Recap: To stand against the Man-God, Rudeus joined Orsted's faction. His very first directive is the mission to "assist Ariel in her struggle for the throne." Having successfully persuaded Perugius as his opening move, Rudeus sets off for the Asura Kingdom—all while trembling in the shadow of the Man-God.
The travel party consists of eight members.
Ariel, Luke, Sylphie, Elmore, Kline.
To this princess's entourage, myself, Eris, and Ghislaine are added.
We use one two-horse carriage and five horses.
For the departure of Ariel Anemoi Asura, second princess of a great nation like the Asura Kingdom, it was remarkably modest travel preparation.
Officially, this was a covert return home.
The real reason was to conceal from the public eye the use of teleportation magic circles—a forbidden method of travel.
And yet, despite the secrecy, a crowd had gathered at the entrance to the Magic City of Sharia.
The vice-dean of the University of Magic, members of the student council.
The head of the Magicians' Guild.
The master of the Magical Device Workshop.
Along with leaders of various other organizations and representatives of nobles and royals from the three great magic nations, they had come one after another to see Ariel off.
Did these people even understand the meaning of the word "covert"?
It just means we aren't throwing a big party, that's all.
...Well, regardless, having a send-off like this was a testament to Ariel's efforts.
Orsted is powerful, but his connections with people are thin.
Which means there may come a time when we'll need to use their connections.
Thinking that, I made sure to greet them all as well.
---
Right then—time to depart.
For travel, we combine teleportation magic circles with horses and the carriage.
We take the carriage to the Aerial Fortress, then use the teleportation circle while still inside it, transporting us to the northern part of the Upper Jaw of the Red Dragon. From there, we travel south by land.
Perugius had even set up a magic circle at a location the carriage could reach.
"If you're going to go that far," I'd suggested, "why not just send Armanfi into the Asura Kingdom and have him draw the circles there?"
But out of the thirteen people in Perugius's service, only two could actually draw teleportation magic circles.
Perugius himself, and Silvaril.
Moreover, teleportation magic circles couldn't be set up just anywhere.
The magic circle in the Aerial Fortress was powered by Perugius's own magic, but activating a receiving circle required certain conditions.
That condition was mana.
Long ago, the genius who created teleportation magic circles had exploited the properties of locations with high mana density, designing a magic device that absorbed ambient mana to keep the circle perpetually active.
In other words, teleportation magic circles could only be built in places with dense mana.
That was why the magic circles I'd used to travel to the Begaritt Continent had been hidden deep in forests and deserts.
Of course, through later research, it became possible to keep them active by periodically attaching mana crystals.
A mana crystal-powered, manually-fed magic circle.
Since the Asura Kingdom had "low mana density," most of their magic circles used this type.
You attach the mana crystals in an emergency and remove them when they're no longer needed.
Only a select few knew where the crystals should be placed.
This time, both types had been destroyed—the ones using mana crystals and the ones that didn't.
Location, device, and magic circle.
Without knowledge of all three, you couldn't create a teleportation magic circle.
So how did Perugius plan to reach the Asura royal palace?
When I asked, he simply told me it wasn't something I needed to worry about.
Ariel seemed to know, so he was probably planning some kind of surprise entrance.
———
"Incredible! This is incredible, Rudeus! Look! The town is like a tiny bean!"
The moment we teleported to the Aerial Fortress, Eris let out a cheer of excitement.
She jumped off her horse to peer down at the ground below, then looked up at the castle in awe.
Her exuberance was so childlike that none of us could help but smile wryly.
It was genuinely endearing.
Her display put one person in particular in high spirits.
Silvaril, who had been waiting near the magic circle.
Watching Eris bounce around with excitement, she looked visibly proud.
Even behind her mask, you could tell.
"I trust the view from the Aerial Fortress Chaos Breaker met with your approval?"
"It's the best! I've never seen anything like it!"
The more guileless Eris's smile became, the higher Silvaril's opinion of her climbed.
Perhaps being straightforward was the most important thing after all.
"Indeed. I am Silvaril, the Void—first servant of Lord Perugius. I look forward to working with you."
"I'm Eris Greyrat!"
Eris seemed to be itching to get inside the castle.
Silvaril picked up on this and, looking pleased, began the tour while keeping a watchful eye on the surroundings.
We followed behind, watching the whole scene with warm amusement.
What Silvaril led Eris through on the tour was the Audience Chamber.
We were scheduled to greet Perugius before departure.
"You've come."
Perugius sat in his throne surrounded by spirits, just as before.
This time was just a greeting.
So when Ariel stepped forward and opened her mouth to deliver the customary formalities—
Eris strode right up ahead of her.
"And who might you be?"
My blood ran cold.
In my mind, I pictured Eris clenching her fist and charging at Perugius.
Even for someone as powerful as Perugius, having someone brazenly pick a fight to his face would not be taken lightly.
I was about to rush in and stop her when Eris gracefully dropped to one knee.
"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Eris Greyrat, who recently became Rudeus's wife. I hope we can get along."
I was dumbfounded.
Wait—was that really Eris being all humble and deferential right now?
"I am Pergius Dola, the Dragon King.
Eris Greyrat. I know of you—the 'Mad Sword King' who received the rank of Sword King and dared to challenge Orsted."
"I am still far from skilled, but..."
"Oh?"
Eris delivered those words of modesty, but they were stiffly rehearsed.
She might have memorized the entire thing by rote.
"Eris Greyrat. I find your earnestness quite agreeable."
Perugius looked delighted.
"Then allow me to offer my own apology as well. Eight years ago, my subordinate attacked you."
Eris raised her head and furrowed her brow.
That expression on her face said she had no memory of it at all.
"I'm not bothered by it!"
"I see... Then you have my gratitude."
Perugius chuckled and gave a lazy wave of his hand.
Eris stood up and walked back toward me with a smug grin plastered across her face.
It was the kind of look that said, "See? I can do this kind of thing too, if I put my mind to it."
She might have actually practiced for it.
Well, in any case, Perugius had taken a liking to Eris.
His attitude was completely different from when he'd dealt with me.
As expected, people without pretense tended to be liked by everyone.
It was a good thing.
"This way, everyone."
After Ariel's greeting, we withdrew from the Audience Chamber under Silvaril's guidance.
The teleportation magic circle was located in a vast, empty hall around the corner from the entrance we'd used.
At the far end of this otherwise barren space, the magic circle emitted a faint glow.
Silvaril launched into an explanation about the hall, but I'll spare the details.
We stepped onto the magic circle.
———
Our destination beyond the teleportation magic circle was ruins.
Teleportation magic circle ruins.
The same kind that existed near the Ranoa Kingdom and on the Begaritt Continent.
According to Orsted, such ruins used to exist in far greater numbers, and various races had moved freely between continents.
But once they were exploited for warfare, they were completely banned.
The reason they remained hidden was that a certain Dragon King had despised their misuse and placed a barrier over the ruins he'd been using.
In every world, there are people who defy convention on their own terms.
Thanks to him, we could travel this easily, so I had no intention of complaining.
The ruins lay in the middle of a dense, overgrown forest.
Based on the map we'd checked beforehand, they were located slightly northwest of the canyon known as the Upper Jaw of the Red Dragon.
However, we ran into a problem.
We'd successfully teleported the carriage and all, but the carriage couldn't get out of the ruins.
With this many people, and no one had thought of that...
I was about to sigh in exasperation when two of Ariel's attendants calmly began disassembling the carriage.
With practiced hands, they took the whole thing apart and carried the pieces outside.
I'd thought the carriage was unusually small—it turned out to be collapsible.
They then loaded the carriage parts onto the horses and moved to the vicinity of the main road.
Reassembling the carriage near the road, it was back to normal in no time.
By the time we reached the road, the sun had set, so we made camp nearby and settled in for the night.
"Whew..."
We gathered around the campfire and began preparing dinner.
With the surrounding forest, there was no shortage of firewood or food.
In fact, we'd already harvested materials from the monsters that had attacked us in the woods.
Beast-type monsters for meat, firewood, and a few wild herbs.
Firewood really was everywhere.
It was practically infesting my house back home—maybe the Treants would be the next rulers of this world.
Normally, we would have just sat on the ground, but one of the attendants brought out a carpet.
As expected of a royal entourage, I supposed.
Dinner was handled by the two attendants and Sylphie.
I offered to help, but was politely turned down.
Well, watching Sylphie's efficiency, my getting in the way would probably do more harm than good.
I told them I'd make more dishes or cooking utensils if they ran short, and left it at that.
While they cooked, I had nothing to do.
I considered scouting the perimeter, but Eris and Ghislaine were already standing guard, so there was no need for me.
On this trip, there was no work for me to do.
This was a first.
Even when I'd traveled alone and crashed other people's parties along the way, I hadn't experienced this.
Back then, I'd been valued as a handy jack-of-all-trades thanks to my surplus of mana.
From crafting dishes to purifying water.
Having just a few attendants who could use magic apparently eliminated my usefulness entirely.
Well, what I was supposed to do wasn't serve Ariel anyway.
It was to fight the Man-God's forces, identify who was the Man-God's apostle, and eliminate them.
Current estimates put the apostles as Luke, Darius, and one more.
The most likely candidates were the North Emperor or the Water God.
I'd already asked Orsted how to handle each of them.
All I had to do was run the simulations in my head the way he'd taught me, then put them into practice when the time came.
"...Still, though."
I murmured as I looked over at Luke.
He stood at full attention in magnificent armor, right at Ariel's side.
In an emergency, he was positioned to shield her at a moment's notice.
...If Luke turned out to be the Man-God's apostle.
And if I decided not to kill him.
What would Orsted do about Luke?
Luke was invaluable to Ariel.
If he'd continue to be an asset after she became queen, then being the Man-God's apostle was a problem, wasn't it?
No—the Asura Kingdom's usefulness to Orsted was a long-term consideration.
Which meant by that time, Luke would probably already be dead.
So it didn't really matter.
But if Ariel, once queen, died right away, wouldn't that defeat the purpose?
No—surely "Ariel becomes queen" was the event that served as the turning point.
Or perhaps "the First Prince becomes queen" was the trigger for a bad ending.
Hmm... I should ask about this at some point, just to be sure.
Whether Orsted would tell me was another matter.
He refused to give details about things a hundred years in the future.
I'd also asked about the Man-God's claim that "if he dies, the world will be destroyed," but all Orsted said was, "That's a possibility."
He seemed to care about nothing beyond killing the Man-God.
Well, even if the world was going to end in the future, I didn't have the luxury of worrying about that right now.
I could barely keep my family safe as it was.
It was irresponsible, maybe, but I didn't care.
Future problems were for future people to solve.
But would my descendants help Orsted even knowing the world would end?
Or would they help without knowing?
If it was the latter, that was a bit tragic.
Maybe I should leave a written record about that possibility, just in case.
"Rudy, dinner's ready! Eris and Ghislaine too!"
That call cut my thoughts short.
Well, I should write in my diary after we got back from the Asura Kingdom anyway.
I was forgetful like that.
Dinner was delicious.
As expected of Sylphie.
Or perhaps the two attendants deserved credit too.
With barely any proper ingredients to work with, it was impressive they could make something this good.
Maybe I'd learn from them next time I had a chance.
———
Night.
Only Ariel used a tent; the rest took turns standing watch.
The watch was in pairs.
But excluding Ariel, that left seven people.
So for brief stretches, there were groups of three.
During those times, one person would patrol the surrounding area.
Me, Sylphie, Eris, Ghislaine.
In terms of ability, we were all capable of taking down monsters on our own.
"I'll go patrol the perimeter."
It was my turn on the first night.
After letting the others know, I left the campfire behind.
My destination was deep into the forest.
All around was pitch darkness, with only the torch in my hand providing light.
Of course, I knew there were no monsters in this immediate area.
I wasn't going to let my guard down, but I stayed reasonably relaxed.
"..."
After walking for about five minutes or so.
At a sufficient distance from the campfire.
From the shadows, he appeared without warning.
Silver hair, golden eyes, the unsettling stare of a sanpaku gaze.
A man with a face so fearsome he could have been a demon had materialized out of the darkness.
"Ah!"
I nearly screamed and almost dropped my torch.
"Ha... My apologies. Good evening, Lord Orsted."
"Yeah."
I greeted him and sat down on the roots of a nearby tree.
Orsted also settled onto the roots of a tree across from me.
Orsted had been tailing us.
Perugius knew this, of course.
We'd used his magic circle, after all.
During the journey, I held check-ins with him like this.
Too frequent contact would raise suspicion, so we did it once every few days.
Only during my watch rotation.
"How is it?"
"No unusual movement from Luke. The journey has been smooth."
With that, the scheduled check-in was complete.
It was only the first day, and there wasn't much to report.
Orsted hadn't expected much either and didn't press for further details.
"I see. Nothing should happen for a while."
"Right."
"But stay alert once you pass through the Upper Jaw of the Red Dragon."
"Understood."
The Upper Jaw of the Red Dragon.
The valley connecting the Asura Kingdom and the northern lands, flanked by the Red Dragon Mountain Range.
A wide, single-lane valley large enough for big carriages to pass each other.
Incidentally, the place where Orsted had nearly killed me in the past was at the Lower Jaw of the Red Dragon.
Beyond this valley lay a great forest.
A forest famous even within the Asura Kingdom.
The forest itself was called the Chin Whiskers of the Red Dragon.
But it was often referred to together with the canyon to its north as the Upper Jaw of the Red Dragon.
It technically fell within Asura Kingdom territory, but the actual border was south of the forest.
Along the southern edge of the forest, a massive wall like the Great Wall had been constructed, with hundreds of soldiers stationed inside.
To prevent monsters from moving southward. To prepare against invasion from the north.
The reasons were various.
And here was the important point.
This deep forest was a place frequently used for disposing of important people.
It was outside the kingdom's borders, and once inside, there were no witnesses.
The forest was home to powerful monsters and bandit groups that operated across both north and south.
It was the perfect place to quietly eliminate someone.
If Darius had received advice from the Man-God, he would likely launch his ambush here.
After all, sending soldiers north of the Upper Jaw of the Red Dragon could constitute interference with another nation.
If it was south of the checkpoint, an attack on a princess within the Asura Kingdom would make the news.
Both scenarios could backfire on Darius depending on the circumstances.
So the place to strike first would be here.
Here, the risk was lowest, and Ariel could be eliminated.
That was what Orsted had deduced.
"So, everything proceeds as planned."
"Yeah."
If there was an ambush, it would demonstrate the danger of the road route.
"This road is too dangerous—let's take a different route."
That would naturally lead us toward establishing contact with Tris's bandit group.
If there was no ambush, Orsted would take action himself.
A staged incident.
He'd prepared summoning magic circle scrolls and mana crystals in advance.
He'd even prepared an excuse: "The summoned beasts weren't native to this area, so someone must have interfered."
Everything was going according to plan.
"If an ambush occurs, there's a high probability the North Emperor, Aubert Colbert, will show up. Watch out for him."
"Yes. That's also part of the plan."
"...Right."
If the Asura Kingdom had hired the North Emperor and the Water God.
Orsted believed they would likely deploy the North Emperor as the ambusher.
A swordsman named Aubert was apparently skilled at exactly this kind of work.
A bizarre swordsman who seemed to embody the North God Style.
From his outfit to his hairstyle to his fighting technique—everything about him was eccentric.
The very epitome of surprise attacks.
Aubert Colbert, the "Peacock Sword."
I'd already informed Eris in advance about the possibility of fighting him and the Water God.
Eris had apparently trained under both Aubert and Raider in swordsmanship for a period.
Fighting one's own teacher had to be painful.
That was what I'd thought, but all she'd said was, "Oh good—I'm itching for a fight!" while cracking her knuckles.
Had she really been unable to build a relationship with either of them the way she had with Ghislaine?
Come to think of it—did Eris have any friends at the Sword Sanctum?
I was a little worried.
"You seem worried."
"What about?"
"You."
"...?"
"Even with a battle ahead of you, you look optimistic."
Optimistic.
Did I?
Maybe so.
But I had prepared.
I'd asked about countermeasures.
It wasn't certain that Aubert would come, but I'd run through multiple simulations.
I knew in my head that he was a terrifying opponent.
All that remained was to stay calm and execute.
I couldn't say I was perfectly ready, but there was no need to be more nervous than necessary... probably.
If anything, at this stage, it was better to stay relaxed... probably.
"Take this, just in case."
Orsted produced several bundles of paper from inside his coat.
They were scrolls inscribed with complex magic circles.
"A King-class healing magic circle.
You said you could only use healing magic up to advanced level.
If the time comes, use this."
"...Thank you."
How much could King-class healing magic heal again?
Could it regenerate lost limbs?
Given my defense and evasion, plus my opponent's attack power—I'd probably need that level of recovery.
"So even King-class healing magic uses magic circles?"
"Almost all magic in this world can be replicated through magic circles."
"Almost...? Does that mean there are some that can't be?"
"Unique magic with special activation methods is beyond that."
"Such as?"
"The roar magic used by beast races, the gravity magic employed by Dragon Kings...
Those can only be used by understanding their underlying principles."
Roar magic—that was what I called voice magic.
I could at least startle an opponent with it.
It just made them flinch from a loud shout, so whether it really counted as magic was debatable.
"I hear that your future self had mastered gravity magic.
But it likely took considerable time to reach that level.
Time for research, understanding, and training."
"...Lord Orsted, I've heard that you can use all forms of magic. Can you use gravity magic too?"
"I can. It's not the most practical thing, though."
Oh, he really could use it.
Impressive.
"So you weren't born able to use it—you learned each one one at a time?"
"That's right."
Makes sense.
Right now, I couldn't even imagine the principle behind it, let alone perform it.
But given enough time, things like anti-gravity would come naturally, I supposed.
Well, rather than chasing after abilities I might never achieve, I should focus on the task at hand.
I could explore that direction when I had more room to breathe.
Right.
What else was there to ask... about Luke.
"Oh, that reminds me, Lord Orsted.
If Luke turns out to be the Man-God's apostle, you gave me the discretion to decide whether to kill him or spare him, correct?"
"Yeah."
"If I choose to spare him and Ariel still becomes queen, what happens to him?"
"He'll be fine. By that time, he would have already escaped the Man-God's binding."
"Apostles are limited to three, right? Is it safe to just leave him be?"
"No problem. A human can only remain the Man-God's apostle until the results of his future prediction come in."
Until the results of his future prediction come in?
Hey, Orsted—that's something pretty important you could have told me sooner.
So the apostle could change mid-battle if things went a certain way?
"And his future prediction has a certain turning point. In this case, it's whether Ariel defeats Gravell and Darius and becomes queen or not."
"Until then, the apostle won't change?"
"Right."
Ugh—telling me important things after the fact...
Oh well.
At least I knew now.
Until this matter was resolved, the apostle wouldn't change.
Conversely, once the matter was resolved, the person would automatically no longer be an apostle.
Of course, the possibility of being made an apostle again still remained.
And from the way Orsted spoke, even if the apostle died before the results of the prediction came in, the apostle slot would remain unfilled.
I see—he meant for me to kill them.
"...Well then, I'll head back. If I'm gone too long, it might seem suspicious."
"Understood."
With that, I ended my check-in with Orsted.
I hurried back to the campfire and reported that everything was normal.
I switched shifts on schedule and crawled under my blanket.
And so, the first day of our journey to the Asura Kingdom drew to a close.