Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 489

489.

“All I have is this.”

With a soft thud, a box was placed before me. It was made of a dark, sturdy material, adorned with a silver crescent-shaped clasp, and the surface was studded with tiny diamonds like stars. The stone box, reminiscent of a night sky, seemed valuable in itself. Of course, its worth was nothing compared to what was inside.

Opening the lid revealed red velvet filling the interior. On top of it, stone pieces about the size of coins were arranged at regular intervals. Despite the claim that there weren’t many, a quick glance counted over ten. Dumbfounded, I stared at it as Lamias subtly avoided my gaze and whistled.

To hoard so many missing souls, knowing what they were… If I knew nothing, I might have just thought it was amazing. But as someone on a desperate journey to find those missing souls, even someone helping me seemed a bit annoying at this moment.

“Why, why are you looking at me like that?”

“It’s nothing.”

I gave a bright smile to the dragon, who wore an uneasy expression, and turned my gaze back to the box. Annoying was annoying, but I was glad to see more gems than I had expected. The more there were, the higher the chance of finding them.

Seeing them in person, I understood why everyone said soulstones were hard to find. It was amazing how anyone could distinguish them, as they looked no different from ordinary stones one might find on the street. If I concentrated, I could feel a faint aura, similar to thoughts clinging to them, but it was so faint that I wasn’t even sure if I was sensing it correctly. Other than that, there was nothing special about their color or shape. Really, nothing at all.

“How is it? Do you see anything you’re looking for?”

I listlessly shook my head at the question filled with anticipation. The excitement I had felt was already completely gone. When sending me here, Ellyuen had said I would recognize Lapis at a glance. But no matter how I looked at the gems before me, they just seemed like ordinary stones. I examined each one closely, just in case, but it was the same.

“…I don’t think it’s here.”

One of the hopes I had harbored vanished in vain.

It was back to square one.

They say building up is hard, but collapsing is easy.

After the last incident, Trowel didn’t return to the lodging. Ellyuen, too, seemed quite upset and decided to stay in the Spirit Realm for a while. With nothing else to do, I contacted the Guild, but the reply was still that it wasn’t the right time to return. Hunting, finding Lapis, relationships with everyone—all I could do was wait. It was around that time that Lamias invited me to his lair.

“I’ll show you the soulstones.”

With the quantum proposal falling through, I hadn’t been able to think of anything to offer as compensation. I thought he would put it off indefinitely, as suspicious as he was of me, but I didn’t expect Lamias to contact me first. He was probably curious if I could find what I was looking for among his possessions. Instead, he added the condition that the terms of the deal would be decided later, but I had no reason to refuse. I wondered why we had to meet in his lair instead of his perfectly good mansion in the Empire, but I understood it was for security reasons. Apparently, his nagging adjutant followed him around like a shadow at the Duke’s residence, making it hard to move around freely.

Blue Dragons, being water-attributed, mainly nest in the deep sea. Lamias was no exception. Fortunately, only the location was underwater; the interior was structured without water, and he took me there directly with spatial teleportation, so there were no difficulties. However, Ifrit decided not to accompany us because he detested the sea itself. Thanks to that, I ended up meeting Lamias alone. And at this moment, we were facing the results.

“You’re saying what you’re looking for isn’t here?”

“Yes, it’s not here.”

There were over ten soulstones before my eyes, but Lapis wasn’t among them. I guess things were going too well, and it was going to go wrong in the end. I don’t know if I expected this to happen, or if I had prepared myself not to expect too much. I thought a crushing disappointment would hit me, but I was more composed than I thought. Lamias seemed more shocked than I was.

“It’s not among these! How can that be? Are you sure you looked properly?”

“Yes, I’m sure it’s not here.”

“Look again carefully! You won’t get another chance like this, you know? You know you won’t be able to see them even if you ask me later, right? Do you know how rare it is to see this many soulstones? Not to brag, but I don’t think anyone in this world has as many soulstones as I do!”

“It’s really not something to brag about.”

I stared at him with a pathetic look, and he let out a loud cough. Soon, the lid of the stone box quickly closed, and it disappeared in an instant. Lamias seemed to have put it into his subspace. Seeing him hide it so hastily, he must have sensed something ominous in my eyes.

“You’re not going to report me to the Divine Realm, are you?”

“I’m not.”

“Really? Just try to trace me. You’ll learn what a dragon’s revenge is with your whole body.”

“I said I’m not.”

Of course, not now.

I can’t do it now because there will be repercussions later, so I’ll report him right before I leave. Everything I did here will be erased, so there will be no way to find out who reported him, and he’ll be dying of frustration. Imagining him pounding his chest in frustration made me feel a little better. I’ll have to shake down all the dragons when I get back. I’ll make sure no one in this land dares to touch a soulstone again.

As I was quietly burning with determination, Lamias, who couldn’t take his suspicious eyes off me, scratched his head with a complicated expression. Soon, with a sigh, he got up and brought over a silver tray. It was filled with various kinds of tea, cookies, and cakes.

“Eat.”

“Ah, thank you.”

…Well, maybe he’s not such a bad dragon after all. I gratefully accepted and put the cookie in front of me into my mouth. Eating something sweet made me feel a little better. Thanks to that, I realized that I was quite more down than usual. I thought I was fine, but I guess I was disappointed in my own way.

“You were planning to meet all the dragons, right? So are you leaving here now?”

“Um, I’m not sure yet.”

“Not sure?”

“Ain Idris lives here, so.”

Since he already knew the general situation, that one word was enough explanation. Lamias nodded with a knowing look and stared at me with complicated eyes.

“I’ll be honest, I still don’t like that you’re Elquines’ contractor. I’d rather he was lacking so I could look down on him, but he’s likable even to me, and there’s nothing to criticize, which is even more annoying.”

“Ah, yes…”

“But putting aside my personal feelings, I think it was a shame. It’s rare for two Spirit King contractors to appear in one era, but why did the other one have to be such a guy? If you didn’t know anything, it would be easier, but you’re just taking on all the crap that someone else made just because you’re the same human.”

“It’s not really…”

“What do you mean it’s not? To be entangled with Trowel, who has the worst temper. It’s so pitiful that I can’t hate you without reservation.”

He sighed and seemed genuinely sorry for me. I didn’t particularly dislike being pitied. It’s better than being hated. But even if everything else was true, I had to correct one thing.

“Trowel is nice. He doesn’t have a bad temper.”

“A Spirit King who will destroy humanity in three years is nice?”

“…He might lose his temper a little when he’s angry.”

Anyone would consider someone who hurt their loved ones as an enemy. It’s just that the person with those feelings happens to be a Spirit King, so the scale of revenge is too big. As I was nodding to myself, Lamias, who had been silent, looked dumbfounded.

“I thought I was negative, but you live in a very positive world? You’re the first person I’ve ever seen defend Trowel. He said he’d kill you first if you couldn’t change the prophecy. And yet you’re saying things in his favor?”

“That’s because I provoked him. I said I’d prove that there are humans who can be trusted.”

“Well, putting aside the fact that your courage is admirable…usually, people don’t return those words as threats, you know?”

“He’s in a very sensitive period right now. It can’t be helped.”

“…So that’s why the Spirit Kings are sticking to someone like you.”

Muttering in disbelief, Lamias had an even more complicated expression than before. He seemed to be thinking something to himself, and soon he looked up and stared at me.

“You said you were a hunter, right? I think the guild’s name was ‘Dawn’? I think your guild was the one that solved the missing person case in the Western Jeremy County last time.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Hmm, good. Then how about we do this? I’ll go and hassle…no, I’ll talk to the other dragons and try to find all the soulstones for you.”

“Wow, really?”

“Yeah. That’ll be a hundred times faster than you going around to all the dragons one by one. Instead, you help me with my work. I’m talking about the work on the game side, not my real work.”

“Looking for a successor?”

“That too. And other things.”

Judging from his relaxed attitude, it didn’t seem like a spur-of-the-moment proposal. It was probably the condition he had in mind for trading the soulstones. Judging from the fact that he mentioned the hunter, is it something the guild needs? If the Sepion Duchy signed an exclusive contract with our guild, we would welcome it with open arms. I would have readily agreed even if he hadn’t offered to find the soulstones. But then an unexpected question followed.

“When you guys uncovered the illegal slave market, was there anything you didn’t tell the investigator? For example, did you smuggle out any related people, or did you intentionally omit information about someone you saw there?”

…How did he pick out exactly what I did? I looked up in surprise, and he grinned as if he knew it all along.

“There’s something, isn’t there?”

“Um, what do you mean?”

It was no use trying to pretend I didn’t know with the expression he was making, as if he had already caught on. Lamias nodded as if he understood even more. My facial muscles were aching from trying to act nonchalant.

“I don’t think I’ve said I’ll help you yet.”

“So you’re not going to do it?”

“……”

“Do you know how many dragons there are on this continent? And how many of them do you think have soulstones? If it’s not me, you’ll have to travel all over the continent, you know? Do you think you’ll be able to finish it before you die of old age? Are you really okay with that?”

Of course, I wasn’t okay with it. Lamias’s momentum became even more triumphant, taking my silence as a sign of surrender. My body flinched again at the words that followed.

“Do you know what Umbra is?”

“……Umbra?”

“You’re not from the Empire, are you? There are two secret organizations in this Empire. One is ‘Umbra,’ which is called the Shadow Weapon. They do everything from criminal investigations to assassinations and information gathering, all for the Emperor and the Imperial Family.”

I know roughly. Chris said that he was from Umbra. Even Davian, who is currently at his house, was an active member. Of course, I couldn’t openly pretend to know the situation since I couldn’t immediately understand Lamias’s intentions. As I cautiously guarded myself, he continued to speak without paying much attention.

“And the other one is the intelligence agency, ‘Aegis.’ They handle information as the name suggests. They handle all information, not only within the Empire but also on a national level. Both are directly under the Emperor, but they don’t get along very well. Well, they cooperate when necessary.”

“Yes. And?”

“I’m the director of Aegis.”

“……!”

I didn’t expect this at all. Lamias wore a satisfied expression as if I had opened my eyes wide without realizing it. Cold sweat ran down my face at the face that seemed to be shouting ‘Bingo.’

“A few years ago, we and Umbra carried out a joint operation. But one of the agents in charge of that mission went missing recently. We quickly tracked him down, but his trail ended right at that slave market.”

He’s talking about Davian.

I reached out to drink some tea because my throat was dry. But before I could even touch the teacup, a hand covered it first. I lifted my head, frozen in an awkward position, and Lamias, who had made eye contact with me, smiled elegantly.

“I don’t know if you know this, but your guild master is from Umbra.”

“Ah, that’s…”

“Oops, you already know. Then I’ll just give you some advice. Kidnapping and detaining an Imperial agent is at least a life sentence. There are no exceptions for aiding and abetting.”

“……He’s not being detained, he’s being protected.”

It was pointless to make excuses at this point. He finally removed his hand covering the teacup as I answered with a sigh. But the thought of drinking it had already completely disappeared.

Why is everything so tangled? As I tried to bury myself deep in the sofa with a complicated feeling, Lamias gestured as if to say, ‘Explain everything.’ He wasn’t even the Duke of Sepion right now, but he was creating an interrogating atmosphere. “Ah, feel free to speak comfortably. I’m Lamias right now.” Even so, I couldn’t help but be dumbfounded by the fact that he quickly added, “Since it’s Lamias.” It was a statement that no one could trust, but I had no choice but to open my mouth.

“It’s true that he was found at that site, and we brought him because he’s Chris’s friend. He’s not in a good state right now. He’s been subjected to something called ‘crafting’ [a process of altering a person’s mind and body].”

“Ah, I thought so. So that’s why Rakein Chris has been frequenting the back alleys lately, trying to find an alchemist?”

He had already figured that out too. Now that I think about it, the reason he sent the invitation to the banquet wasn’t just out of curiosity about me. From his point of view, he might have been trying to probe me about various things, but he got backstabbed because I was the contractor of the Spirit King. But that didn’t make this situation any more pleasant.