Those Who Live Without the Law

Chapter 61

Finding the Weak Spot (3)

Kairus didn’t reject Irena’s suggestion.

Irena, who had been bracing herself for an irritable reaction from Kairus, relaxed her expression and said, “Alright,” when he didn’t respond harshly.

“If you come with me, not even a battalion commander would dare act high and mighty.”

“Because you’re a Kellogg?”

When Kairus asked back, Irena made a small, annoyed sound. That guy always had to throw in these little comments that ruined people’s mood.

“I can’t help it. That’s the only title I have to present in front of others right now.”

It was because she hated that fact that she had asked Kairus for help.

“Anyway, you’re coming, right?”

As Irena waited for Kairus’s answer, he nodded.

“I should be the one thanking you.”

“Good. Then let’s meet at the lodging entrance this evening.”

Right after that, Irena headed to the training ground to practice raising a tissue into the air.

Kairus still had time until evening. There wasn’t anything he had to do at the moment. Visiting the museum again today, after already dropping by once, might only stir unnecessary suspicion.

Back at the lodging assigned to him, Kairus fell into thought.

“The idea that the Cloud Seizing Art manual is here must be a lie.”

Cecilia clearly intended to kill him. So there was no way she’d told him the truth.

Well, to be fair, it could be said that this was Kairus’s comeuppance for trying to deceive the Rose Garden. Cecilia wasn’t the cause of the danger that had come upon him.

He had wanted revenge on the Emperor, even if it meant risking his life. He had raised the stakes by betting his life and simply lost that gamble.

Kairus wasn’t a victim, just a loser. Now he had to find a way to survive...

“What do I need to retrieve from the museum for the Rose Garden to spare my life?”

That was the key. The list of the museum’s artifacts was a request from Simid Kellogg.

Something else was needed to convince Cecilia to revoke the death sentence she had placed on Kairus.

‘The best bargaining chip I can bring out from the vault is definitely battle gear.’

Kairus murmured to himself as he glanced down at the stained glass hanging from his belt with a slightly doubtful look.

Would someone like Cecilia, who could so casually hand over something like this to an outsider like Kairus, really be willing to make a trade just to get more battle gear?

“The odds are way too low.”

It’s like bringing eggs as a housewarming gift to a poultry farmer. Not likely to end well.

Paying money made even less sense. Cecilia had claimed that everything in the world had a price.

The problem was whether Kairus could pay an amount that matched the value she assigned.

‘It’s practically impossible with money.’

How much would it take to make up for the mistake of delivering false information to the Rose Garden?

There was plenty of money left after shaving off the taxes, but offering all of it probably wouldn’t be enough to get her to back down.

Stealing a few pieces of battle gear from the vault and offering those instead seemed to have a slightly higher chance of forgiveness. Though, that chance was still incredibly low.

“I need to find something definite.”

Lost in thought, Kairus headed toward the training ground where Irena was practicing, deciding to check in on things.

“Uwaaahhhh!”

While Kairus was on his way to the training ground—

Irena was practically tearing at her hair, screaming in frustration.

White tissue scraps lay piled like snow on the floor, echoing her screams.

With bloodshot eyes and an expression twisted in rage, Irena looked completely insane.

“Why can’t you do it?! Are you stupid?! Want to die?!”

She screamed at herself and slammed her forehead against the wall with a loud thud.

As the shock spread through her head, her raging emotions started to settle a bit.

“You’re not a person, you’re a freaking elephant.”

Kairus, who had just arrived and taken in the scene, offered his commentary. Irena shouted, “Get lost,” then turned her gaze toward Kairus.

At that moment, Kairus drew his sword and swung it. A gust of wind swept through the training room, blowing away the tissue scraps scattered on the floor.

“Are you showing off?”

“Showing off? No. I’m mocking you. You can’t do stuff like this.”

At Kairus’s provocation, a vein popped on Irena’s forehead. Her twitching eyebrows made it look like she was about to explode, but she somehow managed to hold it in.

“Come on, at least give me a tiny hint.”

“Nope.”

Kairus immediately rejected Irena’s request. This was something she had to figure out on her own. That’s where the meaning came from.

‘I already checked her focus.’

The process of breaking out of the shell was a way to test how quickly and deeply someone could immerse themselves in a single task.

But this tissue-lifting exercise demanded the exact opposite quality.

‘Learning to see broadly.’

In fact, focusing too hard on lifting the tissue was the wrong approach.

People who dive in fast and deep tend to develop tunnel vision. Simply put, they get so locked in on a single goal that they can’t see anything else.

Most battlefield tragedies—getting killed by a blindside attack—happened in exactly that state.

Overcoming this training on her own wouldn’t just be the first step in mastering Swift Blade; it would also help prevent such disasters in the future.

“There’s a reason you’re not giving me a hint, right? You’re not just enjoying watching me suffer like a dog, are you?”

Kairus didn’t offer much of a response to Irena’s suspicion.

“Probably not.”

“…”

Irena pouted her lips but said nothing more. She raised the tissue into the air again and swung her sword.

‘Yikes.’

She still needed more time to reach her goal. Kairus came to that conclusion and quietly observed her movements for a while.

Watching someone else practice swordsmanship—regardless of their skill level—could be a valuable source of growth.

Sometimes, it could even be more helpful than moving one’s own body.

‘Let’s see.’

There had been a huge number of people who came to Featherwing to learn Swift Blade.

And even among those who learned it, teaching Swift Blade to others wasn’t particularly restricted.

The more people learning it, the more samples had been collected. How long it took to reach certain levels on average.

How long it took to become proficient. The effects of factors like height, weight, gender, and vision.

That kind of data had already been collected in sufficient quantity and quality, and as a direct Featherwing descendant, Kairus had memorized much of it.

‘She’s definitely progressing quickly.’

There was no doubt she was one of the rare talents. With a bit of luck here and there, her talent alone made her a viable candidate for the next knight captain.

That someone like her emerged from the Kellogg family, which was known for intellectual pursuits rather than martial prowess, was certainly surprising.

“Time’s up.”

Kairus tossed her a towel, which Irena caught and used to wipe off her sweat as she checked the window.

“There’s still time.”

“You planning to attend the dinner invitation without washing? If you’re into the battalion commander’s tastes, I suppose I can’t stop you.”

At Kairus’s comment, Irena let out an “Ah.” She didn’t need to wear a dress, but she couldn’t show up drenched in sweat either.

Irena made a face of annoyance. A knight was still a soldier, and she didn’t see what was so wrong with one soldier visiting another while looking a bit grubby after training.

“Tch.”

Clicking her tongue in frustration, she took a shower and changed into her casual clothes before stepping back outside.

“Faster than I expected.”

At Kairus’s comment, Irena answered while rubbing her wet hair dry.

“I just washed and changed, that’s all.”

As Kairus stepped outside with Irena, he stopped momentarily when he saw five or six hot air balloons floating up in the sky.

“What’s that about? Why the hot air balloons?”

“Ah, it’s almost night now.”

At those words, Kairus looked up again at the hot air balloons floating in the sky. Normal people wouldn’t be able to make out much detail from this distance, but thanks to his Early Sense treatment, Kairus could.

Beneath the balloons, soldiers were stationed, inspecting searchlights.

‘Wow, they’re doing surveillance from the sky too?’

What a hassle. If Kairus’s memory was correct, the nation that actively used hot air balloons wasn’t the Empire, but the Aylan Republic.

It seemed the Empire had also begun utilizing various hot air balloons over the six years that had passed.

‘Well, not that it matters.’

Kairus had no plans to use the nighttime for anything right now anyway. Everything was meant to unfold during the day, when people were bustling around.

At most, he felt a bit of curiosity—that was all.

“Please verify your identity.”

When they arrived at the battalion commander’s residence, the guards posted there moved to check Irena and Kairus’s IDs.

“Hey, wait.”

A senior-looking soldier stopped the others, quickly checked some documents, and then immediately saluted.

“My apologies. The commander is expecting you.”

Without further inspection, the two were allowed inside the residence.

“Welcome, Miss Kellogg. A pleasure to see you.”

The commander greeted them right at the entrance. Of course, the greeting was directed at Irena, not Kairus.

It was very clear where his priorities and intentions lay.

‘…’

Irena noticed it too. The commander didn’t seem interested in Kairus at all.

But from the start, the reason Irena accepted this invitation was to be of some help to Kairus, who had been guiding her.

If the commander’s attitude didn’t get corrected soon, things would unfold in a way contrary to her intentions.

There was no way Irena would just let that happen.

“Thanks for making time. I was invited, but I really wanted to come with you.”

Irena spoke to Kairus in a gentle voice.

‘There it is.’

Kairus noticed that Irena had put on her mask. For the only daughter of the Kellogg family, playing a part for a few hours was nothing.

“I’m the one who’s honored, really.”

Supporting Irena’s act was nothing for Kairus.

All they needed to do was create an atmosphere that suggested an unusually close relationship, one where Irena seemed fairly dependent on Kairus.

That alone would be enough to redirect the battalion commander’s attention from Irena to Kairus as the one to win over.

‘Though honestly, it’s not really necessary.’

Kairus’s real goal in accepting the invitation was to get a grasp of the residence’s layout and the battalion commander’s disposition. It didn’t matter if the commander completely ignored him.

‘No, that’s not quite right.’

As he walked toward the table where dinner was prepared, Kairus revised his thoughts.

If the commander was going to treat him properly now, he might as well take advantage of it.

The battalion commander led the two of them to the table where the meal had been set.

During the roughly hour-long gathering, the commander couldn’t help but notice the peculiar atmosphere between Kairus and Irena.

The initial suspicion—“Could there be something between these two?”—gradually turned into certainty, and as that certainty grew, so did the commander’s attitude toward Kairus become noticeably more respectful.

“By the way, managing the operational zone must be quite tricky. Rezantin City holds significant meaning for the Empire, doesn’t it?”

Kairus casually tossed the question, almost as if fishing for something, and the commander let out a soft sigh.

“For a place of such importance, its condition wasn’t ideal. The very first thing I requested upon assignment was the complete replacement and reinforcement of the Royal Museum’s vault pressure plates.”

“Oh dear, were the pressure plates not being properly maintained before that?”

In response to Irena’s curiosity, the commander nodded. Irena was, after all, a knight of the Scarlet Leaf Order, and Kairus clearly wasn’t just some stranger to her.

There was no harm in sharing this level of information.

“It wasn’t just the pressure plates. Security inside the museum was being handled in a shoddy, stopgap way—plenty of blind spots. The soldiers’ fatigue levels were through the roof too.”

Stopgap rotations meant maximizing a small number of personnel, so such inefficiencies were inevitable.

It was this commander who eliminated that system and requested additional troops to enable a four-shift, three-team rotation at all security posts.

‘He’s not incompetent. But still…’

Since Kairus had already decided to raid the museum, once his plan succeeded, the commander would be forced to step down.

Having a capable officer purged from the Imperial Army was a delight from Kairus’s perspective.

Because any weakening of the Empire’s military strength—even a little—meant a slightly better chance of cutting down that damned Emperor.