Episode 29 - Bizeth's Gambit 1

At that same moment.
Veilslayer's death had changed everything.
The Phantom Fang Lord and the Night Fist Lord had begun unleashing their people in earnest — actively hunting for Kaftin, intent on killing him.

Until now, they had held back out of deference to Veilslayer's declaration that he would handle it personally. That had ended in his brutal death.

The threat this man posed had already exceeded anything they had anticipated.
And so two men who ordinarily refused to cooperate had, in a rare turn, joined hands — and were now in conference, preparing to move against him together.

The first order of business was interrogating Whispermere.

Both Gang Lords had come in person to the Cheshire Cat's underground base. She received them on her knees, enduring the weight of two sets of eyes looking down at her from the sofa with barely concealed contempt.

"...So. You're telling me you don't know where he went."
"...Yes."
"I gave you clear instructions to find out everything about him. Why didn't you find out where he was going?!"

Bizeth drove his fist into the armrest, making no effort to conceal his fury.

Letting a monster like Kaftin slip away was far too dangerous.
And yet the one person who had been in direct contact with him — who had produced the most useful intelligence of anyone — had lost him at the critical moment.

"...I apologize."
"Give me an excuse, at least."
"......"
"I'm telling you to give me something I can work with!"
"...Yes. Understood."

Gabelth, unable to watch any longer, nudged Bizeth with an elbow — a gesture to calm down. Only then did Bizeth swallow his anger, grinding his teeth.

She began her report.

"I wanted to have him followed, but he made a point of killing anyone other than me who came near him..."
"Don't tell me he rooted out trained operatives from the information guild."
"...Yes."
"...Ngh..."

Not an ordinary man. Not by any measure.
Assassins were one thing — but the information guild's operatives were often recruited from locals, given a degree of training, and embedded as native-looking informants. Identifying a tail in that kind of setup required a level of expertise that even seasoned underworld figures struggled with. And he had rooted them out anyway.

"So the only way to track him is for you to go yourself."
"...Yes."
"Then why didn't you follow him?"
"...He said he was leaving the kingdom. Crossing the border."
"......! The border? What for?"

She paused for a moment before answering.

"He said... he had something to deliver to Vesren's grave."
"...? Deliver what, exactly? To a dead man?"
"......"

She hesitated visibly. Bizeth began to flare up again — and Gabelth jabbed him a second time.
This time Gabelth asked the question himself.

"What did he say he was delivering? Answer."
"...Lord Veilslayer's... head."
"......! That absolute son of a—!!"
"C-calm down—!"
"How am I supposed to calm down?! That bastard is obviously planning to bring our heads to that lunatic torturer's grave too?!"

Bizeth had seen through the intention in an instant. He began hammering the sofa armrest hard enough to threaten it.
Gabelth grabbed his arm and physically restrained him, then turned back to her.

"So. When do you expect him to return?"
"I... don't know exactly. He mentioned it would take a few days..."
"Damn it—!"
"......"

Gabelth fell quiet for a moment, thinking.
The man was hunting them — stalking them like prey.
Then perhaps it was time to reverse that. To lay their own trap, and hunt him.

Set the stage themselves. Draw him into it. Then hit him simultaneously, the two of them together.
His clearest weakness — even in monster form — was that Aura Blades dealt him real damage. That much had been confirmed.

Veilslayer's surviving subordinates and Whispermere had both reported it: during the battle, Veilslayer's Aura Blade had badly wounded the arm, putting the gas cannon out of commission.

Between the two of them — Aura Blade and Aura Fist — this time they could bury that infuriating creature for good.

"...Bizeth. What if we set the stage ourselves this time."
"Set the stage? What do you mean?"
"I mean we dig the pit, draw him into it, and finish him there. With our Aura Skills combined, even he can't do much — can he?"
"Oh..."

Interest flickered in Bizeth's eyes. The corner of Gabelth's mouth lifted.
His friend's mood was finally improving.

"That's settled then. Whispermere — if you have any useful suggestions, let's hear them."
"Wh — me...?"
"Yes, you. You've been watching him up close this whole time. Any good bait come to mind?"
"......"

Conquere's face surfaced in her mind for just a moment — and she shut it away.
She was still young. And a half-blood.
If the two men learned of her existence, what they would do with that information was obvious.

They would use her until she broke, then hang what was left somewhere Kaftin was likely to pass — as a message.
The same thing Kaftin had done to Veilslayer's people, and to Veilslayer himself.

"......"
"Really nothing? You're less useful than I thought..."
"Tch. The previous handler said she had potential... I suppose this is the limit of it."

At this rate her standing would take a hit.
With the Gang Lords' fall not yet certain, she couldn't afford to lose her footing now.

But handing over Conquere — she didn't even want to imagine what would follow.
Which meant —

"...There is something."
"Oh! You thought of something?"
"Hm. Took long enough..."
"It's..."

Both men leaned forward, eyes on her lips behind the veil.
What she said next wasn't what either of them had expected.

"...Me."
"...Right! We grab her immediately and — wait."
"......?"
"I mean... me."

A brief silence.
Then Bizeth was on his feet, broadsword in hand.

"H — Bizeth?!"
"...Whispermere."
"Yes..."

He raised the broadsword slowly toward her throat. The veins across his forehead stood out clearly.
He was furious beyond restraint.

"Answer me clearly. No lies... you haven't been playing both sides with that bastard, have you...?"
"......"
"Bizeth! Calm down! At least let her finish—!"
"You stay out of it!"

He rounded on Gabelth and silenced him too. The sound of teeth grinding came through low and unmistakable.

"Talk! Now! What is it?! Are you in bed with him?!"
"...No."
"...Then what."
"I... have him charmed."

Another silence.
Bizeth broke it with a burst of laughter.

"Bwahahaha! What?! Seriously?! That bastard — you?!"
"...Yes. From our very first meeting, he seemed to have taken a liking to me. I thought I could use it to extract information more easily..."
"Hahahaha—! Now that's something! So even a monster like that is still a man?! How far did you let him get?!"

She shook her head.
There was nothing of that kind between them.

In the course of passing information back and forth, he had applied a certain pressure — but it had always felt more like testing her, or enjoying her discomfort, than anything else.

"Pfft! Pfhehehehehe! Are you serious?! He's a complete monster but he's a bumbling idiot in front of a woman?! That's absolutely priceless?!"

Gabelth, quietly relieved by Bizeth's laughter, matched it with a smile and nodded.

"An interesting story... so if you called for him, he'd come wherever you asked?"
"Yes... I believe so."
"That makes things considerably easier."

Bizeth stopped laughing as suddenly as he had started.

"Right... one of the pieces of intelligence you gave us — he generally doesn't raise a hand against women or children..."
"Yes... that information was reliable."
"And yet I heard from Veilslayer's people that he killed the child in the assassination squad without hesitation."
"That's because... when someone attacks him and presents a threat, his judgment shifts from 'woman or child' to 'enemy.' The threat takes priority."
"...Hmm. So he does have some sense of discernment. Despite everything he does..."

Bizeth stroked his chin — and a sly smile crept onto his face.

"This might make for some interesting sport...!"
"......?"
"What is it, Bizeth? Something come to you?"

He shook his head, declining to say — only let the smile deepen.

"...Gabelth."
"What? What do you need?"
"No — this time, could you leave it entirely to me?"
"What?! We said we'd do this together! After what happened to Veilslayer?!"
"I know. But I have a plan. Something to test his weaknesses — among other things."
"......!"

Bizeth — the Phantom Fang Lord.
A bandit by origin, broadly jovial and utterly self-directed — and yet, in stark contrast to that background, a cunning and resourceful man.

If he had cooked something up, it would be devastating. That much was certain.
In the end, Gabelth had no choice but to nod.

"You're sure... this is going to work?"
"Yes. We have enough information on him now. His weakness — the fact that his monster forms are actually two..."

Bizeth snapped his fingers, a confident smile on his face.

"Before that — Whispermere. I'm going to need you to play an important role."
"......?!"

Before she could react, two of Bizeth's personal subordinates appeared and seized her by both arms.

"B-Lord Bizeth—?!"
"Relax. I'm not going to kill you... you're my capable subordinate, aren't you? Bwahahaha...!"
"......?!"
"B-Bizeth?"

Gabelth tried to say something in her defense — but Bizeth held out a hand in flat refusal, and Gabelth fell silent.

She was officially the branch head of an organization under Bizeth's umbrella.
For Gabelth to step in would be overstepping his bounds entirely.

"Don't push your cute subordinate too hard..."
"Pfhahaha... don't worry about it. She just needs to play a small role... as bait...!"
"......!!"

She bit down on her lip, fear running through her — and then closed her eyes and steadied herself.
She had always known a day like this might come. And at least she had managed to protect Conquere.
For now, that was enough.

And she was right.
It was a judgment she would reaffirm, again and again, long after this moment had passed.

"Now then... let's think about where best to draw him out..."

Bizeth signaled his subordinates to bring her along and stepped outside.

The scheme to eliminate the man was already in place.
All that remained was finding the right ground to spring it on him.

—To be continued—