Chapter 102

“I have been entrusted with full authority by the lord of Jirenu Territory. I am Yorinobu Takahashi.”

Standing on the boat, I offered my greeting.

The distance between the boats was one that a human would barely be able to clear even with a running jump.

However, our voices carried more than enough.

And yet the other noble did not reply, nor did he even turn his gaze toward me.

The one he was looking at was Cole.

“You have certainly dragged our family name through the mud.”

That single statement, spoken without even introducing himself.

Apparently, he did not even intend to maintain the form of that shameless letter.

Cole remained kneeling beside me, his head lowered.

“You said you wished to clear up our mutual misunderstandings, did you not?”

When I said that again, the other man finally turned his gaze toward me.

“Yes, I shall clear up the misunderstanding for you.”

The person, who was probably Cole’s older brother, threw a sword at us, sheath and all.

Badadam caught it as it traced an arc through the air.

“Cole, my foolish younger brother. Use that to attack this boat.”

“…?”

We had simulated all kinds of demands from the other side, but this was not one I had expected.

“The principal nobles are watching this scene.”

Cole’s older brother turned back lightly and indicated the fleet waiting in the distance with his chin.

As if to say the difference in strength was obvious.

“You foolishly lusted after a beast. You refused to listen to our wise, loving persuasion, and, on top of that, flew into a rage, destroyed the sacred palace, and attempted to flee. And now, in this place, despite our renewed merciful persuasion, you have raised your sword.”

I see, I thought, understanding.

“So the ‘misunderstanding’ you wrote about in your letter is the point that we of Jirenu Territory started a rebellion?”

At those words, Cole’s older brother closed his eyes and nodded like the owner of a dog.

“Precisely. It is impossible that you people would defy us. Therefore, we consider this incident to be nothing more than you poor sheep being incited and dragged into matters by this fool.”

For Roran’s sake, they wanted to make it look that way for appearances.

As the provincial capital and the forerunner of imperial rule, Roran’s ability to govern would be questioned if there had been a rebellion.

Also, toward the nobles under their control, if they allowed a place as minor as Jirenu to rebel, they would be looked down upon.

So Jirenu had not rebelled, but had merely been dragged into Cole’s rampage, or so they wanted to make it.

To the very end, they were thinking only of protecting their own dignity.

“However, in any case, it is a fact that you bared your fangs at us. If you had loyalty, you should originally have stopped this foolish younger brother’s rampage even at the cost of your lives. If you foolishly lent him your aid, then even accounting for that foolishness, you cannot be acquitted without punishment.”

He showed not the slightest sign of caring that they had lured Iiria out and poisoned her in the first place.

There was even a certain pride in that selfishness.

“Moreover, it would also be bad for rumors if the beast who seduced this fool remained on this island, even if it is in a corner of the province. She is apparently the illegitimate child of a noble from the imperial center, but even that is dubious. Therefore—”

Cole’s older brother spoke while puffing out his chest slightly, looking exactly like Cole used to.

“The lord of Jirenu will be replaced, and all the beastfolk overflowing the island, aside from those necessary for mining, will be shipped out as slaves. However, you.”

The other man pointed at me with his chin.

“I hear you excel at commerce. Rejoice. We shall add you to our company. Do your utmost to earn the funds for rebuilding the palace with your life on the line.”

It was a one-sided notification that could not possibly be called negotiation.

However, from my experience working under Nodon, I somehow understood that, to them, even this was probably a rather generous measure.

The reason I let out a deep sigh was because I was fed up with the thinking of selfish people in power.

Besides, they surely did not have the slightest intention of keeping Cole alive.

The magician was on the boat where Cole’s older brother was riding, and he kept his hand tucked under his swollen cloak.

It was also obvious that this supposed replacement of Jirenu Territory’s lord would not be peaceful. I did not even want to imagine what would happen to her attendant, Kururu.

Behind them waited an overwhelming fleet, and there were certainly multiple magicians aboard.

Furthermore, within the fleet were also high-speed ships lined with oars like dragonfly wings, so they probably intended to land somewhere on the island quickly and purge anyone who resisted one after another.

Or perhaps they intended to encircle the island with that fleet and starve us out, to show the people what happened when one defied Roran.

In any case, under normal circumstances, if we wanted to survive from here, there would be only two choices.

Either have Cole take up the sword and show the proof of madness the other side wanted.

Or else, in desperation, have Cole fire magic, defeat the opposing magician, and then take this arrogant older brother hostage.

“I do not believe you are thinking anything foolish, but I shall say this just in case.”

After saying that, Cole’s older brother showed a strange smile.

It was a smile filled with anger, hatred, and plenty of self-mockery.

“It is meaningless to take me hostage. Thanks to your disturbance, my reputation as the head guard knight of the palace has splendidly fallen to the ground. If Father can turn both his useless younger son and his unlucky fool of an elder son into seaweed in the ocean, he will gladly do so.”

He called himself the head guard knight, but it was surely an honorary position in the city of Roran, assigned to him as someone of the Bax Company owner’s bloodline.

That position, which should have been easily held without incident for the sake of authority, had suddenly become a position of responsibility due to an intrusion by bandits that should never have happened.

After all, the palace he was supposed to be protecting in name had been wrecked.

An indelible stain had been left on the career of a noble of good blood.

That probably meant such an unlucky fool was unnecessary to the Bax Company.

“Cole! Take the sword!”

If he himself had been a magician, he might have fired magic long ago.

He roared with that much force, and Cole’s body visibly shrank.

Just seeing this was enough to imagine how badly he had been tormented by his older brothers.

And despite the fact that Cole was a magician, he reacted like this, so it must have been extreme.

Or perhaps it was precisely because Cole was a magician that his older brothers had thoroughly tormented him so he would not steal their position.

And as a result, were the only ones Cole had been able to open his heart to the beastfolk who stayed at his side as slaves?

That Cole, his gaze unfocused, reached out and tried to take the sword from Badadam’s hand.

“…Are you serious?”

Badadam said it in confusion, but handed the sword to Cole.

Then Cole stood up, drew the sword, and threw away the sheath.

“…Brother.”

Cole said it in a murmur while staring at his feet.

“I—”

“Die!”

I did not know whether that belonged to Cole’s older brother or to the magician.

Perhaps they had judged that, as a spectacle for the nobles of the fleet waiting behind them, the moment Cole began to raise the tip of the sword was enough to complete appearances.

Or perhaps they simply wanted to erase him even one moment sooner.

An explosion of flame was unleashed toward us, painting over my vision.

Even though I had known it would come and had prepared countermeasures, it was still frightening.

When the muddy current of flame slowly cleared, I could see the magician on the other side taking a new magic stone into his hand.

Moreover, perhaps because they had arranged for that to signal the start of the battle, cheers and the sound of drums could be heard from the fleet as well.

In front of the enormous fleet slowly beginning to advance, there was only the tiny boat we were riding.

It was also Jirenu Territory itself before the historic city of Roran.

Badadam caught his breath and looked at me as if asking what we would do.

In this overwhelmingly unfavorable situation, however, Cole did not even raise his face as he said this.

“Brother… my existence is insignificant in Jirenu.”

Cole, still looking down, held a magic stone in his left hand.

The mouth of the death god, which boasted ironclad defense and absorbed all magic.

However, the opposing magician had naturally anticipated that, which was why his cloak was swollen.

He fired magic one after another, and the magic stone in Cole’s hand grew smaller and smaller.

After explosions of flame passed through three times, Cole finally raised his face.

“Even if a sword is to be pointed at you, I am not the one qualified to do so.”

Cole held the sword out to me.

I wanted to say that he did not need to go that far, but Cole was stubborn.

This almost exaggerated show of vassalage may, in a sense, have been sincere.

After all, even Dodol had feared what was about to happen.

“What is this? I was going to mercifully welcome you into our company, yet you will be incited by that fool there and help him? How utterly foolish! To work for our company is a fortune beloved by God!”

Behind him, the great fleet was approaching, about to trample Jirenu, a weak little territory.

For all I knew, they might think of it as a small event where, under the pretext of occupation, they could satisfy their cruel desires against the people of the island.

Even so, his manner of speaking made it seem as if he truly believed from the bottom of his heart that if anyone was invited to Roran, they would gladly swear loyalty.

The mentality of nobles was hard for commoners to understand.

But thanks to that, there was no room for misunderstanding anymore.

They had no intention of reconciliation.

“I understand your thoughts very well. As of this point, at this moment, Jirenu Territory declares war on the provincial capital of Roran.”

The longsword I received from Cole was heavy, but I was not as tense as when we had charged into Crape Myrtle House to save Kururu.

As if confirming that weight, I lightly turned my wrist and pointed it at Cole’s older brother, whose face had turned bright red with rage.

Then, toward the great fleet that had casually come here, rottenly looking down on us and thinking they could crush us with their large army, I raised the tip of the sword.

So that anyone watching this scene could clearly understand how events were unfolding.

So that they would know a small fish was now defying a great whale.

The enraged noble opened his mouth.

“Di—”

“You should close your eyes.”

Did he hear my warning?

I could not check, because I also closed my eyes.

“What?”

The first thing I heard was a faint high-pitched sound.

The unique trembling of the air, different from wind, was like the moment just before a bullet train passed.

Then came an intense pressure of light that I could understand even with my eyes closed.

The roaring thunder that immediately tore through my ears had become an impact that struck my skin as though it possessed mass, and the feeling that made the pit of my stomach grow cold was an instinctive fear toward overwhelming energy.

I could sense something that seemed to distort space itself passing overhead.

Holding my breath, bracing my knees, and at least trying not to show an unsightly appearance was all I could do as I poured strength into my entire body.

Beneath the light and roar that seemed to paint over the world, I was forced to realize just how tiny my own existence was.

A few moments later.

An accidental silence arrived.

When I fearfully opened my eyes, the deep blue sea that had held gentle waves was now in the middle of swelling up like some kind of joke—and.

On this day, at this time, in this place, the people of this world witnessed a fragment of magic’s true power.