From the top of the ramparts of the first fort, we saw off a detachment of the attacking troops.

We split our forces in half, but we'll see.

　Eliza, who is with me, asked.

I think we'll be fine. If you attack the fort in the order you're ordered to, the plow wards will make us invincible.
Yeah, that's right. Well, let's get this over with.
"Camperi is the mastermind, so I'll escort him to the capital and let Eliza take care of him, but what about the other generals?
"Leave it to Alec.

　Eliza had given me her complete trust.
　To earn her trust, I had to take care of the rest.

　Ostensibly the vice emperor and his maidservant, I took Eliza with me as I descended the ramparts.
　The remainder of the troops are guarding the captured enemy general.

　First, I've ordered Campelli, the ringleader, to be clerical escorted to the imperial capital.

　Look around at the remaining generals.
　Now what to do--.

Clan!
"Prepare!

　Suddenly, I heard a murderous shout.
　I saw some captured enemy soldiers jumping at me, tearing the ropes behind their backs.

　Almost half-naked, clad only in loincloths, the warriors with tattoos on their faces.
　A unique group of enemy soldiers jumped at me.

"Protect the Vice-Imperor!

　The soldiers react, dozens of them all at once get between me and my opponent.

　But they are quickly kicked away.
　They all seem to be veteran warriors, effortlessly dispersing the ordinary soldiers and closing in on me.
　At first I used my bare hands, but the weapons I've grabbed from the civilians make the desire to kill even stronger.

"Alec!

　Amidst the shouts of Eliza, prevent the attack of the enemy group with a magical barrier.
　When the movement stops, you create a magic sphere of wind and crush the weapons you have, returning fire on all of them.

　They attacked me, and they looked like a tribe in numbers and appearance.

What a shame!
"In front of the patriarch's memory
"Kill!　But this regret will haunt you forever!

　It was no longer a murderous spirit, but a grudge.
　The person I defeated, everyone hurled a curse at me.

　This one's ...... for a reason.

　I cast a healing spell on them.
　I was a little tame to begin with, so they had minor injuries.
　Rather, I adjusted their magic to recover perfectly and completely (、、、、) so as not to over-heal.

What did you mean by that?

　One of the men, the one with the most complicated - or maybe the most prestigious tattoo for them - yelled at me.

The fight is over, and I'm not the enemy anymore!
"Nonsense!
"I want to hear a story. There's something else that bothers me with every word. What do you mean by "avenging my father's death"?
"Pushing our clan of Nature to the frontier for a slap on the wrist!
"To the frontier?
"Don't say you've forgotten!　A hundred years ago, the then emperor drove us out of the holy land of our homeland, Zulan. Since then we have not been able to return to our homeland and we were forced to live in the northern frontier!

　I see.
　I thought for a minute and said.

"All right, well, I'll let you go home.
"...... Huh?

　The men who look at you puzzled.
　What's this guy going to say?　You can see the expression on his face, "I'm going to let you go.

I said I'd let you go. I know about Zooran.

　I know, or rather, I just looked it up in Philosopher's Stone.
　I didn't have to tell you that, so I'll just say that I know it.

Zulan is in the territory of my ...... Alexander League, so it's my decision to make.

　I glanced at Eliza to make sure she was okay, but she gave me a small nod that the rest of us couldn't see.
　Having received the emperor's approval to do what I wanted, I proceeded further.

There are others, right? You can go with them.

　But when Nature's men heard that, they were furious.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!　You're going to make a fool of us even more!
What do you mean?
The curse that was placed on me, the curse placed on me by the emperor at the time. You know that and you're poking fun at me!
Our family, the curse that hangs in our veins. We no longer live except in the coldest of frontiers!
"You can't stand extreme heat, or even 'warm'!

　They all yell at me, bloodshot eyes, almost screaming rattles.
　It's like a hundred years of bitterness, a hundred years of resentment, all at once.

Does that mean you have a cat's tongue all over your body?


"Still fooling around!

　One of the men grabbed the tip of the shattered weapon and angrily tried to jump at him.

"I've already untied it,
"--What?

　The man who was about to jump on me stopped, the other men also went crazy. .

What do you mean?
"I just healed you up. I was wondering why the curse was on you, but... It was a curse, and I lifted it off at the same time.

"Bah, bakana ......
"A man of the Empire would do such a thing?
"No, but before that, how easily can you break the blood curse that my family has not been able to break for a hundred years: ......?

"Unbelievable?　Then--

　I looked around, saw a tub of water and grabbed it.
　I made a small magic ball of fire and put it in the vat.

　The magic ball of flame heats up the water.
　When I made sure the water was just right, I poured it over them.

Oh--it's not hot?
"Warm, ko, is this hot water?
"For the first time in my life, ...... is that warm? ......?

　The men who were sprayed with hot water were either surprised or impressed with their eyes.
　The curse prevented them from being exposed to hot water, from birth to death, and from eating hot food.

　When the blood curse was lifted, the wonder and emotion eventually turned to gratitude.
　They turned their gratitude toward me.

"O God of our salvation!
"'God!

　The warriors of my clan, nearly thirty men, all on their hands and knees on the ground, worshipped me.
　I knew I would be thanked, but I never expected to be called a god.