Chapter 6:
On the Road
EARLY THE NEXT MORNING, we gathered all our things together and set out from the cabin. The sun hadn't yet risen, and the woods were dark and silent.
"Okay then, follow me."
Triss led our party as we made our way deeper into the forest. Without the sun as a guide, it was hard to tell which direction we were going, but the ground slanted upward before of us, so we were probably moving toward the mountains. We moved quietly, without any unnecessary chatter.
The forest was dense here, and it seemed to go on forever. But then, we pushed our way through one last dense patch of brush…
"Ooh."
…and found ourselves looking down at a sizable lake, with the forest suddenly behind us.
Some people might have called it a pond, since it didn't look very deep, but lake somehow felt more appropriate. It was semicircular, surrounded on all sides by tall cliffs and forests, and its surface was a brilliant shade of blue. From the looks of things, it wasn't part of a river system; maybe the water came from underground.
"This wasn't even on our map," I murmured.
"Yeah, it's positioned so you can't see it from a distance," said Triss. "And this is all our turf, so you won't see it on any maps."
"Hmm…"
We proceeded to follow the curve of the lake to the cliff on the far side. At first glance, it looked like a sheer, almost featureless rock face right at the water's edge. But a single stone tablet stood on the ground nearby. When Triss performed some sort of incantation in front of it, part of the cliff melted away, and a cave appeared before our eyes.
"This way," she called. "It's easy to slip and fall in here, so watch your step."
She led the way once again, stepping carefully into the lake, which continued into the cliffside cave. Apparently, the water was very shallow here. It only came up to about her knees.
"Come on, Rudeus!" said Eris, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Let's go!"
Even at twenty, she hadn't lost any of her enthusiasm for adventure. She was clearly itching to explore this mysterious hidden cavern. But I wasn't much better, in my own way. I'd never grown out of my love for used underwear.
"Just don't move so fast that you make the horse slip in the water, okay?"
"Yeah, I know!"
With a smile that suggested my warning had gone in one ear and out the other, Eris stepped post-haste into the water, pulling our horse Matsukaze along. Matsukaze was reluctant to wade into the lake and resisted her, but she managed to drag him in pretty quick. It was like watching a kappa at work.
Hmm… Eris would probably be good at sumo wrestling. Wonder if she likes cucumbers, though? I don't think she has many favorite foods, but you never know…
"We should try to keep up, Rudy," said Sylphie.
"Right."
With Eris at the head of our group, we formed a single file and led our horses carefully into the water. It was surprisingly chilly, given the time of year. I didn't even want to think what it would feel like wading through this in the winter. Wouldn't horses die from exposure? Hmm… the lake would probably freeze solid, actually. That might actually make the trip easier.
Fortunately, the cave led upwards from the entrance, so we were out of the water before too long.
"All right then," said Triss. "Follow me, and try not to fall too far behind. You don't want to get lost in here, trust me." With her torch blazing in one hand, she confidently set off deeper into the gloomy cavern. I'd taken a moment earlier to summon a lamplight spirit for some additional illumination.
Glancing behind me to make sure the others were following, I made eye contact with Princess Ariel, who was contemplating her drenched pants with a troubled expression.
"Let's wait until later to get those dried out, Your Highness."
"Oh, yes, of course," said Ariel, somehow managing a cheerful smile.
Last night, most of our party had convinced themselves that it was pure coincidence Triss and Ariel knew each other. They were all very impressed with the princess for winning her over on the "spur of the moment"—with the possible exception of Eris, who'd gotten a bit cranky over all the admiring gazes at Ariel.
That aside… it was kind of nice to have the princess on my side now. It seemed like she was serious about supporting me.
I'd been studying Ariel's face for a long moment when Sylphie spoke up from beside me. "Uhm, Rudy?"
"What is it, Sylphie, my beloved wife?"
"Don't stare at Princess Ariel too much, or I'm going to pull your ears."
"Understood, dear. You want me staring at you constantly, correct?"
Sylphie replied to this by yanking my ear.
For some reason, she seemed opposed to me getting too friendly with Princess Ariel. She hadn't objected to me marrying Roxy or Eris, but I guess Ariel was in a different category. I seemed to remember her saying Nanahoshi might be okay, too…
Hmm. It was hard to tell exactly what counted as "cheating" in her mind.
In retaliation for her attack, I slipped behind her and licked the back of her ear.
It hadn't been obvious at the entrance, but the floor of the cavern we were moving through was neatly tiled. Apparently, this tunnel was man-made.
"It gets real twisty and complicated from here on in, so stay real close," called Triss from just ahead. "Keep alert, too. We don't get many monsters in here, but sometimes they wander in from the deeper tunnels. Oh, and don't go wandering outside if you see a light in the distance—we're in Red Wyrm territory now."
At this point, the tunnel had a high ceiling and was relatively wide. But just as Triss said, it was constantly curving, and there were frequent side passages and branches in the path. It felt like we were moving through one part of a giant man-made maze.
"This place is really amazing, Rudy," murmured Sylphie quietly.
"It isn't some kind of labyrinth, right?"
"Hm? Yeah, I'm pretty sure it isn't."
"How do you think they made such huge tunnels through the mountains?"
I frowned thoughtfully. "Hmm… Well, the Red Wyrms took over this area four hundred years ago. Maybe there were dwarves living around here up until then, or something?"
"Oh, that makes sense. I guess these might be some really old mining tunnels, then…"
Up ahead, Eris poked curiously into one strange side passage after another, only to be dragged back by Ghislaine. For better or worse, it felt like spending last night under a roof had helped us all relax a little.
"By the way, Rudy…"
"Hmm?"
"…Sorry, it's nothing."
Sylphie fell silent, but shot a quick glance over her shoulder.
Ariel, Luke, and the attendants were following us at a decent distance. Our formation was feeling kind of loose… we'd probably gotten a bit too spread out. It didn't seem like there were many monsters lurking on this path, but the last thing we needed was for the princess to get lost.
We'd been walking through the tunnels for quite a while. It was hard to say how long exactly. When you can't see the sun, it throws off your perception of time; until you get used to walking in those conditions, a single hour can feel like three. Moving through dark, unfamiliar terrain tends to be more fatiguing, too. I'd learned all this from my adventuring days, trekking through dense, overgrown forests where no sunlight ever reached the ground. Ariel and her attendants were clearly getting tired. I was starting to hear a few comments like "It feels like we've been walking for days now," and we weren't moving as quickly as before.
But before anyone could throw in the towel, Triss finally came to a halt at what looked to be a dead end. A stone tablet similar to the one we'd seen at the entrance was sitting unobtrusively on the ground nearby.
When Triss activated this device, the wall of rock in front of us opened up… and we blinked as the sunlight hit our faces.
Just like that, we were back outside again.
Squinting as my eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, I looked around the area. We'd stepped out into another forest, from the looks of things. It was dense, but not overgrown enough to hide the sky from view.
The sun's position told me that the time was a bit past noon. We'd set out very early that morning, so all in all we'd been walking for about eight hours.
Triss took a few strides out into the open, then turned to face us as we blinked and squinted. "Welcome to the Kingdom of Asura, everyone," she announced, a playful grin spreading across her face.
We'd made it safely across the border after all.
The exit Triss had guided us to was a bit southeast of the actual border checkpoint. If we headed due south from here, we'd reach the Donati Region. Fittoa was off to the southeast. Our ultimate destination, the royal capital, was further to the south of Donati.
After an extended breather, we pushed ahead, trying to make our way out of the forest. Triss was anxious to get us moving. There was a good reason for that: from dawn till dusk, this route was used to smuggle people into Asura; at night, it was used to smuggle people out. Whenever two groups heading in opposite directions bumped into each other, the head of that bandit gang tended to get very upset. This seemed to explain why he'd kept us waiting in that cabin overnight as well.
We needed to take several breaks along the way, but we managed to push out of the forest that same day, and then resumed our journey south through the Donati Region.
Naturally, we stayed off the main highways, sticking to quiet, less traveled backroads. Just to be clear, these weren't rough trails crawling with dangerous thieves or monsters. While it was always simplest to take the direct roads that connected various cities and towns, Asura had plenty of others that were mainly used by the locals of that specific region. These were usually just wide enough for a single wagon, though, and the princess' carriage did attract some curious looks.
These roads weren't on our maps, but Triss knew them like the back of her hand, so we progressed toward our destination steadily enough. Thanks to her, we stayed one step ahead of Auber… well, assuming he was even pursuing us at this point. It was entirely possible that the Man-God and his allies knew exactly where we were, and had simply decided to concentrate their forces in the capital or the palace. There was no telling if it was the Man-God or Darius who was calling the shots about these things, but we needed to tread very carefully regardless.
On our journey south, we passed by the Fittoa Region.
Some years had passed since the rebuilding effort began in earnest; fields of crops were dotted here and there across its landscape. The people living in the area looked like they'd regained some of their spirits, too. Still, it was a far cry from the endless fields of golden wheat that I remembered. It would probably take another decade before Fittoa regained that level of prosperity.
Eris and Sylphie paused, their horses side by side, to look out at the grassy plain with its smattering of fields. The expressions on their faces contrasted sharply: Sylphie looked nostalgic, and Eris frowned sulkily.
"There's a lot more fields of wheat than the last time we passed through here," said Sylphie.
"If you say so," said Eris. "I don't remember."
"I hope they get it all rebuilt soon."
Eris tossed her head, looking even more surly than before.
"Hmph. I couldn't care less."
"Come on, don't say that. It's the place where we were born and raised, right? I'm not saying I'd want to go back there for good, but… I'm sure you've got some old friends living there, right?"
"Not really. Everyone back home hated my guts."
"Hmm. I guess I wasn't too popular either, actually…" Sylphie paused, smiling slightly as she recalled the past.
It put me in a kind of sentimental mood as well. Both had both been loners as kids, but for very different reasons. Sylphie was bullied relentlessly, and retreated into her shell like a turtle; Eris jumped at anyone who tried to approach her, scaring them off with her wild outbursts. If they'd met back then, maybe they could have balanced each other out.
…Nah, doesn't seem too likely. The only outcome I could picture was Eris beating Sylphie up until she cried. The woman had herself mostly under control these days, but back then, she was basically a wild animal. If you'd tossed the two of them together as kids, Sylphie's life would probably have turned into a hellish nightmare. I'm talking Gian versus Nobita levels of bullying here.
Then again, if you sent Sylphie back as she was now, it might turn into more of a co-bullies type situation. She'd gotten a lot tougher over the years.
"Look, Sylphie," said Eris after a moment. "I'm just going to say one thing."
"What is it?"
"I couldn't have done anything useful for Fittoa, even if I stayed there."
"Hm…?" Sylphie tilted her head, looking something like an uncertain squirrel. Adorable. "Oh, right. You were the daughter of the lord, weren't you? Sort of a princess yourself! It kind of slipped my mind."
"Hmph. I was just a stupid dress-up doll."
"Well, you're pretty imposing these days. I bet you'd make a very convincing ruler if you wanted to."
"…You think?"
Sylphie's compliment seemed to put Eris in a better mood. Whatever else you could say about her, the girl wasn't difficult to placate.
"Well, whatever. It's not like I want to rule Fittoa either way.
There's no way I could handle a job that complicated."
"Hmm. It does feel like you were born to be a swordmaster, I guess."
"Exactly!"
Wow, Sylphie's really laying it on thick today…
"Still, you could easily have ended up spending your whole life as an Asuran noble, huh?"
"Not a chance."
"I bet Rudy would have stuck around to help you, and ended up ruling from the shadows. He probably would have made you the head of the Boreas family in no time at all."
Miss Sylphiette? I'm sure you're not serious, but… you're not serious, right?
"Then he would have seduced me and wiggled his way into Princess Ariel's inner circle. The Boreas family would back her for the throne, and we'd end up fighting Darius or Grabel together."
Did Sylphie let me "seduce" her in this scenario? How would that work, exactly? We probably wouldn't even have run into each other…
Okay, let's not overthink a game of make-believe.
"Sounds like things would turn out exactly the same," said Eris dubiously.
"But you'd be the ruler of the Fittoa Region, and Rudy would be your loyal aide! I bet you two would be the talk of the whole kingdom…"
"All I want is to fight with my sword and make babies with Rudeus. I don't want anything else."
Somehow, Eris had delivered that line without a hint of shame. It was enough to make me blush, and I wasn't even the one who'd said it.
"Aren't you satisfied with things the way they are, Sylphie?"
"Oh, absolutely. Sometimes the whole thing almost feels too good to be true, to be honest."
"…"
"You know, back when we first got married, Rudy and I used to go at it like animals every single night. When there wasn't anyone else in the house, he'd carry me off to the bedroom with this ravenous look on his face! And of course, I was quivering with anticipation the whole way… err… Sorry, I probably shouldn't be talking about this in public."
I'd certainly appreciate it if you stopped, yeah. Eris' eyes were narrowing with what looked like jealousy, and I was starting to think I might get dragged into the bushes tonight for some vigorous lovemaking. It was an appealing idea, but right now we needed to conserve our energy for the task at hand.
"Anyway," said Sylphie, "I think that's the whole reason it's fun to think about how things might have turned out. Because I'm really happy with how they did."
"…I wonder if I'll feel the same way once I have a child, too."
"Hmm… if you and Rudy have a kid, it'll probably be a real lecher…"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Sylphie did have a point. Anyone who inherited half of my genes would probably end up at least moderately perverted. Which made me a little anxious about how Lucie might turn out. Sylphie wasn't that much of a pervert, relatively speaking, but she had Elinalise for a grandmother. What if those dormant horny genes had been activated by combination with my own? We might end up with a daughter who went around sucking innocent young men dry left and right.
This calls for precautionary measures. The secret morality lessons will commence immediately.
"I hope I get one soon," said Eris after a moment.
"Oh, it won't take long. You're a full-blooded human, remember? You're a much better match for Rudy than I am."
That seemed like an unnecessarily negative choice of words. At the very least, Sylphie and I matched perfectly in bed. Even now, the beast inside me was waiting vigilantly for its chance to get started on baby number two.
"Either way, that comes later," said Eris. "Right now, the most important thing is keeping him safe."
"Yeah, you're right."
The two of them kept chatting. They speculated about what Roxy was doing at the moment, then talked about how good the food was back in Fittoa. Sylphie promised to teach Eris how to cook a few meals once we got back home. That sort of thing. Sylphie ostensibly did most of the talking. Eris wasn't the best at this kind of casual conversation, and sometimes there were awkward pauses.
Still, the sound of their voices made for pleasant background noise as we rode along. It felt very relaxing just sitting on that horse
with my arms wrapped around Sylphie, listening to their conversation. There was no telling when the enemy might attack us next, but that afternoon it was a challenge just to stay awake.
***
After about ten days on the road, we stopped at a place called Rikket. This was a city near the southern edge of the Donati Region, and a hub for trade with the Royal Region.
Most of the merchants here were heading south to bring their goods to the Royal Region, rather than the other way around. Because of this, the streets were thick with representatives and headmen from villages all across Donati, here to send their harvest south and to buy the crops their people needed from the sprawling market. This was clearly a place of major economic importance for Asura as a whole. It was also larger than the whole of the Magic City of Sharia, even though it was really just one giant trading post and rest stop. That's the Kingdom of Asura for you.
We wanted to make it to the capital city of Ars, without making our presence known if possible. We'd gathered information in the villages along the way, but found no clues about the movements of our pursuers. A city this big would offer them all sorts of places to hide—and set up ambushes, of course.
On the other hand, it also offered us a chance to stay undetected… at least in theory. Unfortunately, our party kind of stood out in a crowd. Ariel was still maintaining her anonymity, but that didn't matter as long as she was strutting around with a bunch of eye-catching bodyguards like Ghislaine, Eris, and Sylphie. Luke was a well-known figure in Asura in his own right.
However, there was no going around this city. Triss knew all the roads in Asura, but she couldn't make new ones appear out of thin air. And people generally only made roads to places they wanted to go to. Bluntly, the only road that led from Donati into the Royal Region ran through this city.
Rikket was a chokepoint, just like the border fortress. There was an excellent chance our enemies were waiting for us here. To my surprise, though, the guards at the gate didn't stop us, and there weren't ranks of armored soldiers across the streets inside.
Triss swiftly guided us to an inn that was well-suited for groups looking to keep a low profile. It looked like a normal place from the outside, but it was actually run and staffed by people closely connected to her bandit gang. They also owned the buildings on every side of it, and had undergrounds tunnels to allow for emergency escapes. It was like something out of an old ninja movie. Ariel would be shutting herself inside the inn while Triss headed out onto the streets to gather information. The rest of us stayed in the inn to guard the princess.
Ghislaine and I stood watch at the inn's first-floor stairway, with Eris and Sylphie guarding Ariel in her room. The two attendants had disguised themselves and gone out to buy supplies. Luke was laying low in Ariel's room. That made me a little anxious, but I had to trust that he wouldn't suddenly lose his mind and try to stab the princess. If the man snapped, hopefully he'd just throw himself at her or something…
Stifling a yawn, I glanced over at Ghislaine. She was standing quietly next to the stairway, staring toward the entrance with her ears perked straight up.
The two of us hadn't done much talking since this journey began. I guess she was more of a professional about her duties as a bodyguard than I'd ever be; whenever I tried to strike up a conversation with her on uneventful shifts like this one, she'd cut me off, saying that she was listening for danger. A part of me was starting to wonder if she actually hated my guts. But she wasn't doing much talking to Eris, either. She was probably just talking her job seriously.
Today, however, turned out to be an exception. She actually started a conversation for once. "Rudeus?"
"Yes, Ghislaine?"
"Thank you for your help earlier."
I just blinked, trying to figure out what she was referring to.
"With Wi Taa's armor, I mean."
Oh. This about that battle way back in the forest? "Don't mention it. It's my whole job to support the rest of you."
"You've always been quick to think up clever tricks like that, haven't you? Ever since the old days."
The old days, meaning… ten years ago, probably? I felt like I'd changed lot since then, but maybe I was still the same cheeky little brat to Ghislaine. "I guess so. They usually don't accomplish much against the tougher enemies, though."
"For the tougher ones, you can have Lady Eris do the heavy
lifting."
I was a little surprised to hear that coming from Ghislaine, honestly. She'd always seemed more like the "find a way to handle it yourself" type…
"That's the whole reason she trained so hard for all those years."
"…Yeah, you're right."
In my heart, I wanted Sylphie and Roxy to stay put at home where it was safe. But for some reason, I didn't feel the same way about Eris. It probably had something to do with all the effort she'd put in to fight alongside me. The years she'd spent in the Sword Sanctum had really paid off.
Then again, it was also just impossible to imagine her waiting patiently back at the house while I went off on some adventure.
Come to think of it…the woman said she wanted to have a baby, but was she actually capable of sitting still during the pregnancy?
Kind of a scary thought…
"…"
The conversation seemed to have ground to a halt. Crap. Don't we have anything else to talk about? Uh, maybe the good old days?
Uhhh…
"By the way, Ghislaine, are you still keeping up with your reading and writing?"
"Yeah. I practice like you taught me when I have some spare time. Wouldn't want to lose a skill I took the time to learn."
What an admirable attitude. Eris, on the other hand, seemed to have forgotten almost everything I'd taught her by now.
"You know," said Ghislaine with a smile, "the others at the Sword Sanctum didn't believe me when I told them I'd learned how to write."
"Couldn't you have just written something for them to prove
it?"
"I did, but most of them can't read, either. They said I was scribbling a bunch of nonsense and laughed in my face."
"Haha…" I kind of wished I'd been there to see that happen.
"How about you, Rudeus? You still practicing with the sword?"
"A bit, yeah. When I have some downtime at home, I practice the forms you taught me and do a bunch of swings as part of my daily workout."
"Really? You're a full-fledged magician now, so I figured you'd stopped years ago."
"Even magicians need to stay in shape, you know."
I wasn't trying to improve my skill with the sword at this point, of course. Becoming Paul's equal had been my goal once, but he was gone now. I only really used it when I was teaching Norn. In this world, you couldn't make it too far as a swordsman without the use of Battle Aura.
"Oh, this reminds me," said Ghislaine. "Do you remember that promise you made me, back when you were just a kid?"
"Uhm… what promise was this?"
"Slipped your mind, I see. You said you were going to make another figurine of me."
Oh, right. I did say something like that, didn't I? When was that, my tenth birthday? That really takes me back…
"I've heard you're still doing those figurines even now, right? Make me another one sometime, if you don't have anything better to do."
"Absolutely."
"Thanks. I don't know much about art, but I do like your work a
lot."
That was nice to hear, don't get me wrong, but why was everyone in this world constantly saying stuff like this with a battle looming on the horizon? It made me antsy. Hopefully we weren't setting any death flags here…
Nah. I could understand it, actually. I still had my memories of cheesy movies from my previous life, so I felt like talking about the future right before a battle meant your death was all but guaranteed. But it was probably the other way around. Reminding yourself of the reasons you wanted to survive made it more likely that you would.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Ghislaine's ears and nose twitched. I lifted my staff and prepared myself for a fight; but she held out a hand to stop me.
"Don't worry. It's fine."
A moment later, Triss walked into the inn with sacks in both her hands. She nudged the door shut with her shoulder, then strode up to us and held out one of the bags.
"Hey there. Brought some food for ya."
"Appreciate it."
"Yeah, aren't I nice? Make sure you savor it real gratefully."
There were a number of tough, pear-like fruits inside the sack. I took one out and tossed it to Ghislaine, who immediately began to gnaw away at it, skin and all.
"All right then, guys. I'll leave you to it."
Triss waved her hand vaguely and made her way up the stairs toward the second floor. The woman had only spent ten days with us, but it felt like she'd already found her place in the party. Basically, she fell into the same category as Ellemoi and Cleane—a true believer in the righteous Princess Ariel. She had a foul mouth on her, but she seemed like a decent person.
My only real complaint was that her clothing made it tough to keep my eyes where they belonged. I mean, I guess Ghislaine's outfit wasn't any less revealing…but it's easier to appreciate the muscular beauty of a warrior's body on a purely artistic level.
"Triss seems to be in high spirits today," Ghislaine commented.
"You're right. I wonder if something happened."
I pulled out a pear for myself, skinned it with my knife and took a bite. The thing was kind of crunchy for some reason, and its flavor was more sour than sweet. For whatever reason, a lot of the fruit in this world didn't taste so great on its own. It was edible enough, though.
"I expect she heard some useful information," said Ghislaine. "Leaning something valuable always puts those sorts in a good mood. Geese was the same way."
"Hmm, I bet you're right."
Princess Ariel had tasked Triss with scouting the city and gathering all sorts of information. Learning the whereabouts of Auber and Darius' soldiers was naturally our top priority, but she wanted to know plenty of other things as well. She'd told Triss to report anything that seemed even possibly relevant; she then sorted through that flood of information, picked out the most important pieces, and discussed them with me. Since Ariel was choosing what information she would share with me, there was a chance I might miss out on hearing something crucial. But at this point, I'd decided to just accept that risk. It wasn't like I was capable of controlling events perfectly in any case.
Right now, my job was to consider the tidbits Ariel did pass on as carefully as I could.
"That reminds me," I said. "Didn't Geese say something about heading for Asura? I guess we might bump into him somewhere."
"He'll probably spot us first, if he's still around."
Yeah, that did sound like Geese. I could see him picking us out at a distance, then planning out and staging some kind of dramatic reunion.
"But knowing him," Ghislaine continued, "he probably lost all his money gambling and wandered off to some other country years ago."
"Isn't Geese a pretty good gambler, though?"
"Only when he's broke."
From what Roxy had told me, the Kingdom of Asura wasn't a great place to live in if you were an adventurer like Geese. There weren't many monsters to slay in general, and the government assigned knights to protect specific villages. On top of that, the Royal Magicians and their knightly counterparts were periodically dispatched on large-scale hunts that doubled as training missions.
As a result, monster-hunting jobs were few and far between. The large Asuran businesses tended to have their own dedicated resource-gathering operations, so there weren't many requests for raw materials, either. And given how safe and secure the Kingdom was, the demand for temporary guards was limited as well. The tasks that got posted were mostly tedious, time-consuming stuff like missing-person jobs and delivery runs. At certain times of the year you probably could find work helping out on someone's farm, but there simply wasn't much real adventuring to be done, compared to other countries.
That was particularly true in the regions closer to the capital city of Ars. There were always a certain number of youngsters who decided to become adventurers anyway, but as they ranked up they usually drifted off to Fittoa or Donati—and eventually further to the north or south. Those with remarkable skills or extensive training could sometimes find steady posts as household tutors or bodyguards, but that was a high bar to clear. And you didn't need to be an adventurer to secure those jobs, anyway. There were professional specialists in Asura who could handle most of the work that needed doing, so the people here didn't feel much need to rely on a bunch of smelly, rough-and-tumble freelancers. You can understand why the headquarters of the Adventurers' Guild was located in Millis instead.
"…Hm?"
As Ghislaine and I were chatting about all this, I noticed her ears twitching once again. And this time, the expression on her face turned slightly stern. Maybe trouble had finally found us. I dropped the bag of fruit, grasped my staff in both hands and stared warily at the door.
But Ghislaine wasn't looking at the entrance to the inn. Her gaze was directed at the second floor. When I listened carefully, I could just make out the sound of people arguing.
What's all this about?
"I'm going to go take a look, Ghislaine."
"Right."
I made my way slowly up the stairs. Sylphie and Eris were still outside Ariel's room, but they were both watching the door in concern. Did we have a real problem on our hands here?
"Hey, Sylphie."
"Oh, Rudy! Triss just went in a few minutes ago, but now it sounds like Princess Ariel and Luke are arguing about something…"
Ariel and Luke were having a fight? That sounded… ominous. Didn't she have that situation under control? Supposedly?
Well, maybe this was all part of the plan. Sometimes arguments could be necessary.
"It's Rudeus. Pardon me, but I'm coming in."
I knocked at the door just for the sake of politeness, but then swung it open without waiting for a response. Inside, I found Luke on his feet, looking pale and shaken, Ariel sitting in a chair with an unruffled expression, and Triss looking on awkwardly.
"Ah, Sir Rudeus," said Ariel without even batting an eye. "Just the man I wanted to see."
"Has something happened, Your Highness?"
"Yes. Triss has just brought us some intriguing information."
"About what, if I might ask?"
"…It concerns Lord Sauros Boreas Greyrat."
Sauros? It might be very important, then, at least to Ghislaine. Maybe this was something Ariel had specifically asked Triss to investigate…
"As it happens, it's often easier to learn about the intrigues of the Asuran royal court in these regional cities than it would be in the capital," Ariel continued. "Those who know too much tend to put some distance between themselves and Ars, where certain anxious nobles might have them killed."
That was news to me. I guess it made sense, though. Maybe.
"In any case, we've learned the primary culprit behind Lord Sauros' fall."
"And… who would that be?"
Luke's face contorted into an alarming grimace. Ariel, on the other hand, looked as emotionless as a mask.
"I'm afraid that it was a member of my faction, acting on their own initiative. Someone who also happened to have a personal grudge against Lord Sauros…"
Ariel paused, but only long enough to draw a breath.
"Namely, Pilemon Notos Greyrat."
Ah. So it was Pilemon himself who'd done it.
That did sound plausible, unfortunately. The Notos clan had been the leading backers of Ariel among the aristocracy, while the Boreas family favored Grabel. They were enemies at the time. On top of that, it sounded like Pilemon hated Sauros for personal reasons.
He'd probably jumped eagerly on his chance to bring the old man down.
This wasn't good news. But it didn't come as a huge surprise, either. Despite the circumstances at the time, Sauros was still the liege lord of an entire region of Asura. And even with his territory devastated, he had allies among the First Prince's faction. Only another powerful, influential noble could really have orchestrated his downfall.
"…What do you intend to do, Princess Ariel?" I asked. "I'll allow Ghislaine to take his life, just as I promised her." Luke bit his lip hard at those words.
This certainly explained his angry outburst. I was honestly surprised Ariel was being so blunt about this, knowing how much he cared about his family. It almost seemed like she was publicly choosing Ghislaine over him.
"However, that's only going to happen if Pilemon… and the Notos family… truly have betrayed us. We don't have any conclusive proof of that just yet."
"…"
"Assuming that it's true, I intend to have Ghislaine execute him, and then appoint Luke as the new head of the Notos family."
"And if he hasn't really betrayed you?"
"I'll convince Ghislaine to settle for the others."
"The others? Oh…"
She'd called Pilemon the primary culprit. That implied there were additional conspirators. So in this scenario, she'd spare her ally but murder all the others. It didn't sound much like justice, but that's just the way things went sometimes. At the moment, I couldn't scrounge up much sympathy for a bunch of murderous aristocrats I'd never even met.
"Is that understood, Luke?" said Ariel, looking over in his direction.
"…There's no proof that any of this is true."
Luke's expression was pained. I could tell that he understood Ariel's perspective, but didn't want to accept it on an emotional level. Still, he was staying relatively calm, given that we were discussing the potential execution of his own father.
"It's entirely possible that someone's manipulating us…" Hmm. Did he just shoot a look in my direction?
"Luke, please rest assured—as I've explained previously, Rudeus will not be usurping control of the Notos Greyrat family."
"Your Highness! We shouldn't be discussing this in front of him!"
"I think it's the other way around, actually. I'd like to make this very clear to him and everyone else involved." Ariel paused to draw a breath, then continued in a firm, clear voice. "No matter how much he contributes to our cause, I have no intention of granting Rudeus a rank in the Asuran nobility."
That was fine by me. I wouldn't have accepted it even if she had offered. But for whatever reason, Luke was looking at me with undisguised hostility. I wasn't sure how I should react to that. It felt like the next words I spoke, or even a slight change in my facial expression, might determine Luke's course of action.
Was he going to turn on us after all?
As I hesitated, Ariel stepped in. "Now then, Luke, I think we should continue this discussion by ourselves. You don't mind, do you,
Rudeus?"
"Of course not."
Ariel had told me she could handle this. At the moment, staying completely out of it felt like my best option. I watched quietly as she and Luke walked out of the room together.
That same evening, Ariel reported back to me. In her private conversation with Luke, she'd finally convinced him to open up and be completely honest with her.
Long story short—our suspicions were correct. The Man-God was giving him advice.
Apparently, it had only happened once so far. As we were preparing for our journey, the Man-God had warned Luke to "be ready for Rudeus' betrayal." His claim was that I'd secretly allied myself with Darius so that I could seize control of the Notos Greyrat house. In this scenario, I was motivated by a thirst for power, lust for Ariel, and simple greed. Sylphie had no idea of my intentions; it was all happening behind her back.
During the day, I would pretend to be Ariel's ally, but carefully lead her into the enemy's traps. And at night, I'd sneak off to meet with Darius' spies and tell them everything I knew. In fact, I'd secretly orchestrated all of these events, after many years of scheming. Even my marriage to Sylphie was supposedly just another step in my master plan.
This version of Rudeus sounded like one ridiculously thorough, clever guy. It was a shame I couldn't have him take the reins for me. My life would probably go a lot smoother.
At first, Luke had found all of this implausible. It was particularly hard for him to believe I had any interest in joining the nobility. I felt like he'd never trusted me that much, but I guess I'd earned that benefit of the doubt, at least.
However, recent events like the destruction of the teleportation circles and the betrayal of the Notos family had unfolded exactly as the Man-God predicted. That was enough to chip away at Luke's faith in me. And once he started looking at me with suspicion, he found reasons to believe the Man-God's story.
It seemed he still suspected me, even now.
Ariel told me that the best way to prove my innocence to Luke was through my actions. She also promised that she would keep him from doing anything unwise in the meantime.
Hearing all this came as something of a relief. The Man-God hadn't done anything that clever here, so it wouldn't be that hard to break his grip on Luke. The fact of the matter was, I'd never even met Darius, I had no desire to take over my dad's childhood home, and I wasn't interested in sleeping with Ariel. Luke could suspect me to his heart's content, but I just wasn't going to betray them.
By the Man-God's standards, this seemed like half-assed work. It felt pretty clear that he'd never expected to get much out of Luke.
Still, I never would have learned any of this from Luke myself. It was a good thing Ariel had stepped in to handle the situation. She was way better suited to the job than me.
***
The next day, we set out south from Rikket.
Luke constantly glared at me now, and did his very best to ensure that I was never alone with Ariel. He probably thought that I might murder the princess and send her head to Grabel, now that she'd publicly declared I would never be a noble.
I didn't really mind. At this point, I knew what was going on in Luke's head, and Ariel had him on a leash. It was one less thing to worry about. I don't know if Ariel had anticipated any of this, but I was impressed by how quickly she'd lightened the load on my shoulders.
One other thing worth mentioning took place that day. The princess personally told both Ghislaine and Eris about the things we'd learned about the death of Sauros.
"…So all in all, it seems quite likely that members of my faction played a key role in the downfall of Lord Sauros."
"I see…"
"Hmph."
Ghislaine listened to Ariel's explanation with cold anger in her eyes. Eris made a show of looking disinterested, but you could see through that easily enough. She was squeezing the pommel of her sword so tightly that all the blood drained from her fingers.
"Are you going to cut me down, Ghislaine?" Ariel asked calmly.
"…No. I'll kill the enemies you've offered me."
Ghislaine didn't seem too fixated on murdering Pilemon in particular. I'd expected this to require some persuasion, but I guess she'd thought this through in her own way.
Eris didn't say anything for a moment, but then she nodded slightly. "Sounds good. I'm willing to kill anyone who might cause Rudeus trouble."
Never change, Eris.
Now our remaining goal was to reach the capital and have our showdown with the enemy. Over the course of twenty days, we made our way slowly south along the backroads—and finally arrived at Ars, the crown jewel of Asura.
Chapter 7:
Ars, the Royal Capital
ARS, THE CAPITAL OF ASURA, is also the single largest city in the world. It takes its name from the legendary hero who led mankind to victory in the Great Human-Demon War.
The first time a traveler lays their eyes upon this metropolis, their astonishment is impossible to disguise. The towering castle at its center, known as the Silver Palace, is surrounded by the great mansions of the high nobles; beyond the fortress-like walls that encircle this area, the city itself sprawls out in every direction, all the way to the horizon.
Here, you will find an enormous arena, the splendid training grounds of the Royal Knights, and many beautiful Millis churches. Canals run throughout the entire city, crossed by countless lovely bridges. Other notable attractions include: the headquarters of the world's largest businesses; the original training halls of the great Water God Style; the famous playhouses of the theater district; the sensual, seductive women of the pleasure quarter; and the great gate built to commemorate Asura's victory in the Laplace War…
This is a city that seems truly endless. No one vantage point can offer you a view of it in its entirety. It spreads far beyond even the Alteir River, which gave it life—it sprawls as far as any eye can see.
They say that everything in the world can be found within Ars, the oldest of its cities. And once you've seen it for yourself, you may find it difficult to argue.
–EXCERPT FROM "WANDERING THE WORLD" BY THE ADVENTURER BLOODY KANT
***
Staring out at the capital from the top of a tall hill, Eris and I gaped almost simultaneously.
"Whoa."
The city of Ars spread out before us, larger by far than any city I'd seen in this world.
The castle at its center caught my eye first. It was as large as Perugius', if not larger, and it gleamed like silver in the sunlight. Grand, thick walls at least twenty meters tall encircled this central structure; they were so imposing that it was hard to imagine anything, even a stray Wyrm, forcing its way past them.
The buildings just outside those walls were also impressive in their own right. On every side, the palace was surrounded by gorgeous, ornate mansions. Maybe this was where the more powerful aristocrats lived? Half of the buildings were big enough to qualify as castles, and the area was encircled by a second ring of walls.
Past that point, the city spilled in every direction, with additional walls at regular intervals. It seems they kept adding new ones as the place had grown over the centuries. I counted five outer rings, after which the city just continued in a great unbroken jumble all the way to the horizon. It must have gotten too expensive to keep making them, and they had the Royal Knights regularly cleaning up any nearby monsters. Not that Asura had that many in the first place.
Compared to the megacities of my old world, this place was nothing special. But there was something really awe-inspiring about a medievalesque city big enough to fill your entire field of vision.
"Well, we've finally returned."
The other members of our party were moved by the sight as well, but in a different way. Their eyes were fixed on the castle at the city's center, and their faces were stern. Even Ariel had gotten down out of her carriage to stare at it. But after a long moment, she turned and said "Let's keep moving, everyone."
Thus we finally made our way into the streets of the royal capital.
As impressive as Ars looked from above, it wasn't that distinctive once you were inside it.
All the cities of this world were pretty similar, at least around their entrances. You had your street vendors, your stables, and your parties of travelers and adventurers wandering around. There were slightly fewer adventurers here, though, and they tended to be young. The few veterans I did spot mostly looked kind of beat-down and bedraggled.
The other thing that struck me was how wide the street was.
You could fit six full-sized carriages next to each other on this thing. Reminded me of the highways from my old world. This was apparently one of the main roads that ran all the way to the central plaza.
"We're heading to my residence in the city for now," Ariel announced from inside her carriage. "We'll use it as our initial base. There are preparations to be made before we can enter the court."
We got moving immediately. Our destination was the district of towering mansions owned by high Asuran nobles. Given the sheer size of the city, just making it there might take us half a day. Luke was at the head of our group, followed by Sylphie, then Ghislaine, then the carriage, and finally Eris and me. We were arranged in single file. The road was large enough that we could have spread out, but there could be complications if you met a noble coming in the other direction. Normally the lower-ranked aristocrat would be expected to move aside, but Ariel's carriage was unmarked, and having her get out to resolve some pointless argument would be a major waste of time.
Past a certain point, the streets began to change around us. The businesses targeting travelers and adventurers gave way to ones aimed at average city residents. I began to notice people on the street pointing in our direction.
"Huh? Isn't that… Sir Luke? And Silent Fitz?"
"You're right… Look, they're escorting that carriage! You don't think—"
"Is it Princess Ariel?!"
"She must have rushed back when she heard about the king's
illness!"
One look at Luke and Sylphie was all it took for the people of this city to figure out who was in the carriage. But it was no longer necessary for us to hide the truth at this point. For one thing, it was never realistic to think we could travel through this massive city completely undetected. Even if we'd somehow managed to sneak to Ariel's residence undetected by Darius, the "preparations" she'd mentioned would probably alert him to our presence. And in any case, we'd have to show ourselves eventually to make our appearance at court. And we weren't in that much of a rush, either. It wasn't the end of the world if we caused a bit of a commotion.
But, uh, that said…
"Sir Luuuke! Look this waaay!"
"Sir Fitz! Sir Fitz!"
"Welcome home, Princess Ariel!"
Wow. They're seriously popular around here, huh?
Voices called out to us from all sides, and some people even tossed flowers at us. Of course not everyone on the street was reacting this way, of course, but I'd say it was at least a fifth. Ariel and her companions were clearly all celebrities, and they had more passionate fans than I'd expected. Luke was even waving to his adoring public. Nearly a decade had passed since they fled this city, but they'd retained their popularity nonetheless… that was genuinely impressive.
Despite the excitement, I noticed that nobody rushed out into the street to mob us. There were probably some strict rules about blocking the path of a noble's procession. Maybe you could even get murdered on the spot, like in Edo period Japan.
"Ready, set… Sir Fiiiiiitz!"
Whenever Sylphie got a chorus of cheers, I saw her scratch behind her ears. That was her I'm embarrassed gesture. I made a mental note to tease her ruthlessly about this later.
The cheers only grew louder once we made our way past the central plaza. I had a feeling people were spreading the news about "Princess Ariel's return". Things were getting so boisterous that I started to worry that the city guards might come running to get things under control. That kind of chaos would be an ideal opportunity for Auber to show up and stab someone in the back.
Happily, nothing that dramatic ended up happening. I did notice a group of armored men in the crowd at one point, but they were cheering right along with everyone else. The man who looked to be their commanding officer was the most enthusiastic of all.
Ariel seemed to have the common people of this city already on her side, including the lower-ranking soldiers. They didn't look like they were burning with anti-government sentiment, but they still greeted her like a returning hero. I was starting to feel a little awkward tagging along behind this procession.
"This feels great!"
…Eris seemed to be having the opposite reaction, though.
***
Once we finally reached the nobles' district, the adoring crowds quickly thinned out. Maybe Ariel's popularity was mostly limited to the common people. Or maybe the aristocrats just had too much pride to stand around on the streets hooting and hollering. It was probably a bit of both.
Here, I noticed occasional groups of armored people patrolling the streets in formation. They wore full suits of thick silver plated armor and helmets that covered their faces completely. Something about their movements told me that they took themselves a lot more seriously than the ordinary soldiers I'd spotted earlier. If those guys were like the city guard, these were probably something closer to military units.
"Wonder who those people are…"
"They're novice knights," said Eris.
I turned and blinked, a bit surprised that she knew the answer.
"Unless you attend a knight academy, you've got to start off as a novice until you've learned all their ceremonies or rites or whatever."
"No kidding?"
"Yeah. Patrolling the city like that is one of their duties, too."
"Huh. I'm kind of impressed you know all this, Eris."
"Heh heh. Well, I just heard about it from this friend of mine."
Eris… had friends? Now that was really a surprise. It didn't sound like she was talking about an imaginary person, either.
"Is this someone you met at the Sword Sanctum?"
"That's right."
Okay, so she'd bonded with somebody over their shared love of swords. Sword buddies! Yeah, that made a lot more sense.
"You know, I'm really happy to hear you made a friend there. I'm sure you get into a few fights, but try not to be too stubborn, okay? And make sure you stay in touch!"
"Sure, but she's…"
Eris trailed off mid-sentence. Her attention darted elsewhere, and her hand was on her sword.
I followed her gaze. One of the novice knights was staring right at us. Thanks to the full-face helmet, we couldn't see their expression. Had we just encountered an enemy? I couldn't sense open hostility, but this person's movements seemed unusually… crisp. I had a gut feeling that this wasn't just any novice knight we were dealing with.
After speaking to someone who seemed to be their commander, the novice broke away from their group and began sprinting toward us.
"Hm?!"
Sylphie, Ghislaine, and Luke all drew their weapons. Sylphie actually got her rod out before Ghislaine had unsheathed her sword. She must have been on high alert.
"Oh my!"
The armored novice, clearly startled, came to an immediate halt. After an uncertain pause, they reached up to their bucket-like helmet and pulled it off… revealing a very beautiful woman.
I mean, she really was a stunner. Her hair was long and silky; somehow, even the sweat shining on her forehead looked appealing.
Also, she was gazing in our direction. At Eris, specifically.
"Eris! Ghislaine! It's me!"
Huh. Guess it's someone they met on the road?
Eris stared at the woman from her horse, but didn't immediately reply.
"I'm so glad to see you're still alive and well, Eris! My master was so pessimistic about your chances against the Dragon God that I rather assumed you were riding off to die… But in any case, what are you doing in Asura? If you'd just sent a letter in advance, I—"
"Who the heck are you?"
The pretty woman in the armor drew a sharp breath, and I saw a hint of sadness on her face. But she didn't look particularly surprised. I guess she knew what Eris was like.
"I'm just kidding," said Eris, nimbly getting down off her horse. "Good to see you again, Isolde. I didn't recognize you for a second in that weird armor."
"What's so weird? This is the official armor of the Asuran Royal knights… I thought it was rather impressive."
"Looks hard to move around in, though."
"With the Water God Style, you don't have to move very much.
This suits me perfectly."
Now that it was obvious Eris knew Isolde, Luke sheathed his sword. Sylphie also looked relieved, but still kept her rod handy. Ghislaine let her blade dangle loosely as she scanned the area. They were probably right to stay on alert; the moment everyone relaxes is the best time for your enemies to launch a sneak attack.
"Are you in the service of whoever owns this carriage now? Well, of course you are. You know, there are rumors flying around the city that the Second Princess has returned… is that her in there, by any chance? But why would you be accompanying… oh, of course! The Princess was studying in the Magic City of Sharia, wasn't she? You must have met her there. Is that right? And then she hired you on as a bodyguard, perhaps?"
This Isolde woman looked like the quiet type, but she seemed to be a bit of a chatterbox.
Eris didn't try to get a word in edgewise. She just stood there with her arms folded, letting the words hit her like a volley of machine-gun fire. Even when it was over, she took a few seconds before replying.
"…Yeah, something like that."
I got the feeling she'd stopped listening halfway through Isolde's monologue. This was probably how their conversations always went.
"After my arrival in this city, I ended up joining the Royal Knights on my master's recommendation. Once I'm formally appointed as a knight, I should be granted the rank of Water Emperor as well."
"Oh yeah? Nice going, Isolde."
"Thank you."
At this point, Luke turned his horse around and came trotting toward us. After dismounting, he approached Eris and Isolde with a gentle smile on his face. "I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation…
Eris, I assume this woman is an acquaintance of yours?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"I see. I'm sure you have a great deal to catch up on, but it would be best for you to wrap this conversation up relatively quickly."
"Sure."
Luke turned to Isolde and offered her a polite, graceful bow.
"My apologies, miss. I'm afraid we're on duty at the moment. Perhaps you'll be able to stop by later, at a more opportune time? By way of apology, we'd be pleased to—"
"There's no need for that, thank you," Isolde interrupted coldly.
"I see. Very well then, miss. Good day to you."
Somehow maintaining his friendly, apologetic smile, Luke quickly got on his horse and returned to the front of our procession.
Isolde watched him go with a scowl on her face. I looked on in mild surprise. It wasn't every day you saw a woman react to Luke that negatively.
"So that's the famous Rudeus, I expect," she said, lowering her voice almost to a whisper. "He's exactly as irritating as I imagined… And what's a magician doing carrying a sword, anyway? Does he think it makes him look impressive? I hope you didn't actually marry that man, Eris."
"…Uhm. I'm married to Rudeus now, yeah."
"Really? He's handsome enough, I'll grant you that… but what kind of person flirts with another woman right in front of his wife? You've got terrible taste in men, Eris."
"Hm…?"
Eris just looked confused.
It seemed Isolde had mistaken Luke for me. It wasn't great hearing someone badmouthing me in my presence, even accidentally. And I did practice with a wooden sword when I was training, although I wasn't really trying to show off or anything…
"Anyway, we've got to go, Isolde."
"Of course. I'm sorry for delaying you in the course of your duties. Will you be staying in this city for a while, then?"
Eris glanced at me uncertainly. I nodded slightly in return. We'd be here until Princess Ariel managed to seize the throne, at the very least.
For the first time since her arrival, Isolde noticed me as well. She looked a bit nonplussed. "Er… and who is this gentleman?" Well, this is awkward. Do I admit I'm Rudeus?
I had no real reason to use a false name… but she'd probably be embarrassed to realize she'd been insulting me where I could hear her.
"Neeeigh!"
As I was considering my options, Matsukaze stepped forward on his own initiative and pushed Eris in the back with his head.
Whoa there, calm down… I'll give you some cabbage later, boy…
"Oh, my apologies. You're in a hurry, of course."
Hmm. Isolde seemed to have interpreted this as a sign that we were antsy to get going.
"All right then, Eris," she continued. "I'll have to show you around the city when you do get some time off… You can introduce me to your friend as well, perhaps."
She glanced in my direction again, but I opted to say nothing. Maybe this wouldn't be quite as awkward if she found out I was Rudeus a few days from now?
"I don't think I understand, but okay," Eris replied.
"What is there to understand? You never change, Eris… Well then—may the blessings of Saint Millis be upon you all."
With a clean, smooth bow, Isolde trotted back toward her unit. It seemed she was a faithful member of the Millis Church. That would explain why she didn't think too highly of me.
Eris watched her go, then turned abruptly and hopped back onto her horse. Once Luke saw her mounted, he immediately got our procession moving again.
"That girl's Isolde. She's a Water King. We got to know each other back at the Sword Sanctum."
Isolde was probably the sword buddy we'd been talking about earlier, then. That was quite a coincidence. "You two really get along, don't you? That's nice."
"Yeah, I guess we do. But…" Eris paused for a moment and glanced over in Isolde's direction. Her group of silver-armored knights were just disappearing down a side street in tight formation. "She might end up on the other side this time." Oh. Right.
Orsted had actually listed the Water King Isolde Cluel as one of the swordmasters who might fight for the other side. Eris already knew that the Water God Reida was probably among our enemies. Based on that, she must have guessed that Isolde might be working for them too.
It was hard to guess how much a novice knight could influence events… but despite her current rank, she was still a fearsomely powerful swordswoman. There was a good chance she might show up on the battlefield at some point.
"…Could you handle that, Eris? If it happened?"
"She'd be a good challenge. Maybe we'd finally get to settle which of us is stronger."
"Right…"
Eris said it with no hesitation. It seemed strange to me, but those were obviously her genuine feelings. The two of them were rivals. That made sense. But if they were comfortable with the idea of killing each other, it wasn't the kind of rivalry I could ever really understand.
I had to hope it wouldn't come to that, and they could keep competing with each other for many years.
Death tends to be a pretty final thing, you know?
***
A little further down the road, our procession took a right turn and began to climb uphill. We soon reached a thick, imposing wall guarded by soldiers, but Luke showed them some sort of emblem he was carrying, and they let us through the gate immediately. After cutting across the district where the mid-rank nobles lived, we passed through another wall… and emerged into an area where the houses were as big as the fortresses of minor nations.
This was the high nobles' district.
Ariel's residence turned out to be a decent distance away from the Silver Palace. Although it stood on an ordinary city block, the thing had to be five times larger than my house back in Ranoa. It wasn't as enormous as the mansion Eris and her family had once lived in, but it was far too large to be a practical house for any one person.
It was evening by the time we reached its gates. We'd entered Ars a little after noon, so it really had taken half our day just to move through the city's streets.
When we entered the mansion's grounds, a man who looked to be a butler emerged from within. After spotting Luke, he ran off in a great hurry and gathered all the maids to receive us.
There were only five of them, as it turned out. Apparently, this small household staff had been keeping the mansion wellmaintained during the years of Ariel's absence. After a few formalities, they showed us into the building itself.
The interior was luxurious. It couldn't match Perugius' castle for sheer splendor, but every point of importance was occupied with pricey-looking works of art. The decor was just slightly fancier than what I remembered seeing in Eris' childhood home. That seemed about right for the second residence of an Asuran princess.
Once we were assigned our individual rooms, we headed to the bath to wash off the dust of the road. Even the buckets we used to rinse ourselves were richly ornamented works of art. The mansion apparently had a larger bathroom with a tub and a larger bath, but it was presumably reserved for Princess Ariel.
After we'd all freshened up a little, it was time for dinner. I dined with Ariel, Eris, and Sylphie that night. Ariel's official subordinates apparently ate in a different room.
"Now then, Sir Rudeus…"
"Yes, Your Highness?"
"First, let me express my gratitude. Thanks in no small part to you, we've made it safely to our destination."
We'd only just finished our meal, but it seemed the princess was ready to get down to business.
"I'm going to begin making my arrangements tomorrow. I will prepare a suitable stage for the arrival of Lord Perugius, and the downfall of High Minister Darius. This will involve sounding out the nobles who've switched sides in my absence, gathering information, contacting the allies I had waiting for me in the city, and taking certain other measures. I'm going to be quite busy."
"Right."
"I intend to set the stage promptly, before Darius can move against us. Fortunately, the news of my father's illness has already brought the Kingdom's most powerful nobles to the city."
So it won't be long until the showdown, then. "How long are you planning to spend on these preparations?"
"It should take about ten days."
"Got it." That was honestly faster than I'd expected.
"We've already secured the cards we need to play," Ariel continued. "I'll take other steps as well, but in essence, I believe our victory is already guaranteed—so long as we have our stage. For that reason, it seems possible that the enemy will attempt to destroy that stage by force."
Made sense. Instead of competing in a hopeless chess match, Darius might just try to overturn the board. Our enemies had been holding back their firepower so far; this seemed like a very plausible time for them to use it.
"We've assembled a competent force in our own right, but I'd like to increase the odds in our favor. It would be best to chip away at our enemy's threats in advance."
"That makes sense…"
"I would like to ask you, Eris, and Sylphie to take on this particular role."
"You want us to go out and hunt down the enemy?"
"No. I imagine that would be very difficult indeed. The capital is an enormous place, and if you spend too long wandering its streets, they may launch an attack on me first."
Ariel had allies in this city, but none of them were powerful fighters capable of going head-to-head with the likes of a North Emperor. In other words, her actual fighting force was limited to the small group she'd brought with her. And if Sylphie, Eris, and I all wandered off, that would only leave Luke and Ghislaine to protect her. Ghislaine was one hell of a fighter, but she'd probably be overwhelmed if the enemy sent multiple swordmasters on the level of a North King.
"Instead," Ariel continued, "I think we can lure them out into the open."
"What do you mean?"
"We'll deliberately present them with a golden opportunity so that they'll pounce. I have a magic item that should make this possible."
Was she talking about that appearance-altering ring, maybe?
With that thing, we could disguise someone as Ariel, and put them in a situation where they'd be vulnerable. Then we could strike at the enemy when they showed themselves.
Staging the "opportunity" wouldn't be that hard. Ariel could even work it into the schedule she had in mind. We'd give the enemy chances to attack her on the way back from her meetings with the nobles. If they didn't come in the morning, we'd try it again at night, and change things up slightly. By having them come to us, we wouldn't have to waste time looking for them, and it would be easier to keep Ariel safe during the operation. The real princess would be close by, after all.
"This would involve placing you in some amount of danger,
Sylphie. However—"
"That won't be a problem," Sylphie interrupted. "This is the moment of truth, right? Let's do everything we possibly can."
It sounded like she'd be acting as the decoy. Which worried me a little… but it wasn't like she'd be "safe" anywhere on the battlefield, really. We'd come too far to back down now. As long as she was willing, I'd just have to make damn sure I protected her.
"Do you think they'll actually take the bait?" I asked quietly.
"I would say… it's about a fifty-fifty chance," Ariel replied.
Honestly, we hadn't been attacked a single time since slipping past Auber into Asuran territory. We'd been cautious and alert, of course, but the journey here had taken nearly a month. Surely there were moments when they could have ambushed us. To me, that suggested they'd anticipated Ariel's plan for a dramatic showdown, and chose to gather their forces here to overwhelm us at the crucial moment. In that case, it was very possible they had more than enough firepower to do the job. The Man-God had given them a good sense of our party's size and strength, after all. It was the kind of forceful, bloody strategy that might lead to ugly complications down the road. But with the throne of Asura on the line, that was probably a risk they were prepared to take.
"If they do bite, we'll be in good shape," said Ariel. "But if they don't…"
"…I guess we'll have to settle things in one big battle."
"Indeed. I think we'd have to rely on you quite heavily in that scenario, Sir Rudeus."
Yeah, I guess so. Not a super reassuring thought. "Can we call in any sort of reinforcements?"
"We do have a number of allies I found in Ranoa and sent here in advance, but even the best of them are only Advanced-class swordsmen or magicians. I intend to deploy them on the day of our performance, but they wouldn't be much use against a North King, much less an Emperor."
Oh well. Never hurts to ask, I guess…
"If it's absolutely necessary, we could perhaps ask our… other ally for assistance."
"Our other ally…"
That had to mean Orsted. At this point, I wasn't even sure if he was in the city yet. I'd kept up my regular reports, but there hadn't been much to tell him lately, and he wasn't saying much either. Ariel hadn't seen him face-to-face since that first encounter. Luke was too wary of me to let me wander off alone with her.
"I guess you're right. Let's try that if all else fails."
Sylphie looked somewhat puzzled by this exchange, but hopefully she'd shrug it off.
"Very well then. We'll proceed with the initial plan for now."
"Understood."
We had our general strategy for the next ten days worked out.
The battle for control of Asura would begin tomorrow.