“The war against the monsters… I do not know much about it. I was merely guarding the front of the Dragon’s Nest.”
That was Regarda’s response.
“The records of the dragons and elves? I erased them all myself. Whatever I could not erase, Arilleia wiped out over hundreds of years. We wanted those races to become mere myths and slowly fade from everyone’s memories—and in the end, that’s what happened.”
When asked why, Regarda answered as if it were obvious.
“I knew too well of human greed. The elves were driven to near extinction, and there was only one dragon left, but the humans remained strong. So, with the power of a great Magician, I turned the waters around Arilleia into a stormy sea and blocked all access. Had I not, it wouldn’t have lasted even half a thousand years, let alone a thousand.”
Up to that point, I naturally assumed that the great Magician in question was someone Hio himself knew.
The founder of necromancy and black magic—
Kreutzvalt.
There was no other great Magician so closely tied to Regarda and so near to the world’s greatest secrets.
So, when I asked, the answer returned was—
“No.”
A denial.
The one who cast that immense grand magic, covering all of Arilleia—
The owner of the magic that altered nature and the environment was not Kreutzvalt.
Then who in the world was it?
“I do not know. I did not have much knowledge of Magicians, and at the time, I can only excuse myself by saying I had no mind to spare for such things. In hindsight, I wish I’d at least remembered the name… I do feel some regret.”
A very disappointing answer, admitting ignorance.
Even so, there was still much I needed to ask.
He had erased records of other races, which I could understand, but when I asked why he had erased the records of the war—
“I, too, was curious and looked into it, but I could not find an answer.”
A reply I did not expect.
“The war against the monsters. The records of that—I had no involvement.”
Even Regarda, who had lived for a thousand years, did not know who had done such a thing.
And it had been done so secretly that even Regarda did not notice.
‘Who could have done such a thing, and why?’
While such a conversation was underway—
Knock knock—
A knock echoed, and soon after, the door opened.
“I will escort you to the conference hall, Sir Hio Pavlenko.”
This place, where the two were having their confidential conversation, was inside the royal castle of the Holy Kingdom of Hibernia.
The appointed time for a meeting with the kingdom’s leadership had come.
“We can talk more about unfinished matters later.”
With that, Regarda rose from his seat.
“It seems we will be working together quite a bit.”
“Ahem……”
“Ahem.”
The only sound was awkward throat-clearing in this place—the grand conference hall of Hibernia’s royal castle.
Here, not only the high priests of the Cathedral but also the highest-ranking nobles of the castle were gathered.
Of course, befitting the name of the Holy Kingdom, the high priests were often also the ruling council.
The pristine, restrained white of the conference hall.
And the pure-white priests who matched such a hall.
What caused the awkward mood in this place was none other than the presence of four individuals whose appearance was entirely out of place and conspicuous.
A group who, far from matching the solemn and sacred atmosphere of the hall, stuck out like sore thumbs.
Needless to say, those four were Hio and Regarda—
And Airlights and Freya.
Why Freya was sitting there in the same oversized hat as before, one could discuss later.
“So… this person here is Sir Regarda, known as the ruler of the Western Sea?”
Their initial shock stemmed from the fact that the knight who had fought the dragon was actually Regarda, the notorious figure of the western sea.
Rumors about Regarda were so fantastic and unbelievable that it was only natural for everyone to be shocked.
The cursed master of the sea.
A monster who ate sailors crossing those waters to extend his own life.
A villain who commanded sea serpents from the abyss.
A sea monster who’d lived for centuries.
And that’s not all.
Not only rumors—sailors considered Regarda a sort of legend.
From the time they were young, sailors would hear tales of Regarda and pass them on to their own children.
And even as those children grew up and told their own, Regarda’s name continued to echo among sailors.
For those on land who heard such tales, most considered Regarda to be a fictional character.
“Regarda… is real…?”
Of course it was hard to believe.
To the landfolk, he was no more than a figment of a superstitious sailor’s imagination. The reaction was, all things considered, quite reasonable for someone appearing so suddenly.
Well, it wasn’t a situation where disbelief was possible, anyway.
‘Had they not all witnessed that astonishing martial prowess?’
They’d seen a dragon from myth and witnessed Regarda confront it—Regarda’s existence was, if anything, easier to accept.
“Let us not be rude. He is a benefactor of the kingdom.”
Even so, words and actions in the presence of someone who’d risked his life for Hibernia should not cross the line.
Chastised gently by Cardinal Herald Guggenberger, those present realized their rudeness and adjusted their expressions and posture.
Having confirmed that, Herald’s gaze now turned to the one beside Regarda.
“This small Magician here must be a noble lady of Arilleia.”
Freya, wearing the novice Magician’s pointy hat Hio had worn, sat upright in imitation of Hio.
Her head was small as it was, and with the brim so wide, she couldn’t possibly see ahead, yet she sat firm.
She even held a long, thin wooden stick of unknown origin in her left hand.
She must have found Hio’s staff quite impressive.
A sight like a miniature Hio, as if shrunk and copied.
To see a child so eager to imitate a Magician brought smiles to the lips of Herald and the others.
“We met briefly before, at the coronation ceremony.”
Freya had met Herald and some of the priests before—
Thanks to that brief encounter at Silvia’s coronation, the introduction went smoothly, unlike the commotion with Regarda.
The problem came next.
The woman sitting next to Freya.
Hio Pavlenko was famous for his flamboyant attire and unique personality, and was personally acquainted with Herald, so there was no issue.
And though Regarda’s existence was hard to believe and still a bit dubious, they’d seen his overwhelming strength for themselves.
Having seen that, they could accept him, at least in part.
Freya, too, was a noble of Arilleia.
Why Freya was here could be explained—if forcibly—by the fact that the source of the Regarda rumors was the Arilleia sea.
But the person next to her—no matter how hard they tried, they could not make sense of her.
Her flamboyant appearance was not one bit less striking than the previous three.
Purely by looks, she was the epitome of beauty—even old Herald’s eyes widened.
“What are you staring at, old man.”
But that attitude and way of speaking—
Above all, those strangely large ears, unmistakably reminiscent of an elf from a children’s story.
“Airlights.”
“Yes! Sorry! Did I do it again without thinking? Please forgive my rudeness, Cardinal.”
Though her appearance was a perfect image of an elf, her actions were nothing like the elves of fairy tales.
How quickly she changed her tone and demeanor at Hio Pavlenko’s word—she seemed just like a crazy…
“Ahem! It’s fine.”
With a single cough, Herald steeled his heart and turned his gaze away from Airlights, back to Hio.
If he continued this conversation, he feared he might lose his composure.
“Yes, in any case, we wished to express our gratitude once more, and so we have gathered here.”
An elf straight out of a fairy tale.
The ruler of the western sea, once a legend among sailors.
A Magician who no longer existed.
And simply adorable Freya.
It was these four who had stopped the dragon.
Though only Hio Pavlenko’s name would go into the official record, this was a place to express gratitude to his companions as well.
It was here that Regarda and Airlights’ true identities were first revealed.
“Are you sure you don’t want us to hold a sacred festival in your honor?”
“It’s fine. Isn’t it all the city can do just to recover at this point?”
Hio even declined a festival that could have netted him a good number of fame points.
‘What joy was there in holding a festival for this?’
“Thank you for your consideration.”
He explained that the form of Aerial that had sunk into the Abyss was actually from the Abyss Gate.
He said that as the Gate opened and Aerial headed for Hibernia, Regarda, together with Freya, witnessed it, and then Hio and Airlights did as well.
Thus, it was said, Hio himself stepped forward and completely annihilated the dragon—this was the general version of the events that Herald and the other priests believed.
Of course, everyone knew there were more than a few oddities, plenty of holes in the story.
They all sensed that the truth was a bit different, that much had gone unsaid.
But no one pried any further.
‘How could anyone force Hio Pavlenko to open up if he did not wish to speak?’
By force? Not a chance.
Political pressure? Impossible.
He was none other than the guardian knight who protected the Emperor and the Verden Empire.
There was only one being to whom he needed to bow his head—the Emperor of the Empire, and no one else.
He was the symbol of the Empire’s might and the Emperor’s authority.
In other words, there was nothing with which to pressure him.
If you could not pressure him, you had to embrace him.
Or at least get along.
“In that case, please tell us if there’s anything you desire. If one is indebted, one must always repay the favor. That is the teaching handed down from Liphyue. We wish to repay you as much as our strength allows.”
In truth, holding a sacred festival would not be a loss for Hibernia politically.
A festival expressing gratitude to Hio and, further, to the goddess Liphyue—
It would demonstrate the closeness between Hibernia and Hio Pavlenko, and many would visit the Holy Kingdom just to see Hio, spreading Liphyue’s name even further.
But since Hio refused, Hibernia insisted on at least repaying him as a second-best option.
“Hmm……”
Hio fell into thought.
It wasn’t the happy kind of dilemma where there was too much he wanted.
It was just the opposite.
‘There’s nothing I want, though?’
‘Was there anything Hibernia could give that Hio wanted?’
He couldn’t think of anything.
Magical arms, magic books, related Artifacts—none of these could compare with Tetradia.
Asking for help when needed wasn’t much use, either.
That was something he could do any time, not just in repayment for this incident.
“Perhaps… is there any Artifact related to holy power?”
That was the only thing that came to mind.
“Ah, you must mean a Sacred Relic…”
Judging by the reaction, that wasn’t going to happen.
After all, the only Cathedral was that of Liphyue, and even that had grown so weak compared to the past—
All Artifacts related to holy power were kept as Sacred Relics.
No matter what, the kingdom and the Cathedral couldn’t just hand out a Sacred Relic.
“I was only joking.”
So Hio brushed it off and turned his head to the side.
He didn’t have anything in mind, but maybe his companions did.
Unfortunately, sitting right next to him was Regarda.
This hopeless dragon fanatic, with unshakable eyes, was just staring straight ahead, who knows what he was thinking.
His head must have been filled with nothing but dragons, dragons, dragons.
So, pass.
Next to him was Freya…
Let’s just move on.
Looking further over, he met the pretty eyes of the one who had been watching Hio from the start.
An elf making a heart with her hand and winking one eye.
“Sigh……”
He couldn’t help but let out a sigh.
‘Why did every one of them have a screw loose somewhere?’
Anyway, since the rest of his group didn’t seem to have anything in mind either, he was about to say they’d think it over.
—”If you can’t ask for an item, how about choosing a place?”
Purnel’s voice rang out.
—Surely if you look, there must be a Magician’s House even here.
It was a reasonable suggestion.
Since he had come all the way, it would be good to activate Hibernia’s portal too.
And most likely, it would be a Holy Magician’s House.
If it was a Holy Magician’s House, he might be able to acquire a holy magic book.
What’s more, with all the points he’d invested in his magic stat and the effects of Artifacts and the Mana Breathing Technique, his magic stat was nearing 600.
He was already ready to advance to the fifth Circle.
‘As they say, even dog dung can be of use at the right time.’
— …?
Useless as Purnel was most of the time—just like the other three—he did occasionally come up with a good idea.
“There is actually a place I’ve been looking for.”
Having finished his thoughts, Hio spoke up.
“You mean a place, then.”
“Yes. I’ve heard there’s a secret place in Hibernia, one that leads underground. It might have once been inhabited, or maybe not. Is there such a place?”
“…A secret place leading underground, that may or may not have been inhabited… is that what you mean?”
“Yes. A space underground that seems like something should be there, but when you go, there’s nothing at all. It’s probably hidden in a rather important place.”
Even as he explained, he wondered if it made any sense—but that was the only way to describe a Magician’s House.
Despite such a confusing explanation, Herald’s expression grew unexpectedly grave.
More than just serious—almost severe.
“How did you know…? There is indeed such a place.”
So the Magician’s House really did exist.
Judging by the reaction, they didn’t realize it was a Magician’s House.
“Could you take me there?”
“Originally, only priests are allowed inside, but…”
After a moment of consideration, Herald soon nodded readily.
They were closely tied by fate, and Hio Pavlenko had helped greatly, so—
“All right. I shall take you there. Only…”
“Only?”
“Although entry is restricted, when you get there, there really is nothing inside… It may not turn out as you hope, so please don’t hesitate to ask for something else next time if you wish.”
To Herald’s concern, Hio flashed a relaxed smile.
A typical reaction from someone unfamiliar with the Magician’s House.
“Haha, don’t worry. That won’t happen.”
With a confident, assured expression, Hio rose to his feet.
“After all, I am a Magician. Hahahaha!”
Holy magic and the fifth Circle.
He had a very good feeling that, if things went well, he could catch both rabbits at once.