Everything moved with remarkable speed.
The three of them arrived directly at the underground storage vault beneath Riscal’s auction house.
“…I don’t recall ever receiving a report about such a device being installed in the estate. I think you owe me an explanation.”
Pernoa fixed Riscal with a look of deep, complicated thought.
And with good reason — the three of them had just arrived at the capital’s auction house through a secret teleportation portal that had been concealed within Riscal’s castle all along.
His reaction was entirely understandable.
Riersha, on the other hand, puffed out her lower lip with an expression of unmistakable envy. The particular sensitivity of a small child had been thoroughly activated.
To think he’d had such an incredible secret base inside the castle all this time, entirely to himself…!
“I want one too.”
“…You can’t have one. This was supposed to be a secret only I knew about… and now it might have to disappear.”
As they walked down a corridor of the underground vault that seemed to stretch on without end, Riscal kept stealing glances at Pernoa.
Remodeling one’s own castle however one liked was technically a personal freedom, but…
“Installing a teleportation portal in the capital would require imperial authorization, wouldn’t it?”
Every teleportation portal installed within the capital was subject to strict, individual oversight by the imperial palace.
If the Arachrene family had ever submitted a formal application to create a portal leading directly to the capital city of Declair, it would have been rejected without a second thought.
Which meant…
Pernoa’s crimson eyes narrowed.
The more they did, the more cold sweat beaded along Riscal’s forehead.
“To think you dared build something like this without my permission, Riscal Arachrene.”
“…Hic.”
“You already know what you did wrong, don’t you? And I trust you’re equally aware of what would happen if this became known outside these walls.”
Riscal flinched and ducked his head low.
The atmosphere had grown more serious than she’d expected, and Riersha’s eyes darted back and forth between them.
Then she quietly sidled up beside Riscal and whispered to him.
“Riscal oppa, this one’s pretty bad. Looks like Papa is really, really mad.”
She was still worrying that Pernoa might genuinely scold him when Pernoa let out a short, dismissive snort through his nose. Then he pressed further.
“Where else does the portal connect to?”
“…Well, you see, Father.”
“You couldn’t possibly have built it to connect only here.”
A teleportation portal, once properly linked, could be connected to multiple destinations.
If he had the audacity to secretly install a portal leading all the way to the capital, then there were almost certainly other portals hidden elsewhere as well.
Riersha’s eyes went wide and round with surprise.
“Is that true?”
“…”
“…Where else can you go?”
Her eyes were sparkling — half wonder, half barely contained excitement.
Pernoa caught a glimpse of that expression and pressed his fingers to his temple.
Just thinking about what sort of ideas she might pick up from witnessing all of this already gave him a headache.
“Don’t go getting any ideas from watching this, Riersha.”
“Yes.”
“…Riscal, we’ll finish this conversation later.”
At that, Riscal quietly slipped behind Riersha.
Then he jutted out his lower lip and spoke in a voice carrying just the faintest note of defiance.
“But Father, secret passages are so hopelessly outdated by now. Anyone trying to sneak away through one of those would get caught almost immediately. Times have changed, you know.”
“…”
“This is the age of secret teleportation portals. We should have had one installed ages ago.”
“…”
“Right, Riersha?”
Riscal looked down at her, inviting her opinion.
Riersha thought about it for a moment. The more she considered it, the more it did seem like he had a point.
If only they’d had a teleportation portal back then…
Everyone might not have been wiped out so meaninglessly.
Without quite realizing it, Riersha nodded her head.
She had been completely won over by Riscal’s argument.
“Mm, you’re right. Papa, I think Riscal oppa is correct.”
“…You’ve already been corrupted by your brother.”
Pernoa let out a long, weary sigh.
A noble family’s secret passage served many purposes beyond simple escape, but…
For some reason, he was left with the distinct and uncomfortable feeling of being a man out of step with the times. He decided not to press the matter further.
“This way, please.”
The steward who had been leading them through the underground corridor came to a stop before a particular door.
Before them stood a gate that was simultaneously eerie and enormously imposing. Just how large was it? Large enough that one had to tilt one’s head back quite far before the top came into view.
Riersha swallowed dryly without thinking. She had known Riscal owned an auction house, but seeing it with her own eyes made it feel incomparably more impressive.
She stood there with her mouth hanging open before a curious thought crossed her mind and she asked about it.
No matter how she looked at the door, there was no handle to be found.
So how did it open?
“Watch carefully, Riersha. This is how you get in.”
Just then, Riscal grinned with undisguised pride and stepped up to the door, placing his hand flat against its surface.
“This door was custom-made to open with a specific mana resonance, so only I and a handful of stewards can enter this place.”
A deep, resonant boom — grrrummm — rolled through the entire corridor, and the vault door swung open.
“Well? Impressive, isn’t it? None of my brothers have been here yet. Among the family, you and Father are the very first.”
“Riscal oppa is the coolest!”
Riersha’s eyes were absolutely shining.
⁂
“Here it is.”
The steward located the demon dragon’s staff and set it on the table.
It radiated an extraordinarily sinister aura.
Its appearance, too, was deeply unsettling.
Without thinking, Riersha buried her face against Pernoa and covered her eyes.
Because…
“It’s rather grotesque-looking, isn’t it? It may be quite disturbing for young Lady Riersha to see.”
“Is that the demon dragon’s heart?”
“Yes, it is.”
At the center of the staff, the demon dragon’s heart was pulsing as though it were still alive.
Well — considering the sheer ferocity of the dark magic that had to be contained within it, there likely had been no other method than to embed the heart directly into the staff itself.
Riersha peeked back at the staff.
Grotesque as it was, there was something she needed to do, and she couldn’t let that stop her.
“Okay. …Just a moment.”
“…What’s that, Riersha?”
She rummaged through her clothes with her small hands and produced a crystal orb, and Riscal looked at it with curiosity.
It resembled an ordinary communication crystal.
Right — and that was exactly the issue.
“…Who gave you that?”
None of the family members she saw regularly at home would have given her a communication crystal, which meant someone outside the household had given it to her.
“Hehe.”
Riersha smiled brightly and began channeling mana into the communication crystal.
“You’ll see when it connects.”
“…”
“Are you very busy right now?”
But the recipient was not as quick to answer as she’d hoped.
Just as Riersha’s eyebrows had drooped into a worried furrow, she tried connecting a couple more times.
On the third attempt, the call went through.
Whoever it was had apparently rushed to answer — there was a clatter of noise from the other side. The surface of the crystal swirled and bobbed for a moment before Sion’s face came into view.
“…Oh, what is it, My Lady? I felt terrible about the way we parted last time. I didn’t expect to hear from you again so soon.”
Sion smiled broadly, clearly moved.
Wherever he was and whatever he’d been doing, the space behind him was an absolute disaster. Scattered across the floor was what appeared to be a strange pattern of runes — it looked very much like a summoning circle.
Riersha beamed.
“I have something to show you!”
“…To me? If it’s not urgent, could you call again later? I’m in the middle of some very important research right now…”
“You’ll regret it if you don’t look now.”
“…Fine. Just a quick look, then.”
Sion relented and gave a reluctant nod.
His expression confirmed that he had, in fact, been in the middle of something important.
Whatever it was, Riersha was certain of one thing: from Sion’s perspective, there was nothing more important than what she was about to show him.
“Ta-da!”
Riersha climbed right up onto the chair beside the table and raised the crystal orb above her head with both arms triumphantly outstretched.
The entire surface of the table came into view.
A brief silence followed. And then, exactly as expected, Sion’s reaction arrived.
“Oh — My Lady… is that…! I’m not busy at all, actually. Could you tell me where you are right now…!”
“But you said you were busy, so I’ll call again later. Goodbye.”
Riersha smiled her most radiant smile at the Tower Master, showing him her beaming face one last time, then gave him an infuriatingly cheerful little wave.
“Wait—!”
Click.
The communication crystal went dark.
