By Zephyria 
The Power of the Oasis.
Rubel had previously suspected that Wesley Kiadris would be in Floyd. This was because all the informants dispatched to Floyd had died or disappeared in strange ways.
It was not common for swords to simply emerge from opening space.
Considering the way the informants were murdered, it was clear Wesley Kiadris was involved. Even if he wasn’t directly stationed in Floyd but was hiding somewhere in the Magic Territory, merely thrusting swords out, it wouldn’t make much of a difference.
If one were to chase the subtly thrusting swords, they would find the Ninth God.
As I listened, I grew curious again.
“When did the informants heading to Floyd lose contact?”
“It was relatively recent. Early this year, around January. The workers involved in the reservoir construction were the first to start dying for unknown reasons. It took a little while to figure out the cause of death, and by the end of February, many who tried to escape also died.”
“How were the ones who returned alive able to survive?”
“Only those who disguised themselves as merchants and traveled between Sierran and Floyd without ever deploying Ranunculus survived. It seems they were killed immediately upon being discovered deploying Ranunculus. Similarly, those who witnessed the murders and hid in nearby buildings to observe only returned without any reaction.”
“Construction workers, you say…”
“At first, we thought they were building bomb shelters because there was no water source at all. Look.”
Rubel took out a piece of paper, which he placed next to the map. It was a structural diagram of some kind of building. It was hard to believe that it took just over a year to dig 400 meters deep into the ground and line the floor and surrounding walls with bricks, meticulously filling in the gaps.
The Ninth God learned magic from Spiritus, didn’t he? Perhaps magic was used to excavate the land first, and then the workers surrounded it to carry out their tasks. As he said, it looked more like a bomb shelter than a reservoir.
Rubel tapped the paper with his pen tip at the four square locations marked on the east, west, north, south, and center of the reservoir, each measuring 10 meters wide and 4 meters deep.
“Unfortunately, I don’t know what kind of device is here. Around the time the informants started getting murdered, it was just a neatly constructed pit, and before the water filled it, the Power of the Sun couldn’t reach it.”
“The Power of the Sun?”
“The Sun God is a god who looks down, isn’t he? He can capture everything touched by sunlight within his sight… However, until February of this year, this place apparently appeared as only a black stain in the Sun God’s eyes.”
A black stain?
“Do you remember when the Sun God couldn’t see inside the Indus Canyon before?”
“…The Origin Proclamation?”
“Yes. But this time, without a proclamation, the Ninth God seems to have moved his Origin there. Simply to obscure the Sun’s eyes. There must have been a black magician among the nobles who supervised the reservoir construction.”
If they had been wearing black robes, they would have stood out, but that doesn’t seem to have been the case. After all, one wouldn’t wear such clothes in the middle of the city during the day, not just to block the desert wind.
I let go of Rubel’s hand and pulled the structural diagram closer to examine it.
A perfectly circular pit with equal width and depth, and five square-shaped secret rooms or holes in the center and cardinal directions within the pit.
It was a well-established principle that the more uniform and neat the surface, the easier it was to engrave a magic circle. It was no wonder Rubel suspected Floyd so strongly. If I had seen something like this first, I would have immediately said I was going to check Floyd first.
“After the water filled… it became visible to the Sun’s eyes starting in March of this year, then.”
“Yes. Before I heard that Lady Ernhardt fell ill because of a Shard of the Oasis, I simply thought the Ninth had moved his Origin. You can’t keep a living black magician floating on water indefinitely.”
“And now?”
“Since divine sources cannot interfere with each other, I believe the Oasis is here now.”
The gods of this world do not die unless they harm themselves.
Therefore, the Oasis would not have died either. It would have been split into many pieces, just as Gano Paquin did when he sealed the Ninth God, binding only the Origin tightly.
I’ve already experienced waking a sealed god, so all I need to do is go there, break the magic circle binding it, and then take out the Oasis.
I placed my finger on the map to measure the distance from the capital to this reservoir. The distance from the capital to the reservoir in Galia was only slightly shorter than the distance from the capital to the Widrow Duchy.
“Water 400 meters deep would certainly make movement difficult.”
“Yes. The next phase will be underwater combat. We’ll have to think about how to get inside the reservoir.”
“What about my Undine?”
“If the depth were a little shallower, it might be okay… but with just one Undine, you’ll be too busy just taking care of yourself.”
Rubel cautiously examined my face. The child found my hand again and grasped it. Perhaps because I had been holding it for a while, Rubel’s fingertips were not cold but lukewarm. Puzzled, wondering what this sudden display of affection was, I looked at him. The child’s lips moved slightly, and he asked in a low voice.
“…I was thinking of asking Lady Yeldidus for help, would that be alright?”
“Huh? Yes.”
Was there any reason it wouldn’t be alright?
It would be much better if the intermediate Water Spirit, Nereid, could help. If only that fellow could bring some of his friends too. I nodded readily, and Rubel tilted his head, looking at my face.
After staring at each other for a while, the child swallowed. What was it?
“Ta-da!”
Suddenly, Marianne smiled brightly and swept the structural diagram laid out on the table away.
Only then did I realize that Rubel hadn’t paid any attention to the others present while he was explaining things to me, and I felt belatedly sorry. I first saw Mac Weaber swallowing a rumbling sound from deep within his throat.
Rubel’s expression turned prim as he continued.
“You know that Young Master Edwin Kiadris here has researched Michael’s Mana Cultivation Method, that is, the Hip-Circulate Method, right?”
“…Ah, did he?”
“You’re really out of it. I told you about it too. When you were fighting ogres.”
“Hmm.”
Edwin added, but nothing remained in my memory.
Only after listening to the explanation for a while could I recall the day I visited the Magic Tower in my third year at the Academy to fight an ogre. Edwin tried to speak in a nonchalant tone, but like most wizards, his voice tone was slightly higher than usual when discussing research.
“Your ‘internal energy’ is similar to Divine Power, so it was research to use that to loosen the bonds of mana. The initial goal was to weaken monsters, but monsters just ate whatever mana they were given, whether purified or contaminated, and didn’t spit it back out.”
“…Ah.”
“But I found something better.”
Edwin cleared his throat. He seemed to be trying hard to suppress his desire to show off.
“If you apply internal energy to a Monster Variant, the mutation is undone.”
“…Even without a True Energy practitioner?”
“Yes. The effect is better upon contact, but it’s also possible without contact. You said the mana within a mutated monster has a different form and structure than regular mana, right? Whether it disappears or transforms into something else hasn’t been proven yet, but in any case, the monsters’ outer skin color returns to normal, and their behavior also reverts to that of the original monster. Experiments showed that they seem to remember the actions they took during their mutation well, regardless of species.”
“What about Divine Power?”
“Strangely, that didn’t work. At the Magic Tower, they suspect it’s because clerics can handle less mana at once than with internal energy. Also, most clerics treat monsters as impure, making experiments difficult.”
I could now handle an amount of energy that made counting my current capacity seem pointless.
Circulating external energy within my body, converting it into internal energy, and scattering it… I hadn’t tried it before, but I felt like I could do it. This made me feel relieved, as I thought I could deliver a proper blow even if I encountered a swarm of Monster Variants later. I nodded in agreement.
“Are you going to continue researching Monster Variants?”
“No, I have to return to the Duchy now. My mother came all this way, so I have to go with her.”
“Hmm.”
There were no Monster Variants or Magic Towers in the Kiadris Duchy.
There were a total of five Magic Towers in the Sierran Empire. Among them, Towers 1 and 2 were in the capital, Tower 3 was in Widrow, Tower 4 was in Valentia, and Tower 5 was in Yeldidus. Tower 2, originally in Kiadris, had been moved to the capital generations ago.
Therefore, if Edwin wanted to continue researching Monster Variants, the Kiadris Duchy was not a good option. However, he answered easily with his usual crooked and sullen expression.
“If there’s no king on the chessboard, the game isn’t fun. The Kiadris Duchy is the land I will rule from now on. I can’t just run away.”
“Wow, a declaration of rebellion in front of the Second Prince.”
“It’s not.”
Marianne smiled brightly and mimed clapping. Edwin’s gaze, watching her perform such an act without any sound of clapping, remained sharp, but the fact that he didn’t get angry showed he had become much more of an adult than before.
Perhaps because he was aiming for the ducal title, he seemed more mature than before, which was quite satisfactory. Or was it because the outgoing Marianne was beside him? That might be the case.
“Still, you two seem to have become quite close.”
“Of course! Senior Edwin helped me a lot.”
Marianne replied cheerfully, but she blinked rapidly at me. Despite her beaming smile, I found her wink amusing. They hadn’t become close, had they? Edwin let out a breath of disbelief.
I followed Marianne’s lead and made a casual joke.
“Does he help others?”
“…What do you mean? How much I…”
“Whoa. Our senior has a soft heart. Be careful what you say, Michael.”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
“See, he’s already embarrassed.”
Bright light began to stream in through the window.
As I helped Rubel tidy up the papers he had calmly laid out, we chatted about various things. The three knights who were going to Floyd with me remained quiet, so it was mostly me and Marianne engaging in casual conversation and teasing Edwin.
Edwin scowled a few times, but eventually let out a wry chuckle and stood up.
“Alright. I think we’ve said everything we needed to say, so I’ll be going.”
“When are you leaving?”
“Today.”
“Then I’ll be going too, Michael. Let’s talk separately later.”
Marianne also pretended to be very sleepy, rubbing her eyes.
“Then we will also take our leave. We will be assessing personnel and assigning teams shortly, so Lord Ernhardt, please come and take a look.”
“Yes. …I’ll stay and talk a bit longer.”
“Yes.”
The three knights also stood up to follow them. Edwin bowed briefly to Rubel as a sign of respect and was the first to leave. Following him, the other two, led by Mac Weaber, also bowed and left, and Marianne waved goodbye with both hands, smiling brightly, and exited the drawing-room.
Rubel was still holding my hand tightly.
494 – 494.
The people who had filled the drawing-room had all left, yet it didn’t feel empty at all.
I quietly looked down at Rubel’s hand holding mine, then turned my hand to grasp his, palm to palm. Then Rubel slid his fingers between mine, interlocking them. And then he led me.
We sat side-by-side on the largest, most spacious, and softest sofa.
As the outside gradually brightened, long, deep shadows stretched and faded within the room. The white sunlight fractured into various colors before filling the room white again.
We were quiet, lost in our own thoughts. The conversations Rubel and I had shared since our reunion were mostly about the past. Things like what I saw at a certain time, or when I thought of you.
But today, I heard about the future.
As I pondered what we should do next and what lay ahead, my mind grew complicated. I worried for a moment, wondering if I was afraid of something. But it wasn’t long before I realized I was simply distressed by the thought of parting from Rubel so soon after meeting him.
Rubel, who had been gently stroking my hand, suddenly spoke.
“Would wearing a ring be too inconvenient for you?”
“Yes. Probably.”
“….”
It was a valid point.
While it was said that one’s attire had little impact once they reached a certain realm, this was a battle between masters, a fight on the level of gods. Victory could hinge on the most minute sensations in the fingertips, so it was best to shed any cumbersome accessories.
However, I knew what the child was hoping for when he asked.
“And even if that weren’t the case, now is not a good time.”
“…A good time?”
“Yes.”
If I were to be defeated.
Or even if I were to consume the divine source of the Ninth God and transform into some other being.
I gazed into Rubel’s dark eyes. After a moment of catching his breath, he tilted his head slightly. Without refusal, I also calmly regulated my breathing. It was a light kiss, our lips barely touching, yet my body grew warm as if ignited by our breath.
When he tried to deepen the kiss, I gently pushed his shoulder to stop him. Rubel immediately pulled back and looked at me. He gently stroked my white cheek as if to soothe me. With one hand still clasped with mine and the other caressing Rubel, I felt as though we were intertwined branches of the same tree.
I wished we could be so entangled, so inseparable.
“About the will I left when I ascended the Yuil Mountains…”
“…Mm.”
The short writing I had penned just before graduation should have been in my family’s hands. Especially since Rubel had ascended the Yuil Mountains with me at the time, he would have had no opportunity to possess that envelope.
Yet, somehow, I felt Rubel might have it.
“Do you happen to have it, Rubel?”
“…Yes.”
A smile bloomed on my face.
“Did you read it?”
“Of course, no. I didn’t.”
Many nobles in the Sierran Empire regularly reviewed their wills. They knew well that their lives were a story with a beginning, and they wished to write the end themselves.
Thus, it was common for knights who frequently ascended the Yuil Mountains or wizards who conducted dangerous experiments to write dozens, even hundreds, of wills during their lifetime.
And such written wills were never opened before the funeral. There was a superstition that looking at a will beforehand would hasten the death of the writer.
The words left for others were sufficient as they were, then and now: I cherished you all dearly, and may you be happy forever. There was no need to change them. But the part I had left specifically for Rubel was different.
I once again erased the anxiety that flickered in Rubel’s gaze with my lips.
“I want to change its contents. May I borrow the study?”
“…Yes.”
Rubel’s voice, deeply subdued as if enduring something, was truly pitiable.
Suppressing a sigh, I deliberately smiled warmly.
It had been a very long time since I had entered Rubel’s study.
The color of the curtains on the window, the heavy, antique desk – everything was the same. Even the fact that there was only one chair at the desk remained unchanged. While I knew it was natural for meetings to be held in the office rather than the study, I felt a strange flutter of excitement at entering Rubel’s private space alone.
Various documents lay heavily on the large desk. A Crystal Orb, placed as a paperweight to keep the papers from scattering, caught my eye. Rubel offered me a seat at the desk as he organized his papers, and I sat before it.
“Where is it?”
“In the desk drawer. The top one.”
I usually would have put it somewhere out of reach.
Puzzled, I opened the drawer.
The white envelope was sealed tightly with the crest of House Ernhardt. It was so worn from being handled that its four corners were frayed. On the back of the envelope, the ink with my name written on it had also faded.
Even though I had taken the followers of the Sun God one by one, he must have known I was alive. The traces of his longing for me during the two years we were out of contact brought tears to my eyes.
Without hesitation, I opened the envelope and examined its contents.
Rubel peered curiously, but I didn’t show him. I left the front page for family and friends as it was, and folded the back page, where Rubel’s name was written, in half. Rubel fetched a small oil lamp for me, and I burned it, just as wills were often handled in the Empire.
With new paper and a pen laid out before me, I pondered for a moment. Rubel’s gaze, constantly peeking over, made me chuckle. I wondered what was so curious that he fidgeted like a puppy seeing a roadside flower for the first time.
“…What’s so funny?”
“It’s not that it’s funny…”
His petulant voice made me laugh again.
I put down my pen without even writing the first sentence. As I opened my arms, Rubel, as if he had been waiting, nestled into my embrace. His body, which landed lightly on my thighs, felt lighter than a feather, and when I asked if he had perhaps lost weight, I was met with undeserved scolding.
Rubel, who had been panting beside my temple, whispered.
“Write ‘Wait’.”
“…What?”
“‘You won’t die, so holding your funeral in advance is ridiculous. Write that you will wait for me, no matter how many years pass, even decades. I will keep your dying wish, so you can return to me when you are comfortable.'”
It seemed he had guessed what I intended to write, even without reading it.
I remained still, having no words to reply. Rubel tightened his grip on my shoulder. As he urged me on, I nodded. But could that be right? I couldn’t leave such a trial for this child.
He let out a pained groan, and I gently patted his back.
I had to make him think of someone else, not me. But no one came to mind. He whined and even tried to bite my neck, and I was busy pulling his neck to stop him.
“…Your late father-in-law…”
“…”
“No, His Majesty the former Emperor…”
“…Did you call Beneto that, in your thoughts?”
“…”
“…”
Then what should I call him? I couldn’t possibly call him father-in-law.
Feeling awkward, I could only laugh. Rubel, as if his distress had been a lie, suddenly brightened and showed me his clear face. It felt strange that he was smiling so brightly even when talking about his deceased father.
“Yes. Beneto, why?”
“…I’m curious what he left as his last words for Rubel.”
“Ah. Um…”
After a moment’s hesitation, he shrugged his shoulders lightly.
“He didn’t say anything.”
“…What?”
That couldn’t be right.
Beneto Loki Sheeran hadn’t disappeared in a sudden accident. He had made proper arrangements, such as handing over the divine object, before his death. Therefore, it was only right that he should have left some words for his son and heir apparent, Rubel.
Was he simply making excuses because he didn’t want to tell me? Lost in thought, I remained silent for a moment, then Rubel tapped my chin with his index finger. I looked up at him. Rubel was still smiling.
“What are you curious about? It’s okay to ask.”
“…”
“Really, Mika. I have no intention of hiding anything from you.”
Every point of contact grew warm. After he gently nudged me to speak, I pondered for a long time before finally opening my mouth.
“How did you discover the former Emperor’s… unrecorded indiscretions?”
“I heard it from his personal physician.”
“…Personal physician?”
“Yes. The Emperor couldn’t resolve secret matters with his own hands. There were too many eyes watching. Selecting handsome, easily tempted escort knights to be placed beside Melatia, or staging a fake funeral to send Melatia away alive – these were things that required someone to secretly intervene.”
“…”
“My father had three personal physicians in addition to his recorded aides. And one of them seemed to have acted as his shadow. Though not anymore.”
One does not judge an Emperor during his time. The hidden stories of Beneto Loki Sheeran, known to some but unspoken by those who lived alongside him, were only revealed to me after his death, through his son’s words.
Beneto Loki Sheeran was born the third of three sons and two daughters.
His two elder brothers were children of the Emperor’s first wife, while Beneto was born to the second wife, the Young Lady of Marquess Roclem. The fourth and fifth children were born to the third wife. The Emperor, having lost both his first and second wives early on, doted on his third wife.
However, he still wished to bestow the throne upon his eldest daughter. Beneto’s first elder sister was a benevolent person. She cared for not only her own siblings but also her half-siblings. She was wise and intelligent. Anyone could see she was suited for the throne.
The Emperor’s third wife at the time wished for one of her children to become Emperor. She succeeded in assassinating Beneto’s two elder brothers through mysterious accidents, and attempted to kill Beneto in the same manner.
To survive, Beneto decided to seek help from his maternal family.
The Marquess of Roclem, who possessed abundant financial resources from managing trade with Floyd, detested the Emperor and his offspring, Beneto, for failing to protect his daughter. However, upon seeing his daughter’s face in the fleeing Beneto, the Marquess of Roclem soon changed his mind.
And Beneto poisoned his two younger siblings and his stepmother in one sitting.
With poison procured from Floyd, the land of Alchemy.