Part Three, Section Three: “Words of the Dead”
Chapter Ninety-seven
"Well, it’s gotten quite late, so let’s end here.”
"I-I’m sorry I wasn’t of much help. I should have studied more like you, Ms. Philia…”
"What are you saying? It was thanks to you, Ms. Alice, that I came up with a safe training method to handle divine magic power by combining the best parts of the theories on exorcism training and ancient magic training.”
Exorcism magic, which focuses on concentrating magic power into a single point to unleash the power of purification, and ancient sorcery, which revolves around gathering the natural magical energy into one’s body. With Alice’s help, we discovered that these techniques were directly applicable to the utilization of divine magic power, enabling the condensation and amplification of magic power simultaneously.
Mastering divine magic power often resulted in accidents of the magic power exploding when concentrating it to a single point fails, or the magic power going berserk when amplifying it fails. So first completely mastering each one separately, then gradually practicing doing both at the same time starting with a small amount of power, should greatly reduce the risks of failure.
It looked like our predecessors began their training by attempting to combine both techniques simultaneously, and we deduced from the library’s books that this approach was the cause of many accidents.
"S-So, I’ll be on my way th―”
At that moment, a loud "Brrr!" echoed through the quiet room of the library, and Alice reflexively pressed her stomach.
Alice’s face grew visibly redder.
Um, what should I do…?
I didn’t know what I should say to her…
"Whoops, sorry about that. It seems my stomach beast was rude. Leonardo is probably preparing dinner. Won’t you join us to eat, Miss Alice?”
"E-Eek!? Y-Your Highness Oswald, um, I’m…”
"I’m getting hungry too. Please come join us, Alice.”
“Y-Yes.”
And so, taking Alice along, we returned to the mansion.
Now that I think about it, this was the first time eating together with her. If the Saint Summit had ended without incident, we might have been able to interact more with everyone, but it ended in a frenzy.
◆
"W-What is this…”
"Wow. Leonardo, could this be…”
"Mr. Leonardo, are you planning to cook this?”
When we returned to the mansion, a large board was laid out in the yard, and on top of it was a lump of meat I recognized, and that made an impression. There was no mistaking it. That meat was the same one we saw when we arrived in this country.
"Welcome back, Lady Philia, Your Highness. And you are Lady Alice, correct? I am Lady Philia’s butler, Leonardo.”
"Y-Yes, Mr. Leonardo. I’m Alice Isefel. Pleased to meet you.”
Alice greeted the elegant bowing Leonardo with a tense expression and introduced herself.
"So, Leonardo. What is that?”
"Oh, you noticed?”
"Anyone would notice that as soon as they entered the mansion.”
As if to ask what the lump of meat enthroned on the board was, Prince Oswald pointed at it.
Leonardo had a proud expression and a mischievous grin.
"Actually, I’ve been studying Dalbhat cuisine. When I went shopping in the capital, I came across the highest quality ingredient, so I went ahead and purchased it.”
"The highest quality ingredient, you say?”
"This is the chest portion of the famous Dalbhat delicacy, ‘dragon’! I wanted to buy the whole thing, but I restrained myself.”
"Of course you did.”
Even though Leonardo was fond of cooking, I never expected him to challenge this so soon. Having seen the dismantling show when we first arrived in this country, I recognized it, but apparently, he had purchased the chest portion of that dragon meat. However, even just this portion is quite large… Isn’t it close to the size of an entire cow?
"I’m making a lot, so I’ll also give some to the neighbors.”
"W-Will that be enough? E-Even as a Dalbhat native, I’ve never seen anyone buy the entire chest portion except a restaurant.”
"If it comes down to it, I’ll have Lady Philia eat it.”
“Mr. Leonardo!?”
I had undergone training to stockpile energy in my body and convert it to magic power by eating a lot. So I could probably put away a few dozen people’s worth. But I couldn’t do something so unseemly in front of Prince Oswald and Alice.
"I can’t burden Miss Philia with such a thing. I’ll eat as much as I can.”
"I couldn’t let you do that alone, Your Highness. I’ll eat too.”
"Hey, Philia. You don’t have to force yourself. I’m quite the big eater myself, you know.”
"It’s not a question of the amount. Please leave this to me.”
"So this is what Elsa meant by you two being a good match.”
Somehow we seemed about to argue over a strange thing, but Alice was watching us with a comfortable look on her face.
"Mr. Leonardooo! The tavern down the street said they’d take some of the meat!”
"The restaurant to the east was also happy to get high-quality ingredients for free.”
"Ms. Lina! Ms. Himari!”
It seemed Lina and Himari, unable to watch as Leonardo went wild after seeing the dragon meat, went to negotiate and give some of it to nearby establishments.
"Hmm. It’s a shame the amount to make decreased, but now I’m going to start cooking. I can’t wait to see how I can make the most of this unique aroma.”
"Yeah, yeah. We are expecting good stuff so start quickly. We’re starving.”
"Leave it to me. With the several dozen original spices I blended, the Leonardo Special. I’ll take you to a paradise of fragrances with this all-purpose spice!”
Looking elated, Leonardo headed to the kitchen with the dragon meat. He was an excellent and peerless butler, but he could get a bit carried away when it came to cooking. Lina and I were used to it, but since Alice didn’t know Leonardo, she saw him off with a dumbfounded look.
While sipping the herbal tea Lina prepared, we waited for the meal to be ready for a while.
Alice quickly became friendly with Lina and Himari, and time passed pleasantly.
"Sorry to keep you all waiting! The Dalbhat specialty! The ‘dragon’ meat dish is ready!”
Leonardo called out to us, and everyone gathered around the dining table. I must apologize for keeping Alice waiting for such a long time.
"It smells amazing. I-I’ve always loved ‘dragon’ meat dishes since I was young, so I’m really looking forward to this.”
"Delicious. It’s really delicious, Mr. Leonardo.”
"Is it to your liking, Lady Philia? That alone brings me the utmost happiness.”
Dragon meat had an incredibly strong odor. It was like a wild, gamey flavor, almost metallic and bloody as if just the smell alone could leave a rusty taste in your mouth even without taking a bite.
We stored it outside the mansion along with a large amount of ice before cooking for precisely that reason. Of course, its sheer size was another factor.
Leonardo’s skillful calculations and the addition of spices transformed this odor into a mellow, delicious aroma.
"Th-this is amazing. I-I’ve never had such delicious Dalbhat cuisine at home before. Mr. Leonardo, are you really just a butler?”
"Hohoho, cooking is a hobby of mine. I am a butler serving Lady Philia. It is my duty to entertain guests. Thus, to see Lady Alice pleased brings me the utmost honor.”
Alice also praised Leonardo’s cooking, and we all enjoyed our meal together for a while.
"Ms. Himari, in addition to the investigation in Parnacota the other day, I had you continue the investigation after arriving in this country. How did things go?”
"Yes. I sincerely apologize for making you wait so long. I have finally finished the preparations to meet your request… However, is it alright to discuss this here?”
In Parnacota, I had Himari investigate something.
And she was right. What to do… Having a private conversation here might not be suitable.
"Ms. Himari, since everyone is gathered, why don’t we let them listen too? It’s related to why we came to this country in the first place. It’s a story that involves not just His Highness Oswald and me, but Ms. Lina, you, and Ms. Alice too.”
"As you wish.”
I decided to have her tell the results of the investigation to everyone here.
Since everyone present is involved, they should know about it, I thought.
Seeing my and Himari’s faces, everyone tensed up and their expressions changed.
"So what was this ‘investigation’ Himari did?”
Prince Oswald immediately asked a question.
The reason I delayed coming here from Parnacota until the last minute was to find a clue that would lead us to Archbishop Henry’s motives. Himari obtained some information and continued to gather additional information after arriving here.
"I was searching for the location of the previous saint, Lady Elizabeth’s remains.”
““What!?””
At those words, everyone stopped moving and turned to look at her in unison.
This was an extremely delicate matter. I couldn’t help but feel I had stuck my nose into something unpleasant.
Elizabeth, the previous saint of the kingdom of Parnacota. Prince Reinhardt’s fiancée, Grace’s cousin, and Archbishop Henry’s younger sister.
This whole incident is deeply related to her.
"Ms. Himari, this isn’t talk for the dinner table.”
"Sorry, Ms. Lina. Should we discuss this after we finish eating?”
"No, after hearing that much, I won’t be able to think about eating. Himari, please continue.”
While Lina’s objection was reasonable, Prince Oswald urged Himari to keep talking.
Lina herself also nodded in agreement.
"But what’s this about Lady Elizabeth’s remains? We’ve visited her grave. It should be obvious where it is without investigating.”
"There is nothing in that grave. It is empty.”
““What!?””
"W-what!? Th-that can’t be…!”
Understandably, Prince Oswald was most shocked. I figured he would be, hearing his brother’s fiancée’s grave was empty. Everyone except Alice, who didn’t know Elizabeth, also looked shocked.
"I didn’t hear anything about that from Brother. Himari, isn’t there some kind of mistake!?”
"It’s understandable that you didn’t know, Your Highness. This fact is known only to His Highness Reinhardt and a select few others, not even His Majesty.”
Himari calmly answered Prince Oswald’s words.
According to Himari, this fact was treated as a top secret within the country, and she went through considerable hardship to learn of it.
"Wait a minute. Even if that’s true, why did you suspect it, Miss Philia? When Miss Elizabeth passed away, you weren’t even in Parnacota.”
The prince’s question was perfectly natural. It was hard to imagine that I would notice something like that.
Actually, I had felt something was off from the first time I visited that place. With various things going on in my homeland at the time, I forgot about it, but this whole thing reminded me of it…
"When someone with great magic power is buried, the plants around often grow exceptionally compared to the surroundings. But I didn’t see any signs of that at her grave. I thought it was rare considering she was a saint.”
"W-what, that’s…!”
"First of all, individuals with significant magic power are rare, and few people are aware of it. Plus, there are exceptions, so it’s understandable that no one noticed.”
There were exceptions. With that one word, I conveyed my uneasiness.
I never thought that Prince Reinhardt would visit a grave without a body, nor did I ever imagine that there could be someone who would do such a thing.
"The first thing I did was to investigate Archbishop Henry.”
"I see…”
"I asked Bishop Bjorn to tell me about the argument between Henry and Reinhardt.”
"What!? I knew they had some argument, but I’m completely unaware of the details.”
"According to Bishop Bjorn, Archbishop Henry was demanding Prince Reinhardt allow him to take his sister Lady Elizabeth’s remains to Dalbhat.”
Archbishop Henry wanted to take his important sister’s remains to Dalbhat, while Prince Reinhardt refused to hand over the remains of his precious fiancée.
The two were at an impasse in their discussion. Bishop Bjorn said Archbishop Henry was stubbornly refused to yield.
"Even though Bishop Bjorn said His Highness Reinhardt refused, it still bothered me, so I had Ms. Himari who was gathering information on Archbishop Henry to delve into the details around that as well.”
"To think Brother allowed such a thing… Unbelievable.”
"I also heard that Archbishop Henry strongly blamed His Highness Reinhardt for being the cause of Lady Elizabeth’s death, making him feel guilty about it.”
Archbishop Henry apparently pleaded with Prince Reinhardt, Elizabeth’s fiancé, to convince her to stop her activities as a saint.
However, Prince Reinhardt respected her spirit of wanting to serve the country.
Elizabeth loved the kingdom of Parnacota from the bottom of her heart and wished to devote her life to the country as its saint. It seemed around then she had quite a few fights with her brother Henry.
As Himari added these circumstances, Prince Oswald nodded with folded arms.
"I see. I knew Miss Elizabeth wanted to show her brother her way of life as a saint to the very end. She was a strong woman.”
"When Lady Elizabeth passed away, Archbishop Henry directed his anger at His Highness Reinhardt, and the kingdom itself. That’s why Archbishop Henry wanted to leave the country with Lady Elizabeth.”
With the loss of his precious sister, his grief turned Archbishop Henry into a demon consumed by anger.
"S-So, you mean… Archbishop Henry’s objective is?”
"I believe it might be revenge against Parnacota. He has never concealed his hostility towards me, who succeeded Lady Elizabeth.”
"T-To think Archbishop Henry was possessed by revenge and tried to do such a thing to the country and Ms. Philia…”
Not just Prince Oswald, but Alice also had a look of disbelief.
The archbishops were only below the Pope in status.
Archbishop Henry climbed to that position by undergoing harsh training and was acknowledged to have a personality worthy of it. People deeply involved with the Clamu Church would be especially shocked to hear this.
"Perhaps, he seeks revenge by taking away the saint from Parnacota?”
"What!? He altered the will just for that!? Impossible!”
Prince Oswald slammed the table in anger, making everyone flinch.
Clearly, it caused too much turmoil. I should have shared the information more slowly.
"Your Highness, please calm down. This is still just speculation.”
"Sorry about that. But Brother was also tormented by Miss Elizabeth’s death. So much so that I couldn’t bear to watch. And he had always supported her… And yet!”
Seeing Prince Oswald’s face distorted in frustration, his bitterness was immeasurable.
No words to encourage the vexed prince came to mind, but I was aware of what I needed to do.
"In any case, I will speak with His Holiness’ soul and expose the truth.”
A magic that allows one to converse with the souls of the dead, said to have been used by the god of the underworld, Hades. With that, we could get remarkably close to the truth. That would be the best way for me to repay Prince Oswald’s bitter feelings.
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