45.
45.
In my previous life, I had never once used a jacuzzi.
The life of sitting in a tub with bubbling foam, sipping olives and wine, savoring leisurely comfort.
To think I would experience such a thing in the 9th century...
The handmaiden, who had immediately taken away my clothes soaked here and there with sweat and water from the long journey, was soon quite astonished at the sight of my naked body. Her face flushed bright red as she shyly handed me new garments, which thoroughly nourished my self-esteem.
Of course, I—who possessed (regrettably) superhuman reason—had to organize my thoughts before an important meeting and did not yield to the strong demands of the flesh. However, I did not refuse the hands that washed my hair and body with a sweet-scented liquid as I sat in the warm tub.
They were exceedingly gentle.
'Hmm— looking rather bulging and rippling, aren't we?'
As I turned my forearm this way and that before a mirror that was clearly made of glass, it seemed as though my muscles might burst forth at any moment.
I had seen many such bodies in comic books long ago, but now that this was my body... upon my back, there was a demon's face...!
I did not exercise separately. Whenever I had time in the day, I merely sparred once or twice with Seutorolpeu or other members of the Garmr Brotherhood. That was all.
So a natural-born physique truly does exist as a separate thing.
"Helgi Konungr, the banquet has been prepared, and word from the Strategos conveyed his wish that you would join him."
The handmaiden—who could be called the source(?) of the subtle fragrance emanating from my body—spoke demurely. To her, of whom I could still only see the back of her head, I replied that I understood. Then, after examining from various angles how the soft Roman clothes looked upon me in the mirror, I exited the room.
'He said he built this city himself...'
Petronas Kamateros.
He was a capable man. So much so that, if I possibly could, I would want to take him back to Árós.
'Shall I kidnap him?'
No. That would mean immediate war. Since he was a Strategos governing a whole region... while it did not seem entirely impossible, there was simply no need to do it.
Regrettable though it was, I would set the notion aside.
'I absolutely must strip away every piece of his engineering knowledge.'
If I had lived my whole life ignorant, it might have been one thing. But having experienced it once, I could no longer return to a life without a bathtub.
Ahh— civilization was this great a thing. Constantinople, just you wait. I would suck dry your very essence.
"It is this way, Konungr."
"I am grateful. Thanks to you, I could rest deeply."
"Do not mention it... exalted one. Then..."
The height difference meant I could still only see the back of her head. Yet the nape of her neck, faintly flushed red, nourished my self-esteem all the same.
'Good, with this level of response, I needn't worry about marriage.'
With my confidence upgraded another notch, I made my entrance. Following the voice of Ali's servant, I passed through a great arched doorway. Already, music could be heard from every corner. The scent of grapes and fruit wrapped around the tip of my nose. A space dyed entirely in orange hues greeted me.
Refil and Seutorolpeu, Oleg and Djur also seemed to be safely well... no, had their faces grown a little thin?
Damian was also visible, and beside him, Petronas raised his cup toward me with a gesture.
"Here! Konungr, come this way!"
A Roman banquet was like a venue for conducting politics. Though, of course, a Norse banquet was no different.
I was the one who led. I must not be lax and free like Seutorolpeu or Refil over there. The time had now come to fight with one another's tongues...
"Haha! Thanks to you, I have rested very well, Strategos Petronas!"
"Oh— that is the most joyous news I have heard all day, Helgi Konungr!"
"Hahahaha!"
"Hahahaha!"
As we raised our cups and toasted, the gazes of us two men were not laughing in the slightest.
*****
The banquet was fantastic. The beautiful melodies of string instruments ringing out continuously. The servants who poured wine while ceaselessly checking the state of my cup.
Whatever was so amusing, Damian and the company of Refil, Oleg, and Djur, with an interpreter for the Rus tongue between them, never stopped laughing in their conversations. Surely that laughter was Damian's doing.
Seutorolpeu was... far off in the distance, exchanging furtive glances with a handmaiden carrying food. Tsk, tsk.
Of course, while observing all of this, I did not miss a single beat of my conversation with Petronas.
As Damian had discreetly forewarned me earlier, what Petronas desired was the stability of the Black Sea, and more precisely, of this place called Cherson.
The gist of what he requested of me was that he wished there would be no fighting between the Khazars and the Rus, and that I would help jointly check the Magyars.
For the Eastern Roman Empire, which was currently dispatching monks to Bulgaria and zealously focused on converting its royal family, the Magyars lurking above them seemed to be a source of discomfort.
The conversion of Bulgaria, was it? Judging from how his face clouded over, there seemed to be some other issues at play. But it was none of my business, in truth.
Just as he had said, I had nothing to lose, and so I readily agreed. As a reciprocal benefit, Petronas offered to use his connections to advise the ruling class of the Khazar Khaganate to withdraw their demand for tribute from Kiyiu and to establish new relations with the newly risen Rus Konungr.
He had spoken in a tone of great effort, but my sense of things told me that this man and the Khazar Khaganate had already concluded their discussions.
'Did the Khazar Khaganate also have some sort of problem? In this neighborhood, there truly is no place without trouble.'
It felt just like looking at ailing patients, each afflicted somewhere or another.
Only a few minutes before, while directly experiencing the advanced civilization of the Eastern Roman Empire, a question had occurred to me: 'Why doesn't the Eastern Roman Empire conquer the world?' Now, I felt as though I understood the reason.
From what I knew, one of the reasons a World War would break out in the distant future was precisely this instability in Eastern Europe. Indeed, the interests of far too many powers were entangled here.
Sedentary peoples and nomadic peoples, the Cross and primal faiths, and Islam on top of it all.
The ruling class of the Khazars even practiced Judaism.
It was likely meant to be a tightrope walk between Islam and the Cross...
To put it another way, this place certainly brought in a great deal of wealth, the land was fertile, and it was a good region... yet, paradoxically, the site itself was not very auspicious.
'It must be because it's the Eastern Roman Empire that they can maintain superiority even amidst such chaos.'
Even having lost its western half, an empire was still an empire. The wealth of this single region of Cherson already overwhelmed that of other kingdoms, so how could there be any contest?
Under normal circumstances, they would reign supreme... but the internal politics of the Eastern Roman Empire were not normal.
"The Empress Eudokia Ingerina sought out a trustworthy person and extended a helping hand to the former Chamberlain, Damian. However, that very act became a poison. For within the court, there is no such thing as absolute secrecy."
Unlike the splendid atmosphere of the banquet, the conversation between the two men, each burdened with their own responsibilities, was weighty and dark.
"I have heard the circumstances in brief. Matters concerning... the current Emperor's affair of the heart."
"It is shameful, but not something to hide. In any case, if you go to the capital, or... even if you stop by any tavern here in Cherson, you will hear such stories right away. They say there are no secrets in the court, but since he acted so openly even in the Hippodrome (the chariot racing stadium), people could not help but know."
"..."
Michael. I realized he was a far more free-spirited man than I had imagined.
"The trouble began when Eudokia became pregnant, and the Emperor eliminated his own uncle, Caesar Bardas. One might call it the end of a powerful official. Eliminating the uncle who helped end his mother's regency was, in a way, natural, but his method was far too clumsy. To so brutally murder a man who was preparing to strike at the Saracens of Crete..."
Of course, it was announced as an accidental death, but who would believe that?
Petronas's voice, as he added the self-mocking remark, carried a tone of utter disgust, as if he was sick of it all.
"He was even called a man mad with power, but what is certain is that he was a man who fought for the empire his entire life. Countless imperial officials grew under his patronage... so the current Emperor took on much criticism and political burden. And the one who filled that vacancy was a man called Basil. The co-emperor, Basil..."
"You mean Eudokia Ingerina's nominal husband?"
"Ha! A nominal husband... Yes, shall I tell you a more sordid story? In truth, Basil was also in that sort of relationship with His Majesty Michael's sister. Lord, forgive us. Forgive the empire...!"
'What in the world was this...'
To my ears, Petronas's lament sounded almost like a scream.
'Was adultery a fashion among the Romans?'
Of course, there must have been some compelling, unavoidable reason there that I did not yet know.
Still, from a third party's perspective, it was true that something was definitely strange.
"That nominal husband— Ha! I'm sorry, please excuse me."
"It is fine."
"The co-emperor Basil is not a mindless man, so he surely thinks that he, too, could be eliminated at any time. Is it not only natural...? Because Michael brutally murdered Bardas, who had lived his entire life for the Emperor, even after Bardas had pushed aside Theodora, the Emperor's mother and his own full sister. Although it was done through Basil's hands...!"
I increasingly felt a fear as to whether I should know even more... but once his reins were loosened, Petronas showed no sign of stopping.
"It is a matter of time. I cannot speak for those other idiots in the court, but one who stands a step away naturally sees more broadly. The two emperors are bound to clash. In this cruel game, only one can survive."
Petronas's two eyes, gazing coolly at the banquet hall, were brown, but a vivid blue light emanated from them.
Was it killing intent? No, it was more like the eyes of someone who had made a resolution.
"In normal times, I would have simply watched... but since a trustworthy man has appeared, I have no choice but to raise the stakes myself. Is there any other path?"
"Petronas, what do you see in me to speak of trust?"
In inverse proportion to the deepening laughter of the banquet hall, we, in the midst of it, exchanged ever colder words with smiling faces.
"You did not succumb to the pleasures of the flesh. Prudence, cool-headedness, extreme self-control... those are virtues not easily possessed."
"So you were a watcher after all?"
"You wound me by saying so, Helgi Konungr. It was merely a gift. I would be grateful if you thought of it as a gift with eyes."
"Haah-."
He was as brazen as I was.
"Moreover, I heard rumors that beyond Novgorod, a new 'Konungr' appeared in the frozen lands. Every Varangian passing through here speaks your name with extreme respect—how could I not know?"
He was not even pretending anymore. His pronunciation of Konungr was no different from a native's. Yes, even if their numbers had decreased now, many Varangians would have already passed through this place coming and going. I thought they would have at least heard of my name.
"Above all else, however, I believe that Konungr and I have aligned interests."
"What interests?"
"The interest that only when that city teeming with vipers becomes quiet can we obtain what we desire."
Silently gazing into each other's eyes, we were no longer smiling.
The music that had been flowing softly cut off just then, and Damian, Oleg, Djur, and Seutorolpeu, who had risen from their seats dead drunk with their arms around each other's shoulders, raised their cups vigorously.
"Now-! So here we are, *hiccup*-! Oh, pardon! Here, with our friend with the interesting head! With the fine host of this place! Let us raise a cup to our Konungr!"
"Alright! Let's drink!"
"For the Konungr!"
"For the splendid... uh, the nameless Roman-!"
"Uahahahaha-!"
Looking toward the high seat where Petronas and I sat, the people vigorously held out their cups, and amid their laughter, Petronas and I lightly raised our cups and returned their smile.
"Very well, Strategos Petronas. What must I do?"
"Oh, Helgi Konungr. The stakes have already grown. With Empress Eudokia unable to concern herself with external affairs due to childbirth, regrettably, there was only one method I could take."
"What is it?"
"I sent a direct message to His Imperial Majesty Michael. I said that a powerful Konungr of the Rus had come down bearing gifts in honor of the joyous occasion of the Eastern Roman imperial family."
"Will that work?"
"It will."
Petronas declared this and drained his wine in one gulp. Since he had already dismissed those around him, there was no one to pour wine for him, so I personally refilled his cup.
[kkolkkolkkolkkol-]
"Thank you, Helgi Konungr."
"May I ask how you can be so certain?"
"Certainly. At present, the Emperor needs authority that can satisfy the city's citizens more than ever, so even if a powerful Konungr from the north came simply to watch the chariot races in the city, it is a situation where he would have to make a pretext of it and boast."
I see.
'So it looked like I'd be playing the fool.'
Watching the people who were now even dancing, overcome with high spirits, I emptied my cup in one gulp.