Chapter 176

"More than that, I think you look a little different from when you left. John Doe."

A sensation of coolness was flowing down his spine, sharply picking his lungs. It was a tension he hasn't felt in a long time.

Rudger answered slowly.

"Yes, I thought I needed a little change."

Did he get caught?

If Zero came, it wouldn't be strange to know who John Doe really is.

"Well, that's not bad either. Before that, you were so ordinary that I had the impression that you would be buried everywhere."

'I didn't get caught.'

It was fortunate for him now that John Doe ability was specialized in disguise but he may also be trying to sound him out.

'Let's be calm.'

I closed my eyes and accelerated my thinking. Is the man behind me really Zero Order?

That's probably right because the voice of the man I saw in Esmeralda's memory is similar.

The next question is why Zero Order came to Theon.

'Without letting me who is a First Order know.'

I heard that Zero Order would come once in a while after talking to Esmeralda that day. But that's now?

'At least he could have informed me of his coming, but he didn't.'

There are two possible situations. One is that Zero Order came to Theon for personal confirmation without informing other executives.

However, I could not hastily conclude from a position where I did not know what was going on.

And the other one.

'Or is he suspicious that I'm a fake.'

The circumstances of being suspected and the Zero Order that came all of a sudden are not good and Rudger had no choice but to struggle.

'But things are bad.'

There is too little information about the zero order. What power he has, what power he uses, how strong he is, what were his weaknesses, what kind of power was useful against him or his fighting habits.

There's not a single piece of data.

Even in perfect circumstances, it may be difficult, but what if he was in a situation where he ran out of strength like now?

'If you try to fight now, I might lose.'

The only way is to borrow the power of God but that's too risky.

There are too many people nearby and using God's power will affect them all.

"But why aren't you talking?'

Zero Order was silent.

At that moment's grace, I thought of another possibility. What if Zero Order doesn't completely doubt me yet?

'Should I turn around and check his face? No. If I suddenly look back, he is bound to be suspicious.'

He had to choose his words calmly so that he wouldn't provoke the other person.

"I'm sorry, Sir Zero Order."

I naturally moved my mouth, keeping my gaze straight ahead.

"Because of the situation, I couldn't say hello properly. I ask for your understanding."

"Of course. I'm the one who came without contacting you, so you don't have to be too careful John Doe."

[I came to see you without any contact.]

Does that mean that Zero Order had something else to do in Theon? To the point of keeping it a secret from a First Order?

'No, nothing has been confirmed yet. I don't even know if I'm still under suspicion.'

Zero Order confirmed the disappearance of Quasimodo.

'Was he watching? All the magic I used?'

No, if he was watching it, he wouldn't have asked me what happened. Maybe there's some way to check the energy of Quasimodo, and he confirmed that he was gone.

He didn't know the process but only the results, so he was just going to ask me who was here.

'Should I tell the truth or a lie?'

Of course, even if it's the truth, it will not be 100% pure truth, but some truths mixed with lies. Pure lies are easy to spot, but lies mixed with the truth are more plausible than anything else.

I continued, taking a deep breath inside.

"First order Esmeralda, or Quasimodo, is extinct."

"Did you know?"

"I didn't know until now, but I just found out. I didn't think the fire giant was the main body…."

"I'm sorry to keep it a secret from you guys. Because Quasimodo is a bit different from other first orders he couldn't easily reveal himself."

"I understand."

"More than that, why did Quasimodo disappear? He wasn't that easy to beat."

Quasimodo is a flame cryptid with the power of the highest level spirit of fire. A monster that uses the human soul as fuel and continues to revive if the contractor does not die because it has acquired the characteristics of a spirit.

Since such a fellow disappeared on Theon festival day, it may be questionable for Zero Order.

I squeezed out an answer on the spot.

"It was Esmeralda."

"Hmm. Esmeralda?"

Zero Order knew the relationship between Quasimodo and Esmeralda. This man was the first person to notice and recruit them into the Black Dawn Society, so there is no way he wouldn't know.

"That's strange. Esmeralda was obviously being manipulated by Quasimodo. She couldn't even rebel against Quasimodo with her power."

At the same time, his gaze flies even stronger and falls on me.

"Unless someone helps."

The suspicion of the Zero Order towards me grew. This is also a situation within my assumption so I had an answer prepared already.

"Crollo Fabius did it."

"Crollo Fabius? Is that true?"

Indeed, Zero Order asked me again as this was unexpected so I continued my explanation as not to miss this opportunity.

"Not long ago, Quasimodo attacked the banquet hall where new teachers were celebrated."

"Yes, I heard the report."

"At that time, Crollo Fabius was present at the banquet hall and he realized that someone was trying to kill him."

"That's right. There's no way that the man who was the next head of the family would not know how the people of the Fabius family have died so far."

"The problem is that Quasimodo couldn't kill Crollo Fabius in the banquet hall that day."

This is all true but I also mixed it with lies.

"Crollo Fabius, who survived, agonized thinking that he might die at this rate so he made a plan."

"A cornered mouse bit the cat."

"Yes, but Crollo Fabius didn't tell Theon about it. He probably thought it was hard to get help from them and that there might be traitors inside."

I would have thought of something similar to that.

If you think there is an assassin who came to kill you among the teachers, how can you trust Theon?

"So he individually asked for help from outside forces. It was the last straw that no one expected."

I added a little exaggeration so as not to lose interest in Zero Order. Of course, my way of speaking remains calm.

"I don't think he'll be a match for Quasimodo with any outside forces"

"Fabius was once the most famous magical family in the Kingdom of Durman. The people he called were not ordinary people, I also don't know whether he had made any deals while he was in the Exilion Empire."

"They weren't ordinary people?"

"It looked like well-trained elites but they were also hard to identify."

I vaguely released the information that they were 'great guys.

If you mention an organization here and Zero Order already knows about them, all my alibis will get twisted.

"A well-trained elite who moves secretly. If it's related to the Exilion Empire……It's the black ops."

Zero Order came to a conclusion on its own. How can he be so sure of the existence of Black Ops, which is difficult to know unless you are even a general?

'Zero Order. Was he reaching out to the military?'

It's not strange if I think about it. Before I got the name Rudger Chelici, John Doe was active in the military under this name.

Zero Order knows because he actually served as a military officer it was not just a fabricated status.

"So Crollo Fabius fought against Quasimodo, and Esmeralda escaped from his control while Quasimodo's strength was weakened."

And Esmeralda, who escaped could not be controlled as easily as before.

"Then what happened to Crowe Fabius?"

"Crollo Fabius died fighting to the end."

"He fought until the end? It's surprising that he had that much spirit and ability."

"People who are about to die always show unexpected possibilities. I watched the situation and tried to intervene, but I was late."

Quasimodo spread flames all over the place, and I was also caught up in it and burned. Then, there were strong people around me who heard the news, so for now, only Selina escaped from the inside.

"This is the whole story of the case. I'm here in the name of saving Selina so I won't get suspected."

"Did Quasimodo and Esmeralda really disappear from Selina?"

"Yes, I checked with my own eyes."

"Is that so?"

Zero Order's reaction was quite dull. Was there anything I forgot to say?

"How about that teacher named Selina?"

"……What do you mean?"

"I know Esmeralda and Selina are separate entities. But will Selina remember what happened with Esmeralda and Quasimodo?"

Zero Order is saying to get rid of her just in case so I spoke in a hurry.

"I checked but she didn't seem to know why she was in that warehouse."

"She didn't know."

"Yes. She thinks it's a dream."

"John Doe, that alone is not safe. If you've come to your senses in such a burning warehouse, you'll definitely feel uncomfortable."

The slightest possibility could turn against the Black Dawn Society.

Clearly, Zero Order is right. There are too many issues to ignore Selina's existence.

"Then, what should I do?"

I tried to stay calm and asked Zero Order. It's not right to step up right now. First, I have to read the other person's mind.

But no matter how much I thought about it, all I could think of was Zero Order telling me to kill Selina.

If Zero Order asks me to kill Selina, I can't resist. In order not to arouse his suspicion, I must kill teacher Selina.

'If Zero Order orders me to kill, then I'll…….'

I clenched my fist. I'd rather fight him now…….

"Well, let it go."

But Zero Order's answer was as simple as my concern.

"If you tell me to leave it……."

"You said Selina, didn't you? We don't need it anymore. We've used enough of that power anyway, so it's no longer worth caring about."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. Did you want to kill her? John Doe, I know you're loyal, but there are times when you have to step down."

Did it seem that way because I asked to reconfirm? And this also confirmed information that John Doe is loyal and radical.

"……I feel ashamed."

"In the current situation, touching a Theon's teacher is a significant risk. You're the only one who's going to take care of the job, and you can't avoid suspicion."

"I don't mind."

"There's nothing more stupid than investing time and passion in meaningless things. Even more so if it's pushing subordinates to the brink."

Unexpectedly, he tends to care about his subordinates? Besides, it's safe to say that Selina's safety is guaranteed.

'Have I put out an urgent fire?'

But the situation is not over yet because Zero Order asked me another question.

"So, are you doing well with what I asked you to do?"

What did he asked him to do?

Of course, the first thing that came to mind was an order that has been decrypted and verified.

[Infiltrate Theon and win their favor.]

'But is that really all?'

Actually, what if Zero order personally left John Doe with another job? Unlike other First Orders, the first order called John Doe performs special missions for Zero Order.

'What if there's another mission I don't know?'

"I'm working on it step by step."

I had no choice but to give a vague answer.

"That's a relief. It wouldn't have been easy to proceed while avoiding Theon's suspicion."

Was that all?

"It's almost time. A troublesome person is coming. I don't want to face it, so I have to go."

It was rather fortunate for me. If he stayed longer, there would have been a hole in my stomach.

"John Doe there will be an Orders meeting soon. Esmeralda's seat is empty so other First Orders should know that."

An Orders meeting…

'I vaguely thought there would be such a thing, but I didn't think I'd hear about it myself.'

But it was an opportunity for me to find out what the other First Orders are like. So how do I attend this meeting?

Is he telling me to come on my own because the meeting is taking place?

'This is dangerous. I don't know where the meeting is.'

Zero Order, who was about to leave then, said.

"You have what I gave you back then? It can't be done without it."

He suddenly asked and given the context of the conversation it was clearly the key to the executive meeting.

"Zero Order. First of all, I'll say I'm sorry."

"What?"

"As you know, I was caught in a train attack on my way to Theon that day."

"Train attack? Oh, you mean that? The Liberation Army did it…….It was something we didn't expect either."

"Yes, and part of the luggage was lost because of the train attack. I'm ashamed."

Zero Order stared at me silently. The gaze on the back of my head stings as I swallow my saliva quietly. To be honest, this is a risky unexpected act however; it was also an inevitable gamble.

"If that's the case, there was nothing you could've done. Take it."

After saying so, the Zero Order placed a ring next to me. I rolled my eyes and checked the hand of the Zero Order.

I felt it in his voice, but I was sure when I saw his hand. Surprisingly, Zero Order is a young man however, his hands were not noticeable. So, is he a wizard? Or something else?

"I'll see you at the meeting."

Zero Order left the words and disappeared with the wind.

I looked at the ring next to me without saying a word, took it and put it in my arms. The presence of Zero Order has completely disappeared.

'I didn't get caught.'

I could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

No wonder Zero Order appeared in Theon at this very moment. He's not a man I'll get to see easily.

'He even noticed the disappearance of Quasimodo.'

I was really nervous just in case I got caught.

I took out a tiny red jewel in my arms without saying a word. The energy of the hot fire was wriggling in the jewel.

'I thought I'd get caught with this.'

Quasimodo's energy of fire that I got after the fight.