Chapter 60 - St. Jansk University and the Chamber of Secrets (3)

Elizaveta babbled nonsense about considering legislation to tax men's body-hair grooming in the interest of public health and hygiene, along with useless news from abroad about a certain Princess, all but guaranteed to be the next monarch, who was astonishingly available on the marriage market regardless of her suitor's social standing.

“Hmm. Understood.” “Oh, that was something I really wanted to know.” “Ah, I see.” “Yes, Your Highness is right.”

Ivan was a highly sociable man, so he was generously demonstrating his capacity for “empathy” through the modern social survival technique epitomized by [Hmm, Oh, Ah, Yes].

After watching him as though he were utterly hopeless, Elizaveta heaved a sigh and finally turned serious. Ivan, who had maintained a serious expression throughout while letting half her words—in truth, almost all of them—wash over him, realized they were finally getting to the point and focused on her.

“You know those Dwarf bastards launched a major attack on Prizhenkaya, don't you, Vanka?” “Yes, Your Highness.” “And that they brought an excavation artifact with them?” “Yes.”

He had not seen it himself, but he had deduced as much on the streets of Prizhenkaya that rainy night. Widespread destruction of the ground beneath the city. A Dwarven weapon of destruction capable of burying an entire city if allowed to operate properly.

An excavation engine, an excavation artifact. Whatever the Dwarves called it, those were roughly the names used on the front lines for the enormous structure. They had been so ruthlessly thorough in destroying them during the last war that he had thought none remained in the world...

“Yes. Enrique slaughtered every last one of those Dwarf bastards... but in the end, all she found of the artifact were traces.” “What sort of traces...?” “Evidence that it had begun undermining the ground. All we found were signs of operation on a scale sufficient to collapse the whole of eastern Prizhenkaya. Take a look at this report.”

Elizaveta handed him a folder stamped classified.

[A passage left by the movement of a massive structure was discovered beneath eastern Prizhenkaya. Seventy-five percent of eastern Prizhenkaya's underground waterways have been destroyed, and drainage facilities throughout the eastern urban district have ceased functioning. Examination of the destruction suggests that the artifact stopped almost immediately after attempting to initiate the collapse operation. Pursuit was conducted along the structure's route. The trail disappeared near St. Jansk University. Mana probing detected an unidentified subterranean cavity beneath St. Jansk University. All attempts to enter the area failed. A proposal for the evacuation of all undergraduates and extensive construction work has been submitted for approval. See attachment, p. 12.]

“Hmm...” Ivan closed the folder and sank into thought. An unidentified cavity beneath this university?

“Is there a reason you couldn't attempt to excavate a route into the cavity?” “According to our experts, large-scale excavation starting underground would pose a considerable risk of subsidence. A massive collapse would spread from the university buildings, taking the workers with it.” “Then why haven't you carried out the evacuation recommended in this report...?” “This is our Magical Engineering Department's assessment. Take a look.”

The folder she handed him next required a slightly higher security clearance, but its contents appeared to have been scribbled down in tremendous haste.

[Probing has confirmed that a large-scale spell of some kind was installed within the subterranean cavity beneath Jansk University. The spell maintains its own defense system. The disappearance of the Dwarven excavation artifact allows us to infer the system's general operating mechanism. Dating places the installation of the spell at a minimum of 1,500 years ago and a maximum of 2,500 years ago...]

“... Does this make any sense?” “Exactly. Frankly, I find it hard to believe myself. Well, more than half of what our Magical Engineering Department does is like this, so what can we do? Believe it or bury it. Those are our two choices.” Elizaveta shook her head.

“What is certain is that if the ground collapses, we'll lose both the massive ancient magic circle buried in that cavity and the Dwarven excavation artifact.” “Do they say it can be reverse-engineered?”

By now, Ivan understood Elizaveta's intentions. This ambitious wartime commander wanted to get her hands on both the ancient ruins beneath the university and the Dwarven excavation artifact.

But human technology could not restore a Dwarven artifact. Neither could Dwarven technology, for that matter. All knowledge of its design had been lost, and its machinery was too complex to reverse-engineer.

Still, with an intact specimen, there might at least be something to gain. It was a slender possibility, but better than none. If such a thing lay buried beneath the heart of the capital, not digging it up would be foolish.

At the same time, attempting it openly, in full public view, would be equally foolish. It wasn't as though she could widely announce that she was researching a Dwarven artifact, or establishing a state facility to study an unknown ancient spell beneath Jansk University, where the children of international dignitaries were enrolled.

“Vanka. I'm not asking you to do your patriotic duty.” “...” “I'm proposing a deal. This is dangerous, important work, and we cannot afford to fail.” “Give me your orders. I am listening.” Ivan nodded gravely.

“Enrique has gone in pursuit through the tunnels those runts dug. Counterintelligence Command is devoting all its resources to watching this city's nobles. And beneath this university lies an artifact whose creator, purpose, and age are all unknown.” Elizaveta watched him with burning eyes.

“If it's dangerous, destroy it. If it's useful, bring it to me. Without anyone noticing. For me... no, for this country, lend your strength once more.” “Yes, Your Highness.” His answer was immediate.

Elizaveta stared at him in astonishment. Didn't civil servants usually at least look displeased when ordered to do something outside their duties? Granted, he wasn't a civil servant drawing a salary directly from her, but still. She had just dumped a vague, dangerous project on him with no proper intelligence or support, and he agreed instantly?

“... Did you hear me say this was a deal?” “Yes, Your Highness.” Elizaveta looked rather bewildered.

In any deal, the price rose with demand. Having expressed such a desperate need, surely she should have to place something heavier on the other side of the scales. Yet the man before her merely nodded, making no demands at all. As he always had.

“Well... hmm. Is there nothing you want? A position, wealth, honors, privileges... anything of that sort?” “Do you remember the request you made of me, Your Highness?” “Hmm?” “In the letter you sent through Dmitry.” “Ah, the letter. But what does that...?”

Elizaveta was an exceptionally intelligent woman. She remembered every official document she had personally issued. Politics was extraordinarily delicate work; even a simple remark could carry complex implications.

Thus, even a private letter had to be considered for potential political misuse if it came from the Princess herself. Accordingly, her letter to Ivan had been filled with delicate, carefully chosen metaphors. It had gone something like... well.

[Whatever you desire, I shall repay you threefold.]

That was an old Krasilof proverb. Always repay kindness and grudges threefold. So, moving past that.

[If the payment is insufficient, I shall make up the difference with our friendship. If that still does not settle the account, I shall pay with our memories.]

“Ah...” As Elizaveta's expression turned flustered, Ivan gave a grave nod with the air of a mature adult.

“His Majesty the former King's kindness and Your Highness's grace are more than sufficient reason for me to obey a royal command. The donations you send each quarter have also been more than generous.”

Ivan was a greedy man. He ran an orphanage to indulge his own hypocrisy. Feeding war orphans cost a great deal of money. He had amassed ample savings through his long military service, and received official donations from the Princess and various other dignitaries.

He was a modern man familiar with capitalism. Moreover, he had served in the Royal Guard and had a career as a politically involved soldier with ties to senior military officials. (Meaning he had worked in domestic intelligence.) He therefore knew that Elizaveta's “deal” was quite literally priceless—practically a blank check.

At the same time, however, Ivan was a man of “common sense.” 'If there's a dungeon beneath an academy, it's simply common sense that a hidden bonus is waiting inside.'

Dungeons had to contain rewards. This principle appeared even in that classic work of literature with a suspicious enthusiasm for copyright lawsuits, “Dungeons & Dragons.” And this was a Quest personally bestowed by the Princess, involving a Chamber of Secrets enchanted with mysterious ancient magic. What magnificent treasure might be sleeping there?

Suppose he accepted a mission to clear such a dungeon alone, then asked for support. The Princess might think: 'Hmm. This is costing more than expected. Perhaps I should send additional field agents to spread the risk?'

The people of this era were no fools. And the Princess was outstanding even among them. What were the odds of such a woman blindly thinking, 'Ah, I trust Ivan, so I'll pour money into this and simply watch while he carries out this special operation alone!'?

They approached zero. Politics didn't work that way. There was a reason investors checked their investments' financial statements every quarter and even conducted audits.

As a rational, skeptical modern man of common sense, Ivan accepted the mission without further comment. That left the Princess with a “political or psychological debt” to him. Unlike tangible debts, such intangible obligations offered a much broader range of uses.

Elizaveta was now the most powerful person in the city. It would be fair to say that virtually the entire administration of the Kingdom of Krasilof moved at her direction. By drawing on such a powerful person's “debt,” he could provide every child at the orphanage with higher education and better nutrition without worrying about funding.

A reward paid simply in money would be a one-time affair. But this way, how much financial assistance could he secure under the heading of “donations”? Feeling as though he were committing a wicked and meticulously planned act of corruption, Ivan nodded in satisfaction.

He carefully gathered the collated reports, bowed with perfect court etiquette, and left the president's office.

Elizaveta stared blankly after him for a long while, then rubbed her face with her hands and sank into the sofa, her expression flat. “... Fucking idiot...”

Having heard a royal utterance so outrageous he would never dare repeat it, the Royal Guard officer turned his impassive face toward the window. It was summer.

* * *

“I shall give you half the kingdom.” No, that won't do. Too clichéd.

“Do you not wish to possess the noblest person in this kingdom?” Shit, that sounds far too much like a succubus. A little more polish... yes, something romantic.

“I shall give you half of myself. Will you give me half of yourself?” That sounds rather good.

Elizaveta had been muttering to herself in front of the president's office mirror for quite some time, wearing the expression of a devoted Princess who would assign a difficult mission and offer even “herself” in payment.

This was thirty minutes before Ivan accepted the mission without compensation out of patriotic devotion and left.