Chapter 135: The Ominous Wind

Turklan’s attitude remained firmly unchanged.

Yet I didn’t give up.

“Even if I say I’ll help restore your wife’s illness?”

At that moment, Turklan’s eyebrow twitched.

“Do you know what illness my wife has? Are you saying that even knowing that?”

His voice was filled with distrust.

He had lived many years solely for his wife because of that very issue.

Naturally, it was difficult for him to trust anyone easily.

“Even if I say I’ll go myself and resolve it?”

“But my wife is…….”

“She’s likely protected by the Black Crescent Moon. You know that has nothing to do with me.”

The power I had just displayed was overwhelming beyond anything.

Recalling that sight, Turklan swallowed.

“I’ll help you. What do you think.”

“……May I give my answer afterward?”

Was it because he couldn’t believe me? Or because he didn’t like the idea of bargaining with his wife’s wellbeing on the line?

Even though Turklan’s voice trembled, I watched him quietly.

A moment of silence seemed to follow.

But it lasted only briefly, as noise rose from the upper side of the valley.

Boom! Bam!

With loud rumbles, dust erupted upward.

The noise didn’t stop there and continued.

Shuaaaak! Kokwang! Kwang! Chaecheng!

Breaking through the dust, two figures dropped down into the valley.

It was Negis, the Archer Master, and Jade, who had been assigned to take her on.

“Soon as I think I might catch my breath, she fires again!”

Jade swung his sword with rough breaths.

Shuaaaak!

The arrow filled with heavy energy rushed in swiftly.

Jade gritted his teeth as he brought up his sword.

Chaecheng—!

“You rat bastard! Let’s see how far you can run!”

“Oh-ho! A rat, you say!”

Jade retreated while frantically deflecting the arrows she fired.

Chaecheng! Cha-cha-chaeng!

Along with her speed, the power of the aura infused into the arrows was tremendous.

Seeing that, I let out a quiet sigh.

“So the skill gap isn’t something that can be bridged easily.”

Negis was a mid-level Archer Master.

For Jade, who had only just escaped the early stage of Swordmaster, she was an overwhelming opponent.

Of course, I knew the difference in their skills from the beginning.

I had assigned her to Jade purposely for his training.

But he seemed to be falling behind more than I expected.

“It can’t be helped. Wait a moment.”

Leaving those words with Turklan, I moved.

I dashed in and slipped between the two, cutting down the arrow flying toward Jade.

Shuaak!

The aura-infused arrow was neatly severed in half.

At the same time, Negis stopped in place and faced me.

“So it’s you. The one who caught my arrow earlier and threw it back at the mage…….”

I hadn’t blocked it or avoided it—I’d caught it.

She had seen it herself, yet still found it unbelievable.

“If you intend to fight me as well, I’ll take you on.”

Negis turned her gaze.

There were Turklan on his knees and Deride collapsed on the ground, unable to get up.

As for the mage who had been hiding toward the valley’s side, she had known he was dead the moment his arrow was taken.

Of course, one had survived, but he was likely captured already.

“I didn’t expect to see the Master Emperor with my own eyes.”

With those words, Negis released the tension in her bowstring and raised the bow upward.

It was an archer’s declaration of surrender.

“You’re also just a mercenary of the Black Crescent Moon, aren’t you?”

“If someone pays, I’ll do anything.”

“Then if I pay you, will you do anything?”

“You’re holding my life in your hands and yet you say you’ll pay me?”

Negis’s opponent was me.

The Master Emperor—spoken of only in legends.

If an opportunity arose, maybe.

But if she tried running, the White Lightning might pierce her from behind.

“I want to buy your skills.”

Archer Masters were rare anywhere. If her character had been a problem, I would’ve gotten rid of her from the start.

But what I had learned through Regina Foster told me there was no major issue.

“How much…… can you give?”

“Would 10,000 gold a year be enough?”

A normal soldier earned about 30–40 gold a month.

Compared to that, it was an astronomical amount.

Truly shocked, Negis looked at me in disbelief.

“Are you really going to pay that much?”

“If you’re willing to accept, that is.”

“If you truly can pay it.”

“Don’t worry about that. More importantly, Sir Jade—how about you get up now?”

Jade had been knocked over when he deflected Negis’s last arrow.

After I stepped in and stopped the fight, he must have felt embarrassed and stayed still.

“Tch…….”

“That’s why I told you to train more.”

“I didn’t know she was that skilled.”

At our exchange, Negis let out a laugh.

“Is it all right for the Crown Prince to be so casual with a knight?”

Because rather than a lord and his subordinate, we looked more like friends.

The leader of the Black Crescent Moon, Stain Craven, received news through the mage he had sent to assassinate Regina Foster.

—Everyone has been taken out. It was all a tra—!

The report transmitted through the communication artifact ended there.

Whether he had been attacked suddenly or something else happened, the message cut off midway and he couldn’t confirm the rest.

Because of this, Stain’s expression darkened more than ever.

“Hmm……. So it truly seems that the Blue Sun is gathering information on us.”

We had moved while trying our best to conceal ourselves.

Of course, we had assumed it might be a trap. That was why we sent three Master-class fighters along with a mage.

And the result was what we faced now.

Standing beside him, his second-in-command, Redius, asked,

“Are they all dead?”

“If they were taken down, then the Crown Prince of Canel must have stepped in. I didn’t expect him to lay such an obvious trap.”

“He doesn’t seem to be someone we can take lightly.”

“We keep getting hit like this…….”

The Blue Sun faction that had left the Eye of the Moon had practically fallen under the authority of the Canel Kingdom.

That meant the Canel Kingdom had become their greatest enemy.

“For now, we have no choice but to leave things be.”

“How frustrating…….”

“More importantly, shouldn’t you be heading to the imperial palace?”

There was an appointment scheduled.

At Redius’s reminder after checking the time, Stain Craven let out a sigh.

“I understand. I’ll go at once.”

Leaving the place, Stain Craven climbed onto the carriage with Redius.

The carriage passed through the dark road and entered the palace gates.

The place the two arrived at after entering was the Emperor’s Great Hall.

“I wished to see you both. Have you been well?”

Lapis Dior, the only emperor on the continent, greeted them while seated on his splendid throne.

At that, Stain Craven stepped forward and offered his greeting.

“Thanks to Your Majesty, I have been at peace. Have you been well, Your Majesty?”

“When would I not be well?”

“Your Majesty’s wellbeing is the wellbeing of the Empire, so we could not help but worry.”

“Your way of speaking shines brighter every day.”

“You flatter me.”

“But, I felt a strange wind blowing from the south.”

At Emperor Lapis Dior’s remark, Stain’s brow twitched.

For if it was about the south, there was only one matter it could be.

“I do not know what you have heard, but it is nothing worth Your Majesty’s concern.”

“Even though the Master Emperor spoken of only in legends has appeared?”

“It remains only a legend.”

A being who had surpassed Swordmasters by several levels.

A being impossible to believe in unless one saw it directly.

Honestly, Stain still found it hard to believe what the dead Swordmasters had claimed.

“A legend, hm……. But would that man not stand in the way of my path?”

The emperor’s gaze flashed chillingly.

Still only in his mid-thirties. He had ascended the throne at twenty-two, thirteen years ago—perhaps that was the leisure he exuded.

A quiet yet heavy aura poured from his entire body.

“If Your Majesty is concerned, I will remove him.”

“Even after failing so many times?”

The light mood instantly sank into heavy darkness.

Stain and Redius lowered their heads in shock.

“M-my apologies.”

“I trust you both. However, if you cannot uphold that trust, what am I supposed to do?”

“We apologize for troubling Your Majesty.”

“Enough. More importantly, leave the Canel Kingdom as it is for now.”

Emperor Lapis trusted no one easily.

When he ascended the throne, he had killed all his brothers and cousins.

He had done it to create a throne meant only for himself.

Hearing such words from Lapis, Stain lifted his head slightly.

“Are you saying you won’t deal with him?”

“Who could go deal with that man right now? Unless one of equal or greater skill existed.”

“Then until when……?”

“My path meant only for myself is not far. As I walk it, he will naturally be removed.”

“I… I understand.”

“The preparations are going well, I assume?”

“……There are no issues yet.”

At the answer, Emperor Lapis nodded.

The heavy, pressing atmosphere also lightened.

Only then could Stain and Redius draw a shallow breath of relief.

The ‘Regina Foster assassination incident’ had been settled for the time being.

After that, I left the palace again and set out on the road.

I was not alone—Patrick and Turklan were traveling with me. The three of us were each on horseback, heading northeast.

“At this distance, it will take quite some time to reach the Bachenan Holy Kingdom.”

“If we move slowly, it will take about thirty days.”

Just as Turklan said, the kingdom lay at the northeastern edge, far away.

Patrick joined the conversation.

“If we cross straight through the Danas Federation, the Dior Empire, and the Boluzan Kingdom, we can make it in twenty days. But the question is whether we can pass through.”

“To pass through those three countries, we would have to cross the border four times. The Danas Federation and Boluzan Kingdom won’t be a problem. But the Dior Empire is where that man is.”

Turklan recalled Stain Craven, the leader of the Black Crescent Moon.

They were heading to the Bachenan Holy Kingdom because of Turklan’s wife.

The reason she was there was because the Black Crescent Moon was keeping her in a maintained condition.

Since they didn’t know how much the Black Crescent Moon had grasped of the situation, they had to be careful.

“They might think he’s dead, since the mage who had been communicating from Plant Valley was killed.”

It had been I who cut down that mage.

I had intentionally waited until he sent a message before cutting him down, creating a situation that could easily be misunderstood.

Of course, whether the Black Crescent Moon would believe it was fifty-fifty.

“They won’t believe it easily.”

“If they know who you fought, they might believe it more easily.”

News of the Master Emperor had already flowed into the Black Crescent Moon.

If it was Stain Craven, he would likely think of it the same way he had with Harold and Parcian earlier.

“If it turns out like that, then we’ll have no trouble moving.”

“We should craft a disguise identity first.”

From the warehouse, I took out lumps of silver and iron and used my Arcane Sorcerer abilities.

In an instant, the two lumps merged and became the badge used by knights of noble households.

Watching that sight from the side, Turklan couldn’t help but be shocked.

“Your Highness, you can use magic as well?”

My skill with the sword already had no visible end.

And now he was witnessing such a being also using magic.

“I only learned a little. Here, take it. It’s the badge of a family named Dragonia. The setting is that you’re a ruined noble who lost his political backing.”

It was better to be lower-ranked than too high-ranked since it drew less attention.

Rather than thinking about that, Turklan couldn’t tear his gaze away from the badge that had just landed in his hand.

A snake-like pattern was engraved upon it, along with the name ‘Rark.’

“So my name is Rark?”

“As an S-rank mercenary, your real name would already be known across the surrounding kingdoms. We need to hide whatever can be hidden.”

I gave a faint smile and took the lead moving forward.

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