STM 142

Tairok’s eyebrows twitched. He looked surprised to realize his offhand remark had hit the nail. Thanks to that, I didn’t need to give a long explanation and got straight to the point.

“But Mrs. Ekaf has a bit of a problem when she uses the power of the divine beast. Since it’s her first time using the power of the divine beast, she doesn’t know how. That’s why she needs Your Grace’s help. If you could first accept Sarne divine beast’s power, and then find and teach her the method…”

“No.”

The firm refusal gave me a déjà vu. It reminded me of that bastard Kun, who had acted like a jerk in the underground tomb beneath Borhumi Castle. I wasn’t the only one feeling this anxious.

Sssshhh~

With the sound of a sword being drawn, Black Bear said coldly.

“I don’t need Kun’s help either.”

No, no, no. You take the help, and you, Tairok, give the help, that’s a win-win for both of you!

I could already picture myself getting screwed over in the middle again. But back then in Borhumi Castle, communication was poor and one side was an intangible divine beast, so at least they didn’t fight directly.

But now? If things went south, wouldn’t they just hack at each other with swords? Tairok was problematic, but from what I’d seen these past few days, Black Bear was also a stubborn individual.

I braced myself to jump between them if things got heated, grabbing Tairok’s arm first. “Hey, listen to me first,” I was about to try and reason with him, but Mo sensed something.

[The bear is moving.]

“Huh?”

My surprise was minor, but both of them turned around to look at me at the same time.

“What’s wrong?”

Tairok asked, but instead of answering, I raised my hand. The bear was indeed rising.

Since it rarely spoke first, I was about to step forward in confusion when Tairok’s arm blocked my path.

“The bear… Sarne divine beast seems to have something to say.”

The divine beast stepping forward had the desired effect. Black Bear quickly lowered her sword and turned respectfully in my direction, and Tairok also paused his movements for a moment. But when I remained silent for a long while, he couldn’t hold back and asked.

“What’s it saying?”

I looked up at him with a pitying gaze.

“It has just started with one letter.”

“…What?”

“The Sarne divine beast speaks very slowly.”

“You mean it drags out its words?”

“No. With its body.”

Tairok’s eyebrows wriggled like worms again. Fortunately, he seemed to recall another divine beast’s that had communicated through physical movements before. So, while nodding in understanding, he asked with apparent dissatisfaction.

“But why slow?”

Well, because everything was painfully slow. Before I could answer, Black Bear interjected.

“A divine beast’s actions always have meaning. How dare a mere human question what it does?”

“It might be a divine beast’s to you, but to me, I already don’t like that it dared to trespass onto my land.”

Whoosh~

Black Bear raised her sword again.

“I know why the divine beast followed me into this land. It must wanted to see me defeat that insolent fool.”

“It’d be quite entertaining to slit your throat right in front of that divine beast.”

The two started fighting again. Experience told me I had to subdue them both early on.

“Ah, quiet down! The divine being is still speaking! Settle it with rock-paper-scissors afterward, if you must!”

Look, that bear is still expressing a single character… huh.

The bear, whose gaze met mine, straightened its body in less than 30 seconds.

Then it spread just two fingers. Its fingers were so short and stubby that I could barely tell them apart except by the claws.

It pointed those two fingers at its own eyes, then turned them directly toward me. It looked like a warning, “Don’t look away.”

…Are you kidding me?! After being that slow, now you’re telling me not to do anything else during that time?! I felt my blood pressure rising again.

“What’s wrong? What did the Sarne divine beast say?”

Unaware of my boiling frustration, Tairok urged me on from the side. I glanced at him and Black Bear, then announced with a touch of personal bias.

“It says both of you should shut up.”

Leaving the now-silent pair behind, I continued the frustratingly slow process of talking to the bear. It had better not be saying something trivial.

Divine beast or not, I would sprinkle salt on it. The divine beast’s message ended just as I made up my mind. Mo automatically displayed the interpretation.

[It seems to mean ‘Kun needs my power’.]

Huh? The words were so unexpected that I found myself turning toward Tairok. He had grown tired of waiting and was gazing at distant mountains when he noticed my gaze.

“Is it done?”

“Yes, the divine beast says Kun needs its power.”

In that instant, Tairok’s gaze flickered like a burning flame.

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“It’s as you predicted, Salvation.”

Duke Kilu, who had come to find Hoiga, smiled as he delivered the news.

“Adeye tried to delay the hunting tournament date by scheming with the priest. So they’re summoning a priest from a very distant place to tend the sacred brazier that kindles the Eternal Flame.”

“Priest Sidro?”

Duke Kilu nodded, and a smile appeared on Hoiga’s face.

“Emphasizing the date had its effect, after all. They were wary of my prophecy, so they must have believed an accident would occur on that very date.”

“But the important thing isn’t the date?”

“No, it’s people and objects.”

The cause of the accident is precisely human greed. The carelessness of the priest named ‘Sidro’. So the date wasn’t important. All that mattered was creating an environment where that priest would cause an accident.

“Adeye has been assigned to handle Priest Sidro’s transportation. This too is as you wished. Is there anything else you desire?”

“I wish for Priest Sidro to remain where I desire and encounter the sacred brazier for the first time.”

“Where?”

“Adeye.”

Kilu’s eyes widened slightly, he looked startled.

“Were you targeting Lantuya from the start?”

“Adeye Lantuya always stays confined to the mansion, so the likelihood of her being caught up in an accident is high.”

“If Lantuya dies, all the Adeye family’s assets will pass to Lu. Then the one who benefits is Tairok.”

When Kilu voiced his objection, Hoiga nodded.

“Yes, so Lu must also stay at the Adeye residence that day.”

“Ah, the siblings together.”

Kilu rubbed his mouth to stifle his laughter.

“But will Lu, who’s infatuated with Tairok, really leave the Kun territory?”

“Just offer him a sweet enough bait to make him leave.”

“Like what?”

“Say, a party at the imperial palace for the nobles disappointed by the postponed hunting tournament. But even if Lu attends, he’ll be humiliated and driven out.”

“Why?”

Hoiga stared at Kilu, who asked for the reason.

“Because the duke, the party’s host, will see to it.”

Kilu could no longer hide his laughter and chuckled.

“If Lord Salvation commands it, I shall naturally obey.”

Hoiga’s expression hardened, seemingly displeased with the title “Lord Salvation.” But Kilu, unconcerned, was curious about something else.

“If the Adeye siblings disappear, where do you think all that fortune will go? Lantuya surely prepared a will beforehand, right?”

“No. Lantuya hasn’t written a will yet. To be more precise, she said she doesn’t care where her fortune goes after she dies.”

Kilu looked surprised at the unexpected information coming from Hoiga.

“Is this information from the Ma Trading Company?”

“We take a keen interest in anything concerning Adeye. But who knows? A will drafted secretly after Lantuya’s sudden death might surface.”

Kilu understood Hoiga’s meaning and his eyes lit up again.

“Lantuya’s will is surely bound by powerful magic. Normally, it would be unsealed using the deceased’s hair, right?”

“After the accident, everything will burn, and only ashes will remain, so you won’t get it from the corpse. Unless the executor had it in their possession beforehand, that is.”

“I’ve heard the senior mage handling Adeye’s contracts is highly loyal.”

“But everyone has weaknesses. The mage’s weakness is the good deed he once did for a village.”

How could a good deed be a weakness? Kilu looked confused, and Hoiga explained briefly.

“No one knows he killed a noble to save the villagers. The noble was a cruel man, but murder is murder.”

“It sounds like you have evidence.”

“Yes. We shouldn’t recklessly slander a respected mage based on mere conjecture. There are witnesses.”

As Hoiga smoothly delivered the answers one after another, Kilu burst out laughing.