Chapter 316: My Father Is Everywhere (5)

The civil war of the Lillian Kingdom has drawn the attention of the entire continent, from neighboring kingdoms to even the Samael Empire itself.

“Did the Sefira family survive?”

“They did, Chancellor.”

Chancellor Natas, the second most powerful figure in the empire, seemed intrigued.

“Even if it’s a small kingdom, the royal family failed to deal with a single house... Is the royal army incompetent, or is Sefira exceptional?”

“In my judgment, it is both. The Lillian royal forces have fractured into the crown prince’s faction, the second prince’s faction, and the king consort’s faction, and their loyalty is extremely low. By contrast, the Sefira family is in the midst of a rise. They are full of passion and drive, yet remain calm and merciful. And it would not be an exaggeration to say that a man named Keter is the very axis holding Sefira together.”

“Such vivid testimony. It’s as if you witnessed it firsthand, Kairos.”

The man kneeling before the chancellor was Kai of the Imperial Special Task Force. With a different name from the one he had given Keter, he continued his report.

“I first met Keter half a year ago. At the time, his combat strength was that of a top-tier Master, on the verge of a Grandmaster. But the divine strength he displayed in this recent battle against the royal army was such that calling him a Prime would not be an exaggeration. This rate of growth is rare even within the empire.”

“Is there a chance he was concealing his true strength?”

“Keter is the type of man who always reveals only about seventy percent of his power. Even taking that into account, however, it did not seem that he was deliberately hiding his strength.”

“Kairos, I’ve read all of your reports. There’s a strong implication that Keter effectively orchestrated all of the infighting and chaos within the Lillian Kingdom.”

“Keter did not act alone. The strategist by his side, a man named Daat, is also extraordinary.”

“For you to praise someone so frankly—how surprising. That alone speaks to how exceptional Keter and Daat must be.”

Natas fell silent for a moment, then smiled faintly. Kairos was startled. He had served him for decades, yet had seen him smile only once at his appointment ceremony as chancellor.

So the fragmentation of the Lillian Kingdom pleases him that much?

Naturally, Kairos assumed the chancellor was smiling because of Lillian’s collapse.

“Do you think I would smile simply because a minor kingdom has split apart, as if that alone benefits me or the empire?”

“...!”

Natas acted as though he had read Kairos’s thoughts.

“That said, it’s not an empty smile either. It is, without question, a smile of delight. Look, my lips are twitching even now. Hahaha.”

It was a different kind of laughter than at his appointment ceremony. To Kairos, it looked like the smile of someone who had stumbled upon an unexpected treasure.

“Kairos, if I were to summon Keter, do you think he would come all the way here?”

Though Keter was revered as the Divine Bow and a Prime within the Lillian Kingdom, Natas was the chancellor of the Samael Empire. Even a king would not dare to flatly refuse Natas’ proposal. However, Kairos immediately shook his head.

“Unless you threaten him, he will not.”

“Does that mean Keter is a man who yields to threats?”

“No. With all due respect, Chancellor, he would likely come with the intention of assassinating you.”

“Assassinate me? On imperial soil?”

“Yes. Keter is fully capable of such a thing.”

“Hahahaha!”

This was not laughter born of disbelief. He was genuinely amused. After laughing for quite some time, Natas rose from his seat.

“If he won’t come when summoned, then I’ll have to go to him myself.”

“You mean... you will go in person, Chancellor?”

Kairos could not understand. He acknowledged Keter’s immense potential, but not to the extent that the imperial chancellor himself would move. Moreover, the entire world watched the chancellor’s movements. If he visited Sefira, everyone would question their relationship.

I truly cannot understand why he wants to meet Keter so badly.

Natas was not a man of empty words. When he decided something, he followed through. He truly intended to go see Keter in Sefira.

“Guide me, Kairos. You seem to have at least some prior acquaintance with Keter.”

“It would be an honor, Chancellor. The First Division of the Special Task Force, two of the Eight Great Swords, and I will escort you.”

The Eight Great Swords were eight individuals considered the greatest swordsmen in the empire. Every one of them was at least a Prime. Yet for some reason, Natas waved his hand dismissively.

“There’s no need for the Special Task Force or the Eight Great Swords. Just you and I will go.”

“That is unacceptable. Sefira is not hostile to the Samael Empire, but they are not an ally. Furthermore, nobles from various nations have established footholds there, and Sefira has yet to fully control them. In case of contingencies, at least one of the Eight Great Swords...”

Thinking that Natas simply wished to avoid any unnecessary noise, Kairos reduced the escort to a single member of the Eight Great Swords. However, Natas had already put on his coat himself.

“There is already someone in Sefira who will protect me, so it’s fine.”

“With all due respect, to my knowledge, there are no imperial agents stationed in Sefira. Might there be some misunderstanding?”

“When did I ever say I planted an agent there? Heh.”

Dressed and ready, Natas paused before a mirror, considering his appearance.

“Kairos. Look at my attire. What do you think?”

“...You look modest.”

“Then I’ve chosen well. When going to see my son, isn’t modesty better than extravagance?”

“Yes. Wait, pardon?”

Kairos’s eyes widened, wondering if he had misheard.

“You heard correctly. Keter is my son.”

“...But when you entered the imperial palace, you underwent sterilization. That was thirty years ago. And Keter is nineteen this year. Without some inhuman power, such a thing would be physically impossible.”

“If we’re talking about inhuman power, then isn’t it possible?”

“...!”

“Of course, I am human. It is merely the woman I was involved with—Akrah—who was not. That’s why I’m curious whether Keter is human or a monster.”

“This is too sudden. At the very least, verifying the truth would be prudent.”

“Ah, don’t misunderstand. I’ve known of Keter’s existence for a year now. Akrah told me herself that she had a son named Keter.”

“...!”

“The reason I ignored him until now was simple. Even if he were my son, if he were mediocre, he would not be worth bringing in.”

Natas’s words were shocking. Everyone had believed he had no children.

“You finally understand now, it seems. Then let us go.”

As if eagerly anticipating the meeting with Keter, Natas’s steps were light and buoyant.

* * *

When Keter returned after completing his coming-of-age ceremony, countless requests for handshakes poured in. Every one of them came from nobles seeking a marriage alliance with him.

Keter was only nineteen but a Prime. Even if his personality were trash and he was completely insane, there was still a crowd of nobles eager to receive Keter’s seed.

Hissop subtly tried to probe him.

“Keter, you’ve been looking lonely lately. Would you like to meet some noble young ladies?”

“I have no intention of getting married.”

“I’m not telling you to marry—just to meet them once.”

“I already have five wives[1]If I add more, I’ll die.”

“What...?”

Only then did Hissop learn belatedly that Keter already had five wives. He was shocked, yet oddly relieved.

“...All right. I’ll take care of the nobles.”

From that point on, Hissop rejected every proposal of marriage involving Keter. He told the nobles bluntly that Keter already had wives. Still, the nobles were persistent. They begged to be accepted even as concubines. When they couldn’t get through to Hissop, some went directly to Keter himself to make their offers.

“I can’t exactly beat them all up.”

Keter spent his time dodging nobles who begged him to just bed their daughters once. If it had only been one or two, he would have punched them and been done with it, but with dozens of them, avoidance was the wiser choice.

At the top of the main building, Keter lay back on the slanted roof and looked around.

“Nice view here.”

Below, people were clearing snow and chopping firewood. On one side, knights were conducting joint drills with soldiers; on the other, workers were busy expanding old buildings and constructing new ones.

“This is happiness right here. Everyone else works, and I’m the only one resting.”

Keter took a hearty bite of jerky from a bundle he’d brought along and washed it down with cold beer from an iced bottle. After spending some time drinking and watching the activity around him, he yawned. Covering his face with the jerky bundle, Keter drifted off into a nap.

Exactly one hour later, a shadow fell over his head.

“...”

A man cloaked in darkness looked down at Keter. Keter showed no sign of waking, as though he didn’t even realize someone had approached him. That was understandable, as the man’s presence was barely more substantial than air itself. He didn’t breathe, and even his pulse was faint.

The man in black did not attack Keter. He merely placed a single note in his palm. That seemed to be the entirety of his mission, and he turned to leave. However, he came back to Keter as if something nagged at him and slipped his hand into Keter’s pocket.

Rustle...

Keter’s pocket had a magic spell on it that made it far deeper than it looked.

“...?”

All sorts of things came out of it: a skull, a dagger, half-eaten jerky, a fire poker... None of it seemed to be what he wanted, and the assassin kept digging around inside. At last, his hand closed around a bundle of checks worth ten thousand gold each. After confirming the amount, the assassin grinned.

Just as he was about to leave with the checks, he hesitated and lifted the cloth covering Keter’s face. Keter glared at him, eyes wide and ferocious.

“...”

The assassin covered Keter’s face again, blinking heavily. He put the stolen checks back into Keter’s pocket, then lifted the cloth once more. This time, Keter’s expression was calmer, though his eyes were still wide open.

Scratching the back of his head, the assassin took out a gemstone from his own pocket and placed it into Keter’s hand. He lifted the cloth again. One of Keter’s eyes had closed.

“...”

The assassin added another gemstone to Keter’s hand. Only then did Keter close both eyes.

“Damn bastard,” the assassin muttered, then disappeared from the spot.

* * *

Sefira did not let their guard down. No one could be certain when the princes might change their minds and plunge everything back into war. However, it was precisely because of that vigilance that there was a blind spot—namely, the movements of the Adeus Kingdom. No one could have predicted that Duke Kundeline of Adeus would march toward Sefira at the head of three thousand elite troops.

Despite the depths of winter, they advanced with only their vital areas covered, their bodies otherwise exposed to the elements. The sight of it was madness itself.

Even more astonishing were the Desert Freak Troopers, grotesque cavalry who rode beasts that looked like a fusion of lions and scorpions. These freak troopers were feared even by the Samael Empire’s seasoned knights; each one was assessed to possess the strength of a mid-tier Master, and there were fully one hundred of them.

Even so, in terms of sheer numbers, Sefira still held the advantage. Yet Sefira was completely unaware of Kundeline’s advance. After all, who could imagine an army crossing a treacherous mountain range in flesh-rending cold, practically bare-bodied?

“The cold of this land is no joke either!”

Duke Kundeline, riding in a rickshaw, was so enormous he looked almost like a giant. It took eight men just to carry him.

At that moment, the man in black who had once visited Keter appeared at his side.

“Hello, Your Grace.”

“It’s been a while, Captain of the Black Serpent Unit. Let’s skip the pleasantries. You saw Sefira with your own eyes. How was it?”

“Their disciplines didn't waver, even in the cold. The coldness couldn't stop them.. Their weapons were practical rather than ornamental, and they were well-maintained. Their vigilance was exceptional to the point that I could hear my own breathing even amid the fierce winds.”

“So you couldn’t infiltrate?”

“I had to take a detour, but infiltration was successful. I also met Lord Keter.”

“Was he truly a Prime?”

“I was caught. An arrow was hovering behind my back.”

“Oh?”

Kundeline’s eyes widened. The captain of the Black Serpent Unit was one of the top three assassins in Adeus. When he truly concealed himself, fewer than ten people in the entire kingdom could detect him. Yet Keter, who had only just come of age, had caught him from behind. That meant not only sensing his presence, but preparing for it in advance.

“Indeed, my son. Haha.”

Kundeline referred to Keter as his son without the slightest hesitation.

“Your bloodline truly is unmatched in the world, Your Grace”

“So you believe me? Most people just skirt around it, saying it couldn’t be true,” said Kundeline, resting his chin on his hand.

Like he said, there wasn’t a single feature Keter shared with him, and yet Kundeline claimed Keter as his son and believed it.

“You do not act without certainty. Mobilizing such a force just to meet Lord Keter suggests you are confident he is truly your child.”

“It seems I really am getting old. Flattery makes me smile so easily, though I can’t say it sounds unpleasant.”

The captain’s trust in Kundeline wasn’t based on anything grand. No matter how little two people resembled each other, a parentage test using magic tools would yield results in a single second. More precise tools took about a day, but their accuracy exceeded certainty itself. If Kundeline were making baseless claims, he would be nothing more than a fool trying to deceive with something that couldn’t be falsified.

It probably means that he’s that confident.

That was why the captain believed him. However, there was one lingering ambiguity.

“Former Emperor, you are aware that Besil, the patriarch of Sefira, is known as Lord Keter’s father, right? However, another party has also claimed to be his true parent.”

“Hm? Which lunatic is spouting such nonsense?”

Kundeline thought nothing of Keter bearing the traits of the Sefira bloodline. If Akrah, the woman who bore his seed, was the daughter of Sefira, it made perfect sense. As such, anyone else to claim Keter as their son was sheer madness.

“It is the Scala Marquisate of the Baen Kingdom.”

“That’s the worst joke I’ve heard recently. If someone from the Scala Marquisate said that to my face, I’d have smashed their skull on the spot. Do you think there’s any basis to their claim?”

“I saw no evidence, but they were quite confident.”

“After fiddling with their toys in dark corners for too long, they’ve finally gone mad. How dare they compare our Keter to such priggish fools?”

“I couldn’t agree more. Those oil-fetishists who get aroused by grease are truly insane. How dare they set their sights on Lord Keter?”

“I hear several noble families have settled within Sefira’s territory. Are the Scala Marquisate among them?”

“No, they are not staying there. But they don’t seem to have given up.”

“Good. Then we’ll arrive before they can say anything strange to Keter.”

Kundeline’s words were tantamount to an order. Already climbing a steep, treacherous slope, the elite troops pushed themselves even harder, accelerating their march toward Sefira.

1. Yes, it was previously stated in Chapter 157 that Keter has four wives. It seems something happened behind the scenes. ☜