"Bibeong!"
A refreshing roar welcomed a new day along with the sunrise over the eastern mountain range on the Frontera Estate. The sunlight shone brightly upon the count's mansion, gracing the interior through the windows of the guest chambers. There was one particular room, however, where the sunlight failed to penetrate through the windows, due to the blackout curtains that were hung over with the intent to completely shut off any source of light. Behind the curtains was Dragon King Verkis, attempting to cast communication magic throughout the morning.
"Come on...! Answer!"
Beep. Beep. Beep.
"Ugh..."
Веер. Веер. Веер.
"Come on..."
Веер. Веер. Веер.
"Tsk. Failed again."
Verkis was disappointed to embrace the situation. He could tell that there was nothing wrong with the casting formula from the flow of mana; the communication spell was working properly. However, the actual connection was not being established again. There was only one explanation.
She's deliberately ignoring my calls again.
It appeared that his wife was more upset than he had anticipated, causing him to lose patience and feel insecure.
This isn't good. What do I do? Should I go back and ask for forgiveness?
It has been some time since he left the Sea Dragon Cave and came to the Frontera Estate, which meant that his wife's journey was about to be over soon.
Please don't tell me she's going to ignore my calls until she gets back. That's not good, because that means she'll be upset when she arrives. What am I supposed to do? I don't want to be on the receiving end of her wrath firsthand. It doesn't feel great to be given anything but hard pieces of bread for each meal.
The more he thought about it, the bigger the problem seemed. It would be a disaster to see his wife, whom he hadn't seen for a while, come back with a callous sneer on her face. That was why Verkis attempted to establish a connection for one last time, unlike any other morning.
"Please... pick up!"
Beep. Beep. Beep.
"I am so sorry! So just answer!"
Beep. Beep. Beep.
"I'm getting up early every morning to try these calls to make up for it. You know how much of a good job I've been doing, right? So please just answer!"
Beep. Beep. Click
"Yes, my love?"
"If you just answer the call this one, I'll do the dishes for the rest of..."
"Rest of our lives?"
"...Huh?"
"My husband?"
“...”
Verkis remained silent momentarily until he quickly grasped the situation. The connection had finally been established.
"A-are you alright?"
"I am as good as ever, my love."
"Please don't tell me you got hurt, starved, got bitten by a mosquito, ran your pinky toe across the frame of the door, threw a tantrum because you ate something wrong, bled while trying to remove acne, cried because you missed me, or anything."
"Not at all, my love. There is no need for you to worry about me."
"Really? That's good to know."
Phew.
Verkis breathed a sigh of relief. But a question that figuratively smashed a heavily dense morning star right on his chest followed immediately.
"But my love? Did you just say you were going to do the dishes for the rest of our lives?"
"Huh? No. You heard it wrong."
"Huh?"
"I was only telling you to hustle."
"Hmm..."
"I'm serious."
"Hmm..."
"For real."
"But I heard your statement in a loud and clear voice with my own two ears."
Verkis refused to respond, as his clever wife continued to bombard his ears with a scary tone.
"Although I haven't had a proper education, I still remember the saying by wise men from the past to this day. Have you ever heard of the phrase a man of his words by any chance?"
"Well... I guess?"
"Excellent, as expected of you. A man of his words never goes back on what he speaks, because he values his words more than gold. A real man must not, as such, take back what he lets out from his lips."
"I do know what it means."
"Do you remember?"
"Of course I do. You used the same logic and made some poor bastard carry around a flower on his head for the rest of his life."
"Yes. That was Sir Michael."
"Yeah. The founder of the Magentano Dynasty. I do remember."
"Of course you do. I had faith in you."
"Faith? What do you mean?"
"I can't wait to reunite with you and see you take care of the dishes for the rest of our lives, as soon as I return." Verkis felt as though he was just sentenced to death, but it was too late to turn it around. Instead, he shook off the teardrops that naturally formed around his eyes and asked again.
"When are you going to return, then?"
"Well, I answered your call because I wanted to speak to you about this."
"Did something happen?"
"No..."
"Then?"
"My mother is absolutely in love with the journey."
"Huh?"
"Not just my mother. Lady Flores and Iris are also enjoying it so much."
"Wait. So the old hag, Flores, and our daughter are all having so much fun."
"That is correct. I was going to ask if it would be alright for us to travel for another year before returning." "Hmm."
"My love?"
"...Tsk. I do miss you tons, but I suppose I have no choice."
"Do you really mean it?"
"I have no choice. I can't decline if all of you are enjoying it so much. But under one condition," said Verkis, in a more solemn voice than ever. "I'll let you travel for another year if you forget about doing dishes."
"But a man of his words..."
“....”
"...Never goes back on what he says."
"H-how about skipping wake-up calls for the next year then?"
“...”
"This too?"
"Hmm. Okay."
"Really?"
"Really."
"For real?"
"For real."
The permission to sleep in each morning was finally given by his queen, his wife, his everything.
"I actually saw you struggle but manage to get up each morning to make such calls. Although you did sleep in a few days, the efforts you made to keep the promise really touched my heart."
"...Uhm. Okay."
"Yeah. So I decided not to say anything even if you sleep in each morning for the next year."
"R-really?"
"Yeah. Besides, you allowed me to travel for another year too anyway."
"...O-okay! Thank you! I love you!"
"Me too. Please don't let me stop you from resting."
The communication magic ended with that. Verkis immediately threw his body on the bed as the effect of the spell subsided. He had acted as though he was against the idea of his wife being away for another year, but it was quite the contrary in reality.
"Ahahaha! Gahahahaha!"
Verkis rolled on the bed like a child having so much fun, out of pure joy. It was as though any husband whose wife and kids were away on a trip just got a call from the wife saying they'll be spending another week before returning. Verkis put on a genuine smile on his face and began to think about what he was going to do for the next year, like the husband contemplating whether to order pizza or Chinese food as soon as hanging up on the call.
Alright!
Verkis organized his pillows and bed sheets, before putting on the comfy blanket to start dreaming. But his joyful anticipation didn't last long.
Knock-knock!
The knocking noise was clearer than ever, followed by an untimely clear voice reporting in.
"Your Majesty. It's Raphael of Thrones, reporting for duty. Have you awakened?"
“...”
"I just came back from jogging alongside the citizens of the estate this morning, and I had to stop by to report because it felt so refreshing. May I invite you?"
“...”
"Or we can play this game called chess. I learned how to play from the count last evening. The games humans invented are quite fun."
“...”
"Or we can work on the field alongside farmers. The act of caring for the crop, harvesting it, and putting it on the table to share with neighbors actually seems like an enjoyable thing to do."
“...”
"Your Majesty?"
Knock-knock!
“...”
Verkis contemplated whether or not to grind the Angel of Thrones or Thorns down into molecules or make him dissipate into thin air with the help of the archangel. He was overtaken by the feeling of annoyance that was as strong as a cup of espresso with extra shots. As a matter of fact, this wasn't the first time he did this.
He's way too active and friendly with people, damn it.
Raphael had adapted to the life in this estate a little too well for Verkis's taste. Just like his title suggested, he possessed an angelic character and always showed kindness to others. He was full of curiosity, yet had gentle nature; it was natural for him to make friends here and there instead of enemies. He was a born extrovert.
Ugh, it's not like I can kill him either!
While there was not a shred of a doubt Verkis could get rid of Raphael-effortlessly, too-that was going to create a huge tension between him and the archangel. Verkis did not want that.
Because he's as good as me.
He recalled an incident during which the confrontation with the archangel led to a physical altercation. They had relocated to a better spot to engage in an all-out battle, causing the routes of two neutron stars and combining them to create a black hole, which ultimately led to the supernova that unleashed extreme gravitational waves.
He took that hit head-on and stood still like nothing happened.
Verkis had never seen anyone that could withstand something like that, aside from himself. He was genuinely astounded by the archangel and wondered if the king of hell was also like this.
I don't want trouble with guys like them. It's annoying.
But the knocking sound and the waking voice of the angel rattled his ears constantly. Verkis tried his best to ignore it. He plugged his ears and turned around, thinking what he had to do. He couldn't bear it anymore. He couldn't sleep anymore. Verkis determined it would be better to go to a solitary place, erect magical barriers, and go to sleep for one whole year. While getting up from the bed at the moment felt like a lot of work, it was going to be better than this. The dragon king barely managed to get up from the bed.
I'd better get going.
♣
"I should head to Namaran straight away," said Lloyd, as he folded the scroll containing the urgent message. "It looks like your presence is required, doesn't it?" Queen Magentano replied, making eye contact with her subject.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Lloyd replied with a bitter smile on his face. "If this message is true, that is."
Lloyd's smile became even bitterer as he recalled what was written in the scroll, which did not contain much.
The slope in Namaran is slowly crumbling down...? This indicates that the construction project I led there before is somehow being compromised due to the mysterious mana explosions.
That was what the scroll brought by the courier contained. Lloyd frowned inadvertently.
This doesn't feel good. It hasn't even been long after I led the project there. Even if they were to slack on maintenance, it wouldn't start crumbling down already.
The city of Namaran, which was situated on top of the cliff, faced great danger as the slope on one side had shown signs of crumbling down. Lloyd had led a project to install huge piles and anchors on the entire slope to stabilize that. The idea that it was beginning to fall apart already was unacceptable. It was realistically impossible.
I don't do half-assed jobs when I work on a construction project. And the latter part of the message is what worries me more. Mysterious mana explosions?
He wondered if these were new phenomena that hinted at the enforced fate phenomenon, or what could trigger it. In fact, he strongly suspected it.
There is a chance.
Now that he thought about it, Namaran was a place in which a huge incident called Namaran's Wall had taken place in the original novel. Lloyd had prevented it, thwarted the evil plans of the dark mages, and slain the hell knight that was being summoned. He even successfully saved the young lady of the estate, who was destined to die during the incident but survived and succeeded the Count of Namaran.
In that aspect, Namaran is perhaps one of the places that greatly altered the flow of the original story. There is a chance that a new form of restoration of destiny could be triggered there.
Lloyd came to the conclusion quickly and bowed to the queen.
"Please allow me to take my leave, Your Majesty."
"Are you leaving already?"
"It looks like it's imminent, Your Majesty."
"Understood. Hurry."
To Lloyd's relief, the queen did not hold him back. Instead, it appeared that the queen read Lloyd's facial expression and got a rough idea, although she wouldn't imagine the details involving the enforced fate phenomenon in her wildest dreams. However, she let out a terrible joke to bid Lloyd a temporary farewell, having noticed his desire to be on the move immediately.
"Don't die. It's a command."
"Of course, Your Majesty."
Lloyd left the royal palace immediately afterward and hopped on the back of Yong Yong, who was on standby outside. Yong Yong stomped on the ground.
"To Namaran!"
Lloyd headed southward and flew in supersonic speed, past mountains, waterways, and vast fields, as well as villages, fortresses, and plains. The city atop the cliff, that he was so familiar with, was finally in sight. Lloyd led Yong Yong to land below the slopes and walked up on his own feet.
I must examine it with my own two eyes.
Exchanging pleasantries with the Lady of Namaran could wait. Checking if the mysterious phenomenon in this place was related to the predestined event was of more importance. Lloyd quickly climbed the slope and arrived at the scene at which he had installed slope-stabilizing piles and anchors before. He noticed a few compression plates that had been holding anchors down were broken, and a few slope-stabilizing piles were 1/3 of the way removed.
What the hell?!
Lloyd was flabbergasted. Broken compression plates and removed piles, which had been installed deep underground. It was as if a giant of immense strength had come over and thrown a tantrum there. He couldn't think of any other cause.
But there has to be one since there were mysterious mana explosions as well. I should look into that.
Lloyd retained his composure and continued his examination. He allowed his mana circle to work.
Zing... The circle moved slightly and began to absorb the mana residing in the place little by little. Lloyd embraced the property of the mana absorbed and analyzed it as if he were using a metal detector to detect mines. He went throughout the entire slope to discover the clues leading to the mana explosion. It didn't take him long to find them, thanks to the Asrahan Core Technique.
Why is there mana on the piles...?
Lloyd began to feel mana from the stabilizing piles that were removed one-third of the way from the ground. He examined the property of the mana and realized something right away.
This mana feels familiar.
It wasn't strange at all. He had felt this before, here in this place, when he was getting rid of dark mages. That was the nature of the mana that was emanating from the pile.
Dark Mage. Noctanium. The dark gem. The tool was pre-installed to erect Namaran's Wall in the past. This mana is from that jewel.
A couple of words popped up in Lloyd's head, helping him deduce what was going on.
Somebody is trying to use these things I installed as tools to erect Namaran's Wall... again.
