Turning-Chapter 810

Diemon turned his head with a brightened face, believing the Sage had returned—but then froze as his eyes followed the end of a long shadow looming over him.

Standing there was the very person he had just been cursing to death.

“N-Naham...!”

“Brother. Didn’t I tell you?”

We’d be seeing each other again soon.

With those words, Naham curled his lips. It couldn’t even be called a smile—it sent a chill crawling down Diemon’s spine.

“H-How... how did you find me?”

“You think I sat around doing nothing while waiting for you? Hm?”

“T-The Sage—he’s not here!”

He shouted it anyway, but Diemon’s voice trembled with pitiful fear.

“So I see. He ran off again, huh? Left you behind in this wreck of a state?”

“No! He... he didn’t...”

Diemon’s protest shrank to a whisper as he heard Naham’s footsteps slowly drawing closer.

“He... he...”

Finally, Naham stood right in front of him and bent down. He gripped Diemon’s head with one hand. The bandage-covered hand smelled faintly of old blood. Then came an incongruously gentle whisper.

“Brother. You have two choices now. One, stay loyal to a traitor, die alone here, and become food for the rats.”

“Hhhuurgh...”

“And the other—tell me where the Sage went, and at least get some basic treatment from the brothers who came with me. Of course, after that, you’ll have to face punishment for the pain and death you brought upon our siblings and the stronghold.”

Which one do you want?

Faced with that devil’s offer, Diemon convulsed and pissed himself.

***

“So... what you’re saying is, Naham and the Sage might both be somewhere in this city right now?”

“That’s right. So be careful. Make sure Hosanra doesn’t catch wind of anything for now.”

“No problem. Hosanra’s been a bit... distracted lately. Doesn’t seem focused on Naham at all.”

The day before the funeral of Ashlav, the Second Prince of House Hern—

Yuder, who had finally managed to speak with Kanna for once, frowned at the unexpected topic.

“He’s interested in something—or someone—other than Naham?”

“Yeah. Actually, that’s why I came to tell you. Remember the First Princess of House Hern who visited last time?”

“Princess Mayra.”

“Right. You remember Hosanra briefly ran into her that day?”

Of course he remembered. He’d been escorting Mayra to the medical unit at the time because she hadn’t been feeling well.

Back then, Hosanra had barely even lifted his head. He just tried to hide.

“After she left, Hosanra asked me what her name was. Since then, he’s occasionally asked about her and about House Hern. He tries to hide it, but there’s something uneasy going on—I can feel it.”

Hosanra and Princess Mayra? It was strange—there didn’t seem to be any possible connection between the two.

Yuder calmly asked Kanna,

“You’ve read his memories, right?”

“Of course. There wasn’t anything directly visible, but that might be because Hosanra doesn’t actually know much about the Princess. Still, the emotions I felt when her name came up were unmistakable—confusion and fear.”

“Confusion and fear...”

“You know, what if... just maybe... the house Naham and Hosanra came from was somehow connected to House Hern? Otherwise, how would Hosanra even know her?”

“Hm...”

Yuder fell silent, thinking, his eyes meeting Kanna’s as she lowered her voice conspiratorially.

Kishiar had already received a report from Yuder about Naham’s past and the binding oath placed on Hosanra. Based on their story, they’d been tracing Naham’s origins and simultaneously looking for a way to undo the oath on Hosanra.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

The oath on Hosanra was much more complex than the dual prohibition spells that had killed the assassins before.

For starters, it hadn’t been made with an official temple-issued oath document. Yet somehow, it was just as strong—no, stronger—than those issued by the temple. Kishiar had speculated that it must have been crafted by an official temple technician.

Meaning, it was an illegal product—deliberately made more powerful, with the creator’s name erased.

Kishiar had curled his lip slightly and said this after making that deduction:

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“That sort of thing is rare. Very rare. It means someone with the power and money to buy a formal temple oath deliberately requested an illicit one that exceeds legal limits.”

And who would do that? Only someone with overwhelming power and wealth—enough to commission such a thing from a temple technician.

How many noble houses would casually use something like that just to silence a bastard child and a servant?

Not many. But the ducal House of Hern, rulers of the South, and their prominent branch families—yes, they certainly fit the bill.

Maybe Kishiar’s investigation has already uncovered something, but it wouldn’t hurt to add another clue.

Having finished his thoughts, Yuder came to a conclusion.

“It’s a solid theory. I’ll inform the Commander.”

Kanna smiled, pleased with his response.

And when Kishiar heard Kanna’s suspicion, he too showed visible satisfaction.

“That’s good news. The search for Naham’s old residence, based on Hosanra’s intel, has been harder than expected.”

“I thought you might’ve already discovered something, and it seems I was right.”

“Well, if we look at it from the other side, the fact that it's been so hard to find something so conspicuous means someone with power has covered it up,” Kishiar said with a knowing smile.

The exact location of where Naham and Hosanra had lived in the South was unclear. However, Naham was likely the bastard son of a noble family, or at least someone with significant wealth and status. About two or three years ago, he had escaped after setting a building on fire.

A fire involving a powerful family wasn’t something that happened often, and it was bound to draw attention. So, naturally, they had expected it to be discovered quickly. But if they hadn’t found anything, it meant, as Kishiar said, that someone had intentionally buried the incident after the fact.

“But still, we’ve managed to uncover at least one suspicious event.”

‘Of course.’

Once Kishiar decided to investigate, there was no way he wouldn’t have found something.

Kishiar smiled and handed over a stack of papers from the desk.

“Thanks to the swift cooperation of the Emperor and Empress in the South, I was able to get some intel. Want to take a look?”

The story Kishiar was focused on was very succinct. Yuder quickly skimmed through the brief report and found the key points.

‘- About six months after the Red Stone fell, a building in the small area of Konkachista in the South collapsed due to an accident. This building was registered as a warehouse of a merchant group, but locals reported that it was actually a luxurious mansion, and there were rumors of a fire rather than a collapse.’

‘- The people entering and leaving the mansion were very secretive, making it difficult to identify them. Locals believed it was a noble’s villa.’

‘- The local lord of Konkachista was a staunch noble faction figure. There are no records of casualties or demolition for the incident, and central government reports were lost during the investigation.’

Yuder read up to that point and let out a hum.

“This... this definitely seems like a suspicious case.”

At first glance, it seemed like a typical case where some fool of a noble or rich people hid their villa under the guise of a merchant warehouse and lost it in an accident.

But the timing, so soon after the Red Stone incident.

The fact that it had been reported as a collapse, but the locals believed it to be a fire.

And the local lord being a firm supporter of the noble faction—it all smelled like a deep cover-up.

“Exactly. Now, if we cross-check this with the connection between the lord of Konkachista and anyone from House Hern, and also look into Princess Mayra’s movements at the time, it should be easier to find a connection.”

“Actually, the quickest way would be to explain everything to Princess Mayra tomorrow at the funeral and ask for her cooperation.”

“Ah, so you already read my mind.”

Kishiar replied playfully as he stood up from his chair.

“By the way, speaking of tomorrow—have you prepared your attire?”

“...It’s not a party, it’s a funeral. What else would I prepare other than my uniform?”

It would have been a bit awkward if the clothes were too bright, but the Cavalry uniform was black by default. Since it was part of the official uniform, it wouldn’t be disrespectful to wear it to a funeral.

However, Kishiar shook his head.

“Oh, no. Princess Mayra specifically invited us with a personal card, so that’s not enough. In the South, especially for ceremonies related to life and death, etiquette is of utmost importance.”

Yuder felt an unsettling chill run down his spine as he listened to Kishiar’s words.

And that ominous feeling proved to be right.

“I anticipated this, so I already prepared the ceremonial robes I’m going to wear. They just arrived, would you like to try them on?”

“....”

The next morning.

Yuder frowned as he looked up at the gray, overcast sky and the sleet falling steadily.

“It’s a funeral today, but does the # Nоvеlight # weather really need to be this bad?”

On days like this, horses and carriages struggled to move, and people’s senses dulled. Of course, Yuder’s own senses weren’t affected that much, but today, there would be several people moving together with him and Kishiar, so he knew he needed to be cautious.

“Are you already dressed?”

While Yuder was lost in thought, Kishiar approached him. He had expected him to stand right next to him, but Kishiar stopped midway, glanced up and down at Yuder with an unreadable smile.

“...Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Hm. It just seems a bit out of place, don’t you think? Going to send off the dead while giving the living something so personal and secretive to wear.”

...Kishiar’s smile seemed to come from a place of satisfaction.

After all, when they had tried the clothes on yesterday, Kishiar had been quite pleased with them. Despite having chosen them in a hurry without seeing them properly, he had complimented how well the Southern-style robes fit, saying it must have been a perfect match at least five times.

But honestly, those compliments suited the man wearing the attire more than they did Yuder, who wore the same robe.

The long black robes Kishiar wore, rich with Southern fabric and draping all the way to the floor, looked almost holy, making even the grim weather seem to disappear. He looked like a black jewel.

“Aren’t the robes too long? Are they uncomfortable?”

“No. This is fine. The sword doesn’t show through either, so it’s actually better this way.”

Yuder lifted the edge of his outer robes slightly to show the sword at his waist. Kishiar’s eyes softened as he looked at it.

“Well then, shall we go? They’re waiting outside.”