The Spiral of Fate (2)
Among the noble families of the empire renowned for their prestige, the Grifeon Dukedom stood at the pinnacle.
Such was the caliber of blood in their veins that even the lineup of this generation's heirs sparkled with brilliance.
While Artan Prickus, the prodigy hailed as a talent bestowed by the gods, drew the most attention, there was also a young genius noblewoman: Bulise Grifeon, who had inherited talent sufficient to dominate an entire era.
And Harold Grifeon, the Sword Master of the Arundel Empire, already in full bloom, commanded renown across the land with his peerless skill.
Even within the Grifeon family, which had produced countless outstanding individuals across generations, Harold was the most exceptional prodigy of his bloodline.
He was the pride of the family and a pillar of the empire itself.
After Quillere left, Bulise spoke softly.
“...She was incredibly beautiful.”
“Yeah, if that kind of person had been my wife... Heh!”
Harold cut himself off, his face twisting in embarrassment.
A cold, piercing glare pierced him, and he quickly forced a proud expression.
“You’re going to get prettier if you keep growing.”
“It’s already too late. And is that even a compliment?”
Bulise let out a sigh, then closed her book and changed the subject.
“The thing he was holding earlier was a relic bulletin. Apparently, it’s become quite famous lately.”
“Just as I thought, there’s no way he’d be absent from something that important.”
The ruins, ancient structures with origins shrouded in mystery, were a topic everyone had heard of at least once. But those who had actually seen them were few and far between.
That was why the sudden appearance of a new relic in the imperial territory had been on the lips of the masses every single day.
“Thanks to that, the palace eunuchs must be going crazy.”
The ‘guy’ the two were discussing... to Harold, it was his lord who had to be protected but was also a handful, and to Bulise, the boy she had watched since she was much younger, her childhood friend.
Crown Prince Artan Prickus.
“Hmm, I’ve never actually seen a relic, but it sounds pretty interesting.”
Of course, the name wasn’t mentioned, but...
Artan was completely absorbed in the ruins right now. It wasn’t just a fleeting fancy that would fade in a few days—it was a deep, burning interest.
Harold frowned.
“You too? You know as well as I do that this relic is on a completely different level from anything in the old records. Don’t even think about going there.”
“...I know that too. If I got hurt, I’d be a bother to a lot of people, right? I have no intention of going. The other person, though...”
Bulise’s voice softened as she recalled her former magic tutor from her childhood, before she could even distinguish right from wrong.
She had been a gentle and kind woman. She had grown fond of her, and they had become friends.
A time when she knew nothing of the world.
The very next day after her hands had been scraped by a speck of dust, she vanished.
“If you know, then you know. That kid... he wouldn’t suddenly run off like last time, right?”
Unlike regular ruins, a new relic was dangerous not just to enter but even to approach the surrounding area. Calamities of every kind were commonplace nearby.
The imperial court mages and scholars were already working on a solution, but until then, it was best to leave it alone.
But that was no option for the crown prince.
The boy already had a history of leaving the palace alone, driven by his childish heart.
He hated adults who treated him like a weakling and restrained his immense talent with restrictions. It had become poison.
He might grow into a great general one day, but right now he was just a foolish child.
“He’ll run off. Big brother, you really don’t know anything about Ar... him.”
Yet Bulise spoke with perfect composure that he would cause a commotion. Someone who had known him for a long time could see it.
She simply couldn’t ignore the fact that he was paying attention.
Harold’s eyebrows twitched, and he grew slightly anxious.
“Is that really true? Then right now... Ah! So that’s it.”
He nodded, as if realizing something he had missed earlier.
“So that’s why you came to the library? To investigate the ruins and stop that kid? You moved first. As expected of my little sister.”
“What are you talking about? Why would I stop him?”
Bulise poured cold water on Harold’s smile.
She flipped through the pages of her book with a disinterested expression.
“I just heard the ruins were noisy, so I came to satisfy my curiosity. Since I can’t go there myself, this is the next best thing.”
There was not a trace of pretense in her words.
Harold lost his smile, then scolded her.
“...You should worry a little more. Isn’t he your childhood friend that I’ve known for years? Last time he was caught right away and nothing happened, but this time it might be different. If he gets into trouble alone, it would be a disaster.”
“But you’re here, brother.”
Bulise smiled sweetly in response to Harold’s concern.
Harold furrowed his brow.
“What?”
“I’ll secretly follow him. If it looks dangerous, help him out. After all, even if I try to stop him, he won’t listen.”
Bulise had never been on bad terms with Artan.
She had some affection for the boy. But recently, his behavior had been the worst in her eyes.
His childish antics reflected her own flaws in the mirror.
The fastest way to grow was through hardship. She needed a cold, objective moment to reflect on herself.
The girl’s smile was bright.
“No, it’s okay if he gets a little hurt. If he feels pain, he might snap out of it.”
The ruins weren’t far from Robrok. I stopped for a moment on a street where the imperial city was visible. Artan Prickus was inside.
“The great hero Artan...”
Even a thousand years from now, he would still be remembered as one of the top heroes of the age.
The person standing right in front of me was one of the main actors of Sa-gye War II, with a high probability of being one of them.
If my prediction was correct, he would be extremely close to the mainstream of this world.
Understanding his current state, goals, actions, and the surrounding situation would help me understand the flow of the world.
It might be better to just talk to Artan for a short while rather than spend hours digging through the library.
Honestly, I was very curious.
There was also a possibility that the history of Sa-gye War and Sa-gye War II, which I had devoured in full, would differ.
We shared the same world setting, but the lines could diverge completely.
If that were the case, my safety wasn’t guaranteed.
Even if an apocalypse was about to unfold, the world would remain intact until a thousand years later, so I had lived in peace.
But if the activity of that apocalypse changed or a new one was born...
The future path could change completely.
“Well, that’s unlikely...”
I recalled the Snake God who had seized Uristia.
For the citizens, it was a cruel disaster, but from another perspective, it was a blessing.
In the original work, Uristia was corrupt during that period and it continued until just before the birth of the great hero.
But didn’t something feel off?
No matter how corrupt the city was, for it to stay that way for hundreds of years was abnormal.
If the citizens were not mere puppets, a stagnant power without true chaos in the medieval dark age simply didn’t last long.
But what if the variable called the Snake God changed things?
If he wielded overwhelming absolute power to enforce terror rule.
If he eliminated the ‘shadow forces’ that interfered with his rule.
Anasha Sheril, who had suggested hunting down the Snake God, was attacked by its minions.
By removing the obstacles in time like that, the chain of command continued seamlessly. Until the great hero appeared.
“It makes sense.”
I hadn’t read the detailed story of corruption in the original work. I only knew that the perpetrators were the families.
If the Snake God buried in Sato existed, the probability that history would be completely rewritten was infinitely low.
The thing was already thriving in this world. And if we couldn’t deal with it, corruption would simply continue.
It was unfortunate... but the city’s tragedy ironically proved the world’s safety.
Well, it was unlikely the world would deteriorate just because the Snake God was dealt with.
It was too much to ask me to handle it.
“Even if we follow the original line, there’s still something to know.”
At this point in time, there was a lot I didn’t know.
The more I thought about it, the more it seemed that investigating Artan was the fastest path.
Where should I start? Was there a good plan?
“I can’t just charge into the imperial city.”
He was the crown prince.
It would be considered a crime to approach him without permission, let alone casually.
Going to the palace was out of the question. Naturally, I needed a proper way to meet him.
“Hmm...”
I thought it through.
I combed through Artan Prickus’s history.
All the events he had experienced. Was there a clever way to make contact by linking them?
With that mindset, I followed the events he had passed through or would pass through in chronological order.
His childhood years. The first thing that came to mind was an important event that directly influenced his growth as a young adult.
But it had happened a long time ago, so maybe I didn’t need to consider it...
“...By the way, how old is Artan right now?”
I assumed he was an adult since he was the main character of the story. When I questioned that assumption, something I had seen in a library book flashed through my mind.
The imperial history record in the library.
The current era was Imperial Year 572.
That thought froze me.
Artan’s adulthood... it was surely Imperial Year 582, ten years later than that.
A bewildered voice escaped me.
“...So Artan was still a little kid back then...?”
Sorap had to protect the family head with the sharpest blade. For that reason, Sigilla had become the temporary commander of the assassin unit.
The assassin unit was also highly combat-capable, but they were on a completely different level of speed than ordinary soldiers.
They arrived in Riv Harbor, Quillere’s confirmed last location, in no time.
Sigilla stared across the calm sea. The ripples were quiet.
“I searched the entire surrounding area, but I found no traces. No signs of anything being made, no signs of boats having been launched.”
“Really.”
The commander narrowed her eyes at her subordinate’s report.
Quillere had clearly come here. She had roughly tracked her movements before separating from Anasha’s group.
She would have gone from Riv Harbor to the empire.
Many people had testified that her destination was Arundel. Quillere hadn’t hidden that fact.
It was possible she had been lying, but she didn’t look like that kind of person at all.
“Then... how did she move?”
There was clearly a route from here to the empire.
But the terrain was rugged and the journey long. It would have been better to follow Anasha Sheril instead.
There was no reason to endure such discomfort.
Then... there was an even simpler path? According to Sigilla, no such passage existed.
If I had to force it... as long as they didn’t cross the sea.
“Crossing the sea...”
It was a statement that made one doubt their ears.
There were no docks near the unexplored Riv Harbor. Nothing had been prepared for human passage.
Humans couldn’t swim across the sea. That was basic knowledge, even for a childish child.
But... was Quillere even human?
The scene she had witnessed that day had made even Sigilla, who had fought countless battles in the shadows, tremble.
It was the majesty of a grand magician, evoking the image of a legendary powerhouse. Could a human raise nature itself and summon winter?
“She passed through here using the most efficient method possible. That’s what I conclude.”
I couldn’t speculate carelessly.
Quillere had passed through this waterway. That was what we had to think and pursue.
Sigilla led the assassin unit on a march through the rugged terrain instead of the sea. They had judged that Quillere had not followed Anasha to take the shortest route.
Then they had to follow her trail.
The destination if they crossed Riv Harbor at high speed.
The route that led to the island of Robrok.