Chapter 72 - Stature (1)

“Here we are.”

Maksim spoke with the imposing presence befitting one of the king’s guardian knights, and Alon watched the door open.

“Go inside and bring out just one item of your choosing. I should warn you, if you are caught secretly taking two or more items—”

Maksim turned his gaze toward Alon.

“—there may be unfortunate consequences, so please bear that in mind.”

The warning was somewhat unpleasant to hear, but Alon nodded lightly. He understood Maksim’s position.

‘Plenty of gladiators try to pull something.’

Of course, few were brazen enough to try it in the royal treasury, but Alon knew such gladiators did exist.

“You may enter.”

Alon stepped into the treasury without any particular feelings about the matter.

“Oh...”

An exclamation of admiration escaped him before he knew it.

As he had expected, the treasury held an enormous variety of items. Weapons ranging from swords and axes to spears, along with ornaments and accessories, lay scattered across tables and the floor.

No place could have better deserved the name of treasury.

Yet Alon paid no attention to those weapons or ornaments. Without hesitation, he headed to one corner and began searching. He had already decided what he would take.

After roughly thirty minutes of rummaging here and there, he finally found what he wanted.

“Hmm...”

What he had discovered in a heap of ornaments and accessories was a tiny dagger.

No, even calling it a dagger felt awkward. It was more like a longsword crafted for a race of tiny people to wield. While its blade could certainly serve as a dagger, the part of the hilt one could grip was absurdly thin.

In other words, it seemed useful only as a decoration, not a weapon, but Alon took it without concern.

‘The Blindfolded One’s Contract Token.’

He recalled the name of the object in his hand.

It was not something he could use right away. Like the ring Heinkel had given him, it would have to be unsealed in Laxas before he could make proper use of it.

‘... Now that I have everything I came for, I can hear the dragonkin’s explanation and leave for Laxas.’

He left the treasury and returned to the king with Maksim, who had been waiting outside.

Now that he had obtained everything he needed, he would have preferred to leave the uncomfortable royal castle immediately. Etiquette, however, required him to thank the king.

So, as he arrived, he was thinking:

‘How can I politely refuse the offer of his daughter?’

“...?”

He sensed a rather peculiar atmosphere.

Karmakses was still smiling, though not laughing as heartily as before Alon had gone to retrieve his treasure. There was an odd awkwardness about him.

“Oh, Mentor!”

By contrast, Seollang, who stood before the king and seemed to have been speaking with him until a moment ago, was beaming as usual.

“Hmm, ahem... Have you chosen your item?”

At Karmakses’s strangely awkward question, Alon bowed.

“Yes. Thank you for your gracious generosity, Your Majesty.”

“Good. Then you may go—ah, yes. And let us forget what I said earlier. It was a joke, you see.”

“...? Ah, yes.”

Karmakses forced a hearty laugh.

“Then I look forward to seeing you again.”

With that, he dismissed Alon.

“...?”

Alon was simply bewildered. The audience had ended without even the brief customary ceremony of showing the king the item he had taken from the treasury and offering his thanks.

“Seollang.”

“Hmm? What is it, Mentor?”

Another question suddenly occurred to him, and he addressed the smiling Seollang.

“You didn’t seem to pay your respects when you met the king. Is that all right?”

“Hmm? Of course it is.”

“... I suppose the king has given you permission.”

“That’s right. It’s fine.”

Watching her nod as though it were truly nothing, Alon felt another strange uneasiness.

‘... Even a Baba Yaga should pay her respects to the king, shouldn’t she?’

Of course, Psychedelia had never described such matters in detail, so he had no way of knowing the truth. He decided to let the subject drop.

“What did you talk about with the king?”

“Hmm... Just ordinary things?”

“Ordinary...?”

“Oh, you know. Food, things he needs to be careful about... That sort of thing?”

“I see.”

“Yep!”

At her cheerful answer, Alon shrugged as he climbed into the carriage.

‘Well... if she’s always acted that way, Seollang probably wasn’t the cause... I must have imagined that strange atmosphere.’

####

Rather than returning to Seollang’s guild, Alon’s carriage headed straight for the ruins outside Coloni.

He had obtained everything he needed. Now it was time to meet the dragonkin and hear what he had not been able to hear last time.

Traveling directly there with Seollang, without stopping at the guild, Alon reached his destination that afternoon.

“I’ll be back, then.”

“All right! I’ll be waiting, Mentor!”

Seollang raised her hand high and waved it from side to side.

With her seeing him off, Alon reached the Central Tower, listening all the while to Sparrow’s persistent whining for him to become his successor.

[“You have come? I was waiting for you.”]

Once again, the moment he reached the upper floor, bookshelves filled the room and the being appeared before him.

“Is there a time limit on your manifestation this time as well?”

[“You need not worry about that. We will have enough time to talk.”]

“I see. Then why aren’t you keeping your promise?”

[“... Promise?”]

“You aren’t going to pretend you’ve forgotten, are you?”

When Alon challenged its feigned ignorance, the being let out a low groan, like an animal caught hiding something, then spoke quietly.

[“... Master. Are you satisfied now!?”]

“I’ll let that suffice.”

[“Why in the world did I make such a ridiculous promise—!”]

It sighed at Alon’s response, then looked at Sparrow’s Staff and spoke.

[“Still, you are better at getting things done than I expected. I did not think you would have the staff already. Have you tried its magic?”]

“Yes.”

[“And Manifestation of One’s True Nature?”]

“I succeeded, but it was more dangerous than necessary.”

Alon spoke calmly.

The dragonkin looked dazed for a moment, then gave a disbelieving laugh.

[“I wondered if you might, but to truly succeed... How absurd.”]

Then it addressed the staff rather than Alon, as if to confirm his claim.

[“Magus, you tell me. Did the mage truly succeed in Manifestation of One’s True Nature?”]

[“Y-yes, he did.”]

“...?”

Alon looked puzzled.

Sparrow, who had been noisily squawking right up until they entered the tower, had answered in an extremely tense voice. His manner was utterly unlike anything Alon had seen over the past few days. He was like a mouse before a cat.

But Alon had little time to wonder about it.

[“Good. Excellent. Very good.”]

The being smiled approvingly and nodded several times before looking at Alon.

[“There are things I wish to tell you and things you must learn immediately, but everything has its proper order. We already have an unfinished discussion, so let us address that first.”]

[“What do you wish to know? I shall tell you everything that I can tell you at this point.”]

Alon considered its question. There was so much he wanted to ask, but now that the opportunity had arrived, he could not decide where to begin.

After remaining silent for a while, he spoke.

“... Last time, you said I needed ‘stature’ to hear this.”

[“I did. What of it?”]

“What exactly do you mean by stature?”

For his first question, Alon chose to ask about stature.

[“Hmm? Why, naturally—”]

The dragonkin looked puzzled, but smiled as though the answer required no explanation.

[“—divine stature, of course.”]

####

While Alon was listening to that explanation, Karmakses III sat in his office at Coloni’s royal castle, sighing as he reflected on what had happened earlier.

‘... I’ve never seen her show such a range of reactions.’

He thought of Seollang.

Until today, he had never once seen that Seollang beaming with a smile. Her face had generally been expressionless whenever he saw her, whether at the colosseum or the royal castle.

Thus, although he had not shown it, Karmakses had found the changes in her expression quite astonishing.

And that was not all.

[“Don’t push it.”]

Karmakses recalled Seollang’s voice from earlier—the flat pronouncement she had delivered after shedding her lighthearted expression the moment Count Pallatio left.

“...”

Recalling the suffocating sensation he had experienced at that moment, Karmakses gave a hollow laugh.

Anyone would have considered Seollang’s behavior blatant treason. He might have tolerated her informal speech because she was the foremost Baba Yaga, but directing hostility at the king...

...and radiating enough killing intent to send chills down his spine was an act that could unquestionably be deemed treason.

Yet even after such behavior, Karmakses had not dared rebuke her.

There were two reasons. The first was that he knew how powerful Seollang was. Not the strength publicly attributed to the foremost Baba Yaga, the Golden Flash, but her true power.

With two Baba Yaga positions still vacant, Coloni absolutely needed her overwhelming strength.

... The other reason was that Karmakses had tried to exploit Count Pallatio through his royal authority despite knowing full well that the count was Seollang’s mentor.

Among the upper classes, marriage was generally a political tool.

In other words, offering his daughter as a ‘gift’ to Count Pallatio at their very first meeting was a proposal that would benefit Karmakses regardless of the outcome.

If the count refused the gift, Karmakses could use that refusal as a pretext to establish something akin to a debt.

If he accepted, that would also be advantageous. Karmakses could make use of the reputation of Count Pallatio, who had recently risen to fame and clearly had a promising future.

His renown had lately spread far and wide even in Coloni.

Above all, however, Karmakses wanted to draw him in because Count Pallatio was the mentor of that Baba Yaga, Seollang.

Winning him over would mean gaining a means to manage the foremost Baba Yaga, whom he could not properly control.

... He also knew that the count had ties to Yutia Bloodia, who wielded considerable influence in the Holy Kingdom of Rosario these days. That was why he had made the offer, even at the risk of overstepping.

‘... He may be her mentor, but I never expected her to react so strongly.’

Karmakses thought of Seollang again.

Of course, her manner toward Alon had told him their relationship was no ordinary one. Yet, despite her informal speech, she had never crossed the line any further than necessary before.

Thus, as Karmakses tilted his head, newly puzzled by Alon, he wondered:

‘... Just what is he?’

“Your Majesty, the cardinal requests an audience.”

“Show her in.”

The voice from outside interrupted Karmakses’s thoughts.

Normally, he would have continued his reflections, but with the Holy Kingdom’s support needed, he was in no position to refuse the cardinal’s request.

That was why, on her previous request, he had been obliged to break the kingdom’s tradition and give her a treasure from the treasury despite her not being a gladiator.

“Your Majesty.”

Yutia, the cardinal of the Holy Kingdom, entered and greeted him with a slight bow of her head.

Karmakses was about to return the greeting naturally when he noticed something strange.

“...?”

Throughout their several meetings to discuss ‘support,’ she had never once lost her smile. Now, however, her lips were set in a straight line, and every trace of expression seemed to have vanished.

‘Has something happened?’

His bewilderment lasted only a moment. Yutia crossed the office with an expressionless face and approached him.

“Your Majesty, I heard something I would like to ask you about. May I?”

“What is your question?”

“... Well, I heard that you tried to give Count Pallatio—no, Teacher—a rather troublesome gift. I was wondering... is that true?”

As she spoke, he saw her red eyes.

Karmakses could not read the emotions in them. They showed no emotion at all.

In one sense, they were calm; in another, utterly indifferent.

“Would you answer me?”

“...!”

Yet, despite that, he realized cold sweat was running over the hand holding his pen.

Though he could sense no emotion from her, his body was reacting instinctively.

It felt as though he stood before a being he must never encounter. Amid his confusion and questions, Karmakses instinctively recalled one fact: Count Pallatio was the cause of her change.

And so...

‘Who in the world... is that man...?’

Karmakses—the king of Coloni—felt his bewilderment deepen, and once again reminded himself that Count Pallatio could not possibly be an ordinary man.