I'm sorry for the delay in updating.
Since the start of this month, I've been laid up, my poor health compounded by heatstroke, unable to move much.
I've recovered considerably, but my condition still isn't good—using the computer makes me feel ill—so for a while the updates will be irregular.
"So, what happened with the dungeon where the octopus lives?"
"There was talk of damming up the river's flow once to investigate the interior, but in the end it seems no one who can operate underwater is likely to be found, so they're going to seal the entrance shut with stone and clay, apparently."
Having returned from Seigen, we'd come to visit the castle partly to report on the dungeon, and after the report was finished Primera was captured by Lady Maria and Lady Isabella and, taking Luna and Aina along, ended up holding a girls' gathering in Lady Maria's room. Left behind, I got caught by Tiida, who badgered me for dungeon stories. Incidentally, Namitarou—who discovered the dungeon and was the only one who
swam around
inside it—said things like "I'll leave the reporting to you," and
parted ways
with us at a river along the route toward the royal capital.
Since Seigen is territory under the crown's direct control, I'd thought—was it really all right to seal the entrance without even consulting the King? But apparently the Seigen guild is entrusted with a certain degree of judgment where dungeons are concerned, and in this case, on the judgment that the matter Namitarou had mentioned—'the reason the water level of the lake inside the dungeon had risen'—was of an urgent nature, the Seigen guild decided to seal the entrance once and observe, and the crown recognized that.
For what it's worth, among the nobles present at that report, some voices opposed sealing it, but when the King said that the sealing was temporary and that the guild's report stated the condition that it would be restored if there was no effect on the water level, the objections quickly died down.
"I wonder what the ecosystem inside is like."
"Namitarou said it seems basically no different from a lake. But apparently the entrance in the lake isn't the dungeon's lowest floor, and he even said that in the worst case it might be as deep as the Seigen dungeon. So besides the octopus, there are probably unconfirmed creatures too."
The reason the octopus and the large aquatic creatures from the lake aren't found in the nearby river might be that the entrance at the river bottom is too narrow for them to get out, and that the river doesn't suit the nature of the dungeon's creatures. That said, since an octopus is a soft-bodied creature, depending on its size it wouldn't be strange for one to have been found in the river—but octopuses are basically bottom-dwelling creatures, and small ones might get eaten by carnivorous fish before they ever reach the entrance.
"But that octopus was pretty tough, wasn't it? No, not so much tough as—because of its elasticity you can hardly bite through it, I mean…… If it's like that even sliced thin, wouldn't it be impossible whole?"
Recalling the texture of the octopus I'd once had him eat as a souvenir, Tiida seemed to wonder whether a fish—carnivorous though it may be—could actually bite through an octopus, but,
"No, at the size we defeated back then it'd be impossible, but at around two meters it wasn't that bad. I think even a human, if they had sturdy teeth and confidence in their jaw strength, could bite clean through even raw and whole. And when it comes to large carnivorous fish, their teeth are sturdy as well as sharp and pointed, and once they bite down they spin rapidly to try to tear off a chunk. If your arm got bitten, Tiida, it'd be ripped off in a matter of seconds."
When I said that, Tiida seemed to recall the carnivorous fish I'd shown him before, and he rubbed his arm with a wry smile.
"Come to think of it, Tenma. On the way back, did you go see the cattle?"
"No—normally I'd make the trip out near their habitat as a rest stop too, but this trip was one trouble after another and ran later than planned, so I didn't. Besides, the cattle habitat is a bit off the road from Seigen to the royal capital to begin with."
"I see…… Recently, about how long ago was it that you went near the habitat?"
"Beats me…… wouldn't it be close to a year ago? I've been busy with preparations for the wedding and such. So—what am I being suspected of?"
The way Tiida shifted the topic was a little unnatural, and the questions after that were an outright interrogation. Tiida wasn't even trying to hide it, so there was no way I wouldn't notice.
"Well, you see…… lately, poaching of the cattle that live within the hunting-prohibited zone seems to be on the rise. I say 'seems' because it hasn't actually been confirmed that poaching is taking place, but over the past several months a herd being observed at a certain location vanished, and traces thought to be from a human attack were found, and so on—these things have kept happening, so a portion of the nobility is making a fuss."
By "a portion of the nobility," he mainly meant the reformist faction, no doubt. Probably, because the poachers were so skilled that their identity couldn't be grasped, they'd seized on it as a golden opportunity and, as part of their harassment of the royalist faction, turned suspicion toward me.
"In the first place, rather than crossing such a dangerous bridge, I'd use the King's connections to have myself named for a culling commission, or ask to be allowed to buy up the culled ones. That'd be far easier."
"Right? And besides, supposing you did poach them, Tenma, there's no way blood traces would be left behind, and there's no way a cow you'd wounded could get away."
That was a questionable way to put it, but if I tossed them into my Dimension Bag the instant I brought them down, or had Slarin catch them, no blood traces would be left. And even if a wounded cow did escape, it couldn't get away from Shiromaru and Solomon. I'd rather people not underestimate the appetite and greed of our gluttons.
"Was the reason my only conversation partner was Tiida that you wanted to make this clear?"
"Yes—officially I'm the one who proposed this and I'm the person in charge, so…… and besides, if
His
Majesty
or
His
Highness
the
Crown
Prince
had interrogated you, Tenma, there'd be no small number of people who'd want to blow things out of proportion."
It's true that neither the King nor I would mind, but there would definitely be scoundrels who'd stick their beaks in and try to stir up a fuss. So it was probably simplest and quickest for Tiida—who has the most contact with me within the royal family and is even, on paper, a relative (barely written in, via the connection to Amy)—to handle it.
"I don't go to the cattle habitat much, but if I get the chance to go, I'll keep an eye on the herds. Well, the effect will probably be slim."
"Please do. For its part, the royal family will also commission the guild directly for patrols and information on the culprit, or put up a bounty for capture, so I think it'll serve as a deterrent to poachers."
Along with that commission, they'd surely spread a rumor to the effect that I've grown concerned about the poaching because I was suspected of it.
When my name gets used, I have a feeling Lord Caesar is behind it…… but since I trot out royalty's names too, it's a give-and-take sort of thing, I suppose. Incidentally, the reason it'd be Lord Caesar is that if Tiida worried about whether he could use my name without leave, he'd end up not using it after all, and in the King's case there's the possibility he wouldn't use it out of reluctance to have Lady Maria say something to him. On that point, Lord Caesar is the type to say things like "I used it because it was necessary," or "Even if people realize the royal family spread the rumor, it can conversely be used to show off just how unreserved our relationship is."
There's the density of our association too, but while Lord Caesar has the most royalty-like character within the royal family, he's also the one who reads the room best within it. On top of that, compared to the King, Lord Lyle, Luna, and Lord Ernest, he has next to nothing troublesome about him, so in a sense he's the person who tires me out the least.
"Now then…… since it'll be quite a while before Primera is freed, I might as well head down to the kitchen while I have the chance."
When I left the room to drop off the souvenir at the kitchen while I had time, Tiida, apparently curious, came along too. Well, since the King and the others had foisted the duty of keeping me company on him, he probably couldn't just leave me be.
"So, Tenma. What's the souvenir this time?"
"That's a surprise for later…… though even if I say that, I imagine you can mostly guess."
Leading along a wryly smiling Tiida, I came to the kitchen—the place within the castle's facilities I visit as much as anywhere. The cooks in the kitchen just gave a light raise of the hand or called out from a distance when I came in, but when they noticed Tiida behind me, they froze for a moment out of shock, then quickly dropped to one knee on the floor in a subject's salute. And then the head chef, who'd come over having noticed the commotion, scolded them for dirtying their hands and clothes.
The castle's head chef is a man of common birth who won recognition of his culinary skill from the previous King and was granted the title of honorary baron, and he's a celebrity whose eldest son has also earned the position of sous-chef on his own merit. Incidentally, when shouting is heard in the kitchen, apparently the majority of it is this father and son quarreling. Also, the head chef's wife is a serving staff member in the dining hall and a helper cook, and his younger son is a self-styled wandering chef. I've met the wife many times, but I've never met the younger son.
When I handed that head chef half the octopus I'd received from Namitarou, he carried it excitedly to the back of the kitchen. That octopus was meant as a souvenir for Tiida and the others, but at this rate it looked like it'd end up as the head chef's practice material, so I went after him—and the head chef had already cut off a small tip of one of the octopus's legs and was
chewing
it.
It wouldn't taste good in a state where the sliminess hadn't even been removed, but the head chef was checking the flavor with a serious expression. In this state there was a high chance he wouldn't take in a word I said, so I told the wife how to prepare the octopus and that "the octopus is a souvenir for the King and the others," and asked her to keep watch so the head chef wouldn't run wild.
"If I leave it to the wife, it won't get devoured. For the wife's part too, if the head chef stole a souvenir meant for royalty, at best it'd mean the death penalty for the head chef and banishment from the royal capital for the wife and son. At worst, collective punishment for the whole family."
"That's right. Surely there'd be no collective punishment, but normally it wouldn't be strange for the head chef to be sentenced to death. Still, after some back-and-forth, it would probably settle at the whole family being banished from the royal capital."
Just as Tiida said, the King wouldn't sentence someone to death over a grudge about food, and inwardly he'd probably want to let it slide while grumbling, but that would fail to set an example for others, so it'd end up as banishment. Well, even if banished, that family would adapt anywhere, so there's no need to worry.
"So, Tenma, where to next?"
"Let's see…… shall we try heading to the training grounds? There should be someone there who'll spar with me."
I could kill time in the library, but if I got absorbed in a book, I might be slow to notice when Primera was freed and end up leaving late. On that point, at the training grounds, even if I got absorbed and failed to notice she'd been freed, the fact that I'm there would spread right away, so someone would come to call me.
When I headed to the training grounds on that casual whim…… the very first thing that happened was I got caught by Din, forced into a fight on par with the individual finals of the martial tournament, and on top of that, thanks to Lord Lyle showing up partway through my training with Din, I was made to fight one-on-one against knights selected from the royal guard and the knight order (five from the guard, five from the order). Now then, the royal guard had its usual members selected (more precisely, they volunteered themselves), and in an underhanded move they sent the knight order to fight first, aiming for when I was tired. Well, once my opponents switched to the royal guard I started using magic I hadn't used until then, so I was able to end the matches faster than when I'd fought the knight order. About that, Chris—who ended up being the first to lose among the knight order—complained, but since it wasn't a no-magic rule to begin with, I got carried away and, teasing her, talked her down. So there's no doubt she'll come to complain later. Even now, she's watching me with grudge-filled eyes.
"By the way, Tiida is…… best not to interrupt, huh?"
Having worked through my (arbitrarily arranged) schedule, I looked around wondering what had become of Tiida, who'd been left neglected, and found him being drilled by Lord Lyle at the edge of the training grounds. Tiida's skill has improved from before and his stamina has increased too, so from an outside view he seems to be putting up a fairly good fight—but against a Tiida who was breathing hard, shoulders heaving, and looking near his limit, Lord Lyle was facing him with a relaxed expression, giving advice all the while, so "being toyed with in the palm of his hand" would be the correct way to see it.
"Good work, Tiida."
When Tiida toppled over, Lord Lyle's drilling came to an end, so I brought over some water and called out to him, but he seemed too exhausted and gave no response.
"Yo! Good work, Tenma! You can just leave Tiida there and…… hm? What is it? ……Understood, I'll come right away. You, go around and relay the message to each department!"
Unlike Tiida, Lord Lyle—who looked like he'd only had a decent bit of exercise—came over to me, but he took on a serious expression the moment he heard the report from a subordinate who'd come running up.
"Tenma, it seems an emergency has occurred. What it is, I
can
not
dis
cuss
it
here
with
you
, but head back to the manor right away. It's possible word will come to you as well, Tenma."
Lord Lyle's phrasing was concerning, but it didn't seem I'd get anything more out of him by asking now, so I decided for the time being to meet up with Primera and head back to the manor. And the fact that word might come to me as well meant the report likely involved someone closely tied to me, so I figured I'd better assume that someone would
def
in
itely
come.
Having judged so, I left Tiida to Din and went to fetch Primera—but Din ordered Chris to go fetch Primera, and in the meantime he had Raiden made ready for me.
When I'd come to the castle it had been by carriage drawn by Raiden, but since it might be an emergency, I decided to ride back double-mounted on Raiden. I couldn't manage the kind of speed you'd use running through the outskirts, of course, but the judgment was that it was decidedly faster than having him pull a carriage back. Well, naturally I had to watch out for collisions.
"Tenma~! There's a guest!"
When I came right up to the front of the manor, Amur—who'd apparently been lying in wait—opened the gate and announced the visitor. That Amur, a viscount's daughter in our care, would wait at the gate was something that had never happened before, which made me think the situation might be one of high urgency.
"Who's come?"
"Albert and Lion and Marquis Sammons."
"Marquis Sammons too? In that case, is the emergency something that happened at House Haust, the margrave's family?"
If the problem had occurred at House Sanga, Albert—my brother-in-law—would come alone; if it were House Sammons, it'd be the marquis himself alone, or the marquis and Kain.
For all three houses to come together like this, I figured it was to back up someone who was neither a relative nor a house head. And that thought turned to certainty when I entered the drawing room.
Normally, Marquis Sammons—the highest-ranking of the three—should have been at the center, yet it was Lion, neither a house head nor a relative, who was seated at the center.
"Tenma, it seems House Haust has a request they'd like to make of you."
Lion's request was apparently a political one, and Albert had come along as a witness on House Otori's side, Marquis Sammons as a witness on the margrave's side.
"Lion, the castle was in an uproar—am I right that it's something connected to the margrave's territory?"
"Yeah."
"Lord Otori, to be precise, it's
for
the
mo
ment
still
something concerning the margrave's territory, but as things stand it will become a problem for the entire kingdom."
Perhaps because of Lion's position, Marquis Sammons interjected a correction in a tone and manner different from usual.
"Lion, what do you mean?"
I could have gone on questioning Marquis Sammons, but since it was ostensibly the margrave's family's request, I decided to ask Lion. And then,
"The Empire has invaded the margrave's territory."
—was the answer that came back.