✦ Chapter 45 – The One More Precious Than A Sacred Relic Has Arrived! (6) ✦
Just as the Imperial Treasury began to come into view, Ezekiel abruptly halted in his tracks.
“Stop,” he commanded.
“Oh? Yes! Understood, sir!” Tether responded, her enthusiasm burning brightly at the moment.
In her current predicament, Tether felt as if she had grabbed a lifeline after falling off a cliff. That lifeline was named Ezekiel, and Tether’s fate now hung in the balance depending on his actions.
“Hmm,” Ezekiel mused, tilting his head slightly. ‘It’s certain. I seem to be the cause,’ he thought to himself.
The closer they approached the Imperial Treasury, the stronger the elemental stones’ mana became. There was no need for further deliberation; Ezekiel was undoubtedly the source of their agitation.
Their current position was likely the final safe zone. The inability to advance any further was proving to be quite troublesome.
‘We’re so close, yet we can’t move forward,’ Ezekiel pondered.
Elemental stones were ethereal objects that should rightfully reside on the second floor. If they were to unleash their elemental mana at full force, the relics on the first floor would certainly suffer.
Then…
‘I’ll need to take action from this position.’
The urgent task at hand was to find a way to calm the elementals without advancing any further.
“I need to concentrate for a moment.”
“Yes, sir!”
Ezekiel slowly closed his eyes.
Not spreading, but rather receiving the flow. He slowly absorbed the mana that the elementals were emitting.
— …! …!
— Eze…ki…el…!
— ……!
────!
Their voices began to reach him.
He focused even more. Now was the time to push forward.
— Ezekiel! No doubt about it, it’s that bastard Ezekiel!
— Don’t come any closer! Someone go stop him!
— Salamander, raise the heat!
— You fools, I’m freezing to death here…!
“…………..”
Ezekiel felt the full weight of responsibility for the entire situation; he truly was the cause of their distress.
Meanwhile, Tether couldn’t remain still as she watched Ezekiel, her lifeline, becoming increasingly pensive. It was natural to feel anxious when the person holding your fate in their hands seemed troubled.
Finally, Tether couldn’t bear it any longer and asked, “In-Inspector! How does it look?”
“Hmmm,” the Inspector responded, lighting a sunweed leaf instead of answering directly.
“Are the elementals in a dire state?” Tether pressed.
“That’s not it.”
“Aha~ It’s not serious! Um? What do you mean?”
Tether blinked in disbelief.
“Are you saying that… that this situation isn’t serious?” she stammered.
“That’s right. The elementals are just a bit excited, that’s all.”
“Excited? But why would they be excited?”
“Who knows? It seems they’ve encountered something that pleases them.”
Hoo—
Ezekiel exhaled a plume of sunweed smoke.
“In any case, I’ve figured out a solution. Let’s get started.”
~~••~~••~~
Sssss
Hoo—
“………….”
Sssss
Hoo—
From his vantage point where the Imperial Treasury was visible, Ezekiel made a chair out of ice and proceeded to continuously smoke sunweed. Tether watched him, bewildered by this behavior.
‘What kind of herb was sunweed again?’ she pondered.
It was difficult to obtain, and only tiny amounts were occasionally used for medicinal purposes. To smoke it raw…
‘…is something people usually do when they want to die. That herb.’
But Ezekiel was different.
Hoo—
As if he couldn’t get enough of it, or as if he was smoking a therapeutic herb, he continued to puff away at the sunweed right in front of Tether.
“The sunweed from Ruiple is quite good, indeed,” Ezekiel remarked.
“Hmm…” Tether mumbled.
What kind of person was she dealing with?
It was astonishing enough that he could smoke such a potent herb raw, but what truly puzzled her was why they weren’t immediately entering the Imperial Treasury.
And so Tether cautiously broached the subject.
“Um, Inspector…”
“What is it?” Ezekiel replied nonchalantly, inhaling an entire sunweed leaf in one breath. His lung capacity was unbelievable. Tether’s expression became one of near terror.
“Well, it’s just that… the elementals’ rampage…”
“I’m calming them down right now.”
“Pardon?”
“Wait. That’s your job.”
“…………”
Ezekiel rummaged through his left inner pocket. Finding nothing, he withdrew his empty hand – a considerable relief to Tether.
“H-Have you finally finished smoking?”
“No.”
Ezekiel searched his right breast pocket with his other hand. Soon, he pulled out a handful of sunweed leaves.
“…………….”
Is he trying to commit s*****e? Tether wondered.
“You’re smoking an awful lot of sunweed…”
“I don’t usually smoke this much.”
“Then why now, of all times…”
“It can’t be helped.”
Tether’s face contorted as if she might cry at any moment.
“Inspector! I truly apologize for my wrongdoings!”
A moment later, she prostrated herself, “I’m fully aware that I’ve made a grave mistake! But this false hope is too much to bear…! Please, punish me right now instead!”
“The Imperial Treasury is fine.”
“…Huh?”
“I said it’s fine.”
Ezekiel added, along with a puff of smoke, “Stand up. You’re a secretary of the Imperial family. Don’t lower their dignity.”
“Ah, yes.”
Tether rose hesitantly.
“If you’re worried, go check for yourself.”
“Oh…?”
Tether dashed into the Imperial Treasury.
And a moment later, she returned with eyes as wide as saucers.
“The elementals seem much calmer than before! In-Inspector! How did you do it?”
“What you see is all there is to it.”
He had smoked the sunweed to lower his own ice mana.
…He couldn’t quite bring himself to say that. Instead, he offered something else.
“Would you like to smoke one?”
“No, thank you…”
Tether sat down quietly as she accepted the offered sunweed leaf nonetheless.
She had served many distinguished guests at the Imperial palace, but she had never encountered someone quite like this — a man whose thoughts were impossible to read, who seemed utterly carefree yet maintained an air of dignity. Truly mysterious.
‘He’s so relaxed. As if he’s confident about everything.’
Although Tether felt she shouldn’t trust him, there was something strangely appealing about this man. No, she must trust him. Hadn’t she just witnessed firsthand the improved state of the insides of the Imperial Treasury?
While Tether was still deeply lost in thought, Ezekiel spoke casually.
“Hey, Tether.”
“Yes, Inspector!” Tether responded enthusiastically, a glimmer of hope flickering in her eyes.
The news about the Second Princess being far away was also false, wasn’t it?”
“I’m truly sorry, but yes, it was…”
“There’s no need to apologize.”
Ezekiel continued nonchalantly, as if the matter was of no consequence, “If the Princess finds out about your actions, what kind of punishment will you face?”
“Punishment, you say? Punishment… um…” Tether paused, pondering the question.
“Given how strict she is, any punishment wouldn’t be surprising. Though I doubt it would be light… Why do you ask?”
“The Second Princess is on her way here.”
“Eeeeeeek!”
Tether’s tightly clenched fist involuntarily loosened, causing the sunweed leaf to snap in half. The excruciating pain sent Tether hopping around, clutching her hand.
“What should we do now? What can be done?!”
“What do you mean, ‘what can be done?’”
At last, Ezekiel exhaled the last of his sunweed; his ice mana had subsided significantly, albeit temporarily.
“Let’s head into the Imperial Treasury.”
The corners of his mouth slowly curved upward.
The man’s expression exuded nothing but an air of nonchalance.
~~••~~••~~
On the path to the Imperial Treasury.
Hedera led the way, followed by three dragon-people.
— But is it really possible to soothe elementals with Dragon Speech?
One of the dragon-people transmitted telepathically.
Gromon, hearing the question, naturally scoffed.
— Not at all. Dragon Speech can’t control emotions.
— Then just as we thought…
— Your guess is correct. If the Princess fails miserably, we can simply continue encouraging soul trade as before.
— Understood.
Gromon and the dragon-people smiled maliciously.
Elementals were extremely sensitive beings. If dragons were notoriously stubborn due to their immense pride, elementals were hard to deal with because they were very timid.
— I have no idea why they started acting up, but calming them is impossible unless she summons an elemental guardian. We’re in for quite a show.
— I’m really looking forward to it. And since she’s a Princess, we’ll gain a lot if the deal goes through.
But then.
When they finally arrived at the Imperial Treasury.
Hedera, who had been leading the way, came to an abrupt halt.
“………….”
Tension suddenly permeated the air among the dragon-people.
— Did our telepathic communication leak?
— That’s impossible.
Amidst this, someone sensed something amiss.
— But are the elementals really rampaging?
— I don’t sense any malevolent mana at all.
Indeed, the source of unease was the unexpectedly calm atmosphere surrounding them. Far from running amok, there was an air of peacefulness instead.
Finally, unable to contain himself, Gromon stepped forward.
“………….”
In an instant, a bizarre scene filled his view.
“…………?”
It was the sight of a man with his arm draped around an elemental stone.
As if using it as an arm pillow, as if the massive elemental stone were a friend, he had his arm casually draped around it.
And a moment later, they couldn’t believe their ears.
“Why are you so tense?”
The man chewing on sunweed spoke thus.
“Come on, loosen up a bit.”
Hoo—
He blew out a long stream of smoke.
“You and me, we’re friends, aren’t we?”