Hero’s Downfall Report

83 – Things you can only say when you look back (3)

Once I knew the encryption key, the rest of the decryption was easy. Now all that remains is the simple and tedious repetitive task of changing the original text written in password by looking at the string.

Because each letter had to be checked and changed, it took a long time even though three people shared the letter to solve it.

Cain became annoyed and decided to change her password by skipping four letters at a time. Her encryption key, HOPE, is a four-letter word. This means that the string changes every four times.

Then, if she skips four letters at a time, she doesn’t have to spin the concentric disc. When she changed her method, her speed increased, but her sentences became unreadable. Lady Arianne Lady Arianne looks like L●d■ A●i■n●e.

As a result, Cain was inertically changing her words with his eyes and hands, but she kept getting lost in her idle thoughts.

From Noble mtl dot com

‘Isn’t the really useful content in the letters at the back of Volume 3 of the Dirty Diary?’

We don’t know yet. Is there really plausible content in that book, or is it some trace of sharing one’s dirty and base desires with others? Of course, to read the letter you need to know the encryption key.

If it is ‘hope’ like this letter, it will be resolved easily, but if not, we will have to argue over the original text, which does not even have an interpretation.

‘If the encryption key is different for each letter, what should I do then?’

There was no other way than to send even the third volume to the capital. It also had to be sent to the Guard Bureau’s password room, not the Security Bureau’s password room. If only the Royal Guard had such a facility…

Cain suddenly felt Lily’s gaze.

“Why?”

“If you’re tired, how about taking a break? Uh… “It looks like that.”

Maria also put her feather pen in the inkwell.

“Hey. I can’t do any more. “How on earth can you sit around doing this all day?”

That’s what she said, but surprisingly, Maria finished almost everything. She was a bit faster than Lily and Cain.

“Aren’t you talented?”

“Do you want to die? “I didn’t want it to take too long, so I forced myself to push through it quickly!”

Personality was refreshing and Maria-like. But she pressed her temples as if her head really hurt.

“I don’t understand at all. “Why on earth did they send a coded letter?” Maria still looked annoyed.

“Well. “I guess it’s because it contains something important, right?”

“Do you hear that sound even after looking at the first paragraph of the interpretation? Oh, is it because it’s something so obscene that it can’t be written in ordinary writing? No. Arianne, it’s funny when I think about it. “How did you know that the encryption key was hope and how did you fix it?”

Cain’s smile faded.

“What do you mean?”

“No. “You said that.” Mary did not seem to notice the change in Cain, and she continued to complain.

“The encryption key must be agreed upon between the sender and the receiver. So you’re saying they were close enough to share secrets? But no matter how you look at it, it doesn’t seem like that kind of relationship.”

“Even if we are not close friends, we still send it. When there is something important to do at work… “

Lily took over her words. But she also seemed to be difficult in many ways.

“But I don’t know if there was a need to write down this information and send it in password.”

“Well, I heard he’s quite a pervert. A guy who likes to painstakingly write down his preferences in code. “He’s done quite a few things with women, and seeing as how crazy he is even with his password, I think he’s a pervert like no other in the world.”

Cain was anxious. It was because she felt an inexplicable sense of discomfort.

How did Arianne and William, who had hardly interacted with each other since the end of the Crusade, know and exchange the encryption key in advance?

Arianne despised William, and William did not see Arianne as a woman or a person. It was the same during the Crusades, and it was not much different now that the two were still alive.

It may be that they were in a relationship where they did not like to talk, but it means that they were not in a relationship where they could exchange coded letters.

Code letters are exchanged by lovers who have secret matters that should not be known to the outside world, lovers with old-fashioned tastes who want to spend special time alone, or code lovers.

The relationship between Arianne and William was different from all three.

Despite this, William wrote the encryption key as ‘hope’, and Arianne solved it with the keyword ‘hope’ as if it was obvious. Although she threw it away while trying to unravel it.

‘Maybe…’ Wasn’t the word ‘hope’ used like a code among the crusaders who went out to fight the devil at the time?’

But the possibility of that happening was not high. If you’re fighting people, you definitely need a password, but if you’re fighting animals, you don’t need it.

Of course, the elders in Cain’s hometown said that foxes and wolves knew what people called them, and they used different words when they went out hunting.

‘Foxes know what humans call them. He remembers more than seven. ‘They are very cunning.’

However, that is a matter of title and there is no reason to use such a complex password system.

Moreover, the crusade against the devil at the time was a coalition between different countries, various races, pagans, and the Two-Headed Eagle Church. This means that it was difficult to use a public password.

Then there is only one thing left. That the seven warriors had promised in advance.

An ominous feeling permeated Cain.

What is the reason why warriors who have completed their missions need to exchange coded letters ‘just in case’? What is the reason for choosing ‘hope’ as the keyword, which has not been forgotten even 10 years later?

Cain silently fell back into the decoding process. Lily and Maria, who were chatting, shrugged their shoulders when they saw Cain’s sudden change, then looked at their respective notes again.

It was already past dinner time and it was almost eight o’clock. Maria was the first to finish. Eventually, Cain and Lily finished as well.

“… What is this?”

Maria showed the results as if she couldn’t believe it.

“What does this all mean? “What am I looking at?”

“… Cain. This… “

Even Lily was shocked and stuttered over her words. Cain rearranged the letters in order. And read it out loud.

『Arianne. I know best how lowly I am. It’s a secular thing to say, but I’m really a guy who does what he wants. I won’t deny that.

But. But… I want to be a dick teaser, not a dick. But our situation is already screwed up enough.

Arius suffered.

Either the seal wasn’t as strong as we thought, or someone broke it. It’s probably one of two things.

It’s better if it’s the first time. All we have to do is go back and bury it. Of course, I will be criticized for not doing my job properly.

But so what? Now we are heroes. And when the hero stands out, you have to catch the villain. There is also an excuse called time.

Over the course of 10 years, the remnants or followers of the Demon King raised him up. The warriors of the past reunited… If this is the case, there is no big problem.

I did it once, so why can’t I do it twice? We’ll come back again. If it’s like this, there won’t be any problem. Arius was really good at this.

The reason I said I really want to meet you is for the second reason. If the. If any of us broke our oath that day. If someone betrayed us.

I need someone I can trust. That’s you. Arianne.

Yes. Let’s be honest. You were the most lonely among us and were not close to anyone. I kept my distance from everyone. That’s why I only trust you.

Should I say it more explicitly? I suspect you haven’t ‘released’ it. Because you have a weak heart.

I don’t believe there is a traitor among us. We, you know. We’ve done enough. It was the world that told us to be heroes.

We were sacrificed. Like carnival pigs.

You know? Feed the specially selected pigs good food, let them mate as much as they like, and even provide them with a comfortable and cozy place to sleep.

Because only then can they be slaughtered in a splendid manner.

But so what? A pig’s life isn’t bad as long as it doesn’t get slaughtered. And we did that.

Do you hate the life of a hero? I love it. Very happy If you only knew how many men take off their hats and women take off their underwear when I show my face… I know, f*ck it. I’m just expressing it my way.

So, Arianne. Forget everything I said. I need someone I can trust. We are quite… We’re not close, but we’re a little closer than the others.

And please leave your mother. Your mother is eating you alive. You must have read a fairy tale book.

The story is that a forest witch locked her children in her house, fed them constantly, raised them, and then ate a small piece of her thigh flesh every day.

The way I see it, your mother is the witch.

So please. Meet me for you and me. We have to find the traitor. If you don’t have it, you have to create it. And in this case, the one who raises his hand first is the safest.

Let’s survive together. Please. Arianne. Please. Just you. Just you.

Remember what Roberta said. They say the devil is a thorn in the empire. A thorn stuck in the flesh cannot be removed until the raw flesh is torn.

I am now begging you with a feeling that is tearing my life apart.

If you can’t find the traitor. If you decide to just cover it up. Let’s blame it on Arius. He was the best among us, but in the end he was destroyed by the greed of power.

Anyway, can a bastard who has become a monster talk like a human?

I hope you make a wise decision.

In the name of sincere love and friendship, my dear friend William.』

All three were silent.

“Crazy guy.”

Maria just stuttered and muttered.

“Crazy guy. You’re crazy. There was a reason why I wrote it down as a password. This… these guys… All seven cubs… “

“Roberta. Roberta… “Who was it?” Lily clutched her head in confusion.

“‘Kind’ Roberta. “She is a woman loved by everyone.” Cain answered, touching his forehead.

But I had no intention of scolding Lily for confusing a story that everyone knew. Because she herself was in a stupor.

This letter probably occurred between the attack on Arius and the attack on William. This also means that William knew in some way about the attack on Arius.

“Did William really trust Arianne…? ?”

“No.”

Cain dismissed it.

“I probably just changed the subject and sent it to other people. Like there’s no one I can trust but you. These people all have the same pattern. They say there’s no one I can trust but you. In fact, it divides everyone. But that doesn’t mean William is the only evil person. According to the contents of this letter… “

Cain’s face twitched. Words that are unbelievable, words that cannot be said out loud. But it is likely to be true.

“The seven warriors have been hiding something from us for 10 years already. I don’t know when, but I promised the encryption key in advance. ‘Hope’ must have been something so strong that I couldn’t forget it even 10 years later.

And… They were both thinking of blaming each other for something. Already then. “It means they knew what they were doing wasn’t the right thing to do.”

Mary understood Cain’s hint. It was a word all too familiar to her, her Inquisitor.

“Sin… ?”

“Okay. Crime. They committed a crime then. “When his crime was revealed, he started thinking about blaming someone.”

Cain remembered the hint at Emmaus.

The knight with the sword said that he put the devil in the body of a living person, cut off his limbs, and then buried him alive.

When asked if he was still alive, he said that although he was buried ‘in an unknown place,’ it was clear that he was alive.

In that case, the knight of the scabbard cannot be one of the seven warriors. The seven warriors know where the Demon King is buried. Therefore, we cannot say, ‘He was buried in an unknown place.’

However, it is clear that the knight of the scabbard was very close to the unfortunate person who was sealed alive, and that this knight was nearby at the time.

Not the seven warriors, but they were there at the time.

I know how the Demon King was sealed, but I don’t know where.

What kind of person would you have to be to be there and not know specifically where it was?

“…The knight of the scabbard was a crusader.”

Cain looked at Lily and Maria.

“He was definitely not one of the Seven Heroes, but he was an apprentice knight who had barely mastered basic sword skills and had gotten close to the place where the Demon King was sealed. He got close enough to know how the Demon King was sealed, but he didn’t know exactly where. .”

“But how can that be? You said it was there. You don’t know where it is.”

Cain answered without thinking.

I didn’t say it after thinking about it. She answered instead that she had long experience working as a security agency agent. Lily’s face turned pale when she heard Cain’s answer, and Maria’s eyes narrowed.

“That’s why! That’s why! Instead of actively attacking, we fought mainly on defense and counterattack…That’s why!”

“Is that possible?”

Maria looked in disbelief.

“I thought that was just a bluff. No, that’s… Ha. No…”

“It is possible.” Lily nodded her head. “It is also a practical sword technique. It is excellent as a personal self-defense technique and is quite systematized. Of course, it is not universal, but…”

“Of course, there could have been other reasons, but this is all I can think of right now.”

Cain nodded.

“If the knight in the scabbard couldn’t see. All of this would be correct.”