Ancient City (1)
"Mmm..."
The light was blinding.
Hot sunlight poured through the window. The days were growing warmer, and he had slept poorly for it. His body felt sticky—he must have been sweating all night.
"Haaah..."
"...!?"
Roy sat bolt upright in surprise.
A half-naked girl lay right beside him.
"Noah?"
"Hwaaaaam. Why call for me first thing in the morning?"
"What? You've been here the whole time?"
"Mm. Indeed I have."
"Why?"
"Did your mana not double yesterday? You give off a most delightful scent now."
"What? What kind of smell?"
Roy wondered if he had soaked the bed in sweat overnight and reeked of something foul. He hurriedly pressed his nose here and there, sniffing, but found nothing out of the ordinary. He had sweated, yes—but he had washed thoroughly before sleeping.
"I don't smell anything."
"I can sense it. More to the point—when do we leave?"
"Leave for where? The dungeon?"
"Yes. If we go there, you will give me something delicious as well, will you not?"
"We depart tomorrow. So I've got a lot to do today. And like I told you last time, the experiments come first. Your mana comes after that."
"I know. Did I not say I would listen properly now? Nnnngh—!"
Noah stretched for a long moment, then sidled closer and began rubbing her head against Roy's body. She was every bit a cat.
"Get off. I'm dying of heat as it is."
"Aww, why are you like this?"
Roy heaved a deep sigh and massaged Noah's head and the nape of her neck. Tickling her throat in particular made her twist and squirm with pure delight.
"You can stay out all day today. But you're forbidden from speaking to anyone besides my three assistants. The Count has a straightforward temperament, but his house still outranks ours, so we have to be careful. If you go wild, there's no telling what kind of trouble you'll cause. You've thrown tantrums in front of a king before."
"May I truly stay out the whole day?"
Noah latched onto the part about remaining visible all day rather than the warning itself. Roy narrowed his eyes at her.
"Yes. But take the warning seriously. If you break it, I'll be angry."
"Of course."
Noah, clearly thrilled, swished her tail and kept clinging to him. Roy ignored her as best he could and began preparing to go out.
After breakfast he would head straight into the city and recruit people to take into the dungeon. Leaving tomorrow meant it would not be easy to find anyone on short notice—but then again...
Well, money talks.
Offer twice the average wage and people would line up from every direction.
Freddy was so busy with preparations for the dungeon expedition—now only a day away—that he barely had time to breathe.
The knights actually accompanying the journey numbered about twenty; twenty-one including himself. But then there were the attendants attached to them, the laborers who would handle every dirty job, excavation specialists familiar with the dungeon's interior conditions, and a supply unit to haul the food and materials for that many people. The total force exceeded a hundred.
And into that situation had been dumped a sudden set of burdens: four children who had only just entered the Knight Academy. Simply bringing them along was not the end of it. He would have to keep them safe for the entire expedition and bring them home without a single mishap.
What a nuisance.
Of course, as scions of landed nobility, they could not be compared to the supply troops or laborers with their meager mana. In most situations they would be able to protect themselves. And yet something about it grated on him—a vague unease that something would go wrong.
Is it because of Chloe?
He had no intention of letting anyone get hurt—not his subordinates, not laborers he had never met before. He was the man who would one day rule this territory. Still, the anxiety would not leave him, and he suspected it had to do with the children he was taking this time. Perhaps it was because his little sister, a full ten years younger, would be walking into a death trap with him. His heart refused to settle.
"Sir Freddy."
Into that situation came a boy without warning: Roy Greenhilt, who had been nowhere to be seen within the castle all day.
"What is it?"
"Is there anything I can help with?"
"No need. Our knight order will handle everything. I've been on several of these myself, and our knights have been in and out of dungeons since my father's time. The excavation specialists and guides coming with us are among the best veterans in the territory."
"But now that we've been added, aren't there things you need to account for? With more people..."
"Four more children won't make much difference. You aren't even bringing attendants, are you?"
"No attendants, true—but we're bringing quite a few people of our own."
"What?"
Freddy, startled by Roy's words, looked up for the first time from the supply list his subordinate had been organizing. He confirmed the smile on Roy's face, furrowed his brow, and asked again.
"Bringing whom, exactly?"
"Here. This is the roster of everyone entering the dungeon with us. People to haul our baggage and spoils, excavation specialists and adventurers to guide us inside, monster butchers, and finally a list of the food and supplies our side has prepared. All of it at my personal expense, so you needn't worry about the cost. But since we'll be moving together, I thought you might need the information to avoid confusion later—if the routes conflict, or if the base camp ends up too cramped."
Freddy took the list Roy held out and widened his eyes once more. The personnel attached to a mere four people numbered over twenty.
"What do you intend to do with this many people underground?"
"Pardon? Is it a lot? We may need even more for the hauling. This is already the minimum, set because we're going with the knight order."
"Just what are you planning to drag up from down there?"
"Drag up? Nothing special. But I've heard there are a great many monsters. Wouldn't the spoils be just as plentiful?"
"......"
"Ah—don't misunderstand. We won't lay a finger on anything the knight order hunts."
Freddy looked incredulous. Inwardly, he thought:
I had a good impression of him, but is he a little more arrogant than I expected? Well—born to a baronial house and already victorious over a margrave's grandson. His confidence must be scraping the sky.
"Well, you say you prepared it with your own money, so I'll leave it at that for now. One piece of advice, though: an underground dungeon is not a playground for children. A single moment of carelessness can put not only your own life at risk, but your comrades' as well."
"Yes. I'll keep that in mind."
Watching Roy's smiling face, Freddy wondered whether the boy truly understood what he was fretting about—and felt the anxiety he had been carrying swell even further. His precious little sister was attached to this boy as an assistant. If anything happened to her, he would never forgive him.
"Sir Freddy!"
Just then, one of Freddy's subordinate knights burst into the commander's office.
"What is it?"
"His Lordship the Count asks you to come at once."
"Again?"
"He says this time it is extremely important. That he has something he must give you before you leave for the dungeon."
"Hm? Father has something to give me?"
Beside him, Roy already knew. He smacked his lips once, almost in spite of himself.
So he's giving it to the second son after all. How stingy—he could have given me one more.
The item Roy had asked for one more of for research purposes, only to be thoroughly scolded: Dragon's Breath.
With this, Freddy Bacon was effectively confirmed—unofficially, at least—as the next lord of Bacon territory. Roy had learned that fact before almost anyone outside the parties involved.
Hmm. No harm in getting close to the next Lord of Bacon early, is there?
And with that, he began calculating at once what advantage it might bring him.
March out!
A force of well over a hundred set out on the road. They were headed for a village to the southwest of Bacon territory—a region especially hard-hit by monster attacks.
So we start outside the dungeon first?
The plan seemed to be to wipe out every monster that had turned the village into a wasteland, then enter the dungeon afterward.
Roy rode lightly with Noah seated in front of him. No sooner had they left the city than Chloe brought her horse up alongside his.
"Roy. What are you going to do inside the dungeon this time?"
"What do you mean, what? I already told you."
"Not the story you gave Father. I know. You're plotting something shady. Anna and Jack know it too."
"I'll tell you later. Too many eyes and ears here."
Noah, sitting in front, pricked up her ears as if Roy's voice overhead tickled them. The motion knocked her hat askew. It hardly mattered—most of the people here already knew she was a spirit.
"Lady Noah. Would you like to ride on my horse instead?"
"Is that permitted?"
Noah's question was directed at Roy.
"Do as you like. I was getting sweaty enough as it is."
"Hmm? Ohoho? And just where, I wonder, is this sweat gathering?"
"Shut up! If you're going, go already. I'm dying of heat!"
Noah cackled with pure enjoyment and transferred onto Chloe's horse. The animal startled for a brief moment, then settled. With Noah seated in front of her, Chloe asked,
"Lady Noah, where does the sweat gather?"
"Oho? You need not know yet. There are such things."
Roy hurriedly urged his horse away from Chloe's side. His face was burning red.
Seriously? In my past life I did every kind of thing under the sun—and now something like this has me heating up and making a scene?
The flush climbing to the crown of his head and the heart hammering away did as they pleased, completely indifferent to his will. He retained the memories of his past life, but his body was still that of a child in the early teens.
Unpleasant.
Roy shook his head hard, scattering the stray thoughts, and returned his mind to the true purpose of this expedition.
Still nowhere near enough.
Only now was he beginning to glimpse the mana capacity of a marquis's bloodline in this kingdom. He would surpass it—and grow stronger still, far stronger. The King of Steelheart? No. He had no intention of stopping at anything so trivial. The mana of the emperor who had once stood at the pinnacle of the empire. The mana of the hero Karl, said to have exceeded even that. Roy dreamed of something beyond them both.
It isn't impossible.
He had already tasted fully three servings of Dragon's Breath. But the world still held far more things he had never tasted. Even if it meant wandering the continent for the rest of his life, Roy was determined not to stop until he had found and drunk nearly everything this world had to offer.
And if I can find no more—I'll just make it myself. On this expedition, I will find the clue. Without fail.
Roy's irises slowly turned gold. He had begun scanning the surrounding mana. Where might another mana vein be waiting?
He had eaten a full meal before setting out, and yet a fierce hunger suddenly seized him. He wanted to eat. Mana... Dragon's Breath.
Is this how Noah felt, going wild at the mere sight of mana?
Barely a day after drinking it, Roy was already aching for the next Breath.