Salem was checking on his healed ear in the mirror. There was no longer any pain and the bleeding had stopped. Regardless, half of it had been torn away.
"Shit, the archbishops are bound to be noisy when they learn the Pope has lost a part of his ear."
Salem headed to his bedroom, shouting more profanities along the way. Just as he was taking in a breath, ready to unleash another torrent of insults, Salem heard someone running toward him. He turned around to find someone standing there, breathing roughly and already drenched in sweat. Anyone who saw them would have thought they'd just finished running through rain. Still, ignoring his ridiculous appearance, Salem was surprised to run into him.
'Prince Pygni? What could have brought this pig here?'
"W-wait… a minute…" Pygnia said, gasping for air. "Ah, I'm dying."
Prince Pygni plopped onto the ground as though he was completely exhausted. Despite his royal blood, he had neither an air of grace nor authority around him. He looked so pathetic that he looked more like a well-dressed pig than a person, at least to Salem.
"What is the matter?"
Salem worked to the best of his ability to control his expression, but there was only so much he could do to keep his facial muscles from twitching. In his heart, he wanted to pummel the boy in front of him. Despite his irritated-looking smile, Pygni spoke as though he hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary.
"W-well it's just that…"
Salem invited Prince Pygni into the VIP room to continue their conversation. In that empty room with just the two of them, the Prince still looked nervous. His fingers continued to fidget as he repeatedly peeked at Salem before looking away. It was an expression that was easy to read.
'He wants something. What could it be? Women? Even though he lacks experience, maybe he's following his instincts? Money? Someone of royal blood should not be in need of money…'
"W-well it's…" Pygni tried to speak with great difficulty. "Are you holding the former Hero, T-thoma, or whatever?"
Did he lack the ability to beat around the bush? He had laid out the topic so bluntly.
Salem frowned. 'This stupid prince. As if his lack of grace wasn't enough, does he only know how to speak like a simpleton?'
"How did you know about this?"
Prince Pygni looked overwhelmed by Salem's gaze and turned away.
"What? No, t-that is… Oskal…"
'Oskal? That can't be true. Oskal found out?'
He had locked Oskal in his room and kept him tied him up using his obligations to the prince. Salem thought there was no way that he could know that Thoma had been captured.
'How does he know? Does he have some other means of communication? Could he have already established some network of informants before arriving? No, that can't be… but could it? I had thought the guy's brain was made of muscle, but this is strange.'
Salem looked back at the prince while feeling a newfound sense of respect for Oskal. If his assumption was true, that meant that Oskal had sent the prince. Therefore, there was only one thing that the prince could want from him right now.
'The freedom of the hero. What a foolish request. Does he really think I'll acquiesce to this shitty prince?'
It was already too late for Oskal to do anything. He couldn't openly defy Salem nor protest against his actions. To him, Thoma's life was important, but so were both the Kingdom of Lome's reputation and its diplomatic ties to the Holy Kingdom. Even if he cut ties with the kingdom to rescue Thoma, there was no way that Lome would come out unscathed.
"Did you perhaps receive a request from Oskal? To liberate the Hero? I cannot do that." Salem reached for his tea. "As you know, he committed a crime, and received the appropriate…"
Out of the blue, Pygni said a single word that sent shivers down Salem's spine.
"Life extension."
His eyes grew wide. The prince looked surprised by Salem's reaction and lowered his head.
"O-Oskal told me to tell you! If you release Thoma, the Kingdom of Lome will provide you with their research on the Ancient Kings relating to the extension of life…!"
"… Just where did you hear about such magic?"
"T-that is something Oskal… Even I don't…"
Salem scowled. Something was off. Too much information was being leaked, to an almost nonsensical degree. He had been keeping his research on immortality under strict control, treating it as top-secret information.
'Did Akareal leak it?'
She was not the type to do so, but Salem couldn't come to any other conclusion.
"I-it might not be comparable to the Kingdom of Aylans, but it is still supplementary material related to their research, so… it might be helpful."
Pygni continued bumbling his words as he trembled. To anyone watching, it would have sounded like he was stumbling through a practiced speech. Salem, who noticed this, put down his cup and leaned back on the sofa with his fingers crossed.
'… Life extension?'
The Kingdom of Lome had been a kingdom that had been born by the sword. It was completely different from Akareal's motherland, Aylans, whose people put everything into their development of magic. Even if Lome had anything related to immortality, it would be of a lower quality than Aylans.
'But it could be that because of this, they might have approached the concept through a different route that we haven't considered. Regardless of how useless the technique is, it could prove helpful. But it's still not enough. To free the Hero with just that? No way.'
"M-more than that… Oskal would personally step in to help in case of a diplomatic emergency…"
This time, Salem smiled. Oskal was someone that he had a use for in the future.
'Oskal will personally step in?'
Oskal's influence within the Kingdom of Lome was immense. He was known to be impulsive and thoughtless, but he could face a reasonably-sized army alone and come out on top. It was because of this that he was considered a figure of absolute strength within the kingdom. It wasn't for nothing that the previous Hero's party was regarded as being the most powerful in recorded history.
On top of that, according to rumors, Oskal was currently in his prime in terms of strength and skill.
'Having such a person bow down to me? It wouldn't be a terrible feeling.More than anything, he will personally step in for any diplomatic emergency…?'
That would mean that in times of war, he and his soldiers could be deployed to aid the Holy Kingdom.
'It's a good offer.'
In any case, Thoma's illness was growing worse. He could die at any time. Putting his body through any more physical torture would cause him to die, and that would be nothing more than an empty victory.
'But… it's still not enough. Another condition… that's it!'
"In exchange, I have one more condition."
"Hm?"
Prince Pygni raised his head.
"Three days from now, the Holy Knights from my kingdom will be deployed against the allied army of the Demon Kingdom. I would like a promise that Oskal will be personally deployed in the front lines there."
"W-will that be enough?" Pygni asked hesitantly.
"Yes, of course."
Salem smiled. He would make Oskal owe him a favor and Akareal would also be deployed alongside the Hero's allied forces. The two people who most want to save Thoma would be separated from him. Regardless of whether he was freed, he would be defenseless and unable to resist. Salem would continue to make him fall deeper and deeper into an endless despair.
"I understand. I will let Oskal know!"
"Then I will release the Hero. Three days after the main force of the Holy Kingdom is deployed, before I leave here to join them. I will release him then."
"Understood!"
Prince Pygni let out a sigh of relief as he lowered his head. Salem chuckled mockingly while watching the prince tremble.
'It's cute watching the pig tremble in fear.'
— Ω —