Death Flag System: I Became An Extra From The Author Who Killed Me!
Chapter 71: House
"We’re here."
Cillian woke up to find his sister, Ella, nudging the hem of his clothes. After thanking her, he packed up his bag and left the engineered vehicle.
Cillian then saw a two-story house. It wasn’t too big, but it wasn’t small either. Just slightly below the middle-class kind of living.
They had travelled for at least half an hour until they arrived at their destination, slightly far from the strong influence of the Viola Family.
"Let’s get inside."
Leo said nonchalantly as he closed the vehicle.
Cillian nodded once before following his parents with his sister on his side. They entered this house, which is a bit too much for a family of four.
"Place your things inside your room. After that, come down. We’re going to have a meeting."
"Okay."
Cillian went upstairs, ignoring the stares he was receiving from his second family. Once he was on the second floor, he found his room at the far end of the corner.
Entering inside, Cillian found a bed that was left untouched throughout the time the previous Cillian had left to attend the Academy. There were posters plastered on the walls, and the table at the open window was clean. There was also a huge wardrobe at the far side meant for his clothes.
Putting down his bag, Cillian let out a short breath.
"Sparrows..."
The Sparrows.
They have worked under Viola’s shadow for the past century and are serving directly under the current Lord. They are highly loyal informants of the Lord of Viola and are quiet, professional operatives in the Underworld.
Leo Sparrow is a vice-captain for the Whisper Broker, with his older brother being the guild master of this informant group.
They are not just a normal family, so to speak. Their wealth, fame, and power are things they didn’t directly possess but were supported by the Viola Family, which is why Cillian believed their family didn’t have them, acting as nothing like dogs.
They have a business in the Underworld that is not too famous, yet not too secret. So from time to time, they were asked by their clients to gather information in exchange for various things.
The information that is not related to the orders of the Lord was then reported through the Lord of Viola after passing through countless checks.
It made sense why Leo and Esther forced Cillian to befriend Fergus and be part of his gang. It elevated their position in the organization they are part of, Whisper Broker.
"The family business is mostly related to information gathering, but they are also secret dealers and have even taken guarding requests."
’Does that mean they have some information regarding the Shepherds?’
Cillian added inwardly.
If they are working under the Lord of Viola as informants, they are bound to have precious information, and this hidden and ancient organization might already be in their records, especially now that this group is rampant everywhere.
A sudden funny idea entered Cillian’s mind.
’Should I take over our little organization?’
Taking over an organization while gathering information about the Shepherds, his main target, will be a fun side goal that Cillian wouldn’t mind doing.
Imagining himself ordering people around like a true hidden manipulator in the shadows somehow made him smile smugly.
’Well, I might do it once I hear what’s going on inside this organization. I don’t really know how they operate things since the initial plan of the previous Cillian was to attend three years of the academy to solidify his position under Fergus before working under the shadows for him.’
That won’t be happening now, though.
Fergus has been expelled from Viola’s Sorcery Academy, and that same Sorcery Academy was destroyed. It’ll be a while till the Academy decides what to do with them, especially the lurking dangers of the Shepherds.
It was a messed-up development.
"Okay."
After unpacking his things, Cillian went down to meet with his parents.
...
’How tense.’
Cillian watched the atmosphere at the table of four. It was far from the healthy and jolly family one commonly sees, because of how ’cold’ the atmosphere was. As if they were all strangers working for the first time.
"Cillian."
"Yes?"
Leo called out to Cillian, who was seated in the opposite direction, and answered in the same flat tone.
"I’ve heard news and directly heard from our people about what happened in that Academy. Over 300 people had managed to survive there. The Shepherds... what kind of people are they?"
’Why would you want to hear it directly from me?’
Cillian found it confusing at first before he replied in an even tone.
"Is it right to tell it to you when Ella Sparrow is here?"
Ella and Esther both frowned and watched Cillian quietly as he described her sister as if some kind of long-lost relative.
’Ella... Sparrow?’
Leo mused inwardly before shaking his head.
"Do you wish to be consulted with a therapist, Cillian? I can make arrangements."
For a moment, his father’s emotionless face cracked at the sight of how his son had turned out after witnessing the horrors of the Academy slaughter.
Who wouldn’t get traumatized by witnessing the deaths that happened in that place? At least, that’s what Leo heard about a quarter of the people who had survived the place.
He even heard that Fred Menestin, one of the close confidants of Khalish Viola, had undergone mental health counseling because of how bad the attack was.
Cillian was confused about his words, though.
’Why do I need some mental counseling? I’m perfectly fine! I might act as a crazy bastard from time to time, but I’m mentally perfect. Besides, didn’t you want me to report what I’ve gone through? I’ll tell it to you now!’
Cillian didn’t know why his old man was reacting this way, but he had to clear up the misunderstanding that was going through their head to even suggest a mental check-up.
"Okay, hold up now. I don’t need any help, physically or mentally. You want me to tell you what happened there? Then, I’ll tell you what happened."
’Please, for fuck’s sake! Don’t limit my freedom even in here!’
Cillian started revealing the information that is already known in the public eye, excluding very sensitive information that he possessed, like killing a black shepherd alone and hiding the existence of his system from them.
For some reason, the table’s tense atmosphere slowly subsided as the family heard Cillian’s ramblings and the way he articulated his story.
Their expressions softened as they slowly realized that Cillian was better than they thought he would.
"After that, I shot a black shepherd in the head with the help of Vin and Aster, killing him. I also killed a Berserk State Ruiner, but it’s only because he’s right where I wanted him to be. There are also corpses all around the maze that have been killed by these Shepherds. It was a nasty sight."
Kill... kill...
Cillian’s words were filled with ’kill’ in every of his sentence that the soft expressions that slowly built up on the faces of his family were replaced with stiff faces as if to say that their son, whom they once loved, is gone.
’The attack in the Academy made him like this...’
Leo started to consider bringing Cillian straight to the hospital right now and to schedule a consultation right in this very instant.
Students shouldn’t be able to experience such things like that, especially in a renowned academy such as the Sorcery Academy.