Drop the Attitude
“Linea, calm down.”
Linea was showing clear signs of anxiety, repeatedly tapping her own thighs.
“We have to stop it no matter what…”
“Stopping it is one thing, but your body’s way too tense.”
“Huu. I’ll try to calm down.”
She took a deep breath and nodded. It wasn’t hard to understand why she was so on edge.
I had explained that I was heading out to end the rebellion, then added one more thing: after stopping it, I would save Isana by any means necessary.
She had been like this ever since.
“Miss Linea, it’s going to be fine. This is Ethan we’re talking about. Everything will work out.”
“…What would a slave know about Master?”
Linea grumbled under her breath.
“That’s enough.”
I cut the conversation short and turned my gaze toward the rebellion unfolding below.
Boom! Boomboom!
Explosions ripped through the area one after another.
“Diiiie!!!”
The rebels were screaming at the top of their lungs, completely out of control. Their eyes were rolled back like they’d been pumped full of drugs.
They looked even more unhinged than the knights I’d seen yesterday. If this was their sane state, that would be a problem in itself.
This is really fucked up.
Rebellions are chaotic by nature, but this had crossed the line by a mile. It didn’t feel like people banding together to cause trouble. It felt more like a horde of monsters had been unleashed.
“Ethan, are we just going to keep watching?”
“It’s about time we stepped in.”
We stood atop a building, quietly observing the carnage. We had received permission from the Holy Empire and the Academy, but we hadn’t followed any formal procedures.
I did warn Katrina, though.
That should prevent anyone from mistaking us for enemies. As long as we revealed our identities.
“Are you really sure it’s okay to do this?”
Seris asked, her voice heavy with worry.
“We need to end this as fast as possible. The more damage the rebellion causes, the more danger Isana will be in.”
Truthfully, the scale was already a complete disaster. If things got any worse, it would spiral beyond what I could handle alone.
“It’s simple, isn’t it? When something happens, you just remove the mastermind behind it.”
There was only one target.
The true culprit who had sparked this rebellion: Valterion Sivtant, head of the Sivtant family. Killing him.
Of course, even if I killed Valterion, the rebels wouldn’t just stop like they’d promised. But they would lose their central pillar.
The rebellion was ultimately Valterion’s own arbitrary decision, brainwashing from the Holy Empire or not. His followers were simply carrying out his orders.
If their leader died, chaos would erupt within their ranks no matter how much the Holy Empire tried to control things from behind the scenes.
Strangely enough, the Holy Empire had outwardly supported the Empire on this matter. That was also why we’d been allowed to bring the Saintess to help suppress the rebellion.
In other words, the moment Valterion died, the rebellion would collapse like a house of cards. They wouldn’t be able to withstand both the Empire and the Holy Empire at once.
“Linea, let’s go.”
“Yes.”
I lifted Seris into a princess carry. Skin contact was no longer an issue, so it was possible now.
“Tsk.”
Linea clicked her tongue after shooting me a glare.
“You’re too high up, Ethan.”
“You won’t die.”
“T-that’s not what I… Kyaa!?”
I leapt from the building. Landing lightly, I scanned our surroundings.
The streets had been utterly devastated. Buildings lay half-collapsed as if a storm had torn through them, with fallen signs scattered everywhere.
There wasn’t a single person in sight. It seemed everyone had evacuated successfully.
“Master, why would the head be hiding in a place like this?”
“He must be scared. If he went to the capital, he’d be killed on sight.”
This was Brenel, a border city of the Empire. It was far from the capital and nothing more than an ordinary town.
Did he really get scared?
I’d said it as a joke, but now I was seriously starting to wonder.
From what I’d heard, Valterion’s personal guards and direct knight order were rampaging through the imperial capital. That was where the imperial family had concentrated their forces.
A remote city like this could only be defended by the local garrison. The imperial family had sent some reinforcements after learning Valterion was here, but it wasn’t a significant force. Preventing damage to the capital took priority.
“This works out well for us.”
“We just need to capture the head.”
By the time we caught him, additional imperial troops would probably arrive. The rebels were running wild now, but once those reinforcements came, they could be suppressed.
“Let’s finish this quickly.”
Seris spoke with a guilty expression.
“Don’t worry too much. Not everyone is dead.”
We could have gone straight to the capital where the rebellion was centered, but Seris had followed me for one reason only: to save the weak. The capital had plenty of people who could help the vulnerable even without a Saintess.
But in a remote city like this, no one spared a glance for the weak.
“There aren’t even any bodies. They must have evacuated somewhere.”
“…Yes.”
“Follow me.”
I led them toward the lord’s castle.
Why is this thing so huge?
A massive castle that dominated the entire view greeted us. For a border city, it was unnecessarily extravagant. The contrast with the ruined streets we had just passed was like night and day.
Of course, the rebels sweeping through had made the difference even more glaring, but even without that, the gap was extreme.
“Looks like a free pass.”
“Free pass?”
“Means we can walk right in.”
There were no guards at the gate. It made sense. Valterion was an outsider who had seized the castle, not its rightful lord.
Too bad.
I had wanted to experience the classic exchange: “Reveal your identity!” “I am a student of the prestigious Rosewood Academy, blah blah. And this is the Saintess, etc.”
But with no guards around, that dream would never come true.
The moment we entered the castle interior, a powerful instinct slammed into my mind.
Run. Get out of here right now. Or you will die.
Fear surged up from the depths of my consciousness.
I pinched my thigh hard enough to leave a mark.
Run? As if. I had come here fully aware of how dangerous it would be.
“Master?”
Linea tilted her head. Unlike me, she didn’t seem to sense the warning bells ringing in the air.
That was for the best. Even I found this burdensome. There was no way Linea or Seris could handle it.
“It’s nothing.”
I kept my composure and moved without pause. Linea looked puzzled by my brisk pace.
“Master? Shouldn’t we check the first floor…”
“No need to look around.”
The sense that had my nerves on edge was waiting for us underground. And I instinctively knew exactly how to get there.
“I’ve found the head.”
“Pardon…?”
“He’s right below us.”
I tapped the floor with my foot.
“Everyone stay sharp. Lose focus for even a second and you die.”
My serious tone made Linea steel her resolve.
“If Master says so.”
Without asking any more questions, she immediately began gathering mana. Seris had already closed her eyes and taken a prayer stance.
It was ironic, praying while doubting the gods, but I had no time to smile at the contradiction.
I drew my sword and exhaled.
Then I slashed the floor like a bolt of lightning.
Crack!
The floorboards split apart as a horrific aura slammed into my mind.
“M-Master…!”
“Haa… Ethan!”
This time it affected both of them. Linea and Seris staggered at the same time.
“Please…”
Seris finished her prayer. Warm holy power that pushed back the aura enveloped our bodies.
Linea deployed a barrier, wrapping it around Seris as tightly as possible.
In this battle, Linea’s role was to protect Seris. Knowing skin contact was no longer a problem, she stayed right by the Saintess’s side.
Boom!
The cracking floor finally gave way, and we plummeted downward.
“This time it’s my turn!”
Angel wings sprouted from Seris’s back. They had looked faint yesterday, but now they spread out clearly. She was going all out from the very beginning.
Our falling speed dropped sharply as her mana core radiated heat. The rapidly expanding power flooded her circuits. My mind sharpened instantly.
The fear that had been tormenting me slowly faded away.
“M-Master! Over there!”
As I prepared to land, Linea pointed somewhere. A massive river of blood was writhing in that direction.
“A guest has walked right in.”
A voice echoed from beneath the river. There was no visible human form. Where was it coming from?
Just as the question formed, the river began to swirl, its blood rushing toward the center.
“I don’t have a taste for brats, though.”
From within that vortex, Valterion rose.
He was breathing heavily, pressing hard against his forehead with his palm.
“…Valterion Sivtant.”
“Show some courtesy.”
“You expect me to show courtesy after seeing that?”
“Isn’t it magnificent?”
Valterion fluttered the blood-red cloak that formed around him.
“This power. This form. These senses. They all prove that I am truly alive.”
“That appearance looks downright demonic. I thought you started this rebellion to kill demons.”
If anything, he looked closer to a vampire. But those goat horns on his head were unmistakably the mark of a demon.
“What a horrible thing to say. There is no way I would take the form of those pathetic losers. I have simply inherited the will of the great World’s Will.”
“I don’t care about the World’s Will. But that blood. Where did it come from?”
At my question, Valterion twisted his lips into a grotesque smile.
“From humans, of course. And all of you will become the same.”
Valterion burst into laughter. The noisy, distorted sound made my skin crawl.
“How… dare…”
Killing intent leaked from between Seris’s clenched teeth. That massive river of blood meant countless people had already died.
“Don’t be so angry. You will become the same soon enough.”
Valterion sneered at Seris.
“How glorious it would be to become one with me. This is the perfect opportunity to contribute to the great legacy of destroying this rotten Empire. By becoming my sacrifice…”
“Hey.”
“Have you changed your mind?”
“No, that’s not it. Did anyone ask for your opinion? Why the hell are you blabbering such pathetic bullshit all by yourself?”
Valterion’s smile shattered. Veins bulged on his forehead as his face hardened in an instant.
“Seriously, I doubt even your mother would be curious about that. Want me to ask her?”
“I’ll kill you!!!”
Just like the other rebels, Valterion finally dropped the act and revealed his true self.
Where do you get off acting all high and mighty?
Time for some etiquette lessons.
I smiled and raised my sword.