Cape Zelze Survey
The birthplace of King Allegro was known to be the Cape of Zelze, located north of Ville Zentra, a half-day"s ride away on a fast horse.
「I"ll be back tomorrow!」
The men who brought Hikaru, Lavia, and Paula on fast horses—these men tended to be the dandy type—waved goodbye and left.
The sun sat high in the sky. The three found a s.p.a.ce to rest by the side of the highway—a little too unpaved to be called that—and had a light lunch.
「Riding a horse sure is exhausting.」Hikaru said.「It was much easier with Drake around. Drakon Pa.s.sage shortcuts are too handy.」
「I wonder how Drake"s doing.」Lavia muttered.
「He"ll get scolded for leaving his home without permission for sure, but I think he"ll be fine. In fact, he should be commended for finding out about the evil creature running rampant in Grand Dream.」
「About that. Drakons are G.o.d"s messengers, right? I just think it"s weird that evil is so widespread in that continent and yet they didn"t notice.」
「Yeah… Why do you think they didn"t notice?」
「Drakons are not almighty beings, so they make mistakes.」
「From what I"ve seen from Drake, they"re far from almighty, all right.」
「Hehe. Drake is an exception. So anyway, drakons are simply beings that support G.o.d. I think we"re not that different in that sense.」
「We"re similar creatures… but they"re just created to be stronger. Is that it?」
Lavia nodded.
「I have a slightly different theory.」Hikaru said.「I do agree with you in that we"re similar.」
「So what"s the difference?」
「Hmm… If we take Drake"s and the other drakons" word, they live in the heavens. They feel G.o.d"s presence the closest and carry out His will.」
Lavia nodded again.
「While they have the ability to use holy mana, they are not much different from us in what they can do. Even we can use holy mana, though we haven"t found an efficient way to do it. Sure, there"s a difference between drakons and other creatures. But I think it"s the same difference between, let"s say, humans and animals. In other words, they"re not close to G.o.d at all.」
「Then why do drakons say they"re G.o.d"s disciples?」
「They"re long-lived and possess incredible power. Because of that, they think they"re the “chosen ones”, that they"re closest to G.o.d. That excessive self-consciousness is their weakness. That"s why they don"t even notice it when evil beings outsmart them.」
「Hikaru-sama, what is G.o.d to you?」Paula cut in after being silent all this time.
For her, G.o.d was the object of her faith ever since she was young. Because blessings can be received through soul cards and guild cards, those who served the Church did not doubt their faith.
To believers, the drakons that appeared in holy books were beings close to G.o.d. What Hikaru was saying, that drakons were similar to other creatures, was a dangerous notion to have in the Church.
「G.o.d is a being that supports the very foundation of this world. That"s why drakons, who have their own will, cannot be G.o.d"s followers.」
「So G.o.d"s followers must not have their own will. Why is that?」
「I guess because in this world “holy” and “evil” are equal. I have both on my Soul Board, and I can put points on them. If “evil” is a bad thing, then the Soul Board must be too.」
In Hikaru"s opinion, “Faith” was something that humans inevitably had. That"s why there"s a “Faith” stat under “Willpower”, a category related to how a mind worked, and depending on its strength, it leaned towards either “Holy” or “Evil”. Sense of values were irrelevant to how one"s stat manifested.
「But Hikaru.」Lavia said.「Let"s say holy and evil are equal. Since there are drakons like Drake who are on the holy side, and evil drakons like the one in Grand Dream, does that mean everything"s balanced?」
「That"s an interesting notion. In that case, perhaps calling drakons G.o.d"s disciples may not be that far off from the mark. I guess by giving them “will” they can choose which side to be on and balance is maintained.」
Time pa.s.sed as they continued on with their discussion.
「Lady Patricia. The research commission squad that went north has returned.」the secretary said.
「Let"s hear what they have to say.」
It was dusk. Patricia went to the room where the squad waited. They were slightly dirty all over as they had to follow a strict schedule of two days and a night. A man, who appeared to be the leader, bowed and gave his report.
「The squad is composed of four people from the army, four from the intelligence department, and two historians. We departed Ville Zentra at noon yesterday and arrived at Cape Zelze just before sundown. King Allegro"s home was in ruins. If we didn"t have historians with us, we wouldn"t have been able to find it.」
Heroes of the past were already being forgotten. Perhaps King Allegro would once again be in the spotlight because of the treasure chest. In that case, the king"s home could be restored as a tourist attraction.
It might be a good idea to develop Cape Zelze, Patricia thought.
「How was the inside of the house?」
「We didn"t find anything, not even furniture. The roof had collapsed and the floor had holes. The walls were still intact, though. Getting in was difficult.」
「I see. Then what?」
「The sun had set, and it was dark, but we managed to find the graveyard. We then headed west where we found a large hole that led to the bottom of the cape. It was cleverly hidden by the bushes. If we didn"t know what to look for, we wouldn"t have found it. There were spiral stairs inside that led down.」
Patricia gulped. Just like the poem said! She tried to appear as calm as possible.
「And then what happened?」
「We found a cave with a small altar on the southern side. There was a small window on the right-hand side that faced east. We waited for sunrise then.」
Now for the crux of the matter. The man"s expression, however, was grim.
「The morning sun shone through the window, but nothing happened.」
「Nothing?」
「Yes. We waited until noon, but still nothing. Then our lookout reported horses were headed to where we were, so we retreated.」
Probably that adventurer Hikaru.
「So it was a meaningless poem, after all.」
「Actually, there"s more. It"s about the altar I mentioned.」
「Ah yes, you did mention that.」
「It was ransacked quite badly. There was a hole under it as big as the treasure chest in the museum.」
Patricia slammed her hands on the table.「d.a.m.n it! Someone beat us to it?!」
「Yes. The hole seemed to have been dug a long time ago. Not just a few years, but decades, or perhaps even more than a century. The altar was probably ransacked then as well.」
Someone was aware of King Allegro"s treasure and dug it up.
「It makes sense if you really think about it.」Patricia muttered as she stood up and walked around the room.「Even when collecting treasure and leaving it behind secretly, there will definitely be leaks. Someone would have to prepare the chest, another gathers the treasure, then there"s also an expert who places the mechanism on the chest. Various people are involved. Hiding the location of the treasure from all of them is impossible. I got excited for nothing.」
「I understand the feeling.」
「Supreme Leader. What do we do with the adventurer Hikaru?」
「You left a few men in the cape, right? Have them keep an eye on him until they return. They might find something that you missed.」
The squad leader"s face said “that"s impossible”. After all, he was an expert in his profession. However, the Supreme Leader"s word was absolute.
A few days later, the secretary gave a report to the busy Patricia.
「Supreme Leader, I have a report on Hikaru"s movements.」
「Hikaru? Oh, the one from the wild-goose chase.」
「A wild-goose chase, huh? That is a perfect way to put it.」
「So, did that boy find anything?」
The secretary shook his head.「Unfortunately, no. At noon the day after, they returned to Ville Zentra dispirited, without anything with them.」
「Makes sense. They threw away two million. Don"t tell me they want the money back.」
「No. After returning, adventurer Hikaru went to the library the next few days, then stopped, and is now taking commissions from the Adventurers Guild.」
「Hmm… What kind of commissions?」
「Repairs at an orphanage, gathering regular medicinal herbs that the national treasury lacks. All unprofitable jobs, so to speak.」
「I knew it. He"s probably some prodigal son who has enough money. Now he"s doing jobs that other adventurers wouldn"t do to make himself feel good.」
「What about our spy?」
「Spy?」
Patricia"s eyes widened in surprise.「You"re still watching him? I didn"t know our intelligence department had so much free time in their hands. Ignore him, and keep an eye on those troublesome bunch instead, like Bios or Einbeast.」
「Understood. That"s it for today"s report.」
「Thank you. You may leave.」
「Yes, Ma"am.」
The secretary bowed and left the office. Patricia and the secretary didn"t notice the curtains in the room sway a little.