Chapter 13
When he arrived, Wise only had time to draw his bow and aim the arrow at the noose hanging Harumasa. He didn't have time to think much, as the rope was cut by the arrow, he immediately urged his horse to run over. Wise hurriedly supported Harumasa, hugging him tightly.
"Prince Wise, what do you mean by this action? Are you going to disobey the emperor's orders?", a high-ranking magician stepped out and spoke, Wise recognized that person, she was one of the emperor's closest and most loyal people.
"Since when did a mage like you have the right to question me? Or have you been working for my father for so long that you forgot the royal order?", Wise glared at the high-ranking female mage, her name was Elly, who had served his father since he ascended the throne, "It's true that my father can take advantage of your long service to my father and defend you sometimes. But that doesn't mean he will think that you have the right to question me because of that."
Elly was startled, then fell silent, she had never seen that attitude from Wise. To be more precise, the only prince of the kingdom had never been so angry before.
"Your Highness, please calm down. Lady Elly was just wondering why you interrupted the execution of the death sentence.", Lycaon relieved, thanks to that the situation had eased a bit.
Wise didn't answer right away, instead he slowly removed the noose from Harumasa's neck. Harumasa's neck, which had once been so white and smooth, with a faint scent of herbs, was now terribly bruised, not like before. Wise carefully fixed Harumasa's hair, then felt the temperature of his former butler.
Cold. Pale. Bloody.
"Get some sleep, Harumasa. I know you're tired."
Wise gently kissed Harumasa's forehead, who had long since stopped breathing and showed no signs of coming back to life. But he still gently stroked the other's hair, carefully holding him as if Harumasa were still alive.
"Return to the palace, I will show you and my father that Harumasa really has no intention of killing me."
With that, Wise returned to his horse, carrying Harumasa back to the palace. The others did not understand how Wise intended to prove it, but they still followed. After all, Harumasa's execution had already been completed.
Little did they know that on the other side of the border, the knights of the Aku Empire had seen the execution just now.
"Those damned Eridu Kingdom people always criticize our Aku Empire for being barbaric, killing people without blinking an eye. But are they any different from us?!"
"Captain Knight, we cannot let them off! They have already killed Lord Asaba, and on top of that, they are planning to hang him right near the border between our countries. They are clearly challenging us!"
"We must bring Lord Asaba back to the Aku Empire, no matter what, he is our man!"
"Absolutely cannot forgive the people of the Eridu Kingdom!"
"Unforgivable!!"
.
The news of Wise bringing Harumasa's body back to the palace quickly spread throughout the kingdom, everyone wondered why the prince would bring the person who tried to kill him back to the palace. Even though the two of them were friends, such an action was unforgivable.
As soon as he arrived, Wise carried Harumasa to the throne, where the emperor and queen were sitting. On both sides were high-ranking nobles, elite soldiers, and high-ranking mages. They were all present, and the atmosphere in the room was very tense.
"Wise, explain to me what you did just now. I believe you are not the type to let your emotions overwhelm your reason."
The emperor was extremely calm, he looked at Wise, then looked at Harumasa who was motionless in the prince's arms. There was no sign of breathing, probably dead as reported by Lycaon.
"Your Majesty, let me be frank, Harumasa did not intend to kill me at that moment."
Wise took out his enchanted sword, then gave it to Elly, she observed, checking the incantation engraved on it. She was a bit surprised, turned to ask Wise:
"Your Highness, is it true that you were still holding this sword tightly in your hand at that time?"
Wise nodded, it seemed that Elly also realized the abnormality from this behavior. She turned to look at the emperor, presenting the sword for him to see.
"Your Majesty, there is no way in this world that someone would give a weapon that can protect an enemy that he wants to kill. Not to mention that this is an ancient spell, it can create a protective barrier that is almost as strong as the protective barrier that is currently surrounding the Eridu Kingdom. According to Lycaon's report, Asaba Harumasa is the best scout in the Aku Empire, there is no way he would make such a basic mistake. Unless..."
Unless Harumasa really wavered and had no intention of killing Wise.
Harumasa himself had inscribed magic on this sword, there is no way he would not know the uses of those spells.
"But he is dead now. Even clearing his name cannot bring him back to life.", the emperor sighed, shaking his head. Although he agreed with the two's argument, even if he had someone announce that Harumasa was innocent, it would be like the people would say that he was an unscrupulous person who had not investigated thoroughly and hastily sentenced him to death. Now that Harumasa was dead, it would be useless to declare him innocent.
"Your Majesty, Harumasa is not dead yet."
Wise's words shocked everyone, they looked at him with surprised expressions, unable to believe what he had just said. Harumasa was now dead, his heart was not beating, he was not breathing, yet Wise said he was not dead.
"Wise, what do you mean by saying he is not dead?", the emperor frowned, looking at Wise, "I hope you will not use forbidden magic like the magicians of the Aku Empire."
Wise shook his head, looking at Harumasa in his arms, "I did not use it, Harumasa used it."
"?!"
The prince took out a scroll that looked quite old and gave it to Elly, inside were records of the magic that the first great mage of Eridu had created.
"Although there are no records of magic that can rejuvenate people, there are some passages that say that the great mage really intended to do so."
Then, Wise took out another book, which was said to be the record of the first emperor of the Eridu kingdom.
"Emperor William once wrote about it, he mentioned the rejuvenation magic as a [Curse of Immortality]. Because of the urgent time, I was only able to translate a part. He once wrote that the great mage after experimenting with the rejuvenation magic could not die. No matter how many times he committed suicide, after a few days, that great mage would come back to life."
The atmosphere became more and more tense, everyone felt it was difficult to breathe. A terrifying thought flashed through their minds, seemingly making everyone shiver.
"I guess everyone has realized it. Because they thought it was a curse, both the grand mage and the first emperor decided to hide that magic together. In history, there has never been a second case of someone possessing that magic."
That is, there was only one great mage who knew the incantation and magic circle to perform the rejuvenation magic.
"Harumasa was the first great mage, Lord Haru."
He was also the one who founded the Eridu kingdom with the first emperor, and wrote the book on the fundamentals of magic.
Haru.