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I climbed the back mountain again with Saladin.

As we ascended the mountain path, Saladin opened his mouth in disbelief.

“What’s with needing to consult again? It’s barely been any time since we came down!”

“It’s more efficient to do it this way than to sit and talk. After eating, you need to exercise.”

“Damn….”

I thought it was a decent idea, but it seemed otherwise to Saladin.

Honestly, as I hiked the mountain with Saladin, I was surprisingly amazed.

I had no idea Instructor Rilya’s consultation would be this effective. All I did was follow her advice and eat.

When I abruptly asked for a consultation, I even found myself momentarily at a loss for words.

What in the world had changed in his mindset?

“Gah, gah…!”

Saladin seemed determined not to speak during the hike, slowly catching his breath and quietly continuing up the mountain.

Was he embarrassed to be climbing the back mountain now with an instructor when he had just come here to escape? His face reddened, and he walked with a grim expression.

The back mountain wasn’t large, so it didn’t take long to reach the top.

After arriving at our destination, Saladin paused to catch his breath and sat back down in the shade of the tree where we had just been.

Though we were in the same place with the same person, the atmosphere felt significantly different than before.

Saladin remained silent for quite a while after reaching the summit. He sat quietly looking at the scenery while I leaned against the tree, waiting for him to be ready to talk.

Saladin’s gaze had remained fixed on one spot.

I followed his line of sight. There was a part of the forest that had been brutally torn apart in a straight line.

Saladin slowly spoke, looking at the scene of destruction I had created.

“Has the instructor ever felt powerless?”

I didn’t answer that question. I had a feeling his tone was not one that wanted a reply.

Whether my assumption was right, Saladin posed the question and then immediately continued gravely.

“I feel that way every day. Not a single day goes by.”

Saladin’s voice was quiet, but it carried deep emotions that had been suppressed for a long time.

I asked as calmly as I could, “Why?”

“…Because I was born the son of a concubine.”

For a moment, I was taken aback. Were we really going back to the beginning?

I had a feeling the conversation would take a long time.

I almost regretted saying I would listen to him, but I maintained a neutral expression on the outside.

Saladin took a deep breath and began his long tale.

“The Al Kamil Kingdom exists by the principle of survival of the fittest. The most suitable heir inherits everything, and the Sultan doesn’t share his power with his brothers. My mother had many other children, and only one can become the heir… So the competition for succession among princes is only natural. Losing means death.”

“There must be more than one sibling. Do they kill them all?”

“Haha… You don’t believe it, do you? But the Sultan never leaves his brothers alive. That’s the custom of the kingdom. There was even a Sultan who, right after ascending to the throne, killed all nineteen of his brothers.”

“…….”

Hearing that it was a tradition of the kingdom made it hard for me to chime in, but my brow furrowed involuntarily.

As Instructor Rilya said, being born into royalty in Al Kamil was certainly not a good thing.

Saladin continued with a dry face.

“My mother had a low status even within the Sultan’s harem. Though she was bestowed as a prince as the firstborn son, he was just a nominal title without any support base. So it’s only natural that I was overshadowed by the younger siblings who were born after me.”

“Younger siblings?”

“…The Second Prince Adil. Unlike me, he had everything.”

Saladin spoke through clenched lips. His eyes were filled with rage as if talking about a sworn enemy rather than a younger brother.

“He’s called a genius with exceptional swordsmanship, and he received support from my mother’s family. He was also favored by the Sultan. He’s cold-hearted and has casually killed his brothers for power.”

“Hmm….”

From the way he spoke, it sounded like this Adil was presumably the leading candidate to be the next Sultan of the Al Kamil Kingdom.

I nodded and said, “Did you come to the Empire because you were overshadowed by your brother?”

“…I wasn’t always overshadowed from the beginning. It was a tough situation, but I was still the First Prince, and there were people who supported me through it. My master, my mother’s friends…”

Saladin bit his teeth and slammed the ground.

His voice was filled with anger and resentment.

“They all died because of the war against the Demon King. If the Empire and the Legions had provided support, maybe they could have survived…!!”

“…….”

I crossed my arms and remained silent.

To be honest, I had some empathy for what happened during the war.

Of course, it wasn’t that the Human Alliance ignored Al Kamil Kingdom’s request for aid when they had the ability.

The Demon King’s Army, which charged from the north, invaded all human nations adjacent to the continent and later even conducted guerrilla attacks on the rear.

In a situation where every corner was a battlefield, no one had the luxury to spare. Neither I nor the other Seven Heroes of the continent or the Human Alliance could take a single moment of breather while desperately fighting against the invasion of the Demon King’s Army.

However, it was also a clear fact that the Empire and the allied nations intentionally neglected the Al Kamil Kingdom with the aim of prioritizing and defending their own land.

The upper echelons of the allied nations, including the Empire, claim it’s not true, but everyone who knows the truth knows it.

Since I was one of those who knew the truth, I decided to respect Saladin’s stance.

After briefly releasing his frustration, Saladin shook his head as if shaking something off.

“…There’s no use telling the instructor this. Anyway, after the war, my foundation dwindled, and the answers were not forthcoming. At that time, a few supportive people told me, you know? I should at least save my life and escape to the Empire…”

He clenched his hands tightly and trembled.

“I… I wanted to live. I didn’t want to die so meaninglessly.”

As he spoke, Saladin gripped his wrist, as if he might crush it. From that gesture, I could feel the vague fear of death and the inexplicable strong guilt he carried.

The reason for his guilt became immediately clear.

With a dark expression, Saladin finally spoke with great difficulty.

“I left my younger sibling in my homeland.”

“I don’t think you’re talking about Adil.”

“…Not him, my younger sister. Her name is Sicila.”

“Is she your real sister?”

“No, she has a different mother. But what does that matter? In that suffocating royal family, she was the one who let me endure my life. In that hellish place, she was practically my only hope…”

“…….”

The only hope in a hellish place.

That phrase made someone’s face flash through my mind. I intentionally erased that face and refocused on Saladin’s story.

Saladin twisted his face as he continued speaking.

“However… I lost contact with her not long ago. I thought Adil wouldn’t touch her since a woman cannot become Sultan…!”

Despair flooded Saladin’s face. His voice carried distinct self-blame and regrets.

“I was foolish. I should have figured out a way to bring Sicila to the Empire… I should have escaped with her by any means necessary! You fool, idiot, that moron…!!”

His furious curses were directed not at anyone else but himself.

Saladin wiped his face with his hands. I could see the tears welling up slowly in his twisted expression.

Seeing that, I turned my head as if I hadn’t seen anything and gazed at the floating clouds.

Saladin silently wept without a sound, trembling shoulders only outlining his sobs.

Under the clear sky and flowing clouds, only the muffled cries of one man continued for quite some time.

And shortly after.

Having finally poured out emotions he had been holding back, Saladin seemed to have calmed down a little, and with reddened eyes, he spoke.

“Instructor… um…”

“Hmm?”

“What is it… thank you…”

It was a whisper as tiny as an ant crawling.

I could hear that tiny sound, but I pretended not to and said, “I didn’t catch that.”

“I-I said thank you! Ugh, damn…!”

Saladin rubbed his reddened eyes with his arm.

Then, in a much calmer tone, he continued.

“It felt like I was speaking to a wall because you didn’t say anything, but it was actually quite nice. You didn’t pity or criticize me, and it felt just right… Somehow, it turned into not a consultation but a lament, but anyway, it feels better to confide in someone.”

“…I see.”

To be honest, it was a bit awkward to see a man being shy, but I was relieved that, as my student, he seemed to have lightened his burden somewhat.

“Did you miss class because of your younger sister?”

Saladin scratched the back of his head and said, “Yeah, well… Because I lost contact, I wrote a letter to the few remaining subordinates, and I received a reply this morning stating that she hasn’t been seen in the royal palace… I couldn’t focus on class at all.”

“Hmm….”

“There’s no need to look at me that way. I thought it over calmly, and if she’s missing and not executed, there’s still a chance she’s alive, right? Sicila might have escaped by herself…”

Well. Even the First Prince Saladin barely managed to escape to the Empire with help; could a powerless, unsupported princess flee the royal palace on her own?

The possibility seemed quite slim, but I chose not to mention it.

Saladin must know better than anyone about that.

“I thought about it, and even if I go back to the kingdom now, I’d just die in vain. To avoid that, I need to get stronger.”

Saladin said, looking at the traces of destruction etched in the distant forest.

“If I get strong enough like that… I might never lose my precious people again.”

“…….”

I momentarily lost my words at that statement. While I pondered what answer I should give, Saladin seemed to find his own answer in my silence and nodded as he spoke.

“I’ll focus in class from now on without doing unnecessary things. I might talk to the class if I feel like it…”

Saladin spoke with a somewhat nonchalant expression, trying to hide his embarrassment.

Seeing him like that, I slowly opened my mouth.

“You asked me earlier if I ever felt powerless.”

“Yeah? Um… Well… I have.”

I nodded slightly.

“Yeah, I have.”

Saladin’s eyes widened in surprise.

“You too, instructor? Well, you probably weren’t strong from the beginning… So what did you do?”

“I worked hard to get stronger.”

Just like you are now.

At that, Saladin’s eyes brightened as he said, “Oh, really? Hearing that makes me feel a little better.”

Saladin grinned with a cocky expression.

“So you went through a phase like I did, huh?”

*

After the lengthy consultation, I returned to the dormitory with Saladin.

Saladin submitted his afternoon absence report, but I still had classes to attend, so I took the tram to the Lecture Building.

Then, suddenly, a voice echoed in my head.

“Ion.”

I quietly closed my eyes, attempting to erase the voice.

Because I knew this was just a simple hallucination.

However, after the consultation with Saladin, her face and voice, which I had been trying to forget, gradually resurfaced in my mind.

“It’s not your fault, Ion.”

If Ella smiled brightly like the sun, she had become my only hope, shining alone like a star in deep darkness.

“Please, Ion.”

Once, she had been my only light.

“Please… don’t get up anymore.”

Now she had become my other nightmare.

 

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