The Tyrant Won’t Let Me Go Chapter 92

💫

 

“Oh, crap…”

 

Cursing in annoyance, Tekarke pushed his hat down on his head and entered the bar.

 

‘That redheaded bastard. I’ll kill him one of these days.’

 

He offered him a place to stay while he was on the run, promised to help him get revenge on the wretched Knight Commander, and asked him to help him take down Deamant.

 

In the end, he drank all the last of the liquid and threw himself away.

 

As a result, Tekarke has lost the refuge he’d built and the people he’s been using and finds himself on the run.

 

What little wealth he had left from his illegal drug trade was now gone.

 

‘Ciel Minerva…’

 

If it was bad luck, it sure as hell was bad luck. It wasn’t enough that I’d survived to the end, and now she’d come after me.

 

At the thought, Tekarke gritted his teeth and sat back in his seat. The irritation was unbearable.

 

‘A drink would be fine.’

 

Thirsty for a drink, he stopped thinking and concentrated on choosing one.

 

Just then, a man in a black cape and wide-brimmed hat took a seat across from him. Tekarke frowned at the man’s bizarre behavior.

 

‘What was the point of joining him at a table that was already occupied?’

 

“Hey, don’t you see I’m the first one here?”

 

“…”

 

“Don’t be silly and get lost. I don’t want to make a fool of myself today-”

 

It was then.

 

A silver blade protruded from the cape, pointed precisely at Tekarke’s throat.

 

“Looks like you’re the one who’s going to be sacrificed, not me.”

 

Tekarke’s hair fluttered in moonlight, and a blinding blue flash engulfed him.

 

💫

 

In a dark room, the stench of blood filled the air.  

 

A man, frowning at the pungent smell of blood, turned his head toward another man muttering something in the corner.  

 

“This time, it has to work…”  

 

Black smoke rose from the fingertips of the man speaking in a low voice. Mana obtained through the sacrifice of human lives.  

 

There was no one else who could directly wield such mana.  

 

‘This time, it must succeed.’  

 

Jayden knew well that he was the only person on the continent who could directly and almost perfectly control this mana.  

 

Yet, he was uneasy.  

 

‘No matter how many times I’ve tried, I’ve failed.’  

 

After numerous attempts, he had finally figured out how to manipulate the artificially created mana through dark magic.  

 

And now, he could handle even more mana with precision. However, he had failed to achieve his long-cherished desire.  

 

‘This time, I must obtain Caliberne…’  

 

If he could acquire that sword, said to bring absolute victory, he would no longer need to repeat these acts.  

 

And the entire continent would kneel at his feet.  

 

“Your Highness, Jayden.”  

 

Hearing the voice of his subordinate calling him, Jayden stopped muttering and turned to look at him.  

 

“…What is it?”  

 

“I have come to report regarding Brian Tekarke.”  

 

“I’ve already told you.”  

 

Jayden, as if it were nothing important, turned his attention back to the black mana and spoke.  

 

“Forget about him. He was a disposable card from the start.”  

 

“But, Your Highness—”  

 

“If he keeps bothering me, I’ll just kill him. I no longer care about his affairs.”  

 

To render the Emperor of Deamant, who was suspected of possessing Caliberne, defenseless, it was necessary to dismantle his surroundings first.  

 

For that, they needed someone who knew the internal affairs to some extent.  

 

Tekarke, who had once worked in the imperial palace and was a high-ranking noble but had been punished and exiled, was the perfect candidate.  

 

Due to his exile, Tekarke harbored deep resentment toward the Emperor, the Empire, and the knight commander who supported the Emperor, and his publicly confirmed assets had been confiscated.  

 

It was extremely easy to lure him in. That much was fine.  

 

Jayden, staring at the mana, gritted his teeth and cursed inwardly.  

 

‘Damn that human, he was never of any use in the end.’  

 

Tekarke had acted on his own, trying to bring down the Empire’s knight commander, and ended up getting caught by the imperial palace.  

 

What was supposed to be a favor, helping him with illegal drug distribution to secure funds, had backfired.  

 

Moreover, while fleeing, he had nearly been caught by the search party sent by the royal family and even left traces of black mana, tightening the investigative net of the Deamant royal family.  

 

The more Jaiden thought about it, the more his anger boiled, and he finally let out a sigh, placing both hands on the table.  

 

‘…Calm down. The opportunity to cut him off should come.’  

 

At the beginning of their contract, Jayden had ordered Tekarke to forge the identity of a servant who had never visited the imperial palace and infiltrated the palace.  

 

After much difficulty, one servant successfully infiltrated the palace, and Jayden had even given direct orders to this spy.  

 

Though, nominally, since the servant originally belonged to Tekarke, not all orders came from Jayden.  

 

Even that servant was now presumed dead after being exposed within the palace.  

 

For Jayden, the necessity of maintaining a relationship with Tecarque had completely disappeared.  

 

‘Even without him, it would have been difficult to completely avoid the royal family’s eyes.’  

 

There was no need to rush.

 

Soon, the plan will be set into motion. It will be faster for me to execute this plan than for the Emperor to find clear evidence and strike me down.  

 

“Your Highness, I understand your intentions, but…”  

 

The subordinate, carefully gauging Jayden’s mood, cautiously spoke up.  

 

Jayden clicked his tongue in annoyance, but eventually turned his head toward him.  

 

“What is it?”  

 

“I thought you should know this.”  

 

The subordinate spoke in a slightly trembling voice.  

 

“The imperial knights have finally captured Tekarke.”  

 

For a moment, Jayden thought he had misheard.  

 

“…What?”  

 

💫

 

“Ugh! Let go of me!”  

 

Tekarke, looking worse than a drowned rat, thrashed about.  

 

Even though his entire body was tightly bound, the way he struggled showed he still had plenty of energy left.  

 

‘Maybe I should’ve hit him harder.’  

 

Tekarke, who had taken my attack head-on at the tavern, had passed out on the spot.  

 

Since I needed him alive to extract information, I hadn’t used a lethal lightning strike. But seeing him still resisting even after being captured made me think I could’ve hit him harder after all.  

 

“It’s you again, you damned fool. Pushing me into the abyss wasn’t enough, so you had to scheme so viciously—”  

 

But Tekarke didn’t get to finish his sentence.  

 

Perhaps deeming it not worth listening to, Rukia stomped on his head, slamming it into the ground.  

 

“Captain, don’t mind this fool’s nonsense. He’s lived his whole life like this.”  

 

“It’s fine. It’s not like I haven’t heard it before.”  

 

I approached Tekarke, who was trembling with his forehead pressed into the ground under Rukia’s foot and spoke.  

 

“Still, don’t handle him too roughly. We need to keep him alive until we’ve extracted all the information.”  

 

“That’s true, but His Majesty said to take immediate action if this guy badmouths you, Captain.”  

 

Rukia wiped the sweat beading on his forehead as he replied.  

 

“Ugh, urgh…”  

 

As Tekarke groaned in pain, Rukia removed his foot with a cold expression.  

 

“Right. He can’t talk like this.”  

 

The moment Rukia lifted his foot, Tekarke turned his head as if he’d been waiting and began glaring at me fiercely.  

 

“…Everything was perfect… but because of you…”  

 

His eyes filled with rage, he muttered as if he wanted to devour me. I curled the corner of my lips into a smirk.  

 

“You should speak clearly. It wasn’t perfect. You carelessly left traces of mana everywhere.”  

 

That’s how we were able to capture Tekarke, who was beyond the border in a foreign country.  

 

Unlike before, research on mana created through dark magic had advanced significantly, making it possible to track mana and pinpoint Tekarke’s location.  

 

Based on the information gathered, the imperial knights and mages ambushed the area where Tekarke was suspected to be and captured him.  

 

“What? There’s no way Deamant could track this mana—”  

 

“You didn’t even bother to cover your footprints when crossing the border at Dethro.”  

 

Tekarke’s footprints were left clearly in the mud, and by morning, the Dethro officials had realized someone had secretly crossed the border.  

 

Even without the footprints, tracking him wouldn’t have been difficult due to the mana traces, but it certainly made the job much easier.  

 

“I’ve never seen someone on the run leave their traces so blatantly.”  

 

“You…!”  

 

Just then, the door to the interrogation room opened, and Cedric walked in.