Chương 146: A Four Heavenly King's Head and the Guard Captain's Neck

Kichan pushed the empty rib plate aside. Only a red glow was left in the charcoal. Each time the wind pushed into the tent entrance, a thin film of ash lifted, and from far off by the palisade came the sound of the relief watch being called. The hands that had been fighting over the plate until a moment ago went down under the table one by one.

"Do you know where Zadkiel is right now?" The guard captain looked at the supply captain once, then turned his gaze to Kichan.

"I don't know either."

"Even as the guard captain?" The guard captain shook his head.

"And the one you serve?" The guard captain kept his mouth shut for a moment.

"The One We Serve would probably know." A stretcher passed outside the tent. The shadows of the soldiers carrying it slid long across the canvas and vanished. Only after that shadow had gone did the guard captain look at Kichan again. Kichan leaned his body forward.

"How?"

"She can know what happens all over this land, and where people are."

"You mean she's watching Zadkiel even now?"

"That far, I don't know." Kichan put his elbows on the table.

"Then what do I have to do to meet her?" The guard captain laughed.

"Bring the neck of even one of the Yao's Four Heavenly Kings, and wouldn't she agree to see you?" The supply captain laughed along with him. Outside the tent an empty water bucket rolled across the ground and struck a wooden crate. A dry sound cut in once between the laughter. Paul did not laugh, and Riphiel was watching Kichan's face. Kichan asked.

"If I really brought that neck, could I be certain of meeting her?" Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. The guard captain's laughter stopped.

"You mean you would truly bring one?"

"No. I'm asking whether you could get me a meeting if I brought one." The guard captain set down his cup.

"With a feat that size behind you, wouldn't she grant an audience just to hand out the reward?"

"Then where is the one among the Four Heavenly Kings closest to here?" The supply captain coughed. The guard captain did not look at his friend.

"Shouldn't you be asking from the weakest one up?"

"The closest one."

"May I ask why?"

"To finish it quickly." The guard captain looked at Kichan for a while, then put his laughter away.

"Are you truly confident?"

"Just tell me the location first." Instead of answering, Kichan looked at Argaon. Argaon was picking through the bones on an empty plate for one with a lot of seasoning left on it. When the eyes gathered on him, he raised his head.

"Why." Kichan looked at the guard captain again.

"If it can't be done, we won't do it." The guard captain said nothing for a while. Two soldiers passed outside. The clatter of armor ran along the tent wall. One of the two shouted past the entrance, "Relief watch, get ready!" The same words were repeated once more in the distance. The guard captain slowly opened the two hands resting on his knees. He opened his mouth slowly.

"If you truly do that, I will stake my neck on it and get you a meeting with her." Kichan nodded.

"And the location?" The guard captain pushed two empty plates aside and cleared the middle of the table. With his finger he tapped the northern palisade at the table's edge, and along a trail of sauce that had run down he drew a road that forked. Each time he touched the low ridge and the stronghold behind it, his finger rapped the table. Kichan moved over to the side and looked back and forth between the direction the guard captain pointed at and the ridge outside the tent.

"Hold on." He caught his friend's wrist.

"Isn't the one over there nearly equal to the One We Serve in fighting strength?" The guard captain stopped his hand.

"He asked for the closest one."

"Even so. You should have told him to go to a weaker one, even if it's farther." The supply captain looked at Kichan.

"If you go around by another road, there's a different one. That side is better."

"How much longer would it take?"

"Much farther than the place I just named."

"Then I'll go to the close one."

"He's the strongest of the Four Heavenly Kings as well."

"That's fine." A dull impact sounded from the front. The empty ladle hanging from the tent pole shook and struck the wall twice. Before that sound had even stopped, the supply captain leaned toward Kichan. Kichan looked at the empty pot on the table, then rose from his seat.

"I have to go drag that troublemaker along quickly." The guard captain watched him without a word. The supply captain turned to his friend.

"Why did you tell him that location, of all the ones you could have?"

"He asked for the closest one."

"That doesn't mean you tell him the actual closest one." Kichan listened to that as he cleared the dishes. Paul gathered the empty cups beside him. Riphiel set the remaining rib bones on one plate. Only Argaon had still not put down his last bone.