Mage Manual-Chapter 607 - 491: Hanna Outside the Door

"Is it really an assassination against the Princess..."

Ash, of course, didn’t confess.

It wasn’t that he was particularly defiant, facing Heath’s intimidation with delight rather than anger, but rather he couldn’t confess—Hanna’s Contract forbade them from divulging information voluntarily. Ash couldn’t even inform the Sword Maiden that he had acquired a daughter, so how could he possibly inform Heath about the plans concerning her daughter?

Whether he confessed or not, it hardly mattered—since Ash was here, the others must be here as well, and their infiltration of the Imperial Palace on the evening of the court banquet was not to assassinate or kill in battle. Were they here to freeload a meal?

So, when Ash instead asked, "Do you know about the Tower?" Heath immediately understood that the daughter had brought this group to storm the Tower.

"It’s not to assassinate the Princess." Since Heath had guessed, Ash could elaborate a bit more, "We just came to nullify her ranking."

"The result is the same," Heath mused, "Empress Yisu is certainly the First Gospel. Without the First Gospel, either Empress Yisu has to hold on for another fifty years, or the Yisu royal lineage will end... Once you succeed, the Gospel Society will face unprecedented turmoil for hundreds of years."

"Even if there is no First Gospel, the Yisu royal family has other bloodlines, right? They can have someone else succeed the throne. It’s not like others would rebel if it isn’t the First Gospel, would they?" Ash attempted to downplay the danger of their action.

However, Heath nodded, "Yes, they would."

Ash was taken aback.

Heath explained, "Why do you think so many dynasties have fallen before? Why do you think our various family corporations can only remain confined within their own cities?"

"Why has the Six Emblems not expanded to other cities? Mermaid scent farming is a legendary system that cannot be replicated, but if scaled down, couldn’t we establish it in other cities within the Mist Area?"

"Why hasn’t Belladett’s ’Flower Shell System’ spread beyond Mongfera? Is it that the ’Flower Shell System’ isn’t tempting enough, or does Belladett lack ambition and doesn’t want to dominate the populace nationwide?"

Ash hesitated slightly, "Because of the law?" freēwēbnovel.com

"Compared to the long-term selection of selfish nature, the law is just a naively conducted social experiment," Heath stated, "Expansion is the instinct of all organizations—families, corporations, enterprises alike. Once an organization expands to a certain extent, it must strike out and absorb others, creating internal consumption, hatred, and eventually leading to decay, corruption, erosion, and collapse."

"Now all the major family corporations are confined to their own cities, dedicating all their energies to research, development, production, competing for rankings and accumulating Gospels, without any intention of expansion and rarely generating conflicts with other powers. Do you know how the Yisu royal house has maintained this favorable situation for seven hundred years?"

"How did they manage that?"

"I don’t know either," Heath admitted as she spread her hands. "I only know it has something to do with the First Gospel. Those dynasties that weren’t continuously ruled by the First Gospel have all been obliterated from history."

"So, this time, your assassination of the Princess, at the lightest, would hasten the disintegration of the Gospels, and at worst, might lead toward a future woven by the top three ranks." The Clan Leader of the Elf Clan’s tone turned colder, "City’s collapse, the Necromancy families reigning, deception rampant... The world moving towards its end, the glory of the Gospels, no more."

"Ash," she stated coldly, "what do you think I would do? Should I stop you secretly, or should I just report you all?"

"I guess that your next move would be to assist us."

"Oh?"

"If you were really so law-abiding and good, then a month ago you would have turned me, a wanted criminal, over to the Imperial City for a reward, putting Hanna in jail and feeding her only once a day. But you didn’t. You allowed us to move freely, tried to persuade us to join Senheiser, and even attempted to seize Doran’s legacy from Hanna."

"At that time, I didn’t expect it to become this serious," Heath tapped his chest with her finger, "Am I not allowed to be scared now?"

"But you aren’t supposed to be scared," Ash remarked. "You are creatures of the mist, indulging in dreams, drunkards intoxicated with life, revelers taking pleasure in madness. Not even afraid to use mermaid scent as nutrition, how could you possibly fear a distant disaster?"

"The Six Emblems don’t care about reality because reality is too dull compared to dreams. Instead of wasting time managing reality, better to leave it to the family and wholly enjoy the dreams. Conversely, if something as thrilling as a dream can be found in reality, then no matter how dangerous it is, people of the Six Emblems probably wouldn’t flinch."

"Actually, since leaving Vatican Mura, I’ve occasionally pondered - what was the reason your legendary Necromancer ancestor established the white mist system?" Ash continued, "He didn’t need mermaid scent, and it’s too far-fetched to say it was out of concern for his people..."

"It wasn’t until I had more contact with Harvey that I slowly realized—those who abandon reality for the family, aren’t they fearless soldiers? The family’s endless fantasized dreamscape, isn’t it an excellent training ground? The white mist, providing strong positive mental feedback, is simply the best stimulant and morale link."

"The mermaid scent farms we see are actually the ’power-saving mode’ of the Six Emblems. If the Six Emblems fully activated, driving the will and technology of their people to the peak, once they die on the battlefield, their bodies become top-grade Necromancy material, ready to be awakened to continue fighting for the Six Emblems."

"From the start," Ash looked at Heath, "the Six Emblems have been coveting the throne of the Yisu royal house."

"Let’s not talk about those being baseless accusations," Heath replied. "Even if that’s true, it was the foresight of an ancestor, and I am just a young Clan Leader living in a peaceful era."

’Young Clan Leader’... Ash spread his hands: "Alright, I no longer have other objective reasons to prove your true intentions, only a subjective one left."

"What is that?"

"You and Hanna are mother and daughter, Hanna is still profoundly influenced by you, many of her actions are similar to yours," Ash said, "Since Hanna persistently chases dangerous and illusory desires of becoming a Divine Lord, I don’t believe you truly are a conservative Clan Leader content with just protecting your family."

"Firstly, protecting the family doesn’t equate to being conservative; even if there are ambitions, it’s ultimately for the future of the family," Heath stared at him and said. "Secondly, I haven’t had much contact with you, and you say Hanna’s actions resemble mine... Which actions are those?"

Ash sighed in relief, "So you intend to assist us?"

"The Empress Yisu’s regime has been around for too long, almost to the point of being a nuisance," Qinna said with a smile. "We from Senheiser also want to witness the pinnacle scenery of the Gospel."

"Moreover, a single Vatican Mura simply cannot accommodate six emblem families."

The casual remarks fully exhibited the Elf Clan Leader’s wolf-like ambition. Since a decision had been made, Qinna was not hesitant, "How do you need me to help you?"

"Currently, we are bound by a work contract and cannot leave the banquet hall," Ash said. "I need you to find a way to free us from our work status so that we have the opportunity to go to the Tower and kidnap the Princess."

The two swiftly discussed several plans, all of which were full of randomness, with low success rates. Qinna pondered, "Although I am willing to help you sink Empress Yisu, I cannot risk being discovered by the Empress Yisu’s royal family. Should there be an accident or should I deem the risk too high, I will stop my actions."

"Very reasonable," Ash said. "Do your best, and I will give it my all."

After refining the plan further, Qinna suddenly asked, "What do you want?"

Ash was taken aback.

"Senheiser wants to eat the remains of the Empress Yisu’s royal family and seize the Supreme Throne amidst the chaos; Hanna wants to obtain the Divine Lord’s wish... But what about you?"

"Because of the contract, I must participate in this task for Hanna, and I didn’t come here willingly to chase dreams," Ash shrugged. "However, if wishes could be numerous and there’s still capacity, Hanna would help realize my wishes."

"If those were the only reasons, you would display unwillingness, fear, and anxiety in your eyes," Qinna said. "Yet, not only do you not exhibit these negative emotions, but after being caught, you even calmly drew me into your camp."

"This..." Ash coughed twice, slightly embarrassed. "I actually just felt you wouldn’t harm me..."

"Then your feeling is wrong, I very much want to harm you," Qinna straightforwardly made one somewhat frightened, "and you are still avoiding my question."

Ash remained silent for a moment. "I’m merely curious. Curious what would happen if there was no First Gospel, curious whether I can destroy the future woven by the Gospel."

"But don’t you feel burdened?" Qinna said. "Don’t forget, you are still the prime suspect in triggering the apocalyptic future, perhaps due to you assassinating the Princess, nullifying the First Gospel."

"If it is really due to me nullifying the First Gospel that causes the world’s apocalypse, I’d feel very unlucky, but I’d still do it, and I wouldn’t regret it at all," Ash said. "Qinna, do you think I am a very special person?"

"Yes."

"...No, I think I’m not special at all," Ash said. "Even without Ash, there would be another Sorsh, Rensh, Leshu. If I weren’t here, then the chief culprit behind the Gospel’s weaving could easily be Igula or Harvey, or even Banjee..."

"In the end, if a single person could bring down a regime, do you think it’s a problem with the person or with the regime?"

Qinna nodded thoughtfully, "So you never feel that you need to be responsible for the future calamity and the women it caused?"

Ash: "...At least half of it, I don’t have to be."

Qinna, curious like her daughter, "But what if it really is because of you that the apocalyptic catastrophe occurs?"

Ash rolled his eyes at her, "Then I’ll drink red wine while watching the world burn."

After their discussion, they opened the door and left the bathroom.

However, as soon as they opened the door, they saw a court servant standing outside. Though her appearance was entirely different, Qinna could recognize her daughter at a glance.

Although they were discussing serious matters, seeing her daughter always brought out Qinna’s playful side. She gently patted Ash’s shoulder, "Don’t worry, I had already set up a silence barrier, she couldn’t hear us no matter how loud we were."

"I wasn’t worried..."

"Back to work then." Hanna glared sternly at Qinna, dragging Ash by the sleeve as they walked away.

Qinna returned to the hall to meet Nona, who asked curiously, "Where had you gone just now?"

"Bathroom."

"That long?"

"Ash Heath was there too."

Nona hesitated, "Well... that’s not too long then."

If there weren’t so many people around, Qinna would have liked to slap her on the butt to knock some sense into her.

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