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Chapter 83

“Are you going to run away again?”

Agareth was about to pretend to not see him and move away when the boy stopped him.

.

“What do you mean?”

“I asked you if you’re going to run away again,” Amaru said.

Agareth turned around. “At this rate, that child will be expelled like your brother. You know that could happen, right? It doesn’t matter even if he’s Duke Aden von Agnus’ child.”

Looking at Agareth with his mouth shut, Amaru said with a subdued gaze, “You’re truly pitiful. I didn’t expect that you would make the same mistake you’d end up regretting for a long time again.”

“In addition, you and that other kid are the reason why he had to reveal his identity, right? You should repay that—”

Before Amaru could finish speaking, Agareth bit his lip and shouted, “You…!”

“What do you even know for you to talk like this?” asked Agareth.

Agareth yelled once again, "Can you even imagine how I felt when my brother’s life was destroyed, and when he was subsequently expelled?!"

“Do you think I want to keep my mouth shut and do nothing like I'm some trashy person? I don't want to but my brother begged me to. Every time I look into his eyes, I can't turn him down.”

Amaru stared at the crying Agareth and replied, “How many older brothers do you think would push their little brothers into death's hands when they clearly knew death was awaiting?”

Amaru shook his head and continued. “On second thought, there should be a large number of them. It’s all because we live in a fucking society where power and positions are everything. We have to kill or die. It doesn't matter if the other party is your blood sibling. We live in that kind of society.”

Amaru smiled bitterly after cursing. “My brother felt the same way. He saw me as a threat because I had a bit of talent. He never hesitated to harm me in any way he could. Honestly, I can’t even recall the moments when I was happy with my family anymore.”

Agareth kept silent from what he had just heard. When they were younger, he had clearly seen Amaru's older brother a few times. Amaru's older brother always had a faint smile on his lips, and their brotherly affection towards each other was a well known story among the nobles.

"What do you mean…" Agareth bit down on his lower lip his head hung low.

Amaru glanced at Agareth and replied, “That's why, I've always been jealous of you from young.”

“What? What are you talking about?” Agareth asked, seemingly astonished. He looked as if he couldn’t believe his ears.

The proud Amaru bron Sten being envious of someone? It sounded like a joke.

“We don’t always receive the most love from our siblings. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that your brother—Shimizu kun Douglas—was one of a kind.”

Agareth didn’t know what to say.

“I’m pretty sure he’s worried about you despite his condition. He’s worried that what he did would cause dire consequences for you.”

Amaru's eyes brightened as he explained, "That’s why I was jealous of you. I was jealous because you have such a good brother."

Amaru started walking away as he said, “If you don’t want people to keep slandering him, isn’t your turn to defend him?”

“...!”

"I’m talking about your friend, Ash—no, Joshua von Agnus."

Agareth’s eyes widened at the word, ‘friend’.

“Friend…” Agareth muttered blankly as Amaru walked away.

After a while, Agareth started running with bright eyes.

***

On a flat barren land stood six towers of the same height. In the middle of the six towers stood an ivory tower one half as big as the other towers, and it seemingly pierced the skies.

There were six people sitting in front of a round table with menacing looks at the highest room of the ivory tower.

The leader of the six was Ian tun Murray, the undisputed first among them. Everyone looked at each other while keeping their silence. There were seven seats for the Seven Mages, but it seemed one of them was absent.

With his usual demeanor, Ian spoke calmly said, “You can see it for yourselves, and it appears that there is something has happened to Jack.”

Ian gestured at the vacant seat of Thunder. Aside from the Tower Master’s seat, the remaining six seats had orbs the size of a fist on top of each chair’s top rail. The orb was known as the Bio-Reaction Orb, and it was one of the Magic Tower’s creations. It was directly linked to the bodies of the Seven Mages.

Of course, the Tower Master designed the orb with many purposes in mind, but the orb had one specific function. It functioned as a warning device that would allow them to respond quickly to emergencies, similar to the reason behind this meeting.

Marcus, also called Earth, was quick-witted and sensible. While staring at the gray orb sitting on the top rail of the vacant seat, he muttered, “Thunder’s lifeforce didn’t just weaken. It disappeared like it was snuffed out. I believe the Tower Master is correct. Of course, we cannot completely ignore the possibility that he is planning something and took certain measures.”

Elisha, also called Frost, nodded her head and said, “I must say. He may have mastered a skill that could overpower the Tower Master, but I believe what the Tower Master said was more credible. Perhaps he truly did something idiotic and died as a result.”

Theta, also called Storm, shook his head and said, “Jack is weaker than me, and he had just recently become a Class 6 Mage, so there’s no way he could surpass the Tower Master. As such, I also believe that he died.”

In response to Storm’s words, Ian muttered, “This meeting shall be adjourned. For now, the Magic Tower shall switch to our emergency system protocol. Halt all of your current work and focus on finding anything regarding Jack. We have to know whether he’s dead or alive.”

Ian swept his gaze across the other mages before getting up. “I also want to remind everyone that we still have no idea about the identity of Jack’s enemy. As such, each and every one of you should immediately report any information regarding the assailant, whether they’re an individual assailant or an armed group. In addition, please refrain from doing things above what you can handle. Otherwise, you’ll end up like Jack if you go around with the pride of a high-class mage.”

“Yes, sir.”

"We have to investigate the Avalon Empire first. The Agnus Duchy had to be Jack's destination."

At Marcus and Theta’s response, Ian walked away.

Everyone eventually left aside from Void.

The Mage of the Void’s eyes twinkled beneath the shadows of his hood.

***

"Duke Agnus, I didn’t expect you to openly suggest the expulsion of your child."

"...”

“You created an interesting scene. Thanks to us, everyone looked like they were just clowns earlier, haha.” Count Sten chuckled when he recalled what happened earlier.

Duke Agnus chuckled as well.

At that, Count Sten asked, “What are you going to do if they really expelled your child? He’s your son, but he isn’t the Duchess’ son. And it’s not often that you go home, so you can’t really protect him if he ever returned to the duchy—”

Duke Agnus interrupted. “Returning to the duchy is not his only choice.”

“What do you mean?”

"His Majesty issued a proclamation for him to join the Imperial Knights Order."

“His Majesty?” asked Count Sten, seemingly astonished.

“It seems that he truly is talented. After all, even His Majesty has personally sent the offer now.”

“You know that talent isn’t everything...” Count Sten shrugged.

“We can’t deny that the reason why the imperial family is in such a hurry was that kid’s talent, but His Majesty wouldn’t have bothered with Joshua if he were a useless bastard.”

“And there’s more…” Duke Agnus changed the topic and said, “His Majesty the Emperor ordered us to travel to the Swallow Empire. Are you that free to spend your time here?"

Duke Agnus turned to look at Count Sten and asked, “What do you mean? Our swordsmanship has been underestimated. Our family name will be gone with the wind if I did nothing as the head of the household, Are you going? This task is vital as it is His Majesty’s instructions.”

“Well…” Duke Agnus was astonished and didn't know how to reply. Then he saw Count Sten smirking rather maliciously. “You…”

"Well, we will still have plenty of time even if we deal with that issue later. In addition, you must have heard about the recent major changes in Swallow, right?"

“Haaah.” Duke Agnus sighed and said, "You mean that startling news from Swallow?"

Count Sten nodded and said, "Swallow dispatched the haughty Master, Duke Altsma and 200,000 soldiers to Thran shortly after learning about Prince Anthony’s death, but…"

With an amused smile, Count Sten continued. “Contrary to expectations, Thran remained strong and Swallow Empire suffered a great setback. They got too cocky, so they lost 80,000, close to half of their soldiers, and even Duke Altsma was gravely wounded.”

Count Sten delivered rather alarming news. The Swallow Empire’s invasion of the Principality of Thran basically meant the end of the peace the continent had been enjoying. Of course, the Principality of Thran was considered a vassal state of the Swallow Empire, so the invasion was apparently a ‘civil war’ rather than a war between neighboring nations, but that wasn’t the point.

The point was that the powerful Swallow Empire suffered a defeat. It was a defeat that the neighboring nations would surely remember for a long time.

"One required at least three times the number of enemy troops as the defense forces to launch a siege. At the time, Thran only had 50,000 soldiers. Swallow had four times the number of troops, but they were unexpectedly defeated. I couldn't even believe that when I first heard it. I was even wondering if Swallow Empire has found out our intentions and is playing an information war."

With a stern look, Count Sten continued. "However, the rumors were genuine. For the time being, His Majesty wants to keep an eye out for any unforeseen circumstances."

Duke Agnus grimaced. “I can't understand the situation. This war is a simple numbers game. I can comprehend the situation if Thran has people who are good with strategy and tactics. But, Swallow has Duke Altsma in charge of their forces, and I know that you know how powerful a Master’s presence can be at war.”

"Of course, I know..."

Duke Agnus’ grimace deepened as he said, "The only beings capable of defeating a Master are Masters. The issue is that Thran has no Masters thanks to the Swallow Empire’s sanctions against them, which stunted their growth all these years. Unless, a hidden talent—"

Count Sten shook his head before Duke Agnus could finish and said, "Apparently, the individual who defeated Duke Altsma is someone we know."

“Are you sure we know the one who managed to severely injure Duke Altsma, who has been a Master for over ten years now? Are you sure he’s not from another country? Perhaps a prodigy of a foreign nation?”

“No. He’s from Thran.”

“Oh?”

Count Sten glanced at the surprised Duke Agnus before saying, “Haaah. A person from Thran who is close to being a Master. If you narrow it down like that, don’t you think there’s only one person who fits the criterion?”

Duke Agnus thought about it for a while. Eventually, he nodded and muttered the name of the individual in question with a groan.

“Ulabis…”