Chapter 212: From a Distant Memory
Sarcho tried to deny those words, but deep down, they knew there was some truth to it.
The number of times Sarcho met with people from the previous revolutionary group, the revolutionary army, had decreased. Of course, apart from that, Sarcho had been meeting with the citizens of Shubanel more frequently to gather their opinions, so Sarcho didn't find it odd.
'But if what this person says is true...'
The red masked person said, "If you're curious about the truth, go to the address written here tomorrow. It would be best to move discreetly."
The red masked person then left a note on Sarcho's desk.
Sarcho asked, "...What do you want? Why are you giving me this information…"
"Why complicate things?"
The person in the red mask stood up.
"I work for the Union Kingdom. The Union Kingdom is the playground of the Angry One. I hope things go as they wish. And you are their priest."
The red masked person pointed at Sarcho.
"In fact, you and I follow the same will."
Sarcho denied, "...There’s no way."
"Whether that's true or not is something to figure out later. Isn't it?"
Then the red masked person tapped on the note on the desk and left the room.
Sarcho noticed the red masked person had a thick, long tail.
'Are they a Lizardman?'
As the red masked person exited the room with a clicking sound, Sarcho pulled out the gun from their pocket and kicked open the door. However, there was no sign of the Fang agent who just left in the corridor.
Returning to their seat, Sarcho hesitated for a moment before picking up the note the red masked person had left.
The next day, Sarcho went to the address written on the note. It was an old factory located on the outskirts of Shubanel.
Through a brief investigation, Sarcho learned about the factory's history. The latest owner of the factory was imprisoned due to a newly established law. Their assets were confiscated, machinery was sold, and the factory was left empty.
'I won’t have to worry about hiding.'
Sarcho climbed up the factory's exterior wall and looked inside through the broken roof.
There were already several people gathered inside, and Sarcho noticed a lantern covered with cloth on one side to prevent light from leaking out.
'Wait, that person is...'
Sarcho recognized a familiar face. They hadn’t been elected as an assembly member, but they were one of the comrades Sarcho had worked with until the revolutionary army days. They had originally been running with Dain, but lately, they hadn't been seen as often.
'...No way.'
As Sarcho was feeling suspicious, more people walked into the factory. They were hooded, making it impossible to see their faces, but one stood out because of the antlers on their head.
'...!'
As far as Sarcho knew, there was only one person with such antlers in the vast continent.
Hwee Juran Muel. He was a key figure in the Rubeil revolutionary faction. Hwee Juran Muel was known to be a member of a prestigious family in the Empire, a Wizard from the Wizard Tower, a priest of the Devil, and even the disciple of the notorious third apostle. The antlers were also famous as evidence of a curse, which contained an evil spirit. Juran, who had freed Rubeil, exerted influence in the Union Kingdom with the active support of the Pantheon.
'Such a big shot came all the way here?'
Sarcho tried to listen in on the conversation. Sarcho was too far away to hear much, but words about timing, location, and it being too late allowed Sarcho to guess what they were talking about.
'Was the red masked person telling the truth?'
Sarcho decided to leave the factory first. Sarcho tried to think calmly, but it wasn't easy.
'All this must be the actions of a few, right?'
However, before leaving the factory, Sarcho recognized a few more faces hidden in the darkness. Some were current assembly members.
Considering the size of the gathering, even assuming it was only a portion of the revolutionary faction, it was far from an insignificant number.
'There’s no way Dain wouldn’t know about this.'
Dain held the position of president but was still the commander of the revolutionary army.
Given that the revolutionary army and the information office were guarding the national border, high-level authority would be needed to secretly contact the Rubeil revolutionary faction.
'Especially to bring in someone like Juran.'
It was a dangerous move.
Sarcho looked up at the sky. Sarcho couldn't be sure if the fist of the Angry One would come crashing down on Shubanel any moment.
Sarcho contemplated meeting Dain immediately. While it was common sense to follow various procedures due to her official position, Sarcho felt the urge to disregard them this time.
The presidential residence used an annex of the old city hall, which had a secret passage built in case of emergencies. Only a few, including Sarcho and Dain, knew about this passage, which had been discovered when a former mayor used it to escape. If Sarcho wanted to, Sarcho could use this secret passage connected to the sewer to meet Dain.
'But...'
Even though Sarcho didn't know what Dain was thinking, Sarcho couldn't ignore the order they had created together.
'Alright. I'll request a meeting at dawn. Surely I've misunderstood something.'
Turning away, Sarcho headed for their parliamentary office.
It was late in the evening, so the building was almost empty, and Sarcho felt a similar feeling as the previous night.
'Something feels off.'
First, Sarcho checked the hinge. The thin graphite was still in place. Normally, Sarcho would check it and then enter the office, but Sarcho had learned from the previous night's events.
Sarcho pulled out a small mirror to inspect under the handle. If no one had turned the handle while Sarcho was away, the gel-like wound ointment Sarcho had applied should still be there.
'...Hm?'
After checking with the mirror and carefully swiping under the handle with the back of their hand, nothing came off.
'...Was it that red masked person? No, no.'
The one who had commented on the graphite in the hinge wouldn't be fooled by such a simple trick.
'It's someone else.'
Sarcho first took out their pistol, checked the ammunition, then cautiously looked around the corridor and went back down.
Then Sarcho followed the official procedure. They went to the security office and explained their situation.
Sarcho explained that they felt someone else was in their office, asked if anyone had been in the office, and if not, if they could contact the military for such a situation. Since no one had entered Sarcho's office, they contacted the military, and soon military engineers with various equipment came to find Sarcho.
Sarcho felt some regret, wondering if their actions were a bit excessive given that someone might have simply wiped off the ointment from the handle, mistaking it for another office.
Because of recent increased threats, the engineer officer chose not to enter directly through the door but instead go in through a window from the office next to Sarcho's.
Sarcho was about to feel embarrassed; if a bomb hadn’t been found in the office, that was.
The explosive was intricately set up to go off the moment Sarcho opened the office door. If Sarcho had opened the door without caution as usual, they would have been caught in the explosion.
While the engineers disarmed the explosive, Sarcho had to go directly to the revolutionary army information office to write a brief report. This part was a bit challenging for Sarcho.
"Have you seen any suspicious people recently?"
"No."
"Have you received any threats through the mail?"
"No."
"Has anyone tried to approach you in a familiar manner?"
"No."
Sarcho felt uncomfortable as they believed they weren't good at lying, but fortunately, the investigator seemed distracted by the found explosive and didn't seem to notice Sarcho's discomfort.
"You've been through a lot. Our information office agents will escort you home."
"Thank you."
"The recent terror attack seems to be the work of opposition movements like the Full-Tailed Party or the Anti-Revolutionary Party. Especially since you were known to be a hardline revolutionary comrade..."
Sarcho nodded slightly. "There are more than a handful of people who hold grudges against me."
Sarcho’s escorts were an Elf and a Human.
The Elf agent said to Sarcho, "Hello, Assemblyman Sarcho. My name is Phils. I've admired you for a long time. Would it be alright if I ask you a few questions as we head to your residence?"
"Yes, feel free to ask."
Sarcho preferred a more relaxed atmosphere over feeling like receiving special treatment, being escorted by escorts on both sides.
As they walked, Phils said, "Being a priest of the order of the Angry One, you would naturally support the Angry One in the national religion matter, right?"
"Of course," Sarcho responded. "Not just because I am a priest, but because I believe it is the way to protect everyone."
Phils nodded. For a moment, Phils talked about their family. They discussed what gift would be suitable for Phils's younger cousin, who was about to enter school, whether the academic standard was acceptable, and if there was a possibility of studying abroad if relations improved with the Union Kingdom in the future.
After Sarcho briefly shared their thoughts, there was a short silence before Phils spoke again.
"Oh, from what I've heard, you’ve been around since the start of the revolutionary activities, right?"
"Yes, that's right."
"With Comrade Dain?"
"Yes, Dain was very passionate, and I couldn't quite keep up with her."
Phils nodded again and continued, "But from what I know, you started your work even before Comrade Dain began her revolutionary activities."
Sarcho then stopped walking, and both Phils and the other agent stopped behind.
Phils said, "Thought I wouldn't know?"
"..."
"Everyone involved then died, and there was no focus on a single priest in the inner workings of the incident, so it could have been forgotten forever. But according to our information office's investigations, you were responsible for massacring our revolutionary comrades as a spy of the Union Kingdom."
"..."
"My brother was among those who died."
Sarcho took a deep breath.
'Right. This was a sin I had to pay for someday. The day Dain shot at my chest, I should have died, but I lived a little longer because there were things left to do.'
Sarcho, settling their emotions, said, "I’m sorry."
“I don’t need an apology. I don’t know for what reason you joined the revolutionaries later, but our information office doesn’t trust you. We don’t intend to leave you in our country because you could side with the Union Kingdom at any time.”
"I have no such intention..."
"Shut up!"
Phils kicked Sarcho in the back of the knee. As Sarcho fell to one knee, Phils and the other agent lifted Sarcho back up.
Phils said, "If you follow quietly, we'll end this painlessly."
Sarcho moved forward with a heaviness in their steps that they had never felt before in their life. However, after a few steps, Sarcho had to stop.
"Huh..."
Someone, illuminated by the moonlight, sighed in the middle of the road. It was the same red masked person Sarcho had seen the day before.
However, due to the pipe in their mouth, the mask rested slightly on the top of their head.
Phils asked, "Who are you?"
The person in the red mask replied, "Well, well. I warned you to be careful, but it seems you're a bit dull-headed."
Sarcho realized that those words weren't directed at the intelligence agents by their side, but at Sarcho.
Sarcho asked, "...What?"
The one in the red mask continued.
"By that foolish face of yours, I can tell that you trust people too much. You don't know how to choose who to associate with."
"What?"
"Well, what else would an elder be there for? They are there to try and guide those who are lost or on the wrong path towards the right way."
As the strange person continued to speak cryptically, Phils made the first move.
Phils pulled a throwing dagger from their inner pocket and threw it at the red masked person. The knife flew straight and embedded itself in the red mask's forehead. However, the red mask had already been removed, and it was falling to the ground.
'When did they move?'
The Lizardman, with dark, shadow-like scales, dusted off their pipe.
"Are you good at throwing knives?"
Phils and the other agent drew their swords and guns and approached the red mask person, leaving Sarcho behind.
Phils said, "You must be a Fang agent. Have you come to rescue Sarcho?"
The Lizardman drew their sword with a smirk. "It leaves a bad taste in my mouth to be compared with those amateurs after mimicking them so well."
Sparks-like electric flames ran along the Lizardman’s blade.
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