Side Story Chapter 41
Metal loudly protested as Kireua pushed away Lacoon with his sword.
“Ugh…!”
Kireua and Lacoon looked like drowning rats right now. Lacoon had been firing numerous aura attacks using his ice mana, but they had all melted away in Kireua’s fire. This repeated until both of them were unable to see due to the thick, white steam.
Kireua raised an eyebrow. In a battle with their pride on the line, Lacoon deflected Kireua’s sword to the side and then distanced himself by rolling on the ground—tantamount to an admission of defeat.
Lacoon panted while he struggled to grasp what had just happened. He was confident in the strength of his grip—in fact, he would actually have not lost if they were fighting only with their physical strength.
“You’re this powerful… so why have you been laying low?” Lacoon asked.
“What?”
“Or did you really sell your soul to the Demon Spirit like Marcus ben Britten?”
Kireua’s gaze sharpened. Just as he had expected, Lacoon den Adsarak harbored antipathy for the rebels. After all, just what justified this civil war they’d started?
“…You don’t refer to Marcus ben Britten as ‘His Majesty’,” Kireua pointed out, earning a twitch from Lacoon.
“‘Only the Brittens have the right to become the lord of this Empire, not the traitor Joshua Sanders. The current Emperor of Avalon took the throne illegally, by force, and the current government fabricated the story about the Demon Spirit.’ Weren’t those the official reasons for you and your rebel friends’ rebellion? You should actually call His Majesty Joshua the traitor, but you said that you look up to him.” Kireua rested his sword against his shoulder thoughtfully. “This castle on the mountain belonged to the Adsarak Family, a prestigious noble family of the Avalon Empire, who were all fervent supporters of His Majesty.”
“…It was none other than His Majesty who abandoned those supporters.”
“Is this about unifying the continent again?”
“You said that putting these people together would just be like mixing oil and water. In the past, I would have agreed with you, Your Highness. His Majesty must have a good reason, and perhaps he didn’t deem it necessary to unify the continent. Everyone has different principles.” Lacoon shrugged.
“‘In the past’?”
“The country has been divided into five parts. Two of the empires fell, so the Holy Empire Hubalt isn’t hesitating to reveal its desire to conquer the continent. Do you think this tragedy would have happened if His Majesty had unified the continent earlier?”
Kireua couldn’t say anything because itt was just like what had happened in the south. It didn’t matter what the cause was, but the outcome was clear: some lost their families, while some witnessed their masters executed right before their eyes.
“Probably not,” Lacoon murmured.
“I already said this in the south, so I didn’t think I would say it again,” Kireua mused, to Lacoon’s confusion. “I’m different from His Majesty. Regardless of his reasons, I will never repeat history,” Kireua declared.
Lacoon narrowed his eyes doubtfully, but Kireua meant it. Kireua didn’t resent the Emperor of Avalon because he believed that the Emperor must have had a good reason for what he did. However, if the Emperor’s choices caused tragedies, then as the Emperor’s son and the prince of this country, Kireua had to set them straight.
“…You talk like you’ll unify the continent if necessary,” Lacoon said distrustingly.
“Just as you said, I will do it if necessary.”
Lacoon's eyes widened in surprise.
“D-D-Do you…really mean that?”
“If the reason for this recurring tragedy is that the continent hasn’t been unified, then I should do it. Of course, it’s not like I can do it just because I feel like it.”
“But you said that His Majesty doesn’t want to do it.”
“I’m a different man from His Majesty.” Kireua shrugged.
“Th-Then…!”
Kireua smiled mischievously. “That is why I keep saying that you should open your eyes and see Kireua Sanders, not Joshua Sanders’s son.”
Lacoon’s lips pressed into a thin line. Although he still couldn’t believe that Kireua would really unify the continent, a storm of emotions emerged from deep in his heart that he struggled to hold down. He had to check something first.
“…You told me to become your knight if I lose, right?” Lacoon asked.
“That was our deal.”
“What kind of knight do you want me to be?”
“What do you mean?” Kireua tilted his head in confusion.
“I can swear my ‘loyalty’ to you since you didn’t ask me to make an oath on my honor as a knight when we made a wager.”
“Judging from the way you’re nitpicking over our terms, I guess there’s something else you want.”
“…Promise me two things, then I’ll swear my loyalty to you with all my heart,” Lacoon said. His eyes glowed with determination.
“Does that mean you admit your defeat?”
Lacoon held out his hands.
Kireua frowned. Lacoon’s palms were covered with severe blisters oozing yellow discharge.
“Your mana has permeated into me and is now corroding my mana. I’m actually having trouble controlling it, but I can’t find a single trace of demonic power. Therefore, I think it’s safe to assume that your ebon flame was acquired through your efforts alone,” Lacoon said.
Kireua felt a prick in his heart, but his face was nonchalant.
-Hehehehe, it’s actually my power.
‘Quiet,’ Kireua told Coal.
-Kireua has no conscience~!
‘…I’ll crush you.’
-I can’t hear you~!
Coal bounced up and down teasingly, drawing and irritated frown from Kireua.
“The snow god’s authority is the ability to transform the world’s coldest ice into aura,” Lacoon suddenly said.
“So that’s how it works.”
“But your ebon flame melted my aura attacks, meaning that your fire is hotter than any other fire in the world.”
Kireua glanced at Coal.
“What are these two promises?” he asked Lacoon.
“The knights and soldiers inside the castle will notice that something is up and are going to come out, so my first request is to rescue the original lord of this region using the confusion of the moment.”
“The or-original lord is alive?” Kireua exclaimed.
Lacoon nodded. “He’s definitely alive.”
“So… Count Madrick is alive?”
“Do you know him?” Lacoon's eyes widened, echoing Kireua’s surprise.
“Well, he taught me the spear when I was little.”
“Ah… Come to think of it, I heard that he temporarily taught in the Palace at His Majesty’s request over a decade ago…”
Kireua smiled bitterly at the old memories. Spear knights were rare on the continent; Count Madrick, the castle’s original owner, was one of them.
Numerous knights from all over the continent had attempted to use spears out of respect for the Emperor of Avalon, but it was said that it took hundred days to master the sword, but a thousand days for the spear[1]. There were less than ten spear knights on the entire continent who had so much as touched the level of a Class-A knight. Count Madrick, having reached the highest expert level, was exceptional even amongst those ten.
“He was assigned to a kid that gave him migraines. The kid has zero talent, but he was as stubborn as a mule. The rascal insists on learning the spear only from His Majesty. That was what he said—was that you, Your Highness?” Lacoon asked, surprised.
“…That is what that man told you?”
Lacoon nodded. “Yes; he also said that if he was you, he would quit practicing spears and research how to seduce women using his looks.”
Kireua seriously questioned whether or not he should save Madrick.
“We don’t have much time, so I’ll get to it right away. You’ll have to risk your life for this. The castle is so big that it takes up half of the mountain peak. You have to find Count Madrick somewhere inside the castle, escort him outside, and escape—and Count Madrick will be exhausted,” Lacoon explained.
“Wait, that’ll be a problem. I’m here to slit Marquess Turtler’s throat.”
“…Excuse me? Who’s here to slit whose throat?” Lacoon repeated, unable to believe his ears.
Just then, Anna appeared out of her concealment of wind.
“Leave that to me,” she said.
Lacoon’s eyes widened. “I knew it. You had a comrade with you, but her presence was too faint. So I wasn’t sure…”
“Let’s say hello later. Go on. What’s the second request?” Anna asked.
“…That’s…”
“Come on! You and I seem to be peers, so why haven’t you realized itt yet? If you become His Highness’s knight, that makes me your senior!”
“Se-Senior?” Lacoon stammered.
“Ah, spit it out.” Anna gestured at Lacoon. “We don’t have much time.”
Lacoon gave Kireua a doubtful look, but the Prince nodded.
“Please find His Majesty,” Lacoon finished.
Both Kireua and Anna’s heads tilted in confusion at the same time.
“I thought your second request would be to unify the continent or something,” Kireua murmured.
“That isn’t possible without him anyway.”
“Avalon may have turned into a mess, but its citizens are stronger than you think.”
“No, I can tell you one thing for certain: I don’t know about the other countries, but we’d practically be smashing eggs against rocks[2] if we go up against the Hubalt Empire,” Lacoon insisted.
“That’s odd. You speak like you’re well aware of the Hubalt Empire’s internal affairs—”
Lacoon nodded. “Five years before this civil war broke out, I went to the Hubalt Empire to train.”
“Aha, that was why.”
“During my training, I realized that the Avalon Empire was no longer the Empire of Knights—that title suits the Hubalt Empire better now.” Lacoon shrugged. “I wasn’t even able to cut the sleeves of the pope’s four guardian paladins.”
His remark was pretty surprising. Lacoon was the ninth strongest knight in the Avalon Empire and was also the head of the Adsarak Family, yet he had still failed to defeat the paladins.
But that wasn’t the important part right now.
“I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to grant you your second request,” Kireua said.
“…I see…”
“In return, I’ll promise you this.”
“Pardon…?” Lacoon muttered blankly.
“If I detect a sign of another Continental War, then I’ll unify the continent by any means necessary.”
“…Do you think that’s possible?”
“Yes, I think so. You tested it yourself, didn’t you?”
Silence fell upon the area for a long moment.
Lacoon stood stiffly in a daze and then nodded. “It’s a gamble, and the probability of your victory is very low. However, you seem genuine, so I’ll believe you for now.”
“Hmph. You act all cool, but it’s not like you have any other choice,” Anna snarked. Lacoon frowned. Anna shook her head at him. “Forget it. Once you’ve made a decision, then you oughta do what you gotta do, shouldn’t you?”
“What…?”
“A knight’s pledge.” Anna pointed at the ground with her chin.
Lacoon hesitated for a moment and then kneeled. “Due to the circumstances, I’ll make it simple. I, Lacoon den Adsarak, swear to serve His Highness Kireua Sander as his knight for my entire life and to devote my body and soul solely to him.”
Kireua looked down upon Lacoon without saying anything.
“Well,” he mumbled, tapping his sword against Lacoon’s shoulder, “it’s better to have more subordinates.”
1. The actual saying is that it takes one hundred days to master a single-edged sword, one thousand days to master a spear, and ten thousand days to master a double-edged sword. 👈
2. It’s a Korean idiom about having a very low chance of victory. 👈
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