The Southern Grand Duke
“We’ve taken everything worth taking.”
I drew the cracked sword.
“Shall we finish this? Leave it standing and someone else might pick up where they left off.”
I stood near the entrance to the underground and spoke to Kairon. He caught my meaning at once and gave a quiet nod.
Shing—
Kairon drew his own blade. He lowered his stance, gripped the hilt, and focused. It was his signature draw stance.
In the meantime I summoned every spirit I could and poured them into a single sword. The blade thrummed and shuddered as though it would burst at any moment. I held it level and took my place opposite Kairon.
We waited only for his readiness. The instant his eyes snapped open—
Fwak!
We swung as one.
Sword auras erupted from both sides and swallowed the underground research facility whole.
Krrrrumble—
The shock rattled not only the laboratories but the very foundations; the Magic Tower itself writhed as though seized by an earthquake.
“It’s collapsing!”
Amelia urgently waved us toward the exit. I followed her at once; Kairon lingered a moment longer, staring blankly into the depths before he finally joined us. From a safe distance we watched the Magic Tower come down.
Amelia jabbed Kairon in the side while he still seemed lost in the spectacle.
“Have you heard what happened at the Magic Tower?”
Not long afterward the lords reconvened through their magic tools.
“Yes… a dreadful business.”
“I never imagined every mage in the Tower would be wiped out—including the Tower Master himself.”
While the others offered their remarks, Keln wiped cold sweat and watched his words carefully. Daywin had promised to keep the secret for a while, yet Keln still could not fully trust him; he trembled at every possible turn. He would probably live in that anxiety until the day he died. That was exactly the punishment Daywin had intended—worse than exposure or an open death threat. Living with a time bomb that might explode at any moment. Since Daywin’s blackmail, Keln had not slept soundly once.
“I hear it was the work of the Death God Cult…”
Afraid that silence itself would look suspicious, Keln ventured the remark timidly. The moment he mentioned the Cult, the conversation swung naturally that way.
“Even so, razing the Magic Tower single-handedly? Does that sound possible?”
“Grand Duke Marc, we would do well not to take them lightly.”
“I simply find it hard to believe the Tower Master fell.”
“Hard to believe or not, what’s done is done. What matters is that the Death God Cult possesses someone capable of it. They may already be moving even now.”
“Are you saying the events of a hundred years ago will repeat?”
“It already appears they are.”
While the two lords continued in that vein, a new voice cut in—one that had been silent until now. It was a deep, heavy bass that somehow sounded dark.
“If we keep talking about the Magic Tower, well, we can’t even see the thing from here.”
“Grand Duke Oscar, it’s true that in the south…”
“Yes, down south we have no idea what the hell is going on. Fine, I understand. Some tailed dog of the Death God Cult leveled the Magic Tower and killed the Tower Master in a single stroke. A hundred years ago? Of course it will happen again. That’s what the Necromancer’s resurrection means.”
The southern lord known as Oscar pressed on.
“What I want to know about is the side that smashed the Tower.”
The other lords all reacted with open startlement.
“Why so frozen, everyone? Haha, something unpleasant happen?”
Grand Duke Oscar raised his voice as though savoring their discomfort.
“You say the force that occupied the Tower was absurd. Then what do we call the man who killed that absurd force?”
Keln had tried to steer the talk elsewhere, but Oscar dragged it straight back.
“Daywin Hasgard, the Seventh Princess’s knight.”
“……”
Silence fell among the lords.
“I’ve been curious about him for a while, yet all of you keep fretting about the Death God Cult and never say a word about the man who stopped them. Isolating me because I’m off by myself, is that it? Kuhaha.”
“I know a little about him,” one of the two archbishops cut in.
“Ah, Archbishop Romeo.”
“The Holy Knights have taken an interest in him, so I am informed.”
Archbishop Romeo—the man who had taken Daywin in during his previous life.
“The Holy Knights?”
“Indeed. The captain himself tried to recruit him; hard to forget that.”
“Rather quick of them. So he might have become a Holy Knight instead of the Seventh Princess’s knight?”
“He refused the order, of course.”
“Hmm. That only makes him more interesting.”
“Grand Duke Oscar, I mention it just in case—he has sworn himself as the Seventh Princess’s knight.”
“I have no intention of stealing him. I only hear rumors, so the man himself becomes all the more intriguing. You all know, even if you pretend not to, don’t you?”
Oscar asked the question and answered it himself.
“He is the one blocking the Death God Cult’s emergence.”
Archbishop Romeo nodded in agreement.
“Or rather, delaying it, perhaps. One thing is certain: without him the undead would already have poured in. He has been intercepting the Cult’s movements with uncanny precision beforehand. Am I wrong?”
One after another the lords murmured assent.
“He is buying us time. What greater service could there be? Therefore I make this proposal.”
Oscar drew a deep breath and dropped his voice.
“Prepare yourselves, all of you. Do not sit idle. I’m sick of hearing how terrified you are of the Death God Cult, how it is the same as a hundred years ago.”
His casual tone left the others aghast.
“When the signs of crisis are this clear, and when you know there is a man holding the line alone, stop merely being afraid and start preparing.”
“Grand Duke Oscar… what reckless nonsense—”
“You’re the one speaking from fear! If we fall, the south is next! You’re trying to use us as a shield—!”
“Hardly. I am simply a man who wishes this kingdom well.”
Whether that claim sprang from self-interest or patriotism, only Oscar himself knew.
“You all seem focused solely on the election. Important, yes—the candidate who contributes most to stopping this crisis deserves the throne. The one who builds a sturdy wall for the people is king material. But.”
He steadied his breath and continued.
“Right now we are the ones who can actually exert force, not the candidates. Think back to the war a century ago. Why did a single slave become the war hero instead of the nobles who knew tradition and honor?”
“……”
“I am ashamed. Everyone reveres the fact that a slave saved the empire—what glory is that? Am I the only one who finds it shameful? I am ashamed that my house’s ancestors are remembered merely as helpers of that hero, not as the hero himself! I will not allow that again.”
Oscar’s will seemed to transmit even through the magic tool.
“From this moment I will support the Seventh Princess and her knight.”
“Grand Duke Oscar, what are you saying? The election is right before us, and you mean to aid that candidate directly!”
“There is no law that forbids declaring whom I support. And I already told you—the election matters, but the fate of the realm hangs on this. Why I alone see it that way I cannot say. Remember this: everyday life can collapse at any time.”
“Grand Duke Oscar, you are being far too hasty.”
“Think of me as you will. Simply judge carefully. If not now, it will be too late. I will seize this crisis as my chance to become a hero. The ambition my ancestors could not achieve because a slave outshone them—I will fulfill it.”
Click—
The connection on Oscar’s side cut off of its own accord. While the remaining lords sat stunned, Archbishop Romeo left one final remark.
“His manner may lack polish, but I… do not believe Grand Duke Oscar’s argument is wrong.”
Then he too ended the call.
“Hasgard. Let us go out for a while today.”
“Is there some business outside, Your Highness?”
“Just a walk.”
“Then… I as well—”
“Brother, stay here. You know you and Hasgard cannot move at the same time.”
“Ah…”
And so I found myself strolling the Royal Capital alone with Amelia. It was an utterly ordinary walk. We stopped at shops so she could buy ornaments that caught her eye, sampled street food, yet there was no particular purpose to our wandering. In other words, something close to a date.
The only unusual detail was this:
“I’m only now realizing what it means to be a princess.”
Of all the shopping bags Amelia carried in both hands, not a single item had been paid for. Everyone recognized her and pressed free goods upon her. Even when she tried to pay, they forced the merchandise on her.
“Hmph. You mean to say it was never like this before?”
Well… I had once been put in my place by Lucia, after all.
“So that is why you have me carrying this mountain of packages.”
“Ah, no—I simply had no bags of my own, so I paid it no mind. Thinking it over, that was discourteous of me.”
I took the loads from her arms.
“It would be nice if you noticed such things without being told…”
“Do you often come out like this to collect tribute?”
“Tribute? What nonsense. I was as surprised as you. Until recently most of them did not even know my face.”
“You must have grown rather famous.”
At that Amelia stopped dead in the street.
“What are you talking about? You think they recognized me?”
“Was that not the case?”
“They recognized the man standing beside me.”
“……”
I had no idea. They had never spoken to me, only cast sidelong glances, so I assumed they took no interest.
“Your image right now is that of the silent knight who never says a word. They probably decided there was no point in trying to talk to you.”
Ah… because Kairon had been playing my role, that frame had settled in place.
“Hasgard. A hundred years is both long and terribly short. The war is recorded in books, yet a century is also long enough for the tale to pass by word of mouth from the people’s ancestors.”
She looked out over the bustling market.
“Everyone knows that tragedy. That is why they fear.”
“…I see.”
“And that is why they are especially grateful to you. Yes—I think you are beginning to understand.”
She turned to me with a small smile.
“Does the current not seem to be flowing our way?”
“Yes. At this rate Your Highness’s victory in the election—”
“Not only the people—the lords, too, appear to be supporting you.”
Amelia rummaged inside her coat.
“A letter that arrived at dawn. Grand Duke Oscar of the south has invited you. I meant to give it to you earlier, but someone left me without free hands by refusing to carry the bags.”
“Grand Duke Oscar sent a letter himself?”
“Why ignore the latter half of what I said? In any case, it is Grand Duke Oscar—one of the seven great lords. He invited you specifically.”
“Me?”
“Yes, only you. I do not know what he intends, but in your phrasing… it is a chance to gain one more vote.”
She planted the letter squarely against my chest.
“Why not go and see?”
The moment I absently accepted the letter, the matchbox vibrated.
“Wh-what is this? The letter has a vibration function—!”
“…It is nothing of the sort.”
I sighed and returned the shopping bags to her hands.
“Your Highness, please wait a moment.”
“You bastard… dumping the bags on me again—do not run!”
“I told you it is not like that!”
I slipped into an alley as though fleeing. Catching my breath, I slipped on the Ring of Disguise and kindled the flame.
“What is it? I only told you to come back—”
-A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sir Karma.
But the figure beyond the flame was no one from Houndry. A gaunt man with long, luminous silver hair worn proudly, dressed in impeccable uniform, spoke in a calm voice.
-I know it is discourteous to contact you so abruptly, yet this method was the best available. I hope you will understand.
There was no need to ask his name. He introduced himself with full courtesy.
-I am Chronos, one who serves the Death God Cult. One of the Five Lanterns.