Chapter 107: Cillian Sparrow? Who’s That?
’Fuck it, fuck it!’
Cillian kept cursing inwardly as he walked through the streets of the Undercity with a destination in mind.
[Status: Escalating!]
Cillian understood that barging into where Arthur was at the moment wasn’t the right move. He had to scrap most of the plan he had carefully prepared and improvise while keeping some of it intact.
After informing Scott about Arthur’s suspicious actions, even though they were merely words of warning, Cillian immediately left the abandoned house.
Following him was his father, Leo, who had noticed Cillian acting differently in the house earlier and decided to stick around.
"Cillian, what do you want me to do?"
Leo, rather than questioning and doubting his son’s strange actions, chose to trust his words.
From the moment Cillian followed Fergus to the Sorcery Academy to the day he returned, Leo noticed that he had changed greatly. And it wasn’t a small change either.
Still, the change turned out to be better.
The atmosphere in their family had somewhat changed. Their small talk at the table, the interactions that never happened before Cillian entered the academy, were now becoming common. Everything was changing.
Yet, Cillian sometimes acted weirdly.
Just like right now.
"Leo."
Leo felt a sense of alienation whenever Cillian called out to him, as if they were mere strangers rather than a father and son who should have been close.
Yes, he called out his name, or sometimes even "Father." But Leo could feel that it wasn’t truly his voice, as if Cillian was only forcing himself to act like a son he should be.
’I’ve caused you pain when you were a child. I did horrible things that no child should’ve encountered. So why...’
Why aren’t you angry at me?
Why are you ignoring the fact that I’ve made your childhood miserable?
Leo had these thoughts that he couldn’t bring himself to ask his son. Even though he had changed after Ella was born, he knew that it didn’t justify his actions during those difficult times.
"Father."
Leo was called out again. This time, he saw Cillian looking at him with slight concern. The scar on his eyebrow was slightly visible.
"Did you listen?"
Leo was, in fact, not listening. He was so lost in his thoughts that he wasn’t able to pay attention to what Cillian had said.
’I shouldn’t be thinking selfish thoughts right now. I told him I’d help him, and that’s what I’m doing.’
Leo decided to set his own thoughts aside for now and focused on the task at hand.
"What do you want me to do?"
Now that his father had come back to his senses after being lost in thought, Cillian could only repeat himself and nod.
"Deploy all people from the Whisper Broker. Everyone. And tell them that those who can fight get ready, while those who are adept at passing information should inform these four people about what I told them about it. Dena Fritz, Dennis Turner, Ethan Smith. Freya Gray. The first two are in the Undercity, while the other two are above. Use any methods to reach them and get my words. They will understand what I meant."
When Cillian mentioned the first two names, both bigshots in the Undercity and the world above, Leo was speechless. Yet when Ethan’s name came up, he relaxed, only for his surprise to return when Freya was mentioned.
All these important people were people Cillian knew.
"I will do it right away. What are you going to do?"
Cillian paused. "I’m going to get Mother and Ella."
...
Cillian would have informed the four people himself if not for the fact that Leo was the right person to do it. His people would listen to his orders because they came directly from him, not just some kid, even if that kid was his son. After all, Cillian didn’t know where those four might be at the moment.
That’s why the task of bringing his family back from the Hensel Hospital is going to be his job. Just as he got closer, he grumbled about the fact that his plan just wouldn’t come.
’’Aren’t plans supposed to work? Motherfucker, everything is just messing up... Talk about wanting to manipulate shit when I can’t even do simple shit."
Coming towards the arc portal, Cillian noticed that there were no guards stationed there, which made him frown.
’Where are the guards?’
A creepy feeling entered Cillian’s mind before finally transporting himself inside the Hensel Hospital.
The complaints passing through his mind immediately halted the moment his eyes got to see the situation.
It looked like the inside had been attacked. The guards who were supposed to be stationed nearby were nowhere to be seen, and the people who should have been walking around were absent.
At the very least, there were no corpses scattered around.
"Gale."
Cillian’s heart pounded as he activated the wind spell beneath his feet and immediately dashed forward, taking the fastest route toward his mother’s and sister’s rooms. The gale added the speed he was trying to achieve to come to the room as fast as possible.
Yet halfway to his family’s rooms, one of the doors opened, revealing an individual in a black robe leaving.
This individual swung his sword at Cillian that the blade was supposed to pass straight through him.
Cillian, however, was quick to react and immediately dodged it.
Yet because he had to force himself to dodge it, Cillian found himself losing balance, and he threw himself against the walls.
[Death Flag]
Cillian immediately pushed himself upward to dodge the same sword that gave him no time to recover, as he was attacked once again.
"You’re pretty good."
Cillian hopped back before his gaze slowly shifted toward the Black Shepherd that had appeared in one of the rooms, grabbing his sword from his inventory without bothering to hide it.
[Inventory: 9/10]
Should Cillian equip himself and worry about hiding everything when his opponent was just really on his face?
"Eh, a spatial-type ability?"
Cillian watched the enemy before muttering his ability under his breath.
"Nearby Flag Presence."
[Death Flag x4]
Cillian’s Nearby Flag Presence pulsed as it searched for flags nearby, only to detect two more Death Flags inside each room, as if they were waiting and eager to go out at any time.
Even though he tried to appear cold on the outside, Cillian’s mind raced with questions as negative thoughts entered his head, making him doubt what was happening.
Cillian was already aware that the Shepherds were hiding within Viola’s territory based on Eve’s claims. Yet for them to appear at this exact moment, when Arthur was making his move, he had already made the connection.
’They have started to move as well. But Arthur is not in Hensel Hospital...’
The Black Shepherd, who felt the confusion in Cillian’s demeanor, pondered a reply for a while before a slight smirk got plastered on his face.
"We were told by a superior officer that our precious Heretic had encountered a problem after meeting a troublesome kid. Then, after thorough research, we made a connection. We compared each person to pinpoint which person from the academy the senior White Shepherds had encountered in the maze, the same person who contributed the most to stopping the attack on the academy."
The Black Shepherd pointed his sword towards Cillian.
"And I’m guessing that it is you, Cillian Sparrow."
Cillian remained quiet for a while, his gaze still fixed on the Black Shepherd’s intense gaze through the robe.
Only then was he sure that he and the people behind those rooms were paying attention to each other, so Cillian raised his hand and spoke with a straight face, a slightly confused expression appearing on his face.
"Cillian Sparrow? Who’s that?"