The Sun at the Window
“……That much, you say.”
This went far beyond mere pretense. Altare muttered in a dumbfounded tone, trying to guess how much of an idiot his past self must have been before cleanly giving up and asking another question.
“Then why is there blood?”
“Well……”
It was because he had been continuously borrowing the Guardian Spirit’s eyes. The karma that had slowly accumulated had finally exceeded its limit and surged back in the form of blood, but since he had swallowed it down again, it had come out together this time.
Still, that explanation would naturally lead to questions about why he had kept the eyes active without rest. Instead of answering that, Raven offered a different reason.
“I sustained internal injuries inside the Gate.”
“……I see.”
Altare’s gaze swept over Raven’s blood-soaked clothes—more precisely, over what lay beneath them, the back that was surely in tatters. Then his eyes dropped lower, to Raven’s feet.
The floor was soaked red because the wounds refused to close.
“The others will be waiting.”
“Really? Then we should hurry—!?”
“I will carry you.”
The view flipped. Raven, draped over Altare’s shoulder, blinked for a moment before belatedly grasping the situation and going limp.
He had nearly counterattacked. In an entirely different sense, his heart had lurched, so he muttered in a drained voice.
“Everything else is fine, but at least give some warning before you……”
He had almost struck back, after all.
Altare ignored the complaint and kicked off the ground. Having expected this attitude, Raven did not waste breath on further words. Instead, he smiled at the crow watching from a distance and raised a finger to his lips.
—Shh.
He was certain the quick-witted child would keep its beak shut.
“I need information on the slave liberation activists. More precisely, a means of contacting them.”
When he heard the request, Edardo did not answer immediately. He simply stared at the man before him.
Concealing emotion should have been second nature to someone who had lived as ‘Stigma,’ yet the reluctance in his expression was obvious.
‘Perhaps he simply sees no reason to hide his feelings perfectly in front of a “lowly thing.”’
Either way, it did not matter. Edardo spoke at his leisure.
“The highest authority in this country would not have placed such a request through an intermediary—he would have moved personally. And judging by your obvious reluctance, this cannot be a request you are making of your own volition……”
The demigod Deciever, who toyed with the Emperor from above, had no need to entrust such matters to an organization of insignificant humans. He would have wielded the Empire’s power or acted directly.
Given the man’s demeanor, this was not Stigma’s own will either.
Which left only one possibility……
Shrrng—
Before the organized thoughts could form into words, a blade was leveled at his throat.
Edardo’s golden eyes, undisturbed, glanced downward, then followed the hand gripping the sword upward. His gaze traveled from blade to hand, along the arm, until it reached the face and met the other man’s eyes directly.
Displeased by the calm gaze, Stigma’s brown eyes cooled.
“That is enough talk. You are an information broker—know when to speak and when to stay silent. A lowly thing like you talks too much.”
Even with a killing edge pressed to his neck, Edardo chuckled.
“You make it so obvious that you despise associating with such base creatures. Of course I feel like being contrary.”
“Contrary, is it? So even you have pride. Were you not the sort who would move for money alone? I will pay whatever you ask, so stop asking pointless questions and act.”
“That is not incorrect. But it is amusing to hear ‘lowly thing’ from your mouth. You of all people have no right to say it.”
It was a jab at Stigma’s origins as a slave.
More precisely, he had been a noble of a defeated nation who fell into slavery before clawing his way to his current position. In a sense, he had regained his noble title, but who would bother with such distinctions?
Seeing the twisted smile that was surely mockery, Stigma’s face hardened.
“I have felt it all along—you are an uneducated, lowly thing, yet unbearably arrogant. Even the Emperor of the Empire does not behave this way.”
“Manners are also something learned through education. How could an uneducated, lowly thing know manners?”
And then—
Edardo raised his hand and seized the weapon still aimed at his throat. Gripping the flat of the blade firmly so it would not cut him, he smiled savagely.
“You had best not draw a sword in front of me.”
There was no one who could defeat him with a blade.
It happened in an instant. He yanked the blade downward as if pushing it away, then drew the sword at his waist with his other hand and pressed it against Stigma’s neck.
Because he had used his right hand to pull the blade down, he had drawn the left-side sword with his left hand, gripping the long blade in reverse—yet the motion was flawless.
“I hope you remember that provoking those who are no different from beasts because they lack education is unwise.”
“……”
Stigma kept his mouth shut as though his pride had been wounded, then spat the words out as if chewing them.
“They call you the King of the Underworld.”
King of the Underworld, my foot.
“More like the King of the Slums.”
It was a derogatory title the nobles used for Edardo, unwilling to accept any new power besides their own.
When the same words came from the mouth of a man who, like himself, was unwelcome among the nobility, Edardo laughed lowly. Even though Stigma’s displeasure was plain to see, he paid it no mind.
‘King of the Poor, is it……’
How fitting.
There could be no better name for one who wished to protect the poor.
‘Come to think of it, he said he saw the image of the sun in me as well.’
……Thanks to that, a rather good idea had occurred to him.
Edardo toyed with the paper in his hand. He had known since long ago how to contact the Revolutionary Army—no, the slave liberation activists. He had simply been putting it off while calculating whether it was safe to become entangled with the Emperor.
‘The young Emperor seems to be trying to do something.’
Against that demigod, any action would be like throwing eggs at a rock, but Edardo only needed to take what he could gain. He had no reason to care about the rest. Given the frail Emperor’s nature, he likely could not even wield what he held properly.
Therefore, he decided.
‘It would not be bad to meet him.’
The head of Aurell rose from his seat.
‘Raven’s’ request had been to gather every record related to figures from the Mythological Era the very day they met, so there was nothing more to worry about on that front.
Thus, the moment he made his decision, Edardo moved.
“I offer my greetings to the master of the Empire.”
Even Stigma, an Awakener himself, could not stop a powerhouse who moved so casually. Since the demigod Deciever was preoccupied elsewhere and frequently absent from the palace, Edardo strode without hesitation onto the windowsill of the Emperor’s bedchamber and faced the Empire’s supreme existence.
“Edardo, head of Aurell.”
“……”
Though it was clearly a night with a white moon, a golden sun had descended upon the windowsill.
The sight was so radiant it felt warm rather than chilling. Emperor Kian Ardal forgot to be wary and stared blankly for a moment.
“……I wished to meet you. It is a pleasure. I am Kian Ardal.”
“Indeed……”
At the very least, he had the backbone not to scream. Perhaps he had simply frozen and missed the timing, but still.
Edardo’s beast-like eyes swept over the young Emperor before slowly shifting to the figure behind him.
“Before we get to the main point, I would like you to decide what to do about this one first.”
Stigma had his sword aimed at Edardo’s neck.
“You speak rather curtly before His Majesty.”
“How rude of me. As you know, I am an uneducated slum dweller.”
“You should at least etch the bare minimum of common sense for survival into that brain of yours. Those blinded by desire and forget their place tend to have short lives.”
“I will keep that in mind. But is it not equally amusing that you are acting this way?”
How laughable it was for someone who served another master to pretend to be the Emperor’s loyal hound.
At the mocking tone, the tip of the blade trembled slightly. Edardo slipped his index and middle fingers around the edge aimed at his vital point and swept it aside as he spoke.
“And I believe I made myself clear.”
“……!”
“You had best not draw a sword in front of me.”
Before Edardo could continue, Stigma, sensing the threat, immediately withdrew his blade.
Displaying his unscathed hand at the perfect moment, Edardo turned his head leisurely toward the Emperor.
“So, what shall we do with this dog that serves another master?”
“Ah……”
“Personally, I recommend eliminating him here and now.”
If that was too distasteful, knocking him unconscious would suffice.
His golden eyes, fierce in color, held a coldly rational glint.
Having always lived with countless unspecified enemies, he minimized future troubles by any means necessary. Mercy had no place in such a life.
‘He has pointed a sword at me twice now, so killing him would be best, but……’
There were too many complications that would follow, and the frail Emperor would never permit it.
‘Since I cannot spill blood before the Emperor, at the very least I should knock him out.’
If Stigma had not been running the Emperor’s errands, if he had not been one of the few hands the Emperor could use, Edardo would have knocked him unconscious long ago.
Even as a watcher of the Emperor, the fact that he had come to Aurell under the Emperor’s orders meant Stigma’s value was not low. Realizing this, Edardo left him be for now and turned his attention to Kian Ardal.
Though he had deliberately offered both a violent option and a mild one to guide the choice, the Emperor unexpectedly shook his head.
“Touching him in any way will only make things worse. Please leave him be.”
“……If that is what you wish.”
He had no hobby of asking twice. Edardo immediately looked away from Stigma and took a small folded paper from his robe.
He could feel the insolent dog retreating at the Emperor’s command yet still watching from the shadows, but he paid it no mind.
“The information you desire is written here.”
“Ah, then……”
“However.”
Edardo pulled the paper back just as the hand reached for it.
“I would not recommend it.”
“Why…… why not?”
“Because they are extremely wary of those in power.”
Even if contact was made, obtaining what was desired would be difficult.
Well, the Emperor probably knew that. He was likely grasping at straws.
“Your Majesty.”
Edardo took one step closer.
The young boy flinched and retreated, clearly feeling the pressure. Watching this, Edardo spoke slowly.
“Do you need power?”
Power to protect that position, that country, those people.
Power to safeguard everything you carry.
“If you wish, Aurell can assist you.”
“……There will be a price, of course.”
“Naturally.”
Even while trembling under the pressure, the boy still said what needed to be said. Noticing that the trembling was not caused by fear of him personally, Edardo’s eyes narrowed.
The young Emperor was not simply overwhelmed by the presence before him. The pressure he felt came from the possibility that he might fail to protect what he had to protect.
It was truly an imperial mindset.
‘This is unexpected.’
Edardo’s lips curved, just barely.
Even a rotten fish had its uses. After all, one’s origins could not be changed.
This much was worth making a deal. A trace of laughter slipped into his usually stiff, businesslike voice, so faint no one would notice.
“I need a fief.”
“……!”
“Size does not matter. As long as the location is not the worst possible environment, I will not mind. If you grant me that one thing, Aurell will become your ally.”
If he had accomplished something undeniably meritorious, it would be different. But he had not, and moreover, he was of common birth.
Faced with a demand he could not easily accept, Kian’s expression hardened.
He lowered his eyes as if deep in thought. After some time had passed, the young Emperor broke the lengthening silence with his first words.
“May I ask why?”
It was neither affirmation nor denial.
A question asking why he wanted a fief.