Chapter 21

The High Priest gestured toward them and began to speak. 

“We haven’t captured all of them yet, but these are the highest-ranking nobles of Fargone. As for the ones already dead, they’re members of Grand Duke Bruno’s family. Only six of them.” 

“……”  

“The Grand Duke, the Grand Duchess, and the fat one in the center, who takes up the most space, is the Grand Duke’s only son. The black-haired woman beside him is Madame Thomason, Emmet Bruno’s mistress. Next to her are the Grand Duke’s illegitimate daughters, Lillian and Wigna.” 

Priests were truly terrifying. 

Even though the three men—Kendrick and his two subordinates—had lived through countless battlefields and slaughterhouses, they had never imagined such cruelty. Displaying corpses without burial and using them to intimidate the remaining survivors was beyond anything they’d ever considered. 

Kendrick slowly approached the corpses to confirm Emmet Bruno’s face. 

Even in death, Emmet hadn’t been able to close his eyes. His mouth was frozen open in an expression of shock. His appearance was utterly pitiful. 

Just a few months ago, this same Grand Duke had visited Kendrick’s trading post with his personal guard, loudly demanding luxury goods. 

Because he was such an important client, Kendrick had personally gone out to greet him at the entrance of the mansion he used as his trading post.  

Despite the overdue debts piling up, Emmet Bruno had looked down on Kendrick, refusing to even speak with him, dismissing him as nothing more than a pirate-turned-brothel owner. Instead, he had his attendants pick out the items he wanted with a flick of his finger and left, saying.

‘How could I, a Grand Duke, discuss something as vulgar as payment?’

Hah, damn it. Fine, go ahead and try me. This is the last straw. If you keep taking advantage of me, I’ll bring my mercenaries to Fargone’s Rodias and camp right in front of you. Let’s see how long you can hold out.

Kendrick had ground his teeth in frustration back then. But seeing Emmet lying there dead now, he was overcome with confusion. 

“How… how did this happen? Who could have done such a thing…?” 

For the first time, Kendrick O’Jear grabbed the High Priest and asked a question. The High Priest, calm as always, answered. Though, to Kendrick, this old man seemed more like a torture technician than a priest. Surely, priests didn’t act like this normally? 

“Our Fargone is a nation surrounded by great nature. Large empires like Ingénes or Lucus may dismiss us as a minor, insignificant country, but our people are simple and honest. That’s why they endured the Grand Duke’s tyranny for decades. Emmet Bruno…” 

One of Kendrick’s eyebrows lifted in curiosity. 

“…?” 

“Under the pretense of preparing for war, he conscripted the young men of the nation to form an army. Then, he sold those boys as mercenaries to Ingénes and Lucus.” 

“……” 

“More than ten thousand of our young men were sold off as mercenaries, dragged into wars that had nothing to do with them. In the end… their corpses were left to rot in foreign lands, never to be returned. And that beast of a Grand Duke used the blood money from those boys to decorate his palace and buy silk and jewels for his family’s adornment.” 

Kendrick, who had profited from selling those very jewels and silks, lowered his head in shame. 

“Yet, our people, being devout and fearful of the gods, continued to serve him as their Grand Duke. Him, and those trash nobles who aren’t even fit to be called human. But then, this old priest had a dream a few days ago. In the dream, the boys who had been sold as mercenaries were drenched in blood, crying.” 

The old man, trembling with emotion, choked back sobs as he continued. 

“I am a priest! How could I, a servant of the gods, stand by and watch such a thing? The boys sold as mercenaries were crying for their mothers, and I couldn’t just ignore it. At that moment, the gods gave me a revelation. I simply followed it faithfully. If the new Grand Duke wishes to hold me accountable for the murders of those people, then I am ready to die by your hand this very moment.” 

Kendrick’s mouth hung open in shock. The old priest kept calling him the “new Grand Duke” while looking directly at him. Something about this felt incredibly unsettling. 

“Harald! Harald! Go find Zahara! Now!” 

Kendrick O’Jear, feeling dizzy and overwhelmed, shouted instinctively. His strategist, the brilliant Zahara, his problem-solver—he desperately needed her now. 

“Boss! Zahara went to White Bloom a few days ago to pick someone up! She told you to hang on for a few days without her, and you sent her off, saying not to worry and to be careful. Now you’re shouting for her?” 

Of all times! 

As Kendrick clenched his teeth, the High Priest chuckled faintly. 

“Zahara? Haha, you call her ‘Zahara’?” 

The old priest seemed to know Zahara. Kendrick narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the wrinkled face of the priest. 

“How do you know Zahara de Bellard, Your Holiness, High Priest?” 

For the first time since meeting Kendrick and his group, the High Priest let out a soft laugh. 

“De… Bellard, you say? She introduced herself as de Bellard?” 

Well, Kendrick had always found it suspicious since the day he first met Zahara. Something about her didn’t quite fit. But he had never confronted her about it directly. She was the type of woman who wouldn’t take kindly to being interrogated, and provoking her would bring no benefit. 

In the Pangaea continent, only about half the population had surnames. If someone’s surname was preceded by “de,” it indicated that they were a servant of a noble family. 

For example, if the surname was “O’Jear,” adding “de” would make it “de O’Jear,” meaning they served the O’Jear family. It could signify a knight serving the family or a steward working for the household.  

In truth, compared to the commoners or slaves who are referred to only as “someone’s daughter” or “someone’s son” without even a surname, having “de” in one’s name as a knight or servant is significantly better. However, Zahara de Bellard is not at all the type of woman who fits the status implied by the “de.” Her demeanor is entirely that of a queen. 

“High Priest, you seem to have known my strategist Zahara for quite some time. If it’s not too much trouble, would you mind sharing some details about her background with me?” 

Kendrick narrowed his eyes and looked at the priest. The High Priest, as if erasing his earlier smile, wiped it clean from the corners of his lips and feigned ignorance. 

“My encounter with her was a very long time ago. Now, even if I were to speak of it, it would be nothing more than a laughable tale of no benefit to either of us.” 

This old man clearly thought Kendrick was a fool. But Kendrick wasn’t entirely ignorant about Zahara either. 

“If you have nothing more to say, may I continue telling you about the dream I had, in detail? Your Grace, Grand Duke?” 

Haha. Crazy old man. Fine. Since I’ll have to stay here today anyway to collect Fargone’s overdue debts, I might as well hear him out. After I’ve listened to everything, I’ll just grab my soldiers and run. What could the old man possibly do? At most, he’d curse at me behind my back. 

Sure, being cursed at by a priest might bring bad luck, but what can I do? 

Kendrick and his group moved away from the corpses of Emmet Bruno’s family and sat at a table on the edge of the hall. The High Priest, as if afraid Kendrick might escape, never let go of his hand. 

“You may believe what I am about to say, or you may choose not to. I have no power. But I have lived my life as a priest, listening to the voice of the gods and yearning for their will, so I assure you, I do not speak falsehoods. Even if the new Grand Duke does not believe me and leaves, the will of the gods will undoubtedly come to pass.” 

The phrase “the will of the gods will undoubtedly come to pass” was truly unsettling. But what was even more uncomfortable was the term “new Grand Duke,” which felt like a thorn lodged in Kendrick’s throat. Who was this senile old man calling the “new Grand Duke” over and over again? 

“After the new Grand Duke surrounded Rodias Castle and Emmet Bruno began his resistance, I repeatedly dreamed of our dead young men bleeding. Every night, the same dream, the same sorrowful cries, and this old man could not find peace in sleep.” 

“……” 

“Then, about three days ago, I had the same dream again. The children appeared, crying for their mothers. I thought it was the same as always, but that day, I heard the voice of the gods.” 

The High Priest spoke as if the scene were unfolding before his very eyes. Kendrick’s two subordinates, sitting beside him, were completely absorbed in the story, their eyes glistening with tears. The more the High Priest spoke, the more uneasy Kendrick felt.