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Chapter 100 – Arrest (4)

Sina stared at Juan with her eyes wide open.

However, Juan continued speaking without the slightest change in his expression.

“Did someone with the same voice as mine appear in the dungeon? Was he wearing a black robe, with bandages all over his body?”

“Um, yes. You already knew that? Have you seen him before?” Swallan answered.

“I have. It seems like he was the one who overpowered me and brought me back from my rampage. That’s good to know, since I had no idea what happened after I lost consciousness. What did he say to you?”

“...He asked me to look after you. He didn’t seem to have any hostility towards you,” Swallan said as she studied Juan’s face.

Everyone here that knew Gerard Gain had stabbed the emperor in the back. Swallan couldn\'t help but be careful when talking about such a sensitive topic to the person directly involved.

However, Juan didn’t seem to care much and appeared uninterested.

“I see.” Juan simply answered Swallan as if he already knew.

“Wait. Gerard Gain has the same voice as you, Juan? Why is that?” Sina asked impatiently upon hearing what Juan had said.

“Gerard Gain has the same face and voice as me. The only difference is that he is younger than me and has blonde hair instead of black hair. The public often used to get confused; they thought we were the same person.”

Sina opened her mouth wide in astonishment upon hearing such a fact—she had no idea that this was the case.

‘Gerard Gain, an apostate who is an official enemy of the empire, has a face that’s almost the same as His Majesty?’

Juan was rather surprised by Sina\'s shocked reaction.

“It’s more surprising to me that you had no idea. Isn’t Gerard Gain treated as an official enemy of the empire? How are you supposed to catch him when you don’t even know what he looks like?” Juan asked.

“...the Church describes Gerard Gain as a devil, but they don’t inform people about his appearance. He is only described as a being full of jealousy and hatred for His Majesty. But things make more sense now that you’ve told me about what he looks like. I guess it’s understandable for the Church to want to hide the fact that the one who assassinated His Majesty looks almost the same as his Majesty… but wait, does that mean Gerard Gain was the biological son of His Majesty?”

Juan smiled, and Sina’s face stiffened when she saw his smile.

“Ah, it’s nothing. I just thought of someone who asked me a similar question back then. Unfortunately, your guess is wrong. Gerard Gain is an adopted son, and that’s the truth. I didn’t have even a single biological child. But… Gerard Gain is a little special compared to my other adopted children.”

“How so?”

“Gerad Gain was created by cloning my own soul.”

“What?”

“It was done without my consent by my teacher, Dane Dormund. He said that it was something that he had to do for humankind, just in case anything happened to me. But I couldn’t forgive him. And so, I decided to expel Dane Dormund from the empire and at the same time adopted Gerard Gain as my first son. There was no telling what could have happened if a child made by cloning my soul fell into the hands of the wrong people.”

Sina looked dazed upon hearing Juan’s sudden explanation of an extremely secretive and private affair of the empire. The fact that Gerard Gain was the emperor’s replica was already shocking enough to shake the entire empire, but to top it all off, Juan was saying that the Grand Magician Dane Dormund, the one who assisted the emperor ever since the emperor’s childhood was the one who had committed such an act.

Although there were a lot of rumors about the sudden disappearance of the Grand Magician after committing a big crime during the early days of the empire’s establishment, Sina didn’t think that there would be such a story behind it.

“Come to think of it, you guys don’t even know that the emperor had black hair, do you?” Juan asked.

Sina silently nodded her head. In general, the emperor was described to have brilliant blonde hair. It was unclear whether it was because of the bright golden halo or because the emperor actually had blonde hair, but Sina had a feeling that the Church chose to describe the emperor as having blonde hair as that had a more "holy” appearance. Or it could be that even the Church didn’t truly praise the emperor.

Once Sina’s thought reached this point, she felt the chills running down her spine—the existence known as the ‘emperor’ who had been praised and served for almost half a century had become unclear. A lot of bloodshed and atrocities had been justified and even celebrated in the name of the “emperor”.

But now, Juan’s existence was shaking those beliefs and that foundation.

‘Then who is the unknown existence that the Church has been serving all along? What was the reason for so much bloodshed and for so many lives to be sacrificed?’

Sina bit her lips. She had long been feeling that the system she believed in had something wrong with it, but she never thought that its entire foundation would be denied like this. At this point, Sina found it hard to believe anything about the empire and the Church.

“Why are you telling me all these things so easily? All these things must be the confidential secrets of the empire right? Is it okay for you to tell me about all of this when I am nothing more than an outsider?” Sina asked with difficulty.

Upon seeing that Juan was telling her all these secrets like it were nothing, Sina began to doubt whether Juan was trying to use her for his plan.

However, Juan only grinned.

“Someone has to know the whole truth and record it, don’t you think?” Juan said.

“My writing skills are terrible. Besides, you killed all my comrades and almost maimed me. Do you really think that I’ll record everything without distorting it all against you?”

“I don’t care if you do,” Juan answered calmly. “Go ahead and either portray me as a mental patient who thinks of himself as the emperor or portray the emperor as a madman who’s crazy about slaughtering in your story. I don’t care what you choose, but go ahead and throw a stone at the emperor you saw with your own eyes. I won’t deny anything you write about me, because that is the emperor in your?mind.”

***

By sunrise, Swallan quietly woke up while the others were still asleep. Then she slowly packed up her belongings, and soon left behind the others to head down the mountain.

Then someone called for her from behind her.

“Are you not going to accompany us to Beldeve? While it wouldn’t be as much as ten thousand gold pieces, you might still get some rewards.”

It was Sina standing with her back against a tree.

Swallan smiled bitterly the moment she saw Sina. Sina’s face showed how tired she was from being unable to sleep due to their conversation with Juan last night.

“I was trying to take my leave without letting anyone find out, but I guess I failed. I thought you were the only person I had to trick since the dragon seemed to wake up easily and Juan didn’t seem to be sleeping in the first place,” Swallan said.

“You said your name was Swallan, right? I heard that you are quite skilled and have a pretty good reputation as a mercenary. I can guarantee you that there will be sufficient rewards if you come with us.”

“You think that a mercenary will be paid a reward when there’s a man who used to be an Elite Knight of the Order of Lindwurm and a dragon? Hah, you’re hilarious. Whatever, I’ve already suffered enough just by getting involved with Mr. Ten thousand gold pieces. I’d rather suck a dick.”

“You would rather suck a… okay, moving on.”

“I feel like I’m going to be reunited with Mr. Ten thousand gold pieces soon enough anyway. I can feel that we are entangled by a strange and nasty fate. I hope there won’t be any annoying incidents like this one the next time I see him, but the lives of people involved with swords are never easy, you know? Well, I think Mr. Ten thousand gold pieces will be fine. You should be careful as well—as long as you\'re entangled with Mr. Ten thousand gold pieces, who knows what might happen to you?”

It was hard for Sina to deny Swallan’s words, and so she smiled bitterly, and brought up one of the things she had been pondering all night.

“Swallan, I thought about the question you asked me yesterday; about the reason why I don’t respect Juan as the emperor even when I already know his identity.”

“Hmm… Did you?”

“The reason why I respect His Majesty is that he was someone who treated humankind with kindness and love. But if Juan, as the emperor moves only with revenge and hatred as his motives, I can’t respect or acknowledge him. That’s the reason why I can’t treat Juan with the same respect as His Majesty.”

“Is that so? But to us elves, the emperor has always been an object of revenge and hatred, right from the beginning.”

Sina remained silent upon hearing Swallan’s words.

“I never saw the emperor during the era when he established the empire. But from the point of view of a demi-human, I’ve heard of many terrible things he has done.”

“...I see.”

“But…”

“But?” Sina asked.

“But I do think that Mr. Ten thousand gold pieces is definitely a scary guy. He’s also a bit cruel. Still, I don’t think Mr. Ten thousand gold pieces is worse than the emperor from the era when he established the empire. I think Mr. Ten thousand gold pieces is much more… human-like compared to the emperor you are looking for.”

“Human-like? But His Majesty is…”

“Yeah, yeah. His Majesty cannot be compared to ordinary humans, I get it. That’s easy for you to say as a human. But think about it one more time, female knight. Think of Mr. Ten thousand gold pieces as Juan Calberg Kennosis rather than the emperor. Stop trying to fit him into the mold of the perfect emperor that you have inside your head.”

Swallan giggled and walked away. Then, she shouted at Sina before disappearing into the darkness.

”Think of Juan as Juan?only!”

***

By late afternoon, Horhell’s dragon arrived at the fortified city of Beldeve in the eastern territory. It was blindingly fast compared to the days it took to cross the wasteland.

The majestic walls and fortresses that were built on the edge of the coastal cliff were dangerous, but built thick in preparation for the invasion of the dragons. Although there were no longer any dragons left, the claw marks and marks left behind by the flames used by the dragons still remained.

Horhell dropped Sina and Juan atop the large open space above the walls. Under the vigilant gaze of the soldiers, Sina noticed the sharp towers built around the fortress. The towers were damaged here and there, but they were still dangerous. Sina had never seen something like that within the empire before.

“Those towers are built to shoot or capture dragons,” Juan said as he noticed Sina gazing at the towers. “The most dangerous threat in the eastern territory used to be the dragons until the Order of Lindwurm exterminated them. You can attack the dragons that enter the area between the towers or crawl from below. You can throw a net to catch them as well.”

“Catching a dragon?”

Sina looked at Juan with a suspicious look. Sina felt that even Horhell’s dragon could easily break the tower—and Horhell had prevented his dragon from growing stronger or bigger, unlike the dragons that used to exist in the past. It was only natural for Sina to have difficulty believing Juan’s words.

“There is equipment at the top of each tower to do so,” Juan explained.

“It looks like it will break if a dragon even hits it while passing by.”

“It may look weak, but there is a steel seam inside. It’s powerful enough to cut up the small dragons when they run into the tower. There was a time when the eight towers simultaneously fired harpoons to overpower the Ancient Dragon. Can you imagine a dragon as big as the tower being captured and struggling inside a net?”

Sina shook her head. Juan’s words were hard to believe, but it was the only way to explain the construction of such towers in this fortress.

“It used to be possible, but not anymore. Its frame has gotten rusty due to the sea breeze, and the stone has been eroded quite a bit. I guess it’s only natural for weapons to become rusty when there are no enemies to use it on,” an unfamiliar voice said.

When Juan and Sina turned around toward the voice, they saw an old woman with a small figure walking toward them in an unwavering manner despite the strong sea breeze. The old woman’s empty right sleeve flapped and shook in the wind. She rolled her only remaining eye and moved her gaze from Sina to Juan.

“You must be the current hot topic of the empire. My name is Hela Henna,” the old woman said with a smile on her face.

Hela Henna gave off a strange impression. She hummed with a smile on her face while looking closely at Juan’s face. Juan made an unpleasant face upon being observed this explicitly, and Hella quickly raised her only hand to apologize upon noticing the change in Juan’s expression.

“Oops, excuse me. My bad. People get shameless as they grow older, especially toward young people, you know?”

Although Hela was smiling, behind her smile was a sharp gaze observing Juan.

While Juan couldn’t sense any mana or power from Hela, he could see that she was not an ordinary old woman.

“You’re Hela Henna?” Juan asked.

“Call her Duke Henna,” Horhell warned Juan from the back.

Juan ignored Horhell’s words and raised his handcuffed hands. “Hela. Do the people of the eastern territory always treat their guests like this? Eastern people’s hearts must have dried up alongside the land,” Juan said,

‘A guest?’

Sina wondered what Juan was talking about.

“Only dogs and sinners are bound by chains and handcuffed in the eastern territory. You should know your place.”

It was Horhell who answered instead of Hela.

Juan once again ignored his words and stretched his hands tightly.

“Enough, Hela,” Juan said.

Hela seemed to be perplexed for a moment, but soon grinned and beckoned to Horhell.

“Uncuff him.”

As soon as she gave the order, Horhell approached Juan without asking any questions.

Sina thought that Horhell would stop the Duke from uncuffing Juan due to being concerned for her safety and for the safety of the surroundings, but he carried out her order as if he was a machine.

In the end, it was Sina who stepped up.

“Please wait, Duke.”

“Who is she?”

Instead of directly asking Sina, Hela turned her gaze to Horhell.

“This is Dame Sina Solvane. She said that she was tracking down this sinner by the order of the Church. I brought her with me because I felt that she would be helpful during the interrogation,” Horhell answered.

“I’m Sina Solvane, a knight from the Order of the Blue Rose. I’ve been tracking this sinner all the way from the southern province of Tantil. I lost countless comrades and saw a lot of blood being shed due to him. This man is extremely dangerous. It will be difficult to guarantee your safety if you uncuff him,” Sina said.

Despite Sina’s respectful tone, Hela looked at her coldly.

“I can guarantee my own safety, kid. You might have seen this young man for a longer time than me, but I’m sure that I have better eyes than you. Now, if you try to interfere in my decisions one more time, I’ll make you understand why the people of the eastern territory call me a bitch more often than the duke.”

Sina was taken aback upon hearing Hela’s cold words.

Meanwhile, Horhell uncuffed Juan’s hands according to Hela’s order.

When Juan was finally uncuffed, he stroked his stiff wrists with free hands. Although the chains connecting the handcuffs had been released, the handcuff still remained on Juan’s wrists like a bracelet.

This was the most the Duke could do for Juan.

Juan couldn’t use his mana freely, but his equipment wasn’t taken away, his surroundings were open, and above all, Hela was close to him. Taking Hela’s life would be quite easy if Juan wanted to kill her at this moment. But Juan did not do so.

“I would like to request some bread and salt, Duke Henna.”

Hela burst out laughing at Juan’s request.

“I’ve never seen anyone who knows such an old-fashioned tradition other than Horhell. Good. You seem to be quick-witted. I have a feeling that our conversation will go well.”

Hela took the lead and beckoned him to take a seat.

Sina couldn’t figure out what was going on at all.