Elmaile (1)
"My lady. I've gathered everything of use."
"Mm. Thank you."
In the deepest chamber of the place known as the Dungeon of Immortality, I nodded toward Alfred, who had returned with whatever he could salvage from the adventurers' corpses.
Inside the cold cavern, lit only by the bright crackle of torches, a mountain of belongings stripped from the dead rose high against the stone.
"Master! What should we do with the bodies?"
"Just dump them outside."
I told them to leave the adventurers' corpses — stripped down to the last scrap of armor — beyond the deepest chamber. This was a labyrinth crawling with monsters. There was no need for cremation or burial; leave them out there, and the creatures would take care of the rest.
"Wonder what's in here…"
I began rifling through the piled goods. I planned to stay put until the headache subsided, and for now the only window I had onto the outside world was whatever these adventurers had been carrying.
"Doesn't seem like much has changed…"
Most of their gear and weapons looked similar to what I'd known before the seal. The times, it seemed, had not shifted all that dramatically.
A thousand years had passed. I'd half-worried the outside world might have turned into something resembling cyberpunk — but apparently not. Then again, even in reality, the truly explosive leaps of progress had only come in the last century or so. Assuming a thousand years would automatically rewrite everything had been a hasty judgment on my part.
Still, there was a high chance that magic, skills, and magical tools I didn't know had come into existence. The mages and sages of this world had always chased endless development and invention.
"…What's this?"
As I turned a sword over in my hands, I noticed a sheet of brown parchment sticking out of someone's pack. I pulled it free and carefully unfolded it.
Drawn across the parchment was a map of a continent — a map of the world of the Tower of Avalon.
"A map…!"
I brightened at once. Nothing was more convenient for grasping a changed world than a map.
"…Every country is one I've never seen."
Whether through countless falls and rises, the map held only unfamiliar names. A thousand years on, I could recognize only two nations.
"Serion…"
The religious state of Serion, in the continent's northwest.
"Abilia Kingdom…"
And Abilia Kingdom — the hero's stronghold, and the kingdom I myself had once belonged to.
Every other country I remembered had, regrettably, vanished without a trace.
"Stubborn, aren't you, Abilia…"
Serion, as a religious state, was essentially an inviolable city; so long as faith in the gods endured, it would last forever, free of outside threat. But the survival of Abilia Kingdom — an ordinary human nation — was unexpected.
Perhaps they had steadily expanded their power behind the hero after sealing me away. Abilia's territory was now five times larger than a thousand years ago, claiming roughly half the continent.
"Lilianel."
And the thought of Lilianel, living as that kingdom's Prime Minister and wallowing in every luxury, sent a sudden surge of fury rising through me.
"…"
Of course, it wasn't only Lilianel. Abilia's common people wouldn't get a free pass either.
They had swallowed the hero's false oracle without a shred of doubt, let themselves be whipped into a frenzy, and flipped their judgment of me — the one who had ended their war — as easily as turning over a hand. Over the past thousand years, no small amount of rage toward them had bloomed as well.
They had spent a millennium trampling other nations and swelling their borders in triumph. It was about time a crisis found them. About time the continent's hegemony shifted.
I looked toward Abilia Kingdom's capital and swore I would punish the sins their ancestors had committed a thousand years ago.
"The Dungeon of Immortality…"
And far to the west of Abilia's capital, marked on the map, lay this place — the Dungeon of Immortality.
Above the cave-shaped marker, five stars had been drawn with emphasis. They seemed to indicate the dungeon's danger rating, and this was the only labyrinth on the entire map bearing five stars.
"Meaning this is the most dangerous of them all…?"
Which meant that the Dungeon of Immortality, where I had been sealed, was now — a thousand years later — the most perilous dungeon in existence.
"Filthy…! Humans…!"
"…"
I watched Tina drag the adventurers' corpses outside. Anyone who could reach the deepest floor of the most dangerous dungeon had to have been considerably skilled — and yet every last one of them had died to a single blow from me, freshly freed from the seal.
"What is this."
Had their overall skill level truly been dragged down that far…?
If so, they had grown weak to a serious degree…
"…Not my problem."
But there was no need for me to worry about it. If humans had grown weaker than they were a thousand years ago, that was only good news for me.
"…There's a city."
I turned my attention back to the map.
Right beside the Dungeon of Immortality sat a great city I had never heard of, labeled Elmaile. Crossed swords and spears were drawn above it — the mark of a city that adventurers frequented in large numbers.
"A metropolis…"
I narrowed my eyes.
A great city would be packed with people, and with them would come information and knowledge in abundance. And if it was a hub for adventurers who wandered the entire kingdom, the volume of intelligence I could gather would far outstrip anything available in an ordinary town.
…Before I went looking for Lilianel, I needed at least a baseline grasp of this world a thousand years later. If some upgraded version of the Goddess's Chains that had sealed me were circulating out there, it would be a genuine disaster.
Haste makes you lose your way.
For a more perfect revenge, gathering information was essential.
I had waited a thousand years. A few more days would hardly kill me.
"Perfect!"
Without hesitation, I set the great city of Elmaile as my first destination once my condition recovered.
"My sincerest congratulations on becoming lord."
"Haha, please, it's nothing…"
In the west of Abilia Kingdom, the new lord of the great city of Elmaile — Karseron — flushed as he waved the praise away. Seated before him was an elderly gentleman with a pure-white mustache.
"Elmaile is a metropolis on par with the royal capital itself. Your shoulders will grow heavy from here on."
"…I suppose they will."
At the gentleman's words, as he toyed with his monocle, Karseron managed a wry smile.
Succeeding his father as lord was certainly a joy — but the weight of responsibility was just as great. Elmaile was a vast city through which countless adventurers passed without end.
Even so, Karseron was confident. He had studied and experienced a great deal from a young age. He might not match his father, the finest lord in the city's history — but he was sure he could become a lord nearly as fine.
"Ah, yes. A gift from Her Excellency the Prime Minister."
"From the Prime Minister…?"
The gentleman held out a small box.
The Prime Minister of Abilia Kingdom. The elf who had held the office for over five hundred years, who now wielded power greater even than the king's — the kingdom's true power broker, Lilianel Greenfield.
With a flutter of anticipation, Karseron opened the little box.
"Th-this is…?!"
Inside lay a single beautiful blue gem. A rare jewel called a Tear of the Sea, so scarce it was said to be harder to find than a star in the sky.
"W-why would the Prime Minister send something of this value to me…"
A treasure worth more than a commoner could earn in centuries of labor. At the sight of that precious, vanishingly rare jewel, Karseron's eyes went round as a cat's.
The gentleman answered with a smile.
"Hoho. It means Her Excellency has high expectations of you, my lord. There will be much work ahead. I look forward to your efforts."
"…I will give everything I have for the kingdom, for Elmaile, and for the Prime Minister."
Karseron bowed until his forehead nearly touched the floor.
This was a gift of goodwill from none other than the kingdom's highest power. Catching the Prime Minister's eye meant a clear, open road through the political life ahead of him — and he could not hide his smile.
Besides, Elmaile was rich in capable talent and well-policed; major incidents rarely occurred. Even when they did, everything was resolved before a day had passed.
If this peaceful life continued and he governed the territory without incident, he would stamp his name even more firmly into the Prime Minister's regard.
"Please raise your head, my lord. Your thanks would be better offered to Her Excellency herself, rather than to me."
"Ah — of course."
At the words of the gentleman who had come as the Prime Minister's envoy, Karseron lifted his head.
"…My lord, an adventurer has arrived, saying the matter is urgent."
"…?"
And that was when his secretary knocked on the reception room door.
Karseron barked toward the door.
"Did I not tell you not to interrupt while I am receiving an important guest?! Send them away at once!"
He was in the middle of receiving a guest sent by the Prime Minister. For some lowly adventurer to dare interrupt was unthinkable. Karseron glanced sideways, fretting that the sudden visit might have soured the gentleman's mood.
"I-it's just that it seemed extremely important…"
"Enough! Send them away!"
Even so, the secretary did not leave the door. Karseron narrowed his brow and shouted even louder than before.
Whatever business an adventurer had was surely the usual plea to lower guild commission fees. There was no need to hear it.
"…It does sound urgent. Why not hear them out? I don't mind."
"Pardon…?"
But the gentleman only smiled amiably and suggested he listen to the adventurer's story. Karseron gave an awkward little laugh.
…If the gentleman permitted it, there was no harm.
In a much softer voice, Karseron spoke to the secretary again.
"…Show them in."
The moment the words left his mouth, the door burst open and a single adventurer came tumbling into the reception room.
"Ka-Karseron!!"
"You…?"
And the young lord of Elmaile recognized her at once.
A woman with short golden hair and round glasses.
…Karseron's childhood friend — and currently known as the archmage of the S-class dungeon subjugation party Red Moon — Derin.
"Derin…? What are you doing here…"
His eyes went wide.
She should have been with Red Moon, subjugating the worst of all magical realms — the Dungeon of Immortality. Their scheduled return was still a long way off. She had no business being in this city right now.
"…"
Karseron looked her over in silence. Her whole body was soaked in blood, wounds covering her from head to toe. Her coat was so thoroughly torn it was little more than rags.
One glance was enough to tell that something terrible had happened to her.
"Ka-Karseron, we're in trouble…"
Bleeding from every direction, Derin stamped her feet as she spoke. Her eyes couldn't hold a focus, and cold sweat poured down her forehead in a flood.
"…What is it."
A grim premonition rising, Karseron asked. Derin's parched lips began to move, slowly.
"A v-vampire…"
"A vampire…?"
"Th-the progenitor vampire…"
"What about them…?"
"…Has been freed."
"…What?"
Karseron's face darkened. He dug at his ears a few times, unsure he had heard correctly, and asked again.
"The progenitor vampire has been freed?"
"…Yeah."
"The legendary vampire sealed a thousand years ago?"
"…That's right. The stories in the old texts were true."
"Uh…"
At a fact too incredible to believe, Karseron's mouth fell open. Derin seized his shoulders and shook him hard.
"Th-this is a top-level crisis! We don't have time to stand around! We need a subjugation force right now…!"
"…"
"Karseron…? Are you listening? Karseron!"
"…"
Every sound at Karseron's ears rang like an echo.
Looking at the state Derin was in, she didn't seem to be lying. She had no reason to lie to him now that he was lord, either.
Which meant that the vampire of legend —
the calamity of a vampire who had slaughtered millions of humans alone —
the vampire who had been safely sealed for a thousand years —
had been freed from the bottom of the dungeon.
…On the very first day of his term, of all times.
"Dear gods…"
The new lord's vision swam.