All Good Things

Click.

Lude flicked his lighter and lit a cigarette, then crossed his legs and sat across from Sally. He smiled. "Miss Sally, if you want to fire that gun, you'll have to cock the hammer first."

Sally held the gun up with trembling hands. At his words, she angrily pulled back the hammer, then let out a shallow breath. "So, Mr. Hastings, you're with the Obsidian Hall, aren't you?"

"Interesting." Lude cheerfully eyed the barrel of Sally's gun. "What makes you think I'm with the Obsidian Hall?"

Sally bit her lip. "That uniform. I'll never forget it as long as I live!"

"I see." Lude studied the barrel of Sally's gun with interest. "Then why don't you shoot?"

"Because..."

Sally fell silent for a moment, her expression conflicted. "Because I don't think you're like the people from the Obsidian Hall."

That made Lude pause. Had he blown his cover?

He asked, "Miss Sally, I'm curious—which part of me gave you that impression?"

"You're too polite." Sally looked at Lude. "The people from the Obsidian Hall rarely call anyone 'sir' or 'miss.' When they took my parents away, they called my parents—and everyone watching—'swine' and 'vermin.'"

"If you'd come after me, you wouldn't have called me 'Miss Sally.'"

"..." Lude rubbed his temples. So being polite was a mistake now?

He'd actually done a pretty good job of playing the part at first, back when he'd just boarded the train.

But after arriving in Blackwater Town, he'd taken off the Obsidian Hall disguise. Naturally, he'd gone back to dealing with people in his usual manner, which was clearly worlds apart from the way the Obsidian Hall operated.

"So," Sally asked, staring at Lude, "are you with the Obsidian Hall?"

Lude closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. Then he took a document wrapped in black cowhide from his coat and tossed it in front of Sally. "See for yourself. It's genuine."

Sally pressed her lips together. Keeping the gun clenched in her right hand, she picked up the document with her left. "So why did you come to Blackwater Town? If you're after my parents' inheritance, you're out of luck. Their estate was already..." She paused. "Huh?"

Sally glanced at the photo on the document, blinking. Then she looked at Lude and frowned in confusion.

"Is that you?"

"It is," Lude replied with a smile. "I was a lot thinner back then."

Sally's expression twisted before her eyes. She examined the document twice more, then flipped it around to show the picture of Aleppo: silver-haired, blue-eyed, with delicate features and a ruthless air.

She glared at Lude, who had blond hair, red eyes, and a handsome, rugged face. "That's not you at all!"

"Exactly!" Lude clapped his hands. "I don't think that's me either!"

Sally took a deep breath and slammed both the gun and the document onto the table. "Then why did you say it was genuine?"

"Because it is genuine!"

Lude laughed. "What, did you expect me to find you a real Obsidian Hall agent to swap it with?"

"You..." Sally almost fainted from anger. Lude watched her with a grin, wishing he had a packet of sunflower seeds to snack on.

Only then did Lude feel that treating her to breakfast had been worth it!

Everyone suffered, and life was nothing but misery.

If you couldn't find a little amusement for yourself now and then, you'd go mad sooner or later.

Teasing a pretty girl was one way to pass the time. That was also one of the reasons Lude had deliberately kept the Obsidian Hall uniform on...

...One of the reasons.

Lude actually hated dealing with too many things, so he liked to combine several tasks into one.

"So," Sally asked curiously, "where did you get that Obsidian Hall uniform?"

Lude raised his chin. "Who else's could it be? Aleppo's."

"Aleppo..." Sally studied the document. "Aleppo Hernandez Bescher? So you stole his clothes and identification? That's awful for him. I heard the Obsidian Hall is just as ruthless to its own people as it is to everyone else."

Lude chuckled. "Then he's lucky, because he won't have to face the Obsidian Hall's cruel methods."

"...What do you mean?" The young woman froze. She seemed to have guessed the answer, yet couldn't believe it.

"He's dead."

Lude spoke plainly. "I killed him. Remember how I said some people you know well are hunting me? I took out two before coming to Blackwater Town, and I just took out two more after arriving here."

"Gasp—"

Sally sucked in a sharp breath and stammered, "But, but they're from the Obsidian Hall..."

Lude spread his hands. "You said it yourself—they're people from the Obsidian Hall. People die when they're killed. It's not as if they're actually made of obsidian. Besides, even obsidian can't withstand a hammer."

"No, I mean..."

Sally felt like her emotions were about to break under the whiplash of going from overwhelming joy to despair.

After a long while, she cautiously asked, "Did you really... kill an Obsidian Hall agent?"

"Five." Lude held up five fingers.

The Obsidian Hall had already been infiltrated by the Black Tide Society, so it didn't make much difference if the people he killed were from that side.

Sally felt something inside her collapse with a crash.

So it was true—someone could take down several people from the Obsidian Hall!

So it was true—someone could kill several Obsidian Hall members and still walk away unharmed!

Sally had no reason to doubt Lude. She'd heard the fighting downstairs and had even seen the people sprawled across the floor. No ordinary fight could have produced a scene like that.

The people from the Obsidian Hall weren't ordinary. Only their specialized equipment could create a scene like that—that was what ordinary citizens of the Rhine Kingdom believed, and Sally was no exception.

At the thought, a trace of admiration and longing appeared in Sally's eyes.

If she'd had that kind of power, could she have stopped her parents from being taken that night?

If she'd had that kind of power, could she have taken revenge on the Obsidian Hall?

If she'd had that kind of power... could she have dared to break into the Obsidian Hall, gambling that her parents hadn't been executed yet, that they were still alive somewhere in a prison cell?

How wonderful...

Seeing Sally's gaze, Lude knew he'd achieved his other objective.

Lude had his own plans. He was confident he could start from nothing in this world and build something great.

But whatever he wanted to accomplish, there was one problem he couldn't avoid—

He didn't have enough people.

Lude planned to establish a secret society—a general term for organizations connected to the Hidden World—and gather people who could help him, so he wouldn't waste his life getting bogged down in trivial matters.

But an order with only one member was just a personal eccentricity. He needed more hands.

As it happened, Sally and the other two had just crossed his path.

Silverback's physique, Crow's low presence, Sally's sixth sense, and her unscarred skin—all these signs confirmed that they had exceptional talents in the supernatural world.

That was why, when Lude first met Silverback, he had impressed him by besting him in the area where he excelled most: strength.

They were people who could work alongside Lude. But recruiting capable fighters wasn't easy. You had to offer them something worth following you for, or have the kind of presence that could win them over.

Lude had never trusted anything too nebulous, so he planned to offer them something tangible.

Meeting Sally today had been an accident, but for Lude it was a pleasant surprise. Sally was clearly the one who made decisions for the three of them, so it had taken him only a few minutes to come up with a plan.

The Black Tide Society's involvement had forced him to change that plan, but the change had worked out for the better.

Taking out two spellcasters on the spot made a far more powerful impression than merely claiming he'd killed an Obsidian Hall agent and stolen his clothes.

This is good, Lude thought with a smile. All good things.