Linus's House (3)

The moment Linus offered a greeting, Hindrastar's eyes rolled back and she collapsed on the spot.

Lucky I caught her in time. Otherwise she would have been wallowing in her own piss.

"Sorry, Linus. I should've given you a heads-up before bringing her along. Things got a little complicated after I sent you that letter."

"It's fine. Let's get that dragon moved first. I'll call the maids."

At Linus's word, the maids came flocking in, hoisted Hindrastar up, and carried her into the mansion.

Celine watched them go with a worried look.

"That's the dragon? The white dragon you two chased off?"

"That's her. One thing led to another and she ended up at our academy. How'd you even recognize her, Linus?"

"A girl I've never seen in my life who starts shaking and pisses herself the moment she looks at me? Who else would that be besides a polymorphed Hindrastar?"

Well. When he put it that way, he had a point.

"Come on, let's go inside. We've got a lot to talk about."

"Can I see the baby first?"

Celine gave me a shove toward the stairs, and I went up to Linus. He smiled and showed me the infant nestled in his arms.

The baby had golden hair and large, clear blue eyes — eyes as transparent as the sky itself, taking in everything around him with a curious gaze. Soft downy fuzz covered his small face, and his pink cheeks glowed with healthy color. A uniquely innocent smile spread across his slightly parted lips. His tiny hands were loosely clenched, as if reaching for something, the fingertips translucent and clean. He was purity itself, the kind of beauty that made anyone who looked at him smile without thinking.

The overall features were Linus through and through. The smile and the air about him were Celine to a tee.

"You said it's a boy, right? Named Lumien?"

"That's right. Watch this, Dian."

Linus pulled a well-dried walnut from his pocket and placed it in the baby's hand. And then — with a splintering crunch — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the infant crushed it to pieces.

"Wh-what?"

"We only found out recently ourselves. After he kicked the bed rail to splinters in the middle of the night."

"Wow. He's got the makings of a Hero already."

Laughing, we headed into the mansion.

"Whoa."

The moment I saw the interior, my jaw dropped. This wasn't a house. This was an actual palace.

The entrance hall soared overhead, its arched ceiling crowned by a magnificent chandelier blazing at the center. Countless crystals caught the light and painted shimmering patterns across the walls and floor. Intricate gold-leaf ornamentation and delicate carvings covered the walls, looking for all the world like they belonged in a real palace. The floor was finished in luxurious marble, overlaid with a rug of elaborate design that swallowed our footsteps and offered a pleasant softness with every step.

Works of art lined both sides of the hall. Famous paintings hung along one wall; antique furniture and relics were arranged along the other. In one corner, there was even a little museum-like space exhibiting ancient armor and weapons.

"Hey, Linus. You've tasted money and gone and changed on us, haven't you? This is way too extravagant."

"Honestly, I didn't want to live like this. But Her Highness the Second Princess was so insistent I couldn't refuse."

According to Linus, he had originally wanted to build a small, modest house. The Second Princess had declared that the Hero of the Continent couldn't possibly live in a place like that, and all but forced this palatial mansion on him.

"Probably because she's very conscious of how it looks from the outside. If you don't treat the man who killed the Demon King like this, who'd volunteer the next time something similar happens?"

"You're right, Dian. And there's another reason besides."

The other reason Linus was referring to was the Second Princess's political scheme to keep him under her control.

As the leader of the Post-War Power Faction, the Second Princess had wielded enormous political influence, monopolizing key posts in the Imperial Palace despite being the child of a concubine. And even that hadn't been enough — she had pulled the Hero Linus himself into her orbit.

I later heard, bit by bit, that an enormous number of suspicious deaths had occurred during the process of her seizing real power. One department head had coughed up blood while drinking. A corps commander had been stabbed by his own subordinate. Some minister had clutched his chest and collapsed on his way to work. What they all had in common was that they were entrenched powers standing in opposition to the Second Princess and her Post-War Power Faction — people who had once held the entire Empire in their grip, but who had produced no notable results during the Four-Year War and had been relatively diminished as a result.

Circumstantially, it was clearly assassination by the Second Princess's side. The problem was that no matter how hard anyone investigated, they couldn't find a shred of evidence. So at the time, the Imperial Palace was thick with the understanding that if you crossed the Second Princess, you would die without a trace. After that indiscriminate campaign of assassination, she had been able to take the supreme post of Head of the National Security Office.

I had always wondered how the child of a concubine — someone who ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠could well have been a seed of rebellion — had become Head of the National Security Office. Hearing that story finally answered the question.

For a princess this vicious and capable, but whose origins left her weak on legitimacy, holding onto Linus was non-negotiable. That was why she had tried to install him as principal of the academy she controlled. And fearing he might attach himself to some other faction, she was pouring everything she had on him without reservation — the ten-year paid paternity leave, the coveted imperial domain near the capital that had every ambitious official drooling, this magnificent mansion, all of it.

Anyway, that whole scene is way too complicated. Walking away from it all and leaving the Imperial Palace drawbridge ten years ago was a damn good decision.

Sitting in a drawing room every bit as lavish as the hall, I looked around and asked,

"By the way, where are the medals we received back then? You don't have them on display?"

"What would be the point of hanging those in my own house?"

"You could show them to guests, though?"

"I didn't walk that path to show off to other people."

"That so? I was hoping we could pull them out one by one and talk about the old days."

"If that's what you want, I'd be glad to."

Linus turned to a servant who was just bringing in the tea.

"There's a cardboard box I set aside in the back of the storeroom. Could you bring that, please?"

Stashing medals that most people would never receive even one of in a warehouse... that's Linus for you.

"Anyway, Dian. What happened with Hindrastar? Seeing her in a school uniform, is she a student at your academy?"

"Yeah. You heard about the Special Cadet selection this time?"

"I did. It made quite a stir even out here."

"She applied. Not because she wanted to be a Special Cadet — there was a protection target among the applicants. After the war, she joined the Leblanc Mercenary Corps."

I told Linus about Hindrastar's circumstances. How she had joined the war because ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she thought causing chaos would be fun, gotten the living daylights beaten out of her by the two of us, fled, been constrained into human form by the dragon elders and driven out, and then taken up mercenary work just to make a living.

"Joining a war just to make the situation more chaotic... a thoroughly unsavory dragon. But setting that aside, her recent circumstances are quite pitiable."

Linus nodded slowly.

"So, has Hindrastar agreed to continue her studies at the academy?"

"Not agreed, exactly. I'm just holding her there by force. Trying to raise the quality of academy graduates."

"I see. From the Imperial Palace's perspective, they'd be delighted to have a polymorphed dragon as an operative. But if you forced her, she might run away someday, no? Then you'd be worse off than if you'd never held her at all."

"That's why I sold your name."

Linus looked at me for a moment, then understood and laughed quietly.

"You told her that if she ran, you and I would finish her for good this time."

"There's no other way to keep that dragon in check, is there? So when she wakes up, I need you to put the fear of God into her."

"Understood. Don't worry about that."

"So, Dian. How on earth have you been living all this time?"

Once our conversation wrapped up, Celine asked.

"I wanted to invite you to the wedding no matter what, even if I couldn't invite anyone else, and I searched high and low. Never found you. Linus said you'd been in Brunswell."

"Eh, nothing special. Just loafed around on the reward money. Oh, right. There's something I've been wondering, though. Is, uh..."

I lowered my voice in case anyone was listening.

"Rormane isn't coming today... is she?"

"Rormane? No, she's not. I asked last time and she said she had something busy today and couldn't make it."

"Whew. Thank god."

"You still haven't forgotten about that?"

I let out a hollow laugh at Celine's question.

"Could you forget something like that in a mere ten years?"

"Well, that's true... Anyway, tell us about your life. I was shocked when I heard the guy who single-handedly beat a gang of thugs running a trading company in Brunswell was you."

"Alright."

I gave a little shudder, shaking off the memory of Rormane, and started talking. Everything from the night of the Imperial Palace welcome banquet, when I had crossed the drawbridge and bolted for Brunswell, up to today.

"You really have been living the good life, haven't you?"

When the story was over, Celine marveled.

"I wish our Linus could have done the same. He's had a hard time in the Imperial Palace these past ten years."

Celine laid her hand on the back of Linus's with a sympathetic look.

"He's the Hero. He didn't have a choice. I was a nobody, so I could leave."

"Don't say you're a nobody, Dian."

Linus gently contradicted me.

"Without you, Celine and I wouldn't be here. We probably wouldn't have made it out of the Demon King's Castle alive."

"It's the truth. Like I've always said, you're the real protagonist of this world. Still are."

"What exactly do you mean by 'this world'... Ah, thank you."

Just then, the servant who had gone to the storeroom appeared with a worn cardboard box. Linus took it and, without ceremony, flipped it over and dumped the contents all over the table.

A glittering heap of medals in every color filled the tabletop. Linus set the empty box on the floor and started sorting through them.

"These are the ones I received after the war ended..."

The medals went flying into the box with little thuds, looking for all the world like he was sorting trash fish at a market.

"Here. These are the ones I received back then, plus the ones you dumped in my bag and left behind. I kept them as they were."

Linus swept about forty medals into the center of the table.

"This was the first medal we ever received."

From among them, he picked one up and held it out. The Third-Class Military Merit Medal — the very first decoration we had received for capturing an enemy prisoner during the defense of Camel Pass.

"Ah, that one. That was a lot of fun."

The memories of that time came flooding back, vivid and fresh.