Chapter 380
Chapter 380
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 380
>Chapter Title: It Seems I Can't Be Sure of Either Side...
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The masked mage was from the Decullan Family.
It wasn't entirely incomprehensible that the doppelganger believed as much.
Thus, the Grand Princess didn't press further on that point.
"...So, what of him?"
In response to the Grand Princess's question, the doppelganger replied.
[He slipped out of Urbuna House unscathed. As if mocking Urbuna's mages.]
"......"
Once all was said, the Grand Princess fell into thought. Or tried to.
If not for the doppelganger's voice.
[...Grand Princess? Shall we proceed with the plan?]
"Ah, right. I suppose I should address that first. Do you think it's feasible?"
[Yes, it's even easier now. Urbuna's attention will be fixed on Decullan for a while.]
...Who knows. Whether Urbuna would buy that ridiculous declaration was another matter.
But believed or not, the situation wasn't so bad.
As the doppelganger said, Urbuna would have to pour its efforts into tracking this mystery mage for the time being.
"Then, proceed with the plan."
[Understood, Grand Princess. I'll contact you later.]
With that, the communication ended.
A faint silence settled over the office.
It didn't last long before the Grand Princess spoke.
"What do you think?"
"It's... hard to believe, truthfully. Decullan has no reason or capacity to involve itself in this war."
After the war with Lortel ended.
Decullan still hadn't fully recovered from the damage.
For such a Decullan to insert itself into the war between the Principality and Urbuna? Without even a pretext?
Even if it did, there was no reason to target Urbuna, another great house.
"Then why?"
"Pardon?"
"If the doppelganger is certain, the masked mage named his backer as 'Decullan.' Why on earth?"
Because Decullan truly was behind it?
'...No chance.'
The Grand Princess considered the intruder's perspective.
In truth, the answer wasn't hard to find.
"A wedge to drive between us."
"A wedge... you mean."
The deputy commander narrowed his eyes at the Grand Princess's unexpected words, struggling to grasp them.
It was just too out of left field.
What madman would invoke Decullan's name to sow discord?
As the deputy commander's thoughts reached that point, the Grand Princess turned her gaze to the documents on the table.
[Directory of Key Persons]
A page extracted from the Ramburk Principality's intelligence dictionary.
[Key Person]
Name: ???
Gender: Male
Age: Unknown
Traits: Gray hair / Rude attitude
Speech that grates on the nerves / Fire mana (?) / Perpetually bored eyes / Short stature
And the threat level upon encounter.
Threat Level: ★★★★★
Information on the mad mage encountered in the Grand Forest.
'...Coincidence?'
There were not a few similarities between Urbuna's mage and the mad mage.
'Explosion' and 'flames.'
'...And the use of fire mana.'
The mask.
The fact that he hid his face behind one.
No, up to this point, calling them 'similarities' felt a bit of a stretch.
Fire mana was one of the most commonly used in the present era, and masks were a standard for concealing identity.
But.
'Decullan.'
Both mages had uttered the name 'Decullan.'
Could that truly be dismissed as coincidence?
"Deputy Commander."
"Yes, Grand Princess."
The Grand Princess called to the deputy commander, taking in the key persons directory on the table. She tapped the table lightly, then issued her order.
"Locate that mage."
The mage who struck Urbuna and the one from the Grand Forest.
Whether they were the same person or not wasn't all that important.
If he could bolster the Principality's forces.
"Understood..."
The deputy commander nearly voiced that it was 'dangerous,' but nodded calmly instead.
Whatever the identity of Urbuna's assailant, he was undoubtedly perilous... but the Principality's situation was just as dire.
"Bring him here with full honors the moment you locate him. No conflicts whatsoever."
"Yes."
At the Grand Princess's command, the deputy commander bowed respectfully before retreating backward.
To find the mage who could become the Principality's new asset.
...It was then that a visitor arrived at the office.
Knock knock.
"Grand Princess."
The retreating deputy commander halted and stepped aside. The voice from beyond the door belonged to his adjutant.
"Come in."
"Yes, then..."
The adjutant bowed deeply to the Grand Princess in greeting, then nodded curtly to the deputy commander.
The Grand Princess posed her question right after.
"What is it?"
"A message from the border guard."
"...A message?"
"Yes. Apparently, a mage is asking for you. What should we do?"
"Did they give a name?"
The Grand Princess pondered if she was expecting anyone. But no matter how she racked her brain, no one came to mind at this juncture.
'Surely not my senior brothers?'
The thought crossed her mind briefly, but she dismissed it.
A typical senior disciple might show up to lend a hand upon hearing of her plight, but her relationship with her seniors wasn't that harmonious.
"Well... he didn't give a name. However..."
"However?"
"He said you'd know if he claimed to be your 'junior brother.'"
"...?"
The Grand Princess tilted her head.
"'Junior brother'?"
Did she have a junior brother?
It was news to her.
It wouldn't be impossible if her master had taken a disciple in his later years...
As her thoughts reached there.
A memory flashed through the Grand Princess's mind.
- But why am I still your junior brother?
- That's trivial. The main point is what matters, no?
...The mad mage.
Yes, she had called him her 'junior brother.'
Could it be?
"What shall we do? He claims ties to you, so we've treated him courteously, but he's no ordinary suspect. He won't even show his face, let alone give his name..."
At that, the Grand Princess was certain.
'...It's him.'
The mad mage from the Grand Forest had come.
After striking Urbuna House.
By the time her thoughts concluded, the Grand Princess had already shot from her seat and out of the office.
"Bring him here. No... I'll go to him."
Her steps were more urgent than ever.
* * *
Urbuna House's patriarch, Otto, silently surveyed the scorched site.
"So... the backer was who?"
"'Decullan,' he said."
At the words of Black Stone's First Seat, Gait, Otto's lips curled into a sneer.
"Decullan...?"
"...Yes. According to Claude's claim."
Claude was a Black Stone mage injured while blocking the intruder. Ranked fifth.
And he claimed to have seen and heard it clearly.
Those flames...
'...At first, it felt like facing the scorching magus Holland.'
Once captain of Crimson Jade, now the mad mage occupying a seat among Decullan's Seven Mages.
Naturally, the intruder wasn't Holland.
A Seven Mage wouldn't stoop to espionage.
Nor would any madman infiltrate and brazenly use a house's secret art.
Thus, they assumed it merely resembled the secret art's essence...
- For Decullan.
That single phrase convinced Claude.
"...What do you think?"
"Well... forgive me, but it seems I can't be sure of either side."
"Can't be sure of either?"
"Yes. What reason would Decullan have to pick a fight with the main house? Especially when they haven't even recovered from the Lortel war. Even for Decullan, the risks are too high."
"And yet?"
"Yet... the thing that nags at me is..."
Lacking confidence in his judgment, Gait trailed off.
"Speak freely."
"...Yes, then."
Gait gathered his thoughts before continuing.
"Circumstantially, it's something Decullan would never do. No, not just Decullan—any great house. But that's precisely why it's hard to conclude hastily."
"Go on."
"Judging it as 'something they'd never do'—what if that's exactly their intent...?"
"Hmm."
Otto drew a cigar from his pocket, lit it, and closed his eyes. Gait approached and held a flame to it.
Inhale, exhale.
Pale smoke drifted with his deep breath.
"You're right. That's a valid point."
If the intruder had named any other great house, Otto would have dismissed them without hesitation.
Even if the intruder had openly used that house's secret art.
But.
...Decullan was different.
'Pahren, that snake... his intentions are impossible to read.'
As Gait suggested, brazenly invoking Decullan might be a ploy to slip off the suspect list.
What they gained from it was unclear, but who could fully fathom that serpent's schemes?
Thus, no snap judgments.
Yet inquiring with Decullan over this...
'...The situation isn't favorable.'
Urbuna held the edge in forces over the Principality, but the Principality was no pushover.
To divert eyes to Decullan amid this?
Over something as delicate as 'espionage'?
It risked doubling their enemies.
Sizzle—
His deep draw burned the cigar quickly. His deliberations deepened accordingly.
The rage boiling within was indescribable, but the Principality—the prey they'd eyed for centuries—was within reach. That greed held his fury in check.
It was then that Gait's voice reached him.
"Patriarch, if you but give the order..."
"......"
Mid-sentence, Gait faltered under the patriarch's icy gaze. A look that asked, 'And what can you do?'
"No rash moves. The great undertaking is at hand."
"...Yes."
Gait bowed his head.
Thus.
As the cigar burned low, Otto spoke again.
"Continue tracking the mystery mage, but ensure it doesn't affect the undertaking."
"Then this incident..."
"...We'll shelve it. For now. And... we may see results soon enough."
The mystery mage's goal was a complete enigma. But if he struck Urbuna House at this timing and left without his prize...
'...He'll aim for the war with the Principality.'
All questions could wait until then.
His rage as well.
However.
"We'll need preparations."
"Preparations...?"
"The mage who felled Claude without a fight. We must accord him proper reception."
"...You mean to bring out 'that'?"
"Indeed."
"...!"
Gait could scarcely hide his shock at the patriarch's affirmation.
'That' referred to the sole artifact that filled the void after their grimoire's loss.
Not a grimoire, yet in some ways equal to one... no, surpassing it—a transcendent relic of immense power.
To bring out 'that'...
'You rate that mage so highly?'
...A chill wind blew from the north.
Ramburk Principality and Urbuna House.
In its wake, no one knew which would survive.
Not yet.