WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Order
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 147: Proposal
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Elbridge asked Viscount Hagenlot,
"...What kind of request are you talking about?"
His expression had stiffened slightly.
There was a rule when it came to a person's capabilities and the favors they asked of others. The more capable someone was, the less often they needed to ask anyone for help.
A capable person could handle almost anything alone, so they had little reason to ask favors of others.
By that logic, a request from someone like Marquis Hagenlot couldn't possibly be simple.
After a moment of thought, Marquis Hagenlot spoke.
"Sir Elbridge. Do you know why Leodel is called the Royal Capital?"
"Because it's the only city with a king."
"Correct."
Royal Capital Leodel in the west and Holy City Solenion in the east looked similar at a glance.
Their natural surroundings were alike, as were the lives of their people. Both had nobles and temples belonging to churches.
Yet there was one decisive difference.
Holy City Solenion had no king, while Royal Capital Leodel did.
Solenion's royal family had died out long ago.
There had been no tragedy. The king died without leaving an heir, and the nobles with a claim to the throne simply refused to take it.
There were many theories about why the nobles had rejected the crown.
Some claimed it was out of loyalty and humility toward the royal family.
Others said there was no reason to covet a throne that had lost all real power and become an empty title.
Some believed they were reluctant to declare themselves king, only to be kept in check by the other nobles...
Still, the cause mattered less than the result. At some point, Solenion became a city without a king.
The king's absence brought both large and small changes.
For example, without a king, noble titles never changed.
As the years passed, people with low titles, or no titles at all, came to hold great power. Meanwhile, some high-ranking noble houses fell into decline. To the people of Solenion, noble titles had become little more than old-fashioned decorations.
Leodel was different.
A king still ruled the west, and titles still carried weight.
"Sir Elbridge. Do you know why children of Leodel's noble houses sometimes act as mercenary captains?"
"I'm not sure."
"The king dislikes seeing nobles grow too powerful. So noble houses are forbidden from keeping large forces of soldiers. Yet there are times when military strength is necessary."
"I suppose so."
"The solution the nobles chose was mercenary companies. A member of a noble house leaves the family and leads a mercenary company, building up their own power. When urgent circumstances arise, the noble house uses that mercenary company much like private soldiers."
Elbridge nodded a few times before asking,
"That's an interesting story. But I can't imagine why you're telling me this."
Marquis Hagenlot answered,
"It would not be an exaggeration to say that the difference between east and west stems from the presence of a king. The problem is..."
The marquis hesitated, then lowered his voice.
"...The current king of the west may not be the real king."
Lowering his voice had been pointless.
Everyone in the room, aside from the sleeping Sonia, heard it.
Marcus recoiled, while Rombel frowned and glared at Marquis Hagenlot.
"Marquis. I don't care whether you start a rebellion or not. But if you intended to drag us into one, you've made a very bad decision."
Elbridge immediately made his position clear as well.
"Marquis Hagenlot. I'm a Paladin. I have no intention of getting involved in a power struggle."
Marquis Hagenlot shook his head fiercely.
"No. This is something far more fundamental."
"If you wish to discuss legitimacy..."
"That isn't it. To be honest, I'm not even certain the current king is human."
Rombel was intrigued. He asked Marquis Hagenlot,
"Explain properly. Stop circling around it."
It was somewhat rude, but Marquis Hagenlot was not foolish enough to demand human manners from a three-hundred-year-old dwarf.
"Where should I begin...? First, the current king is, in a manner of speaking, my nephew through my sister."
"So you're related by blood."
"That is nothing unusual. Marriages between the royal family and powerful noble houses are common. What I mean is that I've known the king for a long time. We're close enough to be quite familiar with each other. I played with His Majesty many times when he was young."
"Go on."
Marquis Hagenlot continued slowly.
"I keep brief records of what happens each day. Yes, a diary. Earlier this year, I was looking through my old diaries when I found something strange."
"What sort of record?"
"It concerned the king's eye and hair colors. Black hair and brown eyes. It was an absurd record. I remembered the king having green eyes."
"Could you have been mistaken?"
"That was what I thought as well. But as I read further, I found more than one entry saying the king had brown eyes. Things such as, 'When I look into those brown eyes like mine, I feel the mystery of blood relations.' I found several entries like that."
"..."
If Marquis Hagenlot and the king had different eye colors, it might have been a mistake. But they had shared the same color, and there was more than one record.
"A few days later, I met with the king again. That memory came to mind, so I mentioned it. I said I thought the king's eyes had been brown when the king was young... The king laughed and said I must have been mistaken."
"Is that all?"
Marquis Hagenlot shook his head.
"The important part comes now."
Like children listening to a frightening story, Elbridge's group held their breath and waited. Marquis Hagenlot spoke slowly.
"First. When I met the king again, the king's eyes were brown."
"Then perhaps seeing green eyes was the mistake."
"Second. I had no memory of ever seeing the king's green eyes."
"..."
"Third. I only faintly remembered everything I've told you after confirming it in my diary."
Marquis Hagenlot continued with an utterly grave expression.
"Even after seeing the diary, my memories remain vague. As if I'd seen them in a dream..."
"Could the diary itself be wrong?"
"One thing is certain. I never show my diary to others, so I never write lies in it. I record every embarrassing matter as well. For example, even the fact that I first masturbated when I was eleven."
That was information none of them particularly wanted to know.
Still, it also meant Marquis Hagenlot was desperate enough to tell Elbridge's group something so private.
Elbridge asked,
"Have you sought help from anyone else?"
"Not long ago, I asked a noble I'm close to for help. But after he met with the king alone, his memories had been strangely distorted. As if there had never been anything suspicious at all... Since then, I've avoided meeting the king."
Elbridge's expression became even more serious than Marquis Hagenlot's.
"Rombel. What do you think?"
"...It's one of two things. Either Marquis Hagenlot has gone completely mad, or a demon has taken the throne."
Demons that interfered with the mind were exceedingly, truly exceedingly rare.
Even Elbridge, who had fought all kinds of demons, had only heard two stories about them and had never encountered one himself.
That was why Elbridge had been unusually flustered when the Black Cat caused Solenion to share a single dream in the past.
If a demon had truly taken Leodel's throne, bringing Leodel down would be far too easy.
That was why Elbridge's greatest concern was not Leodel's future.
If the demon that brought down Leodel moved to another region, what then? If it secretly slipped into Solenion, would they be able to respond?
Marquis Hagenlot said,
"I have an idea of who Sir Elbridge is. I believe I know a little about Mr. Rombel as well. Surely Sir Marcus and Sonia are no ordinary people either... You must all be legendary figures."
Elbridge and Rombel's gazes subtly turned toward Marcus and Sonia.
Marcus, naturally, and Sonia, who had just woken up, both kept perfectly straight faces and pretended to be remarkable people.
"The truth is, I'm still not certain. I wonder if I might be insane. I couldn't ask anyone for help. If this matter were mishandled, my head would be the first to fall."
Marquis Hagenlot pleaded earnestly.
"Then all of you appeared. I hope this is divine providence. I need your help."
It was a request Elbridge could not refuse.
"...All right. We'll find a way."
* * *
After Marquis Hagenlot left, Elbridge's group fell into thought.
Elbridge recalled old memories.
There were two stories he had heard about demons that interfered with the mind. One was of a demon that easily interfered with ordinary people's minds but could not touch a Paladin's mind, and died helplessly. The other was of a demon that could not be defeated even after divine protection and mages had been brought in to deal with it.
Sonia was the first to speak.
"If magic works well against it, this might be very easy to resolve."
Conversely, if magic did not work well, they might be helpless against it.
Elbridge prayed to the person he trusted and relied on most, the Goddess of the Rusted Shield.
"Goddess. Could your divine power defeat such a demon?"
Of the Goddess of the Rusted Shield's divine powers, the least known was her Indomitable Spirit.
Elbridge knew of its existence well. Without the goddess's protection, he would have gone mad several times over within the seal.
Still, the Goddess of the Rusted Shield was uncertain.
- I don't know either, Elbridge. This seems somewhat different from a trial of the mind...
If there was no certainty, it was best to assume it would not help for now.
Rombel said,
"We should ask everyone who might be able to help. Contact Niserath, and ask the God of Fox Rain if they know of a way. Ah, we should ask Murvach too. If we're lucky, he might come up with something."
* * *
Murvach received a sudden summons and met with Elbridge's group.
They told Murvach Marquis Hagenlot's story. Yet all Murvach could do was shake his head weakly.
There was no way Murvach could offer some clever solution when even a legendary Paladin and the impressive mage Sonia had no answer.
After the futile meeting ended, Murvach stepped outside.
Lately, Murvach had felt as if his life were plunging into the abyss.
'Marcus...'
Murvach thought about the oracle he had received from the God of Fox Rain before.
The reason he had been told he would never become the Mercenary King was surely Marcus. Murvach could easily guess that the title of Mercenary King was meant for Marcus.
Yet Murvach did not particularly feel jealous. Marcus might be more suited to become the Mercenary King than he was. Young enough, capable enough.
Murvach let out a deep sigh and prayed.
"God of Fox Rain. I hope my worthless life can at least become a stepping stone for the new Mercenary King."
He had not prayed in hopes of receiving an oracle.
Yet, for the first time in a long while, the God of Fox Rain gave Murvach an oracle.
- Murvach. I said you would not become the Mercenary King. I never said your life would be worthless.
Murvach was grateful simply to have received an oracle. He smiled awkwardly.
"Thank you for the comfort."
The God of Fox Rain replied,
- I don't offer comfort.
"...?"
Murvach stopped walking as the God of Fox Rain delivered another oracle.
- The position of Mercenary King already has an owner, but Leodel's throne may become vacant.
Murvach did not immediately understand what that meant.
The God of Fox Rain finished the oracle without concern.
- What do you think? Want to give it a try?
Footnotes:
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