Chapter 831

Meiharin’s daughter, Ai-shan Gi-or Ima-ra.

The fifth and youngest child of Or-han, unlike Meiharin or Sahallyeon, who had always been wary of Hersela, she once followed Hersela like her own sister.

At least, when she was young.

But, as the beauty of a flower lasts no more than ten days, and the moon wanes when full, such is the way of the world.

The seemingly unbreakable bond between the half-sisters came to an end when Hersela personally tore apart and killed Ima-ra’s maid, who had insulted Ai-mel-ra.

Since then, their relationship deteriorated to the point where they became worse than strangers, and now they openly send assassins after each other.

Well, it’s mostly Ima-ra who’s seething with anger, while Hersela seems to have no idea how to untangle the twisted relationship and just leaves it be.

Anyway, the image of Ima-ra I had in mind was that of a fiercely independent and aggressive Ka`har princess, the kind who would send dozens of assassins after her half-sister.

“Sister…! Could you forgive me just once? I was so rude back then…! I’ll apologize like this! It was all just me being childish! I don’t actually hate you, sister!”

…Not a girl groveling on the ground as if offering her liver and gallbladder.

—-

‘What is this? Was she always like this?’

Ima-ra’s behavior was so different from what I had heard.

If she were just four years older, she might have prostrated herself completely naked instead of just bowing. I couldn’t help but feel bewildered and pressed Hersela for an explanation.

I thought she was a venomous, cunning woman, but this was more like a baby fox lying on its back, exposing its belly.

[No, that can’t be. What on earth…?]

Of course, Hersela was just as bewildered as I was. She even doubted her own eyes, wondering if she was under some hallucination curse. It seems Hersela never imagined Ima-ra would act like this either.

“Sister…?”

Perhaps sensing the unease in the silent gaze fixed on her, Ima-ra slightly lifted her head from the ground and sneakily glanced at me.

‘She’s calling for you. What should I do? Should I step back and let you two talk?’

I whispered to Hersela. I was willing to give her control of the body for a while if she wanted, just like I had done a few times in front of Ja-han.

Since I knew almost nothing about Ima-ra, I thought it would be more reasonable to leave the conversation to Hersela, who knew her well.

Besides, wouldn’t Hersela want to talk to her long-lost sister? I could at least give her that much consideration.

[Uh, no. Stop. I don’t know what to say…!]

…But it seemed she didn’t want to, as she refused with a trembling voice that was almost pitiful.

‘Then what should I do?’

[You handle it. Isn’t that your specialty? Making young girls cling to you.]

That sounds a bit inappropriate.

It’s like treating me as some kind of candy-wielding criminal luring children.

—-

Anyway, since Hersela had given up on the conversation, I was the only one left to handle the situation.

“You’ve apologized, so sit down for now. I need to hear what happened that brought you here, chased like this.”

“Sister…! Are you forgiving me?”

“That depends on what I hear. Sit down first. I don’t want to talk while looking at the back of your head.”

So, mimicking Hersela’s tone, I stopped Ima-ra, who was about to kneel and bow like a king surrendering to barbarians.

“Ahem, yes. I’ll sit down!”

No need to be so formal…

Why is she acting like this? Even if she wants something from me, this level of submissiveness seems excessive. Her eyes were even sparkling like the priests of the Church Order looking at me in saintess robes.

What’s going on? Why is she looking at me like that? Did her brain short-circuit from seeing people explode in front of her?

Weren’t they sending assassins at each other? Maybe the assassins were actually competent subordinates sent as gifts, and Hersela misunderstood and killed them all?

With a face half-confused and half-bewildered, I listened to the girl, who was chattering like a baby bird being fed, as she told me the whole story.

It wasn’t a long story. It was mostly her own experiences, not much solid information.

“So… your mother, Meiharin, was actually a sorceress who practiced extremely dark sorcery? And these sorcerers are her subordinates?”

“Yes. That sums it up.”

“And you ran away as soon as you found out, fearing you’d be silenced?”

“Exactly. Sorcerers don’t understand human decency. They see even their children’s lives as mere tools and sacrifices.”

Her tone had calmed down a bit as she spoke in a more refined manner, perhaps because of my calm demeanor.

Though, given her first impression, to me, she still seemed like a character straight out of a concept, just like Hersela.

A Heavenly Demon concept character and a villainess concept character. A perfectly matched pair of lunatics, just like sisters should be.

Still, the story Ima-ra told was quite useful to me.

No, actually, it wasn’t just “quite” useful—it was incredibly useful.

A sorceress who commands the eastern sorcerers as her minions? Such a woman wouldn’t be common in the grasslands. It was clear to anyone that she was closely tied to the Third Apostle.

The Third Apostle.

According to Or-han’s speculation, the likely culprit behind the curse killing of Hersela’s mother, Ai-mel-ra.

If Meiharin was a close associate of such a being, then Ai-mel-ra’s death could very well have been Meiharin’s doing.

[…Interesting. Very interesting.]

Hersela, having reached the same conclusion, growled in a low, menacing voice, her earlier bewilderment gone.

In other words, if we mess with Meiharin, the second queen of Ai-shan, we might get clues about the Third Apostle’s identity.

Could Meiharin be the Apostle herself?

I had thought about that too… but it seemed unlikely. In the original story, the Apostles only became active after Hersela invaded the Empire and was defeated.

Hersela unifying the Great Plains and invading the Empire meant that all her competitors had been slaughtered.

In other words, Sahallyeon and his backer, Meiharin, must have also met their end.

So, the chances of the Third Apostle being Meiharin were slim.

Not just slim—practically nonexistent, you say? Well, you never know.

In the original story, Hersela thought she had killed Meiharin, but what if Meiharin faked her death, hid away, and then popped back up as the Third Apostle right after Hersela’s defeat, saying, “I never experienced death”?

In the end, we couldn’t be sure of the Third Apostle’s identity until we faced Meiharin directly and beat her to a pulp.

So, what should we do?

Fly straight to Ordos and pull out Meiharin’s spine one by one? Hersela might applaud and agree, but that seemed a bit too risky.

For me, a public enemy of the grasslands, to assault Ordos would mean single-handedly annihilating the entire army gathered there.

Meiharin, who was preparing something, an unknown number of sorcerers, and the Third Apostle, who might appear at any moment.

Add to that the warriors of Ai-shan led by Sahallyeon, the tribes that had submitted to him, and maybe even Targien’s army, waiting to strike at the right moment.

Taking all of them down was something even I couldn’t muster the courage to do.

My power was undoubtedly strong enough to kill even masters and those who had transcended walls in a single strike if caught off guard, but it also consumed a tremendous amount of energy.

Like a racing car with immense speed and a massive fuel tank, but with the worst fuel efficiency imaginable.

So, no matter how urgent it was, I needed to make at least some preparations before moving.

If I wasn’t careful, I could run out of energy before finishing off the enemies and end up subdued. Even I couldn’t fight hero-level warriors or sorcerers with just my bare hands once my energy was depleted.

Especially since the Apostles were forces I couldn’t afford to underestimate, even at my full strength.

Just look at Ragnar. Even though he wasn’t as strong as in the original story, fighting him left me completely drained. He even managed to counter Reversed Heaven by combining rune engravings.

I had no idea how strong the Third Apostle was, but charging into their stronghold alone would be recklessness, not confidence.

So, for now—

“You asked me to spare your life, right? Fine. There are a few conditions, but if you follow them obediently, I’ll guarantee your safety.”

“Thank you… no, I’m grateful, sister! If you protect me, I’ll do anything you ask!”

What do you think I’m going to ask?

Did she think Hersela had forgiven and accepted her? Or did she just see a way to survive safely?

Ima-ra, her face brightening, eagerly agreed to every condition I laid out.

And so, another exile from Ka`har joined our ranks.

—-

Given the nature of my flying method, it was impossible to carry another person, so on the way back, I had no choice but to summon Cascador and ride it.

Fortunately, Cascador didn’t refuse to carry Ima-ra, and she, thrilled to see the mythical creature she had only heard about, didn’t hesitate to climb onto its back.

[…She was a virgin? I thought she was experienced, given how she flaunted the men she had relationships with, mocking me for lacking femininity.]

Hersela, who knew the conditions for riding a unicorn, couldn’t hide her bewilderment.