It was then that Azadin asked,
"There's no underwater breathing magic in Beauty of Nature, right?"
The grimoire Beauty of Nature did not contain any spells for water breathing. That was precisely what had everyone here fretting and fidgeting.
"And you lot aren't the only ones here. There must be someone performing the ritual near the Korasar Throne. Who is it?"
"Huh? Th-that's…"
The members of the Korasar Pedders' Guild and the servants of Aragasa were flustered.
Was Azadin an enemy? Should they fight?
While they struggled to come to a decision, Azadin was already approaching them with certainty.
Just as a leaderless army becomes a disorganized mob, those without someone to decide for them are inevitably swayed by someone who acts with conviction.
Azadin took the lead naturally and asked Scott,
"Scott. Can you cast underwater breathing magic on them?"
"Captain, damn. It's so cold, my body's locking up. Th-the muscles…"
"Can you cast underwater breathing or not? Just answer that."
"Of course I can."
"Underwater breathing?"
The servants were flustered by Scott's words.
With the water level rising and the underground passage flooding, the offer of an underwater breathing spell was like a lifeline dropped from the heavens.
'Come to think of it, even if he's Lady Arael's younger brother, Azadin's a herald, right?'
'It's not like we could win anyway. He's a herald.'
'Since he's Lady Arael's younger brother, even if he has the power to harm us, he shouldn't.'
'Do we even need to fight?'
The servants' minds began to lean toward avoiding conflict.
"Alright. Scott! Cast the spell."
"Got it, Captain."
Scott cast underwater breathing magic on them.
"The crocodile's already dead, so you should be able to head back just fine. The distance isn't long. If anyone gives you grief for this afterward, go find Elder Sebali and ask for protection."
Though Azadin was merely passing them off to Elder Sebali, the servants believed he had formed some sort of alliance with Sebali and was helping them, and they were moved by the gesture.
"Th-thank you."
"Much appreciated."
"By the way, who else is inside? Who's in charge here? Near the throne, I mean."
As he sent the servants on their way, Azadin slipped the question in naturally.
Anyone would find it suspicious, but once he mentioned Elder Sebali, they simply assumed he was already on their side.
"It's Lady Demia."
"Demia of Flowers?"
"Yes."
"She's the only one?"
"There are some Nagas with her, and Lord Krasley is present as well."
"Krasley… who's that?"
"A former herald, and our Korasar Pedders' Guild's combat instructor."
"Ah. I see. Got it. How many Nagas are there?"
"About thirty or so. There's a leader named Nagaraja."
"Right. The Raja, and the rest of the Nagas? There must be some big ones, right?"
"One in ten is huge."
"And one in five seems to be a mage—they take on human form."
"Got it. Take care, all of you."
Azadin extracted the information and sent the servants of the herald clan back through the water without a single skirmish.
***
"Incredible."
Zebeck marveled at Azadin's actions.
At first, he'd been prepared for a fight. The problem was, the water had risen too high. Even now, his hands were so numb that he could barely grip his sword.
In that situation, could he have truly fought those servants? And to hear that there were even more troops deeper inside?
"To smooth-talk them like that without fighting…"
"When you put it like that, it makes it sound like I tricked them or something."
"Wasn't it a trick?"
"I just took a bit of control over the situation."
"How did you do it?"
"It's nothing special. Just always act confident and friendly, but never say anything that would make the relationship clearly adversarial. Keep it vague. For example, when I mention Elder Sebali, they assume I'm on Sebali's side, and thus on their side. And when they report back to their superior, they'll say, 'He said he knew Elder Sebali. We thought he was on our side.' Of course, they could've asked me point-blank, 'Are you friend or foe to the Arael's faction?' right then and there…"
"But they didn't."
"Exactly. They're afraid, too. Afraid to clearly declare hostility against me in this situation. So I left it vague, gave them just enough information to interpret things in a way that benefits them, and let them believe it."
"Isn't that a trick?"
"I just let them believe what they wanted to believe. I merely responded to the voice within them. Honestly, they could've sent a few people back to report to Demia. But they didn't."
The servants from earlier didn't want to fight Azadin either. And if some of them had reported back to Demia and it turned out Azadin was an enemy? They'd lose the underwater breathing spell and their route back to the surface.
"Ah, more importantly, now that we've sent them off, let's take a break. It's cold. In this state, we won't be able to fight properly."
Saying that, Azadin took off his clothes and wrung the water out. After emerging from the icy water, his breath came out in visible puffs.
"Anything around here we can use to make a fire? It's probably not a good idea to go on while our body temperature is this low."
Azadin looked around, but there was nothing fit for a fire. Only burnt ashes and remnants of a cooking pot remained.
Most likely, the servants earlier had made a campfire and cooked a meal to endure the sudden temperature drop.
"They must've already used up anything that could be burned. To raise our body temperature… let's do that, Captain."
Scott suggested something.
"What's 'that'?"
Azadin looked surprised at the sudden suggestion.
"You know, that."
Shati couldn't help but ask,
"…Something dirty?"
"No, I mean the copy of the Book of the Divine King."
"Oh."
When Azadin took out the copy of the Book of the Divine King, its glow had already recovered somewhat since its last use.
"Y-you're not seriously thinking of making a fire with the copy of the Book of the Divine King, are you?"
Zebeck asked in alarm.
"That's not it. When I channel the magic into my body with this, it gives off quite a bit of heat. Last time…"
"You mean you're going to warm your body that way… Achoo!"
Even Zebeck, who was speaking, sneezed. After pushing through freezing water, no one was in decent condition.
"Hmm. But shouldn't we keep it charged, just in case?"
Azadin asked as he looked at the glowing copy of the Book of the Divine King, but Scott shook his head.
"I've watched you long enough to know—you are the kind of guy who ends up never using something because you want to save it, captain."
"That's not true. I used this in a critical moment and caught you right away. I broke your shadow demon with the Book of the Divine King, remember?"
"And how much did you gain from that, Captain?"
"Getting you to join my side? That's a huge gain."
"Khaha! That's a 120 out of 100 answer. You're exactly the kind of employer I like."
"Right?"
"Still, let's use it. The copy of the Book of the Divine King. We've got to warm up our body temperature anyway…"
Scott handed Azadin the copy and began the ritual.
Azadin absorbed the white magic from the Book of the Divine King. Not only did his body heat rise rapidly, but the warmth even spread to those nearby.
"Whoa… it's way stronger than last time?"
"Well, the throne's nearby. Isn't that only natural?"
Scott replied as he helped circulate Azadin's magic.
Azadin's body contained the altered grimoire of Beauty of Nature, which usually rejected foreign mana. But by suppressing it and guiding the flow of mana through his body, he was able to circulate the white magic from the Book of the Divine King. As a result, the minor aches disappeared, his stamina recovered, and power surged through him.
Even the others around him could feel the warmth.
"Oh… this feels nice."
"It's not quite a bonfire, but it's pretty warm."
"Can I touch you?"
Shati, curious, reached out and touched Azadin's body without waiting for permission.
"Wait—"
Azadin tried to stop her, but Shati rubbed his skin, delighted.
"Warm! And your skin's really nice. No wonder some of the Nagarajas keep humans as pets. It's all for reasons like this…"
"Shati, hey. That's cold. Could you back off for a second? You're flustering me."
At Azadin's request, Shati jumped back, startled.
"But wouldn't this copy of the Book of the Divine King work even better if Zebeck used it, since he's a holy knight of the king's church?"
"The spellbooks of the king's church may resemble the Book of the Divine King, but they are not the same. This… is something far beyond what my wisdom can grasp."
"What about just trying to read it, for a test?"
"Wouldn't hurt. Sir Zebeck?"
Azadin handed him a page from the copy.
Zebeck hesitated. For a holy knight of the king's church to read this was a grave act of blasphemy.
An illicit leak of the kings' secrets, an unjust grimoire that undermined the authority of the Clan of the Eight Divine Kings.
But thinking of how he'd once overlooked the atrocities of Kozel in the name of doctrine, he now believed that to uphold true justice, one must transcend the constraints of dogma.
"Well then…"
Zebeck focused on the copy of the Book of the Divine King, but immediately flinched.
"Ugh!"
A wave of pain surged through his head. Zebeck turned his gaze away from the page.
He hadn't managed to read even a single word, but just by focusing on it, his head spun and flashes of light danced before his eyes.
"Fortunately or unfortunately, I can't read it."
"That's unfortunate. What do you mean, 'fortunately'? Don't be such a coward. You should feel regret at being unable to wield such an incredible grimoire."
Shati lamented not being able to make the grimoire hers.
Meanwhile, Azadin cleanly absorbed all the white magic from that single page of the Book of the Divine King.
"Wow… this is going even better than last time."
"Partly because you've done it once, and also this place is perfect for it, Captain. It's probably because the Korasar Throne is nearby."
"Hmm. But wait… I'm not accidentally draining the king's virtue, am I? That's what we came here to stop…"
Azadin grew uneasy and asked Scott.
"Ah, well…"
"What?"
"I mean, you're warm now, right? So it's fine… isn't it, Captain?"
Azadin looked alarmed.
"Wait a minute. Are you saying I'm draining the king's virtue right now? Huh?"
Indeed, Azadin realized it too.
The page of the Book of the Divine King, which should have been fully drained just moments ago, was beginning to glow faintly again.
Compared to its usual brilliant light, it was like a mere firefly's glimmer—barely visible unless you really looked—but still, the rate of recovery was astonishing.
It seemed that because the Korasar Throne was nearby, the page was quickly reabsorbing white magic.
"Whoa. That's insane…"
"No, hold on. Isn't this it?"
Azadin's brow furrowed.
"This is exactly how they weakened the king's virtue!"
He finally understood how Arael's faction had managed to diminish the light of the king's virtue.
The Arael's faction must have had a significant number of copies of the Book of the Divine King, and here, they were draining those books to extract white magic from the throne.