Chapter 37: The Ghost in the Soil
Ren flipped the brittle page, his fingers trembling. The ink here was darker, more rushed, as if the writer was constantly looking over his shoulder.
"Whatever you do, never—and I mean NEVER—challenge the King directly. I don't know Kaito's full history yet, and neither do you. But there are whispers... whispers that Kaito might actually be the son of the Old King, Muzarj. If that is true, if he ascends to the full throne, I won't be alive much longer to write these warnings."
Ren's eyes narrowed. If Kaito is Muzarj's son, then how can he be my brother? he thought. Unless... our family's past is even darker than I imagined.
*"Right now, the year is 1998 Vers. By the time you read this, decades might have passed. Kaito isn't a 'Full King' yet. He is ruling alongside Muzarj's brother. They are a lethal duo, carving Aethelard into their own personal playground.
Do not try to be a hero. When Muzarj was alive, I stood against him once. Just once. For that single act of defiance, he put a price on my head that would make a billionaire weep. In our world's currency, it was 100 Million. Here, it is over 10,000 Purple Core Shards."*
Ren gasped. 10,000 Purple Core Shards was enough to buy an entire sector of the island. Thomas wasn't just a refugee; he was the most wanted man in the history of Aethelard.
*"Because of that bounty, I am a ghost. I live in the heart of the Deep Jungle, where the sunlight barely touches the ground. Food is scarce. Most days, I eat roots and insects. I've spent the last few months digging. I've built a small, cramped room beneath the earth—a literal grave for the living.
I sit here now, in the damp silence, writing this by the light of a single glowing fungus. I realize now that this is where I will stay. I will never see the sky again. I will live and die in this hole, waiting for the King's executioners to find me."*
Ren looked around his own small room. The walls suddenly felt like they were closing in. He could almost smell the damp soil Thomas described.
Thomas hadn't just given him information; he had given him a window into a life of pure isolation. Ren realized that being a Magic Crow meant he was already stepping into that same darkness.
"I won't end up in a hole in the jungle," Ren whispered, his voice cold and determined. "I'll find you, Kaito. And I'll get the truth from your own mouth."
He folded the papers and hid them back under the mattress. Tomorrow was his first mission. He needed to be sharp. He needed to be a killer.