Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: Araelle Tribe 1
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"With this, I have taught you everything."
As the dazzling morning sunlight crested the atmospheric ridge, the teacher spoke with his back to the light.
"But the Kazas Swordsmanship is destroying your body, Azadin. I was mistaken. It doesn't suit humans."
"Doesn't suit?"
"That's right. We elves, even when injured, will always heal completely someday. Our joints and ligaments regenerate fully, so chronic human ailments like arthritis or back pain are mere temporary wounds for us elves."
"I'm envious."
"Using the Kazas Swordsmanship will wear down your body, accumulating damage over time. You'll suffer in your old age. If old age ever comes for you, that is."
The teacher was worried for Azadin.
"Azadin, what I taught you might betray you one day."
"No, Master."
Azadin shook his head.
"The Kazas Swordsmanship can never betray me."
He gazed at his arm.
The power dwelling within.
For him, despised as a straggler of the Herald Tribe, this power alone had saved him. Above all, what had truly saved him was the existence of his master, who pitied him for his own sake.
"I have already been saved, so this power cannot betray me. The only thing I fear is..."
*********
"Ugh..."
Azadin opened his eyes. No, since he had no eyes, it was more accurate to say his consciousness awakened and his 'vision' activated.
A dazzling light like that morning sun from long ago shook his mind awake with stimulation. It was a pleasant sensation.
Azadin lifted his head and watched the morning sunlight caressing the earth.
"Magnificent."
It was the same old morning sun he saw every day, the same scenery that looked much alike everywhere, but each time he viewed it, memories surfaced, making it all the more beautiful.
Azadin regulated his breathing to tend his wounds, gathered his spirit with recollections, and rose.
"You're awake. Are you all right?"
Zibek looked at Azadin with eyes full of concern.
"Sir Zibek?"
Azadin recalled from last night's memories that Sir Zibek had helped him. He remembered his ribs cracking from Jekt's blow, the wound in his chest from the Black River Sword, and the dire peril.
Yet all those wounds were healed?
"I cleaned them first and applied salve, but if you move, they'll reopen."
When they first met, Zibek had eyed Azadin like some rogue. From the King's Church's perspective, Heralds were heretics to be slain on sight, so it was only natural.
But now, Zibek treated Azadin with utmost courtesy.
'He saved my life, so I could afford to boast a bit, but he's such a serious man after all.'
Azadin thought as much and offered Zibek his respects.
"I've troubled you. Where are we, anyway?"
"This is the border between Count Lantaric's domain and Count Salasuma's domain. See the Cora River?"
"Ugh. Ow, my aching bones. My skull's rattling. Damn it. I pierced Jekt with an arrow, and he still didn't die. He definitely crossed the line. He wasn't even human anymore."
"The inquisitors and judges study black magic, but he truly crossed it. Still, driving an arrow into Sir Jekt like that—impressive."
To wound a powerhouse like Sir Jekt was impressive. That was why Zibek praised Azadin.
Sir Jekt the Arbiter stood at the pinnacle of the Church. For Azadin, a mere 108th Herald, to injure him.
"I caught him off guard and fed him the Black River Sword, though."
"Even so, if Sir Jekt were an ordinary human, you would have won."
"..."
Embarrassment prickled his face. Azadin felt endless shame, his words sounding like excuses.
"By the way, Sir Zibek, does this mean you can return to the Church?"
"I need to testify that Sir Jekt used black magic to win my trial and prove my innocence, but Lady Maya saw me rescuing and fleeing with you, so a trial would brand me a heretic and lead to execution."
"Er, um... sorry about that."
"I was prepared for it. In fact, I'm grateful for this chance to solidify my resolve."
"Grateful?"
"Yes. I've long sensed something off about Sir Jekt. His high position and influence in the Church made it impossible to confront him directly or join his ranks, leaving me adrift. Now, I can finally settle my heart and feel relieved."
Zibek had originally studied under Jekt and respected him. Who could dislike the courteous demeanor and elegant bearing of one with the king's bloodline, who respected all?
But the Sir Jekt he met now was not the man he knew. He was merely a slave to terrifying power, wielding black magic without a care.
"Sir Jekt said he was searching for a copy of the Divine King Scripture. The Herald Tribe is searching for copies too... is that right?"
"Indeed."
"From a holy knight of the Church's view, the mere leak of the Divine King Scripture is intolerable."
"But for the Herald Tribe, we can't give it up. We believe it's the only way to lift the Emperor's Curse. It's our tribe's deepest wish. We absolutely can't abandon it. And originally, we were the ones who leaked it."
Azadin and Araelle, the cursed siblings, had been deeply involved in that Divine King Scripture leak.
"But can the Herald Tribe be trusted? Once they gather the copies and lift the Emperor's Curse, they'll still have them. Can we trust them with that power?"
"No, that's not it. Do you think they'd stop at just lifting the curse? They'll surely repay all the persecution we've endured. I know because I'm Ara Gasa—we have strong vindictive streaks."
Azadin shook his head, then winced with an "ah," his face twisting. Even slight movement hurt.
"From what you say, at least they're better than us. Once you're part of an organization, you're inevitably swayed by its interests and logic. You know your group isn't perfect, but you rationalize it as true for all groups, silencing yourself on its flaws or mistakes."
"Don't blame yourself too much. Most people are like that."
"What about you? Not every Herald values honor like you. Azadin, could you really raise a voice against the tribe then?"
"It'd be a lie to say yes. It's always easier to spot others' faults than your own."
That said, Azadin had always been an odd one out in the Herald Tribe, so he fared better in that regard than Zibek, who had been Jekt's squire knight.
"Ugh, it hurts."
Azadin pulled out needle and thread to stitch his wound, but pain surged with the movement. His ribs must be cracked.
"I'll do it for you, if that's all right? No liquor, though."
Usually, one drank strong spirits to dull the pain before stitching. But Azadin steadied his breath and handed over the needle.
"It's fine. Just do it."
"Understood."
Zibek stitched Azadin's wound and wrapped bandages around his body to protect the cracked ribs.
"There. Done."
"You're good at this."
"I'm a holy knight, after all. It's not like only the Salvation Knight Order has wound-tending skills. Hm?"
Zibek turned toward the Cora River and frowned. Smoke rose in the distance. Count Salasuma's territory was burning.
"Looks like war has broken out."
*********
Count Garnahair Lantaric, the frontier count, had once invaded Count Salasuma's lands, suffered defeat, and barely reconciled by marrying off his daughter in a political union—a humiliating ordeal.
Now rumors swirled that Count Salasuma Kazel had betrayed humanity, become a naga, and met his end. The perfect chance to settle old scores and sate ambitions.
"War right away."
Azadin, watching from the high ground, frowned.
"They said the bandits here were Count Lantaric's agents. From that, they've clearly been plotting this for ages. What should we do? Best to skirt around."
No good tangling with armies in a war. Especially not Azadin in his current state.
But then Azadin spotted something and scowled.
"Ah, damn it. Saw something I shouldn't have."
"What?"
"Kerim goats."
"These goats? Merchants use smaller ones sometimes."
Zibek peered down beside Azadin. The fortress aflame looked tiny from here—could he really identify goats?
"Those are my retainers' goats. No doubt."
Identifying goats at this distance was amazing enough—whose goats, too?
"I told them to protect the civilians, so they'd head to the nearest village. But... of all times, war starts now. I have to help."
"You can't fight in your condition. And your bow's broken, isn't it?"
"That's why I'm asking—can you help?"
Azadin boldly requested Zibek's aid.
"Hah. Me, a holy knight of the King's Church you've known for mere hours? You're really... quite bold."
"Even a short time is enough. Some never reveal their true worth despite lifetimes together, while others prove everything in an instant."
"..."
"Why?"
"Overly kind words. Hop on. Your goats aren't rideable right now, are they?"
Zibek mounted his horse and extended a hand to Azadin.
*********
As Azadin predicted, Midiam and Ismael had arrived at a village to evacuate refugees, only for Count Lantaric's army to strike suddenly, forcing them to flee to the fortress.
The garrison numbered barely twenty, but the fortress walls were so sturdy that they could hold out long enough. Yet...
"Now I get why those bandits killed and ate people."
Midiam trembled at the horrific scene before him.
Count Lantaric's army seemed intent on not passing without taking this strategically vital fortress.
Few defenders, but it threatened their river crossing—a key point. With the King's Church now controlling Salasuma, swift seizure was impossible, so politically, securing the Cora River basin thoroughly was wiser.
But Lantaric's forces chose brutal massacre and execution.
They raided farms and fishing villages indiscriminately, herding people out. Thus, the fortress gates were lined with human shields.
"Charge!"
At the soldiers' command from behind, peasants bound at the ankles, unable to flee, battered the gates with plows and such, gnawing away bit by bit.
Left alone, even sturdy walls would eventually fall. But shooting the civilian shields was impossible.
"W-what do we do?"
"Damn it. That madman. Is Count Lantaric insane?"
The fortress soldiers and defending commander were aghast at Lantaric's army's frenzied barbarity.
Sweat from the excited crowd, blood scent rising before true battle, the clanging agony of metal on metal filled the air before the fortress. Despair peaked though pain had yet to arrive.
"Step aside."
Then a girl climbed the battlements.
"Midiam, we..."
Ismael wanted to stop Midiam.
Heralds were persecuted. Revealing themselves gained nothing. No reason to intervene if civilians were slaughtered.
But since meeting that hated man, Midiam had changed. He now sought to protect the Hybris folk.
*Protecting the people is beautiful.*
Because of Azadin's words.
"An arrow!"
Midiam asked Ismael for an arrow and drew his bow from atop the wall.