LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 32: The Light Chaser
Charlotte sent Vivian to the study to transcribe the booklet, then he retrieved the black stone from the cabinet and locked himself in his room upstairs.
His fingers glided across the black screen, illuminating it and displaying a series of unread messages.
He first read a few private messages.
[Miracle Brother, did the Executor leave behind any mementos for you?]
[Don't overthink it. I don't intend to use his mementos to settle the debt. It's just that he owed too much...]
[Forget it, pretend I didn't say anything.]
These were messages from a merchant, filled with a sense of conflict.
Indeed, 3,000 copper coins were not a small amount. With the Executor's death, this debt became irrecoverable, making Charlotte feel sorry for the merchant.
[No, he didn't leave anything behind except for a stone, including his ashes.]
Charlotte replied to the merchant's message.
Only a fool would inherit debts.
Merchant: [...]
Charlotte clicked on the next private message, which was from the Hermit. It contained only a short message:
[The Watcher will come to the Abyss to find you soon.]
The Watcher was one of the founders of the Red Moon organization. Judging by the organization's existence, he must be over a thousand years old, likely a dragon with such a long lifespan.
Charlotte: [Is there anything specific to be aware of when contacting the Watcher?]
Hermit: [No need to be overly nervous, just be sincere.]
Charlotte's mind brightened. With the Watcher's strength, perhaps he could help resolve the troubles he was facing right now. However, their status was too high, and it was uncertain whether they would agree to solve such a minor problem for him.
Next, Charlotte glanced through the Red Moon group chat. Over the past day, there hadn't been many new messages in the group. After the incident with the Executor's death, the members' activities seemed to have returned to their daily routines.
The conversations were mostly formal and sophisticated, such as "Strange movements in the orc nest on the northwest Pa Bo Plateau, need manpower for investigation," "Emergency rescue needed in the besieged southern town of Noto City by the orcs," "Volunteers needed for testing the latest invention of the Technician, the Exploding Iron Egg"...
As a newcomer, Charlotte couldn't participate in such topics and events.
This was exactly what Charlotte expected. After all, in reality, they were probably all big shots. If they bragged in the group all day long, he would seriously doubt the authenticity of their identities.
After staring at the screen for a while, Charlotte composed a message and sent it to the group.
Miracle: [Friends, is there any way to bring down Duke Krenwell?]
Witch: [Hey, a newbie just joined Red Moon and already wants to do big things?]
Technician: [Even the King of the Lance Empire wants to know that.]
Light Chaser: [@[Miracle], do you have a deep grudge against Duke Krenwell?]
Miracle: [I simply can't stand his arrogant and oppressive behavior.]
Technician: [In the black market, there's a bounty of 10,000 gold coins on Krenwell's head. You can give it a try.]
Witch: [Trying it means certain death. Over the years, there have been at least eight top-notch assassins killed for the bounty.]
Charlotte was greatly surprised. 10,000 gold coins amounted to 100 million copper coins. It was a substantial bounty, and he didn't expect that there would be more than just him who disliked Krenwell in this world.
[Do you want to deal with Krenwell?]
Charlotte received a private message from the Light Chaser, and he was somewhat surprised that she would proactively reach out to him.
From their previous conversations, she had revealed very little information, only that she was probably a woman, but her race and identity were completely unknown.
However, since she took the initiative to message him privately instead of teasing him in the group like the Technician and the Witch, perhaps she could provide him with some help.
Charlotte: [Yes, I have a friend who has been ordered to be hunted down by him. The situation is quite dire, so I wanted to ask if other members of the organization have any way to solve it from the root.]
Light Chaser: [The friend you're referring to, isn't it yourself?]
Charlotte: [...]
This woman was very sharp.
Light Chaser: [There are countless people in this world who want to bring down Krenwell, whether they have been persecuted by him or are after the bounty. But he has lived in the Duke's Mansion for thirty years and remains unshakable. How do you think you can bring him down?]
Charlotte: [What if I said I found a record of Krenwell's crimes? Would you believe me?]
Light Chaser: [If you said you found a cute loli, I would believe that.]
Charlotte: !!
Ah? Where did this woman come from? Could this black stone be bugged?
Charlotte stared at the black stone in his hand, furrowing his brow.
Light Chaser: [Don't be nervous. If we consider the timing, Vivian Bernice should have arrived at the Abyss by now, and you're near the Abyss. As a doctor suddenly overflowing with a sense of justice, wanting to deal with Krenwell, it's not difficult to deduce that both the person and the thing are in your hands.]
Charlotte: ...
She didn't say everything, but she was right.
What's not difficult to deduce?!
With just a few words, she directly mentioned Vivian being with him. This woman's intelligence is terrifying!
Light Chaser: [If you can make Krenwell so nervous and uneasy with a criminal record, then it must have some weight. Can you briefly describe it?]
Charlotte licked his dry lips. He still didn't know the other party's identity, but he had a feeling of being completely exposed.
He even felt that the other party might already know his true identity. After all, the Executor suddenly found a doctor to be his successor, under the pretext of restarting the topic of the Red Moon's influence on the monsters. The information was quite sufficient.
To calm himself down quickly, Charlotte reexamined their conversation history.
Based on the current information, the other party should be very familiar with the case of Vivian's father's murder, indicating that she might come from the capital of the Lance Empire and hold a high status.
And from her proactive private message, she should have some interest in taking down Krenwell, making it more likely that she is not an enemy.
Charlotte's most pressing concern now was to confirm the value of the booklet in Vivian's hands and whether it could bring down Krenwell.
If not, they would have to find another way.
Charlotte: [In the booklet I found, it details Krenwell's crimes on the border. He created conflicts with the orc tribes, leading to the mass slaughter of border villages, escalating the intensity of the conflict, and exaggerating the threat of the orc tribes to deceive large military funds.
In addition, he embezzled disaster relief funds during several major disasters, resulting in the starvation of a large number of civilians.
There is also evidence of his collusion with officials from the Ministry of Finance, embezzling a huge amount of national treasury funds.]
Light Chaser: [Krenwell has been impeached for each of the crimes you mentioned, but each time it ended in no progress due to insufficient evidence. If the evidence in the booklet is not detailed enough or if you can't definitively expose him, it will be meaningless.]
Krenwell's influence is even greater than Charlotte anticipated.
But for a person who can take down even the Minister of Finance, his arrogance is evident.
After thinking for a while, Charlotte replied: [I can't judge whether the evidence is detailed enough. How about I send you a couple of detailed case descriptions for you to verify?]
He knew very well that he was nothing. The booklet was useless in his hands, and he had no way to verify it.
But if the Light Chaser's identity was as he suspected, perhaps she could truly reach the level of the King of the Lance Empire and directly threaten Krenwell.
Light Chaser: [Alright.]
The Light Chaser readily agreed, increasing Charlotte's favorable impression of the Red Moon organization.
The resentment of being deceived into joining the group by the Executor also dissipated, and he even felt a sense of gratitude.
Being guided felt good.
Light Chaser: [But, are you falling in love with her? She's only fifteen.]
What love or not? Am I an animal? Charlotte glared. This was an insult to his character: [I just adopted a homeless little sister. Please don't make any assumptions.]
There was no further reply from the Light Chaser.
Charlotte went downstairs, took the booklet, and copied two case descriptions to send to the Light Chaser.
The mobile... ah, no, the existence of the black stone made communication efficient and secure.
If he had to take the booklet and run tens of thousands of kilometers to the capital himself, avoiding the pursuit of Krenwell's lackeys along the way, he might not have so much righteousness left.
Light Chaser: [Received. I'll need a few days to verify. I'll contact you again.]
Seeing that the conversation with the Light Chaser was coming to an end, Charlotte hurriedly asked: [If the big one is hard to handle, can we do something about the smaller one? Capas is in Calwa. Is there any way to deal with him or force him to return to the Lance Empire?]
Light Chaser: [Although the Red Moon organization is loosely structured, we always uphold the principle of "equivalent exchange." I'm interested in the Krenwell matter, so you don't need to pay a price for that. But for other questions, you need to offer something that interests me.]
"So that's how it is..." Charlotte pondered for a moment, then replied: [Then I'll allow you to ask me a question.]
There was silence on the other end.
After waiting for a while without receiving a reply, Charlotte gave up.
He admitted that he had a gambling element, but apparently, the other party had no interest in his shallow knowledge.
Although the current predicament was not resolved, it wasn't without gains. At least he could confirm the value of the booklet and whether it could bring down Krenwell through the Light Chaser.
As for the threat from Capas, he could only find a way to solve it himself.
First, he needed to gather more information about Carol. As Capas' Abyss representative, she was currently his biggest threat!