Ishura - Volume 7 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2- Former General Hajima's Manor

In a corner of a quiet farm on the western side of Aureatia, there was an old mansion from the era of King Aur.

Hidow the Clamp had bought the house a few years back, but he didn’t start living there until the first round of the Sixways Exhibition had ended and he had finished cleaning up after the raid by self-proclaimed demon king Alus.

Taking a walk after sunrise on a whim, he called for a tenant farmer to play a ball game, put a fistful of coins in the farmer’s pocket, headed for the commercial district, and did not return until late at night.

He was now able to enjoy such a daily life.

Hidow, once extremely busy as the young Twentieth Minister, had been dismissed from Aureatia’s Twenty-Nine Officials.

Alus the Star Runner, the hero candidate he had sponsored, had gone out of control and caused unprecedented damage to Aureatia. Even though this all happened after Alus had been knocked out of the tournament, Hidow couldn’t get out of taking responsibility for the incident.

Now Hidow was the same as any other noble family’s second son.

“I’m glad I quit before I was too old to throw a ball around.”

Hidow would brag like this from time to time.

“If I’d remained in government, I’d grow old and gray, living the same dull life day in and day out.”

This routine continued for several days, but it didn’t last for very long.

That day, he had a guest. Hidow had finished his ball game and just returned home.

“Well now, it’s been a while, Hidow the Clamp.”

The old man was sitting in the manor’s parlor as if he lived there.

Hidow hadn’t invited him in nor had there been any prior contact about his visit. Yet despite all this, the old man’s gnarled fingers and sunken eye sockets looked as if he was a corpse that had been sitting there a long time after his death.

Behind the couch stood four attendants, all of them elves.

Being accompanied by slaves of other races was prohibited under the current laws. Of course, there wasn’t anyone in Aureatia who could convict the old man for such a thing.

“The youngster I once knew has grown up so much. How touching…”

“How nice of you to say, Iriolde.”

Despite how annoyed he felt, Hidow sat down across from the old man. Normally, it was the seat for guests.

…The former Fifth Minister, Iriolde the Atypical Tome. A monster within the noble sphere, he had been driven out of the Aureatia Assembly shortly before the Sixways Exhibition began. If Rosclay and Jelky hadn’t gone ahead and handled him, Iriolde would have unquestionably commanded a colossal faction—far bigger than Kaete or Haade’s—and threatened the tournament.

This man was attempting to reach out to Hidow, who had been dismissed from the Aureatia Assembly, just as he had been.

“Seems like you’ve gotten pretty big yourself. Attitude-wise, that is. Gone so senile that now you’re strolling into another guy’s home without so much as a hello, huh? I don’t remember ever giving you the address to this villa either.”

“Kweh, heh. You shouldn’t be so cruel to a lonely old man…especially now that you and I are both in the same position.”

“Hate to say it, but unlike you, I’m not lonely at all.”

“The Star Runner affair tugged at my heartstrings as well.”

“Liar.”

“Anyone who doesn’t feel that way may as well have no heart at all, wouldn’t you agree? No one took greater pains to ensure the safety of Aureatia’s citizenry, prepared nonstop against the threat Alus posed…and in truth, kept the casualties as minimal as possible while attempting to subdue him. Yet, despite this heroic achievement, no one recognized your efforts, and even assigned you all the blame, casting you out…”

His wrinkled expression appeared exceedingly peaceful and mild.

Nevertheless, as long as Iriolde was the one he was dealing with, the most dangerous thing Hidow could do was to guess the man’s psyche from his facial expressions. Any of the Twenty-Nine Officials who knew Iriolde during his tenure as Fifth Minister had learned this all too well.

“They haven’t changed at all since they drove me out, have they? They’re set in their archaic ways. They’re overbearing, always scapegoating… Always smothering young talent without a second thought. I’ve heard all about what happened with Elea the Red Tag as well. Such a deplorable way to handle things, truly…”

“I’ll say this one more time. Unlike you…I wasn’t dismissed because I committed fraud. Everything you’re going on about is widely off the mark,” Hidow brazenly replied, though without dropping his guard. “Would you like to know the way to achieve true victory in the Sixways Exhibition, Iriolde? Drop out before you lose… Ever since Alus began to act, I thought I’d be the one to bring this solution to the table. This way, no one in Aureatia is gonna nominate me for anything. I threw my hands up and got out.”

Rosclay’s camp’s stratagem to dispose of whichever strongest dragonkin survived their clash in the second match—whether it was Alus the Star Runner or Lucnoca the Winter—by then making them out to be a self-proclaimed demon king, had needed someone to take responsibility from the beginning.

However, Hidow the Clamp had set his sights square on the role. Having been brilliant from birth, he wanted tranquility completely divorced from a lifetime of responsibility.

“Kweh, heh. You really are sharp. It’s quite a pity, Hidow… If you have such foresight, then you should have also known what was going to happen here in Aureatia already.”

“What are you talking about? Like I give a damn.”

“…One of the hero candidates went mad and ran roughshod over Aureatia. Now that this has happened, even the citizens will come to the realization sooner or later.”

The sixteen strongest in the land, gathered together to determine the one true Hero.

The people had now learned. Once one of these shura bared their fangs, the only ones who could possibly stand up to them were other shura. Furthermore, such a battle was assuredly not something the citizens could treat with indifference, potentially threatening their own way of life.

“In the fourth match…the true champion, Rosclay the Absolute, was rendered disabled by Kia the World Word. Then in the sixth match…Mestelexil the Box of Desperate Knowledge suddenly vanished with Kaete the Round Table and Kiyazuna the Axle after openly committing an injustice in front of the general public. None of them have been found as of yet.”

“…”

“What do you think? From the people’s perspective, they must be fearsome threats, yes? On top of that, now that Zigita Zogi the Thousandth is defeated, how will the heretofore docile goblins…and the Okafu mercenaries siding with them, act now? I’m sure that Dant the Heath Furrow will be unable to fully keep them in check.”

“You’ve really been doing your homework, hmm? I applaud your effort. “

“Oh, that’s not all, though. These aren’t the only factors that’re causing you all to worry, are they?”

Iriolde lightly coughed and then took a sip from the water flask his attendant handed to him.

“Jelky made the announcement the other day, didn’t he? That a large number of corpses had slipped into the castle garden theater.”

“…Yeah. Seems like there really was a vampire. Who the hell knows how far the infection’s ultimately spread…”

The invisible army. There was a theory that the truth behind this unidentified group was the man sitting in front of him.

The only certainty was that there was more than one vampire at work. However, there was still the question of which organization’s intents these main vampires were working under. Even agreeing with the theory that they were the remnants of Obsidian Eyes, the spy guild Obsidian Eyes had always acted under the orders of another organization during wartime.

Zeljirga the Abyss Web is a member of Obsidian Eyes. There’s no way Enu doesn’t know something. Not that anyone knows where that guy is or what he’s up to right now…

“Now that is quite terrifying news, Hidow. A disease once thought exterminated, slipping into the Sixways Exhibition…and we’re left anxiously waiting for the moment when the vampires turn their blades on us… On top of all that, I have heard that the Old Kingdoms’ loyalists are making some suspicious movements of their own.”

Fourth Minister Kaete and the self-proclaimed demon king Kiyazuna, who had planned to revolt against Aureatia.

Goblins and the Free City of Okafu, dissident elements that had used the Sixways Exhibition to worm their way into Aureatia.

The invisible army, hypothesized to be led by an unidentified vampire threat.

On top of that, the almighty threat of Kia the World Word, whom they still hadn’t been able to take any countermeasures against.

“…Given all this, even I myself, who had no intentions of getting involved with any of this…am forced to act. Surely, from here on out…these threats will continue to appear one after another; weapons unknown to you all, self-proclaimed demon kings that you thought had disappeared… Or, perhaps, aberrations as powerful as the hero candidates may even make moves of their own…”

…What is he saying?

Iriolde wasn’t referring to the threats they had been talking about up until now.

He was talking about something else entirely.

But then, why was there any need for him to purposely bring such information to Hidow?

“Irrelevant. None of this concerns you or me.”

“Kweh, heh. You see, Hidow, when you get up there in years…the voices you hear start to get louder and louder. I myself desire tranquility, and yet someone will come and talk my ears off…asking if I have wisdom to impart or if there’s anything I can do for them with my power. For someone with no power at all, it’s a truly distressing situation… Wouldn’t you say, Hidow…?”

“What were you doing…in the first round?”

Iriolde was making his moves and preparing with a keen grasp on the various incidents that had occurred during the Sixways Exhibition, including the matters which Aureatia was restricting information about.

Clearly, he had started making moves long ago.

However, if Iriolde himself was putting his name out there, then Rosclay and his group definitely had a grasp on his movements. In which case, he had a pawn who could act openly mixed in among the participants of the Sixways Exhibition…

“…You-you’ve been manipulating someone in secret…haven’t you?”

“Who’s to say? It’s certainly not a particularly important matter…”

Several facts linked together in the back of Hidow’s mind.

If the distinguished player in the shadows, expelled from the Aureatia Assembly for planning to reform and overthrow the status quo, happened to be manipulating the current political situation…

…Haade? Taking advantage of the Sixways Exhibition, he’s openly flown a flag of revolt against Rosclay’s faction. If there was someone secretly backing him from the start to bring him a chance to succeed… The leader of the military faction, and the noble class’s mastermind. If these two were working together, then there is definitely no one who could hope to stop them…

The Twenty-Seventh General, leading Aureatia’s military. Haade the Flashpoint commanded a massive faction, second only to Rosclay the Absolute’s own.

Soujirou the Willow-Sword, the candidate he was sponsoring, was also set to battle Rosclay the Absolute in the next match.

If, in anticipating a direct confrontation, Iriolde, his backer waiting in the shadows, was also revealing himself, then…

“You mustn’t forget what’s important point here, Hidow. Before long, Aureatia is going to be shaken to its core. A much bigger disturbance…bigger than the Alus incident you took responsibility for after putting your life at risk…will come. When that time comes, I wonder how the assembly will face it…”

“What are you getting at?”

“They’ll need someone to take the fall once more, won’t they…? Like many self-proclaimed demon kings have done in the past…or, just as the True Demon King once did, if you will. The people certainly aren’t going to be satisfied unless someone assumes the villain role…”

His fingers, like a withered tree branch, slowly pointed at Hidow.

“That could be, for example, someone that the organization has no problem discarding. Someone they’ve already branded… Don’t you agree? Like you, or me.”

“…Well. That’s a very…childish threat, Iriolde.”

Despite his smile, a cold sweat ran down Hidow’s temple.

He couldn’t completely refute the possibility. Even he understood that any retirement to a life of leisure and peace was nothing more than a nigh fantastical show of courage.

It was all but impossible for the Sixways Exhibition to simply end without anything else happening. Assuming there was, as Iriolde suggested, a massive political shift in Aureatia—and the situation could be contained by offering up Hidow’s name as the mastermind behind it all—then he agreed that Rosclay and Jelky might do something like that.

The trust he placed in their ability, in fact, made it impossible to dismiss.

“What do you think, Hidow…? What if it was possible to stick their side with the responsibility, rather than us losers? Would you then be interested in working hard just one more time?”

“I’ll say it again: I’m not like you. I’m not interested in getting dragged back into all these schemes.”

“I value your abilities highly. I’m sure that with your aid, we’ll emerge victorious…”

“Mind if I pass along everything you’ve told me to Rosclay? Hit the road.”

Absurd. A terrible joke, all of it.

Hidow wished he had been incompetent. He didn’t want to exhaust his effort for the sake of another any more than he already had. Even if he could foresee future catastrophe, he exited the stage of political strife because he didn’t want to get involved in any of it.

“…I’ve had enough of a life of nonstop headaches.”

“Really, now? Sorry, then. Well, I’ll be going…”

Iriolde slowly rose from his seat, grabbing the wall and the arms of his attendants for support.

Hidow felt repulsed by his way of standing up. An attachment to life. Despite reaching such an old age, Iriolde the Atypical Tome still hadn’t given up on living.

“That’s right… There’s one other unfortunate bit of information I have for you, Hidow.”

“…You finally getting out of here overshadows any more bad news. But what is it?”

“Since you were the one to shoulder the blame for the destruction Alus wrought, there are many citizens who bear a grudge against you… Now that you’ve been dismissed from the assembly, you don’t have much of an escort detail with you, either. At that point…if there was some unforeseen accident, it might be difficult to find the culprit…”

An elf attendant unlocked the door in the back of the parlor. It was a room Hidow hadn’t normally used.

Hidow thought he saw a big shadow move inside the room. He frowned.

“…All right, what’s this about…?”

As soon as the door opened, a middle-aged man flew from the room.

He was someone Hidow had never laid eyes on before. The man was grungy, and likely didn’t do too well for himself.

There was the sound of pottery shattering. The man stepped over the table with dirty shoes, brandished a knife, and slashed at Hidow.

Hidow narrowly managed to lift a couch cushion and block the weapon.

“H-Hidow the Clamp!”

“What the hell’s your problem?!” he shouted as he twisted his body, trying to wrestle away the knife stuck into the cushion, but his voice had definitely cracked. The man’s thick arm took hold of Hidow’s scarf. He tried to grab Hidow’s neck.

“G-get off!”

Hidow struggled with all his might and roughly kicked the man away. He had opened space between them. Despite it, the man got back up, his eyes still bloodshot, to continue his awkward rush.

This time, Hidow was able to dodge to the side. With the momentum of the man’s charge, he slammed into the picture on the wall, smashing part of the picture frame, and cutting his brow.

What the hell? Who is this guy?

This was Hidow’s own house. How did a suspicious guy like this suddenly sneak in?

Actually, first of all—

Iriolde had intruded into the manor without any notice that he was stopping by. What about the locks? The only explanation he could think of was that one of the servants had let him in. When he considered the influence Iriolde commanded, it wasn’t difficult to imagine.

Hidow’s attacker breathed raggedly as he tried to stand up.

“Hwoo, hwo…hwoo, I’ll kill you, I-I’ll kill you…”

It was evident that this wasn’t a warrior who had undergone proper combat training.

A twitching smile came to Hidow’s face. He had realized the answer.

“…You’re kidding me.”

“Give me back, koff, my family… It’s all…it’s all your fault…!”

The man went to pick up the hat rack in the corner of the room to use as a spear. It didn’t seem like it would make for much of a weapon, but rather, it seemed to convey the man’s murderous rage.

“It’s…all my fault, is it?”

This guy needed to actually think about it for a minute. Alus was the one who was truly responsible, right? Did this guy really think there was anyone who could’ve anticipated the destruction Alus would bring to Aureatia?

Hidow had grown so tired of dealing with these idiots that it made him want to beat the man within an inch of his life.

Swinging the hat stand, the man struck at Hidow.

Hidow swung his own fist up high.

“Aaaarggh!”

“Urngh!”

The man bent backward and collapsed. A hard ball had hit him squarely in the face.

Hidow had just returned from playing ball. He had one still in his pocket.

The ball bounced twice along the floor and rolled back to Hidow’s feet.

“Hah-hah, hah-hah-hah-hah…”

A cold sweat was pouring like a waterfall from Hidow’s brow, but someone was laughing as if truly enjoying himself.

Iriolde.

“Hah-hah-hah-hah…hah-hah-hah-hah… Ahh, that was fantastic. So very desperate.”

“You bastard.”

“You’re still so young…and you say you want nothing. That you don’t mind if you’re the focus of public contempt. It’s not good to speak…as if you have it all figured out, since you don’t understand anything. When someone’s after your life…even when your opponent’s such a pitiful pauper…”

Iriolde jabbed the collapsed man with his cane. The intruder groaned and tried to get up, but one of Iriolde’s bodyguards instantly sat on his joints and constrained him.

“…you’re still forced into desperation.”

“You’re the one…who set this all up in the first place.”

Iriolde’s group had brought someone with a grudge against Hidow—most likely a survivor from either the second or fifth borough of the Eastern Outer Ward—and shut him away in the room past the parlor until Hidow had returned home.

It was the only explanation he could think of, given the situation. Anyone would come to the same conclusion.

“Oh, it’s just a coincidence. A mere coincidence. Kweh, kweh… Unfortunately, we weren’t able to notice the lawless intruder. Neither you nor myself. However, we could collaborate…to make sure something like this never happens again.”

“A childish threat.”

“That’s right. I can be immature, you see.”

The elf bodyguard nonchalantly drew a gun.

Hidow gulped. Run. Cover. The thoughts ran through his head, but his legs couldn’t keep up. He felt that he was going to be killed.

The sound of a gunshot rang out.

The bodyguard had shot through the head of the man restrained at her feet. A second gunshot followed.

The first shot caused the man’s head to burst like an overripe melon. Among its pulpy contents were the white seedlike fragments of his skull.

“…………”

“Kweh, kweh. Hah-hah-hah-hah-hah…hah-hah-hah.”

Iriolde chuckled with glee.

“Just a joke, of course. Please, Hidow, there’s no need to worry.”

“Y-You… You killed him…”

Iriolde had committed murder inside Hidow’s manor.

On top of it, Iriolde was visiting without any prior notice. There wouldn’t be any records of his call left behind.

Hidow needed some explanation—at the very least, an explanation that wouldn’t throw his tranquil life into chaos.

“Well then, until we meet again. Hidow the Clamp.”

The sun was setting. Even after Iriolde had departed, Hidow remained seated on the couch in the pitch-black parlor with his head in his hands.

“…Dammit…”

He wanted tranquility, where he could remain indifferent to everything.

He wanted the terror brought by the True Demon King to be returned to normal for good.

When would that finally come to him? Would this go on into eternity?

“Every damn last one of them…needs to quit roping me into this crap…!”

As long as one lived in this world, it was impossible to remain totally unconnected to the fight to choose the sole Hero.

They would keep on getting wrapped up in this destiny of life and death run amok.

No matter who they were.