Turning
Chapter 93
第九十三章

"I have a rough idea of whom my brother might have sided with. The Apeto Duchy has been trying to expand its power in the east these days."
我大概知道我兄弟可能站在哪一方。最近阿佩托公国一直在东部扩张势力。

Upon hearing this, Gakane glanced slightly towards Devran. He could see Devran nodding, signifying his agreement with Zachlis's assessment.
听到这话，加卡内略微朝德夫兰瞥了一眼。他看到德夫兰点头，表示同意扎克利斯的评价。

"I also heard that name when I was captured."
我被俘虏时也听到过那个名字。

"I see. Apeto..."  我明白了。Apeto...

‘Could those that Yuder is currently facing also be of this family?’ Gakane didn't know much about the Apeto Duchy, but he decided to include the name in the letter he would send to Kishiar.
尤德目前面临的问题，也属于这个家族吗？加卡内对阿佩托公国了解不多，但他决定在写给基西亚的信中包含这个名字。

"I am truly sorry for failing to resolve the troubles within our household in a timely manner, causing many people to commit irreversible sins. Especially you, Devran, I have nothing to say."
我真心为未能及时解决家庭问题而感到抱歉，导致许多人犯下不可逆转的罪过。尤其是你，德夫兰，我无话可说。

When Zachlis made an apologetic knightly salute, not just Devran, but all the commoner Awakeners were taken aback. They hadn't expected him to go so far.
当扎克利斯做出一个歉意的骑士礼时，不仅德兰，所有平民觉醒者都吃了一惊。他们没想到他会做得这么彻底。

"Well... Zachlis, you didn't sell me out."
嗯……Zachlis，你没有出卖我。

"Still, your father and Dermilla could have died. Had I been here, such a thing wouldn't have happened...."
然而，你父亲和德米拉本可以死掉。如果我在那里，就不会发生这种事……

Seeing him apologize so formally left Devran no room to act coldly towards him. Devran sighed heavily, glanced at his younger sister standing behind him, and lowered his head.
看到他如此正式地道歉，德夫兰无法对他冷淡。德夫兰重重地叹了口气，瞥了站在他身后的妹妹一眼，低下头。

"Hasn't Lord Zachlis also lost family members? It's alright. My family and I are all still alive."
扎克利斯大人也失去家人了吗？没关系。我和家人一切安好。

From what Gakane could see, Zachlis seemed more upset about the injuries inflicted upon his lover and her family than the death of his own.
从加卡内看到的情况来看，扎克利斯似乎对爱人和家人受到的伤害比自己死亡更难过。

It wasn't surprising that familial love wasn't deep in most noble families, but it was clear that his feelings towards Dermilla were sincere.
贵族家庭的亲情大多不深，这并不令人意外，但他对德米拉的感情却很真挚。

"Lord Zachlis, may we borrow a messenger bird for a moment? I believe we need to write a report to our Commander immediately."
扎克利斯大人，我们能否借用一下信鸽？我们相信需要立即向指挥官提交报告。

"Of course. I need to contact the knight's order as well. I suspect I'll be here for a while."
当然。我需要联系骑士团。我想我还会在这里待一段时间。

Zachlis declared that he would keep Zakail locked in his room until this matter was settled. At his command, servants entered the reception room with anxious expressions and escorted Zakail, who had been freed from the shadow clone, out of the room.
扎克利宣称，他将把扎凯尔锁在房间里，直到此事解决。在他的命令下，仆人们带着焦虑的表情进入接待室，将从影子分身中解脱出来的扎凯尔带出了房间。

Zakail was led away, looking half dazed, as if he believed that his brother might actually accept the position of Lord of Hartan.
扎凯尔被带走，看起来迷迷糊糊的，仿佛他相信他哥哥真的会接受哈坦领主的职位。

"Devran, let's go up and write a letter to the Commander. Jimmy, take good care of everyone here, make sure nothing happens."
德兰，我们上去给指挥官写封信。吉米，好好照顾这里所有人，确保万无一失。

"Will do."  会的。

Jimmy's face was full of resolve as he gripped the hilt of the sword on his waist. If it had been earlier, his stance would have been seen as cute, a spectacle for laughter, but no one laughed after seeing the sword aura Jimmy exuded.
吉米脸上充满了决心，他紧紧握住腰间剑柄。要是早些时候，他的姿势看起来会很可爱，引人发笑，但没有人在他散发剑气后笑出声来。

Following Zachlis's guidance, Gakane borrowed a messenger bird that only those working at the Hartan lord's castle could use. He tried to write the letter as briefly as possible, combining what Devran said and what he had found out, but there was so much to cover that it took longer than expected.
跟随扎克利斯指示，加卡内借来只有哈尔坦领主城堡内人员才能使用的信鸟。他尽量简短地写信，将德夫兰所说和自己查明的情况结合起来，但要涵盖的内容太多，因此花的时间比预期的长。

"It's a bit of a waste. It would've been nice if Kanna was here."
有点浪费。如果可奈在这里就好了。

"Huh? Kanna? Ah, the deputy commander of Jung Division?"
嗯？卡娜？啊，荣部副指挥官？

When Gakane murmured, stopping his letter-writing for a moment as a thought occurred to him, Devran looked at him with a puzzled expression.
当加佳内喃喃自语，暂停写信，一个想法涌上心头时，德夫兰困惑地望着他。

"Ah, the ability to read the information contained in objects would have been a big help if I had it here. If Kanna had seen Lord Zachlis's letter, we would have immediately known who wrote it, and we would have known sooner where you were taken. It was a bit tricky to get information since the people of this village wouldn't speak."
啊，如果我能读取物体中的信息，那在这里会有很大的帮助。如果卡娜看到了扎克里斯勋爵的信，我们就能立刻知道是谁写的，也能更早地知道你被带到哪里去了。从这个村子的居民那里获取信息有点棘手，因为他们不愿意说话。

At first, he thought it was just a small incident, but he didn't expect it to grow so unexpectedly. Who would have thought that the disappearance of Devran before coming here would involve a surprising group like the Apeto Duchy?
起初，他只认为是一件小事，但他没想到会发展得如此出乎意料。谁会想到德夫兰在来这里之前失踪，会牵扯到像阿佩托公国这样令人惊讶的团体？

'This might become bigger than I thought.'
这可能比我想象的更大。

But, having accomplished the original objective of finding Devran and keeping him safe, their task here was done. If things escalated further, Gakane knew it was to be left to the Commander, Kishiar.
但是，完成了寻找德夫兰并确保他安全的最初目标后，他们此行的任务就完成了。如果情况进一步恶化，加卡内知道要留给基希亚指挥官处理。

'I wonder if Yuder will be okay on his own against the people of the Apeto Duchy... especially when he's alone with the bandit leader. Even knowing he's strong, I'm suddenly worried.'
我想知道尤德独自对抗阿佩托公国的人们是否会没事……尤其是当他与土匪头子单独在一起的时候。即使知道他很强，我突然开始担心了。

Gakane watched the flying messenger bird carrying the letter until it completely disappeared from sight, and then turned.
加卡内看着飞信使鸟带着信直到它完全消失，然后转身。

"Let's go, Devran."  走吧，德夫兰。

"Are we leaving immediately as planned?"
我们是否如计划一样立即离开？

"We have to."  我们必须。

"Hmm..."  嗯...

Gakane tilted his head at the lukewarm low hum from Devran.
加卡内歪着头看着德夫兰发出的温热低沉的嗡嗡声。

"What's the matter? Is there something bothering you?"
怎么了？有什么困扰你吗？

"Well... the reason we wanted to escape here was because we thought Zakail would be alone. But now that Lord Zachlis is here and the situation has changed... there's no need to immediately leave with the injured, is there?"
嗯……我们想逃到这里的原因是，我们以为扎凯尔会一个人。但现在扎克利斯大人来了，情况改变了……没必要立刻带着伤员离开，是吗？

Devran suggested that it might be more comfortable for them to join Yuder here. Gakane couldn't help but consider this for a moment.
德兰建议他们到这里和尤德一起可能会更舒服。加卡内不禁考虑了片刻。

"I'm fine with these injuries, but there are others who need proper care..."
我对于这些伤势没什么，但其他人需要得到妥善的照顾……

'He's got a point.'  他说的有道理。

If they left, Zachlis would have to monitor Zakail alone, and if anything happened to Yuder, they wouldn't be able to rush to his aid immediately. Gakane pondered for a moment before responding.
如果他们走了，扎克利斯就不得不单独监视扎凯尔，如果尤德发生了什么事，他们就不能立即赶去帮助他。加卡内思考了一会儿才回答。

"Alright, we'll stay here just for tonight, have a proper meal, and..."
好吧，我们今晚就在这里住下，好好吃一顿，然后……

"Gakane, Devran!"  加卡内，德夫兰！

Just then, the door burst open with the sound of hurried footsteps from outside. An excited Jimmy rushed in and gestured at Gakane and Devran.
这时，门突然被外面急促的脚步声撞开了。一个兴奋的吉米冲了进来，并指着加卡内和德夫兰。

"Come out quickly. There's another huge fire in the mountains!"
快出来！山里又着大火！

"What?"  “什么？”

"It's a fire that broke out much further than before. I think Yuder might be..."
这是一场比以前更猛烈的火灾。我想尤德可能……

Before Jimmy could finish, Gakane rushed outside. The place they visited to send the messenger bird was located right under the highest roof of Hartan Castle, so as soon as they went out, the outside scenery was clearly visible.
吉米还没说完，加卡内就冲了出去。他们用来寄信的信鸟的地方位于哈尔坦城堡最高屋顶的正下方，所以一出去，外面的景色就清晰可见。

And just as Jimmy said, in the distant mountains, an enormous pillar of fire was shooting up, as if it was trying to pierce the sky.

"With that size... everyone in this area must have seen it."

Devran, who had followed Gakane, murmured in astonishment at the sight of the fire.

"Devran, could you make a fire that big?"

"No. The biggest fire I can make is about the size of the one from earlier. That... to be honest, it's beyond imagination. Even if we gathered all the Awakeners with fire control ability from the Cavalry..."

It was Yuder. Yuder must have caused it. Gakane's intuition flared sharply.

"Yuder. What on earth is happening there...?"

When Yuder Aile stepped into the spacious chamber at the very back of the cave, the scene inside wasn't much different from what he had expected. The familiar Warden and a few of his cronies were seated in a circle, chatting idly.

"We should probably drain some energy out of that noble brat before questioning him at dawn. You handle it, No.3. And has there been any communication from headquarters yet?"

"Unless there are unforeseen issues, we should hear something by today..."

"Huh? Who's there?"

The man who had noticed Yuder and Nahan's entrance opened his mouth in surprise. Yuder raised his hand and gave a light swing before they could fully comprehend the situation.

"Argh!"

The cave was instantly thrown into disarray by a sudden whirlwind. All the people and items inside were swept into the air, frantically fluttering about. In the midst of this chaos, screams echoed throughout the cavern.

"Save me!"

"What's happening!"

Yuder watched those who were made a mess of, colliding with flying furniture within the whirlwind, for a while. Suddenly, he felt a tingling pain rising from one hand and lowered his head.

'What's this?'

But the situation was not relaxed enough to inspect it right away, so he quickly diverted his attention. When he thought he had sufficiently stirred things up, he quieted the wind. Amidst the shattered furniture and the jumbled mess of people, they dropped to the ground, groaning.

"Ahh... Ahh...!"

"My, my arm...!"

"Nahan. Gather them all together. I'll tie them up."

"Quick and simple. I suppose there might not be another in the world who could subdue this many people so easily, save for you brother."

Despite being told numerous times not to refer to him as brother, Nahan never seemed to get the hint and endlessly repeated the same thing. But there were more pressing matters than correcting him at the moment, so Yuder just scowled slightly and focused on the task at hand.

Once he had tied up all the fallen men and gathered them in one place, he counted seven in total. Among them, the Awakeners who had fought against Kiolle under the Warden's order were knocked unconscious by a blow to the back of the neck, and separately quarantined.

The Warden and his subordinates, who had watched the entire process unfold flawlessly, were petrified with fear, unable to fathom the identities of Yuder and Nahan.

"You... who the hell are you? Who sent you...!"

"That's not important."

Yuder walked towards the Warden, whose face was swollen from getting hit by the broken furniture.

"I'm short on time, so let's make this brief. Do you work for the Apeto Ducal Family?"

"...Kill us!"

Ignoring Yuder's question, the Warden shouted with his toothless mouth.

"Whoever you are, we will never talk. Just kill us!"

'So quick to ask for death.'

The sight of these men, who had not only captured innocent Awakeners to use as tools of power struggle but also attached low-quality bombs to their backs, puffing up their chests and squawking bravely after a minor beating, was absurdly amusing.