Chapter 38: Chapter 38
After returning to the mansion, Arwin became so docile that her initial rampage seemed like a lie.
Quietly eating fodder and resting inside the stable that had been crudely repaired in the meantime, she was truly the picture of a refined young lady.
Of course, the other horses still acted as though she were some kind of monster.
“So, you spent three days and three nights rolling around with that creature?”
“Thanks to that, I’m completely exhausted.”
Roden looked at Shan’s grinning face and let out a deep sigh.
Seriously, acting so nonchalant without even knowing how much others had worried…
“Well, at least it’s a relief that you tamed her. Honestly, I thought you were going to beat that horse to death.”
Though Shan had an innocent face, Roden knew better than anyone just how violent Shan’s true nature could be.
Where would that temper go… the kind that immediately punched a girl in the face and bloodied her nose just because she got on his nerves?
Roden had secretly expected Shan to lose his temper while wrestling with the horse and return after beating her to death.
“Master said it before. You mustn’t rule a companion who will guard your back with fear. They might obey when your strength is great, but the moment you grow weak, they’ll strike you from behind.”
If Shan had not received such teachings (if he were still the person from the days when he believed he could prove himself to others through violence alone) he would have tried to beat Arwin into submission.
If he had done so, Arwin likely would have never opened her heart.
Just looking at the brand marks on her hindquarters made it easy to guess how she had originally been controlled.
Only after competing creature to creature to see who was more superior and tenacious did the beast accept that Shan was even more relentless than herself and choose to submit.
“Well, fine. Enough of that, read this first.”
“What is it?”
“Letters left by people who stopped by while you were away.”
A significant portion of the stack of letters Roden handed over was left by strangers, mostly low-ranking nobles or merchants.
Setting aside contents saying it would be an honor if he visited their home, there were a few worth reading.
“Sir Katra decided to head out to hunt monsters again… Oh, Sir Lug decided to join Prince Elvin’s faction.”
“Really? That lanky guy?”
“Didn’t you read it?”
“They’re your letters, I shouldn’t read them first.”
“Then read it now.”
As Shan held out the letter, Roden clicked his tongue as if flabbergasted, took it, and read through it.
Before long, his expression turned serious.
“Shan.”
“Yeah?”
“You said this Lug guy is strong, right?”
“At least for this tournament, if I hadn’t been there, he definitely would have won. If he trains a bit more, he might even become stronger than Feonil.”
“Hmm…”
If Shan spoke like that, Lug was certainly a top-tier genius among ordinary knights, that is, among humans excluding Shan.
He would surely make a name for himself in the future.
It was hardly pleasant that such a talented individual might become an enemy in the future.
Of course, looking at the finals alone, Shan would never lose in a one-on-one duel, but there was no guarantee that palace power struggles would be conducted so fairly.
To speak somewhat radically, if Marquis Abel and Lug were to join forces and launch a pincer attack, even Shan could be in danger.
Of course, considering that the two belonged to different factions, the possibility of that was virtually nonexistent.
“It would have been better if we could have gotten him to join Princess Cheryn’s side…”
“But honestly, the princess has too little to offer.”
“That’s the problem.”
Not many people knew how immense a potential, or danger, Cheryn held within her.
In the eyes of others, publicly she was merely a genius mage and a princess unusually interested in state governance.
The fact that she was not currently facing any major threats was largely because the two princes let down their guard, thinking, ‘Surely a girl wouldn’t aim for the throne?’
As such, it was naturally difficult to expect to gain anything by aligning with her, so unless someone was in the same situation as Shan, joining one of the princes was the obvious choice.
“For now, let’s stay friendly with him. He might fetch good information from the prince’s side, and just because we’re in different factions doesn’t mean we have to kill each other.”
“Honestly, I found him a bit overwhelming.”
Watching a man who stood around two meters and ten centimeters tall look at him with sparkling eyes as if facing his idol felt far too strange.
After making a disgusted face for a moment, Shan let out a soft exclamation as he looked at the next letter.
“Ah, the princess sent a letter as well. She said the item is completed, so come pick it up.”
“Oho!”
“And she also mentioned that if handling the horse I received this time is difficult, she could tell me a good method?”
“Well, she guessed wrong on that one.”
Roden chuckled contentedly, thinking how she had acted like she knew everything.
“So when should you go visit?”
“She said that on the night I returned, she would be at the villa, so I should come by.”
“Damn, she really does know everything. Just how does she gather information? Does she use magic or something?”
Shan, who continued reading down the letters, asked with a peculiar expression.
“What’s this? Did Master come by too?”
“Huh? No, if he came, there’s no way I wouldn’t have seen him.”
“This is Master’s letter.”
A letter roughly written on musty parchment that bore no stylish decorations or strong scent of perfume.
Written on it was a single sentence: ‘Congratulations.’
If not for Sir Darkal’s family crest seal and signature at the bottom, one would have thought it was a prank letter sent by someone.
“That’s so like Master, really.”
“Tell me about it.”
He likely felt embarrassed to say anything grand in person.
He was an old man who couldn’t stand saying sweet things to others.
Sensing a warm affection for no reason from that exceedingly short message, the two snicker-laughed for a long while.
*
That night, Shan walked the dark streets of the capital alone without holding a single torch.
Since the object he had to bring back was what it was, Roden decided to stay home so as not to draw the attention of the night watchmen.
His signature glowing eyes were not much of a problem.
All he had to do was close his eyes only at the moments night watchmen passed nearby and walk relying on his memory.
Unlike ordinary people, Shan could walk several hundred meters of path he had seen with his own eyes while clearly perceiving where he was.
After passing through several streets like that, Shan arrived at the princess’s villa and knocked on the door just as Cagon had done in the past.
Thump, thump… no matter how many times he knocked, for some reason the door did not open.
Should he knock a bit harder?
Just as the thought crossed his mind, he sensed the presence of a night watchman approaching from afar.
Shan stared quietly at the wall right beside the main gate, which appeared to be three or four meters high, and then leaped up effortlessly.
Scaling the wall using tiny uneven surfaces between the bricks… gaps barely half a finger-joint deep… he looked truly like a spider.
However, the moment he climbed over the wall and landed on the ground, intense heat flared up fiercely from below.
‘What…’
As flames originating from the ground engulfed his body, Shan instinctively channeled fighting spirit imbued with the will to defend throughout his whole body while covering his face with both arms.
Had the flames continued to envelop his body like that, he would have collapsed from exhaustion and suffered fatal injuries, but fortunately, the fire vanished immediately after wrapping around his body once.
“Who’s there!”
Clang! Along with the sound of a sword being drawn from inside the mansion, Sir Aran dashed out in haste holding a longsword.
Seeing Shan lightly scorched by the fire, she asked in surprise.
“Sir Shan? Why did you suddenly trigger the trap magic in the garden? No, more importantly, who on earth opened the door for you?”
“Well…”
When he said he climbed over the wall, an absurd look surfaced on the female knight’s face.
“Still, how dare you climb over the wall of the residence where Her Highness resides?”
“I knocked on the door, but it didn’t open.”
“Ah, because today only the princess and I are in the mansion.”
Showing an embarrassed expression at his words that he had knocked, she changed the subject.
“Still, it’s a relief you’re unhurt. That power wasn’t weak.”
“Because I have fighting spirit.”
Aran looked at Shan, who was completely fine aside from being slightly scorched, as though he were a strange creature.
Since fighting spirit was reliably imbued into objects with clear purposes like swords or shields, wrapping it around one’s whole body for protection was not only excessively inefficient, but also agonizingly difficult.
At least, ordinary knights could never accomplish such a feat in the brief moment a flame trap triggered.
“Indeed, it wasn’t for nothing that Her Highness poured such effort into this despite her busy schedule…”
In the voice she muttered to herself, faint jealousy was mixed with a sense of self-reproach.
Had she been that strong, there would have been no need for the princess to obsess so much over some Altoan knight.
Unlike their previous meeting, which had taken place in the reception room, this encounter was held inside none other than the princess’s bedroom.
In a spacious area large enough to go for a run in, the luxurious bed placed right in the center was big enough for ten people to lie down and sleep, and a sweet fragrance drifted through the air.
Cheryn was wearing thin sleepwear with only an outer coat draped over it, as if she had awoken from sleep just a moment prior.
Sitting in an armchair and rocking gently, she smiled brightly at Shan.
“Why was it so noisy outside?”
“I had a minor accident while trying to come more covertly, Princess.”
“It couldn’t be helped, but please enter through the front gate next time. Thinking that a knight like you might sneak in at any moment and cut off my head frightens me so much I can’t sleep.”
Muttering words far too bloodcurdling for a joke, she pointed to a long object lying on the floor directly in front of her.
Neatly wrapped in cloth, it was shaped like a rod roughly three meters long.
“Here, the child eagerly awaiting its master is right here. This is a gift to congratulate you on winning the jousting tournament… as well as the payment for our first trade. Take it.”
As he untied the knot and stripped away the cloth, what was revealed was a single spear.
It was a long spear of suitable length that could be used for infantry or as a slightly shorter lance.
What was unusual was that mysterious characters were engraved from its leaf-shaped blade all the way to its black-dyed ash wood shaft.
Though it did not glow openly bright, its subtle luminescence seemed to announce at a glance that it was no ordinary item.
“A top-grade spear crafted by a master, incorporating an entire troll’s mana stone. As long as the core at the tip of the handle remains intact, it can repair a certain amount of damage on its own. Even if it snaps in half, if you just hold the broken pieces together, it will return to normal. Additionally, wounds stabbed or slashed by the blade will not heal easily. Of course, it goes without saying that it is far harder and sharper than ordinary spears.”
Just listening to the explanation, it was definitely a masterpiece closer to an ancient Altoan magic device than a modern magic tool.
It fell far short compared to the Thousand Shapes, but that was because the difference in materials to begin with was overwhelming.
Certainly, the princess was an overwhelming genius compared to any mage of this era.
Shan thought that once more trust was built up later, perhaps he could show her the Thousand Shapes and let her study the magic embedded within it.
He wondered just what terrible results she might derive from that.
“Of course, I verified it thoroughly, but if any problem arises in actual combat, let me know. I’ll modify it immediately.”
“Thank you so much, Princess! I’ll use it well!”
Because he was so delighted with the new weapon, Shan forgot even his formal tone without realizing it as he expressed his gratitude.
Smiling with satisfaction, Cheryn clapped her hands with a look as though she had realized something she had forgotten.
“Ah, but if you’re going to use such a splendid spear, you’ll need a fitting horse… From what I hear, the royal family’s troublemaker came out as the prize this time?”
“By royal troublemaker, you mean…?”
“That Horais warhorse. Among the offspring born to the stud presented by the King of Horais ten years ago, she inherited the most superior abilities, yet at the same time, she was the only one to inherit her sire’s violent temper, so nobody could tame her.”
It seemed she was talking about Arwin.
Come to think of it, did she say in the letter that she would tell him a way to tame Arwin?
The princess wore a sly smile as she pulled out a fist-sized medicine bottle she was holding and shook it.
“Feed this medicine to that horse consistently somehow. I prepared it before thinking it would be nice if that creature could be put to use; although her intelligence will drop a bit, she will obediently follow orders no matter who gives them. Just in case, I’m telling you it doesn’t work on humans, so don’t try to use it on them…”
“Ah, that’s fine. It’s already been resolved.”
“What?”
At the completely unexpected reply, Cheryn’s long, narrow eyes opened wide in surprise.
“Resolved? How?”
“I just took her outside and ran together with her for about three days, and she opened her heart.”
He did not elaborate on the details that he had spent three whole days doggedly riding without stepping off the horse.
After all, those details were a bit too unrefined to recount before the princess.
“Ha, really… You are an amusing person. Though I haven’t lived that long, I’ve never seen anyone so far from boring.”
Cheryn expressed regret over the fact that her gift had become useless, yet at the same time displayed a satisfied look.
After a horse thus narrowly escaped the crisis of being turned into an idiot, the topic of conversation shifted toward the jousting tournament.
“It’s a pity I couldn’t go see it in person. During the day, I had far too many schedules that were impossible to get out of.”
“I will wait for you to come see it when you have time later.”
“That would be nice. And… when it’s just the two of us, feel free to speak more comfortably.”
“Pardon?”
“Too formal a tone feels distant. Speaking like you did earlier sounded much better. Do you dislike it?”
“No, not at all. It’s not that I dislike it…”
“Come to think of it, when we first met, you dropped formal speech entirely. Though that was because I hid my identity.”
Unlike when he did so by mistake, trying to consciously use his usual informal tone felt awkward.
Was it because his counterpart was a princess?
Pondering for a moment, Shan soon realized the reason.
“Then please treat me comfortably as well, Princess.”
“Me? Wasn’t I treating you comfortably?”
“That archaic tone of speech… you didn’t use it before.”
“Come to think of it, that’s true… Alright. Shall I speak with less distance then?”
Returning completely to the speech manner of a cheerful mage girl, Cheryn giggled as she swung her legs.
Beside her, the female knight Aran muttered, ‘Princess, please, your dignity…’, but both of them pretended not to hear.
Of course, even so, taking her words literally to the point of calling her ‘Sister Cheryn’ was a bit difficult to accept.
“Right, were there any useful talents in this tournament?”
“Sir Lug.”
“Your opponent in the final round? You say the same thing as Cagon. If both of you say so, a talented person really can’t help but stand out…”
Expressing regret that she wished there were more undiscovered talents, Cheryn muttered softly.
“Well, I suppose now isn’t the time to be looking for new talents anyway. Intelligence came in that Elvin plans to recruit you soon.”
“Prince Elvin?”
“Even calling him a prince is a waste. Just call him that bastard.”
Deep contempt was evident on the princess’s face as she spat out the curse.
“It seems he’s starting to covet you only now. Yet he has no confidence to take responsibility until the end; it’s obvious he only plans to use you as much as he can and then throw you away, so don’t ever fall for his persuasion, alright?”
“Yes.”
“Seriously, shameless of him to eye you when he didn’t even discover you first.”
Since it was an awkward situation to answer, Shan feigned ignorance and looked at a portrait hanging in a corner of the bedroom.
The beautiful woman with flowing dark blue hair seemed to depict Princess Cheryn, but she looked older than Cheryn and had softer eyes, giving a virtuous impression.
“The portrait was painted really well.”
“That’s a portrait of my mother.”
“Ah.”
“Aste Barbelka. She was an unfortunate person. Though I myself never even got to look at her face and have a proper conversation with her.”
Shan recalled once again what Cheryn’s full name was.
Cheryn Gizel Aste Hasra.
Traditionally, the royalty of the Arman Alliance placed their father’s and mother’s names between their given name and family name.
For that reason, the third segment of Cheryn’s name differed from that of her half-siblings.
After a brief silence, Cheryn suddenly changed the subject.
“Do you happen to know what kind of person my father is?”
“I don’t know that well.”
“I suppose so. What kind of person the king is doesn’t travel well to the lower ranks… and you were originally a foreigner anyway.”
Hearing his reply, Cheryn let out a quiet sigh as she spoke.
All Shan knew about King Gizel III of Pendia was that he had married three times, that all his queens died of illness at a young age, and that he himself was hovering between life and death due to illness.
“Earlier, when I said my brothers didn’t care about father’s health, you looked at me as if thinking, ‘Isn’t that the same for you?’ Both you and Roden.”
Shan flinched in surprise despite himself at the princess’s sharp insight.
He had roughly thought so, but he wondered how she had pinpointed it so accurately without him even voicing it.
“My father is a terrible monster. He killed his own eldest brother who was originally the king, along with all his nephews, to seize the throne, and then devoured all his wives with his debauched life. If that man hadn’t collapsed on his own, I might have really poisoned him with my own hands.”
Cheryn added that his children, Conrad and Elvin, were likewise terrible monsters, albeit in different directions.
Perhaps even she herself.
“This damn Hasra royal family itself is clearly a cursed house. Truly, it is beyond hideous…”
*
The day after listening to the princess’s complaints that bordered on drunken rambling, Shan returned to the mansion and did not blurt out everything he had heard from her to Roden.
For some reason, it felt like something extremely intimate… words that should not be carelessly shared with others.
“Alright, then shall we slowly draft a plan?”
The topic of conversation was the princess’s request: hunting the high vampire of Castaman Castle.
Castaman Castle was located in the wilderness north of Hasra City, where people rarely passed.
On foot, it would likely take about five to seven days.
“A plan… is there any need for that?”
Wouldn’t it be enough to just barge in out of nowhere and slice him to death? As Shan spoke with such intention, Roden chuckled and answered.
“Of course, with your skill, you could easily do that, but high vampires are cunning bastards. What if he refuses to fight and just flees?”
“Ah.”
“No matter how fast Arwin is, you need to know where the enemy is to give chase. For that, constructing a sufficient strategy is essential.”
After saying that, Roden drew a large circle with his finger.
“To do that, forming a cordon is naturally best. Wherever he flees, we can know the direction he fled.”
“A cordon? How do the two of us form a cordon?”
“Why just the two of us?”
At Shan’s question, Roden spoke with a look as if he couldn’t understand.
“You’re a knight now. That means you can hire and mobilize as many mercenaries as you want!”