Kays Translations

Chapter 20 – At the Dinner Table

White light shone across the academy rooftop after classes.

Sera sat within it while a minor bruise was healed.

The light came from Licia’s Sacred Magic.

“Has your Sacred Magic grown stronger again, Licia?”

“Perhaps. I have been practicing it while training with Ren, so I suppose it is improving little by little.”

“That looks like considerably more than a little.”

“Does it? Growth is still a good thing.”

“…Even if it destroys my confidence.”

Sera did not sound resentful. Her words carried the determination of someone reminding herself to work harder.

Licia had not heard her clearly and looked toward her face.

“Your confidence?”

“It was nothing. I was talking to myself.”

“What a strange thing to say,” Licia murmured, then extinguished the light of her Sacred Magic.

Her thoughts returned to the martial-tournament representative selection that had ended only moments earlier.

More students had gathered for that day’s event than for any of the other selection trials, and the excitement had been greater than ever.

“Yes!”

Kaito secured a representative position first.

“All right! I made it!”

Vayne followed him.

“…That should do it.”

Finally, Sera claimed the fourth position, exactly as everyone had expected.

The remaining representative was a second-year daughter of another Hero House. She had left the academy on family business immediately after securing her place.

After wishing Sera success in the main tournament, Licia quietly stepped away when she saw Vayne and the others arrive on the rooftop.

“I will leave now. Do not become careless and injure yourself simply because you are happy about becoming a representative.”

“I-I know that!”

Licia turned away, her hair shimmering like a mixture of silver and amethyst.

Sera called after her.

“What do you think would have happened if you had entered the selection trials, Licia?”

Licia stopped and looked toward the sky.

She watched the sunset for a moment as night began encroaching upon its edges. Then she turned back with a mischievous smile.

“Do not be silly. There is no way to know the answer to a hypothetical question.”

She left those words behind and walked away. This time, Sera watched her go in silence.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

On the way back to the organizing committee’s workroom, Radius spoke to Ren beside him.

“As expected, the martial-tournament selection drew an enormous audience.”

“Yes. The representatives have finally been decided. I am sure those four will perform well in the main tournament.”

“I agree. Kaito Leonaal is especially formidable in both attack and defense. Sera Riohard and the others may surpass him in the refinement of their techniques, but the Leonaal family’s style remains extremely difficult to overcome.”

Unlike schools such as the Sacred Sword Style, House Leonaal passed down a hereditary method of combat centered on an enormous shield. It was difficult to compare its swordsmanship directly with that of the other representatives, but its Arts offered exceptional offensive and defensive power.

“Our work is finally entering its last stage too,” Ren said. “Let us finish strong.”

“About that…”

Radius spoke as though he had just remembered something.

“Mirei and I intend to take the remaining paperwork back to the castle. I would like you and the others to rest and recover before tomorrow’s work.”

“Huh? Would it not be faster if all of us handled it together?”

“I have a request to make of you instead. Forgive the short notice.”

Whenever Radius suddenly asked for a favor, there was usually an important matter or errand behind it.

As Ren reached the same conclusion this time, Radius placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned closer.

“Let us invite Ulysses and share dinner at Arnea.”

“A meal at the Arnevelde Trading Company’s celebrated inn?”

“What do you say?”

It was obviously a matter important enough to discuss formally.

The quiet invitation itself proved as much.

“I would be honored to accept.”

Understanding Radius’s intention, Ren nodded without hesitation.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

Ren, Radius, and Ulysses gathered for a private meeting in the restaurant on the top floor of the Arnea Inn.

After brief greetings, Radius first asked them to enjoy the meal.

The dishes brought to the table were delicacies prepared by Arnea’s chefs. Even Ulysses, who had experienced cuisine from countless renowned kitchens, ate with evident appreciation. By the time the three had finished, all were satisfied.

Eventually, Ren and Ulysses sensed that the real discussion was about to begin and shifted their attention.

Radius said, “There is something I want to show you,” and placed several bound pages before them.

“First, allow me to apologize.”

He had taken far too long to explain the secret mission he had entrusted to Estelle, Director of the Lion’s Holy Office: what he had ordered her to investigate on the Martell Continent and what information she had brought back.

“I should have shared this much sooner. However, the nature of the matter and Estelle’s secret assignment required preparations on my end as well.”

“So you truly had given her a confidential mission,” Ulysses said.

“As expected of you. You already understood.”

“Naturally! I, Ulysses, understand Your Highness Radius exceptionally well!”

Ulysses spoke with theatrical grandeur and obvious amusement.

He immediately turned to Ren with a laugh.

“You had noticed too, had you not?”

“I thought something might be happening, but nothing more than that.”

“Hee hee. That is enough.”

With the preamble concluded, Ren and Ulysses read the documents.

They contained the information Estelle had previously reported to Radius concerning the Demon King cult’s Cult Leader, as well as two senior officers who served directly beneath him.

The first section concerned the Cult Leader himself.

“He is the true progenitor of the vampires, a man the Demon King entrusted with the Serakia region, the most dangerous territory on the Demon Continent.”

His name was Medario. He possessed no family name.

Many legends preserved fragments of information about him, but none gave a reliable description of his appearance.

There was no surviving record of Medario fighting the Seven Heroes. Nevertheless, histories from nations across the world recorded the devastation he had caused.

“There are indeed records that such a man served among the Demon King’s closest retainers,” Ulysses said. “What is your judgment, Your Highness? Are you certain he survived?”

“Yes. We must proceed with that possibility treated as fact.”

“Even if we confront and capture members of the Demon King cult, will they all end like former Bishop Lenidus?” Ren asked.

“Most likely. They will weaken and die as he did. Even so, we cannot simply ignore them.”

Lenidus, the former bishop who attacked the Grand Clock Tower, had not survived beyond that summer.

After his capture, his jailers had carefully provided enough nutrition to prevent his death and had kept him in conditions that could not reasonably be called cruel. Despite those precautions, he had withered away like air escaping from a punctured balloon.

The Demon King mark carved into him appeared to have drained away his strength.

“Returning to the matter at hand,” Radius said, “we believe the Cult Leader’s name is Medario. If that conclusion is wrong…”

“Then the Cult Leader is merely calling himself Medario?”

“Precisely. Yet I find it difficult to believe that the leader of a group seeking the Demon King’s resurrection would falsely claim the identity of one of the Demon King’s closest retainers.”

“Agreed,” Ulysses said. “Medario is already a retainer whose death was never recorded. Impersonating him would be the height of foolishness. If the deception were exposed, even the cult’s supposed purpose of resurrecting the Demon King would become doubtful.”

“In other words, there is no disadvantage in acting on the assumption that the enemy’s mastermind is Medario, true progenitor of the vampires.”

Ren raised another question.

He had never heard Medario’s name before.

“Has information about him survived in any books?”

“Some should exist, but not much,” Radius replied.

Ulysses looked toward Ren.

“Why do you think so little information remains? There is a particular reason.”

“Despite his never fighting the Seven Heroes?”

“Exactly. There is a decisive explanation.”

Ren gave a strained smile, already disliking the possibility that had occurred to him.

“Because almost everyone who saw him died?”

“Correct. Medario was apparently monstrously powerful. The Demon King’s forces under his command destroyed so many nations that little meaningful testimony survived.”

Radius continued.

“I have shared this with the two of you before informing the other nobles. From this point onward, remember Medario, the Demon King cult’s Cult Leader, and the two senior officers serving beneath him.”

That was easy to say, but it raised the question of what further action they could take.

Radius permitted Ren to bring the documents home, so he placed them inside his coat.

It was agreed that Ren would brief Lessard, who had been unable to attend.

“I wanted to invite him tonight as well,” Radius said, “but Lessard has recently become far busier than I am. I felt guilty calling him away.”

“Ah… He has been approached by all sorts of people since becoming a viscount,” Ren said.

“The same is true in my domain,” Ulysses added. “The merchants of Eupheim are eager to establish connections with Viscount Clausel, whose name is now discussed everywhere. He comes up in conversation repeatedly.”

Ren could not help feeling proud.

Clausel’s development would contribute to the development of his own village and bring him closer to the goal he had formed while living there. Because he wanted that prosperity to continue, the existence of the Demon King cult felt more hateful than ever.

“Radius, is that everything you wished to discuss tonight?”

“That concludes my report. Ulysses, do you have anything to add?”

“Then I shall take this opportunity.”

The main reason for gathering the three had been addressed, and they could finally relax.

The atmosphere around the table softened, returning to something closer to their usual mood.

“Edgar apologized,” Ulysses said. “Recent events have kept him so busy that he has been unable to observe either of you training with the sword.”

“He need not worry. But that is not the only thing you wished to tell me, is it?”

Ulysses would not have deliberately begun another topic otherwise.

Ren remembered the message he had received from him at the beginning of spring.

“Naturally. My main concern is the period of the Lion King Grand Festival.”

“You said you wanted some of my time during the festival.”

“Indeed. Do you know that distinguished guests from abroad will visit during the Lion King Grand Festival?”

“I have not heard the details, but I understand the general situation.”

Ren recalled that nobles and members of royal families from other countries sometimes attended.

“This year, guests are coming from the Sky Continent and many other nations. With descendants of the Seven Heroes participating, the festival is expected to attract crowds unlike any in its history. That is the reason.”

The Strong Arm’s request for Ren’s time was connected to those visitors.

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