Chapter 169 – Magus Kailus (1)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Rine suddenly looked ahead.

The scenery before her was extremely alien.

A world where everything looked dim and clouded.

And within it, the only thing giving off a warm light was a small cabin.

The moment she saw it, Rine realized this was a dream.

She had been having this same dream for more than ten years now.

I do not want to go.

That thought crossed her mind.

She had already had this exact dream dozens, then hundreds of times.

Naturally, she knew what was in the cabin before her, and because of that she did not want to go there.

Even so, she moved.

Unless she entered the cabin, the dream would never end.

“…”

Without a word, she walked forward.

With every step Rine took, the cabin drew nearer.

And when she finally reached it, looked at the door for a moment, and then opened it.

Creeeak.

The sight before her was horrific.

The corpse of a woman with her throat burst open.

The corpse of a man whose arms and legs were twisted in every direction.

And three children dead with blood pouring from every opening in their bodies.

It was not a pleasant sight, but to Rine it was familiar.

She had seen such scenes often.

More than that, she had made such corpses herself with her own hands.

And yet, even so.

“Haa, haa.”

Her once-calm eyes slowly filled with fear.

And her heartbeat began to accelerate.

As if she had gone back ten years.

As if she were once again on the day she found the corpses of her parents and siblings.

And then.

And then.

And then.

“!”

Rine opened her eyes and looked around.

At some point, the scenery had changed.

The room where she had fallen asleep stood clearly before her.

There were no corpses, no blood, no warmly glowing cabin.

Only a room filled with morning sunlight.

“…Haa.”

As if exhausted, she covered her face with one hand.

For some reason, she had been having this nightmare often lately.

That was why.

“…”

Rine remained for quite some time unable to rise from the bed, which had been soaked with sweat.

####

After the ball had fully ended.

“Hoo.”

Climbing into his carriage to return to his kingdom, Shutalian V rubbed his eyes with a tired expression.

This sort of thing really is not worth doing.

In truth, he had not wanted to attend this ball very much.

But it could not be helped.

There were political reasons, yes, but above all else there was still the matter of cleaning up the remnants left behind by Duke Komalon.

To put it a little more bluntly.

He had come here in hopes of lessening, even slightly, the scale of compensation demanded over the artificial Outer God incident by attending the ball, elevating the standing of the king of Asteria, and preserving the monarch’s face.

Put simply, he was paying money with his body instead.

That was why he let out another deep sigh.

Then.

“King of humans.”

At the voice that reached him, Shutalian V turned his gaze.

There stood a man covered from head to toe in armor.

One he had brought along through a contract with a secretive mixed race for the work yet to come.

The man suddenly put a question to him.

His tone was extremely arrogant for someone addressing a king.

But Shutalian V did not feel even the slightest displeasure.

He knew.

That the being inside that armor and helmet was a powerhouse strong enough that he had no need to use honorifics to a king.

“…It is fine while we are alone, but when others are present, I would prefer that you choose your words more carefully.”

“Do not worry. I will play along when needed.”

“So, what is it that you wanted to ask?”

At Shutalian V’s question, Kurak the Engraved remained silent for a moment, then opened his mouth.

“At this ball, do you remember the man wearing the black coat?”

“…A black coat? Many nobles were wearing black coats.”

“I mean the man whose emotions do not show on his face.”

Shutalian V easily realized who he meant.

“…Do you mean Marquis Palladio?”

“Is that his name?”

“Yes. He is a fairly famous figure in the Allied Kingdoms.”

“So he has built up quite a reputation. Can you tell me about it?”

“I would rather not, but that much is not difficult.”

So Shutalian V began, one by one, to tell him the stories connected to Marquis Palladio.

After some time passed.

“That is roughly the extent of it.”

“I see.”

“But honestly, some of it may have been exaggerated.”

“Why do you think so?”

“Of course, Marquis Palladio’s ability is no longer something anyone can doubt, but separately from that, it is possible that the stories became exaggerated as they spread. Rumors like that he dealt with the Outer God of the north alone, for example.”

At first, it had only been said that Marquis Palladio provided a great deal of help.

But then the story had grown until the rumor became that the Marquis had defeated the Outer God himself.

Kurak listened quietly, then said,

“In my opinion, he is more remarkable than the rumors, not less. They do not seem exaggerated at all.”

“Hm? What do you mean by that?”

“Exactly what I said. The rumors about Marquis Palladio do not look like distortions to me.”

“…You sound rather certain. Why?”

At Shutalian V’s question, Kurak grinned.

“Because he is the sort of one for whom it would make sense.”

“It would make sense…?”

He answered concisely.

Shutalian V asked again in a voice full of doubt.

But Kurak did not reply. He only remembered Marquis Palladio as he had seen him a few days earlier.

The man who had met his gaze with an unreadable expression.

The man who walked around with a grotesque thing attached behind him, so vile that merely recognizing it made blood tears seem ready to pour from one’s eyes.

Kurak was not, by nature, someone who took this much interest in another person.

There was certainly a threatening existence behind that man, but even so, that alone would not have been enough.

Kurak had more urgent concerns, and that was precisely why he had come out into the world through cooperation with humans.

The fundamental reason Kurak had taken an interest in Marquis Palladio was this.

How in the world is he wearing the gauntlet of the first elf, no, of the Most Exalted One of the Sacred Gods?

Because that man was wearing the gauntlet of the Most Exalted One.

The Most Exalted One.

The savior whom the elves arbitrarily called the first elf, the one who had once saved the mixed races abandoned by the gods.

At first Kurak had thought he must have seen it wrong.

But no.

The gauntlet that man wore was certainly the one used by the Most Exalted One.

The memories engraved in the markings passed down over hundreds of generations told him that beyond doubt.

And that was not the end of it.

He would not have concluded from the gauntlet alone that Marquis Palladio was the Most Exalted One.

Not if the Dark Leaf had not been around him.

There were at least six of them.

Kurak remembered the six elves who had been moving in the vicinity of Marquis Palladio.

They were beings organized solely to protect the High Elves, and each one of them possessed strength on the level of a Sword Master.

And they had been operating in the shadows around Marquis Palladio.

If the black leaves that only the queen could move were protecting him, then only one possibility remained.

“…Ha.”

Kurak let out a hollow laugh, as though the whole thing were absurd.

Even by his own judgment, it was ridiculous.

A dead man had returned?

There is no way that could be.

And yet.

Even though it should have been impossible, a being had appeared before him who forced that impossible assumption into his mind.

After falling silent for a while, Kurak finally spoke again.

“Prepare a letter once we return.”

“…As far as I know, it is not yet time for a report.”

“No, but something has happened that must be sent. If what I am thinking is true…”

He grinned.

“…Then everyone will need to prepare.”

Because the world itself might be shaken.

####

About four days after Alon’s group left Theria for Lartania.

As Alon was traveling along at a leisurely pace.

“…Marquis?”

“Deus?”

Unexpectedly, he encountered Deus in a village not far from Lartania.

“It has been a while.”

“Yes. Have you been well in the meantime?”

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

“But what brings you here?”

Alon asked in puzzlement behind his blank face, and Deus answered.

“I was on my way to Lartania.”

“…To Lartania?”

“Yes.”

“…Then there should have been no need to pass through here, should there?”

As Alon pointed out, strictly speaking Deus should not have been here.

With Lartania as the center, Asteria lay to the east and Caliburn to the west.

So if Deus had departed from Caliburn for Lartania, there was no reason for him to come by way of this place.

Just as Alon was expressing that confusion.

“Ah, in truth, there was also something around here that I needed to obtain, so I came this far.”

“Something to obtain?”

“Yes.”

“…Ah. Come to think of it, I heard you were making something. Is it because of that?”

“Yes. I was making a gift for you, Marquis.”

“A gift for me?”

That was new information.

“Yes.”

“…So that was what you were making?”

“It was.”

Deus nodded forcefully with a look full of confidence.

At the innocent anticipation in that expression, Alon felt oddly awkward.

Suddenly?

That thought did occur to him.

But upon hearing that a gift was being made for him, he felt strangely pleased.

And seeing Deus personally running around like this made him feel a little sorry as well.

Even so, the good feeling was stronger.

“And where are you going, Marquis?”

This time Deus asked him.

“I am also going to Lartania.”

“Then let us go together.”

“…Very well.”

So Deus joined Alon’s party.

The next day.

Alon met Deus’s younger sister for the first time in a very long while.

“Greet him, Shili.”

“…Hello.”

“…? Yes.”

Alon was inwardly pleased to see her, but Shili.

“…”

Wore an expression that was very complicated, and contained the slightest hint of resentment.

####

Deep underground on the outskirts of Lartania.

Ron, the man in charge of the Lartania branch of the information guild, stared silently at the hooded woman before him.

Srrk. Srrk.

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

Then the next page.

Then the next.

And when she had read all the way to the final page, she set the stack of papers on the black wooden desk and spoke lazily.

“Hm. This is not enough. Is there more?”

“More?”

“Yes.”

“If you want deeper information, the amount of money you brought will not cover it.”

“Really? I thought I brought quite a lot.”

“…Ten gold is already generous for this much. Information on Upper Councilor Rine is expensive.”

At Ron’s calm answer, the woman gave a small hum and seemed to calculate something in her head.

Then she lifted the corners of her mouth and shrugged.

“Well, fine. It would be better to have more information, but this is enough too.”

“Then leave.”

“Is that not a little cold toward a woman like me?”

“Your face is covered by a hood, so I cannot even see it properly. And this is a place of work.”

The woman smiled at Ron’s cold attitude.

“Then how about work talk?”

“…As I said, work talk requires money.”

“I heard that you also buy useful information.”

“Hmph. You think you have anything useful?”

“Of course. It is information that no one but me knows at this point in time.”

Ron looked down at the woman distrustfully.

Even so.

“I will hear the information first and decide on the price afterward. If it is something we already deal in, you will get nothing.”

He could not afford to miss even the slightest possibility.

“Fine. Though I do not know whether you will be able to pay the price.”

“…?”

He gave her the chance.

Then the woman slowly approached Ron, brought her face near his ear, and whispered.

“The demon beneath the roots.”

“…?”

At the same time he questioned it.

Ron realized.

That a black haze had spread over his vision where the woman’s face had been.

And that a strange object was beginning to take shape.

The moment the eyes of that bizarre object slowly opened.

Burst.

Ron’s head exploded.

Blood sprayed everywhere, instantly dyeing the dark room red.

And then.

“See? I told you that you would not be able to pay it.”

The woman, or rather the apostle of Greed, looked down at Ron’s headless corpse.

Then, wearing a twisted smile, she pushed the blood-stained papers on the desk into empty air.

“Now that all the preparations are finished…”

As ripples formed and the papers were sucked in, an abyssal body emitting a sinister aura revealed itself for the briefest instant between them.

“Then let us get moving.”

The apostle of Greed quietly left the dark chamber.

And no one remained there.