Chapter 415
Chapter 415
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 415
>Chapter Title: I Knew It Would Turn Out Like This
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Atop a barren rocky mountain.
A chilling silence lingered in the air.
In that silence, Heoern blinked twice. Then he repeated the line he'd just heard.
- If you don't cooperate obediently, I can't guarantee your son's life?
"By any chance, that son..."
"Otto."
"By any chance, do you have Otto with you?"
Aster tilted his head.
"No? Wasn't he supposed to be with you?"
"That's true, but..."
"Then why come to me..."
"Well..."
It was because he was so brazen.
No one could act that confident without having Otto in custody.
"But what exactly do you mean by cooperate...?"
"Who knows."
Honestly, Aster hadn't thought that far.
His original goal had been to settle the bad blood with Otto, but the method of doing so wasn't something he could mention here.
"Then, would it be all right if I first explain why I requested this meeting? We can discuss what cooperation entails after hearing your side."
"Not a bad idea."
Aster nodded, and Heoern took a moment to steady his breathing. The current plight of the Urbona family suddenly struck him as ridiculous.
But that thought didn't last long.
Heoern continued.
"The reason I requested this meeting is simple. We wish to settle our bad blood not only with the Duchy, but with you as well."
"And how did you know that you and the Duchy were separate entities?"
"It's impossible not to know."
The Urbona family had been at odds with the Duchy for hundreds of years.
If the Duchy had a grand mage, there's no way they wouldn't know about it, and the Duchy wouldn't have hidden it either.
Naturally, they had concluded that this transcendent mage was an outsider.
Of course, that judgment was confirmed when the Grand Duchess replied to the letter requesting a meeting with the "mysterious grand mage" that she would "pass along the message."
"Well, putting that aside. So, what do you think we should do to settle this bad blood?"
"What do you want?"
"Hmm."
Instead of answering, Aster stared straight at Heoern. He leaned back in his chair almost lying down, his head cocked to one side. His mouth opened soon after.
"To be honest... my face has been sold out there, so it's not exactly a great situation for me. But your family head Otto has seen my face. For me, Otto's very existence is unwelcome."
"I know."
"You really knew?"
"Well..."
Heoern trailed off. Aster didn't miss the reaction.
'He didn't know.'
After learning that Heoern had requested a meeting, he'd given it some thought.
What was the true intent behind the previous family head of Urbona seeking him out?
- Maybe he knows. That the armistice won't settle all the bad blood.
That had been the Grand Duchess's guess, but Aster saw it differently.
'That's a guess he can make because he knows I want to hide my identity.'
Even if he wasn't affiliated with the Duchy, in this war, he and the Duchy were in the same boat.
Yet he'd requested a separate meeting.
Why?
"Let's cut to the chase and lay our cards on the table. My position is exactly as I said earlier... but to drop the pleasantries, my honest feeling is that I don't particularly want to let Otto live. So why don't you be straightforward too, senior? Why did you set up this meeting?"
To settle bad blood?
What a joke.
There had to be another reason.
At those words, Heoern seemed to close his eyes and steady his breathing for a moment, then looked at Aster.
"Fine, if that's how you want to play it, I'll be straightforward too. I'd love to settle the bad blood... but the reason I called you here separately is simple."
His cunning eyes gleamed. The aura was completely different from before. Like claws that had been hidden were now unsheathed.
Aster watched the transformed Heoern silently. He was deeply curious what nonsense he would spout.
But what to say.
...As expected, huh.
'They say no one among those history-falsifying bastards is any good.'
He should have realized it when they tried to steal the Duchy's land by fabricating history. Sure enough, Heoern was utterly shameless.
"The transcendent artifact you took. That's what I want."
So that's what this meant.
'The Fragment of Reverse Heaven.'
He was demanding it back.
"So you didn't come to settle bad blood—you came to start a new one?"
"Well... that depends on you, doesn't it? Hand over the transcendent artifact properly, and there won't be any issues."
"And if I refuse?"
"You'll pay the price."
"The price?"
A faint vibration rippled through the ground right then.
Grrr...
Aster scanned the surroundings from his seat. It was a subtle tremor no ordinary person would sense.
"An ambush?"
"The Urbona family's strength isn't just what you see."
Beneath the summit where the talks were taking place, dozens of presences flickered. Whether through some special technique, they were only faintly detectable even to Aster's senses.
"If you had guys like this, why not use them in the war?"
"Every blade has its purpose. A blade in the shadows only comes into the light in two cases. First, when the Urbona family falls. The war with the Duchy is costly, but... not that costly. Do you think there hasn't been a threat like this in the hundreds of years of Urbona history?"
"Getting beaten multiple times doesn't make it hurt less. Anyway, I get the gist."
Every great house has such a group.
A hidden blade protecting the family, its very existence uncertain even to bloodline members...
For the record, the Decullan family had one, and so did the Blandoga. Lortel probably had something similar.
But anyway.
"What's the second case? Want me to guess?"
"Go ahead."
"Let's see... yeah, got it."
Aster tapped the armrest of his chair and continued.
"When you're stealing someone else's stuff."
"Heh heh."
Heoern burst into laughter as if it were absurd.
"What you took belongs to us."
"Really? From what I know, no."
"Then you're mistaken."
"Whatever..."
This time, Aster couldn't hold back his laughter.
It was just too ridiculous.
What? The Fragment of Reverse Heaven was theirs?
He didn't know how it ended up in Urbona, but if anyone had a claim, it was "Endurance," the one guarding it.
And now...
'...it's mine.'
Yet some third party who knew nothing was claiming ownership.
How could that not be funny?
"Anyway, I'd like your answer soon..."
"My answer."
Aster closed his eyes and extended his senses. The presences of the rats hiding underground were still faint.
But he could feel...
'...they're up to something.'
He didn't know what.
But it wasn't ordinary trickery.
It was a dangerous situation, potentially.
Just as the Duchy had means to counter a grand mage, Urbona likely did too.
But.
Aster rose from his seat with a deliberately relaxed expression.
"Don't act rashly. If you're counting on that monster wyvern, think again. The sky is its domain, but this land is Urbona's."
"You noticed that much?"
"Of course."
Aster let out a snort. Further talk was pointless. The Grand Duchess, preparing for the coming battle, watched silently as Hamun stepped forward.
Soon, a suffocating tension swirled through the space.
Tension so thick a pin drop could shatter it like thin ice. Amid it, Aster and Heoern's gazes crossed.
Grrk, grrrk...
"Not much time left, it seems. Better answer quickly."
The magic of the rats below was nearing completion—the atmosphere was growing ominous.
A prickling pressure on the skin.
That's when Aster spoke.
"Ever heard of Zaifo?"
"Zaifo..."
"Decullan's Seven Mage."
"Ah, I remember. A decent earth mage. Though nowhere near our family's magic, of course."
Arrogant words, but Heoern had the credentials.
Previous head of Urbona, revered as the pinnacle of earth magic, and a grand mage who had himself reached transcendence.
No earth mage could stand equal before Heoern.
"But why bring up Zaifo?"
At Heoern's composed demeanor, Aster snorted. Slouched lazily in his stone chair, he looked every bit the ruler—yet utterly ridiculous.
"There's a saying."
"...?"
"The dead Zaifo captures the living Heoern."
"What..."
"What do you mean."
Aster moved right then.
"......!"
Heoern instantly entered transcendence as Aster lunged like a bolt. The world slowed.
But.
'...What?!'
Crackle, fizz...
Suddenly, mana slipped from his core's control, scattering uselessly. For Heoern, who had manifested magic as naturally as breathing since learning it, this was alien.
Fortunately, Hamun blocked Aster—
Kwarrrumble!
"......Grk!"
Hamun groaned and retreated amid sparks of mana erupting in the air. The barrier he'd hastily raised shattered like thin ice. Right after...
Boom!
Hamun, flung back by the explosion, quickly righted himself. A stone platform formed in the air to support him. He desperately tried to enter transcendence. Or rather, he tried to.
If not for the voice drilling into his ear.
"Checkmate."
A low voice.
Hamun's eyes widened.
"Guh, guhk...!"
As former head Heoern thrashed pinned to his chair, a boy gripped his throat and grinned. Of course, that boy was...
Tower Master Aster.
As Hamun stared in shock, Aster's gaze met his right then.
"Hey, senior. Cut the nonsense and come down. Sit over there too. I'll count to three. Three, two..."
"......I'll sit."
Hamun had no choice, seeing Heoern's eyes rolling back, and descended to sit in the chair.
Of course, it wasn't an ordinary chair.
Zaifo's Earth Bind.
"Have the guys below stop too."
"Ah, got it, got it, so... guhk!"
Aster loosened his grip slightly, and Heoern signaled the mages below. The turbulent flows soon calmed.
Right after, the Earth Bind morphed, enveloping Heoern and Hamun, leaving only their heads free.
Crack, creak.
Aster sealed them completely, then returned to his seat.
"I knew it would turn out like this."
He hadn't known.
"Good thing I prepared ahead, tsk."
Pure curiosity.
But that wasn't the point.
"Seniors, now let's have a real talk. Yeah? You've got a lot to tell us."
Aster said with a bright smile.
Watching that, the Grand Duchess thought.
'...Who's the villain here.'
Good and evil.
The line blurs.
But the Grand Duchess knew. None of them here had ever been good to begin with.