The Illusory Realm (1)
"You're giving all this money to the Second Prince?"
Vitten asked, eyeing the pack wagons piled high with treasure as though he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"Quiet, Vitten. It hurts me too, you know."
"Even so, it's not as if Prince Biro can actually push Prince Raphael aside, is it?"
According to Lucian's reports, the gap between First Prince Raphael and Second Prince Biro was considerable. From the size of their factions to their personal capabilities, Raphael held an overwhelming advantage in every respect.
"That's exactly why I'm helping him. If he looked like a man who could push Raphael aside on his own, I wouldn't need to lift a finger, would I?"
"I see. It just feels like a waste to me, is all..."
Vitten scratched his head, sheepish.
"We're not the penniless duchy of old. A sum like this isn't going to break the household."
That was Lucian for you. Money mattered less in the earning than in the spending.
In all the Empire, ours was the only mine where Oradium lay exposed in open seams. Ordinarily, the metal was found deep underground, mixed into other minerals like an impurity after long years of digging. Our mine, by contrast, was so pure that the other minerals were the ones treated as contaminants — and the deposits were vast on top of that. There was simply no comparison.
We throttled the output for fear that mining and selling too recklessly would cheapen Oradium's rarity, and even so, the revenue pouring in was staggering.
"Actually, there's something I've been curious about."
"What is it?"
"Come here a moment."
I beckoned, and Vitten shuffled over with a puzzled look. I stole a glance at Thalia, standing off in the distance, then dropped my voice as low as it would go.
"How are things with Thalia? Is it going well between you two?"
Vitten's mouth fell open at once.
"Don't even get me started. The happiest man in the duchy is yours truly. No — allow me to correct that. The happiest man in the entire Empire."
"You two really get along that well?"
Vitten and Thalia had not one thing in common. He was careless where she was earnest; he was creative to the point of absurdity, while she was conservative in all things. That two such opposite people got along even as superior and subordinate was remarkable enough — now that they were lovers, I couldn't help but be curious.
"We don't really get along, no. Our personalities are too different. But we don't fight. After all, if we fought, I'd be the one losing, wouldn't I?"
Vitten laughed heartily.
"You say you don't get along, so what's all this about being happy?"
"Different is the good part. You discover something new about each other every single time. Just imagine if Thalia were exactly like me. She'd be a female Vitten with purple fur — isn't it horrifying even to think about?"
"Hmm..."
He had a point.
"Vitten, let me ask you one thing."
This, in truth, was the main event.
"Go ahead, my lord."
"How do you keep a relationship running smoothly?"
Since accepting each other as lovers, the two of them had become far more grounded. Vitten had leapt to Master rank, and Thalia had risen to commander, leading the knight order as flawlessly as it could be led. Whether they got along or not, the two of them were clearly drawing synergy from each other. I wanted to know the secret. After all, I had a woman in my life now too.
"Are you certain you want to hear it from a guy like me?"
"What's wrong with you?"
"It's just... there's usually a proper person you're meant to ask about these things."
Vitten fumbled. I caught the words he'd swallowed.
I was about to be engaged for the first time in my life. So who, logically, ought to offer the first word of advice? Surely my own father, Drek — that was the implication.
"Father never managed to play the role of a husband."
Vitten's jaw dropped.
"What? I'm not wrong, am I?"
"You've become a man at last. No, scratch that — talking back to your elders? Has puberty finally set in, my lord?"
"Spare me the commentary and answer, Vitten."
I chuckled and urged him on. He was one of the few people who could joke with me like this — which made him more than qualified to give advice.
"Very well. As you know, I'm no noble, nor anything special besides. So just take this for what it's worth, coming from a man like me."
Vitten scratched his cheek.
"I suppose... it comes down to truly understanding one another."
"Understanding?"
"In the ten years we've served side by side, I learned more about Thalia after we started courting than I ever thought I knew before. Which means I asked a woman I barely knew to be mine."
"In that respect, we're alike."
I knew nothing about Uld either — and as far as I could tell, she knew nothing about me beyond my face.
"Everyone starts out that way. What matters, I think, is how well you come to understand each other afterward."
Convincing enough.
"And you must compliment her often."
"...Oh ho."
"People are all the same. Kind words in, kind words out. Thalia may seem a complete ice queen, blunt to a fault, but—"
"What are you two discussing?"
Thalia asked, walking up. Vitten and I both turned to stare at entirely different things in perfect unison.
"Nothing at all. Your report was simply running long."
"That's everything! I'll be taking my leave now, haha!"
Vitten sidled away with an awkward laugh. Thalia eyed him suspiciously for a moment, then handed me a slip of paper.
"Sir Robert, head of the Esterzy clan council, has slipped out of the capital. He appears to be bound for the Imperial Capital."
Because I had taken Uld in, the clan council seemed to have finally resolved to break from me. No doubt Mabel counted Robert an easier opponent than I would be. She was mistaken.
"Let them go."
I smiled coldly.
"That fool could stand to get burned by Mabel himself."
"Agreed."
"And how fares Stormrock?"
"Still unstable."
Thalia replied.
"The lesser demon clans are locked in a scramble over Demon Count Grimscale's territory. Some of them have been striking at Stormrock in intermittent raids, seeking to earn themselves merit."
"I'm placing the Frost Knights and the Steel Guard under your command. Sweep north of Stormrock and wipe out everything making noise there."
"Understood."
This was what my father had lacked. He had no Grand Master he could trust with the northern front, so even when duty demanded his presence in the capital's politics, he remained tethered to the north. With Thalia at my side, my circumstances were different.
Thalia marched north with both knightly orders behind her. Crowds of fief folk poured into the streets to see them off — an everyday sight, perhaps, for a domain bordering the Demonic Realm.
I set out for the Imperial Capital with Uld, the Frost Knights' Second Squad riding escort.
The Second Squad's leader was Shaka. Ever since she lost the knights she'd grown close to in the Battle of Andrassy, Shaka had gone noticeably quiet.
Her skill, on the other hand, was said to have advanced by leaps and bounds. She'd always been rated the most accomplished in the Frost Knights; now, apart from the commander herself, no one could stand against her.
"You told me you'd never once set foot in the Imperial Capital."
"That's right."
Uld answered.
"I did most of my training in the north. There are many monsters there, so..."
Uld looked somehow ill at ease. The truth was, I was every bit as awkward as she was.
We sat side by side on Ruby's back. The Winged Dragon Knight's Harness certainly had room enough for two riders. It was just that, well, shoulder to shoulder on that saddle, we looked a great deal closer than I'd bargained for.
"You've had new equipment made."
Her armor and sword had caught my eye moments before.
"Master Ruka forged them for me from Oradium."
Ruka had worked the design of Uld's old gear faithfully into the new — something like armor married to a skirt, favoring freedom of movement over protection.
"I never thought I would so much as touch Oradium in my lifetime. It is a gift far too fine for someone of my station."
Uld tried to dip her head to me, but seated side by side as we were, that proved difficult.
"You're to be my wife. Equipping you properly is only natural. And..."
I said, gazing ahead with studied indifference.
"It suits you."
Was that right, Vitten?
It was no lie. For all that she'd been buried in a secluded valley learning nothing but the sword, Uld was a beautiful girl who lost nothing to any noble-born daughter. Her beauty, tended by her maids, had only grown more radiant.
And objectively speaking, the armor did suit her — just as my talismans and I made a matched set. Nothing I'd said was out of line, so why did it feel so mortifying to my own ears — and why had the color flooded past her cheeks to dye her very ears, leaving her in such a fluster?
We rode the highway for about half a day before deciding to make camp for the night. For all the pace we'd kept, there was still no trace of the delegation that had departed ahead of us.
I didn't read much into it. Even if we did catch up, ours wasn't a relationship that would produce pleasant conversation.
Kalman did weigh on my mind a little, though. He'd made me rely on him one-sidedly, and now he was taking my side without so much as asking. I'd known for a long time that he lacked flexibility, but I never dreamed he'd stay that rigid even in front of the First Prince.
Nothing would go wrong for him, surely. The man looked after himself well enough.
While the tents were going up, I witnessed a strange sight. The hellcat — three years in my service without ever once baring its claws at me — was rubbing itself all over Uld, purring up a storm.
It was so absurd that I rubbed my eyes. But it really was the hellcat. Not some stray that had wandered past.
"Are you hungry, little one? Where's your owner?"
Uld stroked the hellcat's fur, clearly charmed — and clearly under the impression that this was merely an unusual breed of cat.
Hey... aren't you supposed to cower before the strong and swagger before the weak? Then why does a beast that doesn't even fear me grovel before Uld?
"Kit!"
Then it happened. The hellcat loosed a sharp cry and went rigid, fur shooting up like needles. At the same instant, the camp beyond began to boil with commotion.
"Enemy attack!"
"Protect His Grace!"
Uld was on her feet in a flash, sword drawn. I snatched up my talismans and rushed forward.
The knights stood facing the darkness ahead, blades bared. And then, out of that darkness, a woman came staggering into view — mangled almost past recognition.
It was the crest on her armor that told me she was Irene, Kalman's most trusted knight. Even that took a moment — she was painted head to toe in blood.
I caught Irene as she crumpled. Her left arm was gone.
"Lord... Iden."
Irene forced her eyes open.
"...Ka—Kalman, he..."
Blood welled up past her lips.
Déjà vu? I was certain I'd seen Irene like this once before.
No — she was worse off now. Back then she'd still had the strength to keep fighting; now she was a breath away from death.
Worse, she'd been at her lord's side. For her to end up like this anyway could only mean one thing.
"Priest!"
"Yes, Your Grace!"
A young man came scrambling over, the hem of his vestments flapping.
"Keep this woman alive."
"Y-yes, my lord!"
He dropped to his knees and fumbled through a healing prayer. I turned to the knights.
"Sweep the ground ahead. There will be pursuers. Kill them all — bring me one alive."
"Sir."
"And find Kalman — no matter what!"
The knights scattered in every direction.
Raphael, you fool — what in the world is going through that head of yours? Trying to strike down one of the Seven Pillars of the Empire with his own two hands. The Seven Pillars were the seven columns holding up the Empire, for heaven's sake. Did the man who would be Emperor intend to rip out his own house's supports?
Perhaps the summit itself had been nothing but a smokescreen. The delegation's true purpose was to eliminate Kalman, and I had been nothing more than the decoy. So that was why their attitude at the table had been so half-hearted.
But they hadn't finished the job, by the look of it — Irene had escaped with her life.
I spread a mat on the ground and sat. Laying my talismans out in a line, I began to chant.
The priest stumbled over his prayer, unnerved. Without a word of command from me, the guards closed ranks around me and formed a defensive circle.
This was the first time I had unleashed the technique since reaching the Spirit Transformation Realm.
"The sky..."
Uld murmured in astonishment. Beyond the ridge, a crimson sun was climbing into view, its violet corona stretching across the horizon as if to set it ablaze. And distorted illusions began to swallow the plain whole.