97 - Episode 23: The Fiery Conclusion and the Fools on the Tightrope
Suddenly, he noticed the blue sky.
Realizing he was lying flat on his back, Richter dragged his heavy body up.
"Ah... damn it, that brat, show some restraint, you idiot. Ow, ow..."
Just complaining sent pain coursing through his entire body, making him grimace. This was despite the fact that just before being blown toward the city walls, he had propelled himself, and further, fired a residual light at zero range into the wall to destroy it and attenuate the impact.
Looking down, he saw that his armor was crushed into the shape of a fist, allowing him to gauge the weight of that single blow. This is useless now, he thought, as he removed the armor while enduring the pain. It was a good thing he had chosen half-plate for the sake of mobility. If he had worn full-plate for the sake of vanity like an ordinary noble, it would have been difficult even to stand up, let alone remove it himself.
"With this, it's mostly settled. I'm leaving Mule with a nasty role, but this is for the best..."
The order he gave to Mule Grey, the Vice-Commander of the First Knight Order, was to take the opportunity to lead his subordinates and strike down the nobles of the Prime Minister's faction. Moreover, it was an official order signed jointly by Richter, Gardel, and Julia Radock.
In truth, even before the civil war, though not directly, he had been leaking information to the Radock territory. Otherwise, there is no way the head of the house would have appeared so timely immediately after Lumilia fled to the Radock territory. He likely used that to verify the accuracy of the information. After that, although they used cryptograms, they communicated normally.
Within that, he taught her Gardel's plan, yet Julia accepted without agitation. She had likely foreseen it through the Prime Minister's actions and interactions up until then. Although she made a sarcastic comment that cleaning up after a great purge takes effort, she did not refuse.
Looking ahead, in the image projected in the sky, he spotted Julia singing and dancing with an expressionless face, yet somehow more enthusiastically than expected, and he felt a slight anxiety, wondering if she was alright.
"Now, there's the idiot disciple. I wonder if that girl is still hesitating..."
Similarly, in the image, he found Shannon singing in a half-desperate manner, and with a sigh, he slowly stood up, using his spear as a cane.
She is a half-baked person, that has been his impression for a long time.
With a body where one cannot tell if they are a woman or a man, she takes up a spear while identifying as a woman. These are the times. There is no objection to a woman wielding a weapon. However, Richter hated those eyes that looked as if she had given up on something.
He deliberately chose not to ask the reason. He could vaguely guess, and surely, the one who could somehow come to terms with it was not Richter, but Shannon herself.
However, Richter was not cold-hearted enough to leave her alone, so he paid attention to various things... and as a result, he grew fond of her.
To call it longing, the protective instinct was too strong. To call it love, their positions were in the way. Even to fulfill it, the situation was too complicated.
And in any case, Shannon did not look at Richter with those kinds of eyes.
If Richter had been a boy of age, he would have ignored the other's feelings and gone to snatch her away without looking aside. On top of that, he would have gone to search for a way to lift the curse of that magic spear. But he was too old to do that. He was no longer in a position to act on a whim.
He is already thirty. At this age, he has experienced all sorts of romance. Therefore, he knows the hidden sides and ugliness of women, and he drove a wedge into his feelings, telling himself he was simply attracted to Shannon because she was not yet fully grown.
Beyond that, the only option left for him was a small amount of meddling. But he thought that was fine. Since he had sided with the Prime Minister's faction, the house of Centaur would no longer exist. If so, as a man, he would stand as a wall to be overcome before the woman he fell for last, and carve himself into her heart as an opponent she eventually defeated.
That was the only selfishness permitted to Richter Centaur.
"Either way, I'll be in trouble if she doesn't hold out for one more battle..."
As he began to walk unsteadily, his body screamed from the core. He spat out saliva that tasted of iron, and it was mixed with a considerable amount of blood. There were not many external wounds, but he guessed from years of experience that his internal organs were damaged. He clicked his tongue inwardly. Without a doubt, that final chain attack, the Achilles Special, was the cause.
"That red-haired brat. It's one thing to break the armor, but don't break my internal organs too..."
I should catch a recovery mage or look for a potion first, he grumbled, and just as he turned the corner of a residential house...
Three shadows entered his vision.
"Ah."
One was a fox-beastman girl holding a talisman. One was an elf girl carrying a magic tool called a magic gun. And the other was a human girl holding a spiked mace.
They seemed to have recognized Richter as well, showing surprised expressions for a moment, but then they nodded to each other.
"Dieeeee!!"
"Wait a minuteeeee!!"
The first strike wins! Facing Saint Lilitia (Berserker) who leaped at him with a mace in one hand, the battle-worn Richter instinctively threw away his spear.
●
"If I lose, lead the unit, take the heads of the generals, and go suppress the Prime Minister. It's fine, that old man has agreed."
When Mule heard those words from Richter the previous day, he guessed the general flow of things.
Originally, he had thought the series of events was strange. Although Mule possessed a family name, his origin was that of a commoner. Even from that position, the man known as Prime Minister Gardel Vertex was a hardcore conservative. No matter how much the ritual four years ago had failed, and especially while the successor of the previous king was alive, he had looked with skeptical eyes at whether one could switch sides so easily.
And with the name of Julia Radock written on the order, he became convinced that this commotion was a farce.
"Ignore the soldiers! If we drop the heads of the nobles, this war ends!!"
While shouting exhortations to his subordinates, he drove the nobles' soldiers away with a sword in one hand. They were pitifully weak soldiers. If he showed them by killing a few, they would hesitate and retreat.
(So this is how it is, Commander...)
By this point, he could understand that what they were trying to do was a great purge of the old regime. And that heroes for the new regime were necessary. The intellectual part would likely be filled by Count Radock. The problem was the martial part.
Until now, Richter had occupied that seat. There were likely strong individuals like Shannon in the royalist faction, but if asked if they could unite the trained First Knight Order, he would tilt his head. Shannon, in terms of position, was in the Imperial Guard, specializing in escorting rather than unit operation. And at that age, she would likely be looked down upon.
That is where Mule was brought up. Having been registered in the First Knight Order for a long time, he had climbed to the position of Vice-Commander through hard work without any backing. He tended to be hidden in Richter's shadow, but his own ability was among the best in the kingdom. He likely judged that it would be less chaotic to promote him directly rather than having the power of the First Knight Order diminished by being carved up like a pie among local nobles after the civil war ended.
"Capture the Prime Minister alive! The figurehead must be executed by our King!!"
To make that happen, he needed achievements. A gift to show that he had switched to the royalist faction, rather than being part of the Prime Minister's faction.
However, that simultaneously meant bearing the stigma of a traitor. There were likely means prepared to handle it politically, but outspoken people would undoubtedly despise Mule as a traitor.
He remembered Richter's face when he handed over the jointly signed order.
A slight sense of apology and a tired smile were impressive. Seeing that, Mule steeled himself.
Originally, if Richter had not taken an interest in him, he would not have had his current position. In the era of the previous Commander, who was a hardcore aristocrat, he would still be a rank-and-file soldier due to his family status.
In Richter's era, his position was finally determined by ability. To put it simply, for nameless people like them, Richter was like a parent.
That parent is performing a farce, betting his life.
If so.
(If so, I shall gladly become a tainted hero...!!)
He decided to fulfill the given role and make it an act of gratitude.
"Hurry! If we don't finish this before the royalist soldiers arrive, consider that we have no future!!"
●
Licking the blue sky, flames stretched high into the heavens.
Starting from the main camp and spreading left and right to surround the rear of the Prime Minister's army, the flames instantly transformed the situation from a battle with one's back to the wall to a battle with one's back to the fire.
"Fire, fire...!"
"What is this!? Why is there fire in the retreat path!!"
Facing the royalists, who were doing something absurd like super-buffing the entire army with a song, the Prime Minister's nobles had fled back to the main camp in a panic, but then this happened. With this, it was impossible to flee into the royal capital, hole up, and reorganize their position.
On top of that.
"Why is the First Knight Order attacking us!?"
From the left wing, for some reason, the First Knight Order began to attack the rear of the fleeing nobles. For friendly fire, their fighting spirit was too high. It was a movement clearly intended to take them down.
Before them, in the height of confusion, an old man appeared from the right wing, leading subordinates with a sword in one hand.
It was Gardel Vertex. He had the air of a civil servant and did not have much combat power, but he had still received some education as a noble. When he appeared before the pale-faced nobles, he wore a sarcastic smile.
"Hmph. Since you can gaze upon the arrival of a new era from the front row, do not even think of fleeing. Including myself, it is finally time to pay the piper. Now, do it."
Responding to the order, his subordinates roared.
They were composed of the civil servants who had long supported Gardel. Although it was an unfamiliar battlefield, they were capable of charging with spears in hand. As if giving a final offering to the master who was about to walk the road to the underworld, they raised a battle cry and rushed toward the nobles, whose morale had plummeted, as if venting their daily grudges.
"H-Have you lost your mind, Prime Minister!!"
"Lost my mind? What are you saying. This was the script from the start. In the new kingdom, there is no need for a seat for old ones like us."
"You...!!"
Voices of resentment rose, but Gardel laughed, finding even that pleasant.
"Hahahaha! We are now in the same boat. Now! Let us strive to be the villains! Know that this is the final loyalty to the homeland...!!"
Indeed, he shouted, spreading both arms.
"Come then, New Era! The evil you must defeat is here! It is right here!!"
Sandwiched between the laughing Gardel, the merciless First Knight Order, and the advancing royalists, the nobles were eventually crushed.
●
"So, you lot can do whatever you want now. I have no intention of capturing you, nor will I chase you."
Meanwhile, Richter, who surrendered immediately, told the three girls about the state of the battlefield and that the Prime Minister's plan, which had been set up this time, had succeeded, explaining that he was on their side and had no hostility.
After all, his body was battle-worn. If he were in perfect condition, he would not lose to the three girls, and even in this state, he could probably win. However, winning would be meaningless, and he would undoubtedly not get off easy. If it would hinder his future actions, there was no objection to surrendering.
So, he spent a lot of time explaining, but...
"Since Richter was beaten, this commotion really was those girls' doing. I wonder if Geo planned it."
"Yes, as expected of Richter-sama."
"Sister is wonderful...!"
The three girls only directed their hearts toward their own interests. This level of scatterbrainedness was undoubtedly inherited from the Three Idiots.
"These brats aren't even listening... ow."
Whether it was because he sighed in exasperation at the group not worth explaining to, a sharp pain shot through his internal organs, and Richter pressed his hand near his solar plexus.
Seeing this, Lilitia scratched the back of her head, as if saying it couldn't be helped.
"O Great Light God, grant this person merciful light. Fourth Recovery Art."
"Huh?"
She touched Richter's body and exercised recovery magic. While Richter was bewildered by the action, the phosphorescence of magic overflowed around him, the pain gradually receded, and finally, he was fully recovered.
"Well, if you're not an enemy anymore, it's fine. Now, I've paid back the debt from that time. Don't bring it up again."
"Debt?"
"If it were anyone other than me, it wouldn't have been a problem to kill them."
"..."
Asked that, Richter remained silent.
Indeed, other than Lilitia, who called herself a Saint during their first encounter, there would have been no problem in cutting down the others with a single word of annoyance. Setting aside the individuals themselves, the Refill Church would have at most been sarcastic if they were just attendants. He could explain later, and although relations with the beastman village and the elf village would worsen, they were merely autonomous districts of another country. It was better than making an enemy of the Refill Church.
If he were to persuade the Saint violently, there was also the option of killing Kazuha or Latia as an example.
Perhaps he didn't do that because he overlapped them with Shannon.
As he questioned himself, Lilitia left with a single "See ya," taking Kazuha and Latia with her. Their destination was the battlefield. They were likely going to reunite with their comrades.
"Honestly, being young is something."
Left alone, Richter looked up at the sky as if slightly tired.
It was a blue sky, to an irritating degree.
●
Illuminated by the light of torches, Beosteral thought that the place was like some kind of labyrinth.
Guided by the guide introduced by Gardel, he entered the underground from the old city district of the royal capital and walked relentlessly through that labyrinthine place. Since silence was a bit awkward, he directed a question to the small man leading the way.
"But you, did you say your name was Io? You're a strange one. Even as a guide, to volunteer for this despite being a non-combatant."
"Well, I have a personal grudge against those kinds of nobles. People who are so materialistic simply cannot understand archaeological research."
He was a scrawny man, but his stride was steady. He likely engaged in such adventure-like activities on a daily basis. Showing unexpected stamina, he proceeded underground at a speed that did not make Beosteral, a vampire, feel rushed.
"The previous King and the Prime Minister valued scholars like me. They said that research peering into the past is necessary to one day release this country from the shackles of Alberstein. But those blockheads who only care about family lineage cut the budget, saying things like it's useless or to stop research that doesn't make money. Despite the fact that they only used the cut funds to fatten their own pockets."
"The shackles of Alberstein...?"
"Not literally. This country prospered through the production of magic stones. Only through the production of magic stones. The noble-blooded ones seem to have no understanding of how dangerous that is. The result is the current state of this country."
Io continued, cursing that they should drink the nail polish of the Prime Minister who used his private funds to let him continue his research.
"Well, in any case, the emergency of this country came first, so I cannot say anything arrogant. That is why I am trying to repay the favor even a little bit like this."
"I see, an admirable loyalty."
"That said, as Beosteral-sama mentioned earlier, I am a non-combatant, so I will take my leave once we are near the altar. My wife warned me not to even hold a kitchen knife if I don't want to die."
Not "if she doesn't want me to die," but "if I don't want to die," he's quite an extreme klutz, Beosteral thought.
"But we're descending quite a bit... Isn't it already deeper than the height of the royal castle above?"
"Can you tell?"
"I am a True Ancestor vampire. Spatial awareness in the dark is a piece of cake."
"This land was originally a valley. The Great Fairy Cathedra sealed the Spirit Dragon Alberstein at the bottom of the valley, and the first king filled it in using the Great Fairy's secret arts. If you are interested, I can tell you a bit more. It's a straight path from here for a while."
"Hmm. Then, could you?"
"Certainly," Io opened his mouth without slowing his walking speed.
"About a thousand years ago. There was a fairy called Albe. Albe, said to have been born in the Fairy Realm, was however distinct from other fairies. He was strong, possessed an evil heart, and above all, it is said he tried to kill Cathedra to become the next Great Fairy."
"...The fairy world is quite bloodthirsty."
"If they can kill while living, creatures possess such a nature to a greater or lesser extent. Now, Albe, who could be called a kind of anomaly, plotted and executed the assassination of Great Fairy Cathedra, but was reportedly defeated. However, he escaped before being caught and left the Fairy Realm, and since Great Fairy Cathedra could not leave such a dangerous factor loose, she began to appear in the human world to pursue him."
"Hmm. Family shame must indeed be dealt with by one's own hand. Otherwise, it sets a bad example for those around."
"I don't know if fairies have such sentiments. Now, the escaped Albe happened to come into contact with a certain Divine Dragon that was about to reach the end of its lifespan. Primary sources are scarce for this part, so it's an inference from later developments... but he probably ate it. The Divine Dragon Stein."
"And so he became Albe-Stein. Isn't that quite simplistic?"
"The etymology of names is usually like that."
As Io smiled wryly, Beosteral crossed his arms, thinking that's how it is.
"Even so, a Divine Dragon. They are also called Ancient Dragon species... well, they are just guardians. Nothing special."
"Are you knowledgeable about Ancient Dragon species?"
"I am a True Ancestor vampire, you know? Although the period I slept was long, I have lived for thousands of years, so I've probably clashed with them. Well? They are huge, aren't they? They are a little, just a tiny bit more formidable than I am, but other than that, they are just lizards."
"If possible, I would like you to tell me about that. As a scholar, I am very curious."
If there's an opportunity, Beosteral dodged vaguely, and Io shrugged and continued.
"Albe, who ate Stein, probably could not fully control that power. He is said to have writhed across the earth, carved mountains, created valleys, and brought great chaos to the human world. In the midst of that, Cathedra caught up and, cooperating with the people of this land, sealed Alberstein. According to documents, it was impossible to completely defeat Albe, who had become a Divine Dragon."
"A seal instead. It's like illegally dumping an incompetent family member on someone else's land."
"It's a fact, but the way you put it... Well, instead of defeating him, they placed a nearly permanent seal. As long as the duty of the ritual was performed properly, there was the benefit of magic stones, so it probably wasn't something to be pessimistic about. At least, at the time."
However, as decades and centuries passed and they began to feel the changes in the world, anxiety about whether this was alright began to rear its head. It is unknown what the successive royal families thought, but at least the previous king felt a sense of crisis and aimed to break away from a national management dependent on magic stones.
However, without that bearing fruit, the previous king died young. And Lumilia, who was to become the next king...
"Ah, the failure of the ritual..."
Suddenly, Beosteral fell silent after saying that.
"Something wrong?"
"No, I remember hearing that somewhere..."
When was that, he searched his memory.
(A while after I joined the Delgamiride Cult, didn't Basra say he did some kind of experiment here and it was a failure?)
What he remembered fragmentarily was from around the time they were making prototypes of the Beast Control Orbs. He didn't think it was ten years ago.
They had made copies of the original Artifacts and were experimenting with them in various places. As a result, they were branded as failures that could not withstand practical use and were disposed of. He recalled hearing that the cult was struggling with finances at the time and sold them along with other useless Artifacts to some royal family.
(Surely not.)
As he shook his head, thinking there was no way such a coincidence existed, he emerged into a strangely wide space.
"Oh? Oh, how majestic."
Several giant pillars served as supports, creating a large underground space. In the center stood a single giant tree that reached the ceiling of the massive underground space. It seemed to possess dense magic power, constantly emitting phosphorescence, and had a mysticism that overwhelmed the viewer.
Beosteral and the others emerged around the middle of that giant tree. There were stairs along the wall, and it seemed they were to head down from there. Looking down, there was an altar near the roots, and several people were there. It seemed they had caught up.
"The Spirit Tree Seiklaim. It is the key to the seal left by Great Fairy Cathedra. This is as far as I can guide you."
"Even without sunlight, it grew quite splendidly."
"According to ancient documents, it was planted directly above the sealed Spirit Dragon Alberstein, and it periodically absorbs and distributes magic power."
"I see. If you give it a path after distributing it, that becomes a dragon vein, and if it stagnates at the tip, it becomes a magic stone vein."
"Yes. However, if the seal is not periodically strengthened and adjusted, and the magic power the Spirit Tree took too much is not pruned, it seems it cannot exhibit the intended function, and the royal family bears that role."
"And that is passed down to the royal family as the Great Fairy's secret arts. ...Hmm? Then, what about the nobles who went ahead?"
"The Lebrun family also has bloodlines that have mixed with the royal family several times, so they likely have the aptitude... but fundamentally, if they do not know the secret arts, I doubt they can control the Spirit Tree. That is passed from father to son, so I do not know it either."
Beosteral peered once more at the people doing something at the altar.
"...Then, why did they go?"
"Who knows...?"
They did not possess the answer to that.