Chapter 173 - Wisdom's Messenger

“I-I will do my best on today's mission! I'm in your care, Young Lord-nim!”

“Alright. I'm in your care as well, Walter.”

Today, I left the Gatekeeper behind and boarded the train with Walter in tow.

The Gatekeeper, with a thoroughly sour expression hidden next to the legion commander, saw the Youngest Son off with her.

He merely stood his ground while the legion commander handled the formalities.

“Have a safe trip. I don't want to get into a scuffle with the bloodkin because you got hurt or died.”

“I want to have a safe trip too. You as well, right?”

“Yes, yes! That's right!”

Walter answered with a voice full of sincerity. It was probably the most honest answer here.

Chiiiiiiiii─

The train moved forward, the driver filled with worry and the passenger beside him with a smile.

Until the long train became a dot and disappeared into the distance, the Gatekeeper and the legion commander stood their ground.

With most of the soldiers and the noisy train gone, the first gate became very quiet.

The background noise that immediately reached the ears didn't even sound like noise.

Only their two voices could be heard clearly in this place.

“I would like to know your name. We need a name to call you by if we are to work together for a day.”

“…Call me Gatekeeper.”

The legion commander slowly nodded at the short reply.

“Understood, Gatekeeper-nim. You will be handling the day's duties with me. As for the duties on the frontline─”

“Let’s just get started. An explanation doesn't seem necessary.”

“Then I will trust that you are well-informed and we shall depart. Follow me.”

The soldiers ride a giant train, but the legion commander rides something else.

Not just this time, but all previous legion commanders rode this one.

Emma, who came out of the first gate, whistled towards the sky.

Then, a giant black monster bird spread its wide wings, flew down, and landed on the ground.

“It's a flying undead named Kelly. All previous legion commanders have ridden Kelly to manage the frontline.”

“……”

“It's a smart creature, like a crow. It has its likes and dislikes, and it remembers all the commands its previous masters taught it, so now it's no different from the most senior frontline soldier.”

Emma stroked Kelly's long, swan-like neck as if scratching it.

Her voice and eyes, as she explained, naturally revealed her affection for it.

All legion commanders had cherished Kelly and taken good care of it. So warmly that warmth seemed to grow in the cold undead.

Swoosh─

“…Kelly?”

The monster bird's long neck bent down, and it rubbed its head against a stomach and back.

The stomach and back belonged to none other than the Gatekeeper.

Kiiirrr─

The monster bird, while receiving Emma's touch, tilted its head, then leaned in as if with conviction.

“……”

The Gatekeeper slowly raised his hand and stroked the monster bird's head.

“You're a good one.”

“…Yes. It is.”

“It seems to be good with people.”

“No. It's absolutely not, and this is the first time I've seen this. For Kelly to be so friendly to someone it's seeing for the first time.”

Because it wasn't the first time.

The former legion commander, Mesher Attica, feigned ignorance, removed his hand, and mounted Kelly.

His mounting was very natural.

“Are we not leaving?”

“You seem to have ridden one many times.”

“One is bound to sit on an undead like this at least once.”

“That's not usually the case.”

The legion commander sat in front of him and grabbed the reins. From a while ago, she had felt a strangely familiar feeling. Did Kelly feel it too?

Whooooooosh─

The monster bird soared into the air.

When its wings, which would easily exceed the length of a train car if spread out, flapped, the buildings became the size of fists.

“Isn't it refreshing?”

Kelly flew along the frontline.

“The land that looks so much like hell up close looks quite beautiful from up in the sky like this.”

“Yes. It does look that way.”

“I will increase the speed a little.”

“Do as you please.”

Kelly repeatedly folded and spread its wings, repeating dives and accelerations.

An ordinary person would have been dizzy and thrown up from the movement, but the Gatekeeper sitting behind did not even have his breath disturbed once.

Kelly also flew very comfortably for carrying a stranger.

…It was a very strange thing.

***

From one end of the continent to the other.

From the West to the East, a single bird flew.

The bird, with its beautiful blue feathers, was comparable in size to an eagle, and its blue wings signified a family.

The Wisdom of knowledge. The Wisdom of pure magic. They were called by various names, but Millesdusk called them by one.

“The bird of the hypocrites has come.”

Kulsian Black Millesdusk spoke with the messenger Ransis behind him.

She was the messenger who had just become free for a year.

The bird from the West flew past the Pantheon, to the Mind Demon, and to the Demon Head Palace.

Millesdusk did not stop it and only watched until the bird landed before the Family Head.

This was the first time in 80 years that Wisdom had made contact with Millesdusk.

The Family Head then saw the bird twist its bones and transform into a person.

“If you learned something called Polymorph from the dragons, you should have tried to add more of the elegance you people favor. It's as disgusting as ever.”

“I deeply apologize for offending the eyes of the Millesdusk Family Head. The footsteps of the dragons are still difficult to follow.”

The being that had been a bird just a moment ago had become human and paid its respects before the Family Head.

The Family Head spoke.

“You came prepared to die, I assume.”

“Of course. Messengers like myself always leave a will before coming.”

The bird had become human, but it still did not hide the wings behind its back.

The blue wings protruding from behind its robe were a clear sign of a boundary. At the same time, they were the mark of a messenger of Wisdom.

“You didn't come here just to say hello. What brings you here? It would be interesting if it were a declaration of war.”

The messenger smiled slightly at the Family Head's words.

He was kneeling on one knee, showing respect, but he did not feel like a man who was truly respectful.

The messenger, from whom Wisdom's unique sense of superiority naturally emanated, said.

“The declaration of war was made first by Millesdusk. I came to tell you this.”

“We did? That's the first I've heard of it. We haven't even raised our voice towards Wisdom or the West. Am I wrong, Ransis?”

“You are not wrong.”

The messenger still smiled.

“Dark Elixir. Our family has come to speak about that.”

“Why is Wisdom concerned with our family's product? Surely you're not bothered by the single word ‘Elixir’.”

“Of course. If it were only for that, we would not have sent a messenger after all this time.”

“Then what is it? The reason why someone like you doesn't even blink in the face of death.”

Did he have something he firmly believed in? Did he bring a dragon with him?

There was no such thing, and the messenger was alone. It was very different from the usual reaction of a Wisdom messenger.

“Wisdom does not desire war. Therefore, we wish to propose an alliance to Millesdusk, and this is the written document for it.”

The messenger took out a rolled-up parchment from his bosom.

Wrapped in blue cloth, it smelled of Wisdom even from ten steps away.

It was the smell of water used to wash a rag, despite pretending to be clean.

Ransis took the parchment from the messenger and handed it to the Family Head.

The Family Head read the parchment without a word. His black eyes devoured every letter from beginning to end, and he frowned slightly.

“Is this true?”

“That is Wisdom's will. It is a future that will soon arrive if Millesdusk agrees.”

“……”

The Family Head threw the parchment at the messenger.

It was not a sign of refusal. It was just that the relationship between Wisdom and Millesdusk was such that this would not be strange.

It was certainly so, but an alliance? The Family Head opened his mouth.

“If we coordinate the production of Dark Elixir with Wisdom and share our internal formula, you will supply at least five bottles of Elixir per year. Is that what you're saying?”

“If you strip away the flowery language, then yes.”

If one removed Wisdom's unique wordplay, what they wanted to say was simple.

“Dark Elixir. The youngest's creation must be quite bothersome to you.”

“Isn't it something that even a street dog can eat if it has money? Wisdom is not so much bothered as it has lost to the desire to know.”

The Family Head, who had chuckled, continued.

“This can't be all Wisdom wants. If there is more you wish to say after seeing my reaction, say it here. I won't kill you.”

“I wish to see the Fifth Son-nim.”

“Hmm…”

The Family Head let out a faint breath. Even in that small breath, the cold yin energy that an undead would exhale was mixed in.

“My son is not someone the likes of you can see just because you want to.”

The expressions of both messengers changed slightly.

An eyebrow twitched and pupils dilated. The clear sign of surprise was expressed by the Wisdom side.

“Surprising. For the Family Head of Millesdusk, famous for treating his children like stones, to cherish someone so much. My interest is piqued even more.”

“Keep your interest as interest. Isn't it a specialty of you Westerners to lose a precious life because of an inquisitive nature that crosses the line?”

“Well. I think that's the same for both the West and the East…”

The messenger, who had trailed off his words, then made a proposal.

“Even if you do not accept the proposal, I would very much like to meet the Fifth Son-nim. If you just permit this meeting, I can give you the Elixir right now.”

“You are brave. When I could just kill you and take it.”

“It is because I believe the proud Family Head of Millesdusk would not do such a shameless thing.”

“Wisdom believing in Millesdusk. This is also a novel thing to hear.”

A moment of silence flowed between the messenger and the Family Head. Finally, the Family Head spoke.

“I permit it.”

“Thank you very much.”

Then, this time, the messenger of the East stepped forward.

“The Fifth Son-nim is in a land far from here. It is difficult to command his return for an immediate meeting, so please allow for some time.”

“I also do not wish to meet him immediately. I can wait, so please proceed according to Millesdusk's convenience.”

“So be it. I will provide a temporary residence for you to stay in, so please wait.”

“Thank you for your grace.”

“I will think about the West's proposal. Wait outside.”

“Of course.”

The messenger of Wisdom went out of the Demon Head Palace, polite to the end. The messenger said.

“It seems you have no intention of accepting the proposal.”

The Family Head scoffed.

“Of course not. Would I give up thousands of bottles of Dark Elixir just to get a few bottles of Elixir? They say that because they don't properly know its effects.”

“I would think they smuggled at least one bottle.”

No matter how much you try to weed them out, there are always spies.

These rats are mixed in by all the great families into other great families to gather information.

It wouldn't be strange if a rat sent from Wisdom had obtained a bottle of Dark Elixir and sent it to the West.

But Wisdom was demanding the formula and production coordination. What could this mean?

“It means that Wisdom has not been able to find out anything about the Dark Elixir.”

“The West's inquisitive nature must have been properly triggered.”

“That can be said. Their inquisitive nature overcomes their hostility towards us, as well as basic human desires.”

That was why Wisdom was strong.

With an unparalleled inquisitive nature, they somehow find the right answer or get close to it.

This time too, they activated that inquisitive nature, sent a messenger, and sought to see the Fifth Son, the one who posed the problem.

However, that was the wrong way to solve it. It was because the reason why the problem had arisen in the first place was obvious.

“Wisdom must think of the youngest as just a smart child and wish to meet him.”

“A very big misunderstanding.”

“Yes. A very big misunderstanding.”

But what could be done?

It was Wisdom that wanted to meet, and the Family Head did not bother to stop them. There was no reason to stop them.

For even a shark smiles before it eats its prey.