Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Betting (3)
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Having set out from Guella Domain, Lian and his group's carriage proceeded smoothly without any particular incidents.
Even though Castel Kingdom was in the midst of a fierce war with Bordia, Lian's homeland, this was a rear area far removed from the battlefield.
Of course, there were cases where impoverished peasants, exploited by some lord or another, turned into highway robbers and ambushed carriages.
But even in such cases, it didn't amount to much of a problem.
"Hwaaaak! Run away! There's a monster!"
"We're gonna get eaten! Save me!"
The highway robbers who had tried to attack Lian's carriage screamed and fled in panic.
It was because a winged demonic beast perched atop the carriage was spewing fire, menacing them.
Naturally, it wasn't a real monster—just an illusion conjured by Firka.
"Hiiiik...! M-Monster...!"
"Ah, that's my magic. Don't worry."
"Mage! I'm sorry! Please don't throw me to the monster as food!"
"Agh! That's not it!"
Chasing off the highway robbers was all well and good.
But there was the minor drawback of the coachman being utterly terrified.
Fortunately, as they drew closer to the capital, public order gradually stabilized, and encounters with robbers naturally decreased.
"Kuhwaaang! Home at last!"
And so, after six days by carriage, Lian and his group safely arrived at their final destination, the capital Casar.
They passed vast farmlands that looked like several of Lian's home villages lined up in a row.
Then, crossing the massive walls encircling the entire city.
A grand metropolis, as if they had arrived in Rome, Italy, welcomed the group.
"Hoo. So this is the capital?"
"Ooh. This is my first time here too. It's even grander than the rumors."
"What do you think? Way more majestic and cool than some island village like Madella, right?"
"Yeah. Pretty much."
"What! That lukewarm reaction!"
It was just that, in his previous life, he'd seen much larger and more impressive buildings.
No medieval megacity could possibly compare to modern civilization.
"Grr! Once today is over, I'll finally be rid of you for good!"
"True. Now that I'm actually thinking about parting ways, it feels a bit regrettable."
"What? You married man, are you trying to flirt with me right now? Hmph!"
"What if I am?"
"What? Wha-wha-what!? I knew you were that kind of guy! With that uselessly handsome face...!"
"I'm kidding, you idiot."
Pablo pretended not to hear a thing and casually peered out the window, changing the subject.
Before long, their carriage was drawing closer to the central palace.
"Halt! Ordinary carriages cannot proceed from here!"
"Firka, they say so. Can't you do something with your position?"
"What are you saying? Get off already."
Curiously, the palace was surrounded only by gardens, open to the outside without walls.
Of course, the palace exterior itself appeared quite sturdy.
It seemed capable of serving as a fortress in its own right.
"No walls here? Isn't that risky?"
"The palace must always be open to the people. That's been the longstanding policy."
"Still, no one actually treats it like their own home and comes and goes freely, right?"
"Of course not, you fool. It's still the palace, after all."
In essence, it prioritized the function of central administrative offices handling all the kingdom's governance over being the king's residence.
A thorough bureaucratic state where everything truly ran by the book.
"You've arrived, Firka. And..."
As they entered the palace, a young man in robes resembling official attire was waiting for them.
"Lian of the Lapis Lazuli Merchant House."
"You've had a long journey. His Highness awaits."
An immediate audience like this?
The processing speed was something some government office could learn from.
"Hey. Merchant."
"What? Bureaucrat."
"I'm telling you in advance. I'm not on your side?"
"What about it?"
He could guess Firka's intent in saying that.
It meant they hadn't simply summoned him just to hand out a reward.
That much he had already prepared for.
"We're about to go meet the king of this country, and you're awfully calm."
"I haven't done anything wrong."
"Fair enough... Let's go."
Firka shouldered her bag with a stern expression.
Her small footsteps somehow felt strangely resolute.
He had expected it wouldn't be a private audience with the king.
'Feels like I've walked into some kind of inquiry room.'
But not to this extent.
Dozens of officials seated in a circular conference room.
At the head seat, a man who appeared to be King Balua II gazed down at Lian with cold eyes.
"So that's the Lian in question? His beauty lives up to the rumors."
"Quite young. Perhaps the rumors were exaggerated after all?"
"Look at his demeanor, unflinching even in a place like this. He's no ordinary youth."
Buzz buzz—
The conference room was already abuzz with heated discussions about Lian.
Balua II, however, simply observed Lian silently.
And Lian likewise looked up at him, meeting his gaze.
Whether it was an illusion or not, at that moment, the corner of Balua II's mouth subtly curved upward.
"Hey! What are you doing? Eyes off...!"
"Ow."
Firka kicked Lian hard in the shin.
Lian turned and glared at Firka, but she silently mouthed a barrage of curses at him.
Bang bang bang—
"Silence, everyone! We now commence deliberations on the Parasitic Tree Curse incident in Madella!"
Finally, something was beginning.
The officials, who had been chattering about Lian, shut their mouths and focused on the chair's voice.
"Parasitic Tree Curse?"
"I named it. Fitting, right? Can't call something that horrific magic!"
"Hm. Yeah."
A naming that properly captured the tree zombies' characteristics, based on thorough investigation.
"First, Investigator Firka. According to your report, all this falls under the responsibility of Madella's lord, Leon Monteir. Is that certain?"
"Yes. Certain."
"If so, will you take responsibility for the consequences arising from this investigation?"
"Yes. I swear on my years as a mage."
"Finally. Does anyone object to this investigation's findings?"
Silence lingered in the conference room for a few seconds.
No one harbored even the slightest doubt that this was Leon's fault.
Except for one person.
An old man's expression was gravely dark, but he seemed unable to speak up.
Probably someone from Lady Monteir's family, perhaps.
"Then, no objections."
Bang bang bang—
This sealed the punishment for the Monteir family.
The only question left was what punishment it would be.
It was unfortunate for the still-young Louis, but as the family heir, it was something he had to bear.
"Next, it has been reported that the primary contributor to resolving this incident was Lian of the Lapis Lazuli Merchant House..."
Now it was Lian's turn.
Dozens of gazes instantly fixed on him.
"Lian. Speak with your own mouth. What exactly did you do?"
Likely an interrogation to check for discrepancies with Firka's report.
Naturally, Lian had never seen her report.
Though he suspected she might have coordinated her story with him on the way here, they didn't seem concerned about that.
Firka was surprisingly trusted in her work, it seemed.
"First, I don't think I accomplished anything particularly noteworthy."
"Hey, you...!"
Buzz buzz—
From the start, denying Firka's investigation results.
He could feel her sharp glare without even looking.
But this wasn't pointless humility.
"I merely warned about the impending danger a few times. Someone heeded those words and stepped up, minimizing the damage. That's all."
"Minimized? Nearly three thousand of His Highness's subjects died."
"Tsk! Do you regard those lives so lightly?"
"Of course, had I intervened personally, it might have ended in mere dozens, so 'minimal' may indeed be inaccurate."
In the end, what Lian had done was the next best thing, not the absolute best.
But even that next best was something not just anyone could achieve.
"Whereas if I had done nothing, it would have been tens of thousands."
"No. Isn't that exaggeration?"
"So merchant-like. Inflating what didn't even happen."
"Heh heh. Arrogant under the guise of humility."
They were right.
In a place like this, speculation about what didn't happen was irrelevant.
Whether thousands, tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands—it was all just number games.
But if just one person took interest in it, the story changed.
"Firka. Is what he says true? The situation could have been far worse?"
Balua II, who had kept silent throughout, finally spoke.
"Your Highness. Speculation based on hypotheticals isn't important in these deliberations..."
"Your name is Firka? Why are you the one answering?"
"...My apologies."
Balua II had remained silent because he knew full well how weighty his words were in this setting.
In short, from the beginning, Lian only needed to concern himself with this one person.
The other dozens were mere spectators.
"Firka. Answer my question."
"Yes, Your Highness. He's probably right."
"Is that so? What's your basis?"
"This Parasitic Tree Curse—if it wasn't resolved by noon on the first day, even here wouldn't have been safe."
"I see."
"Yes. If even one cursed abomination had bloomed, the curse would have spread on the wind. Definitely."
Buzz buzz—
The conference room stirred once more.
They had thought it was someone else's problem, but it had nearly become their own.
"Eh! But it was resolved in the end, so whatever?"
"According to the report, the cursed abominations stopped moving at dawn anyway..."
"But that was only because Lian warned them in advance to prepare, wasn't it?"
"Anyone who knew about the curse could have dealt with it."
"So how did he even know...!"
"From the start, isn't it just evidence they were in cahoots?"
"That makes sense! I thought it was suspicious—he's no mage!"
Bang bang bang—
As the murmurs grew uncontrollable, the chair banged the gavel again to calm the excited assembly.
"An important point just came up."
Amid the commotion, Balua II pinpointed the key remark that had flashed by.
"Lian, answer. How did you foresee this curse in advance? Can you prove there was no issue with your method?"
"Right! That's the real problem!"
"...Firka."
"Ah! Sorry!"
Not only had Firka perfectly discerned the magic, but even the curse's characteristics with the parasitic trees.
Doubts about this were surely noted in her report as well.
No flimsy excuses would fly here.
In the worst case, the self-staged drama controversy Firka had first raised could erupt again.
"No helping it..."
Lian glanced around the room, his gaze stopping at one spot.
The gavel in the chair's hand.
He extended his finger toward it.
"How dare that one point so insolently...!"
And the moment Lian flicked his finger.
"Huh!?"
The gavel suddenly arced through the air as if repelled by something.
All eyes followed its trajectory, halting uniformly at Lian's hand.
"If this suffices as explanation. As no layman to magic, you'd naturally recognize it."
"Aaah! How do you use magic...!!"
Firka's scream-like shout convinced even those ignorant of magic.
"Magic!? Aren't mages all either long-lived elves or old geezers?"
"No way! That young man's a mage?"
"See! I told you! A mage hunter would naturally wield magic too!"
"Chair! Speak! Wasn't the gavel just thrown at him by you?"
Buzz buzz—
Commotion erupted anew over Lian's magic.
"Silence! Silence!"
Even the chair's futile cries without his gavel failed to quell the uproar easily.
Amid it all, one person quietly watched Lian.
The corner of Balua II's mouth slowly curled upward.
"As expected. An intriguing fellow, just as anticipated."
And Lian met his gaze, subtly smiling back.