Chapter 145
Chapter 145
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 145
Chapter Title: Internal Grumblings
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Elder.”
At the call, Lattis turned his head.
His name was Amil, Lattis’s direct subordinate who had recently overheard Uman and his men plotting their coup and reported it.
He was also a leader among the younger mages.
“What is it?”
“I hate to say this, but... it seems some of our kin are... dissatisfied.”
Amil reported cautiously. Some of the younger mages were criticizing the punishment as overly harsh, saying it was groveling too much to Arsen.
Discussing such a topic required utmost care.
The Starburmi fundamentally adhered to a strict hierarchy of command obedience, especially after a major coup led by one of the elders.
Yet, since they had all shared meals together as family, while the punishments were carried out mechanically under the elders’ orders, doubts inevitably lingered.
Of course, as he said, it was just a few people’s opinions, not everyone’s.
The coup leaders had brutally slaughtered many non-mages—“servants”—during the rebellion, claiming they resisted. Quite a few mages had emotional ties to those servants.
They felt great anger at the sinners’ actions and believed their miserable fate was deserved.
Disputes over this had even led to fistfights. At least using magic on each other was a serious crime, so fighting only with fists could be considered fortunate.
“I see.”
Seeing Lattis’s face harden coldly and his eyes narrow, Amil hurriedly added,
“Of course, I fully support this punishment. The servant Karoi who died was my dearest friend, and this is the most crucial moment for fulfilling our long-cherished wish. I just thought you should know such opinions exist...”
“No need for excuses. I understand the discontent.”
At the unusually gentle tone, Amil was so flustered he couldn’t continue.
Lattis explained calmly to him.
“Even if that plan had succeeded, we would have lost more than half our forces. Not only the powerful knight successor Arsen, but also the support of the other knights and soldiers who followed him. We’d have had to uncomfortably coexist with unknowns who could become enemies anytime or drive them out.”
“That’s... true.”
“With such a mess, is there any guarantee we could complete the remaining plans? They tried to sabotage our community out of paranoia and distrust. They seem to mistake it for no immediate harm, but what the sinners did was no different from poisoning everyone’s food. No—perhaps even worse.”
“Yes...”
Lattis knew this alone wouldn’t convince the malcontents. It was unavoidable.
The old and young failing to understand or looking down on each other had been the way of the world since ancient times.
The only solution from time immemorial: the young grow old.
By then, new young ones appear, so it could never be a fundamental fix.
“For now, relay that, and warn them not to offend the other knights or soldiers. Especially if they treat them like servants—I’ll punish them myself. Make sure they know this. We’re not far from achieving our great cause, so anyone causing trouble at this critical time won’t go unpunished.”
“...Understood!”
After sending off his subordinate, Lattis sighed.
Indeed, this punishment had been a heavy burden even for him and the other elders.
Expelling fifteen from a small group of only fifty or sixty was natural cause for strain.
But milder punishments might not have satisfied Arsen.
One of their intended allies had ambushed and tried to kidnap the other side’s leader.
They absolutely had to prevent the alliance from breaking over insufficient punishment, even if it meant greater losses.
‘If we can bring the library—the Library of the Sky—to this land.’
Since long ago, when the first Starburmi leader saved him and made him his adopted son, the sole value Lattis had dreamed of.
Following his adoptive father’s will, it was said to hold the power to change this reality of mage oppression.
Lattis pursued only that. Even if it cost more kin’s lives, he could never abandon it.
As Lattis clenched his fist, a shadow fell before his eyes.
* * *
A few weeks later, with the Starburmi main force accompanying them, several changes occurred in their march.
First, their marching speed had slowed considerably.
Unlike Arsen’s group, who had packed lightly with space-expansion bags for travel, the Starburmi had practically uprooted their entire base for this journey.
With many elderly and children, matching their pace was unrealistic.
Frustrated by the sight, Eloise had grumbled privately.
[It’s so much slower than before. Is this okay?]
[No choice. We can’t tell them to abandon the weak. And it’s not all bad.]
As Arsen said, joining with Starburmi had advantages too.
Their nomadic lifestyle made them far more adept at outdoor living than Arsen’s group.
Unlike the combat-trained detachment, they knew many tricks to make external movement and rest comfortable.
Separately, there was also a large gift.
[How about controlling that one? Used to it?]
[Yeah. It wasn’t even that hard to get used to. It just moves as I think.]
Next to Eloise, who said that, stood a knight holding a large shield—the so-called “shield bearer”—guarding her like an escort.
At first, she’d felt some pity knowing he was controlled, but after learning he was originally a knight from a mage-persecuting territory who had even boiled several mages alive, any thought of freeing him vanished.
The other controlled knights had similar backgrounds. She half-suspected it was a lie, but Marun testified that good knights were released after memory wipes, so she believed it.
Of course, letting Starburmi mages control a knight in such a dangerous position as Eloise’s guard would be foolish.
Naturally, control of this knight was with Eloise.
[Use it well. Your life is worth more than a hundred puppets.]
[...Got it.]
This was Starburmi’s strongest combat puppet—one that had nearly killed Rino and outmatched even Anun in skill.
Separate from the executions, it was a gift from Starburmi to apologize for the incident.
[No worry they’ll steal control back?]
[Nope. I dismantled the controller using Bakran’s method. It’s structured to prevent that.]
Analyzing relic structures was impossible for ordinary mages, but with Bakran’s knowledge, Eloise’s magic expertise had leaped ahead of the era.
She even said prolonged study might let her make similar ones.
If she affirmed it, no mishaps were expected.
[Anyway, even without the shield bearer, they’ve improved things a lot. Look at that.]
Where Arsen pointed, several soldiers stood holding metal containers.
In front was one Starburmi mage.
He extended his hand, chanted a spell, and a strangely colored flame appeared, settling on the ground.
“There, all done. Take it.”
The flame one mage conjured was bizarre yet beautiful in color.
A strange purple—or violet—flame.
A soldier took a stick to it, lit up, and bowed in thanks.
“Thank you.”
“No, no big deal.”
In the hot summer, with constant rains making the area humid, fire was hard to manage. It went out easily.
In that situation, this waterproof flame—burning wood for heat without extinguishing in water—was a huge help.
Worried it might spread disastrously if mishandled, but smothering with nearby sand extinguished it easily, no major issues.
Not just that; for hot weather where torches worsened the heat, they made cool, light-only flames, and more. Their fire spells varied greatly.
“Amazing. If we’d had this sooner, it would’ve been great. Can’t you do that, Jeron?”
“I only learned combat spells, no time for those...”
At the soldier’s question, detachment member Jeron, watching nearby, scratched his head sheepishly and shook his head.
Beyond that, spells instantly heated food without light or heat, even ones to maintain gear like Luden once dreamed—greatly easing Eloise’s burden.
Of course, not all interactions were positive.
Sudden companionship between groups with different powers and cultures led to clashes from value differences several times.
Each time, detachment members—with ties to both—mediated.
Raised as Starburmi mages but trained with special values as successor escorts, and befriended with Arsen’s soldiers, they suited hearing both sides.
Sometimes Starburmi mages treated Arsen’s soldiers like servants, sparking fights, but detachment members intervened.
Even with warnings, incidents happened because many Starburmi mages viewed commoners as disposable servants, clueless on treating equals.
Still, time would resolve it.
During the march, Arsen chatted idly with Elder Lattis, mounts side by side.
In his hand was dried fish—special aquatic magic beast from northern rivers—made and stored by Starburmi mages.
Grilled like jerky, it had a savory taste, a treat for those sick of bland rations.
“Thanks for the hospitality. Must be hard to catch.”
“Quite tough. Needs a nimble bait person, or it’s dangerous. Marun helped a lot before we headed down.”
Arsen imagined Marun dancing over the river, fleeing as the aquatic beast appeared.
Then using him as bait to cast dozens of spells, blocking its retreat and hunting.
Seemed fun.
“Worth that effort?”
“One gives tons of meat. You haven’t been north, but it’s cold, few beasts. Farming’s hard too. Food’s scarce.”
Nodding, Arsen silently ate the grilled fish.
Salty taste dried his throat; he sipped wine-mixed water, ate more, looked around, and said,
“Come to think of it, bigger group makes moving easier. Fewer hassles.”
Arsen recalled the nightmare passing two territories, hounded by lords.
Knights took heavy wounds then; one soldier literally dipped in death’s river, nearly buried as dead.
Lattis laughed affirmatively.
“Naturally. If not small enough to sneak, bigger’s better.”
From just over twenty to over seventy instantly drew multiplied scrutiny.
Beast attacks increased; wary lords sent troops for invading forces.
But beasts were no match for combined knights and mages; lords retreated seeing twenty knights, no real fights.
Now, they were amid hilly terrain.
Large hills like small mountains chained endlessly, obstructing views and bearings.
“This the place?”
“Yes. Somewhere southwest of Masille Territory, I heard...”
Masille Territory had no notable ruins.
No special items, nor a mage-friendly lord for rest or trade.
Yet they came for one reason.
Somewhere southwest in the hills lay an underground passage entrance.
The core of their plan, letting them burrow to the south’s heart evading Giant King’s watch.