Episode 54: The Scheme (4)
“De-Damian!”
Sophia rushed towards Damian, her voice trembling with urgency.
“I’m so relieved to see you so soon. You’re the only one I can rely on.”
Fear was etched across her face as she clung to Damian, her body shaking.
“If the Order starts interrogating Jackson… I mean, Jackson Carter, they’ll definitely come for me too.”
No one in this place had as close a connection to Jackson Carter as Sophia Russell did. The Order wouldn’t just leave her alone.
“But I’m innocent! I didn’t know anything. I had no idea Jackson Carter had such a bracelet!”
Sophia clung to Damian’s arm, desperation in her eyes.
“You’re the only one who can help me. Please, protect me. I’m begging you.”
“And why should I help you?”
Damian couldn’t fathom her audacity. Sophia Russell had not only broken off their engagement unilaterally but had also insulted the Haxen family. They were practically strangers now. How could she so easily ask for his help?
“If you help me, I’ll give you whatever you want!”
“Whatever I want?”
Sophia swallowed hard, her anxious expression slowly giving way to a confident smile.
“I’ll be your woman again.”
She spoke with a certainty that Damian would accept her offer.
“No thanks.”
Damian’s face was a mix of disbelief and irritation. Sophia sighed deeply, scolding him.
“Damian… no matter how angry you are, you can’t still be holding a grudge.”
“What?”
“When a woman humbles herself like this, you should at least pretend to give in.”
“What nonsense are you spouting…?”
“Alright, I’ll apologize again. It was all my fault. So please, let go of your anger and take me back.”
For the first time since his return, Damian found himself at a loss for words. At the same time, he was disgusted by Sophia Russell’s unchanging attitude despite the situation.
“Damian, I know. You still want me. That’s why you pretended not to recognize me at first, to get my attention.”
Sophia spoke with unwavering confidence.
“You kept giving up your spot next to Lady Olivia to Abel because of me, didn’t you? You tried to hide it, but I noticed…”
“I’m so baffled I don’t even know where to start correcting you.”
Damian’s voice was cold.
“Are you still angry? How many times do I have to apologize…”
“No, I don’t need anything from you. I have no interest in you.”
Damian cut her off sharply.
“Please, stop spouting nonsense and get out of my sight.”
“Da-Damian…”
“If you ignore my warning and show up in front of me again with this drivel, I’ll cut out your tongue.”
To make his point clear, Damian let a hint of menace seep into his voice. Sophia Russell’s face turned pale.
“If you understand, then leave.”
Damian walked past Sophia Russell, who stood frozen like a statue, unable to even think of stopping him. He headed towards the jousting grounds with Olivia, intending to meet the remaining holy knights there.
But something felt off. The atmosphere among the gathered knights was unusually somber.
“Sir Damian, you’re back,” said Thomas, one of the knights, his face grave.
“We lost Jacques Noir.”
“Is that true?”
“He was hiding his true strength. And he used another dark magic tool…”
Thomas gritted his teeth, clearly frustrated at having let the heretic slip through their fingers.
“Jacques Noir… he was as formidable as the rumors said.”
Damian’s expression was tense, but inwardly, he wasn’t surprised.
‘So he escaped after all.’
From the moment he first saw Thomas, Damian had anticipated this outcome. Thomas’s skills were no match for Jacques Noir’s. If Jacques had wanted, he could have easily killed Thomas.
‘But killing a knight of the Order would bring even greater repercussions.’
In a situation where he couldn’t kill or capture his enemy, fleeing was the only option.
‘Good thing I marked him in advance.’
The previous night, after sending Victor to the city, Damian had visited Jacques Noir’s lodgings. Remembering Jacques’s magical aura, it hadn’t been difficult. Deceiving the senses of a mid-level mage was child’s play for Damian. He had secretly marked Jacques’s clothing to track his location.
“Sir Thomas, don’t be too disheartened. With the divine watching over you, you’ll have another chance to catch Jacques Noir.”
Damian consoled Thomas, who looked at him with gratitude.
“Sir Damian… to maintain your faith even in such times… you truly are a model knight, as Lady Agnes said!”
Damian subtly distanced himself from Thomas. No matter how often he encountered them, he could never get used to these fanatics.
From the next day, the jousting grounds were abuzz with activity. The Order’s reinforcements had arrived and began questioning all the nobles present.
“Hey! I have nothing to do with that Jackson Carter fellow!”
“Do you know how much I donate to the Order each year? I won’t stand for this treatment!”
The nobles protested, but their complaints fell on deaf ears. The Order interviewed each noble individually. Fortunately, since Jackson Carter hadn’t mingled much with others, the nobles were quickly released.
“Tell me, who gave you this bracelet?”
“Ja-Jacques Noir! Jacques Noir gave it to me! He said with this, I could ki-kill Damian Haxen… Aaargh!”
“You intended to kill Sir Damian? Was anyone else involved in this plan?”
“Co-Copperhead Count! The Copperhead Count was with me!”
Jackson Carter, the main suspect, was interrogated directly by the Order’s inquisitors, notorious for their ruthless methods. Rumor had it their torture techniques evolved yearly to extract every bit of information. Jackson’s screams echoed through meal times and sleeping hours, only ceasing when the inquisitors had wrung out every secret.
Next, the inquisitors summoned Sophia Russell and the Copperhead Count.
“The Count is innocent. He did try to kill me, but he knew nothing about the dark magic.”
Damian vouched for the Count as promised, though he was slightly worried, knowing how relentless the inquisitors could be.
“Understood. We’ll only summon Sophia Russell.”
“Y-you believe me?”
“Of course. Sir Damian, your contributions to the Order are well known.”
The inquisitors accepted Damian’s word with surprising ease, leading only Sophia away.
“I-I really don’t know anything! He never told me a thing!”
Sophia Russell insisted on her innocence, but the inquisitors didn’t believe her. As Jackson Carter’s lover, they assumed she had much to hide. Not long after she was taken, her piercing screams filled the air.
A week later, the Order concluded their investigation, determining Jackson Carter was the sole suspect. Only then were the nobles allowed to leave the grounds. Though the jousting tournament wasn’t over, they hurried to depart, forming a long line as they returned to their estates.
“Are you leaving too, Sir Damian?”
Like the other nobles, Damian was preparing to return to his family estate. But Thomas and the knights approached him.
“Yes, my family must be worried. I wish to see them soon.”
“Hmm… I would advise you to stay a bit longer,” Thomas said, concern etched on his face.
“Jacques Noir might target you, Sir Damian.”
Damian had been the one to call the Order to the jousting grounds, so Jacques Noir likely bore a grudge.
“The Order is actively searching for Jacques Noir. Until his whereabouts are known, perhaps you should remain here.”
Though he appreciated their concern, Damian had no intention of accepting the offer. He was confident he could handle Jacques Noir himself. In fact, he hoped Jacques would come to him. More than anything, he had no desire to be stuck with the old-fashioned knights.
“Thank you for your concern, but I must decline. I can’t have Sir Thomas’s duties delayed on my account.”
A second-class knight like Thomas was a rare asset to the Order, with many responsibilities.
“Besides, with the divine watching over me, how could such a vile person harm me?”
Moved by Damian’s words, Thomas quietly made the sign of the cross.
“Moreover, with the Order’s bounty on him, Jacques Noir will be too preoccupied to target me.”
“Sir Damian, even if it’s just for a few days…”
Damian repeatedly declined Thomas’s offer.
In the end, Thomas had no choice but to abandon his plans.
Demian set off for the Haxen estate.
Unlike when he arrived, he now had an additional companion.
It was none other than Olivia Copperhead.
“I never thought I’d be heading to the Haxen estate so soon.”
“Neither did I. I didn’t expect to introduce you to my parents this quickly…”
Olivia Copperhead sat beside Abel. She had already severed ties with her father, the count, and chose to leave with Abel rather than remain in the count’s household.
“How long are you going to keep using formal language? You can speak casually, you know.”
Olivia said with a hint of annoyance. Abel hesitated before responding.
”…O-Olivia.”
“Good. From now on, please speak comfortably.”
Demian, sitting across from them, watched the pair with a look of mild irritation. He wished them well, but he had no intention of enduring their lovey-dovey exchanges.
Demian stood up.
“Where are you going, brother?”
“Outside. You two enjoy yourselves.”
He climbed out the window onto the roof of the carriage. Victor, the coachman, looked up in confusion.
“Master? Is something wrong?”
“No, nothing. Just focus on driving.”
Sitting on the roof, Demian opened a pocket dimension and retrieved an item: the heart of a spirit, his prize from the jousting tournament.
The award ceremony had been canceled due to the chaotic circumstances, but as promised, the count had given Demian the prize for his victory.
“Absorbing this is going to be a task.”
The spirit’s heart was like a solid, compact stone. It couldn’t be absorbed without first being dissolved.
Demian needed to use his magic to stimulate the heart and melt its spirit energy. Even for someone of his skill, it was no easy feat. But the reward was worth it.
If he could absorb the spirit energy, he would gain not only magical power but also the spirit’s abilities.
“The power of a spirit…”
Spirits were immensely powerful beings with countless abilities.
“Many elves have absorbed spirit hearts to gain their traits.”
Some elves had gained heightened senses by absorbing the heart of a wind spirit, while others had acquired impenetrable skin by absorbing the heart of an earth spirit.
Those who absorbed a spirit’s heart invariably became stronger than the average middle-class warrior.
“What traits does the heart of a fire spirit grant?”
Demian was intrigued because the heart of a fire spirit was notoriously rare, and no elf had ever been known to possess its powers.
He couldn’t predict what he might gain.
“First, I need to absorb it.”
Throughout the carriage ride, Demian channeled his magic into the spirit’s heart.
That night, Jacques Noire attacked Demian.