Chapter 145: Whiteout (3)
As the long, or perhaps short, meeting drew to a close, Cain briefly summarized the outcome.
“The duel will be in ten days.”
The two princesses, along with all the high nobles, the Saintess, and Archbishop Barbetta, nodded in agreement.
Marquis McLoud continued.
“The location will be the abandoned racetrack between Mainus and Lindbloom.”
“Very well.”
The most contentious point had been whether to open the three-on-three duel for the throne to the public.
Even those considered part of the same faction had been divided on this issue.
Some argued that it should be open for all to witness, as it would determine the future ruler of Airian, while others believed it should be a private event attended only by nobles and key figures.
“We’ll make it public.”
Ultimately, the decision was made according to Cain’s opinion.
“Glumiêm is dead, and the royal palace was bombed. Regardless of whether it’s good or bad, with such unprecedented events occurring in succession, there will be much talk among the people.”
“Indeed.”
“So we need to divert their attention. To the upcoming duel that will decide the next ruler.”
No one could argue against Cain’s reasonable and practical suggestion.
“The victor takes all, then.”
Oleciren remarked.
Cain shrugged.
“It’s not like the loser will truly fail.”
“Why?”
“The position of Marquis Ross is vacant. We can’t leave it empty forever, and the Ross bloodline……”
Cain glanced at Oleciren. Olivia seized the opportunity to speak.
“Currently, the only surviving member of the Ross bloodline is elder sister. Imagine how perfect it would be if I became Queen and elder sister became the next Marquis Ross.”
Whoosh—
Oleciren’s sharp, black eyes shot a chilling glare at Olivia, unable to tolerate her jesting.
She had accepted that there might be another culprit behind everything, as Cain suggested, but that was a matter for later.
Right now, the Holy See remained her enemy, and Olivia, who was in cahoots with them, was also an ‘enemy.’
“Too bad.”
“About what?”
“I thought you’d cut off the loser’s neck on the spot.”
Fwhoooosh—
Killing intent swept through the meeting room.
Some were startled by Oleciren’s uncharacteristic remark, while the Saintess and Barbetta simply looked away.
And the target of her words, Olivia, covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled softly, but her eyes were as cold as ice.
“You weren’t like this before. I wonder who you learned to talk about ‘heads’ from.”
“The problem is that ‘someone’ is trying to act strangely gentle this time.”
Thump.
Cain slammed his hand on the table. A deep reverberation filled the room, dispersing the killing intent Oleciren had released.
“If you want to kill each other, do it after everything is over.”
“What if it’s too late by then?”
Oleciren retorted, whirling around to glare at Cain, who was standing right next to her.
“It’s better to be late than to do something irreversible.”
“……”
Cain’s words carried weight, especially in moments like this. This time was no exception.
Unable to refute him, Oleciren simply turned her head away.
“Then, let’s reveal the names of the knights each of us will send in five days, and we’ll meet again in ten days.”
Clap—
Cain started clapping.
Clap, clap—
Everyone else followed suit, albeit with bewildered expressions.
There would be minimal damage, and it was the right thing to do for the future of Airian, but the civil war had ended too peacefully.
Even if they searched through the entire history of Airian, and even the continent, they wouldn’t find an instance where such a conflict was resolved so perfectly.
“Our names will be etched in history books.”
Screech—
Marquis McLoud leaned back in his chair with a satisfied smile.
As he rose, Marquis Bradley and Olivia followed suit.
“One way or another.”
Olivia left alongside him.
“Shall we go too?”
Oleciren and the three counts rose from their seats. Counts Lamaring, Crowl, and Wareham each bid farewell to Cain before departing.
“He might die.”
Oleciren spoke up just before exiting.
She couldn’t bring herself to say it while looking at Cain’s face. Grasping the half-open door, she spoke while looking outside.
Swooooosh—
The sound of heavy rain, though weaker than before, still filled the air.
“This is no child’s play. I know you trust Abel, but Olivia will likely bring McLoud’s best knight and a Paladin from the Holy See.”
The Saintess nodded in agreement.
The moment the three-on-three duel was decided, she had anticipated Cain’s participation and planned to send her chief Paladin.
She had witnessed how Cain defeated Glumiêm.
She believed that only someone of that caliber could provide a fair fight.
However, if Cain was sending his fifteen-year-old brother instead, it changed everything.
The Saintess remained silent, listening intently.
“I know.”
Glug, glug—
Cain picked up an empty glass and poured himself some lemon liquor from Bradley’s estate.
“He could be seriously injured, even if he doesn’t die.”
“Probably.”
“And you’re still sending Abel?”
“It’s your choice. Whether to send Abel or not.”
Squeeze—
Oleciren gripped the wooden door tightly.
Rainwater that had accumulated on the door seeped out, wetting her hand. However, the black flames that flickered on her skin instantly evaporated the moisture.
“I’ll do anything if it means I can have my revenge.”
She closed her eyes briefly.
The memory was still vivid.
Everwyn wrapping her body with the scroll to somehow reduce the explosion.
Hybolt, embracing her to protect her with his life.
She was only alive because of their noble sacrifice, and she couldn’t back down.
“That’s the least I can do.”
“Then you should send Abel. As far as I know, there’s no one better at winning than him.”
“You……”
“Abel is not a child. He’s already a fine warrior. If he said he wouldn’t go, that would be one thing, but he’s not the type to shy away from a fight just because he might die.”
“……”
Oleciren stared at Cain with a complicated expression before turning away.
Thud—
She slammed the door shut.
Through the small, wooden window on the door, she could see the counts waiting for her outside with umbrellas.
With the two princesses and the high nobles gone, only the Saintess, Archbishop Barbetta, and Cain remained.
“Then, we shall take our leave as well……”
As Barbetta stood up, gathering the empty glasses, the Saintess also made to rise.
“Wait.”
However, Cain stopped the Saintess with a word.
“What is it?”
“As the Saintess of the Holy See, I imagine you’ve studied extensively.”
“I know what I know, but I don’t see why I should entertain your questions.”
Her tone was frosty.
After her conversation with Chloe and witnessing Cain’s sacrifice in killing Glumiêm, her opinion of him had shifted slightly.
However, her heart remained unchanged.
The Holy Crown, ‘Autumn,’ had shown her the scene of Abel’s death.
The emotions she had felt that day……
As long as those feelings remained, her animosity towards him might have softened, but it hadn’t disappeared.
Cain chuckled wryly, running a hand through his hair.
“I’m asking because I thought you would be the most knowledgeable on this subject, more so than any book or person.”
“As you can see, you’re not getting through to me.”
Ignoring Caterina’s refusal, Cain continued his question.
“Have you ever heard of the Demon King of Common?”
“Demon King of Common…?”
The Saintess, who had been about to leave, sat back down.
Knowing that this was beyond his expertise, Barbetta headed to the kitchen with a tray of glasses.
He then emerged with a rag and began wiping the table with practiced ease.
If you didn’t know he was an archbishop, he looked like an ordinary old innkeeper.
“This is the first I’m hearing of it.”
Cain clicked his tongue.
If one were to choose the most knowledgeable individuals in the world about Demon Kings, it would be the Pope and the Saint.
Even the Saintess had never heard of it, which made him wonder if there was any point in asking.
“A Demon King is a Demon King. I don’t understand why it would have ‘common’ attached to its name.”
“I don’t know either, which is why I’m asking. To be honest, I’m not even sure if there’s one or two Demon Kings.”
“I was going to ignore this as a frivolous question…… but it seems I’m the right person to answer this, after all.”
The Saintess arranged four empty glasses in a diamond shape.
Then, pointing to ‘Autumn’ on her head, she pointed to the third glass.
“How many Sacred Treasures of the Four Seasons are there?”
“Four.”
“Then how many Demon Kings are there?”
“……Four.”
“Of course, most people don’t know this. Only one Demon King awakens in a given era.”
The Holy See had meticulously recorded everything since the emergence of ‘light.’
Therefore, they knew that there were four Demon Kings in this world and that they appeared in a cyclical manner.
“Although many things change each time they become Demon Kings again, the power they wield is generally similar. Their epithets are derived from that power. The Demon King of Oblivion, the Demon King of Void, and so on.”
“Do they have names?”
“Well, sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t.”
Cain had never encountered a Demon King personally.
All he knew from the previous timeline was that a Demon King had appeared, Abel’s party had defeated it, and the monsters at the Great Wall had disappeared as a result.
He didn’t even know if the Demon King was a monstrous being or a human.
━The Demon King is… simply the Demon King.
Even when he asked directly, he only received such vague answers, so Cain was curious about the true nature of the Demon King.
[‘Winter’ advises you to pay close attention to the Demon King’s titles.]
Cain nodded subtly.
The Saintess continued.
“We didn’t come up with these names ourselves. They’re recorded in the first temple of ‘light.’”
“Oh.”
“But there’s no record of a Demon King with the epithet ‘common’…”
She paused for a moment.
The Demon King of Oblivion made people forget.
The Demon King of Void rendered everything and everyone meaningless.
Then what about the Demon King of Common?
“I don’t know. There’s no mention of such a Demon King in the scriptures, and even if there were, what kind of power would it possess?”
“Perhaps a Demon King that looks no different from a Commoner.”
“The Commons…?”
The Saintess’s eyes widened.
She seemed to have realized what Cain was implying.
“I don’t think we can know their true identities, but I think I know their goal.”
“The Demon King of Common?”
“Yes.”
“Pfft.”
The Saintess let out a chuckle.
Cain frowned immediately. He wasn’t pleased with her dismissive reaction when he was sharing information based on his knowledge.
“They’re not like that.”
“Do you even know the Commons?”
“They even have a guild in the Holy See.”
“……What?”
Cain blinked in surprise.
He couldn’t imagine a guild of such secretive individuals existing within the Holy See.
“Most people don’t know about it because it’s just an ordinary Commons guild.”
“Ordinary?”
“Yes. Merchants, artisans, technicians, hunters, messengers, sailors, and so on. It’s a gathering place for ordinary people.”
“Hence, the Commons.”
“Yes. And just between you and me, the Holy See believes that the radicals who attacked the palace are using their name to deceive innocent priests.”
“They must be quite the radicals to terrorize another nation’s royal palace.”
Cain fixed his gaze on the Saint.
She froze under his intense scrutiny.
Cain’s sharp words highlighted the discrepancy between the ‘Commons’ she knew only in theory and the ‘Commons’ he had encountered in Airian.
“What makes them even more terrifying is their ordinariness. There are many dangerous individuals out there who possess no mana or power like Aura.”
Arian, who had infiltrated Ethelred’s mansion as a maid.
Another Arian who had toyed with Count Crowl’s domain.
And Daybreaker, the nameless warrior who followed that Arian.
“We need to investigate this.”
The Saintess stood up.
Her task was to investigate the ship.
“Are you going to Ethelred yourself?”
The Saintess shook her head.
“I’d like to, but eleven days is too tight a schedule to travel to a territory without even a railway. I’ll send the priests from Lamaring.”
“If you mention my name to Cloyd, who should be at the estate now, he’ll make things easier for you.”
“You……”
The Saintess glared at Cain before turning away.
“All things are by the light.”
With a curt farewell, the Saintess departed, leaving Cain to smirk faintly.
Translator’s Blog
Blog
- My Inner Samurai vs. My Real-Life Chicken Heart: Why My Brain Thinks I’m Bruce Lee, But My Body Screams “Run!”
- Anime With Good Plot, But One Thing Makes It Unwatchable: My ‘Black Clover’ Criticism
- The Great Balls-Scratching Debate: A Smell-tastic Journey
- Why You Can Read Light Novels But Can’t Speak English: A Guide to Unlocking Your Inner Voice
- Naruto and Sasuke: Bro-mance or True Love? The Ultimate Anime Bromance Debate
Leave a Reply