- The war against the Aberrations—I do not know much about it in detail. I was merely guarding the front of the dragon’s nest.
Those were Regarda’s words.
- The records of dragons and elves? I erased them all. What I could not erase, Arilleia erased over the course of several centuries. We wished to be regarded as races of imagination, to be slowly forgotten from everyone’s memories, and in the end, that is what happened.
When asked why he had done so, Regarda answered as though it were obvious.
- Because I know well the greed of humans. The elves had been driven to the brink of extinction, and there was only one dragon, yet humanity remained as strong as ever. And so, with the power of an archmage, the waters around Arilleia were turned into a storm-tossed sea, barring anyone from entering. Had we not done so, we would not have lasted half of a thousand years, let alone a full thousand.
Until then, Hio had naturally assumed that the archmage in question was someone he himself knew.
The progenitor of necromancy and black magic.
Kreutzwald.
The reason was simple: he could think of no other archmage who had ties to Regarda and stood so close to the secrets of the world.
And so, when he asked as much, the answer that came back was—
- No.
A denial.
The caster of that vast grand magic that enveloped all of Arilleia.
The master of the spell that had transformed nature and the environment was not Kreutzwald.
Then who on earth was it?
- I do not know either. My experience with mages was limited, and at the time, I could excuse myself by saying I had no mind to pay attention to such things. Looking back, I do feel some regret that I should at least have heard the name……
An exceedingly disappointing answer: he did not know.
Even so, there was still much left to ask.
When asked why he had erased the records of the war, even if erasing the records of other races was understandable—
- I, too, was curious and looked into it, but I could not find out.
An unexpected answer returned.
- The war against the Aberrations. I had no hand in the records concerning it.
It was said to be the work of some existence unknown even to Regarda, who had lived for a thousand years.
And without even Regarda knowing.
So secretly that no one could know.
Who had done such a thing, and for what reason?
While such a conversation was in full swing—
Knock, knock—a knock sounded, and a moment later, the door opened.
“We will escort you to the grand conference hall. Sir Hio Pavlenko.”
The place where the two had been having their confidential conversation was inside the royal castle of the Sacred Kingdom of Hiberunia.
It was time for the scheduled meeting with the kingdom’s leadership.
- Let us speak of what remains another time.
At that, Regarda rose from his seat.
- It seems I will be doing quite a lot with you.
* * *
“Ahem……”
“Khmm.”
The only thing drifting through the air was awkward clearing of throats, in Hiberunia Castle’s grand conference hall.
It was a gathering attended not only by the high-ranking priests of the church, but also the high-ranking nobles of the royal court.
Of course, true to the name Sacred Kingdom, in most cases, those high-ranking priests were themselves the leadership.
A grand conference hall possessed of pure white, restrained austerity.
And pure-white priests who suited such a hall.
The reason an awkward current flowed through such a conference room was no other.
It was because four people, dressed in ways that stood out tremendously and did not fit this place at all, were seated there.
A group of people who did not match the conference hall, which felt not merely clean but almost reverent.
Needless to say, they were Hio and Regarda.
And Airaits and Freya.
As for why Freya was in the same appearance as before, with a huge hat as large as her own torso pulled low over her head—
That would be discussed shortly.
“So…… this person here is Sir Regarda, known as the ruler of the western sea.”
What surprised them first was that the identity of the knight who had fought against the dragon was Regarda, infamous in the western sea.
There were so many false and unbelievable rumors about Regarda that they were this shocked.
The lord of the cursed sea.
A monster who devoured sailors crossing those waters and extended his life.
A villain who commanded the serpent of the deep sea.
A sea monster who had lived for hundreds of years, and so on.
And that was not all.
Not only were they rumors, but sailors also regarded Regarda as a kind of legend of the sea.
They grew up hearing stories about Regarda from the time they were very young, and then told stories about Regarda to their own children.
Even when those children grew up and told the stories to their own children, the name Regarda still continued to be heard among sailors.
So among land-dwellers who had heard such tales, most simply thought Regarda himself was a fictional figure.
“Regarda…… is a real person……?”
It was only natural that it was hard to believe.
Considering that a being they had regarded only as a figure of sailors’ imaginations, men who readily believed in superstition, had suddenly appeared, one could say their reaction was fairly composed.
Well, it was not as if they could refuse to believe it either.
Had they not all already witnessed that tremendous martial might?
They had seen the existence of a dragon from myth, and they had seen him stand against it; compared to that, could Regarda not exist as well?
“Commit no further discourtesy. He is a benefactor of the kingdom.”
Even so, those were certainly not words or actions to show before a benefactor who had risked his life fighting for Hiberunia.
At Cardinal Herald’s gentle rebuke, they realized their rudeness and straightened their expressions and conduct.
After confirming that, Herald’s gaze turned this time to Regarda’s side.
“And this little mage here is the noble young lady of Arilleia.”
Freya was wearing the beginner mage’s pointed hat Hio had used, mimicking Hio as she sat there solemnly.
Her head was already small, and the brim was so wide that she could not possibly see an inch ahead, yet she sat there stubbornly all the same.
On top of that, in her left hand, she even held a long, thin wooden stick from who knew where.
It seemed Hio’s staff had looked rather cool to her.
She looked like a smaller, copied version of Hio.
At the sight of her, like a little child who wanted to imitate a mage, smiles appeared on the lips of Herald and everyone else.
“We met before at the coronation ceremony.”
Freya had met Herald and a few of the other priests before.
They had seen her, if only briefly, at Sylvia’s coronation ceremony, so unlike when Regarda was introduced, things passed smoothly without an uproar.
The problem came next.
The woman seated beside Freya.
Hio Pavlenko was fine, since his flamboyant attire and unique personality were already famous, and he also had a personal connection with Herald.
The existence beside him, Regarda, was quite difficult to believe, and still left them uncertain, but had they not witnessed his tremendous strength with their own eyes?
Having seen it, they could accept it to some extent and move on.
Freya, too, was a noble of Arilleia.
As for why such a Freya was here…… if one considered that the source of the rumors about Regarda was the Arilleian waters, it was something they could force themselves to understand and let pass.
But the person beside her was incomprehensible no matter how they tried to understand.
First of all, in terms of dazzling appearance, she did not fall behind the three people before her, each of whom had such distinct individuality.
That was purely based on her looks alone.
She was the very model of beauty, enough to make even old Herald’s eyes snap open.
“What are you staring at, old man?”
“……”
Only, that crooked posture and way of speaking—
More than anything, those ears, strangely large at a glance, looked exactly like…… an elf who would appear only in children’s fairy tales.
“Airaits.”
“Mm! Sorry! I did it again without realizing it, didn’t I? I apologize, Cardinal. Would you forgive my rudeness?”
Her appearance was that of a perfect elf, but her behavior was utterly different from the elves of fairy tales.
That attitude and tone that changed completely at a single word from Hio Pavlenko made her seem just like a crazy bit—
“Ahem! It is quite all right.”
With one cough, Herald steadied his mind and shifted his gaze back to Hio, avoiding Airaits’s eyes.
Because if the conversation continued any longer, it felt as though an inner demon would find its way into his heart.
“Yes, in any case, we have arranged this gathering because we wished to express our thanks to the four of you once again.”
An elf from fairy tales.
The ruler of the western sea, thought to be a sailors’ legend.
A mage who had now vanished.
And the simply adorable Freya.
The ones who had stopped the dragon were these four.
In the official records, only Hio Pavlenko’s name would likely be listed, but this was a gathering meant to extend gratitude to his companions as well.
It was at such a gathering that the identities of Regarda and Airaits were first revealed.
“Are you truly certain there is no need to hold a holy festival of thanksgiving?”
“It’s all right. You have more than enough on your hands rebuilding the city, don’t you?”
Hio also refused the festival that would have earned him quite a tidy amount of fame points.
What was there to be so joyful about that they would even hold a festival?
“We thank you for your consideration.”
The appearance of Ariel at that time, sunken into the abyss, had been explained away as something that came out of the Abyss Gate.
The story was that Regarda, who happened to be with Freya, witnessed it emerging from the gate and heading toward Hiberunia, and that Hio and Airaits happened to witness that in turn.
Thus, the rough sequence of events known to Herald and the other priests was that Hio stepped forward and completely annihilated the dragon.
Of course, everyone knew there were more than one or two strange points, and that the story was full of holes.
They knew the truth was probably somewhat different. They knew there were many things left unsaid, but no one pried into the matter.
By what means could they make Hio Pavlenko open his mouth when he did not wish to speak?
Force? Out of the question.
Political pressure? Impossible.
He was none other than the guardian knight who protected the emperor, the Verden Empire.
The only person before whom he had to bow his head was one alone: the emperor of the empire.
That meant he was at once the symbol of the empire’s martial might and the symbol of the emperor’s authority.
In other words, there was nothing by which they could pressure him.
If they could not pressure him, then they had to embrace him.
No, they could not even embrace him, so they at least had to remain on good terms.
“In that case, please tell us if there is anything you desire. If one receives grace, one must repay it without fail. That is the teaching Lady Lifyue gave us. We truly wish to repay you to the extent of our power.”
In truth, from Hiberunia’s political standpoint, holding a holy festival was not purely a loss.
A festival to express gratitude to Hio and, furthermore, to give thanks to the goddess Lifyue.
It could show just how closely Hiberunia and Hio Pavlenko were connected.
And since many would visit the holy kingdom to see such a Hio, the name of Lifyue would also become more widely known.
But since Hio firmly refused, Hiberunia’s position was that they should at least offer compensation as the next best thing.
“Hmm……”
At that, Hio fell into thought.
It was not a happy dilemma, such as having too many things to obtain.
It was the exact opposite.
‘There’s nothing for me to receive, though?’
What could Hiberunia give Hio that he would want?
Nothing came to mind.
Magic armaments, grimoires, related artifacts, and so on.
Well, when it came to such things, they could not surpass Tetradia.
Nor would it mean much to ask for their help when needed.
That was something he could request at any time, even if it were not a repayment for this incident.
“Would you happen to have an artifact related to divine power?”
And so, the only thing that barely came to mind was something like an artifact related to divine power.
“……Ah, by that, you mean a s-sacred relic……”
Judging from the reaction, that seemed unlikely.
The only church was that of Lifyue, and even that was in an age where its divinity had weakened to a degree incomparable with the past.
All artifacts related to divine power had been designated and preserved as sacred relics.
No matter what, could they simply hand over a sacred relic of the kingdom, of the church?
“I was joking.”
And so Hio glossed it over and turned his head to the side.
He looked over with the thought that, while nothing immediately came to his mind, perhaps his companions might want something.
As luck would have it, the one seated right beside him was Regarda.
This hopeless dragon fanatic, who knew what he was thinking, simply stared straight ahead with eyes that did not waver in the slightest.
Surely his head was filled with dragon, dragon, dragon.
So, pass.
Then Freya beside him……
『( ´•౪•`)』
He simply moved on.
When he looked next to the person beside her, he met a pair of pretty eyes that had been watching him for some time already.
It was the figure of an elf winking with one eye and making a heart with her hands.
“Haaah……”
A sigh escaped me before I knew it.
Why was every single one of them missing a screw somewhere?
At any rate, the rest of the party didn’t seem to have any ideas either, so I was just about to say I’d take my time thinking it over.
- If there is nothing you wish to receive as an object, how about choosing a place?
Furnel’s voice sounded.
- If you search carefully, there should surely be a mage’s house here as well.
He had a point.
Since we’d come all this way, it would be good to activate Hibernia’s portal too, and besides—
- And there is a high chance it would be a holy mage’s house, would it not?
If it was a holy mage’s house, I might be able to obtain a holy magic grimoire.
On top of that, I had already put all the points I could into my Magic Power stat, and thanks to the influence of the artifact and the mana breathing method, my Magic Power stat had reached close to 600.
In other words, I was already prepared to ascend to the 5th Circle.
‘They do say even dog shit can be used as medicine.’
- ……?
Furnel was usually about as useless as the three people sitting beside me, but every now and then, he offered a good opinion like this.
“There is actually one place I’ve been looking for.”
Having finished thinking, Hio broached the subject.
“You mean a place.”
“Yes. I understand there is one in Hibernia as well—a secret space that leads underground. A place that seems like someone might have lived there, yet also seems like no one did. Is there such a place?”
“……A secret space that leads underground, while also seeming as though someone might have lived there and yet might not have…… Is that what you mean?”
“Yes. An underground space where it feels like there should be something, but when you actually go there, there’s nothing at all. It’s probably hidden in a rather important location.”
Even as he explained it himself, he wondered what on earth he was saying, but this was the only way to describe a “mage’s house.”
Despite hearing such a messy explanation, Herald’s expression was unexpectedly solemn.
More than solemn, he even looked a little grave.
“How did you know…… There is indeed one such place.”
As expected, the mage’s house existed.
Judging by his reaction, he didn’t seem to know that the place was a mage’s house.
“Could you take me there?”
“Originally, it is a place where entry is forbidden to anyone but priests……”
Herald pondered for a moment, then soon nodded readily.
“Very well. Since you are Hio Pavlenko, who shares a deep connection with us and has given us much help, I shall do so. However……”
“However?”
“Although it is a place where not just anyone may enter, when you actually go there, there truly is nothing at all. There is a high possibility it will not turn out as you wish, so if you ask for something else later, I will gladly hear you out.”
At Herald’s concern, Hio showed a very relaxed smile.
Wasn’t this the typical reaction of a mage’s-house newbie who knew nothing about them?
“Hahaha. Don’t worry. That won’t happen.”
Hio rose from his seat with a confident, assured expression.
“I am a mage, after all. Hahahaha!”
Holy magic and the 5th Circle.
He had a very pleasant feeling that, if things went well, he might be able to catch both rabbits at once.