kscans

Chapter 98 - The King of Castrato and the Little One

"This is fun!"

The Little One was in a good mood.

"Is that so," Dorfen said, sitting dubiously.

"Well, it’s not bad," Chihaya remarked, unconcerned.

"..."

The knights, who had been raring to go but were let down, wore expressions of discontent.

As the distant royal palace drew closer, the shadows became more lively, and the honeybees and frogs were having a blast. Having already rolled up several dozen people and left them in a side alley, the Little One was delighted with her new fluffy companions. After Dorfen had washed and dried the monsters in a back alley, the Little One was clinging to the back of a glossy, fluffy boar, swaying gently, teko teko. There was one boar-type, four wolf-types, and many rat and bat-types. When she asked Hyrulia, she learned that smaller monsters like bat-types and rat-types were popular as introductory training monsters for children because they didn't take up much space and ate little. So, when a child grew up and got a new monster, the old one was cast aside. It was a harsh world.

"But they probably don’t have any magic stones left, so monster-rearing is likely on the decline."

The Little One murmured to herself. But her soliloquy received a reply.

"Hmm? It should be fine. There is a Lord’s forest in the caverns of this country, after all."

Cesare’s casually dropped bombshell instantly froze the air around him as he rested his cheek on his hand by the carriage window. Everyone stared, wide-eyed and speechless.

"Eh? A forest?"

"You did not know? It is underground, so the magic does not reach the surface, but a sufficient amount of it lies dormant."

"This is the first I’m hearing of it!"

As his sister’s eyes bugged out and she screamed, Cesare glanced around and gave a detailed explanation.

According to him, it was one of the places where the oni, Legion, had planted a Dark Magic Crystal long ago. It was in a subterranean lake deep underground, and at the time, it was the smallest one in the forests.

"I did not know until my memories returned, but I know now. It is directly beneath that royal palace."

"No way..."

Cesare pointed at the lights of the palace. Dorfen and the others stared blankly in the direction he indicated. Ha, it’s not just a fairy tale here, what you’re looking for was right under your feet. What an idiot, King of Castrato. Magic fills an area horizontally and seeps into the earth. If there’s a concept of gravity, then a forest deep underground would be sealed by the earth, preventing magic from reaching the surface.

Come to think of it, Flowers was the same. Despite the rich magic of the Dark Magic Crystal overflowing underground, that country’s magic had been depleted.

How interesting. If someone like Romel found out, he’d probably come flying.

As the Little One Squad proceeded, tying up spies along the way, the Castrato Royal Palace, which had received news of their approach, was in a great uproar.

"It’s a horde of monsters! Why are you not dealing with them?!"

"I have already told you, they are guests from Frontier! You are not to lay a finger on them unless something happens!"

"This is absurd! What does His Majesty the King think of this?!"

The area around the Castrato Royal Palace was a noble district. Many nobles had rushed to the palace as the horde of monsters approached. They were granted a collective audience, but it was impossible to restore order as everyone spoke their own opinions at will.

"His Majesty the King has fallen ill and is confined to his bed. I am acting in his stead for now. Do you have any objections?"

Seeing the Crown Prince seated in the audience chamber, everyone fell silent. Beside him was the third prince. The story was that he had been infiltrating Frontier for a long time and had returned upon sensing the current situation, but the nobles were not convinced.

Well, of course not.

Looking down at the nobles who were watching him suspiciously with a calm expression, Augfel slowly twisted his lips into a smirk.

"If you cannot follow the Crown Prince’s orders, then you are free to do as you please. That is, if you can handle that on your own."

He hadn't been an adventurer for years for nothing. A pure-blooded royal with the courage of an adventurer, his smile had a formidable air to it, and he was more than a match for these dime-a-dozen nobles. Intimidated by Augfel’s mocking, sharp gaze, the nobles shuffled out of the audience chamber.

Watching them leave, the Crown Prince let out a sigh of relief.

"You’re a great help, Fel."

"It’s only just beginning, brother."

"I know."

Leaning back deep into his chair, the Crown Prince covered his forehead with one hand. They had managed to inform the king, but the enraged king had tried to send troops against the Little One and her party. The princes had restrained him with all their might and confined their father to his room. They couldn't afford to have him interfere. The soldiers, who were fed up with a king who knew nothing of the front lines, cooperated, and the king was locked away in a detached palace at the edge of the royal grounds.

Of course, the nobles didn't know this.

"His Majesty doesn’t understand the terror of Frontier..." one of the unit commanders muttered.

The soldiers who fought on the front lines knew Frontier’s true strength far better than their clueless superiors.

"My apologies. It is all due to my lack of power."

Seeing the Crown Prince’s brows furrow in anguish, the unit commanders hurriedly raised their faces.

"What are you saying! It was you who stopped those pointless expeditions! Thanks to you, countless soldiers were spared from injury."

The men gnashed their teeth in frustration. Augfel lightly patted their shoulders and offered a mischievous grin.

"For better or worse, Frontier isn’t concerned with us. That princess will likely leave without incident once her business is concluded. It’ll be alright."

Nodding to the two princes standing side by side, the soldiers pledged to guard the detached palace like an iron wall.

However, it wasn't as if the confined King of Castrato was going to sit quietly. While imprisoned in the topmost tower of the detached palace, he was using spies from the covert ops who came to him to order the Little One’s kidnapping. Unaware of the covert ops who could sneak in anywhere, the princes, who were observing the situation, had no idea that a malicious hand was already reaching for the Little One.

Well, that hand had already been swatted away, but...

"Wait? If there’s a Lord’s forest in the subterranean lake, and a seed was planted there, then Cesare from his time as a god should have known, right?"

"That is correct. That is precisely why I involved myself with Castrato and delivered oracles."

Cesare answered matter-of-factly.

Hold on, hold on. Does that mean...?

"You were the one who taught them about that mind-control drug?"

"Indeed."

"And you were the one who spread the information about the Golden King?"

"That is so."

"...And you were the one who had me kidnapped?"

"...Well. Wait! Back then, I did not have my human memories like I do now! I was desperate to save Haze-Leve!"

Noticing the Little One gathering magic in both hands, Cesare hurriedly backed away.

"Do you have any idea how much I suffered when I was Fatima? And you were the cause!"

As Chihiro raised both hands high, Dorfen grabbed her in a full nelson. He held her from behind, his arms passing under her armpits to grab her own arms.

"Chihiro-sama, please calm down! It’s in the past! Are you trying to destroy the carriage?!"

It was a good thing Dorfen was riding the boar with her. While the knights inside the carriage breathed a sigh of relief, the Little One growled at Cesare, garururu.

"Because of that stupid drug, Consort Habilus and Fatima were sacrificed! And who knows how many more victims there will be!"

"Ah, so that is what this is about. In that case..."

Cesare smoothly raised his arm vertically and snapped his fingers. Instantly, Chihiro felt a blur, as if something had shifted, and was struck by a carriage-sickness-like nausea and dizziness.

"Uegh?!"

As the Little One involuntarily gagged, Dorfen held her and spoke with concern.

"What is it, Chihiro-sama?!"

"Do not worry. The golden magic is reacting to the world’s shift."

"...The world’s shift?"

"The main herb used in that secret medicine is something I brought from Haze-Leve. It is not of Arcadia and accepts my interference. So I shifted its principles."

Haze-Leve had advanced scientific technology. The mind-control drug of Castrato used a part of that technology and the gods’ recipe. If either of those was missing, it would become nothing more than a harmless headache remedy. He had apparently used his power as a former god to nullify the medicinal properties of that herb.

"It is not as if I had anticipated this, but it was the right decision to seal a little of my divine power in the seed."

Cesare twisted his lips into an uneven smirk. Seeing that smile, the Little One felt a vague sense of unease. It was undoubtedly the higher beings who had made Cesare’s soul a god and then cast him down to be human to possess Chihaya. Why were they allowing Cesare to regain so many memories and even acquire a fraction of his divine power? Wasn't this upsetting the world’s balance? It was a power far too cheat-like, even more so than Chihiro’s. Most of the Little One’s abilities were things she had acquired through her own efforts up to now. Except for the golden magic she could use to revive forests and monsters. Her modern knowledge could be called a cheat, but then there was Kilfan, which was far more of a cheat than her, so her own cheats were probably cute in comparison.

But Cesare’s power was different. It was a power that surpassed human capacity. And the one wielding such a power was just a normal human, Chihaya. Chihaya had also learned much alongside the Little One. It was probably working in his favor for now, but what would happen from now on?

A chill she had never felt before ran through her body. The Little One looked up at the royal palace, set against a sky that had darkened with twilight. And she remembered certain words.

"Humans who get involved with gods all meet a bitter end."

Words she had once heard from the gods in the Celestial Realm.

Don’t mess with me! If you pull any stupid stunts, I won’t forgive you!

The Little One glared daggers at the star-dusted sky and raised her fist. With her surroundings watching her, completely bewildered, the Little One Squad headed for Hyrulia’s mansion. Through the noble district, which had gone past shrieking chaos and was now frozen in silence, the Mononoke Squad plodded on, noshi noshi.

Unbeknownst to the Little One, a figure heard the commotion and looked down at the royal capital from a palace window.

"The princess of Frontier. Welcome, my bride."

The Little One, at that moment, did not know of the existence of the person who chuckled, fufu.