Side Story Chapter 283

Duke Voltaire couldn’t understand why Kireua had visited him alone.

𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

“Let me get this straight. You want me to send you guards?”

Kireua nodded. “That’s right.”

There was a high chance that he and Voltaire were going to work together, and Kireua was still a prince, so Voltaire tried to be polite. But...

“...Honestly, I’m surprised. I never thought you would have such faith in me. I might use this chance to harm you, you know,” Voltaire murmured.

“You thought right. This isn’t out of faith.”

“Hmm?”

“I’ve learned about this country’s political state,” Kireua calmly answered.

Voltaire's eyes widened for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure. “You mean...”

“If I’m certain that someone wants me gone, then it’s common sense to ally with their enemy.”

“So, the enemy of your enemy is your friend, huh?”

“Precisely.”

The end of Voltaire’s mouth curled upward.

“But why are you asking for guards?” he asked. “Are you worried about an ambush or something?”

“You saw how much Duke Killian disapproved of attacking Hubalt. Who knows? Maybe he’ll try to stop it with an ‘ambush or something’.”

‘No way... Wait, it’s possible.’

Voltaire’s expression turned serious. Considering the continent’s current dynamic, it was much better to ally with Hubalt and crush Avalon, instead of making Hubalt an enemy.

‘Duke Killian is confident in his abilities. No doubt he thinks that he can take on Hubalt once Avalon and the Battle God are out of the picture.’

However, that put Voltaire and others in trouble. Their plan was to eliminate the Killian family by framing them for plotting treason, so their priority was to put the Killian family in the vanguard of the invasion of Hubalt so that the Killians wouldn’t have any available troops to mobilize within the empire. After that, Voltaire and the others would attack the Killians while they were unguarded.

‘I don’t want to make an enemy out of Hubalt either, but Duke Killian not sending his troops outside Swallow would be a bigger problem.’

If a prince from another country were to be assassinated in Swallow’s capital, the empire would be forced to postpone its plans to go to war with Hubalt. However, Kireua was an official guest of the empress, so if Aaron del Killian harmed him, Voltaire would have all the justification he needed to have Aaron declared a traitor.

“...I see. That’s why you need guards. You’re an important guest of Swallow, so I’m more than willing to assign you people from my family.”

“Indeed. I knew you were a wise man.”

“But you have to admit how dangerous a request you are making here. Although it’s best that such an unfortunate incident doesn’t occur, I’m also nervous about dealing with Duke Killian, given how obsessed with power he is.”

“...A foreign prince might be assassinated in Swallow’s capital and yet you still talk like it has nothing to do with you.”

“Let’s be honest here: Her Majesty is the one who brought you here, not me, so shouldn’t she be in charge of your safety?”

“Well, you have a point.”

“So how about we make a deal?” Voltaire asked with a subtle grin.

Kireua had to hide a grin of his own. Voltaire had responded exactly the way Kireua had expected.

“A deal, huh?” Kireua nodded, feigning ignorance. “Since I don’t want to die in a foreign land... go ahead and tell me.”

“Persuade Her Majesty not to go on her diplomatic mission to Avalon. It's nonsense, truly.”

“Hmm...” Kireua pretended to consider it.

Voltaire clenched his fists. “As awkward as it is to bring it up right now, Avalon is in a precarious state, so I can’t let Her Majesty go. I’m sure you understand my reasons.”

“I do, but I’m in no position to tell Her Majesty what to do.”

“Hmph.” Voltaire scoffed. “I’m sure she would listen to you since you guys are...

Cough.

Excuse me. In any case, you two are very close, I believe?”

“You’re asking me to take advantage of a woman’s affection like trash.”

Voltaire almost told Kireua that he was exactly that but held himself back.

“...Quite the opposite. If you really treasure Her Majesty, you should stop her from going somewhere dangerous.”

“I understand,” Kireua answered.

Voltaire clenched his fists tighter. “Then we are agreed?”

“In return, I have a condition of my own.”

Voltaire frowned. “What?”

“I leave this country in two days, so, although I know you’re busy, I would like you to be in my escort,” Kireua said. He added a feigned quiver of fear.

It was a better way than vaguely asking Voltaire to utilize every resource his family had. If Voltaire himself was guarding Kireua, he would assign more people as guards out of concern for his own life.

“Okay, I’ll do that,” Voltaire easily agreed. In truth, he was certain that Aaron wouldn’t dream of an ambush if Voltaire was guarding Kireua. Aaron was a smart person, so there was no way he would take such a risk.

“Let’s forget about the past and focus on the next two days.” Voltaire extended his hand.

With a smile, Kireua grabbed Volatire’s hand. “Likewise, Duke Voltaire.”

This was how Voltaire and Kireua came to a deal.

***

With the empress of Swallow herself and Voltaire, the de-facto leader of Swallow, leaning on the mages, the teleportation gate was installed half a day early.

“Do you really not need me to come with you?”

“Yo...ur Majesty, you’re monarch, so you shouldn’t leave your throne empty right after your ascension,” Kireua answered.

Anna pouted. “I was trying to help you, you know.”

“You don’t have to worry about Swallow’s diplomatic relations with Avalon. I’ll put in a good word when I get back.”

“Why don’t you drop the formal tone and talk like you usually do?”

Kireua glanced at the people around them. “I’m worried that your loyal subjects will knife me at night if I do that.”

“What the fuck are you talking about? They have no such thing as loyalty. The only reason they’re on my side is that I have some use for them.”

Anna’s blatant sarcasm made the nobles frown, but because Voltaire made no comment, they remained silent.

“Hey, are you sure the coordinates are set properly?” Voltaire asked. He wasn’t letting his guard down at all. His biggest concern was surviving last night—and fortunately, nothing happened. However, an ambush always took place at the least expected moment. If an assassin were to show up out of nowhere and put a dagger through Kireua’s heart, all Voltaire’s effort would have been for nothing.

“O-Of course. You can check the flashing light over here.” The mage pointed to the upper region of the teleportation gate.

“Flashing light?” Voltaire tilted his head in confusion. “Are you talking about this crystal ball?”

“Y-Yes, it’s a device invented by Thetapirion Whitesox, the Greatest Mage.”

“What is that device?”

“Th-This is a precaution to prevent accidents while using a teleportation gate... If something is blocking in the coordinates where the gate exits, it’ll blink with red light. But as you can see, the crystal ball is quiet right now.”

“By the way, why are you so nervous?”

The mage jolted. “Th-This is my first time meeting this many people of such high status like you...”

“Ha, so it’s true that all mages are faint of heart. Alright. Are we good to go?”

“You c-can use the gate right away, just stand in front of it. A mana jamming barrier is cast over the entirety of Avalon right now, so I set the coordinates at the border between Swallow and Avalon.”

“Okay.” Voltaire looked back at Kireua. “It’s ready.”

“It’s finally time to say goodbye.”

“Hahaha! The past two days have been so quiet that I was actually bored. I think you were scared for nothing.”

Kireua nodded. “I’m more sensitive than I look.”

“Is that so? How unexpected. Anyhow, I guess this is really goodbye.”

“Speaking of which...” Kireua trailed off.

Voltaire wondered what he was going to say. Kireua's last request caught Voltaire off guard.

“I would like your company until I get to the set coordinates...”

“What?!” Voltaire scowled at Kireua. “What the hell are you saying?”

“Isn’t it a reasonable demand, considering that I don’t know the exact destination before I use the teleportation gate?”

“The more people use a teleportation gate, the higher the cost becomes! Don’t tell me you aren’t aware of how astronomically expensive it is!”

“I can’t imagine that it’s that much of a burden for one of the three empires of Igrant.”

“Well—”

“If that is, you can bill the cost to Avalon later,” Kireua generously offered.

“Come on!” Anna shouted. “You’re embarrassing me right now. The cost is nothing, so do as he asks.”

“B-But...”

“I already said I’m not going, but if you really don’t want to accompany him, the least you can do is to let me go to Avalon myself!”

Voltaire bit his lip and looked around.

“...All of us are going with him,” he mumbled.

“Yes, Your Grace!”

All two hundred of Voltaire’s knights gathered around the teleportation gate in an orderly manner.

“...You worry about everything. I don’t know where the gutsy man I saw in the palace went,” Voltaire grumbled.

“I hear that a lot.”

“Be honest here. You hired a good assassin to kill Hubalt’s emperor, didn’t you? For the life of me, I can’t imagine that daisy of a man like you would be capable of assassinating someone,” Voltaire snapped. He didn’t hide how irritated he was.

Kireua simply smiled. “Shall we go now?”

“...Let’s go.” Voltaire gestured to the knights.

The mage’s lip quivered even harder. Kireua didn’t miss that.

“Are you not going to start?” Kireua quietly asked.

“I-I’m on it, but p-please keep in mind that the increase in the number of people using the teleportation gate will exhaust its ch-charged mana...”

“Yeah, I heard you, so get on with it already! It’s about damn time I finish this guard duty and get some rest,” Voltaire yelled.

The mage quickly activated the teleportation gate.

Before long, Voltaire, Kireua, and the two hundred knights disappeared into a pool of light.

***

Voltaire staggered from the typical dizziness that accompanied teleportation.

“...Huh?” he tilted his head. He was standing in the center of a dense forest, much to his confusion.

“Where is this place...?” Voltaire mumbled.

“...Murderous energy?”

The air in the forest was far from calm. The energy Voltaire and others could detect from trees and bushes around them churned the air.

“What did I tell you?” Kireua scoffed from next to Voltaire.

The one thing they knew for certain right now was that they hadn’t arrived at the border.

Voltaire’s crumpled up.

“Ah, fuck.”