Chapter 8: The Sacred Tree's Sapling

Chapter 8:
The Sacred Tree’s Sapling

 

BACK IN THE PALACE in Holfort, King Roland leisurely sipped his tea. “It tastes even better when everyone else is loaded down with work.”

Light from a nearby window spilled over him, and despite his despicable words, he was smiling brightly.

Mylene had come to meet with him. Like everyone else in the palace, she had been working herself to the bone since the end of the war. “You are as irredeemable as ever, I see.”

Roland shook his head mournfully. “I shall say nothing to defend myself. Truly, it wounds me that I cannot be of more assistance. By the way, did you finish everything yet?”

As “wounded” as he claimed to be, he was inwardly delighted. He really did have a twisted personality. Not only did he loathe Leon, he was happy to punch down as much as his position allowed.

“Leon sent me a letter,” said Mylene. “It seems to be urgent. Angie delivered it to me personally. There’s one for you as well.”

“That brat sent me something? No doubt he’s filled it with disparaging remarks. I have no interest in reading it. You can give me a summary. Oh, but do tell me about any insults. I’ll be sure to send him to the gallows this time.”

His “joke” earned him a cold glare from Mylene. “Perhaps it will be you going to the gallows instead.”

“Oh, don’t worry. That brat is too softhearted. He doesn’t have the guts to execute me.” Perhaps the fact that Roland understood Leon so well was proof of how alike they were.

“You’re incorrigible.” Mylene shook her head and opened the envelope. As she scanned the contents, her expression turned grim.

“Well?” Roland asked. “I am sure it’s all nonsense. No doubt he’s drowning in free time. Enough that he could waste some of it to write a belittling letter.”

But Mylene soon gave him a harsh wake up call. “It says you’re in a dispute with one of the Six Great Houses—the Feivel family.”

“I’m what?!” Roland leaped from his chair, spilling tea everywhere. He hissed in pain and then tore the letter from Mylene’s hand to check for himself.

 

Dearest King Roland,

You haven’t fallen ill, have you? I must say that I am in perfect health, but I pray daily that yours fails you. Pleasantries aside, I’ll get to the heart of why I’m writing: House Feivel’s second son, Pierre, picked a fight with me. I think I’ll return the favor. This will surely cause political issues, so I’m counting on you to handle the fallout.

 

Roland’s hands trembled. “That worthless, good-for-nothing braaaaat! How dare he do this to meeee!”

But that wasn’t the end of Leon’s correspondence.

 

PS: Remember how you said to “deal with these troublemakers” in your letter? Well, I’m going to deal with all of them—the republic included. Good luck dealing with the aftermath! Bwa ha ha ha!

Yours Truly,

A servant who is far too good for the likes of you.

 

Roland tore the paper to pieces. “That absolute scumbag! I really will send him to the gallows! Mylene, gather the most prominent members of the nobility, quickly! We must send someone to the republic to investigate. This will be an absolute nightmare if we don’t stop that maniac from—hey, why are you blushing?”

“Huh?” Mylene’s cheeks were a bright red. She quickly hid the letter that Leon had sent her behind her back and looked away, embarrassed. “N-nothing. It’s a secret.”

Roland wrinkled his nose. “A secret? You make it sound cute, but do you realize how old you are? Augh!”

His insensitive remark had earned him a slap across the face.

 

***

 

We’re finally in an Alzer dungeon!

This cave was truly bizarre. Moss grew over the floor and walls, and light flooded in through a hole in the ceiling. The place was set up almost like a labyrinth, with wild plants growing everywhere. I’d never seen anything like it.

“Here they come. Three hundred meters in front of us. Six of them!” I shoved the portable terminal into my pocket and reached for my shotgun.

Jilk was in front of me. “I’ll take the first shot.”

He aimed his rifle and blasted the monsters rushing toward us. Empty ammunition shells fell to the ground as he reloaded. He peered through the scope, found his next mark, and fired again.

“Hey, Jilk, leave some for the rest of us!”

Julius raced forward with Chris hot on his heels.

“Your Highness, please allow me! You should stay back where it’s safe.”

Our enemies kept coming. Some scuttled across the walls and ceiling like centipedes. I changed my position to get a clean line of fire and kept watch over the battlefield. One of the monsters launched itself from the ceiling, and Julius cut it down in midair. It collapsed to the floor, turned to black smoke, and vanished. In the meantime, Chris took care of three others.

These guys are getting more and more powerful. It’s ridiculous.

“Okay. Looks like we’re safe for now. Let’s take a small break.” I pulled my tablet back out and checked the map. We were still quite far from our objective.

Professor Narcisse clapped his hands. “Wow, that was incredible. I heard that Holfort’s adventurers were the real deal, but you guys are even stronger than I imagined. Those monsters were quite powerful, and you annihilated them.”

“That was nothing,” Julius said. He puffed out his chest, despite only having downed a single opponent. “We could take out ten or even twenty of those beasts.”

If I saw that many coming, I’d head for the hills. I nodded. “Great. You fight them, I’ll run.”

“You truly are contemptible, Bartfort.”

“What moron would try to fight twenty of those things? Obviously you’d be better off setting a trap and luring them in.”

Narcisse slumped. “Please don’t set traps in here. This place contains some very precious ruins. And, most importantly, we’re close to the Sacred Tree.”

As we delved deeper, we kept running into the tree’s roots. Some were so massive that they obscured the walls. Others were less noticeable—you’d think you were walking on a normal floor only to discover it was part of the tree. This dungeon sure was incredible.

Julius’s eyes brightened. “Precious ruins, you say? Hey, Bartfort, can we take a look?”

A strange light gleamed on Chris’s glasses. “Greg sure was unlucky to be left behind.”

“Yes, although he does get to spend more time alone with Miss Marie,” Jilk said, sulking.

I still have no idea why they find her so appealing.

“Ah, I do so admire the young people of Holfort,” said Narcisse, moved by our conversation. “Not only are you skilled adventurers, you have an interest in archaeology too. What good company you are in a dungeon like this.”

I…think we have a misunderstanding here. I winced. “You really think these guys are interested in archaeology?”

“Am I wrong?”

“Pretty much. They’re all barbarians. Myself excluded, of course.”

Julius glared at me. “Slander!”

“Really? Julius, if you knew there was a treasure somewhere, but you encountered a sealed door on your way, what would you do? Notably, this door is a part of the ruins and has historical value.”

“That’s simple: I’d blast it open and swipe the treasure!”

Narcisse shrieked. “Wait! He just said the door is part of the ruins!”

Jilk laughed. “Please don’t worry. We would place our explosives strategically. We’d blow up the door and leave the rest of the structure intact.”

“You shouldn’t even be using explosives to begin with!”

Chris shook his head, as though he were somehow better than the other bozos. “His Highness and Jilk are too extreme. You need only destroy the lock, then you could just open it.”

Professor Narcisse finally ran out of patience. “You shouldn’t be destroying anything! Treasure provides us with valuable data. Why are you so intent on stealing it?!”

The three of them gasped in shock.

I sniffed. “Now do you get it? Like I said, they’re barbarians.”

“Then what would you do, Earl Bartfort?” Jilk asked.

“Well, not that, obviously.”

Narcisse nodded, relieved. “I am relieved that you have a better understanding of this, Leon.”

“I wouldn’t even need to destroy the door. I’d steal the treasure, and I wouldn’t even leave any evidence that I’d ever been there.”

Julius, Jilk, and Chris all chuckled.

“Well, you’ve got us there!”

“Yes, I must admit.”

“Indeed, that is the best way to handle it.”

Honestly, these morons are exasperating. I paused. “Hm? Professor Narcisse, what’s wrong? Why are you holding your head in your hands?”

“Leon,” he mumbled. “Your answer was the absolute worst.”

Huh. Really? I tilted my head in bemusement.

Julius shook his head. “Bartfort, you’re the most terrible barbarian of all. Or perhaps just the most reckless.”

“Why’s that?”

“No one else would enter a dungeon alone to retrieve Lost Items,” Jilk snickered.

Professor Narcisse’s head shot up. “Lost Items, you say? So you possess others?!”

Chris folded his arms and nodded. “Yes, I remember the Partner. She was a fine ship.”

“Pardon? Um, hold on a second. What happened exactly?”

“It went down during the war,” Chris explained.

“Wh-why would you use something as precious as a Lost Item during a war?!” Narcisse howled. “Do you not understand how important they are for archaeological research? And why aren’t you more shaken up about it? Leon! I demand a detailed explanation!”

As he lamented what he called a devastating loss for humanity, I bit my tongue. While I had retrieved the Partner in the aftermath of the war, I couldn’t very well tell the professor that. After all, the ship had lost all archaeological value when we completely rebuilt her.

Instead, I just laughed awkwardly and tried to change the subject. “So anyway, break’s over. Let’s get going.”

“I changed my mind,” said Narcisse. “You Holfortians are brutes.”

Hah. I don’t want to hear that from an Alzerian.

 

***

 

While Leon and the others were in the dungeon, Marie and Greg went to the library. Greg had been left behind to serve as Marie’s bodyguard, but he wasn’t happy about missing the opportunity to explore a dungeon with the others.

He sighed. “I wish I coulda gone with them. Why was I the only one left out? Bartfort coulda let me tag along too.”

The library was silent, save for the sound of Marie flipping through a book. She turned toward Greg. “Hey, what does this mean?”

She was perusing Alzerian tomes and had to stop to look up words she didn’t recognize. But some of it was highly technical jargon, and the standard dictionary wasn’t of much use. Greg, on the other hand, was the former heir of a great noble house. As such, he’d received quality education and was quite fluent in Alzerian.

“Oh, this?” He translated it for her.

“Thanks.”

“Aren’t you going to take a break?” he asked. “Carla’s worried about you. She said you haven’t been sleepin’ much.”

Marie turned away and buried her nose back in the book. She seemed to have no interest in rest. “I still haven’t done enough,” she insisted. “There’s so much more I need to find out.”

Ever since Brad had been injured, she had really stepped up. Greg had seen how hard she was working.

Sulking isn’t going to get me anywhere, he decided. I’d better pitch in. For Marie’s sake, and to avenge Brad.

And so, Greg began pouring some genuine effort into helping.

 

***

 

We followed the route on my terminal and found ourselves at the bottom of what looked like a cliff. A tree root blocked our path, but it was so massive that you had to crane your neck to get a good look. It wouldn’t be easy to climb such a thing.

“We should take another route,” said Narcisse.

If we did that, it would only cost us more time. I glanced at Chris, who seemed to understand immediately.

“I guess this is where I come in.” He set his things aside and pulled a rope out of his rucksack. “Back in a moment.”

“Good luck!” I called after him.

Chris grinned and began scaling the cliff.

By now, Professor Narcisse was well past being surprised. Instead, he was exasperated. “There really is no limit to what you boys can do.”

Julius lifted his chin. “This is considered an essential skill in Holfort. Even Bartfort could do it.”

Okay, you trash-tier prince, why use me as an example? Whatever. I glanced at Narccisus. “The students here can’t climb?”

“Our curriculum is different, so it’s impossible to compare. That said, our students aren’t nearly as fit as yours. There are only a few who could keep up on a real delve.”

While we were chatting, Chris made it to the top. He waved down at us. Seemed it was safe to follow.

“All right, time to get climbing.”

We would be much closer to our goal when he got to the top. Even so, this key item was supposed to be a pain to retrieve.

“There sure are a lot of monsters,” I mumbled, staring down at my tablet.

Jilk peeked over. “You can tell where they are with that thing? When did you get that, anyway?”

“Fairly recently, in fact.”

“You don’t say. And what about that small ship we used to get here? When did you get that?”

“It was stored aboard the Einhorn, but I used it recently and never returned it. Good thing too, or we wouldn’t have had a ride.” I kept my answers vague as I surveyed the map for convenient locations. “All right, time to lay down some traps.”

“So, you are going to use traps?” Narcisse asked, looking resigned. “Please retrieve them after you’re done, at least.”

We needed to find somewhere to bottleneck these creatures so we could pick them off easily. Setting up traps in strategic locations would also thin their numbers. These sorts of underhanded schemes were Jilk’s forte.

“Why do I get the impression you’re nursing libelous thoughts about me?” Jilk asked, glaring daggers as we set about placing the traps.

I wasn’t about to play nice. I’d been on the receiving end of his cunning before. “I was just thinking that this kind of work fits your nasty personality. You know, considering how masterfully you used my sister to plant explosives on my Armor.”

“Ugh! I can say nothing in my defense.”

“Whatever. Just get to work.”

Now we just needed someone to act as bait…

I clapped Julius on the shoulder. “You are the only one I can entrust with this task.”

“I see you have finally recognized my skills, Bartfort. Very well. Whatever it is, just say the word. It will be done.”

Glad to hear it. You’re finally going to be of some use to me, Julius.

 

***

 

“Baaartfooooort! I’ll remember this, I swear!”

Julius charged through the dungeon, firing his pistol behind him. One of his shots blasted through a monster’s skull, turning it to dust. However, there were over a hundred of them on his tail, so it was almost impossible for him to miss.

Julius flew toward the rendezvous point at full speed, although he had to be careful with the moss-covered ground and the roots that wove across his path. As he ran, he conjured an image of Leon’s face in his mind.

“I knew it. I was a fool to trust him!”

It had never occurred to Julius that Leon intended to use him as bait.

Finally, he arrived at the rendezvous point.

“Your Highness!” Jilk hollered. “Keep running!”

There was an enormous caterpillar right behind Julius, but Jilk turned it to ash with his rifle. Julius followed his friend’s instructions and dashed past. Leon was waiting just ahead.

“Great work, Your Highness.” Leon lifted his shotgun. A magic circle hovered in front of the barrel. When Julius charged by, Leon pulled the trigger. “Eat this!”

The scattershot pierced the magic circle, imbuing each pellet with electricity. They glowed as they hurtled toward the monsters, which disappeared in puffs of smoke.

Julius collapsed on his rear, gasping for air. He craned his neck to look at Leon. “Th-that’s incredibly complex magic, isn’t it? When did you learn to use that, Bartfort?”

Leon didn’t bother looking back. “I just made an effort to learn whatever magic might be beneficial. Although this is the only spell I can really use.”

Julius was impressed. Of their group, the only other one who could use magic on that level was Brad. Maybe Bartfort really is better than the rest of us. At least when he puts his mind to it.

Leon’s disinterest was probably why his grades were so average. If he actually put in the effort, he would likely be in the same league as Julius and his friends, academically. Perhaps he’d be even better.

Julius wiped the sweat from his face and pulled himself back to his feet. No, Bartfort is less interested in power than he is in fulfilling his goals.

Leon had gone into a dungeon by himself and claimed the Lost Items inside. He had also participated in the war, helping Holfort claim victory. As far as Julius was concerned, what made Leon so incredible wasn’t his ability in itself but his dedication to getting results.

He only puts in as much effort as needed. As soon as Julius thought that, the clearing behind him erupted with a succession of explosions. Smoke gusted toward them, obscuring everything.

“Okay, we’re done with the appetizer,” Leon called out. “Now for the main course.”

 

***

 

We arrived at our objective to find a spacious area, the sunlight pouring in through a large hole in the ceiling. Lumps of magic stone and metal protruded from the ground. It looked like something from a dream.

Deeper in, a gigantic beast loomed, its fur gleaming in the light. It was a mishmash of numerous animals—with huge horns jutting from its head, the nose of an elephant, a hairy body, a reptilian tail, and sharp claws.

Professor Narcisse shrieked. “It’s a Chimera Beast! Why is something so dangerous here? D-don’t tell me… This place is strange—it’s infested with monsters. But for something this menacing to be here… Don’t tell me…”

I gave orders over his rambling. “Professor Narcisse, you need to fall back. Julius and Chris will take the front. Jilk, you support them from behind.”

Jilk glanced at me sidelong. He already had a grenade in his hand. “Oh? Are you going to spectate, Earl Bartfort?”

“As if, you moron. I’m going to loop around behind and chip away from a safe distance.”

I set off, which Julius and Chris took as their cue to charge. The Chimera fixed its gaze on us for a moment, then threw back its head and unleashed an earsplitting cry.

Jilk didn’t wait for it to finish before going on the offensive. “How do you like this?!”

A grenade erupted, the explosion swallowing the beast. Strangely, the Chimera ignored the fire singing its fur and went after Julius and Chris instead. It lunged at them, running on all fours as it tried to skewer them with its horns.

“Coming after me, are you? I must commend you for your bravery!” Julius stabbed his sword into the ground. A magic circle appeared in front of him, conjuring a shield that deflected the beast.

Chris used the opening to make his move. “Hyaaah!”

He swung his sword with both hands, leaving a deep gash in the Chimera’s flesh. His blade seemed to glow, a trail of light shining in its wake.

“Be careful!” Professor Narcisse shouted. “It has powerful regenerative abilities!”

Almost immediately, the beast’s wounds began to heal. I circled behind and fired my shotgun.

“Aim for its eyes!” I barked at Jilk.

“You sure do ask for the impossible.” Jilk huffed, then took aim with his rifle and blasted at its eyes.

These guys might be otherwise useless, but their skills in battle are the real deal.

“Chris!” I bellowed. “Pincer attack!”

“Very well!”

While the others went for its legs, I took aim with my shotgun and fired. Blood gushed out of the Chimera’s head, but its eyes regenerated quickly and fixed on me.

“Heya,” I said.

It howled and charged. I had already set up this little trap, so I just whipped out the portable terminal and pressed a button. A number of magical circles appeared around me.

“Man, this thing sure is convenient!”

The Chimera slammed into an invisible wall and went tumbling. Jilk used the opening to throw another grenade.

He really doesn’t show any mercy, does he?

However, when the smoke cleared, our opponent was still raring to go. Its limbs had already regenerated.

“Bartfort!” Julius shouted. “We can’t take this thing down if it keeps healing like that.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got this in the bag.” I loaded one of my special magic shells into my shotgun and cocked it. “All of you, get back!”

Once Julius and Chris were at a safe distance, I pulled the trigger. The bullet hit its mark, blowing away the creature’s entire upper body. Its regenerative abilities couldn’t catch up. The beast erupted in a puff of black smoke that swallowed the entire room.

Through the haze, I saw something shining. It had a green hue and absorbed all of the fumes. Once the air cleared, all that was left was a single sapling.

I stowed my shotgun away. “This is definitely it.”

The sapling gave off a celestial glow in the light pouring through the open ceiling. It was a key item from the sequel: the offspring of the Sacred Tree.