Chapter 86
How much time had passed?
With an indifferent expression, Lunaris held the silver-white staff with both hands and gave it a light swing, as if shaking dust off a broom.
-Fwoosh!
The stars scattered in an instant, and the faraway night sky vanished.
The illusion vanished like a lie, and the familiar scenery of the imperial palace returned.
In the silence, as if waking from a dream, Lunaris stared blankly down at Arke in her hand.
The silver-white staff fit her hand as if it had always been hers.
She let out a long, drawn-out breath and murmured calmly.
"Is this how you're supposed to strip off old grime?"
"..."
The First Prince, Kalian, snapped out of his daze and nodded.
"Th-that should be enough, I think."
Something seemed very wrong, though...
Still, by the result, it had practically gone well, so maybe that was okay?
"Then I'll put this back."
With a listless expression, Lunaris set the staff back into the box.
But.
-Humm!
Suddenly, the staff slipped free from Lunaris's grasp and floated up on its own.
Then, as if drawn by a magnet, it flew back to her side.
"...?"
Frowning, Lunaris snatched at the staff hovering beside her.
"Get in."
There was irritation in the rough way she shoved it back into the box.
But Arke was stubborn too.
When Lunaris tried to force it into the box, it held firm, as if refusing to go in.
"Ah, seriously..."
Was it trying to pick a fight?
Lunaris finally put more strength into it and managed to jam the staff into the box.
This time, she didn't just stand by and watch; she slammed the lid down on it and pressed hard with telekinesis.
-Rattle-rattle!
Arke, trapped inside the box, began thrashing wildly.
"What are you doing? It's not tied down."
Lunaris threw out the complaint in an irritated voice toward the knights standing there blankly.
"Ah, yes!"
The knights nearby hurried over, winding chains tightly around the box and locking it.
Lunaris scrawled the rune characters she had memorized after glancing at them earlier.
Only then did the box seem to quiet down.
But the makeshift seal Lunaris had put on it didn't last long.
-Crack! Crrrack!
With the sound of something twisting, the box began to shake violently.
Before the startled knights could even take a step back.
-BOOM!
With a deafening explosion, the box blew apart into pieces.
Even the tightly wound chains snapped helplessly, scattering shards everywhere.
From within the broken wreckage, the silver-white staff floated up leisurely.
As if nothing had happened, it settled quietly beside Lunaris.
What a brazen staff.
"Haah..."
Lunaris sighed as she looked at the shattered remains of the box.
Resigned, she took the staff, nearly as tall as she was, and swung it around a few times.
"Well, it does fit my hand nicely."
Muttering to herself as she looked down at Arke, Lunaris suddenly turned to Prince Kalian.
"Your Highness, is this staff always this unruly?"
Naturally, being the First Prince didn't mean he knew anything about it.
The First Prince hesitated for a moment as though he had nothing to say, then looked at Gerard, the commander of the Imperial Mage Corps.
Gerard stroked his beard and let out a groaning sigh.
"It seems... the Innocent Hunger, Arke, has imprinted itself on Miss Lunaris."
"Imprinted? What's that?"
"...Some relic-grade artifacts have a tendency to choose their own masters."
Gerard cleared his throat and cautiously continued his guess.
"It seems Arke likes you very much."
"I don't really like it, though."
Lunaris replied in disgust.
"For one thing, it's long, so it's annoying to carry around..."
As if it had heard Lunaris's grumbling.
Arke slipped out of her hand and began to spin in midair.
It was as if it were trying to prove with its whole body that it was useful.
"...Anyway, it's just a burden."
Lunaris still looked uninterested.
For now, she felt tremendously annoyed at the fact that she would have to take care of this troublesome thing herself.
No, wait. More importantly, this was an ancient legacy that had been passed down since the very birth of the empire.
If she handled it roughly and broke it, she couldn't even guess how much she'd have to pay to make up for it.
Then Prince Kalian opened his mouth with a smile.
"Lunaris Evermoon."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"We'll have that staff, Arke, lent to you indefinitely."
At those words, discontented voices leaked out from all around.
It was the nobles crying out that it was unthinkable to entrust the empire’s great legacy to just one person.
"Um, how about thinking that over once more?"
Surprising as it was, the one opposing most fiercely was none other than Lunaris.
"I think taking this troublesome thing... no, this national treasure out of the imperial palace is a bit much."
Her voice was filled with annoyance.
The First Prince smiled and shook his head.
"Don't feel too burdened. Arke may be a treasure of the Imperial Family, but it was also a troublesome burden that was hard to manage."
So you're saying you're dumping that headache on me.
Lunaris pouted inwardly and grumbled.
"In the end, isn't the meaning of an artifact to be used?"
"..."
"Arke was purified by your mana, and it seems Arke has chosen you as its master, so there’s no reason not to lend it to you."
"Sigh—fine. I'll take care of it for now, I guess."
Lunaris frowned in displeasure, thought for a moment, then let out a deep sigh and nodded.
"It's a little much to call it a gift in return, but it feels wrong to just take something without giving anything back..."
Leaving Arke floating in the air, Lunaris abruptly approached Prince Kalian, who sat on the throne.
"Your Highness, could you give me your hand for a moment?"
At that, the chamberlain standing nearby was startled.
"How insolent! How dare you try to touch His Highness!"
The chamberlain, horrified, tried to block her path.
"Will this do?"
Yet the First Prince stopped him as if he didn't care at all, and casually held out his gaunt, pale wrist.
"Your Highness! That mage hasn't even had her mana registered..."
"Yes. Could you relax a little?"
Lunaris took the prince's wrist with a calm expression, as if the chamberlain didn't exist.
Closing her eyes, Lunaris began to feel the mana spread like mist within the prince's body.
Soon, soft light bloomed around her hand.
Black, dead-looking threads began to seep out around the First Prince's wrist.
-Humm.
Prince Kalian's eyes widened at the strange sensation.
Something was being drawn out.
The sticky filth that had been flowing through his veins.
The source of the pain stabbing into his lungs.
It was being pulled straight out by Lunaris's hand, which wielded the mana of nature.
"I don't know about other events, but you should avoid coming to gatherings packed with mages like this whenever possible."
"Cough... cough!"
"It's bad for your health."
When coughing burst from Prince Kalian's mouth, the knights were startled and placed their hands on their sword hilts.
They thought Lunaris was harming the First Prince.
But Kalian could tell.
'No blood came up with the cough...'
His body, usually as heavy as soaked cotton, had become as light as a feather.
His blurry, fog-veiled vision cleared, and his blocked airway opened up.
"Much better, right?"
Lunaris asked casually as she took her hand away.
A sticky gray smoke had gathered in a lump at her fingertips.
When she brought the mana residue toward Arke, it sucked it up as if it had been waiting for it.
"What in the..."
Prince Kalian repeatedly clenched and unclenched his hand with an expression of disbelief.
"What... did you do?"
"It was nothing."
Lunaris answered indifferently, brushing dust off her clothes.
"I just pulled out the mana that had built up inside your body like waste."
She snapped her fingers, scattering the remaining handful of natural mana into the air, and said,
"From now on, you should have the imperial mages drain it regularly."
As if she were done with everything she needed to do, Lunaris spun around.
"Then I'll be going now."
And without looking back once, she strode away along the red carpet, leaving the throne behind.
The silver-white Arke trailed after Lunaris like a puppy.
A sight that showed no regard for royalty, nobles, or even the authority of the Archmage.
And yet that arrogant, lofty back was the most Archmage-like thing anyone here had ever seen.
*
The moment I stepped out of the hall, I felt someone following close behind me.
"Wait! Lunaris Evermoon!"
Immediately, a voice calling my name rang out.
Glancing back, I saw some man striding quickly toward me.
Lavish formal attire, an arrogant gait.
At a glance, I figured he was some petty noble.
"Do you have a moment?!"
Naturally, it was a face I didn't know.
What the heck. Who was this guy chasing me? So annoying.
I was just about to pretend I hadn't heard him and keep walking.
-Clang, click.
Behind him, knights in armor were swarming in.
What, why was he dragging around that many knights inside the imperial palace? Wasn't this treason?
I grimaced in disgust, then suddenly saw a familiar face among the knights.
Fidgeting in a plain dress and biting her nails.
And most striking of all, a person with vivid red hair.
It was none other than Senior Miriel.
The moment I saw her, I realized my mistake.
Come to think of it, she had said we’d meet briefly after the knighting ceremony.
With delight at seeing her—more accurately, at finding an excuse to get out of this situation—I waved my hand vigorously.
"Senior Miriel."
"...!"
Miriel, who had been catching her breath, jerked her head up in surprise.
"You said you were introducing someone to me."
"Ah, uh, y-yes..."
Senior Miriel approached me hesitantly.
Her usual confident self was nowhere to be seen; all that was left was a thoroughly wilted senior.
"W-well, actually... the person standing in front of you is..."
Miriel's gaze shifted to the noble young master standing in front of me.
"...the person I was going to introduce you to..."
I narrowed my eyes and looked at the man again.
As if the situation had worked out perfectly for him, he lifted his chin with an arrogant smile.
"That's right, Lady Miriel! Introduce me to Lunaris Evermoon at once!"
"..."
Senior Miriel swallowed dryly, then stood beside me and said in a low, subdued voice,
"Lunaris. This man is... His Highness Valerius Belhardt, the Second Prince of the Belhardt Empire."
"...Huh?"
This guy... no, this man... the Second Prince?