Chapter 213: The Sky Within Reach (2)
「Where does power come from?
What qualifies those in power to be above others?
Their physical and mystical strength.
Their eloquence.
Legitimacy represented by bloodline.
Or the recognition of the majority.
However, it is clear that as humanity’s enlightenment progresses, just as firelight drives away the night, mysteries and secrets lose their place in society.
The age of mystery, where one becomes king simply by drawing a sword from a stone, will fade with the sunlight of human reason.
And the era of humanity, which requires something more, will arrive.
Soon.
…….
━Free City Alliance
Academy Common Textbook
〈The Birth and Fall of Power〉」
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
“Let me ask you something.”
At Cain’s words, Estilt swallowed nervously.
The new Hero was certainly younger than he, but the strange aura he carried with him was enough to make even the crown prince unable to relax his guard.
“Are you saying that all it takes to become the Emperor of the Empire is the holy sword?”
Estilt’s eyes narrowed.
He could tell that Cain wasn’t a foolish boy, even without 〈Lourens━Cain Report〉.
Then why would he ask such a thing?
Feeling that Cain was at a crossroads in deciding whether to support him as a hero, Estilt answered honestly.
“If that were the case, the Emperor would always have been the hero.”
“Right. And those guys from the Holy See would have snatched them up first and given them an education bordering on brainwashing.”
“The Empire doesn’t function solely on the legitimacy and symbolism of the holy sword, but it certainly serves as a driving force.”
Whooshing sounds filled the air.
Countless people passed by.
All sorts of goods were bought, sold, discarded, and created.
In the Mytilene Auction House, a microcosm of human civilization, Prince Estilt calmly spoke of the Empire’s secrets.
“Primitive and weak, humans once believed that thunder was a sign of God’s wrath.”
From the heavens to the earth.
Seeing a pillar of light so loud it could shatter eardrums and so bright it could blind them, it was only natural for ignorant humans to think that way.
“But now they know. They know it’s a natural phenomenon caused by something moving in the sky, and wizards who understand its principles can replicate it using mana.”
“An age where people no longer seek God in lightning.”
“Indeed. The brighter human reason shines, the more the ignorant mysteries of ‘God did it’ or ‘the devil did it’ are stripped away.”
Estilt’s gaze turned to the holy sword, ‘Summer’.
This era was progressing.
He didn’t know where the driving force originated, but one thing was certain: mystery was dying, and reason was being born.
Yet, if there was one absolute mystery that human logic couldn’t reach……
“But the Demon King and the 〈Sacred Treasures of the Four Seasons〉. Absolute mysteries that human reason and knowledge have yet to fully grasp, even with all our advancements.”
“…….”
Cain gripped the hilt of ‘Summer’.
Always together.
He often forgot because they joked around so much.
But the holy sword and the magic sword.
‘Summer’ and ‘Winter’ were such beings.
“Is it so wrong to borrow the mystic radiance that even the rationality of this age cannot reach?”
Estilt chuckled.
Within his laughter lay the despair of a man who, despite all of humanity’s progress, could not comprehend the seasons, and the desire to possess them all the more because of their enigmatic nature.
It was the face of a prince who, standing in the second highest position, coveted the first.
Cain released his grip on the hilt.
He slowly surveyed the countless people brushing past them.
“I see. Good luck with that.”
“……?”
Estilt blinked.
He sensed a subtle rejection in Cain’s words.
He didn’t think he had said anything strange or off-putting, so Estilt was puzzled by Cain’s response.
“Don’t you want to join forces with me?”
“There are three reasons.”
Cain raised three fingers.
Then, leaving only his index finger extended, he pointed it at Estilt’s chest.
“First, you say you want to work with the hero who wields the holy sword, but all you need is the holy sword itself.”
“……!”
In that instant, Estilt realized his misstep.
If he needed a person, he should consider the value of the person themselves, not just the value of the object they possessed.
“No, of course I need you too.”
Estilt hastily added.
He hadn’t imagined that there would be such a hole in his seemingly perfect logic.
Cain shrugged and turned away.
Elena followed behind him.
Estilt, also hurriedly following behind Cain, continued,
“A hero of Airian. The savior of the academy city, Märchen. Why wouldn’t I need an unparalleled knight like you?”
“You wouldn’t.”
Cain glanced back at Estilt with a smile.
At first, Estilt tilted his head in confusion, but then it dawned on him a beat later what Cain meant.
“Secondly, an emperor who aspires to usher in a new era of human reason and rationality wouldn’t need a swordsman like me.”
“…….”
Cain knew the future.
Even if the future changed as much as the world line he had altered, he at least knew the direction in which the world would shift.
In that future, he was a warrior left behind by the times.
A warrior who could fight more bravely than anyone else and rush to the front lines, but the times no longer demanded such warriors.
“And lastly.”
Cain turned his head a little further.
There was the 13th Princess, Elena, listening to their conversation in silence.
Though distant.
“With multiple heirs to the throne, you should hear what others have to say.”
“I understand hearing out the First Prince, but the others would be pointless. Elena over there can’t become Emperor because she’s a woman.”
Cain smiled.
Even Estilt, who dreamed of an enlightened era, couldn’t fathom the existence of an Empress.
It was a natural thought, given that the Emperor’s primary duty was to produce as many offspring as possible to refine the Kreuz bloodline’s supernatural abilities.
But when the time came for even that to crumble, the current norms would vanish.
An Empress would ascend to the throne.
The Demon King would die.
Cain, who had witnessed a world where the Great Wall crumbled, grinned.
He hadn’t given much thought to having lived through the previous world line, but seeing Estilt, who was oblivious to the immediate future, sparked a strange feeling within him.
“Ah, and you mentioned the Seven Wise Men summoned you?”
Cain finally brought up the main point.
“Yes. The Administrative Duke is unpredictable, so they asked me if I could intervene if necessary.”
Estilt, who hadn’t expected Cain to be concerned about this, tilted his head and answered honestly.
The First Prince wouldn’t have moved an inch. Those who could secure their position wouldn’t move recklessly.
However, the Second Prince, Estilt, had to actively gather swords and strength to overcome the First Prince.
That’s why he had come all the way to the Mytilene Auction House in the south of the Empire.
Cain opened his mouth.
“I made sure she wouldn’t cause any trouble. I asked the Administrative Duke and the Cardinal myself.”
“……!”
Estilt’s eyes widened.
The Eight Cardinals of the Holy See.
One of the Three Dukes of the Empire.
He had no idea there was someone who could influence both of those immensely powerful figures, let alone that it would be this young hero.
“Even if they were to obstruct us for their own purposes.”
Thud.
Cain brushed off the dust that had settled on Estilt’s shoulder. In that instant, dozens of eyes gleamed sharply from within the crowd.
If Estilt hadn’t subtly shaken his head at that moment, they would have lunged at Cain without regard for their own lives.
That’s how loyal his assassins were. And Cain had justice and vengeance on his side.
“But the hero won’t stand idly by.”
“Is that a threat?”
Estilt’s eyebrows twitched.
He couldn’t imagine a boy daring to threaten him with such an insolent attitude.
Cain locked eyes with Estilt’s golden ones for a moment.
“Our paths are different.”
The path of the hero who would save the world.
The path of the emperor who would rule the Empire.
Because their paths should not converge, Cain drew a slightly deeper line with Estilt.
“Whether you take my words as a threat or advice is up to you. And that will determine whether our paths run parallel, intersect, or merge.”
He turned around.
It was a roundabout rejection of Estilt’s proposal.
Estilt watched Cain’s retreating figure disappear into the crowd for a while.
His unwavering, straight back.
His steady gait.
Sometimes, actions spoke louder than words.
Like now.
Estilt let out a chuckle and cupped his hands around his mouth.
“If you change your mind, let me know anytime!”
With a wave of his hand, Cain disappeared as if saying goodbye to a friend.
🔹🔹🔹
“The Second Prince and the hero have made contact.”
In the depths of Mytilene.
Exhausted to the bone between Morning and Aurelia, Nicholas leaned back on a plush single sofa.
He furrowed his brow as he snapped his fingers, catching up on his backlog of work.
“What did they talk about?”
“That’s…… They were walking through Bloom Street, so we couldn’t get a clear recording.”
If it had been a quiet place, they could have used the special eavesdropping devices developed in the magic city to pick up the conversation, but it was impossible to eavesdrop on a conversation held on a bustling street.
Nicholas clicked his tongue.
“What about lip reading?”
They had people here who could decipher conversations just by observing the movement of lips.
His subordinate shook his head.
“We could somewhat make out the Second Prince’s words and interpret them, but……”
“The hero concealed even that?”
“Yes.”
Cain hadn’t simply walked and talked. He had calculated the flow of people passing by, anticipated potential observers, and thoroughly concealed his mouth.
He had even taken precautions against lip reading.
Nicholas pressed his throbbing temples.
“Where in the world is there a seventeen-year-old like that? Even seasoned mercenaries aren’t that cautious. What did the Second Prince say?”
“He mainly talked about the ideals of the Free City Alliance.”
“That’s a relief. Unlike the other stuffy nobles of the Empire, he’s a good-natured boy with a good head on his shoulders, easily swayed by our ideology.”
What they advocated wasn’t wrong, so the more intelligent they were, the more captivated they became.
“Anyway, the hero is the problem……”
His true intentions remained unclear.
He didn’t seem to harbor any hostility towards the Seven Wise Men, but he didn’t seem particularly amicable either.
“And his attitude towards the incident in Märchen suggests it wasn’t really his concern.”
He only got involved because he was caught up in it.
If he hadn’t been involved, he wouldn’t have cared.
Nicholas couldn’t figure out Cain, who, unlike a boy who should be ecstatic about drawing the holy sword, possessed an attitude far too mature for his age.
Click.
His subordinate lit a ‘pureum’ incense.
The refreshing scent permeated his lungs, clearing his mind of complicated thoughts.
“Whether the hero does anything or not, we have our own work to do.”
Nicholas rose from his seat.
His subordinate stood beside him, placing a hand on his chest and bowing his head.
“With our flames, we shall renew the world.”
The Commons, those at the very bottom who sought to burn down the old world and create a new world of freedom, began to make their move.
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