Chapter 201: Dragon's Eye, Human Heart (65)
Chapter 201: Dragon's Eye, Human Heart (65)
The first guest to greet me as soon as I regained consciousness was Senior Neris.
Of course, if we were being technical about the order, I had encountered the Saintess first. However, since she was a permanent resident of the temple anyway, it felt awkward to call her a 'guest.'
Thus, Senior Neris became the first guest to visit me.
Yet, despite claiming that honor, Senior Neris didn't look particularly pleased.
On the contrary, she looked as if she were paralyzed by fear.
This was likely because I had requested that the news of my awakening be kept strictly confidential—a request I had made to both the Saintess and Senior Neris.
Senior Neris seemed utterly unable to fathom the reason behind it.
Of course, the reason itself was nothing more than a trivial matter.
So, to put her at ease, I had to ask with a faint smile.
"What's wrong?"
"No, well... that is..."
Senior Neris hesitated even at my simple question.
After a long moment of dawdling, she finally seemed to steel herself. Closing her eyes tight, she asked:
"W-why! Why are you... t-tossing that hand axe up and down...?"
The moment she spoke, my eyes flicked toward the hand axe I had just thrown into the air.
The hand axe, which had ascended in a straight line, immediately began its descent and returned to my palm. By repeatedly tossing it toward the ceiling and catching it, I was in the middle of regaining the sensation in my hands.
After all, that was something I could manage even while only propping up my upper body in bed.
It seemed Senior Neris found that sight suspicious.
So, I replied as if it were nothing.
"Well, I'll have to use it soon."
Senior Neris's face began to turn deathly pale.
The look of terror in her eyes grew deeper and deeper until, finally, she began to tremble violently and bowed her head in haste.
A faint, shaky voice leaked through her lips.
"I-I apologize. If I have done anything wrong in the past, please, speak your mind without hesitation..."
"What are you talking about?"
I spoke as if I found her reaction absurd, but Senior Neris continued to steal glances at me, gauging my mood. A click of the tongue escaped my mouth.
Since Senior Neris was this terrified, it seemed I could postpone regaining my intuition for a little while.
Still, I couldn't help but feel a lingering sense of regret. That was why a loud thud echoed when my hand set the axe down on the table.
Senior Neris let out a small hiccup and made a face as if she were about to burst into tears.
Hoping she had calmed down at least a little, I explained the reason I had called her here.
"What happened with Her Highness the Princess?"
"Ah, t-that is..."
It was a simple question, but it took some time for the startled Senior Neris to compose herself.
The explanation she gave while stuttering was, in the end, not much different from what I had heard from the Saintess.
"So, to summarize: because they felt guilty for what they did to me, they pinned everything on her?"
"Y-yes, that's right."
"And Her Highness was influenced by those words and thinks it's all her fault?"
"Yes, most likely..."
My hand instinctively went to my forehead.
I let out a long sigh and shook my head.
"...What a mess."
In truth, the Princess's crime wasn't that great.
Of course, touching the people around me was a somewhat problematic action. However, considering a lower noble had laid hands on a member of the Imperial Household, her reaction wasn't entirely incomprehensible.
Above all, she hadn't caused any irreversible damage to Retona Celine.
The Princess was just a girl who had only recently become an adult.
She had many scars from her childhood and a deep-seated distrust of humans. Naturally, it would have been difficult for her to form normal relationships. The more that was the case, the higher the possibility of her making poor judgments.
If one couldn't understand that immaturity, there would be far too many people in the world who would collapse before ever becoming adults.
However, it was also true that the Princess had committed a wrong against me.
Perhaps worried about that point, Senior Neris asked while carefully watching my expression.
"A-about your younger sister's merchant guild..."
"You don't need to worry about that."
As I said that, I lightly waved the envelope I had received this morning.
It was a letter from my younger sister. Since Senior Neris had no way of knowing its contents, she could only stare at me with a puzzled look.
A bitter smile formed on my lips as I almost reflexively started to explain the situation.
It wasn't something I needed to talk about right now. Instead, I spoke again with more emphasis.
"Don't worry about my younger sister. More importantly, Senior Neris... that anesthetic poison you used on me before."
At the sudden mention of that past memory, Senior Neris's body stiffened once more.
She stood frozen like a statue, breaking into a cold sweat, before eventually averting her gaze from mine.
It seemed she was remembering the nightmare of that day.
It was understandable, considering a single Academy student had dismantled an entire branch of the Imperial Intelligence Agency. Senior Neris opened her mouth, stuttering again.
"Y-yes. Back then, I was so presumptuous as to use such a poison..."
"Do you apply that to poison needles to use it?"
Senior Neris's words came to a dead stop.
As if unable to understand my intent, she cautiously examined my face. However, no matter how hard she looked, there was no way she could read my inner thoughts.
After all, it was a question asked out of pure curiosity.
Senior Neris continued, still not letting down her guard.
"O-of course... that's not it. It's a poison collected from a rare creature called the 'Stone Cocoon Spider' that lives in the Great Forest. Once it's injected into the body, the effects take hold almost instantly. Besides paralysis, the primary effect of the poison is the coagulation of mana within the body..."
Though the explanation began in a faint voice, Senior Neris, who loved poisons to an obsessive degree, was soon excitedly rattling off all sorts of information.
It was a relief to see her so enthusiastic.
However, I didn't have much time, so I had to cut straight to the point.
"Give me one."
At that, Senior Neris made a sorrowful face.
"T-that is extremely rare, so even within the Intelligence Agency, only a limited number of people are given a small amount..."
"Give me one."
In the end, Senior Neris had to pull a small vial from her robes with trembling hands.
There was even a faint moisture gathering in her eyes.
Does she really like poison that much? I felt a bit sorry for her inwardly, but it couldn't be helped.
Everything was for the sake of the Imperial Household.
Immediately after seeing Senior Neris off, I also left the temple while no one was around.
Of course, I hadn't received permission from the Saintess.
It seemed I would have to endure quite a nagging later on.
*
My journey to find the Princess ended before long.
Hearing a commotion, I followed the sound to find a massive crowd gathered. In the center of their gaze was the Princess, collapsed on the ground and weeping.
Beating her chest and gagging several times, the Princess's appearance was clearly not normal even at a glance.
She was even lashing out at anyone who approached with bloodshot eyes.
The whispering voices of the crowd inevitably revealed their negative perception of her. Most were cursing the Princess, while others lamented that a member of the Imperial Household was acting so undignified.
Of course, there was one fact that the majority agreed upon.
Something was wrong.
These people didn't know why the Princess was reacting so violently.
She carried the memory of being severely bullied in her childhood because of her 'Dragon's Eye.' Even her own mother had tried to strangle her, so one couldn't even imagine how deep that wound went.
And now, finding herself being ostracized again, how great must her sense of loss be?
She had even nearly been murdered by the Head Maid, who was being controlled by a dark priest—a confidante who had been by her side her entire life.
It was a situation where it would be difficult for anyone to remain sane.
But the people didn't know those facts. Perhaps they didn't want to know in the first place.
What they needed was a scapegoat.
Nevertheless, as the situation escalated to this point, a sense of unease was slowly creeping into their eyes.
The Princess's backing was the Imperial Household. A strange fear spread among the students that if the daughter was broken like this, the Emperor's wrath might descend upon the Academy.
In the end, someone had to resolve this.
Both the Princess's pain and this situation that had reached its limit.
A sigh escaped my lips.
Then, a few people who recognized me began to hesitate and move aside. Without declining, I stepped through the gap without hesitation.
Soon, the entire crowd parted.
On the main road, only I and the slumped Princess remained. The Princess, who had been sobbing and gasping, finally stared at me blankly.
Her crying stopped.
However, the tears welling in her eyes only increased. Staggering, the Princess clung to me as if she were crawling.
The girl wept and pleaded.
"S-Sir Ian... I-I was wrong. I was so wicked, wasn't I? I'm sorry for... for not realizing all this time. I'm sorry for being so arrogant... hic, uugh..."
A torrent of apologies poured out.
"I-I tried to torment Sir Ian, so I suppose this is my karma, right? Y-your sister... ah, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry... I s-should have... I should have done something."
I remained silent.
"Please, please forgive me. Sir Ian... I'll do anything, anything. If only you'll forgive me... Y-yes! I swear on the honor of the Imperial Household, I will absolutely never hold you accountable for anything."
That was when I finally spoke.
"...On the honor of the Imperial Household, you say?"
My voice was low but carried weight.
It was at least loud enough to pierce the ears of those watching this scene. Realizing that things were taking an interesting turn, the crowd began to stir again.
The honor of the Imperial Household.
The nobles of the Empire staked their lives on honor. If that was the case for nobles, it was even more extreme for the Imperial family.
Naturally, it wasn't something a mere Princess could just throw around.
Only the Emperor could truly represent the Imperial Household. However, as long as such words came from the mouth of a member of the Imperial family, the reality was that they couldn't simply be ignored.
At this point, it would be difficult for them to openly retaliate no matter what I did.
Of course, if they judged that I had crossed the line, I might be summoned in secret. But that was also unavoidable.
In the first place, I was already in a position where I would have to be called to the Imperial Household just for being the possessor of the Dragon Blood Runes.
I didn't know how I would navigate that, but it was a guaranteed future, especially since I hadn't been able to keep the Princess's mouth shut.
There was no way she hadn't mentioned it when she requested a divine artifact to treat me.
In other words, there was no additional risk for me to shoulder.
"Yes, yes... of course. If only... if only I can be forgiven..."
"...If only you can be forgiven, you'll do anything?"
I interrupted the Princess one last time to ask again.
The Princess nodded frantically. My eyes scanned the surrounding crowd.
They had once again fallen silent, watching the Princess and me. Their eyes shone with excitement, wondering how I would react.
They were truly vile people.
They had joined in the bullying so easily, yet when the tide turned, they cursed the Princess without a second thought.
And when a problem arose, no one stepped forward, only trembling in fear, and now they were watching with sparkling eyes as if they had found a spectacle.
So, I decided to leave a warning.
That was when a white trajectory was drawn in the air.
It happened in the blink of an eye.
My hand seemed to fumble at my waist, and before anyone knew it, the hand axe was drawn and struck the Princess's shoulder. It was an impact deep enough to crush cartilage.
The Princess's eyes flew open in disbelief.
The same went for the onlookers. Their eyes widened as if they were about to pop out.
Blood splattered, and the Princess's body swayed before falling backward.
Watching her, I spat out a single sentence.
"Then, take a few hits."
Immediately after hanging the hand axe back on my waist, my body mounted the Princess like a nimble beast.
And then, a fist slammed into the Princess's cheek.
"Gyah, ahk... it hurts, kyaaaaaaaaaah!"
It was a moment where the surroundings instantly fell into a solemn silence.