Water Magician Vol 3. Chapter 661: The Six Saints

Bant was a port town, but compared to Boago its harbor was not large.

For that reason, the allied fleet was anchored offshore.

The emperor’s main headquarters in Bant had been set up at the magistrate’s residence.

The expeditionary forces were deployed around the magistrate’s residence.

They were by no ans letting their guard down.

In front of the magistrate’s bedroom at the residence, Commander Tin of the Imperial Guard was keeping watch through the night.

Of course, even while moving during the dayti, he had been riding beside Emperor Tsuin’s carriage on horseback... in short, he had not slept.

But that was by his own choice.

To eliminate sleepiness, he had obtained what was necessary.

It was sothing called the ‘kako fruit’, which had an awakening stimulant effect.

It was not illegal, of course.

Unlike so synthetic drugs from other worlds, it was ultimately broken down and expelled from the body, and had no addictive properties.

However, it was expensive.

It could only be harvested in southern Darwei, and only in limited quantities.

When there was work that absolutely had to be done—when failure ant you’d be fired—central bureaucrats resorted to this last asure.

A single pellet kept you awake for twelve hours.

Strictly speaking, micro-sleeps of a few seconds or fractions of a second would repeat, so the damage to the body was less than staying awake continuously.

Naturally, it still built up fatigue compared to normal sleep...

Tin had obtained forty of them.

The kako fruit was known to be produced in southern Darwei.

He had negotiated directly with Count Barrow.

Needless to say, Count Barrow was Fu Ten, who had recently returned to office.

When Fu Ten heard of the request, he imdiately procured them from his territory.

Tin expressed his gratitude and promised to pay when he returned to the capital.

But Fu Ten shook his head.

“No paynt is necessary. Carry out your duty with it.”

Having said only that, he returned to his work.

Fu Ten understood.

He knew there might be attempts on Emperor Tsuin’s life.

He understood that Commander Tin intended to prevent that and, even at the cost of his life, defend the emperor to the end.

Tin had once failed.

So this ti, he would not.

Fu Ten felt that resolve keenly.

Because he had been through the sa thing himself.

He could never forget the matter of {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} the crown prince he had failed to protect.

That was why he wanted Tin to succeed.

Commander Tin took a kako fruit at eight o’clock in the evening.

Sleep would not co until eight the next morning.

It should not have co... but—

“Am I feeling drowsy? That’s impossible.”

If the fruit had been obtained from anyone other than Fu Ten, he might have suspected it was not genuine.

But there was no doubt where Fu Ten was concerned.

Until the crown prince’s assassination five years ago, Count Fu Ten had perford many duties at the Imperial Palace.

His honesty and seriousness, combined with excellent problem-solving ability, had earned the trust of not only the crown prince but the emperor as well.

So Tin knew.

Fu Ten was trustworthy.

If so, there must be another reason he felt drowsy.

Tin peered quietly from the corridor into the garden.

Soldiers should have been patrolling there...

“Are they all asleep?”

He muttered before he could help it; it was an unbelievable sight.

Yet it was the truth, unfolding right before his eyes.

They were obviously not simply tired and dozing off, nor were they slackening their patrols to nap... that was impossible.

If not that, then...

They had been forced to sleep by so artificial ans.

As a cause, he first considered whether sothing had been mixed into dinner.

“No—I did not eat.”

Tin had only drunk from the canteen he always carried.

He had consud only water and the kako fruit.

So it was strange that sleepiness would overtake him as well.

“Could it be an incense that induces drowsiness?”

But there was no sign of such a thing.

He could not sll anything.

“This is not ideal, but there’s no choice.”

Tin said that to himself and swallowed another kako fruit.

Overdose was not recomnded.

But he also knew how effective they were.

As expected, the drowsiness completely vanished.

That made sothing clear.

“Sothing that acts directly on the mind.”

That was what was inducing sleep.

Tin was a pureborn soldier, a warrior, and a guardian of the emperor.

To protect the emperor, he possessed a great deal of knowledge.

Among that was, naturally, knowledge related to magic.

“Dark-attribute magic.”

Even in vast Darwei, dark-attribute magicians were not many.

Tin knew that.

But they did exist.

“To put the guards to sleep... the aim is only one thing... His Majesty’s life.”

Tin murmured quietly.

“Hey, there’s soone awake there, right? Co out. You’re probably the only one awake anyway.”

A voice called, and three figures appeared in the garden.

They called out, knowing that Tin had not been put to sleep by dark magic.

Tin hesitated.

There was a lord to protect sleeping inside this building.

If the corridor beca a battlefield and the lord were caught up in it, that would be a disaster.

That was the thing he most wanted to avoid.

He had no choice,

but to fight in the garden.

Tin put on his gauntlets, drew his blade, and stepped into the garden.

“I see. So you are Commander Tin u of the Imperial Guard. Barda, you lose. The commander did not fall asleep.”

Saying that, the man who had been talking continuously laughed heartily.

The short man beside him, his hood drawn deep, exhaled in displeasure.

The slender figure on the right shrugged in silence.

Tin’s information was limited.

But now decisive information had surfaced.

The dark-attribute magician’s na was Barda?

“Special-rank adventurer, Barda? You guys, could you be the Six Saints?”

“Oops, soone let that slip.”

The large man in the center laughed theatrically.

Nearly 190 centiters tall, muscular to the bone... he wore a sword at his side.

If they were the Six Saints, he would rank among the Six Swords...

“Fire-attribute magician Buon...”

“Right on! As expected of the Commander of the Imperial Guard—you rember the nas of dangerous people.”

Tin forced the words out, and Buon smiled broadly, relaxed.

That contrast reflected the overwhelming difference in strength between the two.

“You understand, right? Three of the Six Saints have co to take the emperor’s life. Commander Tin, we know you are strong. But that strength is among humans.”

“...”

“The Six Saints are nonhuman. Even one of us can easily defeat you. But that is not part of the contract. The contract is just the emperor’s life. And while we’ve been permitted to eliminate anyone who interferes, to be honest, we don’t want to do it. So don’t get in the way.”

“Are you saying I should stand by and watch the lord I serve be murdered?”

Tin’s voice, squeezed out, trembled.

Not out of fear.

Out of anger.

“I once failed. My lord pardoned . Do you think I would hand my lord over to be killed to save my own skin?”

Tin shook with anger, his whole body trembling.

“Impossible! That can never happen!”

“You’ll die, you know?”

“Kill if you must! Even if I trade this life, I will protect my lord! I will not fail twice. Even if my lord forgives , I cannot forgive myself!”

Having declared that, Tin’s trembling disappeared.

The anger contained within him seed to restore a certain calm.

“All right. I’ll take you on.”

Buon, the fire-attribute magician, drew his sword and faced him.

(I can tell just by their presence—they’re too strong.)

Tin thought inwardly.

He knew he had no chance.

He knew it even if he didn’t want to.

But...

(I cannot afford to lose!)

Tin was the one to open the fight.

He knew they were strong.

Precisely because of that, he moved first, seeking life in the midst of death!

Clang.

His sword was knocked aside.

“Ugh.”

He was pierced through the abdon by a sword, then driven through from the back with another.

Tin could not understand what had happened to him at all.

There was only one thing he understood.

He had lost.

The match was decided in a single exchange.

“Impossi...ble...”

“Good spirit, though. But this is the difference between you and .”

Tin collapsed to the ground as Buon stated the fact nonchalantly.

“Commander Tin u, watch as your lord is killed there.”

Buon spoke not with triumph but with solemn composure, as if to perform his duty quietly.

“Again... I... fail...”

Tin’s voice was barely audible.

Regretful tears ford.

The three special-rank adventurers left Tin in the garden and began to enter the building.

But five blue lights attacked them from the side.

“Huh?”

All three raised barriers to defend.

The five blue lights stood between the trio and the building.

“Puppets?”

“Golems.”

“Ice golems.”

Buon tilted his head, Leo Lin—the wind-attribute—murmured, and Barda—the dark-attribute—stated it plainly.

Standing between the three were five ice golems, spears at their hips.

“Ice, huh? Is that the duke in question? That duke?”

“Definitely Duke Rondo.”

In response to Buon’s question, Barda answered.

“But Duke Rondo is with the fleet, right? Anchored offshore...”

“He probably anticipated an attack on the emperor and positioned forces accordingly.”

“I see. Then there’s only one thing to do.”

Buon grinned and began to chant.

“.”

At that instant, dozens of pillars of fla rose from beneath the golems’ feet.

But they did not move.

The golems lted or shattered.

Given the power of the magic unleashed, they should have been able to avoid it...yet they did not move.

It was as if, by holding their ground, they were preventing an intrusion... sacrificing their bodies to keep the way closed.

But the pillars of fla, rciless, continued to strike and burn them... and the five golems were destroyed.

“Hmph, futile.”

Buon spoke the words, just then...

The air changed.

All three felt it at once.

They quickly scanned their surroundings.

Only the sleeping guards on the ground and the barely breathing Commander Tin lay there.

“What is this...”

“Above! ”

At Buon’s mutter, Barda shouted.

Two figures were in the sky.

One was a red-haired man wearing a black cloak.

The other was a black-haired man in a white robe, filled with rage.