Early Afternoon - Early Winter : Off-Coast Western Siratha
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"That artifact, if it's what I think it is.. wasn't made by dragons..."
-Yeah, I already know that much...- But as I went to speak again, my thoughts got hung up. -Wait... she couldn't an...- I felt my whole body stiffen instantly.
"We.. still don't know their origins, but they showed up a few hundred years ago in the hands of the Holy Kingdom, so one can only assu..." She spoke with a dark expression, as if talking about a bad mory.
-The Holy Kingdom again...- A knot of anxiety ford in my chest as I rembered the goddess telling to steer clear of there. "Do you really think they could have made such an insane artifact though?"
She hesitated before glancing up at . "Although I have my doubts, it's.. one of the better options since it would give us an excuse to wipe them off the map... The only other decent possibility is that they ca across sothing made by Bahamut or the Ancient Fenrir, but that is even less likely."
-Huh?- "Why is that?" The bad feeling in my chest only grew as I glanced at her.
"There.. were too many of them..." She leaned back in my palm as she awkwardly rubbed her arm with a dark expression.
-Too.. many?- My mind imdiately stuttered, unsure what to think about what she said. "What do you an.. too many?"
"Well.. when we were first notified of their existence, a group of ancients was sent to the Holy Kingdom to confiscate them... If I rember correctly, after we finished combing through the kingdom's magic towers and vaults, we had found 17 of them..."
-Seven..teen?- My eyes went wide.
But she didn't stop there. "And to make things even scarier..." She grimaced as she gripped into her arm. "I was told we dismantled them all..."
The theories I idly thought about while she spoke vanished in an instant. -So...- "That ans soone either lied about what they found.. or the Holy Kingdom had another, and soone got it from them..."
"Correct..." Both possibilities were extrely bad, to the point that I started to get nervous and think about whether I really wanted to get myself involved with it.
But, deep down, I didn't have a choice. "Do you think the remains could have been put back together? Or maybe reverse-engineered?"
"Reverse-engineered?" She gave a confused glance before looking back at the horizon. "If you an soone learning how to make it by taking it apart, it's quite unlikely... Even the most skilled dragons would struggle to recreate all the runes on one of them, let alone recreate the artifact itself. As for the possibility of soone putting one back together..."
Her pause was a bad sign.
"As far as I know, the remaining parts of the artifacts were scattered in Deaths Gape... The pieces shouldn't be recoverable..."
-Ah, sh*t...- The only options left were the worst-case scenarios, soone in a seat of power betraying Bahamut, or a group with tight connections to the Holy Kingdom.
It actually reminded of one of the carvings in the tree of prayer. -Dragons that joined the humans to revolt against the dragons...-
It was a future I didn't even want to consider. -I just need more information...-
After that, we continued talking, and one by one, my theories were thrown to the wayside.
I wasn't left empty-handed, however. Although Grandmother didn't seem to have all the details I would have liked, she ntioned a list of nas. The nas of the ancients who went and confiscated the artifacts themselves.
Several of the nas were unfamiliar, but according to Grandmother, they were mostly people who had extrely good reputations in Bahamut.
But there were a few nas that stood out: Amphitrite Ouranós, Myles Kalfas, and lastly, a man nad Erpo Krymnos, the youngest among those sent by nearly 400 years.
But his age wasn't the only thing that stood out.
"Who is Erpo Krymnos? To be such an outlier in terms of age, does he have so special connection with the Elder Hall?" He was the only one in the list who had a family na I had never heard of.
"Oh him? He's one of Leander's direct subordinates. He's actually second-in-line to succeed Leander, right behind Agatha Exypnos."
-Wait, Leander?- "Was Leander the foreign intelligence head back then too?"
"Yes, this incident happened about 30 years after his father entered his final sleep, so Leander had already succeeded his position by the ti this.. issue arose."
-That.. makes sense...- "So Leander probably sent him to have his own set of eyes..."
"Exactly..." She paused as a troubled look ca to her face. "Of all the people sent on the mission, he is pretty far down my list of suspects, and based on Leander's reaction to recent events, I assu he is not directly involved either."
But even though I wanted to accept Grandmother's dismissals, I couldn't help but have a stray thought. -Wait a minute...-
Grandmother seed to notice falling into thought as well. "What are you thinking?"
-I'm probably overthinking it...- "It's probably nothing... I just thought that I should ask Leander about sothing when I et him..."
Grandmother cracked an awkward smile as she tried to warm the atmosphere so. "Haha, Leander is the most justice-driven dragon I have ever known, and he is always quite strict with his direct subordinates, so I don't think there is anything to worry about."
"Y-yeah, I'm almost certain I'm connecting unrelated things..." -I just hope he doesn't take it the wrong way...-
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Fae, Holy Kingdom
- Unknown Identity ~
*Click* Looking over at the door, I saw an old butler entering my room.
I got a bit mad at first, but that quickly changed. "Young Master, the last rcenary has arrived."
The good news imdiately brought a smile to my face. -Perfect!- Quickly hopping out of bed, I called in a few maids to help get dressed and hastily made my way outside to the carriage.
Today was a big day. The fabled coming-of-age ceremony was finally upon , and it was my turn to see if I was qualified to be the hero!
But even I knew that was impossible.
No matter how confident or arrogant I could be, the chances of becoming the hero were practically zero. -After not having a hero for thousands of years.. I really wonder if there will ever be another...-
Idly getting distracted and thinking about the future, I was escorted out into the courtyard, where I saw the beautiful carriage my family rarely ever used, with my mother standing by the door with a warm smile on her face.
It made smile unconsciously.
"You seem excited."
"Of course! How could I not be? I get to finally start my journey to becoming a proper rchant, just like Father!"
"Haha, are you still looking to follow in his footsteps?" She gently hugged as we waited for the head maid to load my things into the back of the carriage.
"Of course! If he can beco a noble as a peasant, I can definitely get us an estate in the capital!"
"Hoho~, I look forward to your efforts then, my little prince." She gently ruffled my hair as the head knight ca up to us.
"Madam, young Master, the rcenary who just arrived does not wish to introduce themselves, so I will do it for them."
-'Doesn't wish to introduce themselves'?- I was slightly taken aback, as a rcenary introducing themselves to their contractors went far beyond the point of being optional. -Who is she?-
Looking over toward the only horse I had never seen before, I saw a small, black-hooded figure with long animal ears under the hood.
-Oh.. a demihuman...-
"Her rcenary na is Snow; she just arrived in Fae recently and is going to accompany us to the capital without receiving paynt."
-What?- "Did she refuse it?"
"No, sir. She was soone with a reputation on the Main Continent, so she was imdiately evaluated as Holy Cleric rank; however, the evaluator said she should be a Holy Priest rank, and told her to go to the capital to be instated into the position. As such, she is more akin to a guest than a rcenary."
-HOLY PRIEST RANK?!- It was a rank I had only heard about, one that was usually exclusively reserved for humans that were extrely devout to Asgard.
But the underlying feature of every single one of them was strength and power.
Becoming a Holy Priest was sothing unachievable with just money. Strength, power, and fa were all needed in a single package for them to be promoted.
-But she.. is a demihuman... How strong must she be for the evaluator to send her to the capital?- I looked at her sitting on the horse with a look of curiosity and intrigue.
But that was when a strong breeze blew past us, pulling away so of the cloth that hid her sword and revealing a beautiful silver hilt.
It was the most beautiful silver I had ever seen, even after living in a noble estate my whole life.
But the instant I showed the slightest desire to touch it, it felt like the world collapsed around , and the next thing I knew, I was face down on the ground.
-W..what?-
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