A Barbarian Endowed with 'Wisdom'
Caric and Annette left the conference hall.
Thud.
The door closed behind them, and the demon's bloody stench that had been stinging their noses began to fade.
"Phew."
Annette let out the breath she'd been holding. She looked quite worn out.
Caric was the opposite. He was practically bursting with energy compared to when they'd gone in.
"Annette, which sounds better to your ear — 'Wisdom' or 'Order'?"
"Wisdom or Order?"
Annette's face went blank, as if he'd handed her a riddle. "I would… say Wisdom?"
"Figured as much. Thanks for the input."
"Don't mention it. Really, though, Caric — you've worked so hard today."
"So have you."
Caric looked down at Annette. She was still holding her back ramrod straight, keeping up her princess voice, because there were still plenty of eyes watching.
"Let's hurry home. You can't even speak comfortably around here."
"Good idea. His Majesty has probably already sent someone for us…"
Sure enough, an attendant was approaching. He bowed to Annette and spoke.
"His Majesty has sent a carriage. You may ride it all the way to Camellia Palace."
"His Majesty sent a carriage?"
Annette's eyes went wide. Some gesture of favor, presumably.
"He says there is no need to return it."
"Does it have soundproofing? Climate control?" Caric cut in, and the attendant answered with grave solemnity.
"It is perfect."
"Excellent. Lead the way."
And so the two of them followed the attendant out of the main palace grounds. Even as she walked, Annette wore an expression of pure disbelief.
"Is a carriage really that big a deal?"
"Absolutely! Even dukes have to walk when they're inside the palace."
"Well, they'll never gain weight, then."
Caric's lukewarm expression didn't change until he actually laid eyes on the carriage.
"Oh. Now this isn't bad."
It exuded the air of a luxury sedan — a massive black body trimmed with gold. Something about its sheer weight and presence stirred a man's deepest fantasies.
Doesn't really suit Annette, honestly.
Caric opened the carriage door and held out a hand to her. Annette's face flooded with confusion.
"Take my hand and climb in."
"M-my hand?"
Her ears went red. Even the princess voice crumbled.
"I—I don't mind, but, um… for how long?"
"What do you mean, how long? Until we're in the carriage, obviously."
"Oh? Ohhhh…"
Annette averted her eyes in embarrassment. "It's just — um — I didn't know you did things like this, Caric. That's why it didn't register for a second."
"There were nobles in the Demon Realm too, you know. Lords and such."
"I see… of course…"
"Or should I carry you in like a sack of luggage? Very barbarian-like?"
"That… I shall have to decline."
Annette finally flashed a shy smile, took Caric's hand, and climbed aboard. Once Caric had settled in after her, the carriage departed with the attendant's bow trailing behind it.
Cutting it close on headroom. Caric's head brushed the ceiling with every jolt. The four-seater had effectively become a two-seater, but beyond that, the ride was flawless.
"Now this is civilization. Magic is the best."
Unless you were watching the scenery slide past, you couldn't even tell whether they'd started moving or not.
"Right? Oh, but, Caric — I, um, there's something I need to tell you."
Somewhere along the way, Annette's speech had slid completely back to normal. Her princess-mode on-and-off switch was getting more reliable by the day. Though at the moment, she seemed even more hesitant than usual.
"What is it."
"The truth is, um… Camellia Palace. It's really rather small. And it's in a remote part of the grounds."
"Mm. And?"
"There aren't any other buildings nearby, and it's far from the main gates. Everything is inconvenient to get to, is what I'm saying."
"Is that so? Perfect, then. I've been meaning to practice dancing now and then. No prying eyes around — it's ideal."
"D-dancing? What's that— no, wait, that's not the point, it's — um — even if you make friends, it'll be hard to go see them…"
"I don't have friends."
Annette's mouth opened and closed with nothing coming out. Caric went on.
"I know what you're worried about. You're afraid I'll be disappointed, aren't you? But here's the thing."
Caric exuded an unnecessary, ponderous gravity.
"I don't disappoint easily. Because I don't expect much to begin with. Got it? If you want to disappoint me, you'll have to work very, very hard from now on."
I have to work hard… to disappoint him?
Annette found this baffling, but the sheer momentum of it swept her along. "Y-yes, sir!"
While they talked, the carriage rolled up to Camellia Palace. Caric stepped down and his eyes went wide.
"Huh. It's actually gorgeous."
He had to admit he'd underestimated romance fantasy. Camellia Palace was compact but exquisitely elegant — nothing like the decrepit place of exile everyone had made it sound like. It looked exactly like a small private museum in Europe: gleaming white marble walls, a gold-leafed balcony, striking at every glance.
"It's… pretty? Really?"
Annette lit up as if the compliment had been for her. Caric could see the tension drain right out of her at his words. She was clearly very fond of this building.
Leaving the bowing coachman behind, the two of them crossed the garden at a quick pace. But the moment they opened the front door, they were greeted by—
A beautiful woman with chestnut hair in a neat maid's uniform. A loyal handmaiden who had once believed her mistress dead, only to meet her again alive.
Her eyes were already rimmed red. She'd apparently been on the verge of tears since the first sound of carriage wheels.
Her gaze locked onto Annette.
"You have returned, Your Highness."
Tears streamed down her cheeks. "I have been waiting — hic — for your return."
"Liiilyyy!"
Annette sprinted at full speed and threw her arms around Lily. The two clung to each other and began to weep.
"Your Highness! *Sob*, you're truly safe!"
"Mmhm, and Lily's — hic — not hurt either."
"No, but — hic — what on earth are you wearing?"
"I don't knooow! Is that important right now? Waaah."
So this is the first time anyone's cried with joy over Annette coming home.
Caric rubbed the bridge of his nose. For the first time, it felt like he'd actually rescued somebody. And judging by the atmosphere, the two of them were prepared to carry on like this for quite a while.
Better not interrupt the tearful reunion.
Caric slipped past them with astonishingly perfect silence. Because he, too, had an axe waiting for him.
Entering the main hall, he saw the things the Emperor had sent. Oddly, not a single other servant or maid was anywhere in sight. But picking out the box he was looking for was no trouble at all. Caric headed straight for a long metal case with intricate filigree work.
Clank.
White smoke hissed out as he opened it.
"Ooooh."
There it lay — a black, single-piece slab of an axe that looked absurdly, indecently solid. Even the thickness of its edge was extraordinary. Less a blade than a well-shaped lump of iron on a stick. A design that had committed itself, body and soul, to one purpose: smashing things to pieces.
"So you're Wisdom…?"
Caric murmured dreamily as he picked up the handle, wrapped in some kind of hide.
"You're Wisdom, aren't you?"
There was simply no way a creature shaped like this could be called anything other than 'Wisdom.' After all, if Caric so much as carried this thing around and glared at people, multitudes would surely grow a little smarter!
Caric gave the axe a few test swings through the air. As a ferocious whine filled the main hall, he came to understand the weapon's function.
The faster I swing it, the heavier it gets.
A feature that actively hindered rapid consecutive strikes. But for pure destructive power, there was nothing better.
Caric decided to hold a brief initiation ceremony. First, he drew out a demon-realm weapon and clashed it against the axe. The demon-realm weapon chipped on contact.
"Good. Good."
Next, he pulled out one of Crowell's dainty throwing daggers. He smacked the dagger against the axe—
Krrk!
—and the dagger lost a piece of its edge. And this had been the sidearm of a butcher of nobles, no less.
Caric was growing fonder of his new axe by the minute. He found himself wanting to run a few more performance tests.
He stepped outside through the back door at the far end of the main hall. Conveniently, there was a wide open lot nearby.
Caric pulled shamanic skulls out of his subspace — all of them enchanted with protective barriers. He laid them around the area, minimizing any potential collateral damage, and then began testing in earnest: chopping the skulls of the magic beasts he'd slain over the years with the axe.
The results were staggering.
KWA-jiik!
The skulls all burst apart with laughable ease. Shards even went flying in every direction like shrapnel.
Caric was moved.
"Now this… this is my wife."
He was certain. This thing would serve him for a long, long time.
But one final test remained.
Caric pulled a massive skull out of his subspace. His greatest adversary from years past — the skull of the Snowfield Drake.
Still in one piece, I see.
Back then he'd been weaker than he was now, and couldn't finish it by caving in its head. After days of bloody combat, he'd killed it through blood loss instead.
But… what about now? Now that this barbarian had come to possess 'Wisdom' as well?
Caric laid out every last barrier-warded skull he had. Then he took one step back from the drake's skull.
"Hoo."
He took a deep breath.
The truth was, he hadn't shown his 'full strength' in years. There had been no one who warranted it — and even approaching that threshold had always destroyed his weapons first.
But maybe, just maybe, now it was possible.
The Full-Force Strike.
While Caric finished his preparations, the two by the entrance had long since concluded their tearful reunion. They were still deep in catching up on everything they'd missed when—
Fweeeee!
A strange sound began piercing the air. At first they thought they were imagining it — something like the tearing of the atmosphere itself. But the noise kept growing. Faint concussions, like distant explosions, began to reach them too. The sounds the barriers couldn't fully muffle were carrying all the way to the entrance.
Unable to contain their curiosity any longer, the two abandoned their conversation and hurried through the main hall and out into the open. There, near the back door, they witnessed it—
A two-meter barbarian, planting his foot, twisting his hips, gathering every ounce of strength in his body as he brought the axe down.
And its target: the skull of a lesser dragon, a sight that alone made marrow run cold.
The instant the axe met the skull—
KA-BOOOOOM!
An impact roared out that threatened to split eardrums. It was less a human blow than a multi-ton slab of iron plunging from the heavens.
But a lesser dragon was still a lesser dragon. Even that overwhelming strike failed to split the skull outright. The whole bone flexed, microscopically bowing as it absorbed and held the axe's power.
It lasted only an instant.
KWAAAAAAM!
The skull, exceeding its limit, finally erupted as if detonated. The pent-up shockwave, released alongside the fragments, swept outward in every direction. The stone floor cracked and heaved upward.
The aftermath was barely contained by the sacrifice of more than a dozen ward-skulls. But the thunder that escaped containment rolled out across the surroundings all the same.
Annette and Lily screamed at the moment of the blast, unable to help themselves. Only by gripping each other were they able to stay upright.
"H-hooooh…"
Caric, standing at the very epicenter of the explosion, was completely unharmed — his clothes merely hanging in tatters. He turned at the screams and winced.
Annette and Lily stood tangled together, white as sheets.
"Whoops, sorry about that. Guess I startled you. Any injuries?"
Caric checked on the two of them first, carefully, again and again.
"W-we're fine. Really, it was just the shock."
Only after confirming several times over did Caric turn his gaze to the shattered remains of the lesser dragon's skull.
The Full-Force Strike… a resounding success.
Even Caric hadn't anticipated this kind of power. Then, out of nowhere, he remembered his recent troubles over equipment.
The Royal Guard captain… think he'd take me up on a rematch if I asked?