Chapter 218
Black Wind was the Emperor’s personal, top-secret intelligent service. It was totally unknown to the general public, yet it could rival the Moon Gate in its reach.
Information was power. No one would be willing to make a move without sufficient information. After all, it would be tantamount to suicide if one were to make a move without knowing that their enemies had already grasped their weaknesses.
Information was power in itself, and Jacken, the leader of Black Wind, could be considered to be the true ruler of Avalon, even though practically no one knew his real name.
However, Jacken seemed downcast as he stood in front of the top four agents of Black Wind.
“His Grace Agnus will lead Avalon in the upcoming Continental War. You can talk about blood ties, how he loves his son a lot, et cetera. However, we all know that His Grace Agnus had always been a die-hard pacifist…”
“Therefore, for him to stand in front of His Majesty and promise to lead Avalon in the upcoming Continental War was contradictory. It doesn’t make sense based on his attitude so far.”
The agents were silent for quite a while before Number Two said, “Is it true?”
“...?” Jacken stared at Number Two in bemusement.
“The Wilhelm Knights. Is it true that they came here to protect their king, Baron Joshua Sanders?”
After Number One, Number Two was the most powerful member of Black Wind. He was tasked with hunting down the traitor, which was currently known as the Assassin King.
Therefore, he was absent from the Imperial Palace all this while until he received and responded to the emergency summons.
“Since when did the Wilhelm Knights start respecting their monarch? I don’t think we have forgotten how they have been treating the Lion King during his reign. For them, even the Lion King isn’t worthy of their respect and servitude, so how could Joshua be worthy of it?”
“Doesn’t that make it even worse?” Jacken pondered and said, “Joshua Sanders definitely has something up his sleeves we still have no idea about. Aside from being an unprecedented talent that is…”
“Many things have changed since this year’s Masters’ Battle. Isn’t it about time we made a choice?”
“The answer is obvious, considering His Majesty is the Master of Black Wind,” said Jacken.
“So instead of attempting something openly, we’re about to do something discreet. His Majesty agreed to it as well, am I right?” Jacken didn’t know what to say in response to Number Two’s words.
However, his recent conversation with His Majesty was raising doubts. He couldn’t stop thinking about it. Why hadn’t His Majesty chosen a successor yet? His First Highness was well-rounded and physically perfect, so he should have been an obvious candidate.
However, it was a given that chaos would follow when a successor was chosen.
Naturally, His First Highness would still have to work hard if he wanted to become the Crown Prince. After all, it was a title that had to be earned rather than given. In fact, it had become a constant topic whenever there were meetings among nobles.
It was also a topic that always made Emperor Marcus smile in an odd way while staying quiet as he listened to his subjects’ debates.
Jacken was the leader of Black Wind, so he valued information a lot and was innately curious. One day, he couldn’t help but ask His Majesty the Emperor about it.
However, Emperor Marcus simply told him to do what he wanted to do.
‘Do what your heart tells you to do…’?Jacken muttered Emperor Marcus’ words back then to himself ad verbatim. He also asked if Emperor Marcus was concerned about what would happen at the end of his reign.
However, it seemed that Emperor Marcus didn’t really care about what would happen once he was dead. Therefore, it was a bit strange for him to care about how His Grace Agnus showed that he cared about Joshua.
“Right now,” Jacken said, “There’s only one thing we need to worry about. As for what will happen in the upcoming Continental War, keep tabs on the nobles. In particular, Number One and Number Two should bring your men to keep an eye on His Grace Agnus.”
“Sounds good.”
“I will privately meet with His First Highness to discuss the succession.”
“...!” The agents of Black Wind’s eyes widened behind their masks.
“What do you mean?”
“On the surface, there doesn’t seem to be much difference between His First Highness and His Second Highness in terms of power, but we already know about how that person recently joined His First Highness’ camp, don’t we?” said Jacken.
“It will only be harder for us to keep up as time goes on,” added Jacken.
“As always, we can’t step forward and come to light, but we can support His First Highness from behind the scenes.” Jacken’s eyes gleamed. “Under the next emperor, Black Wind will not have to hide in the shadows anymore...I will ensure that we will have our own place beneath the sun.”
The Black Wind agents shivered.
All of a sudden, someone walked up to Number Four and stood next to him.
“...!” Jacken’s eyes widened as he asked, “Why are you here, Number Five?”
“We found Asiru-nim.”
“...!” The agents and Jacken’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets in surprise.
“Is that true?” Jacken was dumbfounded. He couldn’t believe it. It had been twenty years since news of Asiru was heard, and for him to appear just before the upcoming Continental War… wasn’t that too much of a coincidence?
“Yes.” Number Five nodded.
Jacken signed deeply and asked, “Where… is he?”
“Well…” Number Five trailed off before continuing amidst the silence. “He’s in the Agnus Duchy.”
***
Ash.
On the outside, he looked like any other ten-year-old boy.
However, there was no way Joshua would be able to forget the first time he met the boy in his past life.
Snow covered the world in a blanket of pure white, camouflaging a small village in its drifts. The only remarkable thing about this village was a cute boy sheltering in a broken-down hut. He looked rather out of place. His golden hair and perfect white skin made him look like a noble scion.
However, Joshua knew better. The boy was no mere noble, and the world around them wasn’t actually real. Indeed, all this was an illusion.
“What are you?” asked the small boy.
Joshua smiled at the small boy and replied, “Your savior.”
The small boy didn’t continue talking. He seemed to be thinking about something as he examined Joshua. Eventually, he said, “I don’t know how you got here; please leave. And my name… It isn’t Ash.”
“No, you’re Ash,” Joshua insisted.
“...?” His insistence earned him a look of puzzlement from the small boy.
Joshua explained, “Ash is a name I made for you, and you liked it a lot, and kept it as your name.”
“...”
The small boy’s expression changed as he tilted his head. “I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else. You should go now. You’re not familiar with this place, are you?”
It was a very good question. They were standing in the middle of the monster-infested Black Monster Forest, which made it even stranger to find a snowy village there.
Well, all this was just an illusion.
“Anti-Magic Field.” Once the words came out of Joshua’s mouth, his obsidian earring twitched, followed by the sound of something breaking.
The world was suddenly flipped upside down, and the landscape rapidly and completely. Lush green forest replaced the snowfields, and the houses became grand old trees. The only thing that hadn’t changed was the neglected, dilapidated hut.
Yes, the hut truly existed. It wasn’t just the product of an illusion.
The dilapidated hut was Ash’s home.
Even worse, it was a breeding ground. As the small boy quietly raised his hand, the enraged shrieks of demonic beasts thundered down on them.
Fiercely snorting orcs, the vicious snouts of trolls, and the grimy tusks of ogres… more than a thousand monsters from various species surrounded Joshua in the proverbial blink of an eye.
“I told you to leave. Go away,” said Ash.
“...” Joshua didn’t say anything as he scanned Ash from top to bottom.
The illusion had been dispelled, and the small boy now sported golden hair and a pair of pointed ears poking out of his golden hair. On his forehead, a fingernail-sized starburst symbol could be seen.
Ash wasn’t human. The humans thought his species had died out leaving the current 5th Elenburs as the sole survivor, but they had no idea of the truth. Ash was a legendary High Elf, and like his predecessors, he possessed unprecedented talent and capability in magic.
“Anti-Magic Field. You must be a pretty important human. Unfortunately, you can’t leave anymore.”
“Well…” Joshua chuckled at that. “From what I’ve seen in the past, I don’t think that I’ll lose to you.”
“It seems that humans are still a prideful bunch,” said the small boy. He was about to place both of his palms on the ground.
However, Joshua interrupted him by speaking, “Are you satisfied with all this?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Are you satisfied with giving up the Elenburs name and simply becoming a breeder of Crevasse?”
“H-How did you…?!” exclaimed the small boy.
Joshua locked eyes with the boy. “The reason I’m here has nothing to do with your current owner. I’m here only to save you and get Sanders.”
“Sanders…” muttered the small boy.
“I need to save a life. Can you help me?”
“You almost deceived me just now. That wasn’t funny at all. She can see with the eyes of her mind. What’s the issue?” The small boy stared at Joshua. However, Joshua remained silent, eliciting a shrug from the small boy. “I didn’t really expect to get anything out of someone as proud as you. I guess I’ll have to force it out of you.”
When the small boy’s words fell, his waist-length golden hair started to flutter as demonic beasts rushed at Joshua amidst the raging storm of magic power.
“...” Joshua's smile widened at the sight of demonic beasts charging at him. Ash was in for a surprise. After all, Joshua had an ability that was perfect for a situation like this, so Ash would definitely be caught off guard.
With that being said, Joshua’s obsidian earring moved ever so lightly.
“...!”
A bestial roar suddenly tore through the sky.
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