Treatise Of A Failed Knight

My steps are measured.

I don’t walk too fast, nor do I move slowly, as we make our way inside the vast house that Aunt Leila and her husband occupied.

This sure brings back memories.

I now remember how I never once met her husband after I became a Leviathan.

If I did, I would have noticed his defined existence. Perhaps if I had noticed it on time, none of this would have happened.

No, I doubt it.

If that had happened, I would likely have been deceived by him, since I was an amateur Leviathan back then and I was desperate for all kinds of answers.

Lucien Zevalis... he would have used that against me and made me believe him.

Then, just like he did with Aunt Leila, he would discard me after my use expired... and that would be the best case scenario.

Worst case scenario, he could kill me very early before I even matured.

Regardless, I would be dead by now.

Perhaps it’s a good thing we never met in this life... until it was too late.

No...

Good thing?

Can I really call it that?

Someone died.

My beloved aunt died because of him, didn’t she? There’s nothing good about this outcome.

While I struggle with these thoughts, the Rank 2 Leviathan in front leads me towards the lounge area, where the remaining members of the Ouroboros Sect are already seated.

I recognize everyone present, especially the man who occupies a sole chair among all of them: Alistair Wormwood.

"We meet yet again, Javier Aditi." He removes his hat and offers greetings, placing the accessory on his lap while gesturing to a sofa opposite him.

I nod quietly and take my seat.

"I imagine you’ve taken your time to grieve and also organize your thoughts?"

"I have..." My response is curt, filled with much honesty and very little passion. I simply maintain eye contact with the man while anticipating his next words.

"Before we go any further, let me introduce you to every member of our team."

I nod slowly.

"This here is Elma, a Leaper... like me. To my right is Jamie, a Conjurer. To my left is Richard, a Caster. The man who brought you here is Amnesis, a Seeker. The person right next to you is Rias, an Exemplar." He continues to speak, expertly pointing at every single person in the room.

I take note of them and their features.

Elma appears to be a teenage girl, with white hair and azure blue eyes. Her beauty is ethereal, though a proud expression constantly taints her countenance.

Jamie, the Conjurer, appears to be a little boy—one even younger than Elma. He has dark brown hair and green eyes, with a playful smile on his face.

It’s difficult to believe such a young boy is a Leviathan.

Richard, the Caster, looks like a thin and sickly man, with pale skin and long gray hair tracing down his features. He also has dark circles under his eyes, and although his appearance is a little off-putting, he gave me a smile when I looked at him.

Then, there’s Amnesis, the silver-eyed Seeker who brought me here.

He appears to be the oldest in the group, with cleanly cut faded black hair and a well-trimmed beard.

Finally, Rias—the only other girl in the group.

She has dark orange hair, as well as a brutish and rough demeanor about her. Even when I stared at her, a scowl was evident on her face.

She also appears rather impatient for some reason, constantly shifting on her seat.

I ignore all of this and bow gently to greet everyone present.

"Thank you for the introduction. As you all know, I am Javier Aditi... Rank 1 Harbinger."

The moment I say this, everyone’s eyes sparkle a slight bit.

Their impression of me shifts considerably.

I can tell.

’Leviathans of the Harbinger Pathway are very rare. Although there are six people in this group, there isn’t a single Harbinger. This confirms it...’

There’s a reason I exposed my Harbinger status right away.

It’s to claim some kind of relevance here.

I’m self aware enough to know that I am by far the weakest in this gathering. Not only am I simply a Witness Leviathan, but I don’t have the same support of an organization as they do.

I also find it highly likely that these people have been Leviathans for far longer than I have.

It’s clear, given their Rank 2 status.

Even Jamie, who looks like a late prepubescent boy, looks far more experienced as a Leviathan than me.

’Me being a Harbinger gives me a certain uniqueness that makes up for my Rank 1 status...’ I smile, already recognizing the effects in the brief moment that has passed ever since I revealed it.

There’s another reason I have chosen to be transparent with these people.

It’s simply to build trust.

They are far more powerful than I am, and they’ve also shared a good amount of information with me.

Besides, they already found out my name.

This man, Alistair Wormwood, also said they’ve been watching me for some time now.

It won’t be too surprising if they already knew, or at least suspected, that I belong to the Harbinger Pathway. So rather than have them take the credit for exposing me, it’s better if I do so on my own accord.

At the very least, I’ll gain some credibility points that way.

"Thank you for your transparency. As you must already be aware, all my subordinates are at Rank 2, and I am currently at Rank 3."

I nod.

"Just as I told you before, we belong to Division C-07 of the Ouroboros Sect, and we came all the way here because we are after the defector, Luciem Zevalis."

"You’re going through all this trouble... just because he left your group?" I ask with a skeptical gaze. "This feels more like a manhunt, though."

Alistair laughs lightly and shakes his head.

"That’s because you don’t know how dangerous that man is..."

"Still, he must have done something other than leave your organization. Does it have anything to do with the fact that he purchased all those Special Resources from the Dark Guild under the umbrella of the Ouroboros Sect?"

"His transaction was unsanctioned, and since it was billed to our organization, we had to take responsibility for the payment... but that isn’t everything." The Adept sighs, shaking his head as he sinks further into his chair.

"What is it, then?"

"He stole from our Sect right before his disappearance. That is what solidified his action as defection."

"What did he—?"

"I’m afraid that’s classified information. I cannot inform you of our Sect’s secrets, but just know that he stole something dangerous and he is up to no good."

"I see..."

So far, this conversation has been going at a reasonable pace.

They are willing to give me information on the malefactor, but they also draw the line when it comes to certain kinds of information.

I find that to be very fair.

This is especially the case when they could easily lie to me and I would have no idea. I find their current position even more trustworthy than if they simply went ahead spilling everything.

I wouldn’t even be able to distinguish truth from falsehood.

Of course, I can’t be entirely sure that everything they are telling me is the guaranteed truth.

But I can still rationalize it all.

So far, they appear trustworthy enough.

We also have the same enemy.

These conditions justify an alliance, one I am not at all averse to.

"I’ll get straight to business, Javier Aditi."

"You can call me Javier."

"Alright, Javier. The Enlightened Witnesses of Truth, that whole Cult business, was just a way for Lucien to mess with our investigations and cover his trails. He made up an entire convoluted plan to set us on a wild goose chase and also to organically remove his secret identity from the equation."

"He was willing to sacrifice so many lives that easily..." I mutter, feeling my sheer hate for the man rekindling.

"That is indeed tragic, but you are focusing on the wrong thing." Alistair sighs and stares at me with a deep frown. "The Enlightened Witnesses of Truth began their operations decades ago. That means Lucien already had this plan in mind for that long, or at least he created this organization as a method of manipulation long before he kicked anything into motion."

"Ah..."

That is indeed very frightening.

If this Cult only appeared within the past year, it would be easy to link them to Lucien Zevalis, but their long-term activities made them an organic existence.

The only connection they had with Lucien was with his identity as Lord Krawford.

"We didn’t even know that Dracus Krawford was his alter ego in the Randalorion Kingdom, which made it difficult to connect the dots on time."

"I see... Makes sense."

"By the time we figured out his intention, things had already progressed beyond stopping the abductions, so we decided to bide our time and trap him during your confrontation."

I think I understand their intentions clearly.

This investigation of theirs took on two forms, or probably three.

On one hand, they were conducting their own private investigation. On the other hand, they were monitoring me and following my clues.

Finally, there is a huge chance that the Dark Guild is also cooperating with them.

"Speaking of the abductions, we were able to recover almost all the top priority cases with the exception of one—the Kingdom’s Crown Prince." I tell them, my eyes flickering with both concern and curiosity.

If anyone should know about where the boy is, or at least where I ought to start from, it should be these people.

Unexpectedly, however, Alistair shakes his head.

"That likely has nothing to do with Lucien’s activities."

"What...?" I am naturally stunned.

"We’ve been monitoring temporal activity within the Randalorion Kingdom because of our target, which is what allowed us to easily spot the abductions and how they were happening. It also allowed us to cross your path, and so we started watching you as well. If Lucien had captured the prince from the palace, we would have known. However, the only temporal activity we spotted in the Royal Palace was caused by your visit there."

"I see..."

This is quite perplexing.

However, I don’t need a lot of time to realize what is happening here.

If I remove the Paranormal Abductions out of the equation, another possibility quickly emerges—one that is very likely.

’The prince was captured by someone in the palace.’ I grit my teeth in mild annoyance.

It wouldn’t be difficult for anyone with sufficient authority in the Royal Palace to learn about the Paranormal Abductions that I was investigating.

Thus, they must have decided to eliminate or capture Claus while framing it as one of the mysterious disappearances.

How smart.

But it is also very foolish.

Such a reckless, stupid move... surely King Claudius would not have imagined it.

He also has no motive to do this.

The Elders also know of my identity, as well as the might of Leviathans, so they would not even attempt to aggravate me.

That leaves one last option.

—The Princes!

At least one of them must be behind this. It is also possible that the two of them joined hands in making the youngest disappear.

The reason as to why they would resort to this isn’t lost to me.

The throne... they desire it.

Claus was chosen by me as the future King, and the two brothers were clearly not satisfied with that decision.

If they could make their brother disappear, then their chances of becoming king would increase drastically. With the Paranormal Abductions entering the picture, a perfect opportunity came and at least one of them took it.

’Fools...’ I control my anger and simply let out a loud sigh.

Since this is a matter related to the Kingdom’s succession and is unrelated to the Adept Leaper, which is my priority, I can deal with it later.

Right now, the emphasis remains on Lucien Zevalis.

His mode of operation is rather roundabout and confusing, even for me.

"He is a Leaper who can travel to the past and future. He was even able to wipe out all our progress on the investigation, making me the only one who remembered. Such a peraon... I find it hard that we could have ever caught him off guard." I reveal my current contemplation to the group, expressing clear confusion as to the current turn of events.

Someone who can travel weeks into the past and future would surely never lose.

They could change any event that does not suit their plans as they wish, and they could constantly travel to the future to see if any uncertainties occur.

Any man who wields this power would naturally have an insurmountable advantage.

Isn’t that correct?

"It appears you have some misconception about the Leaper Pathway..." Alistair Wormwood tells me with a knowing smile.

"Let me enlighten you."

[A/N: We are finally getting deeper into the story, and I hope you all begin to see what separates this novel from others out there.]