Point of Contact
Point of Contact
"My master and the others thought the same thing. How did you manage to deduce that much?"
For some reason, Ragnis sounded almost delighted by the surprise.
"It just... smelled fishy?"
Honestly, I wasn't sure if it was really that shocking, but in a way, her reaction was probably justified.
Unless you were a genius, prediction and foresight ultimately came from experience and knowledge. If someone who didn't even know the king's name correctly guessed the state of foreign affairs without any information, anyone would be freaked out. The thought that I might have looked like that to Ragnis made me nervous for a moment.
"Even just looking at the academy you and Sheryl attend, wouldn't it be the same? The scale's just different, but the shit they pull looked pretty similar."
"Hmm... is that so?"
"More importantly, they've already spent five years training the Hero. Bringing this up only now could easily expose their own incompetence depending on the outcome, yet they proposed it without hesitation. That part bothers me too. It feels less like a request and more like, “We're confident. Come see for yourself.”"
I hastily piled on more reasoning to give the impression that what I'd come up with wasn't a big deal, while internally running through the situation one more time.
The more I'd said it out loud, the more it made sense. This was basically a nuclear weapons demonstration, wasn't it?
Behold the anti-Demon-King superweapon we raised. We'll be killing the Demon King and conquering the Demon Realm soon, so if you don't want to end up on our bad side, you'd better choose your position carefully. I was increasingly convinced that was the real message behind the invitation.
...Huh?
"The more I think about it, the more dumbfounded and pissed off I get."
"Uh, uhhuh?"
"So while some of us have lost everything to the Demon King's Army and have spent years grinding our teeth over it, the bastards who chose the Hero have been using the whole thing for political games? What if the Hero's training was finished ages ago and they've just been waiting for the right moment?"
Once my thoughts reached that point, my hands and feet really did start trembling on their own, and my teeth began to grind. The power struggles between nations, where they had to prioritize their own interests, weren't something I couldn't understand. In the end, wasn't it all just business?
They'd spent years presenting the Demon King's Army as humanity's great enemy and a threat to the whole world. If they were playing games like this anyway, that was deception on another level. Was I really going too far in thinking that maybe somebody in the Empire belonged on my kill list alongside the commander I was already hunting?
Why the hell did it feel like, as time went on, nothing but absolute motherfuckers kept popping up?
"Eh, Eldmia? Are you okay?"
I only snapped back to myself when Ragnis stepped beside me and laid her warm hand over my clenched fist. Wow. So this was what being genuinely furious felt like. For a moment it had left me almost stunned.
"Huh...? Ah, sorry. Really, sorry. I spaced out for a second."
I'd been clenching my fist so hard that my nails were digging into my palm without me even realizing it. The rage that surged up in that brief moment was so uncontrollable that I hadn't even properly felt the pain, and I only noticed the stinging ache after I saw the wound on my palm.
"...Wait just a moment."
Ragnis, who had been watching me with a complicated expression, went to the desk and brought something back.
"It's a powder that helps activate Mana."
What she brought was something that looked exactly like the container of Yonggaksan my father used to take constantly in my past life. Even the contents were a similar-looking powder, so for a split second, I instinctively felt a sense of revulsion, but she began scooping out a little and spreading it over the wound on my palm as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Ugh, just thinking about Yonggaksan powder getting into a wound made my skin crawl. But even though a foreign substance was entering the wound, I felt no pain at all.
"It can't match Divine Power, but it can raise your natural healing rate. This powder boosts that effect even further. A swordsman shouldn't damage his palm so carelessly."
Ragnis, who had pressed her hands together over mine to soothe the wound and started using magic, forced herself to smile.
"...Fortunately, it isn't too deep. If you'd been circulating Magic Power when you clenched your fist, you might have punched straight through your palm."
"That's... ha. Yeah, you're right. My fingers would've punched right through the back of my hand."
"Ugh. That's seriously gross."
"Hah. Sorry. We finally meet again after all this time and I go and show you something this pathetic."
I'd been impulsive, plain and simple. There wasn't any evidence, just my own speculation, yet I'd let it jerk my emotions around. I couldn't remember ever losing control like that since coming to this world.
Maybe I'd unconsciously gotten a bit too relaxed after beating the shit out of that Dantel bastard.
"I understand. If I had the same thought, I'd be incredibly furious too, regardless of whether it was true."
Since Ragnis was one of the few people who could say she'd been through a similar situation, she dismissed my disgraceful behavior as nothing. Instead, as if to change the mood, she deliberately brightened up and continued speaking.
"Anyway! We've decided we're not really in a position to keep refusing an Imperial request like this. So it looks like we'll have to go to the Empire fairly soon."
"Obviously the royal family promised compensation, right?"
"Hehe. Of course. Enough negotiations have been completed that that's actually not an issue."
"Then that means something else is the problem. And the fact that you called me over to talk about it means you want my help?"
"Yeah. That's right."
I'd helped her once already, so there was no reason I couldn't help again. I shrugged and gave her a look that said, Go on. Ragnis's hand, still wrapped around mine, started fidgeting. She didn't even seem fully conscious of the fact that she was still holding it.
"Um, if it's okay... would you come with me?"
"To the Empire?"
"...Yeah."
"No."
I could help her, but I couldn't do anything about the time it would cost. Maybe if I'd already finished my revenge, but I was still racing the clock. As a Margrave, Ragnis couldn't just hop on a wyvern to the Empire; she'd have to travel by carriage with a full procession. That had to be a trip of at least a month.
Ragnis looked devastated at my immediate answer, and I felt sorry for her, but I drew the line clearly.
"It's too far."
But the moment I said that, Ragnis's devastated expression brightened and she answered with sudden energy.
"Th-that! That part's fine! We're not going by carriage! We're using a gate!"
"Huh? Really?"
The kingdom was providing more large-scale support than I'd thought. As far as I knew, gates weren't something just anyone could use.
"Then of course I'll help. When are we going?"
"Thank you!"
Ragnis didn't even answer first, just threw herself at me and hugged me tight. I was about to tell her to show some dignity for once, but I decided to just pat her on the back instead.
Even with Radnelbandes and all the people supporting her, Ragnis was still an orphan in the end.
Thanks to Asilie, I had something resembling a family relationship and someone to rely on, but for her, everything was probably still a source of anxiety. So I thought she'd naturally developed a desire to lean on me, since I'd been a fairly significant source of strength for her during her hardest times.
"Alright, alright. I got it, so hurry up and tell me when we're going."
"We've already been preparing, so maybe a week at the earliest? I've already informed Sir Ekaf and Sheryl. As long as you give me a definite answer later, there shouldn't be a problem."
"Sounds like no issues."
Engrim's request was the only complication, but if they're moving this quickly, it probably wouldn't take a full week anyway. And depending on what happened, there was no reason for me to hold back from tearing through whatever stood in the way just to finish the job faster. I'd manage somehow.
Ragnis, who had put all her strength into one fierce hug, showed her face, flushed with joy, and started talking with a big grin.
"Ha. What a relief..."
-Knock. Knock.
Just then, a voice came along with a knock.
"My lady. I've brought the tea."
Right, she'd rung the bell as soon as we sat down. Must have been to call for tea. Ragnis jumped at the voice from outside, cleared her throat, and immediately put on her dignified Margrave tone.
"Enter."
"Hey...!"
You crazy girl! She hadn't properly grasped what kind of situation she was in!
Cold sweat shot up my spine. I scooped Ragnis up, practically tossed her onto the sofa opposite me, dropped back into my own seat, and did my best to look as though nothing had happened. The whole sequence felt like an eternity.
Ragnis had been staring blankly and hadn't understood what was happening. Only when the door was already halfway open—and I'd finally gotten back into my seat and calmed my pounding heart—did she realize what kind of scandalous scene she'd almost created.
The mere fact that her face hadn't turned bright red was testament to her incredible self-control.
And our efforts were rewarded when the maid who opened the door and entered set the teacups and tea without sensing anything amiss, then left.
"Hoo. That seriously took ten years off my life."
"Hoo, hoo! Th-that startled me."
"Get a grip. You're a Margrave now. Keep doing things like that and you're seriously going to get yourself in trouble."
She was a grown woman now, already past the age of adulthood, yet she still clung to me far too casually.
"I-I don't... do this with just anyone..."
When I shot her a reproachful glare, Ragnis's face began turning bright red as she fidgeted with her fingers and lowered her head.
Looking at her, I could only think that she'd somehow managed to turn red from head to toe.