Chapter 203 - Chapter 202: Those Squirming in the Shadows — A Lecture on the Nickname "Fire"
The second month of Water, the second week, a Tuesday. Afternoon.
Mika was blindfolded and imprisoned within the Royal Castle.
"........................."
While sitting on a sofa that was comfortable at least, Mika let out a soft sigh.
The day after being summoned by Ozendorwa, while attending morning classes at the Academy, he was called to the Academy Director's office.
When he went to the Academy Director's office, besides the Academy Director Maurice, there was one other person.
A man who claimed to be a messenger from the Royal Palace.
"Are you the adventurer known as the 'Dispeller'?"
"Yes, that is correct..."
The messenger from the Royal Palace looked Mika up and down with a somewhat rude gaze, then nodded once.
"Well, that will do. Then, let us go."
"Huh? Go? Where?"
Seeing Mika's confusion, the messenger from the Royal Palace made a slightly exasperated face.
"It is obvious, isn't it? The Royal Castle."
"Huh?"
Seeing Mika's bewilderment, the concerned Maurice explained.
"It is no wonder you are confused by the suddenness. But this is a decided matter. It is not in the form of an imperial decree, but consider it an order from His Majesty and accept it respectfully."
"Imperial!? From His Majesty!?"
Normally, if he just went to the Academy, he would have been summoned by the King.
He had no idea what was going on.
"D-does it have to be right now!?"
"That is not the case, but is there something wrong?"
The messenger from the Royal Palace made a suspicious face.
He probably thought there was nothing that took priority over the King's orders.
Well, that might not be entirely wrong, but Mika had plans too.
Being suddenly taken away without any schedule adjustment was truly troubling.
"Um... could you wait for me for a few hours?"
"That is fine, but why?"
"I had plans after school. Of course, I can cancel my plans and go to the Royal Castle, but I would prefer to avoid canceling without notice..."
"I see..."
After explaining the situation simply, the messenger from the Royal Palace made a thinking face.
"Well, that will do."
Saying that, he was instructed to report to the Government Office located in front of the East Gate of the First Wall by noon.
(Noon? That's less than two hours!)
Even so, it was better than being taken away immediately, so he reluctantly agreed.
He got permission from Maurice to leave the Academy early, and Mika left the Academy Director's office.
When he told Kistil, who was watching him pack with concern, "I'm going to the Royal Castle," she made a surprised face.
But Kistil said nothing superfluous, only saying, "Be careful."
As expected of a noble's daughter from the Marquis's house, she seemed to understand the meaning of being summoned to the Royal Castle.
Mika, who had rushed out of the Academy, first headed to the Adventurer's Guild.
He glanced around the inside from the guild entrance to check if Trys was there.
The moment Mika showed his face at the guild, a murmur arose.
But he couldn't afford to worry about that now, so after confirming Trys was not there, he jumped out of the guild.
The reason for the murmur when Mika showed his face at the guild was that somewhat unsettling rumors were circulating recently.
"Those who mess with the 'Dispeller' will be destroyed."
Four executives of the Adventurer's Guild who tried to frame Mika were sent flying.
And now, the Church that tried to kill Mika is in great chaos.
Moreover, dozens of cardinals, archbishops, and bishops, including the Pope, were arrested, and the Church is currently on the verge of destruction.
In terms of scale and influence, the Church is a massive organization incomparable to the Adventurer's Guild.
Even that Church, by messing with the 'Dispeller', is not just tilting but on the verge of collapse.
It seems the Information Broker Guild is spreading the rumors for fun, and they seem to be spreading them not just in the capital but throughout the kingdom.
While some devout followers of the Church of Light say "I won't believe such things," it seems many are feeling despair due to the number of irregularities coming to light one after another.
The current King is a devout follower of the Church of Light, and since the country was very stable, he was extremely popular.
It seems most people interpret it as even the King was forced to move.
Thanks to that, it seems basically no one distorts the situation to think Mika brought down the Church.
Well, there might be some, but it seems many people consider this matter as "there is justice in the King."
After confirming Trys was not at the guild, Mika headed to Trys's home.
The reason he was looking for Trys was to ask her to help him look for a room.
Actually, he intended to look for a new place to move after school.
The woman named Humus, who moved the Church, plotted to assassinate Mika.
Through Humus, it is possible that Mika's current house has been revealed through the Church.
Therefore, he intended to find a new house with Kistil and Nerisfeene after school today.
However, he was suddenly summoned by the Royal Castle and couldn't go look for a new place.
Since he had to find a new house as soon as possible, he thought he should ask Trys to go with Kistil and Nerisfeene to look for rooms.
If it was Trys, she would understand the situation to some extent, making it easier to explain.
That was why Mika rushed to Trys's house.
Knock knock.
Mika visited the apartment building where Trys lived.
"Trys, it's Mika. Are you there?"
Knock knock.
When he knocked again, a reply came from inside.
Waiting like that, the door opened with a creak.
"Oh, Mika-chan. What's wrong, all of a sudden?"
Trys appeared, shirtless and sweating profusely, slightly out of breath.
I worried that maybe I came at a bad timing, but it seems she was doing muscle training.
Trys put away a bag that looked like monster leather filled with sand in the center of the room to the corner.
That bag would weigh about thirty kilograms even if filled with rice...
How much load is she putting on it?
Should I teach you compression training?
Mika declined when Trys offered to make tea, saying he was in a hurry.
"Sorry, Trys. I want you to accompany Kistil and Nerisfeene and help me look for a room."
"Looking for a room? Are you moving?"
Mika explained the situation simply.
That there were people behind the Church who plotted to assassinate Mika.
That Mika's house might have been revealed through the Church.
That he planned to look for a room today but was summoned to the Royal Castle.
"One after another... Mika-chan is busy."
"It's not my fault..."
Mika said weakly, but it was almost self-inflicted.
Due to this incident, Mika's information had spread to various sectors, consolidated in a centralized manner.
Up until now, fragmented information had been passed around.
There were mainly two types of information.
Information about Mika as a mage, and information about Mika as an adventurer.
These were basically transmitted separately, with those knowledgeable about one side being unfamiliar with the other.
Adventurers knew Mika as the adventurer 'Dispeller'.
They knew he attended the magic academy, but knew nothing beyond that.
At the magic academy, he was noted as a prodigy as a magic apprentice, but they did not know about Mika as an adventurer.
Some people, like the Information Broker Guild, obtained both pieces of information and realized the correct image of Mika as a whole.
But those people did not talk nonsense unnecessarily.
There was no fool who would crush their source of livelihood with their own loose talk.
However, the magic academy and others noticed another face of Mika, the student.
They found out that while he was gifted with genius-level talent as a mage, he was also an adventurer with a special skill called 'Dispeller'.
As a weak student bound by laws, Mika wondered how he would be conveniently exploited.
Seeing Mika hang his shoulders, Trys smiled bitterly.
"Did you hear why you were summoned?"
"No... I didn't hear anything. It felt like it wasn't a good thing to ask."
"Ahh... that might be the case."
He felt strongly that since he was summoned, it was natural to follow without a second thought.
Dealing with people who would say even asking is "unexpected" rather than arguing is really tiring. ...mentally.
"Well, you should be prepared. They will kick you out quickly once you are done, but if you aren't done, they will keep you for a week or a month without a second thought."
"Huh?"
A month?
When Mika made a blank face, Trys made a slightly tired face.
"You don't know what the matter is, do you? Nobles and aristocrats don't care much about the lives of commoners. If you are kept for a month, you lose a month's earnings. You should think there is no one who cares about such things."
Basically, it is not normal for commoners to get involved with the King or nobles.
They would only think, "Called because there was a need, sent back because the need was finished."
(He seems to be a well-liked King, but he doesn't care about one or two commoners at all.)
Even if he views commoners as a whole, he might think of individuals as no different from pebbles around here.
"Thank you. I have a bit of a preparation now."
It's a bad preparation, though.
With that, he secured Trys's promise to look for rooms and returned home.
"Thank you for your hard work."
Greeting the guard knight who had been with him for a few days, Mika entered the house.
Just in case, he packed his clothes into the magic bag, and explained the situation to Kistil and Nerisfeene, who were surprised by his sudden return.
Both of them made very worried faces.
"Well, don't worry so much. I'll behave."
Saying this groundless comfort, he left the house, and Mika headed to the Government Office in front of the East Gate of the First Wall.
Even while blindfolded, Mika grasped the surroundings with his magic power range.
The man sitting in front of him was the messenger from the Royal Palace who came to the academy.
There were also several men who seemed to be officials.
Three maids and five knights were in the room.
Within the graspable range.
The room was so wide that it was hard to tell at a glance.
The depth was about twenty meters?
The width was probably over thirty meters.
To be honest, it was wider than Kistil's private room.
There were beds and sofas, but it was a guest room where he had no idea why it was so wide.
"Take out the contents of this magic bag."
The reason Mika was summoned to the Royal Castle.
It was the salvage from the magic bag.
He was blindfolded because he was not allowed to see the contents.
Well, the moment he put his hand in, he would know exactly what was inside.
Still, he couldn't grasp the details like the appearance, so he wouldn't say the blindfold was meaningless.
Mika reached out to the magic bag placed on the table.
And, as instructed, he performed the salvage.
After carefully replacing the magic power for over thirty minutes, he took out several coins.
Copper coins and large copper coins.
There was also one piece of paper.
When Mika took out several coins and the paper, there was a momentary murmur.
Then, he placed the magic bag, which had finished taking out, on the table.
"So, is that all?"
"Yes. There is nothing else."
"I see. Very well."
It seems this was a test.
First, they put in something unimportant to see if he could actually perform the salvage.
"Then, next is this."
"Um... is it okay for a moment?"
He called out to the man from the Royal Palace who was about to move on immediately.
"...What is it?"
"I will fail next time."
"What?"
A large murmur arose at Mika's prediction of failure.
"What do you mean?"
"There is no other way. If I am blindfolded, I will fall asleep halfway. I feel like I might sleep even now."
"...What did you say?"
If you keep your eyes closed for a long time, of course you will sleep.
Maybe you haven't slept before?
Ah, do you sleep with your eyes open?
There are people like that sometimes, who look like they are awake no matter how you look at them.
"Isn't it enough to remove the blindfold only when taking out the contents? Please judge carefully, considering the risk of loss."
Mika said that while yawning, leaning against the backrest.
Ah, I'm really getting sleepy now.
The officials started whispering and consulting with each other.
And then,
"Understood. Call out when taking out. Take out after putting on the blindfold."
When the man from the Royal Palace said that, he nodded once.
He probably sent a signal to one of the maids standing behind Mika.
That maid removed the blindfold.
"Also, about the reward."
"Reward...?"
The man from the Royal Palace muttered with a genuinely surprised face.
"Commoners work hard and earn money desperately. I live by this salvage. Unlike you, I don't get a salary."
The monthly allowance for students is ten thousand rats, you know?
I belong to the Kingdom Army, but I don't get a salary.
Strictly speaking, I might be receiving it, but that is fulfilling my duty by attending the academy.
If you call me to the Royal Castle to make me work, this is a separate matter, right?
Hearing Mika's words, the man from the Royal Palace made a thinking face.
"By the way, when accepting work, I charge one million rats per magic bag. Just for your reference."
"One million!?"
"Yes, that is right."
One of the official men raised his voice loudly.
The men started talking about something again, and the day was suspended for the time being.
Mika didn't necessarily think he must be given one million rats.
Rather, he was thinking, "Is it okay for it to be this expensive usually?"
Well, he didn't intend to lower the price himself either.
Mika brought up the matter of the reward not for the sake of money.
If he was thought to be easily summoned and exploited without reward, he couldn't stand it, so he just threw it out.
He didn't mind if they didn't want to pay the money.
But if he said it, he could say, "It is actually one million rats, but I will do it for free for the sake of the country," and gain a favor.
Maybe they wouldn't feel the favor at all, but he was struggling with the difference between being thought of as exploitable for free from the start and being understood that it is originally paid.
"...So, you still won't let me go?"
Mika hung his shoulders and muttered.
By the way, there were three maids waiting in the room.
There were five knights, and it seems there were two in front of the room.
How much are they guarding?
(As Trys said, it might be the overnight course?)
It was good to be prepared that it was possible.
Even so, Mika wanted to cry, "I don't want any more trouble..."
■■■■■■
[Holy Land Uup Saktu, Great Cathedral]
A man with blue hair climbed up a dimly lit staircase.
After climbing the stairs and opening the iron door at the end, dazzling sunlight poured down.
Normally, one would turn their face away due to the dazzling light at this point, but the man with blue hair did not react at all.
That is natural.
The man with blue hair has his eyes closed all the time.
The place outside the door was a terrace.
The iron door, which is usually locked tightly and passed down as a door that never opens.
There are actually several people who hold the key to this door.
'Aqua' is one of them.
But today, another person had arrived earlier, so the door was unlocked.
'Aqua', wearing bishop's clothes, passed through the terrace while looking at the courtyard below, and entered the Pope's office.
"Oh, was I the last one?"
"Yaho. A-chan."
Noticing 'Aqua' entering the office from the window, a young man with reddish-brown hair waved his hand.
There were already four men and women in the room.
The Pope.
'Red-brown hair' 'Fire'.
'Black hair', 'Earth' with a seductive atmosphere.
'A teenager in his late teens', 'Wind' like a boy.
Everyone, including the Pope, was wearing bishop's clothes.
When 'Aqua' showed his face, 'Earth' and 'Wind' clearly turned their faces away.
These two basically did not like 'Aqua'.
Because 'Aqua's' role was to often caution these two, they had been disliked since long ago.
'Aqua' knelt before the Pope.
"'Lumen'. You are late."
"Good. Did something happen?"
"It is nothing serious, but it took some time to deal with. I will report later."
When the Pope nodded, 'Aqua' sat in the seat next to 'Fire'.
"It has been a while since we met all together. About ten years, I suppose."
When the Pope said that, everyone nodded.
"The little mouse was surprisingly stubborn... no, thanks to being smaller in heart than expected, it took some time, but it seems to be moving a little now."
"Then, is the invasion finally happening?"
'Wind' asked the Pope.
But the Pope made a slightly ambiguous expression.
"It seems to take a little more time for the actual invasion, but it has tilted quite a bit. It was worth the effort of distributing red wine to dukes and marquises step by step."
When the Pope said that, 'Earth' showed a cold smile.
"For the wish of us 'Sons of God', this invasion is an absolutely necessary and important step."
'Fire' nodded.
"For that purpose, we will change the arrangement a little. 'Earth', enter Gronoir and manage 'Black'."
"Such a thing!?"
'Earth' and 'Wind' were confused by the Pope's order and looked at each other.
"From now on, the gathering of 'Voluntas' will speed up. I will be busy from now on. I cannot handle the collection of 'Voluntas' within Gronoir."
"Such a thing! Why not let 'Aqua' do it!?"
"Do not ask too much. I am also overwhelmed with the work of the Commercial Union."
'Earth' glared at 'Water' who was arguing with a terrible expression.
"Since my name was mentioned just now, I will report one thing from my side."
Ignoring 'Earth' like that, 'Water' reported.
"It seems the army is conducting some kind of inspection in the Church within Ektrem."
"Inspection...?"
At 'Water's' report, the Pope made a suspicious expression.
"It seems they are throwing bishops who committed irregularities into prison one by one."
"That's right. I was planning to report that to Ru-chan."
At 'Water's' report, 'Fire' also nodded.
"Thanks to that, the smuggling routes we built up until now cannot be used. Also, various works were allowed in the Church of Ektrem, but almost all are destroyed."
Saying that, 'Water' looked at 'Earth'.
"Thanks to someone taking my name out of the blue, I had to rebuild my identity even within the Commercial Union. The wanted poster from Ektrem has reached the Union."
'Earth' and 'Wind' glared at 'Water', but 'Water' did not flinch at all and turned his face to the two.
It was as if he was glaring back.
Seeing that, the Pope sighed.
"It is no use for the 'Sons of God' to quarrel at such an important time. 'Earth', what happened?"
"[Dispel]!"
Answering the Pope's question, 'Earth' covered it.
"A detestable user of [Dispel] has appeared! We cannot leave it alone!!!"
"[Dispel]!?"
"...[Dispel]?"
At 'Earth', who appealed as if shouting, the Pope made a surprised expression, and 'Water' also muttered suspiciously.
"That's right! A user of [Dispel] appeared, so I tried to make the Church people kill them! What's wrong with that!?"
"Big sister is not wrong!"
'Wind' agreed with 'Earth's' claim.
Seeing the two, the Pope crossed his arms and thought.
"Fumu... Is it really a user of [Dispel]? No way..."
"Whether it is true or false doesn't matter! If such a person appeared, just erase them!"
At 'Wind's' claim, the Pope also nodded.
"Understood. What the two say is correct. 'Water', you understand too. Identities can be rebuilt as many times as needed."
"...Understood."
'Aqua' respectfully bowed his head as the Pope said.
'Aqua', who raised his face, had a very calm expression.
After that, several other reports were made, and the Pope gave instructions in response.
"...'Tenebrae' candidate? As expected, they cannot be combat power from now on and will not make it in time. Abandon them."
"Eeeeh!"
'Fire' raised his voice at the Pope's opinion.
"Uu... Te-chan."
Muttering like that, he looked dejected.
The meeting was adjourned, and everyone drank fruit wine and fire wine as they pleased in the Pope's office, but 'Water' left early.
Then, he passed through the iron door from the terrace and went down the stairs.
"You used the Church to kill the user of [Dispel]..."
Deep wrinkles formed between 'Water's' eyebrows.
After going down the long, long stairs, there were ruins of a prehistoric civilization.
Among the ruins scattered across the continent, some functions survived partially.
This was one of those surviving ruins.
When 'Water' stood on the pedestal with a pattern, the Spaelements attached to the six pillars arranged around him began to glow.
As brilliant light overflowed, the light eventually faded.
And when all the light was lost, no one was there anymore.
Since the "Sons of God" have gathered, I will lecture on how to call I-chan...
When I-chan calls the "Sons of God", please judge the target by the initial letter of the ruby.
Ru-chan "Lumen" Pope on the Gronoir side
A-chan "Aqua" Blue-haired, always has eyes closed. Arkku is an alias.
I-chan "Ignis" Young man with reddish-brown hair.
Fu-chan "Humus" Black-haired woman. Big sister. Humus is an alias.
U-chan "Ventus" Teenager in his late teens. Big brother?
Te-chan "Tenebrae" Mika. I-chan calls him that arbitrarily.
I-chan does not care about the aliases used by "Aqua" or "Humus".
He gives nicknames based solely on the names as "Sons of God".