Chapter 119: [BONUS] - This Guy Has Zero Shame

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August looked at Finn Deimne, the captain of the Loki Familia, who was casually pretending this was their first meeting.

You had to give him credit—he really knew how to handle things. The Loki Familia was huge, and most of their members had no clue that August had ever met their leaders.

"It's simple," August said calmly. "Smuggling monsters to sell to foreign nobles, and conspiring with the remnants of the Evilus to unleash Dungeon monsters onto the surface to wipe out the population."

Smuggling monsters. Helping the Evilus. Acts of mass terrorism.

"That kind of accusation..." Finn's expression tightened, and he fell silent.

This was something only the Adventurer's Guild and the Ganesha Familia could handle. Releasing monsters from the Dungeon was a serious taboo. Even the creatures used for Ganesha's arena events were kept under tight security.

If this was true, it called for harsh punishment.

But wiping them out on the spot? That decision belonged to the Guild.

"The Ikelos Familia... no, let's be precise. Every living descendant of the Daedalus bloodline is suspected of assisting the Evilus in a plot to convert adventurers into Dungeon monsters."

"..." That revelation stunned everyone.

Even Finn couldn't hide his shock. He had survived Orario's Dark Age and knew what the Evilus were capable of. But the rest of the Loki Familia had never heard of anything so extreme.

"HEY! YOU CAN'T JUST SPOUT BASELESS ACCUSATIONS!" one of them shouted.

This was the highest form of treason against humanity. Finn knew that if this turned out to be true, it wasn't just about smuggling...

"Oh, but it's real," August continued smoothly.

"I was wondering... during my fights, the Dungeon effortlessly summoned thousands of monsters to swarm me. Current adventurers, even with massive support teams, can only reliably clear the Upper and Middle Floors."

"But what about the Deep Floors? With so many monsters down there, why haven't they broken through to the surface?"

"Then I discovered something horrifying. During the Dark Age, Orario was torn apart by faction wars. But even with all that chaos, no monsters from the deep floors ever made it to the surface. They could have destroyed the city instantly, but they never did."

"After seeing what the Daedalus family built down here, it all clicked."

August tapped his fingers together.

"There is something else in the Deep Floors. Ignoring gods and surface dwellers, it represents an entirely different form of life."

"To put it in divine terms: an anomaly. A special lifeform lurking in the abyss."

"The Evilus Gods, stuck on the surface, used the Daedalus legacy to make contact with this anomaly. And from there, their artificial monster conversion project was born."

August explained the conspiracy clearly, almost as if he was following a script. As he spoke, he looked around at the members of the Loki Familia.

"Impossible. We run deep-strata expeditions constantly. We would have noticed something like that," Tione Hiryute argued firmly.

The Loki Familia was always prepping for expeditions. They executed Guild-mandated deep dives to cull ancient monsters and prevent them from reaching the surface. Every top Familia participated.

If August was right, a horde of that magnitude would have swarmed the surface years ago. Furthermore, the legendary Zeus and Hera Familias had dominated the prior era. They ran expeditions too. How could they have missed it?

Saying this started back in the Dark Ages sounded unbelievable.

"No... he might be telling the truth," Finn muttered, biting his thumb.

His mind raced, running the calculations.

The Loki Familia couldn't replicate the expeditions of the Zeus and Hera Familias. Those two legendary factions had fallen, and while Loki had taken their place, it was only because the absolute strongest had been wiped out.

When Finn saw the numbers August mentioned, he realized their current expeditions were nothing compared to what [Level 8] adventurers used to handle.

If a specific area in the abyss was mass-producing monsters, the math added up.

'This was serious trouble.' Finn knew this was no longer a simple Guild punishment. This was declaring war on all life on the surface.

Anyone tied to the Evilus was an enemy of humanity.

Finn glanced at August. Then another realization hit him.

'This kid was definitely using this as a reason to wipe out Dix Perdix and his whole bloodline, just because they had gone against him. He found a loophole and was going to use it to destroy them.'

But what could Finn do? If the evidence were real, wiping out their entire bloodline might be the kindest option.

"Care to explain yourself?" Finn asked. He realized the bald thug needed a moment to defend himself. If he remained silent, he was as good as dead.

"..."

Gran's eyes were full of fear. He had lost his boss, but he knew what his Familia had really been up to, and it wasn't what they were being accused of.

"I DIDN'T! WE DIDN'T DO THAT!" Gran screamed.

If he admitted to collaborating with the Evilus to convert humans into monsters, the residents of Daedalus Street would burn him at the stake before the Guild even got involved.

"The Ikelos Familia only captures the talking monsters! We smuggle them to the surface and sell them to foreign nobles for entertainment! That's it!"

"We never made artificial monsters! Nobody in the Ikelos Familia did! Not even Dix!" Gran howled desperately.

His survival instinct took over. He admitted to his real crimes just to avoid a death sentence. Smuggling monsters was serious, but it wasn't treason against humanity.

"Talking monsters?" Finn froze. This was the first time he had ever heard of such a thing.

"Yes! They don't just talk—they scream when we hurt them, and they beg for mercy!"

"We catch them and sell them to the nobles! They use them for their twisted games! That's all we do!" Gran blurted out, panicking.

"We didn't make artificial monsters! You can't pin that on us!" Gran roared at August.

'Don't pin your bullshit conspiracy on us. We didn't do it!'

After hearing this, Finn knew the Ikelos Familia was done for. Smuggling intelligent monsters and hurting civilians meant they were facing long prison sentences.

August didn't seem upset by Gran's denial. Instead, he smiled.

"I never said the Ikelos Familia did it... I said it was the descendants of the Daedalus family, not the Ikelos Familia." August grinned.

WAIT!!

"Impossible! Dix wouldn't!" Gran tried to call for his boss, Dix Perdix, to defend himself.

Then, it hit him... Gran looked at the broken pieces of the cursed spear on the ground. That was where Dix had stood.

Dix was dead.

"..." At that moment, Finn, Riveria, Gareth, and even the loyal thug Gran realized what August had done.

This guy has zero shame—

He killed the man so he couldn't testify, then blamed the worst crime on him so he couldn't clear his name.

He has zero moral compass. Just to ruin his enemy, he called the dead man's whole family enemies of humanity. The level of spite was shocking.

"He really holds a grudge," Tiona Hiryute said bluntly.

His ability to hold a grudge was on a whole different level.

"But you gotta admit, he's a good guy," Tiona added, flashing a thumbs-up.

"Tiona, what the hell are you talking about?" Tione stared at her sister in disbelief. Could she really not see what was going on?

"Sister, think about it. He's a great captain."

"He had two rookies with no combat experience and a Supporter who couldn't fight. When his Familia was threatened, he wiped out the enemy so they could never hurt his people again."

"Who else in Orario would do that? What other captain would risk their own reputation and take on all this trouble just to protect a Supporter and a couple of rookies?"

Tiona saw her sister was speechless and turned to Finn, who was also quiet. "Uh, Captain Finn, I didn't mean you."

Finn bit his thumb.

Putting himself in August's place, could he go to such ruthless extremes to protect a weak Supporter and two rookies?

"She's right. I couldn't have done it," Finn admitted openly.

He couldn't. As a hero, he was bound by morals and what others thought. August was doing what none of them could, acting out of the need to protect his own.

Tiona was right. In a strange way, August was doing something no other Familia captain in Orario could bring themselves to do.

"So, Captain of the Hestia Familia," Finn turned back to August. "What's your call?"

Finn wondered whether August would finish the job himself or hand the survivor over to the Gods for judgment.

Honestly, Finn wanted no part of this mess anymore. If people did not call him the Braver, he would have simply walked away. This job was utterly thankless.

"He's yours." August didn't wait. He handed Gran over to Finn.

"We're leaving."

August turned away and pulled back his chains.

As they walked away, Liliruca Arde remembered something and ran back to the terrified bald thug.

"I'll take that!"

Lili knew he had the key. She took Gran's valuables, grabbed the Daedalus Orb, and hurried back to August.

Gran watched his only hope get taken and slumped in defeat. He knew he'd be handed over to the Loki Familia, but honestly, he felt relieved. He had survived.

"You're not going to stop them?" Gareth asked as August's team disappeared down the corridor.

Things had gotten out of hand. Bodies were everywhere, and the floor was slick with blood from stray bullets. It was a massacre.

"Can't," Finn replied.

"Don't forget our deployment orders. We were sent to prevent a monster outbreak."

"Investigating smuggling is the Guild and the Ganesha Familia's job."

They had finished their mission. The threat of a major outbreak was stopped, mostly because August had taken out those behind it.

"Pack it up," Finn ordered.

Gareth signaled the younger members to move in and secure the prisoner. They were handing him over to the Ganesha Familia for interrogation.

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Meanwhile, August's group moved quickly, heading deeper into the Knossos.

"As expected of Lord August!" Lili said, her eyes shining with excitement.

His plan was excellent and executed flawlessly.

"Letting the Loki Familia deal with the fallout! Now we can leave without trouble."

"No matter what happens, we won't get in trouble. That's Lord August for you!" Lili was thrilled.

To her, August sparing Gran wasn't an act of mercy. It was just a smart move to avoid trouble.

"Killing him now wouldn't change anything," August said, pausing on the stairs as he realized Lili thought he was playing some big strategy game.

In truth, he just didn't care.

"That guy is broken. Killing him serves no purpose. The mastermind is already dead."

"But you know," August mused. "Even facing overwhelming odds, that bald guy still drew his sword for his boss. He didn't break. I respect that."

Putting their feud aside, August actually liked the thug's grit. Facing a much stronger enemy from another world and being willing to die for his boss—that kind of loyalty was something August respected.

"But you didn't show him any mercy either," Lili pointed out, knowing exactly how August operated.

He didn't hate the guy. But when it was time to fight, August didn't hold back. He fought him fairly, showing no pity just because the man was brave.

"Lord August, this is the right call," Lili agreed.

"Let the Loki Familia deal with the paperwork. We have no reason to waste time arguing with them."

"We still have a job to do."

Lili fully agreed with using the surviving thug to deal with the bureaucracy. It let them focus on the remaining Xenos without the Guild getting in the way.

"Let's go," August signaled. "We still have to deal with the Xenos."

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