Chapter 34: Why Radius Was Busy

Radius was staying in a certain city. Soon after he awoke that morning, a knock sounded at his bedroom door. He sat up in the bed of his luxurious room and called through the door.

“What is it?”

“My apologies, nya. You have a visitor, nya.”

“A guest? Who is it?”

“Lord Ragna, nya.”

Ragna had arrived without warning yet again. Radius sighed, said that he would be there shortly, and dressed.

A little over ten minutes later, he entered the sitting room and found Ragna waiting for him.

“Did you sense your teacher’s presence and wake up for me?”

“Do not be absurd. Mirei woke me.”

After an enormous yawn, Radius took the sofa opposite Ragna.

“Why are you here? You have developed a habit of appearing rather suddenly.”

“Do you mind?”

“Not particularly. Seeing your face is far preferable to never seeing you at all.”

“You could simply admit that you are happy to see your teacher.”

“…And what business brings you here?”

“Hm? Ah, yes.”

Ragna immediately slipped a hand inside his robe.

He produced a single envelope sealed with a magical device.

“It is what we discussed before. Here.”

“…What are you referring to?”

“Have you already forgotten our conversation in Gargazia? I mean Adventurer Ashton.”

“You found something!?”

“Only a little, within the limits of what I could investigate.”

“…”

“I know you are curious, but read it later. You are busy, and it will be better for you to finish our conversation first.”

“You still speak as though you know everything, Ragna.”

Ragna rose from his seat.

He stopped beside the window and looked outside.

“You have been even busier than usual lately, have you not?”

“And what of it?”

“Do not sulk, my dear, dear former pupil.”

Apparently finished with the joke, Ragna smiled.

“I came all this way. Did you truly think the letter was my only reason?”

“Stop being needlessly indirect and speak plainly.”

“I thought the time had come, so I came to see you. You have something you want to ask of me, do you not?”

Radius avoided his eyes and nodded faintly.

“…Yes.”

“If you ask honestly, I would be willing to support you.”

“Let me ask for certainty. How did you learn of it?”

“No one told me. I merely observed you and understood that this must be the matter keeping you so busy. The time is right, and that suits me.”

Ragna stepped before Radius, seized the front of his shirt, and forced him to raise his face.

Small though he was, the Shelgadian possessed the mature allure of an adult. Wearing a wicked smile, he drew Radius close.

“Say it. Ask your teacher properly.”

Radius exhaled at the deliberately provocative demand.

“Very well. I will ask honestly. Ragna, will you stand with me?”

“For what purpose? Say it clearly.”

For good reason, Radius still found the words difficult to say.

Ragna knew that and enjoyed the silence.

At last, he offered his former pupil a lifeline.

“You intend to become Crown Prince, do you not?”

The prompt rescued Radius from having to say it first.

This was an event that had never occurred in Legend of the Seven Heroes.

Before his death in the game’s history, Radius had already been expected to become Crown Prince.

That day, however, had never arrived.

“You have been traveling through the country to speak with members of the imperial family who are away from the capital. Soon you will meet Marquis Ignat and the others as well, correct?”

“…So you truly understood everything.”

“Naturally. How have your discussions with those rarely seen members of the imperial family gone?”

“Every one of them is troublesome. Once this is finished, I never want to perform this kind of groundwork again.”

“I expected as much. When will it happen?”

“The date of my appointment has not been decided. At the earliest, it will be summer—or perhaps autumn.”

Ragna had largely expected that answer. With a simple acknowledgment, he started toward the door.

“You made me beg, only to leave immediately afterward. Your personality remains as charming as ever.”

“For the record, I was always on your side. Nothing about that has changed.”

“Then what was the point of forcing me through that exchange?”

“My own amusement. You hardly appear to require another explanation.”

“…It is reassuring to have your personality confirmed once again.”

At the door, Ragna remembered something he had not yet mentioned.

It concerned the events of the previous day.

“Radius, have you heard about the attack?”

“I have received the full report on Wadatsumi. Ren and Estelle apparently killed the creature that escaped. Estelle’s report also states that Ren became a Sword Saint, although the details remain restricted.”

“Ha! At his age, would that not make him the youngest person in history to reach Sword Saint in the Mighty Sword Style?”

“He is tied for the record.”

“With whom? The Director?”

“Estelle became a Sword Saint at eighteen. The other record holder reached the rank at fourteen, the same age as Ren.”

“…The Sword King?”

Radius nodded.

“Then Ren is a future Sword King.”

“You are getting ahead of yourself.”

“I am free to hope, am I not? He is already a Sword Saint. And does reaching that rank not bring both a medal and one other benefit?”

Ragna added one final warning before leaving.

“Keep the contents of that letter secret. I do not entirely understand the matter, but it appears more consequential than I imagined. The fact that their names never entered public history tells us as much. Burn the letter when you finish reading it.”

With that, Ragna departed as abruptly as he had arrived.

Mirei, who had been waiting nearby, entered the sitting room where Radius remained.

“Have you finished, nya?”

“Yes. He also saw through the preparations I have been making to become Crown Prince.”

“Nyahaha. That is Lord Ragna for you, nya.”

Mirei did not ask about the letter and instead began preparing Radius’s breakfast. At moments like this, she understood what was required without needing an explanation.

Radius broke the seal. The envelope contained a single sheet of parchment written with a magical pen. Even if he forgot to destroy it, the writing would eventually erase itself.

“The author of the letter found at the orphanage wanted materials from the Phoenix.”

He continued reading.

“Why, I wonder? Perhaps he wanted to make equipment, preserve them as treasure, or use them for some other purpose. I cannot yet say.”

Ragna then questioned how the various pieces of information might connect.

“The ‘she’ mentioned in the letter interests me. The wording suggests that the author traveled to the Sky Continent and obtained Phoenix materials for her sake.”

Radius drank the tea Mirei had quietly placed beside him.

Unusually absorbed, he forgot even to thank her and continued reading.

“Phoenix materials are treasures of extraordinary rarity throughout the world. I know of no record of anyone displaying them as treasure or using them to make equipment. Many records from the Demon King’s era were burned during the attacks, so evidence may simply have been lost. Even so, consider this possibility.”

A startling theory followed.

“The Corroding Princess of ancient legend demanded treasures of incredible value. If Phoenix materials were among them, the implications become very interesting.”

Radius had once dismissed the possibility as nonsense, but he could not do so now.

Ragna’s next observations gave the theory an uncomfortable persuasiveness.

“What was the dead mithril coin found in the orphanage? The pen excavated from Old Town raises the same question. If both were items affected by the Corroding Princess, the scattered points begin to connect.”

“But, Ragna…”

“By now you are surely thinking, ‘Impossible.’ I can even imagine your expression. But this time, you cannot laugh my theory away as idle fantasy.”

There was more.

Radius murmured under his breath and read on.

“I believe the younger sister of Geno, the orphanage’s director, was the Corroding Princess herself. There is also no longer any reason to obscure the author’s identity: he was the figure remembered as Adventurer Ashton. Considering the surviving anecdotes, I can find no other answer.”

“…Yes. I understand.”

“He was an unknown hero erased from Leomel’s history. I will investigate as far as I can. Once matters settle, you should consider the evidence as well. If we can learn more about Geno, the man who ran the orphanage, the truth about the Corroding Princess should follow.”

At the end of the letter, Ragna had added one more note.

“I also found something interesting in a book written by a scholar who studied the frontier of a certain country.”

Cecil Ashton.

According to a local legend, a man who saved a village had introduced himself by that name. In a remarkably short time, Ragna had uncovered the name of Adventurer Ashton.

After reading the parchment to the end, Radius set it alight.

“…I should tell Ren in person.”

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