They Knew a Good Thing When They Saw It... (7)
"Is anyone hurt?"
"No, sir. Every man here is skilled, and we had excellent weapons on our side..."
"I see. Even traitors must have been hard to cut down when they were once your comrades. You've all done well."
The mercenaries standing behind listened to the exchange between Padec and the young boy with faces full of disbelief.
That boy was the maker of the weapons they had only ever dreamed of?
"You've all worked hard, so I'll give each of you one low-grade magic-enchanted weapon. That sword of yours is not included, of course."
"Of course. We used it gratefully, young master."
Padec returned the mid-grade magic weapon with a formal bow of respect.
Roy sent Marek, who had returned with Padec, into the institute to bring out a few more low-grade magic weapons.
The mercenaries lit up with delight, as if they had stumbled into a windfall.
"In exchange, I have a request..."
"Yes!"
"Just say the word, young master. That sword wasn't some cheap trinket."
"Of course. Keheheh."
Their response was so eager that Roy spoke with full confidence.
What he wanted was nothing complicated.
"Clear out the bodies inside the building as well, please—same as out here."
"Ah... as you wish."
Roy looked at Padec and the mercenaries behind him and smiled brightly.
With this, I won't have to worry about cleaning the place myself.
The attempted kidnapping of Roy seemed, for the moment, to have reached its conclusion.
But the matter had grown more complicated.
It had happened while the border teetered on the brink of war.
And above all, the real problem was that Roy had defeated two knights of count-bloodline—enemies of the realm though they were.
Roy had already sent word to the king through the Amin Merchant Company that someone was targeting him.
He had no choice.
Even if he could protect himself, he needed help to keep Terry, Anna, Misha, Marek, and the rest of the household safe.
From that day on, discreet watchers were stationed around the mansion.
The king's personal shadow unit from within the royal guard had been dispatched in haste.
Fortunately they came after me directly. If they'd grabbed Anna and used her as a hostage...
Just imagining it made his blood run cold.
A few days after the incident, Roy was summoned to the palace again.
The purpose was to establish the facts of the case, so Padec was called as well.
Naturally Roy, who carried a great many secrets, spoke with the king first; only afterward was Padec admitted.
Once he had heard the full account, the king spoke.
"I understand the rest of it. Still—to think the mercenaries already knew of the connection between you and those weapons, Roy. Their information network is not to be underestimated."
Padec bowed his head low before the throne.
"I am ashamed. My failure to manage my men properly allowed this to happen. I will accept any punishment."
"It was your subordinate's doing, not yours, and you already took his head with your own hand. What further punishment would I impose?"
"...I am deeply sorry."
"Enough. I have no desire to reopen that matter now. When money changes hands and a contract is signed, one shows trust equal to the contract. Your own comrades over in the Isco Kingdom have already sold themselves to the other side; if I started listing grievances, there would be no end to them."
"......"
After Padec had taken his scolding, it was Roy's turn.
"But Roy—how in the world did you bring down two knights of count bloodline?"
"I cannot speak of that in this place."
Of course he couldn't.
He could hardly mention drinking Dragon's Breath in front of Padec and the king.
"Very well. Padec, you may withdraw."
"Yes, Your Majesty. Once the investigation into further traitors is complete, I will submit a report."
Padec left the castle.
But he left knowing one crucial thing.
Roy Greenhilt stood in a deep relationship with the Steelheart king.
And his own choice had been the right one.
Had he accepted the Isco Kingdom's offer and gone over to their side, he would have been crushed without resistance beneath the sheer volume of magic weapons Roy supplied.
I was extremely lucky.
Once Padec was gone, Roy and the king were left alone.
Given the nature of what they would discuss, no one else could be allowed to hear.
"Speak. How did you face the two of them?"
"It was thanks to what I drank that day, Your Majesty—the gift you bestowed upon me."
"With only that? A baron's bloodline against two of count lineage?"
"I have my amulets and magic-enchanted weapons, do I not? I had their help as well."
"Hmm... even so, your mana must be far from ordinary."
"All of it is by Your Majesty's grace."
"After the last affair I looked into you a little. And I was astonished. The Knight Academy, the nobility—everyone was making a racket. A mutant born to a baronial house, and so on."
"Mere rumor, Your Majesty. As you know, this humble one has a modest talent or two. That seems to have earned me some favorable regard. And after that, the gift Your Majesty gave me has been of great help. To others it must look astonishing—someone who was once their equal suddenly growing so strong."
"Hmm... your answers flow without the slightest hesitation, yet listening to them leaves me thoroughly frustrated. What is this feeling?"
"...!?"
Cold sweat poured down Roy's back at the king's words.
He could not confess that he had drunk two kinds of Dragon's Breath.
If he did, the search for more would turn his family estate and the Witch's Forest into a trampled field.
Roy's mind raced.
How could he explain defeating two knights of the Isco Kingdom and still get out of this cleanly?
There was only one answer.
He would have to offer the king what the king wanted.
Of course, not for free.
He intended to extract every scrap of profit he could.
"In truth it was a very close thing. Without the improved amulets I would have died three or four times over. The enemy did not know the amulets existed, so after each attack they grew careless—and that is how I brought them down."
"Ho. So that method of use is possible as well."
"Yes. But it works only once, and only against someone who does not know the amulets exist."
"Hmm, fair enough. Yet a moment ago you distinctly said 'improved amulets,' did you not?"
The king's question was plain: now that Dragon's Breath had increased Roy's mana, could he produce better amulets?
In other words—hurry up and present me with fine ones.
Roy cheered inwardly.
The conversation had turned exactly the way he intended—not how he had defeated count-grade knights, but toward the amulets.
He had already prepared a plan to profit from the king's desire for improved amulets.
"Your Majesty. Thanks to the gift you bestowed upon me, this humble one's meager mana has greatly improved. Because of that, I can now craft amulets I could never make before. Yet even if my skill has advanced, without materials of equal quality I cannot complete a truly outstanding amulet."
"A reasonable point. The weapons you supply to the army are made with worthless orc blood, I hear?"
"That is so. By contrast, the weapon I showed you last time used the blood of a giant ogre as its primary material. The mana stones and herbs that went into it were all of the highest grade."
"I see. Amulets would be much the same."
"Exactly so, Your Majesty."
Roy thought back.
This city was called Crown City because vast mountains encircled the capital like a crown.
The royal palace itself stood on the mid-slope of one of those mountains.
With that in mind, Roy had gone around questioning the professors at the Knight Academy until he received confirmation of a certain hypothesis.
The existence of mana veins.
Just as a mana vein lay hidden beneath the site of the palace, other surrounding peaks might conceal them as well.
Of course humans could not sense a mana vein directly.
So how did one know?
That was where the presence or absence of dungeons came in.
Roy had identified several of the nearby mountains where dungeons had been discovered.
By the king's own decree, however, entry to those mountains was strictly forbidden.
"Yet, Your Majesty, the materials I need right now are not sold in any market."
"What do you require, then?"
"Things... that can only be found inside a dungeon. Therefore I request permission to enter the restricted mountains and the dungeons within them."
Roy never once used the words "mana vein."
He spoke only of dungeons.
Illusory herbs and magical beasts could be found near mana veins, but saying so would somehow diminish the finished product's perceived value.
Roy was deliberately inflating the difficulty of obtaining the materials he needed, making them seem all the more precious.
"Hmm... must you go yourself? Could you not send others?"
"I myself do not yet know exactly what is required. I wish to go in person, examine everything, and gather whatever can serve as materials."
"It is not a difficult matter. I only speak out of concern for you."
"I will begin with the place said to produce the weakest monsters. From there I can craft progressively better amulets and move on to the next dungeon. Goods from the market simply will not allow me to produce fine amulets. Your Majesty went so far as to grant me a precious gift—yet at this rate it will go to waste. I value my own life as well. I will never do anything reckless, so please grant me leave."
After long consideration the king consented.
By the end he was filled with anticipation for excellent amulets.
Roy had spent a good while earnestly explaining just how useful the amulets could be—valuable enough that a mere baron's bloodline had been able to defeat two knights of count lineage.
All right. Time to put that to the test?
Roy had something he wanted to experiment with at the heart of a mana vein.
A modified ancient magic circle.
He had taken the ancient circle that once responded only to the royal bloodline in the palace basement and reworked it so that it would react solely to his own mana.
He did not yet fully understand every spell woven into the circle, so success was far from certain.
But he would try it anyway.
If it failed, he would simply improve it and try again.
If the day ever comes when it succeeds... I should be able to create yet another Dragon's Breath...
A few days later a messenger arrived at the Greenhilt family's capital mansion.
He came from the king, bearing formal authority that allowed Roy free passage through certain restricted zones.
Roy had already finished every preparation for the dungeon: amulets, potions, mid-grade mana solution, preserved rations and blankets for camping, and more.
And not for one person only.
There were others he intended to bring along.
Anything will help.
Roy recalled the time he and Lily had entered the dungeon in the Witch's Forest.
If he had not taken Lily with him then, he might well have ended up as food for a unicorn—or perhaps a two-headed hound.
"Anna, Chloe, Jack. Ready? Chloe and Jack especially—you did get permission from the adults, right?"
"Yeah!"
"Uh, well... they gave me permission too."
Chloe was coming to deepen her friendship with Roy and make the amulet-crafting method her own.
Jack was coming because his family, after seeing the enormous piles of gold he had recently earned, had enthusiastically pushed him to join.
And so Roy and his assistants set out on their first dungeon expedition.
Ah—one more to add.
Of course, Noah was coming too.