Harghent the Still

Anime

**Harghent the Still** (静寂なるハルゲント, *Seijaku naru Harugento*) is the Sixth General of the Twenty-Nine Officials of Aureatia. Over the course of the series, he plays a major role in both the war against Lithia and the Sixways Exhibition held in Aureatia.

## Appearance

In the novels, he is described as an aging man who has lost the physical fitness of his younger days. The anime depicts him with dark, greying hair and a neat mustache, with a blue tunic and red cape serving as his uniform.

## Profile

Harghent the Still is the Sixth General of the Twenty-Nine Officials of Aureatia. He has a strong sense of honor, but is mocked as a "Wing Clipper" due to his tendency to take on mundane and low-risk wyvern extermination missions. He is a highly trained military officer with a wealth of experience in anti-air combat. Despite his low standing among the Twenty-Nine Officials, Harghent is an extremely ambitious man who seeks greater heights of power and renown. He understands his own lack of talent and intelligence, but is nonetheless willing to charge headfirst into dangerous situations when his own values demand it.

He has a close but strained relationship with Alus the Star Runner, whom he views as his sworn rival. During his younger days, he had encountered the mutant wyvern and sheltered him for a time, but after hearing of his later exploits Harghent's feelings would sour into a deep and enduring jealousy.

## Role

Harghent first appears in Volume 1 when he and his soldiers travel to Tileet Ravine seeking to kill the wounded dragon Vikeon the Smoldering. Despite bringing over thirty men along with him, Hargent's forces are swiftly annihilated by the powerful dragon. Cornered, the general tries to challenge Vikeon by himself, but is interrupted by the arrival of Alus the Star Runner, who engages the dragon in battle. A frustrated Harghent repeatedly tries to shoot Alus down during the battle, but to no avail.

After Vikeon is slain, Alus and Harghent briefly discuss the upcoming Sixways Exhibition. Harghent dares Alus to enter, but refuses to sponsor him, claiming that he can't win any glory by relying on the wyvern's strength. Alus accepts this fact, and conveys his deep respect to the general before he leaves.

Following his failed expedition, Harghent returns to the fortress in Mage City, where he meets with his fellow Official Hidow the Clamp. The two leaders argue over the situation, but are interrupted when Taren fires the Cold Star at their castle. As Lithia's wyvern army descends upon the city, Harghent leaves the fortress to rally troops against the attack, moving on his own despite being harshly berated by Hidow. When he appears on the battlefield, the besieged Mage City soldiers quickly identify him as a general of Aureatia and rally under his command. Before he can come up with a plan, however, Alus the Star Runner arrives once again to decimate the wyvern army. Angry and humiliated, Harghent nonetheless takes advantage of the situation to break through the siege and march directly on the New Principality.

Upon arriving at Lithia, Harghent's forces are able to infiltrate the city after its defensive lines are annihilated by Nihilo the Vortical Stampede. The battle quickly shifts in Aureatia's favor as Taren's champions are defeated by the various Shura, and Harghent makes his way directly to the city's central hub, seeking to kill the enemy commander Regnejee the Wings of Sunset. Despite having the wyvern at his mercy, however, he is stopped by the intervention of Curte of the Fair Skies, whose selfless protection of her friend causes him to hesitate. Regnejee then attacks Harghent, only to be shot through the neck along with Curte by Alus, who was watching the confrontation from afar. Having lost his quarry once again, Harghent falls to the floor and breaks down with fury and regret.

In Volume 2, he travels to Igania Ice Lake in the company of Lagrex the Butchering Landslide, looking for the legendary dragon Lucunoca the Winter. Though Lagrex seeks to prove his strength by slaying the dragon with the general as witness, Harghent's true purpose is to recruit Lucunoca as his champion for the Sixways Exhibition.

The harsh environment proves difficult to traverse, and he soon begins to despair that the dragon may not exist at all. Lagrex drags him on, however, and the two then encounter Lucunoca in the flesh. The dragon greets them with friendliness and apologizes for her lack of hospitality, shocking both men. Harghent accuses her as cowardice for refusing to fight Lagrex, but Lucunoca simply surrenders on the spot, no longer caring enough about her reputation to bother facing her latest challenger. An angry Lagrex attacks her regardless, and fails to land a single strike. Harghent urges him to stop, but the swordsman persists and is grievously injured for his efforts. Harghent then throws himself between the warrior and the dragon, telling Lucunoca that he now understands her disappointment with the challengers who faced her before. When he tells her about Alus the Star Runner and his many feats, the dragon's curiosity is piqued, and she agrees to travel with Harghent to Aureatia.

## Abilities

Though he is regarded as one of the less important members among the Twenty-Nine officials, Harghent is nonetheless an experienced military leader capable of effectively commanding large numbers of soldiers. During the attack on Mage City, he is able to quickly assume command of the defending troops, and lead them in a reckless but ultimately effective counterattack on Lithia. While other Aureatian leaders often criticize him for his low mental acuity and lack of forethought, his nonetheless demonstrates great courage in the face of danger, earning him the respect of such figures as Alus the Star Runner and Lucunoca the Winter.

As a general, Harghent is specialized in wyvern extermination, having personally led hundreds of expeditions to deal with roving wyvern swarms. His tactics involve the coordinated use of marksmen and Word Arts users to trap his targets outside of their nests and finish them off at range, a strategy that has proven extremely effective over his many engagements. When Mage City was attacked by Regnejee's wyvern army, Harghent immediately identified the methods and strategies they were using thanks to his prior experience fighting their species. Later, during the assault on Lithia, he pinpointed Regnejee's position amidst the chaos and tracked him down to a spire in the central district.

Though an aged man, Harghent remains physically fit enough to traverse the hostile landscape of Igania Ice Lake alongside Lagrex the Butchering Landslide. The anime depicts him carrying a sword, and in the novels he wields a musket when confronting Regnejee the Wings of Sunset. He was skilled enough to survive the battle in Lithia and make his way directly to its central hub, despite the presence of enemy soldiers and the raging fires spread by Alus. Additionally, Harghent can use Craft Arts to shape steel from his homeland into mechanical bows the size of a horse-drawn carriage, a weapon he calls the Dragon Slayer ballista. Harghent is able to fire this massive bow unaided, but requires time to reload between successive shots.