Chapter 173
There were three shadows visiting the royal castle in the Kingdom of Dinrat, the royal capital of Elkuxia .
Two of the three were dressed in jet-black robes embroidered with tentacles, the symbol of the Kudor cult, and wore an eerie cover-up that hid them up to their eyes .
They both held large stone staffs, made to resemble the entwined tentacles of Kudor, in their hands .
And walking ahead of them was a tall, white man .
His long hair, too long and smooth for a man, hung down and a mask covered the upper half of his face .
His lips were painted a bright crimson, and a quick glance at them would not reveal his gender .
However, the body, despite its suppleness, was definitely that of a man, and that’s where I could tell the difference between the sexes .
Cale, the gatekeeper of the ramparts, was somewhat stunned by the man in front of him, but he called out to him in a hurry .
“I’m very sorry! Um, which one of them is ……”
The man stops and lets out a sigh of dismay .
The two men standing on either side of him slowly point their large wands at the gatekeeper .
“Fool!”
The other gatekeeper, Grunk, yelled at Cale .
Cale wasn’t convinced, but seeing the swashbuckling manner, he decided it wasn’t just any thing and backed away .
Cale was still inexperienced as a guard .
He figured that if Grunk, who had served the castle for many years, was angry, then he had done something wrong .
“I beg your pardon, I’m sorry, Peter-sama! This one is a newcomer so…… this is due to my lack of education!”
Cale was puzzled by Grunk’s flat-headedness .
The long-haired man, called Peter, snickered with a humph .
Peter began to walk as the duo on either side of him drew their wands back .
“Which way to …… um, would you like me to show you?”
Grunk called out to him, but Peter didn’t stop .
He just said, irritably, “I don’t need it” .
After Peter left, Cale asked Grunk .
“What…… what the hell is that that man……? He’s a key figure in the Kudorian church, right?”
However, even though he was a key figure in the church, it was clearly unusual for an outsider to be able to pass through the city walls with a face-pass, to say the least .
And if it was that big of a deal, it would be strange if even the inexperienced Cale didn’t know about it .
“…… I don’t know . ”
“What?”
Grunk’s answer was something he hadn’t expected .
Grunk looked around and then continued in a hushed voice .
“I don’t know, except that he’s named Peter …… . But it’s best not to talk about these things too much . For some reason, talk about the identity of Peter-sama is taboo in the castle . Of course, the royalty should know, though . ”
“…… I didn’t know there was such a person . What the hell did he come for……?”
“I hear that Peter-sama is pushing for his first child, Prince Alphonse, to be the next king . …… Perhaps we’ll see how it goes . I’ve heard that the descendants of the Daldwarves were also involved in the guard knighting of Prince Alphonse, so I’m told that Peter-sama was involved . ”
Brian, the Daldwarf knight, is said to have returned home after his match with Gaston in the arena .
That had raised questions about the popularity of Prince Alphonse, his firstborn son, so it was Grunk’s idea that he might be willing to take some steps to support him again .
“As for the rest…… I suppose he has come to ask the king for some kind of permission . It’s more like a threat, rather than a request, though . I heard a rumor that the king used to call Peter by his nickname . ”
“Th, the king did!”
Cale couldn’t help but shout out .
Grunk stared at him and covered his mouth in a hurry .
“B-But if the…… king does not raise his head, then the de facto top of this country is ……”
“Yeah, that would mean it was Peter-sama . ”
“The royal family must be far more powerful than the church!”
“In theory, yes . But Peter-sama dressing up as a kudorian could simply be a fake . I don’t know what’s actually going on . Anyway, I’m sure you’d be better off not sticking your neck out, though . ”
Cale remembered the man he had seen earlier with the strange atmosphere and shuddered .
He believed that the Dinrat Kingdom was the most peaceful and stable country in the world, but he didn’t think the top was such an unknowable person .
“Is, is this country really safe?”
“…… We’ve talked too long . That’s as far as I’m going to go . Listen, don’t make the mistake of leaking it outside the castle . ”
“…………”
Cale gave a small nod, feeling unconvinced .
A few moments later, Peter returned to the gates of the ramparts with his two followers again .
Cale simply matched Grunk and bowed his head in silence .
After leaving the castle, Peter made his way to the Great Prison of Orknor in the city of Orknor, next to the royal capital of Elkuxia .
The main purpose of the Great Prison of Orknoa is to house delinquent aristocrats, political prisoners, and dangerous prisoners with high physical abilities .
“…… What on earth is your business in our prison, Bishop? We don’t have much time on our hands, you know . ”
Warden Bayman, the warden of the Great Prison of Orknor, asks Peter .
Warden Bayman called Peter a bishop, because when he saw his grand outfit and took a chance and called him a bishop, assuming that he would be someone from that area .
He didn’t know him .
Peter held out his hand to the squire next to him, who he had left standing, facing forward .
The squire dropped to his knees and handed a rolled-up sheet of paper to Peter’s hand .
Peter undoes the string and thrusts the paper forward .
On the edge of the paper is stamped the Magic Seal of the current king (a seal that is stamped with magical power, and in addition to the shape of the seal, it can also be used to confirm the identity of the person in the appraisal of the magical crest) .
“This, this is ……!”
“There’s one girl who wants her home back . I should be thanking him for that . ”
He flicks out his tongue, a venomously bright crimson tongue .
“Who the…… hell are you?”
Peter got up from his seat .
“Please show me around quickly . I don’t want it to be too obvious, Bayman, you’re coming . ”
“Ah…… yes……”
Bayman, too, squirmed in his seat .
Peter was ushered into a special visiting room, where he came face to face with the prisoner he had appointed .
The prisoner who had been called in was a dark-eyed, red-haired man in his late twenties .
On his wrist is a fetters made of a special metal that has the power to restrict the use of magical power .
The man’s name is Margus .
He was accused of attacking the monastery, stealing the demon’s sealed wand and using its power to sabotage several towns .
“…… Who are you? Why are you trying to free me?”
Margus says to Peter .
A pair of followers hold up their wands, but Peter controls them with his hands .
“Stand back a little . Warden, you too . ”
As he dismissed the three men, Peter waved his arms lightly .
“Summon . ”
As Peter chanted, a large staff appeared in Peter’s hand .
Margus was familiar with the ominous light emitted by the crystal attached to its tip .
“Zo, Zolomonia’s staff!”
“Thanks to you finding this child, it came into my possession . Truly…… so the sorcerer who sealed Zolomonia didn’t trust the country . And the royalty also didn’t know that…… right? “
“What are you doing! Who the hell are you!”
“Oh my goodness…… how dare you say that when you’re the one who stole the tentacles of the god Kudor from me . ”
Peter held his hand out in front of him .
In his hand hung a metal necklace that resembled the emblem of the Kudor religion .
It had been distributed to members of the criminal organization, the extremist Kudorian magic society “Amor” .
Margus had been a member of ‘Amor’ for the purpose of stealing Kudor’s tentacle seal that was enshrined by the society .
“You’re the boss of ‘Amor’, huh! Why would a man like you have such authority!”
The boss of “Amor” didn’t even show himself to his subordinates .
There was even a lot of speculation among the subordinates that there was actually more than one boss, or that he was a magical stone with a mind of its own .
“Please don’t say it too loudly, it’s one of my faces . I’m sure you’ll be pleased to know that I purposely made you swim…… and I’m grateful to you . I came to see you this time because I wanted to thank you and…… the other reason is that I wanted you to be my man again . ”
“My man?”
“We are short on staff . Even a magician of your caliber must be a valuable resource . It’s not exactly a requirement for someone of your stature . ”
“…… In short, you want someone a little capable and are a person that can be a disposable pawn . ”
Peter pretends he didn’t hear and continues .
“Actually, thanks to Zolomonia-chan, I found out where the god Kudor is sleeping . If I can get that thing into my hands, the world will be mine . ”
“You’ll break the seal of the god Kudor!?”
“Even though I’m an ardent believer, I don’t like it . There are still other gods’ countries lying around that were created by other gods besides the god Kudor . It seems the Kingdom of Riveras has been doing some strange things lately, so I thought I’d give them a chance to clear their land . So, will you help us? Don’t you?”
Margus knew that if he refused, he would be killed .
Margus could only nod, though his face paled at the delusion of the madman .
“Well then, let’s head over right away . Before we do that, …… just in case I want to stop by the Fage territory in person to check things out . I can leave it to my men, but …… the place is close enough anyway . ”