After that, I searched Irumokwi’s memories using various keywords. As a result, I confirmed that the doppelganger who had infiltrated the Sun Cathedral was not this particular clone.
However, the clone currently trapped inside the lamp was level 64.
That was 80% of the main body’s level—the highest level of 『Split Messenger (U)』.
Even if other clones existed, they probably wouldn’t be at a very high level. Of course, there were also followers of the Five Heroes active in the underworld of the Prima Continent at this point in time.
If I carelessly provoked another clone, I might end up stirring them into action, so I couldn’t afford to let my guard down.
While I was lost in thought, the lamp in my robe began to shake. Soon, a thin, clear voice echoed out.
= Hey, you. What exactly are you planning to do with my memories?
After having its memories thoroughly investigated through the combination of the 『Model Garden of the Phase (S-)』 and 『Redial (U)』, Irumokwi’s clone had been throwing tantrums like this.
Of course, I had no intention of answering honestly.
“Stop chattering. Before I throw you back into storage.”
= If you’re that annoyed, just kill me already. Though you’d have to take me out of this lamp first.
“I don’t want to. If I kill you, the information goes back to the main body.”
= Wow! You’re not even worth a single punch when the main body wakes up, yet you’re acting all high and mighty.
“Shut up.”
I cut her off with a light curse. Then I picked up a piece of cloth infused with mana and tightly wrapped it around the lamp’s lid. Since she kept making noise, I’d have to keep her like this until I could put her back into the secret safe.
“…Then let’s begin the preparations.”
I wrote a letter.
I filled it with as much flowery language as possible, expressing my desire to have an audience with the great Emperor Eliodoro. After stamping it with both the Seal of Utility and the Seal of Struggle, I sent it off via carrier pigeon.
The recipient was the Second Prince of the Wiblet Empire.
Salvador, who had now been officially appointed as Crown Prince.
After receiving a grand send-off from the Lilliac Magic Kingdom, we headed north. Our destination was none other than our homeland—the Stroke Principality.
“Ridle, the legitimate heir of the Stroke Principality, and Delfina, princess of the Glicia Kingdom. From this moment onward, we shall begin the wedding ceremony of these two individuals.”
We had come to attend this joyous occasion.
Ever since we had restrained Queen Isabella with Shambhavi, this marriage had been practically a foregone conclusion. The ripple effects of this marriage alliance would spread across the entire Prima Continent.
After going through various procedures, the archbishop who was officiating the ceremony declared,
“In the name of the God of Fortune, I hereby declare that these two have become husband and wife in this place. I, Igor Cizek, pray that only good fortune awaits them on the path ahead.”
Thunderous applause filled the hall.
Once the ceremony ended, someone approached me.
“It’s been a while, Aiden.”
It was none other than my father, Foden.
I gave him a slight bow.
“Have you been well, Father?”
“Yes. It’s already been three years since we last met. How is clan work treating you?”
“It’s more manageable than I expected.”
In the original history, Foden had passed away from illness a year from now, in 985. But in this world, I had been regularly brewing high-grade medicine for him. Whether it was thanks to consistently taking the medicine, he had regained a healthy complexion. The gloom that had once clouded his face after the death of his eldest son, Litton, was completely gone.
After chatting with me for a bit, Foden turned his gaze toward Chesa. With a small smile, he asked,
“So, still no grandchildren yet?”
“We’re working on it every day.”
Chesa answered flatly.
I fell into brief thought.
…Children, huh.
Even when we got married, all sorts of thoughts had crossed my mind, but after the ceremony, aside from our nightly activities, our daily life hadn’t changed much. If Chesa and I were to have a child, maybe the feeling would be different. Would it finally make me feel like I had completely melted into this world as one of its inhabitants?
Foden then shifted his gaze to Linia.
“Linia of the Arieldee. Have you not found it difficult, staying by the side of my troublesome son?”
“Not at all. If anything, it’s been so smooth that I sometimes feel it’s almost too easy.”
“Excellent. Nevia also often spoke of your excellence while she was alive. I’ll be counting on you to continue taking good care of Aiden.”
“It is an honor to have your trust, Your Grace.”
When the topic of my mother, Nevia, came up, Linia visibly brightened. Foden casually brought up another subject.
“Linia, you were Nevia’s closest friend. You have also served this grand ducal house for a long time. If I were to do nothing for you, I would have no face to show the late Nevia.”
“…What do you mean?”
Foden pondered for a moment.
Then he spoke.
“You are already twenty-seven years old. Although the fairy race ages slowly, since you have spent more than half your life in the human domain, it would be proper to follow human customs. If you are willing to consider marriage, I will personally arrange suitable candidates for you.”
My heart dropped at the sudden suggestion.
Linia, however, maintained a calm expression.
“Such a thing would only get in the way of serving my master.”
“Hmm…”
Foden looked at Linia with a dazed expression at her cold yet resolute answer. Then he turned toward me with a complicated gaze.
…Why is he looking at me like that?
August 986.
Servante, capital of the Wiblet Empire.
Following the messenger sent by Salvador, the three of us were guided to a mansion near the imperial palace. We were then led into a room deep inside.
Waiting for us there was none other than the Emperor of the Empire, Eliodoro Wiblet Leonor. Surprisingly, he had come outside the palace with only four guards.
“It’s been a while, Master Stroke.”
“Aiden Stroke, Clan Master of Blispiel and second son of the Stroke Grand Ducal House, greets the great Emperor of the Wiblet Empire…”
“Skip the unnecessary formalities. It seems the one in need this time is our side.”
“…Understood.”
With an awkward expression, I raised my head and sat across from the Emperor.
My grandfather Dibble, like his brother Ebel, had been a born warrior by nature. It was possible that Eliodoro, who had been close friends with him in life, possessed a similar temperament.
“Leave us.”
“But, Your Majesty…”
“That is an order.”
“…Understood.”
The Emperor dismissed his knight guards. Following suit, Chesa and Linia also stepped outside.
“I’ve already heard the general outline of your business from Salvador. You said you wished to discuss matters regarding the basement.”
“That is correct.”
When I nodded, the Emperor asked,
“I have appointed Salvador as Crown Prince, but I have not yet told him about that place. With Yustasio in his current state, I am the only person in this world who knows the details about that location. It is a secret like no other. So how did you come to learn about the basement?”
Since Crown Prince Yustasio and I were in a hostile relationship, it was natural for him to wonder about the source of my information, as it couldn’t have come from Yustasio.
“I used a special method, so it is difficult for me to explain in detail.”
At that, the Emperor’s eyes flashed.
“A special method… I see. Then can I assume that the secret regarding the basement will not spread any further outside? If you cannot give me a definite answer on this matter, then I have no intention of opening my mouth either.”
“Yes. There is no room for the secret to spread further. Nor do we have any reason to deliberately spread it.”
If the Holy Nation found out that the Wiblet Empire had been hiding a demon for generations, this wouldn’t end as a simple incident. Several enraged churches might even declare all-out war on the Wiblet Empire.
If things went that way, it would be a painful loss for me, as I had been planning to exert influence over the Empire through Mariana.
But a crisis was also an opportunity.
I decided to turn this into a gain.
In exchange for keeping the secret, I would directly obtain clues for collecting MacGuffins from the Emperor.
Sinisha, the caster of 『Redial (U)』, had already had his mouth sealed through money and various other means. As long as the three of us kept quiet, there shouldn’t be any problems.
I summoned the white snake spirit. Being a spirit mage himself, the Emperor recognized it.
“…Hoh. A white two-headed serpent from Ciencia. You’ve formed a contract with quite the impressive spirit.”
“It’s good that we can get straight to the point.”
I handed him the document on which I had written the contract terms. After carefully reading through it, the Emperor confirmed there were no major issues and nodded.
= Make the oath.
Shambhavi’s eyes glowed red.
“I swear that after I hear everything I wish to know from Eliodoro Wiblet Leonor, I will keep the secret regarding the basement of the Wiblet Empire.”
“As long as Aiden Stroke upholds the contract terms, I will not speak of the great spirit Shambhavi to anyone. Furthermore, I will answer his questions to the best of my ability and sincerity.”
Crunch! Crunch!
Both heads bit into me and the Emperor. Thanks to the ‘heart poison’ the spirit had injected, the two of us were now able to trust each other.
The Emperor spoke to me.
“Very well. Ask whatever you’re curious about.”
“Then first, why have successive emperors of the Wiblet Empire left a demon like Terpartizan unattended in a place like the capital’s basement?”
“‘Unattended’ isn’t quite the right word. To be precise, it’s closer to being sealed.”
“…Sealed?”
“That’s right. It is a purification barrier devised by the founder to cleanse corrupt energy. That is the true nature of the basement that imprisons the demon.”
The Emperor continued.
“The Empire produces an unusually large number of talented spirit mages. Aiden, do you know the reason for that?”
“………”
In human nations, spirit mages were considerably rarer compared to mages or warriors.
There were two conditions for the manifestation of spirit-related traits, aside from talent itself.
One was innate, and the other was acquired.
The former was being born and raised in an environment with high natural affinity. The latter was consuming related elixirs.
That was why there were many spirit mages among the beastkin of Safaria and the fairies of the Great Forest—because they lived in harmony with abundant nature.
However, when it came to the first condition, the Wiblet Empire wasn’t particularly superior to other human nations.
And yet, a disproportionately large number of spirit mages were born here.
According to the setting materials of Reca Chronicles, the special soil of the Wiblet Empire, which enhanced spirit affinity, was the cause of this anomaly.
“…Are you saying the demon in the basement is related to the frequency of spirit mage appearances?”
“The purification barrier has the function of cleansing the demon’s power and infusing its original energy into the Empire’s soil.”
“…Its original energy?”
“You already know that there are a total of sixty-six demons recorded in the Dragon God Scripture. In truth, before they fell, those sixty-six Great Demons were beings close to Great Spirits. Since energy similar to the essence of Great Spirits is directly embedded into the Empire’s land, it is only natural that many children with outstanding spirit affinity are born!”
“…!”
I was surprised, but at the same time, I understood.
Great Spirits and demons.
There were indeed some similarities.
First, both required a contractor to fully exert their power.
Second, both possessed unique authorities—such as Shambhavi’s ‘oath enforcement’ and Terpartizan’s ‘crystallization.’
As someone who knew the original story’s setting inside and out, I hadn’t paid much attention to this because the presence of demon contractors had been almost nonexistent in the main story. With so many major MacGuffins, who in their right mind would care about something like this?
But now that I knew, everything changed.
I swallowed dryly and asked,
“Could you tell me more about the origin of this sealing barrier?”
“…Hmm.”
The Emperor paused for a moment at my request.
Then he said something I hadn’t expected.
“Demons first appeared in this world approximately one thousand years ago. They were nameless spiritual entities that suddenly manifested from a meteorite that fell on the Pangaea Continent. The meteorite they arrived on was transformed by the legendary blacksmith known as the ‘Myth Forger’ into a mythical material called ‘Meteor Gold.’ The spiritual entities then began wandering this unfamiliar world.”
[MacGuffin No.081 / 『Children Born from the Stars』 has been recovered.]
[Achievement Points + 15,000]
…081?
The MacGuffin recovery message that appeared before my eyes was familiar after seeing it so many times. But the unusually low number written on it felt unfamiliar.