“Ah, no. How on earth…?”
「Boy, that’s my line. How did you end up on the East Continent? 」
Theo’s dumbfounded amazement was more than equalled by Aquilo’s excitement. Had she traveled to the East Continent to find him. If it was Aquilo, it couldn’t be a coincidence. The space transfer had happened immediately after Theo battled Zest Speitem in the Sipoto wilderness.
Tracking magic wouldn’t find any traces of his destination at the battlefield.
「Hey, I’m not joking. Do you know how much I suffered? I traveled from the north to the south and all over the West Continent. It made me want to quit. 」
However, Aquilo was connected to Theo by blood. She could pinpoint Theo’s location anywhere on the continent since that connection spanned more than a thousand kilometers. Naturally, Meltor’s king and the Tower Masters were the first to see the advantages of their connection.
Theo realized. “Meltor commissioned you to look for me.”
「Correct.」 Aquilo seemed rather cheerful about the whole thing.
「At first I thought it would be easy, but it wasn’t. I couldn’t feel you no matter where I looked in the West Continent. It was only when I was poking around the outskirts of the West Continent that I felt something strange. 」
“What?”
「 Even if I couldn’t connect to you, I could feel a reaction as I got closer. So, I entered the Magic Boundary. 」
Theo replied slowly, “… The Magic… Boundary.”
The Magic Boundary was a location that magicians and warlocks often called the Abyss. It was a ‘hole’ in the material world, and it was often thought of as a space where life couldn’t survive.
Satomer had spent several decades trying to pierce through the Abyss. According to Aquilo, she could feel her blood connection with Theo growing fainter even in that place.
「But I couldn’t find you, so I concluded that you weren’t on the West Continent. 」
“… So, you came to the East Continent. Fantastic.”
Theo admired the sheer flexibility of her reasoning. It was far more natural for Aquilo to think of other continents, since she could travel anywhere using the sea. As such, she had found him before anyone else, proving that she was the right person for the mission.
「Now, will you summon me over? I’ve been wandering for over a month, and I don’t want to move anymore. 」
Theo nodded immediately. “I understand. Wait for an hour.”
It sounded like childish grumbling, but Theo couldn’t refuse Aquilo’s request after all she had done. However, summoning an adult dragon required considerable preparation. Theo was able to offset most of the burden with the contract, but it would normally take half a day to prepare the magic circle. Thankfully, his previous experience expedited the whole process.
Exactly one hour later…
Flash!
The magic circle that Theo had drawn on the outskirts of the village flashed with an aquamarine light. The dark sky brightened as the silhouette of a woman appeared. Even as a shadow, she was incredibly alluring. The presence she emitted couldn’t be compared to a human’s. She was dressed in a blue robe that highlighted every one of her curves.
“It has been a while, boy! Although, it was a very short time for me.”
Theo smiled. “I’m glad to see you, Aquilo.”
The merciless tyrant of the sea held out her hand. How many months had it been? For a dragon who lived for thousands of years, three months was more like three days. Theo reached out to hold her cool, soft, hand. He might have been embarrassed if it wasn’t for his recent experience with Lust.
“Hrmm…” However, Aquilo noticed the difference and instantly narrowed her eyes. Theo didn’t know why, but he felt a chill run down his back.
He removed his hand just in time to catch a curious three-tailed fox climbing out of his robes.
Kkiyoung?
“Oh?” The dragon’s eyes looked the fox up and down. “What is that fox? Was it reborn like this?”
Theo nodded. “In the East, it is called a spirit.”
Aquilo reached out to stroke the fox kit’s fur. “It’s much cuter than other kids. Besides, it has quite a lot of strength for a kid? It might be able to grow into a sacred creature.”
Yiippp…
Aquilo’s eyes had already plumbed the depths of the wary fox’s strength. As expected of a dragon, her insight was unparalleled. The Receptacle of Solitude had turned the fox into Eight-Tails, and some of Eight-Tails’ strength was still present. It had consumed an incredible amount of power in its battle against Theo and the two spirits, but it had the potential to become a nine-tailed fox if it had the chance to grow for a couple hundred years.
It will take at least seven hundred years, so I don’t think it matters.
Theo was less interested in the fox’s potential. Even magicians who reached the 8th Circle barely lived beyond three hundred, unless they resorted to some special methods. It would take the legendary 9th Circle or transformation into a high ranking undead to live for seven hundred years.
Theo changed the topic. “How about we find a place in the village before we talk?”
Aquilo stretched. “Okay, it’s been a while since I rested on land.”
“Ah, excuse me for a moment.”
“Hmm?”
Before Aquilo could ask what Theo meant, he tapped her forehead. Aquilo froze in sheer surprise. But Theo’s magic power simply laid a small illusion over her.
Theo nodded. “Okay, all done.”
The beautiful Aquilo now looked like an ordinary village girl. Aquilo’s brain caught up with what had just happened and smirked. “Hrmm, you don’t want me to show my beauty to others? Has the boy become a man?”
Theo smiled gently. “Well, something like that. There isn’t a man alive who won’t stare at you.”
Aquilo stared at him. “…”
Theo walked toward the lights in the distance, “Let’s go? The village is only a little walk thataways.”
Aquilo followed quietly, and muttered under her breath, “… That was a little dangerous.”
She thanked her ancestors that the darkness hid the blush that had risen on her pale skin.
***
They had used illusion magic to change their faces, so they didn’t create too much of a commotion when they entered the village. When they found the inn, Theo booked two rooms with a few silver coins and took a seat across the table from Aquilo.
“Sigh, then where should I begin?” Aquilo had taken out her pipe and was busy stuffing it.
Theo took a deep breath. “I have a lot I want to ask, but… tell me about what happened to the two northern powers after I disappeared.”
Aquilo nodded. “Okay. You might have guessed already, but I told Meltor’s king and the Tower Masters about your survival. The other side still doesn’t know about it. But if the details of your attempted assassination were made public, there was a good chance of war breaking out.”
“… Perhaps.” Some might see it as him being arrogant, but Theo nodded calmly as he calculated his value to Meltor.
If the one who had forged an alliance with Elvenheim and had a blood contract with Aquilo, a 7th Circle magician in his own right, was ambushed by an enemy swordmaster, Meltor would have accepted Theo’s disappearance as proof of death without further question. Publicizing the incident would have led to immediate and total war, until the wrath of the kingdom that had lost its hero had been assuaged in blood.
Moreover, Andras had lost their 4th, 6th, and 7th Swords, so the balance of power between the two was closer than ever before. If war ignited between the two northern powers, they would fight until only one remained.
Win or lose, both sides will be damaged.
In other words, both sides were at their limit. There were also third parties anxiously waiting for the northern superpowers to fall. Once one side’s victory was clear, the allied forces of the Central Continent would definitely launch an invasion campaign. No one knew what Andras was thinking, but Meltor’s elder statesmen all wanted to avoid this situation. 𝗼𝐯𝐞𝐥．𝐜𝐨𝗺
“Andras has remained unexpectedly silent. According to the masked man in white, there’s some kind of internal conflict? It is said that the emperor wants to uphold the armistice, while the crown prince’s faction wants a confrontation.”
Theo frowned. “Hmm, the crown prince?”
The crown prince had been the one who had sent one of the empire’s Seven Swords as a consumable item and cost Andras a god sword. Theo could only guess, but he was convinced by Aquilo’s words. The prince had been the hand behind the assassination attempt on Theo and the one eager for the unification of the northern powers.
His fists clenched as he burned the crown prince’s name into his memories.
“Oh, and this is my question,” Aquilo added.
She raised two fingers and asked him, “Boy, did you beat number 2?”
“Um.”
To be precise, the senior demon Magnus had done that, but Theo couldn’t say that. However, his reaction had convinced Aquilo. It was clear that Theo had faced Zest in battle.
“I knew it. The 2nd Sword was apparently the crown prince’s trump card, but he was nowhere to be found back then. It all makes sense now.”
Theo listened carefully. “The 2nd Sword is the crown prince’s trump card?”
“The 1st Sword belongs to the emperor. I determined this through the process of elimination, but he really didn’t say a word at the conference.”
“Wait a minute, what are you talking about?” Theo hurriedly asked.
Apart from discussing the truce, the relationship between the two northern powers had continued for centuries without any exchanges or conferences. Andras’ ambassador had come to Meltor a few years ago, and somehow, in the three months he had been gone, there had been another meeting of the northern powers?
“This is my way of talking. Well, it’s fine?” Aquilo shrugged, “Around a month before I left for the East Continent, I participated in a secret meeting with Red at the central border. They clearly wanted to use me, but I didn’t mind.”
A blue dragon wouldn’t move if there was nothing to gain, but it was a different situation if their own interests were involved. As such, Kurt III hadn’t missed this opportunity.
Veronica and Aquilo were equivalent to three ordinary masters. Aquilo wouldn’t intervene in a conflict between nations, but if Andras attacked first, she could attack in the name of self-defense. Aquilo understood the trap Meltor had been laying, but she had gone anyway.
“The biggest problem wasn’t me, but the other one.”
“Other person?”
Aquilo laughed ominously. “Only the 1st Sword and the crown prince came to the meeting. Everyone knew what he was doing, but the crown prince tried to provoke a fight.”
“Then?”
“It was a really sad provocation. He said something about you dying a dog’s death in a dirty kingdom? Someone was rattled by those words.”
Theo started sweating as he realized what she meant. Aquilo would’ve ignored the provocation, so who else at the meeting would have responded?
“It seems like you’ve guessed it? That’s right. In the end, Red launched a preemptive attack.”
Veronica truly didn’t betray anyone’s expectations.