The Quartz Throne (3)

Still, the fact that Zebec had begun to question the strict rules meant he had taken the first step.

“Well, that’s a relief. So, I talked to the king.”

“You had an audience with Ansethus IV personally?”

“Yes. Right now, Ansethus IV is desperate enough to grasp at straws. Whether someone is a soulless blasphemer or not, as long as they can be on his side, he’s willing to talk.”

Azadine also shared what he’d heard from Ansethus IV.

“The throne here in Coral Sahar is said to have roots exposed in the underground passages beneath the royal capital. According to the king, someone might have approached it from there and done something. That’s what he suspects.”

When Azadine asked that, Shati scoffed.

“This king is shameless. Instead of admitting his own lack of virtue weakened the Light of the Crown, he’s blaming someone else?”

“That’s not quite it. At the very least, we can be sure it’s not a matter of virtue.”

Zebec shook his head with a bitter smile.

“Ansethus IV may not be a particularly competent ruler, but most kings are either similar or worse. At least he’s not a cruel man.”

For a Holy Knight of the king to objectively evaluate royal policies or character was considered sacrilegious.

Just hearing Zebec say this was proof that he had begun to reject his rigid faith and open up to change.

“Heh. Sir Holy Knight seems to be going through some kind of awakening.”

Shati teased Zebec with those words.

“Well, as Zebec said, the Light of the Crown used to activate to some extent even when the kings weren’t exactly wise. It’s just that it never weakened so drastically before that magical storms would rage through the capital.”

Azadine took out a bone wand.

“Shati. Try tracking the Heavenly Kings’ Grimoire with this.”

“Okay.”

Shati glanced at Zebec. From the standpoint of a Holy Knight of the King’s Church, the bone wand was a kind of forbidden magic.

“Do it.”

Shati simply activated the bone wand to track the nearby Heavenly Kings’ Grimoire.

And then—

Wasn’t the cursed fire of the wand flaring up in multiple directions?

“There’s a whole bunch of them really close!”

“Right? I figured as much.”

Azadine nodded.

“If the Heavenly Kings’ Grimoire copies are the Light of the Crown itself, and they fused into it to reinforce the weakened light… then in reverse, if we could extract the Grimoire copies like removing sandbags from a levee… couldn’t that selectively weaken the light?”

“It’s possible, boss.”

Scott nodded.

“If the Grimoire copies are returned to the Light of the Crown, the light here would temporarily strengthen, then balance out across the whole kingdom. And if the Grimoire copies were extracted at that moment, the light here would become especially weak—and that’s when summoning a Nether being could cause this kind of chaos.”

“You were thinking the same?”

“But they’d have to be a hell of a magician. Even for me, locating and extracting the Grimoire from the Light of the Crown is tough. If it’s hard for an orc like me, then for humans—whose average intelligence doesn’t even reach an orc’s toenail—it’s practically impossible.”

“……”

“That woman Arael is here, isn’t she?”

Scott sighed.

“She’s no pushover. Maybe I’ll have to use my ultimate weapon: my looks. Mixing blood with ugly humans is a disgusting insult to a noble orc like me, but if it means you become my brother-in-law, boss, it might not be so bad.”

“Hold it. What kind of ‘ultimate weapon’ are you talking about? Your looks…?”

Azadine tried to rein in Scott’s ever-growing self-love.

“Well, half-joking.”

“So half of it was serious?”

“It’s an undeniable fact that I’m handsome. Anyway, boss. I think we need to investigate the underground passages. If someone is trying to temporarily weaken the Light of the Crown using the Grimoire, they’d have to get close to the throne.”

“The problem is, the underground is flooded. We can’t just go in. We don’t know if it’s flooded the whole way or if there are breathable pockets after swimming a while. We could drown just guessing.”

When Azadine said that, Scott looked around, spotted a pile of trash, and started digging through it.

“What, are you so hungry you’re scavenging for garbage now?”

As Shati sneered, Scott pulled a fish bone from the trash. It was food waste, something someone had eaten and discarded.

“Hup!”

Scott formed a hand seal and infused it with energy. A bluish spiritual flame appeared on the bone, and it turned into a ghostly fish.

“……”

Zebec didn’t look pleased.

“You okay with this?”

Scott asked only after he’d already done it.

“Mm. I-it’s fine. Go ahead. It’s for a greater good.”

“Still, that’s impressive. You can even turn garbage into undead?”

“Even a genius like me finds this tough. It takes a ton of mana, focus, and mental strength. But now we can scout the water, right?”

Scott sent the ghost fish into the water to investigate the pitch-dark flooded underground passage.

“There’s a space in the middle.”

“Yeah? That’s good news. Any monsters inside?”

“Not really. I hear voices—people. Huh?”

Scott clicked his tongue.

“A crocodile just ate my ghost fish.”

“A crocodile, huh.”

The fact that the passage wasn’t completely flooded and could be swum through was good news—but the presence of crocodiles was not.

“They’re not that big. Doesn’t seem like there are too many either. And the water’s pretty cold, so they swim real slow.”

“Alright then. Let’s go in—but watch for the crocs. Can you cast underwater breathing?”

“Of course.”

“A Naga not knowing how to use that would be a problem. Even if you’re from the Dryland Bloodline.”

“Underwater breathing magic is within my ability as well.”

Scott, Shati, and Zebec all nodded.

“That’s great.”

Azadine, unable to use magic, felt a twinge of envy watching the others treat underwater breathing like it was nothing.

The waters of the flooded underground passage were so dark, their depth couldn’t be determined.

On top of that, the touch revealed it to be ice-cold. Even with underwater breathing magic, it was daunting to enter.

The surroundings were dark, with wood and stone debris sunken everywhere—who knew what lay beneath the surface? And with crocodiles about, it wasn’t a place for the faint of heart.

“Ugh, just looking at it makes me cold.”

“Can everyone swim?”

“I’m a Naga, remember!”

Shati released her human transformation and returned to her original Naga form.

“Even if I’m from the Dryland Bloodline, I’m confident in swimming.”

“What about you, Scott?”

“Hmm. Bit of a problem, boss.”

It wasn’t that he couldn’t swim—he just didn’t want to, likely to avoid gaining too much muscle.

“Shati! Tie a rope around Scott’s waist and drag him.”

“Huh? What are you talking about? He just doesn’t want to swim because he’s worried about bulking up. You’re really going to indulge that nonsense?”

“Considering everything Scott’s done for us so far, I think we can give him that much. Plus, you’re in your Naga form—plenty strong. Just help him out a bit.”

“Tch. Fine.”

“What about you, Sir Zebec?”

“I’m fairly proficient at swimming. I fish as a hobby, so I’ve picked it up naturally.”

“Great. Let’s go. Gah! The water’s freezing!”

Azadine grumbled as he stepped into the water.

Inside, there was so much debris he couldn’t open his eyes to see. But since Azadine had no eyes, he didn’t need to worry about that—and could see just fine underwater.

‘There’s a crocodile.’

It wasn’t even three meters long, but crocodiles were deadly to humans. Even more so when encountered underwater.

Given the ice-cold temperature, perhaps it was fortunate the crocodile was sluggish. Still, it endured the chill and slowly moved toward Azadine’s group.

Clearly, it had spotted prey. Its movements showed intent to hunt.

‘If it comes, I’ll kill it.’

Azadine tried to intimidate it, but the crocodile wouldn’t understand such things.

Shati was closest to the beast, but in her Naga form, she easily and gracefully dodged it without a hint of concern.

In the end, the crocodile turned toward the next nearest target—Azadine.

‘Damn it.’

Azadine grabbed the crocodile’s jaws and wrapped his arms around them, holding them shut.

The beast twisted violently with incredible strength, but Azadine overpowered it and drove the Wendigo’s dagger into its spine, twisting it.

The strike ended its life in a single blow.

“Pwah! Ugh, it’s freezing!”

Shati shrieked as she burst out of the water.

“Be quiet—there are people here. Hm?”

Inside the underground tunnel were people shivering from the cold. Seeing that they carried Moon Horn Bows, they had to be Aragasa.

But instead of reacting with hostility, they looked surprised by Azadine’s group.

“A—A Naga?!”

“What the… a companion?”

They must’ve already been allied with Nagas—seeing Shati surface hadn’t alarmed them.

Then Azadine surfaced after her.

“Who are you people? You don’t look like Messengers.”

“We’re, uh, from the Korasar Peddler Guild.”

“Servants of the Ethar Bloodline? I’ve heard the name, but I am Azadine, Herald of the Emperor—108th decree.”

“You’re that…”

“Azadine of Disgrace?!”

Even if they didn’t know his face, they all knew the rumors.

The son of Acre the Traitor, born of a curse, the eyeless Herald cursed at birth—Azadine.

Not a flattering reputation, but a well-known one—especially among the Aragasa.

‘Wait. If he’s Azadine, wasn’t he supposed to be with the Elder Council?’

‘He’s Lady Arael’s brother, but he rejected her blessing, didn’t he?’

The servants looked confused upon seeing Azadine.

‘Is he an enemy?’

‘Then what’s with that Naga?’

What’s more, Azadine carried himself with total confidence.

“So—what’s going on here? Why do you all look so… ah. You were stationed here but got flooded due to the rain?”

“Y-yes. There are crocodiles in the water, and we don’t know how deep it goes…”

They answered with obvious unease. They didn’t know how to deal with Azadine.

‘What do we do?’

‘He’s Lady Arael’s younger brother, so we were told never to harm him…’

‘But the mistress also said that’s exactly why we should kill him on sight…’

Sion Ethar, Elder Seballi, and the other executives of Arael’s faction—who held sway over the Korasar Peddler Guild—had wanted Azadine eliminated in secret, to avoid future trouble.

But none of the ones remaining here had the authority to make that decision.

Without a proper decision-maker, and facing someone as ambiguous as Arael’s own brother, they couldn’t act rashly.