Chapter 233
Why is Flingky showing up here?
Isn’t he a descendant of the Sage?
Did Flingky really commit theft?
Something was strange.
An individual who had no need to steal was accused of stealing.
That meant,
‘He must know what’s hidden in those scrolls...’
And recalling what the hero’s descendant, apprentice hero Luke, recently said,
The story could be reasoned out more quickly than expected.
Currently, the Sage and the hero of this generation suspect the Rieszkan Kingdom.
About the death of the previous hero, Hindel.
Thinking all this through, Seonghyun pondered before asking Terian,
“Besides the Zirkan Knight Order’s mission documents, was anything else stolen?”
“Hmmm, we investigated thoroughly, but nothing else was missing.”
“So only those were stolen...”
As Seonghyun mulled it over, he asked again,
“Did you report this to higher-ups?”
“...No, definitely not. Honestly, I want to handle the thief quietly now to avoid blame. Such incidents don’t bring good repute.”
Wasn’t that worse?
If discovered later, it would cause more trouble.
Did he think as long as it wasn’t caught now, it was fine?
The thought crossed his mind but he didn’t say it.
After all, what Seonghyun had to do now was catch the thief and retrieve the scroll and notes.
He replied accordingly.
“I see. Thank you. I will pursue the matter immediately.”
Terian nodded with visible satisfaction.
He must have been quite confident.
With that, Seonghyun’s thoughts deepened.
Before heading out to pursue the thief,
He pondered various things.
‘Why didn’t they bother hiding what was stolen?’
He heard the thief left almost no traces during the theft.
Yet traces were left about what was stolen, and the fact it was stolen wasn’t hidden.
That suggested the thief wanted to let others know about the theft.
If not,
‘They knew revealing the theft wouldn’t be a problem?’
Even now, Terian should have reported the theft to his superiors.
But he hadn’t.
Considering the relationship between the Rieszkan Kingdom, the hero, and the Sage,
Terian likely knew this bureaucratic handling was expected.
So they openly didn’t hide it?
Or they subtly wanted to make it known?
Though he hadn’t seen much,
Knowing Flingky’s nature…
‘He must know something.’
Since he already knew about those scrolls, it seemed he stole them and deliberately made it known to someone.
Flingky, the descendant of the Sage, had behaved like a quirky boy in front of Seonghyun,
But if he was truly a Sage, he probably saw through at least this much.
With that thought, Seonghyun activated Scent of Death.
Well then, let’s track.
7.
Sysbalt was aptly named a knight’s city, resembling a military fortress,
Yet inside, it was quite lively.
Near the main crossroads, the market bustled with people selling various goods.
Being a knightly city, security was tight, so
Commerce thrived and common folk could live safely, creating this atmosphere.
Numerous NPCs busied themselves along the streets.
Players were no exception.
Stalls and street food scents wafted through, creating a unique market vibe.
Among the crowd,
One young figure, more like a boy, smiled brightly while savoring a skewer.
“Hmm! Delicious!”
Though alone, the boy cheerfully chatted and wandered excitedly, eavesdropping on various talks nearby.
Amongst the frequently heard topics recently was:
“Hahaha! Have you heard news of Iron Fist?”
“Ah, that outsider knight? I don’t quite recall his name.”
“Does the name matter? Just knowing Iron Fist is enough!”
“True, so what has Iron Fist done now?”
“Well, it’s not that he’s done anything yet, but he appeared after five days.”
“Oh? Sounds like trouble brewing. Calling Iron Fist means serious business, hahaha!”
Amid conversations with the townsfolk, Flingky smiled slyly.
Already knowing who Iron Fist was, he couldn’t help but feel excited.
He had indeed made a move.
Would they also recognize him?
With that thought, he grinned and moved forward.
But just as he took a step,
He felt a chill behind him and turned.
His eyes met those of a blazing skull.
What the...
Flingky blinked in slight embarrassment,
But before he could react,
Darkness appeared beneath his feet.
Before he could even blink,
It engulfed him.
What was happening!
Without time to be puzzled,
Flingky swallowed hard noticing his surroundings had changed.
Everything was dark.
A place utterly devoid of light.
‘Is this even possible?’
Thinking so, Flingky recalled a light-producing spell and attempted to use it.
Well, to be precise, he did use it,
But even that light was absorbed and vanished into the darkness.
Naturally, such a thing shouldn’t be possible.
Knowing this well, Flingky looked around in some shock.
Though his senses detected nothing,
He felt the presence of someone nearby and trembled as he immediately said,
“I-I’m sorry!!!”
At those words,
Shuuuuuk!
The darkness instantly retreated,
And light flooded the room, illuminating the surroundings.
Someone inside the room smiled subtly and looked at Flingky.
Flingky also awkwardly smiled upon seeing this.
"Well then, shall we talk?"
Seeing Seonghyun speak so politely, Flingky swallowed.
It was inevitable.
‘Uh, when did you grow so much?’
He had grown far more since the rumors of a few days ago.
Honestly, the darkness just now felt too perfect for an outsider to create.
Of course, it was a Lord skill.
It wasn’t strange that Flingky felt that way.
Anyway,
“Long time no see, Flingky.”
“Haha, y-yeah, Seonghyun.”
Their awkward reunion.
But Seonghyun didn’t dwell on that, and looked at Flingky saying,
“As you know, I took a request. I’m curious why our Sage descendant would steal.”
As Seonghyun said that,
Flingky’s mind raced.
He immediately understood.
Seonghyun had known from the start that he was the thief.
Not that Seonghyun tracked him down first and found out,
But rather, he had known before that.
How?
‘Did I leave a trace?’
Impossible.
He left no trace of alchemy or his unique magic pattern.
Yet Seonghyun knew.
But knowing that was still honestly shocking.
Maybe he had underestimated him because he was an outsider.
‘He really is amazing.’
Flingky had always thought he was absurdly competent compared to hero Luke.
Yet at the same time, he believed outsiders had limits.
Flingky reflected on that and continued thinking,
‘Then...’
Could Seonghyun also know what these scrolls are?
As he considered that, he looked at Seonghyun, but his thoughts were completely unreadable.
Even without his mask, Seonghyun’s emotions and thoughts were more inscrutable than if he had been wearing one.
Flingky wondered how such a person could exist, to the point of thinking all Overlords must be like this.
Sighing, he nodded.
“I have no idea how much you already know. I guess I’ll have to lay it all out.”
Flingky said this while trying to probe Seonghyun, but it had no effect. In fact, Seonghyun looked at Flingky with amusement.
‘He really is smart.’
They were testing each other, but there was nothing Flingky could do.
The fact that he had gone as far as stealing to secretly ask for Seonghyun’s help meant that ‘they’ were in a tight spot.
Thinking this, Seonghyun recalled hero Luke and listened to Flingky’s story.
As expected, what came from Flingky’s mouth was what Seonghyun had anticipated.
“First of all, the reason I stole this was because Luke asked for my help.”
“Hmm.”
“I’m sure you’re aware, but after you warned him to be wary of the Rieszkan Kingdom, Luke wanted to investigate. However, he’s been virtually confined in the Rieszkan Kingdom and couldn’t move freely. So, he asked me.”
“I see.”
Seonghyun feigned ignorance, but Flingky just smiled faintly and continued.
“Anyway, while keeping an eye on the Rieszkan Kingdom, I looked into a few things. As a kingdom of knights, many orders were active, and while investigating suspicious circumstances, this one knight order stood out.”
“...”
Seonghyun listened silently.
There were quite a few reasons to be suspicious, and Flingky pointed them out one by one.
“The first suspicious thing was that after completing a single mission, half the knight order suddenly retired. What’s interesting is that there are records of their retirement alongside records of them continuing their activities for a while after. The retirement was recorded in a highly important document, while the public story was that they remained active.”
“Oh?”
“But the fun part is that both sets of records showed signs of tampering.”
Tampering...
It had to be the Rieszkan Kingdom.
Hearing this, Seonghyun grew curious about the story.
When he showed interest, Flingky continued.
“The base of operations for those knights was this very city, Sysbalt. The records of their missions were in the archives here, so I checked them out, and what a surprise, right? They were tampered with here, too.”
“Hmm.”
Did that mean the mission details were lost?
It was a bit disappointing, but Flingky wasn’t finished.
“Ahem! But I was able to restore them. Although they were manipulated, there were traces left in this notebook that allowed me to restore the content. And do you know what I found out as a result?”
“...”
Flingky paused for dramatic effect, a slight smile on his face, which then suddenly vanished.
His voice turned ice-cold as he said,
“The Zirkan Knight Order’s mission was to assassinate a young girl in Blue Village, claiming she was connected to a being that threatened the world. After assassinating the girl and framing it as the work of black mages, half of the Zirkan Knight Order was executed.”
“...Don’t tell me?”
“Yes. Blue Village is now called Hindel Village. And the girl who was framed as being killed by black mages was named Lumen Astra—Hindel Astra’s only blood relative.”
Hearing this, Seonghyun couldn’t help but slowly close his eyes.
And then...
[You have obtained the secret keyword for 『Hero, Hindel』.]