Bad Born Blood - Chapter 59



Only Noblemtl

059

I received the Torah ledger from Aleph. I put the chip into the terminal and checked it, and it showed a transaction history spanning over a dozen years.

“As expected, you are very resourceful. Your Majesty, you have already negotiated with Lavienrose.”

Aleph said as he saw me off. He knew where Grace belonged even without any introduction.

Aleph didn’t even ask me where I was going to use the Torah books. He was a smart guy. He was quick-witted and good at pleasing the powerful.

Grace and I left the arena.

“Luke, do you trust Aleph?”

Grace said bluntly. She was grabbing the arm of a pickpocket who had rushed at her and breaking it. There was a sound of the cheap prosthetic arm snapping.

“Do I look like I trust that man? If so, I think you should pluck out your remaining eye as well.”

“That’s what I’m saying. It would be better if a diva… … .”

“Your boss is also hard to believe. She’s a fickle and unpredictable woman.”

When I badmouthed Martina, Grace frowned for a moment. How loyal.

‘Why did you leave the cadets alone?’

Grace had a strong military disposition, so she passed the selection test and was selected as a cadet.

“I don’t know what conditions Lord Luca has set, but Aleph is a man who tilts the scales in the direction of the odds. He is a man who betrays when things get worse.”

“I know Aleph’s reputation well. You can go now. Our schedule for today is over.”

“I will escort you to the office.”

Grace said habitually.

“Haha, who’s escorting who?”

I laughed. Grace blushed briefly. It would be hard to deny what I said.

“Go and report to Diva about today’s events. That’s your job.”

I sent Grace out and entered the alley. I linked the terminal with my retina display to check Tora’s ledger again.

‘Ken told me to find a company that starts with the letter B.’

After culling the list, I connected to a cheap network in the lower zone. My terminal’s firewall was working, filtering out viruses.

‘They all went out of business a long time ago.’

With my information, there is no way to trace the traces of the defunct company. The network and data in the lower areas are volatile and there are many contaminated data that record incorrect facts. If the ghost company is Kinuan’s, they must have spread dummy data.

There must be a reliable and uncorrupted database. The database of the guards I had access to did not contain such trivial information.

‘Nicolaus Custoria.’

A name popped into my mind.

Nikolaos, the eldest son of the Custoria family. He is a high-ranking official of the empire and a capable man. Nominally, he is also my older brother.

I changed the line by manipulating the terminal. It was a disposable line with the highest security level. If I used it once, the daily wage of the lower class would disappear. I felt sick at the thought. My sense of money was similar to that of the lower class.

Anyway, I sent a call to Nikolaos and he contacted me shortly thereafter.

-You’ve put aside your busy work to come here, brother. Well, I’ll give you five minutes to talk.

Nikolaos spoke from the other end of the terminal. An old memory came to mind. I also told Nikolaos to give me five minutes to convince him.

“I would like to access the Empire’s central database. I think you have the authority.”

– Of course I do. But I can’t hand over the authority to you. I still want to keep my head on my shoulders.

Of course. I was thinking of making an easy proposal after a difficult one.

“Then, could you please investigate a few shell companies for me? You can think of it as owing me money.”

-Luka, is this something that will help you raise your status within the family?

“Probably so.”

-I’ll compile the list and send it to you.

Nicholas readily agreed.

“You can do it within two days.”

-After looking through it roughly, I think two hours would be enough.

I really like the idea of ​​doing things competently.

“I will repay this debt.”

-Brothers should help each other. If you need anything, contact me anytime.

Nikolaos cut off the communication, pretending to be nice.

Of course, Nicholas will collect today’s debt with interest. He will make difficult demands on me. I will think about that later. For now, the task at hand is my priority.

* * *

‘Ken Norma, the gang organization, La Vie en Rose, Aleph of the Arena.’

I didn’t sleep properly for three days because I was dealing with these things one after another. All I could do was take a nap and meditate briefly. My head was very heavy because of the accumulated fatigue.

I closed my eyes on the elevator ride to the upper floors. I thought it would be okay to fall asleep like this.

I wanted to check the data that Nikolaos sent, but I was really at my limit. My head was not working. My thoughts were clouded as if there was a foreign substance in my cerebral cortex. If I could, I would open my skull, take out my brain, and wash it with water.

I went back to my quarters. On the way, I saw the cadets of the lower ranks training. I was like that too. It was only two or three years ago, but it felt like a long time ago.

‘I hope no one calls me… … .’

Right now, I feel like I would show my annoyance even if Heilas called me.

I lay down on the bed without washing. I was already at my limit, so I was able to fall asleep right away. I was just holding on to consciousness with willpower. My brain is ready to turn off the light at any moment.

Light, fade away.

I whispered softly and closed my eyes.

I lost consciousness. A silence like silence covered me.

… … I woke up after sleeping for exactly six hours. Of course, I’m not saying it’s accurate to the second.

I checked my sleep time on the wall display and the error was about 10 seconds. My body clock wasn’t messed up. That means I’m in good condition.

Beep.

I linked the terminal to the wall display. There was a pile of messages and contacts coming in through the guard’s internal network.

I stopped looking at the cadets’ activity records. I saw Ilay’s name particularly often.

‘Ilay, how many missions have you completed while I was away?’

There were records of Illei’s missions. Among them, there were many that were difficult to take lightly.

‘You volunteered to do things you didn’t have to do.’

So it was difficult to see the face.

Illei and I have been busy with our own work. We haven’t seen each other in quite some time, as we don’t have any common tasks to perform.

‘Originally, Illei would have come to visit by now… … .’

My personality is not easygoing. I don’t go out to meet people when I have nothing to do. But Ilay often came to see me.

I felt a little disappointed when I didn’t hear from Ilay. Well, if I’m frustrated, I can just go and see her.

Yeah, I should go and ask how you’re doing first at least once.

I made a decision and went into the shower room. After washing up quickly, I changed into my uniform and went out of the dormitory.

“Luka, I don’t know what you’ve been up to these days… … but if you keep doing that, you’ll soon be out of the top position. You don’t have much time left to graduate.”

A classmate I ran into in the hallway spoke to me.

“Nam Isa.”

I answered indifferently.

“Illai is going crazy these days. She might even set a record for the most missions in the history of the training camp.”

The words of the cadets were not a surprise. I was surprised too. In the cadet evaluation, the most important factor is practical experience, that is, mission accomplishment.

“Then let Ilay be the chief.”

“You’re so relaxed now that you’re in the Custoria family, you rascal. Well, I’d be at peace if I were adopted as the captain of the guards.”

I wish I could feel at ease too. I wanted to slap the face of my colleague who was talking nonsense without knowing my speed.

Among my peers, I am walking on the edge of a knife more than anyone else right now. I have climbed too high and now I can’t come down. If I make a mistake, all that remains is a fall. Is this what they call riding on a tiger’s back?

If you stop now that you’ve come this far, you’ll just be ‘disposed of’.

The mission he was given in exchange for obtaining Custoria’s name was both difficult and complex.

‘Sometimes I miss the old days.’

In the past, I didn’t have to think about complicated things. I just had to sharpen myself and look ahead. The enemies and allies were determined by my superiors. I just had to swing my sword and pull the trigger.

But what about me now?

I have to judge for myself who is my friend and who is my enemy. It is unclear who to follow and who to trust. It is really annoying. I wanted to throw it away several times.

‘I know! This mission is what I need to do!’

I screamed inwardly.

If I am to succeed as a member of House Custoria and a high-ranking soldier of the Empire, I must possess a variety of abilities beyond combat.

After I solve all the problems that are in front of me… … I will become a greater man than I am now. Like Kinuan or Heilas. They are also children of humans. They are not monsters from birth. They must have grown up through similar trials and errors as I did.

‘I too must become like them.’

Otherwise, you won’t survive.

“Luka? What’s wrong with your expression? I didn’t mean to be sarcastic. We, who trained with you, know better than anyone that you deserve the name Custoria.”

My expression didn’t look good. Thanks to my friend’s words, I feel a little better. Even the noble young master is watching me.

This is the position and power I wanted to attain. It is a position I have acquired through my own strength, not through anyone’s generosity or mercy.

I will not give up even this little bit of power. I intend to grow it like a snowball.

“It’s because I haven’t slept in a few days. Even a noble young master isn’t something just anyone can do.”

When I extended my fist, my friend returned the punch. We passed each other as a greeting.

I headed to the personal maintenance room where Ilay was. I sent a message in advance, but there was no reply as he was busy.

The holographic sign in the maintenance room reads Ilay Kartika, indicating that Ilay is currently in use.

Beep.

As soon as the sensor recognized me, the door opened. The first thing I saw was a mechanical maintenance arm descending from the ceiling. Next to it, an android was assisting with the maintenance.

Ilay was lying on the maintenance chair. His limbs were wide open to the inside. Intricate mechanical hands were busy replacing parts of the body.

“Hey, Luca.”

Ilay turned her head to greet me.

“I heard you’ve been taking it easy on yourself lately, Master Kartika.”

I spoke quietly, leaning against the wall. My eyes scanned Ilay from the tips of her toes to the crown of her head.

‘Ilay has changed.’

Within three or four months, the atmosphere of Ilay had changed. The artificial skin that had not been used due to continuous missions had many scratches. The parts of the body that had exposed the inside were worn out. It meant that they had fought fierce battles repeatedly.

‘I’ve been through a lot in a short period of time.’

From the beginning, Ilay’s talent was superior to mine.

As I’ve said several times, Ilay has hardly ever ‘tried hard’ in training camp. She’s achieved the same level of accomplishments as me just by doing whatever she can.

On the other hand, I trained really desperately, as if I was shitting myself.

This is an undeniable objective fact. Ilay has better qualities than I do. And the lazy genius has finally set a goal and is polishing himself.

Ilay chewed and swallowed the experiences he had experienced in battle, digested them, and made them his own flesh and blood. Even without him saying anything, I could tell that Ilay had become stronger.

‘… … I’ve been focusing on other things rather than fighting.’

When I faced Ilay, anxiety welled up inside me. I thought of what my classmate had said earlier. It’s not like the top or second place matters, but… … I felt like that guy would go far away while I hesitated.

During the Lillian Ramones incident, Illai went berserk in a bad way.

‘And now it’s going wild, in a good way.’

The prosthetic arms and legs of Ilay, which had been serviced, were closed. A mechanical arm came down from the ceiling and sealed the joint.

“Luka, follow me. I’ll show you my loot.”

Ilay stood up from the maintenance chair and put on his coat. He didn’t even ask why I came. He probably already knew that the purpose of my visit was to check on my well-being. Thinking about it, I felt embarrassed for no reason.

“I never thought that the world-famous Luca would come to see me just to ask how I was doing. How surprising, how surprising. It’s worth being friends.”

Illai didn’t forget to tease me as he left the garage.

“What are you talking about, you idiot?”

I followed Ilay, swearing.