Episode 176 In the Hero's Footsteps (3)
The moment the topic of escape came out of Hesperon's mouth, Princess Riley unconsciously looked around, wary of her surroundings.
It had been almost two months since she was imprisoned in this Immortal Fortress.
Two months was a fatally long time in the political world, where enemies and allies could change overnight, and her heart, as the head of the faction, couldn't help but be anxious.
And she was also worried that Isea might get hurt trying to rescue her too quickly.
It was only natural for her to react sensitively to the mention of escape.
There was a simple soundproof barrier in place, but this was the Immortal King's base, so she didn't know how effective such a low-level security measure would be…
'Wait?'
But her reaction was short-lived.
She soon realized that the one who had brought it up had only been in this world for a little over a month.
And he had been learning magic from her until just now?
'He's not the type to suddenly make such a joke. And maybe it's actually possible…'
In the end, she just showed a subtle hint of hope, rather than truly believing him.
"…How?"
"Huh? You don't believe me?"
"Sigh, I wish I could. It's already this difficult after just two months, and I don't know how many years I might have to stay here."
At first, she tried to relax and think of it as a vacation, as she couldn't do anything about the situation.
But her self-hypnosis-like mind control was reaching its limit.
She probably wouldn't have been able to endure for almost two months if it hadn't been for Hesperon.
Focusing on other things by teaching him magic had also helped her ignore the situation.
…Although she was now at a loss, having been surpassed in level.
As if understanding her feelings, he spoke with a playful smile.
"Come to think of it, I haven't told you what my unique skill is, have I?"
Riley slowly nodded, her eyes wide open.
She had asked him curiously once, but he hadn't given her a clear answer back then.
"…What is it?"
It was rude to pry into someone's abilities, so she had just been waiting for him to tell her…
But it seemed like he was finally going to tell her.
Hesperon, instead of answering her expectant question, showed her with actions.
The ability of his unique skill… or what he claimed to be his unique skill.
He casually extended his hand into the air, and a skewer with delicious-looking meat appeared in his hand.
"…A skewer? …No, a subspace?"
Riley made an awkward expression and then unconsciously sniffed the air, focusing on it.
The food provided in this castle wasn't bad, but it wasn't good enough to satisfy her, who had been a royal.
The meat, with its appetizing appearance, was glistening as if it had just been cooked, and the stimulating smell, along with the steam, was relentlessly stimulating her salivary glands.
'Judging by its condition, it's definitely not just a simple subspace, but how is he going to escape with that kind of ability…'
"Here."
Contrary to her negative thoughts, she took the skewer from him as if she was mesmerized and then realized what she had done.
But it was too late to refuse the food that was already in her hand.
She wasn't going to pretend in front of him anyway, so she just took a big bite, following her desire.
The smoky scent filled her nose, and the bouncy texture filled her mouth, the meat bursting with juice between her teeth, harmonizing with the sweet and savory sauce.
It wasn't a luxurious dish by her standards, as she had tasted all sorts of delicacies, but it was overwhelmingly better than the food she had been eating here.
To be honest, she personally preferred this to most fancy dishes.
"…Is this… from Earth?"
"No, I didn't take it out of my subspace. It's food from somewhere in this world. I just summoned it here by paying a price."
To be precise, it was a skewer from the restaurant 'Dancing with Orcs', which had become a famous spot in Tarak after being established with investment from Hubert's Trading Company, which was pursuing octopus-like expansion.
The seasonings and sauce were from Earth, but the food itself was definitely made in this world.
"A summoning ability? So that's why you were so interested in summoning magic."
"It's a bit different… Well, I guess you could say it's similar?"
Riley frowned slightly at his vague answer.
And his subtle attempts to drop the honorifics were also annoying.
She fiddled with the empty skewer, showing her displeasure.
"To be precise, it's not just summoning, but an ability to transcend spatial restrictions under certain conditions. And thanks to the enlightenment I gained while learning magic, the skill evolved, and I can now use it in a different way."
He explained politely, as if trying to appease her.
She found it annoying, but it wasn't important compared to what he said next.
"…It's transcending space."
Riley's heart started to race as her eyes widened.
If he could really teleport, then escape was definitely a possibility.
And judging by how he summoned the skewer, it seemed like there was no problem activating his ability even inside this Immortal King's castle.
Hesperon nodded with satisfaction, looking at her eyes sparkling with hope.
'I was originally planning to summon Complete Harley and break out, but the level of this Immortal Fortress is too high. It's much cleaner and more convincing to escape secretly.'
So he had roughly combined "Avatar Cloud" and "In the Hero's Footsteps" and created a spatial skill.
He hadn't even thought about its name or conditions yet because it was a hastily made skill, but he was planning to just vaguely explain the details as a secret anyway, so it didn't really matter.
"Then, right now…!"
"Ah, but there's a small problem."
But he immediately poured cold water on her expectations with a firm tone.
He said it was still difficult for him to teleport with someone else, perhaps because he was still lacking.
Riley's face fell in disappointment.
Her expressions were changing like a roller coaster, but he didn't show it and continued speaking calmly.
"But I have an idea…"
They had been through thick and thin in this extreme environment, but strictly speaking, their bond was only a little over a month old.
It was a shallow connection that could be broken at any time.
'I can't just leave it like that. If Riley returns, she'll be the most likely candidate for the next emperor, and there will be all sorts of opportunities if I just stay by her side. My connection with Isea, who will be an awakened one, will also be helpful.'
So he needed to create a connection, even if it was by force.
"It's still a bit difficult to teleport a complete stranger, but wouldn't the possibility increase if we were bound by a contract?"
"…A contract?"
Fortunately, contract magic was a common magic that they could use at their level.
Its effectiveness increased as the caster's level increased, so they couldn't expect much from it in the opposite case…
"Would there be that much binding force in a contract magic between mages of our level? It doesn't seem like it would be very useful."
"Ah, it's okay."
Hesperon smiled meaningfully.
Because he had the "Bond of Unity" skill, which strengthened the connection between the caster and the target and even gave additional bonuses when making a contract.
'I didn't expect to use it like this.'
And so, just a few days before the planned escape,
Hesperon, a novice awakened one who had only been transferred to another world for a little over a month, succeeded in latching onto the most likely successor of the world's strongest nation.
____________________
The New Talia Kingdom was suffering from various growing pains along with its rapid changes.
No matter how much they considered all situations and prepared countermeasures in advance, there was no way there wouldn't be any difficulties in changing the foundation of a country.
The royal palace, located in the heart of Talaria, the capital of the Talia Kingdom.
'Heinz Hybrid the Second' was frowning, examining the documents that had come up from below, in the luxurious king's office, which hadn't been his for long.
"Tsk, as expected, things aren't going smoothly."
He had made many preparations in advance to create a country where vampires and humans could coexist, but things didn't always go as planned.
Seeing the conflicts between humans who resisted the change and vampires who misinterpreted his intentions, which were reported from various places, it seemed like it would take a considerable amount of time to stabilize this chaotic political situation.
'But it's a good thing that there aren't any problems with the administrators, as I paid close attention to that. It would have been very troublesome if even that was a problem.'
Instead, government officials were being overworked because of the heavy workload, but the preparations he had made in advance were shining at this moment.
From fatigue recovery potions to awakening potions to stay awake, vitality potions to boost life force, and all sorts of other health potions!
To think he had prepared all this for the weak humans, compared to vampires, it was truly the foresight of a wise ruler who cared for everyone!
Heinz, who was praising himself, stroked his chin as he rummaged through the documents again.
'Still, vampires are easier to use. I can't increase their numbers recklessly because I have to control the population, but I should tell them to prioritize government employee applicants for now.'
He was trying to minimize discrimination against humans to properly manage the country, but it couldn't be helped that vampires, the ruling class, had more benefits.
Above all, unlike humans, who couldn't be perfectly controlled, the vampires subordinate to Heinz couldn't disobey his orders.
But benefits were just benefits, and in the New Talia Kingdom, which advocated a strict meritocracy, even a pure human could rise to a high position if they were capable.
'That makes things easier. If incompetent people occupy those positions, it'll only tire me out.'
He entrusted practical matters to capable individuals, regardless of race, and scattered the vampires who weren't talented in that area throughout the country as inspectors and local security chiefs.
Most of the former nobles, who could be considered the intellectual class, were also working as government officials, but there were also quite a few commoners who were quickly showing their talents.
It was also the vampire inspectors' duty to discover such individuals, so the kingdom would be able to stabilize quickly as time passed.
'The problem is now. I understand the humans, but I didn't expect there to be problems from the vampires.'
He thought he had made it clear enough beforehand, but it seemed like their long-held sense of elitism and superiority was naturally manifesting.
He would first give a warning in such cases, and if they didn't correct themselves and the same thing happened again…
He would have no choice but to turn them into materials for Blood Essence.
[Lord, Lady Briki is here. Should I let her in?]
At that moment, he received a telepathic message from the guards stationed throughout the castle.
Briki, the other Sacred Blood of Hybrid, who had been away on a mission, had returned.
[Let her in.]
And naturally, the importance of the mission she had been on was undeniable, considering that a Sacred Blood had personally intervened.
'I can't just leave a Sacred Blood idle. Especially for this kind of task, there's no one more suitable.'
Yes, Hybrid's next goal was…
An unavoidable task, considering that they were calling themselves the 'Auterica Vampire Clan Alliance'.
It was to unite all the vampire clans on the continent.