"I—! I can no longer tolerate that man's outrageous behavior! Your Majesty, you should expel him immediately! Even without him, we and the 'Still Water' should have more than enough to handle the escort!"
"...I understand how you feel, but try to calm down a bit, Franz."
Radlick Aurum Zebuldia spoke in a placating tone to Franz, whose face had turned crimson with rage.
Without saying anything outright, the other members of the knight order seemed to share the sentiment, their expressions dark. The young girl Murielna, seated a short distance away, listened to Radlick's words with a pained expression.
"Your Majesty, I absolutely cannot calm down! Th-that man, of all things, turned Your Majesty and Her Highness the Princess into frogs! And then he told me to crush them to reverse the transformation!? It's not because crushing them would be disrespectful if I did it—crushing them would be disrespectful no matter who does it!"
Franz's lips trembled with rage as he shouted. His subordinates cast sympathetic glances toward their raving commander.
It was terrifying magic. Turning humans into frogs—Radlick had never heard of such a thing. And above all, from the one who had demonstrated it, Thousand Transformations, there had been absolutely none of the telltale signs that precede a mage casting a spell.
All that man had done was snap his fingers. There was no visible manipulation of internal magical energy, nor any hint of magic being channeled through words. If the phenomenon hadn't actually occurred, you wouldn't even realize a spell had been attempted—that was the level we were dealing with.
Term's magic had virtually no lag before activation, and was both beautiful and supremely powerful, but it operated within established magical principles.
The miracle wrought by Thousand Transformations was in a completely different league.
"He said they can't be turned back unless they're crushed. There was nothing to be done. I was the one who told him to do it."
"That has to be a lie! Besides, what kind of Hunter turns even their escort targets into frogs?! I knew Hunters lacked dignity, but this is truly, utterly hopeless! If you're going to use Thousand Transformations, you'd be better off with a Level 1 Hunter!"
Knight Commander Franz had completely lost his head. Understandably so. He had been jerked around by Thousand Transformations' antics for ages now. On top of being already on high alert due to the revealed existence of assassins, being made to scramble around by an ally's behavior would naturally breed resentment.
"But we can't exactly arrest him. He'd just turn us into frogs again, and besides, wasn't he eating those nuts that interfere with magical energy manipulation?"
The fact that a mage was eating something like that while on escort duty made no sense, but if he could still use magic so calmly even in that state, it was safe to assume that magical suppression through energy interference wouldn't work on him.
At Radlick's words, Franz veins bulging at his temples, took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
"When the escort is finished and we return to the capital, I will absolutely make him pay."
"Besides, this incident can be called definitive proof that Thousand Transformations is not our enemy. After all, he incapacitated us and then did nothing."
"...It's possible he gave up because the 'Still Water' weren't affected by the spell."
"But that man's power clearly surpasses the 'Still Water.' Even the renowned Level 7 couldn't unravel the principles behind that spell."
And the imperial guard mage—the most skilled among them—hadn't understood the mechanics of the frog transformation at all.
In a battle between mages, not knowing the true nature of the opponent's magic was fatal. You couldn't mount any countermeasure.
Only three people besides the caster had been spared from the transformation. Of those on the emperor's side, only one—a single mage, the most talented among the imperial guards—had escaped.
Outstanding mages possessed a high resistance to magic. That was likely how they had avoided the transformation, but even that exceptional mage said it was the first time they had ever seen such a spell.
Thousand Transformations possessed a terrifying power that belied their appearance. And it could serve as a trump card. That was all that was currently known.
"We use what we can use. Our enemy right now is 'the Fox.'"
"But what if that person... —Understood."
Franz hesitated for a moment, but at Radlick's resolute voice, he lowered his gaze.
Radlick knew what he had been about to say. And why he had stopped him.
"'The Tears of Truth' cannot deceive any practitioner. That is the truth itself."
True, Thousand Transformations' behavior had been highly suspicious, but that suspicion had been verified by a Treasure Weapon that formed the very foundation of the empire.
A product of nature, a recreation of past memories—Treasure Weapons operated beyond the bounds of logic. To question the credibility of their power was out of the question.
If, by some remote chance, Thousand Transformations truly knew how to deceive that Treasure Weapon, that would become a crisis that shook the empire to its core.
At Radlick's words, Franz quietly murmured his assent.
§ § § "I don't know who Yowaningen is! Do you have some kind of grudge against me, or what?!"
Even after managing to return to his original form and retreating to his room, Klyuss was still fuming. Being turned into a frog had apparently been the last straw.
Is this the fate of the powerful...? I put on a hardened expression and replied.
"There, there. At least you're back to normal."
"!? There was a possibility I wouldn't have been!? ...Right."
"Maybe a little below fifty-fifty...?"
"!???"
My offhand remark left Klyuss in shock.
The emperor frog incident had been brought to a close with everyone restored to their original forms. It turned out the spell I'd used was the same one Lucia had used before. Perhaps my instincts had observed Lucia's spell once and then understood and mastered it instantaneously. The overcompensation of incompetence, perhaps.
I still didn't fully understand how to control the power, but if things went well, maybe I could even keep up with the Mourning Specter on adventures.
My eyes happened to land on a water pitcher on the desk, and I spoke to Klyuss, who still hadn't calmed down.
"There, there. Calm down and have some water. Oh, want me to turn the water into wine for you? If I can turn people into frogs, it should be easy."
『!? No way, brother!』
I proposed this with great enthusiasm, but Lucia in my head immediately jumped in to frantically stop me.
I cleared my throat quietly and heeded the advice. I've never been able to win an argument with Lucia.
"Just kidding. There's no way I could turn water into wine. But orange juice, on the other—"
『Absolutely not!! Brother!!!』
"Kidding. ...Magic really isn't all that impressive, huh."
"Yowaningen... after I went through all that trouble looking after you, you make fun of me... I'm done! I'm going to sleep! Do whatever you want!"
『I'm going to sleep too!! Turning water into wine is absolutely impossible, so... do whatever you want, I don't care anymore! Goodnight!』
Klyuss shouted with tears in his eyes and stormed out of the room with heavy footsteps. Apparently, suddenly gaining the ability to use magic was quite the problem in its own right.
What a mess... I'll apologize properly tomorrow. At least the sheet spirit matter had been swept under the rug... But the Lucia in my brain really was just like the real Lucia. The way she immediately jumped to "absolutely not" was exactly the same.
In their place, Term and Kechachachaka entered the room. We'd each been given our own room, yet it was nonstop visitors.
I was so exhausted from everything that had happened I just wanted to sleep right now. It wasn't as though I hadn't been panicked about accidentally turning His Majesty the Emperor into a frog—I just wasn't letting it show because of everything I'd been through...
"What do you need?"
"It's not 'what do I need.' What was that just now!?"
Term's expression was the most severe I'd ever seen. Kechachachaka's expression was also unusually grave.
So turning the emperor into a frog was a no-go from the Level 7 perspective... And from the Level 8 perspective too, apparently. Sorry about that.
"Well, you know... it was an accident. I didn't mean to turn him into a frog..."
"What— exactly what are you thinking? I'd like to hear your plan."
What on earth was he talking about? Slightly unsettled but speaking clearly nonetheless.
"A plan...? Franz was the one who made the plan. We're just hired escorts."
Our job this time was to clear the path. I had no intention of meddling in the escort plan, and honestly, things went better when I didn't.
At my words, Term regained a measure of composure and spoke in a low voice.
"...But it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You turned the entire imperial entourage into frogs, you know?"
I had no idea what he was getting at.
But the fact that he called it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity suggested that Term was perhaps... suggesting it would be more efficient to transport the emperor while he was still a frog.
That was the right hand of the Abyssal Flame Destruction for you—even appearing perfectly rational, his ideas were twisted. I changed Term's danger rating in my head from D to A.
"There might be some logic to it, but you should probably stop suggesting transporting people in frog form. I've said it many times—it was just an accident. And if you want to be precise, there was one person who didn't get turned into a frog, right?"
"...Yes, but—"
Term pressed further, but this was one line I couldn't cross. Pursuing efficiency was all well and good, but you mustn't forget basic human decency.
If rumors spread that we had escorted the emperor while he was still in frog form, the escort might succeed, but I'd never be able to live in Zebuldia again.
"We have to think about what happens after the escort is over. For now, we proceed according to Franz's plan. Nothing else should happen on flat ground, but the real problem is the aerial journey. Keep preparing and stay on guard."
Perhaps my resolute tone had restored his sanity, because Term gave a deep nod.
"...I see. Indeed, deciding things here would be unnatural. What preparation do you need?"
"Hm? I'll leave it to you. I trust Term and the others. I'll make my own preparations."
"...Understood."
Ke ke ke.
We understood each other. That ke ke ke was definitely an agreement ke ke ke.
Term and the others left the room, and silence returned.
Well, there'd been the chill dragon and all sorts of things, but up to this point, things had gone smoothly by my standards. The problem started from here.
Aerial travel was dangerous. There was nowhere to escape, and even if you survived a fall, you could end up stranded. Case in point: when I'd been stranded in the desert before. Back then, Citry and the others had pulled through for me, but even they, who had followed me this far, wouldn't be able to accompany me into the sky.
But I had a trump card this time. I looked up at the magic carpet hovering gently in the air, consuming magical energy for no reason.
The 'Dark Wings of the Night' I had used when going to the White Wolf's Den had flaws. The inability to brake was one, but the bigger issue was that it could only be used at night. However, this rambunctious carpet was different.
I spoke with a smile to the carpet flying lazily through the air.
"Let's be friends! Let's fly through the sky together!!"
The carpet suddenly lunged at me, sending me tumbling across the floor until I hit my head against the wall. Another Barrier Ring charge gone... This carpet was doing more damage to me than Arnold. Did this carpet have some kind of grudge against me?
I lay on my back on the now-fluffy, well-behaved carpet, a crease forming between my brows.
This... was going to require practice. About three days' worth, ideally.
There should have been room in the schedule. I'd see if I could get some time from Franz.
§ § § A high-end inn for Treasure Hunters. When everyone was gathered, Citry spoke with a grave expression.
"Klein-san has begun 'adjusting' the day count again for the first time in a while. He'll be deciding soon. Everyone, please complete your preparations."