Volume 1 - CH 45

I’m Makia Odille.

Right now, I am at the Holy Nation’s Cathedral.

“Aaaauuggghhh, this is impossible. The Royal Family is too far to be seen!”

“Calm down, Makia.”

“Maybe I should have shouted at them just now?”

“Do that and the award the Lord and I had just received will disappear with a poof.”

I and Tooru have left the Cathedral grounds.

The ceremony for the Green Treasure Award had already been held. The whole ceremony was very solemn. It began with a rather lengthy sermon from the Archbishop about various myths and the Blessings of Vabilophos. The ceremony was so stuffed with formality that we could not even look around or raise our heads too high, especially with the Royal Family staring at us from the upper floors.

Among them stood ‘Ulysses’, however, I could not make proper contact.

Once the award ceremony was over, the Royal Family left almost immediately. I’m sure they have lots of things to do.

“Let’s go after him.”

“… seriously?”

“We’ve come this far, what else could we do if not chase down Yuri?”

“But, he might not even be in the Holy Nation anymore.”

“Well, I don’t know about that~ [2] Why don’t we check it out~?”

“…”

“Yuri… no, that is, Ulysses. I have secured enough information on him,” I say with a grin as I point at my eyes.

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Even once the ceremony is over, there are plenty of people still milling about on the open grounds of the Holy Nation. So, it is not a good idea to try and use magic where it could be seen.

We first escaped my parents by telling them that I want to take a look around the place. My parents are busy chatting with other aristocrats, they basically let me go so long as ‘Tooru is with you’.

“All things considered, this has to be a real sacred place… the air has an odd feel to it…”

We sneak back into the Holy Nation Cathedral and make our way through the extended buildings, looking for a quieter spot.

Compared to the lively situation happening near the front of the building, this place was completely quiet. Shafts of light came through the skylights in the ceiling, all of them shining in the same direction.

“Okay, let’s start our search.”

Tooru held out his right hand. A magical circuit formation in the shape of a 3D cube flashes into existence. His Black Magic has something to do with spatial manipulation.

To be honest, I don’t entirely understand it. I know enough that it could become pretty dangerous depending on how one uses it.

Information on the entire location is immediately written into the magical circuit cube. Once the cube is fully formed, I bite my finger and allow a single drop of blood to land on the cube. Thus, all the information I have on Ulysses is also entered into the circuit.

“…?”

The cube displays two different locations for Ulysses.

Strange…

“You… made a mistake?”

“No way! I only input Ulysses’ information.”

However, there are two points of light on the cube. One of them is much stronger and rapidly moving farther and farther away from this place.

The other light is quite faint, but remains unmoving within the Holy Nation.

“…”

Tooru and I then look at each other.

“Well, to be honest, I think the one that’s moving away is Ulysses.”

“… I agree, but something similar enough to Ulysses is here, right? What could it mean…”

“… I have to say, I’m a little curious too…”

In wordless agreement, we made for the fainter light, following the location given by Tooru’s 3D magic cube.

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The [1] cube leads us into a no-entry area close to the back of the building. The air here is completely different from the open public area.

As we walk down a long corridor, after taking many turns and twists, I get the feeling that we have travelled a long way. Honestly, I would not have gotten this far without Tooru’s magic.

“… it’s a door.”

What I had mistaken as an empty room has a circular gap in the low ceiling. We follow the direction from the cube and found ourselves looking up at a pitched black circle. The gap is actually a ‘Black Door’. This is where that faint light representing a second Ulysses comes from.

“… shall we go?”

“Of course. That’s why we’re here in the first place, right?”

Even though we know that this situation is highly suspicious, Tooru still steps forward and reaches out to touch the door.

“Please stop. You may not advance beyond this.”

“!!?”

A cute girl’s voice came from behind us. Our eyes widen and we quickly turn around. A young girl clothed in layers of fluttery green fabric steps forward and smiles.

Her hair is the colour of a young leaf and she has a rather indefinable air about her.

Physically, she looks to be close to my age.

We did not notice her at all because her aura has practically fused with the magic flowing within this area.

“Ah, the older brother who had won the award.”

“…?”

“I was watching from the sides,” she points to Tooru and titters. Then, she prances forward, one fist on her waist as she pouts, “You can’t go in there, you know?”

“… ah, that is, we have something we wish to discuss with Prince Ulysses. Isn’t he here?”

“Ulysses? He’s not here. He’s on his way to the harbour.”

“The harbour…?”

“That’s right. There’s another ceremony with the Princess of Fresir from the Eastern Continent.”

[3] Her lower lip sticks out even more. It appears that she did not like the idea of Prince Ulysses going there.

Tooru and I exchange a look as we tilt our heads at each other.

“Anyway, I should tell you that only I and the Archbishop can go beyond that door. So, there’s no way Ulysses is there.”

“Then, this is…”

Then, what is that second, much fainter, light? We look at the faint light on the cube again.

“… it is still too early for the two of you to go to the other side of this door.”

It feels like something sharp and thin had pierced me from the top of my head. I stand in place, shocked, [1] rigid and my senses firing so much information at the same time that my whole self freezes up.

Following this voice, our senses track every single step that echoes across the tiled floor.

It feels as though every gods and goddesses within the painting is looking down on us.

The man stops within one of the shafts of light. As though he had just emerged from the darkness into the shining light.

“You…”

It has been a long time since I had last seen Tooru make that face.

Something bubble up within us as we stand before the man. Tooru’s expression is very grim.

“Hero….!!”

Yes, a very sudden reunion.

Despite the navy blue, nearly black, military uniform and a military cap, we recognise our natural enemy just from his voice and the senses firing within our bodies.

His eyes, when he looks down at us.

How we have hated those cold blue eyes for years.

How we have feared them all this while…

[Gumihou: Okay, this just escalated…]

[1] Add Details

[2] It is unclear who is speaking here until the next sentence. Inject a bit more ‘Makia-ness’ into the dialogue so that it’s clear that she is clearly doing the ‘nyehehe I know more than you~’ attitude.

Original was: We don’t know. Still, you can check it out

Dude, who said this?

[3] Adjusted details, show rather than say.
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