Chapter 72: The Capital of the Prona Kingdom (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 72: The Capital of the Prona Kingdom (4)
Nell, the prince of the Prona Kingdom.
Having received a proper education since childhood, he was no fool drunk on authority. He wasn't arrogant, and his character was upright.
While he had no exceptional talents, he was competent enough to be called a good king should he ascend the throne.
And this very prince was currently holed up in his room, hiding under the covers.
-To the guillotine with the heretic!
-To the guillotine with the prince!
-Down with the heretic! Down with the prince!
The angry voices of the people still echoed in his ears. It seemed they wouldn't stop until the prince was sent to the guillotine.
'The guillotine... The guillotine...!'
Isn't that an execution device used for the public execution of heinous criminals?
I have to go up there?
Why? What did I do wrong?
The prince trembled, imagining the guillotine's sharp blade.
"Your Highness!"
The door burst open, and his escort knight entered.
"Gah?! S-Sir Kar? You scared me!"
"This is no time to be scared, Your Highness. Your name has been cleared!"
"What? What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
"It's hard to explain in words. Please, follow me!"
Nell was completely bewildered.
Anyone would be, wouldn't they? To be trembling in fear of the guillotine, only for your knight to barge in and declare you've been exonerated.
But the knight's eyes were serious, and the thought of 'What if?' sent a small ripple through his heart.
Nell got out of bed and followed the knight.
"So, where are we going?"
"The dungeon."
"The dungeon? Why there?"
"You'll see when we get there!"
When they finally arrived at the dungeon, Nell understood what Sir Kar had meant.
A restrained octopus-man.
It was something impossible to describe with words. Even if Sir Kar had told him, Nell would never have believed it.
"Nell, you're here."
King William said, turning toward Nell.
The king wasn't the only one in the dungeon.
The administrator, the scribe, the Knight Commander, and more. All the high-ranking officials of the royal palace were gathered.
"Father? I came because I heard my name was cleared... but what is all this? And what is that octopus-man?"
"I will explain everything, so calm yourself. Your breathing is ragged."
Only after hearing the king's words did the prince realize how agitated he was. The thought of finally clearing the false accusations that had tormented him for weeks had made him too hasty.
Nell took a deep breath and calmed himself.
"...My apologies for my unseemly behavior."
"It's fine. Everyone here knows how much you've suffered. Administrator, would you explain the situation to the prince?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The administrator nodded and began to explain.
Nell was aghast as he listened to the explanation.
"Are you saying the Archbishop colluded with a demon to frame me? The Archbishop, of all people?!"
It would be shocking enough if an ordinary cleric had sided with a demon, but for the Archbishop himself to have turned traitor...
The prince simply couldn't believe the administrator's words.
"Couldn't this demon be lying to bring down the Archbishop?"
"That possibility is... low. How many people could possibly have the influence to brand a member of the royal family a heretic and incite the public with it?"
"Then... why on earth... why would he do something like this?"
Seeing the prince stagger slightly, the administrator shook his head with a bitter expression.
"That is something we have yet to find out."
At the administrator's words, Nell gritted his teeth.
He strode forward and grabbed the demon by the collar.
"Speak! Just why..."
The prince's rage instantly vanished when he saw the horrific wounds carved into the demon's body.
Cut, torn, ripped, and burned.
Traces of simple yet vicious acts were etched into its body. There was no sign of intelligence in the demon's vacant eyes.
"What is this..."
"The marks of torture. You didn't think a demon would talk willingly, did you?"
Nell turned his head toward the voice.
Cloud was leaning against a wall.
When Nell had first entered the dungeon, he hadn't seen him, hidden behind the king and the officials.
"Hero? Why are you here?"
"That thing you're holding? I'm the one who caught it."
The prince turned his gaze to the king.
When he looked at him as if to ask if the Hero's words were true, the king nodded.
Nell's expression brightened.
He let go of the demon's collar, approached Cloud, and grabbed his hands.
"You are my benefactor!"
"I suppose you could say that."
"Thank you. Thanks to you, I was able to clear my name of those vile accusations. I will repay this debt to you, no matter what!"
"You'll repay the debt?"
"Yes. Tell me what you desire. If it's within my power, I will grant you anything."
"Then I have just one request for now. Please take everyone else and leave. I have something to discuss with His Majesty the King alone."
"Hmm...?"
The prince looked slightly troubled.
A request for a private audience with the king.
This was a request beyond the prince's authority. It required the king's permission.
Nell glanced at his father, the king. William, feeling his son's gaze, met Cloud's eyes.
'...It seems he has something important to say.'
Realizing this from Cloud's gaze, the king raised a hand to silence his subjects' protests.
"Leave with the prince."
"Your Majesty, you mustn't. At least keep Sir Weasel by your side."
"Your Majesty. As the administrator said, please allow me to attend you."
The administrator and the Knight Commander pleaded, but the king was firm.
"Why would I need an attendant for a private meeting with the Hero? Do you think the Hero would harm me?"
At William's words, the officials fell silent.
They recalled the killing intent the Hero had unleashed at the banquet not long ago. But they couldn't bring themselves to say it out loud.
There was a world of difference between thinking something and saying it.
Especially now, when the Hero had just proven the prince's innocence by capturing a demon.
"...Understood."
In the end, the officials had no choice but to bow their heads and leave. Once they were gone, only the mindless demon, William, and Cloud remained in the dungeon.
William looked at Cloud and spoke.
"Before I hear why you wanted a private audience, may I ask one thing?"
"Go ahead."
"I am grateful that you captured the demon and cleared the prince's name. However, why did you torture it yourself?"
"To get information."
"Thanks to you, the demon has lost its mind."
"I'm not exactly an expert in torture."
"The royal palace has excellent torturers."
"Let's stop beating around the bush. You're blaming me for torturing the demon on my own and breaking its mind, aren't you? But I had a reason for doing so."
"I'm listening."
"The Soul Stone."
At the words Cloud uttered, William's face hardened. As if he'd expected it, Cloud smirked.
"I wondered what this demon was after, going so far as to frame the prince as a heretic. The more I thought about it, the more my thoughts turned toward the royal family. Perhaps what it wanted was in the palace. But as far as I know, the royal family has nothing a demon would want. So I tortured it, wondering if the royal family was hiding something. And it turns out, I was right."
Cloud stood up and brushed the dust from his backside.
He walked over to William, stood before him, and spoke.
"Lead the way."
"...I should have listened to the administrator and kept Sir Weasel here."
"It wouldn't have changed anything."
"I suppose not."
William let out a deep sigh.
"Follow me."
William and Cloud descended the dungeon stairs. After a long descent, they reached the final level.
"There are no prisoners here."
"It's rare for the cells to be full down to this level, and besides, this floor wasn't built for that purpose."
William entered the sixth cell on the right and felt along the wall opposite the iron bars. A brick pressed deep under his hand.
Rumble—
The wall split open, revealing a passage leading inside. William entered first, and Cloud followed.
"You're not surprised."
"I've been through too much to be surprised by something like this."
"Come to think of it, I've always been curious. What exactly did you experience to change so much?"
"It's not a story grand enough to tell Your Majesty."
"If you don't want to talk, fine. We don't have time anyway."
William gazed at the purple light visible at the end of the passage. That was the end of the tunnel, where the object Cloud had mentioned was located.
At the end of the passage, in a small, circular room, Cloud saw a gem emitting a brilliant purple light.
He recognized it as a Soul Stone at a glance and frowned at the powerful energy radiating from it.
The Soul Stone.
A gem that converts captured souls into energy.
A gem considered a holy relic among warlocks.
Cloud was curious why the Prona Kingdom was keeping such a precious object, but he was more curious why the Soul Stone was emitting such powerful energy.
"Just how many people were sacrificed to gather this much energy?"
"Not many. You could count them on two hands."
"Less than ten souls are putting out this much energy? Were they all heroes of the century or something?"
Cloud scoffed as if to say, 'Don't be ridiculous.'
William remained silent, his expression bitter.
At that, Cloud's expression hardened slightly.
"You said you could count them on two hands. How many, exactly?"
"I believe there were seven."
"And how many of them were Heroes?"
"All seven of them... Gack...!"
Before William could finish, Cloud grabbed him by the throat. It was a fragile neck that Cloud could snap in an instant if he wished, but he didn't.
He merely applied enough pressure to make breathing difficult, staring at the king with ice-cold eyes.
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't snap this neck."
"You... are gravely... mistaken about something..."
"Mistaken?"
"You think... the kingdom... stole their souls... don't you..."
"Didn't it?"
"Never...! The kingdom did not steal their souls! Cough...! They... sacrificed themselves for the kingdom... Besides, how could anyone possibly steal the soul of a Hero... who has transcended the limits of humanity...?"
"It might not have been a sacrifice. It could have been blackmail. There are plenty of ways."
A Hero is a superhuman. But that doesn't mean the people around them are. For example, what if someone secretly kidnapped a Hero's family and forced the Hero to offer their soul to the Soul Stone?
A Hero with strong family ties would have no choice but to yield to the threat.
"Yes... as you say, there may be many ways... But think about it... If the kingdom had committed such a heinous act... wouldn't we have been divinely punished by the Goddess?"
"Mentioning the Goddess just makes you even less believable."
"What?!"
Such a blasphemous statement!
As the horrified William silently prayed to the Goddess, insisting he had nothing to do with that remark, a voice spoke.
"Hero of this age. The boy's story is true. Would you please release your hand?"
Cloud turned his head toward the source of the voice.
A spirit in the form of an old man was watching him from in front of the Soul Stone.
"...Who are you?"
"Silas. I was the first Hero of the Prona Kingdom."
Following the old spirit's introduction, six more spirits emerged from the Soul Stone, one by one.