「Come forth light, Goddess of healing, Mega Heal」(Touya)
I applied restoration magic on Rengetsu-san who's crouching in a bamboo thicket. The sword cut in his right shoulder closed in a blink of the eye, completely recovering.
「… Amazing, isn't it? It's totally the same as before」(Rengetsu)
Rengetsu-san got up and flexed his shoulder with round motions.
「Nevertheless, why is Touya-san in Yuuron? Ah, it should be His Majesty The Sovereign King of Brunhild now, isn't it? My apologies… 」(Rengetsu)
「Aaah, it's fine. Don't stress yourself. I'm traveling incognito after all. In here, I'm a silver oni warrior, a wanderer from Ishen」(Touya)
I hastily stopped Rengetsu-san's attempt to genuflect. It would probably be bad to have my identity exposed here. However, it looked like Sonia-san wouldn't draw back with how things were even now.
「Leaving that aside, I want to know something as well. There's a rumor on the streets about a three-person group who has tried to assassinate the heavenly emperor. Is the rumor referring to Rengetsu-san's group?」(Touya)
「So they call it "assassination", huh? Well, it's true that we've infiltrated the castle and tried to kill him. However, that was not an assassination. It was vengeance」(Rengetsu)
「Kku… That damn Jaofar! We've been so close, and yet… for him to have such skilled guards, this is…」(Sonia)
Sonia-san started talking as if spitting her words.
「Jaofar?」(Touya)
「He's the heavenly emperor of this capital, you see. Chei Jaofar is his real name. He proclaims to be a heavenly emperor, but he's actually an adventurer-turned-thief」(Rengetsu)
Rengetsu-san spoke in an unpleasant tone. The heavenly emperor is a thief? What does he mean?
「Ever since that aforementioned grand Fraze invasion against Yuuron, a large number of people has shown up calling themselves the new heavenly emperors. Due to how the late emperor ceaselessly fathered children on every street, it wouldn't have been strange for an offspring of his that he had just dropped somewhere else to appear as a result of his actions. Furthermore, the children of the concubines, along with the legal empress, have all ended up disappearing together with Shenghai. Even the sons who escaped the destruction of the former capital by being in other towns are all dead by now. So there's no way to ascertain someone's claim of him being a heavenly emperor currently」
Well, I suppose it would turn out that way after all. After a person fabricates a suitable story, it will have a meaning if he does something like showing an object given to him by the late emperor.
At any rate, there were no longer any documents or people in this world that could refute those claims by saying that they were lies.
If it's only about the ability of the heavenly emperor candidate after that, his credibility would go up if he simply displayed it.
However, it was naturally filled with danger. It's natural that the other heavenly emperor candidates wouldn't recognize their new opponent. They would mutually insist that they were the most suitable heavenly emperor, which then left to them with no choice but to attack each other.
「Jaofar is one of them as well. That guy has brought out the proof of the heavenly emperor, the [Sovereign's Seal], and declared "This is a definite proof that the heavenly emperor handed down to our household"」
「Does that Jaofar belong to the lineage of the heavenly emperor?」(Touya)
「Impossible! This [Sovereign Seal] is an article which has been excavated from a certain ruin. He has then obtained it after killing the adventurer who found it」
So he has snatched it, huh? If that's the case, this [Sovereign Seal] may not be the genuine article itself.
「The adventurer whom that guy had murdered was the benefactor for the two of us. He saved our life lots of times. We have to bestow retribution upon Jaofar」
「Normally, there wouldn't have been any way for a thief like Jaofar to be recognized as someone at the level of a heavenly emperor even if he's holding the [Sovereign Seal]. However, that guy has managed to obtain a strong power from somewhere else. Those are ────」
「the iron machine soldiers, right?」(Touya)
Rengetsu-san suddenly nodded.
The proof of the heavenly emperor, the [Sovereign Seal], and a power that became his might, the [Iron Machine Soldiers]. Certainly, it's not strange even if he proclaimed himself as the heavenly emperor.
However, I wonder, just from where has this thief called Jaofar obtained the [Iron Machine Soldiers]? As I've feared. In the end, is [Gordion] the one pulling the strings from behind the scenes?
「By the way, why is Touya-sa… Oni Warrior-dono here?」
「Ahー… It seems that this "iron machine soldier" that they are using has been based on the stolen frame gear from our country no matter how I look at it, so I consider doing a little revenge because of that」(Touya)
「So that's how it is, huh?… It's no wonder then. If so, I can accept its technological strength as well. However, I've felt that the frame gears that knocked down the wood golems were much stronger, based on what I've seen so far」
Well, that's obvious. That one was a deteriorated model if I were to try explaining it. Still, I couldn't make light of the technological strength that had been recreated in it. Hmm? Someone is running here.
「Sonia-san, Rengetsu-san! A-are you alright!? Who is this person!?」
「It's okay, Jesty. This person is our acquaintance. He healed Rengetsu's wound」
I'd been thinking that he was a pursuer for an instant, but I was mistaken. He's also wearing the same robe as Sonia-san and Rengetsu-san. It seemed that the Sonia-Rengetsu pair were letting this person escape and stayed behind. Though he ended up coming back for them, apparently.
「Touya-do…oni warrior-dono, he's Jesty Parallax. He's the son of our benefactor that I talked about a little while ago」
I see. It really is [Revenge]. The man called Jesty took off his hood. He had short brown hair with hazelnut colored eyes. His age was probably around 21-22 years old, and his height was about 180cm.
Although I considered him to be tall, Rengetsu-san was about as tall as I was and Sonia-san was taller than me. It seemed that there were many tall women among the dragon clan.
Speaking about myself, I was only about 170 cm. I'm still growing, and I would like to grow up to 175 somehow but…. huh…? Won't the growth of my body stop when I completely ascend into godhood….?
「I am Jesty Parallax. Thank you very much for helping Rengetsu-san!」(Jesty)
「Eh? Ah, no. Don't mind it」(Touya)
I was greeted by the man called Jesty while I was thinking about this and that which then surprised me a little. He seemed to be an excessively light-hearted cheerful young man.
「Okay, staying here for long time won't do us any good, right?…[Gate]」
I opened the [Gate] connected with the former imperial capital Shenghai from some time ago in front of our eyes.
「Come on. Let's get out of here quickly」(Touya)
I, having left the three people who were surprised, went through the [Gate] first. After a short period of time time, all three of them passed through the [Gate] the same way as I did with Sonia-san going first, followed by Jesty-san and Rengetsu-san as the last person to go in.
「Is this place here…?!」
「The former Imperial Capital of Yuuron, Shenghai」(Touya)
「Shenghai?! That's so far away, right?!」
「Amazing… Is this transfer magic?…」
Although the three people were restlessly looking around, Sonia-san suddenly bended her body and made a battle stance. Why?
「Oi, the youngsters there. If you value your lives, leave all your money and the woman over there and move away」(???)
「…You guys again?」(Touya)
The ones that came out from the shadow of the debris in groups were the the lowly highway bandits who had escaped just a while ago. Don't these guys ever learn? This scenario is also the same as the previous one.
I was wearing a mask, and they apparently didn't seem to comprehend that it's me because my clothes were different from that time.
「Paralysis」(Touya)
「Fugiyaaa?!」(Highway Bandits)
I caught the whole group of bandits in one go by applying [Paralysis] on them. It didn't seem like they would reflect on their actions by themselves unless they went through a bitter experience.
「So, regarding the matter you've mentioned a while ago. What do you think will happen if this guy Jaofar becomes the heavenly emperor?」(Touya)
「We already know that it won't be anything good. Have you seen the town? There were hardly any women or children, right? This is because Jaofar's soldiers are causing unreasonable violence. Furthermore, they are collecting money and goods from the large stores in the capital one after another. As a result, the merchants have ran away and the goods have stopped flowing. Even if they do come back, all of those will just be taken to the castle. It's the same as telling the citizens to die」(Sonia)
Muuu. By any chance, is that bad Chashumen the result of those circumstances? …. It's different, right?
「I wonder, what is he doing by collecting that much money?」(Touya)
「It's for the iron machine soldiers. He is trying to make further improvements and mass produce them. According to the information we've obtained, a large amount of raw materials have been carried to the castle three days ago」(Jesty)
Jesty-san answered my doubts. It looked like the production factory was inside the castle.
Nevertheless, I wondered from where this large amount of materials could've come. Assuming that Jaofar was connected to the [Golden Association], did they come from Ferzen?
「If we leave Jaofar alone, that guy will unmistakably invade other countries in the future by using the iron machine soldiers he has. That guy doesn't want Yuuron. It's nothing more than a staging ground for him. I'm sure he'll try to take over a country that's more prospering than Yuuron from among the neighboring ones」(Sonia)
It might be exactly as what Sonia-san said.
If he's aiming for another country, I wonder which country would it be. The neighbouring Rodomea and Zenoasu might be severe targets. Ishen may also be a target, but it's location is difficult to get to.
If I were him, what country would I aim to conquer?
… It would probably be Hanock. That country was being protected by the river to the west, and it wouldn't even be an opponent for Yuuron that's located to the east. Furthermore, there's large number of mines where one could harvest rare steel materials. It's the most suitable target to manufacture new iron machine soldiers.
He would suppress Hanock with the power of the iron machine soldiers, leave it under his own control, and established a new kingdom. He might be thinking that Yuuron, which had ended up becoming a country filled with a large number of ruins and wastelands and which only took a lot of money to rebuild, wouldn't be necessary anymore. Was that why he's hoarding money and goods, and not governing his capital enough? Maybe it's because it's a land which he would discard after all.
Right now, he's proclaiming himself the heavenly emperor for the sake of having the strength of an army and the means for producing the iron machine soldiers. In the end though, he's only doing what he's currently doing and nothing more.
「… It certainly sounds probable」(Touya)
「You agree, don't you?! Even though it has nothing to with us, we can't just close our eyes and be silent about other people's misfortune. As I've thought, we have to do something at once…! 」(Jesty)
Jesty-san looked mortified as he clenched his fists. This guy they'd been after was the enemy of his parent after all. What he felt was natural.
「We've already cornered Jaofar before as well. He didn't proclaim himself as the heavenly emperor yet, but we still failed and he somehow managed to escape at that time. If only we have defeated him at that moment…」(Rengetsu)
Saying "if only", "what if" won't do anything now. The question is what to do from now on…
「Anyway, I will sooner or later be contacted by my comrades who are looking into the true state of affairs. …. Speaking of which, everyone, do you know about the [Golden Association]?」(Touya)
「Let's see. I don't know about them… Rengetsu, Jesty, do you two know about them?」(Sonia)
「Unfortunately, no」(Rengetsu)
「I don't know about them as well」(Jesty)
Both people shook their heads.
Well, it WAS a secret society after all. It wouldn't be that easy to get information on them, I guessed.
「What is this [Golden Association]?」(Sonia)
「It's an organization which might be behind the development of the iron machine soldiers. They might perhaps be manipulating Jaofar as well」(Touya)
「Speaking of the word "golden"… Two people, who are guarding Jaofar, were wearing strange golden pendants…」(Sonia)
Sonia-san murmured as if she had remembered something.
「What kind of pendants?」(Touya)
「Let me see… I think those pendants have been crafted with six… no, seven sides with the circle made of gold at the center」(Sonia)
Sonia-san drew a picture on the soil with grinding sounds made by the stick.
How suspicious. Firstly, it being golden was suspicious already. Then, having seven sides was suspicious as well. I'd heard this from Rin before, but it seemed that the said heptagon represented the magic attributes. In other words, the seven attributes: fire, water, wind, earth, light, darkness, no-attribute.
The [Golden Association] was a sorcery society. The likelihood that they used it as their symbol was high.
Shall I try asking the King of Ferzen…? Which reminds me, I haven't passed smartphone to him.
Can't be helped. I took out my smartphone and called Raim-san, our butler, from the [Contacts].
「Moshi-moshi. Ah, is this Raim-san?」(Touya)
I asked Raim-san to send a letter to the King of Ferzen via the [Gate Mirror]. The subject stated that "If you know what banner the [Golden Association] uses, please tell us."
We would be waiting for quite a while, so I took out a table and chairs from [Storage] as well as black tea and doughnuts which I'd placed there in advance for snacks.
If only I had eaten these snacks from the start, I wouldn't have to expressly eat something repulsive like a troll shank. However, wasn't the point of eating at that place to try the flavors of this land at least once? This recent one was a miss though.
Although all three people were surprised at the sudden appearance of a table and the doughnuts, they started eating those snacks as if they were devouring them. Have they become that hungry? Especially Sonia-san. She was eating excessively. I wondered if the consumption rate of the dragon clan was bad. Oh well. It's fine since we still had more doughnuts.
I as well started eating the doughnut in my hand. Delicious. As I've thought. The cuisine of Clair-san, the head cook of our household, was divine.
Around the time when the doughnuts on the table had mostly been eaten up, an email came from Raim-san with a photo attachment. Considering his age, he was handling the smartphone pretty well, didn't he?
I looked at the photo of the illustration projected onto the screen.
「See there. I guess I was right」
A symbol of heptagon with the round circle in the center was being projected.
There's no mistake. The new heavenly emperor and the [Golden Association] were connected with one another.