Water Magician

Vol 3. Chapter 685: Bonus Part: Ryo and Abel’s Journey Home (12)

0685 Loyalty

The First Assault Group, under the Central Navy Headquarters of the Suje Kingdom.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that they were the strongest group in the Suje Kingdom Navy when it came to deck fighting and land combat.

The man leading them was Assault Group Commander Monrache.

But the person standing beside Monrache did not look strong at all.

He had only just come over from the conference room and joined up with them.

A middle-aged man who was not very tall, not especially muscular, and did not look as if his individual combat ability was high at all.

His face was the sort that some people might think was fairly decent, perhaps, but not the sort of face that seemed likely to have fanatical female admirers.

“Hey, Rockday, don’t you think # Nоvеlight # an admiral doesn’t need to come all the way out to the front line?”

Monrache frowned and spoke to the middle-aged man... Admiral Rockday.

“I thought so too, but His Excellency Kabui Somal gave me direct orders... so in a sense, I came out here against my will.”

Rockday answered with a frown of his own.

“Well, serving as the one to entertain those terrifying people while also taking part in the meeting... or rather, staying conscious of them the whole time, takes a lot out of you. Compared to that, this may indeed be better.”

“Terrifying people?”

Monrache tilted his head at Rockday’s words.

Monrache ran through the people at the center of government and in headquarters in his mind, but there was no one Rockday would describe as “terrifying.”

At most, perhaps his direct superior Kabui Somal, or the queen he revered, Queen Ilyaja.

But he could not imagine Rockday describing either of them as “terrifying.”

“Yes. As it happens, two terrifying men named Abel and Ryo are staying here. It seems they joined up with His Excellency on Lulu Island in the north, which has newly become part of our kingdom.”

Rockday deliberately used the old way of referring to him, instead of saying Duke Rondo.

“Abel and Ryo? I feel like I’ve heard those names somewhere...”

“Of course you have. Abel is the one who boarded the flagship by crossing a gigantic ice bridge two hundred meters long, cut off both your arms, and drove a sword into my stomach.”

“That man with the demonic sword!”

At Rockday’s explanation, Monrache remembered completely as well.

At the time, they had been left with no choice but to attack the fleet of the Comakyuta Princely Kingdom that was transporting Ilyaja, then still the Sixth Princess.

But in the process, they had been hit with a shrewd counterattack, and those swordsmen had boarded the flagship and put them through a painful ordeal.

“I see. Right, that swordsman’s name really was Abel. Then this Ryo must be his mage partner.”

“Yes. He was the one who built that gigantic ice bridge... and later I heard that he built the entire thing by himself. It’s absurd.”

“Oh, come on...”

Rockday, who was also a magician, said it while shaking his head, and Monrache, who could not use magic but knew a fair bit about it because of his position as a commander, frowned even harder.

“Oh, right. Speaking of Ryo, he’s also famous now as the author of That Abel, the Hungry Swordsman.”

“That one’s good!”

“Ah... another devoted reader.”

Monrache nodded forcefully, while Rockday was astonished at how far its influence had spread.

Yes, That Abel, the Hungry Swordsman was steadily making its way along the path of a bestseller.

“I see, so that’s why the name Abel in it sounded familiar...”

Monrache nodded again and again.

The scouts returned.

“How was it?”

“The enemy numbers around one hundred.”

“Headquarters estimated fifty to seventy...”

“So they’re a little more numerous. Still within the margin of error.”

At Rockday’s words, Monrache shrugged.

“The prince and the federation diplomatic mission staying in the state guesthouse in one corner of the royal palace have been surrounded and rendered harmless. Therefore, according to His Excellency, this base is the Gegish-Lu Federation’s main force.”

“So if we crush this place, there’ll be no one left to harm Her Majesty the Queen.”

Rockday reported, and Monrache nodded firmly.

The officers of the Assault Group around them were nodding over and over as well.

Every single one of them wore an expression full of resolve.

The Assault Group’s true role was to board enemy ships and break open the battle by fighting on the deck.

But precisely because of that, they prided themselves on the fact that no one could surpass them in loyalty to the kingdom’s navy, or in the pride they took in it.

No one could surpass their loyalty to Kabui Somal, the man who had led the kingdom’s navy.

At the same time, lately, their loyalty to Queen Ilyaja had also become extremely strong.

“He was the late king’s second prince, was he? Even if he shows up now, all he’ll do is cause confusion.”

At Monrache’s words, his subordinates nodded.

Even Rockday, who in his position could not honestly agree outright, gave a shrug of tacit agreement.

At long last, the Suje Kingdom had settled down, united, and was just about to get onto a path of growth as a nation.

If he showed up at exactly that moment... no, he was not going to win the people’s support.

Though, of course, neither the Second Prince nor the Gegish-Lu Federation was likely seeking that in the first place.

The two of them were carrying on that idle sort of conversation, but even while they were doing so, everything around them was in motion.

The operation had been planned long ago, and the number of enemies was still within expectations... if Monrache had called it a “margin of error,” then it was within expectations.

If that was the case, then there was no need for Monrache to bother giving detailed instructions, and no need for Rockday to interfere.

What was required of them was...

“Commander, all preparations are complete.”

A subordinate reported.

“Good. Then we launch the operation.”

What Monrache did was make the decision to commence the operation.

And so the First Assault Group of the Central Navy, forged in valor, began its assault.

Twenty minutes later.

“The enemy has been annihilated, and the base has been secured.”

“Good.”

Commander Monrache nodded in satisfaction at the subordinate’s report.

But then he noticed that the admiral and magician beside him looked distracted, as though his mind were elsewhere.

“What is it, Rockday?”

“I had anti-escape alchemy tools set... three escapees detected!”

The moment Admiral Rockday said that, he immediately took off running.

Without a word, Monrache chased after him.

“The report said the enemy had been annihilated?”

Monrache asked while running.

“They probably prepared an underground passage or something of the kind in advance for escape. If they had an earth-attribute magician, that would not be especially difficult.”

“Coming from an earth-attribute magician, that sounds convincing.”

Admiral Rockday was, in fact, an earth-attribute magician.

“I anticipated that, so I placed alchemy tools a fair distance away from the base. Good thing I prepared for it.”

“You really are something.”

Rockday said it as if it were nothing, and Monrache praised him.

Ever since that bitter defeat at Comakyuta, Monrache had held Rockday in very high regard.

Of course, even before that, he had valued him far more highly than most other soldiers in the kingdom’s navy... but now he acknowledged him as second only to Kabui Somal in ability.

“All three are running westward about a hundred meters ahead.”

“West? There are a few coves there. Did they hide a boat there for escape?”

“A cove? If that’s their destination, there’s a game trail that gets there faster. If we go that way, we can intercept them before they reach it.”

“How do you know that?”

“Up until I became an admiral, I went through plenty on land too, you know?”

Rockday said it with a smile, then moved ahead of Monrache and turned down a side path.

Monrache followed him.

Five minutes later.

“I’ve got them.”

“Hold them in place.”

Monrache answered Rockday’s report.

“”

The moment Rockday chanted, six stone spears flew out.

Of the three running ahead, four pierced four legs.

Only the person in the center, the one wearing the white robe, was not hit by any of the stone spears.

The reason became clear at once.

“Curse talismans? That robe-wearer is a curse-arts user.”

Rockday shouted.

It was not because he heard that voice, probably, but the white-robed figure stopped and turned toward the two of them.

Monrache caught up to the other two, who had gone sprawling to the ground with stone spears through their legs, and kicked up their heads, knocking them unconscious.

Then stone spears came flying in.

Of course, Rockday had not launched them.

CLANG.

CLANG.

The two stone spears had been aimed at the two who had just been knocked unconscious.

Monrache knocked one aside with his sword.

The other was deflected by a stone wall Rockday constructed.

The very next instant after knocking it aside, Monrache slashed straight at the white-robed figure.

CLANG.

The white-robed figure caught Monrache’s blow with a sword.

“Trying to silence them? That’s a nasty thing to do.”

Monrache said it while unleashing a flurry of consecutive strikes, but the white-robed figure received them in silence.

Meanwhile, Rockday enclosed the two who had been knocked unconscious inside stone walls.

Prisoners.

Or perhaps witnesses to this incident.

“Tch.”

A small but sharp click of the tongue leaked from the white-robed figure’s mouth.

“He really is thorough, isn’t he? He’s cautious enough to be cowardly, that one.”

“Stop saying pointless things and finish this already.”

Rockday must have heard Monrache’s words.

He was voicing a sharp complaint from behind him.

“No, Rockday, this white robe is good with a sword too.”

“You’re the commander of the First Assault Group, aren’t you? There aren’t many swordsmen stronger than you. And that man is a curse-arts user, remember?”

“Even so...”

In truth, Monrache’s slashes were sharp.

In his hand was a straight sword too short to call a sword, and yet too long to call a knife.

It was the beloved blade he always wielded on shipboard.

The sword the white-robed figure wielded was not long either.

Its length was probably about the same as Monrache’s.

But its appearance was completely different.

“That’s a strange sword.”

The words slipped from Monrache without thinking.

The sword the white-robed figure wielded was wavy.

Not flexible.

Probably made of iron.

But the sword itself, made of iron, bent and curved like a snake.

“I’ve seen one used for ceremony, but this is the first time I’ve seen one actually being wielded.”

“Then burn it into your eyes and die.”

The white-robed figure spoke for the first time, then stepped in all at once.

SHRK.

The blades slid.

The blade that slid came for Monrache’s chest.

But...

“”

Rockday’s stone spears attacked the white-robed figure from directly overhead.

The curse talismans did not make it in time, and the white-robed figure withdrew his sword and leaped far back.

“You’re in the way...”

The white-robed figure glared at Rockday.

The next moment, he frowned.

“I remember that name now. Rockday... admiral of the Central Navy, and the magician known as the Tyrant Stone Emperor.”

“That is an old epithet.”

Rockday frowned as well when he said it.

It was not an epithet he liked very much.

CLANG. CLANG...

Taking advantage of the gap in the exchange between the white-robed figure and Rockday, Monrache leaped in once more and unleashed a flurry of strikes.

But every single one of them was received perfectly by the white-robed figure...

“What is this toughness?”

“So you’re Monrache, commander of the First Assault Group? You people were trained differently from me.”

“Shut up!”

Monrache was enraged.

He increased the speed and force of his chain of attacks... but the result did not change.

Rockday, who had been watching the clash between their swords, began to tilt his head.

Monrache caught that from the edge of his vision.

“What is it, Rockday!? Stop spacing out and lend a hand.”

“That white robe’s swordsmanship is probably Palace Swordsmanship.”

“What?”

Monrache did not understand what Rockday had just said.

No, he understood what Palace Swordsmanship meant.

It was the swordsmanship handed down in the palace of the Suje Kingdom.

There was nothing especially extraordinary about it in itself. The unusual part was who could use it.

Aside from the hereditary instructors of swordsmanship, the only people who could use it were members of the Suje royal family.

Which meant that if he could use it...

“That white robe is Prince Hendrawa, the late king’s second prince.”

“Ah...”

At Rockday’s words, Monrache grimaced.

“Hmph, so you noticed.”

The white robe—no, Prince Hendrawa—smiled, lifting the corner of his mouth.

“What will you do? The Kingdom Navy, which serves the royal house, cannot turn its blade on me, a prince, can it?”

“You’ve got it backward.”

With that, Monrache swung his sword with even greater sharpness.

“If you disappear, the ones threatening Her Majesty the Queen’s reign will quiet down. They’ll have nothing left to prop up. For the future of the Suje Kingdom too, I’ll kill you here.”

Monrache called him “you,” not “Prince” or “Your Highness.”

“I am a member of the Suje royal house.”

“So?”

“...Is the Kingdom Navy’s loyalty no more than that?”

“Prince or whatever you are, don’t get the wrong idea.”

Monrache said it with a clearly disgusted expression.

“You think just because you’re part of the royal house, people will hand you loyalty without conditions? That’s exactly why you’re no good.”

“What was that?”

“The late king wore himself out for the people and the nation. Knowing that, the navy swore loyalty. And Queen Ilyaja too. Not because she’s part of the royal house. We swear loyalty to that sight—to the way she throws everything away and acts for the sake of the people and the nation. That is the Suje Kingdom Navy.”

Even while saying it, Monrache did not let the hand swinging his sword slacken in the slightest.

“Hmph. It was an entertaining speech. It didn’t move my heart in the slightest, though.”

“What?”

Hendrawa said it with a laugh, and Monrache narrowed his eyes.

CLANG.

Hendrawa knocked Monrache’s sword aside with a large blow and jumped far to the rear.

At the same moment, a rain of fire came down.

“”

At Rockday’s chant, a stone wall appeared in front of Monrache.

It deflected the fire-attribute attack magic.

Then came a rain of arrows.

“This is...”

“Enemy reinforcements.”

Rockday answered Monrache’s words with a grim expression.

He expanded the stone wall even farther, covering the two of them and the two unconscious prisoners with a double barrier.

“So even this is too much?”

“Yes. Even during that time, he’s getting farther away... ah, I’ve lost him even through the alchemy tools.”

“Damn it.”

“It can’t be helped. Even just these two prisoners... that’s more than enough of a result.”

Monrache looked frustrated, and Rockday gave a shrug.

And so the Gegish-Lu Federation’s strike force was crushed.

The day after the Gegish-Lu Federation diplomatic mission left the Suje Kingdom.

Ryo stood at the harbor, looking toward the northwest.

The Knightley Kingdom should have been in that direction.

Incidentally, Abel was standing beside him.

“At this point, should we just cross the sea to the west? Presumably even the Rain Shooter came through this sea, and if we get lucky...”

“I would love to do that, but...”

Ryo glanced behind him.

There stood the two beloved horses he had brought out under the pretext of taking them for a walk.

“If something happens, they’ll be thrown into the sea. If it were just me and Abel, we could manage somehow, but Andalusia and Feiwan...”

“What if you protect them by surrounding them with ice?”

“The magic would probably still be taken from me.”

“Ah...”

Ryo looked frustrated, and Abel wore an expression of understanding.

Yes.

Even Ryo, who had mastered water-attribute magic to this extent and refined his control of it, still had his magical creations taken from him by Krakens.

Put simply, he could not use magic.

If it was something produced through alchemy, it would not be taken.

So if he were fighting a single one, he should be able to manage somehow.

But against multiple... there was, he felt, a fairly high chance that sheer physical violence would smash it to pieces.

“In the end, I’m still weak.”

“No, that’s a problem with the comparison.”

“But I will not let it end like this!”

“Yeah...”

“One day, without fail, I’ll overpower even Krakens with magic!”

Ryo thrust his fist into the air and declared it.

Abel watched over him.

A little way behind them, Andalusia and Feiwan gave soft little cries.

Perhaps they were blessing Ryo’s declaration.