Herald Of Famine (3)

“Sir Azadine!”

Izmilla recognized Azadine and rejoiced.

“Thanks to you, we were able to protect the grain transport ships! Thank you. This is a great distinguished service! Sir Azadine, you truly are the finest Hospitaller!”

“But Sir Izmilla. He is a wanted man….”

“We were told to recover the scroll.”

The other knights of the Celestial Fire Knights were troubled. That was because Azadine’s distinguished service and the orders from above conflicted.

In truth, if they had been ordinary humans, this would not even have been a matter to agonize over. Azadine’s martial feat and distinguished service were things that deserved to be commended.

However, the orders given to them by the Wisdom Order were also absolute. With complicated expressions, as if they did not know how to act in this conflicting situation, they approached Azadine.

“Sir Azadine, put away your weapon.”

“For now, our superiors’ instruction is to take you into custody.”

“What if I refuse?”

“Then there is no choice.”

The Celestials all drew their weapons at once.

Even though Azadine had rendered the distinguished service of saving the grain transport ships, they prioritized the Wisdom Order’s command without the slightest hesitation. From this, it was clear just how well the Celestial Fire Knights were under the Wisdom Order’s control.

Only Izmilla was flustered by their actions.

“What are you doing! Brothers! Sir Azadine was only joking. To take that seriously….”

“No. Izmilla. I’m sorry, but it was not a joke.”

Azadine said that and gave a bitter smile.

“Sir Karna! Please do something! The brothers are being rude to Sir Azadine, but they won’t listen to me!”

When Izmilla cried out as if pleading, Karna finally stepped forward. Karna stopped the dispute between Azadine and the Celestials.

“Everyone, step back. Guard this sandbar.”

He withdrew the troops, but only to the extent that the encirclement did not fall apart. Perhaps he did not want the Celestials to hear his conversation with Azadine.

Azadine asked Karna about that.

“Is there really any need to do that? They all look ready to throw away their lives like straw if it is an order from the Wisdom Order. I don’t think they would betray you even if they learned the Celestials’ secret.”

“…….”

Karna said nothing. From what Azadine said, it was clear that he had discovered the Celestials’ secret.

To begin with, the instruction that had come down from the Wisdom Order had also been an order to secure the reincarnation scroll from him, so there was no doubt that Azadine had discovered the Celestials’ secret.

“Sir Azadine. First, I saw your heroic feat. I am deeply impressed. However, I heard that you stole a scroll from the Wisdom Order and fled. Is that true?”

“You won’t believe me even if I say this is the first I’ve heard of it, will you? Is that question meaningful to ask?”

Azadine did not deny it.

“First, Sir Azadine, I admire you. You surely could have avoided us and gone your own way, but you came running to save the grain transport ships. If you had not done so, we would not have met like this. It was truly a selfless and admirable act.”

If Azadine had not tried to save the grain transport ships, he might have simply passed by. In other words, Azadine had rescued the grain transport ships while knowingly risking danger to himself.

“But I have a mission that I must accomplish. Sir Azadine. Surrender quietly. I do not wish to make an enemy of a hero like you. There is no reason for us to become enemies. My petition offering you the position of infantry captain is still valid, so….”

“First, I will thank you for your goodwill, Sir Karna. However, the scroll is not currently with me. The Courage Order has already taken it.”

“Mm. Are you telling me to believe that?”

“If you were impressed by me, why not believe my words a little? I have no reason to lie, do I? What would I do by taking that scroll and going somewhere else alone? I am someone from the Messenger Clan who is looked down upon by everyone. Even if I shouted the truth alone, there would be no one to listen. Wouldn’t they laugh and say that a lowly being like one of the Messenger Clan dared to slander the Northern Emperor of noble blood?”

After hearing Azadine’s explanation, Karna truly believed that the scroll was not with Azadine. But if so, that meant the Courage Order had obtained the reincarnation scroll….

“Why on earth would you do such a thing?! Why, Sir Azadine? Are you also an idiot who sanctifies angel statues themselves? The angels are already dead. Their remains are nothing more than useful magic tools. What we need is not worship of dead angels, but living power to oppose evil!”

“Are you only thinking about the angel statues? What about the young child sacrificed in that ritual?”

“That child is….”

Karna was left speechless.

Karna and everyone else had only cared about the desecration of the angel statues, and had not even cared that a young baby was used in the reincarnation ritual.

“The newly born Celestial is the baby reincarnated in a different form, so….”

The child placed into the reincarnation ritual did not die, but was reborn as a Celestial.

The moment he said that, Karna realized that his excuse was very poor.

As expected, Azadine struck at that point.

“Of course, the other Celestials may be that child. But the reincarnators are a different story. Nobles of the Northern Emperor’s bloodline are taking a young child’s life and being reborn. Isn’t that right?”

“That is not true. I know because I am a reincarnator. Azadine. The memories of my past life are not connected so perfectly as one. I would rather they were. Then I could reduce the process of learning and training again in a new body. I am… a reincarnator, but at the same time, I am that child. It is not sacrificing the child’s life!”

“No matter what you say, the child did not agree to the ritual. The secret reincarnation art of the Celestials is an evil art that sacrifices newborn babies.”

“No, how are we supposed to obtain consent from a newborn baby? Half of children born naturally die before they become adults anyway. Even if I were that child, I would prefer becoming a Celestial to being born as a human child who might die at any moment! This is not an evil art!”

“If that is what you think, then you should have made the truth public.”

“Do not mock me! Evil is this vast, yet the angels do not answer, and the blood of the Yaegas God tribe has faded in this age! We must devise some means, and are you now trying to deprive us even of that minimal means? Are you telling all of us to die?”

“Ahh. Karna. Karna.”

Azadine shook his head. Because he had used Flowers, Birds, Wind, Moon: Garuda, the blood that had been flowing began dripping down once more.

“You believe in the angels’ bloodline, yet you do not believe in their promises and teachings. And despite that, you believe in the Northern Emperor’s will. That is a terribly biased faith. Is Northern Emperor Cohen Rioneir such a trustworthy person?”

“He alone can save this world from darkness. Not because he is my kin, but because if not him, who else could have gathered such power to oppose the darkness?”

“Then in that process, you would consider even the sacrifice of innocents to be necessary sacrifices.”

“Yes! That is so.”

“Then fine. Northern Emperor Cohen Rioneir is a hero. So he should easily overcome difficulties like having assassinated his own teacher, Sir Plank, or using an evil art that grinds down angel statues to reincarnate nobles as Celestials.”

“…….”

“It is not even something that did not happen, but merely making public something he did. Shouldn’t a hero overcome that level of difficulty? Not get past it by killing people to silence them.”

“Yes. He must overcome it. In a hero’s way!”

Perhaps having given up on persuading Azadine any further, Karna drew his sword.

At that moment, Izmilla approached.

“Sir Karna?! What are you thinking?!”

“Sir Izmilla. I told you to step back!”

Karna knew that nothing good would come from the other Celestials hearing the words coming out of Azadine’s mouth, so he had tried to send them away. However, Izmilla did not back down.

“Sir Karna. It is dangerous for you alone. And I want to know what is happening.”

“…….”

Instead of answering, Karna spread his wings and raised his sword.

His ceramite longsword shone dazzlingly, and tremendous flames surged up like an active volcano. Heat that seemed capable of melting even iron poured out from Karna.

‘I had thought Triodana was stronger than Karna, but Karna is also quite something. This won’t be easy, will it?’

Azadine was surprised upon seeing Karna’s true power before his eyes.

For Azadine, who had overexerted himself by using Garuda to protect the grain transport ships from the Messenger Clan and the Nagas, he seemed to be a fairly burdensome opponent.

“Azadine, it seems you are….”

“But is it all right to set a fire here?”

“…….”

Behind Azadine were the grain transport ships. If Karna’s attack missed, the flames would spread to the grain transport ships. Even now, because of the heat erupting from Karna, smoke was beginning to rise here and there from the grain transport ships.

“The reincarnation scroll is not with me. Even if you vent your anger on me here, that will not exactly hide the Northern Emperor’s actions. Even so, if you insist on taking me in, I will resist for my own safety. So let us each go our own way here.”

“I want to believe those words. But unfortunately, I cannot. You have learned too much.”

“Hmm? Didn’t you say you were grateful that I rescued the grain transport ships?”

“Yes. That is why I will kill you and reincarnate you as a Celestial! That will be better than living as an Aragasa!”

“Ah? Hahaha. That’s an amusing story!”

At that moment, Karna’s sword shot out together with flames. Azadine blocked Karna’s sword with the Blue Executioner, but astonishingly, Azadine was pushed back.

Now that he had used his magic power to protect the grain transport ships, Azadine’s physical condition could not be called good, even as flattery.

When Azadine barely deflected the sword, Karna swung his wings and poured out flames. Zebec, startled by the sight of the flames, intervened, swept away the incoming fire, and chanted a divine punishment spell to attack Karna.

“Do you intend to burn all the grain transport ships!”

Zebec glared at Karna in fury. However, Karna had chosen to kill Azadine and silence him, regardless of whether the fire spread to the grain transport ships or not.

Of course, Karna could not burn the grain transport ships merely by scattering flames and swinging his sword. But if Karna’s attack struck the grain transport ships directly? Then the story would be different.

“If you had this kind of power, you should have used it when we fought the Nagas earlier.”

“Azadine!”

Just as Karna, indignant, leaped toward Azadine, an arrow flew from the riverside.

-Swiiish!

With a sound of tearing wind, the arrow struck Karna.