The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 154

When we arrived in Aurelinople, stars were beginning to dot the violet-tinged western sky.

Perhaps because we had traveled down the river by barge, the city’s spires, flushed with the colors of twilight, began to appear as dusk approached.

There were many boats going downriver but few going up. Most of those heading upstream were river galleys, their decks swarming with armed soldiers.

They seemed to be troops guarding the riverside villages under the city’s control from crows, but bizarrely, they wore iron collars around their necks, more like shackles than armor.

“Is that some kind of dog collar that’s in fashion in the Republic?”

At my question, Miria, who was poling the boat toward the midstream, replied,

“They’re estate soldiers. It signifies that.”

“Estate soldiers?”

“It means people without citizenship. If you don’t have citizenship, you have to do whatever work the city government assigns you. Soldiers, laborers… mostly jobs that free citizens avoid.”

“Until when?”

“Until, until, until.”

“Until citizenship is issued. But the number of people who go from estate resident to citizen is incredibly small.”

“It’s like slavery… the Holy See wouldn’t recognize something like that.”

“Slavery, slavery, slavery.”

“They just don’t use the word ‘slave.’ The Northern Republic is better off because it’s closer to the Holy See. If you go to the Adrion Continent, where they don’t care about such things, you’d be surprised.”

Miria explained with a bitter sneer.

“I just thought the world was regressing because the dragons disappeared, but I never imagined there would be such dark dealings.”

It felt like so much was twisted.

The Republic was originally famous for its Haltene (local self-defense force) military system, where free citizens directly took up arms in times of war. But now they’re making slaves do all that?

That bastard who called himself Zernyx… a chilling sweat trickled down my spine.

“Don’t make a sound for a while.”

Miria carefully poled the boat toward the northern sluice gate of Aurelinople.

We were both wearing the witch hats borrowed from the witch of Oltaris and witch robes, making our movements clumsy. Aki was still asleep, having been quite shocked in the early morning.

Not that it’s something to brag about, but my hair, which I hadn’t styled in months, fell to my shoulders. If I untied the ponytail, I’d look exactly like a witch.

“Witch-nim.”

Those on the riverboats in front and behind, and those going to the city via the land route along the riverbank, bowed their heads and paid their respects. It seems that’s how we look to others as well.

It’s not surprising. In the Republic, witches hold a very high status.

Outside the city walls, countless stalls and shops were spread out along both riverbanks. The primary colors of the brightly lit lanterns were almost blinding.

Passing through the village, the elegant and beautiful walls of the violet city Aurelinople soared up in a purple hue.

‘Beautiful Aurelinople, the youngest of the seven great cities, a city that embodies the beauty of the river.’

An old poem came to mind.

The city walls were built without any stonemasonry techniques, using only rocks and pebbles from the river. It was said that all the stones were different in size and shape. This aesthetic of difference created a rustic yet antique beauty.

It’s said to be the smallest of the seven great cities, but it was still as large as Goldenrose, which ranks among the top five in the Empire.

“Welcome.”

Estate resident spearmen were guarding the iron gates of the waterway. The officer who seemed to be the gatekeeper was a free citizen, not wearing an iron collar around his neck.

There was no hint of suspicion in his eyes, and when we each showed our witch pendants, he immediately bowed deeply and opened the way.

Not long after passing through the gate, a wide, bustling street paved with purple marble unfolded. In front of the pubs, drunken citizens were chattering boisterously, while estate residents were busily doing odd jobs, such as lighting streetlights in the twilight.

Miria continued to move the riverboat along the Velisor Great River, which runs through the city from north to south.

“Where’s the witch branch?”

“How wide do you think this city is? It’s half a day on foot. A little faster by waterway. We’ll probably arrive late at night.”

After leaving the bustling street, a small square unfolded in the silence. Strangely, a domed temple was built in the center of it.

The demeanor and attire of the users were completely different from those of the bustling street behind. A considerable crowd was neatly dressed, praying with their hands together, and passing through the colonnade into the interior.

But strangely, Pipi suddenly took flight and flew towards it? I barely managed to call her back.

“What’s wrong, Pipi? What’s so exciting about this place?”

It was Miria who answered that question.

“Don’t you know? It’s the birthplace of the Fire Dragon’s Maiden. Now it’s been converted into a memorial hall for a great person. Many people come on pilgrimages.”

“…What?”

“You named your Sun Parrot after the Fire Dragon’s Maiden’s Sun Parrot and you didn’t even know that?”

I gasped for a moment. My body seemed frozen to the gunwale, unable to move. I just moved my lips blankly.

‘So this city… is Friede’s hometown?’

* * *

Scattering dark blue feathers, a crow crossed the forest and landed on the iron-masked man’s arm, cawing.

The feathers scattered by the crow formed a string of characters in the air… After carefully reading those phrases, the man summarized and reported the message.

“A message from Aurelinople. The target has entered the city.”

Then the old shaman, who had been sitting cross-legged above the abandoned hermitage, opened her eyes.

Beside her, hundreds of shamanic crows were gathered. Just by that, one could guess how immense the caster’s magic was.

The old shaman, as if the pipe in her right hand had suddenly become heavy, let it droop and exhaled tobacco smoke like a sigh.

“…Of all the places, she had to crawl into the one I least wanted to go to.”

“If you command, I will go alone.”

“No, that’s alright.”

The shaman shook her head, giving her subordinate a look of disbelief. And when she got up from the hermitage, the crows scattered shamanic feathers frantically and flew up.

“Tell them to stall for as much time as possible. We’re leaving right now.”

* * *

“Welcome to the Friedergulus (Friede’s Birth) Memorial Hall. We would appreciate it if you could maintain reverence and quiet.”

The birthplace, which was already considered a kind of sacred place when Friede was alive, had been transformed into a sacred memorial hall after the great shaman’s death.

A worn-out desk that Friede used in her childhood, a Dragon Scripture that was about to have its cover fall off from being read so much, and a baby Pipi’s feather…….

The traces of that brilliant life were arranged sequentially from childhood to old age, according to the flow of time.

It’s really nothing special, but why does my heart ache as if pricked by needles when I look at each of those objects?

“Friede, Friede, Friede.”

Since I was like that, there’s no need to explain Pipi’s condition.

I had to work hard to calm Pipi, who was crying pitifully, hidden in the sleeve of the witch’s robe.

The reason why that didn’t attract much attention from others was thanks to the witch’s voice, who was explaining Friede’s life to the pilgrims.

“Born with deep faith and a benevolent heart from a young age, Friede became a witch at a young age, and three years later, the Fire Dragon Bel’dakidun personally chose her as a shaman, even skipping the Senate vote. At this time, she gained the unique title of Fire Dragon’s Maiden in the history of the Republic.”

It was a witch wearing a yellow robe.

Witches imitated the Dragon Corps, choosing robes of yellow, blue, and red according to their assigned duties.

Yellow for governance, blue for public welfare, which Yukien wore, and red for eradicating evil, which the witches of Oltaris wore.

“When a long summer came to the world, Friede was recruited into Payquerier Rista’s party and left for the south. And she prevented the Lizard Lord’s seal from being broken.”

The yellow witch pointed to where ‘we’ were drawn with the bottom of her broom. I thought I had overcome it quite a bit, but my eyes became blurred on their own.

Hero, Rista.

Maiden, Friede.

Palace Mage, Kies.

Great Mage, Rin.

The witch then pointed to Rin’s portrait.

“Friede and the Great Mage Rin were as close as siblings, many survivors of the ‘Antarctic War’ testified.”

“…….”

“Rin is the first and last casualty of Rista’s party. Friede used to say that everyone would have died back then if Rin hadn’t been there.”

I didn’t know it well back then, I used to deny it when others said that, but… after having a younger sibling, I realized something for sure.

How much Friede cherished me back then. More like a real older sister than a real older sister…….

The next portrait made my heart even more affectionate. It was a picture of Friede putting a witch hat on Tureina’s head.

“After Rin died, Friede took in Rin’s disciple, Tureina, and raised her as a witch with all her heart. At this time, she also gave up the title of youngest witch to her disciple.”

Friede was smiling foolishly, and Tureina was biting her lips with a sulky expression. Perhaps it was because she received the nickname ‘Ashes of Tobacco’ at that time. Pipi, drawn on top of Tureina’s head, was flapping her wings and acting up.

It was such a vivid picture that my gaze automatically fell to the floor and wandered around vaguely…….

As if that time, that day, that time I truly wanted to be with, was precisely carved out and moved to a painting.

“Friede and Tureina, the two greatest maidens in the history of the Republic, legislated the direction of the Republic in the era after the corps left after the war, reorganized the system, and created the Ten Witch Commandments.”

The following pictures were of Friede and Tureina discussing something together, organizing documents, and discussing with human magistrates in the Republic Senate. Pipi was always with them.

“The Republic gradually disintegrated after the era of Tureina, but their great spirit still remains with us…….”

The witch’s explanation that followed did not enter my ears. My head hurt so much that I couldn’t even stand properly.

Yeah, that can’t be true.

She manipulated Tureina?

That tomboy lived a life so great that she could be compared to Friede and returned to the embrace of the gods… What that bastard said back then was just sophistry to confuse me.

“Hey, is it okay to keep staying here?”

At that time, Miria poked my side and whispered quietly.

“You said you had something to confirm… What are you going to confirm here? We have to go to the witch branch quickly.”

I let out a long breath that could be called a sigh.

“We don’t have to go on our own.”

“What?”

“Because they came to find us on their own.”

As soon as those words were finished, about a dozen witches, all dressed in red, gracefully fluttering their long robes (unlike us), approached us.

There was no need to make a fuss, and even if I had to, I didn’t want to make a fuss here. In this place where the traces of an old friend’s life were clearly present.

Unlike Oltaris, they weren’t being manipulated by possessing spirits… but this side is serious in another sense. A middle-aged witch who seemed to be the leader whispered politely.

“Dra Doom Gurhat (May the Dragon’s Blessing be with you).”

Now that many people’s attention was already focused on us, I wondered what meaning there was in lowering my voice, but I decided to respond with the greeting between witches that I had learned from Friede 300 years ago.

“Lami La Habentas (So shall humans be).”

The witches seemed surprised that an Imperial knew and pronounced this greeting accurately, but soon they reverently drew the sign of the Heptagram (symbolizing the seven gods of Those Who Came). The middle-aged witch said,

“We are from the Aurelinople Witch Association headquarters. Would you like to come with us?”