“Praga, you say?”
“Yes. To meet Her Highness the Princess, who will soon ascend as queen.”
“Why would I be at such a meeting…?”
Mariana appeared greatly confused. It was only natural, as she still didn’t know she was the king’s illegitimate child.
In any case, from the perspective of a mere count’s daughter, she couldn’t pass up the chance to make acquaintance with royalty, and she readily accepted my proposal.
Afterward, I went to find Blake.
“I’ve locked the assassins targeting Lady Mariana in the underground prison of the clan house. One had to be killed unavoidably, but the other eight were all subdued.”
The assassins’ level was quite high. They must have thought they could easily secure Mariana’s person, but everything went awry because of the professor’s presence.
“It’s good that we captured them… but what now? It’s not impossible to make the assassins talk, but there’s no clear evidence that the princess sent them.”
Even if we tortured the assassins to make them spill the truth, from Isabella’s position, she could just deny it as someone’s conspiracy.
But.
“We can create the evidence from now on.”
I headed to the underground prison with Chesa. Ignoring all the live captives, I sought out the one who was already a corpse.
“Chesa.”
“Got it. <Armchair>.”
Suddenly, the Nano Eater slipped out of her pouch and unfurled in the air with a whoosh. <Armchair> was a spell that read residual thoughts in objects and visualized them. That category included corpses.
Soon, something like a holographic image floated above the opened grimoire.
It showed the recently met court count Alexander Viyacres under Princess Isabella, along with nine assassins.
” Infiltrate the Blispiel Clan house and secure the person of Mariana, the daughter of the Pontiroig count family. If things go wrong, dispose of her on the spot.”
Hearing the familiar voice, I couldn’t help but smile.
It was irrefutable evidence.
“Nano Eater, store this footage.”
“Understood, Spare.”
There was one more important matter.
I went to Arent’s office.
“Master Lindal, lend me the Seal of Utility.”
“Hmm… I wondered what it was. The time has come, huh.”
“…?”
“Actually, I’ve been pondering the timing myself. Certainly, now—riding the momentum from our civil war victory—might be the perfect moment to stir up a new wind.”
Arent cleared his throat once.
Then, with a solemn expression, he said,
“Very well. I, Arent Lindal, Master of Blispiel Clan, nominate Aiden Stroke as my successor—”
“No, wait a minute.”
Come to think of it, the Seal of Utility symbolized the clan master’s authority. Asking for it could easily lead to misunderstanding.
“I’m not asking for a complete handover; I just need to borrow it. There’s a place I need to use it briefly.”
“…Hmm. That’s a shame.”
Arent seemed genuinely disappointed. Lately, this old man seemed to treat the clan master position like baggage.
I received the Seal of Utility from him.
“But what do you need the seal for? With your current authority, you could do anything at your discretion without my approval.”
“…It’s for some personal important business.”
It was a rather vague answer, but Arent didn’t seem inclined to pry further. I could feel the trust we’d built up over time.
I gazed intently at the Seal of Utility.
This stamp, engraved with a scale pattern on the side, was one of the most important reasons I’d joined Blispiel Clan.
The world’s strongest mage, the Witch Empress.
One of the Ciencia Continent’s twin monstrosities, she had three daughters.
They each inherited their mother’s exceptional magical talent and were called the Blue, Green, and Red Witches respectively.
These three each inherited a magical artifact imbued with mysterious power from the Witch Empress: the Magic Dice (S+), the Lamp of Oath (S+), and the Two-Sided Mirror of the Heart (S+).
Among them, the artifact held by the second daughter, the Green Witch, was the Lamp of Oath (S+). This lamp could summon the powerful entity known as the ‘Great Spirit of Oath’.
The Green Witch had been forced to leave Blispiel Clan in the past for certain reasons, and out of concern for her remaining comrades’ safety and the clan’s future, she hid the Lamp of Oath (S+) somewhere in the clan house.
The problem was that this information hadn’t been passed down to the current clan master, Arent.
Because of that, in the original history, the Lamp of Oath ended up in the hands of Irumokwi, the rare item collector among the Five Heroes.
The place mentioned where this item had been stored for decades was a secret room beneath the floor of Training Room 3 in the clan house. Crossing the underground passage below the floor, I soon discovered the Lamp of Oath (S+) placed on a small altar.
It was then.
=Only the comrades of ‘Apsaras Rishna’ may touch that lamp. Boy. Do you have means to prove you are connected to her?
An unidentified voice echoed in my mind. Instead of answering the question, I held out Blispiel’s Seal of Utility and tapped it against the lamp.
Hum!
The translucent barrier surrounding the lamp vanished.
=Your qualification is proven. I permit the retrieval of the lamp.
If I’d ignored this voice and touched the lamp arbitrarily, I’d have been hit with all the curses the Green Witch Rishna had painstakingly prepared. In the original, even Irumokwi, the Five Hero with the highest pure level, was mentioned to have struggled quite a bit due to the curses here. No need to explain further how powerful they were.
I swallowed hard and said,
“Great Spirit of Oath, Shabhavi. I desire a contract with you.”
=Hmm, then I shall assess your qualification. Young boy.
Swoosh. Suddenly, an unidentified purple mist burst from the lamp, wriggling as it scanned my body.
=Immature, but a vessel capable of containing a great spirit… Moreover, I sense something unfathomably deep.
It was the Spirit Affinity · Strong (A) trait I’d prepared solely for this moment. Though not in the original plan, with the spirit affinity boost from Proxy of the Guardian Tree (S-) added, I safely passed as a contractor.
=Boy, your name?
“Aiden Stroke.”
=Very well. I, Shabhavi, recognize Aiden Stroke as a legitimate contractor. From now on, your enemies are my enemies, and the oaths and vows you speak hereafter shall be imbued with extraordinary power, binding all things in the world.
The purple smoke filling the underground space was sucked into my body.
[You have succeeded in contracting with ‘Shabhavi’.]
[You have acquired Unique Contract Spirit Arts (S)!]
[Contract Compatibility 27%… You have potential, but lack experience as a spirit user and auxiliary skills. The power and types of abilities you can manifest are extremely limited.]
[Correction due to Proxy of the Guardian Tree (S-)! Compatibility rises to 39%…]
Reading the continuously output messages, I suddenly felt a solid, heavy energy settling within my body.
=Call upon me when needed, Aiden.
“Understood, Shabhavi.”
Smiling in satisfaction, I looked at the lamp in my hand.
Magic Lamp (A)
-Can contain something heterogeneous.
Appraised with the Tripper System, the item’s grade had dropped one level. The most important genie had escaped completely.
Suddenly, a message appeared before my eyes.
[MacGuffin No.275 / Lamp Genie has been retrieved.]
[Achievement Points +2,000]
About two months since the end of the Glicia civil war.
Isabella, who should have been the happiest about this fact, was now gnawing her nails in impatience. It was because the elite assassins dispatched to the Blispiel Clan house hadn’t returned.
Then, Aiden Stroke visited. Moreover, accompanied by her half-sister Mariana, whom she had tried to harm.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Princess Isabella. I am Mariana of the Pontiroig count family.”
“…Pleased to meet you, Lady Mariana. As rumored, you possess astonishing beauty.”
Greatly flustered, Isabella somehow managed to feign composure and respond to the oblivious Mariana.
A short while later.
“How do you feel about meeting your half-sister?”
“Aiden Stroke, you…!”
“I think I’m the one who should be angry here. For a royal of a nation to personally send assassins to a mere clan house? I’m so dumbfounded, words fail me.”
“……”
Isabella fanned herself open to cover her mouth.
It was to hide her expression tinged with panic.
“Hmm… I don’t understand what you’re trying to say. Half-sister? Assassins? From my perspective, there’s nothing that rings a bell.”
“Feigning ignorance won’t help.”
Rip!
Aiden tore a page from the Nano Eater. Then, the stored <Armchair> footage played. Soon, the images of court count Alexander and the assassins appeared, and Isabella’s expression hardened.
There was no room to wriggle out.
She was cornered in checkmate.
“Did you know? In the Glicia royal family’s secret vault, documents proving Lady Mariana’s birth remain.”
“……”
If the contents there and this assassination attempt were officially announced, Isabella’s position would be obvious without seeing.
“So, I have one proposal.”
“…A proposal?”
“Yes. If Your Highness makes just one verbal promise, our clan has no intention of contesting the succession rights.”
“…What promise?”
“For the next twenty years, act solely for the benefit of me and Blispiel Clan. For reference, the scope of that ‘benefit’ and the course of action will be decided by me.”
Isabella’s face colored with puzzlement.
If it wasn’t a written contract but a simple verbal promise, it carried no binding force, either practically or socially.
“…Is that really sufficient?”
“If you don’t like it, forget it.”
“Wait a moment. Give me time to think….”
“Considering the atrocities Your Highness committed, I’m already being quite patient. If you don’t promise right here and now, I’ll withdraw this proposal.”
Urgency settled on Isabella’s face.
Aiden’s attitude was somehow suspicious. But at this rate, her legitimacy would only be threatened by her half-sister Mariana.
…Audio recording magic is fundamentally blocked in the Praga mansion. In that case…
It was rational to first create a grace period with a verbal promise and think of countermeasures slowly.
“I swear. For the next twenty years, I will act solely for the benefit of you and Blispiel Clan….”
“Staking everything of Your Highness?”
“Yes. Staking everything of mine…”
At that moment.
Something translucent appeared behind Aiden. It was a massive two-headed serpent. A snake with bizarre tattoos engraved all over its body.
It was the Great Spirit of Oath, Shabhavi.
Shabhavi possessed the ability to impart absolute enforceability to any form of promise. And its effect was incomparable to something like the magical contract used in the Great Forest.
Shabhavi’s red gaze pierced through Isabella’s body.