LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 7 - Use.
Raven.
Someone who knew nothing might think it referred to the bird when they heard the word.
But when Bella heard the word “raven,” she looked at Adeline with a surprised expression.
And Adeline’s next words surprised Bella once again.
“I heard the Leader has returned.”
Hearing that the Leader had returned, Bella asked in disbelief.
“The… Leader, you say…”
“Yes, my master.”
Adeline answered in a subdued voice.
Bella also knew well that she was the disciple of Adeline, the tower master.
Her master, Adeline, was originally a mage without talent.
Then suddenly, her magical talent bloomed, and now she had become a great mage, reaching 6 stars.
When Adeline rose to the ranks of great mages, the Arcadia Empire and various kingdoms tried to recruit her.
But she rejected them all.
Although there was no apparent reason, Bella knew the truth.
‘The Leader…’
The Head of the Raven
The Leader of Black Raven.
Adeline, as a member of Black Raven, didn’t belong to any country in order to follow the Leader’s orders.
Shortly after moving to the Fire Magic Tower, she took the position of tower master.
However, unlike her master, who belonged to Black Raven, Bella was not an official member.
Adeline told Bella this fact when she started actively working as a disciple.
– I belong to Black Raven. Yes, people generally call it the Ravens.
When she first heard that her master actually belonged to Black Raven, she remembered being really surprised.
She never expected her master to belong to an unidentified group known only as the Ravens.
Ultimately, Bella, who learned the truth, had to write a soul oath promising not to reveal it.
Of course, she had no intention of revealing it, even without such an oath.
Hadn’t she already heard various stories from Adeline?
She said there was a separate organization in Black Raven that assassinated traitors.
In fact, Bella was more curious about magic than afraid of assassination.
‘Master’s master…’
Adeline always said.
It was all thanks to her master that she awakened her talent in magic and became the tower master.
Because of this, Bella was very interested in the person called the Leader.
How amazing must they be to have raised Adeline to a great mage?
‘Surely they must be an incredible mage?’
A great mage.
Perhaps they might even be the imperial court mage.
But Bella had never seen Adeline’s master, that is, the Leader of Black Raven.
The Leader had already disappeared by the time she learned about then
And now they said that the long-awaited Leader had shown themselves again.
Bella was swept up in excitement.
It was a moment when a mage’s unique curiosity was activated.
Unlike Bella, who was excited, Adeline’s expression was shadowed.
She closed her eyes once, then spoke with a flash a moment later.
“And with the master’s return, the Supreme Council has been convened. At the same time, an audit was conducted in the name of the Supreme Council.”
Bella remembered an unidentified person visiting the tower a few days ago.
At that time, Adeline instructed the visitor to let in without asking anything.
That must be what she was talking about.
“Bella, currently Black Raven is conducting a large-scale investigation into the duchy’s mines.”
Is Black Raven investigating the duchy?
Bella tilted her head.
Judging from the mention of mines, it must be the Hailstone Duchy, famous for its underground resources.
Adeline continued speaking.
“And as luck would have it, the village where that noble’s illegitimate child lives is nearby.”
Adeline’s voice turned cold.
She was concerned that the village Bella was to visit for her mission was within Black Raven’s area of activity.
“You probably won’t encounter Black Raven, but be careful just in case.”
Adeline warned for the sake of her disciple, Bella.
Bella was a child with a talent for magic.
She had risen to 3-star at the fastest age after Adeline and was being called the next tower master.
But her personality was so carefree that it made Adeline anxious as a master.
Moreover, Bella was not an official member of Black Raven.
Still, if she had to choose, sending Bella, her disciple, was the best option.
Adeline is a member of Black Raven.
Even if her disciple made a mistake, there was room for recovery.
“Listen carefully, Bella. Now that the master has returned, his personal guard will likely be moving as well.”
Personal guard?
This was the first time Bella had heard of this.
She had heard that Black Raven had various agencies, starting with the Leader, Vice Leader, and Supreme Council, but never about the Leader’s personal guard.
“No one knows who belongs to the personal guard. Even the Vice Leader doesn’t know, and the Supreme Council’s influence doesn’t reach them. It’s a secret organization that only the Leader, my master, can move.”
In other words, an agency directly under the Leader.
Bella felt the air grow heavy.
And Adeline uttered her final words.
“If someone introduces themselves as ‘Phantom,’ absolutely mention my name. Understood? There’s no one who would dare impersonate that name, so never disobey.”
Even the playful Bella could only nod at the ominous atmosphere.
Nevertheless, Adeline’s expression remained serious.
‘Phantom’
The name referring to the Leader’s secret guard.
Unless one belonged to Black Raven, no one who heard that name had survived.
* * *
Emilia and I walked the desolate path that stretched endlessly under the hot sun.
Sweat-soaked hair clung to our foreheads, and our throats burned with thirst.
We hadn’t eaten the muddy porridge, let alone anything nutritious, for a long time.
On top of that, our fragile bodies, which had endured harsh labor, were now complaining of extreme fatigue.
But we couldn’t stop here.
We kept moving forward, taking one painful step after another toward the south.
I occasionally looked back to check if Emilia was following well.
‘Her stamina is better than I thought.’
With that level of stamina, she was much better than the other children working in the mines.
‘But why was she only assigned to food distribution?’
At first, I thought Emilia was physically weak, so they deliberately put her in charge of food distribution.
But looking at her condition now, that was a misconception.
With that stamina, couldn’t she easily do the work of two or three boys?
“……”
I was curious, but I didn’t bother to ask.
Judging from Emilia’s expression, she also seemed curious about my identity.
She also didn’t particularly question me.
“……”
So we walked on in silence, each lost in our own thoughts.
How much time had passed?
The sandy ground was gradually changing.
Green weeds started appearing sporadically, and then the landscape transformed into fields.
At the point where the sand dunes completely ended, the path became gentle.
As we moved further, we saw lush trees with a trail running between them.
“Wow…”
Emilia’s expression showed relief at the sight of the green scenery.
Our continuous running had paid off.
“If we keep going, there should be a village. Let’s rest a bit there.”
I told Emilia.
No matter how good her stamina was, she was still just a young girl.
After going through so much in one day, we needed a place to rest.
The problem was whether the village would accept us.
Even if we reached the village, it was still a problem.
Come to think of it, Emilia and I had nothing.
“Hmm.”
I thought about calling the status window for a moment but decided against it.
If I received help from Black Raven here, it would only reveal that I was the leader.
Giving orders to Black Raven was a last resort.
Even if it wasn’t a last resort, it was safer to use it only when the order wasn’t directly related to me.
While thinking about this and looking for the village, Emilia spoke up.
“Um… Ethan.”
Emilia hesitated for a moment, then asked me.
“Why are you helping me, Ethan?”
For a moment, I thought she was going to ask about my identity.
After all, Emilia was one of the people who directly saw me handling the dark hounds.
But her question, asking why I was helping her, seemed like a typical question for her age, and it made me smile a little.
What was the direct reason I was helping her?
Because I developed feelings for her after talking for just a few days?
No. Although it’s true that I developed a little affection, that wasn’t the only reason I was being kind to Emilia.
If Emilia had been from a noble family, it would have been beneficial for me to help her, even without affection.
But the current Emilia was nothing.
Yet, there was one reason I was helping her.
Given my current situation, moving with someone rather than acting alone was better.
Emilia served that role.
‘Ah, is it wrong to say a person has a use?’
Perhaps because I had spent so long as a slave, I felt like even my humanity was hitting rock bottom.
This was all the harmful effects of living with ill-tempered supervisors for a long time.
Anyway, that was it.
In any case, Emilia’s role was important.
For example, between a man begging alone and a brother praying for his little sister, who would receive more sympathy?
That’s right.
Emilia was someone who could fit into that sibling setting.
Moreover, both our names started with ‘E,’ so it was perfect.
‘This is perfect for a sibling setting.’
Of course, I wasn’t a fool who would bluntly and honestly say this.
“Just because. We’re friends, aren’t we?”
Come to think of it, Emilia had called me a ‘strange friend’ when I asked for more porridge.
Anyway, we were friends, right?
“…Friends?”
Emilia muttered that and then followed behind me with her head down.
“?”
Why is she acting like this?
Was she moved by my words?
Whether she was moved or not, I just kept walking forward.
We had walked for a long time since escaping from the mine.
We had spent a lot of time, and if we delayed any longer, it would soon be dark.
We needed to find the village before it became completely evening.
‘If I had known this would happen, should I have brought one hound with us?’
Although I thought it might have been more convenient if I had brought one, that action was obviously dangerous.
It felt like entering a tiger’s den while trying to avoid a fox.
No, if it’s Celestia, wouldn’t it be a dragon rather than a tiger?
In the current situation, I had no intention of contacting not only Black Raven, let alone Celestia, so I threw the regret far away.
“Oh, Ethan. There’s a village over there.”
While I was momentarily lost in thought, Emilia called my name.
Where she pointed, we could see the appearance of a small village.
“Is there some kind of festival?”
As Emilia said, people were gathered in the village.
Was there really a festival in the village?
My hand unconsciously went to the dagger tied at my waist.
This is not Earth.
I thought of various possibilities.
‘Surely it’s not bandits?’
When I was playing ‘Isekai Conqueror,’ there were times when groups of bandits swept through villages.
Bandits were good for juicy experience points in the early game, so I had taken a few subjugation quests.
But now, this was reality, not a game.
A moment of carelessness could lead to death.
“Emilia, you must run away immediately if you sense anything strange. Understood?”
“Okay.”
She nodded at my words and slowly moved forward.
When we arrived near the village.
We could understand why everyone was gathered.
‘It really was a festival!’
It wasn’t a disguise of bandits or anything like that.
The villagers seemed to be preparing for a real festival, carrying food around.
We could even hear people’s voices among them.
“Come on, everyone! Today is the day to celebrate Young Master Brooks of the Hartwell family, the pride of our village!”
“Let’s all raise a toast and share in Young Master Brooks’ glory!”
“Hurrah!”
Brooks? The Hartwell family?
The Hartwell family is a count family of the Hailstone Duchy.
Although they might be a step lower as counts of a vassal state of the Empire, they were definitely nobles.
But I had never heard the name Brooks before.
‘Come to think of it, how much time has passed between when I was playing the game and now?’
Simply thinking about it, I came here 10 years ago, so…
‘There must be at least a 10-year difference.’
That meant there was a possibility that the game’s settings had changed.
Above all, why would a young master from a count’s noble family be in this small village on the outskirts?
“Hmm.”
Could it be that the Hartwell family had fallen?
‘Oh dear, tsk tsk. Poor young master.’
I quietly entered the village, wanting to know exactly what was going on.
Fortunately, in the bustling situation, no one paid attention to Emilia and me.
Why on earth did the young master of the Hartwell family come to this village?
I went to where people gathered, wanting to at least see his face.
“…?”
Instead of a young master from a count’s family, there was a person no different from the villagers sitting there, receiving congratulations.
What’s this?
Is it a hidden camera prank?
It seemed the Hartwell family had really fallen.
‘Oh my…’
They say even if the rich fall, it lasts for three generations, but the young master’s state was beyond words.
As I looked at him with pity, the so-called young master also noticed our presence.
To be precise, he was looking not at me but at Emilia beside me.
He looked Emilia up and down and then smiled lecherously.
“?”
What’s with this bastard?