The words were harsh, but perhaps that was exactly what would work best for soone like Hayes. In fact, after hearing Luke’s words, his pupils wavered slightly, as if he had fallen into deep thought.
"You bastard is strong."
Hayes finally gave his answer, but Luke just smirked as if it didn’t matter.
"You’ve fought before."
Both Benji and Hayes had a history of fighting Luke. Moreover, they had been utterly overwheld by his strength and montum in those battles, leaving them still sowhat intimidated by him.
"What do you think you’re going to do with that hand…"
Hayes struck a nerve, and the smile on Luke’s face cracked slightly as his eyebrow twitched.
"Kids these days really have no manners. Hey, isn’t that my line?"
"I had no choice back then—I had to survive. But you, on the other hand, were an adult, yet you were so desperate to catch a kid like ."
"You must not know, but in a fight, age doesn’t matter. Winning is all that counts."
Luke had no desire to engage in a petty argunt with a brat, but he also couldn’t let the comnt slide. More than anything, back then, he hadn’t even considered Hayes’ age—he had been desperate in his own way. After all, he had wanted to do whatever he could to stop the war in the empire.
Hayes glared at Luke with a resentful expression, while beside him, Benji anxiously held onto his friend’s hand, trying to calm him down. As the two exchanged childish remarks, Theo, standing beside them, sighed once again.
"Yeah. That bastard used to say the sa thing to us. Winning is everything."
Luke, who had been about to retort, froze. As if snapping back to the topic himself, Hayes’ comnt made Benji and Theo look montarily surprised, shifting the mood in the room.
"You already know what kind of environnt we grew up in from what Benji told you. What else do you want to know?"
That was as good as saying he would cooperate. It seed Luke had successfully stirred up Hayes’ deep-seated hatred.
"Anything you know. The organization’s size, the leader—whatever you can tell us."
At Theo’s question, Hayes nodded slightly.
"The organization isn’t that big. Basically, the leader takes on jobs and hands them down to field agents like and Benji, but there aren’t that many jobs in the first place."
Field agents like Hayes and Benji were those who had been given the ans to stabilize and use the corrupted mana granted by the leader. However, according to Benji, most of the children involved in that process didn’t survive.
"When I left to join the mbren War, there were ten field agents in total. Now that Benji and I are out, that leaves about eight."
So there were still eight more children being used by that bastard. Luke felt a heavy sense of unease.
"Does the leader of Nox have an ultimate goal?"
Every cri has so underlying motive. Whether it’s for money, revenge, or fulfilling so personal ideology.
But when Luke and Theo had gone to the library to investigate, they found that Nox had been active for at least ten years, yet their cris had no clear pattern from beginning to end. There was no discernible goal—just pure chaos, making it seem like Nox was nothing more than a group of madn committing atrocities at random.
"No, there’s no goal. The leader moves purely for money…"
This ti, Benji was the one who answered.
So he was just a rcenary who did anything for a price? As Luke fell into thought, he noticed Hayes glancing between him and Theo, as if he knew sothing. Luke furrowed his brow and snapped,
"If you’ve agreed to cooperate, then do it properly."
"…"
Hayes bit his lip and sighed deeply.
"I’m not sure, but… haven’t you ever thought sothing was strange?"
"What do you an?"
Before Luke could point out his vague wording, Theo imdiately followed up with a question.
"When I joined the mbren War, and when Benji infiltrated the western part of the empire this ti—Nox was always targeting Heiner."
Luke and Theo’s eyes widened at the sa ti. They quickly exchanged glances. It was such an obvious connection, so why hadn’t they noticed before? Perhaps because they had convinced themselves that the leader of Nox was simply a madman taking on any job that paid well, they had never thought to narrow down the target itself.
Thinking about it now, both mbren and Welharun had targeted Heiner. One might think that was only natural—since the empire was thriving, it was only logical that the other nations would want to take advantage of its prosperity. But now, sothing about it felt unnatural.
Two separate nations, with no particularly strong alliance or common interests, had targeted the empire. And the organization supporting both of them from the shadows, providing them with power, was Nox.
Could this really be a coincidence?
"…So Nox’s final target is Heiner?"
"That’s what I think. The leader has been building up this organization for a long ti, carefully choosing useful pawns to grow its strength. And now that it’s strong enough, I don’t think he’s just moving for money anymore."
"Isn’t that a bit of a stretch?"
Hayes pondered for a mont before shaking his head.
"When the leader took on the Heiner-related jobs, he was different. Normally, he’d take on any request and throw us into missions without care, but once he started dealing with Heiner, he stopped accepting other jobs altogether. And when he sent to the mbren War, he made it clear—this mission had to succeed, no matter what."
Hayes confessed that the leader had pressured him so much about the mission’s success that it had been unbearable. Then, Benji, who had been quietly listening, suddenly clapped his hands.
"Now that I think about it… he said sothing similar to too. That he hoped his wish would finally co true this ti, that it would be amazing if it did…"
"A wish… Does he have a personal grudge against this empire?"
Luke murmured to himself. No matter how he looked at it, that was the most likely answer. But if that were the case, what could possibly have driven him to want the empire’s destruction so badly?
"Hayes, you seem to know more than Benji."
"Oh, I lived there longer than him. And the leader favored quite a bit. Called his ‘prized disciple’ or whatever."
Hayes scoffed, but his voice carried a deep exhaustion, a trace of pain that seed far too heavy for soone so young.
"I’ll tell you one more thing… He used to mutter sothing often. He said it so much that I got sick of hearing it."
"What was it?"
Benji nodded quickly, agreeing.
"He said… that sothing had been taken from him, and that he had to return the favor."
"Revenge."
Luke found the most fitting word, and Theo nodded in agreent. The most common, yet most fundantal, motive for cri—revenge.
So the leader of Nox harbored a personal grudge against Heiner. To achieve his vengeance, he had stirred up conflict in the neighboring countries, orchestrating these events from behind the scenes.
Or perhaps… even the very founding of Nox and its growth had been just one step in his grand plan for revenge.
"Hayes, do you know the leader’s na?"
It was sothing they had asked Benji before. But Benji had said that the leader never gave his na, instead making the children call him ‘Father’ or ‘Teacher.’
"When I first joined Nox… back when I still thought he was a good person…"
Hayes furrowed his brow as he struggled to recall a distant mory.
"I rember seeing a na written at the bottom of a book in his room. I think it was his."
"Do you rember it?"
Hayes tapped his forehead as he tried to bring the mory back. The handcuffs around his wrists clinked a few tis before his eyes suddenly widened.
"…Felix."
That was the only trace he had ever seen, written in an old book. Even Hayes seed surprised that he had rembered it just now. It was certainly an important clue, and both Luke and Theo nodded.
"One last thing. I need you two to draw his face as best as you can rember."
Theo placed two sheets of paper in front of them. Hayes and Benji exchanged glances before obediently sketching the face.
But then Hayes spoke.
"Not that it’ll help much."
"What do you an?"
"The leader can change his face. He covers his real appearance when eting clients."
Theo narrowed his eyes as he took the drawings. Luke, standing beside him, clicked his tongue.
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