By Zephyria 
Ruben answered easily, as if it were a pre-prepared response, without much thought.
“As soon as we finish eating, I plan to summon all of Felix’s personnel to Bivan. However, the mana in the capital is murky and ominous, so I’d prefer to gather them in a region a bit further south than here.”
“Hmm… Then how about Cambio?”
“What’s your reason for recommending it?”
“Cambio is a plain area, only half a day’s travel north from the Lake of Memories. All the timber used in Bivan comes from the logging areas in Cambio. They plant trees in spring and log in autumn, so by this season, the temporary lodgings should all be vacant. It will be easy to secure noble villas.”
“Good. Then I’ll summon the Knights there.”
“Yes. I will make the arrangements.”
Ruben stared directly at Mage Boulder, tapping the table twice with his fingertips. He tugged at the sleeve of Boulder, who was idly playing with the food Samantha had brought, making him lift his head. Ruben had no idea what Boulder was trying to do by making a horse out of a carrot.
Looking at Boulder’s bewildered face, Ruben commanded gently,
“Mage Boulder. Silence, please.”
“Huh? Yes!”
A circular barrier unfolded around the group. Silence wasn’t a type of magic that was immediately visible like a shield, but I could see the scattered fragments of mana spreading coldly. The spirits, gathered in a small cluster, playfully darted in and out of the Silence magic.
Ruben’s gaze also swept over the spirits once. Even so, his childlike voice and expression remained consistently serious.
“From the perspective of you two mages, why do you think ordinary people can continue their daily lives within the current mana concentration of Bivan’s capital? Is it by consuming the meat and blood used in rituals? Or do they themselves act as the axis of black magic? Or perhaps, are many of them inherently familiar with mana, enough to overcome mana poisoning?”
“…Uh. That.”
“If, due to some special reason, the Aries Stone that has overturned this land, or black magic comparable to it, were to be dispelled, would they all die?”
For a moment, breaths hitched.
Mage Boulder’s gaze immediately turned to Marianne. He had said he had never studied black magic separately. Marianne blinked several times, her eyes never leaving Ruben. Marianne could read the chill on Rubel’s pale cheeks. Marianne stammered,
“…Regarding that. Uh, …in the materials I read, there was… no information on that.”
“I would like you to ponder it from now on. I… do not wish to remove the safety pin of someone else’s explosive artifact just to find a single divine object.”
“…”
“When I visited the Royal Castle this time, I understood. Bivan’s current King, Queion, is the master of this black magic. He has no interest in the welfare of his kingdom or his subjects. He may have even gambled away all his subjects’ lives for profit.”
“What…? How did you… find such a definite trace of black magic? Was it just because crows gathered?”
“Because he has no greed, and he fears nothing.”
“…What?”
Rubel’s face was cold throughout. But now, I could read disappointment in Rubel’s eyes. The child blinked his sharp, elegant eyes once and quietly gazed at the water glass on the table.
“When he knew I was visiting the Royal Castle to ‘request’ something, a King of a nation should have first calculated what he could gain from me in this matter. But he sent me away with a dismissive attitude and no particular demands.”
“Uh… Well, that’s…”
“If he had prepared in advance, he should have at least placed a few of his trusted subordinates with servants in the room for our private meeting, but there was none of that either. He merely maintained the bare minimum of courtesy, enough not to provoke the Sierran Empire into immediate military action.”
“…”
I recalled the Bivan King’s dismissive attitude again.
Ruben continued,
“I wondered if the King might have been brainwashed, but the moment I mentioned the story from the village chief’s house, I knew immediately. He is well aware that the kingdom has become this way, and he has no intention of hiding the fact that he orchestrated it.”
“…”
“How should we approach this?”
The Sierran Empire appeared to be a peaceful nation. I had grown up amidst the laughter of kind people, born in a new land and celebrating my debutante. While Ruben’s father was said to have a cold disposition, he at least bore the responsibility for the country he led.
Of the five kingdoms, Owen, Yulan, and Bivan. All three countries visited in order had royal families in disarray. I thought Rubel would make the most excellent Emperor, and also wanted to comfort Ruben, so I gently placed my hand over his and said,
“Can’t Rubel become their King?”
“No. He cannot.”
“…Huh?”
Rubel smiled bitterly. His expression and tone were kind, but he did not take back his words. Everyone present listened to the child’s voice with quiet attention.
“I do not wish to be a conqueror, Mika.”
“But.”
“Just like the Sierran Empire, each kingdom has educated its citizens for hundreds, even thousands of years to be loyal to their royal families. There are already plenty of refugees who wish to become Sieran Citizens. I do not wish to persuade and embrace all the citizens of other kingdoms who have different lifestyles and cultures and are fiercely patriotic, nor can I. If one kingdom is attacked, the other four will unite. I want to postpone the worst option, war, as much as possible.”
“…Then?”
“…That’s why it’s difficult. I want to help them, but I can’t think of a way to do so immediately.”
I realized I was still thinking in the ways of the Central Plains.
I was no different from the fiends of the Demonic Cult who set out to unify the world. I felt ashamed, my face burning. The children, lost in thought, one by one began to speak, laying their ideas on the table.
Marianne, who had been asked the question first, was the first to speak.
“For starters… I can’t obtain black magic books in Bivan. I lack the confidence, and I’m afraid of ending up in a terrible situation if I get involved in the black market.”
“And then?”
“Please assign Mage Boulder and… one knight to me. I’ll check if the life force of Bivan’s citizens is connected to the magic circle that might be in the Bivan Royal Castle, while pretending to be a tourist wandering the streets. I feel like I need to know more before I can say anything.”
“Good. I grant permission.”
Next, Ivan raised his hand to ask for permission to speak.
As soon as Ruben nodded, the young man began to speak.
“As I mentioned earlier, while securing lodgings in the Cambio area, I will try to obtain food that is not produced in Bivan. After all, I feel uneasy about many things.”
“Where are you thinking of going?”
“I intend to go to Centrum. I plan to leave with only four attendants, is that alright?”
“Yes. I grant permission. I will also assign one knight to you.”
Centrum, located at the border of Sierran, Yulan, and Bivan, was an excellent commercial district. Food imported from Sierran would be relatively safer than Bivan’s. Even food from Yulan would be better than what was here. In that case, I would meet Ivan again in Cambio.
Ruben declared finally,
“We brought five Ranunculuses in total. We’ll keep one aside for emergencies… I will inform Withrow, the capital, and Yulan of the current situation and summon Felix’s Knights to Cambio.”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
“And then, myself, Michael, Lord Claudian, and Lord Andrei… the four of us…”
Ruben hesitated for a moment before continuing.
However, his pushing voice was as confident and resolute as ever.
“We must try to find the whereabouts of the divine object that was said to be lost in Bivan.”
How?
❖ ❖ ❖
The next day.
Very early in the morning, everyone left their lodgings as previously arranged.
Ivan and his wife, along with workers, took two carriages, stating they would head to Centrum with Sir Sheryl Von. Marianne, with Mage Boulder and Sir Bailey Barton as escorts, cheerfully bid farewell and turned to explore the market and residential areas.
And I, riding in the same carriage as Ruben, galloped in the direction the child led. Benjamin and Sir Samantha followed behind us on either side, forming a triangular formation as escorts.
It was an area on the outskirts that felt somewhat desolate.
The red brick walls were low. While mounted on a horse, the highest part of the wall barely reached below my knees. Though it would have been easy to simply ride over, Ruben deliberately circled around to find the gate.
We stopped before a gate entwined with withered, dried rose vines. Like the wall, the low iron gate was wide open. The wall and the gate didn’t seem to be there to block anything, but rather to mark this as my land.
The view was blurred by a pale mist. The sound of horses’ hooves echoed crisply on the well-laid flagstone floor.
Ruben held the reins, so I lightly held onto his waist and surveyed the surroundings.
“Where is this place?”
“It’s the Temple of Memories. So…”
Perhaps because of the dense fog, Ruben’s voice sounded muffled amidst the surrounding silence.
“Regions that engage in extensive farming tend to have high levels of faith, as harvests depend on the weather. Especially in Bivan, where they use the Lake of Memories as their water source, they worship the God of the Lake and the God of Memories as their First God, and have built a temple in each region.”
“…Mm.”
“Although it is said that six gods watch over the continent equally, choosing one god to idolize is a common method to conveniently control the mindset of the populace. Just as the Sierran Empire idolizes the First Goddess and builds temples to the First Goddess in each region.”
“…”
Was that so?
I had also briefly seen the central temple of the Empire from the outside. In the Sierran Empire, temples merely served the role of social welfare organizations. As the topic of gods kept coming up, I belatedly regretted not having gone inside at least once. Ruben continued,
“Not only in the Sierran Empire, but all temples accumulate a certain amount of Divine Power. In the past, I thought it was simply because priests who could perceive Divine Power always resided there… But now, we have met actual gods several times.”
“…Yes.”
“So, I thought the Divine Power accumulated in the temples might serve as evidence of the gods’ more direct involvement in the world. That’s why we came here first. I want to grasp even the smallest clue.”