CH 56

Chapter 0278 Concerns of the Kingdom

The only one who wasn’t trembling was Priest Zeke, who was talking to Priest Etho from Room 10.

“Etho, can I ask you a question?”

“Hm?”

Zeke glanced at Ryo and continued.

“About Mr. Ryo…”

“Sure but… I may not be able to help much with your question.”

Etho chuckled as he said that.

“Who in the world is Mr. Ryo, really?”

“See, I knew it, I can’t answer that question.”

Etho answered Zeke’s question, wearing an even more sullen expression than before.

“Even if you ask me that, I guess I can only tell it exactly as it is. He was our roommate, a water-attribute magician… oh right, and he’s always been into alchemy. He’s hardly taken up any quest in the last three years, so it seems he’s still stuck at C-rank.”

“For a magician, his skill with the sword was unbelievable.”

“Ah? Have you seen Ryo wield his sword before, Zeke?”

“Yeah… he beat the shit out of me with it.”

Zeke looked dejected as he said that.

“Oh, it must have been when he shattered Harold’s shoulder, huh? Wait a minute, but according to Ryo, he said your staff technique was pretty good…”

“No, I was no match for him.”

“Etho, I can’t really say that I’m impressed with you giving away my information for free.”

Ryo suddenly interrupted their conversation.

“Ahaha…”

Etho chuckled, as he scratched his temple with his index finger.

“You should only give out such information if you’re getting paid for it!”

“So it’s fine as long as I get paid?”

“Sure. Or in the form of portable cakes, cream puffs, and so on.”

Ryo turned to Zeke and said in a strong tone.

“Sorry, but I don’t have any cream puffs…”

“I see, that’s too bad.”

When Zeke told him that he didn’t have any, Ryo replied with a look of regret from the bottom of his heart.

He wasn’t being mean, he genuinely was just craving for it.

“You see? That’s the kind of person he is.”

“Yes… I think I understand what you mean a little bit.”

Etho said softly, and Zeke replied in an equally soft voice.

“Ah!”

Ryo cried out sharply.

And thus unfolded the reason.

“My cake privilege from Abel… will cease again since I joined the delegation…”

That reality was just dawning on Ryo.

Then, he somehow remembered the ‘Soul Resonance’ on his left ear.

((Abel, you still alive? Abel, you still alive? Abel, you still alive?))

((I’m alive alright! I mean, can I even call this being alive? It’s a very strange feeling. My body is in my office, my vision too, and my daily routine is basically unchanged… except when I switch consciousness, I suppose? When I do that, the scenery reflected in the magic stone is suddenly fed back into my eyes…. And then I’m able to talk to you…. And while I’m doing that, I can also move my body back in the office and take in the view from there. I feel like I’ve finally gotten used to it…))

Abel said while trying to hold back his excitement.

Abel is an adventurer by nature.

He likes to explore unfamiliar cities and unfamiliar worlds.

((That’s amazing. Kenneth said that it might take a few weeks to be able to switch and split your consciousness like that… wow, you really are brilliant, Abel.))

((Oh, no, I don’t think I’m that…))

Abel was abashed by Ryo’s honest praise.

((So basically, one can see the scenery reflected in this ‘Soul Resonance’, hear the sounds coming through it, and have a conversation with the person wearing it, that is, you, in this case. In a nutshell.))

((Yeah. But there is certainly a sense of magic power being used all the time, so I guess not just anyone can use it.))

((Any chance of your magic power running out…?))

((Oh no, that shouldn’t be a problem. The amount of magic power used seems to be quite negligible.))

((Quite negligible by your standards I bet…))

Abel let out a small sigh.

He felt that if this ‘Soul Resonance’ could be used by others, it would be useful in so many ways.

Abel was wearing the magic stone-equipped ring that was given to him, but it seemed that the ring does not consume any magic power.

Only Ryo’s earring does ….

But the biggest problem was not so much the amount of magic power consumed, but the fact that it interfered with the ‘soul’ of one of the pair.

That’s why it can and should only be used between people who truly trust each other… that was what Kenneth, the inventor, said.

((I’m the only one who can hear your voice, Abel. So it’s no use asking for help elsewhere!))

((Okay, now you lost me. Wouldn’t Ryo be the one to ask me for help, and not the other way around?))

((I certainly hope not to fall so far as to turn to a swordsman for help requiring a bit of brain work!))

((Well… can’t argue with that. Oh right, the cake privilege is on hold for now.))

((Ugh…))

Thus, Abel was partly en route to the western countries while still in the royal capital.

As long as he was physically in the royal capital, he wouldn’t be able to escape his work routine, obviously….

Abel, who had successfully suspended Ryo’s cake privileges, was of course in the King’s office.

The connection via ‘Soul Resonance’ was temporarily disconnected, so the conversation on his side and Abel’s thoughts wouldn’t be relayed to Ryo.

Meanwhile, he was recalling something Ryo had said before that bothered him.

“Gochisotei, was it…”

The restaurant where Ryo chose to have his last dinner in the royal capital was Gochisotei.

Abel is by no means a foodie.

However, he likes to eat good food.

So, he decided to escape from the royal castle for a while and go eat at Gochisotei.

However….

“Your Majesty, with all due respect, please refrain from trying to sneak out of the royal castle.”

“How …?”

The Prime Minister in front of him knew about his plans.

“Duke Rondo left a message. His Majesty the King will try to escape from the castle and eat out, so I’m to prevent him from doing so. Especially stimulating food like curry is not good for the stomach, so it’s off-limits for the time being.”

“RYOOOOOoooo!”

Abel’s cries faded away in vain.

It took Abel thirty seconds to recover.

“…Fine, I’ll forget about eating out for now. So, how’s the investigation going?”

“Oh yes. The one on the Eastern Demon, right?”

They’ve been able to deduce that the cause of Harold’s ‘Rupture Spirit Curse’ was probably the work of the ‘Demon Sealed in the East’, according to folklore.

However, it was also true that there was no more information about the Eastern Demon than what has been passed down in folklore.

Nevertheless, the viciousness of the ‘Demon sealed in the East’ was no joke, just from what’s recorded in folklore.

According to folklore, it reduced three cities to ashes in a single day.

Humans are hopeless before its legion.

It fought King Richard in deadly combat.

All those were more like legends or fairy tales than folklore.

Although the time periods were sometimes inconsistent… at any rate, it was vicious and powerful.

Moreover, the folklore claimed that the demon wasn’t alone, and that it had ‘generals’ who followed it, with tens of thousands of soldiers….

If it were to be revived in the present day, it was likely that the eastern part of the Kingdom, as well as the western part of the Handal Union, would be destroyed… within a matter of days.

That was based on the analysis of the temple folklore officers, led by Rashata.

And these folklore officers had ventured into the eastern part of the country to investigate the area around the place where Harold was supposedly cursed.

“Viscount Rashata Debuo reported that they had identified the spot where Master Harold was cursed, but that it’s highly unlikely for another person to be cursed anew.”

“I see.”

Abel was clearly relieved by Marquis Heinlein’s report.

If nothing else, for ascertaining that it wouldn’t turn into a situation where one person after another would end up getting cursed by the ‘Rupture Spirit Curse’.

“So, what about where the demon itself is sealed?”

“There’s still no progress on that at the moment.”

Marquis Heinlein answered Abel’s question.

“Honestly…there’s not much we can do even if they found it.”

“Yeah…”

There’s a consensus surrounding entities like demons, as existences that humans can’t do anything about.

They are legendary creatures like dragons, griffons, or behemoths.

Humans are helpless to resist them.

Nevertheless, as the king of the country, he could not ignore it.

Even more so now that there’s a victim who had fallen under the influence of its spirit curse.

“Speaking of which, the demon sealed in the south flew to the west, right…?”

“Yes. After that, its whereabouts became unknown…”

“I hope the seal on the Eastern Demon hasn’t broken either…”

Marquis Heinlein couldn’t utter anything in reply to Abel’s muttering.