230Chapter 111: it's crowded inside~!
Middle Earth Month, 14th Day, 600 AGG
Min-eun wasn't a stranger to camping outdoors. Hells, that was most of her childhood, and being stuck in a forest beside a cute brook was waaay better than out on the streets. It wasn't even that chilly for autumn!
"Hey, hey~ Are you done yet?"
Though of course, that wouldn't be the case if she were by her lonesome.
"Can't you go back to sleep?" The wiry blond grunted, ignoring the finger poking his face as he continued stirring the simmering pot set above a small fire. "Occupy yourself with the many activities available to us?"
"No way!" She crossed her arms in an 'X' and shook her head, crimson braids swaying back and forth with the motion. Doing her hair the way she liked it—two braids forming a loop kept together with golden ribbons, and another pair of thinner ones left hanging down—took too damn long.
It was a variation of a style that'd grown popular when Sword Saint Gladesinger visited the Kepesk Empire about thirty years prior, and Min-eun had zero clue how the elf managed to wrangle together the original. "This is more fun. Watching you act all moody, I mean."
"If this is about two days ago, I don't want to hear anything," Cael Ivor grouched. "You were equally as bad, Sister Gyeon."
"Big talk coming from the guy who couldn't open his mouth at all," harassing her colleague and fellow disciple and the guy doing most of the survivalist stuff on this two-people trip was bad form, but teasing Cael was a habit at this point. An important daily ritual for the sake of her—ahem, both of their entertainment! "Was a 'Oi'm dewing awwight' too much fwuh widdle baby?"
"Please refrain from that sort of childishness," Cael's blush betrayed the depths of his indignation. "Rather than insulting me, aren't you the weird one for getting along with her so easily? If you erred, we'd be in the dragon's maw right now, do you understand that?"
If this, if that, hearing the same thing all the time got real tiring. Nothing to be done, probably and Master would tan her hide if she beat the crap outta him.
"Mehhh~ That's why Master sent me and not Eun-chae," Min-eun withdrew a wooden spoon from 'neath her gray outer robes and spooned out some of the thick porridge. Her companion pulled a disgusted face, settling for shaking his head instead of telling her off. Boo, no fun. " 'Cause I'm so friendly and lovable!"
"Very funny. Aren't you still upset about that loss to Sister Jeon the last time you two sparred?" She blew on the hot gruel; even as a Monk who'd reached the Third Step, where individuals became one-lady armies, the insides of her mouth weren't reinforced to comfortably handle food right off the fire. "No, now that I mention it, it was heartening actually, seeing you get punched through the walls—"
Min-eun glared, shutting Cael's mouth. "I'm gonna punch you through a wall."
"What a shame there isn't a wall around," seriously, sleep with a guy a few times and it was like they'd forget how to stay quiet. "In all honesty, conceding to Green Dragon doesn't reflect poorly on you."
"I wasn't using my staff!" She protested while rattling Gathering Clouds. The tassels and talismans attached to the head of the light-blue staff waved around with the motion, the masterpiece of mithril and Fallen Heaven Stone catching the light of the early morning rays. "And Eun-chae fights with her fists, so it was obviously unfair."
"You're the one who agreed on an unarmed session," guh… that was maybe true. "Sister Jeon wasn't using her gauntlets either."
"A-And so what?!" Min-eun jumped to her feet. "Doesn't change that she's better at unarmed!"
"I don't remember you saying that then," Cael taste-tested the soup. "Or the other spars before that one. Mm, Breakfast is ready."
She squatted back down with a sulk, butt resting against heels, and accepted a roughly carved wooden bowl filled with steaming food from the blond.
"Is it that important to win?" He doled out a portion for himself. "She's a fellow disciple too, you know?"
"Duh," Min-eun stirred the mixture with her spoon. Some chunks of meat from a lizard monster she'd accidentally kicked to death in a panic—hopefully that didn't count as poaching—eggs from the family who had hosted them for a night, and nuts Cael foraged from the forest they were currently camping in. "Losing still feels bad though, so I'd rather not."
"Some of us have better things to do than pick fights all the time," Cael snarked. She rolled her eyes and grunted, mouth full of food. "Perhaps spend a couple hours in meditation, learn how to use your ki better…"
"I'm literally a better ki user than you," Min-eun jabbed the spoon in his direction. "How'd you feel if I started yapping about the best way to make medicine?"
"Laugh, probably," this guy. "Someone like Sister Gyeon treating patients would be… hooo…"
'You're lucky I'm holding stuff right now…'
Whatever. More important things at hand and blah blah blah.
"We're still being watched?" Min-eun shifted her weight a little, gray outer robes rustling with the motion. "That 'Cherubim Gatekeeper.' "
"It's still there," Cael confirmed. "Last I saw the summon, it was hovering above the trees, maybe a hundred or so meters away. The action doesn't quite match with my impression of her."
Talking about Yuriko and her summons behind her back was—hrm, she figured it'd be fine. Talking openly, to a degree, tended to foster feelings of trust.
"I don't think she's the one who gave it the order to watch us," their personality didn't strike her as the type to do that. Though in that case, who would be trusted with so much authority? "Pretty sure it's her girlfriend. She would've heard about us from Yuriko."
"The Dark Scale Dragon Lord…" Cael murmured with a contemplative air. "I'm aware that's what the people of this land believe, but they also say her appearance is one of a little girl's."
"I dunno. Sounded plenty scary from the way the beastmen talk about her."
"Yet they align in affirming that this Queen Oriculus is a human. Besides, would a Dragon Lord suffer the difficulties this kingdom is said to have withstood?"
In her very humble opinion, she figured the Vahasi Republic could've taken down a careless Dragon Lord with a pinch of luck, but that clearly wasn't the case here. "Maybe? Dragons think weird. I mean, look at Master. There's a couple times where she blanks out and stares at a table or wall for almost the whole day."
"Master Hoshinari isn't a dragon."
"You get the idea," she dismissed his rebuttal. "Either way, we'll figure it out when we see her. Yuriko wanted to introduce us, and Queenie's busy being a peeper too, so I'm figuring it'll be sooner rather than later."
"Running away sounds more tempting by the second," Cael looked down at his porridge.
"Good luck outrunning all those angels," Min-eun chuffed. "They don't even bother trying to hide."
"I suppose hiding is unnecessary within Lady Yuriko's domain."
"Could also be that it's great at detection, but sucks at hiding," she absentmindedly picked at her black arm covers. "Yeah, either way, you're right. Doesn't matter all that much if people can tell it's there."
The first time she saw the summoned angel, her instincts had blared louder than one of those obnoxious disaster alarms. Just by a glance, she'd known it was a monstrous creature that far exceeded her own capabilities. In fact, she would bet the Gatekeeper was even stronger than Master, and that was… definitely saying something.
And to add to the heaping mountain of absurdities, there were hundreds of these Gatekeepers, each probably more than capable of chewing through modern Dragon Lords like tofu. There was a literal horde of other summons too, ranging from Angel Guardians that rivaled veteran soldiers to 'Seraph Empyreans' even stronger than Gatekeepers—and the craziest part?
None of them were expiring as per the norm for summoned creatures. Or maybe that was only inevitable, for rules once thought common sense to yet again be overturned by the advent of another century and the Aftershock that accompanied each new era: Aftershocks that always brought with them items and people as powerful as they were mysterious.
'Master really does have a good sense for this,' she refilled her half-empty bowl. Chatting up an alien calamity wasn't an excuse for not having an appetite! 'Maybe she didn't smack me when I made fun of her because she knew we'd have to deal with a Deva.'
Aaanyway, this was why they were here, the singular reason for their western trek thousands of li long to this backwater of backwaters. Using divination magic might've been easier, but there were a lot of ways that could go wrong; the same applied for long-range communications, because for all Master's personal prowess, the Beggar's Temple didn't have the resources to match an entire nation. 'Would've been nice to bring Black Ox along. Her cooking is way tastier…'
"Just the two of us isn't enough for a task of this magnitude," as if he'd read her thoughts, Cael broke the silence. "Even with the few『Teleport』jumps we managed to make, crossing a distance this vast during such a turbulent time with only two people is… Really, I don't know what Master Hoshinari was thinking."
"Maybe she thought it'd be funny," her suggestion was met with an unimpressed stare. "Well, I mean, no, but bringing more people would've made it a lot harder to stay outta sight. Which is kind of a big deal because of the 'turbulent times,' y'know?"
"You can only say that so confidently because we, by some miracle, arrived relatively safely," Cael sighed and put down his bowl. "I'm afraid agonizing over what's to come has ruined my appetite."
"If you're bad around women, you could just say so," she shrugged at the dirty look he shot her. Too low of a blow? "What?"
"This is very different, and you know it, Sister Gyeon," he huffed. "It's hard to see that thing as a person, much less a 'woman.' "
Personally, Min-eun thought that was more meanness than was warranted, but, well… 'Not like I can't see where he's coming from.'
Because even after setting aside the bajillion angels that could each destroy a nation, Yuriko Hanami, was a natural disaster incarnate.
Someone whose name would be muttered in the same breath as the likes of the primordial Dragon Lords and roaming demigods. Someone, who if not for her self-restraint, could choose to re-enact the era of the Eight Greed Kings.
Certainly, attributing traits like gender, personality, hobbies and dislikes, characteristics that made them 'ordinary' or 'relatable' or a 'person' like Cael said felt strange. Tempests, earthquakes, whelming waves, and volcanic eruptions didn't, so why should something that put them all to shame?
"You better get used to seeing her as one then," she polished off the leftover porridge and retrieved a gourd the length of her forearm from a pouch a third of the size. It was a handy magic item for storage, able to be stored itself while containing other things, though limited by the type of material it could hold. " 'Cause we're about to head back for another round."
'Unless her lessons get in the way again,' the monk silently added to herself. Awfully considerate of the Deva to have given them a heads up. It was a pleasant surprise after the countless occasions Master had skipped out on meetings without a word.
Min-eun popped the Slurping Gourd's cork and pointed it at the pot, willing the item to inhale the contents. The food flowed in, as if pulled by an unseen force, until not even a scrap was left.
"That was empty, right?" Cael asked. "Because I don't remember getting rid of the Slime we were keeping inside."
"It was getting gross, so I killed it," the Slime that covered their tracks by eating… bleh. Forgetting to pack an item enchanted with『Clean』had been an annoying mistake. "Aren't you glad the insides stay clean?"
"As long as you're sure there's nothing left," Cael said while washing the pot, bowls, and cutlery in the brook.
"…" Now she didn't wanna check. "Uhhh, that family, we could give it to their livestock?"
"Fuuuuu…" His hands paused for a moment before returning to scrubbing. "We had another one for storing food just so this sort of confusion wouldn't happen."
"My bad!" Min-eun clapped her palms together, held her arms out, and bent at a ninety-degree angle from the waist. "I got too excited and forgot!"
"If you're feeling sorry, then go pack our possessions," and then Cael mumbled under his breath: "This mission can't end soon enough."
Rude. As punishment, she tossed a clod of dirt at the back of his head.
'Wasting the food feels icky,' she folded the tent, paying no heed to Cael's shouts. Into her backpack it went, quickly followed by their bedrolls and blankets. 'Maybe it's not wasted? I'll do a lil taste test.'
And if it was, she'd eaten worse when she was younger anyway.
"Bottoms up," she muttered to herself and let a trickle of the porridge fall into her mouth. It tasted… fine! "Nice!"
Her hands deftly returned the gourd to her Pouch of Holding while she snuck a quick glance at an occupied Cael who was none the wiser. Master could detect whether people were paying attention to her from across hundreds of meters without even moving, but Master was also totally a freak of nature.
'Don't wanna deal with him looking at me weird,' Min-eun readily ignored the fact that what she did was already plenty weird by human standards. "Oi! I'm done packing!"
"You did it properly this time, right?" Cael carefully dried off the washed implements, placing them inside and attaching some outside his own pack. "I swear, if I open it and everything flies out into my face again…"
" 'Course I did it right," she stuck her tongue out, super cutely if she dared say so herself, but the bastard didn't have the decency to react even in the slightest. "Why don't you pop it open and check for yourself?"
"I'll have to pass," he raised a palm in refusal. "Sister Gyeon. I'm putting my trust in you this time."
'What about all the other times?!' She wasn't hearing him complaining about all the punks and monsters she'd beat up on the trip! "Sure~ Sure~"
"There's no need to get sarcastic with me," the pair quietly navigated their way out of the forest, light footsteps avoiding the crunch of fallen leaves and snapping branches. Definitely not with the same sneakiness a skilled Rogue could pull off—though she did have a lil expertise in that field—but enough to tell that they were trained in the art of violence. It was usually either violence or subterfuge anyhow when it came to other people. "I was simply expressing my faith in your abilities."
"Yeaaah~ okay~ Why don't you ask Master to go with Red Ram next time~?"
"I'd rather not," Cael's face twisted into a grimace. "Bi-seol is…"
"Uh huh. So cut the complaining."
They stepped out the thick of the woods and onto the beaten dirt path that led to the village and then ran hither and yon throughout the settlement. Unless some kind of annoying illusion-using monster showed its head, in which case, she'd bash them to a pulp first! 'Though I might have a lil trouble if it could trick my senses for this long.'
Displacer Beasts were the first to come to mind, but one of those would have to be super freaky to give her any trouble. Now that she was thinking about it, there weren't many wild animals that were all that dangerous with illusion skills; the really deadly stuff like Beholders, Balhannoths, and other nasties were stuck underground in the Caverns. The odd Elder Lich, incorporeal undead, and spellcaster were the only other aboveground schmucks that—oh, the Vahasi Republic used to have a problem with those spider heteromorphs, didn't they?
'But that was a recent thingy,' the humble dwellings that constituted Flinei Village came into sight as they arrived at the forest's edge. Unlike most other—okay, fine, every other—similar places, this scene was dotted with out of place angels: shiny eyesores, each of them, and she'd said as much to Yuriko who had awkwardly laughed in probably-agreement. 'I'm guessing Mac'tal are the type to be stronger in a group like most insects. Ehhh, no, spiders aren't insects… I think…'
"It's a hard sight to swallow, even after seeing it so often," a faint undercurrent of nervousness tinged Cael's voice.
"Yeah," Min-eun breezily agreed. "Doesn't fit the farm look, right?"
"That's not what I meant, Sister Gyeon," her willingness to play along was repaid with a disapproving glare. Haaaah. "Just this one village alone harbors enough firepower to warrant a national mobilization order."
The monk scratched her nose and made a face. "No it doesn't."
"Sometimes I feel like you disagree just for the sake of it."
"It really doesn't though," she argued. "I bet three or four of the Emperor's Grand Immortals could clean up all the angels here."
"Impossible," the assertion was met with immediate disagreement. "The one that heals, that six-armed hunched angel with a face of light and covered in robes is beyond them. And if that one's beyond them, a Gatekeeper certainly is."
"Those are mostly healers though," or so she was guessing. "Plus, I think the Gatekeepers aren't usually stationed here. They're just there because Yuriko and this kingdom's Queen are here."
"Either way, all of it feels excessive for a single village near the borders."
'Unless you just had that many to throw around. Why would a rich guy care about wasting a hundred hwalgu if he had a hundred thousand to spare?'
They were close enough to hear the sounds of the people's everyday life now, trained bodies covering distance at an impressive rate despite their leisurely pace. Since they'd arrived and likely before then, Flinei had been in a state of hectic activity as the village prepared for its first proper harvest festival since the war with the neighboring Republic concluded.
Seeing this… soaking in the sounds, even from this far, brought a half-smile to her lips. She knew a bit of what had gone on here while they were crossing the Vahasi Republic, and it'd be wrong to say she hadn't seen behavior grosser than what she'd heard, but it was nice that these people could find some peace in their lives without resulting in the utter annihilation of the beastmen either.
And ultimately, when it came down to it, that was what led her to believe this particular Deva was someone with a true desire to be kind, not the cheerful demeanor they displayed nor the prettied up sentiments they loved spouting.
"It's you!" One of the kids whose name she struggled to recall ran up to them, a thin strand of snot swinging from his nose, followed closely behind by two other somewhat shorter kids. "Show me that thing you did again!"
"Oi, brat. I have a name, y'know?" Min-eun crouched, positioning herself only slightly below eye-level with the kid—Raul, that was his name. "And you're gonna have to specify, 'cause I can do a whole lotta things!"
She tuned out Cael's long-suffering sigh, and focused on Raul, face fixed into a reflection of concentration that could match any Sage's. "M-Min!"
"Close 'nough. So what did you want me to do again?"
"That, the cloud thing you did with your staff!"
"Whaaa? Like this?" Gathering Clouds materialized in her right hand with a pop. A handy enchantment, allowing her to equip the staff from anywhere on her person: enchanted storage included.
"Y-Yeah!" Raul widened his eyes, the other two oohing in a similar fashion. "Wait, I said cloud—"
Min-eun tilted her head, feeling the relic of Fallen Heaven Stone and Mithril consume a drop of accumulated charge. Messing with the weapon had been a pain at first, a decade ago, but now even the most delicate techniques came as easily as breathing.
A miniature cloud slowly slipped free from the head and lazily drifted to rest atop her upper lip like a snowy mustache. "Ooo, my bones! They creak!"
"Ohhh…" Raul's shoulders slumped. "I thought you were gonna do something cooler."
'This fucking brat—' Before she could blurt out anything that would definitely make the kid cry, Cael yanked her up by the collar of her robes. "Sorry, Raul~ Big Sister has important stuff she needs to take care of~ You go and have fun with your friends, okay~?"
It must've made for a comical sight, her waving farewell while being dragged along by the scruff of her clothes. Damn brats.
"You could stand to be a little more aware of where we are, Min-eun," Cael was angry if he was using her first name. He apologetically smiled at a young brunette watching from the distance—one of the kids' mothers, maybe all three—before returning his attention to her. "I know you usually enjoy acting the part of a child—"
"Hey!"
"—and Master indulges you, to your detriment, but now is neither the place nor time to be careless, understood?"
"Nope," Min-eun enunciated each syllable. Villagers, or at least the ones who weren't out in the fields, which was still a lot, were beginning to notice the ruckus caused by the 'strange foreigners' even past the noisy activity of festival preparations. She would've figured they'd be used to them by now, but oh well. "I don't understand anything, doofus."
"When we get back home, I'm telling Master to never assign me to this kind of mission again," Cael said. His voice carried an unmistakable air of finality that would flop the moment Master stared at him too hard.
She pried loose from his grip and leapt to her feet in a single smooth motion, continuing her stride as if nothing had happened. "You wanna become a bum like her?"
He didn't have much to say in response, so the bickering between them died down. Eventually, the farmsteads on the opposite end of Flinei came into view; winged summons in armor busy with the fall working alongside whatever farmer was in charge of them. A third of the fields were filled with vaguely familiar greenery, and the rest with wheat, barley, as well as other plants she lacked the expertise to recognize but were being reaped and gathered into bundles.
There was a reason for this layout that Hez presumably blabbed about at one time or another, though it had nothing to do with her, so all related memories were suffering from a case of 'oops, I forgot!'
While she allowed those idle thoughts to aimlessly wander, they had arrived at an inconspicuous house—minus the two Gatekeepers loitering above the roof—which happened to be Yuriko's preferred meeting location for the days they'd been meeting. A part of her felt bad for the family living there, especially since she and Cael bummed off of them during their first day here, but hey, playing host to your kingdom's hero wasn't the worst thing out there, right?
Even if the term 'hero' was a vast understatement to these people.
Well, whatever. Their impressions were their own, and keeping it that way would be better for their peace of mind. 'To be fair, I think I'd barf in my mouth if I was the Emperor and had to have Master come over…'
Like that one time the Abbess was invited to a feast celebrating some occasion or the other and ended up butchering a Satrap. Terrible table manners, truly.
… Though if Master went out of her way, then the blue dragon was definitely a bastard who deserved it!
"They're here," Cael noted the obvious. "Mister Sayar is in the fields, and his wife is inside attending to our… acquaintances."
"You mean friends! C'mon," She elbowed him in the gut and walked on ahead. "Don't wanna keep them waiting, do you?"
As it turned out, he didn't, so up they marched—she marched, Cael dragged his feet—to the front door that Min-eun knocked on more for the sake of politeness than practicality. "Anyone home?"
The sound of a chair scraping against the floor and raised voices overlapped before a pair of footsteps approached, followed by the door swinging open. A young brunette with cornflower-blue eyes blinked before thinking to put on a hesitant smile. "Miss Gyeon! I'm so sorry, I—"
"You're fine, Missus Sayar," Min-eun patted the frazzled woman on the shoulder and plopped a parchment-wrapped packet in her arms. "Here's a present!"
"Um, I… this is…?"
"Snake meat. From a big ol' guy out in the woods," she didn't bother dwelling on Clare's confused stare, or Cael's groan, but redirected her focus to the strikingly noticeable couple seated at a rough-cut table. On second thought, maybe accommodating these people for multiple days in a row wasn't doing wonders for Clare and Ernest's blood pressure.
If having three guests over caused space in the humble residence to become a bit sparse, then four made her feel like it was downright crowded. Especially considering the pair in question.
"Yo!" The corners of Min-eun's lips stretched upwards as she raised a hand in greeting. "Guess who's here?"
She was acting casual, and it would be a lie to say it was all pretend, but—
This was Yuriko Hanami.
A staggering presence undiminished by the lackluster surroundings or the concealment of her more distinctive features.
Hers was an appearance that danced along the blurred line separating perfection and otherworldliness: an aura that drew notice without regard for race or sensory organs, and commanded attention with mere force of existence alone.
In Min-eun's life, there was no shortage of powerful people with charisma to boot. The strong had a natural, magnetic charm to them, yet this had to be on a level where it may as well be mentally subversive magic.
Luckily for her and Cael, it wasn't, so Min-eun brushed off the weird tinglies of terror without any trouble, much like she did the past few days.
Both of them lacked the skills to tell, but the items the angel had were probably crazy valuable too. If the legacies Master inherited from Grandmaster were anything to go by, Min-eun doubted a single one of the six superpowers could afford the full ensemble even if they had every citizen sell their souls.
Because the truth of the matter was that there was simply no one skilled enough to create items that rivaled Narin, or Ratna, as others called them. No, even beyond the lack of skilled craftsmen was the fact that this world didn't have the raw materials worthy of being crafted into a suitable vessel to begin with.
Knowing that, perhaps it was more accurate to say that the pieces of the angel's regalia and her allegiance weren't treasures to be grasped with something as pedestrian as physical wealth.
"Minny!" Yuriko jumped up from her seat, the starry orb bobbing with the motion, and energetically waved with a sort of ridiculous joy that made Min-eun's musings feel almost too silly to believe. Beside them, a bossy looking ravenette offered the slightest inclination of her head with a nearly imperceptible frown. Like the angel, they too were seriously out of place in this farmstead with that stately dress and demeanor. "Hi!"
That woman's gaze—Min-eun figured she was the girlfriend, Dragon Queen, Dark Scale Dragon Lord, woaw— landed on her and narrowed, seemingly looking past her flesh to pierce her soul. Min-eun suppressed an instinctual shudder. 'Creepy!'
" 'Minny?' " Queenie's frown grew deeper.
"Oh, right," Yuriko seemed to realize the importance of introductions and cleared her throat before gesturing in Min-eun's direction. Somehow, the monk didn't think that was what Queenie took issue with. "Drau, this is Min-eun Gyeon. The guy with her is Cael…"
The angel trailed off, cheeks just beginning to redden before Cael quickly took over with a smooth if rushed bow. "Cael Ivor, Your Majesty. Of the Beggar's Temple."
"A pleasure," her shoulders relaxed as Queenie finally turned away to face Yuriko. Their eyes softened, and oh-goodness-it-was-sooo so, so, so cuuute! She silently offered her sincere apologies for thinking they were creepy. "She's been excited for today.
"But where are my manners?" And then those teal eyes were back on her, the unnerving tension returning with a vengeance. "Draudillon Oriculus, Queen of the Draconic Kingdom. Though I imagine you two must've known that already."
"Riko blabs about you all the time!" Clare let out a shocked gasp from behind her. It couldn't be the nickname since they ought to be used to that, so perhaps from how she was talking to their Queen. "It's really cute, the way she goes on and on about you~!"
In between her babbling, she pulled out a chair and sat down, joining Queenie and Yuriko while their hostess shuffled off to the bedroom after a couple seconds of deliberation. Smart lady, because the atmosphere was getting awfully oppressive thanks to a certain royal. 'Mmm, she didn't like me using 'Riko' at all.'
Trying to ignore that, and easily ignoring Cael's frozen form, the monk bridged her hands together and rested her chin atop them in a supreme display of friendly casualness. Or brazen disrespect, but bowing and scraping wasn't going to produce the best gains—and wow, Master was a real airheaded bitch giving her instructions as foggy as 'make friends or something,' wasn't she? 'If I admit it to Cael, his head's gonna float right off his shoulders.'
On the bright side, Yuriko wasn't an asshole, so, small blessings and stuff. Not sure about Queenie though.
"I see," The smile almost appeared natural if it wasn't for the unusual pressure and the earlier intense reception. Had to be a skill of some kind, some rulership ability similar to Emperor Raktar's; although, Queenie was allegedly a dragon too, and that made the source harder to pin down. Ruler? Dragon Lord? Combo? "All good things, I hope?"
"Mmmm…" Min-eun hummed out loud. "Depends on what 'good' means."
"Min-eun!" Yuriko complained, her gaze darting towards Queenie with a hint of panic.
"Weh~ell~ I'm afraid Riko wants to keep that a secret, Your Majesty," the monk paused for a brief moment. "Can I call you Drau too?"
For the first time in the admittedly very short amount of time she'd gotten to know the Deva, Yuriko looked uncomfortable. "Um… I guess if she's alright with—"
"No," Oriculus interrupted, her voice soft yet still a match for any treasure blade. "I would prefer that you did not."
Ooo, touchy, touchy. Dangerous.
'Geez, it's just a nickname…' Royalty and nobility got way too uptight with formalities and the like. 'Although, she did agree to meet in a peasant's house.' Then again, that could also be a subtle show of disrespect, but it'd be a weird decision coming from a Queen: a person whose power rested in perceptions of their position and prestige.
They were also someone who had to always watch out for the well-being of millions, and yet such a person was willing to lower her guard around a Deva who by all means could single-handedly determine this kingdom's fate. Any other ruler wouldn't have chosen to take petty risks like interrupting the angel midspeech or showing an unseemly side of themselves—the last part assuming Yuriko wasn't pulling her leg.
'She must really, really like Yuriko then.'
"My bad, Your Majesty!" Min-eun bowed low from where she sat, forehead bumping against the table's grainy surface. So much for not bowing. "As an apology, I'll be happy to answer anything you'd like to ask."
"You could start by properly introducing yourself," ah, had she forgotten to do that? Did it matter when they already knew?
"Gyeon Min-eun, also of the Beggar's Temple," the whole situation was sorta funny, being interrogated by her friend's overprotective girlfriend when said friend was a one-woman army. "One of its Twelve Adjunct Prefects."
"Like your companion there?" Queenie glanced at Cael who somehow straightened his back even further. Judging her tone, she was double-checking what Yuriko must've told her and took the silence as confirmation. "He's quite different from what one would expect out of a monk. That is, if I may assume the Temple you two hail from is such an institution."
'Unlike you,' went unsaid.
"It's as Her Majesty says," Cael respectfully said. "We're known for being monks—Abbess Hoshinari is one herself—but we… how to say this… We don't adhere to the monastic traditions most people would expect."
He didn't really answer the question though, and Queenie picked up on that. The idea of a temple training members in Paths other than purely 'Monk' wasn't particularly disconcerting, but having a person pursuing a wholly different vocation in a leadership role would be somewhat strange.
"I can't admit to knowing what I should expect," the ravenette mused. "You two come from a land so very far away, after all."
"Fair enough," Min-eun agreed. "To be clear, a lot of us are probably what you're thinking, but we're more of a…"
"Community outreach center," her companion helpfully provided.
"That," she snapped her fingers. "Hence the name, y'know?"
"They have people spread out all over the place," Yuriko couldn't resist adding, unwilling to sit out on the conversation. "So it's really useful for gathering and sending information!"
"Yup! Can't deny that!" Sharing this little was fine; everyone who knew about the Temple presumed the same, but that didn't mean they knew the inner workings. "But most of it's in Kepesk with maybe some in Kuryeo."
" 'Maybe?' "
"I don't pay a lot of attention to that kinda stuff," she shrugged. "We all have like, different things to do, right? Red Snake and Black Rabbit deal with the complicated sneaky business while Cael here handles a lot of the pharmacist crud."
"An enviable talent. And you, Miss Gyeon?"
She proudly jabbed her chest with a thumb. "I run around and beat people up!"
"What she means to say, Your Majesty, is that—"
"She runs around and beats people up?" Yuriko innocently tilted her head, impish mischievousness barely restrained, while Queenie scoffed with exasperated amusement.
"There's nothing inherently wrong with running around and beating people up," Queenie sagely nodded, the words adopting an edge of absurdity coming from her. "You must be rather strong then."
"We wouldn't dare boast of strength to Your Majesty or Lady Hanami," Cael hurriedly answered. "Though Sister Gyeon is indeed in possession of some amount of strength."
"Mmm…" The ravenette turned to Yuriko. "What do you think, dear?"
" 'Third Step,' right?" She nodded in response to the angel's question. "That's um, I'm guessing around Cerebrate's level? Maybe sorta higher? But he's a paladin or something, and I'm going off hit points here…"
"Realm of Heroes then," Min-eun was familiar with the odd terms, courtesy of Master, though the categorization was unfamiliar. The former must be common knowledge for a Deva, while the latter must be part of this region's common sense. "Impressive."
Queenie's praise grated on her as the kind that playgoers gave when they had no strong feelings about a show and were only clapping out of politeness—which was, yeah, fair enough. She hmphed anyway.
"Do these parts have many people of that caliber, Your Majesty?" Cael asked. Min-eun doubted it was possible given how little scrutiny was paid to 'these parts' ever since the Demon Gods swept through it, but champions being forged out in the boonies wasn't an uncommon tale. Tribulation begot rewards, and the wildernesses outside the superpowers' controlling grasp were nothing if not perilous.
"I wouldn't say so," unsurprising. "In the surrounding human nations, I can only name less than ten. That being said, the Slane Theocracy, a nation further westwards, likely has many more who are kept out of sight."
Queenie's voice adopted a cautionary undertone. The monk could sense a tinge of genuine concern there, probably for the angel's sake, though a lot of it pointed to friction and old grudges. "Avoiding them would serve you two well. "
"Are they in the habit of persecuting pilgrims, Your Majesty?" Cael thankfully avoided making any mention of the Republic's raids. Jabbing that particular sore spot was a step even she would hesitate to take. "This village's Priestess was most polite."
"Priestess Volkan has been a boon to my people here," Queenie agreed. "As well as countless others of her peers; however, the clergy who choose to serve abroad don't reflect the Theocracy's policies. In that, the nation can be very… practical."
The dragon queen didn't exactly spit out the word, but it felt like a close thing. They shifted a second later, sharing another look with the angel. Were they holding hands under the table?
"We'll do our utmost to heed Your Majesty's warning," Cael lowered his head. "You have our thanks."
"It's usually fine for humans," Queenie accepted the gratitude with a small wave. "However, their intelligence branch would be truly idiotic if it doesn't follow up on people as eye-catching as yourselves."
"You guys do kinda stand out…" Yuriko added. "I don't think monks are very common here."
"Silver Thread Bird has one amongst their members," the ravenette elaborated. "And we have a few scattered throughout the country, though none are of great renown."
'Makes sense,' this 'Slane Theocracy' sounded like a big shot around here, so other religions having difficulty spreading was par for the course. Of course, that wasn't to say all monks adhered to the same beliefs—hells, she didn't think Master believed in any of it—but the connection between the faith and the vocation couldn't be denied. 'It's hard to train people without the traditions or facilities.'
"I dunno about any strung-up bird, but we're a big deal back home!" Min-eun bragged. "Our Master is someone even the Dragon Lords have to respect!"
"Quite the audacious claim," Yuriko must've already told her about that too if she wasn't reacting. "One I unfortunately cannot confirm either."
'What's that supposed to—oh, yeah,' Queenie was the 'Dark Scale Dragon Lord.' It was hard to reconcile the title with the short woman in front of her. On the other hand, this was a sign they could manage a joke, even if the joke was kinda lame. She'd feel too bad for the angel otherwise. "Y'know, I've been meaning to ask, but are you really a Dragon Lord?"
Then she paused for a moment to think before adding: "No offense, by the way."
"By the standards of this region, yes, I am," Queenie's answer came out slightly slower than usual, as if she was mulling over her response as she gave it. Definitely wondering how much was okay to share. "Though I'm sure you can tell my body has little bearing on the designation. Indeed, I have my great-grandfather to thank: Brightness Dragon Lord."
That Dragon Lord?
The one who rolled in the hay with a sentient mushroom? The one who, Buddha forbid the rumors were true, did the nasty with a hyper-regenerating worm? While it was regenerating?
That guy?
"So like, you're the only one of his kids kicking it out here?" Min-eun tried to dig for more despite Cael's gestures for her to stop. "Because let me tell you, he gets busy—"
"Yet none of my relatives go around calling themselves Dragon Lords, correct?" The monk shook her head up and down. If she was asking for confirmation, did that mean he just decided to call it quits in these parts after banging out Queenie—Queen Oriculus's bloodline? Min-eun found herself sympathizing; people here were fine, but she really preferred it back home. "Do you know any capable of using Wild Magic?"
Eh?
"Your Majesty, surely you're not saying…" Cael sounded as shocked as she felt, his words weakly trailing off.
'What the hells?' Wait, wait, wait, a Wild Magic user had been in the same room, and she'd just kept on running her mouth? Oi, her shitty instincts needed to do their job! 'We could've been screwed so bad the brothels would've felt bad for us.'
Dragons able to use Wild Magic were thankfully rare since each and every one of them was scary as hell, and haha, she really liked the idea of not having her soul ripped—
"I knew you said Wild Magic's a big deal, but I didn't think it was that big," Yuriko's loud whispering to Queen Oriculus banished the worst of their bewilderment.
"Mhm."
'Alright, chill,' it made sense because rolling in the hay with humans definitely was obviously a Brightness Dragon Lord thing to do, but coming from the right lineage wasn't enough. It couldn't be, otherwise modern Dragon Lords would be also able to wield the magic of the soul which certainly wasn't the case. 'Must've gotten crazy lucky with her Talent. Doesn't mean she can use it the same way the others can or she would've given the beastmen a real whupping.'
But dammit, the rest of the world was still ab-so-lute-ly gonna hate to hear this, because a single Deva was terrifying enough by themselves, and one allied with—fuggit, fucking a Wild Magic user was the stuff of nightmares. Nobody was gonna see it coming either, not with the oceans of Dragon Lord blood the Greed Kings had spilled centuries ago.
"You don't have to be so smug!" As if to prove her point, the angel pouted to the Queen in a display of unparalleled cuteness. "I always thought you were amazing even without it, y'know?"
"I know," Queen Oriculus's teal eyes shone with a mirthful light that didn't completely disappear by the time they were looking at her again. "In any case, I hope that answers your question, Miss Gyeon."
"Errr, yeah," Yuriko surprisingly didn't blab much about sensitive information, apparently. Min-eun wondered if that was thanks to Queen Oriculus's instruction or if the angel actually possessed a semblance of wariness. "And um, you don't have to worry about us telling anyone, Your Majesty!"
"Do as you please. Miss Gyeon and Mister Ivor being here means that the news has already spread far and wide. We may as well take advantage of the momentum and build upon it."
'I guess she's right?' Anyone who knew the Draconic Kingdom had that kinda firepower to bring to bear would also see the futility in wasting lives only to water the kingdom's crops with blood. On the flip side, there did exist plenty of battle-maniacs who'd salivate at the opportunity of fighting 'worthy' opponents; then again, those people were always bound to be troublesome. 'A strong reputation filters out a lotta problems.'
"Would your kin not take offense, Your Majesty?" Cael worriedly asked. "I can attest to the fact that your status is unknown to the world at large, and if they become aware, there's also the matter of the history they have with Lady Hanami's kind…"
"I doubt my status could change any animosity they might have," Queen Oriculus tilted her head by just the slightest. "You two are not what I expected."
"Drau, that's what I told you!"
"It's always prudent to make doubly sure in these kinds of affairs," the ravenette's tone was a lot lighter than it had been when the meeting started. "Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not glad you were right."
Min-eun's shoulders were still tight with tension with the recent revelation, but wasn't this going pretty well? "Welp, that's what we do! Breaking expectations and all that great stuff, yup!"
"Is that so?" Queen Oriculus smiled, much less fake than the one from earlier. "The Abbess must be proud to have wonderful followers such as yourselves."
She knew the flattery was only a polite pleasantry, yet hearing it from someone else made her face wrinkle like she'd bitten into something sour.
"Errrgh, na," hadn't she told Yuriko all about Master? Min-eun was pretty sure she'd been very honest in her description. "It's… hard to explain?"
"Oh?" Queen Oriculus leaned forward ever so slightly. "Do continue."
'Didn't I just say it's hard to explain?!' She side-eyed Yuriko who owlishly blinked. What, were they clueless—of course they were.
"Master is…" Fine, she'd gotten through problems worse than answering a dumb question anyway! "Master's like a ghost story looking for people to happen to."
"She's a reprobate among reprobates," Cael grumbled.
'Nice backup!'
"Right, right, she's a total dunce," Min-eun agreed with a feverish intensity. "Like, if you're in charge of a whole Temple, shouldn't you at least know how to balance the books? I don't think she ever bothered learning the Empire's language."
"There was a time when she tried to," Cael squeezed his eyes shut as he massaged the space between his brows. "Brother Siz and Sister Gushnasp took it upon themselves to teach her only to quit soon after. Actually, nevermind. In hindsight, she must have said yes so they would stop bothering her."
They were really getting into it, noisily poking fun at Master while the two outsiders watched on with entertained expressions. The atmosphere was cozy in spite of her earlier alarm, and it became easy to forget just where she was.
"All she does is eat, space out, and—"
'What I used to do? Hmmm… Eat, sleep, spare whoever I wished to spare and kill whenever the whim struck me, I suppose.
… hah.
Wouldn't you know it, four hundred years wasn't enough to change me after all.'
Min-eun faltered.
That miniscule trace of bitterness, even now, stood out as the strongest emotion she could remember Master displaying that wasn't dry amusement or listless boredom.
For some reason, the trivial realization she'd stumbled into was impossibly hard to grapple with.
"W-Well! She definitely puts the 'beggar' into 'Beggar's Temple!' " The monk laughed off the temporary lapse. Clearly, it didn't work.
"Okay!" Yuriko lightly slapped the table with both hands. "Let's talk about other stuff!" Way to be subtle, geez. "Maybe we can share our, um, favorite colors?"
"Favorite colors?" Queen Oriculus raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Nosy lady probably wanted to hear more, ugh. Min-eun didn't care anymore, even if they could use Wild Magic or whatever, and Cael needed to stop glancing over and mind his own business. "I'd say… purple."
"Wha-?! Wasn't it black?"
"Am I forbidden from having multiple favorites?" The ravenette shot back. "And you, Mister Ivor?"
"Green," he said after pondering the question for a few seconds. "It reminds me of my homeland."
"You're not wearing any green though," Yuriko pointed at him.
"Oh… an excellent point, Lady Hanami."
"People don't always wear their favorite color, dear."
"I guess that's true…" The angel cupped her chin and directed an overly serious stare at the table. "Minny? What about you?"
Yeah, y'know what? She could use the distraction.
'Master, I dunno if you'd get along with them. I don't even know if you get along with any of us. You rely on us so much, yet it feels like you're not.
'But at the very least, I don't think this trip was a waste.'
"Red. Duh."
The Royal Capital of Re-Estize.
A grand city by the standards of this region, with a population surpassing a hundred thousand living souls. Splendid mansions dotted the upper district, and from where Rigrit sat in Valencia Palace, the heart of Ro-Lente which put even the gaudy mansions of the Six Great Nobles to shame, she could almost believe it was the wondrous haven the Theocracy had wished it to be.
Further out from the wealthy center of the capital city, the story was entirely different. Unpaved roads becoming untraversable muddy mires after rain showers, dilapidated shacks barely fit to live in, sewage and rot filling the air with a deathly stench, and a mass of impoverished humanity crammed into the midst of it all.
'It's been a while,' in spite of its many egregious faults, she couldn't help but feel nostalgic. 'Some things just don't change. Not the tiniest bit.'
Rigrit released an eye-watering yawn. Goodness, she was getting old.
"Could you pay attention?" Invern, that whiny crybaby, glowered. The necromancer couldn't help but give a crooked grin. She'd heard from Gagaran that the once-princess had finally opened up about her past, a history predating the dread title 'Landfall.' "Stop smirking. We were talking about something serious."
"Ah, don't mind me," she dismissively waved her hand, not looking away from the window. Were Gagaran and the twins having fun? Maybe she should've gone with them; catching up with the Warrior-Captain hadn't taken long. "I was thinking about such and such, you see. Anywho, you five appear to have it all figured out."
The necromancer grinned and gave a thumbs up. "You've been doing an excellent job in my stead, Lakyus."
"Uh," her successor coughed into a fist. "I… thank you, Rigrit, but Evileye is right. We could use your input."
Input…
Rigrit hummed. It was clear as day who they were referring to, because everyone was worried about this particular individual, even people thousands of leagues away. Especially those people, she supposed.
Who wouldn't? Anyone in the know was probably shivering in their skin, on the edge of their seats, eyes and ears wide open because it was the turn of the century again, and that meant the world was bound to be shaken to its roots once more.
'With that kind of flashy entrance, she's definitely related to Yggdrasil.'
"The Dragon Queen's sparkly lady friend?" Tsa seemed to approve of them; although, she always sensed a hint of regret or sadness whenever he spoke of her. The scaly dustbin should really make up his mind, or at least skip all the sulking because he'd already settled on a decision, even if he'd deny it to everyone including himself. "Is she someone you want to get involved with—?"
"I swear," Invern ran her hands down her face with a groan. "Do you see this, Lakyus? She didn't hear anything. Anything!"
"No, no, no, I heard everything I needed to about that green-horned brat," the old necromancer chuckled. She'd always known Paradyne harbored a deep obsession for magic, but turning himself into an undead was… whew. This sort of shit would never fly in countries that didn't pin the entirety of their power projection on a single person. "From where I'm sitting, it doesn't sound like much of a problem anymore if you've got the angel on his case."
The Tri-Arts Caster was strong. A human who surpassed the Realm of Heroes and was considered an outlier couldn't be anything but. In fact, among the four humanoid magician outliers she knew, Paradyne would probably come out on top in a straightforward, impromptu one-on-one duel against any of them.
Rigrit would readily admit he surpassed her when it came to raw firepower, and descending to lichdom eliminated many mortal frailties, yet she doubted that much was enough to put him on par with someone even Tsa had been cautious of for a while. Tsa, a person who could very well be the strongest being in the world if he didn't restrain himself.
"Undead are patient and clever," a serious note entered her voice. "But no amount of cleverness is going to bridge a gap that wide. It's true that he can find useful allies, but since you've already warned those two, any contender would be better off ditching Paradyne altogether. If not, then he probably gets crushed in the crossfire. Either way, your role in this is over; stand back and stay out of trouble, you hear me?"
What worried her more than the Imperial Court Wizard becoming a lich was the fact that he was becoming more active in Baharuth's politics. That brat had been utterly enamored with magic in life, and if Rigrit knew anything, undeath would only intensify that passion.
So why would someone who never meaningfully participated in court intrigue—or bureaucratic intrigue in this case, she guessed—suddenly decide to jump in now? 'Maybe he's playing the long game, making the Empire more suitable for whatever research he's trying to pull off. Countering El-Nix's stance against the temples is very unnerving though.'
Yeah, the whole mess was giving her bad feelings all around. Gazef also apparently losing the ring to Theocracy operatives wasn't improving the situation either. Taking a step back and looking at the whole picture, she could definitely understand why Rathiel was pissed at her. To top it off, the two Dragon Lords had their hands full with issues that took precedence over the Theocracy's possession of the relic.
"We did tell Queen Oriculus Blue Roses would assist her with this," Lakyus countered, unaware of Rigrit's ruminating. "Giving our word and then going back on it… I don't want to do that."
"It'll be dangerous getting on her bad side too," Invern grimly added. "I'm pretty sure that Yuriko woman already hates me."
The wielder of Kilineiram wearily glanced at the legendary vampire. "You know, you were a little liberal with your words during the first meeting."
"Okay, I went over the line, but there's no point dwelling on it now!"
"I guess so…"
'Oh?' Rigrit was old, but she still had a great nose for sniffing out information. "What's this about, crybaby?"
"It's nothing!" Invern snapped, visibly embarrassed by what Lakyus was referring to. "Not like you've never made mistakes!"
Welllll… fair. One of the main reasons she came to Re-Estize was to check on Gazef Stronoff, and more importantly, the ring she had entrusted to him. Tsa and that stick-up-his-ass Rathiel were both understandably concerned given that the magic item was a Wild Magic relic even veteran Wild Magic practitioners couldn't easily recreate in this era of tier magic.
'Lo and behold, it turns out he got killed and looted by his kind neighbors from the Theocracy. Na, I've nobody to blame for this one but myself,' her lips wrinkled into a wry smile. "Of course I've made mistakes, but what's a few stories among friends?"
The crybaby broke off into fierce mumbling, too low for Rigrit's honed hearing to pick up, though she did catch 'stupid,' 'idiot,' and a number of other things that felt incredibly unoriginal for someone even older than herself.
"It really wasn't anything exciting, Rigrit," Lakyus interceded on the vampire's behalf. "Just a few… strongly worded statements."
"Kakaka!" She burst out laughing. Invern's boldness was understandable given her history with the undead, though taking it to that degree was impressive in its own right. "Now you have to spit it out. What did you call her?"
"I didn't call her anything," Invern grumbled and looked away from her and out the window where rays of orange sunlight filtered through.
"She insulted Queen Oriculus," the priestess of the Water God helpfully provided. "To her face while Lady Yuriko was there."
Rigrit side-eyed the vampire who was studiously ignoring both of them. Tsa mentioned the angel having an intimate relationship with the Queen, so Blue Roses was lucky to escape unscathed. Being careless around things you've yet to understand typically led to an easy all-expenses-paid trip to the grave. "Really now… what exactly did crybaby there say to Her Majesty? Did you call her a brat or something?"
"…"
"That's pretty rich," Rigrit mirthfully clapped her hands together. "And some awful hypocrisy coming from you, brat. What else did you say? That's not the whole story though, is it?"
"… I said the only reason she wasn't pretending to be a kid anymore was because Lady Yuriko preferred mature women."
The necromancer turned to Lakyus and cocked an eyebrow.
"She said 'because the current person you're bootlicking prefers flopping sacks of fat instead,' " the priestess helplessly shrugged as Invern shot her with a look of betrayal. "All things considered, they were incredibly gracious with us."
"Pft," Rigrit snorted. On one hand, it was hard to resist making a joke about the crybaby projecting, but she wasn't crass enough to go around digging up old hurts willy-nilly. "I'm surprised Queen Oriculus and the angel still agreed to cooperate after you ran your mouth like that."
'Is it because the Dark Scale Dragon Lord is a moderating influence? Or is it because this hundred-year Aftershock brought someone like Leader?' This wouldn't be the first time she saw a Dragon Lord who'd grown close to an alien entity. 'If she reminds you of him so much, then what's with the wavering, Tsa? Even more than Setesta, aren't you the one with the most regrets?'
A wizened hand idly twirled the white braid hanging down her shoulder. Two hundred years later, and here she was, still remembering that day. Leader and the Black Knight, two steadfast friends in a foreign world who had relied on each other only to be abruptly cut down by their own blades. To this day, she…
'H-He didn't go for the kill,' blackened drops of blood flecked the gleaming armor of Tsa's puppet as cursed rot festered in the young man's failing body. Only a few meters away lay the unmoving Black Knight, head and helmet cleaved in twain by a vicious blow. 'Even at this point—cough—b-but I… haha…'
It was a powerful curse beyond the skills of any neophyte to dispel, but their party had the Great Priest and Holy Magician—
'Don't. Please.'
"Are you okay, Rigrit?" She blinked. "You blanked out there for a second."
"Leave her alone, Lakyus," Invern scoffed in annoyed derision. "She's probably going senile."
'That's neither here nor there,' the time of her adventure and that of the Thirteen Heroes' had long since passed. There was no need to burden the current generation with the regrets of an ancient relic. Was the will she instilled in Blue Roses not heavy enough as is? 'Oh, except for the crybaby, I guess.'
"Brat, who do you think you're calling senile?" Rigrit leaned forward and tousled the indignant crybaby's hair. "Just watch: I'll outlive even you."
"Keep telling yourself that," the words were harsh, but the vampire made no attempt to shove her away. Ahhh, was she getting too transparent in old age? "Since you clearly didn't hear us, again, the Draconic Kingdom and Re-Estize came to an agreement on how the angel's planning on sending aid."
"Nice of her," she finally took a sip from the remaining teacup. Cold. Eh, whatever. "Sending angels? I can't imagine her coming over in person with how the Draconic Kingdom's been chugging along."
"Everyone agreed to appoint Renner as the go-between," 'everyone' meaning that El-Nix was also on board. Not like he had the privilege of refusing anyhow. "Officially, she'll be representing Re-Estize, though she'll definitely be pushed into representing the Empire's interests too… I know she's smart, but El-Nix has his reputation for a reason."
"There's no way that Emperor brat will pull anything," Rigrit reassured Lakyus. "If the Princess is being entrusted with this role, she's probably friendly with the angel. Messing with a person who has a connection with them would be a special kind of cocky."
"That's true," Lakyus didn't seem perfectly at ease with the answer. "Still, the fact that she's always doing stuff like this makes me worry."
'Sensible head on her shoulders, that one,' many of the people she knew tended to conflate intelligence with crafting intricate schemes propped up on innumerable failsafes accounting for every plausible and implausible scenario. However, throughout her long life, the necromancer found that the truly intelligent were those who could adapt quickly without losing sight of their main goal and make use of the knowledge revealed to them: a skill usually developed through hard-won experience. 'It's frightening thinking she may of ingratiated herself with the angel on purpose at the mere age of sixteen… but given the kind of personality she has, it could just be something to do with compatibility.'
Was it really? Rigrit knew secondhand from Blue Roses about the Third Princess's exploits, or rather the fact she was behind the team's recent illegal excursions, and understood Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself was the furthest thing possible from a vapid young girl. Messing with—successfully messing with—a group as entrenched as Eight Fingers was no joke for a person so limited in the cards they could play.
"She's got a better idea than us of how much is too much," Invern echoed her unspoken musings. "Leave the planning to Renner; we just have to pull through. As always."
"I suppose," Lakyus reluctantly acquiesced. "Well, you're caught up on what we've been occupied with, Rigrit. How about you? If it's okay to tell us, that is."
"Nothing as exciting as breaking the law," being in a rush had prevented that, unfortunately. "Met with a few acquaintances and running a few more errands—"
" 'Running a few errands?' " The crybaby rudely interrupted. "Does it have to do with the Warrior-Captain?"
"Sure," she flippantly responded, eliciting a scowl from the vampire. "Feel free to go bother him when he's off the clock. The poor man's been through enough."
Now that the situation had degenerated to this point, it didn't matter if Blue Roses were made aware of the looted ring. Rigrit knew this would paint an unnecessary mark on their backs, but their direct affiliation with the angel ought to protect them from any would-be cover up attempts. So long as they remained in her good graces, they should be fine.
'Works out this way; puts pressure on the Theocracy they can't remove without getting into a costly fight,' the cynicism tasted bitter even to one as accustomed to the taste as her. 'Gazef doesn't know anything about the ring's history, and I doubt even the crybaby can connect the dots without more info.'
"He and I get along just fine," the vampire huffed.
"You barely ever talk to him, Evileye," Lakyus pointed out. "But I guess you two don't argue…?"
"Either way, keep Queen Oriculus happy," the Dragon Lord was the lynchpin to all this, or so Tsa made it appear. "Keep her happy, and the angel's happy too. Happy wife, happy life, or something like that?"
"They aren't married yet, you old bat."
"Marriage, whatever they have going on, same difference," Rigrit said, leaning back such that the chair's front legs were off the ground. "Oh, and try not to insult them to their faces, okay? That one's for the crybaby."
"We'll do our best," Lakyus answered before Invern could begin another fit of pique. "Although it might be a bit of an uphill battle since Queen Oriculus doesn't seem to favor Adventurers very much."
Given the uselessness of the Guild in the Draconic Kingdom and the Queen's personal experiences with Crystal Tear, Rigrit wasn't surprised. Queen Oriculus had the composure to not lash out when Invern went and said what she did, so it'd probably turn out alright. "Do your best anyway! I'll be rooting for you guys."
"We… um, right," the priestess rapidly shook her head, coiffure becoming slightly ruffled with the sudden motion. "So, will you be staying here long, Rigrit? It's been a while, and I was thinking maybe we could all do something together—unless you're busy, of course."
'Taking it slow, huh?' The idea tickled her funny in an odd way. An elderly person like her should've been taking it slow since over a century ago, but here she was, busting her butt all around the continent. 'Na, that kind of boring life would almost be as bad as living through the Demon Gods again.'
And she had a responsibility to the world, to the people for whom the darkness of the past was but a faint shadow. She figured this Yuriko was somebody who'd stand on the side of the world, but seeing for herself would be more of a confirmation than hearing from others.
'Not a trip I need to rush into. Slowing down every now and then isn't bad.'
"I can stay for a while," it was cute how her two juniors—one junior and one senior, technically—perked up. Lakyus visibly so, and the crybaby in a more reserved manner. "Had plans to meet old buddies in Argland, but now I'm thinking I should take a detour to the Draconic Kingdom. Check out the angel for myself. It's a shame this means I can't go and bully your uncle though."
"Ah… I'm sure Uncle would be disappointed," Lakyus slowly nodded with a complicated look on her face. "The kingdom's a little far from here, but traveling by yourself means you can use 『Teleport』. I've heard Renner mention that Lady Yuriko wants to eventually extend transportation services beyond the borders of the Draconic Kingdom and Beastman Country. After they untangle most of the details, I mean."
'That'll be interesting,' the proposed service reminded her of the airships that populated the skies of the continent's larger nations. It was heartening that this region was finally beginning to make giant steps forward, even if only thanks to a force from outside the World. 'And convenient. None of the ships would fly this far out, and bugging a contact all the time is annoying.'
Not that she didn't understand; the powers that be saw the corner in which humanity and its neighbors called home to be a savage frontier. Hardly a place suitable to shift valuable investme—
"Speaking of which, why couldn't you arrive sooner?" Invern interjected. "With the people you work with, you should've known what's been going on here pretty early on."
"Brat, this was as fast as I could go," despite her patronizing words, her tone was anything but. "I ran into a bunch of nonsense on my way here. Teleportation in over half of the superpowers is a pain right now without official authorization, and bothering with that'll just slow me down even more, you see? Had to sail overseas too."
'Sneaking around is a pain!'
"Couldn't you ask…" Invern glanced at a mildly bemused Lakyus. "You know, someone who could speed the process up?"
"Dropping by for a visit wasn't that important," Tsa was content to handle matters here personally—once he stopped waffling. The main reason for her visit was twofold: firstly, to confirm the loss of the ring, and secondly, to ascertain the circumstances surrounding its pilferage, which, if she was being honest, wasn't exactly difficult. "The requests I've got going on haven't changed."
"Huh. I would've figured h—they'd care a lot about Lady Yuriko doing what she's doing."
"Excuse me, but whom are you two referring to?" The priestess interposed herself.
"A troublesome mutual friend," Rigrit eagerly responded. 'Troublesome' was an understatement. "He's the nasty type who enjoys leading on young maidens like yourself, so run the other way if you ever see him."
The vampire sharply inclined her head in a rare moment of solidarity.
"Anyway, everyone's busy and wants to make it everybody else's business!" The Commonwealth and Federation especially; losing half their vaunted cavalry golems in one battle had been an embarrassment she felt that the beastmen would never quite forget. "I'd say they're in tune with the Adventurer's spirit, eh?"
"That's kind of… against Guild regulations, Rigrit…"
"We don't follow those, Lakyus," Invern reminded the priestess. "Ainzach would have an aneurysm if he knew a fraction of what we've been doing."
Bah, the Guild and its rules! A real example of 'one step forward, and two back.'
Keeping Adventurers from killing each other was a reasonable concern since they were usually the first line of defense against monsters in this small corner of the world.
However, wasn't that where the main problem lay? The fact that the human-dominated kingdoms here lived and died at the whims of those who had no obligation to risk their lives for the greater whole? There was a reason why the Theocracy had never relied on the institution they created, and why the Empire sought to break away as well. Countries that wanted to survive had to cultivate their own strength instead of relying on the swords of others to come save them.
'In the end, it does what the Theocracy wants it to do,' a meat grinder that squeezed the talent out of humanity, taking the truth of heroes being born from challenge and pushing it to bloody extremes. 'Fire's got to have fuel to burn, after all.'
Everything for humanity's sake.
Those ruined by the Demon Gods, budding sprouts cut down before their time, the crucible that had been the Draconic Kingdom, and the chaos that might've been Re-Estize's future… surely other answers existed: answers whose foundations weren't stained with the blood of an incalculable number of people.
She would've ruminated longer on the subject if Invern hadn't dropped a book on her lap while pointing a flat stare at her.
"Ritual Applications of Spiritual Magic," Rigrit read the title aloud. "You need a tutor, brat?"
"Hardly," Invern scornfully sniffed. "Whatever you were thinking about, you weren't suited for it. And go return that book before you get us all in trouble."
'This brat,' She reached over and ruffled their hair—again. "Look at you! Worrying about me already, is that right?"
"Wh-Who's worrying about you?!"
"Crybaby, I'm honored to say that you'll be replacing Azuth for me while I'm here."
"Rigrit, please…"
AN: Commissioned artwork of Min-eun along with a character sheet on Ao3!