Ascension Of The Northern Emperor (3)

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Prince Kalintz, the Chapter Master of Fireglyph, was restless.

The man standing before him had holy knights of the King’s Church on his left and Northern Aragasa warriors on his right.

In addition, there were Triodana, the Celestials of the Wisdom Order, and even elves of Ausander, so this place was practically no different from his court.

The King of Ausander, Northern Emperor Cohen, had personally come to this place.

“So. What was Sehnat’s cause of death?”

“A heart attack. No poison was detected, and there was no intruder, so it is presumed to be old age.”

When Prince Kalintz answered that way, Cohen Rioneir let out a hollow laugh.

“Haha. You still have a long way to go, my son. What was your name again?”

“…It is Kalintz.”

Kalintz gave a bitter smile as he looked at his father, who did not even know his name.

“Yes. Normally, the method of detecting poison by inserting a silver needle into a corpse is only useful for mineral poisons or the blood poisons of snakes that rot the blood. But in this world, there are bound to be toxins that cannot be detected by such things.”

Cohen Rioneir said that, then took Bishop Sehnat’s corpse by the hand. Then, with a dagger he took from his bosom, he cut off one joint of a finger.

“What!”

Kalintz was flustered, but Cohen threw the severed finger to one of the elf warriors. The elf put the finger into his mouth and began chewing it.

“…What do you think?”

“It appears to be the poison of a sea octopus, Your Majesty.”

“So he says. It is a poison the Arangians enjoy using. It cannot be detected with a silver needle, and even a small amount kills a person painfully, but once exposed to the air, it loses its toxicity in a single day. It must be handled with care.”

Northern Emperor Cohen gave a bitter smile.

“Remember it. It is a poison the Benevolence Order enjoys using.”

“That is only speculation. To begin with, you cannot show such a method of verification to others, can you?”

There was no Order that would tolerate feeding a bishop’s corpse to an elf before everyone’s eyes. However, Cohen, the King of Ausander, did not consider such outrageous behavior a serious matter.

“In any case, I will recover Sehnat’s body and hold his funeral.”

“Are you going to reincarnate him as a Celestial?”

“Oho?”

A strange light flashed in Cohen’s eyes. For the first time, he showed interest in this child whose name he did not even know.

“Were you in a position to know that?”

“I am not a fool either. I have my own information network.”

“Good. Then I shall ask. I heard there is a man named Azadine here.”

“Yes.”

“They say he possesses Aurelia Dawn. Is he a disciple of Plank, the Knight of Wisdom? What conclusion did your information network reach?”

“I do not know whether he is his disciple, but it is certain that he was the last person knighted by Sir Plank. Otherwise, too many things cannot be explained.”

“I see. A Messenger Clan member is the flower of chivalry?”

Cohen Rioneir gave a bitter smile. He could feel a subtle heat of anger toward him in Kalintz’s voice.

In this cool air despite it being midsummer, the only thing burning hot was inside Prince Kalintz, and it was likely hatred and anger toward his father.

“I would like to meet him.”

“I will arrange a meeting. However, I do not think it would be good to hold tea with this many troops present.”

Those Northern Emperor Cohen had brought with him were all seasoned warriors. None of them were easy opponents.

No matter how formidable Azadine and the Chadra Five Ogres were, Kalintz could not allow him to meet Cohen while there were so many of Cohen’s subordinates present.

If Northern Emperor Cohen ignored the Chapter Master of Fireglyph and killed a holy knight under Fireglyph, who would dare hold Northern Emperor Cohen accountable?

No one would be able to hold him accountable. Kalintz could not accept such a situation.

Not only would it leave a stain on his career as Chapter Master, but Prince Kalintz also liked Azadine more than his father, who could not even remember his own child’s name.

If he was to make Azadine and Northern Emperor Cohen meet, it had to be at least one-on-one, or with even fewer people than that. Otherwise, Cohen might kill Azadine.

“Good. I see. I understand. Arrange the meeting.”

Cohen Rioneir formally requested that Kalintz arrange a meeting with Azadine.

“Cohen Rioneir wants to see me?”

On Sandokar’s wall, Azadine was startled while trimming arrows.

“Yes. They have come to recover Bishop Sehnat’s body and are calling for Sir Azadine.”

Jan, who had come as Prince Kalintz’s messenger, watched Azadine’s expression.

Azadine raised the arrow he had trimmed, aimed it at the sky, closed one eye, and checked whether the arrow was straight.

A snowflake descended and settled on the tip of the arrow. Even though summer was ending and the season was entering autumn, snow was already falling.

Azadine shook the arrow, crushed the falling snowflakes, and inserted the arrow into his quiver.

“So he is telling me to come to Fireglyph? That is difficult. I cannot leave my post right now….”

An enormous number of refugees had poured into Sandokar, and the attacks by cultist mutants were also continuing.

Cultists hiding among the refugees, as well as acts of worship toward the gods of the Kurt Pantheon being carried out in Sandokar’s refugee camp, disturbed public order.

In that situation, Azadine picked out and executed traitors and hidden cultists, and dealt with the monsters that came swarming in.

When night came, vampires pretended to attack, but no vampire came near Azadine, who had Aurelia Dawn.

They only pretended to attack from nearby and then disappeared. The vampires who had probably come under Griselda’s orders could not bring themselves to directly attack Azadine and Aurelia Dawn, and merely circled around them.

“Would it be a grave discourtesy if I told Cohen Rioneir to come here?”

“It would be an unimaginable discourtesy.”

“Then it is decided.”

Azadine smiled brightly as he spoke.

“Tell him to come here.”

“…….”

Jan grimaced after hearing Azadine’s words.

“Um, could you reconsider? It is easy for you to say, but I am the one who has to deliver that message.”

“You are not delivering it directly to Cohen Rioneir, are you?”

“That is true, but….”

“Cohen Rioneir must know that I went into the underground of the Wisdom Order and discovered the Celestial reincarnation ritual, and that I am the knight who received Sir Plank’s final knighting, right? But if I treat him as the King of Ausander, things will get troublesome. I have to position myself as just a damned eccentric Messenger Clan member. So do not worry. I will not cause harm to Kalintz or you.”

“Hmm. I cannot exactly say we have not already been harmed… It is now obvious to everyone that our captain has bet on Sir Azadine.”

“He already made it that obvious? He would not make a good gambler.”

“Exactly. Well, if someone cannot gamble, does that not make him good husband material?”

“Wouldn’t that kind of praise be more pleasing if it came from a woman? Or what… you are not like that, are you? Are you and Prince Kalintz getting married soon? Is there something I should congratulate you on soon?”

Azadine asked Jan with a snicker.

“More importantly, is there no news that has entered Fireglyph?”

“Is information not fairly quick here as well? I understand you are also trading with the Kingdom of Arangi.”

Since Sandokar Gate had an open road to the Kingdom of Arangi, Azadine’s warlord faction was earning considerable profits by sending merchants along the Kingdom of Arangi route.

Money, weapons, and manpower gathered, and Azadine’s warlord faction continued to grow. Since he was no longer an exile of the Chadra Plateau, he could gather rumors of the world from Arangi.

“I heard that the Kingdom of Tarasar is also being attacked by the Nagas along the coast, and that the Messenger Clan has begun assassinating major figures in each kingdom. They say refugees are also flooding into the Kingdom of Arangi in large numbers, Elemental Wailing patients are appearing everywhere, and those who despair are becoming cultists and carrying out suspicious rituals.”

Azadine listed the rumors he had obtained so far and nodded.

“Are there no other rumors from the Rescue Knights Order’s territory?”

“The Rescue Knights Order’s territory has only similar rumors.”

“Really? From what I hear, there should be more than that.”

“In any case, I will deliver it that way. Sir Azadine. Haah. Seriously.”

Jan withdrew, wondering how he was supposed to politely convey the message telling the terrifying Northern Emperor Cohen to come in person.

When night came, snow poured down. Though the season could be called the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, snow was already piling up.

Azadine sat in the watchtower, closed his eyes, and listened to the sound of snow accumulating. In order to face any vampire that might come, he lit a bonfire every night atop Sandokar Gate and dozed in front of it.

Now that he had become the head of a proper force, he might have been able to leave some matters to his subordinates and rest comfortably, but Azadine could not do that.

Even now, there were those who cursed him because of his birth. After all, the Messenger Clan had joined hands with the Naga Empire, attacked the kingdoms, and created refugees.

The refugees could not help but hate the Messenger Clan, who shot arrows among the Nagas and slaughtered humans.

So it was not strange that among the refugees there were those who doubted Azadine’s true intentions. Even while living off the mercy Azadine bestowed, they suspected and hated Azadine.

In such a situation, in order to maintain this force, Azadine himself had to endure by wearing himself to the bone.

“…….”

Then, the sound of someone throwing firewood into the bonfire woke Azadine.

It was a middle-aged man with hair like a lion’s mane, in which silver and gold were mixed. After splitting the firewood as though it were some sort of snack, he threw it into the bonfire and looked at Azadine from beyond the flames.

“You are a peculiar fellow. Are those the Eyes of Harkonia? As far as I know, that is a trait that only manifests among the Messenger Clan in those of noble blood.”