Baiya ended the transmission spell.
Everything she wanted to say had already been sent. According to the events of Chapter One, Tabu and the others were supposed to have been killed by the ogre. Now that they had survived, what fate awaited them from here on out could only be decided by their own steps.
She had no time to linger in the sorrow of parting.
The pirates would surely notice if a lifeboat set off; if they were captured by pirates, it would be a disaster.
The only obstacle left before Tabu and the others could start their new lives was this last one—she would be the one to break it!
*****
When Arthur arrived at the western city wall, he immediately sensed something was wrong.
He found that the stationed soldiers were either knocked out or killed, bodies strewn here and there, and his expression turned grim.
Inside the military warehouse, Arthur found the transport boats; only two remained, meaning one had already been used.
“Those bastards!” Arthur’s face was ashen.
He knew exactly who was responsible—it had to be Baiya and the other gladiators who’d escaped from the arena!
There were no signs that the wall had been occupied, so the pirates hadn’t come here. The only ones who might need a lifeboat were the slaves!
Among the slain soldiers were several gold-ranked squad leaders.
Among the slaves, Arthur only knew of one person strong enough to do this, someone who had killed a gold-ranked ogre right in front of him not long ago—
Baiya Ifir Clorome.
The prestige of Amidarl had once again been trampled.
When he returned to his country, he would definitely issue a warrant for her arrest! She had better not fall into his hands, or he would make her wish she was dead. The blood pact and the hatred sparked by being ignored made Arthur loathe Baiya to the bone.
Arthur kicked awake the unconscious soldiers and ordered them to operate the lifting machinery for him, while also activating the magitek cannon for cover.
The soldiers all swore loyalty, and before long, the transport boat had been hoisted onto the lift and all preparations were complete.
Arthur stood before the lifeboat. Now, he could abandon everyone at any moment and escape alone.
But when the moment truly arrived, he found himself unable to take a single step for a long time.
For some reason, at this moment, all he could see in his mind was the helpless expression of Wildfire Guieling [Cursed Doll].
His long-standing rationality had always driven him to make the choices most advantageous to himself. But when it came to abandoning Wildfire Guieling, it was only after the fact that he realized how awful that decision truly was.
That slave girl who called him “Father” was a very special one indeed.
Five years ago, after the revolution ended in utter defeat for the rebels, Amidarl re-registered all the slave girls owned by the country. Dozens of them were missing or dead.
The revolution had cost Amidarl dearly.
The once prosperous royal capital was reduced to ruins, the army was left with fewer than forty thousand men, and the flames from burning corpses raged for three days and nights. The greatest slave empire now seemed to be on a path of decline, never to recover.
Amidarl’s vassal states began to stir restlessly, and some kings even started colluding openly with enemy nations, treating Amidarl’s envoys like pesky flies. Many countries were sharpening their armies, waiting for a chance to deliver a crushing blow to the already wounded Amidarl, to push it further into ruin, and drive it to its end.
They never succeeded.
The reason the revolution could erupt with such momentum was directly related to Amidarl’s main forces campaigning abroad. When Amidarl’s expeditionary army returned, all the restless nations quieted down; those kings who had colluded with enemies committed suicide in apology, begging Amidarl to spare their descendants.
The king of Amidarl gave a simple reply—a single word: “No.”
Before long, all countries with rebellious tendencies faced Amidarl’s armies. Double-digit numbers of slave girls were dispatched at once, and each time, an entire country would be destroyed overnight.
Amidarl used the blood of traitors to declare its might, while the great victories of the expeditionary army made the rebels’ efforts look like a joke.
The expeditionary force attacked more than twenty countries in total, capturing thirteen slave girls, four or five dozen “seeds” of slave girls, millions of soldiers, and treasure beyond measure.
Compared to before the revolution, Amidarl grew even stronger, reaffirming its status as the unshakable greatest nation and making the world understand the terror of Amidarl.
Wildfire Guieling was one of the slave girls captured by the expeditionary force.
Arthur’s royal father brought him before the captured slave girls and asked him which one he wanted. Previously, one of his slave girls had been killed by the rebels; it was only natural to choose a replacement.
That was the first time Arthur met Wildfire Guieling.
The naked little girl clung tightly to her bizarre doll, her body trembling, tears brimming in her eyes.
Arthur hadn’t noticed Wildfire Guieling at first.
She was not remarkable; at age four, she was much smaller than the others, so thin and frail she seemed like she might topple at the slightest breeze. Anyone’s first impression of her was that she was a weak and useless slave girl.
With a blank expression, Arthur questioned each slave girl about their racial gifts.
When he reached Wildfire Guieling, and began his monotone question, she raised her head and stared at him, dazed.
Arthur watched with his own eyes as the fear faded from her clear eyes, replaced by a glow of excitement.
Wildfire Guieling opened her mouth, wanting to step forward and hug Arthur, but the moment she took a step, she was hit by piercing pain. The agony was too much for her small body to bear, and she fainted instantly.
But before that, Arthur clearly heard Wildfire Guieling call him “Father.”
“She’s the last one. Have you made up your mind? Among these slave girls, which will you choose?”
His royal father, Spartacus Amidarl, stood behind him, his tone colder than one would use with a son. Arthur understood that their relationship was more like that of a ruler and his subordinate.
Arthur also knew that his royal father’s question was a test.
Here, he could not make a mistake—he must make the perfect choice.
Among these slave girls, the one with the greatest racial gift was code-named [Azure Dragon]. She was a hybrid of the Sky Dragon and the human race, with an exceptional bloodline, and her racial talent, the destructive “Radiant Azure Flame,” was powerful indeed. If Arthur could obtain her, he might one day be able to challenge Rumiou’s slave girl, “Heavenly Reincarnation Prayer”!
Choosing [Azure Dragon] was undoubtedly the best answer.
Arthur had no doubt about his judgment, and prepared to answer his royal father accordingly.
But if [Azure Dragon] became his slave girl, what would become of the others?
Before he could speak, this doubt suddenly sprang into his mind.
The answer was simple.
Once [Azure Dragon] was assigned to him, the other slave girls would naturally be distributed as rewards to other senior officials, further strengthening their power.
“Az…” With this in mind, Arthur tried to speak, but only managed to utter a single syllable with great difficulty.
The image of Wildfire Guieling’s joyful smile upon seeing him lingered in Arthur’s mind.
“[Cursed Doll]…” When he spoke this code name, there was not a trace of hesitation in Arthur’s voice.
He didn’t know why he chose her; only that he didn’t regret it.
At the time, Arthur was anxious, several times wanting to change his answer, and several times swallowing his words back. He feared his father’s disappointment.
But Spartacus said nothing, only told him to take Wildfire Guieling away.
Afterwards, Arthur blamed his unusual behavior on a confused mental state, thinking he’d made the wrong choice by accident.
“I am Arthur Amidarl, second prince of Amidarl. From today, I am your master, slave girl [Cursed Doll].”
“Yes! Father!”
“You, why do you call me Father?”
“B-because you are my father, my lord!”
The girl in her pretty dress threw herself joyfully into his arms.
Arthur wanted to scold her for being presumptuous, but instead heard her fragile yet happy sobs.
“I finally found you, Father of my dreams!”
Later, Arthur investigated Wildfire Guieling’s origins.
She was a half-blood of the Cursed Demon tribe and the human race.
The Cursed Demons were considered a bad omen, hated by humans, and felt no fondness for humans themselves.
The union of Cursed Demon and human was practically a joke.
Wildfire Guieling was the product of such a union. Bearing the Cursed Demon bloodline, she was rejected by the Cursed Demons; bearing human blood, she was also not accepted by humans.
While still in swaddling clothes, she was abandoned by her parents—left in the frozen wilderness, her parents hoping she’d vanish along with the snow and ice.
But Wildfire Guieling survived the cold.
The blazing flames that melted the snow marked her awakening as a slave girl.
Rejected by both humans and Cursed Demons, it seemed only natural for her to become a slave girl.
Her country brought her to the palace to raise her, intending to train her from a young age to be an obedient slave girl.
But before that could happen, Amidarl’s iron cavalry invaded, and Wildfire Guieling became a captive.
Arthur understood that this girl who called him “Father” was a blank page, untainted by filth.
He decided to educate Wildfire Guieling personally—teaching her to read, to study, to bathe.
Her life’s path seemed no different from anyone else’s; this was the part of himself Arthur understood least.
So what exactly was he doing?
“Wildfire Guieling, what is your world like?” Only when they were truly alone did Arthur call Wildfire Guieling by her name. Normally, he used her code name.
“M-my world is you, Father!” Wildfire Guieling beamed brightly.
She was willing to do anything for Arthur, because he was her favorite person.
Wildfire Guieling told Arthur that her world appeared only in black and white—except for Arthur, who alone had color.
“Wildfire Guieling, my daughter, where are you!!”
Arthur suddenly broke into a run, getting farther and farther from the lifeboat.
The soldiers stared in surprise at his actions; he couldn’t understand what kind of foolish thing he was doing!
He only knew, as he did back then—he would not regret it.
For the royal family of Amidarl, there was a simple and obvious truth: only by abandoning kindness could one have the right to compete for life and the throne.
“Every mistake made must be atoned for!”
Arthur understood—Wildfire Guieling was his kindness.
For that, no matter how many times he left her behind, he would always seek her out and bring her back to his side.
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