Jamie Nocturne
Bagan, there’s been a problem at the store we visited earlier.
“Huh? What do you mean, Arien?”
Bagan had been resting in his room when her sudden words left him blinking in confusion. Still, he quickly grasped the situation and asked again.
“What kind of problem?”
“Soldiers from the Silver Eagle Legion stopped by.”
“I told them to take the day off. Did they keep the shop running anyway? If they just went to enjoy themselves, it’s not that big a deal, is it?”
“It’s not that. They threatened the owner.”
Arien shared the information through her clone, relaying the full situation.
“Can you identify who they were?”
“Analysis complete. Four soldiers and one vice-commander.”
“Vice-commander… that’s the guy from earlier.”
Since he couldn’t see the scene captured by Arien’s clone, he had to rely on her report. But now the situation had changed completely.
“What exactly did they say?”
“I overheard them saying they would move all the Hwanju at dawn. Based on the circumstances, it appears Vice-Commander Jamie is the mastermind behind this operation.”
“Figures. A crime of that scale wouldn’t happen without some kind of motive.”
Bagan hadn’t dismissed Sally’s first impression of Jamie. And sure enough, the man really was the culprit. The situation was almost laughable, yet Bagan remained calm.
“I need to tell Gruon first.”
With that thought, he headed straight for Gruon. Since it was before dinner, he figured the man would still be in his office and made his way there.
The moment Bagan arrived, he knocked on the door as if time was of the essence and stated his business. Gruon naturally granted him entry. As soon as Bagan stepped inside, he asked,
“When Vice-Commander Jamie came to see you earlier, what did he say?”
The abrupt question caught Gruon off guard, and his expression soured.
“Well, he said he was going to use the leave he’d saved up, as usual, so I approved it. I figured it was about that time anyway, so there was no issue. Why are you asking?”
Bagan’s eyebrows shot up as the pieces finally clicked into place.
“Were you ever curious about what he did during his leave?”
“Not at all. We don’t pry into our soldiers’ private lives. And if it’s during leave, there’s even less reason to worry about it.”
Hearing Gruon speak so casually, Bagan said,
“No matter what I do, don’t interfere. Even if it means killing one of your soldiers.”
The words sounded like a warning, but they helped Gruon piece together the situation.
“No way! That… that can’t be right. Jamie can be a bit rough around the edges, but he’s not that kind of man. He’s been loyal to De Pruna and to me since he was a boy.”
“It is that kind of man. Just a little while ago, he threatened the owner of the place I visited and moved up the schedule for moving the goods.”
Gruon’s face filled with considerable shock at Bagan’s words.
“W-what? How could he…?”
“Anyway, we don’t have time to stand around. I’m going to tail him at dawn.”
Bagan spoke with a resolute expression. Gruon pondered for a moment before replying,
“Honestly… I can’t believe it. That he would do something like this after all the loyalty he’s shown… I’ll see it with my own eyes.”
Gruon declared he would go with them. As he spoke, he took Daphne’s hand as well. After all, if it was his vice-commander committing these atrocities, the legion commander couldn’t possibly stay silent. Daphne’s own resolve seemed faintly visible in her eyes.
“Haa~ Fine. I didn’t expect this, but you’ll follow my plan to the end. I won’t touch anything until I know the full picture.”
Bagan had been worried that Gruon and Daphne might ruin the operation, but he decided there was no helping it. The two nodded in agreement.
After conveying that, they returned to their rooms. Since they would have to endure a difficult tailing mission at dawn, Bagan and his group decided to rest as much as possible.
No matter how lively the entertainment district usually was, at this hour of the morning not a single person could be seen on the streets. Yet there was one shop with people coming and going. And they weren’t simply customers.
They were sweating profusely as they loaded boxes onto carts. And there were those quietly watching them—Bagan’s group, along with Gruon and Daphne.
How they would tail the targets depended entirely on Bagan’s magic. So he cast Invisibility and Silence on everyone. As long as his mana didn’t run out, the spells would last indefinitely, so there was no need to worry.
The moment they had been waiting for arrived. The men finished loading the carts and began to move. At the very front was none other than Jamie, vice-commander of the Silver Eagle Legion.
Bagan could see Gruon’s mana fluctuating wildly in disbelief. Thanks to the magic, they couldn’t be seen, but Bagan could sense their positions through mana detection. Right now, though, there was no need to search—Gruon’s mana was practically screaming, I’m right here.
Fortunately, none of the men seemed capable of detecting magic or had any notable sensitivity to mana. Still, there were always those with good instincts.
“Captain, what if we get caught? Or what if someone’s tailing us?”
“Idiot. Who would follow us at this hour? If anyone steps outside, our legion will punish them. That’s why I specifically assigned our own men to patrol tonight.”
Listening to their conversation from a distance, the plan seemed flawless. People normally didn’t wander out at dawn anyway, and they were using the rotten roots inside the Silver Eagle Legion to block even that possibility. Thanks to that, they were able to pull the carts out of De Pruna without issue.
Once they left the city, they picked up speed without fear of being caught. Both the men pulling the carts and those accompanying them were clearly used to this mountain route, so their pace was swift.
But they had no idea they were being followed.
As he tailed them, Gruon confirmed one thing and bit his lip.
The direction they’re heading… it’s toward the border. Specifically, Urwurt Fortress.
Gruon couldn’t believe they were heading toward enemy territory. He couldn’t even begin to guess what they were up to.
With trembling legs, he continued the pursuit.
They had set out at dawn, so by the time they reached Urwurt Fortress the sun was high in the sky. Jamie and the soldiers who had pulled the carts the entire way without rest were naturally exhausted. They exchanged a few words with the guards at the gate before entering.
It was clear evidence that they had been here many times before.
Watching from the forest, Bagan’s group and Gruon and Daphne dispelled their magic.
“Do you believe me now?”
Bagan spoke, but Gruon remained silent. He was clenching his teeth so hard it looked like he might shout at any moment, his rage reaching its peak.
“Should we keep following?” Sally asked.
Of course they had to. But Bagan wanted to show consideration.
“Do you want to continue? Or should I handle it?”
He at least wanted to give the man a choice. After all, they were his soldiers.
“They are my soldiers. If I don’t go, who will?”
Hearing that, Bagan said he had made the right decision and cast the magic again. He then searched for Jamie’s mana, which he had memorized, to see where they had gone. Fortunately, they hadn’t gone far while they were talking in the forest, so they quickly caught up.
Urwurt Fortress wasn’t particularly large. Gruon had occupied it in the past, so he knew it well. But his eyes widened at how different the atmosphere was now.
He had assumed the territory would still be struggling from the aftermath of war, but the interior was neatly organized and the people’s faces were full of happiness.
That shouldn’t have been the case.
Gruon had turned his soldiers into bandits to harass them. He shouldn’t have had to witness them living so happily. Because he remembered exactly what their leader had done, this territory at least should have been suffering.
Gruon struggled to suppress the urge to start a war right then and there.
As Bagan followed Jamie’s group, he discovered they had stopped at a warehouse and were moving the goods again. The warehouse was a massive integrated storage facility, on a completely different scale from the one at the entertainment venue in De Pruna. The familiar faces suggested they had been using it for a long time.
After they finished moving the goods, Jamie met with someone. It was a young-looking man and an elderly woman dressed in neat, refined clothing.
“Jamie, you’ve brought more again. You always work so hard.”
“It’s nothing. For my wife and child, I’d do anything.”
“Of course. Your family is receiving special care, so don’t worry. Will you head straight to them?”
“Yes. My son is still young, so if I don’t visit often he throws tantrums. I wonder who he takes after. Haha.”
They chatted cheerfully before parting ways, their business concluded.
Watching the scene, Gruon clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his palms. Finally, he couldn’t hold it in any longer.
“Jamie Nocturne!!”
Right in the middle of enemy territory.
He had forgotten that, as a mage himself, he could dispel Silence. He hadn’t released the Invisibility, so only his voice leaked out, but there was no way Jamie wouldn’t recognize it.
Jamie turned his head toward the direction the voice had come from, his expression one of regret.
Bagan dispelled all the magic.
“W-what the—?!”
“A person just appeared out of thin air!”
The soldiers guarding him were shocked. But the shock didn’t end there.
“L-Lord Gruon!”
“What? The legion commander is here too… We’re finished.”
The soldiers despaired, their minds breaking at the catastrophe.
But Jamie was different.
“Why… Why! Why did you follow us?!”
He responded with indignation instead.
“I came to stop my soldier from committing atrocities. What exactly are you doing here?”
“You never showed any interest before!”
Jamie clutched his head as if he didn’t know what to do.
“I need to hear everything that’s been happening. Silver Eagle Legion Vice-Commander Jamie Nocturne, report to me.”
“What are you saying now, after all this time?!”
“Very well. Is that what you want?”
Grrrrr!
Roots burst from the ground, threatening Jamie. Seeing them, Jamie could feel it—Gruon’s rage had reached its limit.
But his family was here in Urwurt Fortress. How could he die in front of them?
“…It was eight years ago.”
With no other choice, he began to explain everything that had happened. Clinging to a sliver of hope.
Ten years ago, the war between the Sog Kingdom and the Seiros Kingdom finally came to an end.
The result was that neither side gained anything. They had fought over full control of the Moral Mountain Range, yet no one had been able to claim that right. The reason was that the area had been deemed unconquerable.
In the end, they concluded it was a meaningless fight and stopped the war. Both sides were left with regrets.
But that was the perspective of the leadership. The soldiers who had fought on the front lines had been sacrificed for nothing.
Jamie was one of those who thought so.
When the war ended, the first thing that came to Jamie’s mind were the enemy soldiers he had killed in Urwurt Fortress. They all must have had homes, friends, and families. As an orphan, Jamie couldn’t fully understand that, but the pain in his chest was unavoidable.
So every time he received his pay, he secretly sent it to the Urwurt territory. He entrusted it to merchants traveling through the Sog Kingdom.
It wasn’t enough to endure the horrors of war, but it was to wash away some of the pain and atone. If he didn’t do at least that much, he felt he would become a monster.
Then one day, Gruon gathered the entire Silver Eagle Legion.
With a hardened expression, Gruon stood on the platform. Beside him was a silver-haired girl crying silently.
“Meldin Urwurt committed an unforgivable sin against humanity. He treated fellow humans like livestock and ultimately fed them poison until they died.”
Of the slaves rescued during the war, only the silver-haired girl had survived; the rest had all died from illness. That was what had caused the incident. That was why she was crying without a sound.
“De Pruna does not forgive evil! What is the will of the Seiros Kingdom? Should not all races under the heavens be equal? The war with the Sog Kingdom, which has abandoned that ideal, is not yet over. We must steel our resolve so they can never rise again. We must change our way of thinking so such things never happen again!”
After his speech, Gruon finally shouted,
“From today onward, we will form a special strike force and continue attacking Urwurt Fortress. They will no longer be soldiers of De Pruna. They will become heavenly warriors carrying out the will of the heavens!”
There was no choice. Jamie thought inwardly that he must never participate in such a thing, but there was no avoiding being selected.
And so the young soldier was eventually corrupted. Pain begets pain.
Caught in that vicious cycle, he attacked Urwurt Fortress for two years.
Then, when Vice-Commander Haisen—who had succeeded Merkeze—retired, Jamie was chosen as the next vice-commander. Having been given the role, he did his best.
From then on, he became the greatest among the soldiers leading the heavenly warriors.
That was when a sharp ringing filled his head.
Shouldn’t you stop? Isn’t this also a sin against humanity?
He created his own standard.
“We will no longer attack Urwurt Fortress.”
“What? Then Lord Gruon’s orders…”
“He said we are no longer soldiers of De Pruna. We are heavenly warriors. Look! Does that look like the work of people who have abandoned humanity?”
The castle gate was completely destroyed, and the stench of burning drifted out from inside.
“It doesn’t.”
“Then what exactly have we been attacking all this time?”
The other soldiers were all shocked by his words. Some trembled so badly they dropped their swords and shields.
“Are we truly still human? Even if we carry the will of the heavens, is this acceptable?”
One by one, they began to be swayed by Jamie’s logic.