Chapter 175: What One Can Handle (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 175: What One Can Handle (3)
"Any news?" Calian asked as he stepped down from the small carriage used for travel within the Royal Palace. He directed the question to Merlin, the maid who had come out to greet him.
The new baron, who had been granted the late Baron Haulpin’s territory—the one Lemain had mentioned in a recent meeting—had come to the Royal Palace to pay his respects. The concept of a weekend meant little in the palace, but it was still Sunday, a day of rest, and quite late for a visitor. However, at Lemain's request to expedite the matter, the visit had been scheduled for this very day and time.
As a result, Calian and Franz had also gone to Senyu Hall for a brief meeting. Afterward, Calian had met with Alan and was only now returning to Chermil Palace.
"There has been none, Your Highness," Merlin replied.
"I see. Thank you."
Calian nodded, his expression carefully neutral. He knew there was no point in letting on how worried he was about the lack of contact from Arsen.
“I hear the construction of the teleportation magic circle is already complete. There has been no other news from the Association either.”
Alan's words echoed in his mind.
This meant their delay wasn't due to construction running late. Furthermore, if something had happened in Margrave Brissen's territory, the local Mage Association branch would have reported it. Yet there had been no word.
He isn't the type to miss a deadline.
It was Arsen, of all people. Yet that same Arsen was now missing his deadline without a single word. As Calian climbed the stairs to the third floor, his gaze fell quietly to his feet.
Truthfully, aside from Alan, they were two of the most powerful mages in Kairis. It was reasonable to assume they could handle themselves and return safely, but Calian couldn't bring himself to be so optimistic.
Because one of them had once driven Calian to the brink of death. Therefore, no matter how capable the two mages were, he could not put his mind at ease.
If I had known it would be like this, I should have sent them with a communication ring.
Calian let out a soft, self-deprecating chuckle at the regretful thought. He found it strangely amusing that he was genuinely worrying about Arsen Hertz, of all people.
Reaching the third floor, Calian stopped Yan just as the attendant raised a hand to open the door. He turned to Yan with a smile.
"No. I'd like to be alone."
"Yes, Your Highness. Please do not worry too much. Everything will be fine."
Calian simply nodded. Yan bowed slightly and walked back toward the stairs, his footsteps fading away.
Click.
Calian watched his retreating back for a moment before entering his room. Without turning on the lights, he walked straight out onto the terrace.
He felt a breeze clinging to the last vestiges of spring, but he was in no mood to enjoy it. He hadn't come out to organize his thoughts, either.
"What brings you here?" he asked simply.
He directed his question to the back of a light emerald-haired head. The figure was sitting in a terrace chair, their posture incomparably more leisurely than his own.
While riding the carriage into Chermil Palace, he had spotted that pea-colored crown of hair over the third-floor railing. In the dark of night, only Calian, with his extraordinary eyesight, could have seen it. That was why he had dismissed Yan and entered the room alone.
At Calian's question, Franz, who had been sitting motionless with his eyes closed, quietly opened them and replied in a low voice.
"To act as a carrier pigeon."
Calian's eyes narrowed slightly. There was no need to ask who would dare use Franz as a carrier pigeon.
*
Drip, drip, drip.
The sound of water droplets trickling from the ceiling and striking the floor echoed off the stone walls. It was dead silent otherwise.
Part of the reason was that they were inside a rocky cave in the middle of a forest, but the primary reason was the woman who had just spoken.
As the sound of dripping water echoed for a long moment, a bleak voice finally broke the silence.
"You should have left quietly when I let you go."
The person beside her—
"I think it would be best if you held back just one more time today, Association President."
The speakers were, of course, Euria and Arsen, who had been doing perfectly fine without any trouble—or more accurately, had been fine up until now.
Arsen, who had spoken up to stop Euria, spoke again.
"The situation isn't ideal for catching them now, is it?"
"Since when do mages care about the situation before catching someone?"
"I've always done that, Association President."
To explain how these two mages ended up in a forest cave having such a leisurely conversation, we must turn back the clock.
A few days ago, the day after Arsen had frozen the french fries.
Up until then, their schedule had been peaceful. Of course, Arsen’s mind wasn’t quite so peaceful, thanks to four glasses of beer, but that was a minor issue.
After finishing their meal and spending some time sightseeing around Margrave Brissen's Territory, the two finally went to see Gray as evening approached.
Because Arsen was supposed to arrive that day but hadn't shown up, Gray had been sick with worry, his face pale with the fear that he had lost his final chance by foolishly asking for time to think. In such a state, when not only Arsen but also the President of the Mage Association walked in, Gray didn't even consider negotiating and immediately agreed to join forces with Arsen.
Having successfully carried out Calian's request, Arsen visited the local branch of the Mage Association and sent a carrier pigeon to Calian.
Yes.
Up to that point, there was no problem.
That night, Euria drank only one bottle of Himolica, and Arsen had exactly three glasses of beer. Gray's subordinates did not pursue them. So, even up to this point, there were no issues.
The trouble began the next day, after they had eaten and drunk in moderation, when Euria explained that it was now Arsen's turn to help her with her work.
"If we travel a day from here, we'll reach Clam Forest. The last sighting of him was somewhere inside it."
The scholar who claimed he could create a sacred artifact. The last known location of this nameless man, recorded only as 'a certain scholar,' was Clam Forest, near the border.
Clam Forest was also where one of the teleportation magic circles Calian was constructing across Kairis was located. Since the magic circles could not be built in conspicuous places, this one had been set up deep in the forest. Thanks to this, Euria had been able to travel all the way here under the pretext of inspecting it.
Arsen asked, his expression one of disbelief.
"Did you say Clam Forest?"
"Yeah, there."
Arsen usually understood Euria's words on the first try, but not this time. He spoke again, his expression demanding reassurance.
"You want to find traces of someone whose last known location was somewhere in that forest?"
"That's right."
"In that vast forest? For someone who isn't even alive anymore?"
"The records are from about three hundred years ago. If he were still alive, he wouldn't be human."
Arsen stared at Euria, his expression screaming, Are you even human, telling me this only now? before his survival instincts kicked in.
Seeing his reaction, Euria smiled.
"Since I helped you, kid, you have to pay me back."
Euria's 'help' had consisted of little more than wandering around with him all day and chiming in with a word or two when they met Gray. It felt incredibly unfair, but a promise was a promise. Thus, Arsen had no choice but to nod. After all, he was still guilty of freezing her french fries, and Euria was the type who could fry Arsen instead of potatoes at a moment's notice.
So, Arsen sent another carrier pigeon to Calian, explaining he might be late because he and Euria were making a stop at Clam Forest. He was certain he had sent it.
After that, they arrived at the forest, and after an exhaustive search, Sunday finally arrived.
Waking early to the sound of birds, they caught another wild chicken and roasted it to a golden brown. As Euria let out a satisfied yawn after eating, something caught her eye.
"It's a bird's nest."
Just as she said, a bird's nest was built on a moderately high tree. Staring at it intently, Euria smiled at Arsen.
"Let's eat the eggs."
"Bird eggs?"
Arsen couldn't bring himself to hunt common animals like rabbits or deer, sticking only to familiar prey like chickens and pigs. He had a clear personal standard for what was 'edible' and what was 'not,' and wild bird eggs fell firmly into the latter category.
Bird eggs, of all things—not even chicken or duck eggs. Baby birds were so cute, and she wanted to eat their eggs!
"No bird eggs, Association President. Once we return to Kairisis, I'll buy you plenty of chicken eggs."
He had no qualms about killing people, yet he couldn't bear to touch a bird's egg. Euria stared at the incomprehensibly delicate sensibilities of this mage for a long moment before chuckling.
"Fine, then."
Still feeling a tiny bit of regret, Euria looked back at the tree and narrowed her eyes. She began to focus on the area behind the tree where the nest was.
"Something is moving over there. Can you see it, kid?"
Euria had never trained in vision-enhancing magic, following her grandfather's advice to never believe anything she couldn't see or hear with her own senses. Thus, Arsen stood up and checked the spot on her behalf.
"There's something that looks like a cave. But..."
Focusing a bit more on what was moving in front of the cave, he added, "...It seems we've been beaten to the punch by some birds."
While they were happily eating chicken and debating whether or not to eat bird eggs, they had been beaten to the punch by Secritia's spies.
Neither Euria nor Arsen could keep their senses expanded at all times like Alan. They didn't possess that much mana, nor did they have the mental fortitude to maintain it constantly. When they had briefly scanned the area before eating, there had been no one nearby, but in that short time, the intruders had closed the distance and entered the cave ahead of them.
Realizing only then that they were still being tailed by Secritia's spies, Euria smiled sweetly.
*
Euria had gone to the forest to find traces of the stone.
Secritia's spies had pursued the two of them.
Euria had killed the spies following her, and the survivors reported this to Chase.
“Do not provoke the mages, and return to the nest.”
They had received this reply from Chase.
It was an order to return to Kairisis without clashing with Euria and Arsen.
Yet, the spies did not retreat.
Their comrades, who had painstakingly pursued the mages all this way, had died at Euria's hands overnight. However, it was also clear that Euria was pursuing something—or someone—of her own.
If we follow them carefully, might we not obtain other clues?
In the end, they had succumbed to such greed.
Of course, the spies knew very well how dangerous Euria and Arsen were. Thus, they followed the two with extreme caution.
Sometime later, they saw Arsen sending a carrier pigeon from the Mage Association branch in Margrave Brissen's Territory. A day later, a second carrier pigeon took flight.
They missed the first carrier pigeon, but they intercepted the second.
“Dame Seiren says there is something she needs to check near the teleportation magic circle. Since I plan to move with her, our arrival in Kairisis will be somewhat delayed.”
Thus, the spies headed to the location mentioned in the letter first. They also sent word to Chase in advance, informing him of their plan in case they were killed by Euria during their investigation.
They wrote an apology for disobeying orders and acting on their own, along with where they were heading.
Arriving slightly ahead of Euria and Arsen, they found a suspicious cave with an entrance that looked to have been artificially sealed.
Approaching the cave with quiet movements, the spies cleared away the vines and stones blocking the entrance and stepped inside.
The cave's interior, illuminated by a magic lamp, was not very large.
Stepping further inside, they found household utensils scattered about, so rotten they were barely recognizable. They also saw papers covered in unknown characters, plastered all over the walls as if to fill every inch.
Noting that the papers were perfectly preserved while the utensils had rotted away, the spies scanned their surroundings, their faces tense.
Just as they were looking around at this utterly bizarre sight—
"I told you to move along, yet here you are."
A clear voice, accompanied by the sound of soft footsteps, echoed through the cave.
The Grim Reaper of Broad Daylight.
Euria's low, bleak voice rang out, piercing the ears of the "birds."
"...Looking to die?"
Pier, her dark energy, billowed out and began to fill the cave.