Everything was hateful.
I couldn't understand anything about the situation surrounding me, and I simply continued wandering through the snow-filled winter.
Back then, I was like an extra on a ruined stage.
What was I living for?
I didn’t know.
There was nothing I needed to protect, and there was nothing I wanted to protect.
And so, repeating days of self-destruction, I aimlessly wandered the snow-covered fields.
“Haa, haa...”
That day was no different.
I was drenched in blood from head to toe, bright red against the white snow.
My body was so battered it could hardly be distinguished from a corpse.
A trail dragged across the ground, streaks of blood stretching behind me as I trudged forward mechanically through the blizzard.
In that process, I stumbled upon a silver-haired girl.
“...So this is where you were.”
A calm voice spoke softly.
And that day, for the first time, I found one reason to live.
***
The air was chillingly still.
The lively atmosphere from earlier had sunk into a dreary silence, leaving only the snake and the sovereign locked in a tense standoff.
Two thrones stood in stark contrast: one white, the other black, a striking interplay of light and shadow.
Neither of us spoke.
The first to break the silence was none other than the old man.
“Doesn’t it remind you of the old days?”
His gaze, steeped in nostalgia, lingered.
The aged voice muttered as though recalling a distant memory.
“That day, too, we stared each other down like this... The day you destroyed my kingdom.”
Perhaps he was layering the past over the present.
As I quietly chewed over the sentences he spoke, a faded memory suddenly flickered across my mind as well.
It was of a particularly cold winter day.
The sovereign smiled faintly.
“Three years already, is it?”
“...”
“Sometimes, I find myself missing those days.”
“Let’s cut to the chase, shall we?”
“You’re as cold as ever.”
I didn’t let my guard down.
Despite the old man’s outwardly nonchalant smile, within him writhed hundreds of venomous snakes.
Before me sat the ruler of the underworld.
And at the same time, he was the only person in the last four years who had nearly succeeded in killing me.
It was impossible not to feel the tension sharpening my nerves.
My gaze turned frigid.
“Your deceitful tongue disgusts me.”
“A snake loathing deceit—how ironic.”
“Sometimes, there are people more serpentine than the snakes themselves.”
He wouldn’t deny it.
After all, it was he who had taught me that truth.
I spoke.
“Anyway... Let’s get to the main point.”
“As you wish.”
The old man shrugged.
After a brief pause, he began speaking in earnest.
“The empire’s atmosphere is unsettling lately.”
“To be more precise?”
“It’s like the calm before a storm... On the surface, everything appears peaceful, but a disaster is looming.”
“You’re saying something significant is about to unfold.”
“I’ve already caught signs of it here and there.”
“Signs, you say.”
Interest flickered within me.
It was just around the time when the original story was reaching its trajectory.
Like it or not, the continent was on the verge of upheaval.
While I remembered most of the events from my previous life, I couldn’t be entirely sure of the future given how much I had tampered with the past.
Finally, I focused and requested more details.
The old man continued.
“The first group to watch closely... would naturally be the merchants.”
The merchants.
One of the original story’s most notorious antagonists.
According to the records, they were among the wealthiest individuals across the continent, using their immense fortune for all kinds of heinous deeds.
To the fox who had lost everyone, including her mentor, they were also the target of vengeance.
“Their movements have been unusual.”
“That’s unexpected.”
The merchants had shown no notable activity until now.
Aside from an attempt several months ago to join forces with the sovereign—a plan thwarted by my intervention—they’d remained dormant.
Since that failed collaboration, I remembered the merchants and the sovereign being completely estranged.
The old man’s eyes darkened.
“It seems... they’ve joined hands with the cultists.”
“Are you referring to the Baov?”
“Who else could it be?”
“That’s strange. From what I know, their interests don’t align. Haven’t the merchants rejected several offers for cooperation already?”
“They declined, saying they didn’t want to get involved in such a messy business.”
“Then why would they accept now?”
“They must’ve had their backs against the wall.”
Backs against the wall.
The sovereign pointed a finger at me.
“Thanks to your interference, their business has completely collapsed.”
“You’re referring to the events from a few months ago.”
“They had originally planned to strike a deal with me. In exchange for providing funds, they wanted a connection to the kingdom’s drug cartel.”
“Of course, you accepted the deal.”
“Why wouldn’t I? It was profitable for us. Anyway, they promised to deliver high-grade slaves, crates of drugs, and various luxuries as the down payment. They must’ve stretched themselves thin to fill that massive ship.”
“And I seized that ship.”
“Exactly.”
The pieces of the puzzle were finally falling into place.
The involvement of a ship as large as a football field, packed with hunting hounds and the kingdom’s most formidable force, had seemed excessive at the time.
Now, it made sense—it had been worth the investment.
The old man burst into laughter, clearly amused.
“Heh heh... Who would’ve thought you’d so neatly swipe the entire ship?”
“It looked quite useful.”
“Thanks to you, we’ve earned ourselves needless hatred. They still don’t know it was your doing, though.”
“They likely think it was a betrayal orchestrated by you or the Unnamed.”
“Given how many enemies I already have, it doesn’t make much difference... But where did you hide that enormous ship and its cargo?”
“They’re mine now.”
“Of course.”
The old man nodded slowly.
I briefly summarized the situation and then asked about the most crucial point.
“Well... I understand the general justification. As a merchant, he would want to recover his losses. The cult’s proposal must have come at just the right time.”
“He was an ambitious man to begin with.”
“It seems the cultists were skilled at exploiting timing and conditions.”
“Even the rats have their cunning, it seems.”
“Up to this point, we’re discussing circumstances... but is there any concrete evidence to prove their contact?”
“I expected you to ask that first.”
“Because the other party is completely untrustworthy.”
“Heh, take this.”
With a soft plop, an envelope materialized from thin air and fell to the floor.
It was meticulously sealed, containing encrypted documents.
As I skimmed through the contents, I found records of the merchant’s financial movements, recent activities of dark magicians, and other detailed elements.
The old man gestured with his chin.
“If you go through it in order, you’ll understand why I reached that conclusion.”
“I’ll review it later.”
I tossed the file into the shadows.
The mist lingering nearby absorbed the envelope like a pocket dimension and then vanished.
The old man, waiting patiently, resumed speaking.
“Well then... let’s move on to the next matter.”
The conversation continued for some time.
Though brief, it was rich with valuable information.
For example:
The signs of unrest within the Duke of Vanity’s family.
The church’s growing awareness of the cult’s activities.
And a warning that there might be a traitor within the academy.
It seemed traces of collusion had been uncovered while tracking the dark magicians.
I listened intently.
The dialogue stretched on for hours.
Only after storing a few more documents into the shadows did I conclude the meeting.
With his usual sly smile, the old man casually asked:
“So, was that helpful?”
It was hard to deny.
Though I didn’t appreciate his smug expression, I saw no need to engage in petty disputes over it.
I nodded plainly.
“It was helpful.”
“That’s a relief.”
“But... in the future, I’d prefer it if you avoided drawing attention from those around me. If you have business, speak with me directly.”
“You’re the only one who treats me so coldly.”
“There won’t be a second warning.”
“And if there is no second warning?”
“I’ll have to end it.”
“You can’t kill me.”
The sovereign’s reply was nonchalant.
A sly smile crept across his aged lips.
It was—
“Because.”
—The laugh of a despicable old man I had almost forgotten.
“I’m still someone you need.”
An irreplaceable cog isn’t discarded so easily.
Like it or not, the old man was that kind of cog.
The most unsettling yet versatile and skilled card in my hand.
The reason I’d kept him alive until now was simple: I needed him.
In this world, every life had a value assigned to it.
The snake and the old man calculated each other’s worth.
—This is a transaction.
At the end of a bloody war, I hadn’t killed the sovereign.
Instead, I had assigned him a role.
The kingdom’s massive drug cartel, its far-reaching influence across the continent, and its overwhelming military power rivaling that of a nation—
I had commanded him to use those resources to guard the empire’s underworld.
The cult, which had been resurging across the continent over the past four years, had been held in check largely thanks to the sovereign’s assistance.
His presence unified the underworld of the continent.
“A card too valuable to discard, wouldn’t you agree?”
“....”
This was why he grated on my nerves.
The old man had a talent for unsettling his opponents.
Every conversation with him felt precarious.
Still—
“I’ll take my leave now.”
—I wouldn’t let myself be swayed.
After everything I’d been through, such mind games were nothing.
My mind remained cold and steady as I rose calmly from my seat.
As I did, his voice reached me, tinged with regret but bearing a satisfied smile.
“Not even a reply?”
“I’ve endured your provocations countless times before. Reacting now would be the strange thing, wouldn’t it?”
“Heh, that’s precisely what makes you so amusing.”
“Take my warning seriously.”
“When you call it a warning, how could I ignore it? I’ll even pass the word along to my subordinates—no need to worry.”
“Next time, I hope we meet under more peaceful circumstances.”
“Let’s hope so.”
As I turned to leave, a sudden question struck my ears, as though the old man had just remembered something.
It was a question about someone’s well-being.
“By the way... how’s that child doing?”
I froze.
My body reacted instinctively.
Unbothered, the old man continued.
“Neria, wasn’t it?”
“....”
“I wonder if she’s living well after betraying her master and running away.”
“You should watch your words.”
“And if I don’t... will you kill me?”
“Don’t cross the line, you replaceable cog. I’ve only spared you because dealing with you is tedious, but don’t forget—I can kill you anytime I wish.”
“Isn’t that an overreaction to a simple inquiry about someone’s well-being?”
“Ha.”
Simple inquiry, he said.
If he remembered what he had done to her, he’d understand why such a reaction was inevitable.
Our cold gazes clashed.
“Was it the name that bothered you? Then perhaps I should call her something else.”
“I said, watch your words—”
“Faithless.”
“....”
The single word echoed in the air, plunging the room into silence.
For a fleeting moment, memories of that bitter winter four years ago surged back to me.
The name from the old man’s lips was a scar that never healed.
—The Faithless One.
The final member of the sovereign’s personal guard, who no longer remained by his side.
It was also the name of the person I had saved with my own hands.
Neria Lightning.
Called "Faithless" by the ghosts of her past.
A girl who, until she met me, had been forced to endure a life of despair in this wretched world.
I unleashed the killing intent I had been holding back.
The atmosphere grew suffocating as the air around us became heavy with hostility.
This chapter is updat𝓮d by freēwebnovel.com.
“Do not call our vice-commander by such a name.”
I murmured.
My voice was steeped in pure, explosive malice.