Chapter 237

Attracted by the Smell of Turmoil

The Central Orthodox Church has been around for a long time, and it became prominent long before the Tearmoon Empire and Ganudos Port Country were created. Before it became an official religion, it was just a group of people led by a prophet who could hear God’s words.

They told people all over the world what the Holy Book said, laying the foundation for a shared set of morals and values. They thought it was part of their job to write down the histories of different countries and leave a record of how far people had come for future generations. They did this because they had been taught that their God was one who “blessed people. And He took pleasure in seeing what people had made because He saw them as gifts to Him.”

Because of this, it was very important for those who serve God to write down the histories, cultures, and systems of order that people had made, because these records were a tribute to God.

Ganudos, of course, was home to a church of the Central Orthodox. It was in a corner of the capital, but it didn’t have any facilities like an orphanage next to it. It was a simple building that wasn’t too big or too small.CHeCk for new stories on no/v/el/bin(.)c0m

Ludwig and Vanos sat in its basement archives just as the sun was turning orange in the late afternoon. Earlier in the day, their meetings with different senators had not gone well.

“I didn’t expect much, so it’s not really a shock... All right then. What’s next?” Ludwig asked.

He wasn’t really discouraged, but the fact that they kept using the Greenmoons as a distraction fuelled his suspicions. Ludwig went straight to the church’s archives after greeting the local priest at the church door. He was trying to figure out Ganudos’s history by reading old documents. He leaned back and ran his hand through his hair. He could feel a headache coming on. His anger wasn’t because he didn’t have enough information. In fact, it’s the opposite.

It was hard to believe how easy it was for him to get it. The information was all there sitting in plain sight, and it spelled out a history he’d had no idea about.

“Ever since Ganudos Port Country was founded, the Duke of Yellowmoon had been friendly with its people. He had sometimes given money from his own pocket to help the country. Then, at some point, the Duke of Greenmoon took over his job...”

He looked at the pages in front of him as if he wanted to make sure he understood what he had read. Then he shut the history book and looked up at the ceiling.

“How could they have kept these facts from us? At least, the Tearmoon government doesn’t know about them. Or have I been the only one who didn’t notice? Know that you don’t know anything, huh? The words of my master are turning out to be painfully accurate...”

Ludwig knew how secrets were kept and how to keep them. The more people tried to hide secrets, the more obvious they became. It might have been harder to find out what was in the secret, but the fact that it held important information became even more clear.

The problem with what he had just found out was that it wasn’t a secret at all.

All it took was a simple question. If he had known what to ask, he probably could have just asked around. And that was where the problem was. Why didn’t he already know?

He didn’t know because no one bothered to tell him. These facts were left out of reports because they were thought to be so unimportant that they didn’t deserve to be mentioned.

“That’s the problem. These facts were not kept secret. They seemed so unimportant that even if someone found out about them, they wouldn’t realise how important they were.”

Ganudos was a small country that most people didn’t see as much more than a place to stop on the way across the Galilea Sea. It didn’t matter much who spoke for the empire when they were negotiating with them. No one would have given it a second thought if the Yellowmoons gave their jobs to the Greenmoons.

That is, no one until now.

Ludwig thought.

Had it just been a chance? Was the way things are now just a matter of chance? At first glance, that did seem like a possibility...

“But no. I should think that there is a plan behind this.”

His starting point was Mia. She had told him to find out more about this. The Great Wisdom of the Empire, the princess he worked for, thought there was something here...

Something important enough for her to send him and Dion Alaia, the best soldier she commanded, to this country. That gave Ludwig enough to think about. To dig deeper and look for logical threads, with the hope that they would connect to make a web of intrigue.

“If this situation was set up on purpose, then what could be the point? Why should all communication be centralised under the House of Greenmoon?”

“Son of— When did they appear?”

Vanos glared at each attacker in turn as he held his sword out in front of him.

“Ganudos assassins?”

“I don’t know, but based on their weapons, I’d say they were pirates.”

They just looked at each other.

After taking two deep breaths, the assassins attacked from the sides. Vanos kept them away by swinging his sword left and right and clicking his tongue.

“You guys are tough! They know what they’re doing. Not regular pirates.”

“How likely are we to win?”

“Not good! They’ll wear us out in the end. We go big or go home. Even then, I can only finish three before I fall. Possibly four. I don’t like trading lives in that way. But you have to do what you have to do sometimes!”

Vanos took a step forward. The muscles on his strong body puffed out to show that he didn’t care about their enemies. He growled and pulled his lips back in a mean-looking grin.

“I’ll fight, and you run,” he said. “Godspeed, Ludwig. If you get away, say hello to Her Highness for me.”

“Sir Vanos!”

Ludwig tried to stop the big man, but the move just made him run faster. Vanos took off like a rocket.

The killers pulled out their swords. Just before he ran into them, there was a sharp swish that split the air.

It made an arc with the curved blades of the assassins.

In its wake, there was a gust of wind that made a ringing sound and then the sound of broken metal hitting the ground. The darkly dressed men all raised the ends of their weapons and gasped in shock at the same time. The timing was so good that it was almost slapstick.

“Wait, what—”

They were scared and tried to turn toward where the wind was coming from...

“Ha ha, if I were you, I wouldn’t do that.”

They froze..

“Whoever turns, dies.”

The voice was lighthearted, but the person behind it was not. They instinctively knew that death was close because the hair on their necks stood up. When the flat of a heavy blade hit one of them on the shoulder, he let out a short yelp.

“Hey, this is good. I now understand why that Jem guy did what he did to the princess. The shaking can be felt in the blade. Fun.”

The blade jumped around playfully just a few inches from the killer’s neck.

“Got you out of a tight spot just now, Ludwig, didn’t I?”

Dion Alaia, the best soldier in the empire, smiled.