Episode 71: An existence that must be avoided. In the middle of the negotiations with the Hisan Empire, a report came stating that the knight Barrès was attacked by spiritual beasts and had gone missing.
“A spiritual beast… How can that be!? There was no mention of such a being in the eastern sea of trees.”
Loki’s voice rose in volume at the sudden report of the messenger knight.
The man who previously was as calm and cold as ice was now visibly shaken by the predicament of his friend, Barrès.
“Yes… the report said that shortly after the exploration team led by Lord Barrès reached the aforementioned ruins, several Spiritual Beasts descended upon them.”
“Could it be… a guardian of the ruins…?”
Not caring about the diplomatic envoys from Orn being still in the same room, Loki kept talking to the messenger knight.
It was a sensitive matter, considerably important in terms of content.
However, he was visibly shaken to the point where he forgot to pay mind to the others.
From this, one could guess Barrès was an irreplaceable friend for Loki.
“Alright… we will gather the elite of the Crimson Order and the other knights in the imperial capital and head to the Eastern Sea of Trees! ”
In order to rescue his friend Barrès, Prince Loki said to gather an elite force and sort out.
Suffice to say, Loki himself would be the one leading them.
“Your highness… please calm down. It is foolish to face a monster with a “curse”.”
“Tch… I guess you’re right, gramps…”
An older knight of the Crimson Order who was waiting in the back, moved forwards and advised.
It was a foolish measure to dispatch an armed group against a cursed Spiritual Beast.
This older knight had obviously earned Loki’s trust and had the right to speak the way he did.
A ‘Spiritual Beast’, huh?… That’s a troublesome opponent…
While listening to the interactions from the empire knights, Yamato also remembered information about the Spiritual Beasts.
In this continent, mysterious animals called “Spiritual Beasts” suddenly appeared.
In appearance, they resembled various animals, but aside from that, not much was known about them.
It was impossible to predict when or where they would descend upon, they just suddenly appeared one day.
The spiritual beasts possessed ferocious power, far exceeding that of a normal animal, and also have mysterious abilities.
For that very reason, the people in the area surrounding where they appeared, fled the land as if they were running from a natural disaster.
“Curse”… against it, it certainly makes no sense to move a large army to confront it.
Among the mysterious abilities of the spiritual beasts, the most troublesome one was the “curse”.
The “curse” had the terrible effect of forcing any enemy living creature within range to fight each other.
Therefore, it was considered impossible to kill a spiritual beast with a large number of people, and could only be beaten by a single outstanding warrior.
However, the combat ability of the spiritual beasts was extremely high, and it was nearly impossible for even the most skilled knights in the continent.
And according to the official information, not a single person had subdued one in several decades.
『A Spiritual Beast’s “curse” can ruin a country. It’s best to leave it be until it goes away. 』
There existed an anecdote saying that it must be avoided, and even kingdoms and lords should not uselessly meddle with Spiritual Beasts.
It was said that after several hundreds of years of not being touched, the spiritual beast will disappear.
“Then I myself will go rescue Barrès! …Me, along with this magic sword will surely…”
“You cannot, your highness! In the case where the spiritual beast has companions, then it is a big deal.”
The old knight made a strong case against Prince Loki trying to go rescue by himself.
If anything were to happen to Loki, a biological child of the emperor, what would he said to His Majesty who was currently in an expedition in the south.
“But there aren’t any knights who would stand shoulder to shoulder with Barrès currently in the capital.”
“Let’s wait and believe in Lord Barrès, Your Highness.”
In the imperial capital there were the Crimson Knights, several other knights and imperial soldiers.
However, the knights on the same level as the large sword wielder Barrès were moved to the various fronts and were currently absent.
Barrès was one of the top three knights in the Hisan Empire… but even so, this time’s opponent being several spiritual beasts made it hard for him to break through.
And with only Loki being in the capital of equal skill, the outcome looked grim.
“d.a.m.n it… I feel so powerless…”
At his friend’s predicament, Prince Loki was a loss for words.
In the depths of his heart he felt like throwing away the position as a prince, and head to rescue his friend.
However, if he did so, the sin would befall his subordinates, whom would be questioned by the emperor about why didn’t they stop him.
A lot of his subordinates’ lives would be lost if he were to take that selfish behavior.
“There’s no other choice…”
A ruler needs to be rational, abandon one friend’s life in order to save many.
Thus, Loki decided to make a bitter choice.
Every one of the empire’s knights were looking down on resignation at such situation.
“Are you done talking? ”
Since Loki’s interactions were over, Yamato opened his mouth.
With no time to waste, he quickly moved to the next topic.
“Third prince of the Hisan Empire, Loki. I though he was a man with a little more backbone.”
And his words were directed to Loki, who was looking down in despair.
He was capable as a knight commander, but still inexperienced as a man.
“b.a.s.t.a.r.d! How dare you insult Loki-sama!? ”
“Unforgivable! ”
“I’ll kill and dispose of such a blasphemous person! ”
With his words as the trigger, the atmosphere in the room made a complete turn.
Loki’s knight escorts were upset and angry, and placed their hand on the handle of their swords.
Their figure was no longer that of a proud knight, but of a beast blinded by emotions.
Yet, Yamato kept speaking disregarding those beast-like figures.
“Loki, can someone give me directions to your subordinate?”
“…………..”
“b.a.s.t.a.r.d, what are you spouting…”
To his following words, everyone in that place was at loss about how to respond.
All the knights were confused, not knowing Yamato’s real intention.
“Can’t be, to the spirit cave in the eastern sea of trees…”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Among the empire knights in the room, only Prince Loki understood his real intention.
Although he previously lost his composure, his intelligent mind quickly spun Yamato’s words, making sense of them.
Truly a man of his worth.
“Don’t get me wrong. I loaned something to that man… to Barrès. I’m just going to take it back.”
This was true.
There were many other thoughts in his head, but his primary objective was that.
“Yamato of Urd… you…”
“Yamato…dono.”
The empire’s knights, including Prince Loki, were either surprised, lost for words or moved.
They never thought a person from another country would offer themselves.
“It’s a game against time. I need to hurry up.”
And thus, Yamato decided to go to the sea of trees where the Spiritual Beast descended and save the knight Barrès.