Two days later, I headed to Caracol’s headquarters, located in the heart of Elanore.
Linia, Chesa, and I, visiting the lavish clan house, were guided by an employee to the reception room on the second floor. There, Chloeria greeted us alone.
“Welcome, sub-master of Blispiel. Have you been well?”
“Thanks to a certain ill-tempered lady keeping things lively, I’ve been having quite the fun time.”
Grind!
Chloeria gritted her teeth at the vague provocation, but she soon suppressed her anger and sent me a mocking smile.
“I hear Blispiel plans to undertake a ruin exploration soon.”
“That’s right. Though it was derailed by someone’s interference.”
“Hmph, surely you didn’t come just to complain about that? As an executive of Caracol clan, I merely made a reasonable judgment.”
“A reasonable judgment?”
“Yes. From my last visit, I became convinced that Blispiel lacks the capability for ruin exploration. So I simply sent an official objection to the Church of Utility branch. It would be troublesome if a clan joining the exploration fell short of standards.”
She had a point.
Depending on the case, the stakes could be huge, but as seen with the Firebird Shrine or the Haze Cavern, ancient ruin explorations inherently involved massive interests.
It meant other clans wouldn’t welcome a bunch of nobodies like us trying to get a spoon in.
Yet the reason no major objections had come until now was simple: Clan Master Arent was a man of great renown. Other clans, out of respect for the friend of the Thousand-Man Slayer, had tacitly agreed to watch Blispiel’s actions this time.
But Chloeria had broken that unspoken agreement and launched interference.
I briefly thought about her backing.
Caracol clan.
With Citrio Altus—one of the Continent’s Twelve Heroes—as master, this clan’s scale ranked among the top ten across the Prima continent.
It wasn’t just size.
Citrio, with considerable political acumen, had built many connections over the years, the crowning one being marriage alliances through his numerous children.
Citrio Altus had formed in-law ties with a marquis house in the northern Baskaya Knight Empire and royalty from one of the small kingdoms comprising the western Isaya Federation, receiving full support from them.
Naturally, experts predicted that if Caracol fully dominated Elanore, it would exert enormous influence on neighboring countries’ internal affairs.
The Church of Utility strictly prohibited clan masters from receiving titles or privileges from specific nations, but there was no justification to block such loopholes for expanding influence.
In such circumstances, the current Altus family was practically akin to royalty in this free neutral city.
With such a glamorous family background, it was natural for Citrio’s daughter Chloeria to develop such a bitchy personality.
She smiled slyly.
“You heard the message, I assume? If you beg forgiveness for the ‘discourtesy’ you committed last time, I’m even willing to show special mercy.”
“Mercy, huh…”
Her intentions were so transparent it was almost laughable.
Of course, I hadn’t come to Caracol without thought. I’d brought a weapon capable of shaking Chloeria’s position.
“May I ask one thing?”
“Go ahead.”
Such a confident face.
I sprinkled red pepper on it.
“Does Master Altus know what’s happening in the basement of your villa?”
At the out-of-the-blue remark, the air in the reception room froze. Chloeria quickly composed her distorted expression, but she couldn’t stop her voice from trembling.
“…W-What are you talking about?”
“I know everything, so drop the act.”
In one corner of Chloeria’s sheet was [Torture Technique (C)]. A skill ill-suited for a refined war mage.
The reason she had learned it was simple.
“I hear Master Altus, your father, cares greatly about his public image. I’m curious how he’d react if it became known that one of his children kidnaps people and enjoys all sorts of torture in the basement. It would cause quite a stir, don’t you think?”
“………”
Chloeria’s face turned pale.
As the talented daughter favored by her father, she could cover ordinary mistakes. But her secret hobby crossed the line far too much. If Citrio learned about the basement, she’d fall out of favor immediately.
“Not content with harassing a ducal lady last time, such a splendid hobby too. The moment it reaches Master Altus’s ears, you’ll surely be demoted to some southern backwater.”
“………”
“Now you get why I’m here?”
Hearing my words, Chloeria unconsciously bit her nails. Her body trembling with humiliation couldn’t have looked more comical.
By now, countless thoughts must be flashing through her head.
How a kid who’d only recently arrived from out of town knew her secret.
Whether she could quickly clean up the basement and erase evidence.
But whatever move Chloeria made, I had countermeasures. She was truly cornered.
Having grasped the situation, Chloeria’s expression turned despairing. Unless she was an idiot, she’d realize who held the initiative now.
She opened her mouth with a powerless air.
“…If I withdraw the objection to the ruin exploration, will you also keep silent about the basement?”
“No.”
At the firm word, panic colored Chloeria’s face.
“I need an apology for the atrocity committed recently too. Then I’ll show special mercy.”
I said that and gestured toward Chesa with my chin. Chloeria’s face flushed with humiliation.
After hesitating for a long while, she trembled as she spoke to Chesa.
“…I-I’m sorry for the previous incident, Lady Utland.”
“Do they apologize only with words around here? And it doesn’t seem very sincere.”
At my sarcasm, Chloeria’s body shook harder. Her face turned crimson as she bowed ninety degrees to Chesa.
“…I sincerely apologize for the previous d-discourtesy. I truly have no face. Please show leniency.”
“…Aiden, I’m fine.”
Chesa said that in a calm tone.
I smirked at her.
“I’m not fine.”
Crack!
I drove a kick loaded with <Infinity Shock> into the unguarded Chloeria’s face. Crunch! Something felt like it broke. Embedded in the reception room wall, she convulsed continuously from the thunder energy.
“How’s the taste of electric torture, ma’am?”
“KyaAAAAA! You… bastard!!”
“It hurts, right? But I trust you’re not stupid enough to make this public. Let’s go, Linia.”
“Yes, young master.”
Linia opened the reception room door with a somewhat vindictive air.
On the way back from Caracol.
Chesa asked me with a shadowed face.
“Aiden, why did you provoke her unnecessarily? I clearly said I was fine…”
“Were you really fine? Swear on your staff?”
“………”
Chesa shut her mouth.
She couldn’t have been truly unaffected.
She just hadn’t wanted to create unnecessary issues with a giant clan like Caracol while trying to establish ourselves.
“But behind Chloeria Altus is one of the Twelve Heroes. If she uses this to scheme something later…”
As Chesa worried, Chloeria wasn’t weak-hearted enough to drop her grudge over this. She’d probably try something when we set out for the Snowflower Swamp.
But that was fine.
I had means to turn it against her.
That existence soaring through the vast “Azure Heavens” radiated majesty like the “Sun.” A single roar overturned the “Great Sea,” and the descended “Earth” was imbued with sacred blessings.
In ancient times, the continent’s inhabitants revered this great being, calling it the “Dragon God.”
And there were four women who boldly approached such a Dragon God.
Soon favored by the Dragon God, they received part of its authority and became known as “Dragon Priestesses,” earning awe and respect from many.
Azure Cathedral and Priestess of Azure Heavens.
Solar Cathedral and Priestess of the Sun.
Great Sea Cathedral and Priestess of the Great Sea.
Earth Cathedral and Priestess of the Earth.
After the Dragon God vanished, four cathedrals formed around each priestess. Though branched from the same root, over long years, they had become no different from sworn enemies.
Yet when the grudges are resolved and the four priestesses join hands once more, the Dragon God will reveal itself to the world again.
From Part 1 of the Recapcili Continent Chronicles.
In Reca Chronicles, there were a total of three characters qualifying as heroines.
Among them, Clara, the Priestess of the Sun, overwhelmingly received the most support from readers.
For starters, the period when she accompanied the protagonist and flirted abundantly was the novel’s golden age—Parts 1 through 2—and there were several hints of some connection with the demonic sword Plebelziam that Epio wielded.
Because of this, it was speculated that an extraordinary bond existed between Clara and Epio.
During Part 2, Clara suddenly received a strange letter and abruptly left the protagonist’s party.
At that time, reader reactions weren’t too severe.
- dlrjsnrkgotjrgksek: Author, where’s Clara going?
↳ RageControlNO: She was annoying like a pest, wanted to beat her every appearance, good riddance, hope she never returns
(Comment under review for reporting)
↳ Aiden: She’s a walking plot device, so probably returns soon as story progresses.
I want to beat past me who wrote that reply.
As everyone knows, after vanishing suddenly then, Clara never appeared in the work again.
The decisive trigger for Reca Chronicles’ downfall was the unresolved foreshadowing of Regenshauer and Edval’s ultimate techniques, as mentioned before, but Clara’s evaporation claimed nearly equal blame.
When “Reikadi Shapek,” the Part 3 heroine, appeared and started entangling with Epio, public sentiment reached its peak fury.
- ChesaCute: Leaving Clara aside for some new female char??? Author, you’re not planning to pair her with protagonist, right? Please answer
- KeepCro: Feeling cancer vibes from this knightess, let’s kill her before she becomes heroine.
- BlackFlame: Kill before heroine ᄏᄏ Abbrev: HeroinePreDeath?
- rornflvpvp: HeroPreDeath! HeroPreDeath! HePreDe!
- RageControlNO: I like it
(Comment under review for reporting)
- Niku: Not sure if author reads comments, but a brief in-story mention of where priestess is would be good? Might collapse from hypertension otherwise;;
Reactions were roughly like that.
Afterward, whenever Epio seemed to pair with a rational character, readers unanimously chanted “HePreDe,” and it continued when the female spiritist, the Part 4 heroine-equivalent, appeared.
“I entered the novel, but I can’t let that happen again.”
Muttering that, I stamped the Seal of Struggle on a sheet of paper. Then I reviewed the lines written on it multiple times for any flaws or issues. Considering the recipient, this letter couldn’t be more important.
Kache was traversing a rugged mountain range. He climbed a four-digit staircase, then lightly scaled the emerging cliff.
As a martial artist who had reached considerable realm, he handled harsh terrain easily. But on this mountain was one person incomparable even to Kache.
A man who, despite long ago reaching the continent’s pinnacle, never neglected training—a model ascetic.
Soon, he arrived at the destination.
Inside the cave Kache entered were crudely arranged living tools. Pot, firestone, small wardrobe… In the center, a middle-aged man meditated.
A man with a strong yet somehow kind aura. Features that seemed hard to coexist, but anyone seeing him would change their mind.
Dearside school disciple Kache felt such impressions and cautiously spoke.
“Excuse me, master-uncle. An important-looking letter has arrived.”
“…For me?”
The man, deeply meditating as if asleep, opened his eyes at the unexpected words. Kache explained.
“Yes. It bears the Seal of Struggle, so I rushed here.”
“Seal of Struggle?”
The middle-aged man tilted his head. Was there anyone among the other Twelve Heroes who’d send a letter at this time?
Feeling puzzled, he read the contents… Sword Saint Edval Heimfjord’s expression soon hardened.
Having read the entire letter, he gazed somewhere distant and murmured.
“…It seems time to prepare descending the mountain.”