Chapter 83  

It was really to the point.

Aria was speechless for a moment.

“……What do you mean.”

Lloyd, who had been silent for a while with Aria, asked in a low voice. It was four years ago that he overturned the gutter and completely cleared it. The gutter, which was the home of the rats and the city of pleasure, was completely closed.

And it was currently managed as an estate under Valentine’s. So just like any other ordinary estate.

‘But, the gutter rat was still alive?’

She can’t believe he was alive and never showed up. If he hadn’t been caught by the Valentine’s information network, he would have been stuck somewhere underground and didn’t move even a single step.

“It can’t be alive.”

Lloyd said firmly.

“It was a perfect job from execution to checking the body.”

“Of course I knew that too, but we witnessed a person with the same face as the gutter rat.”

“Are you mistaken?”

“I wish I did.”

Aria thought later.

Come to think of it, in her previous life, the Emperor pretended to execute Aria and used a replacement.

If the gutter rat had used the same technique, it would not have been completely impossible.

‘But it would have been a situation where he had been taken away from the stronghold and escaped with trickery…….’

At that time, Aria belatedly thought of a possibility. What if the wizard’s brainwashing was released earlier than expected?

‘Wizard Hans.’

She was told that he was doing well after getting a reward in the gutter clearing operation, and that he was moving to a new estate and making a good living.

So far, she hadn’t had much of a concern for him.

‘Because he took the stronghold and killed the gutter rat, and then was woken up from the brainwashing.’

Aria obviously believed he would just give up on the gutter rat. It was because he was obviously not loyal, unlike the ordinary prey and limbs of the gutter rat.

He was more of an opportunist than a loyalist.

‘In the first place, he has to wake up from his brainwashing after the gutter rat is dead. The story that the gutter rat is still alive…….’

Aria concluded that her song didn’t work properly and he woke up in the middle. She didn’t know anything else, but she believed in the effectiveness of her song like a rock.

Aria was too shocked by it .

‘That can’t be true?’

No, really. That can’t be.

‘Unless the gutter rat dies and comes back to life…….’

While still unable to calm the confusion, Duke Angelo spoke again.“We found out about it by accident.”

“By accident?”

“It was witnessed by our employee who clearly knew what the gutter rat’s appearance was like.”

The Duke’s explanation was as follows:

The employee, who works at the Duke’s Castle, went down to his hometown and found the gutter rat hiding in a mountain near the estate.

“Near that mountain, there is a rural village without even a lord. It is a village where they earn a living by cultivating medicinal herbs.”

“Are you saying that the gutter rat was hiding in that village?”

“Yes. It was when he was puzzled when the village chief, who delivers the news once a year, did not appear.”

There was no explanation after that, but they were able to guess roughly. Because it was all too obvious what the infamous gutter rat would have done in a sparsely visited rural village.

And the Duke confirmed the two people’s guesses and said,

“It was strange and he went down to the village, but he said that the villagers were withered to death.”

“Withered to death?”

“Yes. Literally. It seems that all the water was taken from the body, and they died dry like a skeleton.”

Aria was startled when she heard this.

This was because it was a typical phenomenon that occurs when all energy is taken away and death occurs. Those who can manifest energy are called wizards, shamans, and priests.

But that’s not to say that the average person lacks energy. Every human being has a little bit of energy. Ordinary people just embrace it without knowing how to manifest it.

‘The gutter rat was killing people and stealing their energy.’

Over the course of four years. If, indeed, he was really alive.

‘It’s the same technique as Veronica.’

The difference was that Veronica only aimed at priests with divine powers.

‘Consequently, it seems that the gutter rat is sucking energy at random regardless of the ability of the people in general.’

But…….

‘If he did something like that, nothing would happen, wouldn’t it?’

Rather, the different energy absorbed inside the body would collide with each other, and there was a high probability of causing a major side effect. As if Aria had absorbed Carlin’s magical energy into her body, and then vomited blood and lay groaning.

Could the gutter rat not know that? And if he’s with the wizard now, wouldn’t he know more? What was the alternative reason? She was full of doubts.

“The eldest son also heard the news and hurriedly left to investigate the village where the gutter rat was spotted.”

The Duke said he was going to tell them when he got the exact evidence, but he added that he was telling them now that they had come this far.

“In case you don’t know. If the gutter rat is alive, Valentine would be the one that deserves the most grudge.”

At that moment, Lloyd grabbed Aria’s hand, who was standing next to him. Startled, she looked up at him.

Seeing that he wasn’t looking at Aria, it seemed like he was acting unconsciously.

This time, she did not avoid the hand he was holding, but held it tightly.

***

“Sister-in-law!”

Aria saw Vincent running down from the end of the desolate hallway. His footsteps were light as if flying through the sky, with a bunch of unknown scrolls in his sides.

“This library is crazy, really!”

Whether Vincent sarcastically asked if there was even a book in a place like this, he changed his stance in an instant.“Aren’t this all ancient records?”

He took a few deep breaths, then said, trying to calm the excitement.

“It’s a material that is not known to the academic world, but how did they get it….. These things are piled up like a mountain in the library. There’s no need to go to the Imperial Palace.”

It was as if Vincent had forced his family to climb the mountain, and rejoiced when he accidentally discovered a rare medicinal herb. Judging from that figure, it seems that there was also data about ancient Atlantis, which sank 1500 years ago.

‘How can things work out like this?’

In fact, Aria, who thought it was good enough to crack the code was also surprised. She didn’t know that there were still records of the Siren’s hometown.

She was half giving up.

“I said it was a bit strange. No matter how much relief for the poor and preparation for war, the Duke’s family couldn’t be like this.”

Vincent clicked his tongue, saying that it was these ancient materials that should be paid more than works of art.

“Looking at the vast amount of research materials in the library, it seems that all of their fortune was invested in it…”

Was it that bad?

“What Sister-in-law asked me to do, I think it will be resolved within a few days if it goes well.”

Oh. Aria nodded her head, looking at the eyes in anticipation of the unexpected news.

She had a bad premonition when it was said that the gutter that she thought was dead might be alive, but fortunately, there was good news.

“I’ll stay here. If you are going to the Imperial Palace first, I’ll take the relic as soon as the code is unlocked.”

Aria nodded her head.

Vincent hummed and looked to Cloud, who was standing behind her as he tried to leave.

“Sir, please help me for a few days.”

Normally, even if Cloud was right next to her, Vincent wouldn’t look at Cloud at all, so she wondered why.

Cloud seemed to be surprised too, so he opened his eyes wide and looked back at Aria and said,

“I will obey your orders.”

– Do whatever you feel like. Sir, you have been my escort knight for several years, but it’s a temporary job. After all, you cannot bring a personal escort inside the Imperial Palace.

And this time Lloyd was accompanied by a bunch of Black Falcons. It’s unlikely, but even if they were attacked, the assailant would never be able to pierce that many Black Falcons.

– Above all, Lloyd will always be by my side.

“That’s a huge relief.”

Vincent muttered with a slightly tired face.

Did he feel like he couldn’t have a proper conversation with anyone because he felt it wasn’t safe enough?

– But why did you want Sir Cloud?

It was the first time Vincent had asked him for help, so she had no choice but to ask.

“I know the Sir’s only strength.”

“What is my strength?”

“That’s right. Sir won’t know what I’m doing next to you.”

“I don’t know why that’s a strength.”

That means it’s automatically kept secret. But, unfortunately, Cloud didn’t seem to understand.

“It’s okay to rejoice a little more, because there are few people as trustworthy as Sir.”

Aria slapped Vincent’s head with a bright face.

***

In conclusion, the wizard Hans did not die. Although he thought ‘I’d rather be dead’.

He barely survived after begging for his life, begging with his hand to the gutter rat.

“Master.”