Side Story Chapter 273

Side Story Chapter 273

“What an absolute mess,” Anna said as soon as she got out of Swallow’s palace.

The situation outside had taken a turn for the worst. Thran’s confident march had ended long ago, and they were perishing amid the debris of the scaffold.

“Argh!”

“Hold, even if that means we die here today! We need to save His Majesty no matter what it costs!”

“People of Thran, this will be our grave!”

The freedom fighters’ desperate screams filled the plaza, drifting over the blood and bodies that stained its stones.

“...So everything went according to the fox-girl’s plan, huh?” Goosebumps spread all over Anna’s arms. As she was sensitive to changes in the wind, Anna knew that the knights of Swallow had been lying in ambush, but their choice of places to take cover was truly remarkable. The knights had been hiding in the basements of the buildings surrounding the wide plaza.

That wasn’t as easy as it sounded. Those buildings were residential, so, even if the owners were citizens of Swallow, it wasn’t easy to ask everyone for their cooperation and make sure that they wouldn’t compromise the knights’ ambush.

Regardless, something about the masked girl bothered Anna. She felt icky and familiar at the same time.

“...Maybe I should’ve killed her,” Anna mumbled.

From experience, Anna knew that people who gave off contradicting impressions were dangerous.

Breaking away from her thoughts, Anna turned to her side. “What do you want to do? Shall we wreak havoc? It looks like all those Thran guys will be massacred at this rate.”

“...No.” Kireua watched the ongoing battle in the plaza and shook his head. “Let’s not.”

The freedom fighters were technically strangers to Kireua. Perhaps Selim would have stuck his head out to save them, but Kireua was very rational. Of course, that would partially be because of his Evil Sin, but he was certain that he was born this way.

“I can’t save everyone on my own anyway.”

Besides, Kireua was in Swallow for the same reason as the freedom fighters: to rescue Ulabis. On top of that, Arash bel Grace had told Kireua that Ulabis had ingested a lethal poison, so Kireua needed to find out if she had told him the truth as soon as possible.

“Excellent choice. That’s why I like you.” Anna winked at Kireua.

“Can you find my teacher first, please?”

“Of course I can,” Anna answered with confidence.

A strong gust of wind blew, and Anna’s elemental spirit quickly lifted her up in the sky. She took a look around and found a group of people who were engaged in an intense battle near the west gate.

“In the west!” Anna shouted.

Kireua nodded in response, only to find himself surrounded by hundreds of knights.

“Do those shits have a death wish?” Anna wondered, scowling. Still, Anna had been expecting on some level that Swallow’s knights were going to attack her and Kireua, so she was already readying a great amount of wind in each hand.

However, Anna never launched her attack because Voltaire came out from the palace a moment later.

“Stand down,” Voltaire commanded and then looked up at Anna. “Pardon their rudeness. They still have a lot to learn.”

Kireua remained silent.

“The elemental spirit mage in the air and the red-haired man are important guests of the Imperial Family!” Voltaire shouted, using his mana to ensure that all of the knights heard him. “Be careful not to harm them, and focus on eradicating Thran!”

The knights quickly withdrew from their encirclement of Kireua.

-Can I have a moment of your time? There is something I urgently need to talk to you about.

The telepathic message from Voltaire made Anna scrunch her face up in confusion.

“What fuckery are you trying to pull here?”

-I promise you that I won’t harm the two of you until you get out of Swallow.

“What are you going to do if I stop you?” Kireua tilted his head.

When Kireua unleashed his full power, Swallow’s knights could feel that their advantage in numbers didn’t mean anything any longer. They could try fighting Kireua a hundred times, but they would lose every time.

Kireua brushed past the stunned knights. Only when he arrived in front of his beleaguered teacher did Kireua come to a halt. The Thran independence fighters had been vigilantly watching the conversation, but their legs gave out when they heard Kireua’s whispered words.

“...Teacher.”

“T-Teacher?”

“Is that... Prince Kireua?”

Kireua’s eyes remained glued to Ulabis.

“Teacher.”

Ulabis was silent, and Kireua could feel how faint Ulabis’s energy was.

Kireua gently grabbed Ulabis’s limp hand and slowly pushed his mana through Ulabis for a moment.

Ulabis coughed up a mouthful of blood and slowly opened his eyes.

“...Is that you, Kireua?”

“...Yes, it’s me.”

“I’m... sorry,” Ulabis whispered. “At first... I was trying to use... you because you were a great way... to be acquainted with... the strongest man on the continent.”

Kireua smiled weakly. “...Even if it weren’t for me, His Majesty considers you his friend.”

“Yeah... I guess Joshua would be like that... It was...purely out of... greed.”

No one could blame Ulabis for harboring such thoughts. Millions of lives depended on Ulabis. He had endured that responsibility for decades.

“That is why... I taught you half-heartedly at first.”

“...That’s cheap.”

“Ha... Hahaha... Don’t... worry... I taught you everything... I could... To be honest... you made me put my heart into it later... ”

Ulabis’s voice was slowly fading. Kireua instinctively knew that Ulabis’s time in this world was drawing to an end. However, Kireua continued to circulate his mana within Ulabis, more cautiously this time. It seemed to be working to some degree, for Ulabis’s pallid cheeks regained some color.

“You really didn’t seem like the Martial God’s son, but you worked hard to learn the sword at least. You were so desperate that I ended up pitying you...”

“You do know that I can still hear you, right?”

“...But you made me feel emotions that I’d never experienced before. Perhaps that’s how it feels to have a child. You got better day after day, so watching your progress... made me as happy as if it were mine.”

Ulabis’s face quickly darkened.

“...Teacher.” Kireua choked up.

“You... may be Joshua Sanders’ son, but... you’re also mine... I’m... so grateful... to you...for giving me... such a wonderful memory.”

Even though he and Kireua weren’t related by blood, Ulabis genuinely considered him his son. The same was felt by Kireua; Ulabis was the man upon whom Kireua could rely upon like a father when he had been a boy.

“Thank you. Thank... you,” Ulabis repeated over and over as his voice died out.

Mana didn’t exist inside the deceased; bodies were simply empty shells. When noticed that the paths within Ulabis’s body were closed to his mana, a heavy silence fell upon the bloodied plaza.

Kireua wordlessly looked up at the sky. His eyes kept tearing up, so he couldn’t see clearly—however, he could see well enough to tell that the weather was too fucking good for what had just happened. Teardrops crawled down Kireua’s cheeks.

Today, another Star fell in Swallow.