Water Magician-Chapter 668 : The one who Assassinated the Crown Prince
Chapter 0668 The one who Assassinated the Crown Prince
Translator: Jay_Forestieri
Editor: Tseirp
“Impossible...”
The person who was most astonished by that scene was, without a doubt, Lord Rowon.
If one were to choose a phrase to describe his expression, ‘stunned and dumbstruck’ would be the perfect fit.
“I can understand magic. Like when I put your magic under my control and then break it apart. But an alchemical ice prison? Impossible...”
Lord Rowon repeated ‘impossible’ again and again.
He had devoted most of his life to magic and alchemy and was said to be the greatest in Darwei; because of that, he understood clearly what was possible and what was not.
He had pride in being the one who best understood that boundary.
From his experience and knowledge, it was ‘impossible’.
“Indeed, I would have said the same once. Impossible. But someone said to me before. There might be a possibility that I myself could be frozen by alchemy.”
Abel had said that right after the fight with Fan.
“Could alchemy be used to freeze Ryo?” he asked.
At the moment Ryo heard that question, he froze.
Alchemy that even Fan could not escape from being frozen.
Of course, Ryo would not be able to break out either.
He could not say with absolute certainty that such a thing would never happen.
Thus, he needed to think of counters and ways to respond.
That foresight paid off here today.
“That is... advice with true prescience...”
Lord Rowon praised, but a trace of regret bled into his words.
Naturally, he'd be frustrated if something he believed he had captured perfectly was broken through.
“Yes. Excellent partners—that is the difference between you, Lord Rowon, and me.”
Ryo said it plainly.
But...
“Breaking through the ‘Sudden Rain Ice Prison’ was splendid. I admit that. But I have not yet lost.”
“True. I haven’t won yet.”
Ryo nodded at Lord Rowon’s words.
“However, the battle will not proceed as it did a moment ago.”
“What do you mean?”
“First of all: why was I able to break out of an alchemical ice prison? Of course, I had prepared counters... but what exactly were they? Those are not something one can prepare easily, right?”
“You say you prepared counters... Indeed, that is not something easily prepared. The Duke of Rondo’s alchemy is marvelous, I admit that. But I, too, am not so far behind. And yet in reality you broke through... why?”
Lord Rowon thought.
He must have arrived at a possibility.
He looked surprised and, to confirm, he chanted it aloud.
“ ‘Stellar Frost Ring’.”
It was an alchemy that would create innumerable aerial gun turrets and perform steep-angle plunging fire... but it had not been generated.
And then he understood.
“You rewrote my alchemy... magic formula?”
“Yes.”
Lord Rowon’s face went pale with astonishment while Ryo smiled.
In alchemy, you inscribe magic formulas or magic circles onto something.
The object thus written upon is called an alchemy tool.
For example, in Ryo’s case, the magic formula that generates the submarine Neil Andersen is written on the scabbard of Murasame.
So Murasame’s scabbard is an alchemy tool.
How did he write such a thing? He drew the magic formula or magic circle on a sheet of ice, then reduced it and transferred it onto Murasame’s scabbard.
There is no limit to the size of an alchemy magic formula or magic circle.
Larger is easier to draw.
Though it takes up space.
So it is common to shrink it and ‘copy’ it.
While Ryo was receiving Lord Rowon’s magic bombardment, and even after being sealed further into ice, he was probing for the place where Lord Rowon’s magic formula had been written.
What corresponded to Murasame’s scabbard in Lord Rowon’s case: which alchemy tool was it...?
Lord Rowon had used a great deal of alchemy in battle, but Ryo had not seen that pale light that appears from the body when alchemy is activated.
That made it take a very long time to find.
Short in stature—less than 160 centimeters.
Dressed in deep blue eastern attire, leaning on a staff, long white hair and beard... it had to be somewhere on him.
“I thought maybe you wore something on your wrists or ankles, but you weren’t. And of course, clothing that stretches and contracts isn’t suitable for writing magic circles or formulas. As far as I could see, I really couldn’t tell.”
“...”
“Who would have thought it was that staff.”
Of course, the staff didn’t glow, either.
“The staff was hollow, and the inner cavity had the magic formulas written on it. Because of that, the alchemical glow did not leak outside.”
“Indeed. Impressive.”
Lord Rowon nodded at Ryo’s observation.
“But even if you know that... you can’t rewrite an alchemy magic formula. I have placed a <protection> so that it cannot be done.”
“I took control of that <protection>.”
“What?”
“Just as you took control of my <Ice Wall> and placed it under your command, I seized control of the <Protection> and put it under my control. The protection was being effected by your own magic.”
“What...”
Seizing control of the protection magic and rewriting the alchemy formula.
Alchemy that only Ryo could use, not Lord Rowon.
By doing so, Ryo made himself the master of the alchemically produced “Sudden Rain Ice Prison” and released it.
Furthermore, he rewrote other magic formulas that had been written inside the staff so that they, too, became his...
Ryo heard a deep sigh from Lord Rowon.
“To be completely bested in alchemy...”
Lord Rowon muttered.
“But... there is still magic.”
Crack.
Lord Rowon closed the ten-meter distance between them in an instant.
Ryo received the staff blow with Murasame.
“Just because I am a magician and an alchemist, do you think I can’t fight in close quarters?”
“Of course not. Lord Rowon belonged to the War Ministry, walking through battlefields. Enemies must often come into close quarters to strike for your life. If that’s the case, if someone closes the distance, it could be the end... that cannot be allowed.”
Lord Rowon smiled as he landed the blow.
Ryo took it with Murasame as if it were within expectations.
“Now then, Duke Rondo. Won’t you show this old man your alchemy once more?”
“Very well.”
Ryo said that, swiped Murasame broadly once, and took a backstep to create distance.
And chanted.
“<Avatar>.”
Two Ryos were born.
“That is... a fusion of alchemy and magic...”
Lord Rowon’s whisper could not be heard out loud.
“<Icicle Lance Shower> <Water Jet Thruster>.”
From the three Ryo figures, including Ryo himself, innumerable minuscule icicle spears shot toward Lord Rowon.
At the same time, from the backs of the three Ryos, streams of water—so fine they might be called mist—sprayed out and surged at the same speed as the ice spears.
The icicles’ impact and the three Ryos’ slashes formed in an instant and converged at once.
What remained was Lord Rowon, impaled through both hands and feet by countless ice spears, with three swords stopped a hair’s breadth from his throat and chest.
“Splendid. I concede.”
Lord Rowon smiled faintly and said so.
“I’m sorry, but please stay still. <Squall> <Ice Coffin>.”
Ryo said that and froze Lord Rowon.
On top of that...
“I win.”
Ryo’s declaration of victory was not aimed at the collapsed, frozen Lord Rowon, but at Prince Kouri.
Prince Kouri met Ryo’s gaze head-on, but shook his head.
“I will not acknowledge it.”
He said slowly and clearly.
“You won’t admit defeat?”
“Yes. I will not admit it.”
Ryo confirmed, and Prince Kouri nodded.
“Very well. <Squall> <Ice Coffin: 200>.”
Ryo froze Prince Kouri, his crew, and the entirety of Prince Kouri’s fleet.
“Hey, Ryo.”
“What is it, Abel?”
“Why did you freeze everyone?”
“Because Prince Kouri did not surrender, did he?”
Ryo answered, tilting his head at Abel’s question.
“Yeah, I get that... but—”
“I actually wanted to seek the Emperor’s formal permission. I considered asking Abel to fly over in a hurry and have the Emperor come.”
“O-oh...”
Abel was surprised at Ryo’s unexpected thought.
“But I thought of contingencies.”
“Contingencies?”
“If Abel fell while carrying the Emperor.”
“Fall...”
“Running out of magic power, sudden attack by a phantomkin, all sorts of possibilities exist, right?”
“W-well...”
If only possibilities, many things are conceivable... that much is true.
“If the King of Knightley carried the Emperor of Darwei and crashed, it would certainly become an international incident.”
“That would happen.”
“To prevent that in advance, the only way was to freeze everyone. They were sacrificed for Abel, you might say. Abel should be grateful for those crew members of Prince Kouri’s fleet.”
“Yeah... that last part is a bit of a leap.”
Abel wasn’t fooled by Ryo’s rambling.
“You were just too lazy to think and froze them all, didn’t you?”
“Please don’t leap to conclusions.”
“Is that not it?”
“It might not be or not, it might be, or might not be...”
“Right, I understand.”
Frozen because it was bothersome.
“But, Lord Rowon had to be frozen.”
“You knocked him unconscious, right?”
“Yes, he’s unconscious.”
“Because there’s a possibility he could use magic without a trigger word?”
Abel remembered the time Ryo had frozen a phantomkin after taking away their consciousness.
“That’s part of it, but in a way it’s also to protect Lord Rowon.”
“Protect him? From whom?”
“Probably... the Emperor and Prince Kouri?”
“...What?”
Emperor Tsuin was understandable.
But Prince Kouri was, in a sense, Lord Rowon’s employer.
Of course, he was frozen now... but to protect him from someone like that?
Abel couldn’t make sense of it.
“Honestly, it would have been better to interrogate him during the battle if possible... but that timing wasn’t there.”
“Indeed.”
“I suppose we’ll question him and confirm later.”
Ryo stopped there.
The Emperor’s land forces and the allied fleet under Kabui Somar merged two days later.
Emperor Tsuin, who had entered the port ahead of them, was astonished to see, beyond the allied fleet anchored offshore, many blocks of ice floating on the water.
Entire ships were frozen solid and floating on the sea.
Two hundred of them.
Of course, he had received reports.
But the shock of the written reports and the shock of seeing the actual sight were entirely different...
“That must be Duke Rondo’s magic. Incredible.”
At that murmured remark, Count Barrow Fu Ten beside him could only nod in silence.
“Kabui Somar-dono, well done. It seems we troubled Duke Rondo in various ways as well.”
“You flatter me, Your Majesty.”
“I wish things had gone a bit more smoothly.”
Emperor Tsuin praised them, Kabui Somar bowed his head, and Ryo scratched his head.
“Ryun, it’s been a while.”
“Your Majesty... no, Father, I am most grateful you are safe.”
Emperor Tsuin called out happily to Prince Ryun, who had been rescued from Prince Kouri’s fleet, and Prince Ryun was glad that the Emperor—his father—was unharmed.
And finally...
Brought over from Prince Kouri’s fleet were Prince Kouri himself and Lord Rowon, still frozen in his ice coffin.
“Kouri...”
“Your Majesty, I did only what was necessary.”
Prince Kouri answered in a resolute, dignified manner to the sorrowful Emperor Tsuin.
“With all due respect, Father, you cannot steer Darwei.”
Prince Kouri declared clearly.
There was none of his usual composure in his expression.
Desperately, unwillingly, yet desperately pleading... it was a kind of impeachment.
“That may be so.”
Emperor Tsuin accepted the accusation with an almost gentle expression.
“If only Jun... if Crown Prince Jun were alive, that would be best.”
When Emperor Tsuin said that, his gaze went distant, as if looking at memories that could never be recovered.
“Why did elder brother Jun die...?”
The words that slipped from Prince Kouri’s mouth were not addressed to anyone in particular.
Emperor Tsuin, who heard them, did not have an answer to that question either.
But in truth, there was one person here who might hold that answer.
That person hesitated over whether to speak, and seemed to choose not to say anything at that moment and to tell the Emperor privately later... he hung his head. Emperor Tsuin noticed that odd behavior.
“Duke Rondo, do you have something on your mind?”
“Huh?”
Ryo was genuinely surprised at being asked.
He had decided not to say anything here and kept his head down, and the question had come suddenly.
“N-no, Your Majesty, nothing in particular...”
This was the first time Ryo had fallen into such a state before Emperor Tsuin.
Naturally, Emperor Tsuin found it suspicious.
“I swear I will not be angry no matter what I hear. Duke Rondo, would you tell us what you know?”
His tone was very gentle.
When the supreme ruler of Darwei asked so, even Ryo could not easily refuse.
“Your Majesty, this is only conjecture. Therefore, after a careful investigation...”
“Mm, I should very much like to hear it.”
Emperor Tsuin cut off Ryo’s evasions in one stroke.
Truly, the emperor of a great nation.
Ryo took a deep breath.
He could feel himself more nervous than when fighting akumas.
“Your Majesty, I believe that it was Lord Rowon who silenced the Crown Prince.”
“...”
Without hesitation, Ryo finished his sentence.
The reaction to such words was complete speechlessness.
Not only Emperor Tsuin.
Prince Kouri, of course, and everyone present were dumbstruck.
Ryo felt astonishingly uncomfortable.
But what had been said could not be undone, and remaining silent in that situation would obviously leave dangerous roots for the future.
Having arrived at an answer, he could not help but speak.
“Duke Rondo... no, I know you do not make such accusations lightly. I understand that... but still...”
Emperor Tsuin chose his words, but his speech trailed off.
Prince Kouri could not say anything at all.
There was someone else present who was also deeply shocked.
Someone close to the accused man.
Lord Rowon’s disciple... Captain Lu Yao.
“If you feel unwell, Lu Yao, you may sit over there.”
Prince Ryun kindly offered to the pallid-faced Captain Lu Yao.
“No, Your Highness. Please allow me to hear this here as well. If my master truly has gone astray, I, as a disciple, must not look away...” 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎
A truthful accusation saddens many.
But when considering what would have happened had the accusation not been made... it was unavoidable.
“Tell me the basis for saying that Lord Rowon took elder brother Jun’s life.”
That question came from Prince Kouri, who had been silent and probably the most shocked of those present.
Ryo looked at Emperor Tsuin after hearing that question.
Emperor Tsuin nodded.
“My first doubt arose when water-attribute magic could be used inside the Imperial Palace.”
“That was when the phantomkin attacked, wasn’t it? At that time, there was a malfunction with the Starry Veil...”
“No, Your Majesty. Actually, even after that, water-attribute magic could be used.”
“What...?”
“At that time, I thought perhaps something was odd with me or that my magic was special, and I considered various reasons.”
Ryo broke off once, then began speaking again.
“But when I asked around, I found that among the Military Ministry inside the Imperial Palace... among its senior officers, there was no water-attribute magician except Lord Rowon. Even among the high-level adventurers who often accept requests from the palace, there were no water-attribute magicians. ...Could it be that the palace had been set so that only water-attribute magic could be used there as a ‘setting’?”
“But I cannot imagine the palace alchemists who manage the Starry Veil would not notice that...”
“They are excellent alchemists, but they are not necessarily Darwei’s foremost alchemists, are they?”
“No...”
“The one Darwei preeminent alchemist who is also a water-attribute magician...and who could set things so that only water-attribute magic could be used inside the palace without the palace alchemists noticing. There is exactly one such person.”
Ryo said that and looked at the ice coffin.
He altered the transparency so that the enclosed Lord Rowon could be seen.
Lord Rowon had his eyes closed and remained unconscious.
“I see.”
Emperor Tsuin nodded once.
“When we return to the capital, we will conduct a detailed investigation. Duke Rondo, could it be that Lord Rowon was connected to the Choouchi Empire?”
At the emperor’s question, many people raised their heads in surprise.
Indeed, the timing was far too convenient.
But Ryo shook his head.
“Your Majesty, I don’t think that’s the case.”
“Why?”
“If that had been so, the Choouchi Empire would not have gone to the trouble of having General Yun captured to gather information on the Starry Veil. They could have obtained more detailed information from Lord Rowon.”
“I see.”
Emperor Tsuin nodded at Ryo’s explanation.
“Before we return to the capital, there is something I would like to ask him here. Duke Rondo, is that possible?”
“Yes, Your Majesty, that is possible.”
Ryo said so and then cast a spell.
“<Ice Wall: 50-Layer Multi-Layered Ice>”
First, he built an ice wall on the outside of the ice coffin.
This was to minimize damage should Lord Rowon act rashly.
Then.
“<Ice Coffin: Partial Release>.”
He released only the head portion.
Lord Rowon slowly opened his eyes.
He looked around, confirmed that everything from his neck down was frozen in ice, and sighed.
“Your Majesty, it has been some time.”
“Lord Rowon, there are questions I wish to ask.”
“Yes, Your Majesty, ask anything.”
Emperor Tsuin asked in an effortfully calm voice.
Lord Rowon answered as usual.
“Did you assassinate Crown Prince Jun?”
There was apparently no trace of anger in that question.
His expression and voice seemed as if all rage had been exhausted.
But that was an illusion.
When anger reaches its peak and becomes too great, it bursts.
And what follows is emptiness.
What Emperor Tsuin now wore was that emptiness.
Lord Rowon seemed startled for a moment at the question.
He looked around.
He looked at Prince Kouri, at Prince Ryun, and at his disciple Captain Lu Yao.
Finally, he looked at Ryo.
In that instant, he seemed to understand everything.
“I see. It seems many things have been uncovered.”
Lord Rowon muttered with a wry smile.
At that moment fury exploded.
“You bastard!”
It was Count Barrow Fu Ten.
He had been the one responsible for guarding Crown Prince Jun’s Eastern Palace at the time.
He was removed from his post and had his lands confiscated.
He was undoubtedly one of the victims.
But more than that, the person he revered and wanted to protect from the bottom of his heart had been killed... if the killer stood before him, his outrage was understandable.
“Wait, Fu Ten.”
Emperor Tsuin’s words quelled that anger.
“There is only one thing I want to ask. Why did you kill the Crown Prince?”
The moment Emperor Tsuin asked, every gaze turned to Lord Rowon.
Yes, that was what they wanted to know.
The assassination of the Crown Prince—who had been the hope of many—was a major blow to Darwei.
It was an act of betrayal against the nation.
But Lord Rowon was a magician who, for half a century as a member of the Military Ministry, had stood on the front lines safeguarding Darwei— he could be called a hero.
Why...?
“For the past twenty years, Darwei’s power has continued to decline.”
Lord Rowon began to speak.
“In that situation, ten years ago, the Crown Prince Jun was appointed and moved into the political center of Darwei. At first I, too, had expectations for him. I thought he might make Darwei a strong country again. But that was not the case.”
No one interrupted; they listened.
“Under the Crown Prince’s rule, Darwei’s military strength continued to deteriorate. I told the Crown Prince frankly: we must strengthen our military. At this rate, when the time comes, the huge Darwei will be unable to defend itself because of its very size and will perish. But the Crown Prince answered: there is no strong power in the neighborhood that threatens Darwei. What the government should do now is enrich the lives of the people. Rather, reduce excessive military power and divert it to improving the people’s lives.”
“...”
“How foolish! Is this governance? The people on the ground are saying strength is lacking! Why ignore that? Worse, you cut it further? This is beyond foolish—it is hopeless!”
Lord Rowon’s furious words struck at the late Crown Prince.
“Look around, a weakened Darwei that cannot counter the Choouchi Empire! Its body is huge but it can be easily toppled, so it is attacked! The palace is assaulted! Five years ago, a country unknown to us is now trying to challenge Darwei! This is it! This is what I feared! Newly born countries have momentum. But a huge, old country cannot change course quickly. History is full of instances where a newly risen nation’s strike destroys an ancient, great country. But I did not want to see my homeland destroyed like that. That is why I put my hopes in Prince Kouri...”
Lord Rowon had been excited at first, but when he finished his words, his expression was small and sorrowful as he shook his head.
No one said anything.
Lord Rowon probably did not expect any answer.
He turned to Ryo and said,
“Duke Rondo, I have said what I must say. I will accept any punishment. So please put me back in the ice.”
Having said all that needed to be said and prepared to accept any punishment, Lord Rowon’s voice returned to its usual calm tone.
Ryo could not decide and looked to Emperor Tsuin.
The emperor nodded slightly.
“<Squall><Ice Coffin>”
Again, ice covered Lord Rowon’s entire body.
From the next day, the party continued northward.
Ryo and Abel returned to the allied fleet and stood on the deck of the Lone Dark.
Lord Rowon’s ice coffin was also there.
The other crew members of Prince Kouri’s fleet had been released because they pledged to follow Emperor Tsuin.
Prince Kouri himself, looking somewhat dazed, was also following the emperor.
But Lord Rowon alone had refused, and so he was being transported in an ice coffin.
Ryo had since replayed Lord Rowon’s words in his mind many times.
Genghis Khan, who unified the Mongol tribes in 1205, invaded the Jin dynasty that then ruled northern China a mere six years later in 1211.
For two years, they plundered throughout the Jin territory, and Jin was forced into a humiliating peace.
Yet that peace soon broke down, and in 1215 the Mongols besieged and captured the Jin capital Yanjing.
Having studied history, Ryo knew the strength of a newly born, vigorous nation, and so he could not deny Lord Rowon’s words.
“Abel, politics is difficult, isn’t it?”
“Hm? Do you mean what Lord Rowon said yesterday?”
“Yes. Everyone wants no wars, no involvement in wars, peace, and yet because they choose different paths to get there, misery occurs.”
“That’s true. It’s certainly difficult. But Ryo, whatever the path, there is one method you must never take.”
“What is that?”
“That is the method of killing people.”
“Ah...”
Yes—Lord Rowon had killed the Crown Prince for the sake of his beliefs.
“I don’t think a path that demands killing people is a righteous one.”
Abel stated flatly.
That was exactly the figure of a king.
“Lord Rowon may have thought that one sacrifice was preferable to tens or hundreds of thousands dying in war. But even so—”
“Abel, you are... strong.”
Ryo looked at Abel with an expression almost like admiration.
“No, I’m not really strong.”
Abel gave a wry smile.
“Telling others to go to the battlefield and die is cruel. You never get used to it until the day you die. But all of that is for the people. It must be done for the happiness of the people. I am merely carrying it out in their stead. That is the role of a king, I believe.”
“Politics is a bother whoever does it... and yet someone takes it upon themselves—how wonderful kings are.”
“The premier duke can act as regent, you know?”
“I must humbly decline.”
Though both Abel and Ryo felt sadness over Lord Rowon, they managed to face forward.
At times like this, having a partner at your side may be a salvation.
But just then, an urgent report came to the Emperor’s land force as they marched north toward the capital.
“The Choouchi Imperial Army has crossed the Northern River and occupied Shuntai Castle on the northern bank!”
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