Shadow's Oath

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Chapter 45: The Fortune (2)

“So, what you’re saying is…”

Terdin listened to Ram’s entire story without blinking an eye before summarizing it.

“…His Majesty the King ordered you to kill me, one of the two wizards we met informed you of this, and my son Astian appeared in the form of that wizard, telling you that you’d obtain the weapon to kill me tonight. Is that correct?”

Ram realized just how absurd his actions had been.

“When you put it that way, my story doesn’t make any sense at all. I shouldn’t have told you. I think… I might have misunderstood something…”

Terdin picked up Maraka’s dagger from the table.

Ram tried to stop him.

“General, that dagger might be cursed by Hak Maraka.”

“Cursed? My boy, I don’t fear such superstitions. I’d sooner believe you if you said it was poisoned. But you’ve been carrying it around all this time, haven’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Has anything happened to you? Have you been paralyzed, had trouble breathing, or felt stomach pain?”

“No such symptoms… but isn’t it possible that poison takes effect later?”

“Hag Olga held it too, didn’t she? If she’s a fellow shaman, she’d be well aware of Maraka’s tricks. She wouldn’t hold a poisoned dagger. If she could hold it, then so can I.”

Terdin turned the dagger over in his hands, inspecting the hilt carefully.

“If I were an assassin, I might hide a poisoned needle in this branch-like hilt. If I knew its exact location, anyone else touching the dagger could unknowingly prick themselves and die. People witnessing it would probably call it a curse.”

Ram was amazed by his insight.

“Do you want to examine it again?”

Terdin placed the dagger back down.

Ram picked it up and held it under the lamp, inspecting the wooden hilt.

There was no sign of a tiny needle, nor had he felt any pricking sensation while holding it.

Remembering something, he inspected the blade as well.

To his knowledge, there was no sign of poison on it.

“So, were you planning to stab me with this dagger?”

Terdin asked.

Ram put the dagger back down.

“I never had such thoughts.”

“Not even when you received the King’s orders?”

“No. Not even for a moment.”

He had calculated the possibility several times—it was his habit.

How could he kill the person in front of him?

Even now, he was subconsciously calculating it.

“Then why did you only speak up now?”

Terdin’s voice lacked its usual warmth.

Anyone would feel upset upon hearing about their possible death, especially when it involved their child.

What father could remain calm hearing that his son was involved in such a matter?n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

“I didn’t know what to do with the King’s command.”

Though Ram regretted speaking, he decided to lay everything bare since he had already started.

“If I disobeyed the command and died for it, so be it. I thought there was no need to burden you with it. But after thinking about it for days, I realized that if I died without telling you, I wouldn’t be able to protect you from the dangers that might follow. If I refused, the King would surely come up with another method. I wanted to warn you.”

Terdin scratched his chin.

His expression didn’t look particularly serious.

“Everyone in the royal court knows that King Gallant wants me dead. He must have hoped I’d die on the battlefield, but I keep winning, much to his frustration. So now he’s resorting to assassins? Using you, my own shadow? Did he think that would work?”

“He promised me land and a title. It’s enough to tempt someone.”

“But you weren’t tempted.”

“It means His Majesty assumed I might be.”

“And yet, you confessed to me instead. Did the King not consider that possibility? It’s strange that he would take such a risk. Don’t you think so?”

“I… I’m not sure.”

Ram struggled to keep up with Terdin’s thoughts.

He did, however, have one question.

“If wizards were involved in your assassination, why would they bother using me? If they are truly wizards, couldn’t they use some magic or sorcery to kill you anytime?”

Kura had infiltrated Ram’s barracks unnoticed.

With such abilities, killing Terdin would have been easy.

“Wizards don’t like to get directly involved in events. They prefer to manipulate them. Why appear in my son’s form? Or… is Astian actually this Kura wizard?”

Ram had been wondering the same thing and didn’t dare to respond hastily.

Terdin didn’t seem to expect an answer and shook his head.

“There’s a lot to think about. And… Ram.”

Only Terdin called him by his name these days.

It felt both comforting and unsettling, as if he held a secret over Ram.

Ram couldn’t disobey Terdin.

He had no reason to.

“It may sound like an old man’s lecture, but there’s something I want you to remember. It’ll be difficult. You’ll need a lot of experience for these words to truly resonate with you, but for now, just listen and keep them in mind.”

“Yes, General.”

“The moment you killed Mantum and brought me his head, you became someone who could be used by anyone. You’re a person who can kill anyone you want, which means you can become anyone’s enemy. The moment you refused the King’s orders and revealed them to me, you became the King’s enemy.”

“I understand.”

He could accept that.

“If you had followed the King’s orders, killed me, and returned to him, you would’ve been killed anyway. If you could kill me, it meant you could kill the King too.”

He understood that as well.

He already could.

He just hadn’t done it.

“Your power now is like that of the god of death. Everyone hopes the god of death is on their side, but no one truly wants to keep such a god close.”

‘Tanu… Tanu… Tanu…’

Suddenly, the song Olga had sung echoed in his head.

It wasn’t just a memory; it was her actual voice.

Could her singing have reached his sensitive ears from somewhere?

‘To keep living, you must keep killing. Who will I kill today to borrow life for tomorrow?’

Ram instinctively turned around.

All he saw was a closed door.

He strained his ears.

Only the faint sound of the cold northern wind reached him.

Terdin, oblivious to Ram’s unease, continued speaking.

“You will be used, Ram. Because of the extraordinary power you possess, you’ll always be in a position to be used. If you don’t want to be used, you’ll have to use others. But you don’t have the experience for that. The more you struggle to avoid others’ traps, the deeper you’ll fall into them. So, you have only one choice.”

Ram already knew the answer.

‘Trust no one. Obey only my own orders.’

It was the response Baron Selken had given him.

Ram also thought it was correct.

But Terdin gave an unexpected answer.

“Find someone to trust. And use your power only for that person.”

“Someone to trust?”

“If you were an ordinary warrior, I’d tell you to act according to your beliefs. But you can’t. You have too much dangerous power for that. I’ve seen countless people commit atrocities while believing they were acting in the name of righteousness. I don’t want you to become one of them.”

Rather than an answer, his words left Ram with even more questions.

A slave follows their master.

‘But I am no longer a slave. So now, am I supposed to find someone to trust and act according to their will?’

How does one dedicate their abilities solely for another?

‘And if what that trusted person believes to be right is actually evil, then what should I do?’

As always, when unsure, the first thing to do was to respond obediently.

"Yes, General."

[Translator - Night]

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"Do not tell anyone about this matter. Not even Prince Damion. If the prince hears that his father hired you to kill me, it will only add to his already troubled mind."

"Understood."

"And be cautious of Astian, whether he's in the guise of a wizard or appearing as my son."

Terdin's expression darkened as he spoke.

"Is there nothing I can do to assist you?"

"There is not. Your mission for tonight remains unchanged."

"Understood, General."

As Ram turned to leave, Terdin spoke again.

"You should take the sword. It's yours."

The word "yours" echoed unusually loudly in Ram's ears, as if a misperception.

‘Why does this sword keep coming to me?’

Ram couldn't help but think.

At the same time, he recalled something he had said to Hag.

‘You speak as if the sword is alive.’

Ram picked up the sword again and fastened it to his belt.

The commotion Ram had been hearing since leaving General Terdin's quarters continued until he entered the grand banquet hall.

It was the sound of a dispute between the knights of Born and the royal knights over who would guard which side of the hall.

Inside the hall were only a few people: Damion, Charlon, Jedrick, and the prince's shadow.

Ram wasn't sure when he had officially become the prince's shadow.

The royal knights were prohibited from guarding the inner hall.

This was because Lusef had not allowed Charlon to be surrounded by "men" from other kingdoms.

To him, whether they were Geron warriors or knights of the kingdom, they were all just men.

Lusef had wanted to act as Charlon's guard himself, but Charlon opposed it, arguing that it would appear as if they didn't trust the prince or that they doubted the Gerons.

In the end, Lusef requested that four of his Born knights be included in the guard.

This was his final condition, and it had to be accepted.

The matter was resolved with Terdin's mediation.

But when Ram arrived, the argument was still ongoing, as the Born knights insisted on guarding Charlon's bedroom.

The grand banquet hall had six adjoining bedrooms.

Charlon chose the innermost room, while Damion took the outermost.

This meant the Born knights would be stationed outside both Charlon’s and the prince's rooms.

The Triton knights protested, arguing that it was unacceptable for foreign knights to guard the prince's chambers.

"Then, to be fair, no one will be allowed inside the banquet hall! If you don’t like it, take it up with Lusef again, negotiate, and report back!"

Damion shouted, putting an end to the dispute.

As Ram waited, wondering whether he should summon General Terdin again, the knights barely reached a compromise.

However, they finally took issue with the sword Ram carried.

With both sides' knights absent, the fact that the prince's shadow was armed became a problem.

Exasperated by the complicated procedures and stubbornness of the knights, Damion ordered Ram to surrender his weapon.

Ram complied without resistance.

However, he still carried Maraka's dagger.

It wasn’t hidden, yet no one dared to take it from him.

This proved that Ram's armament was less about safety and more about pride.

Thus, with ten knights stationed outside, the only ones left inside the hall were Damion, Charlon, Jedrick, and Ram.

Jedrick and Ram were not given bedrooms, but neither of them minded.

Finally, everything was resolved, and Damion and Charlon retired to their respective rooms past midnight.

"Tanu? How do you know that name?"

Jedrick asked.

"Maraka said it as he was being dragged away,"

Ram replied, ensuring there was no one around with his ears.

Ram and Jedrick sat across from each other by the spot where the logs had burned during the feast.

"I'm not entirely sure about the pronunciation of 'Tanu.' As you know, it was noisy, and I’m not fluent in the Geron language. But I'm certain she said, 'kill….'"

Ram hesitated, unsure whether to mention that he’d also heard the name from Olga.

‘How much can I reveal? How much must I keep hidden?’

As an assassin for Baron Selken, everything had been simple—stay silent when required, speak when ordered.

But now, he had to think for himself.

"Kill Tanu…"

Jedrick repeated the words before continuing, as though it was of no great importance.

"We have many gods. Akamantum, the god of war and fire. Glon, the god of prosperity. Munhom, the god of wind and thunder. Ablim, the god of ice and rivers. Nanan, the god of the earth. Ramelon, the god of the sky. Raham, the father of gods. Krena, the mother of gods…"

Jedrick placed a few dry logs on the now-charred brazier and continued,

"Among them is a god even the others fear and avoid—Tanu, the god of unavoidable death."

"Can you tell me more about Tanu?"

"It's a long story. To fully understand, you'd need to know the relationships between all the sibling gods. But if I cut to just the part about Tanu, it’ll be a dull tale. Is that all right?"

Jedrick seemed to hint at potential trouble, but Ram didn’t care about entertainment.

"That’s fine."

"It’s a complicated story, so I’ll have to explain it in Geron. Otherwise, I might confuse myself. Is that okay?"

"I’ll do my best to follow."

Jedrick glanced at Ram, as if confirming his readiness, and began the lengthy myth.

"Tanu was the youngest of the children born to Raham, the supreme god…"

[Translator - Night]

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