How to Tame That Gentle Hero - Chapter 7.13
“It’s very hot, isn’t it, Lorona, Lord Ian.”
“Yes. It’s very hot. I’ve never experienced such heat in my life…”
Even Lorona, who was wearing an ice magic stone bracelet, responded with a bitter smile, making Resena understand her feelings. Even Ian, beside her, had an awkward expression as he looked at Resena and Lorona, giving an idea of how much heat those two were experiencing.
‘Lord Ian is a holy knight, so he should be able to endure most heat, but to this extent… he really looks like he’s struggling.’
The Arnasus family had issued top-grade ice magic stone bracelets to the delegation to prevent them from wilting in the heat, but even with that, it was this bad. How hot must it be for merchants who regularly pass through here? Resena couldn’t imagine how it could be even hotter than this and shook her head.
“Resena must be very hot too. It’s truly a place that would be difficult to visit twice…”
“Yes. That’s certainly true. Besides, Amarast is a place where the gods’ blessings don’t reach, so the natural environment feels even harsher than Crevasta. The desert, too.”
Lorona nodded. While quickly fanning herself with one hand, Lorona slowly looked around the desert.
“Since it’s a place that must be pioneered solely by human power, I suppose it’s inevitable that Amarast couldn’t become a great nation. And because of that, the royal family became dominated by black mana, so probably… after the royal family is liberated, most of the royals will come to Crevasta to receive blessings.”
“They’ll be quite weakened against Crevasta. As it is, Amarast exports such a variety of goods, so it will be beneficial for Crevasta.”
Lord Ian, who had been quietly listening beside them, agreed with a “That’s right.”
“Among them, there might be those who worship the main god Sernaus. And as you know, while the main god Sernaus is primarily worshipped within the imperial capital, if you go down to the provinces, there are quite a few places that worship the earth god Aota or the time god Ermerius… It would be good to predict that this will become a starting point for diverse faith in gods.”
Resena agreed with him.
“That’s right. It will probably change that way. And the policy will be pro-Crevasta. I imagine His Highness the Crown Prince predicted this would happen, and that’s why he ordered the delegation.”
“Now we just need to focus on our task. To liberate those in the royal family who are dominated by black mana, and to find and eliminate the black mage who is the source of the black mana controlling the royal family.”
Resena thought for a moment and then asked Lorona.
“Lorona. How many black mages do you think have occupied the Amarast royal court?”
“I… well, at most around five, I suppose.”
Ian nodded in agreement.
“To occupy the small Amarast royal court, you just need a lot of black mana, so four black mages would be appropriate. As you know, in Amarast, power is only held by the King and Crown Prince, not other royals, so with just one more high-ranking black mage giving orders to the King, there would be no conflicts and it would be just right.”
“Then, Lord Ian, do you think we just need to find and eliminate these five black mages?”
“That’s probably the case. One of them would be a high-ranking black mage, so we’ll need to be careful… As you know, if the high-ranking black mage notices that we have missions beyond being a delegation, they might open a large monster gate in the Amarast palace.”
“Ah. Certainly…”
“Fortunately, we have two Sword Masters and fifteen Sword Expert knights on our side, but… while we’re closing the gate, the high-ranking black mage might escape, so if we want to cut off the tail too, we’ll need to be extremely careful.”
Resena completely agreed with Ian’s words. Lorona, who seemed to be feeling the heat, spoke in a languid tone.
“In that sense, it might be good to plan our strategy once more. We agreed to follow Resena’s command after assessing the situation, but we might face circumstances where messages can’t be relayed due to the black mage’s schemes.”
“Yes. Let’s work out a temporary plan again now. If things don’t go according to plan, it never hurts to have extra strategies.”
After all, they still had about two hours before reaching the capital.
Agreeing with Lorona’s suggestion, Resena fell into thought for a moment. Then she began, “First of all…”
“The priority would be to identify which black mage is controlling the King. The people serving us will also be dominated by black mana, but if we break their subjugation, the black mages will notice we’re not just a simple delegation. So we should leave their domination alone and focus on having an audience with the King to find out which black mage is controlling him.”
“From what I discussed with the Baron last night, there’s a high possibility that the King’s advisor, Ain Festa, is the black mage. The King, who was previously revered as a wise ruler, has become nothing but a puppet following only his words since he entered the royal court.”
Resena nodded at Lorona’s words.
“That’s right. I heard that, too. But we need to consider the possibility that he might not be the high-ranking black mage. If the King’s subjugation isn’t broken even after we eliminate Ain Festa, then we’ll need to identify the hidden black mages. That’s when we’ll need Lorona’s help.”
“Yes. I’m prepared for that.”
“With the power of a Saint, you can spread a barrier to drive out the black mana inside people’s bodies, and most will be liberated from it. But there will also be those who suffer as their black mana becomes agitated. As you know, they would be the black mages… Renard and Alken will take care of eliminating them. I’ve already told them about this.”
“I understand. Then, Resena, our first task is to eliminate Ain Festa. Will we do it right after the audience, or should we wait a bit?”
Resena thought for a moment before answering.
“Let’s eliminate him right during the audience. If he’s a black mage, he’ll be looking for someone in our delegation who can be tainted with black mana. But I’ve received blessings this time, and everyone else has too, so he won’t find anyone. If we give him time, some of our party might be stabbed by the daggers of those under his control.”
“Certainly…”
“So… attacking and eliminating him as soon as it’s revealed that he’s a black mage is the method that will minimize casualties. If the King is immediately freed from domination, he’ll understand the situation well, so we might be able to request cooperation right away without having to explain much.”
As soon as Resena finished speaking, Ian stroked his chin and asked.
“But what do you plan to do if Ain escapes?”
“Hmm… With Renard and Alken, two Sword Masters, I don’t think he’ll escape, but… if he does, we’ll have to liberate the palace and have Lorona bless everyone in the palace, including the King. We need to at least prevent them from being dominated by black mana again, so such incidents don’t happen in the future.”
“You’re not considering pursuit within Amarast?”
To Ian’s question, Resena calmly replied.
“With our delegation’s personnel, a long-term pursuit is impossible. And since we don’t know much about Amarast’s administrative system, we might cause friction with security personnel during the pursuit. Some people might not know that Ain Festa is a black mage and might cooperate with him, so the best option would be to somehow free the King from domination and get his cooperation to put out a wanted notice for Ain Festa.”
