Greatest Legacy of the Magus Universe

Chapter 1467: Classified Information

Kenny and Lebu walked through the bustling streets of the Trade Ward.

Wherever they went, they drew no attention from the passersby. It was as if they weren’t even there. And yet, they hadn’t cast any magic to conceal themselves.

Only pure skill.

”So?” Kenny walked with his hands tucked inside his pockets. ”Why isn’t that scum behind bars yet?”

Lebu sighed. ”It turns out... the Baron is someone’s asset.”

Kenny frowned. ”Asset? You mean...”

”Yes.” The ginger-haired man nodded.

He glanced around casually, ensuring that no one was tailing them. He then continued, ”He’s a mole within Springdale’s nobility. A high-ranking member within our organization has turned him into an asset.”

Lebu paused briefly before adding, ”That’s why we can’t make a move on him. If we do, then all the hard work we’ve put into spying on the inner workings of the city’s nobility will go to waste. The Baron is our direct link to them. So, I’m afraid... we must let him go.”

”This...” Kenny gnashed his teeth. ”This is unfair!”

”I know,” Lebu said with a bitter smile.

”Sometimes,” he continued, ”we must concede the smaller evils so we can catch the bigger ones.”

Kenny couldn’t help but blurt out, ”Underage girls being sold into prostitution is considered a smaller evil?!”

Lebu patted the youth’s shoulder and sighed. ”Compared to what we’re up against... I’m afraid so.”

The youth was startled. ”So then... what? We just abandon those girls? And allow the Baron to continue making profits by selling them into prostitution?”

”My boy,” Lebu began with a solemn look on his face. ”Those girls you saw all those years ago might have already been transported all the way across Europa.”

”So what?!” Kenny spoke with clenched fists. ”That doesn’t mean there wouldn’t be more of them locked in cages! The Baron must pay for what he’s done!”

”I understand your frustration, Kenny,” Lebu continued. ”But there is nothing we can do. Our hands are tied!”

”But—”

Kenny tried to argue, his brown eyes blazing with passionate righteousness.

However, he was interrupted.

”Now that you’ve completed all the basic training, I’m going to tell you more about our organization,” said the Agent in a grim voice. ”That should answer your queries. But I need you to listen with an open and calm mind. Can you do that?”

Kenny gritted his teeth, his fists clenching and unclenching several times. At last, he reluctantly nodded.

The pair bought a couple of meat skewers from a food stall. Then, they entered an unassuming alley and nimbly climbed the walls until they arrived at the rooftop.

”Our organization is split,” Lebu said in a calm voice, his gaze scanning the sea of rooftops sprawling before him.

”Five factions sit on one side, taking nearly all the resources and benefits. The other three are under constant pressure, left with almost nothing.”

He paused, watching the smoke from chimneys curling into the night sky. Then he continued in a steady voice:

”The upper echelons are controlled entirely by that side. The only reason the three remaining factions haven’t been completely wiped out is that doing so would immediately throw the Brotherhood into chaos. It would tear us apart.”

Kenny was startled. ”You mean... we are currently going through a civil war?”

Lebu chuckled wryly. ”That would suggest both sides have enough firepower to go against one another and see who comes out on top.”

He paused, inhaling deeply. Then he heaved a long, helpless sigh.

”But in the past couple of decades, the side with three factions has faced such thorough political defeats that we can barely put up any resistance.”

Kenny appeared flabbergasted by the inner-politics of the Twilight Brotherhood.

”So, let me get this straight,” he began, subconsciously swallowing. ”You, and... by extension, me, are part of the Preservationists, the losing side. And the Agent backing the Baron is from the winning side. Is that it?”

Lebu’s lips curled into a wry smile. ”The one backing the Baron isn’t an Agent.”

He paused, sighing helplessly. ”It’s a Warden.”

Within the Twilight Brotherhood, the organizational hierarchy was based on strength.

At the bottom were the Mana Foundation Magi, who were called Acolytes. Above them were the Mana Liquefaction Magi known as Agents. And directly above them were the Mana Vortex Magi, who were called Wardens. Lastly, the governing body of the Brotherhood consisted of Mana Core Magi called Councilors.

Kenny’s eyes turned wide in disbelief. ”The Baron is backed by... a Mana Vortex Magus?!”

Lebu silently nodded.

They remained quiet for a long time, each lost in their own thoughts. At last, Kenny spoke up, ”Magus Potts, can you... can you tell me who this Warden is? Or which faction he belongs to?”

Lebu turned to the youth with an apologetic smile.

”I’m afraid not,” he said. ”That is classified information. Even I cannot access it.”

”I-I see.” Kenny nodded.

”Please don’t do anything reckless, you hear me?” Lebu said with a grim voice. ”Just be patient.”

There was a lot of hidden meaning in the Agent’s words. However, Kenny pretended not to notice. He gritted his teeth, his face shadowed by great reluctance.

In the end, he stiffly nodded. ”I understand...”

”Good.” Lebu offered a faint smile. He then handed the youth a slip of paper and said, ”Come to this location at sunrise. There’s a mission waiting for you.”

”Yes, sir.” Kenny took the note and safely put it away.

The pair then bid farewell. Lebu vaulted from one rooftop to another before plunging into the packed streets below. Meanwhile, Kenny remained standing where he was, gazing at the city’s skyline with a conflicting look on his face.

Inwardly, however...

As I thought, the Baron really has ties with the Cult of Bones, Adam thought to himself.

This realization didn’t come out of his conversation with Lebu just now.

No.

He had realized this almost five years ago, back when he was tailing Baron Veyne and the other party during his initiation mission.

Back then, the buyers had asked the Baron for information regarding shipments being transported north. To which, the Baron had confirmed that the goods had been arranged, the routes had been secured, and the line of credit had been extended.

At the time, Adam had suspected that the ’north’ they spoke about was referring to the Haynam Empire.

And after his conversation with Lebu just minutes ago, he became even more certain.

Kenny casually munched on the grilled chicken meat, his face cold as ice.

The Baron will lead me to the Warden, he thought.

And the Warden will lead me to the Cult spies within the Brotherhood.

His brown eyes flashed with a ruthless light, and he almost radiated his murderous intent outward. It took a few moments for him to control his raging emotions.

It was time to find the cultists.