Chapter 65
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Chapter 65
* * *
That day was the Emperor's birthday.
The banquet was tedious. Yurien de Harden Kirie habitually opened his True Sight and observed the Banquet Hall.
Most humans were neither black nor white, but gray. People who could become virtuous or wicked depending on circumstances. Hazy gray shadows wavered like heat shimmer. The world seen through True Sight was nearly colorless. The more stable one's essence or the firmer one's spiritual core, the clearer and more vivid those hazy forms became—but such people were rare.
"Yurien."
A man with silver hair and green eyes approached him. Through True Sight, he appeared as a deep gray bordering on black. The closer he came, the darker the black became. He stood before Yurien and twisted his lips into a smile.
"The banquet seems to bore you."
"Not at all, Kareem."
He was the 2nd Prince, Kareem de Harden Kirie. Yurien's own brother. Yet their relationship was worse than that of half-siblings. Yurien could see the malice hovering around his brother's soul with perfect clarity. Undoubtedly, that malice was directed at him.
Kareem whispered in a low voice.
"Then stop pretending to be noble and get out of here. I'm sick of looking at you."
"My apologies."
Yurien answered flatly. He too despised being here. But if he left before the end, the Emperor—his father—would seize upon it, claiming he had no intention of celebrating his own birthday. The moment Yurien absented himself, it would be his brother standing before him who would be the first to report it to the Emperor.
Merely engaging with him was exhausting. Yurien turned his gaze away from Kareem's accusations. He didn't want to see the malice flickering before his eyes. Among the colorless shadows, something caught his attention—a faint spark of flame.
True Sight could be controlled. The more one focused, the clearer it became. Without thinking, his eyes pursued that soul. As he concentrated his gaze, it grew increasingly distinct.
A pale gray shadow. The silhouette of a woman. Within it flickered a pale violet light, nearly white. A spark no larger than a fingernail. It wavered as though about to extinguish, yet it bore the potential to become a raging inferno.
[An intriguing soul. If it ignites, it will become a sun. Of course, whether it can ignite at all remains to be seen.]
The Holy Sword murmured with interest. Yurien observed that light flickering like a tiny star. He had rarely seen a soul with such unwavering will, but never one like this. That dim light might one day burn as brilliantly as the sun. It fascinated him. Curiosity stirred within him.
'Who is she?'
He withdrew his True Sight and looked at the person carrying that spark. She was a woman with pale pink hair, dressed in a sky-blue gown, conversing among noble ladies of her age. She was no different from the countless young noblewomen he had seen before. Pretty-faced with distinctive hair, but that was all.
Yurien opened his True Sight again and observed that dim light. Regardless of potential, the light was currently weak and fragile. The spark belonged to the daughter of an ordinary noble house. She would likely marry someone her parents chose, and barring any extraordinary circumstances, live an unremarkable, ordinary life. In such a life, that spark would remain nothing but a spark. His fleeting interest began to fade.
"You're not listening to me. Who exactly are you looking at?"
Irritation-laced words reached his ears, and Yurien finally came to his senses. He had momentarily forgotten where he was and who stood before him. Kareem confirmed the direction Yurien had been watching. The pink hair caught his eye.
"...A woman? This is the first time I've seen you show interest in a woman."
The malice in Kareem's soul was unmistakable as he spoke. Yurien hastily averted his gaze from her. He feigned an indifferent expression.
"It's not interest. I merely looked because her hair color was unusual."
"Ah, is that so...?"
Kareem drew out his words and laughed strangely. The more Yurien emphasized his lack of interest, the more it would sound like he had interest. Yurien deliberately changed the subject. And until the banquet ended, he did not once glance at the pink-haired woman again.
Yurien had known from a very young age that his father despised him. Whenever the Emperor's eyes met his as a child, he would display unconcealed revulsion and rage. He had even said it outright.
"Remove that disgusting thing from my sight at once."
It was his Nursemaid who explained to Yurien where the Emperor's hatred originated. His mother, whom he had never met, had died because of him, and that was why the Emperor found him so repulsive.
"Then... does Father hate me? Will he continue to hate me?"
The young 3rd Prince's question left the Nursemaid unable to answer coldly. She stroked the child's head and spoke as if to comfort him.
"If you become a child more virtuous and wise than anyone else, perhaps His Majesty will look upon Your Highness."
So Yurien strived. He performed every duty and education given to the Imperial Family with his utmost effort and did nothing wrong. Yet this only brought greater hatred.
"Your Highness Yurien is truly exceptional."
"The 2nd Prince also shows talent with the sword, they say."
"Compared to the 3rd Prince, to be honest..."
Inevitable comparisons. The more Yurien received praise from his tutors and stood out, the more the 2nd Prince was overshadowed. The field in which the 2nd Prince showed talent happened to be the sword—the very domain where Yurien possessed the greatest latent potential among all his many gifts.
Moreover, Yurien loved the sword. The boy did not indulge in entertainment or lose himself to diversions. He lived a disciplined life like a monk, devoting himself to the blade instead of hobbies. The 2nd Prince could never breach the wall that his younger brother, two years his junior, had built.
The Emperor could not bear it. He strove endlessly to find flaws in Yurien. Even the most trivial mistakes or blemishes were magnified without limit and met with reproach. Yurien adhered to righteousness with increasing obsession, determined not to be caught out.
At times, the Emperor even vented his anger on the 2nd Prince.
"I support you so greatly—why can you not surpass that wretch!"
The 2nd Prince Kareem came to hate Yurien. The younger brother who had stolen his mother's affection tormented him by mere existence. Kareem always regarded Yurien with eyes steeped in inferiority and hatred.
The 1st Prince Kruen, his half-brother, remained removed from that dynamic. Born beneath the steadfast protection of his maternal family, he became Crown Prince at birth and observed everything with indifference. Having early directed himself toward scholarship, he rarely felt inferior to Yurien. To be precise, he was simply indifferent.
Yurien was grateful for that indifference. Kareem, by contrast, took great interest in him. Every mistake Yurien made, everything he favored, everything that captured his attention—all of it reached the Emperor's ears through Kareem. Mistakes returned as punishment, beloved things were taken away, and objects of interest were destroyed.
A bird he had raised with affection once escaped from a cage he was certain he had locked securely and damaged the Emperor's Garden. For that transgression, it was struck down by Kareem's arrow. From that moment forward, Yurien took care never to show attachment to anything. He lived consciously in ascetic denial.
It was the same logic. After the banquet ended, Yurien severed his interest in that woman. He did not seek out her name, nor did he learn who she was. He returned to Agenka and forgot her. Forgetting was not difficult. The impression she had left was never that vivid to begin with. He had merely found it mildly curious that such an unremarkable woman carried within her the spark of such latent possibility.
Yurien soon forgot everything about that woman entirely. He returned to his ordinary, unremarkable life.
But he did not know. A mere glance. And that glance witnessed by his brother. That alone was enough—the tragedy had already begun.
* * *
The Demonic Sword Demon first appeared in March of 1629.
Upon her emergence, she annihilated three fortresses and collided with Nicole Sizton, a disciple of The Sage who had been stationed nearby. Nicole Sizton perished, but succeeded in inflicting considerable wounds upon the demon. After that injury, the demon vanished for a time, appearing only sporadically. Each appearance brought reports that she had grown stronger.
The Changtian Knights repeatedly sent word of their willingness to suppress the demon, but the Empire refused to permit it. The Empire pursued the demon directly, yet repeatedly lost her or saw their pursuit units slaughtered. After more than two years of this, a massive Suppression Unit was finally assembled in the winter of 1631. Nearly the entire Mage Tower and Imperial Guard Knights were mobilized. The 2nd Prince Kareem commanded that Suppression Unit.
"They were annihilated by that one woman."
Dietrich Sarua said this with a shrug of his shoulders. Owner of Leminggiosa and Yurien's companion since their Military Academy days, he entered the Squad Leader's Office as though it were his own room. Yurien looked up from the documents he was examining, his eyes meeting Dietrich's. Dietrich waved the parchment scroll in his hand and asked.
"Yul, aren't you curious what happened to your brother who commanded the Suppression Unit?"
"Don't intercept reports and read them, Diet."
"You're always so rigid."
Dietrich tossed the parchment toward him. As Yurien caught and unrolled it, Dietrich spoke.
"The Suppression Unit is unfortunate, but I'd say that bastard of yours—or whatever he was—died well."
"...Did my brother Kareem also fall in battle?"
"The demon sliced through everyone impartially."
Yurien scanned the report.
―No survivors. The Suppression Unit's communications ceased. A reconnaissance unit dispatched belatedly confirmed the deaths of all members, including the 2nd Prince.
So he had died this pathetically. Yurien confirmed his brother's death—the man who had tormented him his entire life—with a strange feeling in his chest. He felt no particular sorrow. He was only curious about what the Emperor was thinking now.
"Now that they're all dead, that cursed Empire will finally request our dispatch. Isn't this one of the worst massacres Bardegiosa has ever committed? Insane bastards. They should have called us long ago."
Dietrich clicked his tongue. Yurien closed the report with a heavy heart. From spring of 1629 when the demon first appeared until now, winter of 1631, the continuous massacres that could not be prevented—it seemed the greatest cause lay with himself.
The Emperor had rejected the Changtian Knights' involvement because Yurien was the commander. On the surface, he cited reasons such as disrespect toward the Empire and excessive interference from Changtian, but the true reason was surely that.
[That said, those deaths are not your responsibility. The one who actually committed the massacres was the demon wielded by the Demonic Sword, and the one who permitted those massacres was the Emperor. It is unjust to hold you accountable simply because the Emperor made such a choice.]
Rangiosa spoke with characteristic precision. It was the Holy Sword's way of offering comfort. Instead of answering, Yurien offered a faint, bitter smile. It seemed the Empire would soon send a formal request for dispatch. Now he had to devise a plan to suppress the Demonic Sword Demon.
Nothing was known of the demon except that she was a young woman, but from the reports that had come, she was undoubtedly far stronger than any of the Bardegiosa Owners who had appeared thus far. Preparation was necessary.
'Indeed, all the Giosa Owners must go.'
Yurien reached that conclusion while examining the demon's records. It was something he already knew, yet reviewing it with suppression as the objective sent fresh chills down his spine. It was overwhelming. Even if Yurien himself were stained by the Demonic Sword, he would not inflict this degree of damage.
'What manner of being is she, truly.'
He too had been called a once-in-an-age genius. It was no accident that he had become the youngest Master and the youngest commander of the Changtian Knights. The Demonic Sword Demon surely surpassed even him. It was remarkable that someone with such talent had remained unknown until now.
Yurien reviewed the information on the demon once more. Young woman. Black hair, black eyes, black stains spreading across her skin. That was all. There was abundant material on what the demon had done, but almost nothing was known of who she was.
Dietrich, rifling through documents, asked him a question.
"How will you assemble the suppression force?"
"All four of us Giosa Owners will go, including you and me. The other members would only be a liability."
"Understood. Should I inform Teresa?"
Dietrich chuckled and waved his hand before leaving the Squad Leader's Office. I glanced at the mountain of records piled high regarding demons. A sudden curiosity seized me—what kind of person had that woman been before becoming a demon? It was a meaningless question. From the moment the Demonic Sword consumed her, she was as good as dead.
Whoever she was, she must have been terribly unfortunate. With that fleeting pity exhausted, I set aside any further interest in her and focused solely on devising methods to suppress the demon.
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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