Those Who Live Without the Law

Chapter 226

Preparing for the Next Challenge (1)When Kairus asked whether she could use Angelene’s Answer, Irena answered immediately.

“I can.”

It was nothing more than bravado.

Until she actually held Angelene’s Answer, there was no way to know whether Irena possessed the qualifications to wield that monstrous greatsword.

“You know what happens if you fail.”

At Kairus’s words, Irena nodded and then quietly made a popping sound.

Angelene’s Answer would make the body of whoever held it explode with a bang if they lacked the skill to withstand its output.

“It’s dangerous enough to make Veil of Plumed Mist look tame by comparison.”

If someone unqualified wielded Veil of Plumed Mist, their blood vessels would shatter.

But Angelene’s Answer did not stop at merely destroying blood vessels. It blew people apart alive.

After quietly listening to Kairus, Irena spoke coldly.

“You gave me a chance.”

There had been no obligation for him to hand Angelene’s Answer to Irena. But Kairus had given her the choice.

If she wanted, she could claim Angelene’s Answer.

“It might not be a chance.”

At Kairus’s reply, Irena clenched her fist tightly and stared out the hospital room window as she spoke.

“Kairus, my family died too.”

Of course, unlike him, they had truly rebelled and failed rather than being falsely accused, but in the end, her house had likewise vanished at the Emperor’s hands.

Naturally, Irena also wanted to kill the Emperor.

“You don’t need to warn me that it’s dangerous. Your goal and mine are the same, and I want to help you.”

“You’re already helping me now.”

A faint smile appeared on Irena’s face at Kairus’s response.

“That makes me happy. But.”

In the scenes Irena remembered, she had always been the one receiving Kairus’s help, never the one giving it.

“I’m going to use Angelene’s Answer. If an unqualified person grabs it, their body explodes?”

Irena’s eyes turned cold.

“If this useless body can’t succeed at the things I want to do, the things I have to do, then maybe it deserves to explode.”

“I respect your decision. Angelene’s Answer is yours now.”

Kairus placed the large box he had received from Cecilia in front of Irena. Inside rested Angelene’s Answer.

“It’s fine if you use it, but try it after you’ve fully recovered if possible.”

“Alright. Um, thank you.”

Hearing Irena’s gratitude, Kairus burst into laughter.

“I’m looking forward to seeing whether you can still say that after your body explodes from trying to use Angelene’s Answer without knowing your limits.”

“I’d still be grateful.”

An unexpected answer came back.

Kairus stopped mid-sentence and stared at Irena suspiciously for a moment, lost in thought.

“I’m glad to hear that. I hope you can use it.”

“Yeah.”

Their brief conversation came to an end, and Kairus returned to his own hospital room. His injuries were far too severe to recover from after only a few days of rest.

It was a full two months later when both Irena and Kairus were finally discharged.

“Hospitals really are boring.”

The season Kairus’s body still remembered was spring, but when he stepped outside, he was greeted by the sunlight of early summer.

“It’s hot. I don’t have any summer clothes.”

“Neither do I.”

At Kairus’s words, Irena let out a soft hum.

“Then should I pick some out for you while we have the chance?”

Kairus pondered briefly before answering.

“Later. Not now.”

There were countless thoughts and meanings hidden inside those words. Even Irena, who had just offered to choose clothes for him, could vaguely sense the many things concealed within Kairus’s response.

“Alright, then definitely later.”

That concluded her earlier suggestion. Now it was time to bring up another topic.

“I’m a little worried about Angelene’s Answer being a greatsword.”

Up until now, Irena had never used a greatsword before.

“Do you think it’ll be a problem?”

“A little. I think I’ll need time to adapt to it.”

As someone who had ended up wielding a greatsword-type battle gear instead of the weapon she was most confident with, Irena could not help but feel deeply worried.

“You’ll do fine.”

“Vague words without evidence aren’t comforting.”

Kairus smirked slightly at Irena’s somewhat dissatisfied reply.

“Vague words without evidence, huh.”

Irena would adapt to Angelene’s Answer soon enough. She was a woman talented enough for that.

“Of course, adapting to a greatsword and surviving the use of Angelene’s Answer are entirely separate matters.”

Kairus pointed at the enormous box still strapped to Irena’s back and grinned.

“If I die, cremate me and scatter the ashes over the Imperial Palace.”

At Irena’s words, Kairus let out a low hum.

“I’ll remember that.”

“At times like this, you’re supposed to tell me that won’t happen.”

Kairus snorted.

“You really like interfering in other people’s lives.”

After grumbling like that, Kairus and Irena headed toward the office, where they found Nora Galatea lying on the sofa.

“…Ah, today was your discharge day, right? You both worked hard.”

Nora, who had been dozing off with a newspaper covering her face, checked Kairus and Irena’s faces before lazily waving a hand a few times.

“You could’ve at least cleaned the office properly.”

After looking around the office, Kairus threw out a remark toward Nora.

“Oppa… I’ve been pretty busy too, you know. Do you have any idea how hard the Lunaseekers have been working since Dana Watson died?”

The Emperor was still alive, but Dana Watson was dead. The Republic had been desperately trying to exploit the current opportunity with all its might.

“Do we slowly gnaw away at the Empire’s territory, or do we seize Bennett during this opening?”

According to the Lunaseekers’ judgment, the Republic had to choose one of the two. The core of the report they submitted to the government was that they could not have both.

“In the end, greed’s always the problem.”

Through a report spanning several hundred pages, the Lunaseekers had begged them to choose one option, but the Republic’s government became greedy.

To be precise, it was the citizens of the Republic who became greedy.

“They tried to do both at once and ended up failing at both.”

When Kairus spoke in a tone that seemed to mock the Aylan Republic, Nora held her forehead and shot back.

“Still, the Aylan Republic didn’t have a rebellion break out, you know?!”

“It’s true they missed a good opportunity.”

The Aylan Republic should have coveted the Empire’s territory. Instead, they hesitated because they could not let go of the Antaria Grand Canal, merely sucking their fingers and watching, and in the process lost their chance to swallow up the Empire’s land as well.

“Ah, right. A few days ago, I got authorization to use this.”

Nora casually held something out toward Kairus and Irena. It was a dagger shaped like an hourglass with blades attached to it.

“The Lunaseeker director gave you Moon Sand?”

Nora smoothly hid Moon Sand back at her waist and answered.

“If it turns out unni can use Angelene’s Answer, then I’ll keep using Moon Sand too instead of returning it.”

The mission the Lunaseekers had assigned Nora was to monitor and observe Kairus and Irena. And to properly monitor and observe them, a certain balance of power was necessary.

“If both of you end up using insane battle gear like that, then I’d have no way to properly carry out my mission as a Lunaseeker.”

That was why Younia had specially lent Moon Sand to Nora.

“If I wrap this mission up well and return… maybe in a few years, you’ll get to see me become the director of the Lunaseekers?”

Nora let out a sly little laugh toward Kairus and Irena. After staring at her for a moment in thought, Kairus asked a question.

“Do you think Moon Sand can break through the Guardian of the Nation’s immortality?”

At Kairus’s words, Nora snapped her fingers sharply before answering.

“Considering how Moon Sand works, it’s impossible.”

Nora briefly explained Moon Sand’s ability to Irena and Kairus.

“If I stab oppa from the past with Moon Sand, he doesn’t die the moment he’s stabbed.”

If Moon Sand worked that way, then everything Kairus had done after being stabbed by the dagger would be erased from existence.

“Even if I stab oppa’s heart from ten years ago with Moon Sand, Dana Watson won’t come back to life.”

Rather, Kairus would simply be treated as having lived all the way up to the present moment with a dagger lodged in his heart. Everything Kairus had done until now would become things he accomplished “while having his heart pierced by a dagger.”

“…That’s complicated.”

Nora scratched her head roughly before nodding.

“I understand how you feel, oppa. When I first held Moon Sand, my brain almost broke and I nearly became a vegetable.”

After saying something horrifying so casually, Nora shrugged.

“You don’t need to understand how Moon Sand manipulates time. That’s something only I need to know.”

After humming to herself in thought for a moment, Nora suddenly clapped her hands.

“I’ll just explain the result simply. If Moon Sand is used, then the Guardian of the Nation you’ll face will be one of two versions.”

Denver Hudson moving around perfectly fine despite having his heart pierced.

Or simply a perfectly fine Denver Hudson. The core thing those two versions had in common was simple.

They were perfectly fine.

“I’d rather just fight Denver Hudson normally.”

A man moving around perfectly fine despite his heart being pierced was not a sight Kairus wanted to see. In any case, it seemed impossible to deal with Denver Hudson’s immortality using Moon Sand.

“Then what’s the best way to deal with Denver Hudson’s immortality?”

At Kairus’s words, Irena answered.

“If I can use Angelene’s Answer, won’t that solve it?”

While one of them held him back, the other could take the Emperor’s head. It was the plan Kairus had originally conceived.

“I think I might’ve been mistaken about something.”

After fighting Dana Watson, Kairus had advanced even further. After all, Dana Watson herself had personally acknowledged him as the head of the house.

‘If he charges in without caring whether he dies….’

Denver Hudson would probably be able to stop Kairus and Irena while dying dozens of times over. Continuing his thoughts for a moment, Kairus suddenly smiled faintly.

“But well, if Nora joins us with Moon Sand, then it won’t really be a huge problem.”

At Kairus’s words, Nora let out an awkward laugh.

“Oppa, sorry. I want to help too, but headquarters ordered me not to get involved in this.”

In other words, Nora could not cooperate in eliminating Denver Hudson.

“…Why?”

At that moment, Irena glared sharply at Nora. Nora looked back at her with a slightly hurt expression, and Irena eventually relaxed her face a little as if she had no choice.

“Tell me the reason.”

“Unni, I’m a Lunaseeker. A spy sent from the Republic into the Empire. If I participate in killing the Emperor of the Empire….”

“Even if we succeed, it could become a diplomatic issue.”

A Lunaseeker from the Republic had participated in killing the Emperor of the Empire. Even if Kairus succeeded and replaced the Emperor, the Valorn Empire would still have more than enough justification to protest the incident.

And the Aylan Republic would have no excuse against that protest.

“It’s not something that can be done secretly anyway. I understand your position.”

“Thanks for understanding, oppa. Instead, I’ll do my best to help with other things.”

Nora could not participate in this operation. To deal with Denver Hudson for good, they needed a more delicate method rather than simply charging in recklessly.

At that moment, the sound of someone knocking on the office door echoed through the room.