Chapter 53

Two Ice Dragons killed in the blink of an eye. Witnessing such a surreal sight, El and Lifa were left utterly speechless.

Harold himself, however, showed no signs of fatigue, fear, or even excitement from the clash. With the same frigid expression he had worn all along, he looked down at the slumped Lifa and spoke.

"What are you doing?"

"Huh?"

"Weren't you here to collect biological samples of the Ice Dragons? Those carcasses should serve your purposes perfectly."

"—You're right!"

Lifa was dazed for a moment, but she sprang to her feet in the next instant. Rolling up her sleeves with sudden vigor, she marched toward the massive corpses of the dragons.

Between the speed of her recovery and her undaunted moxie, she was proving to be a formidable character in her own right.

Standing a short distance away from them, El struggled to suppress the tremors wracking his body. It was a primal terror, hammered into his instincts before his mind could even process what he had seen.

Suppressing it was no small feat.

"I’d heard the rumors, but your strength truly lives up to them. I’m impressed," El said, forcing a mask of composure over his face.

Upon hearing El's voice, Harold’s features twisted into a mocking sneer.

"Look who's talking. What you've gathered is far more concrete than mere hearsay, isn't it?"

"I wonder what you mean by that?" El feigned ignorance with an innocent tilt of his head.

It was a test born of pure curiosity. From the information gathered so far, it was clear that El was intimately familiar with Harold’s circumstances. He knew Harold didn't actually see him as a mere traveling companion. He had deliberately played dumb to probe exactly how much Harold knew about him.

The response he received was enough to shatter his composure.

"Stop the pointless posturing, Giffelt."

Harold spoke El's true identity plainly, as if it were a triviality.

El had never introduced himself by that name. He had provided no information that could lead to such a definitive conclusion. He wondered for a moment if Harold was merely bluffing, but the boy’s gaze held the weight of absolute certainty.

"…Giffelt? You mean the Giffelt? Do you really think a child like me looks like such a legendary figure?"

"Giffelt is the clan name your people use. Anyone belonging to that bloodline has the right to use it. Am I wrong?"

An even greater shock than before jolted through El. Harold's words were pinpoint accurate.

The name "Giffelt" did not belong to a single individual; it was the collective title of a clan. Men, women, children, and the elderly—any member of the family could adopt the name. They each traded in information and shared their findings within the clan. The "Information Broker Giffelt" was a fictional idol, an amalgamation of their collective efforts that nonetheless possessed a very real presence in the world.

This system was a law passed down to ensure the clan’s existence remained a ghost. It was their most vital secret.

How did he know? Even if Harold had encountered another Giffelt in the past, El couldn't imagine them disclosing the clan’s internal structure to this extent. Yet, El knew that "absolute" was a dangerous word. The fact remained that Harold knew, which meant the secret had leaked from somewhere.

"Well, it doesn't really matter," Harold continued, treating the Giffelt secret as if it were nothing more than a conversation starter. "So, tell me. How much do you know about me?"

For El, this was unbearable. Harold held his clan's secret over his head, and how he chose to use it was entirely at his whim. It was a maliciously effective way to threaten someone. El couldn't stop the mental images of the worst-case scenarios that would follow if he lied and was caught.

"If I told you that what I said to Lifa was everything, would you believe me?"

"Impossible," Harold snapped instantly.

Of course he wouldn't. The "truth" El had fed Lifa was a fabrication—a cover story prepared specifically so that anyone investigating the suspicious verdict of the Deliberation Chamber would find it. It was built on a foundation of facts, but it was a lie nonetheless.

The Royal Capital’s Deliberation Chamber sat at the apex of the kingdom’s legal institutions. Under normal circumstances, no verdict would be overturned simply because a prestigious noble complained. The mere fact that someone had prepared a trail for investigators to follow proved how abnormal that trial had been.

However, if El had stopped his investigation there, he might not have been cornered like this. The primary cause of his current predicament was undoubtedly his use of the word "Subject."

The official cover story was that Harold had escaped execution by agreeing to cooperate with a specific research project. Because Harold could play a vital role in a project cherished by the Kingdom, he had been granted the status of a "Servant" to atone for his crimes.

(I might have stepped in a bit too deep...)

El had thought that using the term "Subject" would rattle Harold and allow him to dig closer to the hidden truth. That was why he had used Lifa to goad the boy. Instead, he had been hit by a counterattack he never could have anticipated.

But El took a breath and reconsidered. Having the clan's secret exposed was a massive threat, but at least he now knew that Harold was aware of it. If he had remained in the dark, he might have stumbled into an irreversible disaster later. Now, he could at least move to avoid that future.

"I’ll ask you once more. Answer me."

Pressed again, El steeled his resolve.

How much did he know about Harold? Though the question was broad, he had a good idea of what Harold was looking for. He wanted to know if El understood the reality behind why Harold was called a "Subject."

And El did know.

It was information that had been difficult to believe at first, but after witnessing Harold's terrifying strength, El was convinced it was either the truth or something very close to it.

Would Harold kill him now that he knew? It wouldn't be surprising in the least. However, if Harold truly understood how the Giffelt clan functioned, El doubted he would be so reckless. Even if the information was dangerous enough to warrant silencing a witness, El was a Giffelt. Once a secret reached the internal network, there was no way to stop its spread.

They were essentially standing over a pair of linked bombs. As long as neither side triggered them, there was a chance for a peaceful resolution.

"…It seems I can’t hide anything from you. Just as you suspect, I have grasped certain facts that are quite inconvenient for you. To be honest, I’m still undecided on how to handle them."

Now, think, El added mentally. He needed Harold to see that killing him would yield little benefit—and carry too much risk.

"After all, you obtain that immense power by shaving away your own life. Information about the development of such an inhuman weapon... if handled incorrectly, we would both be in grave danger."

◇

Harold possessed an overwhelming advantage in this world: his knowledge of the original game. That knowledge usually allowed him to stay one step ahead. While he had encountered several unexpected twists, he had managed to snap every death flag he encountered thus far.

However, even with his "cheat" knowledge, there were two people he feared might outmaneuver him. One was the mad genius scientist and final boss of Brave Hearts, Justus Freund. The other was the information broker, Giffelt, who practically possessed meta-knowledge within the game’s systems.

Giffelt was a massive unknown. Did their information stay within the logical bounds of this world, or could they look down upon the world from a higher dimension, just as they did in the original game? He didn't know if they were an ally or an enemy, and he lived with the constant risk that they would expose his myriad secrets.

He had always believed that if he could make them an ally, they would be an incredible asset, but that any contact had to be handled with extreme caution.

Yet, by some strange twist of fate, he had encountered one during a mission from Justus. Then, for some reason, the person had offered to accompany him.

To be honest, if it had been Giffelt alone, Harold might have refused. But Lifa was there to act as a buffer, and he had wanted to gauge her current level of strength anyway. Harold's plan was to use the journey to evaluate Giffelt when the opportunity arose.

And now, Giffelt had spoken the words that changed everything.

He had looked at the crystal-embedded sword Justus had developed and concluded it was "a weapon that grants power in exchange for the user's life."

Inwardly, Harold was stunned, but more than that, he was impressed.

(The name Giffelt isn't just for show... You actually figured that much out.)

That "fact" was actually the final line of defense Justus had set up, a lie meant to deceive the kingdom's high-ranking officials so Harold could serve as his pawn. By making it look like Harold was a "Subject" sacrificing his life for research, Justus had provided the government with a face-saving way to revoke the execution.

Because the deal involved toyed with human lives, it couldn't be made public, so it was only shared as "truth" among a very exclusive circle. Even for a specialized group like Giffelt, reaching national-secret level information—including the mechanics of experimental weaponry—was a testament to their world-class reach.

What was truly terrifying, however, was Justus, who was successfully evading the pursuit of such a group. Working for a man like that while planning an eventual rebellion was a tightrope walk.

But Harold had expected this. He wasn't so overconfident that he thought he could do everything alone. Currently, it was difficult for him to move freely outside of Justus's commands.

That was why he needed collaborators. With Giffelt’s network, he could move them—his allies—efficiently. He absolutely had to pull this person to his side.

"……I see. You've delved that deep," Harold said, his voice heavy with gravity.

The atmosphere seemed to affect El; the boy’s face grew slightly pale. In the game, El rarely showed emotion, but Harold found it much more convenient if the boy took this seriously.

"The information you've obtained is something only a handful of people in this kingdom are permitted to know. I cannot simply look the other way now that you have it."

"……Then, are you going to kill me?"

"Yes. It is the quickest solution."

El gasped, his face draining of what little color remained.

"However, that is a foolishly short-sighted move. It isn't even worth considering."

"Eh?"

"Your abilities have utility. Join my ranks and use that power for me."

"……Are you... recruiting me?"

"If it sounds like anything else, then your ears are malfunctioning."

"Join you, or refuse and die, huh..." El muttered under his breath.

Harold had absolutely no intention of killing El even if he refused. He realized his phrasing was aggressive, but he didn't want to back down and ruin the pressure of this "ultimate interview."

"I have no particular interest in your life or death. If you wish to refuse, do as you please."

"……Heh. If that's true, then I have no risk in refusing. Is that really the case?"

"No, that's where you're wrong. Refusing my invitation is a risk you cannot afford to take."

"I don't follow."

"Then I'll put it in terms you'll understand. Don't you want the 'Memory of the Stars'?"

El's composure shattered completely. Surprise, doubt, and a dozen other emotions flickered across his face in a chaotic blur.

"H-How do you know about that... Do you even know where it is...?"

"I have no obligation to tell the current 'you'."

Harold obviously couldn't say it was knowledge from the original story. However, seeing this reaction confirmed that even this version of Giffelt wasn't some "cheat" entity with meta-knowledge of the world. That made them much easier for Harold to deal with.

"So, what will it be? Will you move one step closer to Giffelt's long-cherished dream, or will you let this opportunity slip through your fingers?"

"……There is too much I don't understand, and too much that is suspicious. It's impossible for me to just 'believe' you... but it's true that my people would sacrifice anything to find it."

"Then confirm with your own eyes whether my words are true. I don't require your trust or your faith for that process."

In reality, if things proceeded according to the original plot, El was almost guaranteed to find the "Memory of the Stars" anyway. Harold was simply taking credit for it in advance.

El, unaware of this, fell into a brief silence before finally accepting the negotiation. He dropped to one knee and bowed his head.

"I entrust my power—the power of Giffelt—to you. Please use it as you see fit, Lord Harold."

"Show me results rather than a humble attitude. That is all I ask."

Harold looked down at the kneeling El, maintaining his usual arrogant facade. Inwardly, however, he was ecstatic.

Giffelt was now in his camp. Combined with his knowledge of the original game, it might finally be possible to outmaneuver Justus.

Only a few months remained until the start of the original story. Piece by piece, the foundation for his counteroffensive was coming together.

---

Author's Note: Since several readers commented that the Ice Dragon felt too light, I decided to make them a bit heavier. Since they're clad in thick ice, I figured about one ton sounds right. If they have magic, they can fly even at that weight—it just makes Harold's "inhuman" strength in blowing away a one-ton monster even more impressive.