The encounter with Vidar had been sudden, but compared to the other unexpected events that had occurred, it didn’t feel all that unpleasant.
Was it because I had mostly dealt with people whose consciences were long dead?
Or maybe…
“I didn’t know there was such a story behind this…”
Was it because I had obtained one of the game’s final reward items?
Promotion Tale was a story-based RPG, but it was designed to encourage multiple playthroughs.
After all, each scenario had a different final boss.
Raising a new character and crafting new equipment every time would be tiring, so they had designed the system to allow certain out-of-place artifacts to carry over into the next playthrough.
That might sound grand, but in reality, these items weren’t anything particularly special.
They were just pleasant little items that didn’t break the game’s balance.
Nothing more, nothing less.
The [Necklace of the Sun God] obtained by defeating the great warrior Vidar had a minor health regeneration effect.
I wasn’t sure how that subtle effect would actually work in practice, but it probably wouldn’t be anything too impressive.
“…Maybe it just helps with recovering fatigue a little faster?”
That’s what it felt like.
Normally, I needed a full eight hours of sleep to recover from fatigue, but with the necklace, I woke up refreshed after just seven.
So, yeah… a truly minor effect.
Or maybe I simply wasn’t capable enough to draw out the full power of the out-of-place artifact.
Either way, it was the perfect gift for someone like me who always had a thousand worries weighing on his mind every day.
“Well, that’s enough testing… I guess I’ve packed everything I need?”
At last, I was going home tomorrow.
I hadn’t expected things to turn out this way, but now that I was actually returning, I couldn’t help feeling excited.
I must have missed the peace of home more than I had realized, despite everything.
“Still…”
I unpacked my things again to double-check everything. Emily’s magic engineering items, research papers, spellbooks—
Even the everyday items were perfectly accounted for.
Yet I still turned my head to scan the room. I checked the top of the table, inside the wardrobe, and under the bed one by one, making sure I hadn’t missed anything.
Sure enough, the packing was thorough.
But still, what was this feeling?
“Feels like I forgot something.”
There was a strange sense of unease.
***
Departure day.
I stood in front of the Cradle’s main gate with Yuna, waiting for Ariel to arrive.
Before long, a carriage bearing the crest of Ether House pulled in.
And kept pulling in.
And kept pulling in…
“Is this a limousine?”
Why couldn’t I see the end of it?
Just one of these carriages alone could probably buy our entire mansion.
Still, with no end in sight, the carriage finally came to a stop. Then a door near the middle opened, and Ariel stepped out.
“Jo—!”
She had started to smile brightly and call out my name the moment she saw me….but then she froze solid.
“…Han, is that girl coming with us too?”
Ariel asked in a voice that had sunk deep into the floor with her gaze fixed on Yuna.
Honestly, I couldn’t say I hadn’t seen this coming.
But I was certain. This girl needed to stay where I could see her.
“She’s technically part of our household, after all.”
“Well… yes, but still…”
I had already passed Yuna off as a member of our house once before, so I decided to stick with that story.
Besides, once Father saw Yuna’s face, he’d likely go pale and come up with the same excuse I had.
Yuna would also probably drop a few hints here and there to help smooth things over.
Like father, like son, right?
Father would know what to do even if I didn’t say a word.
“Puhihi, hi there, Lady Ariel! Were you getting all excited thinking you’d be alone with him? Am I spoiling your fun?”
Yuna immediately started prodding at people’s nerves the moment she opened her mouth.
But Ariel didn’t so much as blink.
And it wasn’t like she calmly brushed it off, either.
“I didn’t expect anything like that to begin with.”
She simply stepped aside in response.
Inside the carriage, I saw a familiar face.
“Your Highness?”
“Oh, yes. Johan. No need to stand around in this heat; come on in. It’s nice and cool inside with the air conditioning.”
“Ah, yes.”
Now this was something I truly hadn’t expected.
Even if they were close friends, did she really have to wedge herself into a family introduction meeting?
Even if Ariel hadn’t known, wasn’t it common sense to bow out in a situation like this?
I hadn’t expected an arrogant imperial member to have absolutely no sense of proper conduct…
“Johan, I told you to get in. And if you don’t wipe that disrespectful look off your face, I’ll personally fix it for you.”
“Oh dear, Your Highness! Have you been well?”
“I saw you just yesterday. So hearing you ask that now makes it sound like you were hoping something terrible would happen to me in just one day.”
“How could that be! Hahaha!”
So much for a peaceful carriage ride.
To begin with, I hadn’t expected much, knowing I’d be stuck between Ariel and Yuna…
“Hmm…”
Right before stepping into the carriage, I clenched the Necklace of the Sun God.
The out-of-place artifact great warrior Vidar had given me as a token of our promise.
“Completely useless.”
What was I supposed to do about this mental exhaustion?
Shouldn’t a true artifact help with that too?
Giving me some worthless trinket like this…
“Heave-ho! Johan, hurry up and get in! It’s super cool in here!”
“……”
Looking at Yuna’s face that was already inside the carriage ahead of me, I had a thought.
Just look at that devilish smile.
It was as clear a foreshadowing as any that this journey would be anything but smooth.
And so, I boarded the carriage that would take me from Cradle to grave.
***
“You’re probably wondering why I’m here with Ariel, aren’t you?”
“Of course not. Wherever Your Highness goes becomes the true path and purpose, so how could a subject question that?”
“Cut the crap and let’s get to the point.”
Lobelia pulled down the carriage’s blinds and checked the situation outside.
“Do you know what Ariel and I have been up to during this break?”
“Why would I… ahem! I do not, Your Highness.”
“We’ve mostly been going around destroying terrorist strongholds. It was incredibly satisfying.”
“Truly, Your Highness is a paragon of justice.”
How could someone speak so proudly about a party of blood and carnage?
“That’s why many are predicting we’ll follow a similar course this break as well. Both here and outside the Empire.”
“Outside as well… Are you anticipating an ambush?”
“Yes.”
Then wouldn’t our territory be in danger too?
Now that I thought about it, riding this kind of carriage all the way to the Damus County made us an obvious target.
“There’s no need to worry too much. We’ve sent thirty identical carriages in different directions to cause confusion.”
“Even so…”
“We can’t rule out the chance of an ambush targeting this one.”
Exactly.
Sending thirty carriages in different directions to create confusion?
It’s a simple but effective tactic.
Still, that only works when you’re in a relatively safe position.
There was no shortage of terrorist groups operating in the Empire, so if there were thirty targets, they might just decide to attack them all at once.
“That’s why I’m coming along. To crush the forces prepared.”
“Ah… so the plan assumes we’ll be ambushed?”
“Exactly.”
What do you mean, exactly?
If being ambushed is a given, then what’s the point of causing confusion in the first place?
“If thirty carriages move at the same time, the number of enemies each one faces should be reduced, don’t you think?”
“……”
“Once we deal with the first ambush, things will get easier from there. The other carriages are carrying elite soldiers as well. And if we kill them all, who would be left to report which carriage Ariel was actually in?”
“I see. But even so, I don’t think that alone is reason enough for Your Highness to come in person.”
Couldn’t those troops just ride in this carriage instead?
Or was it a manpower issue? But for a princess to accompany us just because of that?
That’s ridiculous.
“Well, there’s a second reason. A very important one.”
Lobelia let out a slight chuckle as she spoke.
“I get bored when I’m alone.”
“Aha.”
And here I thought it might be something serious.
Just as I expected, she was an arrogant imperial member with no sense of proper conduct.
“Johan, that expression of yours always makes it look like you’re silently expressing the most irreverent thoughts imaginable… What do you think, Yuna? I’d like to hear your thoughts.”
“Are all thirty of the carriages this size?”
“Yes.”
“The Duke of Ether must be swimming in money.”
“You could say that.”
“…Why does it feel like this conversation suddenly turned into an insult against my family?”
Ariel grumbled quietly from where she’d been listening in.
Honestly, though, I had the same thought as Yuna.
Thirty carriages this big?
That really was a ridiculous amount of money.
“You understand me, don’t you, Johan?”
“Of course, Ariel.”
“Puhihi! If you’re going to lie, Johan, at least try to sound convincing. Or should I help you with that?”
Yuna clung to me, flicking her tongue playfully.
Whoosh!
Just then, Ariel’s staff came crashing down between me and Yuna.
“Could you please remember your place? Stay within your boundaries, Miss Yuna.”
“Aw, Lady Ariel, aren’t you being a bit too possessive? Or what…are you scared? Afraid I might beat you?”
“What was that…?”
Ugh, here we go again.
The tension in the air was growing heavier. Already anticipating this, I immediately pulled out a thesis from the belongings I had packed.
Mediation? Don’t make me laugh. How was I supposed to mediate between those two?
When whales fight, it’s the shrimp that gets crushed. I was just going to ignore it all.
“Lovely weather, isn’t it…?”
Lobelia, whom I glanced at from the corner of my eye, had begun to enjoy the view outside.
So that’s why she sat by the window?
Smart move.
“Hmm?”
But perhaps our approach didn’t sit well with someone?
Help arrived from an outsider, offering a much more direct method of mediation.
“You’d better get ready. Looks like we’re already under attack.”
Lobelia looked… almost pleased.
Apparently, she preferred an enemy ambush over the two women’s verbal sparring.
“Imperial security is just flawless, isn’t it?”
I set aside the thesis I’d been skimming through.
Since Lobelia had mentioned the possibility of an attack, I wasn’t all that surprised.
It just felt like…well, it finally happened.
Though, I couldn’t help but be a bit dumbfounded.
Getting ambushed right after leaving the capital? That, I hadn’t expected.
This quickly?
“Come on, let’s get out. We don’t have time to sit around. I doubt the carriage’s protective magic will hold for long.”
“Do I need to go out too?”
“Isn’t it nice to show a cool side of yourself every now and then? Johan. You’re in front of your fiancée, after all. Give it your best.”
“I’ll just go to make up the numbers.”
I had no choice but to get off the carriage, practically shoved out by Lobelia’s pressure.
Surprisingly, there was no attack even as we all stepped out of the carriage.
There were only seven enemies, at most.
From their stances, their expressions, and the general crazy look in their eyes, I could more or less guess which group they belonged to.
“Lemegeton. Looks like there’s even a Librarian among them.”
Lemegeton originally meant the Book of Demons. But the fact that someone had turned that into a real organization was also true.
As a group, Lemegeton was broadly divided into three ranks.
First was the Chief Librarian, the Judge Ostillis Liberatio.
Yes, that crazy woman the world referred to as a saintess.
Second were the “Librarians”. They were administrators who had been granted the right to command demons by Tillis.
They weren’t quite on par with pure demon contractors, but since they handled demonic powers, they were inevitably formidable.
Given Tillis’s goals, these individuals were, in essence, little more than walking lunchboxes.
And finally, third were the “Demonkin”, those who served the Librarians and were granted strength.
They couldn’t wield powers, but they were simply, brutally strong.
“Puhihihi! Librarian, who would you like me to handle first?”
One of the Demonkin asked the question with vulgar glee with his tongue hanging out.
“Yuna, look over there. Someone who laughs just like you.”
Thwack!
A throwing knife pierced straight through that ridiculous Demonkin’s head.
Instant death.
“There’s one less now.”
Yuna smiled brightly.
She was smiling, but the way she looked at me carried a silent pressure. She must have been in a really foul mood.
I seriously needed to watch what I said…
Leave a Reply