Chapter 286
Chapter 286
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 286
Chapter Title: The Key to the Nine Myriad Long Heavens (2)
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It was a lavish feast. True to the seafaring race's reputation, it made extravagant use of specialties from every corner of the world. It was easy to see why she might have been dissatisfied with the meals in human cities.
Yet it hardly felt like a meal fit for royalty. The food was piled high on enormous platters, with everyone taking small portions for themselves—and even then, the table was so vast it felt awkward.
"Ah, Gwen! Pass me some of that ceviche over there. The one loaded with sea urchin roe."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Leya and her ministers seemed utterly at ease in the midst of it all. Fernandez wasn't one to insist on rigid etiquette himself, but the sight of servants and ministers freely circulating and sharing food felt profoundly alien.
"Impressive."
"Hm? What's that?"
"That your reign is far more capable than I expected."
"How low did you think of me, you rascal?"
Leya let out a snort of laughter, dabbing at her lips with a napkin. She poured herself a glass of honey-gold liquor from an empty decanter and handed it to Fernandez.
"On a fine day like this, with fine food before us, how could we not have a drink?"
"To the eternal prosperity of the Queen's reign."
"'Eternal' sounds so creepy... To your happiness."
*Clink!*
They touched glasses and drank without ceremony. Leya tossed back her drink in one gulp, then grimaced and let out a sigh. There was no trace left of the haughty, refined elven etiquette once associated with the "nobles of the sea."
*Feels more like the captain of a pirate fleet.* Fernandez chuckled inwardly as he downed the potent whiskey. Chewing on a salad topped with heaps of coconut cream, Leya spoke up.
"So, what favor are you after? No point in feeding you a meal like this just to send you on your way. Out with it."
"Hm..."
Fernandez glanced around at the elven nobles laughing and chattering boisterously as they enjoyed the banquet. Sensing his gaze, Leya flashed a grin.
"What, doesn't it feel like a lively port tavern? Secrets are worth more when shared in a place buzzing with energy like this."
"It's hardly a secret. And we're hardly in a position to stand on ceremony anyway... Queen Leya, have you ever heard of a relic called the Raven Crown?"
"Raven Crown? Hm... Hmmm... Asking about relics out of the blue? This ought to be interesting."
Leya set down her utensils and lapsed into thought. After shaking her head for a good while, she finally shook it outright.
"It's not in my treasure vault, at least. Do you have any information on its origins or anything like that?"
"It's said to be a relic used by Charle the Great, founder of the Lebainteir Empire."
"Hmmm. A relic from the War of the Heavens, then."
Leya poked at a ravioli with her fork, tilting her head in contemplation for a long moment.
"There are only five relics from the War of the Heavens in the royal treasure vault. Twilight's Tear, the White Mane Spear, Gaimeirn's Great Chart..."
"Wait, hold on. Is that something you should be sharing with an outsider?"
"Huh? What, you planning to rob my vault?"
"Not at all."
"Or leak the inventory list to the world?"
"That's not it either..."
"Who cares if someone finds out? You think any outsider could even access the Gaimeirn royal treasure vault?"
After a moment's hesitation, Fernandez shook his head and laughed. She had a point. Who in their right mind would infiltrate the deepest sanctum of an elven flagship, breach the seals, and steal a relic? No non-elf could manage it, and elves had no reason to.
"It might just be miscategorized and not listed under War of the Heavens relics. Do you know what it looks like?"
"No."
"What about its powers or effects?"
"No idea there either."
"So you're asking me to find a thousand-year-old relic based on nothing but an uncertain name and origin?"
"There's one thing I'm certain of."
Fernandez stroked his glass, pondering for a moment. He rolled the words around in his mouth several times, careful not to reference his past life directly while conveying that the relic hadn't existed in it.
"No one in civilized society knew of that relic."
"...What?"
"No one inland knew anything about it. Not what it was, not its powers, not where it might be. Nothing."
"So you came to me. Fair enough—if that's true, the odds are high it's in elven hands."
"Or... sealed away in some nameless tomb in a remote mountain valley."
"Let's rule that out. No need to dwell on the worst-case scenario."
Leya shook her head as she spoke. How were they supposed to find it? The man before her wasn't one to waste time and effort on wild goose chases. They had to assume the relic existed somewhere in the world and work from there.
"Why are you looking for it...? No, your face says you won't answer that. Fine, then—what effect are you hoping for?"
"...Effect?"
"You're trying to narrow it down by finding something at least somewhat similar, right? What are you expecting from this relic?"
It was an angle he'd never considered. Unlike him, bogged down by the scant clues, this was a completely different way of thinking. With no information to go on, it allowed for flexible reasoning.
And it was remarkably logical. Fernandez's eyes widened briefly before he squeezed them shut, deep in thought.
If a single relic was needed to avert the world's end, what would it be? What was required to thwart the apocalypse, to eradicate the great demons' threat from the world entirely?
His thoughts reached that point, and Feizashi and Fernandez both whispered the same word in their minds almost simultaneously.
*'Severance.'*
*-Dimensional Glass.*
*'Is that possible?'*
*-No relic I know matches that. But... if we're imagining the one thing that could break our current impasse, as that elf says, it'd be something like that.*
Even if it wasn't the Raven Crown, that was fine. If such a relic truly existed and functioned even once, that would be enough. Perhaps this was a self-fulfilling prophecy. The very process of seeking the Raven Crown might lead to that inductive conclusion.
"I hope it's a relic that can seal off the world."
"Seal off the world...? Like your pantheon does?"
"Exactly. I'd like it to cut off communication with the outside, all connections—and if possible, existence itself—shielding and sealing it away."
"Got it. So the Church wants to sever all ties with Hell completely?"
"It's not the Church's wish."
Fernandez opened his eyes and met Leya's gaze squarely. For a fleeting instant, she felt as though she couldn't breathe under that stare.
It was the look of a man who had tasted despair, lost everything, yet refused to yield. Amid visions of war and slaughter's acrid stench assaulting her nostrils, Leya found herself entranced by his deep blue eyes.
"It's my wish, Queen Leya."
"Let's find it."
Unconsciously, she reached out and gently placed her hand over his scarred knuckles.
"I'll help you. If such a thing exists, we'll find it together."
* * *
The royal treasure vault boasted security on par with the Serpent Queen's chambers aboard the flagship. Among those without royal blood, very few had ever entered it directly—and Fernandez was the first human.
Leya strode ahead as she mentioned this fact.
"So you get how great an honor this is, right?"
"My thanks for your generosity."
"Hah, no need! If not for you, there wouldn't even be a treasure vault to begin with!"
When Gaimeirn's flagship sank, most of the royal wealth had vanished into the depths of the Infermer Sea. Elven divers had salvaged as many relics and treasures as possible, but it wasn't nearly enough to sustain a nation.
Fortunately, Leya still had her Golden Fleet intact. This mightiest privateer armada in the North Sea had emerged from the war with Frantzrit almost unscathed, ensuring ample profits for her people.
And after claiming Malern's flagship. At this moment, her wealth rivaled any royal treasury in the material world.
"Ever given any thought to a dowry?"
"...You mean for a marriage?"
"What else would I mean?"
"I'd rather not discuss it."
"You're already engaged once—why keep dodging?"
Alone now, with neither attendants nor that cat in sight. Leya needed every advantage she could get over the others. Standing before the treasure vault's seals, she gazed at the ornate incantations etched into them and spoke.
"You're prepared, right?"
"Of course."
"Prepared for what, exactly?"
"I'll ask what point you're trying to make first."
"Those without royal blood can't enter here, and the vault is guarded as closely as the Queen's bedchamber... Put another way, anyone granted access to the treasure vault can enter the Queen's chambers too."
Leya shot him a sly smile. Fernandez just shook his head without a word.
He extended his hand toward the seals at the vault's entrance, spreading his fingers. Though exquisitely delicate and astonishingly intricate, it was magic all the same—and decipherable magic required no great effort from him.
*Whoosh!*
A black halo ignited, swiftly tracing sigils in the air. *Click, click.* As the mechanisms aligned, the seals began detaching one by one.
He was the man who had dispelled the countless protective spells on this very flagship—even those Malern himself, in life, could only breach with a dragon's breath. A mere treasure vault's puzzle was child's play.
"Don't take it as rudeness. Time is short."
"Your damn stubborn streak is your biggest flaw. Fine. Let's go in."
*Rumble...* The massive gate slid aside, dust sifting down. With no dire financial crises forcing them to withdraw treasures, the vault remained in its pristine, unmanaged state.
* * *
"This isn't it. Nor this..."
"Nothing in sight even remotely matches, for now."
"Hold on. We haven't even checked half yet."
Leya and Fernandez sorted through the heaps of gold, relics, and artworks stacked haphazardly, laying out those infused with magical auras and cross-referencing them against the inventory. Each flicker of the mana lamps sent the mountain of gold gleaming brilliantly.
"Malern must've regretted leaving all this behind. Bet it stung."
Leya giggled, tossing a relic onto the gold pile. Not it either. No Raven Crown. No relic from the War of the Heavens. Nothing at least capable of sealing a world, dimension, or even a limited area.
"There are hardly any relics from the War of the Heavens to begin with? How is this possible? Malern was king back then."
"A thousand years is a long time."
"No, I hadn't even thought of it until you mentioned it. I never paid much attention to the vault... But this is weird. Shouldn't they have preserved even the most trivial relics from that era?"
No one knew exactly how many relics slumbered in the Gaimeirn royal vault. But during the War of the Heavens, elves had been one of the continent's mightiest civilizations, at the height of their golden age.
Even in an era when demons and gods roamed the material world, dragons soared the skies, and dwarves ruled underground kingdoms, elves wielded influence across the continent—a feat unimaginable for the decayed elven royalty of today.
Relics or magical items from that time should be at least twice as potent as anything made now. Magic dealt in mysteries, and mysteries grew stronger with accumulated history, transcending mere arithmetic.
That's why mages delved ruins and dungeons for ancient spells. Modern magic was practical, yes. But it paled against spells that overturned mountains and cleaved seas.
"Only five relics from the War of the Heavens remain. And just two still hold their ancient power..."
Gaimeirn's Great Chart. The White Mane Spear. The rest were little more than husks. Fernandez and Leya slumped in the center of the vault, lost in thought.
"Looks like we'll need to seek advice after all."
"...Advice?"
"There's one other who's lived from the War of the Heavens to now."
"Jerolen..."
"Yeah. The last of the elven tri-kings. He might know something—like why those relics vanished."
Jerolen of the Nine Myriad Long Heavens. The elven Serpent King operating from the western continent sea around Kirjat and its straits. His knowledge was essential.
But Fernandez lifted an empty relic and said,
"Isn't this one from the War of the Heavens too?"
"Right. Twilight's Tear. Looks a bit like a compass, but beyond the name, I don't know its function."
It was a golden disk adorned with emeralds and ornate decorations. Fernandez held it in his palm, studying it before speaking.
"The substrate is burned out. Severe damage."
"...What?"
"Even I can't identify it from this state—the traces of an incredibly complex, intricate substrate. In its prime, it must've been among the finest relics. Possibly a god's work."
"Poor storage?"
"No. Malern was the Thousand-Angle Mage Tower incarnate—the king of mages. He wouldn't let a relic like this degrade from age. The preservation spells here are near-perfect."
"Then what's the problem?"
"It's not temporal decay. These are traces of severance, Leya."
Fernandez's eyes gleamed. Leya swallowed, staring at him entranced. Again. That unbreakable, burning gaze.
"Traces of mana disconnection. From some immense force... object... or event. A severance so powerful that this delicate substrate couldn't withstand the external pressure."
*Research is needed.* Why had Gaimeirn's Great Chart and the White Mane Spear survived intact? Why had the others vanished or been destroyed? With two control cases, it was perfect. As a mage, Fernandez grinned faintly amid his boiling excitement.
Coming to Leya had been the right call. At the very least, for securing this lead.