How a Wizard Survives (52)
How a Wizard Survives (52)
"Are you sure you'll be okay? If it seems even a little dangerous, you have to stop right away."
Ash, hearing the various reports, couldn't hide her concern for me.
Normally, thanks to the improved mask, I wouldn't have needed to explain myself repeatedly, but...
Today was different.
I'd taken it off the moment Reinhardt summoned me.
Because there's nothing more unfair than getting caught with a magic tool for no good reason.
Fortunately, as I'd expected, Ash didn't flat-out oppose me.
She knew it too.
Staying in the dark is dangerous.
Ignorance is the worst sin, and information is akin to life itself.
I had already explained about Luft to my teacher and Ash, so I wanted to bring him to the forge, but...
It didn't feel right to the two of them, so I gave up.
It might be different if my teacher were on the job. But it wasn't something to rush into right now.
"Don't worry. I'll be going now."
Deciding the preparations were about done, I headed back into the darkness.
Reshutal was known for quiet nights.
To be honest, the security wasn't great, so at night everyone locked their doors tight and holed up indoors.
But to me, who grew up in a real backwater village, even this night felt lively.
In fact, the entertainment district was still fairly bustling.
"Young master."
At the barely audible whisper, I turned my head to see Luft beckoning.
He already had the location secured.
I crossed the rooftops into the slums and clicked my tongue when I spotted a familiar basement.
It was the same place used for the mages' meeting last time.
"This will do fine."
"Yeah... no one will come near this place. Have you secured everything needed for the summoning?"
"Yes. I borrowed them from various places."
Borrowed, huh.
His mindset seemed fundamentally different from ordinary people's.
But who dared blame Luft?
It must have been unavoidable to survive on the front lines.
Everyone in Reshutal was indebted to Luft.
Thinking that way, "borrowed" felt about right.
Luft described it while drawing the summoning circle on the flat stone floor.
"I modified the summoning circle. The Gravity Demon Volga should not be able to remember your identity, young master."
"Is that kind of advanced modification even possible?"
Luft's skill as one of the Eight Swords of Einhold was beyond doubt, but...
Demons were nothing to scoff at either.
Even though he was a captive of the Einhold Family, Volga was a High-Rank Demon.
If you modified the summoning circle like that, he might not even answer the call.
But Luft seemed confident in his own way.
"It should be fine. Volga is in a rather... apathetic state."
"Listless?"
"Yes. He's lost all motivation after years of imprisonment. Or he's pretending to be that way."
After explaining with a shrug, Luft looked me straight in the eye and gave one last confirmation.
His tone was firm, as if this was the one thing he couldn't concede.
"But a demon is still a demon. And a contract is a contract. Once you make the contract, your soul will inevitably be bound. That's the basic condition of any contract."
"..."
"So promise me. Under no circumstances will you make a contract with him!"
"Of course. I don't exactly want to become a demon's slave either."
Satisfied with my answer, he gave a big nod and set out the summoning materials.
Then he began a low, powerful chant.
"Answer my call. Gravity Demon Volga. Here, a new contract awaits you!"
Fwoosh!
From the summoning circle, in a swirl of light, a dwarf appeared, lounging on his side.
The creature, holding a long pipe, stared at me with apathetic eyes.
The Gravity Demon Volga.
His appearance was so humble you'd hardly believe he was a High-Rank Demon.
But the strength I sensed from him was, if anything, greater than Orphos's.
"Luft Einhold? What's this? The one who always called for my execution..."
"Shut up. You only need to answer what you're asked."
Despite the insult, Volga did not cancel the summoning.
Apparently, he truly lacked the motivation to care.
Volga looked up at me with heavy-lidded eyes and tilted his head.
"Ho-oh. So this one's the new contractor? You desire the power of gravity?"
"Yeah, so hand it over, quickly."
I extended my right arm with a trembling heart.
For demons, contracts were sacred procedures.
A verbal agreement beforehand held no binding force.
The key was the final declaration, made after examining all the terms.
Volga took my hand, then his eyes flew wide open.
He noticed the anomaly much faster than Orphos.
The shock filling his eyes didn't seem like a positive sign.
"Yo-you vile bastards. I thought something was odd about those terms... You can't lie with a contract. No lending is possible! Let that be clear."
"What nonsense!"
Luft pretended not to notice and protested.
The seasoned demon released my hand and said bluntly, "You, for all your talk of being a contractor, don't understand debt at all."
"What?"
"Lending power to someone stronger than me isn't a loan—it's a tribute. There's scant chance of getting it back."
While we stood there, unable to make sense of his words, Volga sprang upright and murmured.
"Anyway, to think such a being has been born again. No... I see. Maybe a tribute isn't so bad sometimes? You never know how the world will turn out..."
"What on earth are you..."
Regardless of what Luft said or didn't say, Volga already had no regard for his existence.
He knelt on one knee before me and spoke in a solemn voice.
"King of Kings. I offer a heartfelt tribute. Please forgive my insolence and existence with this."
"..."
What Volga offered was an enormous amount of mana.
Even a conservative estimate put it at enough mana to create a Low-Rank Demon.
It was something he'd refused to surrender even after being captured by the Einhold Family.
But I couldn't simply accept it.
What use was mana?
This creature held my father's soul in his grasp.
Even though I'd never met him in life, a father was still a father.
I was about to demand it when Luft desperately shook his head from across the room.
The truth was, I knew too.
Volga was set up not to remember my identity, but...
If he surrendered my father's soul, Volga might deduce my identity.
No, it would be stranger if a High-Rank Demon couldn't infer that much.
'It can't be helped.'
Would he even give it if I asked in the first place?
This was a stupid thing to do.
Accepting that, I unsummoned Volga.
"I won't accept your tribute. Go back!"
Shk!
Volga vanished into the summoning circle the moment my command fell.
Luft and I stared at each other for a long while in the candlelit basement.
"Uncle. Do you have any idea about..."
"Not at all."
"You never fed me a Holy Relic or something when I was little? Or messed up when sealing my mana?"
"Even a Holy Relic would be far below a demon in class. There's no way that would provoke such a reaction."
Luft looked aggrieved as he answered, then stopped short and swallowed the rest.
That told me he knew something about the matter.
"If I had to point to one thing, it would be your mother..."
"Mother?"
"Yes. She was never suited to a frontline village—in the best sense. Lord Dietrich would not have chosen just anyone as a partner, would he?"
Luft sounded oddly proud of that fact.
Since I had almost no memory of my mother, I was indifferent.
"In what way wasn't she suited?"
"She was overly refined in many ways. I assumed she and Lord Dietrich came from a fallen noble family."
So my mother wasn't a High-Rank Demon or something.
True. My father, one of the Eight Swords, wouldn't have missed something like that.
The more clues I found, the deeper the mystery became.
"Don't worry too much. Our enemies fearing you can't be a bad sign."
"That's true. Well, I'll head back then."
"I'll clean up here and be on my way."
Luft meticulously erased all traces of the summoning.
If Volga's summoning circle were leaked, it would be a disaster beyond all disasters.
After all that, I arrived at work sleep-deprived and was dragged straight into the briefing room.
Reinhardt, who still hadn't given up on my contract, stared at me intently before...
He began the briefing with a thoroughly unenthusiastic expression.
"Everything I am about to say is classified. Her Highness Princess Alina's wedding date was recently set. It will be an international marriage."
"Her Highness the Princess?"
"Just what kind of bastard... I mean, what manner of son of a bitch is it?"
He'd tried to correct himself mid-sentence, but it didn't improve much.
Princess Alina enjoyed absolute support among the citizens of Reshutal.
And among the Holy Knights, there were even some morons who thought Alina was better than Katrina.
The stirred-up Holy Knights, forgetting all fear, demanded of Reinhardt.
"So we just need to slice the bastard up?"
"Whoever it is, he's a heretic! I mean it!"
These morons were my subordinates.
Reinhardt, wearing an expression that roughly said the same, clenched his fist.
The briefing room fell eerily silent.
"The marriage partner is Prince Marcel II, of the neighboring kingdom's royal family. As a matrilocal son-in-law, obviously. Our mission is to guard the two of them. Katrina's unit will handle the princess's personal protection."
Right.
There was also Princess Alina's marriage to deal with.
According to what I'd discussed with Ash yesterday, this situation could just be left alone.
Alina was a royal woman of marriageable age.
That much was only to be expected.
Since she wasn't leaving for a foreign country, there was no need to stir things up.
'If it comes down to it, we can just make a puppet of her husband and be done...'
That did not mean I could wash my hands of it entirely.
Ash had tasked me.
"I don't think there'll be a big problem... but keep close watch on the princess's spouse."
"Huh? Why?"
"Because Princess Alina is Reshutal's only heir. If something goes wrong with her, that matrilocal son-in-law could end up controlling Reshutal. In noble society, that's more than enough to warrant an assassination."
Truly, it was a ruthless world in many ways.
I had no desire to plunge into the society of nobles.
"But Princess Alina is a demon, isn't she? She wouldn't just die quietly if someone tried to kill her."
"Which is why I said there likely won't be a big problem."
Ash smirked as if agreeing with me.
I grinned contentedly, recalling her smile in my head.
Katrina strode out of the briefing room.
"Second Unit! Grab your gear and head out immediately. Her Highness the Princess's marriage partner will arrive soon."
"Jaeger, please kill that bastard for me..."
"Would that work?"
We arrived at the palace with bitter smiles, and I saw a familiar face.
Diana was coming out of Alina's detached palace carrying some equipment.
She had probably made and delivered a wedding dress.
We exchanged glances in greeting and passed each other by.
A heretic collaborator, a heretic, and a real demon, to boot...
The palace's security was already a complete mess.
"You've come in good time. We'll be going out to meet Prince Marcel soon, so please prepare."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Katrina politely responded to the queen's warm greeting.
Alina merely inclined her head in silence.
Was she pretending to be shy now?
With a vague discomfort, I moved on with everyone else.