The Emperor Has Returned

Chapter 21 – Ash Tower (2)

Huxle felt some guilt and thus avoided looking into Juan's eyes but eventually spoke, “I’ve heard of some strange rumors recently.”

“Rumors?” Juan questioned.

“They said some kind of demon appeared in Tantil, killed Daeron in a horrible manner, and controlled the monsters to slaughter the people there. Even the knight order lost pathetically to that demon and ran away.”

“...” Juan remained silent.

“Even the bishop got involved to deal with the demon, so they locked Tantil down for a week to prevent anyone from escaping, but still couldn’t catch it in the end. They even requested reinforcements from the capital to deal with the demon. But the demon’s actual identity was…” Huxle trailed off.

“A black-haired teenage boy?” Juan smiled drearily as he finished Huxle’s sentence. That response sounded threatening to Huxle. The other party members unwittingly tightened the grip on their weapons.

“Did you already know about this rumor?” Huxle asked Juan.

“I’ve never heard it until now,” Juan replied.

It was true, at least to Juan, since he hadn’t been to places with many people. However, he was the one who had caused that commotion, as well as the small incident with Sina, so all of this was to be expected. Juan had also expected this party to have recognised him when they started paying attention to him back at the village.

Huxle concealed his nervousness and observed Juan cautiously. “We’re not here to fight you. In fact, I have a suggestion.”

“A suggestion?” Juan asked, intrigued.

Putting aside whether Juan was a demon or not, he was still a thirteen-year-old black-haired boy. But Huxle approached Juan as he truly believed there was ‘something more’ to him.

“We believe those rumors to be exaggerated. The heretics probably caused trouble, and you, someone from beyond the borders, got swept up in the incident somehow. That said, seeing you now, the rumors might not have been an exaggeration either.

Huxle continued after taking a deep breath. “...It doesn’t matter if you’re really the demon; it’s not like I work for the emperor. Instead, it is actually the Church who is stealing my rice bowl… they’re worse than demons.”

Huxle’s party was bewildered. Huxle had decided to take a gamble, thinking that he had nothing to lose. Thus, it didn’t matter if what he said was true or not.

“If you’re going to the holy city, Torra... The Ash Tower is just slightly off course on the way there. Have you been there before?” Huxle asked, to which Juan nodded in response.

Delighted by the response, Huxle continued. “We’re headed there in search of the hidden treasures. There are rumors that His Majesty hid and sealed the heretics’ treasures there after exterminating them. Actually, even if those rumors are exaggerated, there are people who collect items found in those historic sites.”

Juan smirked. It was true—there were precious treasures hidden in the Ash Tower. But Juan hadn’t just left them there because he was a nice person.

“If you treasure your life, it’s probably better to look elsewhere,” Juan said.

“But… we have prepared for a long time for this Ash Tower exploration. We’ve even talked to those who survived the Ash Tower. In fact, this would be my third time doing it. I've made thorough preparations for it, so I believe I’ll definitely succeed this time around… I just want to make sure everything goes smoothly,” Huxle explained, hinting that he wanted Juan to help them.

“Huxle!” The woman who was still being held captive yelled before Juan could even reply. Juan glanced at her. It was clear to him what roles each of their party members had, except for this woman.

“What are you doing? I only hired you because I trust you... there was no mention of bringing a kid like this along!” The female captive complained.

“Be quiet!” Huxle shouted back at the woman.

Huxle continued, “I have already used up everything I have for this exploration! Didn’t you promise me rewards if it succeeded? Fuck, if I fail again this time, I’m really done for! I don’t care if it’s a heretic or a kid, heck, I would even bring a demon along just to ensure success. No, I would even sell out the emperor’s corpse, if that’s what it takes!”

The others covered their mouths in shock and some of them even made the sign of a cross at the disrespectful things he had said. The woman bit her lips. Huxle looked at Juan and was surprised to see Juan laughing to the point of covering his mouth.

“Pft, ahahaha. Sorry, this is just so interesting,” Juan replied, looking extremely satisfied. “There’s no need to sell out the emperor’s corpse. I like you.”

“So...?” Huxle asked.

“After listening to what you said, I think it’s not a bad idea to go to the Ash Tower, but you must accept my condition,” Juan said.

“What condition?” Huxle asked.

“When we reach our destination, I’ll choose the items first. I don’t really care what happens after that, you guys can take whatever you want,” Juan declared.

***

Sina Solvane looked at the flagpole she held with a strange feeling. A spear decorated with His Majesty’s symbol and a fluttering flag. It was an honor for any knight to become a flagbearer, even if it was only once in their lifetime. Sina hadn’t thought that she would be given another chance to be the flagbearer after escaping from the capital.

“Dame Sina, you seem surprised. No, should I be calling you ‘Pursuit Unit Captain’ now?” Someone called out from behind.

Sina turned around to see a sickly-looking pale man, and instantly felt the still healing scar on her back throbbing.

“I would be lying if I said I’m not surprised, Inquisitor Kato,” Sina replied. Sina had thought this man was just a templar, but he was in fact an Inquisitor, which was an even higher rank. She now understood why he carried a whip and not a sword.

“Bishop Rietto decided to give you one more chance, instead of punishment, by the grace of His Majesty. You must live up to his grace,” Kato reminded Sina.

“Honestly, no one expected this at all,” Sina responded.

“That’s to be expected. After all, it’s hard to figure out what Bishop Rietto has in mind. However, he’s someone who would do anything for His Majesty. You detected the seed of evil within the colosseum early on, kept an eye on them and did all you could to protect the citizens. That was what Bishop Rietto paid notice to,” Kato explained.

Sina wanted to say that this was totally opposite of what Bishop Rietto had said in the court, but she kept her mouth shut. If she pointed out their shamelessness, his attitude would just turn for the worse.

“...That’s right. And I’m the only one who knows the target’s face and has talked to him before. So I agree that I should be leading the Pursuit Unit,” Sina replied, pushing her thoughts aside.

“Thank you for accepting this mission so positively. Oh, and Bishop Rietto has ordered for me to join the Pursuit Unit as well,” Kato announced.

Sina nodded; she had expected that someone from Bishop Rietto’s side would join her in the pursuit of Juan. An Inquisitor would hold quite the weight in the pursuit unit.

“If what you’ve reported is true, then the holy relic I received would be of great help.” Kato continued, taking out a glass box that contained a sheath.

Sina immediately felt His Majesty’s holy energy from it. This relic was definitely not meant for decorative purposes; it was a legitimate holy relic that would normally be stored well within the capital.

.

“This is...”

“It’s a legitimate holy relic. It’s something that His Majesty made himself. It’s hard to explain how it works, but it’s able to track the location of its target,” Kato explained.

Something felt off. When did things get so urgent that they had to use a holy relic? The Church’s quick reaction aroused Sina’s suspicions.

“You seem pretty surprised,” Kato remarked.

“The truth is, I am. I couldn’t get much help from the Church even when an incident bigger than this occurred. I guess Bishop Rietto isn’t the only one that has taken an interest in this incident,” Sina replied.

Kato pointed to the skies as he smiled. “Everything moves as per the will of His Majesty who sits on his throne.”

Sina stiffened. Kato’s words were used often by normal people, but it had a different meaning when used by Priests in the capital. The ‘throne’ was a political way of referring to the high-ranked officials in the holy city, Torra.

Sina was confused. ‘Why would the capital take interest in what happened on the border?’?

“The investiture ceremony is about to begin. Let’s hurry; the flagbearer shouldn’t be late,” Kato reminded her.

Sina nodded and got onto her horse. Led by the Order of the Blue Rose, the Pursuit Unit’s mission was to go after ‘Tantil’s demon’. And today was the ceremony to mark the beginning of the new unit. Sina pondered over why Kato had revealed the capital’s involvement in this pursuit mission. It was either a threat, or to spur her on by letting her know that the capital had her back. Either way, the only certainty was that it would affect Sina greatly. The flagpole in her hands felt way heavier than Sina had imagined.

***

This was the third time that Huxle visited the Ash Tower; the first two times had not ended well. The fact that he survived was something he had to be thankful for. Since Huxle was lucky enough to survive twice, it could be said that he had already used up all his luck in this lifetime, but he had still decided to do a third exploration.

‘I must succeed this time.’

Huxle remembered a pregnant woman whom he had met in a bar back in his hometown. She must have already given birth to a cute child, since she was due while he prepared for the Ash Tower expedition. But all Huxle had were gambling debts and battle scars. Huxle had decided to get a grip on his life after he saw the pregnant woman, but mercenary work was all he knew. A mere silver-ranked mercenary could not possibly make enough money to sustain a family. He needed a large sum of money for that.

That was when a woman had come to him and suggested an expedition to the Ash Tower. She even promised to give him a large amount of money and also half of the treasures found there. Initially, Huxle decided he would never go back to the Ash Tower after his two failures, but he couldn’t reject the woman because of her tantalizing offer. To make things even better, she mentioned that Huxle could still get the reward even if the expedition were to end in failure.

“Boss, will that kid be alright?” One of the party members, Benson asked Huxle.

“...Benson, he must have some kind of talent to make a living in the empire,” Huxle replied, to which Benson snorted at Huxle’s reply.

Huxle felt like Benson was not qualified to doubt Juan, since Benson had been kicked out of a guild after being caught rummaging through his comrades’ items.

“Honestly, you only wanted to ask him for help because you thought this boy had other company, didn’t you?” Benson questioned Huxle.

Huxle had thought that there might be a few more people from beyond the borders backing Juan up, but it seemed like that was not the case, since they had not appeared and also because of Juan’s attitude towards them. It was almost like he had gambled the success of this expedition on Juan.

“And when you talked about selling out His Majesty’s corpse, we thought you simply said that out of anger since we knew about your situation... But that kid over there simply laughed when he heard it,” Benson told Huxle.

“Yeah, I saw that. It could be because he’s from beyond the borders, so he doesn’t respect His Majesty as much as we do,” Huxle explained.

“But there’s no need for him to be so happy over what you said! That kid must have a screw loose or something. Isn’t he actually kinda horrifying?” Benson exclaimed.

Huxle did not answer him.

Benson slowly walked over to Huxle and whispered to him, “If the situation calls for it... we could tie him up and hand him over to Tantil too, can’t we?”

They all knew that there was a huge bounty on a black-haired boy through a mercenary guild even before they joined this expedition. Benson seemed to be after the bounty more than the reckless expedition. Huxle had thought of it as well; he responded with a sigh and pushed Benson away.

“Let’s observe how this goes first.”