Chapter 312

I, Shion Pollinglight, am in the past, 1335 years ago.

I had already met four of the Eight Gods.

A young soldier named Debius.

He is naturally the future Deballo Debius, the ‘Last General’.

Even if the smell of blood steeped over a thousand years is not there, his strength was unchanging even in the past.

A noble young man named Caseptus.

He is the future Kerenneus Cansella Caseptus, the ‘Last Minister’ who resembles a bald eagle.

In young Caseptus, neither deceitfulness nor cunning was seen, and instead naivety was glimpsed.

Although perhaps even this might be a deception.

Hireium was a slave.

He was in a position where he had to follow even when his master went to the latrine.

I never thought Hika Hireium, the ‘Last Slave’ who becomes the leader of the Dawn Brotherhood far in the future, would have such a past.

However, despite being a slave, his eyes were full of vitality.

Also, Beila Beile is invariably a clown.

Even in the past 1335 years ago, he had a loud voice and overflowed with useless confidence.

Still, his young face was awkward.

‘That woman is… looks like a dancer.’

I discovered a woman among the acrobat troupe.

Her face was exactly the same as the ‘Last Dancer’ I had glanced at just before crossing over to the past.

Was she in the same acrobat troupe as Beila Beile?

I realized anew that I did not even know the name of the ‘Last Dancer’.

I roamed here and there.

Amidst the noisy people, no one discovered me.

Even Debius or Caseptus, with whom I shared short conversations, forgot me quickly.

The Regressor Prince was uniquely alien alone in the past 1335 years ago, and the world forgot him quickly too.

Furthermore, since the wooden crown on his head bore the name of paradox, if he did not wish to be discovered, the world could not discover him.

‘Only the Emperor and the Mage are missing.’

I found 5 out of 8.

I doubted if I could use the expression ‘Man-God’ for the Hotus Eight Gods, but since they were still humans in the past, it probably didn’t matter much.

General, Minister, Slave, Clown, Dancer.

I counted the remaining three.

‘Because the Prisoner… I still don’t know who he is.’

I soon took a seat at the edge of the garden.

I even slyly borrowed some tasty snacks Caseptus (the future Kerenneus) had brought.

There was thinly sliced meat and vegetables, and some sauce between the breads.

The taste was very good. Caseptus was stomping his feet because his snacks suddenly disappeared, but I didn’t care.

I had suffered much from his future self.

‘Shall I wait while watching the acrobatics.’

***

The acrobatics began.

Beila Beile was a mess.

“What is that guy?”

“Is he really a clown?”

“…I feel sorry even to laugh.”

The audience was bewildered.

Despite being prepared to make allowances for some clumsiness since he said it was his first stage, Beila Beile was a mess at a very serious level.

If he juggled, he never caught it more than twice, and even when trying to balance on a ball, he couldn’t even stand properly on it.

When he put his hand into a cage with a beast, he got bitten as if it were natural.

People even suspected this was a kind of ironman acrobatics, a performance of a man who doesn’t get hurt no matter what mistake he makes.

However, the sight of Beila Beile bleeding and in pain only proved that he was just full of mistakes.

‘What a mess.’

I shook my head.

I felt rather amused.

The ‘Last Clown’ who always pretended to know everything, pretended to be watching from a higher place, putting on airs.

Seeing his clumsy younger days, the feeling of wanting to return to the present and tease him bubbled up.

‘More than that, the acrobatics are ending but aren’t the Emperor and the Mage appearing?’

The clown who doesn’t leave the stage despite clumsy skills, the dancer giggling while watching the clown, the general who claims to be a guard, the hooked-nose minister and his slave.

Five of the Hotus Eight Gods gathered in one place, so I thought the other two would appear soon….

“Stop it and come down, Beila!”

“T-Troupe Leader, but you see….”

“Don’t ruin the mood any further!”

I saw the acrobat troupe leader getting angry and stepping onto the stage.

He wore shoes with hard heels, making clack clack cheerful sounds on the stage.

“Come here!”

“I can’t go!”

“Come here I said!”

“It’s my first stage!”

“Then you should have done well!”

Beila ran away and the leader chased.

Every step of the leader made clack, clack rhythmic sounds.

Their chase turned like a play.

I was certain the leader was a quite skilled acrobat.

Although he was carrying a very suspicious object in his bosom.

I, Shion Pollinglight, reconciled with my life.

So I noticed.

A very familiar stench came from the acrobat troupe leader’s bosom.

It was the smell of the Ancient God, ‘Black Light of the Abyss’.

It seemed he possessed some object imbued with its power.

However, this is the past, and I only watch.

“Caught you! Hurry and apologize to the guests!”

“…It was my best!”

The farce continues.

Beila and the leader exchanged lines as if promised.

Because they really did promise.

The youngest clown with many mistakes and the acrobat troupe leader scolding him.

The stage they prepared was this kind of thing.

“No, right, it must be my responsibility as the leader. I will apologize.”

The leader pushed Beila. Beila obediently stepped aside.

This is also part of the promised stage.

The leader bowed with exaggerated movements.

“I am only apologetic.”

He bowed his head, and put his hand into his bosom unseen.

It was a movement as if trying to take something out.

Of course, it was all visible to me.

“Our youngest showed a lacking appearance. It is truly shameful. So, as a meaning of apology….”

The leader took out a stick from his bosom.

Looking closely, it was a bone.

It looked like a human arm bone at that, and it glistened very blackly.

Beila Beile raised his eyes.

That action of the leader was not part of the promised stage.

“…I will guide everyone to the Underworld.”

Black smoke rose from the black arm bone.

Other acrobats were the same.

The swarms of black smoke squirmed and combined to become several snakes.

Monsters I also knew, retainers of the Ancient God called ‘Name-eaters’.

Screams and commotion.

Several snakes of the Ancient God appeared in the middle of the Imperial Court.

The acrobat troupe leader who unleashed the monsters laughed very pleasantly.

Black smoke filled the garden. Amidst the chaos, Beila lunged at the leader.

“T-T-Troupe Leader! What are you doing right now…!”

“Be quiet, Beila. Then I might spare you.”

“…T-There was no talk like this!”

“Talk like this? What talk?”

The leader twisted his mouth and laughed.

“Why do you think we accepted you?”

“Because I have a natural talent for acrobatics?”

“…….”

At Beila Beile’s shameless answer, the leader was lost for words for a moment.

That shamelessness is a talent if one calls it a talent.

“It was because of the talk that you are close with the Emperor’s son! Even if you become a proper clown, he would invite us to the Imperial Court! Would there be anything else?”

“…You used me…?”

“At first I thought it was a lie. But to think it was real. I am grateful.”

The leader bared his yellow teeth and laughed.

Around him, ‘Name-eaters’ were flickering their tongues and hissing.

“To enter the Imperial Court so easily.”

The leader laughs. He is a believer of the ‘Black Light of the Abyss’.

He wanted a chance to enter this Imperial Court, and achieved it thanks to Beila Beile.

The feeling of unleashing monsters of the Ancient God in the middle of the Imperial Court brought a religious sense of accomplishment hard to compare with anything.

“No way…. No….”

Beila Beile trembled.

He realized he had become the one who brought the believers of the ‘Black Light of the Abyss’ into the Imperial Court.

“…How, how….”

He lifted his trembling eyes.

A young man was walking from afar. He had golden hair and golden eyes.

There was a woman beside him, and seeing her floating form, she seemed to be a mage.

Beila Beile spoke toward the young man.

“…It happened exactly as you said without an inch of error, Cordisias?”

***

“I told you, Beila Beile.”

The young man’s name is Cordisias.

I recognized that that golden hair and golden eyes was the young appearance of my father.

Also that the woman beside him was the young days of Sen Sorti, my master.

“That the fanatics of the Black Light are especially stupid.”

“…Still, to think it would be this easy!”

“I was certain they would bite immediately even if given a simple bait.”

Cordisias wrinkled the bridge of his nose.

“The bet is your loss, Beila.”

“Damn it…!”

“The five bottles of Plzeneus wine we promised, get them by any means necessary.”

The acrobat troupe leader rolled his eyes.

He seemed to be trying to grasp how the situation was turning.

He still held the black arm bone, and there were several ‘Name-eaters’ by his side.

The leader, backed by the power of the Ancient God, opened his mouth toward Cordisias.

“Wait, so… you mean we fell for your trap…?”

“Then what does it look like?”

“…Ridiculous…!”

“Do not speak to me anymore. I do not wish to mix words with the likes of you if possible.”

Cordisias turned his head.

The hooked-nose noble young man, the future ‘Last Minister’, was standing close before anyone knew.

“Caseptus.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“The fanatics of the Black Light dared to invade the Imperial Court. They even unleashed several monsters.”

“It appears so.”

“Would this be sufficient justification that you wanted?”

“Of course. The old men of the Council of Elders won’t be able to say anything now.”

Caseptus wore a very satisfied smile.

In fact, if he followed his heart, he wanted one or two people to die.

Then the justification he wanted would be added.

But it wasn’t something to say in the middle of the Imperial Court, and Cordisias also wanted Caseptus not to say such things.

So Caseptus was satisfied with just wearing a smile.

“Good. It’s your turn, Debius.”

Debius nodded.

He gripped the double-edged sword.

Just with that, the air in the garden settled heavily.

Even I, who half-spanned this space, felt a numbness.

“Kill them all.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The leader was a believer of the ‘Black Light of the Abyss’.

He infiltrated the Imperial Court disguised as an acrobat troupe, intending to harm key figures.

However, this was all part of Cordisias’s plan.

They now had to face Debius’s sword.

I prayed for the repose of the acrobat troupe.

Even if they are people from 1335 years ago, no matter how young he was, the fact that they had to fight Deballo Debius holding a sword was pitiful.

Debius walks.

He just gripped a single double-edged sword, but nothing could be so terrifying.

The leader realized that the ‘Name-eaters’ would not be of much help either.

He looked for a target nearby to vent this fear.

“Be, Be, Beila!”

Beila Beile shrugged his shoulders as if asking why he called.

“You dare deceive us!”

“Leader, you also used me… Uh! Don’t touch me! Uh uh…!”

“S-Stay still!”

The leader brought the black arm bone to Beila Beile’s neck.

It was to use him as a hostage. Using Beila as a shield, the leader shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Stop! If you come closer, this guy…!”

“T-Troupe Leader. You shouldn’t do this, if you do this…….”

The leader suddenly realized.

Neither Cordisias, nor Debius, nor Caseptus, not one person was worried about Beila Beile.

Even though he was thrusting a weapon imbued with the power of the Ancient God at his uvula.

Even when he realized that Beila Beile himself was smiling brightly, it was already too late.

“…If you do this, I have no choice but to show off my transcendental technique dagger arts too.”

“……Uh……?”

Two wrists fell with a thud.

It was the leader’s left hand and right hand.

Beila giggled and picked them up to juggle.

Severed left hand, severed right hand, black arm bone, four daggers that cut them off; he performed absolutely fantastic juggling yet no blood splattered.

“Hey, Cordisias.”

“What is it, wine debtor?”

“…Anyway, you love wine. A bet is a bet, give me my proper share.”

“Of course.”

Cordisias said.

“Once the next task is finished, I will do what I promised to all of you.”

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