Chapter 32
0.
The Imperial Palace banquet hall.
Why, I remember there being a saying like that.
If someone with two eyes enters a one-eyed village.
They say that person is abnormal.
And I…
[Compatibility][3.5/40]
[Explosive energy is accumulating in the body, with a possibility of permanent organ damage]
[Compatibility][9/60]
[It is slowly eating away at the wearer’s mana. Prolonged wear causes debilitation.]
[Compatibility][2/40]
[Uncontrolled magical power is currently eroding the wearer’s mind.]
[Compatibility][4/40]
[Multiple magical power interference detected. It is eating away at the wearer’s lifespan.]
“For fuck’s sake….”
It just had to have ten eyes.
1.
“…This can’t be happening.”
I was thirteen years old.
I applied wax, put on perfume, donned uncomfortable clothes, and climbed into the carriage.
I was going to be carried all the way to the Imperial Palace dressed like this, unable to move.
“……”
Just give me stockings and powder instead of this!!
I want to enchant something. My hands are itching.
I asked Doloris if she could get me some extra powder, but.
She unexpectedly wore a slightly troubled expression and carefully explained.
Since the powder itself was an item with no real use outside of Dwarf Company.
Because demand was so limited….
Dwarf Company controlled most of the supply chain, from production to distribution.
So she said she would scrape up as much as possible from what was available on the market for now.
It wasn’t difficult to obtain, but it felt like I couldn’t acquire it in bulk the way I could ore.
And most importantly.
‘Buying in bulk carries the risk of being tracked.’
People would inevitably wonder why I was buying it.
By ordinary standards, it was just useless powder.
“……Then we can just buy the raw materials instead.”
Couldn’t I buy the raw materials and simply make the powder myself?
“What’s the raw material for the powder?”
[The basic raw material for Enchantment Dust is mana crystals.]
[Dwarf Company divides them in an ‘appropriate’ ratio and makes the powder.]
[It seems no one is curious, since even if they had the powder, they couldn’t enchant anything.]
“Is there a recipe? In the Sun Dwarf documents.”
[Just a moment]
[Oh? There is?]
[Complete Guide to the ‘Enchantment Dust’ Formula]
[But this says it’s an article for the descendant of fire.]
Despite having no expectations, Yuna brought back some information.
Enchantment Dust?
It probably meant that powder.
It was an article for the descendant of fire, so why hadn’t I seen it until now?
[Because we didn’t search for Enchantment Dust…?]
Right. You needed to know the name to search for it.
Be that as it may.
“What the—if this is the case….”
It seemed like the problem might be easier to solve than expected.
I opened the document and checked its contents.
However, the first part of the document contained something I had never expected.
[The representative descendant of fire of the current age oversees and coordinates the quality and supply of Enchantment Dust.]
What?
[Descendants of fire and enchanters have a mutually complementary, yet simultaneously mutually checking relationship.]
[When an enchanter’s enchantment destroys equipment, demand for blacksmiths increases accordingly, but…]
[If they make Enchantment Dust of such high quality that highly enhanced equipment becomes common, demand for equipment itself decreases instead.]
[The descendant of fire must appropriately regulate the quantity and quality of this Enchantment Dust.]
I had no idea.
I thought Enchantment Dust was a reward from some dungeon.
But it wasn’t.
Originally, it was a manufactured product whose production was regulated by quantity.
Even the quantity and quality were controlled by the descendant of fire.
Hey.
Then who was the current descendant of fire?
“It’s me.”
Then, as the representative descendant of fire, allow me to make a solemn declaration.
“Supply Lionel with one hundred percent of the stock.”
It was just then that I established a flawless and strict supply law of my own.
“Sorry to keep you waiting?”
Doloris and Ruby got into the carriage, dressed up beautifully.
I involuntarily widened my eyes slightly.
Doloris normally dressed beautifully, but seeing her dressed so formally was dazzling.
Ruby, too, was definitely the type I could recognize at a glance.
‘A beauty in the making.’
She’ll be beautiful when she grows up. She’ll probably be popular.
She sat beside me and glanced at me repeatedly.
“You’re kind of cute today, huh?”
I said it casually.
“…W-What? All of a sudden…!”
Ruby sharply turned her head, her face bright red.
What do you mean, what? I’m complimenting you.
They said it was a little farther than Henrick’s smithy, which we had visited last time.
Maybe I could just lose consciousness for a little while.
Carriage motion sickness really sucked.
This world apparently had no concept of suspension.
Well, looking for suspension in a carriage was funny too.
While hovering between life and death, Doloris calmly explained the imperial family to me.
Things like the structure of the Imperial Family and its members.
Ruby seemed to know all about it, but I knew absolutely nothing.
“The Crown Prince is beneath His Majesty in the Imperial Family. Then there’s the Imperial Prince, and the twin Imperial Prince and Princess.”
Four children in total.
Today was the twins’ birthday.
Since I had never encountered the concept of an emperor outside of fantasy novels, I was a little excited.
After I had spent about an hour hovering between life and death in the carriage.
“…Lionel, you’re motion-sick.”
Doloris looked at me sympathetically.
“…Come here. Rest your head on my lap.”
“No, I’m fi—”
“I’m not okay with this.”
Unable to refuse, I obediently laid my head on Doloris’s lap.
- Sliiide.
Ruby seemed more mature than me.
Please stay mature from now on too, so I won’t have to lie on your lap.
Just as I closed my eyes, intending to lie down for only five minutes.
“…Huh?”
When I came to my senses and opened my eyes, the carriage had already passed through the Imperial Palace.
It wasn’t anything else—Doloris’s thighs were simply magical. Seriously.
My motion sickness had completely vanished.
“I didn’t know I’d sleep this long….”
I sprang up and apologized to Doloris.
Her thigh must have gone numb.
“I’m sorry… Your leg’s numb, right?”
“Hehe… I enjoyed it. It also reminded me of Ruby when she was younger.”
She stroked my head and smiled gently.
Just as I witnessed Doloris’s ocean-like generosity.
- Rumble.
The carriage stopped.
No sooner had the door opened.
The people waiting in front of the Imperial Palace, apparently attendants, all bowed in unison.
“We welcome Duchess Doloris.”
Oh.
The treatment was definitely different.
Doloris elegantly got down first, followed by Ruby and me, holding hands.
Once we got off the carriage, the sun had already begun to set.
With our backs to the sunset, a massive banquet hall came into view.
It seemed the banquet had not yet begun.
[…But this is kind of fascinating]
What is?
[Normally, a high-ranking noble like a duke waits until all the other guests have arrived and deliberately makes a late entrance.]
[The later they appear, the higher their status is taken to be.]
Unlike Yuna’s explanation, carriages continued to trundle in behind Doloris.
That meant she was far from the last to arrive.
Real pros don’t show off, right? Isn’t it the empty cart that makes the most noise?
I glanced up at her as she walked ahead.
Her figure, bathed in the sunset, looked even more magnificent today.
Ruby and I each took one of Doloris’s hands and climbed the stairs.
- Click, click.
As the three of us appeared beyond the banquet hall’s doors, which stood wide open.
“Her Grace Duchess Doloris is entering!”
The doorkeeper’s voice echoed through the hall.
Many nobles had already arrived in the hall.
At that moment, countless gazes that had been engaged in conversation….
All turned toward us.
More precisely, they seemed to be focused on me.
Ruby’s face was probably already well known.
But as I faced all those gazes, I felt that something was strange.
Something’s weird.
The clothing of the people in the banquet hall had an odd sense of dissonance….
Every last one of them was flashy as hell.
Glittering jewels and armor—no matter how I looked at it, they were far too grand to be considered banquet attire.
They looked like outfits straight out of a fantasy.
They were completely different from Doloris, who was wearing stockings, gloves, and a single pretty dress.
Still, she was a duke, so what was going on?
- Swish.
Then, from ahead.
A middle-aged man with quite a large belly approached us with an arrogant stride.
“……Who might this be? If it isn’t Her Grace Duchess Doloris.”
His chest was covered in an ostentatious collection of medals.
His flesh and clothing bulged out between the pieces of armor. Could this man even breathe properly?
And among them.
The necklace he was wearing caught my eye.
─────────────────
[Fancy Duke’s Feather Necklace][★☆☆☆☆]
[Compatibility][1/40]
─────────────────
[An ornament worn out of vanity. It is of no help in any way.]
[A pearl necklace on a pig’s neck]
─────────────────
『Those who devote themselves to adorning their exterior fail to notice that their interior is empty.』
─────────────────
What caught my eye was.
A necklace with a compatibility of 1.
What was this irritatingly ill-fitting necklace?
I wasn’t joking—I felt like my eyes were rotting just from looking at its compatibility.
It looked incredibly expensive on the outside.
“It is an honor to meet Your Grace.”
“…Count Valmon.”
Doloris replied curtly.
She didn’t seem particularly pleased. I knew that from my lessons with Doloris.
Her expression appeared calm, but her eyes and the corners of her mouth had lowered ever so slightly.
She was quite displeased right now.
Doloris’s enemies were my enemies.
I stared intently upward.
The greeting ended more anticlimactically than expected.
[It seems to be an act of establishing one’s position by greeting the highest-ranking person in the banquet hall, excluding the emperor, first.]
That was Yuna the psychological analyst’s judgment.
She must have been in quite a hurry.
We followed Doloris deep into the hall.
Her assigned seat was, as expected, directly below the head table.
In other words, right in front of today’s protagonists—the royal family.
It was one of the highest-status seats in this enormous hall.
Just as we settled into our seats.
- Swish.
- Swish.
Nobles came endlessly to greet Doloris, as if lining up.
“We welcome Your Grace.”
“It’s been a long time, Your Grace.”
Each time, Ruby and I bobbed our heads like greeting robots.
“Hello, yes, hello. Hello….”
At this point, I could more or less understand why Doloris had brought me here.
Perhaps she wanted to make it clear to everyone whose protection I was under.
“……”
But there was one thing I simply couldn’t understand.
Other than Doloris.
Yeah.
This was all well and good.
But why on earth did people who were supposedly great nobles.
‘All have such crappy equipment?’
- Swish.
The marquis who came to greet us.
[Compatibility][5/40]
- Swish.
The viscount who followed him.
[Compatibility][6.9/60]
What was this? Had they coordinated as a group or something?
They all had one or two stars because they were nobles, but their compatibility was complete garbage.
I didn’t know if it was an occupational disease, but seeing compatibility that terrible made me feel like vomiting.
I was a blacksmith through and through.
After suffering the double hardship of the endless greetings and the eye-rotting compatibility scores.
Eventually, a brief respite arrived.
Taking advantage of a lull in the crowd.
I subtly asked Doloris, who was sitting beside me.
“……Um, Lady Doloris.”
“Hmm? Lionel, are you having a hard time?”
“No, it’s not that….”
I gestured toward the entire banquet hall.
“…Why is everyone here wearing all those pieces of equipment dangling all over them?”
Why were they covering their entire bodies in heavy magical equipment when they could simply wear a dress or suit comfortably?
If they were going to wear it, they could at least wear it properly.
At my question, Doloris looked down at me for a moment, then smiled faintly.
“You’re curious about that, Lionel?”
“Yes.”
Honestly, I wasn’t particularly interested in anything else.
Originally, I had been thinking about nothing but Enchantment Powder, but seeing their getups had left me quite bewildered.
“It’s a kind of culture.”
“Culture?”
“Yes.”
Doloris slowly looked around the hall.
“At some point, how high one climbed the tower became the measure of a family’s status in this world.
“Ah….”
“The higher you climb, the stronger the equipment you need, and good equipment symbolizes the family’s wealth and capabilities.”
Doloris’s voice lowered slightly.
“It’s a form of display. Our family has climbers this strong and wealth this great.”
“Aha.”
I understood perfectly.
Basically, it was showing off, but it was also a symbol they couldn’t give up.
In that sense, wasn’t Doloris really cool?
A high ranker had no need to wear equipment.
Though she had stopped climbing, her epithet remained.
Wasn’t that true status?
Just as I secretly became absorbed in praising Mommy.
- Boom, boom, boom.
It was precisely then.
Drumbeats rang out from the far side of the hall.
- Murmur, murmur.
The nobles who had been chatting all closed their mouths at once.
Then, as if by prior agreement.
- Swish.
They all turned toward the head table at the back of the hall.
Given the flow of events, this was…
“Lionel, it’s beginning.”
Doloris whispered softly.
“It’s time for His Majesty to dine.”
- Swish.
Soon, the large doors beyond the head table slowly opened.
And.
“His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor, is entering!”
Along with the doorkeeper’s booming voice, a man emerged through the doors.
He walked with a dignified gait.
A golden crown rested on his head, and an air of considerable nobility radiated from him.
I never thought I’d live to see an emperor with my own eyes.
Soon after the emperor, a beautiful woman stood beside him.
She seemed to be the empress.
[For reference, Oppa, that lady is his third wife.]
…Third?
- Flinch.
Yuna, the goddess of gossip, relayed the information to me.
I unintentionally looked at the emperor again.
So this was what it meant to be at the top? Three wives, wow.
While I was admiring something pointless.
Following the imperial couple, two people entered the hall side by side at the very end.
Those two were today’s protagonists—the twin Imperial Prince and Princess, presumably.
I shifted my gaze to them.
‘…Hmm.’
Honestly, it was a little unexpected.
Both of them somehow looked a little frail.
Their complexions were pallid, and there was something precarious about them.
The prince in particular looked a few years older than me, but his complexion was extremely pale.
Was he ill?
Just as I tilted my head in puzzlement.
- Swish.
The necklace around the prince’s neck caught my eye.
─────────────────
[Essence Necklace of Moonlight][★★★★☆]
[Unique Equipment] [Compatibility][0/80]
─────────────────
『May the Moon Goddess caress you with Her benevolent hand.
May that blessing be eternal….』
── In the name of the Moon Goddess, Celea ──
─────────────────
[Restores the wearer by the amount of moonlight essence.]
[When the essence is depleted, it instead siphons the wearer’s vitality until the essence is full.]
[The siphoning of vitality has no limit.]
─────────────────
At a glance, it looked like an extremely good piece of equipment.
However, the final line was the key.
The siphoning of vitality had no limit?
Wh-what did that mean? Wouldn’t he die?
“……Fuck?”
I involuntarily cursed in a low, quiet voice.
No one seemed to hear me, but.
- Tap.
“Good language.”
Only Doloris heard my voice.
She gently touched my lips and scolded me.