CH 39

Time went by quickly, and night fell in the blink of an eye.

The city and its residents were already sound asleep, and so was Satis in her own bed.

In the silence of their room, with the moonlight shining through the window, Seto was, on the other hand, still awake.

Although he was tired, he felt as if his nerves were somewhat on edge, and his body would not let him sleep.

That mess we got into this afternoon sure was unbelievable… (Seto)

He walked to the window so as not to wake Satis up, and basked in the moonlight.

The moon was full that night, and its light was as bright as the sun.

With this much light, I should be able to read it. (Seto)

He took out a letter from his pocket.

It was the one handed to him by Ahas Patel on their way to this city.

He opened the envelope while making sure not to make a sound.

[Is this… A drawing of a crocodile and a snake?] (Seto)

There was a picture depicting a crocodile with a frightening appearance and a large snake coiling around it, with both animals facing in the same direction.

There were sentences written below that picture.

The text was not completely unreadable, but deciphering them took time.

After finishing putting his thoughts together as if he was solving a riddle, Seto read the contents in his mind.

“Following the forthcoming full moon, know that he who brings death to mine own land and to thee shalt appear. How doth thee plan on purging him? If there ever comes a time when thou desire power, accept mine trial”, huh… (Seto)

This letter seemed to be warning him of some danger.

“He who brings death” probably referred to the beast painted on it.

A trial? What kind exactly? (Seto)

The content of this letter alone was not enough to make sense of it.

However, the Wendigo of Death discovered something, and was trying to test Seto at the same time.

That trial is one thing, but it looks like that guy will show up in the next few days. Maybe I should tell Osiris about it? …And how do I bring this up to Satis? (Seto)

Seto was worried about Satis.

So far, Satis was getting over her trauma.

But her recovery was still incomplete.

Seto’s heart was filled with an indescribable pain at the thought of Satis being struck with terror again if she were attacked by an army, to say nothing of a single one of their grunts.

But this is not the kind of problem Satis will want to ignore. When we meet Osiris tomorrow, I’ll tell them both at the same time. (Seto)

He put the letter back in his pocket and went back to bed.

He was also curious about the “trial” mentioned in it, but there was nothing he could do about it at this stage.

Seto, who seemed to have relatively regained his composure, slowly closed his eyelids and did not wake up until morning.

The following day.

Seto and Satis went to Osiris’ headquarters once again.

A soldier escorted them to the training area.

The duo looked puzzled as they were being brought not to the office from yesterday or the reception room, but to a place filled with the suffocating, angry roars of training soldiers.

And then, they arrived at a dome-shaped area that stood out from the rest.

The interior was as spacious and well-equipped as an arena.

[I’m glad you came. Let me welcome you.] (Osiris)

Osiris, who was standing in the center of the arena, opened his arms in joy and welcomed the pair.

Satis, who had trouble understanding why they were brought to this place, asked with a look of bewilderment.

[What exactly is going on here? Why are we in such a place?] (Satis)

[Hmph. Isn’t it obvious? …Seto. I have business with you.] (Osiris)

[What?] (Seto)

[…A duel! I challenge you to a duel, Seto!] (Osiris)

Seto’s expression changed at the unexpected declaration of duel.

As for Satis, she half-angrily stepped in front of Seto and glared at Osiris while standing as if to protect the boy.

[Hang on, hang on, hang on! It’s not like we’ll have to kill each other. We’ll fight one-on-one. Killing is forbidden, and the fight will end if one of us forfeits, or if the referee deems either participant unable to continue. But, to make it quick… Let’s set a time limit. Five minutes. We’ll settle this in five.] (Osiris)

For Seto, rationally speaking, now was not the time for a duel.

However, Osiris’ eyes were sharp, and he sensed something like a firm determination in his rising fighting spirit.

In his current state, it was rather unlikely that he would listen to what Seto had to say.

[Why do you want to have a duel with Seto?] (Satis)

[Hmph. Isn’t it obvious? This is part of a magic swordsman’s nature. When I meet another magic swordsman like myself, I can’t help but want to confirm which of us is stronger. Normally, this would be a fight to the death, but I’ve come to sympathize with your circumstances. Pretty conscientious of me, don’t you think?] (Osiris)

[How dare you force your whims on-!?] (Satis)

Right after Satis said that, Seto stepped forward from behind her.

The latter was taken aback by it and tried to stop him, but was unable to.

Seto… Don’t tell me you… (Satis)

Satis had an intuition.

She suspected that, just like Osiris, Seto wanted to fight.

In truth, Seto also reasoned that it was futile to engage in a duel at the moment.

However, perhaps because he was a magic swordsman as well, he could sympathize with Osiris’ words.

────Which one is stronger?

He would be lying if he claimed not to care about it at all.

As a fellow magic swordsman, he was genuinely curious to see how strong the man was.

[Hehehe! I like the look in your eyes. Just what I expect from a man I’ve challenged.] (Osiris)

Osiris and Seto each took their positions.

At this point, Satis had no choice but to watch from afar.

I don’t mind fighting him, but… I don’t even know how strong he is. And above all, I’ll have to keep him busy until he’s willing to hear me out. (Seto)

Seto pulled his magic sword out of thin air.

The blade flashed brightly in the sunlight.

The soldiers, along with Satis, gave a momentary gasp of admiration from afar.

[…Those men are the finest soldiers I’ve ever trained. And they specialize in fighting magic swordsmen.] (Osiris)

[Yeah, they’re very capable. I can tell just by looking at them.] (Seto)

[Right? …For the next five minutes, let’s forget about our bonds and backgrounds. We now face each other as nothing more than two men.] (Osiris)

[Sure, I’ll play along. …’Cause it’s in our nature as magic swordsmen!] (Seto)