Chapter 259
Chapter 259
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 259
Chapter Title: The Whereabouts of the Angel's Blood 4
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Hexenmeyer could not let slip this opportunity of Lady Izmira coming to Fireglyph.
She was the being that the Northern Lord sought with bloodshot eyes, and even aside from that, as the knight order's greatest treasure, he absolutely had to keep her in his grasp.
Under these circumstances, Sir Hexenmeyer had moved his doppelgangers to lure Lady Izmira and the investigation team members into the underground dungeon of Fireglyph Castle, planning to subdue them there in secret.
However, things got tangled when Izmira recognized the doppelgangers.
The doppelgangers were all repelled by Izmira, and at that moment, the Northern Lord's subordinates succeeded in abducting her.
It turned out that the Northern Lord's subordinates, Prince Karints and his agents, had also noticed Sir Hexenmeyer's ulterior motives.
Fortunately, afterward, Azadin's group sortied, drove out the Northern Lord's subordinates, and retrieved Izmira, so he had sent Fire Guards intending to smoothly take custody of them.
But even contact with those dispatched Fire Guards had been cut off.
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"Urgh. This has become a headache."
Sensing that the situation was turning sour, Sir Hexenmeyer decided to resolve this matter personally, leading those he trusted most—ones more loyal to him than to the knight order.
"That Herald Clan bastard had such a pretty face and exceptional talent, so I spared him out of pity. Yet he repays my kindness with enmity like this."
Originally, Sir Hexenmeyer had intended to imprison Azadin, but he had let him be, highly valuing the fact that without Azadin, he couldn't control Vermilion Fortress; that Azadin harbored no particular hostility toward him, was faithful to his duties; and that his looks pleased him.
However, he hadn't expected this guy to meddle in Lady Izmira's incident and ruin everything.
"So. You ugly monster. Your tricks didn't work—what happened?"
Sir Hexenmeyer glared at the leader of the doppelgangers.
The high-grade doppelganger, disguised as one of Sir Hexenmeyer's servants, bowed low and replied.
"Sir Hexenmeyer. We did our utmost. This was beyond our abilities."
Wasn't it the commander's fault for issuing orders beyond their capabilities?
Though laced with subtle criticism, Sir Hexenmeyer paid no mind to the doppelgangers.
"Fine. I suppose so. Hey, Timothy. How should we resolve this situation?"
The one called Timothy was the Fire Guard captain, Hospitaller-Paladin, who, like Sir Hexenmeyer, had been exiled to Fireglyph for the sin of lust.
Having started a family here, he was Sir Hexenmeyer's loyal subordinate, sharing his goals and partaking in the various perks and kickbacks from official duties.
He was one who truly enjoyed the trickle-down effect.
"We have no grounds to arrest Lady Izmira. Unless we declare that she has been swapped with a doppelganger and seize her..."
"And the Herald Clan bastard?"
"It's to our benefit to let him dig up ginseng in Vermilion Fortress if he stays put, but if he oversteps his place and meddles everywhere, killing him would be more profitable. Don't worry. No one will complain if we push that he was a Herald Clan spy. We can just have the Bandike Merchant Company fabricate the evidence."
They already knew the true nature of the Bandike Merchant Company.
To be precise, they were the protectors and patrons of the Bandike Merchant Company. In exchange for providing luxury goods to fulfill their sordid desires, as well as assassins and doppelgangers, the merchant company reaped massive trading profits in Fireglyph and siphoned off knight order intelligence.
Sir Hexenmeyer and Sir Timothy were selling the knight order's information not only to the Northern Lord but also to the Herald Clan, profiting from both sides.
"Good. Kill the Herald Clan bastard and capture Lady Izmira alive. If we get our hands on the Celestial..."
The Celestial was the knight order's utmost top secret. Its value surpassed the sum of all the knight order secrets Sir Hexenmeyer had sold thus far.
Even the solemn Sir Hexenmeyer couldn't help but grin at the thought of its worth.
For someone banished to this remote backwater village, such a huge opportunity had arisen!
If he didn't seize it, he wouldn't be a merchant.
'Now that she's come to Fireglyph, it's as good as in my pocket. I'm grateful they stopped Prince Karints from snatching her, but that Herald Clan bastard got too cocky. Anyway, once I have the Celestial, what then? Research it independently to uncover the secret of its power, the manufacturing method? If I sell it, who would pay the highest price? What should I demand in return?'
As Sir Hexenmeyer was already calculating Lady Izmira's ransom value, he spotted one of the Fire Guards rushing over in a panic.
"Chapter Master! Big trouble!"
"Hm? What is it?"
"The watchpost in the central square has been occupied!"
"What? What are you talking about?"
"Sir Azadin from Vermilion Fortress claims doppelgangers are mixed among the soldiers and has seized the soldiers, holing up there!"
"What?"
Sir Hexenmeyer was startled by the Fire Guard's sudden report.
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"......"
Izmira felt a headache coming on.
Beneath the pure white moonlight, with the Celestial's wings revealed, she emitted a faint golden glow from her own body, standing majestically in the center of the square like a serene ancient statue of a deity.
It was only natural. Azadin had placed her atop the square's fountain precisely for that effect.
Izmira was trying her best to look down imposingly from there, holding a flaming Seramite longsword.
A crowd had gathered around, causing a commotion.
"Ooh! It's an angel!"
"The angel has come to save us!"
Fireglyph was the territory of the Salvation Knight Order, so it was inevitable that there would be many angel worshippers.
Even if they were criminals or exiles who had abandoned their faith, the sight of Izmira in her angelic form revived their dormant beliefs, making their hearts race.
Seeing the people bow their heads and pray to her was so embarrassing she could hardly bear it.
At that moment, a group of knights and soldiers pushed through the crowd and approached.
It was Fireglyph's Chapter Master, Sir Hexenmeyer, Fire Guard Captain Sir Timothy, and their other subordinates.
"Wh-what is the meaning of this?!"
"Ah, Sir Hexenmeyer. You've arrived."
Azadin revealed himself atop the watchpost roof.
He moved lightly as if floating in the air, landing gracefully beside Izmira. His glossy black hair and deep purple eyes shone vividly even in the moonlight, exuding an almost bewitching presence.
Even next to Izmira, his presence didn't diminish; rather, they looked like a perfectly matched pair.
Azadin had thus borrowed the reverence and nobility she commanded as an object of angel worship.
"Good heavens!"
"Another angel?"
The people, seeing Azadin's refined features, took him for an angel—or at least some noble being comparable to one.
Azadin spoke in his attractively clear voice. Whether intentionally for the surrounding people to hear or not, even the ordinary citizens nearby could catch every word.
"We, as the Salvation Knight Order's incident investigation team, are exposing the evil lurking in Fireglyph. We detected doppelgangers hiding among the soldiers."
As Azadin spoke and pointed toward the watchpost, soldiers were there, bound with ropes and writhing.
"W-we're not doppelgangers!"
"Th-that's right! This is some kind of mistake!"
However, with Izmira in her angelic form and the soldiers' testimony opposing hers, it was obvious which side the people would believe.
"Hey, those guys..."
"No, they're just humans."
The high-grade doppelganger shook his head.
"This bastard. Looks like he's trying to pressure me..."
Sir Hexenmeyer, enraged, drew his sword.
"Is this Herald Clan scum deceiving people right now!?"
Sir Hexenmeyer pointed out Azadin's Herald Clan origins to undermine his dignity.
Azadin nodded.
"Yes. I am indeed of the bloodline of the Herald Clan leader Hatir, inheriting the blood of Emperor Yaeslat."
"Gasp?"
"Yaeslat..."
"The Emperor's bloodline?"
The people feared the Emperor as the Heaven-Rending Sovereign who shattered the king's church laws, yet they also respected him amid that fear.
Azadin subtly revealed his imperial bloodline, slightly lowering his head as if tormented by his cursed heritage, like a tragic protagonist.
His statue-like attractive face brimmed with melancholy, though his actions were all too theatrical.
'This punk!'
Sir Hexenmeyer panicked.
The surrounding people were utterly entranced by Azadin's imperial bloodline and refined features.
At that moment, Azadin's lips parted.
"I am indeed of Herald Clan origin, but I have pledged myself to the Three Virtues and the Great Archangels, vowing to safeguard the virtues all my life and aid the angels' great cause. Sir Hexenmeyer, why have you drawn your sword? Surely not to rescue the doppelgangers?"
"Don't make me laugh! You bastards! I am the commander here! What right do you have to..."
"The Knights of Wisdom have issued an investigation mission. Are you now denying that mission's authority?"
"You scum! Don't spout nonsense!"
The furious Hexenmeyer ordered his subordinates.
"Seize him immediately!"
"Y-yes?!"
"B-but."
They were awed by Izmira's angelic form and Azadin's charismatic incitement.
And rightly so—with everyone in the square enthralled by Izmira's angelic appearance, drawing swords on her group would be suicidal.
"Lady Izmira! Retract the Celestial form right now! I can't believe you'd do something so indecent! That's a knight order secret! And you..."
Enraged, Hexenmeyer charged at Azadin.
But at that instant, black chains extended from Azadin's hand.
The black steel chains wrapped around Sir Hexenmeyer's body.
In that moment, powerful magic was sucked into Sir Hexenmeyer's body, paralyzing him instantly.
"Guhk?"
The black steel chains, made to subdue the Celestial Izmira, worked perfectly on Sir Hexenmeyer as well.
The magic in his body churned violently.
The astonished Sir Hexenmeyer tried to speak, but part of the chain wrapped around his mouth, jamming his lips between his teeth.
"Mmph, ugh?!"
He couldn't speak even if he tried.
"Oh dear, why the Chains of Judgment? But magic tools can't be fully trusted against doppelgangers. Well then, let's confirm if you're a doppelganger."
Azadin said this, drew a dagger, cut off a lock of Sir Hexenmeyer's hair, held it up to the moonlight, and shook it.
Quicksilver blood and shed skin scattered.
"Ah..."
"A d-doppelganger!?"
The surrounding people gasped in shock at the sight of the mercury-like blood.