SCT-Novel Chapter 165 : Interference - 3
Chapter 165 : Interference - 3
After stirring Odline up,I woke from the dream.
Kaid fidgeted nervously as he spoke.
“Aaaah. I seriously thought my heart was about to leap out of my chest. By the way, Master seems to have become even more unbearable since I last saw him. Don't you think?”
“Kaid. Could you please shut up for just a moment?”
“Ah... Y-Yes.”
“......”
“Can I talk now?”
I slowly shook my head before speaking to the group.
“I've more or less laid the bait. Let's head back.”
“Do you think it'll work?”
“At the very least, it worked on Odline. To him, Magireta's hood was the ultimate treasure. He said that if Drod had really burned it, then it meant war.”
“So that hood was a treasure to him... He's completely insane after all.”
“Well, I suppose the servant resembles the master.”
It was an outright jab at Kaid, but the fool didn't even realize it.
Aina spoke.
“The problem is how Drod will respond.”
“......”
“What if he tries to avoid a war by denying it? What if he insists, 'I never burned the hood'?”
Exactly.
That was the only concern in my plan.
I merely shrugged.
“If that happens, I'll play the Listening Device's recording for Odline. It contains the sound of something burning, along with Beat's testimony... or at least something close enough.”
“I see. That's a relief.”
“But I doubt it'll even come to that.”
Everyone tilted their heads.
I leisurely continued.
“For some reason, Drod doesn't seem like the type of Monster who'd lie out of fear of war.”
“Doesn't seem like it? You've never even met him.”
“No. Well...”
I'd never met him.
But I had seen him.
I'd observed Drod through the Future Diary's Observer Perspective.
Of course, you couldn't determine someone's personality just from their face.
Still...
The impression I'd gotten was that he was upright and stubborn.
Stretching, I continued.
“If everything goes according to plan, Odline and Drod will go to war.”
“In other words, they'll fight each other.”
“Hm. Then the condition for killing an MVP will finally be fulfilled.”
“That's right. When that happens, Magireta will come looking for us first.”
To resume the Hidden Rule modification we'd postponed.
Karin asked,
“But that still doesn't solve the root of the problem. Magireta is eager to kill Odline, but she has no intention of killing Drod.”
“Right. That's why we have to take the long way around.”
“The long way around?”
I slowly explained.
“I'm going to make Drod owe me a favor.”
Drod was in the basement of his residence.
Unlike the basement beneath Odline's house—which was a contaminated area crawling with maggots—this place was clean.
Comfortable, even.
Because he'd put considerable effort into creating such an environment.
All for the sake of the person before him.
“My dear.”
“My love...”
Today, fortune was on his side.
His wife, Renia Kuhalim, was still in her right mind.
Drod smiled gently.
“How are you feeling today?”
“I feel refreshed. I can't remember the last time I felt this good.”
“It seems you're gradually improving. Just hold on a little longer.”
Instead of answering, Renia simply gave him a sorrowful smile.
In truth, both Drod, who offered those words of comfort, and Renia, who received them, already knew.
Her mysterious Madness would only continue to worsen.
At first, the attacks came only once every month or two.
Now...
She lost her sanity five times a day.
Even so, Renia accepted her husband's clumsy encouragement.
“Thank you for saying that.”
“It's nothing.”
“How's Beat?”
“Well... something happened recently, but overall she's healthy. Don't worry.”
Renia tilted her head.
She wanted more details.
But Drod said nothing.
No matter how tirelessly he'd researched it, he'd never discovered what caused her madness.
He couldn't carelessly mention that Beat had swallowed a maggot.
What if that triggered another attack?
So he changed the subject.
“Speaking of Beat... she misses you terribly.”
“......”
“Our daughter has grown so much.”
“Don't you think it's about time we told her the truth?”
“No!”
Renia cried out in horror.
She wrapped both arms tightly around her shoulders.
Her fingernails dug into her skin.
She bit her lip.
Her eyes turned crimson.
Soon, patches of red spread across her entire body.
“I told you no! I've told you over and over! I can't be with that child!”
“......”
“If you hadn't stopped me, I might've killed her! With my own hands!”
“So how could you say something like that?! Why would you say that?! Why would you say such such such aaahhhhhhh!”
Without warning, Renia lunged at Drod.
Drool dripped from her mouth.
Only the whites of her eyes remained visible.
‘Again...’
With the bitter feeling of chewing gall, Drod subdued her.
Thud.
He gently struck the back of her neck, carefully knocking Renia unconscious.
He'd lost count of how many times these hands had knocked his own wife unconscious.
Renia collapsed into Drod's embrace.
Holding back tears of blood, Drod gently laid her on the bed.
Just then—
“Hey. Drod Kuhalim.”
An unfamiliar voice echoed from behind.
Turning around, he saw a handsome Monster standing there.
It was Odline.
Since he wasn't in his maggot form this time, Drod hadn't recognized him immediately.
But after a moment, Drod nodded.
“The Third MVP.”
“Yeah. I've got something I want to ask you.”
“How did you get in here?”
“I possess the Authority to manipulate space. More importantly, I wanted to ask—”
“Leave.”
“This place is absolutely off-limits.”
“I said I wanted to ask—”
“I'll overlook it this once, considering you're an MVP.”
Sigh.
Odline roughly scratched his head.
Then his gaze turned icy.
“I said I've got something to ask you, you son of a bitch.”
“Hmph. Do you have a death wish?”
“You want to find out?”
“How about I use Crystallization right here?”
“Your wife will get caught in it too.”
At those words, every trace of emotion disappeared from Drod's face.
The two simply stared at one another in silence.
It was Drod who withdrew his killing intent first.
He had no desire to let his wife suffer in any way.
“What do you wish to ask?”
“Last time, I told you to send me Lady Magireta's hood. Remember?”
“I believe you did.”
“Why didn't you send it?”
“No... forget that.”
“What I really want to know is...”
He pronounced every word clearly.
“What did you do... with that hood?”
Drod answered as though it were nothing important.
“I burned it.”
“......”
“I had no intention of keeping it.”
“Nor did I intend to return it to you.”
“The only thing I considered was returning it to Lady Magireta.”
“......”
“But by then, it had been covered in some maggot and filth.”
“There was no point returning something like that to Lady Magireta only to disgust her.”
“So I simply burned it.”
Odline lowered his head.
His body slowly...
But unmistakably...
Began trembling.
‘What's wrong with him?’
Drod couldn't even begin to imagine what was going through Odline's mind.
“Heh... Hehehe... Ahahaha!”
“Have you lost your mind?”
“Drod. Listen carefully.”
“What?”
“That deranged wife lying over there...”
“And your daughter—Beat or Baguette or whatever her name was.”
“......”
“This building...”
“The Monsters living throughout your territory...”
“Even the very existence of the Second MVP!”
Drod simply watched him without changing expression.
He wanted to see just how far this lunatic intended to go.
Odline continued.
“I'll erase all of it.”
“What do you mean by erase?”
“How dull.”
Creak.
“It's war, you damned bastard.”
The following morning.
I woke up rather late.
When I went downstairs, my companions greeted me with sleepy faces.
We exchanged greetings.
Had breakfast.
Finished a cup of tea afterward.
And once the dishes were washed—
“Little brother. I'm here.”
Magireta appeared.
For some reason, she looked rather impatient.
I answered casually.
“You're here?”
“You don't seem surprised. It's as though you knew I'd be coming.”
“More or less.”
“I assume Odline and Drod have started fighting in Hell?”
“I stirred Odline up yesterday.”
“......”
“You found out about it and came looking for me.”
“We need to modify the Rule as quickly as possible.”
Before the fight—
Or rather, the war between Odline and Drod—
Reached its conclusion.
Magireta let out a light sigh.
“That lunatic Odline even gave this war a name.”
“He's calling it the 'Holy Hood War' or something.”
“He should really pace himself when acting insane.”
“Well, everyone already knows he's completely unhinged, so let's move on.”
“More importantly, there's something I'd like to ask.”
I lowered my voice.
“The Rules don't apply retroactively, do they?”
“...That's right.”
“In other words, up until this very moment, neither Odline nor Drod has broken the Rule.”
“Correct.”
“So you're running out of time.”
“If we wait until after the war ends and there's already a winner and a loser, modifying the Rule will be pointless.”
“You'll lose your opportunity to eliminate Odline.”
Magireta frowned.
Scrape.
Without a word, she pulled over a chair and sat down.
Crossing her legs, she asked,
“So you're planning to negotiate with me. Am I right?”
I grinned.
“Calling it a negotiation is a bit much.”
“I just wanted to ask you for a small favor.”
“I already know what you're going to ask.”
“You want me to dispose of Drod along with Odline.”
“My answer is no.”
“Absolutely not.”
“......”
“Helena already died... or rather, ceased being an MVP.”
“Odline will die this time.”
“That leaves only two MVPs.”
“And now you want me to get rid of Drod too?”
Magireta wasn't refusing simply because she liked Drod.
If Drod disappeared as well, only one safety mechanism would remain.
That was what truly worried her.
“Don't worry.”
“That wasn't what I was going to ask.”
“Then what?”
“You know Drod's wife is suffering from Madness, don't you?”
“Of course I know.”
“What I don't know is how you found out.”
“Please cure her Madness.”
“That's my request.”
Magireta's eyes widened.
So did everyone else's.
A moment later, Armelia asked,
“Mason, why would you help Drod? I mean, your kind heart is certainly...”
“We committed an atrocity against Drod's daughter.”
“He hates us because of it.”
“And there's no ordinary way to repay that.”
“Unless we cure Drod's wife?”
“Exactly.”
“We caused his daughter suffering.”
“But in return, we'd free his wife from hers.”
“If we do that, don't you think Drod's anger will finally subside?”
Sienne tilted her head.
“Will that really be enough to calm him?”
“Yes.”
“He seems to cherish his family deeply.”
“Especially his wife and daughter.”
“I think what he wants most is for them to be together again.”
“If his wife's Madness is cured, mother and daughter will finally have their long-awaited reunion.”
“......”
“Drod will be grateful to me.”
“Well, even if not grateful...”
“At the very least, he won't try to kill me anymore.”
Everyone nodded.
Looking at Magireta, I asked,
“What do you think, Sis?”
“You can grant me this much, can't you?”
Magireta's face filled with hesitation.
She folded her arms and pondered for quite some time before answering.
“I think I'd be the one taking the loss.”
“At least according to the Trade Scale System.”
“Sometimes you have to accept a losing deal.”
“Can't you ask for something else?”
“No.”
“I'm sorry, but this is the absolute furthest I'm willing to compromise.”
I'd deliberately echoed the words Magireta herself had used yesterday.
Perhaps that annoyed her, because she frowned.
I asked,
“To begin with, I don't understand why the Scale tips in my favor.”
“Honestly, with your Omnipotence, this isn't even a difficult request.”
“Of course it isn't.”
“The problem is...”
“I've committed a certain sin.”
“Hm?”
With a sigh, she continued.
“Drod's wife's Madness...”
“That's my fault.”