The Golden Branch Castle
In the Golden Branch Castle, the Dragonewt.
Among the beastkin called the Dragonewt, they were further subdivided into lion beastmen, dog beastmen, cat beastmen, and so on. Just as the Dragonewt themselves were divided into two major branches.
One branch was the Dragonewt—small dragons that walked on two legs and bore human features.
The other was the Draconian—humans adorned with horns, tails, and scales.
And the woman before my eyes belonged to the second category.
A Draconian, a Dragonewt in human form.
"Come with me."
Without introducing herself by name, the Draconian ordered us at once to follow her.
Viola and I were in the same branch?
If mages were thorough egomaniacs, as the saying went, then an explorer had to be a mad narcissist as well.
I don’t know whether this Dragonewt was an explorer or not.
Still, as guests we obeyed the host’s command without question.
While following her, I took in the surroundings.
Along the long corridor, doors stood at irregular intervals on either side.
Those must all be labs or dormitories.
Among them were rooms fitted with glass windows so outsiders could see inside, crammed with machines whose purpose was impossible to guess.
The Dragonewt’s workshop lay at the far end of the corridor, directly in front of the door we had first exited the elevator to see.
I quickly realized her title.
Designating the innermost room as her office meant she was the head of that department.
One of the eight branches that made up the Golden Branch Castle.
And the head of one branch was this very Dragonewt.
"Sit."
Alchemy was not even required.
In the workshop, the same strange machines I had glimpsed through the glass window boiled, froze, and shook as they carried out incomprehensible processes.
Even by mana standards, there was nothing particularly remarkable about it.
"What is that?"
The question slipped out before I could stop it.
Running into a mad narcissist so often must have rubbed off on me.
Just as I was trying to voice the question, the Dragonewt surprised me by answering plainly.
"A humidifier."
"...Is that it?"
It boiled and froze.
"The ice is for storage. I don’t want to bother grinding it myself."
...That made sense.
"Excuse me, teacher, may I ask you to introduce yourself..."
Unable to hold back any longer, Leaf took the lead.
By making Leaf move, wasn’t he perhaps correcting Leaf’s habit of hiding her face, as a master who meant to correct it?
"You still haven’t told me?"
"Introductions are my job."
"Hmm, fair enough."
At Leaf’s dutiful reply, the Dragonewt pulled something from her pocket and placed it in her mouth.
Then she snapped her fingers, and with a sharp crack a flame ignited on the object in her mouth.
"Sigh... ahh..."
Smoke filled the room.
I winced and turned my head, but the smell was surprisingly not bad.
It was tobacco, pure and simple.
Rather than disgust, I felt a sudden refreshing clarity spread through my mind.
In the cleared space of my thoughts, the Dragonewt’s voice rang out.
"I am Costin Balaur."
"Roman Sun."
"I know."
After that curt exchange, Costin took another draw and spoke without warning.
"Quintessentia types would approve."
"Quintessentia?"
What did alchemy have to do with that?
At my puzzled reaction, Leaf whispered from the side.
"One of the branches of the Golden Branch Castle."
"The official branch name is Adepti Quintae Essentiae. Those who obtain the fifth element. They seek to create entirely new substances that never existed before, so they are deeply interested even in demons, who exist beyond the other four elements."
With a profound, explanatory air, Costin continued.
"By contrast, we on this side do not favor demons."
Had he arranged that conversation just to say this?
Costin looked at me with a face heavy with displeasure.
"Leaf, you’re getting close."
"Eh, yes."
Although Leaf pulled back, Costin was not satisfied and grabbed her by the collar, lifting her and seating her right beside him.
"Good."
"Teacher?"
"Anyway, I’ve heard your story. A demonologist and a lion beastman."
As Costin’s gaze shifted from me to Ray, he made a thoughtful humming sound.
The look scanning Ray from ears to toes carried a strangely dense weight.
Enough to make the lion beastman shudder and tremble.
"This side... is more than I expected."
"W-what?"
"Excellent. Not fully mature yet, but the potential rivals Leaf’s. The upper half is underdeveloped, but the lower half is nearly perfect even now."
The look was so blatantly appraising that it turned his words into a body assessment.
Yet there was no lust in Costin’s eyes.
Instead, he examined us like a critic facing a masterpiece.
Even so, the feeling on the receiving end was another matter entirely.
"Ugh...! What are you saying!"
Ray shot to her feet and shouted.
Costin didn’t even twitch an eyebrow and kept going with his evaluation.
"I like your spirit... but you’re weak."
"Huh?"
"At best, Senior rank. Considering potential, you could reach Expert in no time, but not yet. The same goes for the demonologist beside you. You seem to have contracted with a high-ranking demon, but your own skill is at best Regular. Before you can use demonology to wipe out your enemies, you’ll fall first."
Costin’s assessment was merciless.
No, perhaps he was actually giving us a high rating?
No matter how you looked at it, Ray and I were still Novice-level explorers.
If he was comparing Ray to Senior and me to Regular without any bias, then his analysis was coldly objective.
One flaw remained.
Costin’s evaluation was rooted in the limited experience of only one man: Costin Balaur.
Demonology leading to self-destruction?
That didn’t apply to me.
"If you think that, then I’m disappointed on this side."
If I hadn’t met Viola before meeting Costin, I might have been cowed by his aura.
After all, I had seen a living disaster in Viola.
Even though Viola had withdrawn at Arthur’s urging to mention the demonologist’s handicap, she had first recognized me as a worthy opponent.
A Pioneer facing a Novice.
At the very least, she had learned more from me than Costin ever would.
Whether by experience or intuition.
Regardless, the clear fact was this:
Costin was inferior to Viola.
"I was expecting something from the head of a Golden Branch Castle branch, but with this I doubt I’ll get what I want."
Costin’s expression grew even more neutral at my provocation.
It wasn’t from anger; it was a genuine change of thought.
Statements like this were already familiar to him.
"If it’s provocation, then it’s weak."
"It is. But it was sincere."
Costin stared at me in silence.
"Sincere?"
At Costin’s scoff, I replied.
"You don’t know the weight of Leaf’s secret."
"No. I do know."
It was something I understood best of all.
If my secret—that I was a demonologist who paid no price and could freely use real-space magic—were publicly revealed, I would become the hunted one.
Demonology without payment was the closest thing to omnipotence.
I didn’t need to expend my own mana, nor did I have to calculate and build complex mana circles.
Honestly, I had been lucky.
Even now that I could walk like this, it was because of good fortune.
There was effort involved.
I believed it enough to maintain the alliances I had carefully built through connections, and they honored those bonds.
I still thought it was sheer luck.
If discovered, I would suffer the same fate as those elves who chased my power, just as elves chased the high elves.
In that sense, we were all kindred souls.
Whether we wanted to be or not.
Our team consisted of people all pursued by something.
"It’s for you."
Leaf had been taken from him to be protected.
When you became the head of a Golden Branch Castle branch, protecting one person like Leaf was nothing.
One of the eight riders who moved the massive group that was the Golden Branch Castle.
No matter how much the elves caused a commotion, the Golden Branch Castle could seal itself behind a giant wall and hold out.
Attacking the Golden Branch Castle was the same as turning the entire city into your enemy.
"If I refuse, I’ll have to check whether you have the right to refuse."
Costin ground out the cigarette, then picked up something from beside the humidifier he had called.
"A mana constrictor."
Even the name told me exactly what the device was for.
"After all that, you won’t back down out of fear?"
The two spots on the mana constrictor where mana was supposed to be inserted looked like places for a kind of mana tug-of-war.
I laughed.
If that was the case, then he had no confidence.
No conviction.
I reached out without hesitation and touched the mana constrictor.
"By the way, Branch Head Costin, what is your relationship with Leaf?"
"You don’t know?"
Leaf hadn’t mentioned it.
She had only said she was being trained by the teacher.
"Sisters. My mother and I are sisters."
Sisters?
Leaf’s mother was human.
That was a fact beyond dispute.
Yet Costin, a Draconian, was her sister?
The realization that struck me at that moment was sharper than disbelief.
Cordelia had written it in the book she left behind.
For my sister.
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