Book 9 Chapter 10
Episode 209
The Ranoa Grand Bridge.
A long bridge connecting Tashin Island, where <Orvenheim> is located, and the Adrion Continent, it served as the continent's practical gateway.
In the era of the old republic, the grand bridge screened out dangerous individuals through thorough inspections, as it was a perilous land bordering the Abyss.
“That tradition has been maintained to this day, with the Southern Republic's Witch Association gruffly controlling it.”
Valensidis, the human dark wizard responsible for the team's explanations, said.
“If you don't get an entry permit here, your entire continental journey will be deemed illegal. It will even be impossible to stay in cities.”
“So what?”
“Your identity is uncertain… You, who have been declared dead, will absolutely not be able to cross there.”
“Ah.”
“And this mute prince would also be in danger. I guarantee that one or two members of the brigade will surely be stationed at the grand bridge.”
“I, I have dis- disguised identification.”
Prince Obin Leegwind, who had been fidgeting with both index fingers, bravely spoke, but only received Valensidis’s cold stare.
“They would have already seen through that too. An assassin came looking for you, and you're still spouting such ignorant nonsense?”
It was a cold and impudent response, unfamiliar to royalty… yet Obin offered a fragile, apologetic smile.
That was truly strange.
He had seen Princess Grashan Leegwind on the front lines 300 years ago, and she was utterly arrogant.
“You talk as if you're so great, but you're a criminal too. Your identity is just as uncertain as mine.”
At that, Valensidis, with an arrogant gesture, pulled out six identification cards and seven adventurer tags.
“Hmph, unlike your incompetent self, I can transform into thirteen different people.”
“Woah! Isn't this totally crazy?”
“Hey, I'm bored to death, how long are we going to talk about this? Just get to the point quickly and let me switch shifts.”
Rem's voice, mixed with a yawn, came from a mulberry branch directly above his head. He was standing guard as an archer.
“Right, Valensidis, you wouldn't have brought this up without a solution.”
“Of course, I prepared the solution when we left the Teresh Archipelago.”
Valensidis soon pulled out a scroll and three identification cards from his pocket.
Miria, who was gently cradling the deeply sleeping Akie with a shy smile, was called over.
As the two of us stood side by side, Valensidis unrolled the scroll and showed its contents… and for a moment, I doubted my eyes.
“This is a marriage registration form perfectly fabricated with the help of the Special Operations Department at the <Karsiko> City Hall.”
“?”
“Your disguised identity is Ted, a 26-year-old adventurer whose death hasn't been reported. The two of you married six years ago and then had two children.”
“???”
“Eldest daughter Akie, second daughter, Aru.”
“?????”
“I named her Aru because she kept saying 'Aru aru'.”
Nen, cradled in my arms, mumbled happily in her sleep.
“Aruu…”
Aru?
How could such a cute name…!
Come to think of it, Karen-den had given her a name only after we left the island.
“Anyway, this goblin woman has traveled between both continents, so her identity is certain. The only way to piggyback on that is through marriage.”
“!!!!!!!!!!”
“To summarize, when you two cross the grand bridge, you must pretend to be a couple, no, a family with two children.”
Huh?
Why did the story turn out like that?
Perhaps too shocked to speak, Miria repeatedly opened and closed her mouth.
“Is there no other way?”
“No.”
“So I'm a married woman now? I've never even dated a man before?”
“Yes. What's the problem? That poor Rain Ludwig is clearly a virgin, but he has two children.”
Constructing a magic circle, 5th tier.
Rune formation. Fire, Field, Throw…
“It was a joke. Isn't that the Rune of Cremation and Hemorrhage? I feel like I'd definitely die if I got hit by it, so I'd appreciate it if you stopped.”
Miria glared at him with an annoyed expression.
“Are you okay? Even if the story turns out this way?”
“Why wouldn't I be okay?”
“Okay?”
Perhaps perplexed by my answer, Miria wore a puzzled expression.
But her being so perplexed is actually surprising. After all, we only have to act once when crossing the grand bridge, right?
We're not actually becoming a real couple. And above all,
“It's your chance to be Akie's mom for a day, whom you like so much.”
Perhaps realizing she had a dazed expression looking down at Akie, or trying to hide it, Miria spun her body around.
“Right. In that case, it wouldn't matter. Being a couple with you is out of the question, but thinking of it as being Akie's mom isn't bad.”
Hmph, poor thing.
You're just for a day, but I'm a dad all the time. …Until I reach <Flaming Myriad>.
Bart, who had been training his strength with a dragonbone spear in the clearing over there, spoke.
“How are you going to get Obin across the grand bridge?”
As if in response, the sound of bones clashing echoed from Valensidis's entire body, and his physique began to transform into that of a woman.
“I also have a disguised identity as a witch.”
And incredibly… even his voice changed to that of a beautiful woman. His skin color also turned a coppery hue, typical of a republican.
Is this what a master of counter-magic is like?
Valensidis cast a glance at Obin and stated his conclusion.
“Witches sometimes take orphans as disciples. In such cases, the witch's identity becomes the disciple's proof of identity. I will say I've taken on a disciple. I'll teach you counter-magic starting now.”
* * *
Sun City, Bara.
The kingdom's high and low officials gathered in the inner palace, used as the Solond royal family's palace.
A five-year-old princess sat on the throne, flanked by Regent Predal and High Priest Lamesa.
“Prince Obin's divine aura has been severed. He must have met with an accident somewhere, or perhaps he has left the continent.”
At Lamesa's remark, the officials' faces turned pale. Regent Predal frowned.
“He was never fit to be called a prince in the first place. When the kingdom's survival was at stake, didn't he immediately steal all the wealth and flee?”
“Even if you are the regent, what impudent nonsense is that toward the First in Line to the Throne!”
“Did I say something wrong?”
The loud voices of those supporting the prince and those against him began to mingle, but Lamesa soon raised a hand to mediate the commotion.
“What's important now is to discuss how the kingdom should proceed. I propose we accelerate the Taeseongjin (Star Altar Formation) plan.”
It was a plan that couldn't be executed until now because Prince Obin, who was effectively the acting king, had not given his approval.
Elamas had explained it as a magical formation to prevent the spread of soul plague, but its true intention was hidden within the Abyss.
As the soul plague gnawed at the kingdom from within and without for four years, Lamesa's divine trust, who had cared for the kingdom with miracles of healing, was soaring high.
“As regent, representing the king's will, I approve. What do you think, Your Royal Highness Princess?”
A five-year-old child had no way of knowing what was being discussed here.
The princess was sitting here now because she was the sole surviving legitimate heir of the royal family.
All the young princess had learned was not to cry in front of her subjects. So she bit her lip, suppressing the tears welling up from fear.
Recalling the back of her older brother, who had promised to return someday and then left.
“It seems Your Royal Highness doesn't care much how things turn out. If you have any objections to the High Priest's plan, state them now.”
* * *
“We will now begin the entry inspection practice.”
Rem, clearing his throat and steadying his voice, first asked Rain.
“Where did you two first meet, and what impression did it leave?”
“The <Landkeep> Adventurers' Guild Inn. Crows were cawing really loudly. Corpses with their hearts eaten out were being controlled…”
This time, he directed the question to Miria.
“Of the places you two traveled before marriage, which left the most impression?”
“The goblin tunnels?”
Furrows appeared on Rem's forehead.
“Where did the two of you first eat together?”
““The goblin tunnels.””
The answer came back simultaneously.
Rem closed his eyes tightly, then suddenly tore up the inspection practice documents Valensidis had made.
“Damn it! To hell with the inspection. It would be faster to just burn down the Ranoa Grand Bridge. What kind of couple eats and dates in goblin tunnels!”
Since neither of them had any dating experience to begin with, such innocent answers were naturally to be expected…
“No.”
Bart (the party's only sane person) shook his head.
“On the contrary, assuming adventurers met, such natural answers wouldn't be bad. They'd think it was honest.”
“No, even so… isn't it weird, Akie?”
At that, Akie, startled, lifted her head and replied with a mechanical nod.
“Abut, abut-abut.”
“?”
“Abubububut.”
As if he thought it was a brilliant idea no matter how he looked at it, Rain blushed and proudly stroked under his nose.
“I told Akie to pretend she couldn't speak.”
“What kind of monster is that! Akie looks about seven or eight years old, how could that possibly work, huh?”
“It won't work?”
“Besides, she spoke perfectly well at the World's Strongest Martial Arts Tournament! What if they recognize that?”
“Ah.”
“Abut?”
“Lingchi, lingchi, lingchi.”
While loud words were exchanged, it wasn't the kind of argument that would cause bad feelings.
Because in front of Obin, who was being tutored by that rude Valensidis, no one was in a position to complain.
“Can't you even do just this?”
“The kingdom would have provided the best education, did you waste that time?”
“How are you still so immature? Is my explanation really that difficult?”
What was surprising was that Obin, who must have grown up receiving only the finest treatment, didn't utter a single complaint, continuously bowed his head, and sought guidance.
He spoke little, was very shy, and above all, seemed like an innocent child.
Therefore, to others, it was not a very pleasant sight.
“Huh.”
Rem, who had furtively glimpsed it, took a sip of liquor from his flask, as if disgusted.
“That guy, he's only half-decent looking, but if he dated a girl, he'd probably get dumped quickly. I can't stand that neurotic type.”
Strange, Rain thought.
Even though he was a dark-hearted guy, he used to be so kind to others when he was in school.
Does that mean he doesn't need to feign that anymore?
“…”
It was then that Akie, who had been intently watching Obin's back, performed an eccentric act.
She suddenly grabbed Obin's hand and began to run away from Valensidis!
As everyone watched blankly, Rem whistled and clapped his hands.
“Yeah, elopement! That's what real lovers do. Better than mom and dad.”
Love? Akie's love?
Akie marrying some filthy man? And leaving my side?
Even if dirt gets into my eyes, I won't stand for that. Instead, I'll make sure dirt gets into that thief's eyes.
“Constructing a magic circle, 5th tier… Flash Sky Piercing Cannon.”
No sooner had a beam of light been born on his palm than Miria smacked Rain on the back of his head and shook her head with a sigh.
“What are you really doing…? Pay attention to *that* instead.”
Where Miria's chin pointed, Valensidis stood, looking askance at Obin's retreating figure.
“What exactly don't you like so much?”
To Rain's question, who stood beside him, Valensidis slightly raised his chin.
“Everything. His status, talent, and past actions.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I don't like the fact that he's royalty to begin with. Do you know that the monarchical systems used by empires and kingdoms now are the methods of old kings from the Age of the Abyss?”
“Well, that…”
Honestly, I don't know why the gods allowed humans to have imperial or monarchical rule. They let dragons lead the republics, so why?
“But I don't think that's a statement for you to make, considering you touched the Abyss for power.”
“I dabbled in dark magic precisely because I wanted to fix that twisted order. Because strong power was needed to break down the foundations of a world already solidified in such a way.”
Rain didn't ask what kind of life Valensidis had lived to arrive at such a conclusion.
“To summarize, you've been so harsh to him just because he was born royalty?”
“That could be the case.”
“Valensidis, you really haven't met true royalty.”
Instead, in the dawn that began to reflect the dew in the forest, his lips merely curved gently.
“If Obin were the kind of royalty you think he is, he would have gotten angry at your dog-like rude teaching methods a long time ago, man.”
“…”
“If he truly only thought of his own well-being, would a young prince who lived receiving only the utmost hospitality in the royal court really have embarked on a journey to find the flute himself? And now, he's trying to go back?”
Rain paused for a moment, then turned to Valensidis's face and spoke.
“Hmm, I understand what your terrible problem is. You need to raise a disciple.”
“A disciple?”
Perhaps it was an unexpected suggestion, as Valensidis's eyebrows, which rarely showed surprise, twitched.
“What a ridiculous thing to say. I'm not cut out to teach a disciple. I don't even have the qualifications. How could I raise a disciple?”
“There's no such thing as a perfect master from the start, Valensidis.”
At that time, I might have thought the same way as Valensidis.
That to teach someone, one must absolutely be a magnificent figure.
But now, having guided Tureina and taught Akie, I can clearly understand that teaching.
“My master told me… that when you teach someone, you grow along with your disciple.”
Ah, yes.
It truly was just as you said, Auntie.
“Did Tureina say that?”
“No. Someone much greater.”
Someone greater than Tureina?
It was around then that Obin came forward to Valensidis again.
With a sheepish smile, his downcast gaze wandered over the floor.
“I, I'm sorry. Pl-please teach me again. I will learn diligently.”
Perhaps because he had just heard my words, Valensidis had an expression that seemed considerably confused by Obin's attitude.
“You…”
I forcefully patted his back, which seemed to hesitate, as if pushing his heart forward.
“Just teach him once, as if you're humoring him.”
Conveying the realization an old senior had reached, to a junior 300 years in the distant future.
“It will be an experience you wouldn't trade for anything in your life, surely.”