# Chapter 100
After the secret meeting with Raziel.
Hest recalled that day’s events every day, barely getting proper sleep.
Honestly, he couldn’t fully believe everything Raziel said, and even if he truly was Levi’s brother, Hest couldn’t trust him rashly.
Above all, he needed to confirm whether Raziel was really the Emperor of the Caron Empire and whether he was indeed the person keeping Levi.
Raziel, guessing Hest’s mind, made him a proposal.
“Send someone who will absolutely never betray you to the imperial palace of the Caron Empire. If you show this, they’ll be able to enter not only the border but also the imperial city of the Caron Empire without trouble.”
What Raziel handed over was a black coin engraved with an ash-colored dragon.
Though skeptical at first, surprisingly, his subordinate who was given the coin reported entering the Caron Empire’s imperial city without any problems. Not only that, they even assigned him as one of Levi’s exclusive attendants.
In the process, Hest could also confirm that the core fragment of Levi that Raziel had shown was real.
If one possessed Levi’s core fragment, they wouldn’t die even if they directly contacted his Black Hand.
This was exactly what he had heard when his father and former Princess Claudia discussed Levi’s fragments. However, he hadn’t revealed this knowledge to Raziel.
Nevertheless, Raziel seemed to assume Hest knew that possessing the fragment could help avoid death, so he deliberately emphasized that point.
It was beyond amazing—it was frightening.
‘How does he know all of this?’
He knew everything, even what Hest thought was his alone to know. It was enough to make him wonder, even in jest, if Raziel might be a god.
Then, through his subordinate, Raziel’s message was delivered.
“I’ve shown you my cards to earn your trust, now it’s your turn to move.”
What Raziel wanted wasn’t something dangerous that would put Hest in a difficult position.
He wanted Hest to recommend to the Emperor of the Delos Empire people who could serve as an investigation team for Ion Verdit, who was desperately searching for Levi.
The group designated for the investigation team was the slave traders of Narkisa, a tiny country situated between the southern borders of the Delos Empire and the Caron Empire.
‘Is he really a god?’
His tongue involuntarily clicked.
The mention of Narkisa’s slave traders included details about Ion’s past connections with that place. It also added that Ion would readily work with them to find Levi, regardless of the past.
Hest pondered repeatedly but couldn’t find anything clearly harmful in the content.
Whether Raziel would keep his word that “if Levi wishes, I’ll send him to Ion” as stated in his message was uncertain, but arranging for them to meet wasn’t a bad thing. Rather, Hest thought it would be beneficial if they could somehow bring back Levi, who might otherwise remain hidden deep in the Caron Empire’s imperial city. Though the matter of the black fragment definitely bothered him.
Even at this point, Hest hadn’t firmly made up his mind.
As Raziel instructed, he arranged for Narkisa’s slave traders to be used as Ion’s investigation team and made contact through the secret passage between the Black Forest and the Delos Empire that Raziel had provided.
But the result was disastrous.
Raziel had set up the situation so that Levi would inevitably misunderstand Ion. He deliberately placed several skilled archers to cleverly target them and incited Levi to believe it was Ion’s doing. If Hest hadn’t used smoke to take Ion away, even someone called the Holy One would have ended up a corpse.
‘Raziel, you bastard!’
While cursing Raziel inwardly, he couldn’t speak about his dealings with him.
The final conversation he had with Raziel on that first day kept binding Hest.
“If you reveal to anyone that you met with me, I will immediately kill Levi.”
“What?! You crazy bastard!”
Despite Hest jumping up and shouting, Raziel maintained a cold, expressionless face, as if devoid of any emotion.
“It doesn’t matter if he revives after a few years of death. Then we can just proceed with the plan again.”
“Ha…!”
It was an outrageous statement, but Raziel’s eyes didn’t seem to be lying. Rather, they conveyed a resolute, fierce determination, as if he would personally shatter Levi’s core without hesitation if necessary. He seemed to have no attachment, probably because the body could regenerate anyway.
But Hest absolutely couldn’t allow that.
It wasn’t just Ion who couldn’t bear to see Levi die and turn to ash again.
Hostage.
Levi, so precious to Hest, was being held hostage by Raziel. Not only that, but Raziel also possessed “the way to escape being a monster” that Levi so desperately wanted.
Because of this, Hest couldn’t go against Raziel’s words from the beginning.
But…
“Ion.”
If there was one person he couldn’t hide it from, it was him.
“Actually, I’m a spy.”
Contrary to what Hest thought might be impossible, Ion had relentlessly pursued and finally recaptured Levi.
The day after Ion returned to the Grand Duke’s mansion.
Walking out of the imperial city’s grand hall with Ion and entering the garden, Hest boldly revealed his identity.
When he suddenly announced he was a spy, Ion’s face contorted as expected, as if to say, “What nonsense is this?”
“Are you drunk?”
“I’m not drunk, and I’m speaking with a perfectly sound mind. I’m saying I’m a spy for the Emperor of the Caron Empire.”
“A spy for the Emperor of the Caron Empire…? If you’re going to go crazy, please do it gracefully. You’re scaring me.”
“This guy, has he only been fooled his entire life?”
Hest told Ion everything that had happened, in detail. At first, Ion looked indifferent, but gradually his expression hardened until finally, he grabbed Hest by the collar, breathing roughly.
“Can I hit you once, for starters?”
“Sure. Go ahea—!”
Before Hest could finish saying “go ahead,” he felt a violent pain as if half his face was flying off. The impact was so great that he collapsed to the ground afterwards. It was fortunate that he had sent away all the servants around; otherwise, it would have caused a huge commotion.
“Tsk… almost bit my tongue off.”
Though he narrowly avoided biting his tongue, something inside his mouth must have burst properly as red blood flowed down the corner of his mouth. The metallic taste of blood in his mouth wasn’t pleasant at all.
Though it couldn’t be helped, Hest was essentially the one who had caused the rift between Levi and Ion, so he got up prepared to take a few more hits.
But somehow, Ion’s face looked unexpectedly relieved, contrary to expectations.
“Let’s consider all the past events settled with this.”
“What?”
It was such a refreshingly simple price that Hest was dumbfounded. Since Ion cherished Levi more than his own life, Hest thought he would have no right to complain even if Ion beat him to the brink of death, but he forgave him so easily?
“Is it really over with just one hit? Hey, do you know how rare it is to have a legitimate opportunity to beat up a Marquis?”
“What’s the point of hitting you more? It’ll just hurt my hand.”
Looking at Hest’s cheek, which was already starting to swell, Ion chuckled and let out a bitter sigh.
“Since Levi was held hostage, you had no choice. How can I blame you for that? Bluntly speaking, if you hadn’t followed Raziel’s words, Levi might have really died.”
Ion’s face froze coldly, as if imagining Levi dying.
Running a hand over his face and taking a deep breath, Ion asked seriously:
“According to Chepel, that black fragment was supposedly a substitute for regular food, but in reality, it wasn’t just that, was it?”
“…That’s right. My father and the Princess also said those fragments were necessary to make Levi’s core complete.”
Thinking about it now, it was certain that both Hest’s father and Claudia wanted to make Levi’s core complete, meaning they wanted to help him “live without having to kill humans.” Although he wasn’t sure of his intentions, Raziel seemed to want the same.
“We’ll need to find out more about Raziel. Though he can’t possibly be Levi’s brother, we absolutely can’t ignore the matter of the Black Hand and the fragment.”
Ion placed a hand on Hest’s shoulder as he wiped the trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.
“So from now on, please act as a ‘double agent’.”
“What?”
Looking at the bewildered Hest, it was Ion who wore a puzzled expression instead.
“Why are you pretending not to know? The fact that you confessed everything about Raziel without having a plan in the first place means you want to stand on my side and find a way to mess with that bastard, doesn’t it?”
“Does it work that way?”
“Isn’t it?”
Ion lightly patted Hest’s shoulder, as if to say it was actually a good thing.
“Pretend to follow Raziel’s orders just like now, and bring me all his information.”
Though his tone was light, Ion’s eyes were infinitely serious.
“It’s time we found out exactly what relationship this Raziel has with Levi and what he’s trying to do.”
