Chapter 195: Beginning The Movement

Cillian walked silently until he left the house, completely speechless.

It still felt surreal.

Darwin didn’t seem to be doubting him, even after all the time Cillian had shown that he was an ally to them. But his reason for placing his total trust in him was completely absurd, like something a mad person would definitely think of.

Luck.

He really based his accomplishment on some sort of luck, and he was planning to use that luck to boost their entire team toward a safe and successful attack. He had shown him half of everything he had planned for the incoming attack because of that.

It didn’t make sense at all. In fact, was that even a valid reason in the first place?

Still, when Cillian thought about it more deeply, he was amused.

Only a mad person would be able to fight a mad and evil organization.

‘I guess Darwin had been crazy. He had just been keeping it in check because he was in retirement, but it had been unleashed again after everything that had happened.’

Cillian pondered inwardly.

After their talk back in the abandoned house, Cillian really hadn’t given him an answer yet.

Darwin had only asked him to return to the same abandoned house if they were in agreement.

He looked back at the abandoned house again.

Cillian knew what he needed to do to give him an answer, since he hadn’t given Darwin one yet. He was still unsure about coming, even when Darwin himself had promised that he’d be watching him ‘most’ of the time and keeping him safe.

‘Most’ was something Cillian wouldn’t put his life on if he was willing to come with them to see how the Shepherds were working with Xesie. When push came to shove and when a situation became hectic, Cillian knew he could only rely on himself. It’s almost a guarantee that it would happen.

Still, if Cillian came along and found clues at the same time, it would be really helpful for his future plan.

‘Hah, I don’t really want to spam it as much as I want to, but it couldn’t be avoided. There’s only one available method I could use to know if the venture unfolding in the future was good or not .’

Cillian looked toward Darwin, who was walking beside him, then suddenly reached out for his shoulder, making the previous principal look at him strangely.

But Cillian didn’t care.

“Flag Mark.”

“Hmm?”

Darwin became curious about Cillian’s sudden movement and the words he had muttered under his breath. His one brow was slightly raised.

[Name: Darwin Moose Current Flag: Death Flag Status: Stable]

“Flag Mark?”

Cillian immediately removed his hand from Darwin’s shoulder and walked away without looking back at the crazy principal, planning to return to the Academy. Darwin only followed behind, hiding the curiosity in his eyes.

Even so, Darwin’s curiosity was piqued, as he had a feeling that it was probably related to Cillian’s strange powers.

Why would Cillian tap his shoulder if it wasn’t for that?

‘My judgment is not wrong. Is it part of his lucky powers? Touching someone? Hmm, it must be why he’s lucky. But without skills, this wouldn’t be able to work with his insane luck. Yes, there’s no way merely being lucky is all there is. This kid is the real deal.’

Darwin became even more convinced that Cillian was the right person to invite, all because of his unusual quirk.

…

It was the next day.

Cillian decided to meet Aster on the same porch as before while letting Darwin guard the perimeter, something they were doing for the first time.

Well, he only ordered him to do that because he didn’t want Darwin to know what they were about to talk about, especially since Aster’s expression at the time was rather strange.

Rubbing Mouthful Eye, which was currently awake inside his pocket, Cillian activated the Whispering Sphere ability, which obscured any sound passing through its influence within a small area.

Well, not that small, but it was enough that even if people were watching them, they wouldn’t be able to hear what they were saying.

Cillian leaned back in his chair and calmly said,

“You can speak freely. I’ve obscured the sound leaking from us.”

Seeing that Cillian was relaxed and had done something with Mouthful Eye, which was bulging through the pocket of his uniform, Aster let out a relieved sigh and said.

“You called me out all of a sudden. Have you found a way to fulfill the request?”

The request was to spread information about what was happening in the Dwarven Kingdom, which had somehow been obscured by whatever force was preventing the information from leaking out.

The two knew the Shepherds were somehow related to it.

Cillian watched Aster’s tired eyes, as if he had been moving all around, trying to do this without garnering much attention, lest the Xesie become aware of his movements.

Well, his movements were already limited anyway because he was definitely aware that the Shepherds would put a target on his back since he had escaped from their grasp.

‘Hah, he really didn’t consider telling this to Willow and the others when they should have been the right people to tell. But then again, he had probably thought about it and concluded that he would only put them in danger. You really will overthink like this when fighting those Shepherds.’

When something as big as a war was circulating throughout one kingdom without the neighboring races knowing, it had already proven that there were larger players involved in the event.

It was probably the reason why Aster approached Cillian first.

He was his best shot at doing this since they had been together for the past two events that involved the Shepherds.

But Cillian would have to disappoint Aster for now.

Glancing at the Death Flag above his head, which hadn’t changed even after all this time, Cillian replied.

“I’m still working on it. I actually called you here for something else.”

Aster’s expectant face fell before he nodded once.

It was going to be painfully difficult to spread information about the war happening in the Dwarven Kingdom without anyone knowing that they were the ones who had spread it if they were in the heart of the enemy fortress.

It was akin to escaping from a prison with only limited choices that they still had to find.

Cillian ignored the disappointed reaction and came straight to the point.

“I have discovered what seems to be a secret base belonging to the Shepherds in the sewers. I’m planning on exploring it, and depending on your answer, I’ll decide how to take this moving forward. Besides, you’re the only one I can trust for now. Give me your answer now, and I will prepare and finalize my answer by tomorrow.”

So far, there were two types of people Cillian would need if he were ever to plan on exploring that hidden base belonging to the Shepherds. They had to be skilled or trustworthy enough that he could safely rely on them.

If they weren’t trustworthy enough, then they had to be skilled enough to produce good results.

However, Aster was someone who fit both of those categories, as he was both trustworthy and skilled. He was capable and could follow orders as long as they were reasonable.

“All right.”

Cillian smiled.

“That’s why I chose you.”

Aster scratched his head in slight embarrassment, as it felt different being complimented by Cillian, someone he had chosen as a role model, before asking,

“But what did you mean when you said you’d finalize your answer tomorrow? Is my answer today not enough?”

Cillian shook his head.

“I still have something to do so that there’s no danger coming to us during the upcoming exploration.”

There was something that Cillian could do to increase their chances of success instead of blindly barging their way forward. In case something went wrong, he could work on it beforehand.

And the method he was thinking of was using his cheat, his Death Flag System.

Cillian was planning on looking through the possible deaths of both Aster and Darwin, with the former being someone he was forcing to come along and the latter being the one who had given him this information.

It should serve as a catalyst for changing the events surrounding their current Death Flag if their deaths would lead to that upcoming exploration in the sewers.

However, if no deaths would lead to the upcoming exploration, then Cillian knew that it was safe to explore it, though it would still be a little dangerous if they didn’t tread carefully.

This was one of the ways that Cillian could currently think of to maximize his Death Flag Probe to the fullest, in exchange for his own sanity.

But what’s life without risk?

That’s why…

“So, for me to know that our trip would be smooth sailing, care to shake hands with me?”

Cillian extended his hand.

Aster looked at the hand Cillian had suddenly extended, another weird action from him, but he simply accepted it.

Aster shook his hand in the end.

As he received Aster’s hand, a small smile escaped Cillian’s lips.

‘Let’s do this… I’m going to see what the right choice is by looking through your deaths.’

Cillian thought inwardly as he resolved himself to find the right choice.

1 chap for today. i’m ashamed ??