Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 243
Even in a situation where no one welcomed him, the Archbishop showed no sign of being cowed.
If anything, he looked more at ease than he did inside the temple.
“I shall sit for a moment as well.”
This cup will do, won’t it?
Smiling, the Archbishop even selected a suitable teacup from the cupboard and naturally seated himself among them.
“So, what is it you wished to discuss, coming here so abruptly?”
At the Second Prince’s question, the Archbishop smiled his characteristic good-natured smile.
“I too did not wish for our first meeting to be this sudden. Your Highness would be quite surprised, and above all, you would be wary of me, which is hardly to my advantage.”
Reversing that statement, it meant the Archbishop had a need to come here despite accepting those drawbacks.
‘If it had been truly urgent, there is no way he’d be sitting here calmly pouring tea.’
What could it be?
Even under the Second Prince’s cold gaze, the Archbishop drank his tea unhurriedly.
Soon after setting down the cup,
he studied the three people present one by one.
“Truly a novel combination.”
The hero who fought and defeated the evil that stained the empire. Petrick Asteri’s youngest grandson.
The Marquis of Bydantis, who personally executed her own brother who had contracted with the demons and went on to carry on the sword-mastery lineage.
And the empire’s Second Prince, who overcame a vast curse and was destined to seize the Emperor’s throne.
‘Out of the three, two had their fates altered.’
Priests occasionally dream prophetic dreams called divine revelations.
The stronger a priest’s divine power, the more intense and certain the dreams become.
Hence they fall into long, deep slumber.
The prophetic dreams of someone of the Archbishop’s stature are generally linked to turbulent times.
Meaning, things of the sort that could scar the empire, or the continent.
The first was the Marquis of Bydantis.
Originally, she would soon have been devoured by herself and run amok.
The damage seen in the dream was truly devastating.
The mountains surrounding Bydantis territory collapsed, and countless beings died in the landslides.
It was sheer white fury.
‘And the second.’
The Second Prince.
His dream was shorter than the Marquis of Bydantis’s yet more intense.
A carpet stained red with blood. Corpses lined either side as if forming a path.
The current Emperor. The princes. The Empress. Even their relatives and the knight orders.
All dead.
And finally, even the Second Prince before his eyes.
He died seated on the usurped throne, wearing the crown, neck broken under its weight.
Black blood soaked the scene.
‘He failed to overcome the curse.’
Thus he chose the swiftest and cruelest revenge.
That was how it should have been.
Turbulent times were meant to arrive.
But—
‘They never came.’
Because the ordained fates had changed.
And the one who changed their fates and gathered them into one place was none other…
“It is not such a strange combination if we gathered for mutual benefit.”
Rickshel calmly countered the Archbishop’s words.
“I do not mean to stir things. Rather… I spoke because it is truly wondrous and heartwarming.”
“Heartwarming, you say.”
“When I was very young, I was fortunate enough to meet people similar to you.”
“…”
As Rickshel fell silent as if he’d realized something, the Archbishop continued gently.
“I speak of Lord Petrick and his companions. Haha. Yes. I meant nothing in particular by it, merely that it is novel and wondrous.”
The Marquis of Bydantis’s expression shifted subtly.
The other two were the same.
The remark might be brushed aside as a casual greeting, but the phrase ‘resemble the Hero’ was not commonly used.
After all, the appearance of a Hero was synonymous with the coming of turbulent times.
The temple was the foremost institution opposing such evil, so those words should not have come from the Archbishop’s mouth.
“I have yet to catch even a glimpse of the Family Head’s heels, but I am truly grateful you see me so favorably. However, would it not be best to refrain from talk of the Hero, even if it holds no special meaning?”
“Indeed. I misspoke.”
The Archbishop readily admitted his fault and, before the Second Prince could issue an order to leave, got to the point.
“The temple will take charge of handling this imperial disappearance case.”
“I shall need to hear a proper reason.”
The Marquis of Bydantis shot back like a blade.
“Was the temple not one to refrain from involving itself in imperial matters?”
The Second Prince also did not hide his displeasure.
No, ordinarily he would not have failed to conceal his emotions to this degree.
It was not displeasure at the temple daring to meddle in the imperial family’s affairs.
It was simply because he had lost the battle of wits.
‘The Archbishop already finished his own business.’
Before they could grasp the Archbishop’s schemes.
No, before they could even properly enter the conversation.
This meant the three gathered here had already been deemed useless…
‘Or he already took the information.’
Not information delivered by paper or word of mouth, but traces only visible to someone of the Archbishop’s rank who personally intervened.
‘Displeasing.’
At the familiar feeling he hadn’t experienced in quite a while, the Second Prince laughed internally.
Just a few months ago he would have willingly swallowed such displeasure and scratched and clawed to survive, yet after this short span of time he was already uncomfortable.
You’ve grown soft, Kyle.
‘If he extracted information, then I merely need to take just as much.’
If robbed, take back.
Wasn’t that the original way?
Kyle composed his expression and stared squarely at the Archbishop.
“Let me state in advance that the temple has absolutely no intention of using this incident to step into imperial politics. However, hmm.”
The Archbishop paused as if choosing his words, then raised a single index finger.
“The first is an apology. I have been neglecting the Second Prince’s curse.”
“Are you saying you will offer help, even now?”
“Something of the sort. And the second.”
If the apology was the Archbishop’s personal sentiment, this second reason used official justification.
“I have judged that this incident has a high possibility of spreading into ‘turbulent times.’”
“…”
“As Rickshel and the Marquis of Bydantis may know, I was recently dispatched to the Great Barrier alongside Lord Petrick. Yet the Great Barrier showed no abnormalities. So, while continuing our investigation, we discovered anomalies in the Imperial Palace.”
The temple had not moved for the curse the First Prince placed on Kyle.
It clearly crossed the line, but it would not become an event that brought down the empire.
However, this incident meant it was directly or indirectly linked to something immense.
According to the Archbishop’s explanation.
‘…There’s a contradiction.’
A clear contradiction existed in the Archbishop’s words.
One.
“Very well.”
“Your Highness.”
Rickshel immediately protested the Second Prince’s acceptance, but the Second Prince raised a hand to stop him.
“Are these not terms with no downside for me?”
He was right.
It was no different from offering to dispose of the eyesore Empress on his behalf.
This alone was sufficient reason to accept.
But this was not a matter to permit so easily.
If handled well, this incident could be leveraged for something greater.
“…Haah.”
Rickshel exhaled deeply.
The Second Prince was not that foolish. He certainly had a purpose.
“In return, there is a condition.”
“What is it?”
“I wish to receive all information on the handling of this matter.”
“Of course that must be so. However, there are watchful eyes regarding direct communication with Your Highness… Ah. A good method happens to be at hand. I have a priest whom I am very fond of, and I shall send that child to the Asteri household.”
A priest of whom he was fond…
“Could that priest be…?”
“Haha. Look how quickly time has passed. I must take my leave now if I wish to avoid suspicion.”
Finishing his words before Rickshel could, the Archbishop laughed heartily and rose from his seat without a trace of regret.
“I enjoyed the tea. Then, if the opportunity arises, I shall see you next time. Farewell.”
The Archbishop left the room faster than he had entered.
With the sound of the door closing, silence fell over the room containing the three of them.
“…He fled.”
The Marquis of Bydantis delivered the final review.
* * *
More time passed after that.
The dragon energy emanating from Lion’s body was being well resolved.
The reason was.
-Ow! I’m getting fur everywhere!
“Grr! Arf!”
This was thanks to Tiamatrak successfully passing her interview.
Its position was, as previously stated, ‘underling.’
As a result, Tiamatrak, in her soul state, was assigned the task of wearing Pooch out as thoroughly as possible.
Meaning it had to play with the creature using its whole body.
And perhaps because it was connected to Lion…
-I didn’t want to touch objects like this!
-I polymorph into a human because I like the human physique, not to do this!
-Are you listening?!
At very close range, it became capable of touching and using light tools.
What that meant…
“He likes it when you pull harder.”
-I hate getting drool on it! Human! Lion! Is this right??
It also meant Tiamatrak could now play tug with Pooch.
Lion replied while leisurely putting away his alchemy supplies.
Not that he should say this, but it was essentially perfect automatic hunting.
“Peep.”
Lion wasn’t the only one receiving the underling effect.
Nature, who had taken on the bulk of the childcare, now seemed relieved of a burden as it nested atop Lion’s head and enjoyed a leisurely time.
“Yeah, yeah. You worked hard.”
“Peep, peep.”
Nature replied with a nuance of ‘if you know, then snacks,’ and enjoyed its peaceful personal time.
“…”
And there was one person frozen solid within this peace.
That was Freyania.
For reference, Salamander was still hiding in her arms and refusing to come out.
The energy had diminished greatly, yet for Freyania, born of elven blood once tormented by a dragon, the environment was not an easy one.
And it was the same for Salamander, who took after its master.
‘S-so that’s why that Witch…’
At first she thought the Witch was simply picking a fight because the Witch didn’t like her appearance.
But after she washed up spotlessly and changed into clean clothes, the Witch had her run petty errands!
And then after that, the Witch ordered her to leave on the grounds that it was late.
‘It was far too suspicious!’
So she endured her fear and questioned the Witch…
‘A dragon’s soul, of all things!’
In the end, she received a brief explanation.
With the warning, of course, that she must never, ever disclose it to anyone.
Naturally, Freyania had no intention of revealing her teacher’s information anywhere.
But…
“Throw the ball next time.”
-Why doesn’t this damn Demonic Beast ever get tired?
“He’s in his prime play age.”
“…”
Since her teacher spoke to the empty air like that and toy balls and chew toys flew around, it seemed only a matter of time until he was found out.
‘Teacheeer…’
This was also why Freyania stayed at her teacher’s side, gritting her teeth.
She secretly intended to at least make excuses for him if things went wrong.
And besides, hadn’t they said someone from the temple was being dispatched starting today?
‘Teacher doesn’t seem to know yet.’
Everyone was keeping silent for the absolute stabilization of his energy.
In any case, that meant someone needed to stick close by to smooth things over however possible.
So they could at least pass things off as spirit arts if necessary.
‘…! Wait a moment!’
Thinking about it, there was one more problem.
That was fine for her teacher.
But… what about the Witch?