Side Story Chapter 14
An elemental spirit mage making a promise on their elemental spirit was the same as a mage’s mana pledge; they were both making an oath that they could not, under any circumstances, break. If elemental spirit mages broke the oath without a good reason, they would meet severe consequences—namely, losing their abilities forever.
“Ten years. You only have to work as my lady-in-waiting for ten years. After that, I’ll set you free and condone all your actions as long as you don’t cause harm to Avalon,” Kireua Sanders offered to Anna.
Anna didn’t respond; she was still feeling weak after making an oath and was sitting on the ground, staring blankly at the sky. Kireua spared her one last glance before turning to more important matters.
“What are you?” Kireua hissed after he checked that he was far away enough from Anna.
-What?
“What is your identity?” Kireua asked again.
-I’m Coal.
“That’s the name I gave you.”
-I want a camembert.
“…Camembert?” Kireua repeated.
-I saw it in a book. It’s cheese!
Kireua’s eyes narrowed. “Are you doing this on purpose?”
-Huh?
“You aren’t the Demon Spirit’s pet, are you?” Kireua asked.
-Demon Spirit? Alcohol? I like drinking too!
A black cotton ball bounced up and down on top of Kireua’s shoulder, but the Prince’s expression didn’t relax. As a member of the Imperial Family, he was born wary.
‘I?did hear that gods like the Demon Spirit and Angel Spirit were annihilated… but I can’t let my guard down after I saw what His Majesty went through,’?Kireua thought.
In addition, Kireua and Coal’s case was totally different from anything else in history. Kireua had never heard of someone becoming awakened like this and authorities were the powers that didn’t have certain forms. Coal, on his shoulder, had a physical body.
“Yo-Your Highness,” Anna mumbled.
Kireua had to stop thinking because Anna slowly stood up and approached him.
“…Just call me Kireua,” he replied. “You’re at least twenty years older than me.”
“Th-Then shall I?” Anna replied without an ounce of hesitation.
Kireua cocked his head. “Can you at least pretend to think about it before you say yes?”
“Hehehe, I look forward to working with you, Kireua.”
“You look and are sociable.” Kireua nodded.
“That’s a compliment, right? Thank you! By the way, can I ask you a favor?”
“…If this is about reducing the number of years—”
“Come on, it’s not,” Anna interrupted, shaking her head. “I already made a promise. Besides, I thought about it and it actually isn’t a bad deal for me. You definitely said you’ll set me free in ten years and I don’t have to leave Avalon as long as I don’t cause harm.”
“I did.”
“Then if your father really comes back…” Anna trailed off.
“Ahhh.” Kireua immediately understood what Anna was saying. She was worried about the Emperor punishing her. A long time had passed, but it didn’t mean the bad history between Anna bel Grace and the Emperor was gone.
Just then, Anna’s White Wolf showed up right beside Kireua and whimpered, rubbing its face on his leg.
“…Where did that scary wolf go?” Kireua mumbled.
“You’ll put in a good word with him since I work for you now, right?” she eagerly asked. “Your father may be called the Martial God, but he took good care of his people, you know.”
“I’ll see how you behave, and if you’re good, I’ll try persuading him.”
“Thank you!” Anna snatched Kireua into a hug.
“Wh-What are you doing? Get off of me!”
“Huh? Are you shy? Gosh, you’re adorable.” Anna hugged Kireua even tighter, pulling his head closer to her chest.
“Arggh!” Kireua escaped from Anna’s arms first and tidied himself.
“Oh, my.” Anna grinned. “So what’s your goal?”
“…What do you mean by ‘goal’?”
“I need to know what the man I serve wants, don’t I? Regardless of all else, we have to stick together for at least ten years,” Anna said.
“Mmm… I haven’t thought far into that future. For now, I want to suppress the rebellion and stabilize the Empire.”
“Come on! Of course you’ll suppress the rebellion, but you have to take the throne and the continent too!” Anna shouted.
“Why do I have to take the continent…?” Kireua looked away.
“It’s eat or be eaten in this world.You know that strange things are happening in the Hubalt Empire, right?”
Kireua closed his mouth. One empire remained the strongest among the continent’s many countries: the Holy Empire of Hubalt—or rather, the Martial Empire of Hubalt, as it had basically become. Hubalt was a country of people who served the gods, but the gods were missing now.
Despite how strong they were, the Hubalt Empire hadn’t started to conquer the entire continent for one reason: the pope, the person with the most power in the Empire, had made it clear that they wouldn’t start a war.
The first reason behind the pope’s declaration was Zactor. He had been a former Sky and the Martial Emperor, but he had lost to Joshua Sanders, the Hero King and the Martial God of Avalon. Although the Martial Emperor had vanished, his dream of conquering the continent continued to stir the passion in the hearts of Hubalt’s knights. Since gods had disappeared and the Hubalt Empire was now the strongest country on the whole continent, its knights’ desire to achieve their dream burned like oil meeting fire.
“Speaking of which, the kings and emperors at the time were left very disappointed twenty years ago. Usually, after a war, anyone at the peak usually could become a winner, but the Continental War came to an end before anything happened. It’s all because of your father, Joshua Sanders. He was the true victor, so if he wanted to take the continent, a lot of things could have turned out differently… Well, I understand his reasons since there were many problems with Avalon at the time, but not anymore. You should suppress the rebellion in Avalon, ascend to the throne, increase the emperor’s power, and take the continent! The principle of this world is that the winner takes all, isn’t it?”
Anna’s voice was strangely charismatic, but…
“…I think you’re getting ahead of yourself.” Kireua tilted his head. “I received no reports of any suspicious movements in Hubalt, and I’m just getting started in suppressing the rebellion in Avalon.”
“Men should be able to see the bigger picture.”
“Even if I want the throne, it’d be difficult since I happen to have one freakishly strong brother.” Kireua shrugged.
“What?” she exclaimed. “You’re a freak already, but the other prince is even worse than you?”
“Well…” Kireua’s eyes gleamed. “…it might be different now.”
* * *
Meanwhile, there was someone who had watched the fight between Kireua and Anna from the start to the end.
“He… made the Witch of the North his ally?” Cain blankly wondered. He couldn’t believe his eyes. Anna bel Grace may not be a very famous celebrity, but anyone who knew her would surely recognize her power. The witch had already been a high-class elemental spirit mage twenty years ago, so Cain had never imagined her working for someone.
“…Wait a minute. Maybe it’s only natural for her to make such a choice since she isn’t a knight,” Cain mumbled.
There was an unspoken rule on the continent that whoever lost in a duel where the contenders bet their lives became the winner’s subordinate. Of course, knights would choose death since they valued their honor over their lives, but still, they were people. Many knights valued their lives more. Besides, elemental spirit mages weren’t bound to the tenets of chivalry since they weren’t knights.
“Hmm…” Cain was intrigued by how the situation was turning out.
Selim Sanders was the son of Cain’s master and monstrously strong, certified by Cain himself. However, if Kiruea made full use of his talent and had a good supporter by his side…
“…He might really have a chance!” Cain declared, beaming. “…Then, since His Highness worked hard… I’ll get to work now.”
One of the Three North Stars had become Kireua’s ally. Cain himself was called the Combat Emperor Star, and Anna bel Grace was the highest-class elemental spirit mage, a woman known as a human weapon. Cain was really certain about the fate of this rebellion in the southern region.
“Certain… about winning this war!”
Cain sprang toward the opposite side of the valley.
* * *
Meanwhile, on the opposite side of Raymond Valley…
“Any news yet?”
“No, Your Majesty. It has already been an hour, but…”
“What in the world is that witch doing!” Dargo, the leader of the southern rebel army, frowned. His eyes were glued to the windless valley because he had a feeling that something was off. As he had already surpassed the level of a master long ago, he could tell that the situation had taken an unexpected turn through his sharpened senses.
“Ten minutes. If the witch doesn’t contact us after ten minutes, send two knight battalions,” Dargo instructed.
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Considering Dargo had lost his son, he was displaying superhuman patience right now. If it hadn’t been for Cain de Harry, the Combat Emperor Star, Dargo would already have led his army to the fortress.
At that moment, a gust of wind stirred the stagnant air in the valley. The ground shook as if a herd of horses was running toward them.
“Th-That’s…!” Dargo’s eyes slowly widened.
The gale was as quick as the finest horses, but it turned out that it had been created by a human being running toward them. Dargo’s jaw dropped when he saw who that person was.
“Ca-Cain de Harry?”
Even the nearby executives started to murmur among themselves.
“…Wait, if the Combat Emperor is here alone…?” A possibility came to Dargo’s mind that brought a deep smile to his lips. “He’s here to surrender.”
Anna bel Grace was a wind elemental spirit mage of the highest class, meaning she could turn ordinary wind so sharp that it could wreck the fortress in the valley. Therefore, Cain’s sword technique must have been useless before Anna’s wind. Besides, Anna was great at hiding, so locating her wouldn’t have been easy.
Cain was now just twenty meters away from the rebels.
“…Heh, hehehehehe.” The end of Dargo’s mouth curled up.
“Stop!” the rebel marquis shouted. Cain stopped as soon as the mana-infused voice reached him, affirming Dargo’s theory. “Cain de Harry! Kneel this instant and I’ll tell my colleague, Anna bel Grace, to spare the soldiers.”
The moment the knights had heard the name Cain de Harry, they had drawn their swords, but they now knew what was going on.
“Yo-Your Majesty, does that mean…?”
“Can’t you tell? He’s basically our enemies’ commander, but he’s come into enemy territory alone. Obviously, he’s trying to surrender,” Dargo said intentionally infusing mana into his voice so everyone could hear.
The knights immediately brightened up.
“Woaaaahhh!”
The knights’ shouts were thunderously loud. The soldiers stomped their heels against the ground like the drums at a victory parade.
Cain watched them silently for a moment, and then chuckled.
“Pathetic,” he sneered under his breath. “Hahahaha.”
Dargo was the only one who heard Cain, thanks to his finely honed senses.
“…What?” Dargo said.
Cain laced his voice with mana just like Dargo had done as he opened his mouth.
“You all lost, you idiots!” he yelled.
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