Chapter 83 - A Wedding Gift

'It worked.'

Galahad grinned broadly at the spreading mist.

The red mist was highly concentrated mana given form through demon-beast blood. It made mana concentration visible.

In other words, finding powerful demon-beasts would be far easier.

There was just one minor problem.

"You little—"

The spear shattered effortlessly. The Grand Duke's piercing blue eyes narrowed slightly.

His presence was so powerful that the mist gathered around him. He was a magnet. Around him, it was less a mist than a pool of blood.

Galahad felt wronged, too.

"Your Highness, it keeps gathering around you because you're too powerful. This is blatant interference."

"Interference?"

The Grand Duke clicked his tongue softly in disbelief.

"Have you finished hunting? Then hold your breath, please. You're getting in the way."

"... What?"

Galahad hurried away.

'Damn... He noticed.'

The Grand Duke had detected the Egg of agony.

'Can't you even hide your own sound? Cheap thing.'

The Egg of agony gave a few faint beats. They were thoroughly dejected pulses.

'Well, what did I expect from a low-ranking egg?'

It wasn't entirely the egg's fault. Galahad had let his guard down a little while concentrating on the spell.

More importantly...

'He really can hear heartbeats?'

How could anyone hear a heart beating, no matter how sharp their ears were? He had assumed it was just a joke.

But the Grand Duke really could hear heartbeats.

And that had allowed him to detect the Egg of agony.

'I can't lose.'

The Grand Duke would ask about his second heart. He had to win.

If the Grand Duke asked about the Egg of agony, things would get very troublesome. The terms of their wager were rather stringent.

Their wager over questions had become a little more dangerous, but that hardly mattered.

Galahad never made bets he would lose.

'Fifteen, seventeen, and twenty, was it?'

One demon-beast ranked between low and intermediate, one was intermediate, and one fell between intermediate and high.

Galahad put a cigarette between his lips and waved his hand.

The red mist spread far and wide. His expanding senses pricked at him.

He closed his eyes and focused. Soon, information from a vast area flooded his head with stabbing intensity.

'Hmm. Shall I start with this one?'

Galahad chose a suitable direction.

A sizable demon-beast awaited him at his destination.

He examined the concentration of blood congealing around it. It was so thick that it splashed whenever the creature bounded forward.

'Upper-intermediate.'

Just then, the demon-beast opened its jaws wide. Venom dripped down its enormous fangs.

It radiated a murderous presence. Still, it was only upper-intermediate. This wasn't the Demon Realm, either. It wasn't powerful enough to threaten Galahad.

He had a different concern.

'How am I going to carry that back?'

Getting his kill all the way back there was the problem.

He didn't have much time. Hunting alone would leave him pressed for time, and now he had to haul the bodies, too. Even Galahad couldn't manage that.

'Ah, there was that.'

After a moment's thought, Galahad gave a small nod.

When the head was stupid, the body suffered. Galahad was a capable Mage, so naturally, his body had an easy life.

* * *

'Magic? Ridiculous.'

The Grand Duke narrowed his eyes.

Blood droplets filled his surroundings. The once-white mountain had been painted red. Could this really be called magic?

It was the sort of thing an upper-echelon Demon might do.

And besides...

'He had two hearts.'

The Grand Duke rubbed his chest. A thick scar marked its left side. It was one of two debts he had yet to repay.

He exhaled a hot breath laden with intense rage and exhilaration.

The mystery would soon be solved.

Galahad had no chance of beating him at demon-beast hunting.

The Grand Duke had hunted every demon-beast nearby. To catch anything stronger, Galahad would have to climb higher.

The demon-beasts farther up were clever and hid from him. With the Grand Duke on the mountain, they would have concealed themselves thoroughly.

Even finding one was no guarantee of killing it. And even after a successful hunt, bringing it back here would be another task entirely.

The snowy mountain was high and treacherous. Even if that scrawny spell-slinger killed a massive demon-beast, he could never drag it all the way here.

'The moon is sinking.'

There wasn't much time left, either.

The Grand Duke was certain of his victory.

How much time passed? The moon vanished from sight.

The red mist congealing against him had now become a pool.

'He's not coming.'

The Grand Duke narrowed his eyes. Their wager lasted until sunrise.

Dawn would break soon, yet the man hadn't brought back a single demon-beast.

'Does he intend to drag all three back at once?'

Demon-beasts were extremely heavy. Even the Grand Duke would have some difficulty moving three at once.

Just then...

THUD.

A heavy sound rang out. The sweet scent of demon-beasts filled the air.

Those were demon-beast footsteps. Strangely, there was more than one set.

This mountain trapped demon-beasts within it. Here, they devoured each other. They didn't band together.

'A fine specimen. At least thirty... '

The Grand Duke's lips curved upward.

The red mist slowly receded. The haze blanketing the mountain was thinner than before.

A demon-beast appeared beyond it.

No, demon-beasts.

One was serpentine in shape. It had three heads: a snake's, a lion's, and a wolf's.

At least thirty had gone into it.

The demon-beast beside it was quite substantial, too. It took the form of a giant wolf, but its claws were snakes.

Hawks' heads sat where its eyes should have been, and a long snake dangled between its jaws.

Both were more substantial than the Grand Duke's kills.

Demon-beasts of that caliber fled at the mere scent of him. Yet these were approaching of their own accord.

'How curious.'

Then he noticed another demon-beast between them.

At first glance, it was a horse with a lustrous coat. It was about four times the size of an ordinary horse, with five snakelike eyes. Flames even trailed from its hooves.

It was smaller than the beasts flanking it, but unmistakably a demon-beast.

'I want that.'

The Grand Duke was genuinely impressed.

Might that demon-beast be able to carry him? Unfortunately, demon-beasts could not be tamed.

He was readjusting his grip on his axe, suppressing his regret, when...

"I'm not late."

A familiar voice rang out. The man was sitting atop the enormous horse.

Unlike before, he was a mess. His neatly slicked-back hair had come loose, and exhaustion filled his face.

Yet he wore a smile of satisfaction and relief.

"Come now, everyone. Say hello."

The man grinned and waved his hand.

The giant demon-beasts on either side slowly lowered their heads.

Commanding demon-beasts with a gesture...

The Grand Duke recalled an ancient legend.

Humanity's worst traitor.

'The demon-beast tamer... '

Tendons stood out on the hand gripping his axe.

* * *

'This is dangerous... '

The Grand Duke's axe pointed at Galahad. In that instant, Galahad felt death with utter clarity.

It was certain death.

'He was hiding his strength.'

The power the Grand Duke now revealed far exceeded Galahad's expectations.

'This isn't good.'

Galahad discreetly loosened his fingers. The Egg of agony beat incessantly. Mana continued to circulate.

Had the Grand Duke been a knight, Galahad might have been able to gauge his chances.

But this was a man who filled his belly on demon-beast heads. He was closer to a demon-beast than a knight.

An extremely high-ranking demon-beast, at that.

Galahad was poorly matched against demon-beasts.

"So you're the demon-beast tamer's disciple."

The Grand Duke's voice was flat. As dry as an executioner questioning a prisoner before dropping the guillotine blade.

'He's sensitive about the demon-beast tamer.'

Understandably so. No one had inflicted greater harm on the North.

With Galahad appearing between two high-ranking demon-beasts, the misunderstanding was entirely plausible.

It simply wasn't true.

"Ah, this is a misunderstanding. I'm not the tamer's disciple."

Galahad showed his palms and spoke sincerely.

"I modified and adapted a magic circle of the demon-beast tamer's that I happened to acquire. I submitted a report saying I'd discovered traces of the tamer."

"Happened to, did you? You controlled high-ranking demon-beasts after merely examining traces the tamer left behind?"

One corner of the Grand Duke's mouth rose.

His disbelief was unmistakable.

"Yes. I'm an exceptional Mage. You know that, don't you?"

Galahad casually snapped his fingers.

The demon-beasts on either side collapsed simultaneously.

What Galahad had acquired was a degraded version of the demon-beast tamer's magic circle. However gifted he might be, he couldn't freely command high-ranking demon-beasts with an inferior circle.

He had merely used it to transport them.

The Grand Duke's presence bore down on him. The air grew heavy. His breath caught.

He calculated his options in case the misunderstanding turned ugly.

"I see."

The Grand Duke exhaled softly.

"And is having two hearts a coincidence as well?"

The pressure on Galahad's shoulders intensified until he could barely endure it. Thank goodness he had the golden rod.

'What a monster.'

Galahad was genuinely impressed.

The Grand Duke's misunderstanding was reasonable.

However...

"Aren't I the one asking the questions?"

Galahad had won the wager.

A heavy silence settled over them. Galahad remained taut with tension, ready to cast at any moment.

Several misunderstandings had piled up. Nobles were two-faced creatures by nature.

Few simply backed down after losing a bet. Most threw tantrums to the bitter end.

And this was the Grand Duke. Galahad, meanwhile, was an imperial bastard.

Conceding wouldn't be easy.

'This isn't good.'

Galahad slowly loosened his hand. He placed a cigarette between his lips with a natural motion, continuing to compress his mana.

Then...

"Indeed."

The Grand Duke slung his axe onto his back. The pressure bearing down on Galahad's shoulders vanished instantly.

"I've lost."

He gave a firm nod.

The concession was so clean that Galahad's tension seemed foolish.

The Grand Duke was a magnanimous man.

* * *

'A clean concession.'

He had three questions.

Galahad organized his thoughts as he studied the Grand Duke's fearsome face.

The accord was the Emperor's means of binding powerful individuals. In exchange, the Emperor did nothing.

An upper-echelon Demon wanted the Emperor dead because he did nothing.

Finding the connection between the two was important.

To do that, he first had to understand the Emperor.

"What is the Emperor's true identity?"

Galahad asked directly.

The Grand Duke looked behind him, briefly glaring at empty air.

'Does the Empire having ears here mean more than spies?'

Galahad narrowed his eyes at that peculiar reaction.

He had confirmed that the very concept of a Demon King was denied across the continent. The Emperor might have done something similar.

"Questions about the Emperor cost two."

'A two-question question?'

Galahad's eyes narrowed.

He only had three questions, and this one would cost two?

Still, that meant the information was important enough to warrant it.

"Very well. I'll use two."

The Grand Duke nodded.

"The Emperor..."

The Grand Duke paused.

The Emperor could be an upper-echelon Demon. Human greed knew no bounds. It would be terribly clichéd, but...

Then the Grand Duke slowly opened his mouth.

"Is an idiot."

"... Pardon?"

"The Emperor is an idiot."

He enunciated every word. That wasn't the issue, though.

"No—an idiot? What kind of answer is that?"

"Is that a question?"

"Isn't that a rather halfhearted answer? It cost me two questions."

"It's an answer worth two."

The Grand Duke was adamant.

An idiot. It was a decidedly ill-fitting description of the Emperor.

'The Grand Duke isn't the sort to resort to cheap tricks.'

Calling him an idiot was probably the best answer he could give.

Even so...

"Isn't 'an idiot' a rather careless answer?"

"Next question."

"You idiotic—No, I was just reflecting on what you said."

Galahad shook his head as the Grand Duke's eyes narrowed.

'An idiotic Emperor... '

It hadn't been fruitless. He had learned that information about the Emperor couldn't be divulged freely. It raised the possibility that the Emperor had done something similar to the Demon King.

That was a considerable gain.

"Next question."

The Grand Duke's voice was firm.

Questions about the Emperor cost two. There wasn't anything else Galahad particularly wanted to spend one on.

"May I save it for later?"

"Mm."

The Grand Duke nodded.

Though a little disappointed, Galahad had gained quite a lot. He had learned how to use the demon-beast tamer's magic circle and grasped the nature of the accord.

Then he noticed that the Grand Duke's gaze was fixed on something.

The Grand Duke was a taciturn man. His lips only curved upward when he tore off demon-beasts' heads and chewed them up.

Yet now his expression was peculiar. His eyebrows twitched faintly. Judging by Adrianna's eyebrows, that was a sign of interest.

He was looking at...

'The horse?'

It was the demon-beast Galahad had ridden here, a low-ranking creature shaped like a horse.

The Grand Duke was staring straight at it.

Galahad discreetly moved the demon-beast to the side. The Grand Duke's head turned.

'Does he see it as a horse?'

A sleek horse was the equivalent of a supercar here.

It was hard to call this hideous demon-beast a horse, but then again, the Grand Duke himself resembled a high-ranking demon-beast.

'They suit each other.'

Galahad gave a small nod.

He had caught it to fill his quota of three.

Unlike the other, high-ranking beasts, this low-ranking one could be controlled. But it was still a demon-beast. Keeping it around was dangerous.

Moreover, maintaining control required a constant supply of demon-beast blood. Feeding it all that precious blood... Its fuel economy was terrible.

An ordinary horse was more obedient. There was no reason to keep this thing.

He had intended to abandon it once they descended the mountain anyway.

Yet the Grand Duke was interested.

Hmm.

"Your Highness, I haven't given you a wedding gift yet, have I?"

Galahad grinned broadly.

The Grand Duke's eyebrows shifted slightly.

"A wedding gift? I've never approved your marriage."

Galahad rummaged through the bag Tom had given him.

There was an expensive bridle inside.

He fitted it to the creature and offered the reins to the Grand Duke, whose eyebrows twitched.

"Now, as you can see, this fellow has flames coming out of his hooves. In the capital, we call that the optional heating package—"

The Grand Duke's eyebrows rose higher and higher.

* * *

"Shouldn't we go up?"

At his subordinate's question, Eighth Battalion commander Benijones bit his lip.

The Demon-Beast Graveyard was a snowy mountain so tall its summit seemed to touch the sky.

The strange phenomenon had begun before dawn.

At first, it had been a tiny speck. The red mist spread from that point until it blanketed the mountain's lower slopes.

It looked as though the snowy mountain was bleeding.

Even Benijones, who had commanded the Eighth Battalion for many years, had never seen anything like it.

It had to be an upper-echelon Demon.

The problem was that the Grand Duke had declared the Demon-Beast Graveyard off-limits. No one could climb it without his permission.

They could only wait below.

Such a dense blood mist...

'Not just any upper-echelon Demon. An exceptionally nasty one.'

His hand was drenched in sweat around his sword hilt.

Then voices reached him from somewhere. One was far too calm for the situation.

"So, to keep the horse going, you'll have to feed it blood regularly. The finer the horse, the higher the upkeep—rather, the bloodkeep."

That smooth voice was out of place in the North. It had to belong to that insufferable imperial bastard.

"I see. A wedding gift, then."

The Grand Duke's voice followed. It was slightly higher than usual. There even seemed to be a hint of laughter in it.

Benijones had never heard him sound that way.

Then the red mist before them parted.

A demon-beast appeared, with flames blazing from all four hooves and five eyes. It looked like a horse straight out of hell.

The Grand Duke sat astride it. Unlike usual, he was smiling.

"That was an enjoyable hunt."

Galahad smiled up at him. The Grand Duke merely dipped his head.

The two looked strangely close.

It was unbelievable.

Then the Grand Duke looked at Galahad and said,

"I've invited your family to the engagement ceremony, too."

Galahad's smile froze.

* * *

"The Alliance of Kingdoms is growing increasingly defiant. Another request has arrived demanding that we reveal the truth about the prince."

"The western seas are in turmoil. They're swarming with pirates."

"The Ministry of Magic has produced a prototype magic knight. It looks quite promising."

"Track construction for the magic train is nearly complete as well."

"Demons are appearing more frequently. We need countermeasures. We must establish two more knightly orders."

The imperial council chamber was noisy. Those present eagerly announced their achievements and argued heatedly to secure support.

Yet the meeting ended without accomplishing anything.

There was no one at the helm.

Count Ambertan straightened his coat and rose from his seat. A spiteful-looking noble stepped into his path.

It was Count Barahan, who was constantly trying to keep him in check.

"I hear Galahad has earned the Grand Duke's recognition. Haven't things strayed rather far from the plan?"

Ambertan narrowed his eyes at Barahan's sneering words.

"What does that have to do with me?"

"What does it have to do with you? Isn't Galahad your son? Your third son."

"And?"

"People are wondering whether House Ambertan secretly helped him."

Ambertan laughed aloud at Barahan's words.

It wasn't even funny.

"He dared learn filthy magic in House Ambertan, a distinguished house of swordsmanship. Help that filthy stain on our name? Ha! Even a dog would laugh. My greatest mistake was failing to dispose of him in time because I didn't want to dirty my hands."

At Ambertan's scathing words, Count Barahan raised both hands and edged back.

Sharp gazes pierced Ambertan from all around. He had openly expressed his loathing for magic.

'Filthy spell-slingers.'

Count Ambertan muttered a curse.

As he moved to leave, someone blocked his path.

Blood-red hair and astonishing beauty...

It was the Imperial Princess.

She beamed at him.

"Count Ambertan?"

Like a flower in full bloom.