Level Up Legacy

1177  Veritas Interview

The news of the man with the Lotus Mask kidnapping the prince reached the entire kingdom in no time. After all, even if the guards did not reveal the matter, the brothel customers would not keep their mouths shut after hearing about the incident.

To add fuel to the fire, Oriole himself contacted several news agencies to raise questions about the whereabouts of the prince. Soon enough, the truth came to light, and the entire kingdom was in turmoil. Weeks before the execution of a major family, the crown prince was kidnapped.

No one could answer what has led to this failure in protecting the prince of the union at such a time. All that was revealed was that the prince was undertaking a dangerous mission when he was kidnapped by a group of rebels.

After hearing the story that the kingdom tried to sell, Oriole scoffed and crackled his knuckles. He typed a detailed revelation of the truth before sending it under an anonymous name to a global news station.

If he sent it to any other station, the kingdom would intervene to stop them. However, this news station, called Veritas, did not care about offending anyone.

Instead of just publishing his story, Veritas asked for proof. Oriole admired their professionalism, and he thought for a bit before snapping a picture of the chained prince in his living room. Then, he sent it to Veritas.

No answer.

After such an anticlimactic conversation, Oriole closed his runic laptop and sighed. He was not worried about being traced or found out because this runic laptop was specifically built to avoid that scenario. Even his connection to Veritas was through the laptop, not the internet.

"MMMM!!MMM!!!" the prince tried to say something through his gagged mouth, but Oriole was not interested in conversing with him. However, the prince screamed harder when he saw Oriole go to the kitchen counter and pick a knife, sharpening it. "MMMMMMM!!!!!!"

"You are very noisy for a kidnapped person," said Oriole with a sigh before he placed the knife down and walked toward the prince. "What do you want, dear Prince Caleb?" asked the masked man as he removed the prince's gag.

"What was that picture? Who did you send it to? Are you going to sell me to that group of cannibals? Is that what the knife is for?" asked the prince in a single breath, afraid that his ability to speak will be restrained again.

Oriole stared at him for a while without an answer. His actions were completely misunderstood by this idiotic prince, but he seemed to be shitting his pants thinking about what Oriole would do to him. However, the alchemist had to admit something.

He did not know how to torture people, nor could he. Unlike the front he made for himself as a ruthless and cold person, Oriole was too empathetic to actually torture someone. After all, he spent his life helping others, not the other way around.

Therefore, it was best to leave the prince to his own delusions. They would do a better job than Oriole. The alchemist chuckled and raised the gag again, making the prince panic.

"No! Please don't kill me! I have more use alive than dead. You want the Agard Family, right? I know where they are. I can tell you everything you need to know."

"A man whose spirit has not broken cannot be trusted," said Oriole with a threatening tone as he crouched beside the prince and tilted his head. "I must first break your body and spirit before I can trust your words, Caleb Yalen."

"Please wait! Don't! NO-MMMM!"

Oriole gagged him again, and the prince screamed in fear of what was going to happen. The tranquilizer made him immobile, so the prince could do nothing but scream and exhaust his mind. The lack of oxygen worked wonders too.

As he cooked dinner, Caleb was breaking down on his own. It was at that time that his runic laptop rang, notifying him of an answer. Oriole washed his hands and walked to the laptop, opened it, and was shocked.

[Veritas has sent you an email.]

[Subject: Livestream Invitation.]

Inside the email was an invite link for a livestream on their official website. As long as Oriole pressed the link, the livestream would begin, and someone from the news station would interview him.

"This is… odd?" muttered Oriole with a frown before checking the official website and found breaking news on their main page. It was the image that Oriole has sent with the confirmation of the story.

Veritas took the story that Oriole sent and edited it into a narrative that shook the world. Then, as the internet exploded with discussions about how the prince was kidnapped from a brothel, the news website took it one step further and announced a livestream with the kidnapper.

Veritas was bold and daring for this move. This could lead to grave consequences for the media outlet, but the benefits seemed to outweigh that risk. Oriole leaned back in his chair in thought on whether he should do it.

On one hand, he would not stand to gain anything from the interview. He has already achieved his objective of destabilizing the king's side through defamation. On the other hand, he would increase the morale of the rebellion if he indeed shows himself.

After much thought, Oriole decided to do it. He adorned his robes and pulled down his hood to hide his face and mask. Mistletoe had nothing to do with this, and he was sure that Sier would hate his actions.

Even still, he pressed the link.

After a short pause, the livestream platform opened. A camera request appeared on the screen, to which Oriole agreed. His background was nothing but a wall with paintings, so he was not worried about people locating his hideout.

"Dear audience, the livestream is starting now! The kidnapper has agreed to the livestream. In short moments, we will be face to face with the most terrifying criminal in the Yalveran Union!"

Oriole blushed a little at the introduction. He never envisioned himself as a criminal, but thinking that a small mission would result in such infamy… what a touching story.

As he sat there with pride, the livestream connected, and his figure appeared. As soon as his dark silhouette appeared, the screen exploded with comments from the audience. Some praised him, and others called him profanities, the latter being mostly fangirls of the prince.

Oriole sat there in silence until a man on the screen appeared as well, wearing a suit and sitting at a desk. The man was handsome with combed blonde hair and piercing blue eyes.

"Greetings, sir!" said the man with a serious expression as he brought his hands together. "Before we start this interview, I would like to confirm that you are indeed the kidnapper of the prince, Caleb Yalen?"

Oriole felt like he was on a game show, making this kidnapping a lot more interesting. To answer the interviewer's claim, he raised a hand, and the prince floated from the side like a limp fish to enter the background.

As the prince appeared, the comments blew up. It had been less than five minutes since the stream started, but there were already a hundred thousand comments in all languages known to mankind. The entire world was watching this stream, and everyone had something to say.

"Thank you for the confirmation!" said the interviewer as the prince turned around and looked at the laptop. Seeing someone on the other side, the prince struggled to say something with widened eyes. Before he could, the prince was sent flying and crashing.

The sequence of events led the entire stream to fall silent, as the prince crashed loud enough for them to hear it. His groans became the only thing in the deadly silence of the stream, since even the interviewer was stunned.

"Please calm down, sir!" said the interviewer as he feared that he might have angered Oriole. "My name is Charming Lincoln, the best news anchor in the world! I will make sure that your message is well-received by the entire world, so please calm down!"

"I am calm." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

As soon as his words landed, the news anchor seemed embarrassed. Oriole seemed as cool as a cucumber as he sat in his chair. After a cough, the news anchor adjusted his seating and tie.

"Let's start with the most important thing, sir. Who are you?"

"My identity is not important. But I can say that even if I did not exist, many like me would rise."

"Does that mean that there are others who wish harm to the royal family of Yalen?" asked Charming Lincoln with surprise.

"Everyone has enemies, but the nobles have more than a few," said Oriole with calm. "I represent a desire for change. I am one man, but that is more than enough to kidnap a prince from a brothel."

"Does that mean you did the act alone, sir?" asked Lincoln with quite the shock as he looked at some files. "I have sources that say it was a mission spanning months of monitoring."

"I had the idea a few hours before the incident," laughed Oriole at him. "I just knew what kind of man the prince was. Nothing more. If he is the future king of the Yalen Kingdom, then the kingdom is doomed!"