Chapter 42
A hideout of the Blood Kin in a cave deep in the South.
Inside that cave, hidden from human eyes, was a vast space whose existence could not be known from outside.
And there, all the Blood Kin in the South had gathered.
Before dozens of Blood Kin, ‘Kir,’ the captain of the southern Blood Kin unit ‘Valharim,’ stood and spoke.
“The South has stabilized.“
Their mission had been to create chaos in the southern region of the Empire.
To that end, they had assassinated countless lords and nobles and contacted slaves and free people who could become rebels, lending them their strength.
According to their plan, the South should have been in tremendous chaos.
There was ‘Dreihart, the Slave City,’ where the slaves' anger had accumulated, and ‘Ryan, the Military City,’ which had suffered for over ten years.
By merely stoking the anger of the residents in these two places and inciting a rebellion, they could have created enough chaos for tens of thousands to die over several years.
But the South had stabilized far too quickly.
The reason was one particular lord.
”Calix's abilities surpassed our imagination.“
It was all because of ‘Calix,’ the lord of Kron, who was called the Silver Dragon of Kron.
He had governed benevolently not only over his own subjects but also over the free people who immigrated there, and by subduing Dreihart and Ryan, he had stabilized the situation in the South, which could easily have turned into a proxy war between the Imperial Prince and Imperial Princess.
With the situation as it was, it had also become difficult for the Blood Kin to carry out assassinations.
Once things became politically stable, killing a lord would cause no chaos at all.
No, rather, more and more people were asking Kron for help, hoping that their own cities would be made like Kron and Dreihart.
”It is my fault for letting my guard down! The price for ruining the sacred mission—I will pay it with my life!!“
Yan, Kir's subordinate, drew a dagger and held it to his own neck as he spoke.
Kir had judged early on that leaving Calix alive would interfere with their sacred mission.
So far, they had attempted to assassinate Calix twice.
The first time had been when he had only just begun showing his abilities.
At that time, Calix was one of the lords who posed a threat in the future, so they sent a single squad.
Although it was a small squad of three, they were skilled enough for Kir to acknowledge their abilities.
But Calix butchered them himself with a paring knife, revealing another one of his abilities.
Thinking they had failed because they had misjudged his combat ability, Kir prepared more thoroughly the next time.
He attacked Calix using evil-spirit summoning, which physical attacks could not affect.
They contacted the fallen nobles of Dreihart who harbored resentment toward Calix.
Then they subtly provided them with dark-magic scrolls and induced them to kill Calix.
They had judged that evil spirits unaffected by physical attacks would be more than capable of killing Calix.
But this attempt also ended in failure.
The evil spirits had been purified by the power of the moon.
As he stopped Yan from taking his own life, Kir said,
”No one could have expected a mere lord to possess the power of the moon. Do not blame yourself, Yan.“
The power of the moon, which could purify unclean beings such as evil spirits, was the natural enemy of spirit summoning.
Kir could not help but be horrified that Calix possessed such power as well.
Calix's existence seemed as if he had been born to interfere with their mission, and Kir judged that they needed to steel themselves.
For the sake of their sacred mission, Calix was someone who absolutely had to be eliminated.
“There is nowhere left for us to retreat.”
Kir looked at the Blood Kin gathered in the hideout and spoke.
The Blood Kin belonging to Valharim focused on their captain's words.
In the dark cave, faintly illuminated by moonlight, Kir said,
“To create chaos in the southern region, we must eliminate Calix.”
Every Blood Kin present agreed with Kir's words.
They were field operatives who had come into contact with the people of the Empire more than anyone else in order to gauge public sentiment.
They knew better than anyone how the people felt about Calix—and thus how dangerous he was.
“Even if we have to stake all our lives, this time we will eliminate Calix without fail.”
[ “Yes!!!” ]
They answered Kir.
Calix's life was valuable enough to warrant staking the lives of every member of Valharim.
“Everything for the sacred mission.”
[ “For the sacred mission!!” ]
The Blood Kin's conspiracy echoed through the cave.
Another crisis was approaching Calix.
* * *
Shiver-!
As a sudden chill ran down my spine in the carriage, I looked behind me.
Naturally, there was nothing there, and Rana spoke when she saw my strange behavior.
“Are you all right, my lord?”
“Ah… It is nothing, Rana.”
Lately, I had kept feeling chills run down my spine.
What was going on? It was strange, considering I had not even done anything wrong.
While I was thinking that, Azel, who was riding outside and escorting the carriage, spoke to me.
“My lord, they say we will arrive at House Sila soon.”
“All right, I understand.”
Some time ago, I received a letter.
It was a letter from Lord Jeras, saying that he wanted to invite me to House Sila.
He said the purpose was business and expressing his gratitude for my saving his life by sending Rikain to Dreihart last time, but I thought he had invited me because he was happy that I had dealt with Hadem.
Since the head of another house had formally invited me and there was no particular reason for me not to go, I accepted Jeras's invitation.
A short while later, a procession bearing the Kron family's flag arrived at the gates of Sila.
When the gates opened, Lord Jeras Sila was waiting personally at the main entrance.
Wearing a blue silk robe and refined metal epaulets, he had polished his trademark brown mustache until it gleamed and was waiting for us.
“Welcome, Lord Calix!!”
“Thank you for the warm welcome, Lord Jeras.”
Jeras spread both arms and welcomed us warmly.
Seeing the many soldiers and servants who had come out with Lord Jeras, it seemed that everyone in House Sila had turned out.
“This is only natural when welcoming the hero who struck down the Empire's great villain. Ho ho ho!“
“Ha ha ha, it is all thanks to my outstanding retainers.“
“Humble as well—truly, you are a hero. Ho ho ho!”
It's true…
Jeras's laughter reminded me of a good-natured company president from a firm I used to do business with who suddenly acted incredibly close to me.
We had not been particularly close, but he had never crossed the line, so we had maintained ties for a very long time.
In my experience, people like that were not bad to do business with.
We were escorted to the banquet hall.
The banquet hall of Sila Castle had a transparent crystal embedded in the ceiling, engraved with a magic circle.
Perhaps because of the magic circle's effect, a breeze that always held a chill flowed from it, while magic-tool candles designed not to flicker in the wind softly illuminated the room.
In addition, ornate bows, swords, and spears hung on the walls.
In short, it was an extremely lavish room.
At the banquet held just for Lord Jeras and me, a maid poured us wine.
It was ‘Lucas Drot,’ a wine made from silver grapes that grew only in the North.
According to Calix's memories, it was an extremely expensive wine.
Jeras lifted his wineglass and said with a pleased smile,
“I specially ordered today's ‘dinner’ from the chef.”
At Jeras's signal, the dishes began to arrive.
The table was neatly laid with Sila specialties such as ‘Red Mountain Goat Cheese,’ ‘Spice-Infused Roast Rabbit,’ and ‘Rock Apple Tart,’ among others.
“This is our Sila specialty goat cheese and roast rabbit seasoned with Dreihart spices and Kron salt. Does it not seem to represent the prosperity of our domains? Ho ho ho!”
“Yes, I suppose it does. Ha ha ha.”
Thus, the banquet began.
And I felt it once again. As expected, I… have a kid's palate.
I found the cheap drinks and food we had enjoyed at the tavern with everyone last week much tastier than this expensive fare.
Ah! Of course, that did not mean it tasted bad.
Every dish Lord Jeras had prepared had a refined flavor, and it truly let me experience what high-class food in another world was like.
It simply was not to my taste.
After we lightly discussed a few practical matters over the banquet and I received a second glass of wine, Lord Jeras suddenly spoke.
“Come to think of it… Lord Calix, did you sleep with the Imperial Princess's gift?”
“Cough!! Wh…why are you suddenly asking that…“
The maids had withdrawn so that the two lords could converse, but Jeras's sudden direct question nearly made me spit out my wine.
Jeras spoke with a serious expression.
”I did!“
Jeras's eyes shone more brightly than ever as he spoke.
That did not seem like something worth bragging about… Was I being too modern in my sense of propriety?
“The moment I met Ain, I felt it. I knew that she was the other half I had been waiting and waiting for!”
”I…I see. Belated congratulations, Lord Jeras.“
From what I heard, Lord Jeras had made Ain, the maid he had received as a gift from the Imperial Princess, his principal wife.
The beginning had not been ideal, but since it was pure love, I offered my blessing to their relationship.
”Nonsense. Surely, the moment you saw the Imperial Princess's gift, Lord Calix, you felt something similar to what I did.“
I recalled the moment I first met Rana.
Rana had certainly felt like fate to me.
My favorite character from my past life had appeared right before my eyes. If I had not felt a sense of destiny, I would have had to be impotent.
I could somewhat empathize with what Lord Jeras was saying.
”I think I understand what you mean, Lord Jeras.“
But I could not act as I pleased.
If I mishandled things with my lower half, I could become entangled in an unimaginable event and ultimately die. That was the world of 『World Archive』.
Besides, when I thought about the dark future that was gradually approaching… I simply could not fall in love with anyone right now.
“But I have things I must do. Until then, I probably will not be able to live freely.“
”I see… Lord Calix… I understand. At our station, even love cannot be free.“
Lord Jeras said that and set down his wineglass.
Then he approached the door opposite the one through which I had entered.
“In that sense, Lord Calix, I have brought someone who can give you strength.”
“Someone who can give me strength?”
With those words, Lord Jeras opened the door.
There stood a woman whom Calix and I had each seen exactly once.
Her black hair shone more brightly than obsidian, and she had calm, warm brown skin like the light of dawn in the desert. Wearing a golden dress, she entered the banquet hall with Jeras's guidance.
She was 『Selenia Lily Novarens』
The Second Imperial Princess of the Novarens Empire.
“Hello! Calix, we finally meet.“
“P-Princess Imperial!!”
A person of exalted status had suddenly descended upon us.