Side Story Chapter 70

“Your Majesty, are you serious about this tournament?” Cain worriedly asked as soon as Grimman and his group left.

Iceline and Lilith quickly approached Joshua as well.

“I didn’t say anything because I was worried about hurting your reputation, but this isn’t right,” Cain continued. “We don’t know when the rebels will come barging into the capital.”

“I agree with Sir Cain. Your power isn’t even restored yet,” Lilith chimed in.

Iceline was holding her hands close to her chest, looking at Joshua without saying anything.

“I was suffering more losses than I’d expected,” Joshua said. Vague as he was, Lilith instantly realized to whom Joshua was speaking. “Don’t worry about them, trust me. I’ll take care of them.”

“…I’ll make sure to repay this favor,” Lilith blurted out, in spite of what she felt. She was surprised when she realized how much she trusted him.

“Then how are you going to proceed with this tournament? Since we’re inviting them, we’ll have to go over the rules in detail,” Cain said.

“It’s a shame. This is Icarus’s specialty.”

“…If you happen to run into her, please don’t say such things. I say this from my heart as your loyal knight.”

“Why?” Joshua asked.

“Even if it’s not for this matter, she’ll start by tearing out all your hair before she starts talking to you, Your Majesty.”

Joshua closed his mouth. Iceline nodded in agreement. On the other hand, Lilith tilted her head in confusion.

“…Although I expected it on some level, she must have gone through a lot,” Joshua murmured.

“Outrageously a lot.”

“Mmm…”

“In your current state, you might really be killed—and on a side note, I won’t be able to stop her,” Cain firmly emphasized.

Joshua scratched the back of his head. “I’ll call her back to the Palace and have a serious conversation with her.”

“She’s already busy as a bee because of the north, so how would she get to the Palace?”

“The north is going to be quiet for a while.”

“What do you mean…?” Cain wasn’t sure what Joshua was talking about.

“I took some measures in the north on my way back to the Palace.” Joshua smiled meaningfully, remembering the avalanche in the north. Although he'd had to overwork himself a bit, Carmen von Agnus wouldn’t be able to do anything for a while. It would take weeks to reorganize her army, which Joshua would use to completely quell the rebellion in the north.

“I’ll issue an imperial order, so order all our people to return aside from the regions where the fighting is still ongoing. I can also use this opportunity to increase morale and say hello.”

“…Yes, Your Majesty.”

“And…” Joshua trailed off and then turned to look at Lilith. “Since we’ve started something, we should gather information in advance, shouldn’t we?”

“You’re talking about the Four Paladins in the Hubalt Empire.” Lilith nodded.

“Yeah, but don’t think about charging me for this. It’s for our mutual benefit.”

“Who do you think I am?”

“The best information merchant on the continent,” Joshua bluntly replied.

Lilith closed her mouth and narrowed her eyes at Joshua for treating her like a mere merchant, but she actually didn’t feel bad. It was like she had been acknowledged by the best man on the continent.

“…How familiar are you with fables?” Lilith asked.

“I know a bit of the ones about the Angel Realm.”

Considering Joshua’s past, it would be hard for him to not know.

“Just like there were Seven Demon Kings with the Evil Sins’ powers, that isn’t an exaggeration to say that the Four Archangels were the rulers of their realm.”

Joshua waved his hand. “Let’s skip over the part everyone knows.”

“…Michael is the archangel of fire and swordcraft, Gabriel is the archangel of water and healing, Raphael is the archangel of wind and magic, and Uriel is the archangel of earth and omnipotence,” Lilith listed. “They ruled the four regions of the Angel Realm, and the Four Paladins have manifested those Four Archangels’ authorities.”

“And those Four Paladins are the ones who replaced the vacancy left by the pope, aren’t they?”

“…There is one more person.”

“What?” Joshua’s eyes narrowed.

“Just as the Demon Spirit descended through the bodies of the Imperial Family of Avalon, this man has a fragment of the Angel Spirit, so he possesses more divine power than all the other priests. And that man was also recently acknowledged as the most physically talented in the history of the Hubalt Empire,” Lilith explained.

Cain's eyes widened. “It’s my first time hearing about this.”

“Of course. My father, the other cardinals, and a few high-ranking officials trained this genius in utmost secrecy.”

“How strong is he, objectively?”

“Perhaps the Four Paladins wouldn’t be able to do anything to him even if they attacked him all at once,” Lilith guessed.

“H-He’s that strong?”

“Even ten years ago there were rumors that he was the Joshua Sanders of the Hubalt Empire.”

Silence fell upon the area. Since Lilith, who had long since surpassed the level of a Class A knight, had said it, it was hard to disregard what she just said.

“On top of that, his teacher is Zactor, the Martial Emperor, one of the three Celestials that was killed by you.” Lilith pointed at Joshua.

Joshua nodded. “I see that they aren’t exaggerating about him being the greatest genius in the history of Hubalt.”

“That is who you’re going to go up against in your current—unwell—state.”

Cain came forward. “You said that you’ll be fully recovered in a year, didn’t you? Don’t worry, Your Majesty. I’ll deal with him.”

“…I’m really sorry, but you won’t be enough to fight him, Combat Emperor,” Lilith bitterly refuted.

Cain flinched. Although that was embarrassing to say it about himself, he was one of the Nine Stars, the strongest people on the continent. As a matter of fact, Cain was considered one of the strongest among them.

“…I’ve been listening to you without saying much, but I think you’re exaggerating too much,” Cain said to her with a faint frown.

“Do you know what an information merchant’s most important virtues are? The ability to make an accurate analysis, form an objective assessment, and maintain rational judgment. I’m a person who sells information for money, so I can’t put my clients in danger with incorrect information.”

Lilith’s firm stance left Cain with nothing to say; he would have to demonstrate his ability.

Lilith turned to look at Joshua. “Your Majesty, please recover your full power as much as possible.”

“…I’ll try.”

“Yes, you’ll have to unless you want to see the fires of war engulfing this country again,” Lilith said with a grim look.

* * *

Once Joshua and the others returned to the Palace, they proceeded with their work. They made a request to the Magic Tower, the organization with the quickest means to communicate with other countries.

The Magic Tower regularly issued newspapers featuring hot topics in various countries and possessed a super-sized communication crystal ball with a range of thousands of kilometers.

The news was delivered to kings first.

[Joshua Sanders, the Martial God, has returned!]

𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

It was the headline of the Magic Tower’s newspaper the next morning. Needless to say, the response was sensational, and all nobles proposed that they should send delegations to offer their congratulations. The Avalon Empire with the Martial God was the only country that had a chance against the Hubalt Empire, which was officially the strongest country on the continent right now. On the other hand, most of them wanted to verify the news, and that was when the news of the Martial God's positive view of the delegations spread… Everyone on the continent was excited.

However, there were some people who weren’t pleased with the turn of events. The Poison King, the leader of the Hashashin Guild, one of the three assassin guilds, was one of them.

“Crazy bastard! I thought he would never reveal himself… What in the world is he up to?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to pause our preparations for now?” the Poison King’s subordinate asked. The Poison King frowned.

The original plan was to quietly spread the news that Lilith Aphrodite was in Avalon so that Hubalt would take action. No matter what anyone said, the witch was the enemy of the entire continent, but the plan went awry.

What would happen if the Poison King and his subordinates spread the news that the Imperial Family of the Avalon Empire was connected to Lilith? People would think that someone was scheming to frame the Martial God. That was how great Joshua Sanders’s presence was on the continent. If someone retraced the rumors to their source, there was a high chance of the entire Hashashin Guild falling into danger.

“…Damn it.” The Poison King had to give up on the plan for good. No matter how hard he thought, he was always going to suffer more losses rather than benefits by executing the plan.

“How are the other countries responding?” the Poison King asked.

“They’re establishing delegations consisting of their highest-ranking officials along with at least two knight orders.”

“I can understand why they’re sending their officials, but why two knight orders?”

“Umm… according to a trustworthy source, the Emperor of Avalon is taking charge of planning a friendly international tournament, as if he’s trying to prove that he’s still strong,” his subordinate reported.

“What? A tournament?”

“Yes, there was an announcement from the Palace of the Avalon Empire that the strongest from each country will be selected to compete in the tournament and gain experience. The Palace announced that they hope that the delegations’ visit to Avalon will be an opportunity to ensure peace on the continent.”

“To hell with peace!” The Poison King slammed the table. The true goal of this tournament was so obvious that it was annoying. The Poison King himself had witnessed what Joshua Sanders could do; just like the Poison King’s subordinate had said, the goal was to keep the other kings in check by displaying Joshua’s power.

“…No, wait.” A memory flashed across the Poison King’s mind, bringing him to a halt. “Come to think of it, Lilith Aphrodite is staying in the Palace of the Avalon Empire, isn’t she?”

“It’s highly likely, considering the reports from spies around Arcadia. If she used a warp gate, we would have already found out about it.”

“The First Queen Consort of Avalon is a Class 7 mage, so isn’t there a possibility she used a magic spell like teleportation?”

“I checked with our most skilled mages… when a teleportation spell is used, it creates a distinctive mana flow. But aside from traces of a teleportation spell assumed to have been used by Joshua and his group, the mages weren’t able to detect such flows at all.”

After stroking his chin for a moment, the Poison King raised his head. “Assuming that Lilith Aphrodite is still in the Palace… wouldn’t things be interesting if she reveals herself in front of all the foreign delegations?”

His subordinate's eyes widened. “I see… I think it'd be perfect if we can make it work.”

“Go tell everyone that our priority is now locating Lilith Aphrodite.”

“Yes, sir!”