The Aftermath of the Summoning
That evening, inside a private chamber in the eastern wing of the Imperial Palace, Walter straightened his coat and stepped inside. Albern was sitting in the inner seat. As usual, he was dressed in casual attire, and two cups of the tea he always drank were set on the desk.
"Sit."
Walter sat opposite him. Albern leaned back in his chair and slowly opened his mouth.
"...So, the summoning was successful in the end?"
"Yes."
Albern’s gaze drifted briefly toward the darkness outside the window. "How long has it been since someone not of our Imperial bloodline succeeded in summoning a Divine Beast?"
"...It has been approximately 500 years."
Walter took a short breath. "In the last case, the entire family eventually collapsed. They could not handle the Gyeok of the Divine Beast, and they vanished before even a single generation had passed."
Albern interlaced his fingers and rested them on the desk. "...Many groups have attempted it since then. They all failed. Even those who went directly to the territory of a Divine Beast to seek a contract returned dead."
"That is correct."
"How did they succeed in the summoning?"
Walter placed his hands on the desk and let out a faint sigh. "It is not certain. The medium the Intelligence Bureau tracked was something imbued with the mana of a Divine Beast. We had caught wind of that much through circumstantial evidence. It is most likely that they recovered it while the delegation was in the territory."
Albern tapped the desk lightly with his finger. "...Setting aside the medium for the summoning—since it was imbued with mana related to a Divine Beast, that much would have been possible."
Albern lifted his head and looked straight at Walter. "But how did they maintain the space for the Divine Beast to cross over?"
When Walter could not answer immediately, Albern continued. "To maintain the space, an object capable of withstanding the Gyeok of a Divine Beast must act as a medium. Even in our Imperial family, there is only one such object."
Walter looked down at the desk for a moment. "...That is why we concluded until a few days ago that the summoning itself was impossible. That judgment was wrong."
"Where on earth did the Rosenbergs get their hands on that?"
"...I do not know. They must have brought it from the outside."
"Outside where? The Magic Tower, another family, or the Holy Kingdom?"
"The possibility of the Holy Kingdom is lowest. If they had leaked it, it would have reached our ears long ago. The Magic Tower or another family is more likely."
"...We must start by catching where it came from. Expand the Intelligence Bureau."
"The order has already been given. We are also in the process of assigning additional personnel."
Albern sighed, pulling his body away from the backrest and leaning toward the desk. "...That flow of mana I felt for a moment in the delegation's carriage procession back then."
"Yes."
"Did the tracking begin from the moment that was caught?"
"...Yes. Within a few days, we grasped the circumstances, including the medium, the holy water, and the mobilization of mages. But that was intelligence gathered through family reconnaissance. If we were to bring it to an official setting, they would have questioned the reconnaissance itself, and they knew that, so they blocked it even more firmly."
"..."
"Even though we had the intelligence, we lacked the justification to push it through."
Albern took a shallow breath. "If there is no justification, you cannot push. Intelligence is intelligence, and politics is politics. Anyone would have made the same decision up to the point we took a step back. It is not something to blame yourself for."
Albern slowly swirled his cup with one hand. Walter nodded briefly. He looked down at the back of his hand for a moment. Albern took a sip of tea and set the cup down.
"What is the state of the Rosenberg main house's weakening?"
"It is severe. One side of the main building and the entire basement have collapsed, and the family head, Ditmar, is seriously injured. He is presumed to be in a coma. Ditmar's contracted beast is also dead, and the successor, Lukart, is dead. Some of the mages under the family were also lost."
"...Other than the Rosenberg main house area?"
"It is fine. There are no traces of damage in the Rosenberg territory or other territories."
Albern smiled faintly. "...So Nox-nim destroyed only the Rosenberg main house and left."
"Yes. I do not know if it was intentional, but as a result, only the main house collapsed."
"..."
Albern looked up at the ceiling once. "...So, in the end, what happens to Ludger?"
"...The matter of Ludger is separate. That remains unchanged."
"But now that there is a case where a Divine Beast has destroyed a human family like this, that must also be re-examined."
"..."
"Looking at this case, Nox-nim's Gyeok is far higher than we expected. We must re-examine the very position where Ludger stands before Nox-nim."
Albern paused for a moment and watched Walter quietly. "Maintain the direction of not losing favor. However, you must block other families before they attempt similar things."
"We must first catch who leaked the space-maintaining medium and where. That is more urgent."
"I agree. What about the disposition of the Rosenbergs themselves?"
"Leave the family as it is, weakened. The family head might recover, and if he cannot, it will naturally sink. If we touch it directly, other families will suspect us. It is right not to touch it for now."
"Understood."
Albern stretched his shoulders and leaned deeply into the chair. A long silence flowed. The scent of tea rose lightly above the cups.
"...Where would Nox-nim be right now?"
"I do not know. It is clear that he left the vicinity of the Rosenberg main house, but there are no traces after that."
"..."
Walter's gaze fell onto the desk. He recalled that simple and indifferent face he had seen during the delegation. The political situation of humans, the calculations between families, intentions, and results—everything became simple before him. That simplicity had ground a family to dust like this. That was terrifying.
"...How on earth are we supposed to resolve this?"
Walter nodded briefly. "...We must resolve it."
"Yes."
Somewhere in the mountain range.
I flew over the mountain range for a long time. Peaks followed one another, and valleys spread out between them. The scenery beneath my feet remained similar. The wind of the mountain range brushed past my feathers. The scent of leaves was thick, and the wind rising from the valleys was cool.
'The wind here is nice.'
As I flew further, a wide-open clearing came into view beneath my feet. It was a flat place nestled between the peaks. It looked like a good place for the wind to blow through and for me to land.
'Let's go down there and eat.'
I folded my wings and landed in the clearing. After using Polymorph, I took meat out of my sub-space. It was meat I had kept as extra when I was in the nest. I started a fire next to a rock and put the meat on it. I sprinkled spices and started to grill it.
Ssssss-!
Oil burst, and the scent of grilling meat spread between the mountains. It felt like the scent would spread far away on the wind. I sat on the rock, picked up the well-cooked meat, and took a bite.
'Eating in the nest is better after all.'
As I was eating, I caught the presence of someone behind my back. I turned my head. A few magical beasts were walking toward this side from the forest beyond the rock, sniffing the air. Their eyes were half-glazed, so it seemed they had smelled the meat.
'Are the local magical beasts here fearless?'
I watched the ones approaching calmly. They looked familiar. They had green bodies, stood on two feet, and their heads looked like pigs. Thick tusks extended out of their mouths. They held rough weapons in their hands, which looked like stones tied to wooden handles.
I chewed another bite of meat and thought carefully. Where had I seen them?
'...Orcs?'
They were a race I had seen in cartoons in my previous life. Pig-like faces, green skin, rough weapons. That was exactly how they looked.
'...Are they really orcs?'
I had never eaten pork even once since I reincarnated. I had eaten it so often in my previous life.
I gathered wind in my hand. Swish. As the wind blades flew, the orcs fell to the spot. There was not even much sound. After eating the remaining meat, I approached the fallen orcs. Looking at them up close, they were indeed faces that resembled pigs. I put the closest one on the fire to cook it.
Ssssss-!
The fishy smell disappeared quickly. The scent of cooking meat spread around. It was different from the scent I usually grilled in the nest. It was mixed with a grassy smell, and a fishy scent remained faintly until the end. I took a bite.
'Hmm.'
The mana was faint, and the meat was tough. It was different from what I had expected.
'...It's not pork.'
I took spices out of my sub-space, sprinkled them heavily on another one, and cooked it. As the scent rose, the fishy energy vanished. Still, it was far from what I had imagined. It was a pity, but it could not be helped. I would have to find pork separately later. It seemed I would need to bring a wider variety of spices as well.
I cooked and ate the remaining ones in turn. For the one wearing armor, I peeled off the armor with my hands and cooked it. The inner meat was definitely softer than the outer part.
'This side is a bit better.'
My stomach was slowly filling up. I ate the last one and wiped the oil on my hands onto the rock.
'...If there are elves and orcs, are there dwarves too?'
They were a race that often appeared in cartoons. They were about half the height of a human, had long beards, and carried axes or hammers in mines. Since the orcs were exactly as they were in the cartoons, I thought the dwarves would look similar.
'I think they exist.'
'If I ask Caelion, I'll know.'
When I released Polymorph, the human appearance disappeared, and I returned to my original form. I spread my wings and soared above the clearing. The sun had tilted further, and the shadows of the mountain range had stretched out long.
***
I flew for a while. The mountain range continued endlessly beneath my feet, and only similar scenery repeated. The wind was still good. However, that thought from earlier would not leave my head.
'...Do dwarves really exist?'
Whether they would be in mines just as I saw in cartoons, whether they would have a different appearance, or whether they were a race that did not exist at all. I was curious about how short they were and if their beards were really long. I would know as soon as I met them.
'Because orcs really existed.'
Since I had seen orcs in person, it was highly likely that dwarves or other races also existed.
'Are there other races besides dwarves?'
Thoughts followed one after another.
'Oh, there's more to see than I thought.'
The things I had to ask Caelion suddenly increased. Where dwarves lived, what they looked like, and whether they received outside guests. I also started to think about things I wanted to ask the dwarves. Interesting thoughts did not stop.
'...This won't do.'
At this speed, I had to go for a few more days. I could not keep wondering during that time. It was better to go quickly and ask in person.
'...I should go to Caelion quickly and ask.'
As my thoughts were organized, my heart became light. I put all my mana into my wings. As the wind swirled violently through my feathers, my body accelerated in an instant. The scenery of the mountain range flowed rapidly beneath my feet. I flew straight in the direction of the World Tree.