Stem of Eternity (2)
Was he weighing something in his mind?
Roy waited with quiet composure for whatever answer would come.
"There's no need to go that far. Where would children like you even get money for me to take it from you? Matching the terms with the other excavation teams will be more than enough."
That was the count's thinking.
The gold and relics buried in the more accessible spots had already been excavated. Of course, with extreme luck one might still uncover some undiscovered treasure of real value, but that would require fortune of the rarest kind. He had no intention of monopolizing every last scrap for the family. Even without relics, the gold and silver from the territory's mines already left the county treasury overflowing.
What truly worried him was the thought of the children returning empty-handed after nothing but hardship. Surviving would at least give them experience, yet the monsters lurking beneath this land were far from gentle.
"I don't know how much Chloe has already told you, so I'll say it again. The dungeons found in our territory are not simple caves. They are the remains of an ancient civilization that flourished on this land thousands of years ago. Why that civilization was buried so deep underground, I cannot say—but a single vast city lies down there. A city several times larger than the current capital, Crown City."
A famous rumor had long circulated through Bacon County about the dungeons: that the many entrances discovered so far were all part of one and the same place. The ruins visible underground, people guessed, were merely fragments of a single colossal city. In recent years that hypothesis had come to be accepted as fact. Every newly found dungeon revealed endless corridors and buildings stretching on without end.
The most decisive proof had come when Count Bacon's own party, aiming for a complete conquest of one dungeon, entered in force—only to emerge a month later through the entrance of an entirely different dungeon. What had long been mere speculation suddenly gained solid ground.
"Powerful monsters beyond anything you can imagine swarm down there. In the last few years they've grown even more ferocious. Their numbers, needless to say, are staggering."
"We have no intention of overreaching," Roy replied. "But if we turn back out of fear and do nothing, there would be no point in attending the Knight Academy. And before arriving here, we stopped in the city and heard a few things."
"Oh? What sort of things?"
"Well…"
Roy caught himself just in time.
Ah. This isn't our territory.
The rumor he had heard was that while the city itself was relatively safe, monsters climbing out of the dungeons were rampaging through some of the smaller holdings within Bacon County. Voicing that here would be a disastrous misstep. The son of another territory's lord offering opinions on someone else's internal affairs could easily be taken as arrogance.
Then a savior appeared. Seeing Roy hesitate, Chloe spoke up in his place.
"A lot of people abandoned their villages and fled to the city because dungeon monsters were pouring out of the entrances. Most of the vagrants in the alleys were those same people. When I was little, even the poorest districts never had people sleeping out in the streets…"
"Ahem… That is a matter for your father to handle."
"Even so. If we go into the dungeons and hunt monsters, it will help the territory, even if only a little. I'm a member of the ruling house as well. I want to be of some use to the people."
Watching his daughter, home after several months and now boldly voicing her own opinions, the count's expression shifted through several shades. When the corner of his mouth finally lifted, it seemed his mood was not entirely sour.
"This is hardly the sort of thing a lord wants aired in front of guests. Very well. Since you insist so strongly, I won't stand in your way. From my position, there's little to lose. But I will set one condition."
"A condition?"
"Yes. However strong Roy may be, I cannot send the two of you alone into those treacherous depths."
Roy found the count's condition less than ideal.
"Go with the Golden Knights."
"The Golden Knights?"
"That's right. Most of them once belonged to my old party. A few even carry Bacon blood—proud young men I trust far more than inexperienced children like yourselves."
The majority of the Golden Knights came from the Bacon family's cadet branches or vassal houses. Even if Roy himself did not know them, most would possess more mana than Anna or Jack.
"We couldn't possibly set the Bacon family's only knight order in motion just for our sake."
"It isn't like that. They were already preparing to sortie in order to clean up the rampaging monsters. They aren't moving for you; you will simply be tagging along on their expedition."
This is troublesome.
Everything else was fine. If the knights handled the monsters, he could conserve mana and would not even need to stand night watch. Their sense of security would soar. There was only one problem.
Our destination is the heart of the mana vein…
That was the issue. Roy immediately felt the need to cultivate a good relationship with the knight commander. Only then could he influence the direction the order took and steer them toward the place he wanted.
At least the rumors about me are already out in the open. That makes things easier.
Anyone of a rank high enough to serve in a knight order would already have heard the stories about Roy. Even if they hadn't, the count would soon give them a quiet word.
Then the count added the most important detail of all.
"And the current knight commander is my second son."
"…!"
Roy was certain. That man was the one who would become the next lord of Bacon County. Holding the post of knight commander rather than party leader or minor lord meant the succession struggle had already been largely settled. The count had said that members of his old party now served in the knight order. In other words, his former trusted retainers were already following the second son.
"Then am I to understand that we will quietly trail after the knights and only operate in areas where they have already finished clearing the monsters to a certain extent?"
The count smiled, looking intrigued.
"Dissatisfied? You don't merely want to tag along and receive help—you want something closer to an equal partnership, is that it?"
"Our goals are different, so shouldn't it be that way? At the very least, the region we want to reach must be included in the knights' route of advance."
The count found Roy's boldness unexpectedly delightful. It felt as though he were looking at the young Cliv of years past.
"Hahaha. That much is easy enough. We haven't fully pinpointed the monsters' locations yet anyway. But mark my words—this is a critical expedition with many lives at stake. You must remember that the territory's stability takes priority over your personal ambitions."
"Of course. We have no intention of interfering with the knights' work."
Listening to Roy, one corner of the count's mouth curled upward.
Freddy Bacon.
He was Count Bacon's second son.
The attendants had gone to unpack in their rooms, leaving only Roy and the count when Freddy arrived. Naturally the count had summoned him for the purpose of introductions.
"This is my son Freddy. And this is Roy Greenhilt. You two never had the chance to greet each other last time, did you?"
"A pleasure. I'm Freddy. I currently command the Golden Knights, our territory's only knight order."
"It's an honor to meet you. My name is Roy Greenhilt."
The count went on to explain the relationship between Roy and Chloe. Until that moment Freddy had not understood why he had been called; only then did his expression brighten.
"Ah, so you're Chloe's friend?"
Even so, Freddy remained puzzled. Being introduced as his little sister's friend was one thing. But to go out of his way for the son of a mere baron, and at a time like this? He was about to leave on an urgent dungeon expedition and was extremely busy. A mountain of tasks awaited him. What on earth was Father thinking?
Freddy soon learned the reason from the count's own lips.
"I thought the name sounded familiar. So you're the one who thoroughly humiliated the Margrave Biswald's grandson?"
"Freddy. Watch your tongue."
"Ah—my apologies."
Freddy himself had spent his school years with one of the margrave's sons. Judging by his earlier tone, his memories of that family were not particularly fond.
"My victory over Sir James was nothing more than good luck."
"If luck alone is enough to defeat a margrave's bloodline, then that person must be the luckiest man under heaven."
"You flatter me."
Roy merely smiled brightly. Then, for the sake of his goal, he delivered a flawless lie.
"It was all thanks to the spirit's help."
Months earlier the count had witnessed Roy's golden eyes. Curiosity was inevitable.
"Is that so? Those golden eyes of yours, you mean? I've certainly heard the rumor that they accelerate the speed of spellcasting."
"Whether by luck or something else, I can now draw out the spirit's power that I previously could not. Shall I show you?"
"Oh, by all means. If it isn't too much trouble, I'd like to see it."
Roy smiled inwardly, a sly curve of the lips.
With this I can compare Freddy's mana capacity to the count's. That will tell me whether the count has already given his second son a dose of Dragon's Breath.
Roy summoned Noah and simultaneously used spell acceleration to cast a simple Lighting spell. The magic was elementary to begin with, and with acceleration applied it completed in the blink of an eye. Of course he did not forget his true purpose: comparing the two men's mana. He quickly ordered the grumbling Noah to vanish from sight again.
"Ohhh… this is absurd…"
"Good heavens…"
Father and son reacted almost identically. Even their features, for that matter, were much the same.