Chapter 113: Truth……? (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 113: Truth……? (3)
“Sit, for starters.”
“Excuse me, then.”
Following her command, Alon gave a slight bow and took a seat across from her. Siyan, as if she had been waiting for this moment, flashed a smile and held out a sweet potato toward him.
“Eat.”
“Ah, yes.”
He had actually eaten some yesterday as well, but he didn't particularly dislike them. More importantly, it was impossible to refuse a gift bestowed directly by the King, so he obediently accepted it.
‘...But why has it been sweet potatoes every time lately?’
The question naturally crossed his mind.
“I heard they don't taste as good once they've cooled.”
“Then, if you’ll excuse me.”
At her continued urging, he dutifully took a bite.
Unfortunately, he still couldn't truly appreciate the flavor. Who could possibly enjoy a meal comfortably while sitting in front of a King?
Furthermore...
‘...Wait, why am I the only one...?’
He was the only one chewing on a sweet potato. If she had been eating something along with him, he could have paced himself while keeping an eye on her, but she was simply staring—intently—at him as he ate.
‘She’s going to bore a hole through my face at this rate.’
He felt the pressure, but he couldn't exactly ask her to look elsewhere.
“....”
Munch, munch.
“....”
Munch, munch.
And so, Alon forced himself to finish the entire sweet potato under the gaze of the lightly smiling King.
“You eat well.”
“...Thank you for the compliment.”
While Alon briefly wondered if he should be happy about being praised for his eating habits, Siyan nodded with a satisfied expression.
“Good. Now that you’ve had a snack, let us talk.”
She leaned forward, signaling that it was time to get to the point.
“What did you obtain from the ruins?”
“I obtained a Spirit Dragon's Egg.”
“And what is that?”
“...To be honest, I don't know much about it beyond the name. However, may I ask you one thing?”
“Speak.”
“...Does Your Majesty not know what a Spirit Dragon's Egg is?”
It was a reasonable question. There must have been a reason why she sent Alon there in the first place.
However.
“Of course I don't know. Why would I?”
Siyan nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“...?? Then why did you order me to go to the ruins...?”
Alon’s confusion only deepened.
Siyan seemed to organize her thoughts for a moment before staring directly into Alon’s eyes.
“Marquis Palatio, how much do you know about our Cretenia Royal Family? No—to be precise, what do you know about the Golden History Eye?”
Alon nodded.
“Yes, I am aware of it.”
“Do you know its capabilities?”
“...I understand it to be a power that inherits the strength accumulated through the bloodline of the great royal family.”
Siyan nodded in agreement.
“Indeed. Just as you said, the Golden History Eye, passed down through generations of the Cretenia royalty, inherits power. That is synonymous with saying it inherits the past.”
She lightly raised her index finger.
Whoosh!
A small flame flickered atop her fingertip.
“What do you think?”
“...It’s magic.”
“I have never formally studied magic. Isn't it surprising?”
“Is it an inherited power?”
“Yes. It is the power passed down by the Second King, who was a 7th Tier Mage. And that’s not all. Swordsmanship, alchemy, engineering, strategy—I have inherited countless things beyond those.”
She tapped the corner of her eye with her other hand.
“With these eyes.”
Doesn't it seem quite unfair to you? Leaving that unspoken implication behind, Cretenia Siyan extinguished the flame. Alon remained silent. To be honest, he hadn't quite grasped what she was trying to get at yet.
Siyan continued.
“But even if it looks that way to others, this power has a side effect. Do you know what it is?”
“...I am not well-versed in that regard—”
Even as he answered, Alon felt a sense of doubt. As far as he knew, no side effects of the Golden History Eye had been specifically described in Psychedelia.
“Memories.”
“Memories?”
“Yes. The Golden History Eye inherits the memories of the predecessors along with their power.”
“...This is the first I’ve heard of it.”
“Naturally. This is a fact known only to the Kings who have inherited the Golden History Eye.”
“Then, do you inherit every single memory?”
“No, it’s not like that. It’s actually only a very small portion. Primarily, intense memories and precious moments remain etched in the mind. And they surface gradually.”
Siyan stared fixedly at Alon’s face.
“Marquis Palatio, you must be curious as to why I sent you to the Malaka Ruins. Am I right?”
“To be honest, yes.”
Seeing Alon nod, Siyan spoke the truth without hesitation.
“It is because you are in the memories of the Golden History Eye that I inherited.”
She let those words hang in the air.
“You, Marquis Palatio.”
* * *
Marquis Palatio—or rather, Alon—remained expressionless, but his mind was flooded with even more questions.
“Are you saying that I remain in the inherited memories of the Golden History Eye?”
“Yes.”
“Is that... truly the case?”
It made no sense. The Golden History Eye was a power that inherited the ‘past,’ just as she had said.
“Why would I bother lying to you? It is an undeniable fact. An absolute truth without a single shred of falsehood.”
“...Is there any possibility that you might be mistaken?”
“No—none. The reason I haven't gone mad despite possessing the countless memories of past successors is that I can recognize that those memories belong to someone else, even if I inherit them. And—”
This is definitely an inherited memory, Siyan stated firmly. Alon then asked:
“...Is it possible to know when that memory was inherited?”
“No, unfortunately, that is impossible to determine. As I said, inherited memories only contain intense moments or precious recollections; nothing more can be deduced from them.”
They were simply passed down, with no other information. No record of when, from whom, or why they were inherited.
“That is why it is so fascinating, Marquis Palatio. You—what exactly are you?”
“...What Your Majesty is saying is a very foreign concept to me as well...”
“For someone saying that, you seem quite calm and unfazed.”
“My facial expressions have never been particularly varied.”
Siyan hummed and shrugged her shoulders as if disappointed.
“I thought I might find a clue if I spoke with you, but I suppose not.”
“...May I ask about the content of those inherited memories?”
Siyan fell silent for a moment, searching her mind.
“...There are two memories that have surfaced so far. One is a private audience between a King who possessed the inherited memories and someone who looked exactly like you, who said there was something very necessary in the Malaka Ruins.”
That was the reason she had sent Alon to the Malaka Ruins.
“And the other was a memory of you, dressed in Mourning Clothes, saving the kingdom from some crisis and receiving commendation.”
Even after hearing the details, he couldn't make head or tail of it.
“...Was the face definitely mine?”
“Do you think I wouldn't be able to recognize that much?”
“...I misspoke.”
Siyan then let out a low exclamation.
“Ah, and the 'you' in the inherited memories was quite expressive.”
“...Expressive, you say?”
“Yes. For example—”
She pressed her index finger against the corner of Alon’s mouth and pulled it upward.
“—like this.”
“Are you saying I was smiling often?”
“You were grinning the whole time.”
Siyan laughed along, as if she had seen something quite amusing. Alon pondered in silence.
“May I ask what my rank was in those inherited memories?”
“I don't know.”
“Is that so?”
“I have memories of the conversation, but only your words remain clear. I cannot hear the voice of the original owner of the inherited memory.”
Alon asked a few more questions after that, but in the end, he couldn't find out which generation the memories belonged to. After their conversation wound down:
“In any case, the reason I sent you to the Malaka Ruins was because of those inherited memories.”
“...I am grateful for your favor.”
“Favor? Nonsense. This is all an investment.”
“An investment?”
“Yes. Since the 'you' in the inherited memories saved the kingdom, I thought you would be of help this time as well.”
“I suspect that person was likely not me.”
“...Is that so?”
Siyan rested her chin on her hand and gave a slight smile.
“In the end, I’ve gained nothing regarding these strangely inherited memories.”
“I apologize.”
“There’s no need for that. It was quite entertaining. I’ll call for you again if anything else comes to mind.”
“...Do the memories surface gradually?”
“Mostly, yes. They pop up quite randomly after the inheritance. Or when there’s an intense shock similar to something in the past. Anyway—”
I’ll see you next time; I’m starting to get sleepy. With those words, she dismissed him. Alon gave a polite bow and stepped out of her office.
* * *
A few days later.
“Marquis?”
“What is it?”
“No, it’s just that you’ve been deep in thought ever since you returned from the Royal Castle. Did something happen?”
At Evan’s question from the driver’s seat of the carriage, Alon shook his head.
“It’s nothing major.”
“...You’ve been brooding for days over something that isn't major?”
“Strictly speaking, I’m just thinking while I space out. I haven't been 'brooding' for days.”
If you say so, Evan replied with a drawl. Leaving Evan’s voice behind, Alon stared blankly at the passing forest again.
What filled his mind were the memories inherited through the Golden History Eye that he had heard from the King a few days ago.
‘...No matter how much I think about it, it makes no sense.’
As he had considered many times, the Golden History Eye was an ability that inherited the past. It did not have the power to predict the future. If such a power existed in the first place, Siyan shouldn't have died while trying to protect the crumbling kingdom in the original story, and Alon should have known about such a setting.
In other words, there was a high probability that the inherited memories of the Golden History Eye were clearly memories of the past.
However, what he couldn't understand was...
‘...A noble with the exact same face and voice as mine...’
Except for the fact that the man in the memory was expressive, he had the exact same face as Alon.
‘...An ancestor?’
The Palatio family had many ancestors, so it was possible, but it was still strange.
‘...The Malaka Ruins should have been discovered only recently.’
As far as he knew, the Malaka Ruins were a relatively recent discovery, even at the current point in time, with less than a year left before the start of the original story. In other words, it wasn't a past distant enough to be recorded in inherited memories.
‘...There is a setting that 100 years ago, the jungle was once destroyed and all research data was lost. If the Malaka Ruins were discovered before that time and the memories from then were inherited, it’s not entirely impossible, but...’
Even thinking that way, there were too many suspicious points. Alon eventually ended his musing with a light sigh.
“Whew.”
Since the memories provided by the Golden History Eye were far too limited, further deduction was practically meaningless. Instead, Alon brought up one final question. A question that had remained unresolved since the moment he met Cretenia Siyan.
‘...Why is she being so kind to me?’
Logically, the memories of the Golden History Eye reflect the past. This meant that the man in the Mourning Clothes from the inherited memories was not Alon, but a ‘different’ person who looked like him—which should have been the logical conclusion for her as well.
And yet, she was showing him favor simply because he looked exactly like the man who saved the nation. That was tantamount to her being certain that the man she saw in the inherited memories was Alon.
‘...And there was no reason to specifically tell me to go to the Malaka Ruins, either.’
Therefore...
‘What on earth is it?’
With a peculiar expression, Alon couldn't help but continue to wonder for a while if the King was hiding something.
* * *
Meanwhile.
In the office of the Asteria Royal Castle.
“...You have been lost in thought quite often lately, Your Highness.”
At the secretary’s words, Cretenia Siyan, who had been staring blankly out the window, replied:
“Do I look that way?”
“Yes. It seems especially so after you met with Marquis Palatio. May I be so bold as to ask the reason?”
“The reason? Well—don't worry. It’s not a particularly serious concern. Rather, you could call it an interesting puzzle.”
“...Interesting, you say?”
Siyan nodded slightly.
“Yes, very interesting. In more ways than one.”
A small smile played on her lips as she murmured those cryptic words.