Chapter 21
IT WAS STILL EARLY in the morning when Mira awoke in her assigned room in the palace. She blinked and looked around. How did she get here? She tried to recall her most recent memory.
“Hrmm. I gave the documents to Solomon, then went back to the baths. And then…utter bliss…”
As she mentally retraced her steps, everything suddenly came back to her. She’d fallen asleep in the baths. But just as she was feeling thankful to the maids for seeing her back to her room, she noticed something.
“What? Wait, what?!”
Feeling something fluffy, she glanced down to find herself dressed head to toe in rabbit pajamas. Her massage had ended with a onesie. Evidently, the maids’ assistance last night hadn’t ended with them carrying her to her room—they’d also taken advantage of her unconscious state to force her into this.
There are monsters roaming the palace halls…
The maids would take any opportunity, it seemed. Mira trembled and glanced around the room to make sure none were waiting to pounce.
After quickly changing into her waiting technomancy robes—expertly cleaned and folded—she dashed off to Solomon’s office.
***
As she opened Solomon’s office door, the rich aroma of black tea filled her senses. The king sat at his desk, staring blankly at a mountain of paperwork with a teacup in hand.
She walked in and claimed her usual spot. “You look exhausted.”
“Don’t you look well-rested for a change. That’s rare.” He watched her collapse on the sofa with a huge sigh.
“Yeah, well…”
“I’m sure there’s a reason for it…and I bet I know what it is.” He’d seen the maids coming on his way out of the baths. In fact, he might have even tipped them off. He sipped his tea with a knowing look on his face. “Would you like a cup?”
Mira took a teacup from the coffee table and dangled it his way. “Have you made any progress?” she asked.
“Suleiman pulled an all-nighter.” He filled her cup and handed it back, curling steam rising from its contents.
“He didn’t have to do that.” Mira grimaced as she took a sip. Evidently, she wouldn’t be getting as much free time as she’d hoped.
“Before I get to the news, there’s something you should see,” Solomon said, taking some papers from a drawer and laying them out before her. They were blueprints for something—and it looked humanoid.
“Huh? What’s this? A robot?”
“Close enough. We’re developing it under the name ‘Protean Doll.’”
“Hrmm… Seriously? A Protean Doll?” Mira tried out the name as she scanned the papers. Looking closer, she saw that there were actually two different sets of blueprints. The size and shape were practically the same, but the one on the right was vastly more complicated.
“Oh, right, this one is actually called the Stalwart Doll. Development on that was completed about five years ago.” Solomon indicated the design on the left-hand side.
“Ah, so these are two different things?”
“It was the prototype. The Stalwart Doll was an automaton created by a joint effort by the craftsmen’s guild and the technomancy engineering team. It was intended to operate in dangerous or inaccessible areas. Kind of like how robots were used back in our original world.”
Finishing his explanation, he tapped his finger on the other blueprint—the Protean Doll. “But this is what I wanted to talk about.”
“Hrmm. This one seems a bit more advanced.” Mira set her cup down on the tray next to the teapot and focused her attention on the blueprint.
“It’s based on the Stalwart Doll, but we’re modifying it to be combat capable.”
“Why? And hold on, before you answer that…what does any of this have to do with me?”
If this was all related to technomancy, then surely he was about to ask for her to refine something again. Solomon sighed and his gaze dropped.
“I’ll be frank. Development of the Protean Doll has stagnated. Just about every nation is trying to modify the Stalwart Doll into a combat-ready force. If we just focus on standard combat capabilities, we’d still be at a disadvantage because of our limited manufacturing capacity. At best, ours would just end up as a defensive line against encroaching monsters. Besides, if we accept the other countries’ versions as good enough, we’ll be limiting our potential. So, as usual, the Kingdom of Alcait has decided to add our own twist—a little added value to the project.”
Other nations were retrofitting their Stalwart Dolls to make them suitable for battle, using them as border patrol or reserve forces in case of emergency. Some were even developing a specialized version designed to be more effective against monsters.
“Hrmm… That does seem like the obvious next step. And this added value is why you’re bringing it up with me, right? You’ll be asking me to refine something or other for this project, no doubt?”
By “added value,” Mira assumed that he hoped refining could grant the automaton additional effects. But Solomon shook his head in response. “No, nothing to do with refining. However, I do need you to make a little side trip to pick up exactly what we need.”
He pulled out a list of materials—a long list of materials.
“This is all hush-hush. Top-level state secrets. We’re designing these Protean Dolls so that they’ll be able to use spells and techniques, and we’ve just reached the final stages. We were creating a mechanism that lets them cast spells…but the project has stalled. Thanks to Luminaria’s assistance, we’ve got some sorcery spells loaded into the Dolls, but we can’t generate the required mana. Most of these items didn’t generate any mana during testing, but a few of them did actually react.”
Solomon pointed to one item in particular: Shimmering Seedpods. These faintly glowing pods were found in various groves scattered throughout the continent. They were often used in the creation of magic tools, since they had a strong affinity for all of the various schools of magic. They were often substituted for other ingredients when supplies ran low.
“Shimmering Seedpods gave us the greatest reaction when used to generate mana. But it was still nowhere near what we needed for a practical solution.”
Mira began to connect the dots in her brain. If the Seedpods were the most promising entry on the list of tested materials, then she knew another item that might be the solution: Primordial Pips. This incredibly precious crafting material only fell from the Ancient Gopher Tree. Legend held that this was the origin of all trees throughout the world. True or not, Shimmering Seedpods that grew from modern trees could trace their ancestry back to Primordial Pips. And so long as the Pips were fresh, they could be used to create the finest tools and equipment.
Solomon had to know this as well.
“So you want me to go fetch you some Primordial Pips?” Mira took out her entry permit to the Primal Forest—one of the Devils’ Labyrinths—and tossed it on the desk.
The Primal Forest, so called due to the rampant growth of ancient plant life that blanketed the area, was coincidently home to an Ancient Gopher Tree.
“Bingo. I figured you’d be passing by at some point and could pick some up along the way. The fact that you’re heading there next is complete coincidence.” Solomon smiled widely as he laid out yet another sheet of paper.
“Seriously, how many errands do you want me to run for you?! And where am I going this time?”
Protean Dolls aside, Mira suspected she’d be making another attempt to locate Soul Howl.
Solomon got to the point. “In order to acquire the Holy Grail of Heavenly Light, one must perform a number of incredibly difficult procedures. But the Grail isn’t a crafted item in the traditional sense; it’s more like a reward for a long, grueling quest.”
“Oho… I’ve heard various theories regarding the Grail, but it’s actually a quest, is it?”
Back in the game, there had been a lot of debate between players regarding the Grail. The most promising theory at the time was that it was a quest reward, but the quest had never been activated in game. It would undoubtedly be more challenging than any other undertaking.
“Yes and no.” Solomon paused, choosing his words carefully. “It’s a special item that doesn’t really lend itself to any of the craftable, quest reward, drop, or harvesting categories.”
There just wasn’t really a proper way to describe the uniqueness that was the Holy Grail of Heavenly Light, as Solomon’s halting explanation clearly showed. To begin with, the Grail couldn’t be seized without following a number of steps and gathering materials in a specific order. Rather than crafting an item…it required the seeker to craft a set of conditions. Moreover, most of those conditions were still unknown, lost in the undeciphered portions of the text. But Suleiman believed that he had discovered the first step.
“So what’s the first condition?”
“Step one: Obtain the material needed to create the Grail’s base. It requires the root of a sacred tree that’s over three thousand years old. And the only place to find an ancient tree near where Soul Howl was conducting his research is…”
“The Elder Tree of the Forest of the Devout, just north of the Primal Forest. Right.”
“Sacred tree” was a catch-all term for any special tree that was worshipped as a deity. Through years of veneration, they came to possess divine powers. Several other three-thousand-year-old sacred trees were scattered across the continent, but with one so close to the catacombs, it was fair to assume that Soul Howl wouldn’t go too far out of his way. The closest and most familiar source was the Forest of the Devout, located to the southwest of the Kingdom of Alcait. And that was right near the Primal Forest, one of the Devils’ Labyrinths. No wonder Solomon looked so pleased with himself.
“Exactly. It’s the first stop, so no doubt Soul Howl’s already long gone, but perhaps we might find a clue. Maybe you can ask the other Elders to see what they might know. While you’re already in the area, what’s an extra little stop?”
“True enough, I suppose. If you had me go back the moment I returned, I’d be chock-full of complaints.” She reached for her teacup and took a sip of the now-cooled tea. The rich aroma helped to banish any remaining drowsiness.
“Anyway,” Solomon said, “I’m hoping you might be able to get me ten or so of the Pips, for my experiments and to have as spares.”
“I’m sorry…you want how many?”
Seeing as the project was still in the experimental phase, Solomon was considering the potential for failure as well as other factors. Annoyed, Mira frowned at his request. Primordial Pips were expensive and rare—back during the game, that is—and even top-ranked players couldn’t just go buying them willy-nilly. Ten of them would be worth a fortune.
“Well, with the area now off-limits, there aren’t as many people gathering them. I thought they wouldn’t be that hard to get straight from the source. If it looks like they’ll take too long to gather, just five will do.”
“Jeez… Fine, whatever. I’ll see what I can do.” Mira retrieved her entry permit from the desk and tucked it back into her Item Box. At least this would be a suitable thank-you for the technomancy robes he’d commissioned.
“Thank you. This will be a big help.” Solomon said as he placed down ten mithril coins before her. “This is your war chest for the trip. If you need anything on the road, feel free to pay with these. You can even buy a new robe for the trip.” He looked at her with a smirk. “Seeing as this is the capital, you can find replicas of all your old outfits, not just your Elder’s robes.”
“You knew and didn’t tell me?!”
“An admiring pupil imitating her legendary teacher. Simply adorable.”
“That’s not what I was going for!” she shouted as she chased him around the desk. They looked like two children at play.
Once they’d settled down, Mira plopped a heavy bag of Magic Stones onto the table. There must have been at least a hundred of them in the small sack. “Anyway, here. I picked these up at the tower.”
“Oh, wow, thank you!” Solomon now had a cute little ribbon tied in his hair, proof that Mira had caught him at some point during their tussle. “This should keep us going for a while. Is there anything I can do in return? Anything you’ve been wanting?”
“I should be fine. Actually…” She hadn’t expected a reward, but there was something she had her eye on. “What about a wagon? Not like a hay wagon, I mean whatever flying wagon Cleos uses with Garuda. I could definitely go for one of those. He said your craftsmen made it?” She fondly remembered how comfortable it had been.
“A flying wagon? Hmm, all right. Small price to pay. Any particular style?”
“What are my options?”
After nearly twenty minutes of deliberation, they’d hammered out most of the details. The vehicle would be made of sturdy materials capable of withstanding the elements, and Mira explained her ideas for the interior design as best she could. There was also a lot of cutting-edge technomancy in development that she hadn’t been aware of until Solomon started making suggestions. By the end of their discussion, the final plan had become quite extravagant.
It felt like the two were planning a secret base and had gotten a bit carried away. The fact that Solomon had some practical experience designing secret bases probably contributed to the discussion going off the rails.
“This should be quite interesting.”
“Hrmm, I can’t wait.”
The two shared childlike grins. Then Mira suddenly remembered something.
“I should probably let you know this: I told Mariana and Cleos who I really am. Oh, and Lythalia knows too.”
“I see. I won’t ask why, but those three shouldn’t cause any issues. Very well.”
The ones newly in the know were Mariana, the attendant of the Tower of Evocation; Cleos, its acting Elder; and Lythalia, Luminaria’s personal attendant. They could trust these three without concern. All he asked was that she let him know about any further matters regarding Danblf, and Mira agreed.
“King Solomon, it’s about time for your meeting,” came a man’s voice through the door.
Solomon immediately put on his regal voice and called out, “Very well.” He poured himself another cup of tea and drained it, then sighed. “Never enough time. Oh, before you go—about the whole Meowmaru thing…”
“Oh? Have you learned something?”
“No, not really.”
Mira frowned at him and contemplated making a rude gesture. Here she’d been concerned about the furry shikigami.
“But I did hear a rumor,” he added.
Apparently, there were others besides Meowmaru that were protecting the spirits from their pursuers. Or one other, perhaps—they were acting discreetly, and it was unclear whether they were an individual or an organization. Whoever it was, it seemed they were acting in opposition to the Chimera Clausen.
“I see. And so you’re saying I may have met one of them?”
“Possibly. This all comes from a few spirits my agents interviewed. Their stories were similar to yours.” Solomon sulked as he cleared away the tea set. As a warrior, he was unable to speak to spirits himself. “And here, this is for you.” He handed her a set of papers that had been under the tea set.
“Oho, what’s this?” Mira took the bundle and began leafing through it.
“Well, you didn’t have any maps yet, so I grabbed some for you to keep in your Item Box.”
“Hrmm, good idea.”
The bundle included nearly a dozen maps of the Kingdom of Alcait and the surrounding area. One of which was even her next destination, the Forest of the Devout.
She immediately shoved them into the special items section of her Item Box and then opened the Map command. The map projected itself above her Control Terminal like a small screen.
“Isn’t that handy.”
As Solomon cleaned up the papers spread across his desk, he repeated the words of another former player he’d heard when he was an adventurer: “‘Most big cities have stores that sell maps. If you ever need one, you can find them there. You may have a rough idea of the continent’s layout, but they’re always handy on a journey.’” A gentle, nostalgic look graced his face.
He’d been a king for thirty years. His life was far from boring, but he still occasionally felt the urge to go out and explore the world again, and he always looked forward to hearing tales of adventure from other former players when they came to visit.
“Oh, and take this.” He pulled something palm-sized from his pocket and held it out to Mira. It was a stunningly designed metal disc, engraved with the Alcaitian coat of arms and the number “9” set atop the pattern of a ring.
“And what’s this?” Taking it in hand, she glanced at it and then flipped it over. On the back was engraved a magic circle. “Some magic instrument?”
Solomon shook his head. “It’s just a medal. I figured I’d give you recognition for bringing back a clue as to the whereabouts of Soul Howl. That marks you as a national VIP.” He placed his hand over the medal in her hand, saying, “In the name of Solomon, I grant this to thee.”
The medal reacted to his words, the magic circle glowing faintly.
“It’s an ethereal technique that serves as proof that I bestowed this honor upon you.”
Looking again, Mira found that the magic circle had disappeared, replaced by the name of the king.
“Hey, it worked,” he said, relieved, and then pulled back his hand.
“Thanks, but why do I need a medal?” she grumbled, flipping it back and forth. The only thing a medal was good for was to commemorate a deed completed.
“It could be useful. It serves as a guarantee of your standing within our kingdom. Gives you a bit of clout when gathering information or attempting to gain access to certain areas when you take up missions.”
“Oho, really? I’ll make sure to put it to use.” Mira continued to toy with her medal.
“All right, then. Have a good trip. I’m looking forward to those souvenirs.”
“Hrmm, I’ll be back when I’m done.”
As he watched her walk away, silver hair swaying behind her, Solomon couldn’t help but feel a slight sense of envy. In Karanak, Mira had met a boy named Tact and formed an alliance with the guild Écarlate Carillon. He couldn’t help but imagine what new adventures she’d get up to with a new group of friends.
Maybe if I used a Vanity Case, I could…
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a voice announced that all the members for the meeting were assembled.
“On my way,” he replied, voice firm. The mood was broken, replaced with the face of a king who had been in power for thirty years.
Oh, well. Duty calls.
Tucking his bundled materials under one arm, he left the now-silent office, the ribbon on his head dancing to and fro.
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