232 — Northern Aragasa (3)

“Because I was ordered to.”

“By whom?”

“Normally, you don’t reveal the client. Now it’s my turn to ask, isn’t it? Emperor’s Messenger Azadine. I understand you accepted the Emperor’s Gold Coin and made a contract with them—how long will you protect them for one coin? You won’t protect them forever.”

“Until I get them to a safe place.”

“There is no safe place, Emperor’s Messenger. And you look alone—just you and those pathetic Hospitaller knights will never withstand us. Still, I don’t want to harm a fellow Aragasa. How about surrendering? Come to our side. We’ll treat you well. You don’t have to endure insults like ‘Soulless Blasphemer’ while serving some dead Emperor’s Voice.”

From the moment Azadine had fired back that impossible return shot, the squad leader had already judged him precious—too valuable to waste. To think talent like this stood on the enemy’s side because of the Curse of Servitude.

“I appreciate the offer, but I’m not thrilled about people who slaughter helpless civilians and team up with cultists.”

“I heard you did business with cultists too, though?”

“…Ah.”

Azadine had no comeback. He himself was innocent, but Hathir’s branch and Arael’s faction had both worked with cultists.

“What? Why’d you go quiet all of a sudden? Nothing to say?”

“Haa… forget it.”

Azadine shook his head.

“I’ve learned enough. I’ll spare you—just go. Different branch or not, I don’t feel like killing another Aragasa.”

“What? Who do you think you’re—”

Then something unexpected happened.

—CRACK!

The crescent bow in Azadine’s hand—already damaged—split. The bow limb snapped and fragments flew.

A shard struck his mask. Azadine flinched and covered his face—right where it would block his eyes.

“A trick? …No, if he can’t see, that’s still a chance.”

The squad leader lunged instantly. At the same time, arrows flew from all directions—his subordinates loosed a volley at Azadine.

“If he dies to this, then maybe he wasn’t worth sparing.”

Thinking that, the squad leader sprinted straight in—then, just before entering Azadine’s reach, he cut his angle hard and slipped into a blind spot.

—Fwoooosh!

A wheel of flame appeared around Azadine.

Celeste-iron flare—angelic fire—followed the swing of the ceramite longsword, burning the air and swatting the incoming arrows away.

—Flowers, Birds, Wind, Moon: Returning Gale!

A gust rose after the flames, blasting outward from Azadine and twisting aside even the arrows his blade hadn’t caught.

---

With Lord Planck’s help, Azadine had removed the old spellbooks boiling inside him.

It was like cutting down his own strength—yet only after clearing away those rampaging powers did something else return.

Once he emptied every spellbook, a quiet force seeped back in.

The true Flowers, Birds, Wind, Moon—the spellbook that should have been shared equally between Azadine and Arael—returned to Azadine.

And it returned stronger than it would have to anyone else.

By fusing with Arael, the twin fate that had been split in two became one again.

If he polished this spellbook and reached the realm Arael had achieved, the power would be limitless. But Azadine’s mana was still shallow—he couldn’t reach that height yet.

Even so, its efficiency was abnormal. A slight use produced results comparable to a top-ranked messenger’s magic.

And since he had already learned Flowers, Birds, Wind, Moon through Kazas, he didn’t need to relearn its usage.

He knew, in his body, which technique fit which situation—so the “original” Flowers, Birds, Wind, Moon that consumed mana was, if anything, easier.

And also—

—Flowers, Birds, Wind, Moon: Returning Gale, Kazas Heseo!

Using mana normally brought backlash, leaving a caster unable to chain spells. But Azadine could spend mana and still trigger the Kazas Grimoire immediately after.

A second wind rose around him.

After stripping the entire volley with two Returning Gales, Azadine let out a bitter smile.

He wasn’t in his prime. His strength had weakened, his explosiveness dulled.

But the legacy Arael left him remained this vivid—this fierce.

---

“Damn—magic, like he was waiting for it?! He was watching me. It’s a trap!”

The squad leader realized too late.

Azadine’s blade cleared his blade and stabbed in at his Adam’s apple.

But the position of squad leader wasn’t handed out for free.

He caught the center line, switched grip into half-swording, rotated his weapon to deflect Azadine’s thrust—and snapped the pommel toward Azadine.

“Hm. If I used Flowers, Birds, Wind, Moon, I could kill him… but now that I think about it, this spellbook is really built for duels. It’s definitely made to kill people.”

Azadine received the counter calmly.

Now that he’d tested him, he knew: the man was skilled—but not his match.

Azadine chose not to kill. He traded only with the sword, aiming to suppress.

Both men shifted into half-swording, fighting close like spears or staves, exchanging relentless pressure.

But only Azadine advanced. The squad leader was driven back step by step.

“Ghk.”

The squad leader could only block. The instant they engaged, he understood Azadine’s swordsmanship surpassed his own.

“I’m finished. He said he was bottom-rank—and he’s this strong? That’s impossible!”

He realized he’d been completely deceived.

But after committing to close combat against an opponent above him, there was no escape. Despair hit—had his ability really been this limited?

Then Azadine’s pommel snapped up into the squad leader’s jaw.

“KRAK!”

He tumbled across the ground.

A pommel strike like that should have shattered his jawbone—but Azadine had aimed for flesh and placement, sparing bone and throat. A measured blow.

“Your skill isn’t bad.”

Azadine took the fallen man’s sword, set it to his neck, and slid his ceramite longsword back into its scabbard.

The motion was seamless. Even amid that chaotic exchange, Azadine had been composed.

“This is the 108th? The lowest of the low? …No way he’s joking about rank. This is bad.”

In truth, Azadine was the only Emperor’s messenger left—but the squad leader didn’t know that. All he felt was the terrifying gap.

Then Azadine asked something strange.

“If I take you hostage here… will your family get killed or suffer penalties?”

“…What?”

“I asked whether you—or your family—would suffer major consequences if I take you hostage.”

“And if we would?”

“Then go. Just go back.”

Azadine sighed and withdrew the blade.

“I was just messing with you a little as a refusal. I can’t actually harm an envoy, can I? But negotiations are over now—next time, I kill you.”

Camilla, watching, exploded.

“What are you doing?! Why let him go?!”

“Taking an envoy is a gentleman’s agreement violation.”

“Envoy, my ass! He charged you the second you showed a weakness! You could kill him and no one would blame you—and you let him go?!”

“He only attacked because if he wanted to recruit me, he’d inevitably have to expose who hired him.”

“…What?”

Now the squad leader was the one shocked. Azadine spoke as though he’d already identified their employer.

“Did I slip something?”

Azadine explained anyway.

“To recruit an Emperor’s messenger like me, Northern Aragasa have to solve one problem first: the Curse of Servitude. If there’s no way to lift it, you wouldn’t even try recruiting me. But you did. That means someone within your group—or behind you—has the ability to resolve the curse.”

Azadine snapped his fingers.

“At minimum, a user of the True New-King Scripture.”

Then he continued, flatly.

“In this case… it’s the Northern Emperor, Cohen Lionair. Right?”

“…Y-You bastard.”

The squad leader went pale.

He’d only come to recruit—yet Azadine had reasoned all the way to Cohen Lionair as their backer.

“Planck drilled Cohen Lionair’s ambition into my skull, so… yeah.”

Reading the squad leader’s reaction, Azadine confirmed his guess.

The attack had been ordered by Cohen Lionair.

“S-Still… shouldn’t we keep him?”

“No. Even if we take him, we’ll have to babysit him while he looks for an escape, and we don’t have that luxury. It’s just exhausting.”

Azadine tossed the squad leader’s sword away.

—SHRRR!

The blade spun and skidded like a top, stopping right in front of the squad leader’s feet.

The squad leader went speechless. Azadine really meant to release him.

“Don’t mock me! If I accept charity like this, how do I live with my head held high?! Take me prisoner!”

“Hey now. That’s a lot of pride. Not taking you prisoner is also because we can’t manage prisoners. Right now, we can barely manage ourselves.”

“Then kill me!”

“Northern Aragasa are weirdly self-deprecating. Or are you all collectively depressed? I heard the north doesn’t get enough sun. People get gloomy if they can’t get sunlight.”

“….”

This wasn’t a joke.

The squad leader was now in a dangerous position.

It could not become known that the pilgrimage band attack was the Northern Emperor’s doing. If, by his mistake, Azadine had deduced the backer, then he couldn’t allow Azadine and his group to live.

But could he really attack again… after being spared?

Any species valued honor, but Aragasa valued it especially.

If Azadine had tried to kill him, he would have fought gladly, deploying everything.

If Azadine had taken him prisoner, he would have looked for a moment to escape and counterattack.

But being released like this…

“Damn it! Fine! I get it!”

The squad leader scratched his head—then thrust his own sword toward Azadine.

“I am Jan of the Yakuts family, of Ahaji’s branch! From this moment on, I will join you!”