Chapter 213 – Sword and Poison (3)

Chapter 213 – Sword and Poison (3)

Despite Juan’s persuasion, Lenly only nodded in silence and didn’t answer. Then, he headed somewhere with heavy steps while dragging his feet.

Juan could understand where Lenly was coming from; however, he couldn’t move the entire army for just one person. Not only was the Imperial Army already exhausted, but the speed of their current march was also way too fast.

“Your Majesty.”

Juan saw Pavan upon turning his head toward the voice. Pavan was holding a leather bag toward Juan, and inside it was a liquid swaying around. Juan took the leather bag and drank from it. He frowned slightly at the bitter taste of the low-grade alcohol, but he drank it anyway since he was thirsty.

After quenching his thirst, Juan handed over the leather bag to Pavan.

“Did I look like I needed a drink?”

“I know that Your Majesty doesn’t drink often, but you looked thirsty.”

Juan smiled bitterly at the fact that Pavan knew him very well despite having served him for only a little while. Just like he didn’t need to eat, Juan didn’t need to drink anything either.

Yet the thirst he was feeling was psychological.

“This war is strange,” Juan said. Upstodatee from n(0)/ve/lbIn/.(co/m

“Aren’t all wars strange?” Pavan answered.

“Maybe. But a lot of the wars I’ve been through have been much simpler than this. The gods who deserved to be destroyed were walking on our land and there were people who stood up against them out of anger and for the sake of survival. It was a terrible war, but these days, I somewhat miss those days—a time when a clear line was drawn between the good and evil.”

Pavan tilted his head, unable to understand Juan’s words.

“The enemy tried to annihilate our people and killed several friends of Your Majesty. He even resurrected those terrible gods. So, do you still feel that there is no evil?”

Juan sighed.

“It’s not that they aren’t evil. I’m saying that it’s unclear whether I’m good or evil. Just because I’m confronting evil doesn’t mean that I’m good.”

“Well, all the soldiers think of Your Majesty as the absolute good.”

“And I know better than anyone that they’re wrong.”

“Then a philosophical debate will begin among the soldiers.”

“What we are talking about isn’t suitable for the battlefield. It would be better to talk about this later.”

Pavan laughed in a low voice.

“Yes, it would. But Your Majesty, while the good is wondering if his sword is too sharp, the evil will have ten swords that are well maintained and ready—all while thinking about slaughtering the good with them.”

“Don’t worry. Neither is there a shortage of swords on our side nor are our swords blunt.”

Pavan bowed his head and stepped down in response to Juan’s firm answer. He had no doubts about the ability of the sword held by Juan. In fact, he had already seen enough of what Juan was capable of and had also seen the miracles that he could perform.

‘But what’s the use of a well-maintained sword if the holder of the sword is hesitant about using it?’

Pavan thought that it might be better to prepare another sword, just in case. He grabbed one of the soldiers walking past him and asked.

“Where is Dame Sina Solvane right now?”

***

“A gift from General Nienna?”

Pavan met up with Sina near the walls of the fortress which they had occupied, at a place where the traces of collapse and burning were evident.

As soon as he saw her, Pavan asked about the gift Nienna had given Sina.

Sina was perplexed, wondering how Pavan had found out about it, but answered while maintaining a calm exterior.

However, it was also true that Sina felt uneasy upon thinking that Pavan must have manipulated a lot of people.

Sina hesitated and opened her mouth with difficulty.

“We haven’t even figured out how to stop the Cainheryars yet...”

“The Cainheryars will last for longer if Dismas is able to flee alive. In the meantime, the empire might fall back to the state of the mythological era again—when it was split into smaller kingdoms. Perhaps it would be better to kill Dismas first and have His Majesty quickly destroy the rest of the Cainheryars.”

“...That’s only easy to say, Pavan.”

“I know what you’re worried about, but what I’m thinking about is much simpler than what you think. I just want to kill Dismas, that’s all. I just want to prepare a lot of swords to stab him. We all have different reasons—Dame Sina doesn’t want His Majesty to commit filicide, and Sir Lenly is trying to rescue the Saintess. Meanwhile, I’m just seeking simple revenge and victory.”

Sina nodded with unease as she came to a conclusion—that Pavan wasn’t hiding anything from her. She hesitated for a long time even after deciding to agree with Pavan, but soon grabbed something out of her pocket.

It was a white brooch that was shaped like a snowflake.

Pavan stared at the brooch.

“Is that Oberon?” Pavan asked.

“Yes. It’s what General Nienna gave to me.”

Sina quietly clasped the brooch. A subtle light leaked through Sina’s fingers and disappeared a little later like the fog.

Pavan looked at Sina with a suspicious look.

Meanwhile, Sina quietly looked down at her palm and stretched her index finger up.

At that moment, an awl made of ice that was about thirty centimeters long appeared along with a cracking sound.

Seeing this, Pavan shook his head in admiration.

“What an amazing weapon... it allows you to use this much magic just by holding it. Do you think you’ll be able to handle it well?”

“I think I’ll need a little practice.”

“We don’t have much time, so I guess all we can do is trust in Dame Sina’s capabilities.”

***

Ivy was standing in the middle of a purple valley.

‘It’s this place again.’

Ivy realized that she was dreaming. Rocks that emitted bright and shiny lights rose everywhere and formed a valley.

Ivy stomped her feet to find out if the ground she was standing on was real or not. Fortunately, the ground was hard.

However, it did not seem to be real when she saw the architecture scattered everywhere—the architecture that made it hard for her to know what era she was in. Ivy couldn’t figure out why this strange space kept appearing in her dreams.

It was difficult to estimate the time it started, but she figured that it must have been before the time she was appointed as the Saintess.

Ivy felt like she could see the images of her brain fluid and skull scattered all over the purple rocks. She didn’t know how, but it felt like something strange had entered her when she was forcibly revived by the Pope.

She didn’t know where this place was, but she decided to take a step forward; she thought that she would eventually wake up when the time came.

The purple valley was quiet, and it was neither cold nor hot. She couldn’t even tell if there was any air, since there was no wind.

After walking for a long time, Ivy came to a sudden stop as she found something.

Someone was sitting in a chair.

Ivy, who almost let out a scream without even realizing it, quickly covered her mouth. The man sitting in the chair had purple moss growing all over his body and it was hard to tell how long he had been sitting there for.

‘Is he even alive?’

Then the man slightly turned his head in response to the sudden noise.

Seeing this, Ivy’s face hardened.