Chapter 169 - Magus Kailas (1)

Rine suddenly looked ahead.

The scenery before her was profoundly alien: a world where everything looked murky, save for a small cabin that alone gave off a warm glow.

The instant she saw the cabin, she realized she was dreaming. She had been having this dream regularly for over ten years now.

The thought that she did not want to go flitted through her mind. She had dreamed this same dream not merely dozens, but hundreds of times. Naturally, she knew what awaited her in the cabin ahead, and she did not want to go there.

Yet she soon began to move. Unless she entered the cabin, this dream would never end.

"..."

She walked on in silence. With every step, the cabin drew closer. At last she reached it, stared quietly at the door, and opened it.

CREEEAK!

A gruesome sight unfolded before her: the corpse of a woman whose throat had burst open, a man's corpse with its limbs twisted in every direction, and three dead children who had bled from every opening in their bodies.

It was unpleasant, but familiar to Rine. Not only had she seen such things many times, she had created corpses like these with her own hands.

Yet despite that—

"Hah... hah..."

Her once-calm eyes filled with terror, and her heartbeat gradually quickened. It was as though she had returned to that moment ten years ago.

... To the day she had seen the bodies of her parents and younger siblings.

And—

And—

And—

"!"

Rine opened her eyes and looked around. The scenery had changed. She could clearly see the room where she had fallen asleep. There were no corpses, no blood, no cabin giving off a warm glow. Only a room bathed in morning sunlight.

"... Hah."

She covered her face with her hands, looking exhausted. For some reason she could not fathom, she had been having this nightmare frequently of late.

And so...

"..."

For a long time, Rine could not rise from her sweat-soaked bed.

####

After the ball had finally ended...

"Whew..."

Shtalian V rubbed his eyes wearily as he boarded the carriage to return to his kingdom.

'This is no way to spend my time, either.'

In truth, he had not particularly wanted to attend this ball. But he had no choice. There were political reasons, but above all, he still had to clean up the lingering aftermath of Duke Comalon's actions.

... To put it more bluntly, he had come hoping to reduce the compensation owed for the artificial Outer God incident, however slightly, by attending the ball, elevating the monarch of Asteria's standing, and allowing him to save face.

In short, he was paying with his presence instead of money.

As Shtalian V let out another deep sigh, a voice made him turn.

"King of humans."

There stood a man completely encased in armor, whom he had brought along through a secret pact with the nonhuman races for the work that lay ahead.

The man abruptly addressed him, his tone exceedingly arrogant for someone speaking to a monarch. Yet Shtalian V felt not the slightest offense. He knew that the being inside that armor and helmet was powerful enough to have no need to speak respectfully to a king.

"... It is fine when we are alone, but I would prefer you to watch your words when others are present."

"Do not worry. I will play along with your games."

"So, what do you want to ask?"

At Shtalian V's question, Kurak the Engraver fell silent before speaking.

"Do you remember the man in a black coat at this ball?"

"... A black coat? Weren't many of the nobles wearing black coats?"

"I mean the man whose face betrays no emotion."

Shtalian V readily realized whom he meant.

"... Are you referring to Marquis Pallatio?"

"Is that his name?"

"Yes. He is quite famous in the allied kingdoms."

"He seems to have earned quite a reputation. Can you tell me about it?"

"I am not particularly inclined to, but that much is easy enough."

Shtalian V began recounting the stories about Marquis Pallatio one by one. A little while later...

"Well, that is roughly the extent of it."

"Is that so?"

"But—to be honest, some of it may have been exaggerated."

"Why do you think so?"

"Of course, Marquis Pallatio's abilities are now beyond question. But that is a separate matter from simple exaggeration as the stories spread. Take the rumor that he dealt with the Outer God in the north single-handedly, for instance."

At first, the story had merely been that Marquis Pallatio had provided considerable help. Embellishments had subsequently turned it into the rumor that the marquis had defeated the Outer God.

Kurak, who had listened quietly to Shtalian V, spoke.

"If anything, I think he is more remarkable than that. It does not seem exaggerated to me."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. The rumors about Marquis Pallatio do not seem distorted."

"... You sound quite certain. Why?"

Kurak grinned at Shtalian V's question and gave a concise answer.

"Because he is quite capable of such things."

"Capable of such things...?"

Shtalian V echoed his words, his voice full of questions.

But Kurak did not respond. He simply recalled Marquis Pallatio as he had seen him a few days earlier: the being who had met his eyes with an impassive gaze.

... The being who carried something grotesque behind his back, something that made bloody tears flow from both eyes merely by perceiving it.

Kurak was not normally one to take such an interest in others. Even with that threatening presence behind the man, that remained true. He had more pressing matters to attend to; indeed, it was for those matters that he had gone to the trouble of cooperating with humans and venturing into the world.

The fundamental reason he was interested in Marquis Pallatio was—

'... How on earth is that man wearing the primordial elf's—no, the Holy God's Great Exalted One's glove?'

It was because that man was wearing the Great Exalted One's glove.

The Great Exalted One.

The glove once used by the savior who had rescued the nonhuman races after the gods abandoned them long ago—the one the elves called the primordial elf as they pleased.

At first, he had thought he must have seen it wrong. Yet the glove the man wore was unmistakably the one the Great Exalted One had used. The memories engraved in the imprint passed down through hundreds of generations told him that it belonged to the Great Exalted One beyond any doubt.

And that was not all. The glove alone would not have convinced him that Marquis Pallatio was the Great Exalted One.

... Not without the Dark Leaves surrounding Marquis Pallatio.

'There were at least six.'

Kurak recalled the six elves lingering near Marquis Pallatio. Organized solely to protect high elves, each possessed strength on par with a Swordmaster. They had been operating in the shadows around the marquis.

If the Black Leaves, whom only the queen could command, were protecting him, there was only one possibility.

"... Ha."

Kurak gave an incredulous chuckle. Even to him, the idea made no sense.

Someone dead had returned?

There was no way that could—

No way.

And yet, despite its impossibility, someone who made him entertain that implausible supposition had appeared before him.

After some time lost in thought, Kurak broke his silence.

"Have a letter prepared when we return."

"... I understand it is not time for your report."

"It is not, but something has happened that I must send word of. If—what I suspect is true—"

He grinned.

"—everyone will need to prepare."

For the world itself might be shaken.

####

About four days after Alon's party left Teria for Lartania, Alon, who had been traveling at a leisurely pace, encountered Deus unexpectedly in a village not far from Lartania.

"... My lord?"

"Deus?"

"It has been a while."

"Indeed. Have you been well, my lord?"

The moment Deus saw Alon, he hurried over and bowed his head deeply.

"What brings you here, though?"

Puzzled behind his expressionless face, Alon asked, and Deus answered.

"I was on my way to Lartania."

"... To Lartania?"

"Yes."

"... Then wouldn't you have no reason to stop here?"

As Alon pointed out, Deus really should not have been here. Relative to Lartania, Asteria lay to the east and Callivan to the west. In other words, if Deus had been traveling from Callivan to Lartania, he had no reason to pass this way, hence Alon's question.

"Ah, actually, there are some things I need to obtain in this area, so I came this far."

"Things to obtain?"

"Yes."

"... Ah, come to think of it, I heard you were making something. Is that why?"

"Yes. I was making a gift for you, my lord."

"A gift for me?"

That was news to Alon.

"Yes."

"... So that is what you were making?"

"Indeed."

Deus nodded vigorously, his expression brimming with confidence.

His innocent anticipation made Alon look a little sheepish. Why so suddenly? he wondered, but hearing that Deus was making him a gift made him feel inexplicably pleased. Seeing Deus personally go to such lengths did make him feel a little guilty, too.

... Still, the pleasure outweighed that.

"Where are you headed, my lord?"

This time, Deus asked the question.

"I am going to Lartania as well."

"Then let us go together."

"... Very well."

Deus joined Alon's party.

The following day, Alon met Deus's younger sister for the first time in a very long while.

"Say hello, Silli."

"... Hello."

"...? Yes, hello."

Alon was privately glad to see her, but Silli—

"..."

Her expression was extraordinarily complicated, with the faintest hint of resentment mixed in...

####

Underground on the outskirts of Lartania, Ron, the man in charge of the Information Guild's Lartania branch, silently watched the hooded woman before him.

RUSTLE, RUSTLE

Each time the woman tilted her head and moved her hand, another page turned.

The next page.

And the next.

After reading everything down to the final page, she set the papers on the ebony desk and spoke languidly.

"Hmm... This isn't enough. Don't you have any more?"

"More?"

"Yes."

"If you want more detailed information, the money you brought will not suffice."

"Really? Wasn't it quite a lot?"

"... For ten gold coins, this is already generous. Information about High Councilor Rine is expensive."

At Ron's matter-of-fact answer, the woman hummed thoughtfully, calculating something. Then she lifted the corners of her lips and shrugged.

"Fine, then. More information would be nice, but this is enough, really."

"Then leave."

"Aren't you being too cold to a woman like me?"

"Your hood hides your face so I can hardly see it. Besides, this is a place of business."

She smiled at Ron's cold demeanor.

"Then how about we talk business?"

"... As I said, talking business requires money."

"I hear you also buy useful information?"

"Hmph. Do you think you have such useful information?"

"Of course. Right now, no one knows it but me."

Ron looked down at the woman skeptically. Still, he could not afford to miss a potential opportunity.

"I will hear the information first and set a price afterward. If it is information we already handle, I cannot pay you for it."

"Fine—though I don't know whether you can pay the price."

"...?"

He gave her a chance. Soon, the woman approached Ron slowly and brought her face close to his ear—

"M̷a̸m̶m̷o̸n̵ b̶e̷n̸e̵a̷t̶h̸ t̷h̸e̶ r̵o̷o̸t̶s̵."

"...?"

She whispered quietly. And at the same moment Ron wondered what she meant...

"!"

He became 'aware.'

Black fog spread before his eyes, where he had clearly seen the woman's face, and a strange object began taking shape.

The moment that strange object's eyes slowly opened—

SPLAT!

Ron's head burst apart. Blood instantly stained the dark chamber red.

And then...

"See? I told you that you couldn't pay, didn't I?"

The woman—no, the apostle of Greed—looked down at Ron's corpse with its burst head. Then, wearing a twisted smile, she pushed the bloodstained papers on the desk into empty air.

"Now that all the preparations are complete—"

Ripples spread as the papers were drawn in. Between them, an Abyssal Core radiating an ominous aura appeared for a fleeting instant.

"—well, then, shall we get moving?"

Soon the apostle of Greed quietly left the dark chamber, leaving no one there.