The Yoke (2)
The strange tremor that had settled in Heila's eyes had ebbed away at some point, leaving only that colorless gaze behind. I met it head-on for a long moment, then opened my mouth slowly.
"So that's why you came? Because I've become the Incarnator — you're here to drag me off to Ailant?"
"Yes."
"And you came yourself? I could understand if it were a matter of my life or death, but you're a precious commodity. Sending you is another thing entirely."
"Uncle was going to come originally."
"……Uncle?"
"Count Akele."
Count Akele — Phoinix's father?
"Ah."
Right, she's my cousin, this girl.
Heila's mother was Phoinix's aunt, which made Count Akele her maternal uncle.
Another moment of grimly appreciating just how tangled the Twin Ducal Houses' family tree really was…..
"The Merfolk army appeared, so he's been pinned down."
"Merfolk army?"
"Yes."
Heila fell silent, but when I stared at her steadily, she blinked a couple of times and continued.
"A Merfolk horde that surged up out of the Straits."
"……Hmm, from the Straits?"
"Yes. They said it's a rare occurrence. The Merfolk usually dwell in the open ocean."
I'd already met the Merfolk before, back in Southharbor.
The largemouth bass commonly called Groupers, the named foe Golden Molly who resembled gilded tropical fish, the Unveiled Witch who had disguised herself as the countess Camilla, the Sea-Walkers trudging up out of the deep water — every last one of them had been Merfolk.
In the game, they'd made a massive showing in Chapter 2 and thereafter only ever flashed their faces in passing.
And now that lot had surged up in force?
"Once a Merfolk swarm starts growing fat, it strips the coastlines bare without discrimination. Leading a fleet out to hunt them down borders on the impossible."
That computer-narrator voice of hers droned on, somehow.
"So Count Akele is searching for their leader together with the duchy's mages. Kill the leader, and the army scatters in no time."
Hold on. The Merfolk leader?
"……Do you happen to know what this leader looks like?"
"I heard it looks like an octopus blended with a man."
"Carrying a staff of coral, by any chance?"
"That's right."
"……Ha."
The Priest of the Deep.
A boss monster that was supposed to die in Chapter 2 — but when the Dungeon Lord suddenly showed up, that thing never so much as poked its head out.
The Bandit Baron, who should have fled, died in Southharbor instead, and so the affairs at Longville went fairly — well, smoothly, I suppose. There had been plenty of tangles too, of course.
But the Priest of the Deep, which should have died, escaped alive and was off stirring up fresh nonsense somewhere out in the world. Raising an entire army while it was at it.
Just an absolutely, spectacularly shit-flavored snowball.
While I dragged a hand down my face, Heila blinked quietly for a while before speaking again.
"Kaisis says he wants to secure the succession as quickly as possible. He said he'd like to consider as many candidates as he can, too."
"……Huh?"
"We're young, but that doesn't mean we have time to spare."
It was a remark dropped out of nowhere, yet Heila remained utterly expressionless.
"Zahakar and Valuin have always been sparing with their heirs. Even if we hurry the wedding and begin at once, more than four will be difficult."
"Wait — hold on a second."
When I flung up a hand in alarm, Heila shut her mouth at once.
"Where in the world did that come from?"
"I'm speaking of your duty as the Incarnator."
"……This conversation is moving along without me. I have no intention of returning to Ailant. And no intention of becoming the Incarnator, either."
In that instant, Heila's brows twitched almost imperceptibly.
Ellen, meanwhile, who had been slumped nearby looking half-dead, suddenly had a sparkle in her eyes. I met her gaze and shrugged.
"I have things I need to do. Promises I made here, to Ellen."
"That's right. A promise."
Ellen nodded quickly, then turned to Heila and knit her brows in a show of regret.
"It seems you don't quite understand, but marriage isn't something that happens just because one side insists."
Heila turned her head slowly to look at her.
Something cold rippled through that gaze, and Ellen flashed her a bright smile.
"What are you looking at?"
Was it my imagination? The room felt like it was getting colder by the second.
Just as I opened my mouth to say something, Heila beat me to it.
"It's not about one side insisting."
"Oh, is that so?"
Ellen held Heila's stare for a long moment, then tilted her head.
"Because from where I'm standing, Poi told you he has absolutely no intention of marrying you. Did I mishear? Maybe my ears got damaged."
Blink. Her black eyes glinted like glass beads.
"Nine years ago, from the age of fourteen, I was designated as Poi's match. Both families agreed to it, and the moment he turned fifteen, we were formally betrothed. Things were delayed for a while when my sister died, but in the end, destiny returned to its rightful place."
Her flat, toneless voice pressed on, quiet and tenacious.
"Poi and I will make the perfect child. A child with his frame and my blood, his spirit and my mana. The child the Awakened of both houses have yearned for across generations."
"That's enough."
Ellen's face hardened as she snapped at Heila.
"You think that because you're acting like a broodmare, Poi has to be your stallion?"
"Ellen, that's going too far."
Ellen fell silent at my intervention, and Heila turned her head this way.
"It isn't such a vulgar thing."
"……Ugh."
"Remember the will of the houses."
I met Heila's eyes quietly.
True to her Valuin blood, there was no emotion in her pupils whatsoever.
"Our child will sweep the Blood Knights before him and conquer the continent. As the true Blood King."
Absence of emotion didn't mean absence of desire.
Carved deep into the bloodlines of Zahakar and Valuin was an obsession and greed beyond what an ordinary person could imagine. Their monopolization of the vast land of Ailant for over five hundred years was itself the fruit of that obsession and greed.
"That is our destiny."
In those colorless eyes, I saw waves.
Twisted, violent waves.
It felt as though I might be swallowed by them at any moment.
Using my headache as an excuse, I fled the room as if running for my life. Heila simply watched me go and gave a small nod, offering no objection.
"Hah—"
The moment Ellen and I stepped out of the room, a figure appeared from somewhere and came scurrying over.
"Mungchi?"
"Poi."
Mungchi was dressed in loose clothes woven of linen. She ran right up to me, stole a sideways glance at Ellen, and froze in place.
I smirked and beckoned to her.
"You were hurt, right? You okay?"
"Heh. I'm fine."
"Where?"
Mungchi stepped closer and stuck out her left leg, pointing beside her thigh — over here, she said. Something thick showed beneath her trousers; a bandage wrapped around it.
"Doesn't it hinder your walking?"
"Chi-jang?"
"I'm asking if it's uncomfortable."
"Eh, it's there. But it doesn't bother me."
Her lilting answers were so endearing that I reached out and ruffled her hair into a mess.
"Ey—"
Mungchi, who'd had her eyes half-closed, wore a faintly wistful expression when my hand lifted away.
"I heard the story."
"The story?"
"That you saved Ellen?"
"I did what Poi told me to."
"That's right. Thank you."
I smoothed down her hair again as she giggled, hehe.
"Oh."
Before my hand could even touch her, Mungchi's heels snapped up as if she'd come out to greet it. Her beaming face was so cute that I gave the tip of her nose a light pinch.
"Ah, Ellen."
"……What."
"Did you thank Mungchi?"
Ellen stood there with her arms crossed, wearing a sullen pout.
"Why would I?"
"……'Why would I'? You nearly died if not for Mungchi."
"You think I asked her to save me? She just did what you told her to."
"Hey, you—"
The moment I scowled, Mungchi, who'd been watching the two of us warily, hastily cut in.
"She did say it."
"Huh?"
"Ellen said it to me."
"……Thank you, she said?"
"Also — said I'm more useful than I look. Also, Ellen gave me gold coins. I was very busy."
While Mungchi spoke earnestly, Ellen just pushed her lips out in a pout.
"……What? You did well, didn't you? What's got you sulking like that?"
"Who's sulking?"
"Who indeed — you. What's wrong?"
Even at my question, Ellen just kept her mouth shut.
Hmm. She didn't seem inclined to open it anytime soon.
By the time we reached the front courtyard, the noise that had been faintly drifting over had grown distinctly clearer.
"Line up, LINE UP, you damned blockheads!"
"Strike, thrust, pull! Strike, thrust, pull! What is so hard to understand about that?!"
On top of the ferocious bellowing came the clamor of feet hitting the dirt and wooden staves clashing together hard.
"What's going on? What's all the ruckus in front of the manor?"
"Training."
"……Training?"
"Yes. Gathering the people, and training them."
Ellen added to Mungchi's explanation.
"The Baroness conscripted the fief's residents. She's at it because she's whipping that ragtag mob into shape."
"Don't tell me she means to face Count Tristán's army?"
"Couldn't say. I've been holed up in my room since I got back."
At her words, I stepped out of the manor at once — and sure enough, under Drillmaster Chester's command, some two hundred men by a rough count were swinging ironwood staves about. Beside Chester sat Utekwai, planted squarely in place.
"Hey, Utekwai!"
Three sergeants and soldiers were cursing among the conscripts, so the whole yard was a regular market brawl. It took four or five shouts from me before Utekwai finally looked our way.
"……What in the world is all this chaos?"
While I was waving at him, familiar faces came running through the ranks of soldiers.
"Lord Phoinix!"
"What are you two doing here?"
It was Amias the leader and Steedman the bald dwarf. Amias wiped away sweat flecked with dust as he spoke.
"The drillmaster asked for an extra hand or two, so we've been earning our keep."
"Our keep? After all we've already done for him, he wants us to pay for our meals again?"
"Not that we had anything else to do, so…."
When Amias trailed off vaguely, Steedman gave a loud sniff and cracked a joke.
"Truth be told, I was planning to just squat at Lord Phoinix's side playing the parasite, but whew, I could barely breathe. With Lady Ellen there, and then the future Lady of the house—"
"The future Lady?"
Steedman, mid-ramble, caught sight of Ellen emerging behind me and shut his mouth at once.
And Ellen smiled.
"The future, Lady, of the house?"
"……Uh."
"Whose future lady?"
"I, uh, that is—"
Just then, Cole the archer appeared behind the stammering Steedman. He'd been helping the hunters with their training and so had only now spotted us.
Cole exchanged a brief look with Steedman, then gave me a stolid nod.
"You're awake. How's your body?"
"Fine, as you can see."
"The lady you were speaking of is over there."
Ellen narrowed her eyes at Cole's words, and Steedman clapped his hands together with a snap and gestured to one side of the training ground.
"Ah, yes. The Baroness, he means. She's been learning swordsmanship through Mira, and her dedication is something to behold. Even that spiteful girl Mira's sick of her."
While Steedman spun that deflection, Utekwai sauntered up at a leisurely pace.
"Hoo— Phoinix. You've survived the claws of women without being crushed. Impressive."
"What's that supposed to mean, you bastard."
After a brief exchange of banter with the chuckling giant, I got straight to the question.
"So, are you really planning to fight? Their army is over a thousand men, isn't it?"
"We've near four hundred here ourselves. A worthwhile game."
"Don't talk nonsense. Twenty knights and destruction mages, they say, and you call it worthwhile?"
"In the open field, we'd have no chance. But fighting behind a palisade, we can hold."
"Hold?"
"Yes."
Amias added his explanation beside him.
"The Baroness sent a letter to the royal capital."
"A letter? By what means?"
"Zanavas helped her."
The druid Zanavas? Well, I suppose he could have sent it by messenger bird.
"She means to petition the High Judge of the capital for a ruling. It concerns inheritance, after all."
"Will that actually resolve anything?"
"From what Beldin gathers, it's the only card they have left. He says he cannot stand by and watch the fief's residents reduced to slaves….."
The talk of slavery was what Atalante had told me.
If Doyle, second son of Count Tristán, took Longville, he would drive the residents into the gold mine to raise war funds and then raise a rebellion.
"In the end, then…..
A few days ago, I had noticed someone spying on the training in the manor's back garden. Following that gaze upstairs, I'd met with Dionea and told her all of it.
She'd said she'd think on it — and apparently she had finally made up her mind. Not the outcome I'd hoped for…..
I scratched at my brow, then smirked over at Utekwai.
"By the way, why did you get involved? I thought you hated wading into these political games."
"Not politics. Only helping them become warriors."
His gaze was fixed on the conscripts.
Most were young men, but they ranged from boys barely fourteen to gray-haired men well into their twilight years — warriors of every age.
"……'Warriors,' my ass. You think you can forge warriors by snatching people up out of nowhere and banging away at them like this? Not everyone is born like you."
At my sneer, Utekwai gave a wide smile.
"Yes. All of them are like me."
"No one is born a warrior. Life carves them into one."
"……What kind of nonsense is that?"
"Fate has become the hammer, and it strikes them. Two roads lie ahead. Break and die — or be forged into a warrior."
"I cannot take the hammer's blow for them. But I am a Great Warrior. Making the iron hot — that is eeeeasy."
I turned his cryptic words over in my mind, then nodded slowly.
Leaving Utekwai behind, I went to meet Dionea. As we stepped into the courtyard together, unexpected news arrived from the gate.
"Why are they here?"
While Dionea questioned the messenger, I hurried out to the front of the manor.
Down the road leading from the gate, a column of some twenty riders was kicking up dust as they galloped toward us.
The knight at their head met my eyes and burst into laughter.
"Haha! A reunion too long in coming!"
He dismounted with almost acrobatic grace. His blue cloak rippled and billowed, and the handsome man with the magnificent mustache spread both arms wide.
"You've grown broader, Sir! You could stand against Ankir himself now!"
"Sir Rangvolt."
Returning his laugh, I embraced Rangvolt Alshore, the knight known as the Roaring Wave.
Behind him dismounted the aged knight known as the Silver Prince's Viper — Ariad Barin.
The two knights of Prince Ulkar had come to Longville.