Chapter 145: One Piece
After whispering it into Cillian’s ear, Arthur drew the very last breath he could muster. His hands slowly released Cillian’s collar before his head fell weakly to the ground, his body finally becoming lifeless.
It seemed like he had been holding on for as long as he could until he no longer needed to after giving out information that might help the others fighting the Shepherds.
Arthur died.
And Cillian didn’t get to use the Fireball.
Cillian couldn’t help but remain silent for a moment, a frown appearing on his face as he remembered Arthur’s last words to him.
"One of the great families is working with the Shepherds...?"
Cillian muttered under his breath.
Did he have any clues that a family was working with the Shepherds?
As far as Cillian knew from his past experiences, if he had to remove a renowned family, the highest-ranking person he could point to who was in cahoots with the Shepherds was a gang member named Jack Trade. He had even told Dena and Dennis, the two young masters of the Underworld, that there might be other people working with the Shepherds.
Cillian had to exclude Bard, the first-year principal of Viola’s Sorcery Academy, because that hadn’t been confirmed yet. After all, he was probably just someone who had taken the blame after being framed by someone who had decided to shift the focus of the people away from the Shepherds.
"Wait..."
Cillian instantly stopped.
Cillian felt like he could connect the dots now that Arthur had confirmed it himself.
After all, the tragedy at Maintain the Ritual had been caused by Xesie. Arthur had probably done the research and obtained solid proof that he couldn’t get his hands on before making his Diary.
Or was it after making the Diary that he began to have his suspicions?
He had researched it and come to know the truth, but since the Hidden One had been controlling him greatly at that moment, he had been forced to bury the information in his mind alongside his traumatic experience at Maintain the Ritual.
’Wait, wait. The Ball of Honors was designed by Khalish Viola. Who were the people supposed to be with him when they were supposed to show up at the ball to achieve their goal? The Lord of Hanetry and the Lord of Xesie, right? Yet they didn’t show up until the very end, when the ball was suddenly bombed.’
But Cillian instantly realized something was weird about this conclusion.
’Nah, something is wrong with my deduction. If the three Lords were about to meet, the security should’ve obviously been stricter. It wasn’t supposed to be attacked in the first place. Heck, if I were in their shoes, I would’ve thrown a fit and dissed the shit out of that Lord for being negligent. Yet, not only were there no complaints from them, but they also shifted the focus onto Bard Decker, a supposed Black Shepherd, and tried to connect him to Jack Trade.’
The Viola Family officially revealed the existence of the Black Shepherds. However, that only meant they had hidden the information about the White Shepherds.
Now, the White Shepherds had shown themselves in this land, and there were plenty of people who had witnessed their existence, specifically the guilds that had been duped. The entire situation leading up to their entry into the Ancient Ruin had been orchestrated through this trickery, with the fools unknowingly playing right into their hands.
But if the bombing didn’t happen from that time, how would the event turn out?
Cillian made some deductions on his part.
’I bet they were going to say the same thing. However, the same result would still happen, and that is putting the blame on Bard. The Black Shepherds will be there, as well as for Jack Trade to their mentions. So...’
It only leaves one confusing part of all the incident back in the Ball Of Honors.
What’s the purpose of the bombing anyway?
Cillian confirmed that it wasn’t the Viola Family, judging by how his father had reacted when he, his mother, and his sister had also been affected.
There’s no way Leo would put them in danger if he were to know that. Basic father decency.
"Yeah, the bombing part is the weirdest of them all. There’s no way the other family would not be aware of the great family’s actions, even if it was Khalish, such as that time since it endangered a lot of people and a few even died."
That’s why Cillian couldn’t help but think.
’Was Xesie the one who gave this information to Khalish Viola? Then they made it look like he was the one who had come up with it by announcing it publicly to reduce the backlash? It was fine to expose the matters concerning the Black Shepherds since... it was already out in the first place, and all they needed to do was make everyone aware of it? Aside from a few people like me, were there also other people who had learned about their existence before the Academy attack?’
Instead of answers, Cillian had stack after stack of questions building up in his head. Even though there was no solid proof that the Xesie Family was indeed working with the Shepherds of Creation, he was half-convinced while the other half of him remained doubtful.
Who knows if this was Arthur’s one last action to mess with Cillian, to make him overthink these matters, and if he got tricked by it, he’d end up wasting his time looking into the Xesie Family.
Now that’s one grand performance by him that even Cillian will be pretty much impressed.
But if Arthur’s words turned out to be true, then it was worth keeping an eye on these people, especially if they were working with those Shepherds.
First the Academy, now the entire Viola itself.
Would he be able to find the fun he was looking for by investigating the Xesie Family, one of the renowned families on the continent?
"I should be able to do it."
Destroying a famous family sounds like a fun thing to do.
’Heh, I might target their children first—no, that sounded bad for some reason. Let me revise that. First, I’ll see if their children know about the Shepherds’ existence. Then, I’ll slowly work my way up until I target the Lord himself. Along the way, I might be able to confirm whether they’re actually working with the Shepherds.’
Cillian sighed as he thought about the future ahead, filled with fun times. To do that, he would have to equip himself heavily.
"If I want to do it, then I have to train first. Then train some more and achieve what I want with my current strength. I’m a fast learner. I still retain all my good qualities from back on Earth. After all, I’m smart, good-looking, and the top achiever in my class. I have to add something to that, though."
What he wanted to add with his description is a crazy bastard who loves the thrill.
Suddenly, Cillian’s knees weakened, as if all the fatigue he had accumulated throughout the night came crashing down on him at once.
"Ugh, before I do all those things, I have to rest first. There’s no need to rush. I’ll hone my planning skills even further and, yeah, train. Did I already say that? Ugh, my fucking head hurts!"
Cillian called out for his Domino Trace and saw the staggering amount of mental load he had accumulated, which explained why he was experiencing it.
[Mental load: 49%]
’Motherfucker...!’
Clutching his head, Cillian grimaced.
Then suddenly, his eyes couldn’t help but dart towards Arthur’s body.
[A scent of Death within you...]
Cillian ignored the scent of Death’s message as his eyes got stuck towards Arthur’s chest where Pieces appeared.
That’s right, Pieces.
’That Piece’s aura is different. Is that the Half-Possessive Piece Arthur acquired at Maintain the Ritual? So, it really retains the quality of a Possessive Piece, meaning it doesn’t become a Fragmented Piece when extracted from a Ruiner’s body.’
Because of his appearance, Arthur’s death was finally official. He hadn’t just been waiting around for Cillian to leave while he escaped, only to make one last play.
At the very least, that’s what Cillian would do if he were faking his death, hoping that his killers would leave him alone.
However, another Piece appeared.
No, it didn’t appear as a Fragmented Piece since it didn’t appear right beside the Possessive Piece. Besides, even if it had, all the Pieces acquired by the Ruiner would simply merge together.
This Piece that appeared was different.
It was from the ghastly cloud above Arthur’s head.
Finally, Cillian understood the message the scent of Death was trying to convey to him. After all, two screens had appeared with the same message, as if they were trying to get Cillian’s attention.
[A scent of Death within you says "Get it."]
[A scent of Death within you says "That Piece corresponds to [One]"]