The Legendary Spearman Returns

After Kireua left Hubalt’s council chamber, no one made a sound for a long minute.

The knights quickly approached the throne to tend to Kurz’s corpse. An emperor had died in the center of his palace. Never before had Hubalt been so humiliated, so they were eager to keep it a secret.

“...Leave His Majesty’s body be,” Duke Jook commanded.

“Your Grace?”

“Leave it be.”

The knights exchanged glances.

“You bastards...” The veins on Jook’s forehead bulged. “You trash! After allowing His Majesty to be murdered right before your eyes, you can’t even tell right from wrong anymore! Without His Majesty, who is the person with the highest authority in the palace now!?”

The knights froze up. Kurz, the now-late emperor of Hubalt, didn’t have a child because he had been a priest until not too long ago—those who served Hermes couldn’t officially get married. Adopting an orphan was an option, like Lilith Aphrodite, who was a cardinal’s foster daughter. But since Kurz had not done that, authority fell to Duke Jook.

“Imperial Knights, listen!” Jook turned around.

“We hear and obey!”

“Seal the council chamber immediately. No one steps in or out of this room!”

“Yes, Your Grace!”

The knights positioned themselves around the council chamber, blockading the bewildered nobles within.

“Wh-What are you doing, Your Grace!”

“What in the world did we do...!”

“Get out of my way! There’s no reason for me to be here anymore—I’m going back to my lands!” one of the nobles angrily shouted at the knights.

“I believe you will understand the necessity of this measure,” Jook calmly told them.

“Hey, Duke Jook!” Duke Nemert stomped forward.

There were officially two dukes in Hubalt now, both appointed by Kurz himself. Despite being Kurz’s left and right-hand men, they weren’t on good terms; they constantly fought with each other to become the second-in-command of the empire. Their conflict had recently begun to wind down. Nemert had begun to lose little by little, and Jook had successfully recruited most of the nobles on his side.

“This is too harsh for a security measure!” Nemert yelled.

“What part of it is supposed to be harsh, Duke Nemert?”

“These people are in shock. They need to be consoled, not bossed around by you!”

“I told you that this is necessary,” Jook calmly repeated.

“Does that mean that you don’t trust these people?”

Jook’s eyes narrowed. He knew what Nemert was trying to do.

‘You’re going to use this chance to turn the tide in your favor, are you?’ Jook didn’t hide his sneer.

“Duke Jook! Are you mocking me?!”

Instead of answering Nemert, Jook signaled an Imperial Knight, who immediately drew his sword.

Nemert's eyes widened. “Wh-What is the meaning of this?”

“Isn’t it strange?”

“What...?”

Jook pointed at the open entrance behind the throne that Kireua had used again to get out of the palace.

“Look there,” he said. “That passageway is reserved for the Imperial Family only. It’s supposed to be one of the most tightly kept secrets in the country, and Joshua Sanders is from an enemy country. How could he have known about it?”

Nemert reflexively swallowed . “A-Are you casting doubt on me?”

“I’m not, but I do think it’s strange. All you have to do is cooperate, and yet you can’t stop yelling. You know, it’s said that you should doubt the one who protests the loudest.[1]”

Nemert and the other nobles fell silent. Two-thirds of the nobles were already on Jook’s side, but his subtle threat placed enough pressure on the remainder that they felt inclined to join his side as well.

“Imperial Knights, heed me.”

“Yes, Your Grace!”

“Everyone here is suspected of conspiring with our enemies. You know what to do, yes?” Jook asked.

“It will be done!”

Aside from those who were blocking the doors, all of the knights quickly surrounded the nobles. Nemert wanted to protest Jook’s inexplicable exclusion from the list of suspects at the top of his lungs, but he couldn’t bring himself to speak. The tide was already in Jook’s favor; one slip of the tongue would see Nemert turned into a corpse like the one getting cold on the throne.

“And tell all the troops in the empire to stop Joshua Sanders and the others from escaping from Hubalt no matter how many people it takes,” Jook commanded the knights.

“Immediately, Your Grace!”

“And all of you—” Jook turned his gaze to the empty ceiling of the chamber. “—will go after Joshua Sanders now.”

Dozens of people wrapped from head to toe in black clothes dropped to the floor like drops of rain; they were the members of Adran, Hubalt’s national intelligence agency. Right at this moment, they accepted their new master.

“Your will be done, my lord.”

* * *

“You’re just as insane as your father. You know that, right?” Anna shook her head in disbelief. She had been anxiously waiting inside the secret tunnel but almost screamed when Kireua showed up, covered in blood. Even though her elemental spirits had been telling her about the situation in the council chamber in real time, seeing Kireua in person made Anna’s heart sink.

“I can’t believe you actually slit his throat...” Anna blankly murmured.

“We’re just getting started. I can only pray that their troops will fall into chaos when they find out what’s happened here. If they retreat back to their empire, that would be perfect.”

“You’re being too optimistic. There’s no chance of that happening.”

Kireua looked behind him where the voice came from and saw a beautiful woman coming up on them.

Anna frowned. “How long is she going to follow us?”

“She’ll probably be with us until we get to Avalon.”

“What? Do we have to go with her?”

“Yes, unless you want to see someone’s mana hall get permanently destroyed,” Kireua casually replied.

In order to get through the tunnel quietly, Kireua had made a Mana Pledge with Isaac promising her two things: the first was that he would help her meet the real Martial God; the second was to guide her to where the Martial Emperor’s legacy was.

“Technically, I just assassinated your emperor, but you’re pretty calm.” Kireua tilted his head.

“Do you think I’d care about the death of trash like them?” Isaac shot back.

Kireua simply shrugged. Although her attitude hardly surprised him, her response told him how poorly Kurz was regarded in Hubalt. Well, Hubalt always considered their emperor inferior to their pope. The papacy had been abolished, but such a long-standing reputation wouldn’t change overnight.

“I still have some questions. How are you related to Bel? You don’t seem to be on good terms with him.”

“You certainly talk a lot. All you need to do is keep your end of the bargain. If you don’t...” Isaac unleashed a strong murderous energy. “I’ll crush your head with my fist before your mana hall ends up the same way.”

“How can you say such awful stuff without even blinking?” Kiruea grumbled.

“Does it sound like I’m kidding?”

“But you do know, right?”

Kireua grinned at Isaac, who looked confused.

“Both of the promises I made to you can be fulfilled only after I safely return to Avalon, but—uh-oh—it looks like you have to escort your enemy’s son back to his home to get what you want. How ironic is that?”

Isaac’s murderous energy intensified. Still, Kireua was good at reading people, so he knew where he needed to stop to not push Isaac over the edge. If Kireua were to provoke her any further, Isaac would throw one of her outrageously strong punches at his head with no regard for their pledge.

“Anyhow,” Kireua said, changing the topic, “I would like to ask you a favor.”

“...A favor?”

“It’ll be cumbersome for both of us if we have trackers on our tail, so we should take care of them before we leave.”

Isaac frowned and gave him a look of disbelief. “I think you’re seriously misunderstanding something here. I may not love this country, but I don’t hate it either. Do you seriously think I’ll help you?”

“Even if it means I won’t be able to keep my promises?”

“...Your shit is really getting on my nerves...”

Before she got angrier, Kireua waved his hands. “Hear me out. I’m not asking for your help eliminating the pursuers. If there’s a way to lose them without fighting, that would be ideal for both of us, wouldn’t it?”

“What?”

“You don’t have to feel guilty, and I can escape without killing people unnecessarily. Aren’t I right?”

“What the fuck are you talking about right now?” Isaac’s frown deepened.

“I don’t know if you heard what I said in the council chamber, but the legitimate heir to Hubalt’s throne is in the palace right now.”

“...Are you talking about Lilith Aphrodite, the Silver-Eyed Ghost Sword?” Isaac asked.

“Oh, you know her.” Kireua nodded cheerfully. “I’m not just saying this because I know her well, but she’s competent, beautiful, and has the perfect background. There’s no one better to lead Hubalt through this chaos. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“...You think very lightly of my country.”

Kireua neither agreed nor disagreed because it was true that he wouldn’t Hubalt a thought without Bel. This mission had not changed that attitude; if anything, it had only strengthened it.

“I can guarantee you one thing,” Isaac spat.

“Huh?”

“Without my help, neither you nor Lilith Aphrodite will ever be able to get out of this country,” Isaac firmly stated.

Kireua’s eyes narrowed. “I’m very curious as to what you mean by that.”

1. The raw is “?? ? ?? ???.” Literally translated, it means that the one who farted will yell. It’s actually about blaming others for your own mistake, but recently it’s often used to describe how the culprit will use anger to cover up their crime. ☜

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