Fair Trade (3)

“Alright, boss. Shall we get going with full force? You’ve regained some energy, right?”

A necromantical-animated rat spoke in Scott’s voice.

“Yeah, yeah.”

Azadine popped a piece of dried fruit into his mouth, chewing as he dashed into the pouring rain.

It was a downpour so intense that it was impossible to tell whether it was day or night. Within it, the Nagas gleamed their eyes, watching for any human movement. Some of them were scavenging village supplies and transferring them to their base.

The Sea Serpent Nagas had suffered losses in their patrol units, with some members missing or dead. In response, they had deployed a special patrol unit, meticulously scanning the surroundings.

As part of their reconnaissance, the familiars of these Sea Serpent Nagas—flying fish—darted through the sky and dived into the water, keeping a vigilant watch.

“Flying fish incoming! They’re enchanted!”

“From where?”

“Behind you, boss!”

“Got it.”

As Azadine sprinted across rooftops, he grabbed onto the edge of a roof and slid under the eaves. The space beneath was already partially submerged, and as he hung below, his ankles dipped into the water.

“There’s a crocodile in the water. Be careful!”

“Ugh! This is a three-story building, isn’t it?”

Azadine glanced down, confirming the presence of a crocodile. It wasn’t massive—only about 1.4 meters long—but its aggression suggested it had been brought in by the Nagas.

Hanging from the eaves of a three-story building with his feet in the water and a crocodile lurking below—this was the dire state of Coral Sahar following the storm.

‘Why a crocodile, of all things…? If I hang on with one hand, will this eave hold?’

The rain had thoroughly soaked the roof tiles, making them incredibly heavy. The wooden beams supporting the eaves groaned under the weight.

Azadine braced one hand against the wooden support while planting his feet against the wall. With his free hand, he prepared to draw his sword.

If the crocodile attacked, he would cut it down. The problem was that swinging his sword would create an immense shock—would the building hold up?

“I’ll cast an illusion spell.”

Scott’s rat familiar widened its eyes, so bloodshot they looked like they might pop. The crocodile, having spotted Azadine and moving toward him, fell under Scott’s spell, its mind clouding over.

“Phew. It worked. Thank goodness.”

“…….”

“What?”

“No, you did well.”

Azadine was genuinely impressed by Scott’s assistance.

When he first took Scott in as a companion, he had no expectations. He had only spared Scott because killing him seemed unnecessary at the time. Who knew the Orc magician would prove so versatile?

He had heard from his master that Orc sorcerers were adaptable, but experiencing it firsthand was something else entirely.

“But Scott, don’t you serve the Kurt gods, the Kurt Pantheon? Is it really okay for you to be helping me like this?”

“You’re not dumb enough to believe that nonsense, so you’re just testing me, right?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Don’t waste your time with dumb tests. But since you asked, I’ll answer properly—if I did nothing, those Nagas would think they’re so great, wouldn’t they?”

“…….”

“That’s why the Naga Raja sought a deal with you in the first place, isn’t it? Even among the Kurt god tribes, we need to be the best. Don’t you think so?”

‘How am I supposed to respond to that? This is… well, it’s fortunate for humanity, I suppose. But then again, humans are just as fractured and driven by self-interest, so maybe it’s all the same.’

Azadine, confirming that the flying fish scouts had passed, climbed back onto the roof and resumed moving.

Near the lighthouse, larger-than-usual Nagas—over two meters tall—were dragging massive anchors tied to thick ropes.

Nearby, disguised as humans, Naga sorcerers accompanied them. A straightforward fight would be difficult.

“We’ll need to infiltrate carefully.”

“Ah, boss. You should be careful.”

“Why?”

“There’s a Seer Patrol in the air.”

“What? A Seer Patrol?”

Azadine, still masked, cupped his hands together like binoculars and scanned the air above the lighthouse.

Sure enough, a Seer Patrol was flying overhead.

“This is going to be a pain.”

If he ignored the Seer Patrol, they would spot him when he tried to scale the lighthouse walls. But if he attacked them, the spellcaster controlling them would immediately be alerted to his presence.

Sneaking inside while avoiding the Seer Patrol’s gaze wasn’t an option either—the lighthouse entrance was heavily guarded by numerous Sea Serpent Nagas.

“And with this rain, climbing won’t be easy.”

Weighing his options, Azadine ran his fingers over his bow.

A reinforced steel bar taken from a heavy crossbow was attached to the bowstring, making it considerably heavy. Azadine set an arrow in place and pulled the string back.

A normal arrow would shatter against the bowstring’s force, so he used a special nocking device to hold the string, only placing the arrow atop it after drawing.

Azadine inhaled deeply and steadied his aim.

“What are you trying to do, boss?”

As Scott voiced his curiosity, the sky suddenly lit up. Lightning streaked across the heavens.

At that exact moment, Azadine loosed his arrow.

—Thwack!

The arrow struck a Naga standing near the lighthouse entrance, splitting its skull like a watermelon. Even for a resilient Naga, there was no surviving such force.

—Rumble! Crash!

The accompanying thunderclap drowned out all other sounds.

The Nagas standing guard failed to notice their fallen comrade.

“Good…!”

Azadine nocked another arrow and dashed forward.

His next target was a massive Naga, over two meters tall. When the arrow struck, a quarter of its head was blown away.

“Wait, what?!”

The Naga sorcerer finally noticed, but by then, Azadine was already upon him.

-Thwack!-

Without drawing his sword, Azadine swung his steel bow, striking the Naga sorcerer’s skull. The impact caved in the sorcerer’s temple, and he collapsed.

“As expected, it’s sturdy. Even after smashing a Naga’s head, it doesn’t even bend.”

Azadine immediately entered the lighthouse. Inside, a long spiral staircase wound its way up. Kicking off the steps and walls, he rapidly ascended.

When he pushed open the door at the top…

-Creak.-

Horrifying Nether inscriptions covered every surface—the floor, ceiling, and walls—all filled with mind-twisting symbols.

“Hmm?”

At the center of the room, a middle-aged man seated in a rocking chair stood up.

“Ah. Who do we have here? Isn’t it Azadine?”

Elder Sebali Ethar recognized Azadine and greeted him with a smile.

“You know me?”

“How could I not? The son of a traitor, the cursed child born under the Curse of Servitude. Azadine the Disgraced. You’ve grown, but I’d have to be a fool not to recognize you.”

“…….”

“I must admit, I’m surprised you made it all the way here. I had Seer Patrols set up, and yet you bypassed them.”

“Elder Sebali Ethar….”

“Welcome. Did you come to rescue me? That would be fortunate.”

“What exactly happened?”

“As you can see, I was captured and imprisoned here by them.”

Despite Sebali Ethar’s claims, Azadine quickly noticed that no one else was in the room. He clicked his tongue.

The Seer Patrol had been monitoring anyone approaching the lighthouse. In other words, the person controlling the Seer Patrol from within the lighthouse was none other than Elder Sebali himself.

Perhaps sensing Azadine’s lack of goodwill, Sebali gave a wry smile.

“My, my. Not the sharpest one, are you?”

“I expected to meet Janis or Dimia when I saw the Seer Patrol outside. But instead, I find you here, completely unrestrained. Isn’t this just a little too obvious?”

Azadine subtly criticized Sebali.

“Hahaha. Yes, I suppose it was rather obvious. But aren’t you currently stripped of your position? And yet, you still serve the Senate?”

“Rather than loyalty, I’d say it’s because Arael’s faction has done nothing to earn it. Even now—what exactly are you doing in Coral Sahar?”

“I’m here to seize the throne of Coral Sahar.”

“The throne of Coral Sahar? The Nagas seem to think they’ll claim it for themselves. Do you have a way to overpower them? There’s quite a large number of them.”

“I do. The Nagas will do all the work—slaughtering the king, his retainers, and the knights of Coral Sahar. And once they’re done, we will activate our trap, eliminating them and taking the throne for ourselves. That will bring Aragasa’s great wish to fruition.”

If they gained the royal throne, they wouldn’t need mere copies of the Heavenly King’s Book of Truth—they would obtain the original itself.

For the Aragasa, who longed to be freed from the Curse of Servitude, this was the ultimate prize.

Of course, even a high-ranking elder of the prestigious Ethar family, one of the Five Great Houses, couldn’t resist such a tempting opportunity.

“If you’re truly one of the Aragasa, then you must understand our wish. The moment of its fulfillment is finally upon us. Rejoice.”

But Azadine only scoffed.

“I have one question, Elder.”

“What is it?”

“Does being Aragasa automatically grant one the right to live?”

“What do you mean?”

“From what I see, your so-called ‘trap’ involves manifesting a Nether being. Even if the Sea Serpent Nagas revere these beings, there’s no guarantee the Nether entity will truly accept them as allies. And the Water Snake Nagas surely don’t want to be devoured by such a creature. So you plan to take the throne amidst that chaos. But tell me—do the Aragasa have the right to do this?”

Azadine’s question made the elder scrutinize him with an expression of intrigue.

“Are you saying you reject the wish of the Aragasa?”

“The world calls the Aragasa a cursed race, soulless blasphemers. But I have never let their scorn make me feel ashamed or small. Yet today… this truly makes me ashamed.”

Azadine smirked bitterly as he gestured toward the Nether inscriptions on the floor.

“Is there even a shred of dignity in this? Are we truly entitled to survive if it means massacring all the innocent people of Coral Sahar? Tens of thousands have already lost their homes. By now, more have died than the entire population of the Aragasa. It’s one thing to fight the Nagas as enemies, but we have no right to take the lives of Coral Sahar’s people.”

“You’re strange.”

Sebali shook his head.

“The people of Coral Sahar? They are Hubrisians! They are the ones who shackled us, sealed our fate! Those wretches are weaker than us, yet they scorn us and hoard more than we ever could! We must survive! We must take! We must rule! Because we are who we are!”

“And that is precisely why Arael’s faction will never earn my allegiance.”

“Hahahaha. You must be insane, Azadine. If that’s how you feel, then you will become a traitor to the Senate as well. You would weigh the fate of the Aragasa against that of the Hubrisian people? That is not the way of the Aragasa! Each and every one of us is worth more than thousands—no, all—of the Hubrisian people!”

Sebali raised both hands, forming an intricate seal. From the floor, a sword wreathed in shadow and malice floated up, settling into his grasp.

“It seems you truly lack a soul! You understand nothing of the suffering of the Aragasa!”

Azadine drew his own sword in response.

“If that’s what you call a soul, then I think I’m fine being a soulless blasphemer.”