WM V4C0714

Chapter 0714 The Laws of the World

Translator: Jay_Forestieri

Editor: Tseirp

 

The Elf Autonomous Office was busy preparing for travel, with a carriage already readied.

“Next week, I’m going to Whitnash with Abel, so…”

“Yes, I have heard.”

“Does it really take seven days by carriage one way to get to Rune?”

“Yes, under normal circumstances, it would take about that long.”

“Under normal circumstances?”

 

Ryo tilted his head and looked at the carriage as the preparations continued.

It seemed to have a mechanism for reducing impact, so the ride looked like it would be comfortable… but otherwise, it looked like an ordinary carriage.

As long as it was drawn by horses, there shouldn’t be that much difference in speed.

 

“If it takes two days going there, one day on the other side, and two days coming back, then we can get back in five days total. That should still leave us enough time to make the trip to Whitnash, right?”

“Yeah, it would… but wait. Two days one way?”

“Ryo, are you familiar with guild carriages?”

“I’ve used one. You can swap horses at guilds along the way, so they’re fast.”

He had used one before, when traveling from the royal capital to the city of Rune.

 

“We use the royal version of that.”

“The royal version?”

“At the government offices and magistrate offices in each region, they’ll swap out the horses for you.”

“That kind of system exists…?”

It was the first Ryo had heard of it.

Of course, he had never used it.

 

“I’m special, you know.”

Sera puffed out her chest and tried to look a little proud.

 

Ryo thought that even that kind of gesture was cute.

But special…?

 

“I’m the Knight Commander-in-Chief and Chief Knight of the Knightley Kingdom.”

“Oh, right, the Knight Commander-in-Chief… that’s so cool.”

“Fufufu, it is, isn’t it?”

 

“Knight Commander-in-Chief and Chief Knight of the Knightley Kingdom.”

That was the position Sera had taken after Ryo and Abel vanished from the battlefield where they had fought the djinn Garwin, under the name of Queen Rihya.

 

It was a position no one had held since King Richard.

Holding command over all the knight orders under the royal banner, and simultaneously serving as the highest-ranking knight within the Kingdom of Knightley.

As a result, Sera’s name, which had already become famous in the western forest defense battle of the Kingdom Liberation War, spread even further throughout the Central Countries.

 

As the kingdom’s guardian.

 

It was just that Ryo, having been flung over to the Eastern Countries, simply hadn’t known that.

 

“Then it’s the combination of Premier Duke and Chief Knight.”

“An average bandit crew would be wiped out in an instant…”

“Even a knight order could probably be brought down in five minutes.”

“How terrifying.”

 

Sera laughed, and Ryo shrugged… but what the two of them were saying was basically true.

Without question, they were a formidable pair.

 

 

“Right, right. That thing Sera was about to say earlier… the royal version of the guild carriage? Does that work between the royal capital and Rune too?”

“I usually use it to travel between the royal capital and the Western Forest, but apparently it can be used anywhere within the kingdom. I’ve got Rihya’s seal of approval.”

“So that’s what was going on while I was gone.”

“It’s pretty convenient.”

“I’m the Premier Duke, though… is there no such system for the Premier Duke?”

“Hmm… why don’t you ask Abel about it?”

“…He’d definitely turn me down.”

At Sera’s suggestion, Ryo shook his head over and over.

 

Yes, he knew exactly what Abel would say.

Something like, “You’re a noble, so pay for it yourself!”

 

“I’ll seize it someday as a Premier Duke privilege!”

“W-well, all right.”

After Ryo made his forceful declaration, Sera decided it was better not to say anything and accepted it.

 

Even though both were ‘Firsts’, it seemed there were all kinds of differences between a Premier Duke and a Chief Knight.

 

 

Two days later.

The two of them arrived in the city of Rune.

From there, they headed to the area near the East Gate, which might as well be called the workshop district.

 

Both Ryo and Sera knew the area like the back of their hands.

Ryo’s house was just outside the East Gate.

And this area had a lot of good places to eat, so the two of them often went around sampling food together.

 

And the shop Sera entered was… one Ryo knew as well.

 

“Hello, Master~”

Sera said that as she went in.

“Hey, hang on a second.”

A deep low male voice rumbled back from the rear of the shop.

Within a matter of seconds, a heavily bearded man in his fifties emerged, built impressively wide but stood remarkably short.

 

“Well, if it isn’t little miss Sera! Long time no see.”

The man who came out was Master Dolan, a dwarven blacksmith.

Yes, this was Master Dolan’s shop.

 

“Hm? And ain’t that Ryo over there? Long time no see for you, too.”

“Good to see you again.”

They had met before, at the lord’s manor of the Rune frontier count, before the Kingdom Liberation War began.

Yes, it had been in connection with the Golden Hind.

 

“Ain’t you two supposed to be up in the royal capital, right? It’s rare to see you back in Rune.”

“Actually, there’s something we wanted to confirm with you. Master, you’re a disciple of Ilmatar, right?”

“Hm? Yeah, I’m Master Ilmatar’s disciple. You knew that, didn’t you?”

“Ryo, there’s your answer.”

Sera said, turning to him after Master Dolan confirmed it.

 

“So Master Dolan was one of the disciples of one of your party members, Sera?”

“Of course it’s not just me. Most of the dwarf smiths swinging hammers in the southern part of the kingdom are Master Ilmatar’s disciples. That’s why we’re so skilled.”

Saying that, Master Dolan burst into laughter.

 

“When Ilmatar passed away, his belongings were divided among his disciples, right? I came to ask if there happened to be any Mithril ore among them.”

“Mithril ore? Ah… you mean the leftover material from the sword he forged for the young missy before he died?”

“That’s right.”

Looking at Sera’s sword, Dolan seemed to understand what she was referring to.

 

“Unfortunately, there ain’t a single scrap left. Every last bit was hammered right into that sword.”

“Ah…”

“Even so, what happened back then was terrifying… Even now, remembering it…”

“Yeah, Ilmatar scolded me mercilessly.”

Dolan shook his head, while Sera laughed.

 

“Scolded you?”

Ryo asked.

 

“Actually, I broke the sword Ilmatar had forged for me during a small martial arts tournament. So I came back to Rune and reported it to him, and he scolded me.”

“Hey now, young lady, you’re skipping the most important part.”

Dolan frowned.

“At the time, Master was already on his deathbed. We disciples had gathered around his bed, seeing him off as he prepared to pass on… but the moment the young lady came back and said she’d broken the sword… Master suddenly snapped his eyes open and sat up.”

“What…?”

“And then he bonked the young lady on the head… dragged himself out of bed… and started hammering at the forge…”

“Good heavens…”

Ryo was at a loss for words.

 

A man on his deathbed rising and starting to forge a sword… anyone would lose their words imagining such a scene.

 

“Back then… Ilmatar forged that sword for three days and three nights without stopping.”

“Yeah. And what came out of it is the sword the young lady is wearing now. Without a doubt, it’s Master’s greatest masterpiece.”

Sera said it while reminiscing, and Dolan said it while looking at her sword.

 

That’s right, anyone could tell it was a masterpiece.

It wasn’t some magic sword or holy sword.

It transcended such things, a sword worthy of being engraved into history itself…

 

“If he was able to leave behind something that incredible, then I’m sure Ilmatar must have been satisfied.”

“Yeah. The moment he finished forging it, he went straight back to bed and breathed his last.”

“A fitting end for Ilmatar.”

At Ryo’s words, Dolan nodded, and Sera nodded as well.

 

 

The two left Master Dolan’s smithy.

Then, a familiar aroma drifted toward them.

This was Rune’s workshop district.

Near the eastern gate.

 

“This smell…”

“That place, huh…”

Neither Sera nor Ryo needed words.

Without saying anything, they headed toward the source of the aroma.

A place both of them knew well.

 

And so they arrived at ‘Kagutei’.

 

Needless to say, the two thoroughly enjoyed the curry at Kagutei afterward.

 

 

 

After savoring their long-awaited meal at Kagutei, the two stepped outside.

It was pure coincidence that the three of them were walking by at that exact moment.

“Huh? Ryo?”

It was a familiar voice.

 

And so was the woman beside the speaker.

And the old man in red standing next to her.

And even the box trailing behind the old man… like a coffin.

 

“Roman? Nadia? Merlin-san?… And the coffin too?”

Ryo was stunned.

 

He had heard from Abel that Roman and Nadia had moved in next door to his house.

So meeting the two of them in Rune wasn’t entirely unexpected.

And Djinn Merlin was, in a sense, like their grandfather figure, so it wasn’t strange for him to be nearby either.

But the coffin… why it was following behind Merlin, Ryo had no idea.

 

Everyone was equally surprised, but one person alone tilted her head in confusion.

That was only natural, Ryo was the only one who knew everyone here, so it was his job to introduce them to Sera.

 

“This is Roman the Hero, Nadia the Demon Lord, Merlin-san the Djinn… and, uh, this is a coffin containing… a Fallen.”

Then he introduced Sera to the three people and one box.

“And this is Sera, Commander-in-chief and First Knight* of the Kingdom of Knightley, and the next representative of the Western Forest.” (TLN: First Knight sounds better than Chief Knight)

 

Only then was everyone finally able to be surprised.

 

“I had heard from Rihya that the Hero and the Demon Lord had relocated to the house next to Ryo’s… but to think we’d run into you here. Ah, I see, you’re the ones whose clash with Abel was mediated by Ryo in the past, correct? But Djinn Merlin-dono? If my memory serves me right, aren’t you the gentleman known as the ‘Crimson Arbitrator’? The chief strategist of the Demon Lord’s Army?

“My, you know quite an old nickname… even though that was more than a thousand years ago.”

At Sera’s words, the Djinn gave a wry smile.

Djinn Merlin always wore red clothes and a red hat.

 

“Crimson Arbitrator… wow, that sounds cool.”

Ryo’s muttered words went unheard by anyone.

 

“I have heard of you, Sera-dono the First Knight.”

“The bards all sing of your deeds, after all.”

Roman and Nadia seemed to know Sera’s name.

 

“The First Knight is… yeah, that’s cool too.”

Ryo’s second mutter likewise went unheard.

 

Ryo’s gaze moved to the coffin.

Then he noticed something.

“Come to think of it, just now, that coffin was following behind Merlin-san, wasn’t it?”

“Indeed. It follows. Remember when we used its magic power to teleport from the West Dungeon?”

“Yes.”

“At that time, we made an ‘opening’ to pass its magic power into the dungeon, did we not?”

“Now that you mention it…”

Ryo nodded several times as if remembering.

 

It wasn’t a ‘physical’ hole, but an ‘alchemical’ hole.

So outwardly, nothing should have changed.

 

“It releases magic power from there, levitates, and follows from behind.”

“Unbelievable…”

Ryo was astonished.

 

They had needed to make the opening… but it was true, they had never sealed it afterward.

And before they could even find out whether that opening would cause problems, he and Abel had been sent flying away.

 

 

“Ryo.”

A low voice echoed out.

It came from inside the coffin.

 

“That was… Regna-san inside the coffin, right?”

“It is only a temporary name, but that will do. Sacharias called me that.”

“Ah… the Cardinal of the Church who was also an alchemist.”

Ryo remembered.

 

Cardinal Sacharias had prepared this coffin.

Ryo had modified it slightly so that it could seal Regna.

Come to think of it, the magic nullification cylinder Kenneth had analyzed was also something Cardinal Sacharias had made.

 

“There’s something I’d like to ask you, Regna-san.”

“You are the one who captured me. Ask.”

“The magic formulas in this coffin, and in the magic nullification alchemy tool made by Cardinal Sacharias… those were taught by you, Regna-san, weren’t they?”

“Correct. Not all of them, however.”

“I knew it.”

Ryo nodded at Regna’s answer.

 

He had read the magic formulas written on this ‘coffin’ when he modified it.

They were astonishingly complex… and not only that, many parts were utterly incomprehensible.

Not only were they formulas Ryo had never seen before, but they were also completely different from anything in the alchemy-related books he had read in the Western Countries… that was how he recognized them.

 

It was like suddenly finding kanji, hiragana, katakana, Arabic script, or hieroglyphs mixed into an English sentence…

Like writing that had started from left to right suddenly becoming vertical, or diagonal.

 

Something alien.

 

Perhaps they were formulas built on knowledge touching the ‘Laws of the World’… knowledge humanity had yet to understand.

For example, in Earth’s terms, like magic formulas built based on a Grand Unified Theory.

Incidentally, while Grand Unified Theory sounds fantastical, it is a legitimate term in theoretical physics.

 

 

To begin with, this ‘coffin’ was something meant to store human magic power and ‘Fragments of God’.

Ryo had modified it so that it could seal an existence like Regna.

 

He had only altered the necessary parts, so he was still far from fully understanding it.

And besides, since he had also made an alchemical ‘opening’ in it, he thought that if Regna truly got serious, escaping the coffin might actually be possible…

 

“There’s also something else I’ve been wondering… Regna-san, why do you keep staying inside the coffin? If you wanted to, you could probably break the seal, couldn’t you?”

“I know not why, but it is comfortable here.”

“Ah… I see…”

Regna’s answer was one Ryo simply could not understand.

 

Incidentally, everyone else was left dumbfounded.

Merlin, in particular, had his mouth hanging half open.

 

“Ryo, do you wish to know about the magic formulas written on this box?”

“Yes, I do. But… first, I want to try deciphering them myself.”

He understood they were difficult.

Even so… after being sent to the Eastern Countries for a year, he felt his knowledge of alchemy had increased considerably.

Even if full understanding was impossible, he wanted to challenge it himself first… that was what Ryo thought.

 

“Do as you please. The desire of man to approach, or decipher, the truth of the world is a precious thing.”

 

Ryo generated a sheet of ice.

“<Transcription: Ice Plate>”

He copied the coffin’s complex magic formulas, too difficult to memorize, onto the ice.

If he preserved them like this, he could bring them out and study them whenever he wanted.

 

“Someday, I’ll unravel the Principles of the World itself!”

Ryo carried that resolve in his heart.

And Sera watched over him gently.

 

Ryo and Sera parted ways with the three people and one box, climbed back into their carriage, and returned to the royal capital.

 

 

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