Chapter 105 - The One that Chose the Name Soaked in Sin (1)
1
The old Karzark castle lay in waste. As expected of a domain gifted to the man responsible for saving the world, Azell"s castle had been well made. However, 200 years had pa.s.sed, and the majesty and beauty of the castle was nowhere to be seen. It was merely a horrendously destroyed ruin.
Azell watched the ruins, and he was swept up by emotions that were beyond expression.
Azell opened the main door to the castle. He entered into the lounge, and there were stairs on either sides leading up to the second floor. The stairs made a circle. One of the stairway was completely destroyed, and the other one was half destroyed. An old memory overlapped this sight.
‘Young masters! Young mistresses! The stairs are meant to be walked on!’
The steward of Count Karzark was Bazeck. He was an old knight, who had partic.i.p.ated in the Dragon Demon war. Moreover, he was a big softie when it came to the children. It was, because he had lost all his sons and grandchildren in the war.
Azell had adopted children, and most of them were not of n.o.ble birth. This was why they were a bit short on grace and manners. They treated the fancy castle as a playground. The guardrails on the stairways were treated as slides. Children screamed as they slid down the guardrails, and it troubled Bazeck. However, he could bring himself to give them a strong scolding.
‘Marquis! Please give a scolding to the young masters and young mistresses! How will they be able to make their debut in society?’
‘Eh-eee. It"s ok. All children act that way as they grow up. Should I try it once? In the past, I always wanted to try it when I visited a castle or a mansion.’
‘If you want my old eyes to bleed tears of blood, you can go ahead and try it. Do you realize how much gossip goes around when the Count jumps out the window or climb the wall, because it is annoying to climb up and down the stairs!’
‘They are probably jealous of me since they can"t do what I do?’
‘…unfortunately, half of the opinions are on your side. However, how will it look to the other n.o.bles!’
‘How do you think it will look? It"ll look cool.’
‘Coooooooount!’
…he had exchanged countless conversations just like that.
When he walked up the unstable stairway, he thought he could hear the sounds of children laughing as they slid down the rails. Azell felt tears welling up, but he pressed it down as he went up to the 2nd floor.
“My G.o.d. He kept harping about how I have to invest in a good desk.... I can"t believe it survived.”
Azell had entered his office on the 2nd floor. It was a mess inside. The ceiling and walls had fallen, and there were debris piled everywhere. The floor was also half destroyed.
However, to his surprise, Azell"s desk was still there. It had been exposed to rain and wind over a long period of time, so it was all rotten. However, he recognized the desk he used 220 years ago, so he marveled at it.
‘Count! Please work inside your office!’
‘I have a hard time getting things done in there. It isn"t as if I"m shirking my duties. I just want to work with a little wind on my face....’
‘You can"t go up there with those doc.u.ments!’
Azell hated working in his office. It was a large room, so it often felt a bit chilly. There was a big window inside the room, and the desk had been put in front of it. He had a hard time concentrating in such a set-up.
This was why Azell always took his doc.u.ments up to the roof, and he worked as he heard the chirping of the birds. His subordinates developed headaches, because Azell"s actions were far from being n.o.ble-like. However, in the end, they just accepted it as "Our lord is just like that."
“Ha ha ha…….”
A dry laugh flowed out of Azell"s mouth.
There was no section of the castle that had remained undamaged. It was understandable, since Dragons had swept through here. Still, he could still see a little bit of the outline of its original shape, and his old memories kept washing over him.
Before he knew it, Azell"s eyes were flowing with tears. He didn"t have the presence of mind to wipe his tears, and he walked without any destination in mind.
His memories and the destroyed reality in front of him overlapped with each other, and he was swept up in his memories.
“…teacher.”
Azell arrived at a grave site behind the castle. There was no way the graves would have been left untouched by the rampaging Dragons. It was a mess back there. Still, Azell was able to locate a particular grave.
“If I knew things would turn out like this, it might have been better not to have moved you here.”
It was Balf"s grave. He was the teacher, who had taught Azell about Absolute Sense. After the Dragon Demon war ended, Azell had moved his remains to his castle. Two hundred twenty years had pa.s.sed, and many more graves had been added to this site. It had evolved into a pretty big cemetery.
Balf"s tombstone was destroyed, and it had been scatter to the winds. Azell was only able to find the grave, because he was intimately familiar with where it was located at.
Azell spoke.
“I can"t do anything right now, but I"ll once again provide a nice grave for you. I promise.”
Azell wiped his tears away, and he gave his respects towards his teacher"s grave.
2
Laura was completely subdued, and she was being watched by Kairen.
Her legs, arms and fingers were all bound meticulously. Moreover, a bit was put in her mouth, so she wouldn"t be able to use any spells. Then Azell used a secret technique of Spirit Order to form a magical wedge. These magical wedges were placed in various locations of her Energy Pulse to block the flow of magical energy. There was no way Laura would be able to use her magic.
Azell had wanted a look through the ruins of the old castle by himself, so he had left Kairen behind. It wasn"t a good time to be doing such an activity, yet Azell"s poor expression stopped Kairen from arguing with him. He just told Azell to do what he had to do.
“I"m back.”
Azell returned after an hour. Kairen spoke.
“You came back earlier than expected.”
“It feels like I"ve spent enough time there.”
“Your expression was too heartrending, so at the very least, I thought you were going to come back tomorrow.”
“If you were ready for such a scenario, maybe I should have taken my time in getting back here.”
Azell hadn"t said anything before he made himself scarce. He had been gone for a pretty long time. He was thankful for Kairen being considerate of him, so Azell smirked in thanks. Then he asked a question.
“How are they doing?”
“They are still recovering.”
Azell was referring to Yuren and Leticia.
They had fought against the Dragon Demon king worshippers, so they weren"t cla.s.sified as enemies. However, both groups didn"t trust each other. This was true for Azell and Kairen, and it was also true for Yuren and Leticia. This was why they decided to stay in different locations. They would wait until Leticia and Yuren were well enough to converse.
Azell spoke.
“He didn"t look like a healer... He is probably using Black Magic.”
“I believe so.”
Black Magic was the use of magic through taking the life of living beings. If they planned on using humans as a source for their magic, Azell and Kairen would have stopped them. However, the County of Karzark had a surplus of monsters and beasts.
Kairen asked a question.
“Can we trust them?”
“I don"t know. I"ll have to talk to them first. Personally, I am a bit interested in the Miss Dragon Majin....”
“She seemed to be quite strong. However, the mark against her is the fact that she seems to have some dealings with Black Magic”
They had only briefly aligned themselves with Leticia, but in that short amount of time, they could tell she was a very talented fighter. Moreover, she was a Dragon Majin, yet here magical resonance was on par with Kairen. However, she was also saturated with the energy of Black magic....
Azell shook his head from side to side.
“No, that"s not the part that interests me.”
“Then what?”
“I only saw it briefly, so I can"t be sure... The way she used her Dragon Arts looked familiar to me.”
“Mmmm?”
“I have to confirm it with her, then I"ll have a better idea. She might have a connection with an acquaintance.”
“An acquaintance... Now I"m curious.”
“I"ll explain it to you later. Anyways, we have to take care of the business in front of us.
Azell looked at Laura. Laura was bound tight, yet she waited patiently with an expressionless face. Azell took the bit out of her mouth, and she took a deep breath.
“Hoo-ah.”
“We"ll question you now. I hope your answer my questions honestly. My magical wedge is deployed, so if you lie, I"ll know it.”
Laura"s expression was so neutral that it would be hard to tell if she was lying. However, Spirit Order dealt with the mind. The magical wedges were placed in her Energy Pulse, and it allowed him to fully control her. It was easy to tell if she was telling the truth or not.
Laura nodded her head slightly.
“Yes.”
Before Azell could ask a question, Kairen suddenly spoke to him.
“So, Azell...”
“Yes.”
“Doesn"t this make us look… Somehow, it feels like we are the bad guys.”
“…I get where you are coming from, and I agree. However, did you really have to say that out loud?”
“I won"t hesitate if it is a straight up fight. However, you are threatening to torture a young lady. This kind of situation is a first...”
Kairen scratched his cheek. From her outer appearance, Laura looked like a beautiful girl around 17 or 18 years old. She had long blonde hair, and amethyst eyes. She had lily-white skin, and she looked like a doll. Moreover, the red dress she was wearing made her look like a innocent young lady from a n.o.ble house.
Azell grumbled.
“How is she young? She probably is older than me… Well, I guess from the Duke"s perspective she is young. How old are you?”
“It is rude to ask for a woman"s age.”
“If you don"t answer me correctly, I"ll treat you roughly... It does make me feel shameful for even saying those words.”
“I"m much younger than the Dragon Sword Duke.”
Laura unnecessarily confirmed their suspicion about her age.
Azell grumbled.
“I understand how you feel, but please don"t take the wind out of my sail. We have to be serious right now.”
“I"m sorry. I"ll keep my mouth shut.”
“I"ll ask you again. We won"t ask you for your age...”
“Wait a moment.”
Laura cut off Azell"s words.
“After I answer your question, do you mind if I ask you a question in return?”
“…do you really think you are in a situation to ask me questions?”
“However, that was the reason why I surrendered to you.”
“Well, all right. If I think the question is decent, I"ll answer it. First... What Miss said to me....”
“Laura.”
“Huh?”
“My name. It is Laura. Please call me by my name.”
“Laura Aunsaurus.”
“Please leave the Aunsaurus out.”
“…your demands are getting quite numerous. All right, Laura.”
As Azell conversed with Laura, he could feel the tension starting to bleed away. If Kairen hadn"t said such unnecessary words, the mood wouldn"t have shifted this way... Still, he had to take this more seriously.
“I"ll ask this first. You said I might be the one, who might turn back the king"s destiny. What did you mean by that?”
“Our side is split on how we look at Azell Karzark.”
“One side looks as him as the being with the name soaked in sin... No, that isn"t right. That is a t.i.tle used for people with the name Azell. Would it be correct in saying the original Azell was the great sinner?”
“Yes. He was the one, who killed the great king. However... According to the Aunsaurus clan and some other minor clans, Azell Karzark was called "The being that granted the king the opportunity to turn back his destiny."”
“Could you elaborate more?”