Chapter 34

Chapter 34. What Is Justice? (2)

A room filled with books.

A man sat behind the large desk in the center, writing out documents.

On the guest sofa in front of the desk sat a woman whose age was impossible to guess, drinking wine by herself.

The room was quiet.

Even the breeze drifting in through the half-open window made the scene inside look as though it had been painted onto a canvas.

Flutter.

Into that picture-like room flew a white bird.

The bird circled the room in silence, then quietly settled atop the thick pile of documents.

Neither the man nor the woman was surprised by the bird’s sudden appearance.

The man merely furrowed his brows slightly and untied the paper bound to the bird’s leg.

He unfolded it and read its contents.

"So in the end, it has come to this."

Clicking his tongue, he held the paper in his hand.

Fwoosh.

The paper began to burn in his palm.

"As always, things have turned out just as you prophesied."

"...It was too late. A prophecy that cannot even prevent failure is utterly useless."

"Well, no matter how great a power may be, there is no way it can foresee every future."

"But all of them acted because they believed in the prophecy I passed on to them before. They must have moved because they trusted me...."

"A plan cannot succeed every single time. Perhaps we have only been succeeding too easily all this while because of you."

"But my ancestor foresaw nearly every future and guided the other Heroes onto the right path. And I too, in the past...."

Ten years ago—no, even five years ago—the woman now draining her wine before his eyes possessed foresight so powerful that people called her the second coming of the prophet who had once foreseen the futures of the Heroes of old.

But beginning ten years ago, small things had started to go wrong little by little, and from five years ago onward, her prophecies began to shift constantly and even fail outright.

Of course, aside from her ancestor, she was still the greatest prophet alive, and most of her prophecies were still not far off.

The man recalled the writing that had been on the paper now reduced to ashes.

It had been a note from an agent stationed in the territory of the Marquess of Hierro.

It said that they had learned of the secret passage and intended to proceed with the operation they had planned.

The message had been sent by means of an ability that conveyed news swiftly, but because of the distance involved, the operation would already be underway by now.

And he had known that this operation would fail before he even read the note.

But because the prophet had learned of the altered future too late, there had been no way to stop the operation once it was already in motion.

He had intended to send people to salvage what remained of the organization after the failure, but—

"You say it would be even more dangerous if we sent people to recover the survivors...."

"I could not see it clearly, but if we send people, I saw a crimson force approaching our side along the ones we dispatch."

It had not been a clear vision of the future like on other occasions, but even that much was enough.

"So in the end, that means our trail would be traced back to us."

After hearing her prophecy, he abandoned the organization that remained in the territory of the Marquess of Hierro.

They had nurtured it for a long time, and it had grown into no small force, yet he severed that entire line cleanly.

"...I am truly sorry."

"You have done nothing wrong. No matter how I look at it, this does not seem to be a problem with your ability."

Not every prophecy of hers was failing. Since the trouble only arose in certain regions and around certain events, there was clearly some outside factor at work.

"Well, we will look into that separately."

It was an extremely important matter, but not one that could be understood quickly. The organization had already been searching for the reason for five years now.

"More importantly, if the operation failed and they might be tracked afterward, then does that mean there is someone in the marquess’s house with that kind of ability? I underestimated the Marquess of Hierro too much."

Perhaps he had judged the marquess’s house too lightly after seeing the trash he had for children.

"Then again, Martin was also the marquess’s son."

When he thought of Martin, he also thought of the subordinates who would be cast aside together with him, and his stomach turned.

He rose from his seat and sat on the sofa opposite the woman.

When he lifted his empty glass, the woman filled it to the brim with wine.

"There is nothing better than alcohol for forgetting pain."

But both the woman pouring the wine and the man holding the glass knew perfectly well that alcohol could not make pain disappear.

Even so, it did seem capable of settling the discomfort twisting inside his stomach.

After draining the wine, he spoke.

"We will put this front on hold for now. A plan cannot succeed every single time, and there are still many places left where we can act."

"Will you really be all right?"

Seeing how unwell the man looked, the woman asked cautiously.

He shook his head.

"I am the one who should feel more sorry. The futures you see must all be soaked in blood."

"It is all right. I only see them. You are the one walking that road of blood with your own feet."

At her words, the man let out a bitter laugh. At this point, any comfort they offered one another was meaningless.

"I spoke nonsense. We both chose this path long ago, so neither of us can stop here now."

"Yes. Since this power was granted to me, this is my mission."

"And mine as well."

The two of them emptied their glasses into their mouths and pushed the memory of the abandoned people into the farthest corner of their minds.

---

After entering the secret passage through the temple’s hidden door, the mercenaries made it safely beneath the lord’s castle.

They had not been able to bring too many people because the secret had to be preserved, but even so, dozens of them were moving through the passage fully armed.

If not for the secret passage they were walking through now, there was no way they could have slipped into the lord’s castle unseen.

On top of that, the group had to move carefully.

"Ah! Careful!"

A low shout burst out from the middle of the silent advancing group.

One of the wooden barrels being carried by several mercenaries had nearly tipped over.

It looked like an oak barrel used to hold liquor, but the mercenaries looking at it wore no expression one would wear while looking at alcohol.

The mercenaries nearby hurriedly steadied it, and the oak barrel remained intact, but the mercenary carrying it got kicked in the shins by several others.

"What the hell are you doing?! Are you trying to get us all killed?"

"Don’t tell me you’re still drunk? This isn’t ordinary oil! If you can’t carry it, hand it over to someone else!"

The mercenary carrying the oak barrel accepted the abuse meekly, his face pale white.

And no wonder. The oak barrels they were carrying were the very stars of tonight’s operation.

The reason they had come sneaking in like this was to burn the marquess and his entire family to death so that Martin could become the rightful heir.

Since they had to burn everything thoroughly and leave not the slightest room for suspicion, preparation was necessary.

That preparation was what filled the oak barrels they carried.

What those barrels contained was something prepared by those above—Hellfire, which was said to have been sealed away after the Great War.

While everyone was drenched in nervous sweat, Captain Benjamin, who was leading the way, called out in a low voice.

"Get ready, all of you! Slaughter every last member of the marquess’s family, and eliminate every witness so that no one remains to testify."

Their destination, the hidden door leading to the marquess’s study, was now directly ahead.

It was something he had already told them many times, but the captain warned the mercenaries once more.

"As planned, split up and move to your assigned positions, and the moment you reach them, set off the Hellfire as well."

After confirming that the mercenaries were ready, he nodded to Martin.

At Benjamin’s signal, Martin struck the wall exactly as Adria had told him.

Grrrrk.

Part of the wall sank downward, revealing a staircase leading upward.

Perhaps because it was so late at night, not an inch ahead could be seen in the study above the stairs.

Once the passage opened, two agile mercenaries carefully climbed the steps just as planned.

They vanished into the darkness above, and the mercenaries below waited for their signal.

One, two, three....

As time dragged on, Captain Benjamin’s brows twitched.

The signal was too slow.

Worse, an ominous smell was drifting down from above.

The smell of iron and blood.

Mana began to vibrate throughout his entire body.

Benjamin’s face stiffened.

"A trap."

Enemies were waiting above.

"Shields to the front! Everyone else withdraw slowly."

At his words, the mercenaries’ faces hardened.

Just as the shield-bearing mercenaries began to move forward—

Shh-shh-shhk!

Arrows flew out of the darkness.

"Ugh!"

"Aaagh!"

"I’m hit!"

Cries and screams filled the passage.

"Kill them all! These bastards dared attempt to assassinate our lord!"

A shout filled with mana exploded from the place where the arrows had been fired, and then armored knights came pouring in together with another volley of arrows.

"The operation has failed! Everyone run!"

Captain Benjamin shouted.

And the instant he did, he threw himself backward.

He had been thoroughly played.

Lately the prophecies had seemed to creak now and then, and it appeared that this operation had, unfortunately, been one of the times when the prophecy went wrong.

'Good thing Noah stayed out of it. Her instincts really are uncanny.'

Knights of the marquess’s house were pouring in from every direction.

It seemed they had not only descended from the study where the door had opened, but through other hidden doors as well.

'Was it an intentional trap? Or were we discovered halfway through?'

The question flashed through his mind for a moment, but right now it did not matter either way.

'Where’s Martin?'

Fortunately, Martin was nowhere to be seen. Thanks to his ability, he seemed to have escaped first.

Aaagh!

Screams continued to erupt from every side.

These were mercenaries he had trained for a long time, but there was no way they could stand against knights who had prepared properly for battle.

The mercenaries fell after exchanging barely a few blows, and the number of mercenaries fleeing with him dwindled rapidly.

At this rate, they would be annihilated before they even made it back out through the secret passage.

"Damn it! This thing’s heavy as hell. Can I throw it away?"

"You lunatic! You’ve still been running around with that on your back all this time?"

After knocking aside the knight who had swung a sword at him, Benjamin turned toward the commotion among the mercenaries.

One of them was fleeing with an oak barrel still slung over his back.

The moment Benjamin saw the barrel, he snatched the torch from the mercenary running beside him and hurled it at the mercenary carrying the barrel, filling the throw with mana.

Whoooosh!

The flaming torch, filled with mana, flew toward the oak barrel like an arrow.

The moment he threw it, Benjamin poured all of his remaining mana into his legs and sprinted madly toward the temple.

"Get down!"

"Stop him! Captain! Are you trying to kill us all—"

The mercenaries who saw Benjamin throw the torch shouted, but before their cries could even finish, the torch punched straight into the oak barrel.

In the next instant—

KABOOOM!

A huge explosion erupted where the oak barrel had been.

The mercenary carrying it was blown apart the instant it detonated, and fire spread out in every direction.

"Flames! Circulate your mana!"

"Run!"

"Help me!"

The mercenaries near the oak barrel were swallowed by the flames before they could even escape, and more than half of the knights fighting them were engulfed as well.

The flames kept spreading. Had it not been for the fact that this was a secret passage with limited air, the entire castle might have burned.

"The fire won’t go out!"

"This isn’t ordinary oil!"

"Call for priests and physicians!"

Every mercenary and knight who failed to avoid the flames died.

The mercenaries were consumed by the fire, and though a few knights were dragged out of the secret passage by their comrades, the flames clinging to their bodies could not be extinguished.

In the end, the pursuit was abandoned, and the mercenaries were annihilated. The knights who had pursued them also suffered tremendous losses.

All the other mercenaries died, but one mercenary made it all the way back to the temple.

Captain Benjamin, the very man who had thrown the torch and set off the Hellfire.

Covered in black soot, he staggered out of the temple, from which black smoke was still billowing.

And there he saw the people standing in his way.

The people who were supposed to have already left the lord’s castle.

The knights and soldiers of Duke Gresia’s ducal house.

"So you are the leader of these criminals?"

Simon raised his sword toward him.

Benjamin looked at the boy standing there with his sword leveled at him and let out a sigh.

He had thought there was a chance they had been surrounded, but he had not expected to be struck from behind like this.

It seemed he, absurdly enough, was about to become prey for some young noble master.

That noble boy was no match for him at all, and he could probably manage against the other knights too, but he had no confidence whatsoever when it came to the middle-aged knight and the old man standing behind the boy.

Behind Simon, Knight Commander Alonso and the Head Steward were loosening up their hands.