Chapter 26 – What they believed (2)
Translated by : betterdays
Proofread by : ch17175
* * *
After finishing his talk with Boros, Asher walked out of the office and saw Reika waiting outside.
Catching Asher’s gaze, Reika jumped up and approached him.
“What did you two talk about?”
“It was just some trivial cleanup work. It ended up working out well though.”
Boros readily agreed to let Asher use his intelligence network as he pleased. Although there was a bit of curiosity and suspicion as to why Asher would need something like that, he just ignored it since Asher had become the savior of the Belturia estate.
Reika sighed with relief.
“Phew, I thought you did something again.”
“…….”
She was right to feel that way considering how many incidents had been revolving around Asher when he had gotten involved.
Asher turned around towards the exit of the corridor and started walking.
“Are we going back now?”
“Yes, we have to go back to the estate. The atmosphere is already terrible with all that’s happened, so we can’t stay here much longer.”
Asher knew it was time to leave since he had exposed the Doppelganger and the Belturia estate was bound to get hectic soon. Reika then spoke up.
“Charon will probably need to report back to my father as well.”
“You know well then. Did you get all your stuff?”
“No, I didn’t have much time when Charon took me to the carriage earlier.”
“Then I’ll be away for a while while you pack.”
“Where are you going?”
“… A memorial service.”
Asher answered briefly and walked down the hall. He picked up a bottle of wine on the wall and came out of the castle. Asher solemnly walked with a melancholic atmosphere denting his normally indifferent eyes, towards the garden next to the estate.
Asher sat on a small rock and opened the bottle. It smelled luxurious.
It was a drink that Balbaca once hated and complained about because it was too expensive. He enjoyed drinking cheap alcohol because they had their own unique taste to them.
But Asher knew the truth. In actuality, Balbaca liked high-quality alcohol, too. He was just satisfied with cheap liquor because after sharing his territory’s wealth to improve the common welfare of his people, Balbaca couldn’t afford to buy any expensive liquor.
Asher broke the bottle against his wrist brace. The liquor overflowed and poured onto the grass from the shattered bottle.
“The luxury of alcohol is the least you deserve in death…. Good job, Balbacca.”
Balbaca’s body could not be found. It was practically impossible since he died 20 years ago without a single trace. It was too shabby for the Great Hero’s ending.
“…….”
Asher clenched his fist tightly. This kind of ending was not something a hero should ever have had.
The Great Hero, Balbaca, had accomplished many things. He should have at least had the right to be buried back into the earth and have his soul rest easy. He was a loving father, husband, and friend whom nobody would want to see go.
However, the Doppelganger had killed him mercilessly and imitated him for twenty years, without anyone having so much as even a clue.
The story felt twisted in Asher’s mind. He felt that there was just the beginning and the ending, but no middle. He felt as if there was something important missing.
“I’m just getting depressed at this point….”
Asher threw the bottle away and left his back facing the garden and the shattered liquor bottle.
***
Three days later, Reika and the party returned to the Halvark estate. The nobles were thrown into confusion when the events of the Belaturia estate were let known to the Empire. Everyone began to doubt each other in fear.
And the most troubled amongst this news, was Lord Halvark.
“That’s crazy.”
Lord Halvark leaned over the chair with his hands rubbing his temples. He sent a Charon to make sure there were no issues with the Belturia Family, yet he had only come back with even bigger news and a bigger problem.
“Balbaca was a doppelganger?”
“…yes.”
Charon replied with a blank face. Lord Halvark sighed disheartedly.
“Asher” was the one who pointed it out.
Lord Halvark had seen Balbaca like Charon had. Decades ago, Balbaca’s strong charisma, goodwill and amiable atmosphere, were embedded into his mind.
But he had to find out that such a man had been killed unknowingly and a Doppelganger had replaced him in the Empire for over twenty years.
“…Is the identity of a Doppelganger something Van Ester taught Asher as well?”
Charon was still in a daze, looking like he was braindead and in shock. Lord Havlark smacked his palm against his forehead in annoyance and called out to Charon.
“Charon.”
“Yes.”
“It’s already done.”
“But.”
Charon bit his lip.
“No ‘buts’.”
Tsk-
Lord Halvark clicked his tongue. Listening to the story from both Asher and Charon, he intuitively knew what was going with Charon.
“Charon, I knew everything about you and accepted you regardless of your past. Besides, it wasn’t your fault back then.”
“But….”
“Stop.”
Lord Halvark frowned.
“The Charon I know would not be one to be bound by his past. Or was he so weak, that only a few words from a Demon shook his mind?”
“…….”
“Now… We have a lot to do here at the Halvark estate, and we can’t have you worrying about your past. Especially since you are the only knight of the Halvark Estate.”
The cold words of Lord Halvark slowly rejuvenated the light back into Charon’s eyes. Lord Halvark knocked his fist on the wooden table getting Charon’s attention.
“I’m sure that Ian the Brave must have killed the Demon Lord over fifty years ago. However, it seems like something isn’t adding up with that story.”
“The information must have been twisted.”
Charon chipped in his thoughts.
“Or it was a complete lie.”
“…I think that might be a little too radical.”
“Then why are the Demons back?”
“…….”
Charon couldn’t reply. Lord Halvark shook his head.
Whatever had happened, it was irrefutable at this point at the fact that the Demons had returned. The good news amongst this tense information, was that now they could prepare for it in advance.
Lord Halvark sighed with relief.
“I almost sold my daughter off to a Doppelganger.”
Lord Halvark could not believe that he almost sold off his beloved daughter to a Doppelganger of the Demon Species. However, that wasn’t the only shocking news for him.
“… and Asher was the one to identify the Doppelganger?”
“Yes.”
Charon was firm in his reply.
“He knew not only the characteristics of the Doppelganger, but also its weaknesses.”
“….I really don’t know at this point, who he is.”
Lord Halvark stroked his chin. For him, the present Asher was a very mysterious person.
“He suddenly changed so drastically with his personality, picks up swordsmanship randomly and is taking out assassins and demons like it’s childsplay? Does he even want to hide his suspicious behavior?”
“It’s more like a kind of indifference, I think.”
“He’s just uninterested if we suspect him or not?”
“Yes.”
That feeling of indifference. It was quite accurate when describing Asher, Lord Halvark thought as he laughed.
“Hahaha! Indifference? To the Lord of the Estate? What do you think? Do you think we should be wary of him, or do you think we should back off?”
Charon closed his eyes quietly. Then, he opened his mouth.
“I think it’ll be okay for now.”
“Are you sure he won’t be hostile to us?”
“If he were a demon, there would be no reason to identify the Doppelganger in front of everybody. If he wanted to harm us, we already had several chances. As much as it hurts for me to say this… He could have easily killed us all and disappeared without a trace if he so wanted to. However, he didn’t.”
Whoever Asher was, or whatever he was, he was not someone that was being hostile to Lord Halvark. If that changed in the future, then they would change their relationship in the future as well with him. But until then, there was no reason to antagonize him.
“We should maintain neutrality with him.”
“Even though it’s obvious that someone else is in Asher’s body?”
“Did the Lord ever care about Asher?”
“Of course not. I don’t care what happens to him.”
Indifference emanated from Lord Halvark’s voice. There was only one person in their family who cared for Asher and that was Venicia, not him.
“Okay, that’s enough about Asher.”
He was just going to treat the current Asher as a new person and judge them based on their actions. And so far, they had a clean slate, so there was nothing to do unless they started something troublesome with the Halvark estate first.
Now, there was a more pressing matter at hand.
“Van Ester warned me to start building up my forces and tightening my security. Then, shortly after, a Doppelganger appeared in the Empire. If I hadn’t heeded his warnings we could have been the ones in trouble. But, the real question remains the same. What’s going to happen next?”
“Ugh…Demons.”
Charon groaned as he guessed it. It was likely that the Demons would start appearing in earnest.
***
‘That’s enough.’
Asher clung to the outside of the windowsill and listened to the two of them talk. After hearing the results of how Lord Halvark and Charon would progress from now on, he lept down.
‘Nothing will be bothering me anymore.’
Lord Halvark and Charon’s vigilant eyes were constantly grating on Asher’s nerves. Now that they had more or less stopped their surveillance on him, he was free to move more earnestly from now on.
Suddenly Asher smiled bitterly as he recalled Lord Halvark’s words about him.
‘What the hell is he?’
Lord Halvark must have seen the real Asher grow up as he was a child. It didn’t really matter too much to him about Asher’s past…. But he became more and more curious about the real ‘Asher’s’ past; especially since Lord Halvark had such a bitter resentment against him.
“You’re late today again, aren’t you? What did you do this time?”
When Asher went to the training area, Reika was training her sword skills again diligently today. Her movements were sharper than before. It was perhaps due to the fact that she could now focus on the path of the sword without paying attention to anything else.
Asher looked at her silently. She, like Lord Halvark, must have grown up with Asher since they were children.
But she wasn’t as suspicious of Asher very much in comparison to her father. Putting his thoughts together, Asher suddenly asked her a question while she was swinging her sword.
“Hey, don’t you think I’m weird at all?”
“Huh? What the hell do you mean by that?”
Reika frowned as if she was listening to nonsense. Asher continued.
“I’ve clearly changed.”
Lord Halvark, who had seen ‘Asher’ grow up from when he was a child up until now, didn’t trust him at all. Because of this, Asher couldn’t help but feel that there was something odd in regards to his relationship with Reika.
Reika clicked her tongue.
“I mean I already told you before didn’t I? I wasn’t interested in you in any way, shape or form. That means I never cared in the first place.”
It was a literal explanation. Reika had no interest in him as a human being back then. It was probably because the past ‘Asher’ acted like a total degenerate.
“Whether you change or not, it has nothing to do with me. But, do you want me to pay more attention to you?”
Asher had changed for the better. Reika had also been the one to accept the new him the fastest. Therefore, she had told him to put his worries about the past behind him, and move forward.
When Asher blushed suddenly at her words, Reika burst into laughter. Reika was shocked at his expression and found it cute.
“What’s wrong? Are you feeling sick?”
“N-no.”
Asher waved his hands in dismay and stepped back reflexively.
“Here -uh, just continue your training alone today. There’s somewhere I need to go.”
“Uh, okay…”
Asher left Reika behind and left the estate to go into the town. The gazes of the townspeople settled on him as soon as he walked out in public and complicated emotions could be felt within their eyes.
‘There was no one who looked after the original Asher after all.’
The ‘Asher’ of the past was a troublemaker, but even as a troublemaker he never received any attention from anyone. The only person who showed him such affection was the Lord’s wife, Venicia.
‘How sad… Even she has changed.’
There was not much of a reaction from Venicia these days after he had reincarnated. Even she, who had once shown affection towards Asher, felt differently. She didn’t give attention or care for him. She was obsessed with his role as an adopted son and didn’t truly look out for him.
There was no one who really watched over Asher.
‘Poor child.’
No, he didn’t feel sorry for ‘Asher’. Their indifference to the original ‘Asher’ was his own karma.
As they had said, the original ‘Asher’ more or less, had brought it upon himself one way or another. He was just the previous owner of the body and the old ‘Asher’ didn’t have any kind of way to change that.
‘That Doppelganger noticed something.’
Asher recalled what happened back at the Belturia Estate. The Doppelganger had recognized Asher’s identity and reacted in an odd way. The reaction was completely different from Asher’s expectations.
They shouted and reacted, not out of surprise, but because they had recognized something about him.
– Why are you here?!
Asher tried to pry into the unexpected reaction from the Doppelganger, but the Doppelganger killed itself before he could question it. But he could determine one thing from all of this.
The demons somehow knew about ‘him’.
Asher continued to walk into the dark alleys of the town. Suddenly, Asher stopped walking and spoke out into the emptiness of the alley.
“Come on out.”
“What a quick-witted boy.”
At the end of Asher’s words, someone walked out from the alley, replying to him. A man dressed rather frivolously, came out, smiled and bowed his head while asking a question.
“You’re my new employer?”
“I’m not your new employer, I’m simply borrowing your skillset and agency.”
Boros kept his word. In just three days, the intelligence agency that Asher had requested to borrow, had moved their headquarters temporarily to the Halvark Estate.
The man in front of him was the owner of the information agency.
The man spoke and replied as if it were natural.
“Anyway, you’re my employer for now, aren’t you? Your name is Asher, right? My name is Kiers.”
Kiers grinned.
“I watched your performance at the Belturia Estate. It was quite impressive. The fact you were able to kill off the Doppelganger without anyone even noticing.
Kiers chuckled lightly and continued
“I’ve been watching you from the shadows.”
Asher hadn’t noticed his gaze. He narrowed his eyes at Kiers.
“If you want to be able to live in a rough world, you have to be able to hide a couple of things and protect them well. If you listened to what the Doppelganger had said and looked for clues, I’m sure there’s enough reason for you to understand why I needed to borrow your agency.”
“You’re quite bright, aren’t you?”
Asher frowned slightly at Kier’s reply. Kiers continued to speak, dismissing his nonchalant tone with Asher.
“It means that if the information organization can’t do something as simple as digging up clues, it’s pretty much unusable. Well then, what would you like me to do for you, young master?”
Kiers looked at Asher with interested eyes.
“You don’t want to ask me to do something silly like ‘finding the missing dog next door’, do you?”
“Before that.”
Asher clapped his hands and spoke in an authoritative manner.
“Give me all of the information that your agency has.”
Chapter 26 – Fin