Chapter 141 - Inquiry (1)

Just after Yuman delivered his warning and left, Alon returned to his room to rest for a while.

“So, was that Rikrakhamur thing, or whatever it's called, big?”

“... Why the sudden question?”

“I keep hearing the soldiers who came back from the expedition talking up a storm about it,” Evan explained.

[“Hmph. Its size was all it had going for it.”]

But it was Basiliora, not Alon, who answered.

“Huh? How come this one's out?”

[“Don't point at me, you mere human!”]

Basiliora snapped at the finger pointed its way.

“It said being stuck inside the ring all the time was too boring. So I made it possible for it to come out freely.”

“... You could do that?”

“I connected a little mana to the groove in the ring, as it instructed. Now it can come and go whenever it likes.”

[“Bwahahahaha! Yes, I am a free spirit now!”]

Basiliora curled into a circle and opened its mouth.

... As always, though, it was less than thirty centimeters long and merely looked cute.

“... Anyway, Rikrakhamur was bigger than Basiliora.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“So this snake-head could have died in one hit?”

Evan let out a teasing snicker, infuriating the little snake.

[“What are you talking about? Had I manifested my true form, I could have slaughtered that creature!”]

“Uh-huh. Sure, sure.”

[“Don't you dare dismiss me, human! You lost to me at cards!”]

“You got lucky and won one game out of thirty! What bullshit are you spouting?”

[“Hmph! The final victor is the true victor!”]

The two had begun bickering again the moment they met.

‘... Do they get along or not?’

Meanwhile, Blackie suddenly emerged from Alon's coat, where it had been nestled against his chest, and gazed at Basiliora curiously.

[“Hm?”]

Basiliora noticed its gaze.

[“Hmph! How dare a little brat still reeking of milk look up at me!”]

It shouted with the force of a thunderous rebuke.

But Blackie merely tilted its head once, then—

THWACK!

[“Gack?!”]

It swatted Basiliora's spiritual body, sending it flying.

Basiliora fell like a toy and rolled across the floor.

“Oh. Oooooh! At last, a way for me to attack it!”

Evan lifted Blackie as though he had found a fine weapon.

SKREEEECH!

Immediately, the little cat revealed red eyes all over its body and let out a monstrous screech. Evan had no choice but to set Blackie down, his smile still frozen in place.

Having watched all of this, Alon summed up the three-way relationship in a few words.

“... What a shitshow.”

####

While Alon and his companions were enjoying their own version of a cozy time together, two people faced each other in a guest room at the border.

“...”

“...”

One was Yutia, cardinal of the Holy Kingdom.

The other was Yuman, its saint.

“Your Holiness, I heard you wished to see me. What is it about?”

As Yutia smiled lightly, her eyes crinkling, Yuman went straight to the point with a deliberately stern expression.

“Cardinal Yutia. Did you visit the border a month ago?”

The question was dry and unadorned, almost an interrogation.

Yet Yutia did not lose her smile.

“Why do you suddenly ask?”

“I heard that you were seen in the northern canyon region a month ago.”

It was only a rumor. But Yuman had not come to see Yutia on the strength of a mere rumor alone.

“Cardinal Yutia, you were in Callivan about a month ago, weren't you?”

“Yes. I was scheduled to attend the kingdom's banquet.”

“No, that's incorrect. It was originally a banquet Cardinal Sergius was supposed to attend. Didn't you abruptly rearrange the schedule to go yourself?”

“...”

Yutia did not answer. She simply watched Yuman with a faint smile, as though inviting him to continue.

He calmly went on.

“I hear you disappeared for about three days after arriving in Callivan.”

“I clearly informed the priests that I was going to another village to spread Lady Shironia's word.”

“I know. I also know that the village you went to was Figani, a day's journey from Callivan. Its specialty is cheese. It's a hospitable village that always makes sure visitors get a taste.”

“I see.”

“Did you have any cheese?”

“Yes.”

Yutia answered immediately, smiling. In contrast, Yuman's expression grew a little colder.

“That's unfortunate. What I told you was a lie.”

“...”

“Cheese is indeed Figani's specialty. Unfortunately, however, none has been made this year. Nor is there any in storage. Figani's food storehouse burned down in an accident several months ago.”

In other words, Cardinal Yutia could not have eaten any cheese.

Yuman stared at her, then casually dropped his conclusion.

“... Cardinal Yutia, you were in the canyons.”

“Was I?”

Even with his words striking home, Yutia was still smiling. She showed not the slightest sign of dismay. If anything, her smile deepened, as though she found the situation amusing.

Enough to unsettle Yuman instead.

His voice grew colder.

“If you have no intention of answering, I'll change my question. What are you planning to do to Marquis Pallatio? What are you plotting?”

“Is that what you want to know?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“... He is a Brother who is already enduring countless trials. He is not someone you can recklessly meddle with as you please.”

For the first time, a peculiar question flickered in Yutia's eyes.

It lasted only an instant—so brief that even Yuman failed to notice.

But she quickly erased that look and brushed her fingers over the corner of her mouth.

“Perhaps you and I are looking toward the same thing.”

“... What?”

“You said you wanted to know what I was plotting for Teacher, didn't you?”

“...”

“It's simple. I only want to help Teacher become a little greater. Yes, that's all.”

“... Greater?”

“Yes. A greater being.”

“He is already great.”

“Well. Is he really?”

Clear laughter rang through the room.

“I agree with you. But it's not enough yet. He will become even greater. No, he must become greater. More, more, so very much more.”

Yuman felt an involuntary chill.

The person before him was unquestionably Cardinal Yutia. She was not emitting mana or divine power. There was no transformation taking place.

Nothing had changed.

And yet goosebumps rose all over his body.

Because vivid madness suffused Yutia's eyes.

Looking into those eyes, Yuman became certain.

There was no way he and Yutia were looking toward the same thing.

She was dangerous.

“...”

Thoughts flashed through his mind. How could he separate her from the marquis?

No matter how hard he thought, he could find no way.

No—to be precise, several methods occurred to him, but he could not predict how Cardinal Yutia would act if any of those situations arose.

And so, with firm resolve, Yuman declared to her:

“... I will not let you do as you please with Marquis Pallatio.”

Even then, Yutia replied gently.

“Please, do just that, Your Holiness. The more you do, the more it will help Teacher, too.”

Their gazes met for a long while—gazes mingling unfathomable emotions and resolve.

At that very moment, Alon, the person at the center of their confrontation, was watching the one-sided arena fight between Basiliora and Blackie.

TAP! TAP!

[“Aaargh... Please, please stop. Spare me...!”]

“That's it, Blackie! Smash that stupid snake-head!”

“...”

He thought blankly:

‘... Maybe I'll have a sweet potato.’

####

About a day later, as Alon began considering whether to go to Lartania or return to his marquisate, laughter rang out at an auction house in the Pallatio marquisate.

“Bwahahaha!”

Alexion the Identifier—no, Alexion the auction-house owner now—was roaring with hearty laughter in his office.

He was lucky if he managed even four hours of sleep out of twenty-four, but he was enjoying his life immensely nonetheless.

All because of money.

Alexion was currently earning so much that he could practically claim to be reliving his heyday in the back alleys of Laxas.

How much, exactly? Enough to have already recouped every penny he had reluctantly invested under Satan's evil glare.

And that wasn't all.

Simply operating an auction house in the Pallatio marquisate had earned him tremendous goodwill and connections.

Without any effort whatsoever.

The mere assumption that he must have some connection to Marquis Pallatio, since he had opened an auction house in the marquisate, had brought him a great many favors—

No.

“Hehehe.”

Bribes.

CLATTER!

Alexion repeatedly plunged his hands into the two boxes sitting in front of his desk and drew them back out.

The boxes were filled with valuables, which he lifted up and let cascade down again and again.

Just looking at them made him happy.

An ecstatic smile rose unbidden to his face, as though all the shit he'd endured over the past few months was finally being rewarded.

He was all the happier because the money had come rolling in purely on the strength of someone else's status.

It was a windfall that required no work at all, like stumbling across money for the taking.

Just as he was thoroughly lost in bliss, someone knocked on his office door.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

He spoke cheerfully.

“Come in.”

But when he saw who opened the door and entered, he froze.

“Well, well.”

The man who slowly stepped into the room said:

“You've certainly been helping yourself.”

“... Huh?”

He was someone who absolutely should not have been here.

“... Radan?”

“Radan?”

“Sir...?”

“That's better.”

Radan, the Pirate King of Laxas, looked at him with a broad smile spreading across his face.

Alexion gaped in disbelief, but only for a moment.

“So, you've been taking quite a lot of bribes, haven't you?”

Before he could even ask how Radan had come here, those words prompted an immediate answer.

“Oh, this is, well... I—I was going to hand them over...!”

“Were you?”

“Hahaha. Of course! I obtained these things through the marquis's status, so naturally I ought to share some of them with him...!”

Alexion subtly left himself some room to maneuver.

But—

“Some?”

“Ah—hahaha. No, I mean, about half—”

“Half?”

“N-no, a little more than half! I did put in some effort, after all—”

“... You need the rest?”

At Radan's next words, Alexion obediently nodded.

“... No.”

“Then?”

“... I should hand it all over.”

And as he watched Radan nod in agreement—

“That's right.”

—Alexion seethed inwardly.

‘This fucking saltwater fish...!’

“Could you get me a cup of coffee?”

“Yes, yes. I'll bring it right away.”

He quickly tucked his tail between his legs and forced the corners of his mouth upward.

... It was truly a smile brimming with the will to live.