Chapter 4
WHEN THEY REACHED THE OFFICE, Mira sank into the sofa.
“Did you enjoy the train?” Solomon asked as he took a leisurely seat in his own chair.
Mira thought back over her journey. “I did! It was magnificent to see how even though much has remained the same, I could truly see the progress you’ve been making. The people I met here and there were delightful, as well. I love trips.”
Given how long it had taken her, it would have been far faster to fly on Pegasus on a direct route. But nothing beat the charm of rail travel. It took the sting out of the loss of her floating island.
“I see. Well, I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.” Remembering how overwhelming it had been for him when this world became real, he was happy to see that Mira was finally beginning to settle in—even if he felt a little left out of the fun. “But now on to the important question: Did you get the stuff?”
Duty called. Mira was a friend, but sometimes Solomon had to lean on his friends to make sure this new world stayed safe for people like them.
“Indeed I did,” she replied. “But it’s not what we expected.” She stood up from the sofa and dropped the leather bag full of wood shavings onto Solomon’s document-cluttered desk. They were the key to dating Soul Howl’s activities and travels.
“You’re right; that’s not quite the state we expected. I’d believe you if you told me you’d just shaved them yourself. That’s the Elder Tree for you, huh?” After inspecting the bag, Solomon plucked one of the moss-covered yet vividly textured scraps.
“Do you think they’ll do?” Mira asked.
Solomon returned the shaving to the bag, tied it shut, and replied, “Probably. Our scholars are the best there are.” He seemed proud of himself for picking the best of the kingdom’s talent.
Mira could only leave it to them, so her job here was done. She was happy to leave it for someone else to puzzle over the evidence. After sitting back down on the sofa, she grinned pompously. “Now, I’ve got an extra-juicy report for you. Would you like to hear it?”
“Oh yeah? Whaddya got? I wanna hear it!” Either playing along with Mira or earnestly interested, Solomon leaned forward and responded just the way she wanted.
She let him hang for a moment before finally blurting out, “I met Wallenstein!”
“No kidding?!”
When Mira said something was juicy, she really meant it. But this was even juicier than he’d expected, so he looked more astonished than ever.
“You seem surprised. Well, so was I!” Satisfied to see that she’d pierced Solomon’s usual calm, Mira recounted the tale of her encounter with the wayward Wise Man.
***
“I see… Demons harbor some fascinating secrets.”
Finding Wallenstein in the train… The demon Faust, who had taken back his true duty… Solomon was struck with awe, though he also seemed slightly perturbed. Mira couldn’t blame him; anyone would be surprised to hear all this at once. After all, it concerned demons.
“So,” Mira continued, “he’s not in a situation where he can come straight home. But he did give me his word that he’ll return within the year. I’d say we can check Wallenstein off the list.”
“Agreed. If he’s busy right now, then we’ll have to settle for what we can get.”
Solomon’s shock wore off. His friend Wallenstein was doing important work and Mira had vouched for him. A king had to trust his operatives.
“What a stroke of luck, though,” he mused. “He was about as impossible to find as Meilin. Excellent work getting him to promise that he’ll come back soon, too. He’s never broken a promise.”
“Indeed. He is sincere to a fault.”
Mira and Solomon smirked fearlessly. The Wise Men knew Wallenstein as a man who would always keep a promise once he’d made it. Forcing him into rash promises had been an effective method of keeping him under control back in the old days.
“And while I’m here, I ought to share some of these with you.” Suddenly remembering, Mira placed two round white stones and two black strings on the table.
“What are these?” Solomon leaned in and peered at the items.
Mira explained their purpose with pride in her voice: the stones would call one of Wallenstein’s demon friends, and the strings could restrain even duke-level demons. “Wallenstein said that now that we know the truth, killing demons is going to be a tougher moral choice. So he gave me these. Take some in case a demon appears here while I’m gone. Also, if you need something from Wallenstein, you’re free to call a demon of his with one of the stones and have them pass the message along.”
After that, Mira explained how to use both items. They were simple: the stones were to be shattered, and the string was used to bind.
“How convenient.” Solomon, who was gazing at the stones with great interest, abruptly looked up and asked, “By the way, what are those demon friends of his like?”
A friendly demon seemed…counterintuitive.
“Well, I only really met one, but…” Mira described the station bento-devouring knight Faust. “He seemed trustworthy.”
“Sounds like they change a lot,” Solomon muttered. “Yeah, it will be hard to kill them now.”
Still, he was the leader of this country. As much as he might sympathize with Wallenstein and his endeavors, he couldn’t permit any danger to his land.
“He did say that if needs must, we should do what needs to be done,” Mira noted. “According to him, demons are reincarnated after death. Killing them isn’t the end of the world, if it comes to that.”
Wallenstein had seemed prepared to wait for every demon’s reincarnation if that meant helping them reclaim their duty. Solomon was impressed—Wallenstein had a long war ahead.
“If that’s his plan, then we’ll have to prepare the country—no, the whole world—for that news.”
“Yes,” Mira agreed. “I only hope we can.”
The demons who had caused countless tragedies were so different from the demons who had reclaimed their duty. They might as well be different beings. But that was going to be a hard pill to swallow for those who had been terrorized by demons in the past. They would have to gradually change the world’s mind if these new demons were to live among humans peacefully.
Wallenstein likely had this in mind, too. They would have to discuss it whenever he returned.
Solomon mused, “That shy guy, of all people!” He had to laugh thinking about how their friend was mingling with demons now.
***
“Oh, one more thing,” Mira remembered. “I decided to head over to Alisfarius while I was out. Guess who bought souvenirs!”
“Wow, you really bought something for me! What is it, what is it?”
As exciting as it was that Mira had found one of the Wise Men, the topic of demons was still a heavy one. With that conversation over, the atmosphere in the room lightened.
Mira lined up the souvenirs she’d bought on the table in front of the sofa. Solomon watched with shining eyes.
“Snow-white peach? That’s one of their specialties, huh? You sure bought a lot of stuff.”
Snow-white peach cookies, jam, candy, juice, manju, and tarts lined the table. But Mira hadn’t just bought food. She took out one more item and handed it to Solomon.
“This one is all yours,” she said with a smile as she handed over a small potted latifward tree, the holy plant of Alisfarius.
“Wooow, you’ve even brought me one of these? Thanks. I’ll take good care of it.” Solomon accepted the potted plant, placed it on the table, and examined it from all angles.
“They had quite a quantity of them, but only two had enough character to draw my eye.” Mira produced another potted plant.
Solomon inspected it like he had the other, and the two discussed potted plants at length. It was as if they were building their own world in their own little pot, deepening their friendship by talking over a shared interest. During these shared moments, Solomon thought it felt just like the good old days.
***
The great potted plant chat ended with the pair deciding to see whose looked better in six months. From there, Mira began haphazardly making piles of souvenirs.
“Would you pass this stack of confections on to the people who made this outfit?” she requested. “I’d like to thank them.”
“Aha. I was wondering what you were going to do with all this. I don’t mind playing messenger, but don’t you think they’d be happier if you gave these to them directly?”
“Hrmm…”
“Head on over to the maids’ quarters. I’m sure you’ll find that the designers are delighted to see you.”
“I’m not sure I like your tone…but I suppose you’re right. I’d best thank them in person,” she grinned.
The maids’ quarters were forbidden territory that only women could enter. Now that Mira had gotten more used to her form, that seemed less daunting and more enticing than before.
“I get some too, right?” Solomon asked, casually opening a box and stuffing his face with snow-white peach manju. It only seemed fair, since he and Luminaria had given Mira the funds for her trip in the first place.
“Speaking of souvenirs, I bring one more: a story.”
“A story? Not work-related?”
“Yep.” Mira took a manju bun and sat back down on the sofa. “I happened to meet one of your fans at an inn.”
“A fan of mine? I guess there’re all sorts of weirdos out there. Would they happen to be…a woman?”
“That’s right! A real curvy one, at that.”
“Curvy, huh? This story’s getting interesting!”
Mira described the young lady’s personality and…assets while Solomon used his imagination to fill in the details. The two of them fantasized about her irresistible nurturing nature.
They both agreed that size didn’t matter. But since Luminaria was out of the room, the pair also agreed that it was every man’s dream to bury his face in bosom, ample or not, from time to time.
“I think her name was Aselia?” Mira recalled. “Her admiration for you led her on the path to become a paladin.”
“Well, I’m honored,” Solomon replied happily as he sat on the sofa next to Mira and reached for another manju.
“She has a problem, though: she’s trying to imitate your current style. Her technique is suffering as a result.”
“Copying my moves, huh? That is a problem. I’m as far from a model paladin as it gets.”
“I told her as much. I tried explaining to her how you were when you started off, but she’s smitten with you. She’s determined to relearn the basics with a shield this time.”
“Uh-huh, uh-huh. Wow, thanks—I’m out here changing the lives of women I don’t even know… Guess I’m not too shabby after all, huh?”
They chowed down on manju. The buns were the perfect size for stuffing into one’s mouth whole, and the springy texture and melt-in-your-mouth sweetness of snow-white peach all came together in perfect harmony. Before they knew it, they’d each eaten several.
As they enjoyed their snack and chatted idly, someone knocked at the door.
Solomon washed down the manju with snow-white peach juice and switched to a more kingly tone. “Enter.”
Suleiman and Luminaria walked into the room.
“That was fast. How did it go?” Solomon asked.
“Somewhat anticlimactic, your Majesty. His two followers weren’t especially loyal, and they gave up every detail of the attack without a fight.” Suleiman bowed before sharing the story the attackers had told about the ambush on Mira.
The motive was Caerus’s personal grudge from the symposium, as he had mentioned…but what stuck out was why things had escalated so much. Marquis Alfonse Verlan—father of Caerus and head of the Verlan family—was off on an expedition, leaving his wife in charge of the estate. She was overly doting on her son and tended to agree to whatever he asked. Had Alfonse been home, the whole affair might never have happened in the first place. But with his mother in charge, Caerus was able to bring his plan to fruition.
“It seems he made off with a prototype sealing barrier from the Mage Corps’ storage. It was left on the scene, so we’ve sent a party to retrieve it,” Suleiman added.
Solomon thanked him, eyed the manju, then cleared his throat. Suleiman was constantly monitoring his kingly conduct when he was present, so the young ruler had to be careful.
Ignoring Solomon’s plight, Mira tossed a manju bun into her mouth and mused, “If it’s a prototype, then it must have been developed here, no? You’re up to all sorts of things, aren’t you?” She chewed the soft, fluffy bun and chased it down with juice. The sweet flavor of peach relaxed her cheeks.
Solomon side-eyed her angrily, but Suleiman was in his periphery, standing there like a strict test proctor.
“More precisely, we want to develop countermeasures,” the king explained. “We’re a country of mages, and having one’s magic sealed can be fatal to a mage, as well you know. We must understand these barriers’ construction and find a way to nullify them. That prototype was part of our research.”
Solomon walked away from the sofa to put the temptation of the manju buns at arm’s length and sat back down at his desk. The mountain of souvenirs on the table was quite the sight. He secretly plotted to thin out their numbers later.
“Whatever keeps you busy, then,” Mira muttered and ate yet another bun.
“I might not look it, but I am a king,” Solomon answered. Suleiman gave him a sharp look. He’d been warned about using self-abasing language before. Best to change the subject quickly. “…Hmm. Er, what of the spirit equipment?”
“It seems it was entirely procured by his mother, so none of the prisoners know the details,” Suleiman answered.
“You’re certain?”
“Since Miss Luminaria was kind enough to assist, I believe they told the truth.”
Solomon agreed—that was probably true. Mira had to wonder what they’d done to the trio. For her part, Luminaria suddenly appeared next to Mira, shoveling a manju bun into her mouth. Solomon and Luminaria were both meant to use their cultivated personas around outsiders, but it seemed Suleiman wasn’t as strict with her.
“I suppose we’ll have to ask the good marquess, then,” Solomon grinned. “Suleiman, send a summons to their estate. Have her come tomorrow at noon.”
“Understood, Your Majesty.”
“Oh, one more thing. These wood shavings…can you hand them over to the research team?” Solomon pointed to the leather bag on the table.
Suleiman approached and checked inside, picking up one fresh, moss-covered wood shaving.
“This promises to be a difficult analysis. Best get started right away.” His pessimistic words belied his intent to solve the mystery, no matter what. “Now, I shall take my leave.”
For Suleiman, work was rewarded with more work.
***
“That Caerus guy was a hot mess,” Luminaria said, now with a bottle of juice in hand.
“It’s certainly been an annoying experience. He’s been an arrogant jerk from the first time I met him at the academy. How haven’t you dealt with this guy already?” Mira knew that bullies cropped up in any school system, but Caerus was out of control. Given the summoning instructor Hinata’s view of him, Mira had a feeling he’d been abusing his status for a long time now. She also knew that Luminaria would never let something like that slide if she knew about it.
“My deputy handles the school.” She paused with a manju bun halfway to her mouth and narrowed her eyes, then awkwardly added, “…But that guy pays more attention to the research than the kids.”
With all of the Wise Men missing, the duties of overseeing the academy had largely fallen to deputies like acting Elder Cleos. But the Tower of Sorcery’s Elder was present and healthy—this job should have fallen to Luminaria. That said, having a single Elder among a council of deputies would unfairly bias the curriculum of the academy. Or so Luminaria claimed, anyway.
In the meantime, her deputy was a researcher first and foremost. Being relieved of duties at the Tower to oversee the academy, he shut himself into a lab and devoted all his time to his own research. The students were, unfortunately, a neglected afterthought.
The discipline of sorcery was flourishing thanks to his research, but the students in the program were riding high on his achievements, not their own. They’d become needlessly cocky and condescending to their peers—as was the case with Caerus.
“Cleos has been checking up on them,” Mira reassured her. “When we toured the school, it seemed to be tense. If Caerus gets expelled for this, maybe there’s just another bully waiting to take his place. You should check up on them once in a while.”
Mira remembered her stroll with Hinata, Cleos, and Amarette. She also recalled how the students respected the deputies and how they all looked at the group with envy. Having positive role models around was a good thing for morale and behavior. Mira remembered a similar experience when she was a student. Recalling how she’d felt back then, a mix of admonishment and parental protectiveness crept into her tone.
“Well, maybe you’re right. Guess I should plan a visit and pop in once or twice,” Luminaria said casually as she swallowed another manju bun.
“Regularly,” Mira insisted. Once or twice wasn’t going to cut it.
“Yeah, yeah, I got it.” Despite her irritation, Luminaria grudgingly made the promise in front of Solomon.
“The school, huh?” Solomon said all too casually as he reached for yet another bun. “I only know how it’s doing from paperwork. Maybe I’ll go with you.”
“Good. There are some things you can only understand by seeing them in person,” Mira agreed, recalling her own visit.
None of them even considered what a fuss it would be having an actual Wise Man and the King show up for a tour.
“Incidentally, what is the deal with that symposium?” Mira asked. “Hardly anything in that talent show would have been useful in a real battle.”
She recalled what she’d seen at the symposium, the whole reason for the ambush in the first place. She’d wondered if all-flash-and-no-substance magic was trendy with the kids these days, but Solomon and Luminaria just looked at each other and shrugged.
“The kingdom isn’t really involved in that symposium,” Solomon said. “It got started when the teachers needed to put on a show for some influential visitors.”
“Yep,” Luminaria confirmed. “After that it sort of changed to become a place for student presentations. The students can show off their imagination and adaptability, while the teachers can show off how good they are at teaching. All so people with money and clout can pretend they understand what’s going on with magic. And there’s an unspoken rule that the deputies don’t get involved to try and swing the outcome.”
For someone with so little interest in the academy, she seemed to know a lot about the symposium.
“So that’s how it happened?” Mira mused.
Though the deputies managed school policy, much was left to the teachers’ discretion. The symposiums were meant to bring student and teacher interests together for demonstration purposes, and to test the imagination when it came to magic.
“It seems like they just got carried away over the years. The mastermind of the whole thing was probably the one who exacerbated that, too. Things ought to calm down soon,” Luminaria said as she opened a new box of snow-white peach tarts, much to Solomon’s delight.
Mira smiled. If her friends liked the treats, then they were worth the expense. She just made sure to snag the first tart once the lid was opened.
***
As the three happily sat on the sofa and gorged themselves on tarts, Mira pulled an idol of the goddess of love from the pile of souvenirs and handed it to Luminaria.
“For you.”
“Ooh, thanks. I’m surprised they’re selling stuff like this. Things must have changed a lot since the last time I visited. Oh huh, this carving is very…detailed. And very white.” Luminaria turned the carving around and admired the artisan’s craftsmanship. The two then locked eyes and nodded.
After gulping down some more snow-white peach juice, Solomon sighed with satisfaction and stood up. He plucked a report from Leoneil from the mess of papers on his desk.
“You remember Leoneil from the Karanak Mages’ Guild, Mira? I got some pretty interesting info from him.” Solomon flipped through the pages of the report and continued, “Apparently, they’ve identified some adventurers as being related to Chimera Clausen. They’re investigating, but they say they’ve found some shared characteristics.”
This information could be obtained by none other than Leoneil, head of the Mages’ Guild. In fact, the methods he used to dig this up likely bordered on abuse of power on Leoneil’s part.
“Those characteristics being…?”
“All of the adventurers they’ve designated as persons of interest have recently been getting multiple permits for specific dungeons. Three, to be exact: the Citadel of Scales, the Garrison’s Vault, and the Illusory Corridor.”
The dungeons listed by Solomon were all advanced dungeons.
“Hrmm. I’ve been to those dungeons a few times. What business do they have with those three in particular? As far as I recall, there’s nothing that connects them.”
Mira couldn’t recall any quest line that would take someone to each of those dungeons. None of the three even had spirits living inside, so why was Chimera Clausen sending people into them?
“Oh yeah, you usually skipped lore dialogues and cut scenes,” Solomon mused. “They do have some shared history. But that’s all in the report from Leoneil. He did a lot of digging for us.” He looked down knowingly at his documents and smiled; he must’ve been happy that Leoneil had done so much work for him.
“Well then, how are they connected, exactly?” Mira chuckled and urged him to continue, as she always had when he acted this way. Luminaria seemed to be letting them do their usual song and dance while she kept herself busy poking around the mountain of souvenirs.
“First, the Citadel of Scales. It was the site of the decisive battle between ancient people and the king of monsters, right?”
“I believe I heard something about that in a quest…”
“According to historical texts, spirits assisted the ancient people in that final battle.”
“Oh. Do spirits appear there?”
Historical documents were dispersed throughout the world and acted as lore dumps for anyone interested enough to read them. But now that this wasn’t just a game, the history they contained took true form and influenced current events in this world. Mira’s reality took on a new layer of color.
“During that battle, the leader of the spirits was Spirit King Symbio Sanctius. He descended at the Citadel of Scales and took command of the army.”
“The Spirit King. Another major figure takes the stage, hm?” Mira mused. As she recalled, that battle had ended with the ancient people winning, but there wasn’t much information on the Spirit King himself.
“Next, Garrison’s Vault. This dungeon has tons of texts and documents about old times. That includes information on the battle I just mentioned.”
“Hrmm, I see. I suppose you could find those if you bothered searching.”
The Garrison’s Vault was a massive underground dungeon that was rumored to contain all documents ever recorded, alongside tomes of research for all sorts of fields of study. Guardians wandered within, protecting the texts the vault contained. However, the vault and dungeon proper were separate. One required a special permit to enter the vault itself.
“Finally, we’ve got the Illusory Corridor. For this one, the dungeon itself isn’t the goal; it’s what lies beyond.”
“Beyond the Illusory Corridor? What was there? I remember some sort of stone circle…” Mira only vaguely recalled the striking, circular tower of rocks.
“The Ancient Ring Gate. It’s believed to be the gateway to the Spirit Palace.”
“Goodness. That seems very important.”
When Mira last visited, Danblf had been there hunting the Elemental Eater subspecies that haunted the place. But now that she’d heard more, she could see why Elemental Eaters, monsters that devoured spirits, were there in the first place.
“Leoneil used this information and the tendencies of the Chimera Clausen that he’s observed to speculate on their next target.” Solomon closed the document and put it back on his desk. Then, his face tensed up with a look of extreme concern. “The Spirit King.”
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