The Ever-Changing Duke (2)
I contacted the Sirakos royal court with an offer to sell out Groll and Loki. The reply came back instantly, as though they had been waiting by the door.
But the meeting place was a little suspicious. I had handed over dangerous criminals — they should have been rolling out a palace feast at the very least. Instead, the location was a secluded fortress outside the city walls. And not just any fortress, but one used as an execution ground for violent offenders. How desperate were they, to summon me straight to the gallows?
On top of that, a crowd of officials came swarming in, insisting they would take Groll into custody first.
"We will take charge of the prisoners from this point on."
"Not until the money lands in my pocket."
"These are prisoners His Majesty holds in particular regard. What if they escape while under your watch?"
"You couldn't catch them for over ten years. On what basis do you claim you can handle them better than I can?"
"His Majesty—!"
"He's your king, not mine."
"...I shall relay that."
The officials slunk away with their shoulders slumped.
"Take it, Uld."
Once they withdrew, I handed Uld the sword of the demon count Grimscale.
"I hope you never need this, but just in case."
"A demon's blade... a high-ranking demon's blade."
Uld turned it over with wide, curious eyes. She was utterly clueless about the ways of the world, yet somehow she had an uncanny knack for things like this. To my eye, a demon's sword and a high-ranking demon's sword were just... swords.
"No need to return it. It's yours now."
"What?"
Uld's eyes went round.
"But... you already had a sword made for me. You've already given me a gift far beyond what I deserve — I can't accept something this precious on top of that."
"It's not beyond what you deserve. To me, it's nothing more than a decoration."
Uld flushed and carefully cradled the sword against her chest. This was the woman who had split a ship in two with her bare hands. I found myself looking forward to what she'd manage with this one.
I brought my party to the agreed location at the appointed hour. As a precaution, I had left Lucian and Mariella behind at our lodgings.
No sentries manned the fortress walls. The gate stood wide open, and eight armed knights waited in the center of the courtyard.
They were formidable — the kind of strength one rarely laid eyes on. If the king was indeed attending today, these would be his royal guard, the Bloody Tide.
The Bloody Tide served as the king's personal knights and as the crew of his flagship, the Blood Tide. Knights doubling as sailors was a tradition unique to the Kingdom of Sirakos.
Thud.
Behind us, the fortress gate slammed shut.
"We're trapped."
Loki murmured under his breath.
"Welcome, Count Naiden."
I stopped and hesitated for a beat. I wasn't used to answering to the alias Naiden.
The voice came from a second-floor balcony. Six figures stood there, men and women of varying ages. Picking out King Birgir among them wasn't difficult.
"Your Majesty."
Birgir wore none of the Empire's noble finery. He was dressed in a buttoned shirt and leather coat, topped with a triangular captain's hat. That hat marked him as both king and the finest sailor in his kingdom.
What startled me most was the mountain-like aura rolling off him. I had already crossed paths with King Sandor, so it wasn't as though I lacked data on monarch-tier combatants — but Birgir seemed a full step above Sandor in rank.
The four men and women flanking him radiated no less presence. All four were unquestionably Grand Masters.
"Those are the Island Lords of Sirakos."
Loki spoke in a voice wound tight with tension. Just as the Empire had its Seven Pillars, Sirakos had its Island Lords. The title literally meant "master of an island," and in a kingdom built from scattered isles, each of them governed one.
Strength was the sole criterion for the title. They were the greatest talents sifted and winnowed from a population of twenty million.
The last figure carried a markedly different air from the rest. He was no Grand Master, yet he didn't seem like an ordinary man either. He stood hunched at the waist, glaring at Groll with murderous eyes.
That would be Nergi, the king's younger brother. The man whose wife Groll had stolen.
"You've brought every Island Lord with you. This doesn't seem to be the meeting I imagined, Your Majesty."
"Start by explaining why those wretches aren't bound in any way. To my eye, they and you are cut from the same cloth. Am I wrong?"
"If you're asking whether I'm a pirate, my answer is no."
"And who are you? I'm warning you — don't wave that false identity at me again. You might fool the Empire, but you won't fool me."
I dispelled the spell and revealed my true form.
"Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Iden Esterji."
I placed a hand over my chest and bowed with full courtesy. The balcony erupted at once. I caught fragments drifting down — the Little Explosion, the Empire, Raphael.
"...Well, this is quite a surprise."
King Birgir pulled his lips into a smile. But his eyes weren't smiling at all.
"The master of the North, standing on my soil. You live long enough, you see everything. So what's the story with those three? Are they actually here for the bounty, or was this all just a scheme to drag me out to this place?"
"Neither. They wish to close the book on their years as outlaws and start fresh under my banner. For that, I judged the proper first step was to seek the goodwill of the master of the Western Sea. If they've caused any damages, I'll compensate in full—"
"Silence!!"
A hysterical scream.
Not King Birgir. It was Nergi who had shrieked. His eyes bulged as he jabbed a finger at Groll.
"You filthy bastard! How dare you show your shameless face here! You who raped and abducted another man's wife!"
"It's been a while, Lord Nergi."
Groll replied calmly.
"But you seem to be under a misunderstanding. I never abducted Mariella. She asked me to take her aboard."
"That's impossible!"
"It happened. There are a few kinds of men I refuse to acknowledge as men, and the first is one who strikes his own woman. Frankly, the one who ought to be raging here isn't you — it's me. I'd appreciate it if you recognized how much I'm holding back."
Groll's voice dropped to a low growl. Nergi flinched, but glancing at the Island Lords beside him, he found his nerve again.
"Insolent dog. I am the king's own brother. What's wrong with disciplining my own woman?"
"...Nergi."
Birgir called to him.
"Brother, hand that man over to me. He has insulted the royal blood and disgraced our house—!"
A sharp crack rang out. Birgir had slapped his brother across the face.
"B-Brother...?"
Nergi's face twitched from the shock. Birgir stared down at him with eyes cold as ice.
"This is a conversation between sovereigns. Not a stage for airing your pathetic love life."
"B-But...!"
"I'll let it pass once. But if you disgrace me again, I will deal with you as a king. That means I'll tear out your tongue."
That was no empty threat. This was a man who would commit far worse without blinking.
"My brother has made a fool of himself."
Birgir said it as if it were nothing.
"Now, where were we? Hmm, pirates, was it? So... those three have sworn themselves to you as their sovereign?"
"They have."
"Pardoning a few pirates is a trivial matter. Your worth far exceeds the three of them combined. From what I hear, Pelion is desperate to drag you down. So tell me — is there any reason I shouldn't hand you over to the Empire?"
"That's simple. Your Majesty doesn't want the Empire growing too strong."
"You do remember you're part of the Empire, I trust."
"Wouldn't you enjoy watching a part of the Empire challenge the whole?"
"Haha, well now... you've got me there."
Birgir burst into loud laughter. Crowds of wrinkles gathered at the corners of his eyes.
"You're right. A civil war in the Empire would be a gift to us. But are you confident? I have no desire to follow the precedent of Alkaraz. If I carelessly make an enemy of that cunning old man, we might be the ones left holding the headache."
"Then put me to the test."
I slowly spread both arms.
"Showing is more convincing than telling, wouldn't you say?"
"Taman."
Birgir said with a slight tilt of his head. The youngest of the four Island Lords answered.
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Go down and show him your blade."
The girl leaped lightly from the balcony to the ground below. She looked about Uld's age. A hard-set expression, sun-bronzed skin. She gripped a pair of curved chakrams in each hand.
"I'm Taman. A pleasure."
An enormous aura erupted from her. The Bloody Tide knights already looked half-suffocated by the storm of qi she was generating alone.
A Grand Master in her teens. This world had far too many monsters. But even among monsters, there were tiers.
"Uld. She's yours."
"Yes, Iden."
Uld stepped forward with her sword. A swordswoman bearing the Demon King's blade, trained by demons themselves — there was something epically beautiful about it.
"You won't step forward yourself?"
"If the need arises, I will."
I smiled with easy confidence. This was a stage for demonstrating the depth of my domain, not my personal strength. Here, it was right for me to stay behind.
"Wait, Uld."
I called her to a halt.
"Give it everything you have."
"...May I?"
Uld asked hesitantly. I went blank for a moment. She was asking whether she was allowed to go all-out against a Grand Master.
"You may. I want to see your best."
"Understood."
Uld smiled, relieved.
"I'm Uld. A pleasure to meet you."
Taman was already locked in. Vivid sword-qi sheathed her chakrams. She, too, was clearly an absolute being worthy of ruling an island.
Uld took a single deep breath, then slowly raised her sword.
A low, grinding rumble...
The ground began to tremble. The mere act of raising her sword was generating an earthquake.
Crimson Blade, Sixth Form.
No — was it the Seventh?
The entire world seemed to ripple in time with Uld's power. Taman's sword-qi looked infinitely small by comparison.
"Haaap!"
Taman screamed at the top of her lungs, trying to shake off the crushing pressure. Even in that instant, Uld's aura was still climbing steeply. Where did it end? There was no telling where her limits lay.
No one but me could properly perceive what Uld had done. A white light flashed, and in the same instant, everything before her was cleaved apart horizontally. The sword-qi, the chakrams, the fortress itself.