Chapter 3: The Road to Imperial Palace (2)

CLUNK! CLUNK!Sitting at the front of the bumpy carriage, Agnes, the official of the imperial family, was deep in thought. Her sharp gaze was fixed, of course, on the completely frozen cube.

‘This was no ordinary cube.’

Though it wasn’t considered a sacred relic, it was regarded as an artifact. Simply manipulating it with her fingers could restore her energy.

And yet Ezekiel had frozen it. Without any warning.

This meant he had a profound mastery of Ice Magic. Agnes couldn’t help but wonder about the identity of the person being transported to the Imperial Palace.

A mage? Perhaps, but mages were incredibly rare.

“Just what is this person?”

Agnes mulled over the appearance of the person riding in the back.

The shoulder-length white hair and unusually unruly demeanor, even casually chewing on a sunweed.

…Far too lacking in decorum typically pursued by mages.

Her gaze shifted to the soldier driving the carriage beside her.

“The person we’re transporting now, you said he’s not a criminal, right?”

“Yes. He definitely does not have criminal status.”

“But he’s not a guest either.”

“…You have a point there. Still, it’s not often the Emperor himself singles someone out to summon, is it? Truly remarkable.”

“Could he be a mage?”

“…I really don’t know. There’s no information available.”

Maybe he used a magic scroll?

“Like using a magic scroll inside the carriage.”

“Doubtful. This carriage blocks the activation of scrolls.”

“Ah yes, of course.”

Ezekiel did seem to be a pure mage. And a highly skilled one at that.

Even Agnes’ number one treasure, her notebook, provided no clues when she opened it.

「Special Notes for This Mission」

⟿ Do not try to understand with common sense.

⟿ Avoid interacting if possible

“Hmm.”

Agnes, who prided herself on following rules to the letter, found these abstract guidelines utterly perplexing. It was the first time she had been asked to abandon common sense and reason, which she held in high regard.

She didn’t know. The more questions she had, the more question marks seemed to pile up.

“How much farther to Feital?”

“We’ll be arriving shortly. Ah, but come to think of it…”

The soldier glanced at Agnes’ expression.

“Go on.”

“The fact that they insisted on routing us through Feital…It doesn’t seem like they intend for him to reach the Imperial Palace alive, does it?”

“You may be right.”

Feital, the danger zone, and a lawless territory.

The palace had specifically instructed that this transport absolutely pass through this region. An area where even immediately dispatching troops would be insufficient.

“Who knows. We’ll have to see.”

Before long, she idly turned the thawed cube in the fading sunlight. It was unlike her to dwell on the will of those above. Her role was simply to carry out the mission and report the situation.

Tap.

Then, the sound of a finger snap came from inside the carriage.

“Ah.”

Agnes squinted her eyes and looked back.

…Because the cube had been frozen again back there.

“…This is infuriating.”

Just what the hell is this guy?

* * * * * *

The carriage finally came to a stop when the crescent moon hung in the night sky.

“Please come out.”

Agnes opened the door for me.

I stepped down from the carriage and looked around. It appeared like an ordinary town, but had an unmistakably eerie atmosphere. Thanks to that, I immediately realized where this place was.

“Feital? Did the palace move and forget to tell me?”

“We will be staying here for the night.”

“Why? Did some high-ranking official order that?” 

“Do not refer to His Majesty the Emperor in such a manner.”

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“……….”

Agnes narrowed her brow, as if dealing with something trivial.

“Stop playing with words.”

“So, what’s the reason we have to spend a day specifically here?”

From the neighborhood I lived in to the palace, there was no need to pass through Feital. I was curious why they were taking this detour.

“It is His Majesty’s will. And only you will be staying here.”

“Aha.”

The Emperor ordered a detour to Feital — his intentions were clear.

Every region has its own specialty.

So what was Feital famous for? A prison? Heinous criminals?

Feital was the area where heinous criminals were left to kill each other. Even those who committed serious crimes were mostly exiled here.

“Well now, ordering a trash cleanup before even seeing my face.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

‘Come alive’ — that short phrase meant this. Either survive by eliminating the heinous criminals, or be eliminated and die — one or the other.

Even in this lawless zone, there were basic buildings. Following Agnes’ lead, I entered a huge inn with an attached restaurant.

“Yes, please prepare the order as requested.”

Without listening to my opinion, Agnes arbitrarily ordered the food.

Perhaps because it was the city of heinous criminals, the food was subpar — just a thin, hot porridge and some corn kernels with scant seasoning.

She picked up her utensils first. She pushed the unappetizing food into her mouth without a hint of displeasure.

I took out the sunweed and asked, “How’s the taste?”

“I wouldn’t know. I eat because it’s mealtime.”

“It can’t be easy living on a salary, having to eat stuff like this too.”

“You aren’t exactly a guest of honor either, you know? It’s clear what kind of treatment awaits you going forward, so you might as well get used to meals like this in advance.”

“Fine, I’d rather starve to death.”

After that, the meal continued in silence.

Agnes slurped the porridge at regular intervals, as if timing it, while I just chewed on the poor sunweed. My vision grew hazy, but it felt oddly comforting.

Unexpectedly, it was Agnes who broke the silence first.

“Are you a mage?”

“You didn’t even know that? Didn’t do any prior investigation? That’s quite lazy.”

Seemingly disliking being called lazy, Agnes’ brow twitched.

“In Feital, a mage makes quite the delicacy.”

“Mages are treated that way anywhere.”

“Yes. The development of magic scrolls has changed many things on the continent.”

As magic scrolls became greatly advanced, new professions like magic scholars and scroll-makers emerged, causing the number of mages to decrease significantly — it was an inevitable progression.

These days, just using magic alone was not enough to be called powerful. 

There was no need to painstakingly cast magic directly when scrolls exist. It was better to develop other abilities instead of investing time in magic training.

Ah, there was one more reason — the Erosion phenomenon.

Conveniently, Agnes just happened to open her mouth.

“The erosion phenomenon has also become serious recently. Especially here in Feital.”

“I’m already aware of that story.” 

“Then I’ll save you the trouble. I’ll skip over the part about how those afflicted by the curse of erosion make mage their main prey.”

“Yeah, they do drool excessively at the sight of mages.”

“Indeed. But then, you happen to be a mage.”

Magic scrolls gained immense popularity partly for this reason.

If you train your mana to become a mage, you will only become a target. But how convenient and safe it would be to just use magic scrolls.

Agnes brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. She blew on the porridge in the spoon before putting it in her mouth again.

“This place, Feital, is a lawless zone. No matter what happens here, it wouldn’t be strange. It’s full of heinous criminals who harbor resentment towards the palace.”

“I have plenty of resentments towards the palace too. Though I’m not a heinous criminal.”

Or am I? I don’t even know which princess accepted my marriage proposal.

“What if those heinous criminals became afflicted by the curse of erosion too? Just imagine how violent they’d become. It’s a simple problem, and doesn’t require deep thought.”

“What were you trying to do by talking like that? Were you trying to scare me?”

“Yes. Did you feel a little scared?”

“Barely a yawn. You need more practice.”

“Have you resigned yourself then?”

“No, I’m just pretty strong.”

Whoo, I exhaled a long stream of sunweed smoke. Agnes narrowed her eyes and fanned the sunweed fumes away from her face.

Then she opened her notebook on the table and made some checkmarks.

[Transport to Feital] ✓

[Have a Meal] ✓

[Intimidate him] X

[Observation and report back in the middle]

Noticing my gaze, Agnes hurriedly slapped the notebook shut.

“You’re quite the adorable worker. How old are you?”

“I’ll take my leave now. I’ll see you again tomorrow morning.”

Agnes’ short hair swayed as she left.

◇──◆──◇

The inn was eerily quiet. How much time had passed?

‘I’m getting hungry.’

Ezekiel suddenly thought so. No matter how unappetizing the food was, hunger was a force to be reckoned with. Reluctantly, he picked up the spoon. The porridge tasted almost inedible, making him newly appreciate Agnes’s ability to eat it without complaint.

He propped his feet up on the table and lazily twirled the spoon between his fingers. As he chewed on another piece of sunweed, he stared into the void.

“Come to think of it… it was like this back then too.”

When he was part of the palace’s shadowy organization, it started this way.

They locked fifteen people in a small room and let only the last survivor out. After lasting until the end, they refilled it with fourteen more and repeated it fifteen times.

Well, compared to back then, the current situation seems downright tame.

Thump! Thump!

At that moment, footsteps began to be heard.

Someone entered the inn’s dining area; too many to bother counting, a crowd instantly surrounded Ezekiel in a circle.

Each of them, holding their weapons, exchanged glances and smiled.

“You look plenty rich. We hit the jackpot.”

“I don’t have a single coin. Are you blind?”

Ezekiel calmly responded.

“We saw you get off the imperial carriage.”

“I may be destined to marry a princess, but I’m not a palace folk.”

…Though I don’t know which princess it is.

“Is that so? It just so happens we have a grudge against the palace.”

“Let’s just kill him first. He’s gotta have something on him.”

The encirclement slowly tightened.

Still with his feet propped on the table, Ezekiel exhaled sunweed smoke.

Ssssss!

“………..”

The thug at the very front who had been approaching suddenly stopped in his tracks. Feeling uneasy, he brushed his arm and found white grains all over it.

“…Frost?”

It was undoubtedly frost coating his arm. Come to think of it, the temperature seemed to have dropped. Their breaths were visibly puffing out.

“Did none of you think to wear something warmer?” Ezekiel rested his arm behind his head as he asked.

Hoo- The smoke he exhaled looked like the frost dragon’s breath, mysterious.

“It’s about to get quite cold from now on.”

The corners of his mouth curling up, he was as relaxed as ever.

— END —