Chapter 100 — Two — Faced (2)
Chapter 100 — Two — Faced (2)
Without warning, someone outside urgently rapped on the carriage.
"...Lady Helen! The shield has been dispelled!"
"...My apologies!"
While Helen hurriedly recast the protection magic, Rauka's eyes met Roan's. Roan, however, spoke calmly.
"We, too, thought it was simply a stone at first. Like the ruin, it seems that until one witnesses it activate, it does not properly reveal itself to others."
Rauka moved to speak, but Roan gently restrained her.
"Rest now. The verification can be done when we return. You have not slept properly, have you?"
Upon hearing Roan's words, Helen encouraged Rauka to sleep. Rauka nodded weakly, leaned against Helen's shoulder, and closed her eyes.
Roan stared at Rauka, and his thoughts drifted to the skill he had obtained from her.
[ — [Race Reward Lv1]
Insight Lv4]
Roan very nearly opened his eyes wide and made a sound.
The moment violent emotion surged forth, the Demon King's outer shell reacted and concealed his excitement.
Roan suppressed his expression to little more than a twitch of his brow and inspected the skill window.
It was a Level 4 skill!
The highest level of skill obtainable from a heroine character was 3.
If one mobilized hidden artifacts, the limit was raising it to around level 4 or 5.
Because it was acquired from a heroine and thus could not be grown—likely another side effect of this 'Degraded Version' of Skill Duplication—a skill that began at a high level was that much more precious.
Roan firmly suppressed the urge to grin broadly and examined the detailed description.
'A race reward, is it.'
The Level 4 skill had been possible because Rauka was a forest elf.
[Penetrate the target's true intentions and read falsehood.
All things produced by life carry intent—
Actions, gazes, words and sounds, and even the traces they leave behind.
This is the power to, through the caster's five senses, see through the truth contained within.
In consideration of racial traits, the ability has been raised by one stage.
If the caster can bear it, it may manifest at its original strength.]
In the end, a smile rose to Roan's face.
While playing the game, he had obtained a skill with a Race Reward attached from a beastman character. But that +1 level from a Race Reward could not be utilized by the Hero.
The skill from that time was one that exploited the physical traits of a beastman.
The Hero character used by the player was a human. Not being a beastman, they possessed different stats and a different body structure, and so could not inherit and use the race reward.
But the fact that he could inherit the forest elf's Race Reward and use it as it was...
'Thank you, (former) Demon King.'
It must be because this body's physical capabilities were developed to the point where they would not be outmatched by a forest elf's.
Or perhaps it was thanks to skills like 'Detection,' 'Attentive Hearing,' and 'Politics,' which keenly grasped external stimuli.
'Jackpot! Does this mean I should check other NPCs as well?'
If I could obtain such high-level skills even from individuals who were not the targets of quests for route completion,
then seeking out those who had achieved excellence in a particular field and investigating whether it was possible to apply an Affection system to them would be another approach.
'...Would that make me the Lecherous Demon King now?'
Roan held back a bitter laugh.
Gaining the name of a lecher was perhaps a bit awkward.
But the reward was simply too sweet.
When playing the Hero, he had once obtained Level 3 Insight. Even that alone was practically on the level of a human lie detector.
Grasping words and deeds laced with falsehood was extremely easy (so long as the other party did not believe them to be true), and he could even sense something amiss in a poisoned drink.
If it was Level 4, it would be even more powerful.
Helen noticed the change in Roan's complexion and moved to ask something, but upon seeing the emperor seemingly deep in thought, she closed her mouth.
Seeing this, Roan issued her a simple instruction.
"Helen."
"Yes, Master."
"Tell me a falsehood."
At her master's sudden request, Helen wore a slightly blank expression.
"......Pardon?"
But her hesitation was not long.
Because it was her master's command.
"I wish to return to Merde."
Roan's vision, which had been focused on Helen, was dyed a deep crimson. Small red concentric circles radiated from Helen's lips.
It was clearly conspicuous, but not to the point of severely obstructing his sight.
In the game, since speech was rendered as text anyway, the word [Falsehood] had simply been appended.
"Hmm...."
Was this how Rauka perceived it when someone lied?
With visuals this intense, it was all but inevitable that one would develop wariness toward others.
Roan resolved to check the details of more complex situations upon his return. Before he knew it, they were drawing near Zeno Castle.
*
"Your Majesty. You have returned."
Deep concern could be felt beneath the calm voice of the Lord of the West Blood Territory.
The grand lord was feigning composure.
But his feelings were something he could not conceal from Roan.
He owed a debt of the heart to the Former Emperor and to Roan. His anxiety must have been immense.
In proof of this, the Lord of the West Blood Territory had waited outside the castle in this cold winter to greet Roan, and that despite not knowing when the carriage would return.
He could vividly picture the lord's anxious state, pacing back and forth at the castle gate, and the flustered knights at a loss over what to do with him.
"Grand Duke. There was no need for you to come out here."
"How could I remain at ease while Your Majesty endures hardship?"
"The cold wind upon you does not alter my situation."
Roan's words were curt, but they carried warmth.
The moved glint in the grand lord's eyes became burdensome.
"I am stronger than you. I suffer no distress from weather like this."
"I trust in Your Majesty's fortitude. But it is also a truth that a man will die if he goes hungry. I ask that you understand my excessive concern."
"Your Majesty!"
Before Roan could even turn his head,
something light and soft flung itself into his body at full speed.
It was Grünent, her face smeared with tears and snot.
"Your Majesty, are you... are you all right...! Hic...!"
Lately, it seemed he did nothing but make her cry.
"Grünent. You were worried."
"Of course—hic—of course I was! Truly! When you are like this, how can I possibly send you anywhere alone!"
Roan gave a bitter smile as he took in Grünent, who was weeping while scolding him.
The anxiety Grünent must have felt—having to wait in a strange land, surrounded by demonkind, without any news of Roan—was conveyed without reserve.
Roan held her and patted her down soothingly.
"I am sorry. I shall tell you the story later. For now, will you go inside and look after Rauka?"
Grünent sniffled and nodded.
After sending Helen and Rauka on their way,
Roan was able to properly begin his conversation with the Lord of the West Blood Territory.
First, the grand duke quietly asked,
"Did you accomplish your objective?"
A faint smile appeared on Roan's face.
"Yes. I accomplished it."
A joyful gleam rose even upon the grand lord's blunt and steadfast face.
"That is welcome news."
The two headed to the lord's office.
The moment he seated himself in the seat of honor offered by the grand duke, Roan presented a single piece of ore to the duke.
"This is it."
The Lord of the West Blood Territory regarded the stone-like object with a guarded look. This was thanks to having been forewarned by Roan's tip that it was an item that absorbed mana.
The sight of the huge centaur inspecting the pebble-sized chunk of ore resting in Roan's palm was a little comical, but his face was very grave.
Roan asked,
"How does it look? To your eyes."
The grand duke hinted at bewilderment.
"What do you mean?"
"It seems to appear differently depending on the person."
"...Pardon?"
"To me, it appears as a transparent crystal. A faint violet and blue mixed together."
"...Ho-oh...."
The lord inclined his high-placed upper body deeply and scrutinized the crystal at greater leisure.
"That must be why the facets gleam so smoothly."
The lord continued,
"It is black, but there is a luster to it as well."
Several times he twitched his fingers as though he wished to touch it, then withdrew them.
"Is the reason Your Majesty told me not to touch this because of this strange mana it emits?"
"That is correct."
Roan attempted to focus on the flow of mana emanating from the crystal in his hand.
Roan's mana perception was not exceptional. He did not possess a skill tailored for a wizard, nor was his Knowledge stat particularly high.
Because of this, what Roan could vaguely sense
was that an excessive amount of power relative to its size was gathered within this crystal,
and that his own mana was being absorbed into this crystal as soon as it gathered.
The Lord of the West Blood Territory's brows furrowed deeply.
"This is almost like... a bomb."
"Mm."
"I can tell a tremendous power is concentrated within. It seems as though it would explode if an impact were applied. I received a report of a mana tremor—with these present, I can well imagine it would suffice."
The Lord of the West Blood Territory asked Roan,
"You are saying this contains the power that grew the Dark Forest?"
"That is correct."
Roan swallowed the words 'in theory.' The grand lord shuffled and rose, folding his arms.
"You will need an experiment. Do you intend to return to the cave?"
"Yes. If we require additional crystals."
"A crystal, you call it."
A hint of awkwardness stole over the Lord of the West Blood Territory's stiff face.
"An object that differs depending on the viewer—surely magic was not cast on each and every pebble. It can only be described... as an ancient, mysterious power, Your Majesty."
"Yes. Let me show you."
Roan quietly summoned 'Starlight.'
By now, Roan had resolved not to particularly hide 'Starlight' from those he could trust.
In order to actively utilize ancient divine magic, those around him would have to first know that he could use divine magic.
In any case, the Lord of the West Blood Territory's eyes went round.
The magic the Demon King was employing was something even he, a hardened veteran of the battlefield, was seeing for the first time in his life.
At the strange sensation that followed, his fist clenched. It was a similar reaction to when the owlbear-peddler had received Roan's 'Blessing of the Stars.'
And the grand lord soon forgot even the fact that he had clenched his fist.
His gaze was fixed upon the crystal gleaming translucently upon Roan's palm.
"This... is...."
"Indeed. It responds to me like so."
As the 'Starlight' faded, the ore's radiance also quietly, darkly subsided together with it.
A light that seemed almost regretful flickered in the grand lord's eyes, then vanished. And its place was filled with wonder.
"...It is as you say. Your Majesty."
The grand lord marveled.
"To me now as well, it appears as a crystal. How can such a thing be...."
"Hmm."
Roan rested his chin on one hand.
"It seems to continue appearing that way once a person witnesses it respond to me."
A trait that had not existed in the game.
If I utilized this, it seemed possible to apply it in many directions beyond the purpose of extracting the power of the 'Dark Forest Seed.'
For instance, controlling a wizard's magic,
or if necessary, using it in a vicious manner to send an enemy's mana into a rampage.
I could also use it as a marker left only on those I had implanted it in.
Since it was a safe object for Helen, who possessed holy power, I should experiment with her on how to handle it....
On Roan's list, the roster of things to do grew once more.
"From now, do you intend to conduct research on how to use this?"
"That is correct."
"In any case, it is a crystal whose very existence cannot be perceived unless one witnesses it reacting to Your Majesty's power. Since having soldiers gather it is difficult, the worry of being interfered with by the forest elves will likewise be reduced. The pros and cons are clear."
The Lord of the West Blood Territory seemed somewhat relieved.