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Chapter 221: Is This Even Possible
The Followers of the Moon sensed something strange.
“Executive sir?”
Judging by the attire, it was clearly an executive’s clothing. But the aura felt was too unfamiliar.
Moreover, how could he just let Kai Felix, who was trying to escape, go like that?
As expected, the one they thought was an executive took off the hood he was wearing.
Then an unexpected face appeared.
“Eh, Teacher Ethan?”
Kai Felix couldn’t help but be greatly surprised by Ethan’s appearance as well.
Although he didn’t know exactly how the situation was unfolding, at least the Ethan in front of him didn’t seem like an enemy.
“You…!”
The Followers of the Moon were greatly flustered.
Those clothes were definitely the clothes of the executive who was directing the operation.
Of course, there’s no way the executive could be Ethan Whiskers, so they concluded that Ethan Whiskers must have taken out the executive and stolen those clothes.
After assessing the situation, the followers quickly exchanged glances.
Securing Kai Felix had failed. With the responsible executive dead, it was no longer possible to continue, so the only choice in the current situation was to flee.
“Retreat!”
The followers made a quick decision. They grabbed one of the artifacts they had put down on the ground and quickly scattered in different directions.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
An enraged Kai Felix tried to chase after them.
“Teacher Ethan!”
Since four people scattered and fled in all directions simultaneously, Ethan’s help was needed.
But Ethan remained still in that spot.
“It’s alright.”
Ethan said. A bow had appeared in his hand at some point.
“I don’t intend to let even one of them escape.”
He pulled the bowstring tightly.
Whoosh!
The arrows that left the string in succession began to shoot out in exactly four directions.
“…!”
Kai Felix marveled as he watched the arrows shoot out.
It was truly miraculous archery, making the bow skills Ethan had shown in class on the first day of the training session seem like mere fragments.
Thwack!
Soon, sharp penetration sounds were heard from far away. But there were no screams.
“Please take care of the aftermath.”
Ethan threw a sword to Kai Felix. It was the sword Kai had been using.
“Thank you, Teacher Ethan.”
“It’s not over yet. Save your thanks for later.”
***
“Huff… huff…”
One of the Followers of the Moon was breathing heavily.
He had a box slung over his shoulder, and he kept paying attention to it as if handling a treasure.
Thud-. Thud-.
The Follower of the Moon, thinking he had put enough distance between them, slowed his pace and tried to catch his breath with difficulty.
But then, footsteps were heard right behind him.
“You, you! What on earth are you! Ethan Whiskers! How could you to the executive…!”
“Judging by your reaction, it seems information about me hasn’t spread much in the Dawn Council yet. That’s quite fortunate.”
The follower’s face turned pale at Ethan’s response.
“Just who the hell are you!”
Ethan had said Dawn Council, not Followers of the Moon.
Moreover, that tone of voice suggested he knew about the identity of the Dawn Council.
Suddenly feeling ominous, the follower swallowed dry saliva.
“Who am I?”
Ethan pulled out a green jade from his breast.
“Huh…! A-Apostle…?”
The surprised Follower of the Moon hurriedly knelt down. Then Ethan slowly approached him.
“I-I’m sorry! I didn’t recognize you, Lord Apostle! P-Perhaps all of this from the beginning…”
“I asked who I am?”
Standing in front of the kneeling follower, Ethan drew his sword and swung it.
“I’m the one who killed the Apostle.”
The Follower of the Moon died on the spot.
‘It seems alright for now. I thought the Dawn Council would be paying more attention to me.’
Fortunately, it seemed the Dawn Council wasn’t paying much attention to Ethan.
‘There have been many suspicious incidents since the Inquisition case.’
Of course, he had hidden his identity to avoid raising suspicion. But with so many overlapping incidents, there was a need to be cautious.
‘If I keep getting involved in failures, I’m bound to be suspected.’
So it would be better to definitely shift the credit for this to the Sword Saint’s side.
Ethan smashed the artifacts the Follower of the Moon was carrying. Then what was inside was revealed.
“…What is this?”
What was inside the artifacts was a person. Moreover, it was someone Ethan knew very well.
“Rohai Felix?”
It was Rohai Felix, the heir of the Felix family.
Ethan frowned deeply. Why on earth was Rohai Felix trapped inside these artifacts?
As far as Ethan remembered, Rohai Felix had never been involved in incidents like this.
‘There’s no reason for Rohai Felix to be a target of the Dawn Council, is there?’
He had clearly encountered this when playing as a member of the Dawn Council.
Rohai Felix was a sacred figure who would lead Felix in the future, so targeting him carried too much risk.
Ethan began piecing together the information in his head.
‘They weren’t just after Kai Felix. They were trying to kidnap both to put strong pressure on the Felix family.’
This confirmed it.
‘It’s because of the holy relic after all. With the lives of Rohai and Kai, the Felix family wouldn’t be able to refuse the deal.’
The reason they shifted their plan like this was probably because Ethan had revived Prochet.
‘I’ll need to pay even more attention to the Dawn Council’s movements.’
“Teacher Ethan!”
Kai Felix’s voice was heard from behind. He was running over while carrying the bodies of three followers on his shoulders.
“I’m not sure how to explain this.”
Seeing Ethan’s deeply frowning face, Kai Felix thought there might be some problem.
But soon he saw his brother, Rohai Felix, lying there and made the same expression as Ethan.
“W-What’s going on here?”
“I don’t know either.”
As there was no need to explain in detail, Ethan first entrusted Rohai Felix to Kai Felix.
“Seeing that they kidnapped your brother as well, Teacher Kai, it seems the Followers of the Moon were trying to blackmail the Felix family.”
“…!”
Kai was greatly shocked by Ethan’s words.
“Why on earth…”
“I’m not sure about that either. For now, please take good care of Lord Rohai. We don’t know what hardships he might have endured at their hands.”
“…Yes.”
‘It seems the relationship between the brothers isn’t that bad.’
Kai was looking at Rohai with a worried expression.
‘Perhaps that was the reason Kai Felix was so withdrawn.’
If the brotherly relationship wasn’t good, Kai Felix would have rebelled against his treatment.
But since that wasn’t the case, he probably couldn’t bring himself to rebel.
He had no choice but to accept the unfair situation.
‘Well, Kai will handle that side of things well enough.’
The problem was that the holy relic was still in the hands of the Felix family.
And the bigger problem was that the Followers of the Moon would never give up on that holy relic.
‘In the long run, the Felix family is a family I must absolutely win over to my side.’
Among the Twelve Stars Families, they are the easiest to approach. Moreover, several influential figures in the Felix family highly evaluated Ethan, so it would be easy to build a good relationship. 𝐑ἁƝO͍ᛒЁ𝒮
But with the Followers of the Moon eyeing them covetously, Ethan needed to deal with this from his position.
‘I need to divert their attention.’
Then there’s only one way.
‘I’ll have to take the holy relic myself.’
He doesn’t know what kind of holy relic it is, but as a descendant of Moonforce, Ethan should be able to utilize it in some way.
“Let’s go back, Teacher Kai. Everyone will be worried. The knight order will probably be mobilized to search for you by now.”
“…Thank you so much, Teacher Ethan. If it weren’t for you… I will definitely repay this debt.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
He’ll make sure to receive that repayment properly on his own.
***
In the underground prison of Ramsdale’s lord’s castle.
Regia stood in front of the Follower of the Moon.
Since having his identity exposed by Ethan, the Follower of the Moon had been repeating the same words over and over.
“Long live the Moon Mother… Long live the Dawn Council…”
The branch head frowned at the sight of the follower repeating the same words with glinting eyes.
They would have to torture him, but extracting information from someone like this is not an easy task.
The Followers of the Moon fear neither pain nor death.
They believe that death is the surest way to get closer to the Moon Mother they believe in.
“This won’t be easy.”
“No, don’t worry. In this state, it’s even easier.”
“Pardon?”
With such strong mental fortitude, it should be difficult to extract information.
But Regia was already using magic.
“It’s not mental strength. He’s just scared. We can extract any information. Moreover, there’s no need to keep this one alive.”
Whoosh-.
As Regia’s hand drew a semicircle, the Follower of the Moon’s eyes became hazy.
It was a perfect illusion magic.
“The magic I placed on my son reacted. Was it your doing?”
“Uh… don’t, don’t… don’t know.”
The follower began to drool while giving an inarticulate answer.
This magic applies considerable pressure and stimulation to the head, and once under its effect, the follower cannot tell lies.
Of course, it was clear that he would die the moment the effect ended.
“Tell me in detail what you were planning to do at this new teacher training session.”
“K-Kai Felix… secure… need to divert the big shot’s eyes…”
As soon as Regia heard about diverting the big shot’s eyes, he realized that there had been interference with the magic he had placed on his son.
To think they would use such a method to divert his eyes.
Since the Followers of the Moon were said to be everywhere and nowhere, he had been thinking they would get entangled with them in some way at some point.
But to think they would try to toy with him by using the safety of his most cherished son.
“Where did you kidnap Kai Felix to?”
“D-Don’t… know…”
Being the one who remained at the scene pretending to be the security chief, he didn’t seem to know much.
Unable to withstand the illusion magic any longer, the follower went limp.
“Well, it seems this one didn’t know much to begin with.”
“It’s alright, Lord Regia. We’ve already closed off all the routes in and out of the territory. We’re also currently checking the house where the security chief lived. It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t extract more information, but it’s a relief that what Lord Regia was most worried about didn’t happen.”
It was a relief that nothing had happened to his son.
But at the same time, anger surged up.
“I should report to His Majesty and deal with this thoroughly.”
Not long after, a branch family member approached the branch head and whispered in his ear.
“We’ll depart immediately.”
“Have they found something?”
“Yes, they say they’ve found traces.”
***
After a quick report was sent to the Sword Saint.
The Ramsdale Knight Order, centered around the branch head, immediately began searching the territory.
“From now on, no one can leave Ramsdale territory. This is the lord’s order, so everyone stop!”
By the Sword Saint’s order, all entry and exit to the territory were strictly controlled.
The branch head meticulously checked who had left the territory before and after the time when entry and exit were controlled.
But there wasn’t a single suspicious point.
“Branch head.”
“Have you found additional information?”
“Well…”
The branch head had a blank expression at the branch family member’s report.
“You found him?”
“Yes, and they’ve caught all the Followers of the Moon involved in the crime as well.”
“…Who?”
“Well…”
The branch family member reporting had an expression of disbelief even as he spoke.
“It’s Lord Ethan Whiskers.”
“What?”
“Lord Ethan Whiskers directly requested the Sword Saint. He said that knowing a fellow teacher had disappeared, he couldn’t just wait quietly. And just now, he returned with Teacher Kai Felix.”
It hadn’t even been 30 minutes since they noticed Kai Felix’s kidnapping.
He had quickly grasped the situation, gathered information, and moved swiftly.
And now he’s back?
With the kidnapped Kai Felix?
“But wait… Did you say he caught all the Followers of the Moon too?”
“Yes.”
“…”
For a moment, there was only silence.
“Is this even possible?”
The branch head couldn’t hold back anymore and blurted out what was on his mind.
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