nownovels Chapter 162 : Chapter 162
Chapter 162 : Chapter 162
Chapter 162. Heavenblade
Inside the library, Alice had one foot braced on the crossbar of her chair, waving that black letter in her hand. She looked exactly like a cat whose tail had just been stepped on.
"This is the most intolerable thing about you crude warriors! Not a single romantic bone in your body! Do you even understand what it means to uphold the convictions of a classical mage?"
The girl's voice sounded especially crisp in the quiet corner of the library, even carrying a faint tremor sharpened by her guilty conscience.
"In this frivolous age, where even boiling water is done with magitech devices, insisting on using a familiar to deliver letters is a tribute to the ancient arcane tradition! It is the most elegant rebellion against that damned worship of efficiency!"
The more she spoke, the more impassioned she became. Her voice even started to tremble, as though she were some great defender of tradition.
"Besides, who do you think I am, Alice? Am I the sort of person who just follows the crowd? If everyone else uses Communication Crystals, then I refuse to! I'll use bats! I insist on being different! That is my path as a mage!"
The entire speech was nothing but twisted logic, but in terms of forcefulness, she had completely overwhelmed him.
Alectos opened his mouth, but the little bit of suspicion left in his mind had already been blasted into pieces by her relentless barrage.
Looking at the girl before him, red in the face and thick in the neck with anger—though in truth it was guilt—he suddenly began to wonder whether his question earlier really had been a little offensive.
After all, mages as a species... did seem to have their own peculiarities.
And this one in front of him liking to send letters by bat did not seem entirely impossible to accept.
"Sorry..." Alectos scratched his head, looking thoroughly apologetic. "I didn't know that was your... personal hobby. I just thought it was a little strange. I wasn't trying to question you."
"Hmph!"
Alice gave a heavy snort, dropped back into her chair, stuffed the letter into her sleeve, and turned her face away from him.
"Ask fewer stupid questions in the future. It makes you look uncultured."
"Yes, yes, I understand."
Alectos smiled good-naturedly. He glanced at the sky outside, then rose to gather the books on the table.
"Well... it's about time. I made an appointment with General Ulzok to ask for some guidance on the practical use of certain combat techniques. Do you want to come with me?"
"I'm not going!" Alice did not even turn her head. "What's there to watch about sweaty men fighting? I'm staying here to continue refining my sentiments!"
"All right, then. Be careful on your own."
After reminding her, Alectos left with his books in his arms.
The moment that golden-haired figure disappeared completely beyond the library entrance, Alice's proudly raised neck collapsed at once.
"Haa..."
She let out a long breath and slumped bonelessly in the chair, her back drenched in cold sweat.
"That nearly scared me to death... How are that golden-scale's instincts so sharp? I almost gave myself away."
She secretly drew out the letter from her sleeve.
There was no signature on the black envelope, only a dark red crest shaped like some kind of blazing flame coiling around itself.
Alice stared at that seal for a long while, her expression unreadable.
"Those old fossils... what are they trying to do now?"
Her fingertip slipped beneath the flap. Inside was only a single thin sheet of parchment, bearing one short line in complex ancient script:
【Your father, the Grand Duke, has descended into the mortal world.】
...
Dragon Mountain Range, Rimewind Valley.
This was the border between the Northern Territory and the Demi-Human Empire, and also the foremost line where the two sides stood in year-round confrontation. Furious winds carried the snow, scraping pale white scars across the black rocks.
At the mouth of an underground tunnel concealed behind a withered forest.
Alectos pushed aside the camouflaging slab of stone and slipped out with practiced ease. He brushed the dust from his clothes and pulled his hood lower, hiding that conspicuous head of golden hair.
This was his third visit this week. According to their arrangement, Ulzok would teach him the use of "Force" at this hour—a core technique that only high-ranking knights could master.
But the moment he emerged today, he sensed something was wrong.
It was too quiet.
At this time on an ordinary day, there should have been the sound of patrols from the demi-human camp, or the clatter of pots and pans from the cooks preparing meals. Those rough beastmen were loud enough to be heard from over a mile away.
But today, there was only a deathly stillness.
Even the wind seemed to have softened.
Alectos gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist. The powerful intuition awakened by the strengthening of his bloodline was screaming a warning, and the hairs at the back of his neck rose one by one.
Had they withdrawn? Or was this an ambush?
Keeping low like a wary leopard, he used the terrain for cover and made his way around to the rear of the commander's tent.
There were no hidden sentries.
That made even less sense. This was the command center of the main forces of two empires. How could there not be even a single guard at the door?
Holding his breath, Alectos carefully used a dagger to lift one corner of the heavy felt curtain and peered inside.
With just one glance, his entire body stiffened.
The great tent was brilliantly lit.
Ulzok—the bear demi-human who was usually hot-tempered and forever slamming tables and cursing—was now standing hunched in the corner like a schoolboy who had made a mistake, his massive body drawn in, cold sweat covering his brow, not even daring to breathe loudly.
And beside him, Kane, the white-wolf demi-human who was normally calm, steady, and full of cunning strategies, also stood with his head lowered, his hands pressed flat against the seams of his trousers, his posture rigid, even his tail tucked tight.
In the seat of honor at the center of the tent sat an old man.
He was a lion-tribe elder dressed in an ordinary linen robe, not even wearing armor.
His distinctive mane had already turned grizzled white. In his hand was a rough earthenware cup, from which he was leisurely sipping.
That figure was far too familiar to Alectos.
Back when he had still been a little brat running wild in the royal court, this old man had once lifted him high above his head. In the entire Demi-Human Empire, aside from his royal father, there had been no figure more worthy of awe.
Leonard—the commander of Heavenblade, the Empire's First Legion, a seventh-tier powerhouse, and the man known as the Empire's Sword.
Why was he here?!
If this had been the past, Alectos would have rushed forward in delight and shouted, "Uncle Leonard!"
But now, he was a fugitive bearing the charge of Kingslayer, while the man before him was the highest commander under the authority of the current Regent Prince.
Run!
That was the first thought to erupt in Alectos's mind.
But just as his muscles tightened and he was about to move, the old man seated in the chair suddenly raised his head.
There was no killing intent in those sharp lion eyes—only a calm that seemed to see through everything.
"Since you're already here, why not come in and sit for a while?"
The voice was not loud, yet it exploded directly inside his mind.
Alectos felt as if the air around him had instantly congealed into stone. Forget running—even moving a single finger felt impossible. Since he had already been discovered, hiding had lost all meaning.
Clenching his teeth, he forced himself to walk inside.
"General... Leonard."
Alectos's hand was locked so tightly around his sword hilt that his knuckles had gone white.
Leonard ignored him. He merely swirled the cup in his hand, watching the liquid cling to its sides, his tone as leisurely as if he were enjoying the sun in his own garden.
"This liquor is good. Strong enough, and without any impurities. I hear it's some new thing made by that place up north... what was it called? Winter City? 'Distilled liquor'?"
Ulzok stammered, "Y-Yes, General. This was... um... a sample smuggled over from them."
"A sample?" Leonard smiled, the wrinkles on his face bunching together. "You seemed to be enjoying it quite a bit. Were the several hundred empty bottles in the trash heap outside also 'samples'?"
Ulzok did not dare make a sound.
Alectos stood by the entrance, neither able to leave nor able to remain with any ease.
That feeling of being utterly ignored was even more suffocating than facing drawn blades directly. The oppressive pressure in the air grew heavier and heavier, as if an invisible mountain were hanging above his head.
At that very moment, the space at the center of the tent suddenly twisted without the slightest warning.