Chapter 105: Grand Strategist
[Death Coin]
[Description: A black coin with a skull engraved on it, with an open door at its tail.]
Cillian carefully watched the coin in his hand while walking through the streets, intending to go to the library and tell Melissa that he had found the right word he was looking for.
Remembering the times when they had skimmed through books just to find a single word, only to discover three more, was kind of funny because they looked like people cramming for their exams.
If Melissa was still searching through the books, he might as well tell her what he had found and save her some time.
Eventually, he reached the library where Melissa was working. He went inside and searched for her. Yet, as he moved around, all he saw were people with Death Flags hovering above their heads, most of them being librarians.
No Melissa in sight.
’She sick?’
Cillian thought to himself before deciding to ask the receptionist about Melissa’s whereabouts. He should have done that first, but he had gone to the place where they had conducted their research together, only to find no one there.
Cillian calmly questioned while looking at the receptionist, who answered him right away.
"Melissa hasn’t attended today. You should return tomorrow."
"I see."
Cillian doesn’t have time tomorrow. He would have to start the action that he had been planning for the past few days after talking with the four particular people. Today was the only time that could be considered his free time.
Thankfully, and at the same time not thankful, Arthur still hadn’t made a move. Hence, the more Arthur tried to continue being passive, the more his plan could continue to proceed.
"Okay."
Cillian turned around and left, unaware of the strange look the receptionist gave him once he was no longer watching.
...
Cillian was planning on visiting his parents, who were still in Hensel Hospital, but when he remembered that he had been banned for a while after allegedly ’assaulting’ Arthur, he scrapped the plan of sneaking around just to see them.
Well, safe to say, Arthur was no longer staying in Hensel Hospital, hence Cillian’s worry about the Sparrow’s well-being was low.
His next destination was the Undercity.
Going down in the elevator, Cillian continued fiddling with the coin in his hand, being careful not to toss it while carrying Arthur’s book in the other.
’After ordering an assassination job on Arthur through both Dennis and Dena using my name, I hope the person or people I’m looking to speak with will be at least influential within this territory.’
There was something Cillian wanted to exploit to draw the attention of the entire Viola, so that all eyes would be directed toward Arthur.
This was something that Eve exploited, as any deals going through the Undercity would always be made known to the Lord, Khalish Viola.
Eventually, he reached the destination Dena had given him, where the meeting was taking place.
It was an abandoned building, and inside was exactly what one would expect from such a place, if not for the fact that three people were present there.
One was his father, Leo. Another person looked similar to Leo but was older. Cillian guessed that he was Leo’s brother, the true leader of Whisper Broker, his uncle Lloyd.
However, the person in the middle sitting down wasn’t someone familiar.
He seemed to be in his early thirties, wearing an amiable smile, yet he exuded a mysterious authority that made even Lloyd and Leo stand while he sat down. He had a nasty scar across his cheek, an eyeglass resting on the bridge of his nose, and clean-cut hair that almost resembled that of a noble.
"Hey!"
[White Flag]
Cillian couldn’t help but frown when he realized that it had been a few days since he had seen a White Flag, as almost everyone he had met had either possessed a Black Flag or a Death Flag.
’Is this at least the safest guy to meet in the Viola right now? Just who is this person?’
When he saw that Cillian remained unresponsive after the short greeting, this man let out an embarrassed cough before introducing himself.
"I guess you didn’t know me. Well, I’m not the kind of person who shows up in the crowd anyway, but everything from Viola comes to me first before directly informing the Lord. The name’s Scott, I’m the Grand Strategist working for Khalish Viola."
Scott paused for a moment, the still amiable expression still playing on his face.
"Now, Cillian, it has come to my attention that you wanted to hire assassins to eliminate Arthur Potter, the famous therapist of the Viola family. You used the commission from your recent mission as payment to secure Arthur’s assassination.
"You are also causing trouble around here, like confronting Arthur when he was busy recovering from the recent bombing, and you burned his house down hours after that. Hah... well, what else could I expect from someone connected to Fergus? They just love messing things up while the adults have to clean up their mess."
From the way he described things, Cillian realized that Scott was the reason Fergus had only been sent to prison instead of receiving heavier charges for what he had done to Aster.
After all, Fergus’s actions would have looked like an abuse of power due to him being Khalish’s son, which was exactly the case. However, the punishment had been reduced because of this general strategist.
Scott gently shook his head and looked at Cillian.
Cillian, who was supposed to answer, remained quiet since what he said wasn’t exactly a question. This reaction amused Scott, as if someone his age would have already spilled the beans.
He was the Grand Strategist after all. Yet it seemed that it didn’t matter to Cillian, who remained standing in his position without uttering a single word.
"Interesting..."
Scott glanced at Leo.
"You raised quite a bold son."
"Thank you..."
Leo replied meekly and couldn’t help but feel agitated with Scott’s presence.
"Usually, it should be the foot soldiers up to the second-highest rank under Khalish who handle these actions, but my son’s case was being taken care of by this person instead?"
What made the General Strategist do it?
Leo was suddenly surprised when he was called to this meeting with his brother, wondering why he had been summoned. Yet, he couldn’t help but worry about his son.
’Be careful what you say, son. The Strategist is the second person you don’t want making any enemies with in this land. And I can’t help you in any kind of way right now...’
Cillian watched Scott for a brief moment before he started speaking.
"If I say that Arthur is a Heretic who’s trying to summon a God, will you believe me? And if this plan succeeds, it will destroy the entire Viola."
"..."
Scott remained silent, and Cillian took that as an indication to continue speaking.
"The Shepherds are also in this place and somehow want to push this development because they are aiming for the same thing Arthur is trying to do. They approached Arthur to research the Ancient Ruins in this land, which are probably sites of the previous Heretics. That’s why I wanted him to be assassinated."
Scott’s face turned cold and emotionless as he asked a question that would help confirm Cillian’s claim.
"Do you have any proof that supports this?"
Cillian knew this would happen. There was no way Scott, or whoever this person was, would simply believe his statement. That’s why he slid Arthur’s diary onto the table, forcing the three adults to look into it.