36 Chapter 7 4 : Crossing the border (2/2)

[Because you have made one of them very mad] (Ver)

”Who said that?!” (Guard)

”The divine beast whose blood is on your blade” (Mae)

Ver shifted into her wyvern form, barely managing to fit in the cell with us, and glared at the guard.

[You have made the mistakes of calling my master a liar, my friends forgers, and of causing harm to myself, under the name of justice and law. For those crimes, as well as gross disrespect towards nobility, both domestic and foreign, you are hereby stripped of your post. Thus has it been decreed by the eleventh divine beast, the Wyvern Lord Verene] (Ver)

”You have no authority to do so, you overgrown lizard!” (Guard)

She shifted back, and spoke normally, as the guard noticed that his sword had broken.

”As a divine beast, I actually hold as much power as a royal magistrate, under the third article of the joint-races alliance that was later turned into the base constitution for these lands. By the way... you may wish to look behind you. A certain someone has been listening since about the time you pointed out the supposed flaws in Mae and Charlotte's badges” (Ver)

”She is correct, in that she holds as much power as a royal magistrate, and also correct in that you are stripped of your post. It would even be true if she wasn't a divine beast, as I would strip you in any case. Those badges are real, as are all of the claims I heard. As for why I'm here, it's because I heard that Ryuu was trying to leave this country, so I decided to chase after her, as she never did meet my daughter, and we did have plans for that for yesterday, unless she forgot?” (Man)

”I did, actually... I - hold on, there are two problems here, first is that I'm behind bars, and second is that we have an eavesdropper” (Ryuu)

”Ah, yes, that's right... Gazef, I hate to make you do this, but... this guy seems not to deserve his uniform, could you deal with that problem somewhere out of earshot? In the meantime... Ryuu, you can stay there. I'm actually somewhat mad at you right now. We'd made plans for you to meet Haru, but then you up and disappear like this. I would like to know why” (King)

”Well, to put it simply, I forgot about those plans due to an unfortunate, unplanned event known as 'getting kidnapped in the middle of graduation so that I would attend my public coronation that I didn't know was going to happen this decade, let alone that day' so... that kinda startled me, to say the least. It's only natural that I would forget something due to that... I'm sorry that it was the plan for me to meet Haru. Still, my being in this cell is a bit of a bother, so...” (Ryuu)

I used wind magic to probe the shape of the lock's mechanisms, used barrier magic to create a key that would fit, unlocked it that way, and then I stepped outside the cell.

”I could have done that at any time. Yes, there is a mana-absorption barrier around the cell, but... it only increases the mana needed for a given spell to about ten thousand times what it would normally be. No normal mage would be able to create so much as a spark, but... there's me. I could still have fired off a spell like the one that killed two greater wyverns, but this was a non-destructive way to free myself. It's not the most decent thing to do, but... that barrier really itches. It's like being covered in bug bites and then standing in acid rain, but worse. Actually, I'll give you a bit of information. The simplest way to disable me would be to lock me in three of these barriers that were designed to not interfere with one another. With that level of discomfort, I would barely be able to walk or talk. However, don't try to use that as a way to kill me, as my survival instincts would kick in and I'd just obliterate the barriers, even at the cost of my ability to think for a few hours, and if that happened... almost anyone near me would be in danger... and by 'near me' I mean 'within a radius similar to the length from the north gate to the south gate of the capital' because I would be really... not myself. It's basically the Demon Lord equivalent of the rhinokin's battle mania. We get stronger, faster, tougher, but we lose our sense of reasoning for a while, sometimes unable to tell friend from foe. Do you remember Anargleheim? The fortress city that fell in a single night?” (Ryuu)

”17000 years ago... it was said that it was done by one monster” (King)

”It was done by my grandmother, when she was almost killed by an assassin. She tore the city apart as she looked for the one who ordered her death, despite that person being one of the first to die by her hands that night. Now, consider that, and remember that she was about... a tenth of a percent as strong as I am?” (Ryuu)

”That's a subtle threat...” (King)

”No, that's a warning. I really, really, really don't want to have that happen. I would probably wind up killing a few of my friends in the process, and I would never be able to get over that fact... Honestly, that state, my berserk mode, is one of the few things in this world that scares me. At all. The others are basically the thoughts that my lovers might die, or... that's about it, actually” (Ryuu)

”So, from what I'm hearing, you care about others more than yourself? At least, you worry about them more, which I can understand from your strength. It's much harder for you to be in danger than it is for anyone you care about. That's a sad way to live, but it's better than being weak and unable to protect what matters to you most, right? I can understand that...” (Girl)