novelraw Vol 3. Chapter 705: Bonus Part: Ryo and Abel’s Journey Home (33)
Vol 3. Chapter 705: Bonus Part: Ryo and Abel’s Journey Home (33)
705. In the Frontier VII
“Impossible...”
“Why...”
Both Abel and Ryo were bewildered.
Of course, they were not the only ones.
The people of the fortress who had been discussing Marquis Nyusha’s proposal, and those who had been watching with bated breath because the two representatives seemed about to speak...
All of them were thrown into confusion by the sheer turn of events.
“Huh?”
“Maintain independence?”
“Why?”
“Did he say he was withdrawing the proposal?”
“...Total war?”
There was likely no one who understood what had just happened.
Only one person’s expression did not change.
Don Re, Vice Minister in charge of foreign affairs for Eastern Eighth District and the mediator, was the only one whose face remained unchanged.
Ten seconds later.
“I see. So that’s what this is.”
Abel muttered the words as if spitting them out.
“Huh? Abel, you figured it out?”
“Dark-attribute magic.”
“Ah...”
Ryo fell silent at Abel’s words.
“Most likely, Marquis Nyusha suspected it after the first meeting. That is why he said he wanted this meeting held under public scrutiny.”
“Because if dark-attribute magic made them speak or act unnaturally, then among the people watching... people like us right now, for example, doubts would arise.”
“I thought it was strange from the start. Marquis Nyusha and Chairman Pisek both look like reasonable men. And yet at the first meeting, both sides apparently went so far as to say they would never meet again, correct? That is not normal.”
“Dark-attribute magic... I think it was called
Both Abel and Ryo had experienced it.
After the royal capital unrest, while the two of them had been on their way back from the capital to Rune, a priest who wielded dark-attribute magic had cast
It had failed to affect Abel because of the necklace he always wore, which cured abnormal conditions, and it had failed to affect Ryo because of his peculiar constitution, but still...
“We know the reason now, but what do we do?”
“There is only one method. We go in there.”
“What?”
Ryo himself let out an absurdly startled voice at Abel’s proposal, which sounded exactly like something Ryo would say.
“That peculiar constitution of yours... it can return someone controlled by dark-attribute magic to their senses, can’t it?”
“That’s right! I remember curing Hugh.”
He had once freed Hugh McGrath, who had been controlled by the vampire Count Haskil’s
However, the center of the training ground was the place of the meeting.
Whether they could simply approach without permission was another matter.
“It cannot be helped. I will announce myself as a new mediator.”
“What?”
Ryo did not understand what Abel meant.
“When someone is controlled by
“That seemed to be the case with Hugh.”
“Then it will do. Let’s go.”
“...What?”
Ryo still did not understand.
And yet Abel took the lead, jumping down from the stands into the training ground.
“A headlong swordsman is always dragging around a perfectly calm and collected magician.”
Grumbling, Ryo jumped down as well and followed Abel.
The training-ground stands had fallen into great confusion.
But when the crowd saw two figures descend from the stands and slowly walk toward the center, silence settled over them once more.
Even if not every person in the fortress knew them, a fair number did.
They were the two adventurers who had spent the last several days training the younger guards.
The young men receiving that training lived inside the fortress with their families.
Naturally, when they went home, they talked about the training.
It was also known that the two were staying at the Sand Sleep Inn.
It was known that they ate at the neighboring Sand Meal Pavilion.
And that meant they had caught the attention of people who held a certain degree of status inside the fortress.
Even though barely ten days had passed, Ryo and Abel had become known among the people of the fortress.
Those two now slowly approached.
From the three “three-person seats” in the center, one man called out to them.
He was the military officer responsible for the fortress.
“Lord Abel? Lord Ryo?”
“Hello, Commander-in-Chief Morgar. In fact, I have a proposal.”
Abel smiled at Morgar.
Once he had walked close to the nine people, he turned toward {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} Morgar.
Ryo stood beside Abel.
Now that they were this close, Ryo’s peculiar constitution... the fairy factor overflowing from him would return them to normal.
However, from the case with Hugh, they had learned that it required a little time.
It seemed Abel intended to buy that time.
“Watching from over there, it seems there is quite a bit of confusion.”
“Er...?”
“Perhaps the mediator lacks sufficient ability.”
“What?”
“You bastard!”
Abel made a disturbing statement while still smiling, Morgar tilted his head in incomprehension, and Don Re, the mediator, snarled.
“I suspect Marquis Nyusha and Chairman Pisek shouted because the mediator lacked sufficient ability. Shouting in this solemn and sacred meeting is unthinkable. That itself is proof that the mediator lacks ability. So, if you do not mind, I believe I should become mediator instead. What do you say?”
“What do you think you’re doing!”
Don Re snarled again at Abel’s words.
“Ah, I neglected to introduce myself. My name is... Lord Morgar, you know it, do you not?”
“Yes... Lord Abel, correct?”
“Indeed. And you know which country I am Abel of, yes?”
“Yes... Lord Abel of the Knightley Kingdom.”
“Correct. King Abel the First of the Knightley Kingdom.”
“...Pardon?”
Morgar tilted his head, unable to comprehend the identity Abel had announced with a smile.
But three seconds later, he understood.
“Abel... Your Majesty? The Adventurer King? No, the Hero King?”
Morgar’s body was trembling.
That was only natural.
King Abel the First of the Knightley Kingdom was a former A-rank adventurer, the hero who had led half the kingdom, defeated the imperial army, and fought through the Kingdom Liberation War.
The fact that, unknowingly, he had asked such a person to conduct training was also one of the reasons he was trembling...
A stir spread outward.
“Abel the First?”
“Of the kingdom?”
“The Hero King?”
“I heard he disappeared...”
“I heard he vanished after taking down a revived Demon Man with him.”
“No, surely not...”
None of the voices grew loud.
Everyone murmured in whispers, or exchanged words with the person beside them.
Whispers spread through the entire stand.
And at last, Abel’s ploy succeeded.
At its core, the ploy had been a way to buy time.
Time for recovery.
“What in the world was I...”
Chairman Pisek murmured despite himself, apparently having returned to his senses.
“So it was dark-attribute magic after all. But why was it dispelled?”
At almost the same moment, Marquis Nyusha also returned to his senses and muttered, unable to understand the reason he had been freed.
Don Re realized that his scheme to control the two men with dark-attribute magic and drive them into a full-scale clash had been broken.
He did not know why the magic had been dispelled.
But that was not what mattered now.
There was still room to recover the situation.
“Do not be absurd!”
Don Re, the mediator, shouted as he rose to his feet.
“There is no way King Abel would be in a place like this!”
Even if his scheme had been broken, that did not mean he had lost.
However, unless he removed the person before him, he would no longer be able to regain his lost ground.
“If you claim to be King Abel, then prove it!”
When Don Re said that, one member of the Federation mediation group stepped forward to seize Abel.
“Stand down, you insolent fool!”
The voice pierced the area.
It came from the magician in the robe.
“His Majesty’s person is not something the likes of you are permitted to touch!”
It was not Ryo’s usual voice.
It was the voice of Duke Rondo.
And it came with pressure.
In an instant, everyone present understood that this was no ordinary matter.
“To begin with, who do you think you are, demanding that His Majesty prove his station? Are you people aware that you are about to cause an international incident?”
“Ah...”
“I am asking whether the Federation is prepared to go to war with the Knightley Kingdom!”
Ryo declared.
Starting with Don Re, none of the Federation members could open their mouths.
Nor could the people of the fortress watching from the stands.
Complete silence.
After some time, Ryo changed his tone and spoke again.
“That said, I imagine it would be difficult to ask you to let unknown persons replace the mediator. For the people of the fortress, this is an extremely important meeting. Therefore, I shall prove my status in his stead. I, Ryo Mihara, Duke Rondo and Premier Duke of the Knightley Kingdom.”
Ryo’s words slowly spread among the people of the fortress as well.
“The kingdom’s Premier Duke...”
“You mean that one?”
“The one said to surpass the empire’s explosive-flame magician...”
“The Silver Duke...”
“Or the Icefall...”
Ryo removed his identification plate from around his neck.
The one who immediately approached was Commander-in-Chief Morgar.
He reverently accepted the plate, then inserted it into the verification board used by the guards.
“I have confirmed it. There is no mistake. He is the Knightley Kingdom’s Premier Duke, Duke Rondo.”
“Ohhh!”
Morgar showed the verification board to the Federation mediators as well.
“Impossible...”
The word slipped from Don Re’s mouth despite himself.
Without even sparing a glance at Don Re as he sank to his knees, Abel turned toward the two representatives.
“Marquis Nyusha, Chairman Pisek. I am King Abel the First of the Knightley Kingdom.”
“Your Majesty!”
At Abel’s introduction, everyone from Marquis Nyusha’s faction and the fortress faction dropped to one knee in respect.
It was truly the dignity of a king.
An overwhelming presence that proved no identity verification was necessary.
“I understand that this region has deep ties to the Federation. Yet because those ties are so deep, it seems the Federation cannot be neutral. I do not mean that the kingdom should force its way in instead. I simply wish to observe the course of events from a fair and impartial position as a new mediator. What do you say? Would you indulge this one selfish request of mine?”
It was King Abel’s proposal.
Yes, a proposal.
Nothing more than a proposal.
But when someone with such an overwhelming presence made a proposal, was there anyone who could refuse?
“I accept Your Majesty’s mediation.”
“Your Majesty, we ask this of you.”
Both Marquis Nyusha and Chairman Pisek accepted.
In the meeting that followed, there was not a single dispute over the content.
Only...
“You call it an autonomous district, but how about using the name free city instead?”
That proposal was made by the water-attribute magician who served as King Abel’s close associate.
Of course, that person too was a hero known nearly as well as King Abel himself...
“Duke Rondo’s proposal is an excellent one.”
“Then it shall be the free city of Zarash.”
Both Marquis Nyusha and Chairman Pisek accepted.
“I recognize it in the name of King Abel the First of the Knightley Kingdom.”
This event would come to be known in later generations as “King Abel’s Arbitration.”