lived exactly as she pleased. Whenever she saw delicious food, she ate it. If there was fragrant alcohol, she drank it. If there was a man she liked, she dragged him into her bed.
She had enjoyed such a fantastic life in the Empire, so if the Empire intended to take that life away, she was willing to accept it gladly.
“It may not be a simple execution.”
“Ah, then I can’t let myself get captured quietly.”
Dana Watson, who had been spouting such nonsense, suddenly let out a loud belch before speaking to her adjutant.
“Report to me once the preparations are finished. I’m gonna stay here a bit longer and keep digging up the ground before heading back.”
The moment he heard that, the adjutant immediately bowed and hurried away as though fleeing for his life. Staying nearby was dangerous.
Behind the retreating adjutant, accompanied by earth-shaking tremors, shattered debris weighing dozens of tons repeatedly surged into the sky before crashing back down.
A few days after Dana Watson received the imperial command.
“No, seriously. Representative Cecilia, how is that even something a person says?”
Kairus also learned through Cecilia that Dana Watson was coming to capture him.
And Bennett City had decided to temporarily expel Kairus and Irena from the city in order to settle the situation.
“What am I, some mutt you people keep around for entertainment? Letting me in, then throwing me out again.”
“Please don’t say that. We’re only acting for the sake of Bennett.”
Neither Cecilia nor the people of this city could really be blamed. The Empire was threatening to mobilize the army and drag every captain of the Imperial Order of Knights over here to beat them down. Loyalty wasn’t going to matter in that situation.
“…Do you think we can win?”
Irena, who had been listening beside him, carefully asked Kairus. As someone who had once belonged to the same knight order, Irena understood Dana Watson’s danger better than anyone.
“Dana Watson has to capture us alive.”
The Emperor wanted Kairus alive. That was something he had learned while fighting Denver Hudson. The Emperor wanted Kairus to complete Cloud Seizing Art. Which meant he needed Kairus alive.
Cecilia, who had been listening, let out a small sigh.
“As someone who agreed to drive you out of the city, I feel a bit apologetic, so let me give you a small piece of advice.”
“I’m listening. Go ahead.”
Kairus accepted Cecilia’s goodwill without resistance. After all, if she intended to say something useless, she wouldn’t have called it advice in the first place.
“Even if the Emperor issued the order, Dana Watson probably has no intention of bringing you back alive.”
“…Even though it’s an imperial command?”
An order issued by the Emperor was not some optional choice people could pick and choose from. At Kairus’s words, Cecilia nodded.
“She’s not the type who thinks obeying the Emperor’s orders is what benefits the Empire. She judges for herself what’s best for the Empire and acts accordingly.”
Dana Watson had concluded that Kairus dying, rather than being captured alive, would be more beneficial for the Empire.
“Huh, we haven’t even known each other that long, but you sure read people well. Did you study physiognomy or something?”
Naturally, Kairus was a threat to the Empire, and killing him while they still could was the best course of action for the Empire.
The Emperor had his own ambitions and therefore ordered Kairus to be brought back alive, but in truth, simply killing him was the optimal solution.
“I’m curious how Representative Cecilia knows that.”
“Experience. I’ve said everything I needed to say, so I’ll be heading back now.”
Cecilia left, and Kairus and Irena simply stared blankly at each other for a moment.
“Tell me everything you know about Dana Watson.”
“Alright. I’ll spill everything. Personal experiences, rumors I heard, all of it.”
Irena also had no desire to die at the hands of someone who had once been her superior. She revealed everything she knew to Kairus.