Chapter 68

Unlike wizards, who learned a variety of spells, monsters could ordinarily use only the innate powers they possessed when they first awakened. The shadow leopard and killer rabbit Turan had encountered in the past were examples.

There were various theories as to why. Some attributed it to monsters' severely limited intelligence and imagination; others suggested it worked on the same principle that made bloodlines specialized in physical combat struggle to extend magic beyond their bodies.

That was why Turan had steadily taught Vije the techniques and feel of using magic. If intelligence was what prevented monsters from casting spells, he believed she could readily overcome that obstacle. Even simple telekinesis or ignition magic would make life immensely more convenient.

But despite considerable time passing, she had made little progress, and he had half given up. Seeing her suddenly display such fearsome wind magic left him astonished.

'How?'

His surprise lasted only a moment before he realized something was happening within him and focused his awareness. He could feel something passing from inside himself to Vije through their soul bond. It was not something consumable, like mana or mental energy, but closer to pure "information."

'Could my Storm Bloodline ability be passing to her?'

As if to confirm his suspicion, the ripple he felt through their soul bond vanished when Vije stopped the whirlwinds. Once she had calmed down and landed, Turan stroked her as he analyzed his bird's new ability.

"So you suddenly became able to do it when you grew stronger?"

[Yes!]

"What about what I taught you before?"

[I can't do that! I can't make fire or move things!]

"Then can you hide yourself so no one can see you?"

Vije tried for a while, then tilted her head as though it was no use. In other words, of all Turan's powers, she could borrow only his Storm Bloodline ability—and even then, only the wind aspect he had developed so far.

'Is this why she said only Maysa and I were a perfect fit?'

Perhaps Vije's latent talent was wind, or wind and lightning, so she had responded only to nobles with compatible bloodlines.

In that case, it was hardly surprising that no one who was a "perfect fit" had come along before. An Arabion-blooded noble would not normally go to the Enril Desert to buy a monster.

A little more experimentation revealed that Vije's wind magic resembled the innate magic typical of monsters. Her fine control was inferior to a human wizard's, but her sheer output and efficiency were far greater.

Solif, who had been watching quietly, spoke in amazement.

"Don't ever release her into the wild. If she gets a taste for human flesh, no one will be able to catch her unless a great house puts together a subjugation force."

Indeed, a black eagle with the mana of a high-ranking noble and control over wind was nothing short of a calamity. How could anyone pursue and attack a creature that flew at tremendous speed, blasting winds strong enough to sweep away log cabins from far in the distance?

At Solif's words, Vije hopped onto his head and pecked at him.

"Ow! What's gotten into you? That hurts! Hey, tell her to stop!"

[I don't eat people! Turan told me not to!]

After pecking him several more times, Vije landed on the ground and wrote those words, then climbed indignantly onto the perch at Turan's side. Turan laughed at her utterly childish behavior, then turned to question Solif, who was rubbing his head.

"Have you ever heard of anything like this? A monster learning magic later in life, I mean."

"Hmm, can't say I have..."

Even if his education had been tailored to someone else's designs, Solif was still a great house's heir. If even he knew nothing about it, this certainly seemed uncommon. Come to think of it, the monster encyclopedia had contained nothing on the subject either. If Turan ever met someone knowledgeable about monsters, it would be worth asking them in detail. Or he could ask the library's librarian.

Once they finished examining this unexpected development, they began cleaning up the battlefield. First, Solif conjured flames to burn all the bodies, and Vije blew wind to spread the fire around the fortress where the battle had taken place. In a sense, it was a cremation on an enormous scale.

Meanwhile, Turan used tracking magic to search the burned-out fortress for worthwhile treasure. Unfortunately, the flames that had swept through the fortress had apparently reached the treasury as well: the gold coins, silver coins, and assorted jeweled ornaments had all melted into a fused mass.

His High-Capacity Pouch was beginning to run short of space, so the treasure went into Solif's high-capacity backpack instead. The backpack was much larger than Turan's pouch but had a lower storage multiplier, giving it roughly the same total capacity. Since the Baraha nobles had thrown out all the odds and ends inside, it had space to spare. Solif mourned the loss of all his prized sugarcane liquor.

After gathering their spoils, they used tracking magic to locate and remove every hair, drop of blood, and feather they had left behind. This was essential, since a skilled Zahar noble or someone with a tracking magic tool might follow those traces.

By the time they finished cleaning everything up, the rising sun announced the end of the long night. Shielding his eyes from the sunlight, Solif asked,

"I'm dead tired after being up all night... So what's the plan now, boss?"

Boss? No one had ever called him that before. It felt stranger still coming from a great noble some forty years his senior. Concealing that feeling, Turan pointed at Solif's left arm.

"First, we need to fix that."

"Oh."

Solif looked down at his left arm, severed at the elbow, as though he had forgotten about it.

The potion bottle called the "Spring of Life" could not reattach a severed arm, but a noble with the Healer Bloodline could even grow a missing one back. Telekinesis would keep its absence from greatly hindering everyday life, but surely having an arm was better than not.

"I know a place where you should be able to get treatment anonymously. We've earned more than enough to pay for it, so that's no concern."

"Where?"

"Arabion."

At first, he had considered asking Lida of Ravista to treat him, but there was the problem of not knowing where she normally lived. Surely she did not always stay beside the hot spring. If she was at Ravista's main house, he would have to reveal his identity and draw attention to himself to call her out.

Given that Shiraf Marsh, close to the South Sea, was likely to fall within House Baraha's search area, it was better to discreetly find a Healer-blooded noble through House Berg's connections in the distant Dakayn Plains than expose their movements that way.

"Oh, the one up northwest? No wonder you could fly. You're an Arabion noble? And you stole the stealth magic by killing a Zahar noble?"

"No, that's an innate ability... I'm of mixed blood, if you want to put it that way."

Solif's face stiffened at the words "mixed blood." Usually, that simply meant being born to parents from two different houses, but Turan had already demonstrated both houses' abilities.

"Don't tell me... bloodline combination?"

"That's right."

Solif was speechless for a moment, then asked quietly, "Three?" Guessing he meant the number of bloodline abilities, Turan nodded and answered.

"For now."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"When you have four bloodlines, they unlock one at a time as your mana grows stronger. I'm on the third now. I still can't use lightning."

At Turan's explanation, Solif gaped, then looked up at the sky and lamented. Four bloodline abilities? This was a monster the likes of which could not be found even in history books.

"What a damned unfair world."

"Most people would say being born a great house's heir is a blessed enough life."

It was not wrong, but hearing it from a monster born with four bloodline abilities made it truly galling.

Ignoring Solif's look of near-murderous irritation, Turan concentrated on his work: making something they could use to ride Vije.

"Think this will do?"

"Well, it looks a bit precarious, but it's not as though we'll die if it breaks..."

What they had made was a sort of swing fashioned from rope and wooden planks, far too simple to guarantee its riders' safety. It was something only an exceptionally daring person could ride, but since neither of them would be hurt by falling out of the sky, that did not matter.

A little later, the two perched awkwardly on the swing, and Vije took flight with the ropes tied to her legs. The swing lifted off with a creak.

"Whoa..."

Flying for the first time, Solif cried out in wonder as the ground shrank far below. On reflection, Turan had felt much the same on his first flight in the Enril Desert, so he could hardly laugh at him.

As they flew through the sky on the swing, Turan looked back. Binatu Island was peaceful, as though countless people had not died there the previous night.

* * *

The enormous amount of mana Vije had absorbed had certainly paid off: she flew faster than before, even with an extra person and a swing to carry. She could fly faster still by creating air currents with her own wind magic, but then the swing creaked and groaned under the wind resistance, forcing her to moderate her speed.

If the cumbersome swing had an advantage, it was that it left both hands free for all sorts of things—such as eating a meal of hardtack and dried fish. As they ate in the sky, Turan told Solif about the god's final resting place he had seen, as promised.

"The North Sea..."

"Yes. The mirror said to link the two seas might be somewhere nearby. Though, being divine beings, they could have fought for quite a while after emerging from the mirror before meeting their end."

When he also explained that the god had left behind the Mimic Holy Relic, Solif's expression grew deeply conflicted. He certainly did not look like someone delighted to have uncovered the truth about a subject he had spent so long investigating.

"I thought you'd be happy to learn this."

"Ah... How do I put it? I suppose the mystery was solved too easily. It's not that I'm unhappy."

Turan thought he understood. Solif had never pursued this mystery for some grand purpose; he had simply enjoyed the adventure itself. Being handed the answers outright seemed to have left him more deflated than pleased.

"It's not as though everything has been explained. Why did that god have to fight alone there instead of working with the other Freyans? Why did he leave so little trace in history? Above all, we should at least learn his name."

"True, that sounds worth investigating too. I'd like to visit the place where his remains are someday. Could you guide me there?"

"When we have time."

After that, they chatted about the various adventures Turan had experienced, but Solif never asked about his birth. Though he came from Baraha in the distant east, he knew how hostile Arabion and Zahar were toward each other and assumed the circumstances could not have been peaceful.

Turan had some inkling of that misunderstanding but did not bother correcting it. He still did not know for certain who his father was, either. Once he resumed his investigation, there would be a chance to discuss it anyway.

Still, he thought he should at least explain his current circumstances and standing, so he made it clear that his ties to House Arabion were not particularly deep. He was simply friends with Maysa, its next House Head, and a benefactor of its vassal, House Berg.

After several hours of flying northwest as they chatted, land came into view. Judging by the dense forest beyond the beach, it had to be the western forest region where the Dark Elves had once run rampant.

"Good. Looks like we managed to bypass the Enril Desert."

From what had been said during the recent battle, Zahar and Baraha must have reached some agreement concerning Solif's capture. It was best to avoid contact with the Enril Desert if possible.

Climbing out of the seat for a rest, Solif said ruefully,

"You really do have it easy when you travel."

They had covered in no time a distance that would have taken at least a week or two by ship, so it was only natural for him to say so. Turan stroked Vije's head as he answered.

"Until recently, I walked and took ships too. Besides, you could get yourself someone like Vije."

"As if that's easy. If only someone hadn't snatched her away."

"I don't believe I was the one who got the first chance to be chosen."

"Ugh."

Monsters that originated as birds were common, but ones like Vije—small enough to travel with easily, well-tamed, and powerful—were rare. Hadn't he been told that her original price was far higher, and that he had only bought her cheaply because she was so particular about her owner?

They ate dinner and slept on the beach, then headed north on the swing the next day. Along the way, Turan spotted the road he had once taken west from Kalamap, followed by the road he had traveled with Asiz.

"We're nearly there."

"Really? Thank goodness. I was just thinking this swing seemed a little precari—aaaaagh!"

There was a minor mishap when the swing gave way under the wind pressure and Solif fell, but fortunately, he escaped with only a slightly sprained ankle. Learning from their mistake, they made a better swing and flew for another half day before the Dakayn Plains finally came into view.

"Now we're really here."

"Let's please land gently this time."

Unlike before, when golden wheat had rippled across them, the plains were green with flourishing spring barley. Turan and Solif landed somewhere suitably deserted, put away their seat, and continued on foot.

"This couldn't be more different from the Enril Desert."

"It is rather barren over there."

"Right. Apparently Arabion's crops used to reach us through there, back in the day..."

Ordinarily, overland trade inevitably lagged behind maritime trade in volume, but for wizard houses, the overland route was far more advantageous. They could use huge, tamed monsters to pull enormous wagons.

There had apparently been a time when such caravans traveled between Arabion and Zahar along the old empire's roads every few years. Now that the two houses had waged a bloody war, that was little more than a dream.

Remembering the route Asiz had once guided him along, Turan reached Zavillin, the city in House Berg's territory, without trouble after about half a day's walk. As it happened, the knight stationed outside the walls had a familiar face.

"Oh, Master Turan?"

"It's been a while, Bin. Is Asiz well?"

"Of course! The Young Master will be delighted. May I ask who is with you?"

"A friend I made on my travels."

At that, the Berg knight Bin let them in without asking any further questions about Solif's identity. After all, Turan was Young Master Asiz's benefactor and friend, who had been treated as an honored guest for a month during his previous stay. The black eagle at his side was presumably a pet.

Having entered Zavillin without difficulty, Turan felt a peculiar sense of ease at its familiar sights. Seeing the restaurants where he had eaten delicious meals with Asiz, the theaters they had visited, and other places they had roamed brought those happy days back to him.

They made their way to House Berg's palace in the heart of the city. Hearing the news, Asiz rushed out and welcomed him with open arms.

"Turan, my friend! Life out there isn't so easy, is it? I knew you'd be back before long!"

"Yes, it really wasn't easy."

Imagining the look Asiz would wear if he knew all the adventures he had been through, Turan embraced the friend he had not seen in so long. He had stayed here for only a month, and had been wandering for no more than a few months, yet it felt as though he had returned home at the end of a long journey.