Chapter 42: CH 40

Kevin: “……”

Oswald didn’t hear his response and turned his head to glance at him again. “What? Do you think my idea is too ridiculous?”

Kevin laughed dryly twice. “…… No, no.”

“While it may seem that the time of the gods has passed, there has been an endless amount of things associated with them.” Oswald pointed carelessly to the observatory of the Monastery abandoned in the distance. “Let’s not talk about the distant ones and talk about the priests. They are born with the ability to understand things that ordinary people are unaware of, to see scenes that ordinary people cannot see, and even to prophesy some future events and the rise and fall of states; all these are obviously left over from the time of the gods. The Spirit Clan, too, although their sorcery comes more from an inherited ability, that part of the gift clearly comes from the gods’ legacy, even though they belong to a collateral line.”

He spoke so much in a rare moment that Kevin couldn’t help but turn his head to look at him, “You’re trying desperately to prove signs that the gods are still around?”

Oswald paused and said after a short silence, “It’s not only to prove…… If it is Phae, I wish he is still around.”

Oswald always had a more favourable view of the Old Gods than the Later Gods, something that Kevin perceived. He also had a far better opinion of Phae than any other god, major or minor, which Kevin also knew but never quite understood why.

Once when he was the god of light, he hadn’t cared much about that. Later, when he had become a commoner, he had cared even less about what people thought or said. But now, with his elbows resting on the railings of the high tower and his curled fingers loosely supporting his chin, he looked at Oswald calmly and suddenly asked out loud, “Why?”

Oswald froze for a moment. “Hmm?”

Kevin said, “Why do you like Phae? Because he is the god of light?”

The arrogant and difficult emperor seemed uncomfortable discussing his preference for someone so bluntly. To be precise, he was uncomfortable using the word “like” to describe anyone easily. But when Kevin asked him this question, he didn’t know how to refute the word or use a more appropriate term instead.

So he just brushed the word aside, mentally replacing it in his mind, and replied, “There’s no reason. Do you need a reason to like or dislike someone? Everything I know about Phae is from the <History of Gods>. Technically, even that book has so many later additions that what I see is probably not the truest representation of Phae, or maybe just one side of him. But at least-”

He said, pausing for a moment to look up at the full view of the imperial city of St. Andis, “When I was very young, at least when I read stories about Phae, I felt that I could one day become powerful enough to do everything. So I hope that such a god that fills people with courage will be around for a little longer.”

Kevin listened in awe. In the end, he couldn’t help but ask through tears of laughter. “Live longer for what? To let more courageous people like you go around looking for a fight with their guts hanging out?”

Oswald gave him an unpleasant look and said, “That’s only if they meet someone like you. Otherwise, the desire to fight doesn’t usually come out. Besides, I didn’t say I wanted him to live as a god of light for that long. According to the sequel to the <History of Gods>, another new life may begin after the death of a god. They may become ordinary people in this world or choose to sleep forever and never open their eyes. I hope he will be the former and will be able to experience the world they have created as an ordinary person– Tch, what’s that look in your eye?”

Kevin finally couldn’t help but laugh as he patted Oswald’s shoulder and said, “You’ve been straining your face all day, acting as if everyone owes you a treasury. I didn’t think you were quite so sentimental.”

“Do you get an itchy mouth when you don’t talk back to me twice a day?” The young emperor threw him a condescending slant.

“Did you pay attention to what Donne said? He said the scene Priest Mowgli saw showed countless bodies at the feet of the presumed Phae.” Kevin said, “You’re writing a moody mini-essay here now. Aren’t you afraid you’ll turn around and find the real Phae has overturned all your perceptions?”

Oswald frowned slightly.

What concerned him the most about Donne’s words just now was actually this point. The fact that there were countless corpses at Phae’s feet, that he was covered in blood, and that his appearance was tied to the fate of the Jinshi Empire…… According to common logic, such words were almost a faint hint that Phae, who had reappeared in the human world, was probably not as holy and compassionate as the world had imagined.

“…… I’m not so sure about that,” Oswald said slowly in a calm voice. “Even if that scene is real, I think there’s something else going on.”

Kevin raised an eyebrow and didn’t immediately answer. Looking at his expression, he seemed to be mulling over something.

After a few moments, he suddenly asked, “Hey, let me ask you. What will you do if Phae is like me in person or after being reborn as a human being?”

Kevin didn’t even treat him as an emperor in a position of power and authority, putting his arm around his shoulders and hooking it loosely around him with a look of amusement on his face, his sharp eyes curving up slightly.

Oswald froze at his sudden approaching face, his eyes falling first into his dark eyes and then quickly moving away, sneering as he looked away expressionlessly. “Heh, I’ll just crash and die then.”

Kevin snorted and dropped his hand, standing up straight again.

He leaned lazily against the bars, staring down at the layers of ebony roofs of the Imperial City, all the way to the end of the sky, far beyond reach, his dark eyes as clear as if they were covered in glass.

The joking look on his face was semi-hidden, and he said unclearly, “It’s good to have someone to give courage to. The more, the merrier.”

Oswald was a little puzzled by this nonsense. He looked at Kevin and was about to ask a further question when the man slapped him hard on the shoulder. “Don’t look at the scenery when something important is at stake. Come on. Go back to your meetings with your Council of Ministers!”

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The man’s hand looked white and lean, like a gentleman, but it was so strong that a slap could have made a man spit out his lungs.

Despite not spitting out any lungs, Oswald felt his internal organs being shaken and immediately glared at the bastard, saying back, “Who told you I was just simply looking at the view?”

As he said this, he lifted him before Kevin was aware of it, throwing him onto the hippogriff’s thick back. The ever-arrogant and oblivious Kevin Fassbinder hung like a human sack in front of Oswald, nearly knocking his lungs out as the hippogriff sped along.

He was getting even with him.

***

Later that evening, Oswald called in the important ministers and the commanders of the main barracks of the legions, summoning a twelve-man round table.

He stated what the priests had interpreted. On hearing that traces of Phae appeared in the Old Rose Fortress, the whole round table looked almost as if they were about to faint, except for the Emperor and Kevin, who had known beforehand.

When they heard that the appearance of the god of light was a matter of state survival, most people could no longer sit still.

The crowd worked all night on the massive map of the mainland. The flags representing the distribution of troops barely stayed in one place for long, moving and changing all the time. Ministers and legion commanders had different ideas. It wasn’t easy to unite the conservative and radical sides, and those with a firm belief in the gods had different preferences from those who treated them as history.

About ten of the twelve people were so vocal that their voices became hoarse.

The remaining less talkative ones were the emperor, the primary decision maker, and Kevin.

For a change, Kevin’s hands were loosely clasped and resting on the table, listening quietly to the people’s different opinions, not opening his mouth more than a few times from the beginning to the end.

Because he was so heavily biased in this case, he had nothing to discuss.

In the end, the flags on the map were finalised by Oswald on the dawn of the next day–

The Wujin Iron Troops would remain with the Imperial Rangers to guard the capital. The ten units of the Red Iron Army initially placed along the Long Carat River would stay there, keeping an eye on the border between the Jinshi and the Beifeicu Empire. The remaining twelve Bronze Armies units remained on the Sand Ghost Desert border.

The remaining force was rearranged and assembled into two groups, one disguised as caravans to make a detour from Mirage Sea to the Old Rose Fortress. The rest of the troops were stationed in Dada City, which had direct access to the Imperial City, the Long River and the Western Desert.

The “caravan ” to the Old Rose Fortress had not been finalised. It was safe because it was the most common route for caravans, and it was far enough away from the Sand Ghost Desert to allow for better camouflage and less chance of a raid. But it was also dangerous because of the mirage there ……

The discussion went into the morning, so Oswald simply had breakfast prepared and brought directly into the conference room, allowing everyone who had been up all night to take a break and ease their minds and voices.

Oswald had just picked up his cup and taken a sip of mint tea when Kevin tapped him on the shoulder and called him out.

“What?” Oswald said as he stepped away. “Is there something else you don’t want to eat for breakfast?”

Kevin was not amused. “Indeed, I don’t eat that Star turtle, but what does that have to do with me calling you out?”

“Who knows? What if you think it’s too embarrassing for a Bronze Chief Commander to pick his food in front of the public? Want to beg me privately to fork that thing away for you and eat it?” Oswald nonchalantly poked him at it and lectured, “That stuff is good for someone dropping blood all day like you, so you have to eat it even if you don’t like it.”

“No.” Kevin settled in front of the corridor, retorting his request in a firm voice and justifying himself. “The Old Rose Fortress there, I’ll go.”

Oswald frowned at that. “Don’t even dream about it. I still remember how badly you were injured. How long has it been since then, and yet you want to go to a place like the Mirage? There’s no way!”

Kevin didn’t even bother to reason with him and said, “I have to go.”

“Why?” Oswald was simply confused.

“Just take it that I also like Phae,” Kevin blurted out a reason.

Oswald: “……”

For a moment, a hard-to-ignore irritation flooded the Emperor’s mind.

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