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Early Afternoon - Early Winter : Off-Coast Western Siratha

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"That artifact, if it's what I think it is.. wasn't made by dragons..."

-Yeah, I already know that much...- But as I went to speak again, my thoughts got hung up. -Wait... she couldn't mean...- I felt my whole body stiffen instantly.

"We.. still don't know their origins, but they showed up a few hundred years ago in the hands of the Holy Kingdom, so one can only assume..." She spoke with a dark expression, as if talking about a bad memory.

-The Holy Kingdom again...- A knot of anxiety formed in my chest as I remembered the goddess telling me to steer clear of there. "Do you really think they could have made such an insane artifact though?"

She hesitated before glancing up at me. "Although I have my doubts, it's.. one of the better options since it would give us an excuse to wipe them off the map.

.. The only other decent possibility is that they came across something made by Bahamut or the Ancient Fenrir, but that is even less likely. "

-Huh?- "Why is that?" The bad feeling in my chest only grew as I glanced at her.

"There.. were too many of them..." She leaned back in my palm as she awkwardly rubbed her arm with a dark expression.

-Too.. many?- My mind immediately stuttered, unsure what to think about what she said. "What do you mean.. too many?"

"Well.. when we were first notified of their existence, a group of ancients was sent to the Holy Kingdom to confiscate them... If I remember correctly, after we finished combing through the kingdom's magic towers and vaults, we had found 17 of them..."

-Seven..teen?- My eyes went wide.

But she didn't stop there. "And to make things even scarier..." She grimaced as she gripped into her arm. "I was told we dismantled them all..."

The theories I idly thought about while she spoke vanished in an instant. -So...- "That means someone either lied about what they found.. or the Holy Kingdom had another, and someone got it from them..."

"Correct..." Both possibilities were extremely bad, to the point that I started to get nervous and think about whether I really wanted to get myself involved with it.

But, deep down, I didn't have a choice. "Do you think the remains could have been put back together? Or maybe reverse-engineered?"

"Reverse-engineered?" She gave me a confused glance before looking back at the horizon.

"If you mean someone learning how to make it by taking it apart, it's quite unlikely.

.. Even the most skilled dragons would struggle to recreate all the runes on one of them, let alone recreate the artifact itself.

As for the possibility of someone putting one back together. .."

Her pause was a bad sign.

"As far as I know, the remaining parts of the artifacts were scattered in Deaths Gape... The pieces shouldn't be recoverable..."

-Ah, sh*t...- The only options left were the worst-case scenarios, someone in a seat of power betraying Bahamut, or a group with tight connections to the Holy Kingdom.

It actually reminded me of one of the carvings in the tree of prayer. -Dragons that joined the humans to revolt against the dragons...-

It was a future I didn't even want to consider. -I just need more information...-

After that, we continued talking, and one by one, my theories were thrown to the wayside.

I wasn't left empty-handed, however. Although Grandmother didn't seem to have all the details I would have liked, she mentioned a list of names. The names of the ancients who went and confiscated the artifacts themselves.

Several of the names were unfamiliar, but according to Grandmother, they were mostly people who had extremely good reputations in Bahamut.

But there were a few names that stood out: Amphitrite Ouranós, Myles Kalfas, and lastly, a man named Erpo Krymmenos, the youngest among those sent by nearly 400 years.

But his age wasn't the only thing that stood out.

"Who is Erpo Krymmenos? To be such an outlier in terms of age, does he have some special connection with the Elder Hall?" He was the only one in the list who had a family name I had never heard of.

"Oh him? He's one of Leander's direct subordinates. He's actually second-in-line to succeed Leander, right behind Agatha Exypnos."

-Wait, Leander?- "Was Leander the foreign intelligence head back then too?"

"Yes, this incident happened about 30 years after his father entered his final sleep, so Leander had already succeeded his position by the time this.. issue arose."

-That.. makes sense...- "So Leander probably sent him to have his own set of eyes..."

"Exactly..." She paused as a troubled look came to her face. "Of all the people sent on the mission, he is pretty far down my list of suspects, and based on Leander's reaction to recent events, I assume he is not directly involved either."

But even though I wanted to accept Grandmother's dismissals, I couldn't help but have a stray thought. -Wait a minute...-

Grandmother seemed to notice me falling into thought as well. "What are you thinking?"

-I'm probably overthinking it...- "It's probably nothing... I just thought that I should ask Leander about something when I meet him..."

Grandmother cracked an awkward smile as she tried to warm the atmosphere some. "Haha, Leander is the most justice-driven dragon I have ever known, and he is always quite strict with his direct subordinates, so I don't think there is anything to worry about."

"Y-yeah, I'm almost certain I'm connecting unrelated things..." -I just hope he doesn't take it the wrong way...-

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Fae, Holy Kingdom

- Unknown Identity ~

*Click* Looking over at the door, I saw an old butler entering my room.

I got a bit mad at first, but that quickly changed. "Young Master, the last mercenary has arrived."

The good news immediately brought a smile to my face. -Perfect!- Quickly hopping out of bed, I called in a few maids to help me get dressed and hastily made my way outside to the carriage.

Today was a big day. The fabled coming-of-age ceremony was finally upon me, and it was my turn to see if I was qualified to be the hero!

But even I knew that was impossible.

No matter how confident or arrogant I could be, the chances of me becoming the hero were practically zero. -After not having a hero for thousands of years.. I really wonder if there will ever be another...-

Idly getting distracted and thinking about the future, I was escorted out into the courtyard, where I saw the beautiful carriage my family rarely ever used, with my mother standing by the door with a warm smile on her face.

It made me smile unconsciously.

"You seem excited."

"Of course! How could I not be? I get to finally start my journey to becoming a proper merchant, just like Father!"

"Haha, are you still looking to follow in his footsteps?" She gently hugged me as we waited for the head maid to load my things into the back of the carriage.

"Of course! If he can become a noble as a peasant, I can definitely get us an estate in the capital!"

"Hoho~, I look forward to your efforts then, my little prince." She gently ruffled my hair as the head knight came up to us.

"Madam, young Master, the mercenary who just arrived does not wish to introduce themselves, so I will do it for them."

-'Doesn't wish to introduce themselves'?- I was slightly taken aback, as a mercenary introducing themselves to their contractors went far beyond the point of being optional. -Who is she?-

Looking over toward the only horse I had never seen before, I saw a small, black-hooded figure with long animal ears under the hood.

-Oh.. a demihuman...-

"Her mercenary name is Snow; she just arrived in Fae recently and is going to accompany us to the capital without receiving payment."

-What?- "Did she refuse it?"

"No, sir. She was someone with a reputation on the Main Continent, so she was immediately evaluated as Holy Cleric rank; however, the evaluator said she should be a Holy Priest rank, and told her to go to the capital to be instated into the position.

As such, she is more akin to a guest than a mercenary. "

-HOLY PRIEST RANK?!- It was a rank I had only heard about, one that was usually exclusively reserved for humans that were extremely devout to Asgard.

But the underlying feature of every single one of them was strength and power.

Becoming a Holy Priest was something unachievable with just money. Strength, power, and fame were all needed in a single package for them to be promoted.

-But she.. is a demihuman... How strong must she be for the evaluator to send her to the capital?- I looked at her sitting on the horse with a look of curiosity and intrigue.

But that was when a strong breeze blew past us, pulling away some of the cloth that hid her sword and revealing a beautiful silver hilt.

It was the most beautiful silver I had ever seen, even after living in a noble estate my whole life.

But the instant I showed the slightest desire to touch it, it felt like the world collapsed around me, and the next thing I knew, I was face down on the ground.

-W..what?-