Fimbulvert (3)

The minotaur knight, Selim, had become a complete follower of Azadine.

Indeed, he had become such a fervent follower that he went around taverns babbling about how outstanding Azadine was and by whom he had been knighted.

Jan gathered such information about Azadine and passed it on to Prince Kalintz.

“No, if it is Sir Plank….”

“He is the very person said to have last performed a knighting in His Majesty’s name.”

“Ah, he must hate that immensely, then? It seemed that old fossil was rather obsessed with that.”

“The minotaur’s story is so full of exaggeration that it is not worth taking seriously.”

“No, even taking that into account, it is clear that this fellow called Selim is offering his loyalty to Azadine, is it not? He has practically offered up his liver, gall, and even his tongue to be roasted and eaten.”

Prince Kalintz looked at Jan and asked:

“If I told you to go around praising me like that, would you do it, Jan?”

“Well, you would have to have some lovable side first.”

“I am handsome, and I can drink well. I fight well too. I am hearty and manly.”

“The moment you said with your own mouth that you are manly, I think you ceased to be manly. And Azadine, that man is astonishingly beautiful. If one’s superior were that handsome, it would certainly make one want to boast about him everywhere.”

“Oh, come now. Azadine, that one? A man ought to have a solid, dependable charm. The moment the word ‘beautiful’ comes up, he is not my type.”

“But in reality, he made that minotaur offer him loyalty in a very short time, did he not? It has not even been two weeks, yet somehow he has already turned him into a loyal retainer….”

“That really is remarkable. I would like to make a whole lot of loyal retainers too.”

“Am I not already the most loyal of retainers?”

“Not someone like you. If possible, an unrivaled beauty. It would look stylish to keep such a one by my side, and she could be my lover too.”

“Well, nothing for it. That is not my preference, but if it is what Your Highness desires, I suppose I shall have to loosen up my backside a bit. It is my first time, so please be gentle.”

“…You really are the most loyal of retainers. That is enough, you rascal. I fear you will appear in my dreams.”

Prince Kalintz laughed heartily and then rested his chin on his hand.

“You are trading with him as well, are you not?”

“Yes. A little.”

“What do you mean, a little….”

“Do not worry. Even so, my backside belongs to Your Highness. Even if Azadine asked for it, I would tell him it has already been reserved for Your Highness.”

“That is a truly reassuring thing to hear. But do tone it down. Hmm?”

Azadine was left speechless as he looked at the Northern Aragasa members relaying this story to him.

“It seems Prince Kalintz really is blessed with good people.”

That was all he could do but repeat the same words like a parrot.

“So what does that prince, blessed with such good fortune in his people, intend to trade by tailing me? Jan’s backside? If it is that, tell His Highness he may keep all of it.”

“Well then, for the moment, why not meet him in person?”

“There certainly are many people asking to see me today. Very well. Lead the way.”

Azadine decided to go and meet Prince Kalintz.

In front of the residence of Fireglyph’s Chapter Master, empty liquor bottles were lined up in great numbers.

Selling just the bottles piled up here would probably bring in quite a tidy profit.

‘He drank an astonishing amount. What happened?’

As Azadine marveled, the door opened and the Prince appeared, looking somewhat haggard.

“Oh? Well, if it is not Sir Azadine? What brings you here?”

“Prince Kalintz. You have drunk a great deal. Are you all right?”

Even from a distance, the smell of alcohol wafted strongly toward him.

“That is just how northerners are by nature. There is nothing especially strange about it.”

“Did something happen?”

“It is nothing serious… no. No, that is not right. Something did happen.”

Prince Kalintz held out a document to Azadine. It was an order sent from Saint Mallory, the headquarters of the Rescue Knights Order, to Fireglyph’s Chapter Master.

“Hmm?”

Azadine frowned as he read its contents.

“It is an order to requisition grain. But the quantity….”

“The barley harvest has only just come in, and yet they are demanding the full amount of last year’s requisition. Those bastards are definitely doing this to cut me down.”

“Well, the Chadra Plateau is a low priority even for the Rescue Knights Order. This place is, so to speak, a forced labor camp. Still, this figure is rather abnormal. Did you at least send a reply asking them to reconsider?”

“Of course I did. But do you know who sent this letter?”

Azadine examined the signature and seal on the letter. Beside the signature was the imprint of a signet ring.

The signature had been written so carelessly that it was hard to read, but comparing it with the seal, he could tell the name was Karna.

“Karna? Who is this?”

“My nephew.”

“Your nephew?”

“And the commander of the newly formed ‘Celestial Fire’ Knights as well.”

Azadine was startled by those words.

He already knew that the Rescue Knights Order was trying to gather Celestials and organize a unit made up solely of them in order to win public support.

But to think that its commander would be the grandson of the Northern Emperor.

‘No, wait. Was the Northern Emperor not trying to kidnap Sir Izmilla in the first place because he did not know the secret of the Celestials? But now his grandson is a Celestial? What in the world is this supposed to mean?’

The situation was so bewildering that even Azadine found it difficult to understand clearly what exactly had happened.

“What in the world has happened? If he is your nephew, then he too should be of the Yaegas God tribe. Are you saying he is somehow of mixed blood between the Yaegas God tribe and a Celestial?”

“I do not know either!”

“What do you mean, you do not know?”

“No, it sounds like a joke, but it is true! Why do you think I have been drinking myself senseless?!”

“I thought you said all northerners are like that.”

“Ah, damn it! That is beside the point!”

Prince Kalintz snapped irritably at Azadine for seizing upon his words.

“You really do not know?”

“That is right! I am at the point where I do not even know which numbered son I am. Why should I know anything about some nephew too?”

“No, wait. You schemed to kidnap a Celestial, did you not? I thought the Northern Emperor did that to learn about the Celestials, but now you are telling me his grandson is already a Celestial. That makes no sense. If he had already secured a Celestial, why try to kidnap Izmilla at all?”

“Officially, it was not me. Kidnapping? You say dangerous things.”

No matter how chaotic the situation was, he still denied the charge of trying to kidnap Izmilla. But a moment later he made a statement that practically acknowledged it.

“So while I was suffering through doing that unspeakable thing, this fellow who calls himself my nephew suddenly appears and turns out to be a Celestial! And not even a toddler of one or two years old, but eighteen! Does that make any sense at all? Are they taking me for a fool?”

“You should not ask me. You should ask your father.”

“Exactly! I would like to do that too. But I am stuck out in this backwater, and as for the man who is my father, how many years has it been since I last saw his face? It has been so long I do not even remember.”

By the look of it, the Northern Emperor had fathered so many children that by the time it came to their children, the generation of his grandchildren, he no longer seemed able to keep track of who was who or where they were and what they were doing.

But how in the world had someone born with the bloodline of the Yaegas God tribe become a Celestial?

Azadine found himself wondering, to begin with, how Celestials were even made. At that moment, however, an urgent knock was heard.

“Prince Kalintz! Are you there?”

It was Sir Ject’s voice.

“Come in.”

“Excuse me. Hmm?”

Sir Ject discovered Azadine and frowned.

“So you had a guest before me.”

“Sir Ject. Did you not know either? They say Karna, grandson of the Northern Emperor, has become the commander of the Celestial Fire Knights.”

When Azadine bluntly threw out the question, a crease formed between Sir Ject’s brows.

“Prince Kalintz, surely you did not inform this man of that as well?”

“I-it is not so much that I told him, as that he found out on his own.”

Prince Kalintz snapped back to his senses at Sir Ject’s rebuke.

He had held on to Azadine and badmouthed his father because he felt the urge to complain to someone, but if he wished to maintain his alliance with Sir Ject, then at the very least he ought not to have shared information with Azadine, whom Sir Ject regarded with suspicion.

And yet the two of them had been seen together right before Sir Ject’s eyes….

“Judging by the look of it, Sir Ject, you seem to have come here because of this matter as well. Did you know about it?”

“If I had known, I would not have come to this backwater as an advisor.”

Sir Ject did not hide the fact that he was angry with Prince Kalintz.

It was likely that Sir Ject and the King’s Church had sought to uncover the secret of the Celestials and take control of the Rescue Knights Order, and Prince Kalintz had been their collaborator.

Yet it turned out that Prince Kalintz was merely a side branch, while the Northern Emperor had already placed a grandson of his own to seize the very heart of the Rescue Knights Order.

It was only natural that Sir Ject would feel betrayal and anger.

“In any case, Prince Kalintz. I came because I felt my own inadequacy in carrying out the glorious position of being your advisor. Therefore, I think I shall resign from the advisory post and also surrender the position of captain of the Fire Guard.”

“You just called this place a backwater, and now why go to the trouble of sounding so modest….”

“…….”

When Azadine seized on his wording, Ject glared at him fiercely.

“Sir Azadine. There is suspicion that you possess a copy of the True New-King Scripture… but now I am no longer captain of the Fire Guard, nor do I serve as the Prince’s advisor, so I have no connection to the Rescue Knights Order. Therefore, you….”

“So you mean to search me, a trainee knight of the Rescue Knights Order, on the basis of mere suspicion? How splendid. Go ahead and try.”

“…….”

Ject still suspected that Azadine possessed a copy of the True New-King Scripture, but he could not take direct action.

“More importantly, Prince Kalintz. Looking at that letter just now, there is an opening in it.”

“An opening?”

“From the look of it, the Celestial Fire Knights seem to be trying to requisition food for relief work among the refugees. They are demanding far too much, and that is causing difficulty, yes? So what if the Chapter Master and his advisor were to visit in person and speak with them directly? You yourself said that, aside from the fact that this Karna is your nephew, you know nothing about him.”

“That is true.”

“If there is an excuse to meet him in person, then one should meet him. You may even learn what exactly is going on. If you want to catch a tiger, you have to enter the mountain.”

“…….”

Azadine’s suggestion was convincing enough that both Prince Kalintz and Sir Ject found themselves nodding before they knew it.

“But if the Chapter Master leaves….”

“Oh, come now. It is already nominal in practice anyway. It is not as though anything terrible will happen just because you leave your post for a while. Things will run fine without you.”

“…….”

What Prince Kalintz feared was not that things would fail to run properly in his absence. He feared that they would run too well.

Azadine had already grown into the greatest power on the Chadra Plateau, so how could one know what he might do while the Chapter Master was away?

“If you are worried I will do something while you are gone, then I shall go with you as well. Let us meet this man called Karna.”

“…Hmmm.”

Sir Ject groaned at Azadine’s words.

He did not like the idea of letting Azadine meet Karna. But neither did he like the idea of leaving Azadine alone on the Chadra Plateau.