C146: Crollo Fabius (2)
Crollo Fabius watched the man in front of him and broke out in a cold sweat.
At first he thought he was an assassin who was after him. In fact, there was no way that someone would do such a thing in broad daylight in Theon, but Crollo, who was driven to the edge of the cliff, couldn't think of anything else other than that. So he launched a preemptive strike but he was subdued in the blink of an eye.
He had confidence in his magic and knew that pre-emptive strikes were the most important thing when wizards fight but his first attack was blocked with ease and the subsequent one was avoided.
He thought the opponent was a wizard, but he felt like he was seeing a black beast wandering through the jungle in the middle of the night.
Until his opponent spoke to him, Crollo saw the vision of a giant predator. It was not until he regained his reason that he realized that it was a hallucination and only then could he see the real face of the intruder.
A black-haired man with sharp eyes, who introduced himself as a new teacher, naturally brought a chair and sat on it then he said "Let's talk."
Crollo thought it was ridiculous.
"What talk? Get out of here! Do you know who I am?"
He didn't had the patience to talk with anyone because he didn't knew when the monster would appear. The terrible devil who burned down everything he had achieved might burn him to death right away.
Crollo, whose mind was driven to the limit, couldn't afford to care about anything else and Rudger, who recognized his condition, looked around. The room that has been messed up was a sign of fear and obsessive compulsion.
"You'll regret it if you don't."
"Regret? Who do you think you are to talk to me like that? I'm Crollo Fabius! Duke Fabius!"
Rudger sighed, closing his eyes softly. His bloodshot eyes, slim cheeks, and the smell of alcohol every time he shouted showed that he was not in a good state to be persuaded with words.
After the judgment, Rudger rose from his chair.
"If you knew, get out of here right now……!"
Rudger grabbed Crollo by the collar with his right hand and forced him to rise.
"I think there was a misunderstanding in what I said."
"What, what are you doing!"
"I didn't asked you to talk, I told you to do it."
Crollo struggled, but Rudger remained steadfast.
'What kind of wizard grip……!'
Rudger only used one hand but he used both and couldn't move him and he didn't even strengthen his body with magic.
At this time Rudger's voice was heard again.
"Crollo Fabius, you're still alive even after the Great Fire of Roteng."
"You, you…!"
Crollo opened his eyes wide as he didn't expect Rudger to talk about that.
"Who are you? Did the devil send you to kill me?"
"If the devil had sent……"
Rudger smashed Crollo to the floor.
"Agh!"
"You would've died a while ago."
"Cough! Then why……?"
"I've been investigating a number of cases recently, and something strange has happened."
Since he came all the way here, it was impossible to continue while wearing the teacher's mask. Rather, it was necessary to go stronger and be more brazen.
"The Fabius family fell after the Roteng Great Fire. All the elders, including the former family head, were burned alive under God's punishment, right?"
"Well, how the hell did you……."
"It's too early to be surprised. After that, the people of the family dispersed, but they all died."
Crollo shut up. He was pretending not to, but his body was trembling like a thorn.
"Everyone was burned to death and no one from the Fabius family remained."
"No, no, no……."
"Now you are the last survivor but how long can you last?"
"You, what the hell……."
It was only then that Crollo realized that Rudger was not an ordinary teacher.
Rudger sat back in the chair and loosened his neck-tight collar slightly.
"Do you understand now?"
"Who are you?"
"You don't have to know, Crollo Fabius."
"Yes, yes!"
Crowe, who was pushed by Rudger's momentum, answered politely.
"You are being chased by a scary guy."
"That's right."
Crawley played lowball with Rudger.
He felt it instinctively. A line of salvation came down to him, who was shaking because he didn't know when death would come.
He realized it only now that his life was at stake. The name Fabius, the Duke Fabius that he has held on so far, was useless.
"The Devil of Fire is coming to kill me. Even then, in the banquet hall, the devil!"
"That's what I thought."
Quasimodo appeared at the banquet hall that day because Crollo was also there. Until then, Crollo had no idea, but as soon as he saw Quasimodo, he realized the seriousness of the situation.
Rudger finally realized that the real purpose of Esmeralda was revenge. She came to Theon to kill the man in front of him. But why didn't she kill him right away?
Her movements were quite cautious to be disturbed so Rudger came to one conclusion.
'She's slowly playing with her prey.'
Her plan was to make him suffer all the pain she has suffered for a long time.
'Slowly drive him to the edge of mental and physical health'
That's when her revenge will be completed.
If he had been watching from a third party's perspective without being directly involved in this situation, Rudger would not have paid attention to her actions. However, Rudger was deeply involved with the Black Dawn Society.
As long as Esmeralda stays in Theon his life will be in danger.
He didn't want to speak about morality when it came to someone else's revenge because he wasn't an honest man, he just wanted to live so he had to act.
"So what about him?"
"Who?"
"The devil of the fire that will come to kill you. I asked you what her name is and what the features of her appearance are."
"Her name is…… I don't, I don't remember."
"What?"
Rudger glared at Crollo, wondering what was wrong with him. He doesn't even remember the name of the person who's coming to kill him?
'Shall I just let him die?'
When Rudger was seriously contemplating inside, Crollo must have felt something, too, so he hurriedly crawled and grabbed Rudger's trouser leg.
"I can remember! I can remember!"
"Aside from the name, what other specific elements are there?"
"That… that she's pretty and that her hair is black."
"And?"
"She's probably in her mid-20s now……."
Mid 20s?
Rudger recalled Joanna Lovett. As she infiltrated as a student, Joanna Lovett's appearance was not much different from those around her.
She's a little mature, but can he say that she's in her mid-20s?
'No, considering that wizards and knights look younger than they really are, even when they get older.'
Rudger stared at Crollo with a look to tell him more. Crollo opened his mouth and hurriedly changed the subject as if there was nothing more to squeeze.
"Where did you come from?….Do you happen to belong to the secret agency of the Empire?"
The Imperial Security Agency was quite famous, and even Crollo knew about them. The Nightcrawler Knight, the Knights of the Security Service, was called the Criminals Nightmare.
Also, one of the investigative agencies under their command, Shadow Fang, was an elite team of wizards and mercenaries. If he belonged to such a secret organization, he would have at least a plaque of proof, and Crollo thought so and asked.
Rudger sighed inwardly. He thought it would work if he intimidated Crollo moderately but even so he still had a noble side or a clever side.
"Do you have nothing to prove your identity….?"
When Crollo tried to ask with a slightly suspicious gaze, Rudger took out a black dog tag out of his inner pocket and showed it to Crollo.
"Well, that's…."
"Is this not enough?"
Crollo shook his head. Many organizations have cards to prove their identity, but black dog tags are only used in one place.
'Military! That's also a very secretive unit!'
Seeing Crollo suspicions go away, Rudger clicked his tongue inside.
'I'm glad I kept it just in case.'
Team Black Ops Dog Tag was one of the things he had collected in the past and if Crollo had more detailed knowledge in this area, he would have known that this identification tag no longer existed.
"Yeah, I knew it!"
Crowe took out a piece of paper from his inner pocket.
"What about that?"
"He, the devil sent me…… It's a letter."
He was hiding this even though he was on the verge of death?
Whether he was clever or stupid was unknown but it's a relief he showed it to him at least.
Rudger's eyes lit up when he saw what was written in the letter.
'This is not a bad harvest.'
The letter was short with delicate words written in ink.
[The last day of the festival. I will find you.]
Rudger stroked his chin.
'No unnecessary stuff is written, however the hatred is evident in her restrained attitude.'
It was a very encouraging result to find out when Esmeralda would move, if nothing else. With such a blatant warning, I'm sure she'll move on the last day of the festival, as it says here. If he looked at the starting point of action so far, she wouldn't suddenly go crazy.
Rudger, who took his eyes off the letter, stared at Crollo with a half-hearted gaze. Crollo forced the tip of her mouth to curl up and smiled haphazardly.
"What do you say? If this is the case, the help is……."
"This is not enough."
"Yes?"
Rudger flung the letter to the floor and the action colored Crollo face with despair.
"The preparations are in full swing right now and the Magic Festival will start in five days."
Five days to go before the festival and the festival will last five days so Crollo only has 10 days left.
"That, that……! If you ask Theon for help!"
"Stupid. Do you think it'll make any difference if I let the president know? Did the other people who were killed so far died because they were stupid?"
The president wouldn't get involved even if I tell her everything. However, since Crollo believes me I'll be able to use him.
"What should I do?"
"Wait for now."
"What?! What the hell……."
"The opponent foretold the date. On the contrary, it's safe to not do anything before that date because they won't touch you."
"Well, in the meantime, I'm preparing……."
"But in the meantime, don't you think the other person can spy on you secretly?"
Crollo shut up at Rudger's point.
"If you run wild and create rumors here and there, I wonder if the other person will patiently wait until the appointment date."
"Then, what should I do?"
"Stay still like nothing happened. No. Rather, it would be better to pretend to be fine."
Esmeralda wanted Crollo to be devastated and in despair. Rather, Rudger's calculation was that if he remained intact, Esmeralda, whose plan didn't work, would be angrier.
"To do nothing. That's your role."
* * *
The remaining five days of preparation have passed like an arrow, and the time of the festival has come.
The wide main gate, which should normally be tightly closed, was wide open, and several wagons lined up to enter Theon through it. Many people wandered inside the quiet site where barracks were built everywhere, and students gathered in twos and threes.
It was the opening day of The Magic Festival, Theon's festival full of history and tradition.