Bad Born Blood - Chapter 122



Only Noblemtl

122

Giselle’s skills were excellent. A tingling sensation started to appear from the extremities of her body, and then her senses became clearer.

Of course, the reason I called Giselle today is not for maintenance and tuning.

I opened my mouth, moving my fingers, which had become more responsive than before.

“Are you allowed to enter the armory?”

There were only a few people who had exclusive access to the Custoria family’s armory. One of them was Giselle.

“It’s possible. I’m in charge of the armory when Mother is away.”

Giselle answered, putting away her tattered maintenance tools. Sweat was beading on her forehead after a task that required concentration.

“I want to stop by the armory for a moment.”

“You’re a member of the Custoria family, so there’s no reason you wouldn’t want to do it. But you don’t want to just watch, right? What’s your purpose?”

Sometimes I wish Giselle was a fool. But if she were, I wouldn’t care.

“Should I tell you?”

“I’m starting to get sick of you acting all smart and not saying anything.”

I shrugged.

“Still, I can’t say it.”

I didn’t have the confidence to confide in her about my complex darkness. And Giselle wouldn’t be able to handle it.

“… … Your father must trust you because you keep your mouth shut. Jupe won’t be able to act like you.”

“Nicholas would have done it. But Nicholas is gone now.”

I felt a sense of duty to fill his void. Nikolaos’s death was a great loss to the Custerian family.

‘Nicholas was one of the people who could break through the darkness of the empire.’

He was quite capable, judging by the fact that he had manipulated the mind of his superior, Bao Zakanaan. However, he did not have the power to protect himself from the imperial plot. He died before he could gain that power. Maybe that is why he died.

Giselle stood up, staring at me expressionlessly. Her displeasure was palpable in her silence.

“Follow me, your majestic master.”

I sighed, packed my coat, and followed her out of the room.

As the night deepened, the mansion became quiet. I came out of the mansion and stared at Heilas’ room.

A soft light streamed in through the large window. Here and there, the shadows of Haylas and Eva could be seen. They were dancing affectionately, their shoulders touching each other’s cheeks.

‘Geumsil is nice.’

I also know quite a bit about aristocratic society. For a noble couple, Haylas and Eva were on very good terms. There were many couples who only had children and lived like strangers.

“By the way, isn’t Anna cute even though she’s a bit clumsy? She’s secretly popular.”

Giselle, who was walking one step ahead, spoke while looking straight ahead.

“Well, there are men who like that type of woman.”

I, who was following along, answered indifferently.

“You’re saying it’s not you?”

“I like a woman who is not cheap.”

“You have really strange tastes.”

“i think so too.”

We are walking with distance between us, not side to side, but forward and backward.

But I could tell that Giselle was smiling. This wasn’t some intuition from Archie Victima. It was something I could tell without that.

“There is a saying that a daughter will like a man who resembles her father.”

Giselle’s gait was loose.

“Is it superstition? Is it science?”

“I don’t know. I just heard it a while ago. Anyway, I thought it was bullshit. But I guess that’s not necessarily true.”

I let out a short laugh. Giselle’s shoulders shook slightly.

There are things in this world that cannot be controlled by will. One of them is emotions.

I could see the armory of Custoria ahead of me. Giselle went ahead and stood in front of the armory door, and I stood behind her and waited for the armory’s security procedures to be completed.

Crunch.

The locks released and the armory opened.

Squeak.

Giselle pushed open the door and went inside. I followed her. The lights inside the armory automatically turned on.

Since it was a kind of museum-like concept, the interior was no different from the past.

‘I followed Giselle’s guidance back then too.’

It was the same now. The circumstances are just a little different. It was daytime then, and now it’s nighttime. And the colors of the emotions flowing were different. When I think about it, it’s not just a little bit different, it’s a lot different.

I closed my eyes loosely, turning off my sight and focusing on my hearing.

Exactly.

I flicked my tongue lightly. I opened my eyes, recognizing every nook and cranny of the armory. There was no one else there but us.

“What did you do?”

Giselle looked puzzled by my actions.

“There’s something on my tongue.”

I walked inside the armory, my mind blankly turning the page. Various pieces of equipment passed by in the background, representing the history of Custoria.

Stop.

I stopped walking. The lights came on all the way inside, revealing the antique-like armored body in all its majesty.

‘Full armor Skilla.’

This is the armor of the first king, Agatha Custoria. The helmet had a single horn, and the right arm was longer and larger than the left arm.

Thud, thud.

I stopped in front of Scylla.

“Giselle, this is one of the first secrets I’ll ever reveal to you. Even your father doesn’t know about it. It’s a secret that only you and I will know.”

“roo…….”

It was over before Giselle could even say my name.

Crunch, crunch.

I twisted and bent Scylla’s right thumb at a certain angle. Part of Scylla’s right elbow opened like the muzzle of a gun, and a chip the size of a fingernail shot up. It was a hidden device.

Kirick.

Scylla’s twisted thumb quickly snapped back into place.

Queek!

The elbow also closed as if it had never opened. The tube in the elbow seemed to have originally been an organ for releasing pressure and heat.

‘Agatha’s words were true.’

I snatched up a chip that had fallen. It was a chip of a type that is no longer in use. It was quite an antique. After all, it was two hundred years old.

This chip was the secret Agatha whispered to me before she died. She said there was a chip hidden in Scylla.

“What did you just do? How could you… … that I don’t even know about?”

Giselle frowned, looking puzzled.

“The elder of Eunwol Gwan told me.”

“So why did I tell you that? It doesn’t make sense!”

“I guess you decided you could trust me.”

… … or maybe I’m going crazy.

Giselle bit her lower lip. She must be suffering, too. She must know that things are not going well around her. But no one tells her in detail. Neither do I.

Kuk.

Giselle grabbed my clothes as if she were making a fist.

“Luka, can I really trust you?”

That’s a stupid question.

If I were to deceive Giselle, I would tell her to trust me. And if I were really for her, I would tell her to trust me.

It was a question that would have the same answer either way.

I’m sure Giselle knew that her question was stupid, but after much thought, she answered.

“… … I don’t know if you can trust me. But I trust you. If you tell your father what you just saw, I won’t be able to do anything either.”

Emotions between men and women are volatile. It is highly unlikely that they will last even a few years. Thinking rationally, you should not trust someone based on such a light emotion.

I just did something stupid. But I was confident that I wouldn’t regret it.

“Okay, I’ll believe you.”

Giselle lifted her heel slightly and kissed it. This wouldn’t relieve all my anxiety. But Giselle didn’t demand an unreasonable answer from me. She filled her anxiety with faith.

* * *

Heilas and I took the air vehicle back to the guard post.

I used to love this time. I didn’t even realize how much time had passed while I was chatting with Haylas about this and that.

Of course, it’s uncomfortable now.

“Ah, Luca. There’s a record of you and Giselle entering the armory.”

Heilas said while working on the hologram.

“I went there because I remembered the weapon the elder had told me about. As expected, it was an antique.”

It’s not strange. After talking with the elders for a long time, you might want to see the past invincibles.

Heilas nodded, as if he was convinced. He pushed the holographic document away with his hand. The next agenda item appeared in thick letters. It was about the Catacomb mines.

“Last night, Eva complimented you for the first time. I guess you scored some points.”

Heilas leaned her head back, pressing her forehead.

“When you say first time, you mean you haven’t said anything nice so far.”

“Well, the rolling stone gathers no moss, you know. Don’t hate Eva too much. She’s a good girl.”

“I never hated you, really.”

“Then, can I understand that Eva is also included in the scope of people you must protect?”

I nodded. Heilas let out a relieved breath and smiled.

The aerial vehicle we were on arrived at the guard’s airfield. Instead of returning to my quarters, I headed straight to the lower level.

Heilas also disappeared to do his work. We started doing what we had to do.

As we left the airport, the checkpoint came into view right away. The soldier who recognized me opened his eyes wide. As I passed by, he chattered as if he had seen a famous person.

“Is that kid Lucas Custoria? It’s true that he passes by here often.”

“That girl, if you don’t want to get killed, watch your words. She’s a walking murder weapon. She’s also favored by the crown prince, so she won’t be affected even if she summarily executes one or two low-ranking soldiers.”

“Well, even nobles can be killed easily… … .”

I can hear everything. And I have no intention of killing you.

After passing through the checkpoint, I sighed and put my hand into my bosom. I caught a palm-sized mask.

Profit.

I wear an electronic mask that covers everything under my eyes. I don’t like wearing a mask because it dulls my senses, but I have no choice.

Because of Francesque’s impulsive behavior, I couldn’t walk around the lower areas with my face bare.

Even going through the official checkpoint was actually dangerous. There must be a noble somewhere who is after me. It would be safe to erase all records and traces. The problem is that there is no way to do that.

‘Right now, I’m jealous of Kinuan’s authority as watchman.’

Kinuan can also disable various security devices of the Empire. No matter where he goes, no record is left.

Wheeing.

The high-speed elevator I was riding quickly reached the lower level.

Ding.

As soon as the door opened, I squinted. The noise from the other side of the hallway felt oppressive.

“Reveal the truth!”

“Severely punish the nobles who tried to harm the crown prince!”

“It can’t go on like this! Never!”

Protesters were holding signs and shouting on both sides of the checkpoint passage. Normally, this would be unthinkable. But now, the situation was a bit special. Here and there, there were also well-dressed people.

“Praise be to Dino Kratzia! Long live His Majesty the Emperor! Long live His Highness Francis!”

They are a group that supports the royal family and the crown prince. It would be difficult for the bureaucrats to suppress them by force.

“A hammer blow to the incompetent nobles!”

I thought I had misheard just now. A bold statement was coming from inside the protesters.

“Sledgehammer!”

My gaze stopped at the center of the crowd of protesters.

‘Fuck… … .’

I was swearing all the way to the tip of my tongue.

-The true image of a citizen of the empire.

Above the sign with the words written on it was a drawing of my likeness. It was drawn in a comical way, like a child’s drawing, but it was definitely me.

And in the picture, I was holding someone’s head. Blood was dripping from the severed head.

‘Luka who killed the nobleman.’

Anyone who looked at it could see that it meant that.

Until recently, such extreme expressions would not have been tolerated in the Empire. And this is not even the lower zone, but a checkpoint located directly below the upper zone.

‘Francesque, is this what you wanted?’

The whirlwind of chaos is gathering speed and raging. The lower areas will be teeming with agitators released by Francek.

It’s a new era and it’s a mess, and if this atmosphere continues, there will be a truckload of bastards trying to kill me. Like it or not, I’ll become a symbol of the lower class.

Kuk.

I pushed my hood down and made my way through the crowd of protesters. Their shouts could be heard for quite some time after I walked.

In the back alley, there were murals of me and Francek here and there. I stopped walking for a moment. There was a long mural of me with a bow and arrows killing nobles. Beneath it was written in cursive letters, “Noble Hunter.”

‘… … This is driving me crazy.’

Things seemed worse than I expected.

I hurried my steps. The place I was headed to was not the gang hideout, but the G&G factory. It seemed to be closed because of the ominous atmosphere of the lower floors. The lights on the sign were also turned off.

I looked around and knocked on the door a few times.

Click.

Part of the door opened, revealing only Gilda’s eyes.

“Who are you?”

“It’s long, it’s folded.”

I said, lowering my mask slightly.

“Lou, Luca?”

I opened my eyes wide as I walked. The sound of the lock being released was loud.

Squeak.

The door opened. I went inside, but I felt a presence and sighed. It wasn’t long.

‘Gabriel.’

Inside the factory, Gabriel was sitting.

Gabriel looked at me from his beer watching the fights on television. Soon he stood up, his ugly face scrunched up.

“Hey, who is this? Isn’t that Master Lucas Custoria! Oops, my hand slipped!”

The beer bottle Gabriel threw passed me and hit the wall. Without blinking, I took off my mask and put it in my arms.

“Gabriel, do you want to die? You knew that I was of high status.”

“Well, I didn’t know you were this great. Martina Diva must have known your true identity, right? Oh, that’s okay. What does it matter to you now? I’m just a fun toy to you. Kill me or not, do as you wish.”

Gabriel opened the lid of the freshly brewed beer with his fingers and poured it into his mouth.

That’s why I didn’t want to run into Gabriel. He doesn’t want power or money from me. If it was strictly a business relationship, he wouldn’t be upset about this.

Yeah, Gabriel is… …not my subordinate.

“I’m sorry, Gabriel.”

I said, bowing my head slightly.

Bam.

Gabriel dropped the bottle of beer he was drinking. He just stared at me with his mouth wide open.

“Hey, what did you just say?”

“Oh, if you didn’t hear that, then that’s fine.”

“Hey, hey! What did you just say? Oh my god! Oh my god! Gilda, did you hear that?”

Gabriel grabbed my shoulders and shook me. Well, I can’t stand it anymore.

puck!

I lightly hit Gabriel’s chin with the palm of my hand. Gabriel, his eyes rolled back, passed out at my feet.

Gilda covered her mouth with her hand and laughed at the sight. I held out a chip in front of her. It was the chip I took out of Scylla.

“You need a terminal or device that is compatible with this.”

Gilda looked at the chip carefully and smiled awkwardly. Yes, I know it’s old, even an antique.

“… … I’ll try my best.”