From Lerne, she learned that Yuna had already qualified as a First-Class Mage a full month ago, and had most likely already left the Magic City of Vasastre.
Affected by some unknown factor, Yuna had vanished partway along the road—or perhaps the problem lay with herself, the one who had set out in search? Or else... both were possible.
Being rivals, Lerne and Yuna were in a sense acquaintances. Upon meeting the legendary master who had made Yuna reject Serie twice in a row, he tried to persuade Nanoda to stay and join him in investigating the incident in the Kinton domain.
Nanoda declined Lerne's invitation, citing the priority of finding Yuna, and he expressed his support, saying that were he not tied up with so many affairs, he would have helped.
Denken said he was in a hurry to return to his homeland and left that very night. Nanoda entrusted him to keep asking after news of Yuna along the way. She herself decided to stay in the Magic City for the time being, just a day, to sort out her thoughts.
That night, Nanoda rented a room in a cheap inn.
She glanced at the copper key she had just received. Perhaps a previous guest had forgotten to shut the door, for it stood ajar, not fully closed; she pushed it open gently and stepped inside.
Moonlight streamed through the gaping window, the white gauze curtains rippling in layer upon layer. A wooden table sat there at the window, jarringly out of place. With a rustling flutter, a single sheet of paper had been pinned to the table by a small knife glinting with a cold light, struggling and quivering violently in the somewhat clamorous night wind. Out beyond the window, something seemed to lurk within that fathomless black night; the room exuded an eerie atmosphere.
"..." Nanoda's expression remained calm. She swept her Mana Perception around in a circle but discovered nothing abnormal, and within her field of vision she seemed to find no traps or contraptions in the room either.
Stepping forward without a sound, Nanoda reached out and tore down that sheet of paper. There came the illusion that countless pairs of eyes outside the window were fixed intently upon her. She ran her gaze over the ink.
[The unavoidable war, the destined sacrifice, the fate of return—rush to the battlefield! Rush to the battlefield! Rush to the battlefield!]
The handwriting was somewhat crooked, and this content was, at a glance, the work of an old riddler—written like a revelation from heaven out of myth, though it could just as well be a prank.
Nanoda judged the human factor to be more likely, because the small knife stuck into the table was not a creation of this world.
It was a multifunctional spring-loaded fruit knife. Its bulky handle even had a nail file, a small saw, a can opener, and a corkscrew. It was clearly an existence that didn't fit into this old-Europe-style world—yet somehow it still felt as though something was off.
"War, huh... a word I don't much like." Nanoda murmured, reaching out to grab the small knife.
It was unexpectedly light. "What's this—wood?" Not the metal she'd imagined; adorned with a glossy lacquered finish and a carving craftsmanship of uncanny, godlike skill, it was enough to pass for the real thing to anyone merely looking at it.
Nanoda suddenly recalled what Denken had said—that fellow from Ohaly who stirred up wars everywhere, the King of War.
At a street corner in the Magic City of Weise,
A wagon loaded with weapons rolled out, and the driver suddenly shivered, then muttered to himself in some confusion, "Eh? Where's the monster? How did I get to the Magic City? Tsk... I can't remember."
Another gust of fierce night wind kicked up, and the many shop signs along the street fluttered and swayed like butterflies in flight.
"Haha, the arrangement is complete. All that remains is the choice. I hope everyone gets the ending they wish for! Hahahaha, how it makes me look forward to it—this time, what will be done, I wonder?"
A joyful voice drifted out from the street corner not long after the wagon had departed, dispersing along with that gradually subsiding night wind.
-----
The Southern Lands' frontier—the very last kingdom nearest to the Southern Lands.
After crushing the allied army of the Central nations that had originally set out to subjugate Gaderia, Anhadī III's Ohaly Kingdom army welcomed its final battle before the assault on the pass.
The King of War and his ever-growing army had pierced through the entirety of the Central Lands like a long spear. The nations not caught up in it secretly counted themselves lucky, while not one of the countries along the way escaped destruction.
Apart from those innocent commoners who had submitted, Anhadī III took the armies captive and slaughtered the royal families.
"For the sake of justice—go die!"
A silver-haired young Mage hovered in midair, breaking into a sunny, radiant smile. A fireball fully half the size of a soccer field condensed in his hand, and like the sun falling from the sky, amid the flickering of scorching firelight, it instantly reduced the crowd-packed ground below into a patch of charred earth—enemy and ally alike were utterly annihilated.
"Lois, you went a bit overboard."
"Hahahaha, Master, I've done nothing wrong. This is all for the sake of justice—everyone is sacrificing themselves for the sake of justice! How great and noble! Those who originally submitted as captives weren't simply eliminated; instead, they were given the opportunity and the worth to dedicate themselves to our justice!"
"It's about time. That one ought to be rushing over soon. Stop now."
"Eh?! But Master, I still want to keep carrying out justice!"
When Lois saw the sharpness in Wilhelm's eyes, he realized that if he kept this up, Master would truly grow angry, so he had no choice but to obediently shut his mouth at once.
A tremendous roar abruptly came from not far off. A human figure streaked across the sky like a red meteor, landing deep in the rear of the enemy's camp. The greatsword stabbed into the ground and produced a force no less than the explosion of a bomb. Amid the quaking earth and shaking mountains, countless soldiers were sent tumbling, flung directly into the air like ants and crashing down—making one suspect this was not martial skill but magic.
That King of War who struck terror into the hearts of all kings, Anhadī III, had joined the battlefield.
"All units, heed my command—begin the charge now! Pincer them from front and back!"
A single man, and he had cut off the retreat of an army numbering in the thousands.
"Oh oh oh oh! The King of Ohaly—Anhadī!"
"The ever-victorious King of War!"
"Kill!" "Kill!"
In that very moment, the King's appearance sent the once somewhat flagging morale soaring abruptly upward.
Those who knew Anhadī shouted with all their might, charging forward to slay the foe. Those who didn't know Anhadī, after witnessing such a scene, were filled with an inexplicable sense of security and confidence.
With each swift swing of his blade, there was not the slightest hesitation—on the contrary, it was full of beauty. The enemies' blades couldn't draw even a hair's breadth near; all the rank-and-file fell like straw or were sent flying. Anhadī III, his expression placid and his lips sealed in silence, advanced as he wandered amid a chorus of screams.
That King fought on the battlefield, personally carving out the road to victory!
Everyone began to grow frenzied!
"Aaah, why? No one cheers for my justice!" Lois was somewhat resentful; his own hard-won efforts to slay the enemy seemed to have merely sewn the bridal gown for someone else.
"At the very least, you laid the groundwork for the King's appearance." Wilhelm stroked his beard, continuing to observe the situation that had begun to turn into a one-sided rout.
"Why?"
"You—you're too young, and your temperament isn't suited to the royal court either. Oh, right—I have an important task to entrust to you now."
"Is it related to carrying out justice?"
"Of course. And it concerns the future of the kingdom as well."
Old Wilhelm gave a sly smile.
____
👻🔥Seek: Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: A Martial Arts Master Will Never Be Humiliated
Let's hit these goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = 1 extra chapter for the public!