Anagin Chronicles Chapter 112

Chapter 112. Straight Ahead (1)

Thud.

Anagin stepped out of the room where everyone had gathered.

After closing the door, he fell into thought for a mont.

‘Did I go a little too far?’

Ah, of course, not for long—only for a brief instant did he look back on his own behavior.

After that fleeting mont passed, Anagin concluded he didn’t regret it.

To begin with, if he hadn’t spoken that harshly, they wouldn’t have understood a damn thing.

He’d said it before, and it still made his mouth hurt to repeat it, but Anagin found this whole Groom Tournant utterly fucking ridiculous.

Wasn’t it a damn event that no one wanted except the living corpse sitting on the throne?

Even Anagin, who had absolutely nothing to do with it, frowned at the sight of it—so there was no need to ntion how the person involved and those close to her must feel.

That was how disgusting this event was.

And yet not a single person spoke out. All because they were watching the living corpse’s mood.

In so sense, Anagin found their behavior even more fucking disgusting than the Groom Tournant itself.

Watching them stare blankly ahead, mouths tightly shut, while their beloved sister, lover, or friend was being pushed into a corner—it was torture just to watch.

Of course, Anagin had also kept his mouth shut.

But his case was different.

To be blunt, it was questionable whether Atalanta and Anagin could even be called acquaintances.

So despite the instinctive disgust he felt, Anagin simply stayed still. There was no reason for him to step in.

Getting angry over soone who was barely even an acquaintance would’ve been ridiculous.

Then Hippones appeared—the suspicious man whose face occasionally turned into that of a pig.

Anagin told them about it.

He thought that if they knew, they’d co to their senses and start moving.

No matter what, if soone said your beloved sister, lover, or friend was about to marry a pig, the normal reaction would be to gather the courage to act, wouldn’t it?

But here in Hellas, Anagin’s common sense was denied.

Even though they didn’t dismiss his words as nonsense and actually took them sowhat seriously, they still tried to use a thod that was obviously dood to fail.

Begging for help from a living corpse who saw his daughters as nothing more than rchandise…

At that mont, Anagin decided he wouldn’t cooperate any longer.

If he stayed any longer, he was certain he’d either die from sheer frustration or end up becoming an idiot like them.

Anagin gave up on further cooperation and decided to beat Hippones down on his own.

It felt like he had to—and while he was at it, he could test the performance of the Beast Devourer as well.

Yeah, if anything, it felt like things had worked out nicely.

To know whether the Beast Devourer was a success or a failure, he had to use it eventually. And now seed like the perfect ti.

Almost like fate.

“Brother!”

A voice called out and stopped Anagin halfway down the corridor.

When he turned around, Sphinx was running toward him, sweating and gasping for breath. Kori and Pais, the siblings, were with her as well.

Huff… huff…

In the strangely quiet corridor, only the breathing of Sphinx and the Kori–Pais siblings echoed softly.

When their breathing finally settled, Sphinx spoke cautiously.

“Maybe… maybe you should calm down a little?”

“I’m extrely calm.”

Sphinx didn’t argue with that.

Even though Anagin often looked like he acted recklessly, she knew he usually moved after calculating things in his own way.

Even so, she had to stop him this ti.

“I know how calm you are, Brother, and I’m sure you’ve thought things through in your own way… but this ti it’s different.”

Touching a candidate in the Groom Tournant was practically the sa as challenging the Kingdom of Arcadia itself. It could even be seen as a challenge to all the participants.

And if it was soone who had practically already secured victory, that went without saying.

Even if he was a suspicious man whose face turned into a pig, that was still only Anagin’s claim.

They needed to watch the situation more carefully.

“We still have a day or two, so maybe we should wait and see a little longer—”

Anagin firmly shook his head.

"—That's a delusion. That living corpse might tell Atalanta to announce her groom as early as tomorrow morning. He's itching for it; would he give her ti?"

Sphinx couldn’t say anything for a mont and simply opened and closed her mouth.

Just as Anagin said, the belief that they had a day or two was nothing more than hope.

If Isos pressured her tomorrow morning to announce the groom, no one knew what would happen.

Once the groom was announced, it would truly be over.

…No, perhaps everyone already knew that. They just couldn’t bring themselves to say it out loud.

But Anagin alone dragged that uncomfortable truth into the open without hesitation.

“Therefore, if you’re going to move, you move now. If you hesitate, you’ll just get dragged along.”

“Even so, you can’t act. Leaving everything else aside, most of the guests here are incredibly skilled. No matter how strong you are, Brother, it’s dangerous.”

“If everyone here tried to kill at once, yeah, that’d be pretty damn dangerous.”

Anagin neither bluffed nor spoke with baseless optimism. He properly acknowledged the danger.

But he didn’t change his decision.

“Even so, I have to do it.”

“Why? The reason we ca here in the first place was to find a clue about Jacheon, wasn’t it? To catch Erysichthon’s assassin.”

“That’s exactly why.”

Anagin pointed at Sphinx as if she’d just given the correct answer.

It was as if he were saying the answer was in her words.

“To beco the god I’m aiming to be, I feel like I can’t step back here. That’s just how it feels.”

That damn feeling.

Sphinx shouted inwardly.

It was the sa reason he had saved her.

In the first place, because of that personality of his, Sphinx, Kori, and Pais were even able to be here now.

What kind of insane madman would fight a witch and the Forest Brotherhood for the sake of a monster and children he’d just t?

She had to admit it.

Stopping Anagin now would be no different from denying her own current existence.

Which ant there was only one thing Sphinx could do now.

“…Then I’ll help too!”

“W-We’ll help too!!”

Having decided she couldn’t stop Anagin, Sphinx offered to help. Kori and Pais followed right after.

As if thinking that since Anagin had helped them until now, it was their turn this ti.

But…

“No need. You’d just get in the way.”

Anagin refused their help.

And the reason he gave left no room for argunt.

Then he refused Sphinx as well, though for a different reason.

“You too.”

“I could help—”

“—That’s not what I an. Why are you trying to help?”

Anagin asked the fundantal question.

Why?

Why help?

Sphinx needed a mont before answering.

“…I-I’m your familiar, aren’t I?”

“That just happened by chance, idiot. You’ve got sothing else you want.”

“……”

“You said you wanted to know, didn’t you? Why do monsters and humans fight? When monsters started eating humans, and when humans started hunting monsters and offering them to the gods. But you’re going to leave that aside and help right now? You might even die. Is your goal really just that small?”

Faced with those blunt questions, Sphinx couldn’t say anything.

Being with Anagin had been so chaotic that she’d briefly forgotten—but what Sphinx wanted was never sothing light.

It was sothing serious and heavy enough that she had abandoned her mother and siblings to pursue it.

“No matter what anyone says, my goal cos first. I can take a short detour sotis, but nothing beyond that. So you should think about yourselves first, too.”

Sphinx and the children fell silent at Anagin’s resolve.

Leaving them behind, Anagin activated the Invisibility Bracelet.

A magical tool he had obtained from the practitioner who attacked him in the ruins.

His figure gradually vanished.

And in that state, Anagin set off to find Hippones.

* * *

The Groom Tournant had, in truth, already ended, and the gathering had shifted into an after-party atmosphere.

Overall, the mood was fairly good.

The thrill-seekers who had co half for amusent chattered away while wearing the golden ornants Hippones had given them, saying how fun and fascinating the Groom Tournant had been.

Even the story alone—of Hippones conquering Barbarland and returning with a mountain of gold to propose—would be more than enough gossip for the rest of the year.

And it wasn’t just the gossip-loving onlookers who were excited.

The nobles and officials from various countries were equally stirred up, though for sowhat different reasons.

They had thought Arcadia’s next king would be decided here, yet everything had returned to square one.

Not only that, the political interests involved had grown far more complicated.

If Isos’s illness could be cured with the golden apple—and if he could even gain a son on top of that—and his eldest daughter married the wealthy conqueror of Barbarland…

Then perhaps the Kingdom of Arcadia might take on one of the major roles in Hellas’s grand cause of advancing into Barbarland.

Or perhaps Arcadia would grow rich from its imnse wealth and shift the balance of power in Hellas.

Naturally, the rchants who were sensitive to the scent of money were just as troubled.

They slled profit and wanted to invest sohow.

Then Hippones’s attendants approached them and made a proposal.

A sweet offer—to let them place a finger into Hippones’s conquest of Barbarland.

Normally, it would have sounded like the words of swindlers and been ignored.

But since everyone was already wearing the jewelry they had received from Hippones, they decided to at least hear it out.

The contents weren’t anything special.

If they provided support—whether investnt funds, soldiers, or supplies—they would receive appropriate rights and honor in the lands he conquered.

A typical story.

The only difference was that it sounded extrely appealing.

Hippones had already proven himself.

The risk would be low…

Who knew? This might beco an unexpected opportunity.

The scattered conversations about investing in the conquest of Barbarland soon beca the center of the after-party.

And the already excited atmosphere began to heat up even further.

Greed was always like that.

While everyone else gave themselves over to desire, two n were having a conversation in a cool forest far away.

One was a mber of the Argonaut Expedition Team and a Great Hero—leager.

The other was the conqueror of Barbarland and the victor of the Groom Tournant—Hippones.

Too distant to be called friends… yet too entangled to simply be acquaintances.

The two n faced each other silently.

For a long while, only the sounds of insects crying and grass rustling filled the air.

Then, finally, soone spoke.

“Life really is unpredictable, isn’t it?”

It was Hippones.

“When I left Chiron’s Tower, I thought we’d never et again. Yet here we are.”

leager did not ignore his words.

He seed to have quite a lot he wanted to say as well.

“I’d like to say otherwise, but honestly, it is surprising. I thought you wouldn’t make it back.”

Though leager was called a Great Hero, even he could not treat Barbarland lightly.

He had once faced a bishop of the Barbaroi Cult in Barbarland.

Because of that, he had unconsciously assud Hippones would never return.

“But I did return.”

“I know. It’s impressive. I’ll admit it honestly.”

“You admit it too easily.”

“Recognizing what deserves recognition, that’s the attitude a hero should have.”

leager brought up the fundantal reason he was here in this deeply uncomfortable place instead of participating in Atalanta’s Groom Tournant.

Because he was a prince destined to inherit the throne—and a hero.

Soone who must fulfill his responsibilities, rule the country steadily, and set an example so people could feel secure.

leager intended to fulfill his duty to the end.

Because it was the path he himself had chosen.

But Hippones rely laughed at him.

“Ha. Amazing. Truly amazing. I couldn’t do that.”

“What do you an?”

“Exactly what I said. I couldn’t accept it. The fact that I lagged behind you. The fact that I wasn’t chosen by the gods.”

leager almost nodded without realizing it.

Because of Atalanta, the two had never beco friends—but they had been fellow trainees.

They knew each other to so degree.

Hippones could not accept his fate.

Not the fact that he was weaker than leager and Atalanta.

Not the fact that he had not been chosen by the gods.

Not the fact that he would never end up with Atalanta.

That was why he had challenged leager to a duel and declared he would return when he left Chiron’s Tower.

“……”

And yet, ironically, the very man who couldn’t accept reality had returned.

With a mountain of gold.

With the achievent of conquering Barbarland.

And he had even created a situation where he stood on the verge of claiming Atalanta.

Knowing that fact better than anyone, Hippones smiled.

“I used to resent you. It felt like you had taken the place that should have been mine. But now… I’m even grateful.”

“Because you went to Barbarland because of ?”

“Well, yes. If I hadn’t had a reason to leave Chiron’s Tower, why would I ever have gone there? But that’s not the only reason.”

A aningful remark.

leager’s heart pounded as a certain intuition stirred.

A suspicion he had held for so ti, but had never dared to voice.

What he needed now was the certainty to speak that suspicion aloud.

“What reason?”

“That my eyes were opened. I can see the world properly now.”

“…And how does the world look to you?”

“Why ask sothing like that? You’re proof enough.”

leager stiffened for a mont.

“You love Atalanta like I do. And unlike , you had the power to approach her, but you didn’t. Because of your position as a prince.”

It was a bitter story.

But it was true.

leager also had feelings for Atalanta.

Enough that he wished to take her as his wife.

But he couldn’t.

Unlike Hippones, he had both the power and the qualification.

Yet because he was a prince—more precisely, the prince destined to inherit Calydon—he couldn’t act.

Arcadia’s heir was Atalanta, since the kingdom had no son.

leager was also the heir to Calydon.

The union of the two was realistically impossible.

It would an rging two kingdoms into one.

And so leager remained beside Atalanta, but never went further than that.

As a result, Hippones had appeared.

“Isn’t it ridiculous? You two can’t marry because the two kingdoms must not rge. All because of so incomprehensible reason that the order made by the gods would be disturbed.”

“You must have stayed in Barbarland too long to speak such blasphemy… or else.”

“Or else?”

Hippones asked confidently, as if he had sothing to rely on.

“Are you asking whether I t with the Barbaroi Cult and received sothing from them?”

Hippones spoke the very suspicion leager had wanted to voice.

After a long silence, Hippones smiled faintly.

“As if. Even if I stayed in Barbarland for a long ti, do you really think I’d do sothing like that? Of course, even if I had, I wouldn’t tell you the truth anyway.”

It was a vile victor’s smile that seed to mock the other person.

“In that sense, I suppose there’s no way to know for sure. After all, there’s no way to confirm it.”

Hippones continued provoking leager.

As though he had long awaited this very mont.

“The only thing certain right now is that there’s nothing you can do. Bound by pretty titles like hero and prince, you could never lay a hand on m—”

—CRACK!

Just as Hippones was finishing his sentence, his side bent sideways, and he was sent flying far away.

It looked as if he had been struck by an invisible bull.

Well… it wasn’t that different.

Right after Hippones flew off, Anagin gradually revealed himself, like a transparent shell peeling away.

Anagin had sent Hippones flying with a punch.

In a situation that was unbelievable even when seen with one's own eyes, Anagin made a proposal to leager.

“How about pretending you got knocked out for a bit?”

And then he casually swung a punch at leager.