It seemed that South was serious, he wasn’t merely pitying Hadith. The next day, Hadith was summoned to deliver more bread to the temple. Regardless of what he said, it seemed that because Hadith had protected their general, the soldiers had good impression of him.

Hadith became acquainted with the soldiers. They would refer to him as, ‘Baker.’

“Doesn’t something about this situation feel odd? Why haven’t they seen through your disguise, yet?”

“Well, before I was officially crowned as the emperor, no one cared about me.”

“Don’t say that with a smile, it’s difficult for me. So, what are you going to do, next?”

What should I do?

Hadith pondered Rave’s question.

It was about time for Jill to catch up with him. General South might refuse to hand over the sacred relic and skirmishes might occur, but Jill should be able to achieve victory without any problems.

Hadith’s goal would be achieved if Jill stopped the uprising of Radea and obtained the Dragon Princess’ sacred relic. Honestly, he had no idea what would happen to General South who swore allegiance to his uncle, afterwards.

When he thought about that—

“…—if only you had pledged your allegiance to His Majesty the Emperor, you’d surely have been saved.”

“What are you muttering about?”

One of the soldiers, who became familiar with Hadith, laughed. Due to having muttered that in an accident, Hadith stiffened, but he went with the flow and laughed as if nothing had happened.

“It’s nothing. So, you’re saying that you’re the new imperial army?”

“Yes, after all, we’ve decided that we could only accept Lord Georg’s orders.”

Hadith frowned every time he heard that kind of reply. Despite that, the soldier only laughed.

“Today’s bread should taste even better than before.”

“Set aside General South’s portion. I’ll inform you when the reception between the aide and the guests of Kratos is over. By the way, what kind of bread did you bring today?”

“Are there guests from Kratos in the temple, today?”

Perhaps that was why no wagon had come from the castle to the temple that day. As such, Hadith came to the castle by himself. The soldier nodded with a bitter expression.

“Yes. They arrived yesterday. We’re still speechless from being driven away by the aide. However, they should only number at 24 people, including escorts and guests. On the other hand, there are 3000 imperial soldiers being stationed here. There’s no reason to worry.”

“What kind of person is the guest from Kratos?”

“Just an aristocrat. His outfit looks neat. All the escorts who followed him are magicians.”

A roaring sound interrupted their conversation and shook the castle. Hadith looked up at the magical power that he could feel with his entire body.

“Hey, Hadith, that magical power just now, no way—”

Before Hadith could even answer Rave, the surroundings became noisy.

“What happened!?”

“Hey, the floor is shining.”

Hadith also looked down towards the frightened voice. The magical power could be seen on the floor. Then, many magic circles erupted.

…Imprisoning magic?

At that moment, everyone screamed as if they were struck by lightning. Some fainted in an instant.

The magic that covered the entire castle was fairly advanced. Only those resistant to magical power managed to keep their consciousness, but the effect of the spell coursed through their entire body. They felt numb all over and were unable to move.

Hadith, who narrowed his eyes, took a step forward and stepped on the line of light which continued drawing more magic circles.

There was a clicking sound, and the magic circle was unraveled. A person’s scream could be heard at the same time—it was the magician who invoked said spell. He must had been shocked at having his spell repelled.

Immediately, Hadith borrowed the sword of a soldier nearby, kicked off the floor, and pierced the magician’s chest. He then threw the sword at the head of another magician who was trying to escape and killed him instantly.

“B, baker, you…”

“This is an attack from Kratos.”

Everyone was stunned. Stepping on the blood of the stabbed magician, Hadith inquired of the nearby soldier.

“How many of the magicians from Kratos remained in the castle? How many of them stayed behind without going to temple?”

“O, only these two… most of them are in the temple…”

“General South is also in the temple. Those who can follow must come with me. Some will remain behind to help everyone else evacuate. First, we need to grasp the current situation.”

“D, did the guests attack us!? But they’re only about 20 people…”

“General South did mention something about high-ranking mages from Kratos being able to slay an entire battalion…”

“Oi, that’s…!”

When they went outside, smoke could be seen billowing from the temple.

That wasn’t all.

There was a military flag. It was unknown whether it had been brought by General South, or had already been there since the start—but there was one with a dragon insignia on a black background. It symbolized the Rave Empire.

“Why is such a flag—!? But, it’s Kratos who attacked us—!! Isn’t this strange!?”

“The flag was raised by the guests who came from Kratos, not the imperial army.”

The soldier, who seemed about to cry, groaned at Hadith’s answer.

“T, they’re trying to make it appear as if we’re causing an uprise in Radea…!”

“What should we do!? At this rate, the imperial army will come to suppress the rebellion! Even though we’re being attacked by Kratos!”

The magic circle that emerged in the sky ruthlessly interrupted the confusion and the uproar of the soldiers. Perhaps having remembered the magic Hadith mentioned earlier, everyone stopped moving.

“What is that?”

“Another spell, no way, the city—!”

“Rave, let’s go!”

Before anyone could finish their sentences, the heavenly sword appeared in Hadith’s hand.

As he held the heavenly sword sideways, Hadith kicked off the ground and leaped into the sky.

As he deflected the magical arrows, his body shook with tremendous momentum. The blows weren’t a big deal, but the range was wide.

An arrow slipped pass him, and fell somewhere in the city. Hadith clicked his tongue and widened the range of his barrier.

“Hadith, this is just a threat! Don’t waste your magic!”

He was aware of it.

However, his action would decide future morale.

Although it consumed some magical power, it might be faster to just destroy the magic circle. The moment he thought so, the arrows stopped. The magic circle’s pattern changed, having found a new target.

Did they switch to anti-air magic?

Before the frowning Hadith, the magic circle began to attack outside the city. The attack was directed to the outside, as if chasing something.

“I can feel Rho’s presence.”

Rave spoke while maintaining the shape of the heavenly sword in Hadith’s hands. Hadith chuckled.

“Did my cute wife manage to catch hold of him?”

“I can’t say for sure. As of the present, Rho is panicking as he commands the other dragons.”

“There are even other dragons? As expected of my wife.”

However, it didn’t seem that a reunion was on the table. Hadith slowly set foot in the city, one which was engulfed in turmoil, fear, and anxiety.

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***T/N: When will the hot emperor meets the potentially hot king?!

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