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Side Stories: Chapter 17

The stress and wariness made him look visibly haggard that the Karuwiman priest working with him for the festival even asked, “Is there anything going on, sir?”

Of course, Wesker replied that nothing was going on. He couldn’t honestly tell the priest about the deal he made, and his arrogant personality didn’t want to admit that he was fretting over a matter like this. A part of him was ashamed that he felt anxious when he should always exude elegance and ease as a noble. No matter what Wesker felt, time continued to go at its own pace.

Finally, the promised day came. Wesker felt uneasy the whole time, and he headed to the promised location long before the appointed time. All sorts of thoughts swirled in Wesker’s head as he walked. What would happen if those guys didn’t keep their promise? Was it really right to trust a Bellid? How would he be able to track them down if they escaped with the dragon’s body? Would he even be able to catch them? Yet, when he opened the door of the worn-out house where the last meeting took place, all the worries he had disappeared instantly.

“You sure came early.” Piros was just like how he was a couple of days ago, and he was sitting in front of an old table.

‘Thank you Karuna.’ Wesker thanked God Karuna without a second thought. If Karuna had really heard him, then they would’ve scolded Wesker about collaborating with the Bellids in the first place if he really felt grateful.

“You look very nervous. Did you think I was going to run away with the goods or something?”

“…Who are you saying is nervous?” Wesker bluffed like he had been confident the whole time, yet the dark circles under his eyes easily proved otherwise. Piros snickered at Wesker inside his mind.

‘Acting all tough when he’s so weak,’ Piros thought, but he didn’t show his thoughts on his face.

Instead, he said, “Is that so? I must’ve been mistaken. Sorry about that.”

“Just give me the item back,” Wesker demanded and Piros had to hold back his laughter; it was because Wesker looked like an agitated dog wanting to go to the toilet even though he just claimed that he had never been nervous. Thus, Piros thought that it wouldn’t be too bad to tease Wesker a bit.

“Why are you in such a hurry? There is still so much time left. Why don’t we have some tea that we couldn’t enjoy last time? I brought a clean and nice teacup. Though it may not compare to the ones that nobles use, I think you would find it suitable for a single…”

“Just give me the damn item!” Wesker said in annoyance. Piros thought about agitating Wesker even further, but seeing Wesker’s seriousness, he handed the dragon’s body back to him.

“Here it is.” Piros took out the dragon’s corpse, and Wesker stared at the dragon’s body. The weight he felt was the same as before. Wesker also tried knocking and pulling on the skin. It felt the same as several days ago. The number of scales and the size of the skin were exactly like before. Wesker finally felt relieved.

“Are you satisfied now?”

“It’s good to see you didn’t break your promise.”

“Why would we do such a thing? The dragon’s body is nothing compared to the plan we are seeking to accomplish.”

Perhaps, he no longer felt anxious after having the dragon’s body in his hands, but Wesker took a seat in front of Piros. The arrogance and overconfidence that temporarily disappeared began to show up in his movements again.

“Will you drink the tea this time?” Piros pushed the unbroken teacup toward Piros. Wesker took the teacup and sipped the tea Piros had poured for him.

“It tastes cheap,” Wesker said.

“We can’t get expensive ones while running away.”

Wesker shrugged and raised his teacup. Piros’ cup was as dirty and chipped as before.

“You drink so well with a cup like that.”

“You will understand my position if you lose everything and become a fugitive.”

“That sounds very unfortunate,” Wesker said. He almost snorted at Piros’ comment. Why would he ever be in the position of a fugitive? He was completely different from these losers. Wesker laughed at Piros’ desperate situation inside his mind. It seemed like he was now back to his original self.

“Okay, so have you completed the necessary preparations?” Wesker asked. He didn’t touch the tea ever since he realized it was cheap.

“Of course. All my subordinates who survived with me combined all our skills together and made preparations. Not only did we use all the useful treasures we brought...” Piros’ light-hearted tone turned serious and solemn.

“Some must have sacrificed their lives.”

It wasn’t simple rhetoric when they said that they poured their all into this plan. Wesker didn’t laugh at Piros inside his mind this time. He was sure that his collaborator was completely sincere about this matter.

“Listen well from here on out since I will begin my explanation of the plan,” Piros said and Wesker listened earnestly. “Give that to the Karuwimans and stick it next to the rest of the dragon’s body parts. Then, our first step would be a success. But that won’t be enough. You have to do a few more things with the dragon. Would that be possible?”

“Yes, it won’t matter. I can just do that when we guard the dragon.”

To reveal the dragon’s body just before the end of the festival, it was going to be covered by a large wooden wall. Thus, it was easy to tinker with it without getting caught.

“That measure you’re talking about belongs to the Bellids. Are you sure we won’t get caught? The holy knights and priests will be carefully checking the dragon from time to time just in case.”

Since the dragon’s body parts were such precious items, the Karuwimans were constantly guarding it to make sure no one stole even a part of it. Wesker continued, “If they feel Bellid energy, our plan will not only fail, but they’ll employ all possible means to catch the culprit.”

If he gets caught as the culprit, he and his family would be ruined.

“You don’t have to worry about that. We’ve meticulously hidden God Bellu’s energy and taken certain measures. Although they’re all gone now, please remember that we successfully implemented our people right under their noses before.”

“Then that’s a relief.”

“Of course, we don’t know what will happen if the Pope or the Saintess directly investigates it, but that will never happen.”

Wesker also agreed. From what he knew, all the dragon slayers agreed to rent out their shares to the Karuwimans. This meant that most of the body parts were still intact. However, this didn’t mean that the dragon’s body parts maintained their original state right after the dragon died. Quite a few people had already experimented with the body of the legendary dragon, especially the mages. Thus, what if the mana they infused for their experiment got ruined by the Karuwimans’ holy energy? This was a risk that the Karuwimans would absolutely not take. Therefore, there was almost zero chance that the Pope and Saintess would directly check the dragon’s body for a detailed investigation.

“So, if I do a good job, all our preparations will be finished.”

“Yes, that’s exactly it. If that happens, our plan will succeed!” Piros’ voice was full of excitement. “Those damn Karuwiman bastards. How dare they act so arrogant, thinking that they completely crushed us?! A festival to celebrate the first anniversary of the Bellid conquest? Let’s see if they can keep their heads up after seeing the festival in chaos!”

His voice grew louder. “Their arrogance will be their ruin! We will show all the foolish people in the world the fear of the great Bellids—!”

“Be quiet!” Although they were in a hidden back alleyway, someone might be able to hear them. Wesker didn’t think that this shabby building was soundproof. At Wesker’s rebuke, Piros immediately stopped talking.

“…I got too excited for a moment. I apologize.”

“Be careful. It would be ridiculous if our plan got leaked because of this.” Fortunately, when Wesker increased his detection range, he couldn’t sense any signs of activity nearby.

“Anyway, if you finish everything properly, all that’s left is to wait for the uprising.”

“The festival will truly be a sight to see.”

“Yes, I agree. Since so many foolish people are coming to see the dragon, we should fulfill their wishes. I’ll make sure they enjoy seeing the dragon to their heart’s content so that they’ll never want to see the dragon again!” Piros laughed maliciously.

Wesker replied, “I’m really looking forward to it. Since that’s when your revenge will come true.”

“Why are you talking like it’s only my business? You must also feel the same way.”

“…Yes.”

“I’ll trust that you’re not having cold feet after coming this far.”

“Of course not.” Wesker wasn’t afraid; he just couldn’t empathize with the word revenge. ‘What a fool.’ Wesker mocked Piros inside his mind. Revenge against the Karuwimans—why would he want to do such a thing? He didn’t like the Karuwiman denomination, which challenged the authority of the nobles, but he was also a believer in Karuna. Besides, he’d never been harmed by the Karuwimans.

‘I don’t know exactly why, but this guy has a strange misunderstanding about me wanting revenge and asked for my cooperation.’ At first, Wesker thought about killing or capturing these guys and making the Karuwimans indebted to him. However, he soon changed his mind after hearing that the Bellids’ plan was to make the dragon into an undead.

The world-renowned dragon slayers—Wesker thought he would never lose to them. However, he couldn’t prove it. Foolish and ignorant humans were only interested in the fact that the dragon slayer defeated a dragon and not if they had excellent skills.

Thus, he needed to also defeat a dragon to prove to everyone that he was just as good, if not better than them. ‘But there’s no dragon.’

He gritted his teeth; Wesker thought that if he had been part of the battle against the dragon, he could have defeated the dragon more easily than them. However, now he had the opportunity to prove himself through the undead dragon that was going to be made using the dragon’s corpse. Nobody knew how powerful the undead dragon was going to be; Piros argued that it would be about the same as the original dragon’s power, but Wesker was not stupid enough to believe this.

‘It doesn’t matter.’ Since foolish people enthusiastically cheered for mediocre fighters for defeating a dragon, they’d also praise him for defeating an undead dragon.

‘Moreover, this is a plot by the Bellids.’ In other words, he would also gain a reputation for supplanting the Bellids’ conspiracy. It was a situation that was extremely favorable for him in many ways, and it was way better than being stuck in a mansion and insulting those lucky dragon slayers with amazing achievements. After thinking this far, Wesker enthusiastically agreed with Piros’ plan. It was a little uncomfortable that he was following the Bellids, but the Bellids would also eventually fall under his hands.