Song of Fire and Ice (3)
Come to think of it, I wasn't exactly the picture of sanity myself. I had spent the better part of twenty-odd years living with the knowledge of exactly when I was going to die.
And when two lunatics collide head-on, the first one to lower his gaze loses.
Tension stretched taut across the hall. Every soul present trained their senses on us—on Chris's reaction above all. He stared at my philtrum for a long, silent moment, and then at last he turned his head away.
"...How dull."
"Stanis!"
At his sharp call, a tall young man sprang out from among the crowd. Aside from a pair of grey eyes, he was black from head to toe—unrelieved, utter black.
"I beg your pardon, but my lord is tired. The conversation will have to wait for another occasion."
The young man wedged himself between Chris and me, politely requesting our understanding.
That was the moment it happened. From him I received an unpleasant sensation unlike anything I had ever felt in my life—something impossible to put into words.
It wasn't simply that his face was off-putting. It was more like...
I lifted my head and looked forward. The young man was already escorting Chris out of the banquet hall.
"Lord Chris just... withdrew? Just like that?"
"Damn it all—what are we supposed to do now?"
"The Mavel faction will be strutting about with their noses in the air for a while, I expect..."
"The Mavel faction isn't the problem right now, my friend."
The nobles were shaken to a man. In their minds, Chris had been a godlike being who could bring anyone to their knees with a single command—yet faced with a baby brother barely out of the cradle, one who had trampled his domain with dirt-caked feet, he hadn't managed so much as a peep.
By now, surely, they couldn't help but arrive at the same thought.
So what exactly are the conditions of that ability?
"That was quite the performance."
I turned my head. A sturdy young man with orange hair was smiling at me.
"I had no idea my little brother was hiding such a tremendous ability. If I'd known, I'd have gotten on your good side ages ago, hahaha!"
My eldest brother, Mavel Esterzy.
His laughter, though—remarkably hearty. I found myself wondering how anyone could laugh so freely, without a single crease of strain, under all that contempt and pressure.
Perhaps it was precisely this character that had let him hold on to his handful of followers against Chris, whose talent was hailed as overwhelming.
And yet another question nagged at me. What exactly had this man been banking on when he threw me in front of Chris? What would he have done if I'd possessed no talent capable of crushing him?
"I'm the one who should be grateful, Brother. I'd assumed no one would ever give me a second glance."
"I'll stake my word on it—after today, not a soul in the duchy will fail to know your face."
He rested a hand on my shoulder and leaned in close.
"If you find yourself with time to spare, would you pay a visit to my farm? I hear you're fond of fruit juice—as it happens, several varieties are just coming into harvest."
"I'd be delighted."
An unusual man. Most nobles extend invitations by name-dropping which luminaries of high society will be in attendance, or by mentioning that their summer villa happens to be sitting empty.
Then again, a farm did sound far more pleasant than another party like this one. The sight of tables piled with desserts no one had any intention of eating made my stomach turn.
"Well, enough idle chatter."
"Pardon?"
"Time for you to do your duty as guest of honor."
Mavel shot me a wink. As if his words had been some kind of signal, the crowd came swarming.
"Young Lord Iden!"
"Young Lord Iden, do you remember me?"
By the time we escaped the party, it was already the dead of night. Inside the swaying carriage I sat slumped like a soggy vegetable, leaning against Vitten. High cultivation aside, making hollow small talk with people I cared nothing about was exhausting work.
But I didn't seem to be the only one in poor condition. Thalia, seated across from me, looked uncharacteristically vacant.
"Thalia."
"...Yes?"
Her answer came two beats late.
"What's the matter? Did you eat something bad?"
"Ah... no, my lord."
She jolted back to her senses.
"No, my foot. You were a thousand miles away."
Abnormal symptoms were detected in Vitten as well, and his case was considerably worse. The man was outright hiccuping, and with every hiccup his red beard flapped up and down like a flag in the wind.
"What's gotten into everyone? Did something happen?"
"My lord Iden."
Thalia bit her lip hard, then asked in an anxious tone.
"What exactly happened to you back there? How were you using two Awoken Abilities at once?"
"Curious, are we?"
"Yes, I am!"
Vitten practically shrieked.
"We never once dreamed a human capable of such a thing even existed! If it weren't Lord Solitas himself, we'd have called it impossible!"
Loud enough to burst my eardrums.
Then again, the two of them must have taken the shock just as hard as anyone.
"I don't really have two Awoken Abilities."
I smiled.
"Do you remember when I ate the salamander's tongue?"
"Yes, my lord. You shot fire out of your eyes."
"I nearly dropped dead of fright that day, I did."
"That was when the ability to wield fire first appeared."
Their gazes crossed in midair.
"Then don't tell me—"
"I'm thinking it may be an ability that absorbs a monster's traits by eating it."
It was an excuse I had labored to prepare. Rather convincing, no? The tale of how I devoured a salamander's tongue and walked away without a scratch was fairly well known by now.
Over the past five years, the two of them had earned my complete trust. But explaining the concept of Daoist arts would mean going all the way back to my past life, and that would complicate the story far too much.
"...I see. That does make sense."
Thalia nodded slowly.
"Then if you were to eat a metal golem, you could handle metal however you pleased?"
Vitten asked, his voice rising with excitement.
"Well... I suppose I could?"
"Then if you ate a basilisk—"
"Senior Vitten."
Thalia fixed him with a stern glare.
"My lord Iden is not a pet kept to satisfy your curiosity, Senior. He is our lord, to be protected with our very lives."
"I... I was only talking about possibilities."
Vitten muttered, sulking. Thalia glared at him until his ego had shriveled to the size of a bean, then turned back to me.
"We will hold our tongues about your ability, my lord. It is best to let the people go on misunderstanding."
"No, Thalia. I'd rather the rumor spread far and wide, actually."
Still leaning against Vitten, I closed my eyes and smiled, letting the meaning sink in.
"That's how the information on monster ingredients will come flowing in."
Five days had passed since the party. In that brief span, my standing underwent a dramatic transformation.
"Another invitation has arrived, young master."
Lily entered the room clutching an armful of envelopes.
"Just pile them over there."
I answered without so much as looking up. My desk was already buried under invitations. Masquerade balls, ordinary balls, tea parties, dinner parties, regional festivals, some lord or other's exhibition—the list went on.
Father was out there staking his life on the battlefield, and these so-called nobles were sprawled about having the time of their lives.
I had grave doubts about whether our domain was going to be all right.
Granted, they did appear to be sending men and supplies to Father's army—but still. Whose pockets did they imagine all that money was coming out of?
"It's honestly beyond a joke."
Lily said as she set down the invitations.
"The very people who shut their eyes and stopped their ears and pretended not to know your birthday, young master—and now look at them, acting like old friends."
"Couldn't agree more."
But this was the most insufferable part of all.
Until only days ago they had treated me as if I didn't exist, and the instant Chris's position wavered, they switched sides with ghostly speed.
Part of me almost admired it. I'd have been too embarrassed to even pretend acquaintance. Shamelessness on this level deserved to be classified as an Awoken Ability in its own right.
"Still, it might be worth going for the entertainment alone. There's a song about you that's all the rage right now."
"A song about me is popular? What on earth are you talking about?"
"Exactly what I said. The bards have been falling over one another composing songs about how you humiliated Lord Chris the other day. You'd hear one at any party you cared to attend."
Somehow, I wanted to go even less now.
Then again—if I'd known that little episode would become a song, I'd have carried myself a bit more modestly.
"Never mind the parties. Let me know the moment my eldest brother sends word."
"Yes, young master."
Mavel was the only one of my brothers I genuinely wanted to meet in person. While I was at it, I decided to pump Lily for more information.
"What kind of man is my eldest brother?"
"His reputation is excellent. He is generous with his subordinates, diligent, and clever. He's on good terms with His Grace as well. However..."
"However?"
Lily hesitated before going on.
"...Misfortune never stops hounding the people around him. Last year alone, as far as I know, three of his close friends passed away."
"How, may I ask?"
"No one knows. Healthy people dying out of nowhere—people whisper about Awoken Abilities gone wrong, about curses, all manner of sinister rumors."
Somehow, I had a feeling I knew the reason. It seemed there was a wicked soul nearby who couldn't bear to watch his brothers prosper.
"Is there anything else you're curious about?"
"No, that's plenty."
"Then allow me to tell you about your education schedule, young master."
"Really?"
"Yes. You turned seven this year, and you've made your grand debut into high society."
She smiled brightly.
"You've waited a long time for this, haven't you?"
"I have!"
I'd waited so long my jaw nearly fell off. I needed to learn something—anything—so I could finally put what was stored in my head to use. How much longer was I supposed to keep up the act of being a child?
"The subjects you will study are five in all: history, liberal arts, etiquette, martial arts, and statecraft."
So they did teach liberal arts and etiquette after all. There had been no trace of either at that party.
The other subjects I could take in stride, but two of them gave me pause: martial arts and statecraft.
First of all, I was a Daoist. A Daoist differs in every respect from what the world calls a 'man of the martial world.'
While a man of the martial world sweats buckets tempering his flesh, a Daoist sits in the shade and meditates.
While a man of the martial world swings sword and spear to crack men's skulls, a Daoist commands the sword and spear to move of their own accord.
While men of the martial world band together to found their sects, a Daoist shuts himself away in the deep mountains and hidden valleys, concealing himself with formations and mist.
A Daoist is one who seeks to attain the Dao and ascend to the heavens.
To ask a Daoist to swing weapons about and leap around on two feet was to ask him to lower himself to the level of a common martial artist—and why on earth would he need to?
"Do I really have to learn martial arts?"
"Of course you do!"
Lily said firmly.
"If you are to be the Duke's heir, then absolutely! Without exception, you must master the martial arts. That is what makes a son His Grace can look upon with pride."
Hmm.
Judging by Father's commanding presence, martial arts clearly weren't as lowly as all that.
And besides, I had already grasped every insight up to the Spirit Transformation Realm, so tempering the body in place of seated meditation might not be such a bad thing.
"Besides, the tutor who will be coming to teach you is no ordinary person."
"Oh?"
"Yes."
Lily said, sounding rather proud of herself.
"I hear it is someone His Grace the Duke holds especially dear."