WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
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◈ Whispers of a Scheming Demon ◈
Chapter 87: Variable (1)
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Count Staviana had ruined Gawain’s life.
Several years ago, the Count had sent assassins to the Third Prince’s palace.
Gawain’s mother had died that day.
The assassins had not killed her.
Gawain had killed his own mother.
It was because of a rampage caused by his chronic condition.
Gawain suffered from a mental illness.
Whenever he became agitated, he completely lost his reason.
It was a condition called Holy Power Turbulence Syndrome.
Once a rampage began, Gawain stopped at nothing.
Unable to distinguish friend from foe, he wildly swung his spear and unleashed Holy Power.
His mother had been caught in the aftermath. She had been torn apart and disappeared along with the assassins.
“My son, this was not your fault. This mother does not blame you. Do not cry. Steel your heart. This is all a trial, so overcome it and use your strength for humanity. Never forget it. You are a child chosen by the Great Saint.”
They had been his mother’s last words.
His mother had not blamed Gawain, but the world was different.
Everyone called Gawain a parricide.
Countless nobles turned their backs on him.
Gawain had no choice but to fall.
Once considered a likely future king, he had ultimately been driven from the palace.
The position of Crown Prince had become vacant, and the Seventh Prince took it.
The Seventh Prince was Count Staviana’s grandson through the Count’s daughter.
The Count had brought down Gawain to make the Seventh Prince the Crown Prince.
Everything had gone according to the Count’s plan.
The Count gained even greater power, and the attack on the Third Prince’s palace was quietly buried.
Only a very small number of people knew the full truth.
Gawain was one of them.
He had heard every detail of the attack from Kembell, a knight who had once served as the Count’s close aide.
Not long ago, Kembell had suddenly come to Gawain and confessed.
“Your Highness, I was one of the assassins who attacked the Third Prince’s palace. This scar is the proof.”
A large burn scar covered Kembell’s face.
It was an injury caused by Gawain’s rampage.
Kembell had knelt and listed his crimes one after another.
“Count Staviana ordered us to drive Your Highness into a rampage. Disloyally, I carried out that command, and Your Highness suffered a deep wound to your heart. Please tear this traitor apart and kill him.”
Kembell’s confession had revealed the entire truth to Gawain.
Count Staviana had taken everything from him.
To Gawain, the Count was an enemy he absolutely had to kill.
Gawain spoke.
“Sir Johan, I heard the news. It seems there is something to congratulate you on.”
“What do you mean, Your Highness?”
“Not only have you received a title, but you have also joined the kingdom’s Council. At such a young age.”
Johan replied calmly.
“It is all due to His Majesty the King’s grace.”
Gawain shook his head.
“No. That is incorrect. It would be more accurate to call it Count Staviana’s scheme.”
A shadow crossed Gawain’s face.
He could not control his expression. Just thinking of the Count made his stomach churn.
Johan suppressed a groan.
“...The Count’s scheme. In truth, it would have been impossible without the Count’s influence.”
The Count had changed the law, allowing the young Johan to become head of the house.
The fact that the half-ruined House Myatro had joined the Council was also entirely thanks to the Count.
Gawain spoke.
“Sir Johan, I will ask you directly. Why is the Count helping House Myatro?”
As far as Gawain knew, the Count and Johan had been enemies.
The Count had resorted to schemes to swallow House Myatro, while Johan had struggled desperately to protect his family.
Then the situation had changed in an instant.
The Count had suddenly begun supporting Johan.
It was puzzling, and Gawain even felt somewhat betrayed.
Originally, Gawain had intended to recruit Johan into his own faction.
They shared a common enemy, and when they had met before, they had understood each other quite well.
Perhaps they could have accomplished many things together in the future.
That expectation had dimmed somewhat.
Johan and the Count had joined hands.
Gawain could not understand why.
Johan spoke.
“For my house. I made a deal with the Count to restore my fallen house.”
Gawain’s expression darkened further.
“...For so trivial a reason, you joined hands with a demon?”
Johan frowned.
“Your Highness, what do you mean, such a reason? Look at the situation in the south. Disasters strike every other day. All kinds of evil run rampant, but I have no means to restrain them. It is shameful that I bear the title of Watcher of Narak. House Myatro needs strength. At the very least, we need the means to protect our people and watch over Narak. The Count’s support may cover part of that need. I made a deal with him to fulfill my duty, not to satisfy some personal desire.”
Johan’s words were entirely reasonable.
Gawain found it difficult to refute them.
He lowered his head slightly.
“I take back what I said about it being so trivial a reason. I let my emotions get the better of me and spoke carelessly. I did not mean it.”
Johan spoke.
“Regardless of my circumstances, I believe I understand one thing. Your Highness truly despises the Count. May I ask why?”
Gawain fell silent in thought.
After a moment, he spoke.
“...It is a very personal matter, so it is difficult to discuss.”
Gawain was putting up a wall between them.
It was only natural.
Johan and the Count were on the same side.
Gawain could not reveal his cards to Johan.
Johan nodded.
“I see. I will not ask further. However, there is something I hope you will remember.”
“What is it?”
Johan’s expression became calm.
“There are no eternal enemies or allies in politics. Just because I have joined hands with the Count now does not mean this alliance will last forever. Once we have filled what the other lacks, this relationship may break at any time. All ties bound by interests are like that. I hope Your Highness will keep that in mind.”
Gawain looked puzzled.
“I appreciate the advice. But why are you telling me this?”
Johan replied evenly.
“Perhaps Your Highness and I will one day share the same purpose. I wished to leave that possibility open.”
Gawain would one day become a hero who bore the fate of humanity.
Johan could not allow his relationship with Gawain to be severed.
To stop the End, Johan had to make use of Gawain.
Gawain stared at Johan.
Then he suddenly broke into an innocent laugh.
“Ha ha! Sir Johan, you truly are an interesting person. You are honest in some ways, yet as seasoned as the old monsters of the royal capital.”
Johan gave a faint smile.
“I will take that as praise.”
“Of course it is praise. It is not easy to leave such an impression at your age.”
Johan shrugged and replied jokingly.
“Is that not simply how one learns to survive on the streets? I was originally a vagrant, after all.”
According to Johan’s backstory, he had been a vagrant who wandered the streets.
He was the Baron’s abandoned bastard, a son born outside marriage who had been taken in by chance because of the succession dispute.
It was already common knowledge, so there was no need to hide it.
Gawain spoke.
“You must have gone through a truly difficult time.”
“The same is true for Your Highness.”
Gawain had endured an unhappy childhood.
After being driven from the palace, he had suffered all kinds of hardship.
Contempt and mockery had always followed him.
“Ha ha! Come to think of it, we have quite a lot in common.”
Johan found that strange. There should not have been anything else.
“What else do we have in common?”
Gawain’s smile faded. He spoke with a calm expression.
“We use the same kind of weapon. Have you not been training with a spear recently?”
Johan was slightly startled. How did Gawain know that?
No matter how much he thought about it, he could not find an answer.
No one outside the lord’s castle had seen Johan train.
Though shaken, Johan did not show it.
“That is correct. A spear suits me better than a sword. But how did Your Highness know?”
Gawain replied.
“There was a mountain of broken wooden spears in the training yard. Yet the soldiers wore swords rather than carrying spears, and Sir Johan’s hands are covered in calluses.”
Johan silently suppressed a groan.
A trivial mistake had given Gawain an opening.
Gawain had once smelled Holy Spear Espada on Johan.
Now Johan was training with a spear.
Anyone would have found that suspicious.
Johan spoke.
“You have a very sharp eye. As you said, I have recently taken an interest in spear techniques and have been training day and night. These calluses appeared only recently.”
Gawain opened his palm.
“I was the same. When I trained constantly, my hands were covered in blood scabs. Though I have not held a spear these past few months.”
Johan began acting. He asked with a cautious expression.
“...Could it be that you still have not found Espada?”
Gawain nodded.
“Unfortunately, that is the case. I cannot even sense its presence these days.”
Holy Spear Espada no longer existed in this world.
Only Dread Spear Turabak remained.
Johan put on an expression filled with concern.
“It is truly regrettable. I hardly know what to say. If there is anything I can do to help, please tell me. I will contribute however I can.”
Gawain gave a faint smile.
“I appreciate the goodwill, but you need not worry. Espada is connected to my soul. Unless I find it myself, no one’s help will change the situation.”
Connected to his soul. It was information Johan had never heard before.
Even Johan, who had read the original work, found it unfamiliar.
Johan spoke.
“...Are you saying it is a soul-bound artifact imprinted upon your soul?”
Gawain nodded.
“That is right. Espada and I are as one.”
Johan felt a faint tension.
“Could it be...?”
His words abruptly stopped.
The door to the reception room opened.
Ilea suddenly entered and spoke.
“I am truly sorry. It was so urgent that I had to interrupt. Please forgive me.”
Johan looked at her.
“What happened?”
Ilea approached Johan.
She whispered in a very low voice.
“There is something slightly strange about Gawain’s condition. I can sense a very faint but unmistakable trace of Demonic Energy from him. I think things are taking a strange turn.”
Johan felt as though he had been struck in the back of the head.
The hypothesis he had only half considered was beginning to surface.
He whispered into Ilea’s ear.
“...Could the backlash from turning the Holy Spear into a Dread Spear be corrupting him?”
Ilea nodded.
“I think so.”
According to Gawain, his soul was connected to Holy Spear Espada.
Since the Holy Spear had become a Dread Spear, its influence could also reach Gawain.
There had been a similar case in the original work.
Zepeto, the specter of the duchy. When the soul-bound artifact imprinted upon Zepeto’s soul became defiled, Zepeto had gradually fallen apart.
In the end, Zepeto had become an Evil Spirit.
Johan looked at Gawain.
Perhaps it was only his imagination, but Gawain’s eyes seemed darker than before.
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