The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 140

Chapter 140

Two golden roses intertwined on a lavender background—that noble emblem, embroidered on a vigorously fluttering flag, symbolized the Page Marquis family.

The Page family, with Emissa Page, the originator of magic and cherished by Karen Den as a daughter, as their ancestor, was as powerful as the five leading families.

But why was the Page family here now?

“What are you doing right now?”

Seigan shouted, quite displeased that his magic duel had been interrupted.

The opponent was Madelia Page, the current head of the Magic Society. Even as a Magic Star from the Seiga family, he shouldn’t commit such rudeness fueled by mere anger.

However, all justification and cause were currently on Seigan’s side.

“This guy is a traitor who pointed a sword at the Empire. Are you protecting a traitor right now?”

“That’s right.”

For a moment, Seigan doubted his ears.

What? That’s right?

Not only Seigan but everyone there began to murmur blankly. The most shocked were the magicians who had supported Madelia as the head of the Magic Society.

“What is this……?”

“The head of the Page family and the head of the Magic Society……?”

“Is she saying she’s defending a traitor……?”

If so, did that mean the Page family plotted this rebellion? If so, the impact this would have on the Empire would be akin to a natural disaster.

As Madelia Page led her cavalry down the hill, only the sound of hooves filled the silence where not even a cough could be heard.

The cavalry, their flags fluttering with the golden roses, soon arrived at the point where the ground was twisted by the extreme magicians, surrounding the boy and girl as if to protect them.

Perhaps overjoyed, Casena laughed and ran forward.

“Mom, Mom! I have so many stories I want to tell you! You know, I──!”

Madelia coldly looked down at her daughter, whom she had not seen in almost half a year, before turning her horse back towards the Imperial Army.

“What’s wrong? Mom is acting strange.”

Casena asked the Magic Guard or knights, who were quite familiar with her and had served Casena since she was young, but they did not answer, as if they had agreed to remain silent.

“Mom? Mom, you say?”

Seigan’s eyes widened as he confirmed Casena’s face, her lavender hair clearly visible as she had pushed her hood back.

‘Casena? No way, that child should be dead. If that’s really Casena, then that black hair must be…’

At that moment, Aki’s two eyes, whose Abat Gauge (a measure of Aki’s emotional state; it gradually decreases when Rain is not nearby, and Aki’s crying bursts when it reaches its limit) hit the bottom, were filled with tears.

“Waaah, waaaah……!”

No one could stop Aki’s crying in this situation. Except for one person: Rain.

Rain, who rushed over, took Aki from Casena and patted her back, and she stopped crying as if nothing had happened.

“Don’t cry, come on, stop. How can you cry every chance you get when we decided to be super strong?”

“Wuuu…….”

“Stop crying! It hasn’t been that long since we were apart.”

The bizarre sight made the people around them have strange—perhaps valid—questions.

‘What is this?’

‘Does Lady Casena have a baby?’

‘When did she give birth?’

Before they could even process such strange questions, the situation quickly escalated to a climax.

As Madelia’s cavalry intervened, the Imperial Army immediately began to surround them in a hawk-wing formation, and Griffion, judging that Rain and Casena were in danger, began to descend the hill with the warriors.

The Empire’s Minister of War, Yohan, who was in charge of commanding the Imperial Army next to the Prince, shouted with a face that turned blue with embarrassment.

“Lady Madelia, what you are doing now is a clear act of treason! If you do not stop the advance of those beasts, you will have to prepare for a bloody situation!”

“Wait, just wait a minute!”

Rain felt a fear that froze his whole body as the situation he had been so worried about was about to happen in an instant.

“Shut up! You traitor, if you don’t stop those beastly bastards, I’ll launch a total offensive this time and turn the area into scorched earth! Do you understand?”

As soon as that order was given, the archers reloaded their arrows on the bowstrings, and now even boulders were placed on the field catapults.

In that situation where his head was going white due to hyperventilation and everything around him seemed slow, for some reason…….

The last smile Barzhen showed appeared, and his head grew cold.

“……They are not beasts.”

This shouldn’t be happening, it really shouldn’t be happening…… In that moment when he couldn’t suppress his emotions with reason, he realized.

300 years ago, when the magicians looked down on me, I wasn’t particularly angry, but Rista was furious.

At that time, I wondered why Rista was so angry…… but at this moment, I vaguely understood his feelings back then.

“What did you say?”

“The beastmen are not beasts!”

“What nonsense are you talking about……?”

“They may have some fur and look similar to beasts, but…… that’s not a curse but a blessing! It’s a sign of the great sacrifice they have made for our humanity!”

The advance of the beastman warriors stopped as if by magic at that scream that filled the wetlands.

Until now, there had been no one.

No human who spoke like that about the beastmen, no human who was angry on behalf of the beastmen against other humans…… The warriors felt their eyes grow hot.

“That’s ridiculous! Everyone in this land knows what those beasts are!”

“Apologize for insulting their honor. If you don’t…… I will have no choice but to oppose you.”

The air, no, the entire atmosphere froze at the absolute presence released in the instant the boy’s eyes shone coldly.

From the other side of the swamp, the cries of ancient magical beasts fleeing in fear could be heard…… and the soldiers holding weapons felt a cold chill as their hands grew cold and even stopped breathing.

The fear that magicians with high magic sensitivity felt there was close to panic.

‘What is that……?’

‘A dragon……?’

The manifestation of a transcendent being beyond the horizon of perception, infinite magic rising like a cliff behind the boy, taking the form of a dragon, transcending the realm of time, that absolute source.

Unlike the magicians who were sweating all over and whose breathing was getting faster, the Minister of War, who did not recognize the magic of transcendence, shouted.

“Is that so? Then try opposing me! The Empire is in a situation where order is collapsing due to the endless threat of the Abyss, and we cannot accelerate the crisis by even allowing the beastmen to enter!”

“……!”

“In a situation where another Black Spot incident could happen at any time, there will be no compromise even if the opponent is the Page family. As the Empire’s shield and sword, I will destroy you here and now!”

As soon as that order was given, the archers immediately tried to pull the bowstrings again…… What is this?

It won’t pull.

The bowstring was several times heavier than usual, as if pulling on a lump of iron instead of a string.

“Apologize quickly! They are not beasts! They are humans just like us!”

It was because an invisible finger was pulling the bowstring in the opposite direction, and the archer Leo Ren, who immediately realized the reason, raised his eyebrows in surprise.

‘Wide-area telekinetic control?’

He’s using telekinesis to control the bows of so many archers?

In that instant, the rune that Casena Page drew in the air had strokes that neither Madelia nor Seigan had ever seen before. It also looked like a simplified version of the Dragon Language.

What exactly is that power, and how did that child become able to use such power?

“Their bodies themselves are a sign of the curse—what nonsense are you spouting!”

The Minister of War shouted, scoffing because the traitors were so confident. The boy immediately retorted with a passionate cry.

“The beastmen have been guarding the seal beyond the barrier for 1,400 years on behalf of humanity! They could have crossed the barrier at any time if they wanted to! Why would they have done that? In that cursed land where there is nothing but cold and the dead!”

“……!”

“Also, you mentioned the danger of the Abyss, and that’s right! If human wisdom and the power of the beastmen are combined, wouldn’t we be able to deal with the dangers that will come more efficiently?”

“What……?”

“Are the beastmen going to be our allies?”

As bewildered murmurs began to arise from all over the ranks, the Minister of War gasped.

“Minister of War, wouldn’t it be a good idea to listen to what he has to say?”

As the archer Leo Ren cautiously suggested, the Minister of War’s face turned red and blue.

“It’s sophistry, sophistry! Don’t be fooled by such words! Don’t you know that the Abyss always seduces people’s hearts and then devours their souls!”

“……!”

“The moment you let the beastmen into the Empire, the same slaughter as during the Black Spot incident will begin! It will be too late then! Here, under the orders of His Majesty the Emperor, we must annihilate them all!”

And suddenly, as he raised his baton, standard-bearers raised their flags here and there.

The signal for a full-scale charge…… As the infantrymen pointed their spears forward and the knights drew their swords from their scabbards, the chilling metallic sounds of metal scraping against leather erupted.

He really thought it was the worst. Starting with the fight against the Magic Star was to attract attention before talking.

Because he couldn’t suppress his emotions for a moment, the situation was developing into the worst-case scenario of fighting the Imperial Army…… Rain bit his lip at that moment.

“Stop. I will listen to the story.”

That voice rang out clearly and distinctly in the situation that had reached the threshold of chaos, ending all the chaos in an instant.

Crown Prince Raida Aigin.

As soon as the young prince raised his hand, all the soldiers, one by one, took their sweaty hands off their weapons at his regal majesty.

“Your Highness, listening to the story…… You must not be fooled by the sophistry of a guy who serves the Abyss!”

Regardless of the Minister of War’s urgent cry, the prince drove his horse to the front of the ranks. Immediately, thirty cavalrymen, including the archer Leo Ren, followed him.

And Madelia, who had been waiting only for this moment, drove her horse towards the prince.

In the silence, Raida and Madelia finally stood face to face in the middle. Madelia first paid her respects with a bow.

“Your Highness, Crown Prince.”

“Lady Madelia. Yes, can you explain what’s going on right now?”

“That’s not something I can say. That child, Rain Ludwig, will be able to tell you.”

Prince Raida’s gaze turned to Rain Ludwig, who was holding Aki, over Madelia’s shoulder.

Rain Ludwig…… I wasn’t wrong. But for what reason did he bring the beastmen down and commit treason?

At those words, the eyes of the Magic Star, who had already gone to the back of the prince and was standing there, widened.

‘Rain Ludwig? The grandson of that old man Scalzi I saw about 10 years ago has grown up like that?’

Seigan had often heard rumors that the successor of the Ludwig family was making a name for himself in no less than his grandfather and father.

But what is this?

He also heard that the successor of the Ludwig family died in the Black Spot incident and even had a funeral.

‘No, I don’t care about that. I don’t care if he’s a ghost.’

The problem is how he reached the point of using cerebral hemorrhage [extreme mental exertion] at such a young age…… The magic duel with that guy was really a fantastic time. Can’t we do it one more time? Without any interference.

“Does that mean you don’t know much about this situation either?”

“That’s right.”

“But you defended him?”

“Yes. Not only that, but I, and the Page family, will take all responsibility for what Rain says to Your Highness, what he promises, and what he guarantees.”

Prince Raida couldn’t believe those words at all, so he had to ask back like this.

“Lady, are you serious right now?”

He’s going to take all the responsibility…… Rain hasn’t said anything yet? It could be seen as a so-called blank check [unconditional guarantee].

No, it could be said to be a guarantee with his life on the line…….

But Madelia also knew about the true nature of the beastmen. It was written in Emissa Page’s diary, which was secretly passed down only to the heirs of the Page family.

“I know Rain Ludwig’s human character, skills, and insight well. I can absolutely trust him.”

“……!”

“There’s no way he would have brought the beastmen for treason or anything like that. There must be a deep meaning. Please listen to what the Crown Prince has to say and judge.”

Hmm…….

Raida paused for a moment, stroking his chin as if lost in thought, and finally nodded.

“Then bring him. I will listen and judge.”

Rain, who had barely put Aki, wrapped in a blanket, to sleep, came forward to Madelia and the prince without even taking a breath.

It was his first time giving a court bow in a long time, but his movements were awkward, perhaps because he was holding Aki in his arms.

The magicians of the Special Task Force tried to point that out, but Raida raised his hand to stop them.

“It’s been a while, Rain Ludwig.”

The prince took a welcoming tone, which could only be embarrassing for Rain. It’s been a while?

“It’s natural that you don’t remember. But I remember you clearly. It was during the final exam at .”

“I’m honored that you do.”

“So? You are now branded as a traitor who incited the beastmen to cross the barrier and rebel against the Empire. I thought you died during the Black Spot incident, but why did you do this?”

The prince’s eyes, which had seemed friendly, were now as sharp as if they were pointing a knife at his chest.

He had been aware of the contents he had heard from the adventurers, but when he was questioned by the prince, he felt as if his head was on the guillotine.

He must proceed carefully and calmly. Because the other party is the Crown Prince of the Holy Human Empire.

“Treason? That’s absurd. You know that I, and my family, have no reason to do such a thing…….”

“That’s why I’m asking now. Why did you go so far as to make rebellious remarks to bring the beastmen into the Empire?”

“Your Highness, I apologize for saying this, but the beastmen are not cursed creatures. They are beings to whom Your Highness should express gratitude on behalf of the Empire.”

At that moment, everyone gasped. What did that guy just say to the prince of the Empire? Isaka of the Special Task Force shouted.

“Such impudence─!”

“─I will speak. Step back.”

“However, Your Highness!”

“Do I have to say it twice? You guys step back fifteen paces. I will talk alone.”

At the Crown Prince’s majesty, the guards, including the archer and the Magic Star, had no choice but to step back fifteen paces.

“I have to express gratitude to the beastmen on behalf of the Empire?”

“That’s right.”

“I’ll listen to the reason once. I’ll judge whether it’s outrageous or not after listening. Now, try to seduce me, magician. Like back then.”