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“You, have you gone mad…!”
Prince Kalintz, who had written Azadine’s travel pass, slammed his fist down on the desk in the Chapter Master’s office at Fireglyph and then headbutted it.
“Whoa, whoa. Calm down. Calm down. The furniture is a waste.”
Azadine, the very person who had caused this enormous incident, remained calm.
He was more worried about the objects colliding with Prince Kalintz’s head than the prince’s head itself.
“How could you invade?! And how did you even win? No, you really are talented! How did you swallow an entire county whole?”
“Rather than saying I swallowed it, I fell into the count’s trap. In truth, from the count’s perspective, a prince of Banreung died inside his territory, and he personally confirmed that the prince was a vampire.”
“But why to you, a trainee knight….”
“Because if the count bowed his head to me, a Messenger Clan member and soulless blasphemer, it would draw the eyes of the King’s Church and the public, would it not? If he simply said there were vampires in the Banreung royal family, would the King’s Church listen? They would immediately shut his mouth.”
In reality, this incident, in which Sandokar accused the Banreung royal family, rapidly spread across the entire world.
Azadine had already been raising his fame by subduing the heroes of Chadra, and now that fame spread like an uncontrollable wildfire.
Since the attention of the whole world had focused on it, the Banreung royal family could no longer force things through.
“Then Ivchek of Sandokar is actually using you, is he not? You knew that, and still….”
“I originally intended to make a trade route through that side, but if I made an enemy of Sandokar, the trade route I had made would have become pointless. Of course, we could slip out through Arangi, or fly around on hippogriffs. If we wanted to smuggle, it is not as if we could not. But since the other side pointed to me and said he would surrender, refusing to accept it would look bad too.”
“Mm. The Wisdom Order has been sharpening its blades to harm you, and yet you went and did something perfect for them. This is definitely grounds for an inquisitorial hearing, an inquisitorial hearing. How could you, a mere trainee knight, suddenly take on such a huge matter? You should have asked the higher-ups first and then decided!”
“Honestly, this matter does warrant an inquisitorial hearing.”
Azadine, too, regretted that he had done something too harsh to the Rescue Knights Order this time.
From the Rescue Knights Order’s position, they had accepted a fellow who already carried all kinds of bad rumors, such as being from the Messenger Clan despised by everyone in the world, a soulless blasphemer, a god-king slayer, and so on, and now this fellow was causing huge accidents everywhere he went.
Taking control of a border county of the Banreung Kingdom was no small matter. Just as Prince Kalintz said, it was something he should have first asked the higher-ups about before deciding.
Of course, had he done that, the County of Sandokar would have been enthusiastically trampled by the Banreung Kingdom in the meantime, and Azadine would have lost both the duty to protect the County of Sandokar and the justification to cross blades with the Banreung Kingdom.
“What will you do if the Wisdom Order summons you to Saint Mallory to appear at an inquisitorial hearing?”
“But I cannot leave my post right now. I am in the middle of deploying troops toward the County of Sandokar.”
“Forward deployment….”
Prince Kalintz covered his face with his hand. In other words, Azadine had moved soldiers because he thought the Banreung Kingdom might invade Sandokar.
From the Banreung Kingdom’s perspective, a man rumored throughout the world to be insane had dragged troops over and deployed them beside the border.
“You are saying you will refuse to appear at the inquisitorial hearing, are you not? While conducting a military demonstration like a local war as you please!”
“It is a postponement. To be precise. If a full-scale war breaks out, the inquisitorial hearing can be postponed, can it not? I understand that is in the regulations?”
“Is there a regulation like that?”
Prince Kalintz searched through the codex.
According to the regulations, it was possible to request a postponement of attendance at an inquisitorial hearing. However, there had never been a single case of it actually being used until now. Let alone by a trainee knight!
“Is there really?”
“We must prepare to fight the vampires of the Banreung Kingdom, so there is sufficient reason for postponement.”
“I am sure there is. But are you truly planning to ignore the inquisitorial hearing and go to war with the Banreung Kingdom?”
“Ahem. Watch your words. I am not fighting the Banreung Kingdom. I am fighting the vampires that are eating away at the Banreung Kingdom. Besides, a solution to Elemental Wailing may also emerge. Surely the Rescue Knights Order does not need to obtain permission from the higher-ups one by one even to fight vampires, does it? No, right?”
Indeed, a paladin did not particularly need permission from the higher-ups when fighting monsters such as vampires.
“I am asking whether you, a mere trainee knight, plan to fight an entire kingdom. The dwarves are people not even Arangi, or even the Yaegas God tribe, could conquer.”
“I am only fighting vampires. Their status is a mask vampires chose in order to infiltrate human society.”
“Fine. Then what do you need me to help with?”
“Tell the higher-ups indirectly. If they put me in an inquisitorial hearing, the authority of the higher-ups might be damaged. Would it not be better to watch the situation for now?”
“…….”
“Why?”
“That is provocation, is it not?”
“Is it a provocation? I said it because I thought it was the unvarnished truth.”
“What do you think those eminent bishops and high-ranking paladins will think if they hear from a mere trainee knight that if they attach him to an inquisitorial hearing, the Order’s dignity might be damaged? I think it would be better not to say that.”
“If they dislike that, I think it would be better to promote me. Then it would not be a mere trainee knight they suffer at the hands of, but a high-ranking paladin, so it would be less embarrassing, would it not?”
“Kukuk. You bastard. Are you saying that seriously?”
Prince Kalintz ended up chuckling at Azadine’s extremely cheeky reply.
“Whatever, I do not care anymore. Fine. I will relay those words exactly as they are. But you know very well that I, as Chapter Master of Fireglyph, doing such a thing is—though I am not trying to show off—still no small matter, right?”
“I am always grateful to you, Prince. Thank you for walking this difficult path with me.”
“That is forcing a bow after poking someone in the side.”
Prince Kalintz decided that since things had come to this, he would be in the same boat as Azadine. The decision itself had been made long ago, but why did it feel so unsettling?
“Is there anything else I can help with?”
“Since forward-deploying the troops will weaken the defenses of Vermilion, the Dragon Springlands, and so on, please just provide some rear support.”
“Understood. I will maintain security in the rear and organize patrols on the roads.”
Prince Kalintz promised rear support so that Azadine could seriously settle things with the Banreung Kingdom.
After finishing his report to Prince Kalintz, Azadine headed to the Sandokar Gate.
Taking soldiers and laborers with him, he repaired the road leading to the Sandokar Gate and exterminated the monsters appearing along the roadside.
In addition, they began work to repair the Sandokar Gate, which had been destroyed by the vampires’ attack.
“Well, this is rather embarrassing. Haha. I acted without thinking about what came after… How can I apologize for receiving help like this?”
Count Ivchek of Sandokar acted shamelessly while watching Azadine personally bring troops and repair the gate fortress for him.
“I saw it on the way here, and the land here was fertile too. On top of that, it is a borderland. The customs revenue must be considerable, and the agricultural output should not be small either. So why has it not developed?”
The road leading from the Chadra Plateau to this place, Sandokar, had fertile land because water flowed down from the Chadra Plateau and deposits from that water had accumulated there.
Although Bri, goblins, beasts, and monsters appeared there, the land’s potential could be considered quite considerable.
“What do you mean, it has not developed?”
“I mean that if the road were repaired properly and the monsters that appear along the roadside were cleared out, it seems like there would be plenty of productivity. Why have you not done it until now?”
“The land between the County of Sandokar and the Chadra Plateau was an ambiguous place, neither clearly the Banreung Kingdom nor the Knight Order’s territory, so we left it alone. If we touched it carelessly, it would become a political issue.”
Though he himself had surrendered to Azadine and handed over Sandokar, he was mocking Azadine’s choice to accept it as a foolish move.
Ivchek had sworn loyalty to Azadine for an unconventional reason, but he was not simply a madman obsessed with chivalry.
He had sworn loyalty to Azadine because there were thorough political and material calculations involved.
“Hmm….”
When Azadine did not reply, Ivchek seemed to think his words had gone too far and quickly began making excuses to change the mood.
“Besides, this entire area is swarming with Bri and goblins. You may be able to cut down Bri as if they are roadside weeds, but to most soldiers, they are enemies they do not even want to look at. I, too, wear this armor because I inherited it from my ancestors, but I am not good at fighting. Not everyone is a warrior.”
Azadine half-listened to Ivchek’s excuses and looked around his territory.
The roads were not well maintained, and there were not many farms, but Sandokar was wealthy.
The people were well nourished, the army was well armed, and a large amount of supplies had been stockpiled.
“Well, what Dwarven Arrow slipped you in exchange for turning a blind eye to drug smuggling must have been sweet. Moving useless soldiers for no reason to exterminate monsters would have been hard work.”
“Ugh….”
Ivchek bit his tongue, as if he had no reply to Azadine’s words.
“I will trample Dwarven Arrow and the drug smuggling organizations entirely. You should identify the drug addicts within your territory. And select people who can be recruited as standing soldiers. That should be much easier than exterminating monsters. Count Ivchek?”
“O-Of course, I can do that much.”
Ivchek felt endlessly intimidated as he looked at Azadine’s purple eyes, which seemed to see through his true thoughts.
“Rest assured, Count Ivchek. I know that you, a count of Sandokar, entrusting me with your sword and swearing loyalty to me was not an action that could be done simply out of profit or schemes. I value that highly.”
Azadine knew that for Ivchek, a member of the Yaegas divine royal family, entrusting him with his sword alone was not something that could be done with an ordinary resolve.
If Ivchek had offered loyalty to Azadine recklessly without any political concerns, Azadine would actually have rejected him.
“T-Thank you. But that is why I ask, are you all right? On the Rescue Knights Order’s side….”
Only now did Ivchek worry about Azadine.
“As if I would be all right. But it is quite far from Saint Mallory to here, so it will probably take them quite a while to move properly. It would be good if things are settled before then….”
Azadine spoke indifferently, as though it were someone else’s business.
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