When night fell, Shirakawa and the others slipped into Count Rille's estate. Despite the many bodyguards stationed throughout the mansion, they might as well have been decorations. There was no one here who could detect them, let alone stop them.
In a room under heavy guard, a blond middle-aged man lounged in a chair with a glass of red wine on the table beside him, close enough to reach. He sat by the window, taking in the city's nightscape. But sitting in such a conspicuous spot only made it easier for Shirakawa's group to get a good look at Rille.
"Looks like this Rille really is the man Salar has been searching for."
One glance at the man's face confirmed it. Rille shared many features with Salar — the eyes, the nose, even that same warm smile that could put people at ease.
But the moment he laid eyes on the man, Shirakawa sensed a sharp spike of killing intent radiating from Salar. Salar stared at Rille without blinking, his chef's knife already in hand, ready and waiting.
"Well? Do we move now?"
Now that the man's identity was confirmed, the timing was up to Salar. Good man or bad, his name was already on the Silver Pirates' kill list.
"Move."
With his sworn enemy right in front of him, there was no way Salar could hold back.
In the next instant, Salar vanished from their side. Less than a second later, he stood directly before Rille.
"Who are you?!" Rille cried out at the sudden appearance, a flicker of terror crossing his face.
"Alright. Time for us to do our part."
Shirakawa's job was to keep anyone from coming to Rille's aid.
The bodyguards stationed outside the door heard their master's shout. They moved to open the door and rush to his rescue, but before they could, Shirakawa and the others laid them out cold.
Inside the room, Salar stared at Rille with a face twisted in rage. The ferocious expression sat so wrong on Salar's features it felt almost unnatural, as though such a look was never meant to appear on that face.
"You're Rille?"
The man's identity was already certain, but Salar asked anyway, just to hear him say it.
"That's right. Who are you? Why do you want to kill me?" Rille had obviously spotted the chef's knife in Salar's hand.
"My name is Salar."
"Salar? I don't recall ever crossing you. Are you sure you haven't got the wrong man?" Rille searched his memories and found no trace of anyone named Salar.
"As long as your name is Rille, I've got the right man."
The moment the words left his mouth, all Rille saw was a flash of steel.
Then a searing pain erupted in his hand. He turned to look. One of his fingers had fallen to the floor, blood trickling steadily from the stump down onto the polished wood.
"AAAAH!"
Count Rille howled in agony, cold sweat dripping down his forehead. As a nobleman, when had he ever endured such pain?
"Count!"
Hearing their master's scream, the bodyguards outside grew frantic. But those three people blocking the door stood like an unshakable mountain, rooted in place, impenetrable.
"Who the hell are you people?! Why are you trying to harm His Lordship?!"
One of the bodyguards shouted at Shirakawa's group.
"We're pirates. As for why we're harming your count, it's purely personal business between him and one of our crew."
"You pirates dare cause trouble in a noble's estate? Aren't you afraid of the Marines coming down on you?"
"Afraid? What's there to be afraid of?" Shirakawa replied coolly. "We're pirates. Standing against the Marines is kind of the point."
"Damn you."
By now, the bodyguards had figured out what they were dealing with: people who couldn't be reasoned with, threatened, or bought.
"Please, don't kill me! I'll give you anything you want!" Rille babbled desperately. "I have money, plenty of it! Women! I can give you power too! Just please, spare my life!"
What Rille didn't know was that his plea had just made everything worse.
The moment the word "women" reached Salar's ears, his killing intent surged. Veins bulged across his forehead.
Another flash of steel. Another finger hit the floor.
"Let me ask you something. Do you know a woman named Sara?" That was Salar's mother's name.
"Sara? No, I don't know her. I don't know that name." Count Rille had no recollection of it and denied it immediately.
"You don't know her?"
Hearing those three words only stoked Salar's fury further. He had been considering giving the man a chance to repent. But now it was clear that was never going to happen.
"I really don't!" Count Rille was weeping now, his entire body trembling.
"Then were you on Ragal Island twenty years ago?"
"Ragal Island?" Rille wracked his brain, desperately sifting through memories of twenty years past, clinging to this as his only hope of survival.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up. He remembered something.
"Yes, I went there! Twenty years ago, my family had trade dealings with the people of Ragal Island. I was the one sent to handle it."
"And do you remember a woman on that island?"
"I do." Now that he thought about it, he could still picture that woman's face with perfect clarity.
"That woman's name was Sara. And my name is Salar." Salar's voice dropped, cold and deliberate. "I think you can figure out what she was to me."
"You and her... mother and son? Then that would make me your father?" Count Rille was no fool. All of Salar's pointed questions made the truth obvious. And now, looking closely, he could see the resemblance. Salar did indeed share some of his features.
"You are no father of mine!" Salar roared, his voice suddenly erupting.
"The moment you abandoned my pregnant mother, any tie between us was severed!"
"If there's no tie, then why are you here?!" Rille shot back.
"Why? For revenge, of course." Salar's expression twisted into something unhinged. "After you threw my mother away, she fell deathly ill. After I was born, she barely had the strength to leave her bed. I could count the times on one hand. And the one responsible for all of it... is you."
Salar raised his knife, pointing it straight at Rille.
Rille finally understood. He knew exactly why this was happening now.
"Then what do you want? I'll give you anything!"
"Fine. What I want is your life."
"You can't! Kill me and you'll never make it out of here alive."
"Who says?" Salar let out a cold laugh. "Has the pain made you stupid? Haven't you noticed your bodyguards still haven't shown up?"
"You... don't tell me..." Rille's eyes went wide.
"That's right. I have comrades. Incredibly powerful comrades. They'll protect me. They'll make sure I leave here safely and ensure no one interrupts while I take your life."
"No... please don't kill me!" Rille was truly panicking now, completely unhinged. He didn't want to die this young. He hadn't finished enjoying his life yet.
"Spare me! I'll give you everything I own... please! I'm begging you!"
/-\
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