Chapter 207. Even If I Lose the Light (2)
“Are you asking me if stars are beautiful?”
The one who had made Azadin feel that the stars were beautiful was Aldis.
The tales and legends she taught him, the devotion and love she had shown him.
That was why the stars had been beautiful.
Those tiny lights flickering in the night sky were not merely light, but memories, and longing, and faith.
“Now, I don’t know. But why are you asking me that now? If it’s just to mock me….”
Azadin’s voice carried hostility for a moment, then it faded away.
“Haa. Well, do as you like.”
It was the attitude of someone who had given up everything.
“Please answer me. I deserve to hear the answer, Azadin.”
Who gave you the right?! He was about to retort, but then Azadin remembered that Midiam did, in fact, have the right.
Yes. He had once entrusted this girl with his faith.
She had every right to question him.
“I don’t know.”
“What?”
Hearing that answer, Ishmael grew furious.
Azadin should never have given such a response.
After all they had endured to come this far?! After suffering so much to get here, only to see Azadin lose all hope and collapse in despair?!
But as Ishmael raged, Midiam stopped him.
“Then, is protecting innocent people beautiful?”
“That is….”
Once, those had been Azadin’s own words.
But now, he had lost faith in his own words.
Yet the girl who had once resonated with his words was now gazing at him with innocent eyes, filled with deep yearning, compassion, and love.
“Azadin.”
The girl opened her mouth.
“Stars may not be beautiful. The desire to protect people may not be beautiful either. But… those who believe that the stars are beautiful, they are truly beautiful.”
“!”
Was there truly a value in this world beyond eating, defecating, and ruling?
Was there truly any worth in that cluster of meaningless lights glittering above?
Perhaps there was, perhaps there was not.
But the faith of those who believed so was surely more beautiful than the stars themselves.
This girl returned to Azadin the faith that had once been his voice.
“Yes. That was once my belief. I suppose I must take responsibility for saying those words to you. That’s quite a heavy burden.”
“There you go again….”
Ishmael grew irritated at Azadin’s talk of responsibility, but suddenly a blazing heat surged forth from Azadin.
“Huh?”
From the man who had just moments ago seemed little more than a living corpse, a fiery vigor was now rising, filling his body with powerful vitality.
Azadin had once again regained his faith.
***
The Aether bloodline had long ruled over and protected the boy’s clan.
And so, the boy had to swear to protect the girl.
Because he had to dedicate all of his talent and ambition to her, he came to cherish her.
Because he could not endure otherwise.
He would continue to deceive himself like this forever.
But one night, the girl called for him.
An ambitious plan to challenge a herald infamous as a half-wit and seize his position.
A ridiculous request for him to hear her out.
The boy knew this was an impossible task.
Even if it was a low-ranking herald, a herald without a respectable family still possessed great ferocity.
It was a strength beyond measure, and that was why he had become a herald.
Perhaps once his body matured further, it might have been possible, but there was no way two mere children could defeat an active herald.
Yet because the boy cherished the girl, he chose to grant her reckless wish.
“As expected of you, Ishmael. Thank you. Is there anything you want? A treasured sword? Or maybe a fine bow?”
“No, nothing. But if we are to go on a long journey, good shoes and a mountain goat will be necessary. If we are heading to a hot region, a horse might be better, though taking one would make everyone suspicious.”
“Heh, so little greed. You should have more desires, so it’d be easier for me to repay you.”
“My lady need not repay me. The Aether bloodline has long bestowed great grace upon our family, after all.”
“But….”
“Yes?”
“Even so, I want to give you something. Ah, that’s it.”
The girl untied the necklace hanging from her neck.
“If you ever get questioned later, show them this.”
“This is….”
It was a small jade talisman.
A proof divided among the five patriarchs who had crossed the sea on five vessels when the Aragasa came to this land. A jade guarantee given by the chieftain, so that the five families would not be extinguished even if their heirs committed crimes.
“I cannot accept this.”
It was something he dared not accept, nor should he.
But the girl was insistent.
“This is my most precious treasure, so I’ll give it to you. If it feels wrong to accept it, then just keep it for me.”
“Keep it for you?”
“I tend to lose things easily.”
Saying that, the girl smiled.
***
That girl was now crying.
“Ah.”
Midiam covered her face with her hands.
Tears flowed down.
Though she had pretended to be calm, in truth she had been afraid.
It had pained her to see Azadin broken, faithless, ruined.
And yet, just to return to Azadin what she had once received from him, she had pretended to be calm, and entrusted him with the most precious thing in her heart.
Thank goodness.
Thank goodness it had been accepted.
And Azadin was glad he had lived up to her expectations.
Once relief settled in, the rebound of all the anxiety she had been suppressing spilled out as tears.
“Midiam.”
Azadin looked at the weeping Midiam with a complicated expression.
“I dawdled far too long, didn’t I? Well then, shall I make up for all the time I wasted? But before that, I’m starving.”
Perhaps because he had regained his will to live, the hunger he had been able to endure until moments ago now surged upon him.
“Since it’s heavy anyway, we might as well eat everything.”
Ishmael, rummaging through the pack to take out rations, let out a sudden sigh.
For in the bottom of the pack, his hand had brushed against the necklace, the Sand Jade Talisman.
‘Ah… am I… finally free?’
No longer did he need to pretend to cherish the girl, no longer did he need to restrain his ambition or his yearning for freedom.
He had already raised his hand against the chieftain. He was in no position to speak of loyalty to the Aether bloodline.
And yet, why did his heart feel so heavy?
Surely, this was what he had wanted as well.
He too had desperately wished for this girl’s heart to reach him.
‘In the end, I did not truly lack feelings. How arrogant I am. Fearing my pride might be wounded, fearing my pride might suffer a blow, I stood a step away from even admitting I liked her, only observing from a distance….’
As Ishmael struggled to suppress the turmoil in his heart, it happened.
[All done?]
A bird had appeared, watching over Azadin, Midiam, and Ishmael. Embedded in the bird’s body was a large eyeball.
[If you’re finished, let’s meet. Follow the nearby river and head northeast, there you’ll find a port. I’ll be waiting there, so come.]
It was Arael’s voice.
***
Waiting at the rendezvous point were Arael and her followers— the Four of Beauty of Nature, Zenith the younger sister of Demia of Flowers, and their attendants, numbering ten in total.
Azadin counted them, clicking his tongue.
What a pitiful sight the once-mighty faction of Arael had become.
‘Aside from the Four of Beauty of Nature and Zenith, none are heralds. As expected, once the chieftain revealed his true face and Korasar fell, they all defected?’
When the reclusive chieftain Hatir finally emerged and the ambitions of the elder council were realized, most of those in Arael’s faction had turned their backs.
Only these five, with their attendants, remained loyal to her until the end. Yet among them, Azadin spotted two familiar faces.
“Captain! Thank goodness you’re safe.”
Scott and Shati were there with Arael’s group.
“What are you doing there?”
“Well, what can I say, I’m talented, so lots of people want me around. It’s not easy living up to everyone’s expectations.”
“Just to clear up any misunderstanding, he was captured. Tried to escape, but they caught him,” Shati corrected.
“So then. Why did you want to meet?”
Azadin asked Arael.
“Because we need to join forces. Here, this was yours, wasn’t it?”
Arael said this as she tossed something to Azadin—his saddlebag.
Inside, he found the axehead made of Azure Steel, The Blue Executioner, along with gold coins, even imperial coins, all intact.
But the copies of the Book of the Divine King were gone.
“How did you find this?”
“I raided Amun-Zadek.”
“Oh? Don’t tell me you killed him? Even someone like him would still have been useful in gathering and leading the refugees.”
“You defend the man who threw you into prison and left you to die. You haven’t changed.”
“I was indebted to the Golden King, so killing his son seemed… off. But if you ask me, Arael, you didn’t kill Amun-Zadek either, did you?”
Arael was no bloodthirsty killer.
Even if she had personal grudges with Amun-Zadek, even if she had reason to take his life, in such times she would likely hold back.
After all, once the chaos subsided, Amun-Zadek’s strength would dwindle on its own.
Once, as a rightful heir, he had commanded immense power, but based in Bruma, his foundation had suffered devastating blows.
Meanwhile, another son of the Golden King, Darhan-Zadek, who trained armies in the north, would retain his foundation. Even if Azadin never lifted a hand, the road ahead for Amun-Zadek was destined to be harsh.
In such a situation, if Arael had any sense, she would not risk further turmoil by killing him.
“Indeed. I only took the copies of the Book of the Divine King.”
Arael said this, opening her hand.
Above her palm rose glowing letters of white mana. Countless words of light danced within a radiant sphere above her hand.
The Book of the Divine King, incomplete and missing fragments, yet untainted and uncorrupted, a grimoire brimming with powerful white mana.
“What is that?”
“I combined the copies of the Book of the Divine King I collected, the ones you gathered, and the ones the elder council transcribed long ago. With this, when I place it upon Bruma’s throne, I will cleanse the throne defiled by the chieftain and I shall become Bruma’s Divine King.”
“……”
An astonishing feat. That Arael had managed such a thing.
Had she shown this to the clans before Aldis seized Korasar, they might have praised her and risen in rebellion for her sake.
But now, with Hatir and Aldis holding Korasar, and even Bruma fallen, its significance was diminished.
“You must have gathered a great deal. But even if you show this, is this truly everything…?”
Azadin looked toward the Four of Beauty of Nature and Zenith.
“Most of them are powerless before the order inscribed by the elder council.”
“They’ve lived as slaves for generations. Among the lowborn, there are those who sympathize with Lady Arael’s ideals, but resisting the Five Families or the elder council? That they cannot bring themselves to do.”
Seraph of the Birds, Aleph of the Winds burst out in frustration.
Hearing that, Azadin could not help but ask, curiosity piqued.
“So, what exactly is different between what Arael intends to do and what the elder council intends to do?”
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