Lalagi, Kingdom of Sorcery
Satou here. When you think of alcohol-loving fantasy races, dwarves are on the top of the list, but it looks like the sailors in this parallel world are no slouches, either. Rum never tastes better than when you’re drinking it out of a tankard while surrounded by jovial sailors.
“Isn’t that ship behind you the Gabato Trading Company’s SS Cloud? Why would a Shiga Kingdom noble have such a vessel with him?”
The harbor official frowned as he looked at the large merchant ship behind us.
By now, I’d already acquired the “Lalagian Language” skill, so I could understand him. It sounded fairly similar to Ishralliese.
“We found this vessel drifting unmanned, so we brought it with us. On board are—”
“Sir! This ship is full of suspicious-looking men!”
Before I could finish, a harbor employee who’d boarded our consort ship exclaimed loudly.
“—some pirates we apprehended when they attacked us along the way.”
These men had come from a total of seven different pirate ships and three different hideouts.
The victims we’d rescued from these pirates were aboard our own deck.
I explained all this to the director and his officials in the office of the harbor authority. Then I just had to accept some bounties and sign some criminal-slave-sale consent papers.
The pirates would soon find permanent employment as rowers on a galley.
As the harbor official was leaving with the papers, Liza and Nana came in instead.
“Master, we have found accommodation for the marquis’s son and the other rescued victims in an inn recommended to us by the harbor authority.”
“Thank you, Liza.”
Those victims who had friends or relatives within the capital of Lalagi had already been sent off to them.
I planned to provide travel expenses for those who had a home to return to elsewhere and some emergency living expenses for those who had nowhere to go, but after that, they’d have to figure it out on their own.
These funds would come from the profits from selling the treasure we’d recovered from the pirates.
The bounties from the pirates went into my Savings folder for my companions.
Once the paperwork was taken care of, I stood up to stretch when Lulu entered with a timid knock.
“Master, you have a visitor.”
A middle-aged man practically shoved past Lulu to enter my room.
“Is it true that His Royal Highness Sabaan is here?!”
This man seemed to be an Ishrallie ambassador.
“Yes, if you mean Sir Sabaish, he is currently resting on that sofa.”
Obvious though it was, I was technically transporting the king of Ishrallie’s messenger Sabaish, so I made a point of using the official story.
However, the ambassador didn’t seem to be paying that any mind.
“Your Highness!”
“Indeed. I do appreciate your coming to greet me.”
Sabaan responded with an equal lack of subtlety.
After speaking with the ambassador about something for a moment, the prince turned toward me.
“Let us go, then, Satou.”
“Where to, exactly?”
I thought I just had to deliver the prince to his keeper here. Was there some other procedure involved?
“I heard from my father. You wish to speak with the king of Lalagi about the ancient Lalakie dynasty, correct? You may bring the knowledgeable girl Father spoke so highly of, as well.”
I see. So this is a surprise reward?
Grateful to Prince Sabaan and the king of Ishrallie, I decided to take them up on the offer.
“It is good to see you after so long, Prince Sabaan.”
“I am glad to see you doing well, Your Highness.”
Rei had been in a trance state for the entire visit, so I covered her mouth as I listened to the king of Lalagi speak with Prince Sabaan.
The grim-faced king looked more like a pirate in the prime of his life.
Unlike the Eastern Roman style of Ishrallie, the popular style in the sweltering Kingdom of Sorcery was largely tropical. Men and women alike had a lot of exposed skin and usually wore layers of thin, semitransparent fabric.
The abundance of crimson clothing was probably due to the widespread use of Lalagi’s native red silk.
“Now then, Prince Sabaan. Will you be introducing the two people behind you?”
“These two are nobles from the Shiga Kingdom who are researching the ancient Lalakie dynasty.”
The king’s frown deepened at the prince’s explanation.
“<They seem quite young to be researchers.>”
“<It is an honor to meet you, Your Highness. I am Satou Pendragon, hereditary knight of the Muno Barony in the Shiga Kingdom.>”
I didn’t want to argue with the king, so instead I politely introduced myself, matching his use of Hallowed Language.
“<Oh-ho, I see you are indeed a researcher.>”
The king’s expression cleared into an amused grin.
Oh, right, I should give him those gifts while I have the chance.
I had heard that the king here gave people titles like Liquor Knight and Liquor Baron for bringing him rare alcohol, so rather than giving him a drinking set or anything, I decided to go directly with some high-grade sake.
Personally, I was more interested in putting him in a good mood so he would tell me about Lalakie than any of those liquor-related titles.
I gave a signal, and the castle servants brought in a wagon with baskets of gifts to present to the king.
“Allow me to thank you for granting me an audience by offering you these.”
“Hmph! No doubt it’s the same old Shigan sake, or Kingsblossom, or White Mountain.”
The king opened the baskets with a rudely dismissive air but then raised his eyebrows.
“Wine, sake with some kind of floating red particles, and…is this amber liquid by chance distilled barley liquor?”
“These are drinks made by the fairy races: fairy wine, Leprechaun Claret, and Spriggan Treasure.”
“Wh-what’s that?! This is the legendary fairy wine, you say?! And these others, too, are so famous that I have only ever heard whispers of their names!”
That went over well.
“Th-then could this little bottle be Treant Drops?!”
“No, that bottle is something else.”
The king’s excitement was tempered ever so slightly by my response.
“O-of course. I suppose it is not even known for sure whether Treant Drops truly exist. What could it be, then? Surely it is no ordinary liquor?”
“Yes, it’s a bottle of something called ‘dragonspring liquor—’”
“Dragonspring liquor?!”
The king interrupted me with a shout.
He looked so wild that I took a step back without thinking.
“Y-you say this is the sake said only to be made by fully grown dragons?! But that is the stuff of legends!”
Ooh, we’ve hit legendary-tier now.
“W-wait just a moment. This is no fraud, is it? Send for my Analyzer! Right away!”
The king of Lalagi had scarcely finished shouting when an elderly man practically tumbled in from the hallway.
One of his vassals must have already called for him.
“Analyze this bottle at once!”
“A-as you wish, Your Highness.”
Trembling a little before the king’s half-mad shouting, the man confirmed that the contents of the bottle were indeed black dragon’s dragonspring liquor.
“How in the world did you acquire such a thing?”
“While I was on a mission to deal with a black dragon along with the Hero of the Saga Empire, we discovered a spring of dragonspring liquor. The spring dried up before long, but Sir Hero kindly shared some of the vials they had drawn from it first.”
I’d actually given the dragonspring liquor from that time to Ga Hou and the other orcs who lived under the old capital, but this was still dragonspring liquor made by the same black dragon, Hei Long, so that seemed like a minor detail.
“I thought surely this must be presented to the King of Lalagi, famed for his love of drink, and so I brought it here as soon as I could, Your Highness.”
Oops. My “Fabrication” skill went a little too wild, carrying me into suck-up territory.
Just to be safe, I showed the king my Ougoch Duchy Dragon Conquering Medal, which seemed to convince him.
“I never imagined I would meet a real dragon conqueror.”
The king of Lalagi looked at me with the eyes of a young boy gazing at a superhero.
I told him that Hayato the Hero was the one who’d defeated the dragon, but the king was too excited about the dragonspring liquor to listen to the details.
“You deserve a higher honor than the title of Liquor Baron. I shall make you a liquor marquis! If you find any more rare liquor such as this, be sure to bring it to me!”
At that, the king’s vassals around us all exclaimed in surprise.
“A liquor marquis? Hasn’t it been more than three hundred years since anyone held that title?”
“But he presented His Highness with three fairy liquors and even the legendary dragonspring liquor. I can understand why the king would say a liquor barony would be insufficient.”
“Indeed! A fitting title!”
“Ah, I wish I could try even a single drop of that dragonspring liquor.”
Even the vassals in this kingdom seemed to be alcoholics.
I had never heard of a liquor marquis, but apparently it was a higher rank than a liquor baron.
Unlike normal nobility, these special titles came with no further duties than to present the king with liquor; in exchange, they did not qualify the holder to participate in the kingdom’s politics and essentially granted little more than the right to enter and leave the royal castle as one pleased, as well as special tax exemptions for trading.
“In fact, even a title alone is an inadequate reward for such choice liquor. Have you any desires? If you wish to marry a princess, I can offer you one with little inheritance, such as the twenty-sixth princess.”
Um, I’m all set, thanks.
Still, there were at least twenty-six princesses? That was pretty amazing. I had to wonder how many wives he had.
“Then could I perhaps request any information you might have about the ancient Lalakie dynasty?”
Sidestepping the marriage offer, I tried to steer the conversation back toward my main goal.
Prince Sabaan, who was standing beside me looking a bit put out, breathed a sigh of relief.
“Very well, Sir Pendragon. If you wish to hear about Lalakie, I shall be glad to tell you. After all, the kings of Lalagi have handed down the history of Lalakie for generations.”
The cheerful king readily agreed to my request, and we were guided into a separate room, where he told me all about Lalakie.
The only people in the room were the king and me, Rei, a few guards and musicians, and the crown prince of the Kingdom of Sorcery Lalagi.
His role completed, Prince Sabaan excused himself under the pretext that he was tired from his long journey. According to my map information, he was meeting with one of the daughters of the king of Lalagi. Coincidentally enough, it was the twenty-sixth princess who’d just been mentioned earlier.
While I was distracted with such thoughts, the king finished his preparations and began to speak in a solemn tone.
For this, he was using Hallowed Language.
“<Some twenty-eight thousand years ago, a king who had earned the favor of the gods was given the floating island Lalakie.>”
Oh, this was farther in the past than I’d expected.
“<The chosen people of Lalakie were given the role of guiding the ignorant masses who walked the ground below, who called them the ‘skyfolk’ and worshipped them.>”
This was pretty elitist right from the start, but it only got worse from there.
“<The fools among them who dared to rise in revolt against the skyfolk were cleansed by the Divine Wrath Cannon in place of the gods, and the good citizens were given their land.>”
Uh, you’re saying that like it’s this grand thing, but doesn’t that actually mean they destroyed a country that opposed them and colonized their land?
If it weren’t a king telling me this story, I’d have a hard time not butting in.
The king of Lalagi spoke in a grave, clear voice, accompanied by the stately music the musicians provided, but it sounded to me like Lalakie was a pretty crazy nation with the support of the gods.
Besides…
If I remembered right, the Divine Wrath Cannon was the powerful weapon that had easily sliced through the adamantite alloy of the first sunken ship we’d found in the Seadragon Islands.
I doubted even cities and castles protected by a City Core would be safe from that.
“<…but like the ripest of fruit, the golden era would soon fall.>”
Oops. Are we starting a new chapter?
“<Guided by evil, the Dogheaded Demon Lord appeared at the ends of the earth and began to amass evil followers who worshipped no god.>”
The Dogheaded Demon Lord, huh? Now that was a name I’d heard a few times before.
According to a conversation back in Baron Muno’s castle, it was a demon lord so powerful it was also known as an evil god.
The Golden Boar Lord had mentioned the same name when I fought him beneath the Ougoch Duchy, too, and the Skeleton King had shouted something along those lines.
If I kept hearing about this guy, I had a bad feeling that I was going to wind up having to fight the Dogheaded Demon Lord eventually.
“<The evil Dogheaded Demon Lord relentlessly targeted pious priests and priestesses and sought to burn all the temples in the world.>”
I guess they didn’t call him a demon lord for nothing. He wasn’t exactly an ally of justice out to save the people from tyranny.
After that little segment, the king described some violent atrocities, but it was so graphic that I tuned the whole thing out. Tales of old should be a little more PG than this, if you ask me.
“<The Dogheaded Demon Lord, whom the skyfolk called an evil god, taught his followers heretic arts with which to bring down the floating castles. And he imparted upon them his kin—the Sea Lord, the Flame Lord, the Sky Lord, and the Ground Lord—to impose all manner of atrocities.>”
So the creature I beat on the volcanic island was related to the Dogheaded Demon Lord?
Then were the other three types lurking in the Kraken’s Domain where Lalakie sank, by any chance?
This better not be some gamelike mechanic where defeating all four summoned Doghead himself.
The king of Lalagi continued his story for some time, so I’ll summarize: Doghead was defeated by one of the gods, the Flame Lord and Ground Lord were sealed away by the god’s followers, the Sky Lord was chased to the far reaches of the sky by the sky dragons, and…
“<Thanks to the devotion of its final queen, the god’s floating island Lalakie sealed away the Sea Lord at the bottom of the ocean.>”
Phew. If that was how it ended, maybe Doghead wouldn’t show up after all.
Still, if Lalakie had to sink in order to seal away the Sea Lord despite having the Divine Wrath Cannon, that meant that even a weapon that could slice through adamantite like butter wasn’t strong enough to defeat the Sea Lord completely…
If I ever ran into this Sea Lord, I would have to hit it with all my attacks at max power, even if it ended up being overkill.
Incidentally, the royal family and other citizens of the Kingdom of Sorcery Lalagi were descendants of the people who had escaped from Lalakie.
“That was wonderfully told, Father.”
“And quite tiring in the telling. Bring me the Water of Life!”
Waving off his son’s high praise, the king had a lady-in-waiting bring something to drink.
Water of Life turned out to be a brand of rum.
Before long, the slightly sweet, alcoholic scent of rum filled the room.
Evidently, the king liked to drink his rum hot.
“How is it, Sir Pendr—?”
The king stopped mid-sentence and sent a lady-in-waiting to fetch some cloth.
Following his gaze, I saw that Rei was sitting next to me in a trance state, tears flooding down her cheeks.
The lady-in-waiting handed me the cloth, so I wiped her tears.
“Satou… I feel…really…sad.”
Her memories didn’t seem to have returned, but the king of Lalagi’s story had stirred something that moved her deeply.
Given Rei’s distressed state, we decided to wrap up for the day, so Rei and I left the king’s room.
On our way out, however, the king had an invitation for me.
“<Sir Pendragon, be sure to come to the Skydea Festival three days from now. As thanks for introducing me to the legendary dragonspring liquor, I will allow you into the inner sanctum of the royal family to see the Box.>”
“<Thanks, I’d love to!>”
I was so surprised that I responded a little less formally than I should have, but the king didn’t seem to mind.
The Box was probably the Lalakie Box that Baron Jeetbert had mentioned after we rescued him in the Seadragon Islands.
Though I was excited to participate in this secret ceremony, I also had a premonition that something strange might happen there.
Rei had fallen asleep, so I carried her on my back as we walked the halls of the royal castle, sorting through the information I’d gathered so far as I did.
I had learned a lot from the king’s tale, but the most important new information was that the Lalakie of old had been a pretty intense place with the power of the gods backing it and that the “last queen” had helped seal the Sea Lord at the bottom of the ocean.
We already knew that the Skeleton King’s goal was to return Lalakie to the skies and that the three items he needed to do that were a box, a key, and a Firelight Pearl.
The key was likely Rei’s hair ornament, which left the Coffin and the pearl.
The “box” probably referred to the Lalakie Box here in Lalagi.
It could also be the Coffin that Captain Ghost mentioned, but if I started including clues I didn’t have any further leads on, it would only make it harder to reach a conclusion, so I decided to forget about that for now.
Next, I thought back on the volcanic island where I’d acquired fragments of a Firelight Pearl.
“Come to think of it, if Doghead is an enemy of the Skeleton King, why would he unleash the Flame Lord when it’s related to Doghead?”
The Ishrallie soldiers seemed to think he’d freed the Flame Lord to try to steal Ishrallie’s Dragon Cannons, so maybe the cannons contained Firelight Pearls.
I’d been checking the map periodically, but there was no sign that the Skeleton King was attacking Ishrallie.
Which would mean that as of now, the Skeleton King hasn’t gotten his hands on a single one of the three key items.
If those unmanned ships were indeed the work of the Skeleton King, he would probably attack either Ishrallie or Lalagi.
Between the two, Lalagi was probably more likely, since the Skydea Festival was about to occur there.
So the Skeleton King would most likely go after the Lalakie Box first.
Still, I should probably tell Arisa and the others that Rei’s key was being targeted and that the one she normally wore was actually a fake.
I wouldn’t want any of them to get hurt trying to stop the fake from being stolen, after all.
Next, I took my theorizing a step further.
“If the Skeleton King did steal all three items, what would happen?”
I muttered to myself as I thought.
If the Skeleton King did manage to get Lalakie to fly again, the sealed Sea Lord would be freed, and the Skeleton King would gain control of the floating island Lalakie and its Divine Wrath Cannon, which could cut through even adamantite alloy with ease.
That sounded like a potentially world-ending threat, but neither of them was anything I couldn’t handle.
Having reached this conclusion, I let out a little sigh of relief.
“If it’s in the middle of the ocean, there won’t be any risk of collateral damage, so I should be able to go all out.”
With that, I looked up at the evening sky, catching a glimpse of a twinkling first star.
“““Cheeeers!”””
When I returned to the inn from my audience at the royal castle, some kind of party was underway.
The person leading the toast appeared to be Mr. Rayleigh, the second son of Marquis Ashinen who I’d rescued when he was almost lost at sea.
From the way he was tipping back his tankard, you’d never imagine that he had just been bedridden not long ago.
On his cheek was a cartoonlike bright-red handprint.
He’d probably tried something with one of the waitresses and gotten a well-deserved slap in the face.
My companions weren’t at the feast; my map indicated they were in one of our rooms on the upper floor of the inn, so I went up the stairs without stopping at the party, since Rei needed rest anyway.
“I’m back.”
“Welcooome!”
“Sir!”
When I opened the door, Tama and Pochi came flying at me.
Looking around the room, I noticed there seemed to be a strange, heavy mood in the air.
Clearly, Tama and Pochi were relieved to have a break from it.
“Master! You won’t believe this!”
“Mrrr. Death to noblemen.”
Arisa and Mia, the iron-wall duo, stormed up to me indignantly.
“Could you calm down first, please? You’re scaring Tama and Pochi.”
At that, the two of them calmed down a little.
“Ah… I’m sorry.”
“Apology.”
Once they’d cooled off, they explained that the drunken Mr. Rayleigh—no, let’s call him “that bastard”—had put his arms around Nana and forcibly grabbed her breasts.
“U-um, master?”
“What is it?”
As I was getting ready to go deal out some divine punishment, Arisa held me back.
“You’re making a really scary face…”
Glancing around, I saw that Tama’s ears were flattened back, and Pochi was teary-eyed with her tail between her legs.
Oh geez. I guess I had no right to scold Arisa earlier.
I took a deep breath to calm myself.
“Don’t worry. He already got what he deserved.”
The other girls backed Arisa up.
“Kaslaaap?”
“Nana smacked him right in the face, sir!”
“It was a very good, firm strike.”
“I think she should have hit his other cheek, too.”
Lulu chimed in after the beastfolk girls. It was uncharacteristic for her, but I couldn’t blame her for hating a sexually harassing bastard.
“My chest belongs to master alone, I declare.”
That was a great declaration, Nana, but I wish you wouldn’t say things that’ll cause serious misunderstandings like that.
Arisa’s and Mia’s iron-wall rage aside, it pained my heart to see Lulu’s sad expression.
Still, even if Nana had already gotten her revenge, I couldn’t just let the bastard off the hook.
You’ve got to nip creeps like that in the bud.
“Sir Knight, over here!”
A boy we’d rescued from a pirate hideout called to me.
“Oh-ho, so this is Sir Pendragon? Come, I owe you my life, good sir!”
The creepy bastard waved me over to his side.
“I say, it’s thanks to you that I didn’t drown at sea! I cannot thank you enough, sir. My father is pretty famous even in the Shiga Kingdom, so I’m sure he can make you an honorary baronet at the very least!”
The drunken bastard chattered away cheerfully.
“You know, I woke up to find myself in the water, surrounded by the ruins of my ship. I didn’t think I was going to make it!”
I opened my mouth to voice my grievances when he paused, but he kept talking before I could get a word in.
“Oh yes, I owe you an apology. I was trying to court a beautiful woman earlier, but I had no idea that she was your wife. Please forgive me for my rudeness.”
Having him apologize before I could speak made it hard to give him the talking-to I’d planned.
Especially when he then pointed at his cheek and added, “She gave me a very painful slap, too!”
Since this man was a noble, he could easily get Nana in serious trouble for hurting him.
“Might I make it up to you with more than words once I’ve returned to the Shiga Kingdom? I’m afraid I have little on hand at the moment.”
Still, I had to get in at least one jab.
“If you can promise me that you’ll never lay a hand on Nana or my other companions again, you need not make it up to me in any other way.”
“I see. Then I shall swear on the name of Marquis Ashinen and the ancestral king Yamato. I, Rayleigh Ashinen, shall never again commit any act that might harm you and yours, Sir Pendragon.”
The creepy bastard—also known as “Rayleigh”—put his hand to his heart with a humble expression.
In the new-nobility classes I’d taken in the Muno Barony, I was told that swearing on one’s family name and the ancestral king was the most trustworthy pledge of all, so it was probably safe to believe him.
Since he seemed to regret his actions, I decided to put the matter to rest.
Although, if he ever did anything like that again, I’d have him living out the rest of his life all alone on an uninhabited island.
For now, I asked him what had happened to his ship when we found him.
“Well, I was looking out at the foggy seas from the deck when I suddenly lost consciousness and was thrown into the water. So I have no idea how the ship sank.”
Most likely, a large amount of miasma knocked him out, and falling into the water was the only thing that kept him alive.
Rayleigh was a mere level 12, and his only skills were “Etiquette,” “Negotiation,” and “Analyze Goods,” so he certainly wasn’t suited to combat.
He must be a lucky man, since he wasn’t attacked by monsters while he was adrift.
Prompted by the man next to him, Rayleigh asked me a question.
“By the way, Sir Pendragon, I heard you went to the royal castle. Were you seeking a Liquor Baron title?”
“No, I did not receive the title of Liquor Baron. I was simply escorting an important person from Ishrallie to the castle.”
The title I received was Liquor Marquis, not Liquor Baron.
Upon hearing my response, Rayleigh and the man next to him sagged with obvious disappointment.
“I see… Since you had an elf with you, I thought you might present the king with the legendary fairy wine and receive the title of Liquor Baron…”
“Is there something special about the Liquor Baron title?”
I wasn’t quite sure why he was so concerned with me getting that title.
“What do you mean? With the Liquor Baron title, you can get that horrible tax reduced to only twenty percent! Then you could bring Shiga Kingdom silk into Ishrallie and acquire their Heaven’s Teardrops to sell in Shiga to your heart’s content!”
Right, I guess I heard in Ishrallie that there was a high tax on silk.
“I had hoped that I could borrow a ship from you and perhaps lead some folks with nowhere else to go on a trade route, but that would be quite difficult without the Liquor Baron title.”
“A ship?”
“Yes, you have a big ship called the SS Cloud or something, right? Some people from the Gabato Trading Company came to start a fuss, but I chased them off.”
Oh, right. The drifting ship I used to transport those pirates.
Evidently, ownership of it now belonged to me, but if its original owners, the Gabato Trading Company, had come in good faith to negotiate, I had planned to give it back to them.
According to Rayleigh, though, they’d sent a bunch of ruffians to take it back by force.
“Boy, those little ladies are strong. I hear they dispatched a bunch of pirates with ease, too, didn’t they?”
Rayleigh was the one who’d cajoled the leader from the Gabato Trading Company into backing off, but my companions were the ones who’d fought back the ruffians.
The ruffians and the men from the trading company had been taken away by guards called by the inn.
“My Liquor Knight title allows me to trade, but it doesn’t really change the taxes. Not a very fair reward for bringing him my prized Kingsblossom and White Mountain, don’t you agree?”
“That’s to be expected, I’m afraid,” the man next to Rayleigh said. “The king of Lalagi isn’t very fond of dry Shigan sake.”
So the brands the king had mentioned were the ones that Rayleigh had brought him.
“I know it’s impudent of me to ask this of the knight who saved our lives, but would you by chance be interested in investing in our new company?” the other man asked me.
I didn’t want to leave these people with nowhere to turn after I’d rescued them from pirates, and it’d be on my conscience if they turned into pirates or criminals themselves; besides, there was far more money in my Storage than I could possibly use.
It might not be a bad idea to offer them a little contribution.
“Then, would I be able to see your business plan outline?”
“…Business plan outline?”
“Of course. A document describing what path you intend to take, what products you will handle and in what quantity, as well as your estimated costs and projected profits.”
Naturally, I wouldn’t want it to turn into a bad debt, so it was best if they came up with some estimates.
Making a snap decision here would be a rookie mistake.
“V-very well. I’ll find out the SS Cloud’s speed and loading capacity and draw up some plans.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
At first the man seemed flummoxed, but soon his eyes were filled with promising determination.
Rayleigh didn’t seem too interested in dealing with the details, instead clapping the man on the back and saying, “I’m counting on you!” So he was dumping all the work on his subordinate.
Depending on his business plan, I was willing to give him more trade ships as well as money, and maybe offer them a bottle of fairy wine so that one of them could become a liquor baron.
“Whew, I really worked up a sweat.”
“Nice job, Arisa.”
I wiped the sweat from Arisa’s gleaming forehead with a handkerchief.
She’d been busy selling glasswork in the trading square.
“They sold at a great price thanks to you.”
“Hee-hee, I have to remind you of my amazingness once in a while.”
Arisa grinned proudly as I tugged her back toward the others.
Since it had seemed like we might be here for a while, and Lalagi was sweltering hot, I’d had everyone else cool off under the shade of a nearby tree.
“That’s a lot of people over there.”
“Yes, they’re all trying to get ice.”
A crowd was gathered around an ice pillar that I’d set out to help everyone cool off.
Many of them were young boys and girls in the same outfit, which, according to my AR, was the uniform of Lalagi Magic School.
I guess they do call this place the Kingdom of Sorcery.
Maybe I could take Arisa and Mia to visit the magic school and public library during our stay.
“I bet a shaved-ice stand would make a killing here.”
“No kidding.”
Nodding, I checked that everyone else was ready.
“Shall we go?” I prompted, and we all started to leave.
“Wait a minute, sir!” called one of the people gathered around the ice. “What about your ice pillar?”
“That’s all right. You can use it to keep cool.”
This provoked an excited shout from the crowd so loud that I thought it might shake the leaves off the trees. It is hot, after all.
“Sweet ’n’ yummyyy?”
“Nougat is so sweet and strong, sir.”
“Mm. Tasty.”
“It’s…very good.”
The younger kids were eating some molasses candies, a by-product from our trip to the sugar purification factory.
It had been a long time since I had something so sweet that it almost hurt my teeth.
“I think you’re supposed to dip this pastry in it, not eat it with your fingers.”
Just as Lulu said, the nutty pastry seemed to be intended for dipping into the syrup-like candy.
“Delicious.”
“Master, my sweetness detectors are experiencing an anomaly. Requesting regulation, I entreat.”
Liza gave a normal reaction, but Nana came over to me with her lips trembling.
The sweetness was probably a little too aggressive for her.
In addition to the usual brown sugar and molasses, the sugar factory also sold rock candy and pure, high-grade white sugar.
The former was widely available, but the latter was expensive and produced in small quantities, so most of it was consumed only by local nobles.
“If you wish, Liquor Marquis Pendragon, we could gladly arrange for some rock candy and high-grade sugar for you.”
“I would appreciate that. We’re renting a storehouse in the harbor, so please have it delivered there.”
The owner of the sugar factory knew about my title for some reason, so I was happy to take him up on his proposal. I also bought many barrels’ worth of brown sugar and molasses, since they were so affordable here.
“N-now, Sir Liquor Marquis, there is one thing I’d like to ask…”
The owner gave me an unexpected request.
“You want me to tell you what the legendary liquor tastes like, but you’re not asking to try it yourself?”
I had imagined that it would be about the fairy wine, but his question was humbler than I’d imagined.
“Yes, I thought that as a liquor marquis, you are likely to have tasted it.”
“Well, they say the proof is in the pudding. Why don’t I have you try a sip?”
Touched by the owner’s modesty, I decided to offer him a small vial of the fairy wine.
“Surely you don’t mean…!”
“Just don’t tell anyone else, all right?”
The owner closed his eyes and breathed in the fragrance from the top of the vial for a few moments before bringing it to his lips with shaking hands, pouring a few drops of the fairy wine into his mouth.
It was clear from his ecstatic expression that he truly loved liquor.
Just as promised, he stopped after only one sip, capped the vial, and held it out to me.
“What a magnificent wine. Truly, my meager vocabulary could not even begin to describe its complexity.”
His body trembled with emotion.
I gently pushed the vial back toward him with my palm.
“Please keep it. I’m giving that to you.”
“A-are you certain?”
“Very. The brownies who gave this to me would surely be pleased for someone who loves liquor as much as you to drink it.”
At that, tears of joy filled the owner’s eyes.
I feel kinda bad that he’s this excited over a vial that only has a few sips of wine left in it.
The man continued to thank me as we waved and left the sugar factory.
The next day, the molasses I’d ordered was delivered to the warehouse, along with some barrels of rum, beef jerky, and so on.
The owner must have thrown these gifts in from his farms and wine cellar.
Lalagi beef, which was raised on a diet of leftover sugarcane dregs, was said to be extremely delicious.
He also had some beef delivered to our inn, so we ended up having a steak-and-hamburger party that night.
I was surprised by the Lalagi-style steaks, which were prepared with a sugar-based dry rub, but they were so soft and tasty when eaten with the accompanying sweet sauce that I was ordering seconds before I knew it.
As thanks to the modest and dutiful owner, I decided to send him a letter along with vials of Leprechaun Claret and Spriggan Treasure.
“So this is the Box?”
“That’s right. You are free to take a closer look, too, little girl.”
Two days after our visit to the sugar factory, we were in the chapel-esque inner sanctum of the Lalagi royal castle to see the Box, also known as the Lalakie Box.
My AR display labeled it Lalakie Maintenance Terminal for Senior Personnel Use.
I’d assumed it was going to be some kind of treasure box, but evidently I was wrong.
Maybe the Skeleton King was after a different box, then.
“A white…box.”
The Box didn’t seem to be triggering any memories for Rei, since she didn’t go into her usual trance state.
The king of Lalagi didn’t look thrilled about Rei’s indifference.
“Sir Pendragon, try giving it some magic power.”
“Are you certain?”
“Go on. It will only make the surface glow.”
I nodded and put a tiny amount of magic into the Box, not even one full MP.
“<This device can only be used by senior personnel. Please speak your identification number.>”
The voice from the Box startled me, but I wasn’t the only one.
“Wh-what is this voice? What does it mean by senior personnel?!”
“I—I don’t know.”
The king and the crown prince exclaimed in surprise, and there were murmurs from the other nobles as well.
“<La. 1090609. Rei—>”
The voice put Rei into a trance state, and she started to state a number, but I stopped her in the nick of time.
This Box was probably just an ordinary maintenance tool, but if Rei was able to activate it when the royal family couldn’t, there was no telling what they might do.
Hastily, I drew the magic power back out of the Box, shutting it down in the middle of repeating its statement.
“Whew, that was close. Your Highness, this Box seems to have a mechanism that rejects anyone but royalty. The security system might have activated and destroyed your treasure.”
“What do you mean, ‘security’?”
“An anti-theft automatic self-destruct function.”
The king looked doubtful, but I used my “Fabrication” skill to come up with an explanation.
At skill level max, it was ridiculously powerful, enough that he believed my made-up story.
Aside from that little incident, the long-practiced ritual went off without a hitch in the inner sanctum. Soon the Box would be loaded onto a portable shrine and carried in a parade through the main street.
As a precaution, I put a marker on the Box.
It was going to be heavily guarded, but there was no telling whether the Skeleton King or Yuuneia might show up.
I didn’t think they could possibly have heard that thought, but it wasn’t long after that the incident occurred.
“Your Highness! We’ve just received a report from one of the coastal watchtowers!”
The king was waving to his people from the balcony when a soldier came running up below.
“Go on.”
“A giant sea-dwelling monster has appeared in the sea to the east.”
“What sort of monster exactly?”
The soldier hesitated for a moment.
“What is it, man?”
“I-it’s an octopus-type monster… Possibly one of the sea lord’s spawn.”
Checking my map, I saw that Yuuneia was aboard a small ghost ship next to the octopus monster. The monster was in a possessed state, much like Yuuneia herself.
Most likely, it was being controlled by a monster like Yuuneia’s ghost bird, Chibi.
“Prepare the castle’s Magic Cannons. Suspend the festival and evacuate the people to the underground shelter.”
“““Yes, sir!”””
The king’s vassals jumped into action at once.
“T-terrible news!” Another messenger appeared.
“Calm down! What is it now?”
“A ghost fleet has appeared in the sky to the west.”
Looking at the map, I saw a fleet of nearly thirty ghost ships.
However, the Skeleton King wasn’t with them.
“Seems like they’re both diversions.”
“Of course. That empty-headed skull always uses such obvious tactics. He’ll come at us himself from either the north or the south.”
Just as the king confidently stated, the Skeleton King was approaching from the northern sea, with a school of undead monster fish coming from the south, likely as another diversion.
This nation’s army could probably take on any one of these attackers individually, but judging by the information displayed by my AR next to the king of Lalagi’s City Core, they wouldn’t be able to supply all the Magic Cannons and Heavenslight Protection with magic power at once.
I should probably turn into Nanashi the Hero and help them fight off the enemy.
But first, I wanted to confirm a few things…
“You mentioned an ‘empty-headed skull.’ Does that mean you know who’s attacking, Your Highness?”
The king nodded. “It is said that the filthy undead monster who calls himself the companion to the final queen of Lalakie seeks the remains of the main engine from the floating island era, which are kept deep within this castle.”
Huh?
So the Skeleton King’s not after the Box?
“Have you ever spoken with this creature directly?”
“Nay, only the king of two generations ago was foolhardy enough to do such a thing.”
Since the king could speak Hallowed Language, I thought he might at least have tried to negotiate with the Skeleton King, but apparently, that wasn’t the case.
They probably thought of these attacks as a sort of natural disaster.
“Forgive my insolence, but might it not be safer to return the Box to the castle?”
“You are quite the worrier, Sir Pendragon.” A rare smile graced the king’s face. “Fear not—I have already ordered for the Box to be returned. Besides, no undead monster could ever break through the holy protection of the Heavenslight Protection given to us by the gods. If the undead attempted to break through, they would simply be purified and turned into ash.”
In that case, there was probably no fear of the Skeleton King stealing the Box.
I breathed a sigh of relief, then decided to take my leave so as not to trouble the busy king of Lalagi further.
“Your Highness, given the situation, I believe I had best leave you be.”
“Indeed. You should hasten to the underground shelter, too.”
The king didn’t even spare me a glance.
He was looking out at the sea lord’s spawn, which had broken through the barrier around the bay.
“Let’s go, Rei.”
“Y-yes, Satou…”
I took Rei’s hand and headed toward the square where the rest of our friends were waiting.
“Th-the Sea Lord’s coming for us!”
“Don’t worry! His Highness will protect us somehow!”
“Official orders from the king! Evacuate to the underground shelter until the monster has been defeated!”
The townspeople were quavering at the sight of the octopus monster in the seas of the harbor, but thanks to their faith in the king and the swiftly issued evacuation orders, they didn’t fly into a panic.
The Heavenslight Protection over the castle gleamed and created a glowing dome around the entirety of the castle town.
A rock thrown by the sea monster crashed into the dome and sent ripples of light across its surface with an echoing bell-like sound.
The sound seemed to have an added magical effect of calming people down.
Running along the now-empty streets, I soon arrived at the square to meet up with my companions.
“Liza! Is everyone here?”
“Yes, master. We are all prepared for battle.”
Liza responded fiercely, but the enemy this time around was just too strong.
“I’m sorry, but I need you all to evacuate underground.”
As I spoke, I handed out various magic items for self-defense.
“<Queen’s Ring—a defensive magic item held by the queen of Lalakie.>”
When I put a topaz ring on Rei’s finger, she went into a trance again.
That sounded like an important item, but there was no time for that now, so I entrusted Rei and the ring alike to the rest of the group.
“Arisa, take this seal slate. If anything happens, call me with Telephone.”
“Okey-dokey!”
Arisa’s Telephone had a fairly short range, so I gave her permission to use her unique skill “Over Boost” just once in case of an emergency.
Before I left, I gave more detailed information to Arisa and Liza about the possibility that the Skeleton King or Yuuneia might come after Rei’s hair ornament.
Since they were outside the Heavenslight Protection dome, however, I doubted they would be able to get in very easily.
Well, I guess it’s hero time.
The enemy was attacking from all four cardinal directions.
To the east, the octopus monster. It was level 51 with “Water Magic,” “Water Resistance,” and “Regeneration” skills. The small ghost ship carrying Yuuneia was with it, as well.
To the west, a fleet of twenty-eight ghost ships. They carried a total of sixty or so skeleton soldiers, ranging in level from 30 to 45.
To the south, a school of over a hundred undead monster fish. They were all level 30 or below.
And to the north, the Skeleton King.
“The ghost fleet to the west is probably the most dangerous, but I know where I have to go first.”
I transformed into Nanashi the Hero in a back alley, then headed north toward where the Skeleton King was approaching over the ocean.
It’s important to beat the main culprit first in situations like this.
“Not the most ideal area for this…”
The Skeleton King’s ghost ship was approaching above a beautiful coral reef in waters so clear and blue, it made you want to go scuba diving.
If I attacked with magic from here, I’d end up destroying the coral reef in the process.
I withdrew the Holy Sword Claidheamh Soluis from Storage and put magic into it, transforming it into thirteen blades.
“Wait—is the coral turning into a monster?”
The parts of the reef the ship passed over grew rapidly and began to produce tentacles that broke through the water’s surface. It looked more like a sea anemone than a coral monster.
“<Dance,> Claidheamh Soluis.”
When I spoke the scripture, the Holy Sword released a blue light and zoomed toward the ghost ship like a seabird that had sighted its prey.
Its holy power turned the ghost ship into a cloud of black dust in a matter of seconds.
Quickly, I opened my log and map to check the results.
“…He sure runs away fast.”
The Skeleton King had escaped into the Spirit World.
I hadn’t expected him to get away so easily. Maybe he had started fleeing while I was hesitating about destroying the coral reef.
Things hadn’t quite gone according to plan, but I had dealt him a significant amount of damage just like before, so he shouldn’t be back for a while.
I used the Water Magic spell Remote Harpoon to destroy the coral tentacles and headed off to the next location.
This time, my target was the octopus monster in the east, which was being led by Yuuneia.
“Magic Cannons won’t work on something that’s under the control of my Chibi!”
Yuuneia was standing aboard a single-person boatlike ghost ship, looking smug.
There was a thick wall of seawater in front of her and the octopus monster, which was blocking the crimson cannonballs fired by the Magic Cannons of the castle and the defensive tower.
Fireworks and explosions danced across the surface of the sea, and the seawall created rainbows as it splashed apart.
The water wall seemed to last for only two Magic Cannon shots before falling apart, but the octopus monster was simply creating more walls incessantly as each one was destroyed.
“They stopped attacking! Get them, Chibi!” Yuuneia shouted.
SHWNESHWNEEEE!
TWAWWWAAAAAAKYWOOOO!
The mynah bird–like cry rang out, overlapping with a low howl like the sound of air blowing through a conch shell.
Massive spears made from ocean water formed in front of the octopus monster’s tentacles.
They were so big that even a single one looked like it could sink a battleship.
“How many of these can your precious Heavenslight Protection withstand?”
Sorry, Yuuneia, but not even one of those is going to reach its target.
I used my concentrated Laser to slice through the octopus monster, defense magic and all, and broke apart the massive spears with Break Magic.
The Laser created an explosion of steam, blasting a huge quantity of hot air and salt water up into the sky.
Oops, looks like that was some pretty serious overkill. I probably could have used a few regular Lasers instead of the concentrated one.
The little ship carrying Yuuneia was tossed around like a leaf, but before I could rescue her, she quickly fled into the Spirit World. Like father, like daughter.
The brief battle had created a small tsunami on the water’s surface, so I flew through the rain of seawater and cast my Magic Hand out like a net, storing some of the water to reduce the size of the wave.
It was still fairly large, but that shouldn’t cause a problem.
With my cleanup finished, I moved on to the next battlefield.
“Are these the sailors from those drifting ships?”
The ghost ship at the head of the fleet looked just like the SS Cloud.
Its crew lined up perfectly with the amount of people who seemed to have been missing from the unmanned ship, too.
I poured plenty of magic into Claidheamh Soluis and transformed it back into thirteen blades.
SKREEEEEEEE!
The shrieks of the skeleton sailors shook the skies. There was a deep sadness and lingering regret in their cries.
Saying a little silent prayer for them, I recited the scripture of the Holy Sword.
“<Dance,> Claidheamh Soluis.”
The Holy Sword flew about purifying the ghost ships and skeleton soldiers, leaving a trail of blue light in its wake.
Occasionally, a cannonball from a Magic Cannon on one of the ghost ships would fly toward me, but I caught them with Flexible Shields and quickly used them to recover some of my spent MP by using Mana Drain.
With a quiet shiiiing, the Holy Sword Claidheamh Soluis returned to float at my side.
Taking it along with me, I headed south and destroyed the school of undead monster fish.
As I was starting to recover the corpses, Arisa contacted me with Telephone.
“Master! Come back quickly.”
“Coming!”
Without sparing a second to ask what was happening, I quickly operated my menu and teleported back to the group.
“<Why do you reject me, Sister?>”
When I arrived, there was Yuuneia, already back from the Spirit World, facing off against my friends as they protected Rei on the opposite side of the room.
This must have been their main objective.
“<Why? Tell me!>”
Rei’s fake hair decoration was lying at Yuuneia’s feet as she spoke to Rei in a dispirited voice.
The hair ornament’s purifying mechanism must have activated when she took it from Rei.
I was still connected to Arisa with Telephone, so I let her know that I’d arrived, moved to a position where I could intervene if needed, and listened to Rei and Yuuneia’s conversation.
“<I’m…scared…>”
“<Why…? Why would you be scared of me, Sister?! I’m your only sibling!>”
Yuuneia’s wrath caused the miasma to swirl and well up around her, scaring Rei even further.
“<I—I don’t…remember you…>”
“<What do you mean…?>”
“The larva has amnesia, I inform.”
Nana responded to Yuuneia’s question.
“<I-it can’t be…>”
A range of emotions played across Yuuneia’s face: confusion, despair, and finally anger and frustration.
Overwhelmed by these feelings, she lowered her head and hugged her arms to her chest.
Her hands were shaking, revealing her inner turmoil.
Finally, she looked up and shouted accusingly at Rei.
“<…It’s not fair; it’s not fair; it’s not fair!>”
“<Not fair?>”
Rei didn’t seem to know how to respond to the sudden statement.
“<How can you forget everything and live in peace while I suffer the curse of the binding chains in your place?!>”
The “curse of the binding chains” probably referred to the miasma chains and shackles around Yuuneia.
Her right eye, which had returned to normal, was starting to turn back to the same inverted coloration as her left eye.
“Calm down!” Arisa exclaimed. “I’m sure our master can free you from that curse with his cheating powers!”
I’m glad you have so much faith in me, but was the “cheating” part really necessary?
Since no one else seemed to be around, I removed my Nanashi disguise and showed myself in front of them.
“<Th-the black-haired demon!>”
Seeing my face, Yuuneia screamed as if a horrifying monster had appeared before her.
I had to admit that hurt my feelings a little.
“<D-don’t come any closer! I’ll be back for you, Sister.>”
I used “Warp” to get close to Yuuneia in an attempt to catch her and get rid of the miasma around her, but a gross undead corpse started to rise from the shadows at her feet.
Geh?!
I instinctively stopped short, and as I did so, ghost birds started attacking me from all sides.
Creepy corpses were one thing, but I had no problem dealing with a few birds.
All of them seemed to be copies, and they exploded into feathery black shadows when I punched them.
Yuuneia faded away amid the swirling shadow feathers.
“<Sister! Remember who I am by the next time I come to you! You absolutely must!>”
Her voice echoed around the room.
This time, there was no wormhole at the source of the voice, so she must have learned her lesson.
Liza and the others quickly took care of the undead creature.
“Rei, are you hurt?”
“I’m…fine.”
“Larva, I have recovered your hair ornament, I report.”
Nana fixed the fake hair ornament back on Rei’s hair.
“Satou!”
“Master, bad news!”
Turning toward Mia and Arisa, I saw that Rei’s Fairy Pack–style pouch had fallen to the floor, its contents spilling out.
“Rei’s hair ornament is gone!”
According to the marker on my map, Rei’s hair ornament was now in the Spirit World.
Unlike the other kids’, Rei’s bag didn’t have any user restrictions, so Yuuneia or the ghost bird must have stolen the key.
That’s not good…
Elsewhere on my marker list, the Lalakie Box had also been moved into the Spirit World.
I may have won the battle, but we’d lost our advantage in the war.
I was a little frustrated, but our most important priority was to protect Rei from the Skeleton King, so at least she was still safe.
“Sir Pendragon…”
I was summoned to the royal castle to meet with the king of Lalagi.
Somehow, he almost seemed to have aged considerably in the short time since I saw him last.
“The Skeleton King has stolen the Box… Soon the world will end.”
That seems like an exaggeration.
“The letter from the king of Ishrallie said that the Flame Lord’s seal has been undone. And that it was the doing of the Skeleton King…”
His voice was low and loaded with despair as he continued.
“If the Skeleton King was foolish enough to release the seal in order to steal the Blazeshine Sword that held it in place, despite his fear of Doghead and his kin, then he must have found a way to bring Lalakie back to the skies.”
The king seemed grimly confident about this.
If I remembered right, Yuuneia had said something along these lines when we first encountered her:
“<All we need now is a large crystallized Firelight Pearl, the Box, and your key, and we’ll be able to bring Lalakie back to the skies!>”
He was probably going to use this Blazeshine Sword that had been used to seal the Flame Lord in place of the gem from the Crimson Cane, which was in my possession.
It seemed strange to use a fire-type item to seal a fire-type monster, but there was no reason that the king would lie about that right now.
“If he offers up the elemental jewels at the Sealtower Islands and Lalakie rises into the sky, then the most powerful of Doghead’s kin—the Sea Lord—will be unleashed.”
Oh, there’s a new key phrase.
“Doghead’s kin will run rampant on land and sea, and the Skeleton King will control the floating island Lalakie and its Divine Wrath Cannon in the sky…”
The king of Lalagi looked up as if he might die at any moment.
“…There is nowhere left to go.”
“That’s not true.”
If I left the king to his own devices, he might die of despair, so I spoke without thinking.
“Spare me your empty consolations. Who in the world could possibly stop such a disaster?”
The gods probably could handle it, but in this world, they seemed to just warn people about disasters with the “Oracle” skill and leave them to handle the rest themselves.
“A hero will surely rise to meet the evil.”
“A hero? You mean the Hero of the Saga Empire?”
A faint light of hope entered the king’s eyes.
Casually tossing out the word hero seemed to carry some serious clout around here.
“Did you not see the hero who protected this land earlier this very day?”
“You mean that mysterious figure who was flying around in the sky?”
Shoot. I should’ve showed myself off a little more.
“Yes, that is the very same hero who swiftly defeated Tobkezerra and the other giant monster fish when they appeared in the Shiga Kingdom.”
“Th-the giant monster fish Tobkezerra?!”
I nodded and continued speaking. “Not long before I left the Shiga Kingdom, the Skeleton King attacked a harbor town there, so I suspect the hero was waiting here for the Skeleton King to arrive.”
My “Fabrication” skill was on a roll as usual.
“There is no doubt in my mind that the hero will put an end to the Skeleton King’s foul plans.”
I smiled reassuringly, and the dark shadow over the king’s eyes lifted completely.
“Well then, I suppose I cannot simply cower in here any longer. I must go and reassure the people.”
The king of Lalagi stood with renewed energy and went to calm the people of the castle town, which was in near chaos after the Skeleton King’s attack. He could probably take care of the rest.
I asked the king for more information about the Sealtower Islands, then left the castle.
On the way, I told Rayleigh that our discussion about his new company would have to wait and gave him some money to get started for the time being.
They seemed to still be working on their business plan anyway, so I’d have to come back once the Lalakie situation was dealt with.
“Master, we are prepared for departure, I declare.”
I nodded at Nana on the deck and gave the order to the figurehead golem Scarecrow to set sail.
The Sealtower Islands, the Skeleton King’s likely destination, were said to be somewhere in the Kraken’s Domain.
And so we set forth from the Kingdom of Sorcery Lalagi to put a stop to the Skeleton King’s plan to resurrect Lalakie.
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