155: Even an eagle with talent can't fly if its claws are bound

Knock knock. The door rattled.

"Me, old man. Can I come in?"

"Batista? Come on in."

Leifan, who’d come back with me, opened the door. Grandpa Batista and another man stepped inside.

I couldn’t help but shout when I saw him.

"Wha—!?"

"Uh?"

Not just me. Kyle was frozen too.

Yeah, right. There he was. Zaid—the brother of Kyle. (……)

"Arrived. Sit down."

Me, Kyle, and—wait, Alphard, Persia too. All of us gaping, mouths open. Maina... hard to read. Just looks surprised, though.

Zaid had caused a massive stir, even to the Marquis and to Kyle, all because of that curse. He’d been stripped of his succession rights. But then again... what had he been doing all that time?

Leaving Zaid with Orthros wasn’t sitting right with me, so I had him reflect in the capital for a spell. Assigned him work as punishment.

Huh. So that’s how it went.

Unlike Kyle, he never had a knack for groundbreaking policies. But he got every task handed to him done—solid, reliable. I was actually torn over whether to bring him into the civil service.

Seriously?

Yeah. Honestly surprised me. Probably the curse messed up his judgment. All that spite, jealousy toward Kyle.

Makes sense.

Now that you mention it… that Orthros dad—Lord Bairoroad, the Marquis of the Frontier—kept Zaid over Kyle as heir. Must’ve been his real self. Good at his job.

Can’t forgive that woman. The one who carved the curse into Zaid. Bella.

"Of course, Zaid deeply regrets what he's done. What do you say, Kyle? How about leaving things in his hands while we're away?"

Kyle's eyes snap wide open. He stares straight at Zaid.

Zaid, who's been silent this whole time, meets Kyle's gaze with a serious expression.

"...Kyle. I know you don't trust me. I nearly didn't believe it when I heard it from Lady Batista. But... could you give me a chance?"

"A chance...?"

Kyle tightens his face, settling back into his seat.

"Yeah. I know it was the curse driving me, but I still did something terrible to my own brother. I don't deserve forgiveness. But if you'll give me a chance to make it right—I'll see this through. I want you to trust me with Goldendown. With the Elixir Territory."

I’m probably frozen in place, mouth open in shock.

Can a person really change this much?

...No. Maybe this is exactly what Zaid was meant to be all along.

I’m not the one to be saying anything. I’ll leave everything to Kyle. I’m determined to follow whatever decision he makes.

Kyle stared at Zaid, silence stretching between them.

"...Zaid-sama, you’re mistaken about one thing."

Zaid raised one eyebrow.

"You’ve been forgiven long ago. By Craft-sama’s fist, in my place."

"Ah."

I couldn’t help but gasp.

Right, I’d punched Zaid hard, spurred on by Van.

"Besides, His Majesty said he’d lend us a competent clerk. I can’t think of a reason to refuse."

"Then..."

Kyle relaxed his expression. Finally, he smiled.

"Yes. While I’m away, I’m entrusting this Elixir Territory to you."

Zaid froze for a moment, his face on the verge of tears.

"Ah. Leave it to me."

"Yes."

That's right, Kyle. You've decided, haven't you? Chosen to stay brothers.

Even after being scorned all this time—because of the curse—being able to forgive you... I'm proud of you.

"Good! That settles it! I'm heading back to the capital, but I'll leave Mogh, the deputy minister of the Frontier Expansion Office, and Elra, a former disciple of Javir and a student of Batista, behind. Use them well."

"Thank you."

Kyle bows to Van.

"Reluctant as I am, I'm going back."

Van started to rise, but Batista the old man stopped him.

"Please wait, Your Majesty."

"What?"

"Actually... the dusk has apparently acquired a higher-level teleportation method from the sigil."

"What?!"

Van glares at me.

"You planning to flip the whole kingdom upside down again?"

No way! I’ve never done anything like that before!

Van lets out a heavy sigh.

“Look. Elixirs, alchemical hardening stone, stamina potions, even the communication golem I haven’t shown anyone—each of these could shake the kingdom to its core.”

“Ugh…”

Yeah, I know I’ve got a little sense of responsibility, but I don’t wanna hear “you’re flipping the whole country upside down” every time.

“Just a bit, okay. Whatever. So what’s this higher-tier teleportation array like?”

I repeat the explanation I gave earlier to the professor and old Batista.

“Connecting gate to gate? That’s not even funny.”

“Sounds pretty handy.”

“Are you insane? Who knows what scale we’re talking about, but worst case? We could move entire armies instantly. No time lost. Strategy itself would change.”

“Huh…”

“Even the current teleportation arrays are risky—sending assassins through them? That’s dangerous enough.”

"Ah, I see."

"That's why we hide it, and only place it where we can trust....Though right now, it's only at Orthros's place and here."

Kyle's old man's really trusted, huh. No surprise, given he's the one who got the largest territory in the whole country.

...Wait!?

When Van suddenly appeared out of nowhere in Leifan Town—formerly Zaid's pioneer village—it must've been through that route!

From the Marquis's castle, using Goldendown horses, the journey to the capital is way shorter than from the capital to here.

Got myself a useless certainty.

"So, Batista. What about that teleportation gate? What's it for?"

"Ah. I don't know how much we can mass-produce it, but... why not install it between the castle and here?"

"Hmm?"

Van gestures with his eyes for me to keep going.

The castle’s far from here, and even with the road improved, hauling supplies takes time. If we could transport the alchemical solution for hardening stone directly, building the fortress cluster would speed up a lot.

Right. That’s true.

Seems like I can’t mass-produce the alchemical solution without using my mark—the Mark of the Dusk Alchemist. Good idea.

We could haul it by wagon, but transport costs skyrocket. Leave it to merchants, and they’ll sell it off en route. Time and quantity lost either way.

“Good one, Batista! Alright, Craft! Set it up now!”

“Now?!”

“Yeah!”

Still completely reckless, this king!

“Ah, Leifan. You think you can make it?”

The gate itself should be manageable with stock materials—assuming Kyle’s got the green light to use orichalcum. Craft, you think you can whip up the magitech for a transfer gate?

A few components are missing, but I reckon I could get them from the Adventurer’s Guild within a few days.

Making a transfer gate needs both blacksmithing and alchemy. Different specialties. But Leifan’s got Andvar’s mark—so he should be fine.

Van. I’d say I can make a set in about a week.

Good. Make it small enough to fit through that hidden room. Once it’s done, use the existing transfer array to bring it here and set it up.

You’ll have to disassemble it and carry it over, right?

...It’s worth the magic stone burn. Just figure it out.

Got it.

Make it a modular portal… well, I guess I’ve just gotta put my faith in Leifan’s arms.

"Think you can do it?"

"Leave it to me!"

Looks good. Guess Leifan’s got it covered.

So, a few days later, the portal connecting the capital to Golden Dune is finished.

…Later on, no one could’ve guessed just how wildly that portal would end up being used.

New release, coming next Monday the 28th!

Some bookstores and e-books will be available to buy from tomorrow, but honestly, I’m not even sure how that works myself lol