Seed of Titan-Chapter 214: The Unexpected Culprit

"Have you contacted Auri?" Max asked in reply.

"Yeah, but she hasn’t replied yet," Drai said while glancing at his uneventful comm.

Max sipped his coffee before letting out a long sigh. "That’s because she can’t. She’s been hurt during the attack, so now she’s too weak to do anything and is recovering in a healing chamber."

"WHAT!?"

Drai’s abrupt shout startled the other customers on the second floor, prompting Drai to bow apologetically before turning to Max again.

"How the hell did that happen, Max? I thought your security was top-notch!" he said with a much lower voice.

"That’s what I thought too. Freddy told me it’s been so long since anyone even tried anything, that’s why most of my family was in disbelief when they heard the news, thinking it was a bad joke or something. Really, I feel like those bunch are out of touch after not experiencing real danger for so long."

The two suddenly paused since Drai’s coffee was about to arrive. Only after the waitress had left did they resume the conversation.

"So why did Uncle Alancho tell me to contact Auri? Does he not know that she’s been hurt?" Drai questioned.

"Probably. We’ve contained most of the details, and I’m guessing my siblings pressured the police to do the same too. That’s why there’s barely any news about the attack. We did this because of the circumstances that I mentioned before."

Recalling the matters surrounding the Velles that Max refused to divulge that dawn, Drai finally grabbed his coffee, inhaling its fragrance deeply before taking a sip as he tried to calm down. Max also gulped his while adjusting his fake beard that had shifted sideways.

"Will Auri be alright?" Drai then asked.

"Seems so. Luckily Cassian was there to soften the blow to her neck, otherwise she might just be in another world right now."

"Oh? That guy recovered already? So Angel’s not guarding Auri anymore?"

"Cassian’s still adapting to his new arm—courtesy of you, of course—but he’s doing fine overall. And Angel has returned to her old duties under Reina. The unfortunate thing regarding Cassian’s recovery is, if it were Angel instead of him who was guarding Auri that afternoon, my grand-niece probably wouldn’t have gotten hurt this badly."

"Yeah, he’s kinda weak. I guess Auri’s position doesn’t really justify a stronger guard," Drai remarked as he was reminded of Christo and Liam.

"Maybe she’ll get a stronger aide after this. Rudiger and Phrycia kept fussing about it these past two days."

"Can’t blame them—their daughter almost got killed after all. Anyway, what exactly happened? And how did your security fail?"

"I’ll let you know how the culprit managed to infiltrate our estate first—it’s pretty absurd. So, do you know Marcus, Penny’s husband?"

Drai recalled the jolly man whom he met a couple of times during his stay. Compared to his wife, Marcus looked way younger, so much that Drai thought he could even be younger than Max. Drai had a pretty good impression of him since he had treated Drai almost like a same-aged friend. Perhaps another reason Drai was quite comfortable interacting with Marcus was because the man lacked the sense of grandeur emanating from the other elders with Velles blood.

"Yeah, I remember him. He looks younger than you, honestly," Drai mentioned.

"That’s because he is younger than me by a few years. I don’t know him well since he got together with Penny after I went missing, but I kinda dig his character, at least the one he’s been showing. Anyway, apparently Marcus is an avid collector of exotic antiques, especially those that nobody else in Rivideria might possess, which brings us to the attack. Now, try guessing how the culprit went through our security."

Connecting the few dots, Drai surmised, "Did he pretend to be an antique dealer?"

"Decent guess, but no—that would pose little risk since he would be monitored closely by several guards, even during a transaction," Max said as he took another sip. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Drai contemplated again in silence, but he eventually gave up and shrugged as he couldn’t think of any other possibility related to Marcus being an antique collector.

"The culprit disguised himself as a mummy," Max finally revealed.

The answer left Drai speechless. Even though Max had mentioned earlier that it was supposed to be quite absurd, Drai couldn’t have expected such an outlandish method.

"He was an excellent one too," Max added. "He got delivered around noon that day in an old-looking ornate coffin, completely wrapped in bandages. Of course the guards didn’t dare damage what they believed to be a real mummy, so they simply scanned it with a bio-detector."

"Let me guess, the culprit passed the scan?"

"Bingo. I don’t know how, but the detector showed no signs of life from the mummy, which was why they eventually transported the coffin to the package room for Marcus to collect."

Hearing this, Drai was a bit taken aback. Even after staying in the Velles estate for two whole weeks, he never realized they had a dedicated room just for a package pickup point.

’I guess it’s not that unreasonable with dozens of people living there,’ Drai silently concluded.

Meanwhile, Max continued, "From the security footage, we know that the culprit got out of the coffin just minutes before the attack. The footage showed him activating either a concealment skill or device, which allowed him to go undetected until he struck."

"Huh? Why would he try so hard getting in just to reveal himself shortly after? Wouldn’t that be too much of a waste?" Drai couldn’t help but voice his puzzlement.

"What do you think he should’ve done?" Max asked back with a knowing gaze.

"I don’t know, look around more maybe? The culprit must’ve been sent by a rival or enemy of your family, so why not collect more information first? If he did that, he might’ve discovered other holes in your security or other weaknesses. Surely that would’ve been more meaningful than killing a few guards and servants before escaping, right?"

"You’re not wrong, but what if he came because of a personal grudge? Wouldn’t that justify him attacking the moment he saw his target?" Max countered.

"Well, duh, but that’s just a possibility."

Seeing Max quietly sip his coffee again instead of responding, Drai immediately pieced together the implication and asked, "How do you know?"

Max put down his empty cup and half whispered, "What I’m telling you next should stay between us, Drai. I know that my grand-niece was hurt by the attack, but I don’t think my family can deal with this matter since their hands are pretty full. That’s why I decided not to inform them about this."

Drai was quite nerved by the confidential nature of Max’s revelation, but he didn’t object or let it show. Instead, he asked, "So why are you telling me? It’s not like I can help with this matter, especially since I’m in service for who knows how long."

"I’m not expecting you to help either. I’m telling you this because you’re directly related to the matter."

"Related how?"

"I’m sure he also has a grudge on you."

Hearing this, Drai frowned. His thoughts flew as he skimmed his memories, attempting to pinpoint any person who might hold a grudge against both him and the Velles that would have warranted murder.

"Who?" Drai eventually asked after failing to identify any potential culprit.

"Well, I don’t know exactly who he is, and you probably know him even less."

"Huh? That doesn’t make any sense. How could he hold such a grudge against me then?"

"Because you popped his subordinate’s head a few weeks ago."

"...Oh."

Drai finally realized who the culprit was. Recalling the Crimson Order’s team leader that tried to ambush him and Max at his house, Drai agreed with what Max said. Not only did he never get to see the man, Drai had also completely forgotten how his voice sounded.

"So the person that he attacked first was you?" Drai deduced.

"Yeah. I was just done with work and went outside for some fresh air when I sensed his bloodthirst. He’s actually far below my level, so avoiding his ’surprise’ slash was trivial. I think he also realized the unbridgeable gap between our skills, so he went for the ones close to us instead, which unfortunately included Auri, who had just returned home from her classes."

Recalling the scene, Max shivered a bit. The gruesome sight was nothing to him since he had experienced savagery for countless days, but thinking of how his grand-niece’s head had nearly been lopped off right before his eyes still shook him.

"Why didn’t you catch the guy?" Drai asked.

"I would’ve if my grand-niece wasn’t dying," Max replied with an eye roll.

Ignoring the sarcasm, Drai pressed, "You could’ve at least webbed him a bit, you know? Maybe he would’ve slowed down enough for others to capture him."

"You think I didn’t try? That trick doesn’t work on him. I know I said there’s a wide gap between us, but that only really matters in a direct confrontation. Catching someone who’s trying to run is a lot harder than beating someone who’s coming at you. Did you forget that we even managed to escape from millions of insects back then?"

Drai nodded, thinking that this made sense. Recalling his own pursuit two days ago, he figured that he wouldn’t have captured his target that easily had there been innocent people around since even Ghost who was far below got injured from his blasts.

While Max shamelessly sipped Drai’s coffee, its unbothered owner asked, "So what now?"