DAR Vol. 6 Chapter 24 Part 2

“You know, what I’m looking for are people who can serve as my hands and feet. And people who can relieve my boredom. Someone who has the potential to become even more capable than I am, and on top of that comes with an uncontrollable nuisance Gryphon and the twins? That’s far too frightening a person to take into my fold.”

“…But you wanted to meet him, didn’t you?”

“I would like to establish friendly relations. There are hardly any people left who can make Supreme Grade Magic Recovery Potions, you know? Since you’ve gone to the trouble of getting along with him, I’d at least like to build a connection. Besides, my son has been causing him trouble, so I ought to introduce myself at least once.”

“…”

At the Queen’s words, Dietrich sulkily averted his eyes. Apparently, he was at least aware that he had been causing Roa trouble.

“If Dietrich became king, do you think he’d want that nuisance Gryphon living in his kingdom?”

“…”

At Queen Scarlet’s question, Dietrich made a spectacularly disgusted face.

“Don’t you think that if Uncle Gry lived in this country, nothing good would come of it? I have no hobby of keeping a verminous beast that could bring down a kingdom.”

“True enough…”

<Don’t badmouth me!!>

Uncle Gry raised a voice of protest, but the two of them ignored him.

“You understand, don’t you? Letting that thing live in this country would be a nightmare. I’d much rather shove the troublesome part onto some other nation and keep only the benefits for myself.”

At the Queen’s utterly merciless remark, Dietrich found himself convinced.

“So now both you and Uncle Gry understand that I have no intention of harming Roa, yes? Honestly, I do not have time to be dealing with a nuisance Gryphon and a little boy who grew into an adult without ever leaving his rebellious phase, and yet here you are making things difficult for me. The situation is already quite troublesome because of that ship from Adad. Still… yes, perhaps I should simply give Roa and the others a request…”

As if she had just thought of something delightful, Queen Scarlet’s smile deepened.

This smile was sultry. It was such a genuine smile that it made all the ones she had shown until now seem obviously artificial.

<This woman is thinking of something outrageous! I know it! That is the same face she made when she burned me!>

“That’s the face you make when you’re about to beat me half to death! What are you planning to make Roa do?!”

Uncle Gry and Dietrich barked at the same time.

“I’m simply going to ask Roa, as an adventurer, to exterminate some magic beasts. You and the others can help him. It will be a good learning experience.”

At the Queen’s words, both Uncle Gry and Dietrich went pale. They had no idea what she intended to make them do, but they understood at once that she was about to saddle them with trouble.

“And Kristoff.”

“Eh…?”

All at once, Queen Scarlet called Kristoff by name. He had been doing everything in his power to fade into the background and remain a mere observer, so being addressed so suddenly threw him into a panic.

“Come here.”

“Y… Yes.”

Queen Scarlet’s tone as she addressed Kristoff was flat. It carried no emotion at all. Even the smile she had been wearing had vanished without a trace.

A queen and a low-ranking knight.

As if to make that relationship plain, she issued her command without the slightest emotional stir.

Though moving stiffly, Kristoff went before Queen Scarlet, then dropped to one knee again and bowed his head. No matter how casually Dietrich and Uncle Gry insulted her, to Kristoff she was still royalty, someone he was obliged to revere. There was no way he could remain calm.

“Stand.”

“Y, Yes!”

When he rose as ordered, Queen Scarlet was standing so close that they were nearly touching.

Kristoff instinctively tried to pull away, but at some point, his body had been restrained by magic, leaving him unable to move. Queen Scarlet closed the distance further.

Sensing Kristoff was in danger, Dietrich tried to shout, but his mouth was sealed again. Naturally, he still could not move his body either. Uncle Gry was the same.

The twins had shrunk back before Queen Scarlet and no longer seemed inclined to move at all.

The only one still free to move was Roa, and he could do nothing but watch in stunned confusion, unable to guess what was about to happen.

And then…

“!!?”

The Queen kissed Kristoff.

It was a deep, mature kiss, as though devouring his lips. Kristoff could not so much as move his head. Only his eyes were left wide open in shock.

Roa’s face turned bright red in an instant. Even though embarrassment made him want to look away, he found himself staring all the same.

He knew of such things in theory, but this was the first time he had ever actually seen such an adult kiss. Roa was a boy in the middle of adolescence. It could hardly be helped that he stared so intently.

A single moment that felt eternal passed.

“What a treat. That should do.”

Looking thoroughly satisfied, Queen Scarlet finally drew her lips away. A vivid smear of crimson lipstick remained on Kristoff’s lips as proof of the kiss.

<You peered into the playboy’s memories, didn’t you?>

While the humans stood there dumbstruck, Uncle Gry’s voice rang out.

<It is said that peering into another’s memories is a kind of magic permitted only to spirits and fairies, but if it is this woman, then it is possible. I have seen her peer into other people’s memories several times before. Though I do not believe a kiss was necessary…>

“It’s the most efficient method.”

The sight of her saying that with glossy, lustrous lips made the claim rather hard to believe. Uncle Gry fixed her with a damp, suspicious stare.

Watching Kristoff stand there dazed and red-faced after that intense kiss, Dietrich ground his molars together with an audible grit.

If Queen Scarlet had seen Kristoff’s memories, then she had also learned the things he had been hiding about Roa.

Their secret was no longer secret.

“Yes, yes. Judging from Kristoff’s memories, Roa and the others should have more than enough ability to carry out this request. But… yes, if Uncle Gry helps, everything would be over in an instant, so Uncle Gry will have to devote himself to the role of overseer. To make up for that, I’ll add Cornelia and Bernhart… and then… of course, we’ll need a ship as well. And since he is already here, we may as well have the Sword Saint help too. Yes, that should be enough.”

After murmuring to herself, the Queen gave a light wave of her hand. At once, out of all the men who had been put to sleep, only Captain Sabas and the Sword Saint awoke.

“…What in the world is this…?”

“Your Majesty, what have you done? I ask for an explanation.”

Captain Sabas slowly pushed himself upright, looked around, and cried out in surprise. The Sword Saint ignored the others, rose to his feet, and immediately stepped before the Queen. Dropping to one knee and bowing his head, he spoke in a bitter tone.

“There were a few things it would have been inconvenient for you to hear, so I had you sleep. Pirate captain Sabas, Sword Saint Gelt. I have a favor to ask of you.”

“I accept!”

“Command me as you will!”

The voices of the two strangely eager old men overlapped.

“Tch. You two lust-addled old geezers, getting all creepy over some aging woman. Revolting.”

Dietrich, now able to speak again, spat out the insult. Though Queen Scarlet’s magic still kept his body from moving, the old men’s kicks struck him instantly.

Casting barely a glance at Dietrich as he grunted in pain, the two men stepped into place before the Queen and bowed their heads.

““Our lives belong to the Queen. Command us as you will.””

They declared it in perfect unison, as though they had rehearsed it beforehand. Queen Scarlet narrowed her eyes at those words and looked at them with an expression that seemed almost pleased.

“A fine attitude. A small problem has arisen, but for various reasons I do not wish to send out the military. So I have decided to give a request to Roa and the others as adventurers, and I would like the two of you to assist them. Captain Sabas is neither a soldier nor a noble, and Sword Saint Gelt is retired, so this is not an order. It is merely a request. What do you say?”

““As Your Majesty wills!””

Again, their voices aligned perfectly, without the slightest hesitation.

Watching them, Roa thought it looked like a scene from a play. Like the opening act of a heroic tale in which knights set out on an adventure at a princess’s bidding.

…However, something had been bothering him for a while now. Feeling that it would be bad if the conversation continued like this, Roa steeled himself and decided to cut in.

“…Um…”

<You! Don’t just push this forward on your own!! What are you planning to make the brat do?!>

The resolve Roa had summoned to interrupt was thoroughly wasted by Uncle Gry. What Roa had wanted to ask about was the request the Queen had been mentioning for some time now.

He still had not even heard what the request actually was, let alone agreed to accept it. And yet, right in front of him, the conversation was proceeding on the assumption that he would take it. That was what had been bothering him.

“Oh, honestly, you are noisy. There is an order to these things, you know. Can’t you understand that?”

<I am saying that moving the discussion along without even telling the brat what the request is is the wrong order!!>

“Yeah! What are you trying to make Roa do?! Depending on what it is, I’ll kill you!”

As Uncle Gry and Dietrich shouted in anger, the Queen let out a sigh with a troubled look. There was something theatrical in the gesture, and Roa felt that this entire turn of events was probably exactly what she had intended.

“Roa.”

“Eh? Ah, yes…”

Having his name called so suddenly, Roa answered in a fluster.

“Sword Saint Gelt and Captain Sabas are trustworthy men. At the very least, they are more trustworthy than Dietrich. You understand that too, don’t you?”

“…Yes.”

Roa could not grasp the point of her question and was confused, but even in the short time he had known them, he had come to feel that both the Sword Saint and Captain Sabas were adults he could trust. So he nodded honestly.

“And so, Roa, I would like to tell these two your secret with Uncle Gry as well. Is that all right?”

“Eh…”

<What are you…>

Uncle Gry tried to cut in, but Queen Scarlet shot him a sharp look, and he closed his mouth.

“I think the request I am about to make will require these two men’s strength. So if you tell me that you do not want them to know your secret, then I will stop here and abandon the request entirely. A few people in the royal capital may die, perhaps, but it is only that much.”

“Eh?”

People in the royal capital might die. The moment he heard those words, the color drained from Roa’s face. Learning that his answer might determine the lives of many people left him unable to respond carelessly beneath the weight of it.

Roa faltered several times. Then, after taking a deep breath and steeling himself, he lifted his eyes and looked straight at the Queen.

<Brat, there’s no need to risk yourself for the sake of people from another country. And this is that woman’s scheme! Empty words, all of it! Even a cruel woman without a shred of heart wouldn’t expose those under her protection to danger𑁋>

“It’s okay if you tell them!”

Uncle Gry was still speaking, but Roa cut in and stated it clearly.

<Brraaaat…>

Uncle Gry’s pitiful voice echoed out.

“I mean, I am anxious about more people learning about me and Uncle Gry and the others, but I think I can trust the Sword Saint and Captain Sabas. It’s okay!”

The moment other people’s lives were at stake, refusal had never truly been an option for Roa. What he aspired to become was a true adventurer. Someone everyone could rely on, someone who could protect anyone.

“What a good boy. Just as Kristoff’s memories showed. Of course, I won’t do anything untoward, so you can rest easy.”

<This woman never does anything but the worst! Sleepyhead! You’re a victim too, aren’t you? Say something to him!>

“…”

With the subject suddenly thrown at him, Dietrich faltered. It was true that the Queen was not to be trusted, but this was still his homeland. If the royal capital might truly be placed in danger, then he wanted Roa to accept the request.

More than that, both the Sword Saint and Captain Sabas were people as close to him as parents or dearest friends. He trusted them completely. If it meant no longer having to hide things, then he thought it would be fine to tell them Roa’s secret.

“So the little boy does know how to behave. Since the conversation will never move forward otherwise, Uncle Gry, why don’t you stay quiet for a bit too?”

<Brat! Don’t let her fool you!! This woman tricks people with that sanctimonious smile of hers, and then guuughhh!!>

Uncle Gry’s voice abruptly twisted into a strange shriek. Just as when she had sealed Dietrich’s mouth, the Queen had likely used magic again. But how exactly was she sealing a voice that was not even Uncle Gry’s true voice?

Roa found himself oddly intrigued by the fact that Uncle Gry had been silenced.

“…Whose voice was that?”

“A voice? Your beloved Queen, who exactly have you been speaking with all this time? Is that voice we just heard related?”

Suddenly, both the Sword Saint and Captain Sabas cried out in surprise. The two of them looked around, beginning to search for something.

“As expected of you, Roa. You work quickly. You’ve already made it so those two can hear him as well.”

“Huh? I didn’t do anything…”

“That’s why I said it’s unconscious. Sword Saint Gelt, Captain Sabas. The voice you heard just now belonged to Uncle Gry over there… that Gryphon. That is Roa and the others’ secret.”

Even though he had just been told that he had unconsciously made Uncle Gry’s voice audible, Roa had no awareness of doing any such thing. All he could do was tilt his head in confusion.

The Sword Saint and Captain Sabas also seemed unable to process being told so suddenly that they were hearing a Gryphon’s voice, and they stared at Uncle Gry with bewildered expressions.

For a while, the two of them looked at Uncle Gry as though they were staring at something uncanny. Then, all at once, they nodded with expressions of understanding.

“…I see. I had thought it strange how often Dietrich and the others were speaking to that Gryphon… so this was the reason…”

Captain Sabas had likely sensed that there was something unusual in the way Roa and Dietrich’s group behaved. He murmured it to himself in a tone of quiet comprehension.

“I understand, my Queen.”

The Sword Saint, meanwhile, informed the Queen that he had grasped the situation. Then, as though he had resolved himself to something, he folded his arms and fixed Uncle Gry with a hard, wordless stare. There was a fierce, predatory gleam in his eyes, like a beast sizing up its prey.

“Now that the two of you can hear Uncle Gry’s voice as well, I take it that Roa has accepted you both as formal companions. So then, shall we discuss the request?”

With that declaration, Queen Scarlet smiled and swept her gaze across everyone gathered there.

“The request is to exterminate the Sea Serpents.”

At those words, Dietrich, Kristoff, and Captain Sabas all sucked in a sharp breath.

Sea Serpents.

They were gigantic serpentine sea-dwelling magic beasts that could grow anywhere from several meters to several dozen meters in length.

Carnivorous and vicious, they were gluttonous creatures that regarded humans as nothing more than prey. Once they fixed their eyes on a target, they would attack even heavily armed large vessels without hesitation. They were the very bane of sailors.

“Look at the sea.”

As she said that, the Queen turned her gaze toward the water. Prompted by her, everyone else did the same. Even Dietrich and Uncle Gry, who were still pinned down by the Queen’s magic and unable to move, turned their eyes seaward, though the raised edge of the ship blocked their view.

As the man and beast stretched their necks in an effort to see, the expressions of those who had caught sight of the water first began to change.

“The sea… it’s bright red…”

The murmur came from Roa.

“You saw the barrels that were thrown into the sea, didn’t you? The stoppers on those barrels were made of rock salt. Once they sat in the water for a while, the salt dissolved, loosening the seals so the liquid inside would leak out.”

Dietrich immediately turned his eyes toward one of the barrels still lying nearby. Sure enough, the stopper did seem to be made from rock salt. A thin piece of tanned leather had been wrapped over it, apparently to keep the salt from dissolving from contact with the liquid inside.

If it was rock salt, then once it was exposed to water, it would dissolve and shrink, loosening the stopper. Naturally, a mere layer of leather would never be enough to keep the seawater out forever, and sooner or later the stopper would come free and the contents would spill out.

It was a mechanism meant to prevent the contents from leaking for a short while after the barrels had been thrown into the sea.

“Why would they do that?”

“So they could escape after throwing them in. To avoid getting caught up in a swarm of Sea Serpents.”

Smiling as though she had been waiting for Roa to ask, the Queen answered at once.

“It’s Cursed Blood… those bastards, what a vile trick!”

Captain Sabas raised his voice and shouted.

“Cursed Blood?”

“Sabas, explain it to him.”

“…Yes.”

Perhaps unwilling to bother explaining it herself, the Queen casually shoved the task onto Captain Sabas.

Cursed Blood.

Its raw material was whale blood. It was made by letting whale blood rot until it gave off a powerful stench.

Whales were a favorite food of Sea Serpents. It was said that if a whale bled, they could catch the scent and come chasing after it from hundreds of kilometers away.

Worse still, it was known that they preferred dead whales to living ones. That was because Sea Serpent hatchlings were scavengers that fed on the carcasses of creatures that had sunk to the seafloor, and even after growing large enough to hunt for themselves, they retained that trait strongly.

Fresh blood would quickly be diluted by seawater and lose its scent, but rotten blood gave off such a powerful odor that the smell did not fade easily. Carried by the currents, that stench spread far across the sea and drew Sea Serpents from a wide area.

It truly was like a curse strewn across the ocean.

That was why it was called Cursed Blood.

Any stretch of sea tainted by Cursed Blood became unnavigable—not just for fishing, but even for passage itself—until either every Sea Serpent had been killed or the stench had faded. The people living in nearby ports would suffer a devastating blow.

“That’s a disaster!”

After hearing Captain Sabas’s explanation, Roa shouted in shock.

In the Kingdom of Nereus, where life depended on the sea and where fishing and trade formed the basis of survival, being unable to put out to sea was a mortal crisis. Without money or food, some people would surely starve. Others, driven by desperation to venture out anyway, might be killed by Sea Serpents.

And if those without sufficient strength attempted to exterminate them, they would merely become prey themselves.

Just as the Queen had said, this truly was a matter of life and death.

“But why would anyone do something this horrible?”

Roa’s question was only natural.

“It’s harassment from the neighboring country, Adad. This ship is one of their merchant vessels. Of course, Adad will deny any involvement. They’ve been wanting to cripple our ports for a long time. We get in the way of their business.”

Nereus and Adad were, in every practical sense, commercial rivals. Both possessed ports of roughly equal scale, and both functioned as trade hubs.

If Nereus’s ports were crippled, then, by simple logic, the number of ships entering Adad’s ports would double. Even using such reckless means that might lead to war, it was not hard to imagine they would still consider it worthwhile.

More than that, Adad was a military state. It was aggressive by nature. Their goal might have been less about commerce and more about dealing a blow to the Kingdom of Nereus.

“This area lies within a sea dragon’s territory, so the number of Sea Serpents should be low. If we sent out the military, I think the situation would be settled quickly enough. But for certain reasons, I would prefer to keep the military in reserve.”

“Certain reasons? Your Majesty, do you believe this is merely the opening move, and that Adad intends to strike again?”

The Sword Saint spoke in a low growl. He had spent the entirety of Captain Sabas’s explanation staring at Uncle Gry. But at the Queen’s words about keeping the military in reserve, he sensed the possibility of a greater battle yet to come.

“I can’t say for sure. I simply thought that for mere harassment, this is rather large in scale. There’s no harm in preparing, is there?”

The Queen answered with that same soft smile still on her face. Nothing in her expression gave away her true thoughts. Concluding that she would say no more even if pressed further, the Sword Saint fell silent.

“And now, Roa. Do you understand the nature of the request? I think we still have a few hours before the Sea Serpents begin surging in. Sabas knows their habits and these waters well, so have him explain things to you. As for weapons, I doubt what’s aboard Sabas’s ship will be enough… yes, later I’ll have Cornelia and Bernhart bring whatever seems likely to be needed. It’ll be easier for you if you have companions you’re already comfortable with. And then, Uncle Gry.”

<Ugh… what is it?! Oh, so my voice is finally back.>

Apparently, the Queen’s magic had been undone. Even so, he still seemed unable to move his body. Uncle Gry tried once to rise, only to slump back down onto the deck.

“If Uncle Gry gets involved, everything will be over too quickly, and that wouldn’t be very… I mean, it wouldn’t contribute to Roa’s or the little boy’s growth. So until the very last possible moment, you are not to interfere.”

<I see. That is certainly a fine opportunity for the brat and the others to train.>

At the Queen’s words, Uncle Gry grinned.

“The young do need trials, don’t they?”

<Smothering them is not the same thing as kindness.>

“Heh heh heh…”

Uncle Gry and the Queen laughed together, then slowly let their eyes roam over the others present. Under that utterly disreputable gaze, the faces of those being looked at turned pale.

Watching the two of them grin like villains together, everyone present found themselves thinking, “These two act like enemies, but aren’t they actually alike and getting along just fine?”

…Only Roa paid them no mind at all. With a hand to his mouth, he was already sunk in thought.

“…Are Sea Serpents snakes?”

“Huh?”

The question was so unexpected that even the Queen’s ever-present smile vanished.

Roa’s mind was already completely filled with the Sea Serpent extermination. He was no longer listening to the exchange between the Queen and Uncle Gry at all.

“I don’t know anything about Sea Serpents. They live in the sea, right? So are they snakes? Or fish?”

“Um… I suppose they’re fish that look like snakes?”

That was the best answer the Queen could manage.

She understood that Sea Serpents were magic beasts, but whether they were technically snake-type magic beasts or fish-type magic beasts was something she had never cared enough to learn.

“They have gills, so they’re fish. Snake-like fish magic beasts.”

Since the Queen was at a loss, Captain Sabas answered instead. He had by far the most experience dealing with Sea Serpents. He had fought them several times and had even butchered them after killing them.