Chapter 83

The night sea was especially dark.

“Captain Shadi, are you asleep?”

“No, not yet.”

They were on a rocky island.

“Why aren’t you sleeping, Untes?”

“I have something to do.”

“Something to do.”

We were waiting for Amethus at a place where the Hill of Storms and the Thorn Wave were visible in the distance.

There was no discomfort.

Living as part of the Special Operations Unit meant often having to endure harsh environments.

We always carried camping magical tools, so we could drink warm tea even on a rocky island in the middle of the sea.

“I’d rather have work to do, too. I’m bored since I can’t see anything and can’t sleep.”

“When will your eyes return?”

“Three more days. Amethus needs to return before then.”

Shadi Shandor wore an eye patch.

It was a side effect of her Ars, ‘Rami Labuhr’.

“Then I can get carried on his back again.”

She laughed.

Propping up her chin, she acted like a shy girl.

I could see it clearly even in the darkness of the sea.

It was always like this.

The cold-headed Special Operations Unit captain would smile like that when it came to Amethus.

Untes Ubias Uterbeum unconsciously bit his lip.

“…Captain Shadi, there’s something you need to know.”

In Untes’s hand was a small device.

It was a magical tool that could exchange short bursts of information.

It worked without a problem even on the distant sea, and its light was blinking.

Shadi, who was blind, couldn't see it.

“An urgent message… has arrived.”

“Oh? From where?”

“……”

Untes hesitated before speaking.

“…From the Imperial Palace, specifically from the next Majesty……”

“…What? Why?”

Shadi Shandor’s face froze.

The Imperial Palace of the Great Empire Cordis wasn’t a name to be uttered lightly.

Shadi’s voice grew cold.

“A direct order from the Imperial Palace to the Special Operations Unit? That’s strange. Why wouldn’t it go through the Chief?”

“No. It didn’t come to Captain Shadi; it came to me.”

“…Why you?”

“What do you think?”

The Special Operations Unit captain was Shadi Shandor.

Untes was only her subordinate.

There was no reason for him to receive direct communication from the Cordis Imperial Palace.

Unless he was a member of the influential noble family of the capital, the Uterbeum family.

“…Don’t tell me, Untes……”

Shadi immediately realized.

Untes Ubias Uterbeum had been secretly communicating with the Imperial Palace.

“…You’ve been giving information to the Imperial Palace? All this time?”

“Let’s talk about that later! That’s not important right now!”

“How is it not important!”

The blind woman's shout echoed over the empty night waves.

“This is not allowed! The Special Operations Unit has a duty not to hand over information to anyone except His Majesty, not even if it’s at the request of the Prime Minister, without proper procedure!”

Shadi Shandor screamed in frustration.

“I trusted you, Untes Ubias Uterbeum! I trusted you, even though I knew trust was a foolish thing!”

“That’s why I’m being honest with you now!”

Untes raised his voice.

It felt incredibly unfamiliar to see the usually cheerful subordinate yell at her.

“You need to know something about Captain Amethus! Do you know what the Imperial Palace is calling Captain Amethus?”

“You sold out Captain Amethus, too? How could you?”

How much did Amethus care for them?

Untes, in particular, had been helped by Amethus since he was a Special Operations Unit rookie.

Thinking of that made her blood run cold even more.

“You’ve been reporting his every move to the Imperial Palace… no… wait a minute……”

“Captain Shadi, you’re feeling that something is wrong now, right?”

“…The Imperial Palace, why?”

Shadi said blankly.

“Captain Amethus is the next Majesty’s friend and confidant……?”

The Special Operations Unit was helping Amethus.

Since he was the next emperor’s confidant, she naturally assumed he had come with a mission from the Imperial Palace.

She thought it was just so secretive he couldn't reveal it.

But if that were the case, why would there be a reason to report Amethus's movements to the Imperial Palace?

Why would the Imperial Palace send a secret document to Untes?

The night was deep.

The wind was cold.

Shadi’s face was turning paler and paler.

“That’s what I’m telling you! Our coming to Arete was not an Imperial mission or anything. Captain Amethus just used us for his own purposes.”

“……”

“Okay. That’s fine. It’s completely fine!”

Untes spoke as if he was throwing up.

“Because he’s Captain Amethus, that reason alone is enough. If he would just use us, if he would just seek us out, I would be happy. But, but……”

He squeezed the magical tool in his hand.

The information sent by the Imperial Palace was in it.

He wanted to show it to Shadi Shandor.

If she weren't blind, he would have shoved it in her face right away.

“…Do you know what they call the Captain here?”

The sky he looked up at was also black.

Enough to make him let out a deep sigh.

“Captain Shadi, do you know what Captain Amethus’s, what his family name is?”

“……”

Shadi Shandor was silent.

I couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

A fog began to set in. A chill clung to her skin.

“Aretion!”

A shout close to a roar.

“Amethus, Aretion-!!”

Stupid Aretion, despicable Aretion.

That name everyone in the Cordis Empire knew.

The family that owned Arete Island, the one right in front of them.

“Think about it, Captain Shadi!”

Strangely, it was silent without even the sound of waves.

Even though the Thorn Wave was raging fiercely and the Hill of Storms was not far away.

Untes’s scream, far from being muffled, was filled with more sorrow and hit Shadi’s ears.

“What would a member of the Aretion family want to do by returning to Arete, their ancestors’ island?”

“……”

“What else could it be but to start that calamity again!?”

“…Untes.”

Shadi opened her mouth slowly.

Just as she had been silent for a long time, she knew exactly what she had to say.

“Is that the kind of person you think Captain Amethus is?”

“…I know, I know he isn’t.”

The jade-eyed man called the diviner of the Security Bureau.

He’s as strong as a monster and has a sixth sense like a ghost, but he's as stupidly honest as a fool.

“I know all too well that he’s not that kind of person. That’s why I’m being honest with you.”

All the evidence said that they shouldn't trust Amethus, that he had deceived them and he really had.

He had lied to them to make them follow him here.

“But, if that’s the case, then why……”

And yet, he was still confused.

His trust, even a small bit of it, hadn't completely disappeared.

“Let’s wait, Untes Ubias Uterbeum.”

Shadi lifted her head.

She couldn’t see because she was blind, but she was certain the sky had been stained as black as ink.

“For my sake, please wait.”

***

Warm sunlight, rustling sand.

It was night outside, but Arete Island was bright.

The sun hadn't risen, but it was full of light.

“Amethus.”

I said.

“Mind if I tell you a story?”

“…I won't listen.”

“Then I’ll just talk to myself. Listen or don’t, it's up to you.”

We were in the middle of a fight.

I wielded my ‘Heated Iron Bloodline’ and Amethus thrust his double-edged sword.

And yet, I spoke nonchalantly.

“The 48th Emperor of the Cordis Empire, my grandfather, was a frail person.”

He liked songs, alcohol, and paintings.

His nature wasn't eccentric, but you couldn't call it strong either.

It was a time when the opportunistic nobles dared to try and take control of the emperor.

“The empire was in crisis, and it was an opportunity for the Western Alliance.”

The millennium empire was on the verge of being torn apart.

It wasn't because anyone had touched it; its immense body was about to burst under its own weight.

From the perspective of the Western countries, which had always lived under pressure, this was an opportunity they couldn’t miss.

They resolved to unite and cross the great mountain range.

“The Western Alliance’s declaration of war against Cordis.”

The war lasted for three years.

“It was the worst crisis in nearly three hundred years.”

The Western Alliance pushed back the empire with a speed that even surprised themselves.

It was a disaster comparable to when Sen Sorti alone annihilated the Imperial army 400 years ago.

It seemed like the name of Cordis was about to end.

“But then, Continua the Great and his three aides rose up, and with their great whatever and brave whatever, the empire was saved, and that was 46 years ago……”

Everyone knows this story, so I'll just skip over it.

My damned father.

I didn't care for him much and didn’t want to praise him.

He didn't just end the war; he seized an unprecedented amount of territory.

A great revival came to the empire.

All the imperial citizens eagerly hailed him as the third Great Emperor in history.

“…Anyway, at that time, there was a difficult place during the war. Before Continua the Great rose up, it was a battle where no one knew what would happen.”

The people of the land they were standing on.

“Arete Island.”

At that time, it was still the most beautiful and bountiful island in Hobel Bay.

“It was an island of the empire, but it had no sense of belonging. It had only become imperial territory by force sixty years prior.”

Its culture and everything else were different from Cordis.

It was actually closer to the West and had frequent exchanges with them.

“So the Aretions thought.”

The Aretion family was the owner of Arete.

They had been so for a thousand years, since the days of Hotus.

All the islanders were pleased with their leadership.

“Has the time for liberation not come?”

The chaos of the millennium empire, which seemed unshakeable.

If not now, when?

“If we deliver a powerful blow during this chaos, we can break away from Cordis and become independent. This is what we have been waiting for. So, what should we use to deliver a powerful blow?”

“……”

“Since a normal powerful blow would be like poking a hornet's nest, let’s see……”

Amethus had stopped his hands by now.

He stood still, glaring at me, but his ears were listening to my story.

“There’s a sleeping god on Arete Island. He’s an existence the family had revered, but what does that matter? What if we modify him and use him as a weapon?”

There was a grinding sound.

Amethus was grinding his teeth hard again.

I chuckled, thinking about the trouble he would have when he got old.

“But, alas and how unfortunate……”

I said annoyingly.

Spreading my arms as if to say, ‘what a shame.’

“Turning an ancient god into a weapon couldn’t possibly be easy. The god woke up in the middle of it and, in his fury, brought a calamity upon the island.”

His jade eyes wavered.

“The calamity came, and people died. Every single person on the island, from children to the elderly, met a terrible end. Hundreds of thousands vanished in an instant, more than the soldiers who died in the war.”

Amethus’s father was the third son of the family.

He was able to escape the calamity because he lived off the island.

But it was only them.

Everyone else died in an instant, as if a gust of wind had blown them away.

“How could it be, so miserable.”

There were tears in his jade eyes.

For the first time, Amethus realized that too much anger could also lead to tears.

“And how could the Aretion family be so stupid, and so despicable!”

I spun around.

“They tried to betray the empire, they tried to turn the god they revered into a weapon, and they couldn’t even do a single thing right, turning their own island and its people into such a state!”

I acted as if I were on a stage.

“Even children would sing. Stupid Aretion, despicable Aretion, Aretion who deserved to die!”

“……”

“Aretion, who brought calamity upon the most beautiful island in the Southwest Sea, so utterly cursed they couldn't even be pitied!”

“…What, do you want……?”

Amethus asked with difficulty.

It was piercingly bitter.

The story of his family, which he had struggled to avoid but couldn’t, so he had buried it and lived.

“What do you want, telling me, that story……?”

“Amethus.”

My voice grew quiet.

My blue eyes did as well.

“What if this isn’t the truth? What if it’s an imperial lie?”

There was no liar’s smile.

The heart of a secretive person was temporarily set aside.

Instead, I asked.

As a man who was once the-commander of the Western Alliance, as a revenger who hated the empire, as one of the only two Pollinglights, I threw a question.

“If that’s the case, will you listen?”

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