Side Story 45. Anemone Smiled Brightly (21)
I asked Dane Walker, "Is there a reason why Glont ahjussi sent someone I’m not acquainted with instead of his subordinates?”
Dane Walker scratched the back of his head and replied, "This is purely my guess, but it seems that His Majesty the Emperor has placed surveillance on General Glont."
"Surveillance?"
"Well, there"s been hints of it for a long time now. It makes sense since General Glont is close to His Majesty"s political enemy, Duke Asteria."
Dane Walker"s guess was plausible enough. What kind of politician would sit around and just watch the army"s super rookie side with his political enemy?
"Actually, the war to recapture the holy land was also conducted to clean up the imperial forces siding against him. During this, he sent General Glont, a mere regiment commander at the time, to die,” said Dane Walker. He also half-joked that the magicians who were caught up in that incident didn’t really like the Blood Emperor.
It must have truly dumbfounded the Blood Emperor when it occurred. He had sent Glont to die, but exceeding merely surviving the act, Glont succeeded in recapturing the Holy Land during its prime, something the Blood Emperor had failed even when he ground down the temple with his troops.
If Glont succeeded, it could be used to suppress the temple forces, but if Glont failed, it was still beneficial since those siding against himself would have been eliminated. It was a pretty clever plot in which there were no losses no matter what happened.
"Surveillance. Good timing."
Dane Walker was puzzled by what I said. "What is?"
“The fact that you came here means that you"re not subjected to surveillance by the Blood Emperor, right?”
"Uh... that’s right." Dane Walker looked somewhat anxious.
"Mr. Dane Walker? Can you use a pocket s.p.a.ce?"
He looked at me as if this was absurd. "Do you think pocket s.p.a.ce is some neighborhood dog’s name? Do you know how difficult of a magic that is?!”
I looked at Doomstone, and he said, "Hmm... According to my instincts, that’s a lie."
Dane Walker was shocked. "But what"s a pocket s.p.a.ce?"
"It"s an invisible magic pocket. Mr. Dane Walker, open your pocket s.p.a.ce while I’m still being nice."
Dane Walker protested at my threat. "No, wait! Are you going to believe someone who doesn"t even know what a pocket s.p.a.ce is, over me, a magician?”
"Of course. I trust Doomstone."
In response to my answer, Doomstone looked confidently at Dane Walker, saying, "Ahem!"
"...Wait. Doomstone...? The ruthless Doomstone Blade that"s in the headlines of the newspaper every day?
"Yes, this is Doomstone," I said.
Looking at Dane Walker’s expression, it seems that he didn"t hear anything about this from Glont ahjussi.
When he learned of Doomstone"s ident.i.ty, Dane Walker suddenly became polite. "I’m sorry for talking informally! Ehehehe, please command me to do anything!"
Suddenly, his confident appearance left him, and in its place was a new man.
Seeing such a sight, I said, "If you don"t want to be beaten up, open up your pocket s.p.a.ce right away."
At my kind request, Dane Walker trembled as he opened his pocket s.p.a.ce. "Um, excuse me. Could it possibly be kept a secret that I know how to open up a pocket s.p.a.ce? If it"s known that I"ve become a great magician in my profession, I might really get hit with so much work that I’d die. I"m already suffering from a lot of work right now, and I could barely get a vacation...”
"Whether it becomes known or not, it"s not my business. Doomstone, put those things in here."
At my request, he asked, looking at the cart full of treasure bags, "Can you trust him? We can"t be sure that Glont hyung-ssi is the one who sent him.”
"That’s true, but it’s a rare opportunity to secretly deliver funds to Glont ahjussi. So I"ll try trusting him."
After saying that, I gave a gentle warning. "These are all gifts from friendly visits to various territories.”
"Hiik! Th, this?"
"Yes. If this is not delivered to Glont ahjussi, I will tell the lords that you took it. You"re a smart magician, so you know what this means, right?”
At my question, Dane Walker begged in a cold sweat. "Sp, spare me. This kind of burdensome job doesn"t fit my disposition."
If the lords of the territories we visited heard about this, they would try to recover their treasures even if they had to kill Dane Walker.
"It"s okay. Nothing much will happen if Glont ahjussi actually sent you. If the Blood Emperor sent you and this money becomes imperial funds, Glont ahjussi will kill you. Don"t think that the Blood Emperor will protect you then."
Dane Walker trembled at my smile. In fact, it didn"t matter if it became imperial funds. Anyway, the difference was whether or not these funds could be used immediately, as they would also be mobilized as military funds in the war against the Imperial State. It was also money that could be recovered anyway if the rebellion was successful in the future.
"And this is my letter. Please deliver it to Glont ahjussi." I handed Dane Walker a pre-written coded letter from my pocket. This was a code that could be solved by Glont ahjussi.
"Now that we don"t need a wagon, let"s throw it away and just ride the horses."
At my words, Doomstone released the Wheat Crepes from the wagon. I climbed onto Wheat Crepe No. 2 and looked at Dane Walker as I said, "Then, please deliver it well."
I then turned the horse"s head and left Dane Walker behind.
"Wa, wait a minute! Together...!"
I grinned as Dane Walker shouted in vain behind us. "He seems quite competent if he’s already a great magician at that age. And he"s handsome, too.
Doomstone snorted. "Hmph! What competent. My hometown is full of magicians like that. Mirpa ahjumma said that it"s really only when you cross the wall of the Magic Way or something. As for the level of great magician before that, even dogs or cows can easily reach it."
That was the standard of a legendary great Magic Way. In general, it wasn"t strange for a great magician to be the head of a considerable Magic Tower. Of course, even if two people were both great magicians, it was said that the difference between them could be like heaven and earth and that reaching the level of great magician quickly did not mean that you would be able to swiftly cross the wall of the Magic Way. Even a genius magician would probably not cross the wall of Magic Way until he died.
"And how is he handsome? He looks like a dried bean sprout. Men need to have some muscles,” Doomstone grumbled.
I smiled playfully and poked Doomstone"s arm with my elbow, moving the horse side by side with his. "What~? Are you jealous?”
"Who is!"
Doomstone burst out with an indifferent face, but he couldn"t stop his ears from turning red. Cute.
"Ayy, I think you"re jealous. Would this noona like that kind of wimp?”
If such a wimpy look were my taste, I would have said yes when the crown prince proposed. After all, there were many uses for him politically, and most of all, he was handsome.
"I"m not jealous! And what do you mean ‘noona!?’ I"ll also be 18 years old in two months!” He seemed as if he were angry, but very subtly, he appeared happy.
"Really~? Should we eat something delicious on your birthday?”
"Hmm! That sounds good."
At Doomstone"s words, I drove the horse with a cheery laugh. "Ahahaha! Come on! Let’s hurry!”
I had to hurry to finish all my business before Doomstone"s birthday.
* * *
It did not take long to reach the border of the Great Wall from the marquis" residence.
"Oh! The walls are really long."
"It is named the Great Wall, after all. Well, although it"s actually about 300 kilometers short of a thousand li." [ref] Li is a Chinese unit of measurement equalling about 0.5km. [ref]
The names given to these places were usually exaggerated. Still, the wall really was long. It had been built over a duration of almost 200 years, so it was definitely lengthy.
The world-renowned Great Wall was an invincible barrier that had never been breached, but in reality, it had been broken many times. Rumors of being an invincible barrier were a reputation that arose after General Joshua came to command here. Although he was swept up in young Mercenary King’s tactics and died, it was not enough for his prestige to fade.
"Since we don’t have authorized entry, let"s go in when it’s night.”
At my suggestion, Doomstone asked, stroking the neck of Wheat Crepe No. 1, "What about Wheat Crepes?"
Certainly, even if I was carried by Doomstone and jumped over the gate, it was too much to cross the wall with two horses.
I joked lightly at Doomstone"s question. "Can"t you lift them and jump over?”
Doomstone looked enlightened, and he said, "I see! So we could do just that. As expected, you"re smart."
No, I"m kidding.
But was it possible? I"m going to be on your back, so how are you going to lift two live horses? Is he going to jump with one each time? The walls must be almost 20 meters high. No, he"s a person who destroyed a castle in one blow, so there was nothing to worry about.
Contrary to my worries, in the end, Doomstone and I did not have to climb over the wall. Up till late at night, I was spending time in Lotten, a village near the wall. Yet, after we went our separate ways in the morning, Dane Walker chased after me.
After Dane Walker found Doomstone and me on a street in Lotten, he complained with a tired face. "Gasp! Gasp! Why did you ride your horses away at full speed when a person was calling you!? I was already getting slammed by overtime work, and just when I finally got some vacation time, I had to fly hard to meet you! Do you know how far it is from the capital to here?”
Dane Walker looked like he was about to cry as if it was really unfair.
"Why did you follow us?"
At my question, Dane Walker replied with a deep sigh. "General Glont sent me over just in case you were going to cross the wall! I have a friend in the border guard who served under General Glont with me, so my face and General Glont"s name will make it easy to pa.s.s through the gate."
Oh, that was pretty good news.
"Why didn"t you tell us earlier?”
Dane Walker’s blood pressure rose as he grabbed the back of his neck.
Jeez, you should really take better care of your health.
"Even before I could say it, you suddenly put things in my pocket s.p.a.ce and rode away on your horse! d.a.m.n, I should"ve just let you climb over the wall! Why am I going through all this trouble just for some wealth and honor!"
Dane Walker"s lament made me feel a little p.r.i.c.k on my conscience. It was natural to be wary when he suddenly approached us and said that Glont ahjussi sent him. Considering what I"ve been doing so far, I had to be cautious of any unfamiliar faces.
Dane Walker sighed deeply after expressing all his resentment before pointing toward the far-away border wall. "Let"s cover our faces first. Even if it"s not night, we can still pa.s.s through."
Our faces were not particularly known because neither Doomstone nor I had ever been photographed. Still, this procedure was natural since I was a wanted criminal, and my impression was written on the wanted paper.
As Dane Walker guided us, we wore our hooded capes and followed. After some time, we naturally crossed the wall and reached the uninhabited border area.
"So you really were someone sent by Glont ahjussi.”
When I was surprised, Dane Walker’s expression changed as if this statement was ridiculous. "Are you still doubting me? Even after shoving the looted treasures and money into my pocket s.p.a.ce?!"
"That, even if I don’t believe you, I can do that with the power of my family."
In response to my answer, Dane Walker took a step back from me as if he was scared.