"What?"
"A Holy Knight, your white magic can be overwhelmingly enhanced. And that's not all, is it?"
Scott looked at Azadin.
"That strange power you use, it can be strengthened too."
"...."
"Just in time, my contract with the Nagas has ended. Choosing you as my new employer doesn't seem like a bad idea."
"Are you saying you'll serve me? Can I interpret it that way?"
"Give and take, it's just an equal contractual relationship. But yes, the initiative is yours, as long as you don't do anything too stupid."
Azadin let out a sigh. Even if only half of what Scott McGreen said was true, there was no reason for Azadin to refuse this offer. He had to accept it.
"Alright, Orc Necromancer."
"Scott McGreen."
"I'll accept the contract."
"A wise choice. You should take pride in today's decision for generations to come."
"I'm already starting to regret it a little."
Azadin began to question whether he was making the right choice.
***
Azadin attached a wheelchair to his mountain goat and started pulling Scott along. In the end, Azadin was the one walking while Scott rode in the wheelchair.
"For a prisoner, he's traveling far too comfortably."
Midiam found that displeasing, but Scott asked,
"Then give me one of the corpses you're carrying for the funeral rites. I'll use necromancy on its muscles and bones to have it push my wheelchair instead."
"Defiling the dead is unacceptable."
Zebeck opposed the idea immediately. As a follower of the Angel Faith, Azadin also disagreed.
"Forget it. Just let him ride. He says he has a condition where his muscles swell up and kill him if he exerts himself."
"I'm not just going to sit idly by. As we travel, I'll share some of my knowledge. Though I wonder if you lot are capable of understanding it. But a genius like myself must learn to coexist with mediocrity and dullards alike."
Scott McGreen spoke as if he was doing them a great favor.
***
There's a saying: when you see an orc, you want to kill it.
A person in their right mind would feel nothing but fear upon seeing their muscular bodies, capable of wielding magic. These vile creatures are enough to make anyone want to flee. An orc's forearm is thicker than a human's thigh, and their bodies, packed with muscle, inevitably evoke thoughts of violence.
And yet, rumors say that merely laying eyes on an orc stirs an uncontrollable urge to kill. It was hard to believe before encountering one in person.
But now, having met one, it was clear.
"Wow. Every word that comes out of his mouth makes me want to kill him."
Midiam couldn't hold back and let his killing intent surface.
"Attempting to resolve minor frustrations with murder… How many people have you killed so far? Born with that intelligence, you must have met plenty of those superior to you. Did you feel the urge to kill every time? Tsk tsk. Compared to you, a necromancer like me carries far fewer sins."
If only he didn't speak, he wouldn't be so detestable. Midiam fumed with anger, but Azadin stopped him.
"If you keep talking to him, you'll just hear more of it. Just let it go."
"What?"
"More importantly, let's talk about the copy of the Book of the Divine King. First off, why did the Book of the Divine King disappear? Where did the copies go? Why are they starting to resurface now? And how exactly do you plan on finding them? What does it mean to manifest the Book of the Divine King?"
Azadin asked, and Scott scoffed.
"You're quite greedy, wanting to know all that at once. I'll explain it step by step. First, I can't avoid talking about the Light of the King's Virtue and the Book of the Divine King. The Light of the King's Virtue, wielded by the Yaegas Clan, is a system that circulates white mana under strict constraints. It transforms people's faith and reverence into power, a vast mechanism. The Book of the Divine King is both the blueprint for this system and the essence of those constraints. It is another form, the very core of the Light of the King's Virtue. Do you follow so far?"
Scott doubted Azadin's intelligence. Could he grasp this much? Such condescension was even more insulting than outright cursing.
Azadin sighed as he pulled the wheelchair, tethered to his mountain goat.
"I understand that much. I was once a disciple to a mage. So, what's next?"
"When your Herald Clan stole the copy of the Book of the Divine King, the Light of the King's Virtue was already in critical condition. The Yaegas Clan, meaning your human kings and nobles, had already begun to succumb to corruption, weakening the Light of the King's Virtue. Your Herald Clan made a tremendous sacrifice to create the copy of the Book of the Divine King, but it ended up getting absorbed into the Light of the King's Virtue."
"What?"
"That is an unacceptable claim."
Zebeck, who had been listening, flared up in anger. As a Holy Knight, this entire situation was an unbearable blasphemy. To associate with the Naga, who were vassals of the Kurt Divine Clan, and orcs?
Of course, they were Azadin's prisoners, but Scott still addressed Azadin as his employer, and Shati walked freely, unbound.
If another Holy Knight saw this, Zebeck's own position would be in jeopardy. That alone was maddening enough, but now this impudent orc was openly blaspheming both the Holy Knights and the King's Church.
"Hmph, are you claiming the kings and nobles aren't corrupt, Holy Knight?"
"…They are. That orc is right."
Brand supported the orc's words.
"Ah."
Zebeck knew Brand's circumstances.
Indeed, denying the corruption of kings and nobles was just Zebeck's stubbornness. Many of them had fallen into depravity, and even Zebeck's own teacher, Zekt, had succumbed to it.
"Wait, are you saying the Book of the Divine King was absorbed into the Light of the King's Virtue? It wasn't scattered across the world by someone at the world's end?"
"What? You thought the Book of the Divine King was carried by the wind, appearing randomly across the world? Seriously? I knew humans were foolish, but this is beyond my expectations. The stupidity of mortals never ceases to amaze me."
Azadin was exasperated by the orc's casual insults.
'Is this bastard insane? He's a prisoner, yet he talks so freely. Does he not fear losing his head?'
But if what this orc was saying was true, then what had Azadin been told all his life?
Azadin had always been told he was the child of a curse born from the theft of the Book of the Divine King. His father, the infamous traitor Akre, was the one who had scattered the book across the world. He had heard that story countless times.
But now, if this orc was right, then it wasn't his father's fault?
'Does that mean my father wasn't to blame?'
With that thought, Azadin asked,
"Then why didn't it appear until now?"
"Because the Light of the King's Virtue has weakened even further. The Era of Jupiter is approaching, and the descendants of Yaegas are realizing their blood is thinning. More and more nobles and royals are betraying the Light of the King's Virtue, accelerating their own corruption. As a result, the Light of the King's Virtue continues to weaken in a vicious cycle."
Scott also mentioned the Era of Jupiter.
"Do you, who serve the Kurt Divine Clan, also believe in the Era of Jupiter?"
When Zebeck asked, Scott clicked his tongue.
"It seems those who serve the Yaegas Clan believe that the Yaegas opened a new era by driving out the darkness of the world. But originally, that was our Kurt Divine Clan's mythology. Your mythology is nothing more than plagiarism, stolen from ours. It was the Kurt Divine Clan we serve who fought against the Nether's evil gods and turned this land into one fit for life. While we were weakened from that battle, the Yaegas Clan came and usurped the position we rightfully deserved."
"Then you must also fear the Era of Jupiter."
"Why else do you think everyone is scrambling around these days?"
Indeed. Azadin had encountered many followers of the Kurt Divine Clan before. Faced with the apocalyptic prophecy of the Era of Jupiter, they were all desperately trying to secure power and influence.
"So, how can the copies of the Book of the Divine King be found?"
"The Book of the Divine King has merged with the Light of the King's Virtue. And the Light of the King's Virtue is bound by constraints and oaths. When the people are in crisis, the Book of the Divine King will appear."
"So that's why they're trying to manifest it through oppression and massacre?"
"This is something many among the Yaegas Clan—your human nobles—are already aware of. You must have had your suspicions as well, haven't you?"
Was Count Lantarik's mass slaughter of his people part of this?
Come to think of it, even Margrave Salasma had prioritized punishment over relief when his people suffered from drought. Perhaps that too was a method of manifesting the Book of the Divine King.
"I, on the other hand, use a much more intelligent method. In places where the Light of the King's Virtue has drastically weakened due to large-scale deaths, I can manifest the Book of the Divine King using my magic."
"So you're claiming you didn't participate in massacres of civilians? How can I believe that's not just an excuse?"
"I dislike irreversible choices. If I can manifest the Book of the Divine King with my magic, then I have no reason to slaughter people and create an irreversible situation."
"And yet, you're a necromancer?"
"Using corpses efficiently through magic is perfectly rational. And even if I don't kill anyone myself, the world is already full of corpses. Necromancy is an entirely reversible form of magic; it doesn't require killing anyone. That said, I do acknowledge that prisoners captured by soldiers may have died at the hands of the undead I created. So no, I cannot prove to you that I have never killed anyone. Even I do not know for certain."
Azadin clicked his tongue at that response.
'This bastard really has no interest in massacring civilians.'
"So, what will you do? Kill me?"
"No."
Azadin shook his head.
"I won't kill you. You'll simply remain a prisoner and pay for your crimes as one."
"You could just call it an employment contract."
"No. We have a Holy Knight in our group. If I were to call it employment, it would put him in a difficult position."
"Fine, fine. A genius like me can make allowances for the perspectives of those who are not."
Everyone was left speechless.
This orc had been at death's door just moments ago. If Azadin had decided to execute him for crimes against civilians, no amount of muscle could have saved him from being struck down while sitting in a wheelchair.
"By the way, I'm starving. My brain requires a great deal of nourishment. You wouldn't understand, but intelligence is something that blooms upon sufficient sustenance."
"You're just sitting in a wheelchair being dragged along, and you're complaining about being hungry? Endure it a little."
"No, I'm seriously hungry. It's a trait of orcs."
Scott McGreen demanded food, but Azadin turned to look at the others. None of them seemed particularly hungry.
"Let's talk about it after we cross the river."
Azadin's group found a hidden boat far from the military encampment. They used it to cross the Kora River and enter Count Lantarik's territory, where they set up camp.
Until then, they had to endure Scott McGreen whining about his hunger several more times.