To You Who Will Destroy Me - Chapter 176

“What do you mean ‘what for’? I came looking for you.”

“How did you know I was here?”

Mina was about to mention that Masaka Sahar had told her where to find him… but she suddenly stopped herself, remembering Sahra’s warning.

“Don’t tell him I said anything. I still need to keep an eye on him.”

It was rare for Sahar Ha Mash, who found everything annoying, to make a special request. That stuck with Mina, so she quickly improvised.

“Just a hunch.”

“A hunch?”

“Don’t you know how sharp my instincts are, like the northern wolves?”

Finally, Rowe cracked a smile. But Mina didn’t miss the way his anxious eyes flickered toward the back of the cave.

“…What’s in there?”

“Huh? Oh, n-nothing!”

“Nothing, huh? Then what are you doing here?”

It was her turn to press him. Faced with Mina’s sharp questions, Rowe became speechless.

“Move.”

“Lieutenant Mina…”

“I said, move!”

Annoyed, Mina roughly shoved Rowe aside and strode deeper into the cave before he could stop her.

The cave, used only once a month for supply deliveries, was damp and cold. It was so dark that it seemed impossible anyone could be inside.

But someone was there.

“What the—who are you?”

How did this person get in here? Frowning, Mina looked the unfamiliar face up and down. Just as she opened her mouth to start interrogating him—

Thwack!

A sharp blow to the back of her head knocked Mina off balance. The surprise attack left her reeling.

Wham!

Before she could recover, another hit landed. This time, Mina collapsed to the ground, her head pounding and nausea rising as her consciousness began to fade.

“You… why…”

Through her dimming vision, she could see Rowe standing over her, holding a scabbard. She had been completely caught off guard, never imagining that he would be the one to strike her.

“I’m sorry.”

Rowe’s voice was heavy, his eyes dark.

“Everyone’s idea of justice is different. But this is the only justice I know.”

With those words, Rowe tapped his chest twice and pointed to the sky—a gesture of loyalty to the royal family.

“Let’s go,” she heard him say to the stranger.

As their footsteps grew distant, Mina lost consciousness.

***

Half a day later, Mina woke up shivering from the cold, only to be greeted by devastating news.

“Rowe Kraut is dead?”

He had been killed after attempting to assassinate Calver, shot dead on the spot.

***

“Well, that’s how things turned out,” Sahar said nonchalantly, his face impassive as he finished recounting the story. Varkan, who had been silently listening, finally spoke up.

“But why didn’t you mention one thing?”

“What?”

“That you’re the one who killed Rowe Kraut.”

Despite the bluntness of Varkan’s words, Sahar’s expression remained indifferent, as if to say, “Why does that matter?” Varkan thought to himself:

‘He’s not a bad guy.’

After all, Sahar had saved Calver’s life. He could have easily bragged about that in front of Irel, Calver’s daughter, or Varkan, who would soon become his son-in-law.

But Sahar Ha Mash hadn’t done so. It was clear he wasn’t seeking any reward or recognition for what had happened. He just found the whole ordeal unbearably annoying.

‘He’s the type who just wants to avoid trouble,’ Varkan mused.

People like that were the most difficult to deal with. Those driven by ambition could be easily manipulated with promises of reward. But someone who neither lacked anything nor desired anything was hard to sway.

Unless you could touch their heart.

“Um…”

Irel, who had been biting her lip and listening with a conflicted expression, finally spoke.

“This may be too late to say, but… I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have barged in and disturbed your rest like that.”

Though she hesitated, her voice was sincere. There was a certain earnestness in her words that even the most jaded Masaka couldn’t ignore.

“As long as you understand.”

Sahar’s eyes flicked over to her, and he responded curtly.

“If you’re grateful, leave me out of this. I hate politics and power struggles.”

“I know. And yet, you saved my father,” Irel said, clearly moved. She had realized that while Sahar was lazy, his perceptiveness was sharp—perhaps as sharp as Varkan’s. Sahar must have known that saving Calver would drag him into something troublesome.

“Don’t get the wrong idea.”

Seeing Irel’s teary eyes, Saha drew a cold line.

“Calver Elorance is a good commander. Sure, there are plenty who could replace him, but few who are as consistent and competent. I merely thought it would be a waste to lose someone of his ability. It wasn’t out of any personal feelings.”

“Whatever the reason, it doesn’t matter.”

Irel smiled brightly, standing up and bowing deeply in gratitude.

“Thank you. He’s my one and only precious father. If I had lost him, it would’ve hurt me for the rest of my life.”

Sahar said nothing, his face tight-lipped and indifferent. But Varkan, observing closely, noticed something. Peeking through Sahar’s long, purple hair, his ears had turned slightly red.

“As expected of my future sister-in-law.”

Jin, who had been silently watching from the sidelines, murmured in admiration. It was a rather doting remark, but Varkan, the bigger doting fool, simply nodded quietly.

“I don’t even know how to begin expressing my thanks. Masaka Sahar, you are a benefactor to my family.”

Unlike Varkan, Irel had no means of gathering such information, which is why she didn’t realize earlier that Sahar had saved her father’s life. She felt guilty for having scolded him for not doing his duty without knowing the full story. Filled with gratitude and apologies, she repeatedly thanked and apologized to him, which made Sahar’s expression turn somewhat awkward.

“Like father, like daughter.”

“Pardon?”

“Never mind.”

Just then, there was a ding—a sound indicating a rise in favorability. Irel glanced at the system message out of habit and her eyes widened.

‘What? It went up by 40 points at once?’

Before she could fully process her surprise, Saha spoke again.

“Hey.”

She nearly responded, but Sahar’s gaze wasn’t directed at her.

“Are you talking to me?” Varkan asked.

Sahar nodded, and then, without warning, dropped a bombshell.

“Keep your head on straight. From what I can tell, you’re the one who dragged this father and daughter into the power struggle. Take responsibility and do it properly.”

Gasp! He hit the nail on the head. In Irel’s experience, anyone who spoke the truth to Varkan rarely lived long. Instinctively, she glanced at Varkan’s face. Thankfully, his expression remained unchanged, but it was hard to tell. After all, Varkan was the kind of man who could smile like a flower while setting someone on fire.

“There was a man who Rowe Kraut had been steadily meeting with for months before his death.”

Sahar, perhaps slightly swayed, added this cold bit of information. The detail made Irel’s ears perk up, and she quickly asked.

“Do you know who he is?”

Do I look like I would know? Sahar’s expression answered for him. He had little interest in the names of passing humans.

Though, he did remember a face.

“He was a young man with blonde hair and a pale face.”

Oh, I know someone like that.

“Did he have mismatched eye colors by any chance?”

“I wouldn’t know. One of his eyes was covered by an eyepatch.”

It’s Archbishop Ramon, Irel thought as her eyes turned cold. It had to be him. The man who had incited Rowe to attack Calver was likely Ramon. The stranger Mina had seen in the cave must have been him as well.

‘What a terrible fate,’ she thought.

And she wasn’t the only one thinking that. From behind her, she heard the sound of someone clicking their tongue and muttering.

“I should’ve finished him off back then.”

“Yes, of course. I’m sure that’s the case,” Irel muttered to herself, pretending not to have heard the comment. She turned to Sahar again, pressing him with another question.

“Do you happen to know where that man went?”

To her surprise, Sahar smirked faintly and declared, “There’s nothing the wind touches that I don’t know.”

According to him, Ramon wasn’t too far away. He was near the path leading back from Frost La Hill toward the Ricador Mountains.

“There’s a hidden path that branches off the main route to the northern cliffs. If you climb up there, you’ll find a village of artists belonging to a small minority group called the Yum.”

Archbishop Ramon hiding in an artists’ village? It seemed utterly bizarre.

‘What is he doing in a place like that?’

He couldn’t possibly be pursuing some belated dream of becoming a painter. If his goal was to incite Rowe into killing Calver, then after failing, he should have fled far away. But the fact that he was still lingering around the Ricador Mountains was deeply suspicious.

‘Wait. An artists’ village?’

As Irel pondered this, her fingers instinctively reached inside her coat, touching the heart-shaped pendant that jingled slightly. Though she didn’t take it out, she knew what portrait was hidden within.

‘Paulo Christopher’s lover.’

Paulo, who had depicted the story of the gods Hashiva and Nashiva in murals, disappeared to find his former lover who was said to be somewhere in the Ricador Mountains before his death.

‘It’s possible he went to that artists’ village.’

It was the perfect opportunity: deal with Archbishop Ramon and find the whereabouts of Paulo Christopher. If this village was indeed the right place, she could finally put an end to this cursed quest.

[Linked Quest: “In Search of Hidden Truths” – Place the Heart of Avihushan on the forgotten idol. The hidden sanctuary of truth will be revealed.]

Idols—Paulo Christopher’s area of expertise.

“Please tell me how to find this artists’ village,” Irel said, her mind now set, lifting her head with renewed determination.