Chapter 157
Chapter 157
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 157
Chapter Title: Usurper 3
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“You didn’t tell Sion Etar about the Wendigo incident, did you?”
“…….”
“If you and Midiam had reported it, Sion Etar wouldn’t have responded so half-heartedly. And isn’t it really your own decision to say you won’t follow me now? You were always supposed to follow Midiam’s lead no matter what. Your role was to chase after me alongside her and keep persuading her, wasn’t it?”
“You knew all along.”
Ismail had originally been Sion Etar’s subordinate. While he acted as something like Midiam’s servant, he also always reported her actions to his superiors.
Ismail was supposed to move in accordance with the will of the Etar bloodline at all times, but Azadin had kept the miracle Azadin performed a secret from him. Moreover, he had deliberately revealed the unfiltered suspicions and doubts within the Etar bloodline toward Azadin as a warning.
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I really hate you. Physiologically, someone like you just doesn’t sit right with me.”
Ismail declared this right in front of Azadin.
“But Midiam follows you. I’m just doing my best to keep her out of harm’s way.”
By saying this, Ismail meant that following Azadin would bring disaster upon Midiam.
“I see. Got it. Then, Midiam, this is where we part ways.”
Azadin decided not to allow Midiam and Ismail to travel together with him.
“As a Herald, I should have been teaching the attendants, giving you experience, and leading you, but looking back, I haven’t taught you much. I’m sorry for being such an inadequate Herald.”
“Oh, no. You were the best teacher, Azadin.”
“Come on. Even making allowances, that’s not true.”
Azadin smiled.
“But if you wish, Midiam, then from within Etar, make sure the name of the Aragasas isn’t defiled by the blood of powerless commoners.”
The Aragasas’ training process instilled hatred for the weak and powerless. Whenever someone fell behind during training, the entire group would suffer, fostering hatred for the straggler and encouraging private punishments for the weak.
How much more ruthless would Aragasas, who showed no mercy even to their own kind if they were weak, be toward the Hubris who had persecuted them?
That was what worried Azadin.
“Why do you care so much about them? Because you’re a believer in the angelic faith?”
When Ismail asked, Azadin shook his head.
“When I was young… I was afraid.”
“What?”
“I couldn’t bear the fact that there was no one in this world who understood me. All it would take was a little kindness… but my thoughts were seen as weak and cowardly among the Aragasas. Of course, I knew that since I had fallen behind in training, suggesting kindness to the weak sounded like asking them to go easy on me, so it lacked persuasiveness.”
As a straggler in the Aragasas’ training, Azadin must have been ostracized and bullied by everyone.
It got so bad that young Azadin even doubted whether they were truly human, sharing the same blood.
“Then I encountered the faith of the Rescue Knights. The story of the Three Great Archangels devoting themselves to humanity, and the holy knights protecting the weak by following his teachings—it was salvation in itself for me.”
“Because you can be saved if you believe in them?”
“No. More than that, it was confirmation of shared humanity. The fact that good and beautiful stories move everyone. The fact that they, like me, yearn for good and beautiful things, turning it into faith and building a massive church around it.”
Azadin said this and turned to Midiam.
“That’s why I trust you, Midiam.”
Midiam shared Azadin’s aesthetics. The aesthetics that oppressing the powerless people of Hubris was an ugly act.
To Azadin, this was an invaluable point of empathy.
“Yes, Azadin. Oh, right.”
Midiam raised her hand and pointed to the stable beside the ramparts.
“I’ve prepared horses, mountain goats, and supplies over there. In a stable that wasn’t flooded.”
She had retrieved the luggage they had left with Sion Etar. It might not matter much for Azadin, but for Zivek, the armor made it extremely important luggage.
“You went out of your way to fetch it? Thank you.”
“I packed plenty of food too. And also this…”
Midiam took a sword from a nearby box.
“This is…”
Azadin gave a wry smile upon seeing it. It was the Azure Steel longsword that Sir Adolf had carried.
“Elder Kazas said to pass it on as a gift.”
“My master?”
“Yes.”
“That’s troubling.”
Azadin looked troubled.
An Azure Steel longsword was a priceless treasure. But its original owner was Sir Adolf. Even with his arm severed, he was the nephew of Ansetus IV, no small status.
Carrying around such a person’s sword could draw conflict.
And what if Sir Adolf was still alive?
Azadin’s relationship with Sir Adolf hadn’t been bad, but if Azadin had his sword, he’d surely think ill of it.
‘No, I can just say later that I’ll return it to whoever knows about it, and for now, borrow it to smooth things over.’
If Azadin refused the treasured sword here, it would only reveal dissatisfaction toward Kazas or Aldis.
“Y-yeah. Tell him thanks. Then, farewell. If fate allows, we’ll meet again.”
Azadin bid farewell to Midiam and Ismail.
*********
Emerging onto the high ground beyond the ramparts via the city walls, the city of Koral Sahar came into full view.
The rain had stopped, and the water was draining rapidly. Pillars of dawn light poured from the sky, forcibly draining the water that had flooded the city.
The sea serpent nagas, their momentum broken, were withdrawing from Koral Sahar’s royal castle when small fast ships charged at them.
“Fire!”
Aboard the fast ships rode archers of the Herald clan. They loosed arrows at the nagas.
Normally, shooting arrows from a rocking ship amid churning waves was difficult even for master archers. But the Heralds, renowned for their archery, inflicted fatal wounds on the nagas with every shot, overwhelming them.
Some nagas dodged arrows and dove underwater to climb aboard, but soldiers armed with long hooked scythes smashed the nagas trying to board.
The nagas who had terrifyingly invaded Koral Sahar’s royal castle were being swept away pathetically.
“At least the residents of Koral Sahar will be cheering.”
Zivek marveled at the fast ships methodically clearing the nagas.
Ansetus IV had been helplessly overwhelmed, but the moment Aldis Jedah claimed the throne, it was handled with miraculous speed. To Koral Sahar’s residents awaiting only death, it must seem like a miracle.
“They probably deployed every copy of the New King Scripture the council had.”
“What?”
“Sion Etar and Elder Kazas had gathered copies of the New King Scripture and kept them here. When the Arael tribe approached the throne and performed their ritual to extract white mana from it, the nearby New King Scripture copies naturally accumulated enormous white mana.”
That was why, when Azadin absorbed the power of the New King Scripture copies, he had felt a strength far greater than usual.
When white mana leaked from the throne, the nearby copies absorbed the influence and gained immense power.
The council handed all their gathered New King Scripture copies to Aldis, the throne’s rightful bearer, and the moment she sat on the jade throne and activated King’s Radiance, she unleashed miraculous power.
The residents of Koral Sahar couldn’t help but be swept up in that dramatic display.
“We can’t give the New King Scripture copies to the council. I need to control them all.”
Azadin intended to possess all of them, including the ones he obtained this time.
“But first, Scott. Can you examine this bracelet closely?”
Azadin handed over the bracelet that stored the New King Scripture copies Aldis had given him.
“That’s not something to wear while walking around, boss. Well, no tracking magic or anything like that on it, at least.”
“Really?”
Hearing there was nothing like that on the bracelet, Azadin felt a bit relieved.
Was it because he’d seen Aldis suddenly usurp the throne and become empress?
He’d started harboring various suspicions about her, but fortunately, it didn’t seem as bad as he’d thought.
But then.
[Azadin…]
A voice calling Azadin came from the water’s edge.
A massive crab crawled out from the water’s edge. On the crab’s underbelly was a large eyeball and mouth.
“Arael? How does it feel? Being robbed of a meal already cooked?”
Azadin mocked the voice of Arael.
‘Ah, this isn’t the time to be mocking her.’
Azadin wanted to hear the full story from Arael. But since Arael was someone who had deeply wounded him, he couldn’t resist the chance to taunt her.
‘Well, when else would I get to mock Arael if not now?’
Ignoring Azadin’s mockery, Arael’s voice replied.
[If you’ve come out of the castle this quickly, you must suspect Aldis’s actions too, right? Head to the Kingdom of Brtuma. We’ll talk about the future there. And come alone—no other Aragasas.]
The Aragasas, like the Koral Sahar merchant guild, had established local merchant associations in various countries as intelligence networks.
“Got it. Where in Brtuma?”
[It’s not good to specify the exact location now. I’ll keep in touch, so we’ll meet then. Bye!]
Arael’s voice exploded with a pop, and the giant mud hairy crab shattered into pieces.
“Ugh. Doesn’t it smell delicious?”
Scott remarked, catching the sweet, savory scent of flesh as the crab broke apart.
“Don’t eat it.”
Azadin warned Scott.
*********
Koral Sahar originally traded by sea with Brtuma, with regular and merchant ships coming and going.
But with the naga attack, both regular and merchant lines were cut off, so Azadin had no choice but to go by land. Waiting for the communication lines to recover would surely mean new watchers sent by Sion Etar would attach themselves.
As Azadin traveled along the coast, he began absorbing from the New King Scripture copies whose power had recovered whenever he rested. He drew the white mana filling them into his body, further strengthening the power from Kazas.
Around lunchtime, as his group set up a pot on a coastal sandbar and Shati prepared the meal, Azadin performed mana reinforcement with more New King Scripture copies.
“Damn it! Why do I have to cook because of that shitty orc?”
“Dried rations are expensive. And sorry, Sir Zivek, but you don’t know the first thing about taste.”
When they’d tried having him cook, Zivek proved disastrously inept. But he was amazingly good at fishing, and his fish-gutting skills were top-notch.
However, beyond simply grilling gutted fish with salt, he couldn’t process them further. The moment he tried boiling a soup or anything, he ruined it beyond belief.
Shati suspected Zivek was sabotaging on purpose because he hated cooking.
“I-I’ll fetch water.”
Perhaps feeling sorry for his ruinous cooking, Zivek volunteered for work without being asked.