The Lord Council (2)
The air was heavy.
This was no metaphor. It was a literal description of what I felt the moment I stepped into the council chamber — a space far vaster than I had imagined, and dimly lit. The first things to catch my eye were the enormous round table at the center, and the five people seated around it… no. Not people. Beings.
"Welcome, Fifth Lord. And you as well, Chief of Staff."
A kind old man's voice broke the silence. It came from a dwarf occupying one of the seats at the round table — a squat frame, copper-toned skin, a beard cascading thickly from his chin. And above all, a physique of rock-hard muscle so pronounced it was visible even from a distance. I knew the word that gathered all of those features into one. Dwarf. And I knew who he was, too.
First Lord Shintoe — Agor.
The gazes of every Lord at the table, including his, were fixed on us as one.
"Oh, old man Agor. Been a while."
Gwangrang approached one of the empty seats and dropped into it with a thud. No further greetings were exchanged. Only questioning stares lingered on Daypon and me.
The Third Lord, Heavenly Bow. The Second Lord, Noehu. The Sixth Lord, the Tyrant Lord. The Eighth Lord, the Black Sea Empress. I studied each of their faces in turn, matching them to the names in my memory. The Lords of Calderic were so utterly different from one another in both race and character that telling who was who at a glance was no trouble at all.
The Grand Lord isn't here…?
Had she not arrived at the chamber yet? Besides the Grand Lord, the Fourth, Seventh, and Ninth Lords were also nowhere to be seen. Whether they simply hadn't arrived or weren't coming at all, I had no way of knowing.
"And who is the human beside you?"
First Lord Shintoe directed the question at Daypon. Just as he had explained to Gwangrang earlier, Daypon introduced me once more.
"A distinguished guest invited from outside. The Grand Lord has personally authorized his attendance at this council."
The Lords' reactions were varied.
"Authorized his attendance… the Grand Lord herself?"
Shintoe, who had asked the question, murmured with a mix of puzzlement and surprise.
"Hmm. Now what's this all about?"
The Eighth Lord, the Black Sea Empress, propped her chin on the table, looking thoroughly intrigued.
"Our Grand Lord really is impossible to predict. At least this meeting won't be boring from the start — I like it already."
The Sixth Lord, the Tyrant Lord, likewise let out an amused laugh.
"…"
The Third Lord, Heavenly Bow, stared blankly into empty space, as if he couldn't care less. He hadn't so much as glanced in our direction from the beginning.
"Why would the Grand Lord permit an outsider to attend a Lord Council?"
The only one to display outright displeasure was the Second Lord, Noehu. An elf with long sky-blue hair and long, pointed ears glared at me with undisguised irritation. I don't even know why I'm here myself, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't stare at me like that.
That was when Gwangrang cut in with a snickering laugh.
"The Grand Lord said it's fine, so just take it as it is. Why're you picking a fight over nothing? Still got that nasty temper, huh, kid?"
Noehu's gaze snapped toward her.
"I believe I warned you not to call me a child, Fifth Lord."
"Did you? So what. If it pisses you off that much, you can call me a bitch right back."
Gwangrang twitched her ears in a teasing flick, and Noehu merely clicked her tongue as if the other woman wasn't worth the effort. I just stood there, watching the scene unfold. Just as I was starting to wonder if I was supposed to keep standing like this forever, Daypon guided me to a seat.
"If you would sit here."
And so I took a place at the round table. Of course, the Lords' attention had yet to leave me. God, I hated this atmosphere. And above all, the Eighth Lord, the Black Sea Empress… of all people, she was sitting directly across from me, and her very existence made me deeply uncomfortable. The moth-like antennae on her forehead, the enormous membranous wings sprouting from her back, and a form that seemed a grotesque fusion of human skin and insectile exoskeleton — it was grotesque enough that looking at her was a struggle in itself.
Please don't talk to me. I'm begging you.
All I could do among these monsters was keep my eyes on empty air, hold a blank expression, and keep my mouth shut.
I was enduring that ordeal when the chamber doors opened again and someone entered. I wondered who it was — just a maid.
"…?"
No… a maid?
The woman who had entered the chamber alone bowed her head in greeting, then approached the round table and began setting down teacups one by one. A peculiar atmosphere seemed to settle over the Lords. There was nothing particularly noteworthy about it — just an ordinary servant laying out drinks before the meeting began. But I couldn't take my eyes off her.
After all, there was no way a mere maid would have a level so insane it dwarfed even the Lords themselves.
…What the hell was this supposed to be?
"Hmm. I wonder when the Grand Lord will arrive? It's about time, isn't it?"
The Black Sea Empress murmured with feigned innocence, smiling at me with her eyes.
"She'll be here soon. Just sit back, drink your tea, and wait."
In complete contradiction to his own words, the Tyrant Lord downed his steaming tea in a single gulp, then smacked his lips and turned to Gwangrang.
"By the way, Fifth Lord, I heard you went to Bernhel. Got any interesting stories to share?"
"Don't you dare talk to me, you vampire bastard."
But she crushed the question without mercy, her voice now ice-cold — a far cry from moments ago. Faced with that blunt refusal to even exchange words, the Tyrant Lord shrugged as if he were used to it.
"So cold. I don't know why you're always so desperate to tear into me and me alone. Don't you think, Second Lord?"
"Who in their right mind would like someone as vulgar as you? I've told you any number of times — do not speak to me unless you have something of substance to say."
"Heh! You two really are too much. You were just fighting a second ago and you still won't take my side."
Listening to that pointless chatter, I sank into thought. How long was I supposed to sit here watching this absurd farce?
Is this some kind of test?
Clink.
I looked at the maid as she approached me last and set down a teacup, then opened my tightly shut mouth.
"Grand Lord."
The maid's movements froze.
"When are you going to drop this pointless charade?"
Every Lord turned to look at me, all of them wearing expressions of shock. Even the Third Lord, Heavenly Bow, who hadn't so much as glanced my way until now.
"…Haha!"
Only then did the maid drop the mask, taking a step back as she burst into laughter.
"I heard you saw through Daypon's concealment in an instant, but it's been a while since we've had a guest this entertaining."
…Grand Lord Rashatein. Master of all Calderic, and head of the Nine Lords. And one of the beings closest to the strongest in this world of RASA.
In an instant, pitch-black energy coiled around her entire body, and in the blink of an eye she had transformed into someone else entirely. Raven-black hair and eyes that fell to her waist, and even her clothes had changed from a maid's uniform to a splendid dress. She walked to the seat of honor at the round table, her dress fluttering, and dropped into the chair. Daypon, who until a moment ago had been standing near the chamber entrance, was now standing behind her.
"Let's see. The Fourth Lord and the Ninth Lord each have their own business, so they won't be attending."
The Grand Lord's gaze swept around the table, then settled on Shintoe.
"The First Lord must be busy as well, so I appreciate you making the effort to come."
At that, Shintoe gave a slight shake of his head.
"Think nothing of it, Grand Lord. Barring circumstances beyond one's control, attending the Lord Council is a Lord's natural duty."
The Grand Lord, wearing a faint smile, turned her gaze to Noehu this time.
"Second Lord, you've had the look of someone with a great deal to say since the moment I arrived."
"…I trust you have been well, Grand Lord."
She bowed her head, then glanced at me before speaking.
"I simply find it difficult to discern your will in permitting an outsider to attend this council."
"Haha. 'Will'? That's giving it too much credit."
The Grand Lord laughed and waved a hand.
"I just figured that since everyone was gathered anyway, this would be a convenient place for it."
…Convenient? For what?
Then she clapped her hands, as if to reset the mood.
"All right, meeting's in session! First item on the agenda is, as you can see, the recruitment of new talent. You've all heard the rough details from the Chief of Staff, yes?"
The Lords' attention focused once more, and the Grand Lord smiled brightly as her eyes met mine.
"First, I'd like you to tell us your name yourself."
"…Ron."
Here we go. There hadn't been any particular crisis yet, but I couldn't let my guard down for even a second. The real thing started the moment the Grand Lord appeared. Just as Noehu had said — what on earth was the reason for summoning a complete outsider like me all the way to a Lord Council and seating me here? Surely she wasn't going to pit me against the Lords as some kind of test of my abilities…
"Good. Then, Sir Ron — what was your purpose in coming to Calderic?"
…What was this, a job interview?
The question was so ordinary compared to what I'd expected that the tension I'd been holding drained right out of me. I didn't answer immediately, instead staring straight at her.
"Ah, of course I know it was our Chief of Staff who made the offer first. What I want to know is why you were interested."
"…"
"Honestly, I'm quite surprised right now. Someone of your caliber showing up at the castle out of the blue. If wealth and glory were all you wanted, you have the skill to enjoy them wherever you pleased, don't you? And yet you came to Calderic. Is there some special reason for that?"
Special reason, my ass. This was just a dead end I'd been driven into while scrambling to survive. As if there would be anything like that. I knew all of the Grand Lord's abilities. I knew that fabricating a convenient answer would be completely useless, so I decided to reply with the unvarnished truth.
"I don't have any particular purpose."
The Grand Lord's eyes narrowed, as if gauging the true meaning of my words.
"…Just as Daypon told me. So it really is nothing more than simple curiosity?"
The corners of her mouth lifted as she smiled again, humming good, good and nodding. She looked for all the world like a tomboyish young girl, but I couldn't find it cute in the slightest. I knew the true nature hidden beneath that surface was a monster nearly a thousand years old. Even the form I was looking at now was nothing more than a polymorph shell, not her true body.
So what's the real point of all this.
She hadn't sat me here just to ask that one question, at any rate. This was where it really began. I waited for what she would say next, my tension undiminished.
The Grand Lord's mouth opened once more.