I'm the Crazy One in the Family-Chapter 356: Who’s Crazier? (9)

Keter, who had appeared out of nowhere, suddenly asked Lerkin.

“If you could save only one person, who would you save?”

The knights with Lerkin now were all loyal retainers willing to die for him. He was close enough with each of them to know their name, so he wanted to save them all. However, Keter wouldn’t have asked him to choose just one if that had been possible.

“I’m sorry.”

Lerkin grabbed the wrist of the youngest knight among them. At the same time, the demonic monsters attacked, and Keter grabbed both of them by the backs of their necks.

“Hold your breath.” Keter leaped toward the hole in the ceiling through which he had come down.

Of course, the demonic monsters weren’t just going to watch. They rushed at him or launched ranged attacks. However, Keter’s Kaleidoscope blocked them.

“Aaaaaah!”

The knights left behind did not resent Lerkin. Instead, they charged at the monsters to buy time.

The reason Keter had insisted on choosing only one person was that the hole was too small. If they didn’t pull their shoulders inward, the walls would scrape them. Moreover, the location itself was the worst possible terrain for Keter, an archer. It was a narrow, enclosed space. In a place like this, Keter couldn’t fight properly, no matter how strong he was.

Well, I could manage somehow if it were just me.

The monsters of the Demon Capital weren’t weak enough for him to fight while protecting someone. That was why Keter had escaped with only Lerkin and one person he chose. Of course, simply escaping did not suit Keter’s temperament. Just before reaching the surface, he shot an arrow down into the hole.

Milky Way, Grape. Unlike the ordinary Milky Way, which exploded once, Grape exploded eight times in a row, and the range doubled with each explosion. Because of that, it was an attack capable of collapsing even the largest underground space.

Boom!

The explosion that began underground took less than a second to collapse the whole underground area. Naturally, the demonic monsters, handlers, and knights below were buried alive the instant they were caught in the blast.

As the underground caved in, the ground deeply sank. Keter, who had already reached the surface, set Lerkin and the young knight down and pressed his palm against the ground.

The others had been buried ten meters underground along with the explosion. Even a Grandmaster wouldn’t have been able to survive, but demonic monsters of the Demon Capital could have, so Keter delivered a finishing blow. He compressed the underground space without leaving a single gap. If any monsters had still been alive, they would have been crushed into pulp.

Meanwhile, Lerkin bit his lower lip until it bled. There used to be a small village above where the underground hideout had been, but now it was in ruins. The smell of blood belatedly struck his nose, and the violently slain corpses came into view. Wounds torn open by something. It was obvious they had been killed not by people but by monsters.

“If they wanted to kill me, they could have just killed me. Why kill innocent civilians...”

Lerkin’s fists trembled.

Keter patted his shoulder and asked, “So, have you been well?”

“I was, until yesterday. What business did you have to come find me? You surely didn’t come just to ask about how I’ve been.”

Keter couldn’t hold back a smile. When he had first seen Lerkin, he had thought he was an ordinary man full of greed. However, the Lerkin had now grown into someone quite fitting of a leader. Above all, Keter liked that Lerkin skipped what wasn’t important and immediately got to the point.

“I told you in the beginning that everything was part of the plan. You’ve done well until now.”

“Have I become useless now?”

Perhaps he had gained insight as well, because Lerkin looked at Keter with a rather sharp gaze.

Originally, Keter had planned to say that it was true. He had intended to dismiss Lerkin here and take his forces, and then use that to pressure Rukan. However...

“No. From now on, it’s not about the plan. I have come to request your cooperation. We’re going to subjugate Prince Rukan, who’s become a monster.”

“Are you saying you want me to form an alliance with Sefira?”

“Not just Sefira. Prince Rakan is with us, too. You can think of it as a Crown Prince Subjugation Force.”

“Alright then.”

Keter simply blinked as he had been about to say more to persuade Lerkin.

“Should it be announced officially, or is it a secret treaty?” Lerkin asked.

“You’re just accepting it like that? Aren’t you curious what conditions there are, or what happens after Rukan is defeated?”

“I am curious, and concerned. However, I have decided to trust you. That alone is enough.”

“Well then...” Keter scratched the back of his head.

It had rather become an awkward situation. The person he had meant to casually use completely trusted him. Being a kind person, Keter was the type to spare even someone he intended to kill if they trusted him like that.

For some reason, Lerkin looked at Keter with reverence, then he said, “If it weren’t for you, I’d still foolishly be living on that deserted island. You also saved my life just now. How could I not trust you? You are the savior of my life.”

“Well, if that’s how you see it,” Keter replied and shrugged.

Lerkin had simply accepted it since there was no downside. There was no reason to refuse.

“Tonight, or at the latest tomorrow, the subjugation force will launch an ambush on Rukan. Once we strike him, he will definitely come out to intercept us, so when that happens, you must recapture the empty city.”

“And after retaking the city, shall I officially announce the alliance?”

“Wouldn’t the person on site know the best timing for that? Handle it as you see fit.”

“Is that all?”

“That’s all.” Keter nodded.

At that moment, the ground began to tremble. It was clear that hundreds of horses were galloping from the vibrations alone; Lerkin’s reinforcements had arrived nearby.

Keter held out his hand to Lerkin and said, “Looks like I won’t need to escort you.”

“Thank you, and I look forward to your help going forward as well.” Lerkin grabbed Keter’s hand with both of his and bowed.

That level of courtesy made it hard for Keter to simply send him off.

“The reason I knew where you were is that you had one of my hairs on your body. I slipped it on you when we first met. Shall I remove it?”

“What are you talking about? Why would I remove something so precious? If anything, I’d like to ask for more. I survived thanks to that, didn’t I?”

“Hm... Then you might as well keep this, too.”

Keter handed Lerkin a business card. However, it was no ordinary card. It had been modified for two-way communication.

Lerkin received it with both hands as if it were treasure.

“I shall treasure it.”

With that, the two parted ways.

Lerkin returned to the main camp under the escort of his knights. As soon as he arrived, he summoned his ministers. As Lerkin waited for all of them to gather, he turned the card Keter had given him into a necklace and wore it.

Just before attending the important meeting where he had to identify the traitor, he kissed the card and murmured, “Please grant me wisdom, Lord Keter.”

That night, Lerkin succeeded in identifying the traitor among the five ministers.

***

Three forces divided the Lillian Kingdom into two. Crown Prince Rukan, Second Prince Rakan, and King Consort Lerkin. After meeting all three and carrying out his schemes, Keter returned to Sefira and was already preparing to leave somewhere again.

Daat asked, “You’re leaving without even eating dinner?”

“I’m going to eat when I get home.”

Going home meant he was going to Liqueur. Keter had been banished from Liqueur. He had even been warned not to return. Yet, he was going back again. That was by no means a trivial matter, and that was the reason he was packing all sorts of things.

“Will you be okay? If the monsters of the Demon Capital start rampaging, things won’t end nicely."

Humans knew moderation. They knew how to surrender, and they also accepted surrender. However, monsters had no such common sense. They killed everything they saw and wiped out every single person. That was the nature of monsters. Moreover, someone with the power of at least a seven-star was essential to properly kill monsters of the Demon Capital. If someone as versatile as Keter was absent, it would be difficult to fill in the gaps.

“I’m going to Liqueur precisely because I don’t plan to hold back.”

Stuffing top-grade elixirs into his belongings, Keter suddenly smirked.

“Now I finally understand what my masters meant when they came to Liqueur.”

Keter had always been curious why those who had held the position of absolute beings in the outside world would come to Liqueur. Thus, whenever he met one of his masters, he asked them why they had come to Liqueur of their own will. Every time, they gave the same answer.

“Because there is something I’m looking for.”

It was the same for Keter now.

“What doesn’t exist in this world exists in Liqueur.”

“You sound like you’ve attained enlightenment,” Daat said.

“Something like that.”

There was no proof, but he could feel that the answer was in Liqueur, that surely everything he wanted to know was there. The whereabouts of Queen Lillian, who exactly Akrah was, and where she was. What kind of existence Keter was, and even the Godfather’s purpose, too. He felt that he might even be able to learn the reason why this world existed if he went to Liqueur. At the same time, he was certain that this was the most dangerous moment of his life.

“Dork.”

“Why are you serious all of a sudden? You’re making me nervous.”

“Do you have any more top-grade elixirs?”

“I was stupid for expecting anything. No top-grade ones, only high-grade.” Daat shrugged.

“No need then. I’ve got everything I need.”

Having gathered all the top-grade elixirs, Keter removed the carpet. A teleportation magic circle leading to Liqueur was revealed. It had originally been broken when he brought Daat here, but Daat had restored it.

Keter put Ein into Akrah’s ring and immediately poured that power into the teleportation circle. The mansion shook as if it might collapse. Soon, scarlet sparks scattered everywhere. With a deflating sound, the magic circle broke.

“It doesn’t work.”

“Seems so.”

Keter hadn’t expected it to work, so he wasn’t disappointed. Still, he needed to confirm whether teleportation to Liqueur was possible or not, and now it was confirmed.

If teleporting into Liqueur was impossible, then teleporting out would be impossible as well. Having Akrah’s ring, which allowed free passage to and from Liqueur, wouldn’t change that. Of course, the physical path to Liqueur itself hadn’t disappeared. The road on the surface was open, so he could just walk there.

“I’ll really get going now.”

He had no regrets, so there was no reason to delay leaving.

Just as Keter opened the window and was about to jump out, Butler Jacques, who had been waiting outside, flung the door open and rushed in.

“Lord Keter!”

The urgency in Jacques’s voice made Keter stop in his tracks.

“What is it, old man?”

“My apologies while you’re about to depart, but there’s one thing I must ask...”

“What is it?” Keter urged him because he wanted to leave quickly.

Butler Jacques took a deep breath and then spoke seriously. “Have you recently removed and eaten a cow’s heart by any chance?”

At the absurd question he had never expected, Keter stepped back down from the railing.