Chapter 228 - I’ll Go with You

* * *

Li Qingyu smiled, as composed and unhurried as ever. Wearing that characteristically gentle smile that betrayed nothing of her thoughts, she asked again.

“In short, the only sculptor who might be able to unseal the second Seven Arc is too ill to sculpt?”

“That’s right.”

“So you’ve decided to have him cured in exchange for his help unsealing the Seven Arc.”

“More or less.”

“I see... That is the best approach.”

Li Qingyu nodded as though she finally understood. Whether to stop the Liberation Brigade or uncover the constellations’ secrets, unsealing the Seven Arcs was essential. In that respect, curing Hermann’s illness was certainly close to the best solution.

Players, whose abilities improved simply by leveling up, were one thing. But masters of a craft—artists in particular—did not appear overnight. Restoring someone whose abilities were already proven was far quicker and more reliable than waiting for a new master to emerge at some unknown point in the future.

“The problem is whom you intend to ask to treat him.”

Smiling, Li Qingyu turned to Ainsha beside her, as if to ask why she hadn’t stopped him. Despite her smile, there was a peculiar pressure in her gaze. Ainsha discreetly averted her eyes, her face expressionless.

“... I tried to stop him. It is not my fault. I plead innocent.”

After studying Ainsha for a long moment as she muttered stiffly to herself, Li Qingyu turned back to Limon and asked calmly,

“Is that truly the only way?”

“I told you, he’s already been treated by the Divine Monarch, and it didn’t work.”

“But if it eased his illness, curing him with skills cannot be entirely impossible.”

“Well, if a duke-class healer devoted several years to treating him full-time, it might be possible.”

“... So players are out of the question after all.”

“Possible or not, you can’t leave a cat in charge of the fish.”

Bringing a player into anything involving the Seven Arcs was too dangerous. As Crown Prince Edward and Claire demonstrated, there was no knowing how far the Liberation Brigade’s roots extended. Even if someone had no connection to the Brigade, there was no telling what might happen if a constellation intervened.

“Could magic cure him?”

“I already checked with that old hag Cir. She said the sculptor’s illness is more a matter of his lifespan, so ordinary magic won’t do.”

“Then treating him with magic would itself violate the gods’ taboos.”

“That’s right.”

Magic had originally been handed down by the gods. As such, it could only be used within the limits they permitted. Even a Great Witch could skirt the boundary, but never cross the taboo outright. There was only one way to do that.

“We can’t go grabbing innocent people and offering them as living sacrifices for black magic just to cure an illness.”

“Of course not.”

‘So we never had a choice to begin with.’

Li Qingyu smiled ruefully.

She had known there was no other answer. Just as there were times one had to fight despite knowing there was no chance of victory, she had merely struggled to the very end. But now that even her resistance had become meaningless, she had no choice but to acknowledge that Limon’s proposal was the best decision.

“... If only it were an illness an elder could treat, this would have been much easier.”

Limon shrugged at her regretful murmur.

“I’m not belittling their abilities, but you know there’s only one person who could cure a patient even the Divine Monarch couldn’t fully heal.”

“Yes, I know very well.”

Li Qingyu nodded, then added bitterly,

“Including how dangerous it is to meet ‘her.’”

“Don’t worry. That’s why I’m going myself.”

‘That is precisely what makes it even more dangerous.’

Watching Limon speak so nonchalantly—as though going himself was the best option because anyone else might get killed—Li Qingyu hid her dismay behind a smile and continued calmly.

“Revealing your identity as the Sword Lord will not make ‘her’ agree to see you. If anything, she will hide herself even more thoroughly.”

“Probably.”

“Do you have another approach in mind?”

“Well, what else can I do? I’ll have to hide my identity, go find her, and ask.”

As Limon blithely explained that he would work out what to do if she turned him away when the time came, Li Qingyu finally had to sigh.

The princesses of the Seven Dragons Society were, after all, the richest people in the world. That had been true even when it was a criminal organization, but since its transformation into the Seven Dragon corporation, they had become even less accessible to ordinary people. And that was especially true of ‘her.’

But Li Qingyu had not sighed because Limon’s approach was too absurd. Quite the opposite.

‘If he chose this on instinct as well, it really is frightening.’

If anyone else went to ‘her’ out of the blue to ask for treatment, one of three outcomes awaited them: being ignored, dying horribly, or ending up as good as dead.

But what if the person making the request was Limon? Li Qingyu had no precognition, but she could be certain that events would not unfold that way. Quite apart from the fact that Limon would never meekly allow himself to be killed, ‘she’ would also be eager to meet him if she had received the information from London.

And if she discovered Limon’s secret in the process? They could never get through it the way they had with Ainsha and Rose.

‘... This really is troublesome.’

Ainsha’s precognition was no help, and Rose was so busy she had been unable to attend at all. It would have been better if she could simply tell Limon everything, but that was absolutely out of the question. Just as thirst was no reason to gulp down seawater, telling him the truth now was the one thing she had to avoid at all costs.

‘If I cannot stop him anyway...’

Li Qingyu pondered alone how to overcome this predicament. Only after a while did she nod and speak.

“There’s no helping it. In that case, I’ll arrange a way for you to meet ‘her.’”

“You have a way?”

“Yes, provided you grant me a request, Sword Lord.”

“Hm? What request?”

Limon looked puzzled by her unexpected words. Smiling at him, Li Qingyu revealed the best solution she had found to this dilemma.

“I’ll go with you.”

* * *

“Hmm.”

By a river of clear flowing water, Hermann sat with a fishing rod cast out, troubled by his thoughts.

‘However I look at it, it’s impossible.’

Only yesterday, swept along by Limon’s confident declaration that he would cure his illness, he had accepted the offer without thinking. Everything had seemed bewildering then, but after a night’s sleep and some sober reflection, he could not help feeling that he had been taken in. It was fortunate that no special demands had been made. Yesterday, even if Limon had demanded his entire fortune in payment, Hermann would probably have agreed in the heat of the moment.

‘Of course, a young man traveling with Chairwoman Ainsha could hardly be a con artist...’

Hermann smiled wryly. He knew perfectly well that this was precisely the sort of thinking that made someone an easy mark.

Yet he did not regret accepting the offer, because of the young man’s peculiar air. His rough manner of speaking felt natural rather than offensive, despite his being too young even to be Hermann’s son. His arrogant yet confident bearing made it seem as though he could bring even the most far-fetched claims to fruition. And above all, there was that deep, tranquil gaze. Even as Hermann’s mind insisted it could never happen, some part of his heart entertained a hopeful “Perhaps?”

‘Hope, eh?’

He had abandoned such things after giving up sculpture. Realizing anew that such a fanciful feeling still lingered within him, he let out a hollow chuckle.

‘Still, it isn’t bad.’

In the end, Hermann smiled.

Whether that young man called Lee found a cure for his illness or not, it would take at least several years to get a result. If he could spend that time waiting with this hope in his heart, accepting the offer would have been worthwhile for that alone. At least it was far better than waiting listlessly for the day he died.

WHIIIIIR.

“Hm?”

It was then that a strange noise reached him from somewhere. He had barely begun to wonder at the unfamiliar sound, which he had never heard either in this forest or while living in the outside world, when his eyes widened. He had finally spotted its source: a flying object appearing from the distant sky.

The reason he could only call what ought ordinarily to have been called an airplane a flying object was simple. Never in his life had he seen an airplane descend vertically despite not being a helicopter.

FSSSHHH.

As Hermann watched dumbfounded, the flying object landed in a clearing beside the river, whipping up powerful gusts. The moment its entrance clunked open, the sight of the person stepping out made him look incredulous despite himself.

“Hey there, sculptor. How’ve you been?”

“... We only met yesterday. Why are you asking how I’ve been?”

“Half of it’s just a greeting. The other half is asking whether you’re ready for a trip.”

“A trip?”

Was he speechless, or simply bewildered? Hermann blinked blankly at the incomprehensible words of Limon, who had suddenly appeared aboard a bizarre flying object. Limon grinned at him.

“Well, ready or not, get aboard. We’ve got a long way to go to meet the person who’ll cure you.”

* * *

After all but kidnapping the bewildered Hermann and putting him in the cabin, the vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, SDW X—17, rose straight into the air again and began flying west. Inside, Limon murmured admiringly,

“This thing really performs well.”

“The Silver Dragon Clan would be delighted to hear such praise from the Sword Lord.”

“... This thing’s Russian-made? Not American?”

As though he had never expressed any admiration, Limon immediately looked around the aircraft suspiciously. His face made it quite clear that he wondered whether it might fall out of the sky at any moment. Li Qingyu smiled.

“Rest assured. The Silver Dragon Clan converted it into a private aircraft, but the aircraft itself was imported from EK in the United States.”

“Oh, was it?”

Only then did Limon lean back in his seat, apparently reassured. Li Qingyu chuckled again at his blatant reaction.

It was Yu Na-gyeong, perched on the violin case and whispering about something with Shera’s ghost, who was left speechless.

[“... Team Leader, isn’t that reaction a bit much when the Princess here belongs to the same Seven Dragons Society?”]

“A bit much, my ass.”

Limon snorted.

“Don’t you know about the Chernobyl disaster? When they were researching some new power source—nuclear power, elemental power, whatever—and blew up an entire city?”

[“Well... Anyone can make a mistake or two when researching new technology, can’t they?”]

“What new technology? It’s all copied knockoffs anyway.”

[“You’re probably the only person in the world who’d describe Bahamut’s products that way, Team Leader.”]

Yu Na-gyeong looked incredulous. What bewildered her even more was Li Qingyu nodding as though he were absolutely right.

“True, the Silver Dragon Clan and the Russian Khanate have stolen a great deal of technology from the United States.”

[“... Are you allowed to say that, Princess?”]

“Facts are facts. In the past, their attempts to copy technology often went wrong and caused accidents, too.”

Li Qingyu smiled. It might now be called the Seven Dragon Group, but the Seven Dragons Society had once been a criminal organization known as the Demonic Cult. Back then, the Silver Dragon Clan’s products had been synonymous with knockoffs made using every kind of stolen and copied technology.

“Still, it’s thanks to those persistent attempts at copying technology that Bahamut has become a company boasting the world’s most advanced technology.”

“World’s most advanced, my ass. They’re still miles behind the United States.”

“Well, they are on another level.”

Li Qingyu chuckled as she said comparing them to the original was asking too much. Limon merely snorted and offered no further objection. For all his dismissal of their work as knockoffs, it was true that the Silver Dragon Clan alone could produce even a close imitation of American technology. So he changed the subject.

“Anyway, Princess, are you really going to be all right?”

“If you mean safety, don’t worry. We have emergency parachutes and a lifeboat aboard, just in case.”

“... Never mind that that’s not what I meant. Didn’t you just say the Silver Dragon Clan’s technology was reliable?”

“Better safe than sorry.”

She trusted the Silver Dragon Clan’s technical abilities, she explained with a bright smile, but had no intention of entrusting her life to a clan that installed spy chips as a bonus feature when converting private aircraft. Limon looked at her oddly for a moment, then finally chuckled.

“Very wise of you.”

“It’s only the caution expected of a princess of the Seven Dragons Society.”

“Yes, of course it is.”

Limon nodded.

Any other princess of the Seven Dragons Society would naturally have made that much preparation. That was simply the relationship between its seven clans.

... There might be one princess who had forgotten that, but precognition had always been her clan’s entire means of preparation.

“Actually, that’s what I wanted to ask about.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why you’re taking the risk of coming with me.”

Li Qingyu smiled at Limon’s thoroughly puzzled expression.

“It’s nothing particularly significant. I simply chose the best approach.”

“Going yourself is the best approach?”

“Yes. At the very least, I have a better chance of persuading her than a complete stranger showing up to ask for treatment.”

“Is that really the whole reason?”

“Do I need another?”

Limon looked distinctly suspicious. Her words made sense, yet something about them left him uneasy. It felt as though he had been given an empty shell with all the substance removed—something that was not a lie, but not the truth either. His gaze openly questioned what real reason she was hiding. Li Qingyu met it with an unwavering, cheerful smile when—

[“Um... Team Leader. There’s something I’m confused about.”]

Was she oblivious, or exceptionally perceptive? Sensing the unusual tension, Yu Na-gyeong interjected with impeccable timing. At her question, Limon reluctantly took his eyes off Li Qingyu and turned to her.

“What is it?”

[“Aren’t we on our way to meet a princess of the Seven Dragons Society?”]

“Why ask something so obvious?”

[“Then why are you talking about taking risks? It’s not as though we’re going to a battlefield.”]

Yu Na-gyeong was puzzled. It would have been one thing if Li Qingyu were an ordinary girl. But as the Black Dragon Princess, she was the Black Dragon Clan’s strongest martial expert, perfectly capable of protecting herself wherever she went. Besides, they weren’t storming some dangerous place; they were merely visiting another clan’s princess. She could not understand why they were making such a fuss.

Limon and Li Qingyu gave her odd looks.

“... You’ve spent months among the Black Dragon Clan, and you still don’t understand why?”

[“Why are you looking at me like I’m some fat, dumb pigeon? A bird can’t know everything!”]

“Oh, I’m sorry. I assumed you already knew, so I never explained.”

[“What! Am I the weird one for not knowing?”]

Yu Na-gyeong had bristled at Limon’s clicking tongue. Seeing her turn flustered only after hearing Li Qingyu’s words, Li Qingyu smiled wryly.

“No, it’s understandable that you wouldn’t know. Your encounters with the Seven Dragons Society have been rather skewed so far.”

[“Skewed?”]

Yu Na-gyeong tilted her head as though she did not understand. Li Qingyu smiled at her.

“I mean that you’ll be in serious trouble if you assume every clan in the Seven Dragons Society is as ‘ordinary’ and ‘innocent’ as the Blue Dragon Clan or the White Dragon Clan.”