When Severin opened his eyes, the carriage was moving again at a very high speed. The bumping sound made it creak and groan.
He had been put in a sitting position with two of the masked warriors on each side of him. He didn’t make any moves, and since he wore a mask, he used that to observe his surroundings.
The Headless Knight was sitting unmoving in front of him, their helmet turned towards him as if keeping him in their sight. Severin decided to think about the Knight as a ’he.’
One thing about the Headless isn’t just about them being geniuses that were purposefully scouted to serve the Emperor. Everything about them was made to make them stronger.
From that armour they wore. The armour looked bulky, but they moved so nimbly in it that it’s like a second skin, and it also made them even faster than usual.
The armour also provided sheer destructive force and was filled with countless runes of power. Even if a normal person managed to enter the armour, they would be able to do devastating things.
’...and this is what bothers me... as far as I know, only the Emperor can deploy this Headless Knight... so this means that the Emperor is in support of this mess? Or even part of Obsidian Bleed...’
’...but most important is my own identity... the more I dig, the more I seem to find... just who are you, Severin Reignhart...’
"You are awake."
The metallic voice jolted Severin out of his thoughts, and he also looked up, but he caught up in time and remained unmoving.
It was the Headless Knight. "You are awake, Severin Reignhart."
The voice said again.
Severin decided to give up and raise his head. "How do you know this, metal man?"
The Headless seemed stunned, or maybe not. It was difficult to tell with all the metal covering him.
"I can tell. You are taking extra effort to remain still. Your muscles are not relaxed enough."
"Thank you. I will make sure to do it well next time," he replied in a sincere voice.
Jade snorted. He was sitting beside the paralyzed Severin on the right. "You really do know how to speak."
As he finished speaking, Jade immediately jammed a needle into his shoulder and administered the paralyzing potion again.
Severin scowled behind his mask. "Why are you going through all this trouble for the weakest student in the Academy? What am I going to do, beat you?"
Jade didn’t reply until he put the needle away. "The weakest student who managed to beat Ethan Aldrich. Survived a dangerous dungeon. Built a house and survived the Sector Delta. Oh, and also won the mad Instructor over to his side.
"I don’t think a lot of people see you as weak, Severin. You are dangerous."
Severin blinked behind his mask. He couldn’t believe it. People had stopped underestimating him? That isn’t good. It’s not good for business at all.
He liked it best when people viewed him as a weakling. It was far better that way for them to look at him with the eyes of a weak person.
But what surprised Severin though was Jade. In the book, there wasn’t any record of Jade Callahan turning out this way. But then again, Severin was trusting the book less and less.
"Jade Callahan. I feel like you are a good kid. Seriously, why are you doing this? I didn’t expect that you would turn out this way," Severin said with a sincere heart.
Jade paused and then he removed his mask so his expression could be seen. His eyes were pulled together in a frown. "This is a family business, Severin."
"What?"
Jade shrugged. "Since you are going to get wiped, I really don’t see the issue of keeping things that you’ll forget. Answer this, Severin. How do you perceive the Emperor?"
Severin thought about it. To him, the Emperor was just the Emperor, a distant figure that really didn’t matter too much because he wasn’t directly related to the end of the world.
That was what he thought before.
But now, this had changed. Everything was unraveling and everything seemed to be connected to the end of the world.
He answered slowly. "The Emperor. Is the Emperor. He’s the ruler of this Empire and descendant of one of the Heroes that saved the world and created the First Empire that once stretched across the whole continent."
Jade nodded curtly. "You are right and wrong. But the Emperor is more than that. He is the light of this Empire, but even then, he still has a shadow. So, he is still the darkness of the Empire."
Severin felt a chill. "What are you talking about?"
Jade smiled. "I’m saying don’t think of him as just a figure that sits on the throne. The whole of the Empire is in his hand."
"You still haven’t told me how that relates to you," Severin said, keeping his voice free of any emotions.
"Oh. I work for the Emperor. Sort of. My family is a family of hunters, but we are also an agent family that works for the Emperor. We join forces with other families like ours to complete missions."
"Like the Crane family?" Severin asked as he was reminded of Julius.
Jade snorted. "Yes. But more secretive. The Crane family are the public ones, set up to draw the public eyes, while countless families work in the shadows. The Crane are also our leaders in a way. It’s complicated politics."
Severin kept quiet. "But you weren’t interested in it?"
’You didn’t join the family business in the book. What changed now?’
Jade sighed. "Power, my friend, power."
Severin kept quiet and didn’t speak for a while.
Power? Power?
It seemed like it’s something everyone wanted. He shook his head gently. Severin wanted it as well, and he knew he would go far to get his hand on it.
So.
He didn’t blame him. Or judge him.
Severin closed his eyes and sighed.
Suddenly, there was a slight change in the carriage and the Headless Knight jerked up. His head swung towards Severin. "This boy... he’s been tracked!"