Chapter 150

They had nowhere further down to go.

The pile of corpses sacrificed to the fishmen was at the very bottom of the undersea cave.

However, there was a path to the side, so they had to move on.

It was an exceptionally slippery and dark path.

Amethus was wearing the mask given to him by the Breath of Light.

Just by putting it on, a jade flame blazed, making it quite useful as a torch.

He could feel a certain power from it, but it wasn't enough to be concerned about.

He walked on without hesitation.

The drunken old man, Kobet, followed Amethus.

In his arms, he held the child he had found in the pile of corpses.

The child was stick-thin from starvation.

Yet, with a slender wrist, she was tightly gripping Kobet's clothes.

It was so heart-wrenching he couldn't bear it.

The old man had just seen the remains of his son, a gruesome sight of nothing but bones.

His heart was as dark as this cave.

Yet, it was a strange thing that his desire to live was stronger than ever.

The old man held the child as tightly as the child held onto him.

“…….”

Amethus stopped walking.

As the jade flame drove away the darkness, things came into view.

He moved cautiously and faced a space of enormous size.

“…That's an incredible number.”

It was a pile of eggs.

Eggs covered in sticky slime, each the size of a human child, were packed tightly.

On the floor, on the walls, on the ceiling.

Every visible surface was filled with eggs and some were wriggling as if about to spit out a fishman at any moment.

A few particularly large eggs were probably those of a Sea Elder.

Shion had called this place the Hatchery of Calamity. It was a very accurate description.

The Cordis Empire was raising fishmen here.

An army of monstrosities to swallow the Bururade Peninsula.

“Kobet.”

Amethus grasped the hilt of his sword.

The drunken old man knew that when that man gripped his sword, there was nothing he couldn't do.

“What should I do with those eggs?”

“Every last one…….”

The old man shed tears.

They were the ones that had taken his son and turned him into a pile of white bones.

They were the monsters that had turned his hometown into a grotesque and gloomy state.

They had even reduced the child in his arms to such a pitiful state.

He was not a generous man, and he had no mercy to spare for man-eating monsters.

“…Crush every last one of them, sir.”

“Very well.”

As soon as the words were finished, Amethus leaped as if flying.

He had already drawn his sword.

For such soft eggs, there was no need to bring the blade into direct contact.

The pressure from swinging the sword alone was more than enough to crush them.

Amethus, wearing the mask of light, continuously spewed jade flames.

The flowing flames soon even coiled around his sword.

Amethus, crushing the bizarre pile of eggs, looked like an avatar descended from the sky.

He didn't miss a single tiny egg, crushing, burning, and slicing every last one.

It was also Shion's command.

“…….”

Watching the scene of the calamity being crushed, Kobet held the child's hand.

Tightly, with a trembling hand, afraid he might lose her again.

***

“So what happened to the old man, Kobet?”

“He's living with the child. I heard he decided to get on a fishing boat again.”

“How touching.”

Shion mumbled a candy.

“And the people of Busen Village, have they returned to their senses?”

“Meh took care of it.”

Several villagers, including the village chief, had been brainwashed by Cordis's mind magic.

It wasn't a problem Amethus could solve no matter how well he used his sword.

The one who took care of the aftermath was Meh al-Hmed, the special inspector of the Bururade Peninsula Alliance.

Meh brought a dedicated unit of mages and did his best to normalize Busen Village.

He didn't ask deeply about what had happened.

He knew he wouldn't be told even if he asked, and he also had trust in Shion.

“You said there was a Cordis guy there too.”

“He was from the military. Looked to be at least a centurion.”

“You don't know his specific rank or name?”

“I judged that reducing the risk of our identities being exposed was the priority. It would be a headache if he recognized me after being given any time.”

“A very wise decision.”

Amethus's jade eyes were distinctive.

It wouldn't be strange for anyone from the Empire to recall the name Amethus upon seeing his swordsmanship and jade eyes.

“Good work, Amethus. Get some rest.”

“I’m not tired.”

“You wiped out seven other hatcheries besides the one in Busen Village.”

“It was just a walk.”

“Sometimes I feel so proud of myself for making you my subordinate.”

Shion chuckled.

Amethus was a truly convenient subordinate.

He never failed a task given to him and never defied him even if he didn't like it.

He sometimes expressed doubt, but if told not to ask, he never asked again.

That fool Ferbias, to have such a person at his side and only achieve that much.

Shion thoroughly mocked his half-brother, the Emperor of the Cordis Empire.

“How long will it take for the Empire to find out that their hatcheries have been annihilated?”

“The intelligence agency will already know.”

“I suppose so. Though they won't know who did it. Then what will the Cordis intelligence agency do?”

Shion's eyes gleamed.

“They'll have noticed something is amiss in the Bururade Peninsula. Their most useful pawn, the Del Conti family, has disappeared, and after that, the hatcheries were smashed.”

“They'll have no choice but to be certain that there's a group thwarting them.”

“After stirring things up this much, it's about time they knew.”

The thought of the Cordis bastards being on edge made him laugh.

Shion twisted his lips and snickered.

“If the first pawn is gone, they'll have to move the second pawn.”

“They'll pressure the Guidone family in the south.”

“Without a doubt.”

If the foremost family in the Bururade Peninsula was the Del Conti, the next was the Guidone. Shion knew both were under the influence of the Cordis intelligence agency.

“…You said you would advance the timing of the incident with the Guidone family by about three years.”

“That's what I said.”

“Isn't this advancing it by exactly two years and ten months?”

“That's how it will be.”

“Shion, you…….”

Amethus looked at Shion, unable to hide his surprise.

He knew that Shion was a regressor.

It was a secret only Shion and he knew.

But no matter how much he knew the future, Shion's plans sometimes fell into place with astonishing accuracy.

“It turned out exactly as you thought.”

“This is nothing. Still a long way to go.”

A flame blazed in Shion's eyes.

He couldn't help but let the flame blaze at the sight of the Empire's hand, which was finally beginning to show itself.

“I must bring down the Empire, even a day sooner.”

***

Gwaemos Gustav Guidone was the 43rd lord of the Guidone family.

If the Bururade Kingdom had not been divided, he would have been king.

He was twenty-seven this year, and though he was outstanding for his age, he lived carrying a weight incomparable to his peers, so he couldn't help but feel the lack of his own abilities.

“Ugh, uh, ughhh……!”

Gwaemos let out a groan.

A few sheets of paper were tormenting him.

Now that the Del Conti family had fallen, he was the master of the foremost family in the Bururade Peninsula.

This was because the Verchello family, though in the process of reclaiming their former glory, had not yet publicly revealed their power.

Gwaemos couldn't hide his confusion.

Born into an enviable environment and living in enviable abundance, why on earth were there so many painful things?

Why wouldn't the world leave him alone?

He tore at his hair.

[Requesting a response to the previously mentioned proposal.]

It was a letter from the Cordis intelligence agency.

Until now, he had only been postponing his reply, and the agency hadn't paid much attention.

But recently, Cordis had begun to pressure the Guidone family from various angles.

“…Damn them. With Del Conti gone, they need a new pawn, is that it……?”

Unlike the Del Conti, who received the full support of the Cordis Empire, the Guidone had not established a deep relationship with them.

They had merely signed something like a non-aggression pact.

This was because unlike the Del Conti, who had to surpass the Verchello as soon as possible, the Guidone were in no hurry.

“Ah, my life, my life…….”

Gwaemos buried his face in his hands.

“I just wanted to go swimming and hunting, and when I came of age, marry a fine family's daughter and have a son and a daughter… is that so difficult…….”

The Guidone family was once a royal family.

The life of Gwaemos Gustav Guidone, born as the only son of such a family, was smooth and peaceful.

It was an environment where it was hard to develop a harsh personality.

He managed his subordinates moderately well, and his subordinates followed him moderately well.

The southern part of the Bururade Peninsula, under the influence of the Guidone, was a peaceful land with few complaints, even if it wasn't without its shortcomings. Gwaemos's contribution to this was not insignificant.

“I'm saying I'll live content as I am, but they won't leave me alone……. Right, that's life, living quietly and content is the hardest thing of all, isn't it…….”

He thought some philosopher had said something like that.

He couldn't remember the details. Gwaemos did not have a hobby of reading.

“Lord Gwaemos.”

Knock, knock, a knocking sound.

“Is the reply not yet ready?”

“…Ah, I told you to wait in the next room.”

“I can no longer do that.”

The man opened Gwaemos's door without a second thought and entered.

His mustache was impressive, but his face was not worth remembering.

It was probably a fake face anyway. Gwaemos knew that this man was a senior agent of the Cordis intelligence agency.

“I too have received another reminder from the home country. They told me to get a reply within the day.”

“…The phrase ‘get a reply’ sounds rather violent.”

“You heard correctly.”

The mustached man's eyes glinted coldly.

A senior agent of the Cordis intelligence agency wouldn't be able to distinguish between interrogation and torture.

Gwaemos tried his best to act nonchalant and smile, but a cold sweat was already running down his spine.

“Damn it, damn it……!”

“Cursing won't change anything.”

“I know, damn it……!”

Gwaemos Gustav picked up a pen.

It was the lord's exclusive pen that used magic dye for signing official documents.

He scrawled with the pen, his face a complete grimace.

“…I have to accept, what can I do!”

“Don't look so glum. This should be a very glorious occasion for the Lord of Guidone.”

“…How can I not be glum!”

Gwaemos let out a sigh.

He stroked his curly hair.

Gwaemos was certain that in the entire Bururade Peninsula, there was no one with hair as beautiful and curly as his.

“Gwaemos's bachelor days are over, isn't this an occasion for all the young ladies of Bururade to lament!”

“…What a worthless thing to say.”

“Ugh!”

Gwaemos Gustav Guidone held out the document.

The agent from the Cordis intelligence agency took it. Gwaemos realized he had crossed a river of no return and felt keenly that there was nothing he could do.

“I will do as you wish. I will marry!”

A tear sparkled in the corner of his eye.

“With the Second Imperial Princess of the Cordis Empire, Santia Hostanio!”