Chapter 149: 8-6 Departure

After patching things up with Edith, the remainder of the time until my second departure passed by without a single problem rearing its ugly head. In fact, short of problems, the only exciting thing short of problems was Eris waking up and immediately breaking into tears.

She hadn't been in pain after the initial stages; when I sealed her [Apathy] Skill, it had the effect of allowing her to realize the full extent of everything she had done. Not like my own blowback from using [Cold Hearted]. No, she had been alive for thousands of years, so the amount of harm she had caused… Suffice it to say, if she had been confronted with the amplified guilt of all those crimes, she would have died.

No, Eris was simply allowed to feel again, and that much was enough to cause her to break down. In the end, she had retreated into herself for a week, and only recently come back out. In all honesty, she probably wished she could die. But I wasn't about to allow that.

Though, I can't shake the feeling that Adroni helped somehow.

Eris had come out of her own coma with a new skill. Not a skill new to her, but a wholly new skill. My small experiment, changing the target of [Queen's Vassal] from Leviathan to "the Queen of Drakas" had resulted in the creation of an entirely new ability. Where Eris once had [Queen's Vassal], she now had [Vassal of the Silver Dragon].

"[Vassal of the Silver Dragon]: A skill which binds its user into the service of the Silver Dragon's Dynasty." 

That was where I believed Adroni's interference had been. My own statement had been too vague in its specificity, and the parameters had been tweaked. The effect was the same at the end of the day; Rupert and I were both recognized by the Silver Dragon living on the top of the palace mountain. We both had a title reflecting that. But the grandeur of it all had been massively increased.

It's a lot more interesting this way, hence my suspicion.

"Well?" At the sound of my voice, Eris snapped out of her silence and looked down at herself again.

She was wearing a Shadow's combat suit. After a lengthy discussion with Rupert and Ferdinand, it had been decided that Eris information and services would be best served if she was brought into my retinue. Her knowledge of the demon's hierarchy and abilities would be valuable anywhere, but everyone agreed it would be most beneficial with my crusade.

"...I was expecting you would have made me a maid. This is assassin gear."

I nodded, "As much as I like cliches, I am not in the habit of collecting maids, and even with your main abilities removed, it is not like you are entirely helpless."

She still had her massive quantity of Talents to draw on. With her utmost loyalty ensured by [Vassal of the Silver Dragon], she would be much better utilized as something of a field agent. Besides this, Sasha had outright refused to bring her on board as a servant.

Eris bit her lip, "No… but I…" She was probably going to say she was scared. After all, this whole thing had first started when she discovered that the other Envy demons had been wiped out.

"I do not care; I own your life now." I coldly silenced her objections.

Just because I had shown mercy did not mean that I was suddenly friends with a demon. If anyone around me was to be regarded as a tool, it was Eris. Not necessarily disposable; I didn't want to lose her information. But we certainly weren't close.

"Do not be concerned; Jacqueline will see to your general training and integration, and the most I intend to use you for is information gathering. I am not fool enough to put you near any other demons or any of Aaron's followers."

Eris hung her head and nodded while biting her lip again. If I wasn't tangentially aware of the atrocious acts she must have committed, it might have been sad enough to extract a bit of pity from me. Maybe.

"...Right. Well, for what it's worth, thanks." Eris took a deep breath, bowed her head, and departed with Jacqueline.

The latter had remained entirely silent the entire meeting, having not judged her input to be necessary. This left me with a precious few minutes to myself before I was meant to leave. This time, there would be no parade, and we would not be stopping along the way. The majority of my troops, the additional three thousand men at arms, were already in the port city waiting on us to depart.

If not for Ferdinand working to extract as much intelligence from Eris as possible, we would have left already.

"Your Majesty." There was a sharp knock at the door, and Sarala's head poked in. Upon confirming that the room was clear, she came in bodily as well, "Stahlia, Edith asked me to let you know; she wasn't able to deal with it."

Sarala had been elevated by Edith to the position of head maid, and one of the perks she now enjoyed was the permission to show herself into my study. Her calling me by name was something else; I had asked both her and Edith to do so when we were alone.

I sighed and let my shoulders slump, "I see. Well, how many are they sending?"

"One Cardinal and three priests, as well as a number of acolytes."

'They' in this context was, as the ranks implied, the church. Upon having heard that I planned to take my crusade overseas, the Cardinal had begun insinuating he should be invited.

But the last thing I want is for the Church faith to send their people.

After all, we were going to be visiting the realms of the beastkin, and my country's religion was rather prejudiced on the topic of those races.

"Born from woman laying with animals," wasn't it?

Some of the more extreme adherents even went so far as to liken the beast kind to be no different from monsters.

"Do we know who?"

Sarala reached a hand inside her sleeve to retrieve a small rolled-up scroll, "Here, positions of the Cardinal and Priests, as well as their student's names, though Edith doesn't know which Acolytes will be brought."

It was better than nothing, and I motioned Sasha to take it.

Damnit, I was hoping I could keep deflecting him, but that damn Cardinal has more guts than I thought.

There were still avenues left open to me; sea travel was still risky, and I had Jacqueline accompanying me. But I would at least wait until seeing how these particular servants of the gods behaved before taking such a drastic solution.

Sasha passed me the list and I briefly scanned it.

"That bastard!" I ground my teeth.

The corrupt Cardinal I was most familiar with was front and center as the head of the religious side of things. Among other things, he was Sana's mentor and superior. Sana was one of my older friends, though we had drifted apart in recent times. But there was no doubt in my mind that she was going to be among those selected to attach themselves to my expedition.

The church knows we faked the miracle, and they know I'm not really the Champion of Autumn –is she insurance?

Considering my first thought had been the possibility of arranging an accident for them, it was highly likely.

Even if we have grown apart, I don't want to cause her harm…

"Stahlia…?" Sarala was startled by my outburst.

"My apologies, I think you noticed though?"

She nodded grimly, "Sana, she went with us to Ang, right?"

I nodded, "Yes, That's her."

We discussed a few more things, but our meeting was largely concluded, Sarala was only giving me a bit more time to unwind with a friend before my next engagement. Following her departure, the remainder of the days leading to my departure were a hectic blur. Finally though, I found myself once more on the road. Not that there was much relief.

During the outing to Zesten, Lord Alriss and myself had been the only high nobles. Now, there was an entire gaggle of them. Whereas I had previously been able to do largely whatever I wanted (within reason), now, I had to maintain a conscientious demeanor. The only saving grace was that the number of meetings I had to attend was reduced, because the number of nobles was reduced. As it was, every lunch and dinner now had, at the very least, Edith or Lady Lawrence present. Usually, both of them and a handful of others.

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By the time we reached the port and our ships, I was done. The city itself was nothing special. About half as large as the capital, but with the smell of salt in the air. It was fortified, but the large and open harbor meant that such could only go so far. Of course a large portion of the Drakan Navy was at anchor in that self-same harbor, so an invader's mileage would still vary.

Of those ships at anchor, three of them had been given to me to facilitate the progression of my mission. At first, that number had concerned me; accounting for the additional troops, nobles, nobles' attendants, and now the church, our number had ballooned to nearly six thousand. And that was missing the sailors that would crew the ships. But my worries abated as soon as the lord of the city showed me to the pier.

The Might of Man was the largest of the three at almost two hundred and fifty meters long. Her bulk was devoted to living quarters and storage space. While the knights and soldiers would be divided between all three ships for security, the largest third would reside on Conflagra.

The Jewel of Gaia's Crown was "only" two hundred meters long, but was easily capable of hosting the nobles who would be traveling aboard her. She was the second newest ship in my tiny fleet, and had been specifically designed for the purpose of hosting dignitaries. Rather than military functionality, her builders had splurged on luxury. While not as bold as the palace, she would not leave her occupants wanting.

Finally, the smallest and newest of the three. Will of the Gods was a measly one hundred and forty meters from bow to stern, yet she had cost the Drakan taxpayer nearly twice as much as the other two vessels combined.

"The silver sheen of her hull comes from the Mythril plating; you can expect spells to flow off her like water over glass. And does Your Majesty see the golden glint atop her bow? That is an Orichalcum Mana Focuser. State of the art, and very effective."

And very expensive.

I let the man continue to boast; I was already well familiar with the ship’s specifications from the documents given to me along with her charter. While Migght of Man and Jewel of Gaia’s Crown had been seconded to my mission, the Will of the Gods had been given directly into my command. For all intents and purposes, I was the ship’s owner now. Mostly, I was just taking in the sight.

All three of the ships were made of metal. Not wood plated in metal like an iron-clad, but proper steel ships. Will of the Gods had her aforementioned Mythril plating, but all of them were extremely sturdy looking. And fast. I had not really paid it much mind before, and all of the boats I had seen were of the style the rest of the world indicated they should be; wooden sailing ships. But the three ships here, and indeed the rest of the ships in the harbor had an almost… modern appearance. They seemed to lack sails and were relatively low on the water, at least when compared to their length.

According to her specification documents, Will of the Gods uses actual propellers with a mana generator.

I had been rather doubtful when I first read it, but seeing is believing as they say. And speaking of seeing, there was a particularly rotund man waiting for my party further down the pier. A man I was not looking forward to meeting again, but one whom I could not avoid.

“Thank you for your service, but I am in a hurry to depart; I have already spent far too much time taken with illness, and wish to make haste to fulfill my mission.” I gave the poor lord of this city a sorry excuse, then quickly departed from his presence before he could further fill the air with the sounds of his boasting.

He did not actually design the ship, or even finance it, so I’m not exactly sure what his point with all that was.

"Your Majesty, it is my pleasure to once again make your acquaintance." In front of me stood the corrupt Cardinal. At his back, he had a number of priests and several acolytes.

I tilted my chin ever so slightly toward one of them. Sana.

Better for me to acknowledge her presence. I don't want him to think she's useless.

"Quite. Though I am unsure what you intend by attaching yourself to this venture; you know what lands we are bound for."

"I am, what should you say, a progressive. I am well aware of where you are intending to set foot, but that does not concern me. It is not right that one chosen by the gods would forsake their greatest servants."

I can't make heads or tails of his motivation… 

On the one hand, this sounded like a standard power play, like he was trying to extract value from siding with me. On the other hand, he really, really didn't seem the type to do something so risky as to embark on a cross-continental journey with me. He knew the skeletons me and Ruper had in our closet, at least to some extent.

"Sana." Before I had the chance to mull it over further, the Cardinal called over my old friend, "Your Majesty used to be friends with this Acolyte? If it pleases you, I have cleared her from lessons for the next few days. Please, use the time to catch up."

…And now he's handing me his insurance.

"I thank you for your kindness, Cardinal." After curtsying to him, I turned to Sana, "It has only been a few years, but it feels like so many more… Come, I would like to talk."

She looked up at me nervously then gave a sharp nod. We were, after all, the same legal age. It had been bad enough for Edith and Sarala, Felicity and Claire, to see me suddenly wake up in a body that was several years older. For Sana, she had both known me for a lot longer, and gone a lot longer without interacting. Rather than going to sleep ten and waking up sixteen, for Sana, it was as though I had left her for a year and come back as a totally different person. That was also forgetting the part where my other friends had seen it happen in two steps, while for Sana it was coming all at once.

Relative status as well…

No wonder she was nervous. Lord Alriss walked ahead of me to board the Will of the Gods, and Sana fell into step at the rear of my party after a moment of hesitation and being prompted by the Cardinal. The nobles would be boarding Jewel of Gaia’s Crown over the rest of the day, and we were set to depart in the early hours of tomorrow morning, so there was a bit of time. As for the soldiers, those that would be traveling on my ship were already aboard.

Before entering the ship’s superstructure, I spared one glance back over my shoulder toward the Cardinal. He met my gaze and held it; there was no doubt, and more importantly, no fear in his eyes.

Just what is he planning?

As fate would have it, Sana presented me with an answer. No sooner were we alone (excepting my servants), than she solemnly took out a letter bearing the Cardinal’s own wax seal and presented it to me. She was still nervous, and I could feel her hands shaking through the paper, but it was evident that this was the real reason the Cardinal had parted with his insurance.

“Thank you, Sana. I’m sorry we lost contact for so long; I got very busy.”

She shifted on her feet, refusing to meet my gaze.

And now I’m speaking to her like a child… Then again, maybe this is for the best. Edith and Sarala are a special case, but isn’t it a bit creepy if I continue trying to be her close friend?

There was the question of our mental ages to consider; I had always been older there, but when my body was still that of a child’s, I had found it easy to act the part.

“Uhm, Teacher said that you need to read that…”

I looked away from Sana and at the letter in my hands, “Right, I suppose I should. We can talk more once I’ve finished.”

After performing a brief inspection with my mana, to confirm that there were no traps or poisons hidden within its pages, I broke the seal and opened the letter.

Dear Champion, I am going to keep this missive brief, because I do not have long to write it. There is a schism brewing within the church, and I suspect the involvement of our greater enemies. I am decided that I would best serve mine own interests and the interests of our mutual master by throwing my lot with you. Consider the child, Sana, to be an olive branch.

Sincerely, Cardinal MMLXI of the Church of Light and Dark.

May our journey prove interesting.

My hands were shaking with suppressed anger by the time I’d finished, and I crumpled the paper into a small ball, “[Ignition.]”

I spat the name of the spell, burning up any and all evidence.

A schism? My ass. You’ve all but went and said it!

The Cardinal had all but declared himself as a servant of the God(dess?) of Chaos, all while subtly informing me that he knew I was under the thumb of that self-same deity. If there was truly a schism brewing, I didn’t doubt for a second that it was entirely the doing of the self-same Cardinal.

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