In Search of the Lost Heirloom (1)
It's cold. And I'm hungry. Kriel thought.
[Didn't something like this happen when you first entered the Holy Kingdom?]
Kriel was in the Lir estate's thunder prison.
[Master. At this point, we should head into the abyss—]
[Quiet down!]
Tuon's whisper tempted him to feel the darkness within. Orishin hurriedly scattered the wicked nonsense. The unicorn's clear, piercing noise pollution was more than enough volume to drown out the cursed sword's murmurs.
Kriel pondered as he listened to their everyday back-and-forth.
What the hell did I do this time to end up like this? And I didn't even grab my armor.
Contrary to Kriel's own thoughts, the Lir family hadn't thrown him in prison because of his appearance.
Of course, Kriel's outward vibe was extremely menacing. In Tirnanog, there were no tales of pirates setting off to become pirate kings, so when people saw a guy with three swords strapped to him, their first thought wasn't "Did he watch too much anime?" but rather "Is he insane?"
Especially when that guy's eyes glowed with bloody murder and his skin was so pale it looked like a corpse. It might've been better to scrounge up a full-face helmet from somewhere.
But a renowned fairy house like the Lirs would've crossed paths at least once with ancient vampires who'd lived for centuries or even elder dragons that had outlasted the Great Mountains themselves. The Lir family had experience hosting such bizarre and special guests, so they weren't the type to carelessly toss someone into a cell just because he looked a bit—no, extremely—like an abyss spawn.
The reason Kriel ended up in prison was Lweain Lir.
Having realized his foolish younger brother had fallen to the abyss and plotted to kill him to steal his identity, Lweain agonized over it.
He'd long since crushed the abyss spawn who came to assassinate him, but who knew if other remnants were still scheming something?
So Lweain, for the first time in a while, sent letters to the Lir family's direct bloodline kin as well.
To the wise and virtuous direct descendants of the Lir family,
from Lweain Lir, collateral kin of the Lir house and current advisor mage to the gateway city on the Holy Kingdom-Empire border.
My foolish and pitiable younger brother, Collin Lir, has fallen to the abyss and plotted to steal my identity. Collin's scheme has been thwarted, and he has entered eternal rest, but remnants of the abyss cult may linger. Exercise utmost caution regarding anyone using the name Lweain Lir.
This letter was sent out a few days after Kriel left the gateway city—right when Kriel was in the Argentlam Duchy causing all sorts of trouble with Armed.
And the timing of its arrival coincided with a theft at the Lir estate: the family heirloom had gone missing.
The Lirs treated it with utmost severity, but the resolution turned out anticlimactic. The heirloom was found in the room of a direct descendant they'd basically disowned for his debauchery. There was ample circumstantial evidence he'd tried to pawn it off for gambling debts.
But the fact that the heirloom had been stolen so easily was no good omen. If the thief hadn't been the family's wastrel but an abyss minion, the consequences could've been horrific.
By the time Kriel arrived at the Lir estate, their abyss alert level had quietly reached maximum.
In truth, things might've passed without incident up to that point. After the warning from Lweain Lir about impostors using his name, Kriel showed up, presented Lweain's letter of authorization to prove his identity, and yeah, he looked plenty suspicious on top of that.
But the Lirs were reasonable. They weren't the type to imprison a traveler just for being shady amid some internal unrest.
He might really be someone Lweain had authorized, right? The old fairy temperament might've led to summary execution just for a suspicious human encroaching on their turf.
But the fact that an ancient fairy bloodline like the Lirs still existed as "nobles" in the current Empire meant they'd shed the old fairy's elitism and discrimination.
The Lirs eyed this dubious visitor warily but decided to at least hear him out first, sending one of their direct descendants as requested.
And at that meeting...
Kriel pulled out a ring infused with abyss energy.
The culprit behind polluting a mountain village's water source near the Lir territory. A ring that spewed poison.
And he said,
"Please take this first."
From Kriel's perspective, it was a perfectly reasonable move. The Lir family governed that village where the poison ring had surfaced. With the shadow of the abyss looming over their lands, shouldn't he report it?
Processing abyss items was another issue. Kriel lacked any special magic to purify abyss relics.
Of course, if it was just "disposal" rather than purification, that was different. As a Dark Knight, he could simply absorb the abyss remnants with his authority.
But Kriel had no desire to bolster the darkness within himself that way.
The mage dispatched from the Lir family maintained a stoic expression as he accepted the abyss relic, then excused himself saying something had come up.
He bolted straight to the family elders, screaming "Aaagh! It's an abyss spawn!" before collapsing.
That was how Kriel, bored out of his mind and playing shiritori with his two swords, ended up dragged to holding without knowing what hit him.
Sitting in one corner of the holding cell, Kriel let out a sigh.
The elf who'd returned looking extremely tense said, "The one you'll speak with is this way," and led him on a winding path.
The moment he heard there was someone in this room to talk to and stepped in, he was teleported smack into the middle of the prison.
Looked like a teleportation magic circle had been pre-installed.
Kriel had no intention of busting out by force. He knew that would only deepen the misunderstanding.
They were so focused on shuttling me to a cell that they didn't even confiscate my weapons. A guard should show up soon and do something.
He could just politely ask the approaching guard.
'There seems to be a misunderstanding, so please contact Advisor Lweain in the gateway city and ask if he knows someone named Kriel.'
He might have to wait a day or two in holding, but once the truth came out, the Lirs—having committed such a grave discourtesy—would go out of their way to help him find the spiritist, right?
The Lir elves were deep in heated debate.
They couldn't fathom the intentions of this abyss spawn who'd boldly waltzed into the Lir estate and immediately flashed an abyss relic.
"To reveal an abyss relic so brazenly... There must be abyss followers inside our family. That ring was probably a sign to meet a promised collaborator."
"Calm down. That's too much speculation! What Lweain—that young friend—went through was harsh and cruel, but assuming the abyss has infiltrated even the Lir direct line is shortsighted."
"Maybe he had no ulterior motive? He just happened to pick up the ring by the roadside and showed it to us as the local lord equivalent to report it."
"Hah, ridiculous!"
"We need to make him spill his backers and motives right now!"
One among those watching the elders' debate quietly rose from her seat.
In truth, few had even noticed she was there. She'd entered with her presence completely suppressed from the start.
And those who did notice paid her no mind. It was only natural for the Lir family's secret guards to accompany direct descendants to meetings.
Once outside the meeting room, she vanished into the shadows.
An hour since waiting for the guard. Unable to bear the boredom, Kriel started shiritori again.
[Darkness.]
[Dark Knight.]
"Knight. Orishin. Your loss again."
[This knight's such a bonehead! You two are ganging up on me, aren't you?!]
In three-way shiritori mixing Tuon and Orishin, the loser was almost always Orishin. For some reason, Tuon and Kriel synced up too perfectly.
Kriel shot back that she should graciously accept defeat and prepped the next round.
"Knightly."
"Doppleganger."
[...Huh?]
A unfamiliar voice echoed from the far side of the prison.
It was a raspy, hungover croak that somehow carried the stench of booze even through the wall.
"Who's there?"
"That's what I want to ask. This used to be my private cell. You a disgraced collateral who pissed off the elders? They wouldn't stick you in here—surrounded by anti-magic fields—unless they really hated your guts."
"I'm not with the Lir family. Who are you?"
"Heh. Figured from the new voice. Alberik Lir. Call me 'Al' or 'Rik' if you like."
"How'd you end up in here?"
"Stole the family heirloom, they say? I don't remember, but everyone's insisting on it."
Is he nuts? Kriel scratched his head.