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Side Story Chapter 52

“What are you doing to a patient?” Anna yelled at the top of her lungs, in spite of the fact she was practically an outsider. “The Imperial Knights are pathetic. I get that he’s your direct superior, but a maniac is pointing his sword at the prince of your empire. So how can none of you try to stop him? Do you not know why the Imperial Knights exist in the first place?”

The Knights flinched as the truth of her words sank in. Imperial Knights existed to protect the Palace as well as the Imperial Family.

Some of the knights hastily stepped forward.

“V-Vice Commander! I believe that is enough.”

“No matter how I frame it, this is wrong.”

“If you’re angry, just kill me with your sword instead!” Anna stood between Kireua and Ranger, even though she looked more wounded than the prince.

“I’m fine, so step aside.” Kireua gestured at her.

“What the hell are you saying? Look at yourself! You’re not fine! Besides, have all of you forgotten where we are right now?!”

They were right in front of the enemy camp—the enemy could detect and attack them at any time. Anna was well aware of this fact and chastised them with a louder voice: “All of you, go back to your base and talk there. Mister Cain! Don’t just stand over there, do something!”

“That’s my plan.” Cain stepped between Ranger and Kireua as well. “Ranger, cut it out.”

“Stay out of this, Sir Cain. His Majesty personally asked me to do this.”

“Have you forgotten about Imperial law? Regardless of your reasons, you can’t harm a member of the Imperial Family.”

Ranger gritted his teeth. “For me, His Majesty’s orders supersede Imperial law.”

He was insistent that the Emperor of Avalon’s orders were equivalent to law. Depending on the interpretation, he wasn’t wrong, but Cain didn’t back down.

“You’re inflexible as a rock. Do you think His Majesty expected this kind of situation to happen? Besides, he gave that order over a decade ago.”

“His Majesty’s orders still hold no matter how long ago they were issued.”

“You really insist on fighting against a wounded person? I didn’t know the vice-commander of the Imperial Knights was a chicken.”

“Call me a coward all you want, but if I don’t do this right now, that immature prince will pull off another stunt like this.” Ranger’s eyes blazed with anger as he looked at Kireua. “Promise me that you won’t ever do such a thing on your own. Then I’ll stand down.”

At this rate, Kireua didn’t want to back down either.

“No, I won’t,” he stubbornly replied.

“Your Highness!”

“I don’t know why in the world I have to get scolded like this, Sir Ranger. You aren’t even trying to listen to the full story, and you have no idea what kind of intel I brought!”

“What if something bad happens to you after you do this kind of thing again? We’re currently standing face to face with our enemies. Did you think about how you would impact the national army’s morale?” Ranger asked.

“A strategist always assumes the worst, and a knight pictures the best in their minds during battles. You know what this means, Sir Ranger, don’t you?”

“I’m not sure what the intent behind your question is, but that’s because a strategist has to consider all the variables to minimize casualties. If a knight did the same, they would be too anxious to fight.”

“Yes, a knight needs to be confident that they can win. That was what I felt and thought,” Kireua said.

“As I already said, you need to prove yourself to persuade someone else.”

“Then I’ll prove it.” Kireua’s eyes turned sharp.

The air around them shifted. The more time passed, the stronger energies the two men exuded. Seeing no other options, Cain prepared to release his energy.

“We received an urgent message!”

Everyone’s heads turned at once.

One of the Imperial Knights was pointing far in the direction of the base they had come from. The people could see thick, yellow smoke climbing into the sky.

“A yellow mana flare…?”

A mana flare was a means of communication developed in the Magic Tower. A flare fired into the air could be seen for several kilometers. Thus, mana flares were often used in times of war like this civil war. Mana flares’ meanings differed by color, and a yellow mana flare hadn\'t been used in the last two years of this civil war. Because…

“A yellow mana flare is only fired when we receive an order from His Majesty, so how…?”

* * *

The death of Chrysler jean Sebastian, God’s Knight, wasn’t totally unexpected. The Hubalt emperor’s faction and pope’s faction had fought a civil war in the past. During the civil war, Chrysler had fought as a spearhead and gone up against the Martial Emperor, but he had lost and was critically injured.

When he had first reappeared in the world, he hadn’t really been in good shape, so he had only nominally been a Star. If someone challenged him, he would have lost the title for sure, but Joshua had never expected Christian, Chrysler’s student, to be crippled as well.

“The new strong have appeared,” Iceline began to explain.

“The new strong?”

“In the Hubalt Empire, the weakest of the new strong is considered stronger than Zactor, the dead Martial Empire.”

According to Iceline’s explanation, there were multiple of them.

Joshua frowned. “Are they from the Hubalt emperor’s faction again?”

“No, they’re from the pope’s faction. They’re called the Four Paladins, and they’re worshiped by Hubalt’s citizens like gods.”

“Then they’re…?”

Iceline nodded. “Yes, they’re the ones that want to start a war.”

Things were getting worse by the minute. The pope’s faction’s members used to cry for peace, but they were now trying to raise a conquering army. This must be why it was said that there was no way to know the future and that history repeated itself.

However, Joshua had some ideas of what was going on.

“It must be related to the gods from the destroyed Angel Realm,” Joshua surmised.

“I agree. We now even have the powers we call ‘authorities’.”

“Everybody begins to become greedy once they acquire power, just like in Avalon right now.”

“That’s because they haven’t gotten beaten up by you, Your Majesty. The emperor of the Avalon Empire is a god-slayer…” Iceline bit her lower lip in frustration.

A faint smile spread across Joshua’s face. “Let me ask you a question, Zero.”

“Go on.”

“Is she alive?”

Zero stiffened. Joshua didn’t mention any names, but everyone in this place knew who he was talking about.

“I’m not sure.” Zero shook his head.

“You were once a branch manager of the continent’s best information guild, but your information is very lacking. Or are you pretending that you don’t know?”

Zero still didn’t answer, but the implication was that Lilith Aphrodite was alive. Joshua raised an eyebrow. The Silver-eyed Ghost Sword, once the most influential figure in the Hubalt Empire, was alive.

“…I see.” Joshua reached a conclusion and smiled deeply. “I get her state and understand why you’re acting like this. Come out now.”

Zero and Iceline\'s eyes widened.

“Did you really think you wouldn’t be made?”

No one responded, and the ordinary street of the slum located on the outskirts of Arcadia was quiet.

Joshua’s eyes sparkled. “One on the left roof. Two behind the entrance door of the deserted house on the right. One lying face down behind me. Three more buried in the pile of trash. So there are seven of you in total?”

As soon as the words slipped from his lips, many people appeared out of the darkness and stepped into the moonlight. Just like Joshua had said, there were exactly seven of them.

“I did think the mana flow of the area was weird…” Iceline tensed and drew up her mana.

Zero was an intermediate expert-level knight in his own right, but his eyes widened in surprise. That was how great these mysterious people’s stealth techniques were.

“H-How…?” Zero mumbled in disbelief.

“Don’t be surprised. It seems they’re the expert assassins specialized in stealth techniques.” Joshua shrugged.

Joshua’s black hair fluttered underneath his hood as he slowly stepped forward. “Even if I ask for your identities, you wouldn’t answer me, would you?”

They were wearing matching black clothes; even their masks were identical. However, since Joshua was also covering his face, one of the mysterious people asked, “…I’m the one who wants to ask who you are.”

His voice was unpleasant, resembling the screech of metal.

“If I tell you who I am, will you reveal your identities too?” Joshua tilted his head.

“You’re going to die anyway, so why do you want to know that?”

“You’re planning on silencing in the middle of the Avalon Empire’s capital.”

“Your fate was sealed the moment you met us. Besides, this Empire is falling into ruin, so it doesn’t matter.” The man who seemed to be the leader of the masked men giggled creeply.

“Let me do it.” Iceline came forward since things came to this. “You are in no shape for this.”

“If I get scared of a hyena pack just because my power is limited for now, I wouldn’t have been famous in the first place, would I?” Joshua said, glancing backward.

Zero also heard Joshua’s remark, making his eyes widen in surprise. “Your power is limited…?”

“Zero, let’s make a bet.”

“A… bet?”

“If I defeat them without using my mana, you’ll answer my questions to the best of your knowledge.”

Zero was struck dumb. It was nonsense—even with the most cursory glance, he could see that those mysterious masked men were extraordinary, so how was Joshua going to win without using his mana? That was the same as a slightly strong, ordinary soldier declaring he would defeat an expert-level knight. The ability to use mana was considered important for a reason. The moment an ordinary sword clashed against an aura-layered sword, the ordinary sword would shatter instantly, and its wielder would suffer the entire rebound.

The only sound in the quiet alley was the sound of footsteps. For some reason, Zero started to look forward to seeing what was going to happen instead of getting worried.

“Iceline, can you make me a spear?” Joshua asked.

It was probably because the man in question was the Martial God, glorified by all peoples of Igrant.

Iceline wordlessly created a long, snow-white spear of ice.

“I tried to make it similar to the one you used before, but I’m not sure if it’s good enough,” Iceline explained.

“It’s a little cold.”

“I-I’m sorry. I can’t do much about the temperature…”

“It’s okay.” Joshua smiled faintly and pointed his spear forward. “It won’t be an issue if I finish them before my hands freeze up.”