Chapter 698: Undercurrents [2]

’Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait...’

I had to take a moment to properly process Noel’s words as I stared at him in shock. Did he just say he was going to kill the Emperor?

"What? Why? The Emperor is just a pupp—"

"That’s exactly why, Emmet."

Noel placed his hand over his face, massaging it slowly while mumbling, "The Emperor is a puppet. He is Toren’s puppet."

"That’s..."

"...That’s why I’m going to kill him. It is about time that someone replaces him."

"Replaces him?"

My eyes widened for a brief moment.

What could he...

"Wait, are you saying that you’re going to replace the current Emperor? Are you going to pose as the Emperor? But don’t you think Sith-No, Toren would notice you? If that’s the case, then—"

"I won’t be directly taking over."

Noel cut me off before I could continue further.

"...There’s no need for me to take over at all. The death of the Emperor is all that I’m going for."

"Oh."

But why?

Why would he...

Ah.

It was right then that it hit me.

"When the Emperor dies, the Megrail family will have no time to think about the Evenus Household. The battle for the throne will begin, and all attention will be fixed on that. This will be the perfect time for us to consolidate our power. And..."

Noel’s lips slowly pulled into a thin smile as he looked at me.

"...It won’t be long before we’ll be pulled into the succession battle."

I swallowed quietly, feeling myself get lost in Noel’s hazel eyes that seemed to be swirling with indifference.

The more I looked at him, the more different he felt from the Noel that I knew.

Just... how much had he gone through to become like this?

The thought made my chest feel incredibly heavy. As though several elephants had been forced to rest over it.

"Considering your relationship with the daughter of the Megrail family, she will come and reach out for your help. That’ll be the perfect time for us to join and quietly absorb even more. Toren will be busy healing up from his wounds, while we slowly take more and more from him. By the time all of this ends, the Evenus Household should become strong enough to control the entire Empire."

Noel’s words quietly echoed across the room as I remained seated where I was, processing everything that I’d heard.

My thoughts were rather complicated.

On one hand, this seemed like a necessary step. But on the other hand, I could see how this could go extremely wrong.

But most importantly...

"How are you so sure that Toren will fail to absorb my blood?"

From the way Noel spoke, his plan seemed to revolve around the fact that Toren would fail to absorb my blood.

But what if he didn’t fail?

Would everything go up in smoke? No, rather... There was a very high chance that we’d be in danger since he might come for us.

"He will fail."

Noel repeated, his gaze growing a little listless.

Placing his hand over the table, he sat back down on his chair as he turned his gaze towards me.

"...He will fail." He repeated, prompting me to frown.

"I get that. You’ve already said that before, but you haven’t told me why he will fail. If it doesn’t work, then—"

"I know he will fail."

Noel cut me off again, causing me to frown even more deeply.

I was starting to get annoyed now. Why was he repeating the same thing over and over again? Was he trying to dodge the answer? Was he simply going by blind faith?

Why was he so confident that Toren was going to fail?

This entire plan hinged on the fact that Toren was going to fail.

If he didn’t fail, then the consequences were going to be disastrous.

"Yes, I know. You said it. But how are you so sure? What gives you the confidence that—"

"You."

Noel said, slowly bringing his hand up and pointing at me.

"...You are the reason why I’m so confident."

"Huh?"

What does this even—

"You are the one who told me that he’ll fail. And..."

Noel’s eyes grew a little clearer, his lips pulling into a genuine smile.

"My brother never lies to me."

"....Ah."

What could I even say after hearing this?

’If he isn’t lying and it’s really me, or more precisely, the past me who told him all of this, then it is very likely to be true.’

I trusted that I wouldn’t lie about matters like this.

But it was also because I knew that this was very likely going to be true that I felt a headache coming.

’I don’t know whether Aoife is close to her father or not, but... things will be quite messy if she does end up finding out.’

I could practically picture the calamity meter going up.

’Right, thinking about it, now that I don’t have the system with me, I haven’t been able to see the meter. Did it rise in the time that I wasn’t here?’

I really wanted to know.

However, I knew that I’d soon get my answers.

’I’ll get my answers once I gain my memories back. I could just ask Noel, but from the looks of things, he won’t answer me. Mostly because he’s being petty, but also because he most likely doesn’t know.’

I didn’t know who to curse now.

My past self, or Noel?

"There should still be some time before Toren starts to absorb the blood, and the nobles will start to make their move."

Noel’s voice brought me out of my thoughts.

"In the meantime, you can go to your room and rest."

Noel paused.

"I can see that you’re not too far off from reaching the seventh tier. Try to reach it before everything starts. You have about a couple of months."

"That’s easier said than done..."

Reaching the seventh tier was incredibly difficult. It wasn’t as easy as the previous tiers. While I was indeed close to reaching it, I didn’t feel like I’d be able to break through any time soon.

’My estimate is about one more year, but that’s too long. I need to think of a way to get there faster.’

The only issue was that there were no simple shortcuts to reaching the next tier. The only way I could break through to the seventh tier was—

’Huh, wait?’

A thought suddenly occurred to me.

’...Now that I think about it, there might be a way for me to reach Tier 7 fast.’

Right now, all I needed was a certain push. A push that would help me break through to the next tier.

And if I could think of the few times that I had received such push, it’d be the time when I absorbed Xa’hurl’s bone, and the time when Owl-Mighty evolved into a Destroyer-ranked creature.

If I could replicate such a scenario, then I’d be able to rank up.

...This was possible.

Pebble.

As I thought about the egg and the blood I’d infused into it, I felt certain I could now give Pebble its own body.

’When that happens, Pebble might be able to rank up and reach the Destroyer Rank, and I’ll be able to benefit directly from it and reach the seventh tier.’

This was all a theory, and I wasn’t certain that it would work, but it was certainly worth a shot.

"Hm? It looks like you’ve figured something out."

Hearing Noel’s words, I slowly raised my head to look at him before nodding.

"I did, but I’m not sure if it’ll work."

"Okay."

Noel smiled.

"You have a couple of months to figure it out. I would like to help you, but I’ll be rather busy in the upcoming months. There is a lot that I need to prepare."

Standing up, Noel stretched his neck while gazing at the window.

"...It’ll be a long couple of months."

*

Clank—

Coming out of Noel’s office, I didn’t waste a single second.

Taking out the egg, I walked towards the back garden of the estate and found a more secluded area before sitting down and calling out for Pebble.

"Are you here?"

"...Yes."

Appearing near one of the bushes, Pebble looked at the egg with a complicated expression.

I smiled at the sight.

"What? Are you not happy about the fact that you’ll be able to get a new body?"

"...It’s not that, human."

Pebble shook its small head while moving closer to the egg and placing its paw over it.

"I’m just curious about what it would feel like to have a body again. I... never had the chance to properly feel it before I suddenly found myself trapped in a curse cast on me by a human girl. Would it feel any different?"

"That’s..."

I didn’t really know how to answer.

It was only now that I recalled Pebble’s past.

’I’ve been so used to Pebble’s antics that I’ve forgotten all about its past. Pebble is still... technically a child.’

From the moment Pebble was born, it had been trapped in a curse by Aurelia. It had never gotten to truly expand its wings and feel the air.

Pebble had never gotten the chance to truly fly.

’I guess that also explains to me why Pebble always gets bullied by Owl-Mighty.’

The age difference between the two was staggering.

Looking at Pebble, the only thing I could offer the small cat was a comforting smile.

"I guess we’ll figure out soon enough how it will feel, right?"

"...Yes."

Moving towards the egg, Pebble sat close to it, turning its eyes towards me.

"I’m ready."

"Okay."

I took a deep breath, pulling the mirror from my ring, and fixed my gaze on the egg. Carefully, I uncorked a vial containing a mysterious black liquid and poured it over the egg.

The black liquid was the blood of the Outer Being that was found within the monster’s back at the Eclipsed Maw. I had collected quite a bit of it in order to make this happen.

I was a man of my word, after all.

Sizzle~

The moment the liquid touched the egg, a sizzling sound reverberated through the air, and the egg started to react.

I immediately looked at Pebble.

"Get ready."

I channeled my mana into the mirror.

"...We’re about to start."