Side Story Chapter 273

“What an absolute mess,” Anna said as soon as she got out of Swallow’s palace.

The situation outside had taken a turn for the worst. Thran’s confident march had ended long ago, and they were perishing amid the debris of the scaffold.

“Argh!”

“Hold, even if that means we die here today! We need to save His Majesty no matter what it costs!”

“People of Thran, this will be our grave!”

The freedom fighters’ desperate screams filled the plaza, drifting over the blood and bodies that stained its stones.

“...So everything went according to the fox-girl’s plan, huh?” Goosebumps spread all over Anna’s arms. As she was sensitive to changes in the wind, Anna knew that the knights of Swallow had been lying in ambush, but their choice of places to take cover was truly remarkable. The knights had been hiding in the basements of the buildings surrounding the wide plaza.

That wasn’t as easy as it sounded. Those buildings were residential, so, even if the owners were citizens of Swallow, it wasn’t easy to ask everyone for their cooperation and make sure that they wouldn’t compromise the knights’ ambush.

Regardless, something about the masked girl bothered Anna. She felt icky and familiar at the same time.

“...Maybe I should’ve killed her,” Anna mumbled.

From experience, Anna knew that people who gave off contradicting impressions were dangerous.

Breaking away from her thoughts, Anna turned to her side. “What do you want to do? Shall we wreak havoc? It looks like all those Thran guys will be massacred at this rate.”

“...No.” Kireua watched the ongoing battle in the plaza and shook his head. “Let’s not.”

The freedom fighters were technically strangers to Kireua. Perhaps Selim would have stuck his head out to save them, but Kireua was very rational. Of course, that would partially be because of his Evil Sin, but he was certain that he was born this way.

“I can’t save everyone on my own anyway.”

Besides, Kireua was in Swallow for the same reason as the freedom fighters: to rescue Ulabis. On top of that, Arash bel Grace had told Kireua that Ulabis had ingested a lethal poison, so Kireua needed to find out if she had told him the truth as soon as possible.

“Excellent choice. That’s why I like you.” Anna winked at Kireua.

“Can you find my teacher first, please?”

“Of course I can,” Anna answered with confidence.

A strong gust of wind blew, and Anna’s elemental spirit quickly lifted her up in the sky. She took a look around and found a group of people who were engaged in an intense battle near the west gate.

“In the west!” Anna shouted.

Kireua nodded in response, only to find himself surrounded by hundreds of knights.

“Do those shits have a death wish?” Anna wondered, scowling. Still, Anna had been expecting on some level that Swallow’s knights were going to attack her and Kireua, so she was already readying a great amount of wind in each hand.

However, Anna never launched her attack because Voltaire came out from the palace a moment later.

“Stand down,” Voltaire commanded and then looked up at Anna. “Pardon their rudeness. They still have a lot to learn.”

Kireua remained silent.

“The elemental spirit mage in the air and the red-haired man are important guests of the Imperial Family!” Voltaire shouted, using his mana to ensure that all of the knights heard him. “Be careful not to harm them, and focus on eradicating Thran!”

The knights quickly withdrew from their encirclement of Kireua.

-Can I have a moment of your time? There is something I urgently need to talk to you about.

The telepathic message from Voltaire made Anna scrunch her face up in confusion.

“What fuckery are you trying to pull here?”

-I promise you that I won’t harm the two of you until you get out of Swallow.

-Did you go crazy all of a sudden? Why are you acting kind?

Anna snapped at Voltaire. Although she wasn’t a knight, she could mimic knights’ telepathy using a special skill named Elemental Spirit Whisper that only wind elemental spirit mages could use.

-I’m sure that it will be worth your while.

Anna clicked her tongue.

-You, a duke, are acting very polite even though you just tried to have us killed. Everything about you is fishy. How am I supposed to trust you?

-I can make a Mana Pledge if you want.

Anna couldn’t question Voltaire’s sincerity after that offer. She wasn’t sure what was going on inside his head, but a Mana Pledge guaranteed that he was acting in good faith. No, she had to take his deal because bringing Ulabis out of the country was a lot more difficult than getting him off of the chopping block.

-...If you’re going to do it, do it now. I’ll follow you afterward.

-Good.

Voltaire smiled and put his hand on his abdomen, where his mana hall was.

“I, Agzahade lune Voltaire, solemnly swear on my mana that I will never harm Kireua Sanders and Anna bel Grace for a week. The pledge cannot be terminated unless the Second Prince of Avalon or the Princess of Swallow harm me or Swallow,” Voltaire solemnly swore.

Loud resonating sounds echoed around Voltaire, but Anna’s lip trembled as she watched him. One part of his pledge echoed around her ears.

“The Princess of Swallow...?” Anna quickly shook her head to pull herself together when she noticed Kireua silently asking her what was going on.

-Don’t worry about me. Go get Thran’s king—I’ll take care of the rest.

Kireua pondered for a moment and then nodded. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t worried, but he didn’t have much time left.

-Call me right away if anything happens. You still have your crystal ball, right?

-Go already. Stop worrying about me.

When Anna waved her hand reassuringly with a smile, Kireua vanished. She slowly descended to the ground.

-Now... shall we get on with our talk?

Despite her grin, Anna’s lips were trembling.

* * *

After a short move west, Kireua arrived at the battlefield. Around ten freedom fighters were fighting fifty of Swallow’s knights. The freedom fighters were outnumbered five times over, and one of them was carrying Ulabis, who was unconscious, but they were holding out better than Kireua had expected.

‘...It’s meaningless though,’

Kireua thought as he strode toward the melee.

From her vantage point in the sky, Anna had seen hundreds of archers on the ramparts, ready to rain arrows down on the freedom fighters; Arash had prepared for every possible contingency. Thran’s people had been drawn in like moths to the flame, and their rescue mission was just as ill-fated.

‘That woman, Arash bel Grace, is a lot more thorough and clever than I thought.’

Arash reminded Kireua of the Second Queen Consort, Icarus. In fact, Kireua had a feeling that Arash was going to be Avalon’s biggest enemy once they went to war against Swallow.

“Stop right there!” one of Swallow’s knights, who had been standing in the rear, shouted when he noticed Kireua. His comrades stopped driving Thran’s knights into a corner and leisurely retreated backward. They knew that the freedom fighters were at their limit.

The freedom fighters panted for breath, saved from the brink of death by Kireua’s arrival.

“You are...” the knight trailed off.

“Didn’t you hear your duke telling you guys not to harm the red-haired man?” Kireua raised an eyebrow.

The Swallow knights quietly looked at the middle-aged knight who seemed to be their captain.

“...We did,” the captain said, “but even if you’re an important guest, I can’t let you hinder our wor—”

The captain stiffened as Kireua’s formidable murderous energy slammed into him like a tidal wave; it contained killing intent, which he had learned from Aisha Sestropi.

“What are you going to do if I stop you?” Kireua tilted his head.

When Kireua unleashed his full power, Swallow’s knights could feel that their advantage in numbers didn’t mean anything any longer. They could try fighting Kireua a hundred times, but they would lose every time.

Kireua brushed past the stunned knights. Only when he arrived in front of his beleaguered teacher did Kireua come to a halt. The Thran independence fighters had been vigilantly watching the conversation, but their legs gave out when they heard Kireua’s whispered words.

“...Teacher.”

“T-Teacher?”

“Is that... Prince Kireua?”

Kireua’s eyes remained glued to Ulabis.

“Teacher.”

Ulabis was silent, and Kireua could feel how faint Ulabis’s energy was.

Kireua gently grabbed Ulabis’s limp hand and slowly pushed his mana through Ulabis for a moment.

Ulabis coughed up a mouthful of blood and slowly opened his eyes.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

“...Is that you, Kireua?”

“...Yes, it’s me.”

“I’m... sorry,” Ulabis whispered. “At first... I was trying to use... you because you were a great way... to be acquainted with... the strongest man on the continent.”

Kireua smiled weakly. “...Even if it weren’t for me, His Majesty considers you his friend.”

“Yeah... I guess Joshua would be like that... It was...purely out of... greed.”

No one could blame Ulabis for harboring such thoughts. Millions of lives depended on Ulabis. He had endured that responsibility for decades.

“That is why... I taught you half-heartedly at first.”

“...That’s cheap.”

“Ha... Hahaha... Don’t... worry... I taught you everything... I could... To be honest... you made me put my heart into it later... ”

Ulabis’s voice was slowly fading. Kireua instinctively knew that Ulabis’s time in this world was drawing to an end. However, Kireua continued to circulate his mana within Ulabis, more cautiously this time. It seemed to be working to some degree, for Ulabis’s pallid cheeks regained some color.

“You really didn’t seem like the Martial God’s son, but you worked hard to learn the sword at least. You were so desperate that I ended up pitying you...”

“You do know that I can still hear you, right?”

“...But you made me feel emotions that I’d never experienced before. Perhaps that’s how it feels to have a child. You got better day after day, so watching your progress... made me as happy as if it were mine.”

Ulabis’s face quickly darkened.

“...Teacher.” Kireua choked up.

“You... may be Joshua Sanders’ son, but... you’re also mine... I’m... so grateful... to you...for giving me... such a wonderful memory.”

Even though he and Kireua weren’t related by blood, Ulabis genuinely considered him his son. The same was felt by Kireua; Ulabis was the man upon whom Kireua could rely upon like a father when he had been a boy.

“Thank you. Thank... you,” Ulabis repeated over and over as his voice died out.

Mana didn’t exist inside the deceased; bodies were simply empty shells. When noticed that the paths within Ulabis’s body were closed to his mana, a heavy silence fell upon the bloodied plaza.

Kireua wordlessly looked up at the sky. His eyes kept tearing up, so he couldn’t see clearly—however, he could see well enough to tell that the weather was too fucking good for what had just happened. Teardrops crawled down Kireua’s cheeks.

Today, another Star fell in Swallow.