Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters
Chapter 1115 - 96: Monsoon (End)_2

Chapter 1115: Chapter 96: Monsoon (End)_2

He took some beans out of the saddlebag and patiently fed them to the horse.

"Thank what?" Marvey also deftly dismounted, allowing his steed to rest.

With a bright smile, he said, "I should be the one thanking you. Traveling with you makes my trip a hundred times safer than I originally planned. Have you decided where you’re headed?"

Siegfried retrieved a handful of beans from his saddlebag and patiently fed the horse: "Wherever there’s war, that’s where I’m going. I want to see what sort of people the rebels—deemed the most dangerous enemy by His Majesty—really are."

Marvey asked curiously, "What about the Prince? You just left without saying anything?"

"I have no interest in the politics and conspiracies of those hidden chambers," Siegfried replied succinctly. "Besides, I’m not one of the Prince’s officials."

Marvey sighed lightly and said meaningfully, "I’m afraid not everyone sees it that way..."

Siegfried remained silent.

"Fine, I know even if I give you advice, you won’t take it—it’s always been this way." Marvey laughed self-deprecatingly, then suddenly changed the subject, licking his lips and asking with great interest, "But I’ve got to ask, you really think His Majesty won’t find out after you spirited away his favorite daughter? Aren’t you afraid of His Majesty’s thunderous wrath afterward?"

Siegfried still said nothing.

Marvey, realizing he wouldn’t get any juicy details, showed a hint of regret.

He patted his friend’s shoulder, teased with a wide grin, "In my opinion, if His Majesty truly didn’t want the princess to leave, our sister Liz would’ve been dragged back to the Imperial Capital before she could even step outside its gates. Don’t worry; maybe His Majesty deliberately gave you this chance. Hahaha..."

His unrestrained laughter was interrupted by the sound of hooves. Novice Sister Liz—Princess Elizabeth—returned after fetching water.

Suspiciously, she looked at the expressionless Siegfried Knight and the grinning Marvey. Sister Liz found it odd, "What were you two talking about?"

Siegfried took the water skin and replied coldly, "Nothing."

Sister Liz seemed to realize something, her face instantly tense. She warned vigilantly, "I... I’m telling you, don’t even think about sending me back home! If you send me back, I can just run out again, and then you won’t even find me next time! I... I mean it! You... You..."

"Rest assured, Sister Liz," Marvey said with a smile and a bow, "no one wants to send you back home."

Siegfried suddenly extended his arm and held his palm flat in midair.

After a while, he frowned, "It’s going to rain..."

...

As the three travelers hurried toward a village ahead to seek shelter from the rain, on the towering mountains of Sheltering Mountain’s far side, Oath Breaker Henry III—the Empire’s supreme ruler—was slowly ascending a high tower.

He was accompanied by no guards, no attendants, not even the priests who were usually inseparable from him.

The staircase was dark and endless as the Oath Breaker held a torch and made his way alone toward the tower’s top.

Across the Empire and the entire continent, there was almost no one

no one "the Oath Breaker must personally seek out."

Finally reaching the staircase’s end, he pushed open a heavy, dark wooden door to reveal a room both chaotic and orderly.

Chaotic, because the room was overflowing with instruments, books, and drafts, making it nearly impossible to find footing;

Orderly, because every instrument, book, and draft was evidently placed with purpose, any arbitrary tidying would disrupt the user’s workflow and provoke severe anxiety and uncontrollable anger.

In the spacious tower’s uppermost level, the only visible living essentials were a bed, a square table, and a toilet.

Upon the square table, a small slice of leftover bread lay quietly on a silver plate in the center, awaiting someone to remove it.

In sharp contrast were the long, peculiar instruments scattered throughout the room, adorned at both ends with rare, crystal-clear lenses.

In one corner of the room, an old man engrossed in calculations lifted his head in confusion to look at the visitor.

After brief recognition, the old man recognized his guest’s face but didn’t rise to greet. Instead, he scratched his disheveled hair absentmindedly, "So it’s you."

As soon as the conversation began, the candles and oil lamps scattered around the room lit up one by one.

Soot-blackened wicks kindled flames, extinguished lamp filaments rekindled, and the previously dim and somber attic now gleamed brightly.

The Oath Breaker left the torch by the door and entered the room, "It’s me, Teacher Bonaldi."

"What brings you here?" the old man asked in confusion.

Showing no signs of discontent, the Oath Breaker calmly inquired, "I’ve come to ask you about the whispers of the stars."

"Oh? Oh! That matter."

The old man suddenly realized and stood up. He shuffled to the bookshelf and searched briefly before retrieving roll after roll of star charts.

Spreading the star charts across the floor, he muttered to himself, "The tail of the red dragon brushes past the hunter’s spear tip, while Venus waits in the zodiac’s center for Mars’ arrival."

The Oath Breaker didn’t look at the star charts but focused solely on the old man’s eyes, asking, "As the ancient texts of the Ceres People say?"

"Yes," the old man nodded. "Just as described by the Ceres People, Saracens, and the Church archives."

Drip... drip... the sound echoed above them.

"It’s raining," the old man remarked.

...

[Sea Blue City outskirts]

[Navarre Manor]

Catherine Navarre lay on her bed, gazing at the ribbon tied to the bedpost slowly swaying in the breeze.