Chapter 416
Chapter 416
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 416
>Chapter Title: Here, I Am Justice
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Unlike his expectations, it somehow felt for the best.
‘Ending it with smiles all around still left a bitter aftertaste.’
Even if the former patriarch Heoorn stepped forward to promise peace, Urbona’s current patriarch was Otto.
That was an undeniable fact.
Better to uproot the source of trouble, even if it got a bit rough.
But first...
“What were you planning? Did you think you could just bury her right here? Or did you have some other backup?”
A transcendent artifact.
Even if it was to reclaim that, the imperial mediator had stepped in.
If anything happened to the grand duchess here, it would spell trouble in more ways than one. And yet, they pulled this stunt?
“Huh? Speak up. Your pride’s not worth much in this pathetic spot. Or what, need a hand?”
“...I can guess without you saying.”
“You can?”
At Aster’s question, the grand duchess nodded and continued.
“You made a deal with the imperial family. If Urbona falls into decline, the north essentially becomes ours.”
“That means...”
“They’d look the other way, as long as it’s quiet and leaves no evidence.”
“Right? ...Looks like I nailed it.”
Aster could tell her guess was spot-on from the way Heoorn glared daggers at the grand duchess.
‘So they weren’t planning to just settle it quietly before facing off with the Decullans...’
The political world was a nest of schemes.
Only the sharp survived.
At this point, not only the black-hearted former patriarch Heoorn and the imperial family, but even the grand duchess who saw through it all was no ordinary player.
Of course, her guess wasn’t based solely on the unfolding situation.
It came from intel the principality’s intelligence division had gathered relentlessly, day and night.
Fragmented clues he hadn’t paid much mind to before, pieced together based on the former patriarch Heoorn’s actions.
Anyway.
The remaining issue was this.
‘How to deal with these guys...’
Honestly, he’d thought of this when stepping into the fray.
If Heoorn’s terms were satisfactory and the bad blood with Otto could be fully cleared, maybe slot Urbona into the anti-Decullan faction.
But.
‘From the looks of it, that’s a stretch.’
“The easiest thing would be to finish them off right here...”
“...Let’s make a deal.”
“A deal?”
Aster tilted his head at Heoorn’s proposal.
“Senior, someone once said deals happen when both sides can give what the other wants. But from where I’m standing, it doesn’t seem...”
“Do you know? If I have something you need.”
“So what do you have?”
“What do you want?”
Aster blinked, then burst out laughing. That’s when his fist pierced through the earthen shackles binding Heoorn.
Pow!
“...Guh!”
Heoorn’s eyes bulged at the sudden strike. Aster halted his fist an inch from Heoorn’s chest and grinned ferociously.
“Senior, still haven’t grasped the situation? Who gave you leave to scheme?”
“What are you... Gah!”
Aster pressed his hand to Heoorn’s chest and poured in mana. Heoorn swallowed a scream at the abrupt invasion.
“You’re slowly unraveling the shackles bit by bit. What, thought I wouldn’t notice?”
Heoorn squeezed his eyes shut without responding. Blocking the sudden mana surge was challenge enough.
But inwardly, he found it amusing.
‘...Fool.’
If he’d spotted the shackles loosening, he should’ve pierced the heart right then. Letting mana infiltrate like this was a clear blunder.
Seemed like the kid planned to manipulate the core directly and force a mana backlash...
‘No way this old master yields to some green brat!’
He acknowledged the boy’s prowess. At his age, a once-in-a-century genius.
But experience was experience, and the years spent amassing and wielding mana were worlds apart.
Especially...
‘You picked the wrong battlefield.’
Internal mana clashes overwhelmingly favored the defender, so Heoorn aimed to devour Aster’s mana and counterattack.
But.
‘What the...!’
The mana flooding in engulfed his core without mercy. He threw everything into resisting, but his own mana crumbled like a sandcastle before the waves.
What kind of mana was this...!
“Gah!”
“Heoorn!”
Heoorn spat up red blood. Hamun thrashed and yelled at the sight, but could do nothing. He too was working to break free of the earthen shackles, but hadn’t yet.
Amid it all, Aster looked down at the slumped Heoorn and sighed deeply.
“This is why villains are...”
Never give them an inch.
Show even a sliver of opening, and they go for the throat.
“You... will regret this.”
“You’re the one who’ll regret it, senior.”
Aster approached Hamun, radiating killing intent, and shook his core just like with Heoorn.
Having fully subdued the two archmages, Aster curled his lip. His eyes weren’t smiling.
“Looks like talk’s off the table.”
If he’d been overwhelmingly stronger, he might’ve sweet-talked them into some compromise.
But this victory was sheer luck, thanks to the variable of the earthen shackles.
No wonder the two schemed as they did.
So, what now?
‘Talk’s out.’
Killing them off felt iffy in several ways.
The imperial mediator knew of this meeting, so offing them would give the empire pretext to pressure the principality.
Frankly, a headache.
“Can’t go forward, can’t go back.”
Why did the heavens send such trials?
As he lamented his plight anew, the grand duchess spoke up.
“...There might be a way.”
“A way?”
“Yes.”
She said, pulling a crystal orb from her bosom.
“That’s...”
“Just in case, I brought a recording orb. Needed to log any deals.”
“Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
“It’d be a shallow ploy either way. No gain in tipping our hand. You saw it just now—they were waiting for an opening.”
“Fair enough.”
All tactics lose much of their edge once revealed to the enemy. Pulling this out now meant...
“We can prove the former patriarch moved to violence first under guise of negotiation, so wipe them out?”
“What...? No. Even then, how do we handle the fallout?”
“Then?”
“Take them prisoner.”
“Prisoner?”
“Yes. Show this evidence at the armistice talks, and we’ll gain plenty.”
“Hmm.”
Not bad. But something felt off.
Couldn’t hold these two forever, and post-armistice, they’d have to release them eventually.
The bad blood with Otto remained unresolved.
“I know what worries you. But trust me. I can fix that too.”
“You’ve got something in mind?”
“Yes.”
“Really? What? Can you tell me?”
The grand duchess nodded and whispered. A message spell soon wormed into Aster’s ear.
His eyes flew wide right after.
“...That kind of method?”
“Good?”
“More than good.”
Indeed, her plan would clear the bad blood without needing to deal with Heoorn or Otto.
In a way, a peaceful resolution for Aster, the Ramburk Principality, and Urbona alike...
“But will it work? Sounds tricky.”
“It will.”
“Alright then.”
Aster nodded several times, then eyed Heoorn and Hamun. The two lay unconscious from internal injuries.
Urbona’s mages lurked underground, frozen in indecision over their master’s plight.
Sensing them, Aster hoisted Heoorn and Hamun over his shoulders.
“Then let’s go.”
“Fine. Back to camp to discuss with the staff...”
“What’re you talking about?”
“...?”
Aster stopped the grand duchess heading for camp and jerked his chin the opposite way.
“Why drag it out? Let’s go now. Oh, first... Yongyong!”
His voice echoed, and a massive shadow emerged from the high skies.
The black wyvern descended near the ground, staring at Aster with bulging eyes.
[What is it, human?]
“Take them.”
[Food? ...Kidding.]
Yongyong, spouting lame jokes, caught Aster’s frantic glare and backpedaled.
Then, it levitated the offered humans with mana.
[Just watch them?]
“Drop ’em at camp—they’ll handle it.”
[Got it. But one’s enough?]
“One’s got a use.”
[Poor bastard.]
Yongyong left that quip and soared back into the heavens, trailing a limp human body.
Watching, the grand duchess tilted her head.
“Why send Heoorn?”
“That one’s the main prize.”
And...
“This one’s the sample.”
Note: Mains get handed over post-deal. Sample suffices beforehand.
“Then, let’s go.”
With that, Aster kicked off and leaped away. The grand duchess followed suit. And...
Rustle, swish—
The mages, leaderless with Heoorn vanishing skyward, floundered. Some chased Yongyong, others pursued Aster.
Aster felt a quiet satisfaction inwardly.
‘Made it big time.’
Escorted by Urbona’s mages, of all things.
Though he worried for those tailing Yongyong...
‘...Eh, that’s on the glutton.’
How long did they run?
Far off loomed Urbona’s main camp.
Repeated defeats had tanked the soldiers’ morale, but as HQ, it held firm.
Soldiers gripped spears with fierce eyes, and elite mages lay in wait throughout.
But no matter.
‘Here, I am justice.’
Aster leaped forward with righteous zeal. The grand duchess followed.
“What the...”
“Who goes there!”
“Intruders—!”
No stealth, so even soldiers spotted Aster and the grand duchess, as mages’ spells rained in from all sides.
But.
“Fists for all.”
Aster clenched his fist, drawing eyes—
Zzzing.
The spells filling the air vanished with eerie whooshes. The aura crushed space next.
Boom!
Overwhelming all, Aster nodded to the grand duchess.
She chose her words carefully.
How to clearly state positions and demands concisely.
It didn’t take long.
“We have the former patriarch who tried to use force under pretense of negotiation. Want him back? Meet our demands.”
And those demands?
“Hand over the young patriarch.”
Aster thought.
‘...You said you were confident?’
The moment the moonlight in his heart flickered.