Perhaps my explanation was too simple, because the response I got back was quite negative.
“Looking for something lost eight hundred years ago? Searching through the Sky Mountain Range? That sounds like a properly insane idea.”
Ophelia shook her head as if to say, “What nonsense are you talking about?” and let out a pale sigh.
Eight hundred years is enough time for mountains and rivers to change eighty times over. The idea that a lost heirloom from that time would still be around now…
It was a rational and common-sense remark, befitting a magician. If I hadn’t had knowledge from the original work, I wouldn’t have even dared to attempt such a thing.
The accuracy of that knowledge wasn’t particularly high, and perhaps because the past year here had been filled with so many stimuli, many of my memories had become strangely blurred… but at least I clearly remembered the Holy Sword.
So, I had to take this opportunity to retrieve it.
With the fairies, dragonkin, Ka`har, and beastmen all recently crushed, there wouldn’t be any major incidents for a while if I left.
“Uh… Hashal. Wouldn’t it be better if we all searched together?”
Milia reacted to the idea of taking only Damien by asking if there was really a reason to do so. It wasn’t so much that she doubted me, but more that she wanted to come along herself.
Of course, there was a good reason to take only Damien.
“No, it’s better if just the two of us go. I can’t even imagine how long it would take to search on foot, but Damien and I can fly, right? If we search from the sky, we might find it surprisingly quickly.”
“…That’s… true…”
Milia quickly became sullen. Like the sorrow of marines who, no matter how hard they try, can’t catch up to the air force.
“Besides, you guys need to safely transport that pile of cargo to the capital.”
Milia, Ophelia, Nigel, Jahan, and Asha—all of them had to be assigned to escort the cargo carriage.
There might be monsters on the way back, and given the value of the items, if we didn’t have a full escort, some lunatic might show up trying to steal it.
“What about me? Sister, can I come too? I’ll wait at the castle!”
Rana raised her right hand and pleaded with sparkling eyes. She said she’d wait quietly at Pailoon Castle, so it wouldn’t hurt to let her come along.
“Hmm… Sure. Rana, you can come.”
I nodded readily.
Frankly, what use would a healing priest be on a cargo escort mission? With that team, there probably wouldn’t be any injuries.
So, it seemed better to take her with me. To help with the treatment of my slowly regenerating left arm.
—
Thus, Milia and the others set off for the capital, leaving only one carriage behind. Adamante also headed to the capital with them.
The rest of us set off for Pailoon Castle.
Damien took on the role of coachman, so Rana and I sat in the cargo area, chatting leisurely and passing the time.
It was a relatively peaceful journey.
“Ugh! Ugh! Uuuugh…!”
“Ugh…!”
The noisy groans of the beastmen were a bit annoying, but…
“These guys are at it again. Can’t they just stay quiet?”
Ereneisia, with her mouth forced open to prevent her from biting her tongue and a broken hilt shoved down her throat to stop her from screaming, kept making nauseating noises and gasping.
She glared at Rana and me with eyes full of resentment, but with drool dripping from her open mouth, it was just pitiful.
“Uuuugh!”
Macaoros also started acting rebellious again as soon as he realized our destination wasn’t the capital.
He must have thought we’d take him to the capital, treat him, and then negotiate… but why bother?
If you want the truth from someone who talks too much, it’s better to ask their body, not their mouth.
If he had just cooperated fully, it might have been different, but since he attacked us first and then tried to negotiate even as a prisoner, there was no mercy left for him.
A little sawing in the underground prison should wake him up.
—
After a few days of travel…
“Uuuugh!”
“Stay still, it’ll hurt more if you move.”
We had to cut off Macaoros’ regenerating tail again.
“Uuuugh…!”
“Tsk tsk, if you needed to go to the bathroom, you should have said something. Why hold it in until you wet yourself?”
We washed and dried the fairy, who couldn’t even go to the bathroom by herself, in melted ice water, and continued our journey…
“Hashal, I think we’re almost there. Look over there.”
We finally arrived at our destination.
“Uh…”
“Hmm…”
The western wall of Pailoon Ducal House’s main castle was completely destroyed, leaving a gaping hole.
“…Doesn’t look like we’re getting a warm welcome, huh?”
“If we’d dropped two of those, we could’ve taken down Nidhogg.”
I smiled wryly as I looked at the wall, now reduced to its foundation.
I thought a single ship collision wouldn’t cause much damage, but the entire western wall was gone.
As Damien joked, it looked like two hits would have been enough to shatter Nidhogg.
…No wonder that outrageous bill came.
—
“It’s been a while, Marquis Median. Or should I say, Marquis of Landenburg now? I regret what happened to Ludwig. My condolences.”
Grand Duke Valdemar welcomed me with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile.
His face, covered in scars, combined with his expression, made him look like a mafia boss ready with a drum of concrete.
Even his words of condolence sounded more like a threat to send me to join Ludwig.
“It’s been a while, Your Grace. I haven’t officially inherited the title yet, so please call me Marquis Median.”
Of course, from my perspective, even two Valdemars wouldn’t be a threat.
Originally, before I fully mastered the Life Force Technique, my face was ten times more intimidating than his.
“If you wish. Don’t just stand there, have a seat.”
Valdemar nodded and gestured to the sofa in his office. It was a luxurious sofa, with high-quality fur leather and armrests decorated with animal paws.
Probably made from beastman hide.
“How is it? My daughter made it herself.”
…And it was made by Freide.
“Uh… I see. Well, it’s… quite impressive. Soft and comfortable, not inferior to the furniture in the Imperial Palace…”
I struggled to find the right words, so I just gave some vague compliments and sat down on the beastman hide sofa.
It seemed Freide’s hobby had moved beyond taxidermy into beastman crafts.
Next thing you know, she’ll be building houses out of beastmen.
“Well, would you like some tea?”
“If you’re offering, I’d be happy to.”
Perhaps pleased by the compliment to his daughter, despite its odd direction, Valdemar nodded with a satisfied expression and offered me tea.
“…Excuse me.”
Soon after, a maid summoned by Valdemar entered the reception room and placed two cups of steaming hot tea on the table in front of the sofa before leaving.
I sipped the tea with Valdemar and exchanged a few words about the reason for my visit.
“I did send a letter requesting the repair costs for the wall… but I didn’t expect you to come in person. Did you want to see the state of the wall yourself?”
As if.
“That’s not why… but still, I apologize for the wall. I never imagined the Mage Tower’s masterpiece would have such a flaw.”
I scratched my cheek and offered a sincere apology. It wasn’t my fault, but it was clear that Grand Duke Valdemar had suffered a great loss because of it.
“But you don’t need to worry about the repair costs. I’ve sent your protest letter and bill to the Mage Tower, so you should receive a reply as soon as they arrive in the capital.”
I could already vividly picture the Tower Master clutching his chest and collapsing… but what can you do? It’s all his own karma.
“You sent it… to the Mage Tower? Why…?”
Valdemar tilted his head in confusion.
I couldn’t understand his reaction, so I tilted my head and asked in return.
“Since it’s the Mage Tower’s creation, shouldn’t they take responsibility?”
A man of his stature couldn’t possibly not understand such a basic principle.
If they released a dangerous defective product as a finished item and caused an accident, of course the Tower Master should take responsibility and compensate.
“No, but… you were the one who sent the airship here, to Pailoon Castle.”
“It’s the Mage Tower’s creation, right? And the Mage Tower’s magicians were the ones operating it.”
I just provided the destination. The airship was made and operated by the Mage Tower, so why should I compensate?
If a malfunctioning car crashes into a building, would you go to the navigation company and demand compensation?
They’d probably beat you up and throw you out.
“Huh…”
But perhaps, with the half-civilized common sense of this world’s inhabitants, Grand Duke Valdemar couldn’t understand my answer.
He looked at me as if I were some kind of monster and let out a hollow sigh.
