Bad Born Blood-Chapter 196

Chapter 196

I sat and organized my thoughts while listening to Jafa’s story.

For generations, the Menoa family had selected slaves with exceptional combat aptitude and raised them to become the Commander of the Menoan Guard. These commanders were treated almost on par with family members.

When Jafa was young, two boys were brought into the family as new candidates for the position. It was rare for two candidates to be chosen at the same time since such aptitude was uncommon, but these two were identical twins.

‘One of them... was the commander I killed at the annex.’

It was clear why Jafa had shown such complicated emotions when looking at that commander. He must have had the exact same face as Jafa’s former lover.

"Everyone in the family avoids mentioning it. It’s not something to boast about. I know my desires and affections are abnormal, but I couldn’t resist the pull."

Jafa’s lover had been the younger of the twins. Since candidates for the position of Commander of the Menoan Guard often interacted with the direct descendants of the family, it had been easy for them to grow close.

"It’s already disgraceful for a Tajirun to form bonds with other races, but within the family, forming relationships with slaves is strictly forbidden. It disrupts discipline and order."

In matters of affection, even the strictest hierarchies crumble. If emotions led to outsiders or slaves being entrusted with key positions, the organization would not last long.

"...Even I would have exiled you."

I felt no sympathy for Jafa. She had done something worthy of being cast out.

Even if I put myself in her shoes, my stance wouldn’t change. I, too, had been swept up in my emotions and taken Giselle Custoria into my arms. If my family had discovered the truth and expelled me, I wouldn’t have resented them. It would have been a rightful consequence of my actions.

"Yes, as I said before, I have no complaints about the exile itself. The problem is that my lover was killed by the Menoa family."

Jafa’s vertically slit pupils gleamed even thinner.

In the Tajirun family, exile was no different from a death sentence. Moreover, Jafa had committed an act that brought disgrace to the family’s honor.

"When I was exiled, I was abandoned in the wastelands alone. In two days, an assassination squad sent by the family would have arrived."

The reason for exile rather than execution was to avoid the stigma of "kin-slaying." By exiling the person first and then having them killed later, the family could claim that their death was an unrelated "accidental demise." It was a flimsy excuse, but in a society where appearances mattered, it was a tactic that worked.

"At that moment, ’Kato’ appeared with other guards. At first, I thought Kato had come to kill me. I called him my lover earlier... but in reality, as a slave, Kato wouldn’t have been able to refuse me. If you think about it, I essentially used my status to take advantage of him."

Kato must have been the name of her lover. As Jafa spoke his name, she stared at the floor. I had never seen such a wistful expression in a Tajirun’s eyes before.

"The Menoa family must have given you a cruel punishment. Dying at Kato’s hands would have been even more humiliating."

"That was probably my father’s intention. Kato could have claimed he had been forced by me and joined the assassination squad. His twin brother was already part of it at the time."

I recalled the conversation between Jafa and the commander I had killed at the annex.

"That explains what happened there. Kato must have betrayed even his own brother to protect you. That’s why that otherwise emotionless commander showed such raw hatred toward you."

"I didn’t expect it either. Kato killed his fellow guards and even ambushed his own twin, who was like a second self to him. My feelings for Kato... weren’t just a delusion. He was drawn to me as well. At that moment, I even felt relieved to have been exiled. At least we could finally spend time together freely."

I imagined it for a moment before shaking my head.

A boy and a girl from different worlds, trapped in an impossible situation, running away together in a desperate attempt at love...

It was romantic enough.

’But of all people, it had to be Jafa.’

The thought didn’t sit right with me. I pictured Jafa and a human boy running hand in hand across the wasteland, and something about it felt unsettling. I wasn’t prejudiced against other races, but I couldn’t help my instinctive discomfort.

"We knew nothing about the outside world. Neither of us did. Everyone we met tried to deceive us, and we barely survived countless times. No one trusted a Tajirun, and even when we managed to find work, the moment they discovered our relationship, they found it repulsive and drove us out."

Jafa murmured as she spoke, eventually mentioning Kato’s death. The Menoa family had continued to send people after them, hunting them down.

"...We couldn’t hold out forever. In the end, Kato died saving me. After that, I had no reason to live. But I couldn’t bring myself to end it. Kato had given me this life. And so, I ended up drifting to Border City. That’s where we’ll end today’s story. This is a good place to wrap up the first part, huh, Hoyot?"

Jafa stepped down from the counter and turned to me with a smile. It wasn’t easy for me to think of Jafa as her in my head.

"I’m telling you all this as a form of apology. I’ve exposed my personal history and my weaknesses to you."

Jafa gave a slight nod as she dipped her head.

I turned my gaze toward the entrance of the dining hall. A moment later, Ozmer and a group of Tajirun stormed in. Surrounding them were the remaining Menoan guards.

Before anyone else could speak, Jafa took the lead and pressed Ozmer.

- Ozmer, why is my father’s corpse here?

Jafa gestured to the Equessian mercenaries. They carried in a refrigerated capsule containing the body.

- Cut the nonsense, Jafa. What the hell are you doing here? Was the blackout your doing?

- I rushed here because I thought my ‘lover’ was in danger. I didn’t want to lose another one.

Jafa glanced at me as she spoke. A chill ran down my spine, but I forced myself to keep a neutral expression. My eyelids twitched.

‘This damned snake-headed bastard!’

But it was an effective excuse. The Menoan Tajirun were well aware of Jafa’s particular inclinations.

She continued, as if wiping away any lingering doubts.

- More importantly, how could an outsider like me have orchestrated a blackout? Was Menoa’s mothership security really so lax? I think everyone here knows exactly who’s responsible for this.

Jafa and Ozmer launched into a heated exchange of accusations.

But I didn’t bother listening. I already knew the truth behind this situation—and how it would end.

‘The blackout was Ozmer’s doing. He staged it to incite a slave uprising. The moment the lights went out, he would have ordered his brainwashed guards to kill the commander and slaughter the trainees.’

No matter how skilled Jafa was, causing a blackout on the Menoa mothership would have been nearly impossible—especially not at the exact moment she needed.

‘But Jafa did know when the blackout would happen. That means she had someone on the inside, one of Ozmer’s close aides. And not just one—many of the Round Table members must have been her informants. Lisanda wasn’t the only one working for her.’

Jafa had been rotting away at the Menoa family from the inside for a long time. And her informants likely believed they were each the only informant.

She had sent me to the dining hall precisely at the moment the blackout would occur. She was confident that if I was here at that time, I would take control of the situation and clean up the mess.

’Originally, this was supposed to be En’s role. But since En was critically injured, Jafa had no choice but to use me instead.’

As Jafa spoke, she suddenly made a sweeping gesture like a commander giving orders.

- More importantly, we have many wounded. Let’s transport them and begin treatment first. Right now, even the very existence of the Menoan Guard is at risk. Thanks to our incompetent family head, an entire guard unit was wiped out by my hands, and it looks like less than half of the remaining forces are still alive.

- Who would ever follow orders from the likes of you...

But contrary to Ozmer’s resistance, the Tajirun around them murmured among themselves. The immediate priority was tending to the wounded. Without the Guard, the Menoa family would lose its main fighting force.

‘Ozmer, the first thing you should have done upon arriving was order the evacuation of the wounded. But you’re too shaken by your plan falling apart to think rationally.’

I folded my arms and observed the situation unfold.

- Is there a reason why you hid our father’s body like this?

Jafa asked again.

- There’s no reason for me to explain anything to an outsider like you.

- I’m not asking you to explain to me. I’m asking you to explain to our siblings.

All eyes among the Tajirun turned to Ozmer.

He was floundering. His deep crimson skin, usually so striking, now seemed meaningless in the face of his lack of authority and crisis management skills. Just from the atmosphere alone, it was clear that hardly any Tajirun here actively supported him.

‘Ozmer isn’t prepared to be the family head. That means he didn’t kill the former head.’

Killing his father without securing his own power base would have only made it harder to maintain his position. He wasn’t foolish enough to miscalculate something so basic.

- T-There were signs of foul play. That’s why. I had to hide his body until I could find the culprit. One of our siblings must be responsible.

Ozmer blurted out something dangerous.

- You speak as if you’re not a suspect yourself, Ozmer. But as the current family head, aren’t you the most likely culprit? Wouldn’t it make more sense that you killed him and tried to tamper with the body? And after the fact, you panicked upon discovering that our father had already entrusted the distribution of his estate to the Legato Law Office.

- W-Wait a minute!

- And now, there’s infighting among the guards. Isn’t it possible that you deliberately instigated the violence to create a distraction and steal the body?

- I know nothing about this! I’ve barely been family head for any time at all! Do you think they would be so loyal to me? There have been suspicious movements among them since our father died. Especially him!

Ozmer jabbed a finger at the dead Equessian commander. That almost made me unfold my arms in anger.

‘That Equessian commander remained loyal to his master until his last breath. Even after realizing he had been betrayed.’

Ozmer was not someone worthy of loyalty. I closed my eyes and steadied my emotions. This wasn’t my moment to step in—this was Jafa’s stage.

- As far as I know, if all voting members except the family head agree, the head’s authority can be temporarily suspended, and the next in line can take over as acting leader. Now seems like the perfect time. Conveniently, all voting members are gathered here.

Jafa’s gaze locked onto a specific Tajirun—Maldon, the next in line after Ozmer.

‘Jafa must have made a deal with Maldon beforehand. She likely promised to help remove Ozmer and make him the new head in exchange for reinstating her.’

Maldon must have believed he was about to become the next family head. He was under the illusion that Jafa’s only goal was reinstatement.

Jafa’s plan was unfolding step by step.

A makeshift council, led by Maldon, was convened on the spot.

Clap, clap.

The Tajirun raised their hands.

The motion to suspend Ozmer’s authority passed in an instant. With the Guard unable to function properly, Ozmer had no means of resistance.

The Menoa family was dancing in Jafa’s hands. They were greedy and distrustful of one another. Easily swayed by the small gains Jafa dangled before them, they willingly gave up everything.

I stared at Jafa’s back. Among all the Tajirun present, she was the most cunning. She was an anomaly among her kind, yet she understood them better than anyone. She had an uncanny ability to exploit their desires and tendencies.

‘But this isn’t just Jafa’s skill at play. This is thanks to the plan Kinuan devised long ago. When Kinuan visited the Menoa family, he completely mapped out their nature, personalities, and relationships.’

I could sense Kinuan’s influence weaving through the grand scheme. He was someone who danced atop the Empire’s web, and shaking the Menoa family was nothing to him.

‘Everything is falling into Jafa’s hands.’

She was steering the course of this entire situation. And yet, the Menoan Tajirun didn’t perceive her as a threat. They assumed her reinstatement was still in their hands.

And technically, they weren’t wrong.

‘Once the situation settles, they could easily turn their backs on Jafa and refuse to reinstate her. If that happens, all of Jafa’s efforts would be for nothing—she’d be left with nothing but scraps. A truce might be possible, but for something she spent this long preparing, the outcome would be unsatisfying.’

The Tajirun didn’t trust one another. And they were convinced that one of them had killed their father.

Acting family head Maldon was now issuing various instructions to Jafa, the exile and outsider, entrusting her with handling the situation. He couldn’t afford to delegate the task to another sibling—doing so might put his own position at risk.

‘No matter how competent Jafa is, she’s not officially part of the family right now, and she’s not eligible to become the family head. They don’t see her as a threat.’

Watching from the sidelines, I almost felt like laughing.

‘The one who killed the former family head... was Jafa.’

I observed the Tajirun carefully, confirming my conclusion. None of them were responsible for their father’s death.

‘Jafa killed her own father through some unknown means. That’s why she came to the Menoa estate—to retrieve the body and erase any traces.’

Yet the Tajirun were too busy suspecting one another. They had handed over the corpse to Jafa, whom they saw as a neutral party and collaborator. In reality, they had just delivered the evidence straight to the real culprit.

‘For a long time, Jafa had been secretly contacting multiple members of the Menoa family.’

Since being caught communicating with an exile was unacceptable, these family members had all outwardly acted like they despised Jafa, pretending they had no ties to her. Because of that, no one had suspected that she had already sunk her claws deep into the family.

The Menoa family was a microcosm of the Empire itself. And Jafa was its ‘Emperor,’ overseeing and orchestrating the entire flow of events.

...The thought made my stomach churn. I leaned against the wall.

Still, one question remained. How exactly does Jafa plan to take control of the Menoa family?

Judging by the atmosphere, the Round Table meeting wasn’t going to approve her reinstatement. As an outsider, Jafa was a valuable ally—but as a Menoa, she would be a terrifying rival.

Until the lawyers arrived, none of the Menoan family members would be able to sleep. They would spend the night making secret deals and negotiations, scrambling to position themselves in the new order.

As dawn deepened and the chaos gradually settled, I finally got a moment alone with Jafa.

Before I could say a word, she spoke first, as if talking to herself.

"My un-Tajirun-like nature... I must have inherited it from my father. If the estate isn’t divided and instead donated, my father designated that the bulk of his wealth should go to public foundations, Hoyot. Wealth redistribution... Do you think it’s his way of atonement?"

Jafa winked at me.

Jafa Trading Company had an impressive scholarship foundation.

...Un-Tajirun-like, my ass.

This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶