The Visitor (8)
Huran stood there, dazed, his hand pressed piously against his chest. To be more precise, it was less of a gentle touch and more of a desperate clutch.
He had every reason to be. In his mind, he replayed the words of High Priest Hamses, who had guided him to this very spot.
‘If a captain of the guard is intimidated by something like this, he’s useless, isn’t he?’
It wasn’t wrong. But Huran thought that, given the circumstances, it was perfectly reasonable to be a little shaken.
Who wouldn’t feel their heart shrivel in the presence of the King? Ah, wait. Could thinking like this be considered a crime of lèse-majesté punishable by death? Even as such thoughts raced through his mind, Huran carefully raised his head.
"Yes! Your Majesty."
There he was. The royal countenance. A being that no commoner could dare to look upon easily. While many monarchs possessed their own warlords and territories, this was the one who was truly revered as King, having received the grace of abundance. He was looking down at Huran.
"Is this the one? High Priest Hamses."
"Yes, Your Majesty. This is the man who tracked the fugitive’s trail that day. His name is Huran."
Huran’s mind snapped to attention at Hamses’s reply. At the same time, the words Arnat had spoken to him surfaced in his memory.
‘Because the boy you were trying to catch is a prince.’
‘What? You didn’t know? That old loach Hamses must have hidden that from you.’
‘He doesn’t know that I know the prince’s identity!’
That thought was surprisingly effective at calming his trembling body. Just as he was exhaling the breath he had been holding in his tension, the King’s voice pierced his ears.
"Huran. Do you know why I have summoned you here?"
"How could this lowly subject dare to guess the will of the glorious King?"
He had spat out the words, hoping they sounded as archaic as possible. At his response, the King looked at Huran with eyes full of interest. Huran felt as if that gaze were piercing right through him.
"I have often heard from the High Priest that there is a capable man among the ranks. That your ability to handle tasks is exceptional. I summoned you today because I wish for you to exercise that ability for the royal family in the future. High Priest?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
At the call of Erdil, the King of the Desert, the old High Priest bowed his head. The King spoke again.
"Which position do you think would suit this man?"
"Rather than a simple task like guard duty, he is a man with a talent for seeing the situation and the flow of things. If he were a bit younger, I might have recommended the path of a Martial Priest, but I think it requires a bit more consideration."
"Hmm."
A strange light flickered in Erdil’s eyes as he tilted his head at Hamses’s words. The captain of the guard reflected in his eyes was trembling uncontrollably.
"What is the matter, Huran?"
"A-are you saying that I, a mere guard, will be given a position in the royal court?"
"Are you reluctant?"
There could be no one who would dare to question the King’s words.
"H-how could that be!"
Huran was so shocked he even stuttered. If he had heard such words from the King, he would normally have been delighted, considering it the honor of his family. But Huran could not afford to be.
His own philosophy was sounding an alarm in the back of his mind, throbbing with pain.
‘Special events call for special consequences.’
And this line of thinking always gave Huran the insight to consider two possibilities. If things went well, he would become their fixer, protected by the King and the High Priest. But that was impossible. He was already entangled with the Peanus family.
Therefore, the thought that surfaced in Huran’s mind was not the good outcome, but the bad one.
‘Surveillance!’
Simple, but a certain assumption. High Priest Hamses, the head of the Sun Priestesshood, was a man with the intellect and drive to weaken the power of the Gravekeeper family in an instant. It was hard to believe that Arnat’s contact with him, or his visit to meet Ondalan during the night, had not left a trail.
‘It’s been over half a year, but still…’
Huran thought quickly.
Should he join their ranks here? It would surely bring him immense wealth and power. But that power would only be an arrow aimed at the Gravekeepers and the Prince. Once he became their limb, it would be impossible to escape their influence.
In the short time it took to blink twice, Huran’s thoughts and those of Arotte overlapped dozens of times in his mind.
Huran opened his mouth.
"I-I apologize, Your Majesty. Please, I beg you to withdraw your words. I am merely a captain of the guard in charge of one district in the capital. Honestly, just standing here in the royal court makes my heart tremble so much I feel like I might die."
"You are even humble."
"Not at all!"
Huran flinched as his vision went white for a moment. He had thought he had shouted "Damn it!" in his heart, but he feared it had slipped out of his mouth instead.
Erdil curled his lips into a pleasant expression and said,
"A man who properly assesses his own capabilities is likely to have a high success rate in carrying out great tasks."
"That is indeed true, Your Majesty."
"Placing you in a royal position is an easy matter, but this is, after all, the High Priest’s recommendation. I ask the High Priest. How would you suggest we proceed?"
Hamses bowed his head and said,
"Although I recommended him, he is still blind to the etiquette and formalities of the royal court. How about we let him learn these first, and then give him the choice?"
"Do you think so?"
"He has no children, but he is a man with a wife. Wouldn't he need a little time to prepare?"
"My, my. Shouldn't you have said that first?"
"I apologize. He is such a rare talent that I was impatient to have you meet him quickly..."
"In any case, you are saying he needs time. Very well. I will grant you a grace period. Think carefully about what you will do. The High Priest will be responsible for reporting to me regarding this man."
"Your grace is boundless, Your Majesty."
From the moment the mention of his family was made, Huran couldn't hear a word. Before that, he had been thinking of historical figures who remained calm even in the presence of the King. And he had been thinking that he would follow in their footsteps.
But that was impossible.
Because they knew.
They knew Huran was married, they knew about his wife...!
‘They’ve taken her hostage!’
Huran bowed his body before the King, trembling. He hoped his shaking would be seen not as terror, but as the humble simplicity of a lowly subject before the throne.
"Then, I shall summon you again at a later date. You may withdraw and return to your duties."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"He seemed like a capable talent."
"Do you think so?"
"Moderately so."
"That is what I observed as well."
After Huran exited, Hamses and Erdil conversed in the royal court. It was a late hour. Both were exhausted, but neither was concerned with the time.
Erdil rubbed his tired eyes with his index finger and thumb and said,
"That fellow is a double-edged sword just by existing. He could highlight the Peanus family’s mistakes, but conversely, he could become the Peanus family’s solution."
Hamses bowed his head in agreement at Erdil’s words. It was exactly as the King said.
"Can you make good use of him?"
"If I couldn't, I wouldn't have continued to use him."
"Right. From what I see, he’s from a family of no standing. And he has a wife?"
"Yes."
"She could serve as a restraint."
Erdil spoke as if he were merely mentioning an object because it happened to be there. Hamses drew a faint arc on his wrinkled face.
"Can you use him to paint the picture we want?"
"I expect it will be possible."
"What I need is not an expectation. It is an affirmation that will not miss the mark. High Priest Hamses."
Realizing he had touched upon the King’s sharp temper, Hamses bowed his body quickly, but not so quickly as to appear hasty.
Last autumn, the kingdom had announced for the first time that a tragic event had occurred due to negligence in the National Soul Festival, and that the head of the Gravekeepers, who had failed to properly oversee the ritual, had been held responsible and imprisoned.
The public expressed concern that a ritual that rarely happened twice in a century, offered to the gods, had been ruined. The King and the Sun Priestesshood were satisfied, thinking the arrows would be pointed entirely at the Gravekeeper family, but the situation flowed a bit differently than expected.
The citizens were viewing the occurrence of such a situation as the King’s fault.
"Everything that never happened in the previous royal family has happened in this generation. In a royal family where there wasn't even an accidental death, the Prince died by accident, and the National Soul Festival ended inadequately? Damn it. This is a punishment from the gods upon the current royal family. It means they aren't pleased with the current King."
It was not difficult to track down and punish those who spread such rumors. But the problem was that such words had already spread. If he were to punish them, the turning public sentiment would be a huge blow to Erdil’s royal family.
That was not what Erdil wanted.
"Because the gods exist, the King of Cellabris is recognized as the master of abundance. But as the Prince fled, the gods began to fall silent. No, perhaps they have disappeared."
"You mean they have gone to the Prince."
"Yes. Therefore, catching the Prince is a necessary task. If the Prince has stolen the gods' whereabouts, catching him would mean we could get the gods back."
He spoke of the gods as if they were objects, but Hamses did not discuss blasphemy. He served the gods, but he also served the King. He decided to point out a different part instead.
"However, Your Majesty. It has already been half a year since the Prince left. The same goes for the period since Arnat Peanus was sent out."
Erdil’s head nodded ever so slightly, understanding Hamses’s words.
To abolish the National Soul Festival, it was necessary above all to weaken the influence of the Peanus family, who had served the royal family and the gods for generations. Therefore, Erdil had planned to pressure the Gravekeeper family by confirming the connection with the gods given to the King, and then faking it.
However, as it happened, he truly had not been able to acquire a connection with the gods. Because of this, Erdil had hurriedly sent soldiers to inspect the tombs of the kings, and that had led to the current situation.
"The stages of the work you were pursuing have become somewhat complicated, but in any case, is there not a major problem with the progress?"
"Why do you think there is no problem?"
"That is..."
The High Priest, who had been about to speak, realized he had thought something wrong. There was a problem. A very clear problem.
Erdil said,
"Do you not know that the fact that it has become somewhat complicated is the problem? High Priest Hamses."
Hamses waited, as if to listen quietly. Erdil continued,
"Originally, I could have pressured the Gravekeeper family with a simple fraud and abolished the National Soul Festival. But now that the Prince has fled and the gods have gone missing, we have effectively cut off the limbs of the Gravekeeper family in a half-baked manner. Since the gods have disappeared, the Essence that sustains the kingdom’s abundance is in a half-baked state. I announced that it was the Gravekeepers' fault because I couldn't make late excuses for the problems that would arise in the future, but in the end, until that damn Gravekeeper brings the Prince back, I have become a King who cannot even converse with the gods."
"Do you understand what this means?"
"...According to your words, the time the Prince returns could also be an opportunity for the Gravekeeper family to turn misfortune into a blessing."
The King’s exhausted face twisted sharply.
"Yes! Damn it! I’ve become a fool! There has never been such a pathetic King among all the past Kings! No matter how much I am the King, the authority of the Gravekeeper family is not something that can be ignored. Because they are a family that has existed to serve the gods!"
Hamses knew that fact better than anyone. Unlike the Sun Priestesshood, an organization maintained within the royal palace of Cellabris, the Peanus family was the only one permitted to maintain its tradition as a single family. Wasn't that the very reason he, who had spent his life in the priesthood, was jealous of the Peanus family?
"I apologize. It was an old man’s slip of the tongue."
Erdil wiped his dry face and spat out,
"Damn my older brother. How could he have made such arrangements?"
Heat, heated by anger, was exhaled from the King’s sighing mouth.
"However. Our goal is not the abolition of the National Soul Festival, is it?"
At Hamses’s words, Erdil glared at the High Priest with low eyes. Erdil thought that he really hated that slippery expression of the High Priest sometimes.
"Yes. That is not the goal. Because what I desire lies beyond that."
"It is a small thought of this old man, Your Majesty. If so, how about trying this?"
"...Do you have an idea?"
"I have merely shaken the before and after slightly."
"I will listen."
Hamses explained.
And Erdil listened.
Having heard the explanation, Erdil thought the proposal was quite decent.
"Very well. As for that side, proceed as you see fit. Use men you can trust."
"Are you sure? If I were to show you who I truly trust, I already did earlier."
He was referring to Huran. The King nodded readily.
"If you brought him and recommended him, it means he is the right person for this task as well. Do as you wish. High Priest."
The High Priest bowed his waist politely and offered a bow.
"Your grace is boundless."
"I am tired. I shall go to bed. You may withdraw."
Soon, the sound of two people’s footsteps fading away was heard in the royal court. When the cry of the ornamental bird preening its feathers in the cage was heard three times, no one remained in the royal court.