74 – FAY 74

The next day, while Aska was in the Greenhouse, I headed to Jihad. I still had things to discuss with Mahir.

It felt like I used to come here all the time until a few months ago, but after getting married, I somehow didn’t find the time. Was it because Aska kept me so busy that the days flew by?

I was waiting in the reception room with a cup of tea when my brother arrived shortly after.

“What brings you here, waiting for me like this?”

Mahir’s eyes widened as soon as he arrived. In the past, when I came to Jihad, I would barge into wherever Mahir was likely to be without telling anyone.

He was usually in his office, so it often happened during meetings, and I would get scolded every time, but now that I was seventeen, I felt like I should observe some formalities.

“I can’t act like a child forever.”

When I shrugged, Mahir looked away and suppressed a smile. It felt more like he was sneering, which annoyed me, but I didn’t press the issue.

“It’s all your fault, brother.”

No, I was about to, but then it suddenly struck me as absurd.

“What did I do?”

“You told me I could do whatever I wanted and you’d forgive me for anything, so I should live as I pleased. Don’t you remember?”

I frowned as I asked, and Mahir smiled again.

“Of course, I remember. But I really didn’t expect you to live such a carefree life. Why is there no in-between with you?”

Mahir clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“How could I have known that the kid who used to sleep less than three hours a day would change so drastically overnight?”

I closed my mouth at his words, which sounded like he was talking to himself. Back then, I didn’t know that doing nothing and lazing around could be so enjoyable.

Most people get bored after a few months of doing that, but even after several years, I never got tired of it; every day felt new.

Anyway, that’s not what’s important right now.

“I’ve been thinking since you left yesterday, brother.”

“Oh, really? Let’s hear what you’ve been thinking about.”

Mahir leaned back against the sofa and nodded as if to tell me to go on.

“Since everyone who came with Aska is already dead, it’s impossible to uncover the mastermind.”

“I’ve been wanting to ask since yesterday, but why did you kill them all?”

“I told you, they wouldn’t have answered even if I asked. They weren’t just ordinary guards.”

“What about the Servants?”

That question made me sigh involuntarily. I could already imagine the conversation that would follow between us without having to say it. I felt a headache coming on, so I took a few breaths before opening my mouth.

“Are you upset that I killed them all, or are you upset that I killed them rashly without uncovering the mastermind?”

I frowned, and Mahir sighed as well.

“This isn’t a matter of liking or disliking. As you said, the guards weren’t ordinary, so it was better to deal with them. But what about the Servants? If they were so lax, it must have been a hastily planned operation, not something prepared for a long time. It’s highly likely they had no grand cause or belief related to national interests.”

Except for a few Servants and the guards who were always with Aska, they were all ordinary people. So, there was some truth to Mahir’s words.

“This was a distant foreign land to them. There must have been a way to win them over, but killing them all, whether they talked or not, was your mistake.”

It wasn’t like I hadn’t considered this myself. But there was a reason why I decided to kill them.

“They all wanted Aska to die by my hand.”

“So, you were angry and did it?”

“Aska was only twelve years old. If even one of those many Servants had felt sympathy for a child who was snatched from the slums one day, they wouldn’t have let him starve like that.”

I looked at Mahir and continued.

“If they had no grand cause or belief, as you said, they would have been the first to feel sympathy for that child. And as I said, except for a few, they were ordinary Servants. There’s no chance they would have known the whole story, no matter how hastily planned the operation was.”

What master would kindly explain such things to a mere Servant?

But thinking about it made me angry again. They pushed Aska to urge me to kill him so they could do some ridiculous power play, and they made him talk like some nouveau riche acting up.

The greatest mercy I could offer them at the time was to kill them quickly and painlessly.

“If I were just a little bit more wicked, Aska would have already died by my hand. Do you know how rude he was from the day he first came? He smashed all the furniture in the room and even hit me.”

“…It seems like he’s still just as rude now.”

Mahir muttered as if he didn’t like something. I was taken aback, but I had no intention of persuading him any further on this matter.

“That’s just because I raised him that way. What’s wrong with a child being a little rude? As long as he eats well and grows up healthy.”

“Raised him? You’ve only known him for a few months. And there’s only a four-year age difference between you.”

I frowned at his absurd words.

“But what makes you say he’s rude? His manners were a bit off, but he spoke politely enough.”

“…”

Mahir must have felt that there was no point in talking any further, so he closed his mouth. His expression was strange, but I hadn’t done anything wrong.

Still, I needed to know the kingdom’s intentions, so I told him about the method I had been thinking about all night.

“Should I go to Calderia?”

“What? Are you out of your mind? You’re going there without even knowing what their purpose is? It’s too dangerous.”

I scoffed at Mahir, who was frowning.

“How dangerous could those guys be, even if they tried to be? At most, they’d try to assassinate me or something. So, I’m going to go and ask them directly. Why they did such a thing. If they’re planning to kill me, they’ll at least tell me the reason before they do it.”

“So, you’re going to hear the reason and then die there?”

“I can’t die that easily. At least I have to see Aska become an adult.”

I said with a smile, and Mahir’s brow furrowed. I was joking, but I was serious.

“Since it’s an official visit, they won’t be able to openly try to kill me. They know that if I die there, war will be unavoidable. If they really plan to kill me, they’ll disguise it as an accident.”

“Kyle.”

I was about to explain my plan properly when Mahir cut me off.

“If you say one more word, I’m putting you under house arrest, so stop it.”

Mahir was the kind of person who would really do it if he said so, so I had no choice but to shut up.

“Going there yourself is too dangerous. I said no, so don’t try to persuade me any further. If you cross the border without permission, I’ll send the army to catch you. I’ve made myself clear.”

At his firm words, I quickly gave up on this idea.

“Okay. I won’t go. But then won’t we never know why they did this? And if they were sending secret letters from here to Calderia, they would have already noticed the change.”

If they were reporting the situation periodically, they would have realized that the operation had failed since there had been no contact since then.

Mahir tapped the armrest of the sofa with his finger for a moment as if he was pondering something, then said.

“The King’s health has been failing for the past few years, so there’s a succession dispute going on… I have some people planted in Calderia, so I’ll have them investigate in detail. The political situation is so unstable that I’ve been keeping an eye on it anyway.”

If the King is sick, who is taking care of state affairs? Besides, if there’s a succession dispute going on, this might not have been something the country initiated. I didn’t have enough information to draw a conclusion yet, but…

As far as I knew, there had been several times in Calderia’s history when a woman had inherited the throne.

Could it be that Princess Aegis’s power was weakened for some reason during the succession dispute, and she was in danger of becoming a hostage? To avoid that, she might have sent someone else in her place.

But even so, there was no reason to send Aska, a man who was taken from the slums.

“I don’t know.”

I muttered to myself, still in the dark, and Mahir said.

“I’ve done some more research on the Calderian dynasty since then, but there’s hardly any information about the Otherworlders. That’s because they’re no different from humans anymore. If you had to find something, it would be that they’re a little stronger or that their pupils have a unique shape… But even those traits have mostly disappeared, so it’s hard to find related documents.”

“Then what is Aska? Is it a recessive gene?”

“Maybe. Anyway, this issue needs to be investigated in more detail over time.”

If I couldn’t move myself, it was better for Mahir to do the related investigations. It wasn’t something that could be solved by thinking about it any further, so I cleared my head and nodded.

“Okay. And about the person who will reside in Talim…”

“I was just going to send a Servant, but why? Is there someone specific you want?”

“Who was that guard who came with you yesterday, brother?”

He saw Aska’s face. If he was one of Mahir’s guard knights, there was no need to worry since he was a close aide, but I still felt uneasy and wanted to meet him again.

“Parha? Are you going to torment him again?”

Mahir asked with an uneasy look when I pointed out one person in particular.

“No. Since he’ll be in Talim anyway, there’s something I want to ask him.”

“What is it?”

“I want Aska to get some training, but I can’t teach him myself.”

Mahir’s eyes widened at my sudden words.

“Training? Suddenly?”

“He says he’s controlling it, but I’m still worried. It’s like he gets flustered easily if the total amount of Mana changes even a little. I know he couldn’t control his strength, but is it even possible to blow someone up with a punch?”

If he only suppresses his power, that kind of problem might happen again. Now that it’s come to this, it was better for him to learn how to control it himself.

“Did Parha use a sword?”

Mahir nodded at my question.

“Then please have him watch over Aska while he’s in Talim… No, just send him. I’ll talk to him myself.”

I said as I got up to leave, and Mahir sighed.

“To steal my knight like this.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at those words. The knight who swore allegiance to Mahir and guarded his side was over thirty years old. It was funny that he was making a fuss over just one person.

“I’ll use him well and return him safely.”

I said with a smile, and Mahir asked cautiously.

“Abyss, was it? The knight you took in and gave a title to. He’s on a long-term mission, right? When is he coming back? It’s been over five years already, I think.”

“I don’t know, he must have died somewhere. Anyway, I’m going now.”

I had promised myself that I wouldn’t do this kind of thing anymore, but I was so flustered that I opened the window and jumped straight down.

“Kyle!”

“I’m not hurt!”

I waved my arms at Mahir, who was sticking his head out the window, and then ran away quickly.