Assassin's Chronicle

Bruzuryano sighed after he heard the oath, then smiled. "I will leave here tomorrow," he said, turning to Saul. "Your place is more dangerous than a dragon’s nest." Then Bruzuryano turned and slowly walked towards the door.

"Lord Bruzuryano seems to know how to get himself out of trouble," Anfey said with a smile, staring at Bruzuryano’s back. "We can’t let him spill the secret. This is good, though, I think. Hopefully he feels better now."

Saul frowned. "Anfey, we have a problem now."

"What problem?"

"Jacob learned how to make the Sacred Spirit potion from his teacher, but he never told me what the potion could do. But if the unicorn can grow faster with the potion, the Elf Queen can as well." Saul sighed, "That would be troublesome."

"Master, are you saying that we should take the potion for ourselves and break our agreement?" Anfey asked. He knew that Saul was willing to speak of this in front of him because Saul trusted him. He was glad for Saul’s trust, and at the same time he was trying very hard to find a good resolution.

"We aren’t cheating anyone," Saul said, patting Anfey on the shoulder. "But this is a very difficult situation." Saul was troubled. He suspected that Bruzuryano’s true intention was not to help the unicorn grow, but was instead to help the Elf Queen. If there was a five hundred year buffer period, he could accept it, which was why he swore the oath. Ernest was becoming stronger, and Saul had a new discovery. Anfey’s fiancee had the blessing of an angel, and the old man who had taught Anfey must be a Supreme power. If Anfey was there, the old man might be willing to come forth and reveal himself. After four or five hundred years, humans should be able to find the secret to unlock Supreme Inheritance Discontinuity. The Elf Queen would not change that. However, if the Elf Queen had Sacred Spirit potion, she would become an unpredictable factor. Both Saul and Yolanthe were confident in their ability to groom supreme powers. After the Age of Chaos, unlocking the secret of supreme inheritance became the top priority of every nation. Countless resources were spent on this topic. This was why Anfey’s presence caught so many important people’s attention. He was the key to finding a supreme power. After thousands of years, every nation had information about the secret, and Maho Empire was perhaps the most knowledgeable out of all the nations. Saul was able to defeat Newyoheim not because he was stronger, but because of this new discovery.

"Master, what is the relationship like between Bruzuryano and Jacob?"

"They are friendly, why?"

"If we really want to cheat, we should ask someone other than Jacob to make the potion."

"Who should we go to, then?"

"I don’t know anything about alchemy, but is Hagan qualified to make this potion?"

Saul frowned.

"If we needed a magic tool, Hagan might not be able to make it. But if it is just a potion, maybe Hagan can do it."

"From what little I know about alchemy, as long as we have the recipe, we can have Hagan try."

"That should temporarily solve our dilemma. Let Hagan look through Jacob’s manuscripts first and see if there is anything useful. If we can’t find the recipe, we can always go find Jacob and get it from him. After we make the potion, we can always lie and say we failed. Bruzuryano can’t do anything."

Saul did not say anything. Truthfully, Saul did not agree with Anfey’s plan. Bruzuryano was a good friend of Saul’s, and even though they were working for different sides, they still managed to maintain their friendship. Anfey’s status was too low and his view was too restricted. He only thought about Bruzuryano. Anfey knew that Bruzuryano was concerned about Yolanthe and wanted to maintain a good relationship with the king, but he did not know that Yolanthe was worried the followers of Goddess of Nature and the followers of the Church of Light might be united.

The two religions might not be able to assemble an army the way a nation could, but both religions had their own defense teams. The Church of Light had Knights of the Light, Fanatical Crusaders, and Arbitrators’ Guild; among the followers of Goddess of Nature were Jungle Guard, Green Expeditionary, and small squads made up of druids. These were forces to be reckoned with.

Slanbrea was easy to kill because he was only a minstrel who practiced magic before joining the Church. He was used to being alone even after he rose to positions of power. If he had even a few of his guards with him, even Saul and Ernest could not kill him.

"Master..." Anfey said quietly.

"We will talk about it later," Saul said, shaking his head. Saul was a brilliant man, but he did not have the determination to go through with the plan. He did not need that determination, either, because usually Yolanthe was the one to make the final decision. Now, he could not talk to Yolanthe because of his oath, and he found it hard to make a decision. He knew that the oath had been the only way to go so that they did not anger Bruzuryano, but he still regretted it. If he angered Bruzuryano and the man left, it would be troublesome for Yolanthe.

Anfey shrugged but did not say anything. He did not know Saul’s stance and did not know that his status had changed. Saul’s oath meant he was the only one Saul could talk to about Bruzuryano.

Suddenly, the unicorn, which was still trapped in the magic array, whined loudly. The fear and confusion in the unicorn’s eyes were already gone. Magic beasts’ intelligence was limited and the beasts were much more direct when it came to expressing their emotions. The unicorn arched its back and, with a sudden movement of its head, released an arc of lightning. Then it threw its body against the wall of light.

The magic array was too powerful, and the unicorn was thrown back. However, it already knew that and landed on the ground on its four legs. Anfey could tell from its eyes that it was really angry.

"Master!" Anfey called, worried about the unicorn.

Saul waved his hands and the light around the unicorn disappeared. A ball of water appeared in front of the unicorn. The unicorn jumped into the water and turned the ball into thousands of droplets. The unicorn landed and looked around angrily, searching for its enemy.

The anger in the unicorn’s eyes disappeared when it saw Anfey, and it was replaced by sadness. It whinnied quietly and dashed towards Anfey. It ran into him, wanting to rub itself against him. However, the unicorn did not know how heavy it was. Its body slammed into Anfey, who stumbled backwards under the weight. He grunted as he steadied himself.

The unicorn turned and saw Saul, its body becoming tense. It cocked its head and looked at the old man, then an arc of lightning shot out of its horn towards Saul. For a child, a parent was the strongest ally. Maybe the unicorn thought as long as Anfey was there, it could do whatever it wanted.

Saul did not move and let the lightning strike him. An attack like this could not do any harm to him. He looked at the unicorn and marvelled. "It can already release a lightning arc?" he asked, shocked.

"It can’t really do any harm, though," Anfey said, his voice raspy. His body still hurt where the unicorn rammed into him.

"It is still young. It shouldn’t be able to do that."

The unicorn’s body was still tense, and it was glaring at Saul. Anfey patted its head and whispered, "It’s alright. Relax. Master, it seems like it is scared of you. What should we do now? I don’t want it to get scared when it’s in your care."

"I don’t have time to care for it," Saul said, shaking his head. "Bruzuryano gave me these Silkvanilla. You can give it to Suzanna so the unicorn could stay with her."

"Silkvanilla? I think I have some of it as well."

"Where did you find it?" Saul asked.

"In its cave."

"Do you know how hard it was for me to convince Bruzuryano to give me some of this?" Saul asked, smiling. "Just take it. Let’s go find Suzanna."