Chapter 130: If Such a Day Comes (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 130: If Such a Day Comes (7)
It had to be Calian.
That was what Lemain thought. The mastermind behind the destruction of Heisia Palace was undoubtedly Calian.
Though he had heard plenty about Arsen, Lemain knew the man would never have committed such an outrageous act on his own. Lemain might be slow on the uptake, but he wasn't so dense as to miss something this obvious.
"What am I going to do..."
A building with a long history had vanished in an instant.
Calian wouldn't have done it without a reason. The problem was that Lemain had absolutely no idea what that reason could be.
Pressing a hand to his forehead, Lemain let out a deep sigh.
"Say something, won't you?" he said, addressing Alan, who sat opposite him.
Alan, who was eating apple jelly with his usual indifferent expression, finally opened his mouth.
"How much do you want to know?"
"The truth. Not that ridiculous excuse about Sir Arsen Hertz and the Valkan making a mistake during training. I want the real reason."
Alan set his fork down on the table and looked at Lemain.
"If we're looking at the facts, it was Your Majesty who destroyed it."
"How do you figure?"
"Is Heisia not a monument to Your Majesty's mistakes? Its shadow loomed so large, showing no sign of fading, so Prince Calian simply swept it away."
Calian had said: What does it matter who lived there before, who built it, or how old it is?
It wasn't because he had met the living Sispanian instead of only hearing her legends. Nor was it because the Royal Brother of Secritia, who had no interest in the history of Kairis, now resided within his body.
—Should the name of the dead block the path of the living?
What did it matter if Heisia Palace was gone? Calian, who carried the name of another dead man buried within himself, had been the one to speak those words.
"Your Majesty's mistakes were so great that the path to setting things right was completely blocked. What else could be done? To pave a new road, one must first break down what stands in the way."
Lemain offered no excuses. He merely closed his eyes, leaned back against the sofa, and nodded. Alan relayed Calian's explanation without adding or omitting a single detail.
He also conveyed the plan to combine the forces of the Valkan and the knights, explaining that half would go to Arsen and the other half to Franz. Hearing this, Lemain's eyes snapped open.
"Why Sir Hertz? If half is given to Franz, the other half should belong to Calian."
His expression suggested that even if the Mage Corps Commander of the Valkan was Alan, and Alan was Calian's man, this arrangement was still bizarre.
"Does it matter?" Alan's reply was immediate. It was less his own answer and more Calian's, for Alan had asked him the very same question.
Calian was a master who ruled from the shadows. Though his name was not officially attached to any of them, was he not the one directing the Valkan, the Mage Academy, the Polun Trading Company, the Whitrin Territory, and even the knight order Aizen would soon establish? And were those who managed them not all Calian's people?
Ironically, the only thing Calian had ever put his name on was the collar of a cat that refused to obey him. With that thought, Alan gave his answer.
"For now... I understand."
Since his own responsibility in the palace's destruction was deemed the greatest, Lemain had nothing more to say.
"You still need to hand down a punishment," Alan said when Lemain merely nodded in silent agreement.
Come to think of it, Alan was quite particular when it came to rewards and punishments. He was speaking up now to ensure this matter wasn't just swept under the rug. It was the same attitude that led him to chide Lemain whenever they met, as if to ask, What have you ever done right?
In any case, Lemain knew this was not an incident that could be quietly ignored. He nodded. "I must."
"Sir Hertz suggested deducting the cost of rebuilding the palace from his salary, so you may take that into consideration."
Having said his piece, Alan popped another piece of jelly into his mouth. He didn't seem particularly worried about his subordinate's salary, likely because he knew Arsen had said the exact same thing when he destroyed Gray's carriage.
In the end, hadn't Calian paid for that carriage?
Well, to be precise, Calian had taken the money Silike gave the knight Tail to assassinate Arsen, then returned it to Silike, claiming it was the cost of the carriage. So Silike had technically paid for it, but Calian had originally intended to.
Lemain was aware of this story as well. With a faint smile, he summoned his attendant, Raul, and gave his orders.
"Reduce Vice-Commander Hertz's salary to one florin until the reconstruction of Heisia Palace is complete. Furthermore, suspend all funding to Prince Calian until the rebuilding is finished."
Alan smiled. It was a punishment purely for show.
The diligent merchant Melfir was generating excellent profits from both the Polun Trading Company and the Mage Academy. The Whitrin Territory was doing just as well. Therefore, even with his funding cut and an amount equal to twice Arsen's original salary leaving his pockets every month, Calian's treasury would remain perfectly intact.
Lifting his cup of richly fragrant fruit tea, Alan spoke. "I wonder if the Prince will even notice his funding has been cut."
He then took a loud sip of the warm tea.
He really had an annoying way of speaking. Lemain knew all too well that Calian's coffers were incomparably deeper than his own.
Then, out of nowhere, he remembered that Suleiman, who had gone to the hot springs, had returned straight to the Siegfried Territory without stopping by the royal palace.
"Ah."
He suddenly recalled the money Suleiman had borrowed.
*
Bern.
In front of others, they were king and royal guard. In the presence of the royal family, they were king and royal brother. But when they were alone, they were just brothers.
'Still, I'm glad there's at least one thing I'm better at than you, Brother.'
In private, Bern had always spoken so casually, humbling himself by claiming he had nothing over Chase except his skill with a sword.
'I don't know what you could possibly be worse at than me.'
Whenever he heard that, Chase would always reply the same way. Since Bern was his equal in every other aspect but could also wield a sword, wasn't Bern the superior one? It was no lie.
Of course, Bern had never once admitted it. Chase knew that Bern had never looked at him with such thoughts in mind.
—In some ways, he was better than me.
Bern was excellent at drawing lines. He knew exactly when words were needed, when a sword was required, and when an embrace was necessary. That was how he won people over, cast them aside, and made them his. He excelled at managing people.
That was why Devlan had wanted to give the throne to Bern. For a king, no ability was more important than gathering the right people and utilizing them properly. And with that ability, instead of becoming king himself, Bern had helped Chase ascend to the throne.
"You haven't changed a bit," Chase murmured, lost in his memories.
As soon as he heard the general outline of the situation from Alan, Chase knew exactly what Calian had been thinking. Bern had done something similar once, back in Secritia. Calian was still excellent at drawing lines, he never hesitated, and he knew how to command his people.
Chase frowned slightly as he recalled the name of the mage most deeply involved in this incident.
Arsen Hertz.
A mage of the Valkan who fought on the front lines with knights, shattering swords with his ice spears. And now, a genius mage who had become Prince Calian's man.
"Do you... have no boundaries at all when it comes to taking people in?"
He naturally remembered how wretched Bern's end had been. Even if he hadn't experienced it firsthand, even if by some chance it had been nothing but a nightmare, he would never forget that sheer misery.
Recalling Bern's fate brought back the bitterly cold memory of his own death. Deciding he must never speak of it to anyone, Chase stroked his chest and let out a short, hollow laugh.
Indeed, Bern—and Calian—was better than him.
*
The army of mages that everyone had once looked down upon.
Look at how powerful they have become.
It was as if they were declaring to the world:
—Valkan!
Lemain had not publicly disclosed that Sispanian's great magic barrier at Heisia Palace had been destroyed. He planned to restore it, and there was no benefit in revealing a security vulnerability. Consequently, the rumors swelled even further.
Just once.
It wasn't even high-circle magic. Very few students at the Mage Academy were unable to conjure a fireball.
They had simply gathered those fireballs and fired them all at once. With that single strike, Heisia Palace—which was supposedly 'protected by magic'—had collapsed. It took less than a minute for fifty-odd fireballs to reduce a palace to a pile of rubble.
Sitting on the sofa with a relaxed expression, Calian murmured with a long smile, "To think we've become this famous."
Of course, it wasn't Calian who had become famous, but the Valkan and Lemain. Lemain's position was becoming a bit more secure.
However, the timing was peculiar. The Valkan's name rose to prominence right in the midst of the clamor surrounding Calian's rumored betrothal to Demirea. As a result, people who associated the Mage Corps Commander of the Valkan, Alan Manasil, with his disciple, Calian, naturally began to speak of Calian and the Valkan in the same breath.
Meanwhile, Yan grumbled under his breath, wondering what on earth people were thinking, suggesting "our flower-like Prince" was to be betrothed to his younger sister. Since it didn't seem like he meant Demirea was too good for Calian, Calian merely offered an awkward smile.
"Your Highness, I heard your funding has been cut," Yan said. He had just finished meticulously detailing the events outside the palace over the past day and was now relaying the message delivered by Lemain's attendant, Raul, the previous night.
"Ah, right. I did have funding." Nodding casually, Calian spoke. "Starting this month, I'll take care of Sir Hertz's salary myself. I'll pay him double his original wage."
"Understood. But do you also plan to contribute to the reconstruction costs of Heisia Palace?"
"I thought about it, but I decided against it. It's about time to form a knight order with Count Aprin, so I think we need to save our funds for now."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Then let's eat. I'm hungry."
Having received all the reports and given his instructions, Calian stood up. He walked toward the terrace, stepped lightly onto the railing, leaped, and vanished.
'Starting today, I'll eat on the fourth floor. I'll move back and forth on my own, so bring the food there. Don't forget to hide it well so the royal guards don't notice.'
Since Calian had already told him this, Yan merely let out a short sigh instead of being surprised.
What was the point of blocking the door?
The window was wide open!
*
—What is this?
—Bread.
—I'm asking what you think you're doing.
—I'm telling you to eat.
—Why do you keep doing this?
—You said you wanted to live.
So live.
Keep living.
Because I will make sure you do.