Chapter Sixty-Nine
“…You’ll regret it. Even if you stop me here, you’ll regret not taking my hand when you had the chance.”
“In that case, I’ll just take your place. I’ll take on the country by myself.”
“Fu, fuha, ahahahahahaha!!! I see, so that’s how you think. However, I wish you would decide whether you’re rational or foolish. But I don’t dislike that way of thinking. It’s just that we’re incompatible right now.”
—That’s why it’s all the more regrettable. That I have to kill you.
Saying that, Amses drew his weapons from thin air. A pair of daggers with silver, gleaming blades. His calm stance showed no openings, and my gut feeling told me he was a formidable opponent, no less skilled than the ‘Magician Hunter.’
There were several magicians around us.
On the other hand, there were only two of us.
However, being at a disadvantage was nothing new. For me, it was always like this. Therefore, it didn’t matter much. Thinking that, I tightened my grip on the hilt of my sword, and at the same time—
“—Excuse me. We were also looking for the culprit, and now that we’ve found him, I don’t think it would hurt to at least give us a report, would it?”
A voice laced with exasperation shook my eardrums. It was coming from a distance.
It was Lilea’s. And beside her was Sofia, who was looking around restlessly, perhaps due to the explosion from earlier.
“You look like you’re wondering why we’re here. But it can’t be helped, can it? You always rush off on your own like this. That’s why we were… following you. Sofia couldn’t leave you alone either.”
Lilea had a point. Considering my personality and Sofia’s caring nature, it wasn’t that strange that Lilea was here.
So, there was only one thing that felt unnatural.
I was one thing, but Ryuuzas was also here. How had Lilea and Sofia managed to follow both of us without being noticed until now?
“…Following us…?”
Did Ryuuzas also find the same thing strange? He muttered in a distrustful voice, furrowing his brow.
“That’s my kind of ‘magic.’”
I didn’t know what Lilea’s magic was. But magic was something that made the “impossible” “possible.”
Therefore, I had no choice but to accept her words. Especially since both Ryuuzas and I were magicians.
“I won’t apologize for following you. Because it’s Julius’s fault. Besides, you’re being too irresponsible towards Sofia.”
And for some reason, I was being blamed. Sofia, who was beside her, also had a displeased expression.
“I understand your way of thinking, to a certain extent. Including the fact that swordsmen are selfish creatures. However, I wasn’t originally planning to say this, but do you know why Sofia was learning healing magic?”
“…That’s because Sofia had the talent, and she wanted to develop it…”
The reason Sofia left the village before me, along with Lilea and the others, was probably that. When I replied, they looked even more exasperated.
“That reason is—”
“Wait!? Lilea!?”
Sofia tried to stop Lilea from bluntly stating the reason, but Lilea continued without closing her mouth.
“Because she couldn’t leave her reckless childhood friend alone. And also, she wanted to be able to help her foolish childhood friend who had gotten seriously injured saving her.”
“…”
I was speechless.
“I know you admire someone and are aiming to be like them, Julius. After all, I was the one who practiced swordsmanship with you.”
Swordsmen were creatures who spoke with their swords. Therefore, by crossing swords, one could generally understand.
Even if it was something that wasn’t spoken aloud.
“However, you need to be more considerate of the people you don’t want to lose. You probably don’t know this, but the mastermind came to see us while you were gone.”
“…”
I gritted my teeth inwardly, realizing I hadn’t been thinking about that, too focused on what was before me. Sofia was someone I didn’t want to lose.
I should have realized that during the incident with the Ogre. As long as she wasn’t involved, it would be fine. I had assumed there would be no problem as long as I went ahead alone.
“I understand that you can’t see anything else, and I understand why you’re in such a hurry, but I’m not impressed. This is some valuable advice from your senior in life, so listen up.”
There was always the possibility of grasping something by continuing to reach for it.
But things that slipped from your grasp once would never return.
Lilea said so casually, but her words carried an indescribable weight.
“…You’re unusually talkative. It’s not like you, who usually avoids talking about the past.”
“I don’t intend to talk about it willingly, but I’m not hiding it either. Besides, there’s no point in hiding it now that the effects of my magic have been revealed, is there?”
In this world, the magic that manifested was generally related to the user’s strongest desire. For example, if someone strongly wished to resurrect the dead, they would gain magic abilities related to that.
That’s why many people’s magic manifested at a turning point in their lives.
Therefore, if one knew someone’s magic ability, one could generally guess what kind of past they had.
Of course, there was the possibility of coincidence, but it was extremely low.
“…So, you’re going to interfere with me too?”
“I’m an adventurer in the royal capital, you know. I have a decent number of connections, and it would be troublesome if you did as you pleased. Oh, of course, I also wanted to cause some mayhem.”
She said so nonchalantly. Amses frowned slightly at her incredibly inconsiderate reason, but perhaps judging that there was no room for persuasion, he closed his mouth.
“But whether I intervene or not, the moment you tried to use magic on me or Sofia, that was a no-go.”
At that point, there’s no way I would choose to let you have your way, Lilea declared.
“…Hey, kid. So, can I assume that young lady and the scary-looking girl are your allies?”
“Sofia and Lilea are my allies. You can trust that.”
“Is that so?”
He probably already guessed from my tone, but perhaps just to confirm, I answered Ryuuzas’s question. The scary-looking girl was probably Lilea.
Immediately after that thought—
“—”
Amses, who had been holding a pair of daggers, suddenly vanished.
Then, along with the sound of landing, I heard the sound of something cutting through the air, growing louder as it approached. Reflexively, I held the sword I had created like a shield, positioning it in front of me.
Immediately after, a solid impact traveled through my arm from beyond the sword, and sparks scattered around.
“Julius!?”
Sofia cried out at the sudden change, but before I could react, Amses’s voice, having closed the distance, reached me.
“…Not bad.”
Our trembling weapons clashed. In the midst of our struggle, he offered words of praise.
“Indeed, your way of thinking isn’t wrong. If you don’t like something, you crush it. Yes, I think that’s a perfectly valid way of thinking. But generally, by the time you come to dislike a country, you’ve already lost something crucial. Just like me, and the person you admire.”
I had been thinking this for a while, but Amses knew a surprising amount about the Star Slayer.
…Well, regardless.
“…Amses.”
There was one question that bothered me.
“Hmm?”
“Why did you call me here?”
The several magicians began to move. Lilea and Ryuuzas went to deal with them, likely controlled by Amses.
“If you didn’t want to be interrupted, there was no need to call me to a place like this.”
“No, there was a need. That’s why I called you. Because it was a promise.”
“A promise?”
“I couldn’t let you interfere with the ‘Magician Hunter’ any longer.”
Parrying my forceful sword swing, Amses leaped back.
…Indeed, if it weren’t for this, I would have been on my way to the ‘Magician Hunter’ by now.
“I need the ‘Magician Hunter’ to take care of that troublesome Knight Commander who’s fawning over the nobles.”
“…I thought you would have heard that the Knight Commander has returned… so that’s what it is…!!”
So, it would be best to lure the prime candidate for interference to a different location from the beginning. That must have been Amses’s plan. That’s why I was called here.
“You’re too naive. Naive in every way. Evil nobles should be punished by being lured into traps. But you only went as far as interfering, and did nothing more. See what happened as a result!?”
Amses raised his voice.
“They escaped their sins, made excuses, and then repeated their evil deeds as if nothing had happened. That was how it always went, wasn’t it!? See, my way of thinking was correct. Nothing changes without sacrifices.”
Information I didn’t know was intertwined.
“Because I took care of those you only interfered with, they can no longer act openly! …Right? That said, House Gavelia was furious after I took care of all the nobles they were grooming.”
The night I fought the ‘Magician Hunter.’
I remembered Ryuuzas warning me to be wary of House Gavelia.
The nobles who were being groomed, whose evil deeds were interrupted by former Knights, were being killed one after another.
The people of House Gavelia must have been furious. Then, it made sense why Ryuuzas had mistakenly thought this incident was caused by House Gavelia, not Amses.
“Those nobles believe that their positions are inviolable. That’s why they can do as they please. That’s why sacrifices are necessary to change this. Great sacrifices that can’t be ignored.”
It would lead to the salvation of tens of thousands of people in the future.
Then, wouldn’t sacrificing a hundred people now be a small price to pay?
“Julius, you said it would be troublesome if the Knights were gone. No, that’s wrong. The Knights are partly responsible for this current situation. That’s why I had no hesitation in choosing them as sacrifices!”
He rambled on emotionally. As if he couldn’t stop himself.
His eyes bloodshot, he spoke relentlessly, abandoning his usual composure.
“Listen, Julius. Most of the nobles in this country are corrupt. And the Knights are just useless buffers, protecting the people only in appearance from that rotten filth. Is this system really necessary? When push comes to shove, they protect themselves, abandon the people as a matter of course, kill them, allow them to be sacrificed, and then laugh at the tragedy, saying, ‘Some lives are more valuable than others.’ Do such scum really have any value!? No, they don’t. They don’t. That’s why. That’s why I—”
“—That’s why you’re still continuing your revenge against the nobles who dismissed your family as a noble sacrifice, even though they could have been saved, hiding behind a seemingly righteous cause? Alstead Barnabas.”
A new voice interrupted Amses. It was a voice I had heard nearby just moments ago.
“…You’ve come at quite a convenient time, haven’t you? Current Vice-Commander, Zenoah Almerida?”
It was Zenoah Almerida’s voice.
[Translator – Vine]
[Proofreader – Lust]
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