17. Black Consumer
17. Black Consumer
The scabbard of the Dark Sword.
The sacred relic the Wish Order had lost, the very object they had tried to reclaim from the Chairwoman.
I already knew it had been sold to the dwarves.
"...You're absolutely certain this is the scabbard of the Dark Sword?"
"It matches every characteristic recorded in our documents, and our appraisers were unanimous. It is genuine."
"And you tried to melt it?"
"We failed, unfortunately."
The very scabbard that once held the Dark Sword.
The Dark Sword was a conceptual artifact, so one might assume its scabbard was the same, but no.
The scabbard was nothing more than a scabbard.
"Then why wouldn't it melt?"
"We don't fully understand it ourselves. We placed it in the hottest part of the furnace for seven years. We struck it, tried to pierce it, attempted to destroy it, froze and melted it repeatedly—but it wouldn't even scratch."
"The scabbard wasn't originally an artifact of that caliber, was it?"
"Of course not. After all, it was crafted by us dwarves."
Oh? It was?
I hadn't known that part.
"Your expression says you didn't know. Allow me a brief explanation."
The deputy mayor cleared his throat, glanced at the Chairwoman, and began to explain, slowly.
It was a remarkably courteous and desperate demeanor.
"I am unfamiliar with human mythology, but according to our dwarven myths, at the beginning, the Primordial God created the continent and the seas. After that, the God created three artifacts."
The deputy mayor raised one finger.
"First, the God plucked out his own heart and hardened it. That artifact, made from the God's heart, was the most sacred and radiant, pulsing with vigorous life."
The Sacred Relic of the Holy Kingdom.
The driving force that had kept the Goddess Church alive among countless religions throughout the continent's history.
Whether the Sacred Relic was truly a goddess's heart remained unknown. It had been seized by other believers before and became their god's heart instead.
The deputy mayor's own phrasing—'the God,' not 'the Goddess'—suggested he didn't put much stock in what the Holy Kingdom claimed.
"Then the God extracted and refined his own authority. Because authority is power, he shaped it into a sword so that the power could be wielded most forcefully."
The Wish Order's Dark Sword.
Strictly speaking, it didn't belong to the Wish Order either. The Dark Sword had existed alongside continental history; the Wish Order simply held it at present.
Calling it divine authority was no exaggeration. The Dark Sword's wish-granting power was authority itself.
"When the God made the final artifact, he accidentally cut himself on its blade, and the malice, resentment, and curses sealed within his body poured into it. In the end, the God considered it a failure."
I didn't know this one.
It never appeared in Dark Kingdom. The story only got through the first act, but still...
"Thus were the two successes and one failure scattered across the world. Centuries ago, our ancestor acquired the Dark Sword. And he grew to fear its overwhelming power."
These days, the Dark Sword is dismissed as a fairy tale. That's because of a trait that sets it apart from the Sacred Relic.
After the Dark Sword is used, it crumbles to dust and slowly reconstitutes itself somewhere else. And because of its wish-granting power, the highest-ranking elites have always monopolized knowledge of it, keeping it from the masses.
I knew it from Dark Kingdom, but the only people around me who knew the Dark Sword was real were the Chairwoman and Milia, the cult insider. Put another way, you had to be at the Chairwoman's level to even know it was real.
At any rate, once you knew that, the rest was obvious.
"Our ancestral dwarf gathered every ability our race possessed at the time and created a scabbard capable of containing the Dark Sword. Once sheathed, the sword's authority could be suppressed. Even its wish-granting power was greatly weakened."
That wasn't purely a drawback. Because its power was reduced, it could now be used multiple times.
In any case, unlike the Sacred Relic and the Dark Sword—conceptual artifacts crafted by the God—the scabbard was dwarven-made.
It had no reason not to melt. Yet it didn't.
The deputy mayor seemed unable to explain it either, and so he'd come for a refund... wait.
"So you were trying to melt your own ancestor's artifact?"
"What does it matter whether it was our ancestor's artifact or not? Our dwarven race is on the brink of destruction. It was a natural decision."
I could see exactly why this man had made deputy mayor.
Was it just me, or did I feel a certain kinship with him?
...More to the point, what should I do?
'Should I really give them a refund?'
The money? Honestly, I could cover it now. But the real issue was that this was the sacred relic the Wish Order was so desperately searching for. I'd already lied about having it, even staged a fake terror attack—so why worry now? But of course, the Wish Order was a group I needed to cut loose when the moment was right.
'I could show it to Milia and dispel the cult's doubts.'
On the other hand, they'd become truly obsessed with it. That might make it hard to sever ties later. Maybe being caught in a lie about having it would be better.
But possessing the real thing would make the cult so much easier to manipulate—a clear advantage.
Whether I refunded it or refused, each choice came with obvious pros and cons.
The deputy mayor's position, unlike my own deliberation, was firm.
"I have explained everything. Once again, I request the refund."
"...Just hypothetically, what if we refused? What if the Chairwoman shamelessly tore up the contract and walked away?"
"We will protest."
"Excuse me?"
"We will go to the entrance of this academy and protest twenty-four hours a day, weeping the entire time. We will declare that the VVIP refuses to honor a legitimate refund request. We will remain there until you grant it. We will summon other dwarves as well."
".........Are you serious?"
"With the mayor missing, there is no one among the dwarves capable of standing against the VVIP. Why else would I, the deputy mayor, come in person to request this refund, explain every detail, recount our seven years of effort, and now lay bare our people's plight like this, begging?"
"................"
"The VVIP and her agent may exercise the rights of the strong at any time. As the weak, we can only ask. We implore you—in the name of your 8th Rank honor, please refund us."
Hmm.
I'd only been probing lightly; I hadn't expected such a raw, earnest answer. Even with my limited negotiation experience, I could tell the deputy mayor was taking an extremely submissive stance.
Somehow I felt like scum. The Chairwoman's eyes said I'd been too harsh—but wasn't this your mess to begin with? Why did I have to be the one taking this treatment?
If the academy were still in a state where we couldn't afford any leeway, I'd have just told them to shove it.
But after all our efforts, the academy was somewhat stable.
"Understood. We'll refund you."
"Thank you. Thank you once again to the VVIP and her agent."
"How would you like to proceed with the refund? In jewels? Or gold coins?"
"............."
"Deputy Mayor?"
".........Would it be possible... to receive something else?"
"What? Something else? You're not asking for a different artifact, are you? We've sold everything off. Anyway, if you don't want gold or jewels, what would you take?"
The deputy mayor hesitated a moment, then let out a sigh and spoke.
"We would like to borrow the VVIP's power."
"Power? What kind of power?"
"Literal, physical power."
"...Has something happened in the dwarf city?"
"A problem we cannot overlook has arisen with the furnace. And the VVIP has been proposed as the most suitable person to resolve it."
The furnace—the artifact that melts other artifacts to rebuild the city.
So they needed the Chairwoman's strength.
"If you could assist us with this matter, we would consider it payment in full for the refund. Please."
<Finance Director, what should we do?>
<What are you hesitating for? The answer is obvious.>
<Still, at a time like this, for me to travel all the way to the dwarf city is a bit...>
"We'll send the Chairwoman immediately. Thank you very much."
"Ah, thank you! Thank you so much!"
"Fi-Finance Director?"
Come on, what's the problem? It's just like that deep-sea fishing trip before. Only this time, you don't have to hide who you are or hold back your power. And most importantly, we save an enormous amount of money.
'Saving this kind of money just by dispatching my 8th Rank boss for a short trip.'
Pure profit. Even if the Chairwoman openly went on a monster extermination spree for the same duration, she'd never earn enough to match the refund value of this scabbard.
Feeling perfectly in sync, I flashed a thumbs-up at the Chairwoman, who was staring at me with flustered eyes, then immediately seized the deputy mayor's hand.
"Will you take her right now? How many days do you estimate?"
"With the VVIP's power, a week should be sufficient."
"Four days."
"......Still, at least six."
"Four days."
"Th-then, how about five days?"
"Four days."
"Understood......."
He really was desperate. I'd expected him to bluff at this point and say they'd just take the money instead of borrowing the Chairwoman's power.
I was picking up a peculiar scent from the deputy mayor. The scent of weakness.
He'd framed this as a refund, but his goal from the very beginning had been to borrow the Chairwoman's strength. That's why a man of his standing had come in person.
'Pushing any further would be overkill.'
Whatever the deputy mayor might think, I wasn't being unreasonable. Borrowing the Chairwoman for an entire week at a time like this wasn't even worth considering.
We were in the middle of a staged terror attack and receiving donations for the first time in Grandis Academy's history. On top of that, the Delphia Kingdom was in turmoil, and the royal family was monitoring Beatrice so closely that Crown Prince Zeke had personally asked us to look after her. The Archmage had come to discuss Chloe's feelings, and the academy itself was still under reconstruction.
In these circumstances, having the Chairwoman gone for even four days was pushing the limit. She barely left her office anyway, so we could probably conceal her absence for that long.
<Chairwoman, please.>
<...But this isn't the same as the deep-sea fishing trip. The royal family might make contact soon.>
<Hm? You aren't?>
<What kind of money-crazed lunatic do you take me for? I'm telling you to go catch your breath for a bit.>
<Finance Director.......>
She'd still have to work once she got to the dwarf city, but simply getting away from the academy itself had meaning. Back when I was buried in the civil service exam academy, I'd sometimes take the subway just to walk around outside Seoul for a day. On days like that, the tangled knot of exam scores and rent in my head would loosen a little. Sometimes you need to escape the place where your thoughts have you trapped to see things clearly.
The Chairwoman had been working hard lately, so this was... a small gesture. Embarrassing as it was to admit.
The Chairwoman looked at me for a moment, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly.
"Take care."
"I'll be back exactly on time."
"You're stating the obvious. Just try being late."
"............."
"VVIP, this way. I will escort you."
Whum!
And then, she stepped through the small doorway alongside the deputy mayor. The opening was a bit cramped for anyone but a dwarf, but she expanded the space with her power. Was that woman even human?
After the Chairwoman vanished, I thought, 'Things are about to get busy.'
I'd have to handle her paperwork too, so leaving early was out. Still, how many subordinates took this kind of care of their boss? I chuckled to myself.
I was just about to start working in the empty Chairwoman's office when—
Clunk.
"Hm?"
Something dropped out of thin air. What was this? No way—the scabbard?
A refund... meant I was supposed to get it back, but did they really have to just toss it like that? The Chairwoman could've brought it with her. Maybe they were in a rush to return it and shoved it through the closing portal, which is why it landed on the floor.
'Anyway, what do I do with this?'
I could sell it off again. Or I could use it skillfully to manipulate the cult. As I worried over how to wring every last bit of profit out of it, I picked up the scabbard—
──What... is this?
──Chairwoman? Head of Academic Affairs? Laura?
──Why...?
──Why is everyone dead? Why did everyone have to die?
──.........It was me.
──Because I was too weak?
Thud.
The moment he touched the scabbard, Finance Director Adam Caines collapsed.
A moment later.
".........Ah."
Adam Caines rose.