Anagin Chronicles

Chapter 102

Summer.The season when life surges.

Beneath a cloudless blue sky.

The grasslands that had lain dormant in gray awaken fully and are dyed in fresh green, and the naked forests put on new green garments.

Into the cold air that carried no scent, the fragrances of thyme and rosemary begin to mingle, and the wild beasts and insects awakened from sleep drive away the silence of winter.

Perhaps it is only natural.

Chiron Tower, which had nurtured countless heroes, also grew noisy when summer arrived—and this summer was even more tumultuous.

All because of one man.

“Hey, you son of a bitch!”

A few hours after Anagin and Thyreos of Reinforcement finished their conversation.

Ponytail, now surrounded, shouted as if the world were ending.

The reason he shouted was simple: Anagin had betrayed him.

Because he trusted Anagin, he had told him the top-secret information that Erysichthon had sent someone to Atalanta’s Groom Tournament.

Yet Anagin betrayed that trust and ran off to tattle immediately.

Even after being warned not to spread it carelessly.

Trembling with a sense of betrayal, Ponytail shouted desperately.

“I told you not to tell anyone!!!”

A tragic and desperate scene, where faith and trust had crumbled.

And the main culprit who had created this scene, Anagin……

Was calmly scratching his belly.

“Judging by how loud you are, I guess you’re still doing fine.”

“I won’t be for long!”

At Anagin’s indifferent remark, Ponytail snapped, drew a dagger, and solemnly pressed it to his own throat.

Then he warned the people surrounding him.

“Don’t come any closer! If you do, I’ll slit my own throat!”

At the ridiculous situation of taking himself hostage, the ones surrounding Ponytail……

Namely, the members of the New Argonaut Expedition Team, including Thyreos, frowned in displeasure.

“Do we look like we’re joking right now?”

Among them, the one frowning the deepest was, of course, Irida of the Wind.

Having just heard that Erysichthon, who bore a grudge, had sent someone to her older sister Atalanta’s Groom Tournament, her reaction was perfectly natural.

The tournament might not have been something her sister wanted, but regardless, it was an event where her sister was the central figure.

For someone harboring ill intent to appear at that event was insulting and offensive.

And that ill-intentioned party was someone sent by Erysichthon?

There was a chance something might happen to her sister. Even if her sister was not harmed, if participants were injured, it would not benefit the kingdom.

Thus, Irida felt both displeasure and anger.

At Erysichthon, who dared to send someone to sabotage her sister’s Groom Tournament.

And at the junior reporter who had known this and kept it secret.

The junior reporter shamelessly spoke up.

“It doesn’t feel like a joke at all—that’s why I’m acting like this. I’m not kidding, I’m genuinely scared, so could you step back a bit? I’d like to live.”

With a serious face, Ponytail urged those surrounding him to back away.

Seeing his brazen attitude once again, anger surged, but Sphinx stepped in and suggested they calm down for now.

“Um, perhaps we should at least hear him out? Annoying as he is, thanks to him we learned about Erysichthon’s plot.”

A monster calming heroes—an oddly comical yet bizarre situation.

Under normal circumstances, such words would not have worked, yet surprisingly—and interestingly—the New Argonaut Expedition Team stepped back at Sphinx’s words.

Ponytail let out a sigh of relief.

“Phew…… I thought I was dead. Thanks for the help.”

“Before thanking me, shouldn’t you explain yourself first? Otherwise, you really might die.”

Sphinx advised him in a serious tone, all traces of playfulness gone.

Though Anagin and Ponytail had been bantering, making it less obvious, the situation was fairly serious.

He had known about something that could harm not just one hero, but potentially the kingdom itself—and had kept it secret……

Ponytail glanced at the expressions around him and decided to follow Sphinx’s advice.

“Ahem… I didn’t say anything because it wasn’t confirmed information.”

“Are you joking right now?”

Irida snapped at Ponytail, who was buzzing nonsense like an angry hornet.

It was unconfirmed, yet he had told Anagin?

But Ponytail, feeling wronged, pointed at Anagin and shouted.

“It’s true! I clearly told that bastard it was just rumor-level information!”

“That part’s true.”

Anagin nodded, vouching that Ponytail’s words were truthful.

He could at least do that much.

Irida did not seem particularly pleased with Anagin’s behavior, but she did not appear to doubt him either.

After taking a breath, she asked,

“Where did the information come from?”

“Of course I won’t tell you. A reporter’s source is basically his business capital.”

The Ponytail, who had been trembling in fear—or joking around—straightened his face once more and firmly drew the line.

Irida’s expression darkened with displeasure at his attitude, but Ponytail did not budge.

The situation teetered on the brink. Fortunately, it did not escalate further.

Just before an enraged Irida moved, Tramachus of Flame stopped her.

“Calm down… He’s not wrong.”

Tramachus was not fanning the flames.

To reporters, information was precious.

Especially for those blessed by Hermes, information and its sources were regarded almost as sacred.

It was not for nothing that they called it their lifeblood, property, and capital.

Because of that, it was an unspoken custom not to press reporters too hard about their sources. It could easily be seen as blasphemy against Hermes.

Regardless of how unpleasant Ponytail’s behavior and attitude were, pressing further would not benefit them either. Nor did it seem likely to yield useful answers.

Tramachus set aside his emotions and tried to steer the conversation in a direction that would be helpful.

As he had been taught at the royal court and at Chiron Tower.

He took the first step.

“Do you know who Erysichthon sent?”

“Even I don’t know that. But it doesn’t seem to be an ordinary fighter.”

‘Not an ordinary fighter….’

Listening as a third party, Anagin mulled over Ponytail’s words.

If it was not an ordinary fighter, that likely meant someone of considerable renown.

While Anagin was thinking that, Tramachus and Ponytail continued their exchange.

“Stronger than Periphetes?”

“Of course! To be honest, Periphetes was only acknowledged for his potential. Among Erysichthon’s subordinates, he’s not exactly one of the stronger ones.”

“…….”

At the unexpectedly detailed information, Tramachus looked at Ponytail with suspicion.

After all, how could a reporter who had only just risen to junior rank know such specifics? It smelled suspicious.

But he could not press him right now.

Questioning that in this situation would only tangle the conversation further, and it did not seem likely they would get a proper answer anyway……

Above all, to doubt the credibility of this conversation itself would be to deny it outright.

Though everything felt suspicious, Tramachus decided to focus on the present discussion for now.

“Stronger than Periphetes, but you don’t know specifically who it is?”

“Yes, that’s correct. As I said, I truly don’t know who it is.”

“Good, then if we identify those connected to Erysichthon who are stronger than Periphetes, we can infer who it might be. Our teacher might know.......”

As Tramachus muttered, the others nodded as if in agreement.

With those two conditions, they should be able to narrow the candidates down considerably.

After all, in the heart of the Kingdom of Arcadia, at a Groom Tournament where no small number of heroes would be participating, there could not be many with the skill to cause a disturbance.

Of course, there were variables.

It might not be just one person; several could come. Or perhaps Erysichthon himself might appear.

Naturally, all of that remained within the realm of possibility, but even so, they had to try.

“We should inform someone besides our teacher, shouldn’t we?”

“My sister?”

At Tramachus’ question, Irida asked back in a subdued voice.

As though gloom were contagious like a plague, Tramachus’ voice dipped slightly as well.

“Or perhaps your father.......”

Though lowered, a faint trace of hope lingered in Tramachus’ tone.

“Father” presumably referred to Atalanta and Irida’s father.

He likely meant they should suggest temporarily suspending the Groom Tournament, given that Erysichthon was scheming.

It must have sounded like a fairly plausible suggestion, for a brief, melancholy hope flickered across Irida’s face—only to fade.

“It’s no use. He wouldn’t stop it over something like this.... I’ll tell my sister.”

“Is that so? Then I’ll inform my elder brother. What about you? Will you come with us?”

“After hearing something like this, how could we not go?”

“I’m going too.”

Thyreos of Reinforcement and Lynceus of Clairvoyance answered at once.

Perhaps because they were fellow members of the New Argonaut Expedition Team, their exchanges among themselves were remarkably smooth and swift.

Anagin watched them from the side with faint curiosity.

Sphinx, as if wondering what was so interesting, asked,

“What is it, Brother? Your expression is strange.”

“No, it’s just… it’s kind of amusing and interesting.”

Sphinx was about to ask what was interesting, but Tramachus was a beat faster.

Having finished speaking with the others, Tramachus approached Anagin and posed a question.

“Why were you trying to go to the Groom Tournament?”

The question was half curiosity, half vigilance.

Anagin answered in his usual tone and voice.

“Because Erysichthon’s subordinate is coming.”

“Do you intend to keep fighting Erysichthon?”

“No. Not exactly.”

Anagin denied it.

By circumstance, he had fought Erysichthon as though their lives were on the line, but it had a slightly different texture from what one would call a true confrontation.

His previous clash with Erysichthon had been an extension of the conflict with the Forest Brotherhood.

In other words, it had been more of a side branch than the main trunk.

If he had to fight, he would. But he had no intention of exhausting himself by deliberately targeting him again and again.

However.......

“There’s information I want from that side. That’s how I got involved with the Forest Brotherhood in the first place.”

“Ah, the Jacheon method?”

Tramachus asked, recalling a past conversation, and Anagin confirmed it.

“It seems Erysichthon knows it. If I’m lucky, his subordinate might know it too.”

“So you’re planning to capture that subordinate and ask about the Jacheon method?”

“Well, something like that.”

Tramachus now understood why Anagin had suddenly shown interest in Atalanta’s Groom Tournament.

When he first heard it, he had been startled, wondering if Anagin intended to participate, but fortunately, that was not the case.

Although it was said that anyone could participate, it was not truly an event for just anyone.......

Tramachus reflexively began to calculate.

Whether it would be wise to bring Anagin along—or not.

Judging from Anagin’s behavior thus far, there was a high probability—nine times out of ten—that he would cause trouble.

He was a madman who had uttered insulting remarks in the middle of Chiron Tower; reasoning with him would only waste breath.

Yet at the same time, Tramachus wondered whether that very disposition might be used to their advantage.

It was not a manner befitting a hero, but having been educated in the royal court and at Chiron Tower, Tramachus could not help but calculate instinctively.

To assess the overall situation and its elements, and to use them in his favor.

Bringing Anagin to the Groom Tournament might prove useful—yet the side effects could be great. Like an uncontrolled demonic sword, perhaps.

That demonic sword opened its mouth again.

“Ah, but even if no one comes from Erysichthon’s side, I kind of want to go at least once. To the Groom Tournament.”

“......Why?”

At the subtle shift in tone, Tramachus once again sharpened his vigilance as he asked. Surely he wasn’t harboring some foolish thought.

But the answer that came from Anagin was unexpected.

“I want to see it. A 'Groom Tournament' sounds like it would be pretty interesting.”