Juan clicked his tongue.

“Then the rumors will spread even more quickly; after all, those bastards never shut their mouths.”

“I agree. According to the intelligence report I received, rumors about ‘the black-haired beast who spews out flames and can melt all the weapons’ spread almost instantly. Do you happen to know fire-breathing techniques?” Hela asked.

“Something like that. What’s the possibility that these rumors will be a problem in the future?”

“I’d say it’s very low. The rumors are only spreading among the rebels anyway. The rebels who have been encroached upon by the Crack are the enemies of the Church, and they are also the enemies of the Imperial Army. There’s no way the Church and the Imperial Army will trust those rumors,” Hela explained.

Juan nodded his head.

The story of the black-haired beast would remain unknown to the rest of the empire unless the Church and the Imperial Army were colluding with the rebels.

***

The candlelight flickered ominously inside a room in an abandoned building that didn’t even have a ceiling.

“‘A black-haired beast,’ huh? It looks like that bastard got another new nickname associated with him,” Suvole, a member of the Order of the Capital spoke in a joyful voice while looking at the map that was placed on the desk in front of him.

In front of Suvole were two people who looked at him with uncomfortable expressions. One of them, a man with a black beard and scarred face, glared at Suvole while holding a two-handed axe which was as large as his body...