No Dark Secrets In This Book

Episode 116

In a word, Capone Jones was jealous of Cassice Demillang.

‘Even considering our status, it’s something that doesn’t even make sense.’

Still, Capone Jones couldn’t help but be jealous of Cassice Demillang. Especially now, as thoughts about how to resolve the current situation kept piling up.

…Because even all of this will be clearly seen through by Cassice Demillang.

What? The sewer rats known as Capone Jones, Diedrich Vinckel, and Logan Esteban.

Knowing everything about what schemes those rats who are now in big trouble will devise with their tiny brains, what they will whisper to each other, instead of blowing their minds, he instructs them to engage in meaningless tension and infighting and watches. For what reason? Of course, for a fleeting amusement.

‘…With such trivial information, we couldn’t even put a scratch on him all this time.’

The private information about Cassice Demillang that Capone could gather was not much. It was just trivial daily stories that he didn’t look tired even when studying. It wouldn’t be much different for Diedrich or Logan. Did they pass on more critical and important information than Capone?

‘No way.’

No matter how much you pry, Cassice Demillang never gives a proper answer about his personal or official business.

He just stares intently and smiles persistently.

In the end, no matter how much they babbled about betrayal or whatnot, it was just a petty infighting of rat bastards.

Power, just because of that.

‘We are like sewer rats desperately trying to pile cheese in a rat hole.’

Power and luck made Cassice Demillang a young master that no one could touch, and weakness and misfortune made Capone have to smile when she wanted to cry. Capone couldn’t cry or breathe when she was terrified. Capone got blood on her hands and laughed because she was weak. She had to laugh.

Only the strong can live honestly. The weak have to smile when they want to cry, stay silent when they want to laugh, and not collapse when they despair.

Taking away even the freedom to be weak from the weak, that is power.

Of course, innate power is naturally determined by luck. She herself is privileged, so she has no complaints about that fact. Therefore, what makes Capone most unbearable is that the young master seems to understand the weakness of sewer rats.

How dare he.

How dare he!

‘When he has never been weak even once…’

Cassice Demillang, a truly unique being. Sometimes he seemed like a lofty eagle soaring in the sky, and sometimes like a venomous snake flicking its tongue. When he smiled with his eyes mischievously, it seemed like he was revealing his notoriety and wickedness to the world, and when he flaunted his presence with his formidable power, he was an unapproachable being.

Usually, such strong beings have some limitations. They can torment the weak, but there are some limits to their imagination and means. Of course, they were enough of a disaster to weak beings, but think about it. An eagle cannot hunt a sewer rat hiding in the sewers.

But he.

Despite having such unapproachable power, he doesn’t let go of even the rats in the sewers.

‘As if he has lived in the sewers before…’

Capone had felt this for a long time, and it was an intuition close to certainty. He probably understands those who are trampled on.

…That aspect made her want to vomit in disgust.

In the end, he’ll come out of the sewers and trample on others anyway.

When he himself won’t even be trampled on.

***

Logan Esteban was the calmest of the three.

When Cassice’s bolt from the blue order came down, Logan felt a sense of déjà vu somewhere.

Specify the culprit before the school trip ends. Everyone is a sinner, but the aftermath will differ depending on who snitches and who remains silent.

‘Isn’t this the prisoner’s dilemma?’

In this situation, Logan thought of the famous theory that deals with the rational decision-making of multiple people. Anyway, there was a similar aspect to the situation in that they had to survive in the most rational way by playing a game of wits with each other.

‘Two out of three have to gang up and single out one person.’

This was the most desirable outcome. Because now the culprit is not separate, but all three of them here snitched on the young master. The worst result is to actually reveal that everyone was involved in the snitching and all three get dragged away.

Honestly, he thought there was no way Cassice, who figured it out this far, wouldn’t know that all three of them were culprits, but fortunately, he said to name only one person. Then it was also possible to use one person as a scapegoat and form an alliance to survive.

If he could survive, he was willing to show an entertaining spectacle, such as a complete mess of politics where they bite and drag each other down. Isn’t that what Cassice wants anyway? If he shows a good show, he’ll really let the other two live.

‘I don’t want to die, and I’ve come this far. It would be a waste.’

He had diligently organized and summarized the trivial and petty information about Cassice and passed it on to them.

It was a dirty and underhanded thing to do, but thanks to that, Logan became a candidate for the family head and his influence within the family grew. It wasn’t just Logan who benefited individually, but it seemed like the family could also breathe a little easier now.

If he dies, this will all disappear in an instant.

Yeah, sure, it’s a waste, but such a position isn’t that important to him. After all, isn’t life about being born naked and leaving naked? But does everything end just because Logan dies? What about the people who will lose Logan? What about those around him?

‘It’s terrible when someone suddenly disappears from your life…’

So I’ll survive. It’s unfortunate for the scapegoat, it’s unfortunate for the people around the scapegoat who will lose them, but by surviving, by surviving…

Logan, Logan, Logan…

Logan, who was consumed by the thought of survival, heard a voice calling him. He was startled and came to his senses. He was in his room, and there was no one around. It was natural. The voice was his sister’s voice, and his sister was currently in a coma, so she couldn’t even come near Logan’s room. In the first place, the voice he just heard wasn’t a real voice or even a hallucination, it was just something Logan momentarily recalled.

‘I’m covered in cold sweat…’

As the sweat cooled, he suddenly felt cold. It doesn’t matter what happens to the scapegoat? It doesn’t matter about the scapegoat’s loved ones, so I’ll just survive alone?

‘How confident. When your sister was about to disappear, you made a huge fuss…’

Logan took a sip of water. The hand putting down the glass was trembling slightly. The faintly heard voice of family. If it were a movie, it would be a truly romantic directing, but Logan knew what that voice carried. Hatred. Hating Logan so much, wanting to kill him so much that she was going crazy, but absolutely unable to do that, absolutely shouldn’t do that, in the end, that hatred that had nowhere to go could only reach herself.

‘Sister.’

It was also shocking that his sister almost disappeared, but the most shocking and unforgivable part was…

‘…I didn’t even know that my sister hated me.’

Logan’s family was harmonious. That’s what he mistakenly thought. Everyone pretended to be a harmonious family. It was a place where ‘one must not be unhappy’, so the unhappiness of his sister, who was much older but had to compete for the successor position because Logan was a genius, disappeared.

The harmonious Esteban family was possible thanks to the scapegoat that was his sister.

So wouldn’t it be laughable to a passing dog? The happy Logan Esteban can sacrifice someone, but the unhappy Logan Esteban couldn’t sacrifice anyone. Anyone, he can’t. Logan realized this before he even finished drinking all the water.

‘But I can’t be the scapegoat.’

He has neither the viciousness to sacrifice others nor the nobility to sacrifice himself. With this, he’s disqualified from the position of prospective family head that he obtained in a sneaky and dirty way by selling Cassice Demillang’s information.

‘Isn’t there a way for everyone to be safe?’

This wasn’t a hypothetical game theory of wits, it was a real situation. And the person who makes the rules for this situation is Cassice Demillang. In the first place, he was the one who made the rule to bring only one person.

Let’s seriously dig into him now.

Not to snitch, but to find out about Cassice as a person.

It may sound sentimental, but Logan was in the most rational state after this incident.

‘If we comply with the rules he set up, it’s impossible. If we can find out a little more about him, and if we can somehow get through this well…’

…Without any sacrifice.

It’s unforgivable that he was lazy and ignorant and drove his sister to that state, but if he knowingly does something similar to others now, he won’t be able to bear it himself.

Logan had no idea what to do from now on, and no good ideas came to mind, but for now, he made up his mind.

Now it’s time to persuade the other two. Let’s not be caught and move rationally.

Knock knock knock knock knock.

This rough and impatient knocking was definitely Diedrich’s doing. Fortunately, there was no need to go find him. Logan opened the door and began explaining the plan to Diedrich who barged in.

“We can’t go on like this. From now on, we have to…”

Diedrich perfunctorily cut off Logan’s words with a gesture.

“Hey, enough.”

“Wait, why are you using mana…”

There was a critical flaw in Logan’s plan. It was that everyone participating in this plan had to want to make a rational and correct decision.

“I thought about it, and you’re the most suitable, as a scapegoat.”

“You crazy bastard. What are you…”

“You die!”

“No!”

***

While the three traitors were doing that, the school trip date was already approaching.