The King and the Crown Prince (4)
The king and the prince wore identical expressions, as if to say, What kind of madman is this?
Perhaps it was the privilege of the wealthy—aside from the gulf of age, they looked so much alike that Roy nearly burst out laughing and had to fight it down.
"What on earth are you talking about all of a sudden!?"
"You'll understand once you try cutting it, Your Highness."
Ignoring the prince's protest, Roy simply thrust out one arm. He rolled up the sleeve, exposing the soft, pale skin unique to a young child.
"Hahahaha! Under any other circumstance I would call that the height of insolence—but it seems you truly do have something to show us."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The king began to laugh like a man possessed. Only then did Prince Aron re-examine Roy's words. The boy was clever. He would never be so foolish as to risk losing an arm in a place like this for nothing.
"Very well. I will cut off your arm. If nothing happens, you will lose that precious limb right here and now."
"I am prepared."
"Your Majesty. May I have your leave?"
"Hmm… He has already shown us something of worth. Proceed! If it proves a lie, the punishment will be more than sufficient."
"Yes!"
With the king's permission secured, Prince Aron took his place before the boy.
"Roy. I only need to swing without channeling mana, correct? I'll say it again—this is an ancient magic sword. Even without an Aura Blade, it can shear through steel."
"I am aware."
"Good. Then I'll give it everything! Haaah!"
Aron gripped the hilt with both hands and brought the blade down in a great vertical arc. He did not bother to moderate the force. At the center of that trajectory lay Roy's still-immature arm. Whether it was flesh or something else entirely, anything ordinary would have been cleanly severed.
In the instant the sword touched Roy's arm—
-Kiiiing!
A fierce light erupted from within Roy's body. One of the protective amulets he wore activated, violently repelling the prince's blade. Aron staggered back in shock. True to its nature as an ancient relic, the sword itself was unharmed. Roy's arm, however, remained exactly where it belonged. Not a single drop of blood, not so much as a scratch, marred the skin.
The astonished king fired off a question.
"An amulet?"
"Yes."
"Not a relic, I take it?"
"I crafted it myself."
"Hoh!"
A short, sharp exclamation of admiration. Exactly as Roy had calculated, the demonstration struck deep into the hearts of both king and prince.
"You claim that is your unique magic?"
"Yes. I devised it myself under Master Geren's guidance. From the way even my teacher struggles to succeed, it appears I am currently the only one capable of producing them."
He cut off any possibility of Geren being summoned to the palace. He declared outright that he alone could craft the amulets. Greed flooded the faces of the two men as they regarded the boy.
"What is the performance of these guardian amulets?"
"Against ordinary attacks, they block most physical blows. Magical attacks that use mana, however, are far harder to defend against. That is due to my own meager mana reserves—"
"Enough. I have heard enough of that. So if your mana increases, the completed amulets grow stronger as well?"
"That would be the case. I first crafted an amulet at the age of seven. My mana has increased dramatically since then, and I can now produce far superior ones."
"Insane… At seven… Ah—what if one carries several?"
"They will defend as many times as the number carried. The defensive power itself, however, does not stack."
"Hmm… So mana remains the bottleneck."
"Your Majesty. Then perhaps that…"
"I was about to say the same."
King and prince exchanged a few quiet words and seemed to reach a decision. Roy soothed his racing heart, already anticipating what would come next.
"Go outside and summon the captain of the Royal Guard."
Moments later the captain of the Royal Guard entered the king's study. The king issued his command.
"From this moment, evacuate every person inside the Second Annex and seal every entrance. No one is to enter or leave!"
"As you command!"
The captain vanished in an instant. Roy watched the process in a daze.
"Roy Greenhilt. From now on, you will follow us. There is something we intend to give you."
"……!"
Roy followed the king and prince into one of the many buildings within the castle grounds. As ordered, the entrance was already under heavy guard.
They're certainly thorough about security… but doesn't that just make it more obvious that something important is hidden inside?
Of course there would be concealed mechanisms. They simply did not want anyone to witness those mechanisms being operated, and so they used this roundabout method. Roy decided not to think any deeper. All that mattered was getting the prize into his own hands. What came after was someone else's problem.
"Roy."
They had penetrated deep into the building. Once they were beyond any chance of being seen or overheard, the king finally opened the mouth he had kept tightly shut.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"You have already guessed, I am sure. From this moment, everything you see and hear must never be spoken of outside. Not to your family, not even if ordered by your father or by a higher noble."
"Of course. I understand the value of my own life."
He knew perfectly well that a loose tongue meant death. From the beginning he had never intended to share information about the Dragon's Breath with anyone.
"Furthermore, I will accept no questions from this point onward. Simply do as I command. Before you know it, a gift that will leave you speechless will be resting in your hands."
"I will keep that in mind."
His heart refused to settle. When they were offering something so precious, what would he not do? Roy clamped his mouth shut and quietly trailed after the two men.
A long silence followed. Only the sound of footsteps echoed through the thick stone structure. At last they reached a certain place, opened a door hidden behind a bookshelf, and descended deeper still—underground, and then underground again.
As expected, nothing beats the earth for hiding things.
Whoever had built it, they walked a long spiral staircase that plunged ever deeper. The light of the prince's Lighting magic only made the darkness below feel thicker and more profound.
"Turn around for a moment. Do not look until I give the signal."
"Yes."
Roy obeyed without complaint. The summit was close; he had no intention of tumbling off a cliff for the sake of idle curiosity. Even so, it was as if he had eyes in the back of his head—he could picture exactly what they were doing from the sounds alone.
Rrrrk…
Stone grinding against stone filled his ears.
Have we arrived?
They had not. Another long corridor stretched before them, and they walked it without end. He could not even begin to guess what had been constructed beneath the castle. Through corridors, up stairs, down more corridors, down more stairs—they repeated the pattern several times before finally reaching their destination.
This isn't the basement of the building we first entered. We might even be outside the castle walls by now.
The Second Annex had been nothing more than a decoy. Roy clicked his tongue in admiration at the thoroughness of the design. Whoever had planned this labyrinth, even someone who knew of its existence would not reach this place easily. Under the king's orders he had been forced to turn his back many times, and they had passed through countless devices and formations. If every one of them responded only to royal blood…
I really am lucky.
If Prince Aron had not noticed him on the day of the entrance ceremony, if he had never been invited to the castle, this opportunity would never have come.
Or would it? With the value of my techniques, would I have ended up here eventually anyway?
While Roy mused, the final door opened at last, and the place they had sought lay revealed before them. The moment the three of them stepped through, the door sealed itself automatically. Soft light soon filled the entire space.
Whoa…!
An involuntary gasp of wonder escaped him. The chamber closely resembled the interiors of the ancient ruins he had seen in his previous life. Enormous magic circles were inscribed on every surface—north, south, east, west, ceiling, and floor—serving as the very source of the light that illuminated the space.
The circles are reacting to royal blood.
"This place is… Your Majesty, the reason you brought me here is— hup!"
Ah—I asked a question without thinking!
Startled by the words that had slipped out, Roy hurriedly clapped both hands over his mouth, terrified that the treasure right in front of him might vanish.
"It is fine. I will overlook it this once. This place may be entered only by those of royal blood who have been chosen. I cannot swear to what happened in ages past, but to my knowledge you are the first person with no royal blood whatsoever to set foot here."
"I-I am honored. For one as lowly as myself to—"
Without further questions, Roy lowered himself until he was almost crawling. There was no need to wonder why they had brought him; he had already more or less figured it out.
Come on. Stop drawing it out and just hand it over already!
"Have you ever heard of the Dragon's Breath?"
"Y-yes. But like most rumors, I believe it to be pure fantasy. Either someone invented the tale, or if it is real, it has been greatly exaggerated."
"Is that so?"
"Otherwise people—especially lords who already hold power—would be scouring the land for it in a frenzy. Yet my father has never once shown such behavior."
While pretending ignorance, Roy carefully laid a smokescreen over the secret tradition of his own house. He insisted such a thing did not exist. That way Ilia and Lily, who lived in the forest, would be safer.
"Well, one could think that. It is not something easily obtained, after all."
The king spoke as though he were quite familiar with the Dragon's Breath. A suspicion stirred in Roy.
As I thought… he may have drunk more than one. Is that the reason for the gap in mana between him and the prince?
Prince Aron already knew this place. From their earlier conversation it was clear he knew something of the Dragon's Breath as well. He had almost certainly drunk it once already—and yet the difference in mana between him and the king was nearly threefold. Unless the king was simply a freak of nature, there had to be another cause. That cause would not be something inherited through the bloodline of this vault, but something else entirely—another Dragon's Breath obtained through a completely different path.
Which would mean it can no longer be obtained again…
He was curious. Desperately curious. Roy wanted to ask at once, but he restrained his greed and waited his turn.
"Haha. For now, simply watch."
Wearing a proud, almost boastful expression, the king moved to the outer edge of the magic circle.
"Roy. You come as well."
"Yes."
Roy followed him.
"Aron. You can do it, yes?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The prince alone took his place at the center of the circle. He immediately dropped to one knee and pressed both palms flat against the formation on the floor. Roy expected him to begin chanting at any moment, and so he quickly made a request.
"Your Majesty. May I summon the spirit I showed you earlier, so that I may observe more carefully?"
"A spirit?"
The prince also paused mid-chant and looked back at Roy.
"Yes. Even a glance at these magic circles tells me this place is saturated with the essence of ancient magic. I wish to study it in greater detail."
"Hmm…"
The king hesitated. The prince, however, thought differently.
"Your Majesty. You have already brought him here. If something as minor as this can aid the boy's research, it will surely bring great benefit to us as well."
They were about to hand over the Dragon's Breath itself; there was no reason to forbid the summoning of a mere spirit. The king seemed to agree and nodded.
Whew. I was worried I'd get an earful.
At last Roy's eyes flooded with golden light, and the prince resumed the work he had interrupted. In the profound stillness of the underground chamber, only the sound of Prince Aron's chanting filled the air.