Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 331 (Part 2):

Helmut’s eyes narrowed.

He recognized the man immediately. A trained swordsman’s gait.

Though the man’s appearance was unfamiliar, his aura was unmistakable—a presence shrouded in ambiguity, his entire being steeped in a weighty atmosphere.

‘He’s gotten stronger.’

Even though he would be an opponent Helmut could finish in one strike, being incomparably stronger than he was four years ago, the man was still powerful.

‘Talon.’

Helmut whispered that name in his mind. The leader of Hawk Eye and a key figure in Black Hawk.

He had one chance left to request information from him. One chance he couldn’t waste carelessly.

He had been thinking he should meet him soon, but he hadn’t expected it to happen in this moment.

‘Did he recognize me?’

Even though he had changed his appearance with magic, he didn’t think Talon wouldn’t recognize him.

But Talon didn’t give Helmut even a glance. His eyes were focused solely on Terra, the representative of Rodril.

He greeted her politely with a gentle, relaxed tone.

“I am Talon of Black Hawk. Lady Terra of Rodril.”

“Black Hawk… aren’t you those underworld groups? I heard you started operating officially with recognition from the Kingdom of Veneta.”

“If you know that, this will be faster. We deal in buying and selling information.”

Information. That word sounded particularly meaningful.

“We exist in the darkness, and thus can access information that hasn’t spread in the light. This information is advantageous to some and disadvantageous to others. But what’s certain is the value that information holds. Whether big or small, unknown information always has value.”

Information from the darkness that others shouldn’t know.

Until recently, Rodril had no such secrets. But now they did.

Because her troublemaker son, Sian, had brought it all with him.

Terra asked slowly.

“…So what do you know?”

Terra almost unconsciously glanced at Helmut. If what they were talking about was Helmut… The positions in this negotiation could instantly reverse.

The scale that had been tipping in Terra’s favor would at least become balanced. It would be fortunate if it didn’t tip the other way.

Talon paused briefly. His eyes remained perfectly calm. Talon’s hand moved.

“The granddaughter of Archmage Heike, the enemy of the Temple.”

His finger pointed precisely at Alea, who sat there in disguise. Caught off guard by the sudden situation, Alea’s eyes widened.

Talon posed a simple question.

“If the Temple learns that she is among Rodril’s party, what do you think they will think about Rodril?”

An expression of dismay crossed Terra’s face. She had completely forgotten about Alea. Everyone had.

Helmut was also an issue, but even if they didn’t bring him up, there were many other points they could use against them.

Charlotte, the Duchess of Renosa who had left Greta Academy, was another one.

Though her existence alone wasn’t enough reason for blackmail, Alea’s case was different.

Charlotte had no enemies, but Alea had one—the temple itself, an immensely powerful adversary.

“Even the Temple wouldn’t dare to…”

Terra’s voice trailed off. That was because even she couldn’t be certain about this issue.

“Archmage Heike’s residence remains unknown. The Temple tracked her but failed to capture her. So they targeted her blood relatives instead.”

That meant Heike’s bloodline. The Temple is unyielding when it comes to those they consider sinners. Once they realized they couldn’t catch Heike herself, they had killed her children.

That’s why Alea had become an orphan.

There had been considerable resistance, and the Temple had lost many troops.

But the Temple still hadn’t withdrawn their designation of Heike as a sinner.

The Temple, at least, didn’t hesitate to pay the price. They would eliminate those they needed to eliminate, no matter the cost.

Even if their opponent was Rodril.

That was what the Temple called their sacred duty. To them, such confrontations were holy wars, a divine obligation.

Moreover, hadn’t Heike recently caused friction with the Temple?

Heike was a witch who had threatened the sacred barrier. They announced that she was a target that must be eliminated with absolute priority.

“If the temple learns of this, they will undoubtedly question Rodril’s ties to Heike. No excuses will suffice. And unlike Veneta, they won’t show mercy.”

When Teresa reported Alea’s presence, the king immediately summoned Talon.

Both the King of Veneta and Talon had kept this method as a last resort, with no intention of using it.

But when the matter involved an enormous sum equivalent to one-third of the national treasury, it was different. It was worth bringing up for negotiations.

Though they weren’t sure how a fight between Rodril and the Temple would affect Veneta, and while they weren’t keen on the Temple freely entering and leaving Veneta’s territory using Rodril as an excuse, it wouldn’t be bad for Veneta if the Temple permanently removed Rodril.

Even though it was practically equivalent to waging war, and thus a strategy they couldn’t choose lightly.

To Terra, who had lost her words, the king asked steadily:

“Now, are you willing to reconsider the terms of our deal?”

After looking back and forth between the king and Talon briefly, Terra sat back down.

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