Chapter 30: Chapter 27: A game of gain and loss

A few hours before, in the evening.

“You don’t know?” Kai asked, taking the piece of parchment from Arlen’s hands. “It is what it is.”

“Don’t play games with me, boy.” Arlen fumed. His blue eyes had almost become black, darkened by the abundant lamplight behind him. “It is a powerful spell. Who told you about it?”

Kai had slipped the roll of torn parchment when Arlen was towering over him. Their heated discussion was enough for him to slip it into Arlen’s pocket without getting noticed by Desmond and Sonia. But he couldn’t hide it from Arlen.

At least the man has the brain of a killer, Kai had thought about Arlen then.

“No one told me, captain,” Kai said, tearing the paper and throwing it into a lamp. The parchment became ash in no seconds. “It was used against me.”

“Haha!” Arlen let out a roaring laugh, but never took his eyes off Kai. “Used against you, you say. Am I talking to a ghost, then?”

He doesn’t think I can survive, Kai thought. And why should he? I would be dead if it wasn’t for my Glitch.

“A witch from the Order used the Skill,” Kai said. A longsword appeared in his hands, not before the appearance of the wand in Arlen’s hands. The Captain of Guard took a step back, like a beast about to lunge on its prey. Kai ignored him. “There were two others with her. I got this from the Contestant of the 1st floor after I killed him.”

“You? You killed a 1st floor’s Contestant?” Arlen asked, his voice full of doubts. But the longsword was proof even he couldn’t deny. “Something’s wrong with this. Absolutely wrong.”

Kai knew he was talking about his claim of slaying the Contestant. The longsword disappeared back to his Inventory and Kai took a seat on the empty stool Sonia had left behind.

“You see, captain, I have two Elementary Abilities,” Kai admitted. It must have shocked Arlen because the man’s mouth opened to say something, but no words came out. “He wasn’t as strong as Simon, I can tell. But there was a newbie with him.”

Then Kai briefly told him all about the ambush, the strange appearance, and him killing the two Contestants. It was a plain, beautiful story with no gore and mention of blood.

A tale of a hero.

Kai chuckled to himself many times as he told it to Arlen.

“When the witch came downstairs, she was already injured,” Kai said. “If I wasn’t already running for the door, the spell could have hit me. Let’s cut to the chase, captain. You already know what I am trying to say.”

Arlen didn’t speak. But the wand had vanished. There was a fit of strange anger on his face, Kai could tell. It differed from the one Arlen had been showing towards Kai since his arrival in the random world.

“Desmond…” Arlen muttered, his teeth rubbing on each other.

“Yes.” Kai nodded. “But he isn’t the mastermind.”

That shocked Arlen. “What do you mean?” he asked, and Kai knew the captain had already answered himself. He just wanted to hear it from Kai.

You are reading story Demonic Resurrection: Pawns of the Evil Systems at novel35.com

“Sonia’s the one who had set up that meeting,” Kai said, giving Arlen’s thoughts a reality. “But something went wrong between that witch and Desmond. Something, I don’t know.”

 Kai didn’t wait before telling what happened next. Desmond’s state, Sonia’s Item, and Desmond’s plan to deal with Arlen. The blue-eyed Captain of Guard didn’t move for many minutes after that. His eyes were on Kai, but his mind must have been wandering. Kai could see his eyes blazing now and then, with anger and realization.

“How do you know Desmond isn’t wrong?” Arlen asked, his shoulders relaxing for the first time. “What if it was I who had contacted the Order’s Contestants?”

“I asked myself that,” Kai said. “After killing me and Desmond, you would have to kill Sonia too. You know it. It would have cost you two powerful guards and a meat shield. And for what? I refuse to believe there isn’t a Contestant of your caliber among the enemies. Why would he or she give up on the mission for just the three of us? No, captain, you couldn’t have been in cahoots with the enemy. Because you had almost nothing to gain, and everything to lose.”

Kai’s reasoning was so flawless that even Arlen hadn’t thought from this angle. Its each word made sense. An awkward silence took over their conversation then. Arlen knew what was happening, that much Kai could tell, but he didn’t know why.

“Why are you telling me all this?” Arlen asked warily. “Desmond and Sonia’s plan is flawless.”

“Unlike you, they both have everything to gain and nothing to lose,” Kai said. “I can only guess, but I believe it was Sonia who meant to go with me to the shop. But you paired her with Shae. And whoever newbie had gone to the shop was destined to be sacrificed as a token of Sonia’s goodwill. But you would have gone mad if Shae had gone missing. So Desmond used me. If I am being honest, I feel a little offended.”

“Humph!” Arlen snorted at the mention of Shae. But he didn’t deny it was truly so. “It still doesn’t explain why you are helping me. You could have easily helped Desmond and Sonia too.”

Arlen wasn’t satisfied. Kai felt as much.

“If I had helped them,” Kai said, shrugging, “what would I have got in return? Unlike you, and Desmond and Sonia, with them I have nothing to lose and nothing to gain. And I don’t like it one bit. Not at all! Thank you very much.”

Arlen and Kai looked into each other’s eyes.

“Good thing I still have your proof letter,” Arlen said, at last. “Otherwise, I would have thought you weren’t a newbie.”

Good thing you don’t know it is a fake copy then, Kai thought, his lips twitching.

“Go on,” Arlen said. “Tell me what you want, then.”

“A Side Mission, all kills, and loot.” Kai listed.

“Loots?”

“Yeah,” Kai said, an evil grin on his face. “I say, why don’t you give Desmond and Sonia a chance, Captain? Let’s get our trouble’s worth out of this situation. Haha!”

---

AN: If you didn't understand something, then do comment to let me know. I can clear your doubt, and would also get to know how to improve this chapter, in case of any confusing element. Thank you :)

You can find story with these keywords: Demonic Resurrection: Pawns of the Evil Systems, Read Demonic Resurrection: Pawns of the Evil Systems, Demonic Resurrection: Pawns of the Evil Systems novel, Demonic Resurrection: Pawns of the Evil Systems book, Demonic Resurrection: Pawns of the Evil Systems story, Demonic Resurrection: Pawns of the Evil Systems full, Demonic Resurrection: Pawns of the Evil Systems Latest Chapter