The Knight and the Prodigal (1)
Eh? Orishin was taken aback.
[You've always been the one spotting the abyss before, not the other way around, right? Even when those guys noticed you, it was only because you deliberately baited them into it.]
That failed demonkin promotion case like Collin or whatever. Even then, until Kriel approached in full plate armor and Tuon amped up the atmosphere with all her ominous chatter, they hadn't pegged him as an abyss kin just from his menacing look.
"Anything short of an ancient artifact like a holy barrier gate wouldn't sniff me out, and with the necklace from Morgina on top, it's normal for them not to notice unless I pull up blood qi right in front of their faces."
[But it did notice?]
"Seemed like it."
Kriel recalled that moment. The instant the Goblet of Deceit entered his view. Suddenly, the world blurred. Not like fog or shadows obscuring his sight—it was more like his focus had slipped. In that instant when nothing in this world came into sharp relief, only the silver gleam of the Goblet of Deceit shone vividly. Its flawless silver hue made it all the more ominous.
The goblet whispered. Kriel instinctively sensed its deep fascination with him.
『You and I share the same goal...』
It was a chilling voice. No inhuman tonelessness or scraping metal rasp—nothing inherently grotesque about the sound itself. Taken moment by moment, it was ordinary. But each syllable seemed voiced by a different speaker. "You" came in an old woman's husky murmur, "and" in a high, bright child's voice of indeterminate gender. By "I," it was a thick bass like an opera singer. A chimera of voices whispered to Kriel.
Unconsciously, Kriel summoned his fighting spirit. He nearly responded to the call with blood qi or resentment without a second thought, but even in his shock, he kept his wits and calmly suppressed his Dark Knight powers, shattering the geas.
[Dude, that's not calm—that's like flinching and throwing a punch on reflex!]
Kriel scratched his head.
"Doesn't the fact that I didn't tap into black magic in that mess count as situational awareness? Pretty calm, if you ask me."
Orishin brushed off Kriel's lame excuse and reviewed the testimony. Beasts like Tuskin, Gabina, Collin, or Lir couldn't detect Kriel's Dark Knight presence unless he revealed it himself. Satranyak, the demonkin who'd held Gratuon, was similar. It wasn't sensing his "presence"—just logical deduction from context and the blood qi Kriel had used.
In other words, Kriel's disguise couldn't be pierced even by demonkin.
['Though with only one demonkin sample, I can't be totally sure.']
[Looks like whoever's reaching into this house is at least demonkin—probably a full demon.]
Kriel agreed with Orishin. That sinister presence exceeded what a mere abyss spawn could muster. Not kin of the abyss, but its master. A demon had to be involved. At the lowest estimate, a seasoned demonkin with considerable experience.
"The empire's prime minister is from the Lir family, right?"
[What you mentioned back in the gateway city. Swallow up the Lirs, and you shake the empire.]
One name surfaced in Kriel and Orishin's minds: the name of the archdemon Tuskin had screamed in his dying moments.
Grikenkos.
The room's mood sank at the mention of a demon. After the Demon King War ended in Tirnanog's victory, wasn't it the greatest remaining threat in this world?
"Master. This won't do. I'll cover up that crow emblem decently enough, so put on this uniform. This one's the sharpest."
The maid-sword's decree broke the heavy silence.
The Lir family meeting saw a flood of words, but it boiled down to one sentence.
'Where is the Goblet of Truth?'
"Silence, everyone."
In place of the family head performing imperial prime minister duties, Nawiden Lir—the man respected across direct and branch lines—chaired the meeting.
"First. We'll bring in Sir Kriel, who exposed the Goblet of Truth in the annex as a fake."
The meeting room doors opened, and Kriel entered. His bone-pale hair and resentment-filled red eyes still exuded pressure. But his attire softened it. A finely tailored uniform touched by a master's hand. Hair neatly combed back. He evoked a stern high imperial officer.
A far cry from his arrival at the estate.
The Lir bloodkin focused on Kriel.
"Greetings. Kriel here, summoned as witness to this incident."
Kriel had agonized plenty before coming. His biggest worry: how to answer "How did you spot the goblet as fake?" Just like blaming Orishin back in the gateway city, he'd planned to do the same.
But surprisingly, no one asked.
"We hear you pointed out similarities between the Poison Ring and Goblet of Truth."
"Correct."
"You resolved the chronic issues in our territory's villages."
"That too."
"Beyond the Poison Ring, could you indicate villages hit by abyss-influenced incidents like beasts?"
A large, detailed regional map lay on the table. Kriel marked villages with beasts or abyss corruption.
"Thank you. If an abyss kin handling artifacts like the Poison Ring is moving, beasts would stir too. We'll start searches along these lines."
No one questioned his testimony despite being strangers. A novel experience for Kriel.
During the mid-meeting break, Kriel asked Nawiden why.
"Hm? You mean why our family doesn't doubt you?"
"Yes."
"Hah. We doubted the undoubtable and jailed them; ignored what we should have doubted and lost the geas. Why doubt the man who exposed the shadow reaching for our house to all?"
Whoa. First time for everything. A quiet stirring of emotion seeped into Kriel.
Afterward, Kriel had no further role in the meeting. They couldn't use the Goblet of Truth immediately, so they announced assigning the most talented spiritist among current Lir members.
Orishin pondered demon countermeasures with Kriel but couldn't shake high hopes for the spiritist.
Soon after the meeting ended, a knock came at Kriel's guest room.
"Sir Kriel. It's Oipe."
[Oh. The spiritist's here already! Who'd they bring? Or maybe that elf from yesterday herself?]
Orishin buzzed with anticipation. But Kriel focused on Oipe's trailing words.
"Uh... The one the Lir family promised. Wait, is this right?"
"Hey, quit dawdling. I even played word chain with that guy! Promised drinks too! All set!"
[Uh.]
Hope fled Orishin's tone.
[Sounds like a weirdo elf.]
With Tuon's confirmatory jab, the door burst open.
"Howdy! 'Meal Buddy' Alberik enters the scene!"
[Hey! Oipe! Didn't Nawiden say he'd send a talented elf?!]
Oipe bowed her head. Embarrassed to show this young master off.
"Ah ha. Simple. I'm the most talented elf spiritist!"
[What?!]
"The young master... inherits Lady Pand's blood—the World Tree elf lineage. Born of those closest to primal nature, he's the most outstanding spiritist in the current Lir family."
[No way!]
"C'mon, c'mon, over here. Let's check your back first!"
[Eek! I'm not some quack, you hack!]
"Just a little sting!"
Amid the commotion, Oipe sighed but subtly closed the door. Not just that—she layered soundproofing magic and detection spells. True to her secret guard role, the spells activated in layers swiftly.
Kriel watched closely.
"Alberik."
"Yeah?"
"Oipe's security measures are complete. Shall we get to the point?"
Alberik flashed a wry grin. Not mocking—playful curiosity.
"Sweet!"
He released his grip on Orishin. The horn dagger clattered onto the table. Orishin fumed, 'Where's the fairy noble dignity?!'
"So. What's this about?"
"First off. I am the Lir family's top spiritist. Don't think we're skimping on the promise."
A serious demeanor. Family honor on the line, perhaps.
"Top, with a caveat."
"Caveat?"
"Among those currently active. The real top is my mother."
Shadows fell over Alberik's downcast eyes.