Chapter 238 : Chapter 238
Chapter 238
Nana had spent a long time in the intelligence agency.
This meant she was an expert at moving covertly.
There were many guards at the Western garrison, but to her eyes, the gaps were clearly visible.
Perhaps because they hadn't expected anyone to climb the mountain, the security near the ridge was sloppy.
“Go.”
She grabbed a magical beast and kicked its rear, sending it toward the Western side.
The terrified magical beast let out a shriek and charged at the Western soldiers.
The soldiers on the stockade were briefly flustered, but they soon raised their spears and stabbed all over the magical beast's body.
This was because it wasn't uncommon for magical beasts to come down from the mountains.
Having drawn their attention with the magical beast, Nana slid up the stockade.
It was so instantaneous and silent that no one noticed her intrusion.
After lightly crossing the stockade, Nana immediately hid among the shadows.
‘Just the right rags.’
She immediately threw on a straw mat.
Looking around for a moment, she saw people who weren't soldiers here and there among the barracks.
They were clearly refugees who hadn't managed to escape the sudden war.
Draped in the straw mat and hunching her back as if in fear, Nana looked exactly like a refugee.
As she looked around and hurried her steps, no one stopped her.
Her small frame made her look like a young girl separated from her family, and the wound covering one side of her face very easily stirred people's pity.
Besides, there was no one here who knew Nana Nereyades's face.
Instead, it was exhausting rejecting the soldiers who wanted to help her.
Nana gave a very innocent smile and said she was fine, and that she was grateful they were protecting the West.
The soldiers would then be moved and quickly make way for her.
Not even noticing that she was gradually approaching the command center.
‘It’s obvious the troops were hastily assembled. Well, since they were gathered from all over the West, there’s no way they’d be united.’
She felt a renewed sense of rage.
If it weren't for those 'Three Heroes' or whatever, this war wouldn't have been difficult.
No, not even the Three Heroes, if only that one bastard, Shion of Merion, didn't exist....
She suddenly felt a sense of strangeness in the fact that she was now going to see that very Shion of Merion on her own two feet.
If things didn't go as Secundus had said, Nana's life would soon be over.
But strangely, she felt no anxiety.
And so, she drew closer to Shion.
***
I was rolling a lozenge around in my mouth.
Shaebo Confectionery of Maesh had prepared a whole bunch of raspberry-flavored lozenges for the hero Shion.
From my perspective, I could only be grateful.
“Amethus.”
“Yes.”
The jade-eyed man bowed his head.
He had left for the Hanchamus Islands on my command, but he had returned, following his own heart.
I glanced at him.
“Have you completely settled on formal speech now? Give up on casual talk?”
“We have watching eyes. You are the Vice-Commander of the Western Alliance, after all.”
“I guess that way is more comfortable for you, isn't it?”
“Yes.”
I chuckled.
Amethus had been uncomfortable with casual speech from the beginning.
He had only acted like a friend because I had insisted and forced him, saying I had to hide my identity.
I stuck out my tongue.
On it was a half-melted lozenge.
“More importantly, hmm, a hundred steps....”
“Fast. Eighty steps in that time....”
“Seventy steps. A slight limp, but a familiar gait.”
He glanced outside the barracks.
“Go check.”
“Yes.”
Amethus grasped the hilt of his sword as if to draw it at any moment.
When he opened the barracks door, the approaching footsteps also stopped.
It was proof that the opponent had also been focusing all their nerves on their movements.
“......”
Among the soldiers was a person draped in a straw mat, a girl who looked like nothing more than a refugee.
But Amethus recognized that girl as Shion's enemy and his own junior.
Just as he was about to draw his sword without hesitation, Nana raised both hands from beneath the straw mat.
Then, she mouthed her intention.
‘I have no intention of fighting.’
Nana motioned toward Shion's barracks with her chin.
‘May I come in?’
....... Amethus looked at Shion, and Shion nodded his head as if to let her do as she pleased.
Nana was still showing her empty hands.
Amethus slowly released the hilt of his sword and nodded at her.
Nana avoided the gazes of the people, dashed inside like an arrow, and hid herself in the barracks.
Amethus closed the door, and Shion operated the metal box (the one he always used when having secret talks) with a click.
A magical mist enveloped the three of them.
I spoke, not hiding the inside of my mouth where fangs were growing.
“Nana Nereyades.”
Instead of answering, she put down the straw mat.
Amethus's eyes trembled slightly at the sight of one side of her face covered in a terrible wound.
Even though I, the one who had given her the wound, was unfazed.
“What brings you here? It hasn't even been that long since you escaped with just your life.”
“Do you think I wanted to come?”
Nana grumbled.
“I had to come because I have a message.”
Her tone was polite, but her eyes blazed with hatred.
It was because I had taken the lives of Niko and Bukenos, two men precious to her.
I didn't hide my own hatred either.
As long as Nana remained a soldier of Cordis, I would continue to hate her.
“Our Supreme Commander wants to see you, Shion of Merion.”
“...Who is your Supreme Commander?”
“Why ask when you already know, you sinister man.”
With my information network, there was no way I wouldn't know.
Nana pouted her lips and continued.
“The Three-Mi Grand General, His Highness Secundus Debius.”
“......”
For a moment, I was speechless.
It was a brief silence, but Nana clearly sensed my bewilderment.
“...If he tells me to come, must I go?”
“No. He came.”
“...He came?”
“Yes. He came.”
Nana shook her head as if she couldn't believe it herself.
“He's waiting for you on that mountain. He boasted that you would move if I told you this.”
“...Ha.”
I scratched my head roughly.
It was a busy time, right before a war.
But there was no task more important than the fact that Secundus Debius had come to find me.
“...I thought one or two people might be starting to realize....”
Of all people, I can't believe it's Secundus.
I swallowed my next words and got up.
The winter wind was cold.
I put on a thick leather coat and offered one to Nana as well.
Nana did not refuse.
“Let's go, Amethus.”
***
Secundus Debius had been looking down at the West the entire time.
For hours, in the same spot where he was sitting when Nana left, continuously.
He gazed deeply at every single light, every single moving person.
He now had to trample them.
He had to separate children from their parents, make them flee their long-held hometowns, end lives that could have continued, and finally, plant the Empire's flag.
That was Secundus's job.
So he couldn't help but feel sorrowful.
He had power.
He was born strong.
It wasn't just the physical strength to rip open a lion's maw at age nine.
His father was the Great Emperor Continua, the medal on his chest symbolized the 3rd seat of the Ten Great Generals, the Three-Mi Grand General; he had political power, wealth, and physical strength.
He was overflowing with power, yet all he did was trample the weak.
He lived every day, sorrowful and sorrowful, yet too strong to even collapse.
“You're late.”
Secundus spat out.
There was no trace of sorrow in his voice.
Regardless of his heart, being able to always show a tougher exterior than anyone else was also one of the powers he possessed.
“I was packing a few gifts.”
I took a wooden chair out from my bosom (it was inside Mana Armor Valziart) and sat across from him without hesitation.
I likewise took a large bundle from my bosom and handed it to Secundus.
The smell of food was overwhelming.
“You must not have had a proper meal after crossing the mountain, right?”
“That's true. You've become thoughtful.”
“I was always thoughtful.”
“Mm. We'll say you were.”
Secundus laughed heartily.
I chuckled too.
Nana felt as if they were brothers.
“You should eat too.”
“Let's offer some to them, too.”
I turned my head.
“Amethus, Nana, sit.”
As if not tired of it, I took a large wooden table from my bosom.
It made one wonder what items I didn't carry around.
I quickly filled the wooden table with food.
It was still steaming and looked delicious.
The four men and women sat around the table.
Late at night, deep in the mountains, right before a war, four people before a feast, two representing the West and two representing the Empire.
They slowly began their meal.
It tasted good.
“Hm. Has it been 7 years since our last meal?”
“It couldn't be helped.”
“It's strange.”
Secundus grabbed a pig's hind leg with his hand and tore at it.
“We only spent a few months together, but I felt very close to you.”
“I felt the same way.”
“......Did you.”
The meal continued, but a brief silence fell.
Secundus only spoke again after leaving nothing but the bone of the pig's hind leg.
“......I expected it, but seeing you again, it's truly surprising.”
He looked at me.
Blond hair, blue eyes, the same features as before.
Secundus's eyes crinkled.
“I really thought you were dead, Zionis.”
“I'm glad it went according to my intentions, Brother Secundus.”
What...!? Nana, who was chewing on bread, shot her head up in surprise.
She stared at me with wide eyes.
What did Secundus just call me?
Zionis? The 5th Prince who died?
If I am Zionis, then many of the questions until now are resolved.
But, if that's the case....... She wanted to rattle off questions like a machine gun, but Amethus stopped her.
I glanced sideways at Nana.
“Amethus.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Amethus bowed his head.
“Take Nana and go a little ways off.
Brother Secundus and I need to catch up, just the two of us.”
“Understood.”
“And Nana looks like she has a lot of questions. Humor her a bit.”
***
Nana immediately stood up and left the spot.
The meal wasn't important.
She had so much she had to ask Amethus.
Amethus followed her.
“How far do you plan on going, Nana?”
“Those two asked us to give them space, didn't they?”
“This is far enough.”
Hmph. Nana snorted.
In the short time they walked, she had clearly regained her composure more than before.
“Senior Amethus, he was His Highness Zionis? Is that why a stubborn mule like you follows him?”
“The fact that His Highness is of the Imperial bloodline is not important. The fact that we share the same destiny was what was important.”
“Destiny? What destiny?”
Nana growled.
“A destiny great enough to betray all of our promises and follow.
What on earth is it!”
“What destiny do you think it is? Who do you think we are antagonizing right now?”
“...Don't tell me....”
“It is exactly that, Nana.”
Amethus's eyes flashed jade.
“Our destiny is simple.”
Nana Nereyades felt a chill.
“We will tear down the Empire.”
....... An absurd declaration.
Shion, once a prince of the Empire, and Amethus, currently the Emperor's number one confidant.
For those two to gather and say they'll tear down the Empire.
Nana had no choice but to ask the question.
“......Why?”
She didn't hide her hatred.
The hatred, mixed with sorrow, was close to resentment.
“Didn't you hear the story that that man killed Senior Bukenos?”
“...I heard.”
“And it's still a destiny you can't abandon?
Are you saying you'll only be satisfied once you've killed me and His Majesty Ferbias, too?
Why on earth did you come to hate Cordis so much?”
“...It would be better for you not to hear.”
“No!!”
Nana shouted.
“I have to hear it!”
Her shout shook the mountain.
“Just why, Senior!”
“...I should be the one asking, Nana.”
Amethus slowly opened his mouth.
“Why didn't you say anything? You are a Nereyades.
You must have known.”
“......Know what......?”
“Aretion.”
“......!!!”
Amethus felt a sense of betrayal.
He forced a smile, pulling up the corners of his mouth.
“Look, Nana. As I thought, you knew too.”