“Why did you do that?”
“……”
Even after Hamel’s question, Saburo’s mouth stayed clamped shut.
Hamel watched him and spoke casually. “Is it that pathetic pride? If the West’s troubles are handled by an Exorcist of the Order, the family’s honor would be sullied, right?”
─flinch
Saburo’s body trembled visibly.
He sprang up, drove his spear into the floor, and roared, “How dare an Order dog prattle so freely!”
“……”
Something felt wrong.
Hamel opened his mouth with calm indifference. “Are you planning to blame your own failures on the Order?”
“…Failures? Failures, you say?”
A vein throbbed at Saburo’s temple.
He let out a hollow laugh as if stunned, then snapped his face back into place. “You seem to have no idea what’s happening in the West.”
“……”
“I suppose. You don’t look brazen enough to bluster that even if you knew.”
“Yes, I don’t know.”
“What an impudent…!”
“So tell me, then.”
“……”
“So we can know what we should do.”
Ashitaka Saburo glared at Hamel with burning eyes, as if he might tear him apart.
Hamel didn’t even blink. He met that gaze with his usual expressionless face—no hostility, no favor—only the plain veracity of his words.
“Tch.”
Saburo clicked his tongue and said, “There are two main reasons our Ashitaka is losing influence in the West. One is the reason you mentioned.”
“Azidahaka.”
Hamel murmured the name and nodded.
A new faith worshiping Azidahaka was spreading across the West. It was natural the Ashitaka’s rule, once strong and unquestioned, would wane.
“But there’s another reason, isn’t there?” Hamel said, looking at Saburo as if he couldn’t guess it.
Saburo sneered. “Yes. Haven’t you found it strange? Your great Order can’t even set foot in the West—yet they expand so quickly there.”
“……”
Indeed, Hamel had come here because it felt odd.
But bringing that up now meant… a troubling suspicion flickered through Saburo’s mind.
Hamel furrowed his brow.
Saburo spat, “The great houses allied with our Ashitaka—they’ve all fallen. At the hands of your Order!”
Hamel flinched at the enraged accusation. He hadn’t expected that. After a moment’s thought, he shook his head. “That’s impossible. If that many of our Order had been mobilized, there’s no way I wouldn’t know…”
“It’s not an army.”
“…?”
“They pulled off a strange trick. They destroyed the sacred domains with stakes to kill or corrupt the old gods of the great houses.”
Hamel recalled something at Saburo’s words. Rosel Forest—its old god, the azure wolf Tarka, had suffered the same fate: stakes carved with the Order’s scriptures. It matched the heresy inquisitors’ ritual technique.
Could the heresy inquisitors be behind it and feigning ignorance?
Hamel turned to look at Leo Benedictus. Leo tilted his head with a smirk, as if hearing this for the first time. “…I don’t know what to believe.”
The information had been tainted.
“Ashitaka Saburo… he’s got about a hundred snakes in him, doesn’t he?” Leo had warned Hamel to be wary.
And yet Saburo insisted the heresy inquisitorial office had a scheme. If Saburo’s words were true, Leo had been playing dumb with Hamel all this time.
Hamel’s conclusion, after weighing it, was simple: see with his own eyes and judge.
Gather more information. First, he had to defuse this situation.
“I know nothing of this. Our goal is to uncover Azidahaka’s identity and, if necessary, remove it.”
“……”
“If you wish, we’ll investigate whatever trickery the Order may have used.”
“Yes, that’ll do.”
The corner of Ashitaka Saburo’s mouth twitched into something like a smile. He tilted his head. “But so what? Just because you didn’t know, does that mean you’re not a member of the Order?”
“……”
“And didn’t you say earlier what would happen if you dealt with Azidahaka?”
Hamel’s brows knit slightly. He already had an inkling of what Saburo meant.
“Ashitaka’s honor would be dragged through the mud, if you solve with ease what has the entire family scrambling.”
“Is the family’s honor that important?”
“It’s important. Of course it is. The family’s name is precisely why we live.”
Hamel couldn’t stop a sigh. Something crucial was missing from Saburo’s words.
It’s the people—the people of the domain they’re supposed to protect, the ones Azidahaka is killing. Saburo cared only for the illusion of the ‘family’ and its ‘honor.’ While he clung to that illusion, the suffering were ignored.
Hamel grew angry. He tightened his grip on his sword until his knuckles whitened.
Saburo, oblivious to Hamel’s change, continued. “And perhaps you’re being used by the Order. If Azidahaka is your handiwork, you’d dispose of it easily.”
“……”
“No, no. Maybe you were part of it from the start. If so, that would explain all the many things you’ve supposedly solved…”
─crack
Hamel’s form wavered like mist.
─thud
Several of Ashitaka’s knights around Hamel blinked and dropped to their knees. Hamel, who had vanished among them, reappeared and strode unhesitatingly toward Ashitaka Saburo.
These knights should have been shouting to protect their lord, yet no one could speak. A heavy pressure settled over the mansion.
─standing tall
Hamel stopped directly before Ashitaka Saburo and said casually, “Do you want to call me a fraud?”
“……”
“Let’s bet.”
“…A bet?”
Saburo’s expression twisted. Hamel nodded. “A duel. I’ll step forward on our side.”
“You mean you want to duel me?”
“You may send out a champion if you like.”
“Ha, hahahaha!”
Saburo exploded into laughter, then sobered. “How dare you challenge me? You’re just an Exorcist priest, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“You’ll regret it.”
“We shall see.”
A vein bulged on Ashitaka’s forehead at Hamel’s calm reply.
“Fine. Follow me. If you defeat me, I’ll apologize for calling you a fraud.”
“Yes.”
“But if you lose… I’ll tear your entire party apart and kill them.”
“Do as you please.”
Hamel didn’t listen further and walked ahead.
Ashitaka Saburo ground his teeth at Hamel’s demeanor.
Around them, the watching party whispered.
“Kid, just now… what did that Hamel say?”
“Have you already gone deaf? Didn’t he say to make a wager?”
“No, if he loses the bet we all die!”
“Ono, can you imagine Hamel losing?”
“…Not really… but the opponent’s formidable, so I’m worried.”
“Who is that man to make you say that?”
“You… are you really from abroad? That’s Ashitaka Saburo, isn’t it?”
When Ono asked in disbelief, Lena tilted her head. “I heard that earlier, so I know.”
“……”
Ono swallowed and said, “You know how sword masters and archmages are called asymmetric powers among the three great forces. That guy’s that kind of breed too.”
“…I see.”
“Yes.”
Ono studied the faces of the Ashitaka family members accompanying their lord. None of them looked nervous. Of course not.
He was that asymmetric power—the strongest gifted one, Ashitaka Saburo. No one doubted their lord’s victory.
A hard, sand-covered sparring ground. Two men faced each other while a crowd ringed the space.
“Are you ready?”
“Whenever.”
Hamel nodded and pointed his sword.
Saburo snarled, “Good! Then let’s begin.”
The moment Saburo readjusted his spear grip—
─clang!
Hamel turned his sword to block a spear falling from above. Saburo, who had been directly in front of him, had reappeared behind him.
“…Hoh.”
Saburo, surprised, let out an impressed sound. Usually the first strike decides a match.
Hamel didn’t merely defend; he flowed into offense and swung his blade.
─whoosh
The cut sliced nothing but air.
“Seems the rumors about your mobility aren’t entirely baseless.”
Saburo returned to his original spot and grinned.
Hamel readjusted his sword without replying, then shoved off the ground and closed the gap to Saburo in an instant.
“…!”
Saburo’s eyes widened in surprise, but that was it.
─whoosh
Hamel’s attack again cleaved empty air. Saburo had reappeared a bit farther away, readjusted his spear, and said, “Shall I try a little more seriously?”
As he finished, Saburo’s true form vanished.
Then—
─clang, ka-kang kakaga-gak.
Sparks flashed around Hamel, embers scattering.
From above, below, the sides, behind and front, blows aimed at his head, heart, lungs, liver, hands and knees rained relentlessly.
Hamel narrowly parried each one, a precarious defense where a single slip would mean death.
Pushing Hamel, Saburo realized the Exorcist’s skill exceeded expectation. Their exchanges were so fast Hamel had already deflected dozens of strikes.
“It’s been a while since someone held out this long,” Saburo thought.
At this pace, he’d be remarkable even among knights. Excited, Saburo intended to press on. No matter how good a defense, concentration wanes; a human can’t maintain ultra-high focus forever—mistakes follow.
“…Wait.”
Saburo paused before striking. Only then did he notice something odd. In a fight where a single mistake meant death, Hamel’s expression hadn’t changed; he looked bored.
─clang!
Saburo lowered his spear, stepped back, glared, and asked, “You’re not at full power, are you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Hamel tilted his head. “Aren’t you hiding your strength as well?”
“……”
How dare he.
‘Hiding your power from me?’
Ashitaka Saburo—a man who’d lived on the pride of being an asymmetric power among the three great forces—felt affronted. The Exorcist before him seemed to believe he could truly beat him, so Saburo had been holding back to test his true skill.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been treated like this.” Saburo cracked his neck.
He clenched his teeth, readjusted his spear, and spat, “Blame your arrogance, Order dog.”
Red flames crawled along the spear he held.
Then—
─whoosh
A blazing sun rose behind Ashitaka Saburo.
