[701] Where Ra Is (3)
Rian and Kido went pale at the decision to go to the place with 19,000 worlds.
'You're not planning to check them all, are you?'
Just searching a single world could take an indeterminate amount of time.
"Hmm, good judgment."
Uorin said.
"Andre's conquest is the worst of the three labyrinths in terms of difficulty. But if it's you…"
Because it was a Geopin ruin, and the hexa the Geopin designed was Shirone herself.
"That's right. I'll use the Ultima System. If Geopin managed it, then I can too. If the probability of Ra Enemi being in any given maze is one in three, I'll bet on Andre."
Uorin stood.
"All right, we leave at once. Gando, have Ratusa ready."
"Yes, ma'am."
When Gando left, Shirone asked, "What's Ratusa?"
"Heh heh, you'll see. You can't cross a desert by carriage, can you?"
'Huh, a desert-only mount?'
Shirone followed Uorin down the corridor with that in mind and found a group occupying the way.
Shirone immediately recognized them.
"Pungjang."
The world's deadliest swordsmanship order — the ones who had cut Kazra's magic chief Bosun to pieces in an instant.
That Uorin had only realized the uninvited guests after Gando's departure showed how covertly she'd arranged Shirone's meeting.
But that secrecy had left Pungjang furious, and their anger was transferred directly onto Shirone's party.
Rian scanned thirty swordsmen wearing owl masks.
'So they're Pungjang.'
True to those who'd cut Kuan's Achilles tendon, each of their stances was uncanny.
But the truly terrifying thing was the collective murderous intent radiating from all of them at once.
'Are they asking for a fight?'
A normal swordsman would die the moment they were exposed to that murderous aura, but it had no effect against a will that transcended the divine.
'Indeed, they aren't ordinary uninvited guests.'
As Pungjang aligned their minds, the figure at the head of the triangular formation removed her owl mask.
Rian confirmed the face of an East-Asian woman and felt certain.
'She's the leader.'
Her gaze was like a ghost's.
"Your Majesty, why did you let this outsider in without a single word to us?"
She was the only one who would dare show displeasure to the Empress of Kashan, but Uorin replied coldly.
"What are you talking about? Isn't your duty to protect me? I was surrounded by these people—what were you doing?"
"..."
No one in Pungjang moved, yet an aura different from the murderous intent shimmered.
The surroundings distorted like oil on water, and Kido wrinkled his nose.
'As expected, pervert. This woman's strange.'
Pungjang's leader spoke quietly.
"We will offer no excuses. But then, may we correct our mistake now?"
Sensing lethal intent, Rian stepped in front of Shirone, but Uorin shook her head firmly.
"No. There's no second chance. You're all dismissed."
The leader of Pungjang found Uorin impossible to read.
'I don't understand her at all. What on earth is she thinking?'
Then Uorin wrapped her arms around Kido's neck from behind.
"I don't need inept people like you. I already have such an excellent bodyguard."
"What?"
Shirone and Rian looked bewildered, but the one most incredulous was Kido.
"What nonsense is this? Why would I be your bodyguard?"
"I've always wanted to keep a curious pet. If I put a leash on one and keep it by my side, it'd be easier than having Pungjang around. From today, I'll raise you—how about you stop wandering?"
"Hah! Some human thinks he can tame me?"
"So what if I try? I'm the King of Goblins, so I can make offers like this. You like crawling, don't you? Fine. From now on, standing on two feet is forbidden."
Kido's eyes chilled.
"…Shirone, can I kill this woman?"
At the same moment, Pungjang's leader drew her sword; the remaining twenty-nine mirrored the motion with deadly precision.
"Choose your words carefully. If you touch the Empress, I will make you feel pain no being can imagine."
In the hair-trigger moment, Uorin tightened her hold on Kido's neck and whispered.
"Kido, will you fight for me? Don't trust what they say. I fired them. They'll try to kill me."
'This woman's completely mad.'
Just as Kido bared his teeth, Uorin laughed and kicked him in the butt.
"Go! Sweep those insignificant things away, pet goblin!"
"Kido!"
As Shirone shouted, Pungjang unfurled like smoke and struck.
Uorin laughed, clutching her belly, but all Kido heard was the whoosh of blades.
'Damn it!'
Though human in form, Pungjang's movements were anything but human.
Avoiding the maelstrom of blades, Kido rolled across the floor and swung his spear.
'This is…'
From the leader's instant read, she instinctively knew.
'One who has mastered the law of Earth.'
Pungjang followed the law of Wind; Kido followed the law of Earth. Their paths tangled in the cramped corridor.
The air rasped as if set aflame.
"Graaah!"
As Kido twisted free, Pungjang's members spread out like a flock of crows and took positions behind Uorin.
"Your Majesty, perhaps you should order us to take our own lives. We cannot bear the shame of losing a position to a mere goblin."
Uorin's smile had already vanished.
"Their incompetence in failing even to deal with a goblin is—"
With no room for excuses, Pungjang's leader bit her lip, but Kido's thoughts were different.
'If I'd fought one more second…'
He would likely have been diced to meat.
Desperate, Pungjang's leader pleaded in a beseeching voice.
"If you command it, we will do anything—"
"I don't want to hear it. Begone. For the next three days, keep yourselves in whatever state causes you the most pain. Pathetic."
The leader immediately bowed.
What "the most painful state" meant would vary, but it was easier to accept when orders were given plainly.
"We will obey."
As Pungjang rose and drifted away down the corridor as if it were being sucked in, Shirone asked, "Uorin, why on earth—?"
Uorin, who had been expressionless until then, suddenly puffed her cheeks and burst into laughter.
"Hahaha!"
She stomped her foot, pointing at the dazed Kido.
"Surprised, weren't you? Truly shocked, right? Look at that face."
Kido, bent over with his spear, trembled and shouted.
"What are you doing, you madwoman! I nearly died!"
Even Shirone felt disappointed this time.
"You went too far, Uorin. Using Pungjang as a prank—"
"Hmm, the King of Goblins, huh."
When Uorin approached, Kido flinched back.
"You did well. Among Pungjang, you were among the higher ranks, and you withstood their strikes."
'Human, do you think that was a single strike?'
It would have been around a thousand strikes.
"I didn't pay much attention to goblin intel, so honestly I was worried. But now that I've seen for myself, I'm relieved. Watch over Shirone. Don't let a single hair be harmed, understand?"
"Shut up! Why should I watch over Shirone? I travel of my own will!"
Shirone agreed with Kido.
"That's right. Kido isn't a pet. To use him for a test like that—"
'You don't know, Shirone.'
Uorin—no, Terraje—no, Mitochondria Eve—valued Shirone more than anyone realized.
"Shirone, do you think a day will come when we sleep in the same bed?"
Kido blurted it out without thinking.
"What kind of nonsense is that?"
His words were crude, but Shirone felt similarly.
"I don't think that will happen. I already have someone I love, and you're the Empress of Kashan. The strongest in the world…"
"That's right, I am somewhat noble. What I mean is, if something like that happens, then it simply happened."
Uorin was always enigmatic when speaking about life.
"If I kiss you now, then it's a fact that I kissed you. Clear and simple. Words like impossible or it could never happen lose their meaning."
Shirone almost understood.
"I'm biologically sixteen and I'll grow more. Maybe I'll change into a body you'd want to love."
She already thought she was beautiful.
"Of course it's difficult. Us sleeping together? Just the thought makes me uneasy. It's more natural to imagine plotting to kill each other."
Between the Empress of Kashan and the Tower of Ivory's star, nothing was impossible.
"But life is full of things that can happen. Someday I might become your bride, or perhaps even your daughter."
A short silence followed.
"I get what you mean. I'll keep it in mind."
Only Uorin knew why she'd brought this up here, in this moment.
'Don't worry, Amy.'
Satisfied with what she'd planted in Shirone's heart, Uorin strode down the corridor with a bright face again.
"All right, shall we depart?"
They climbed Aganos' spire.
From a watchtower overlooking the capital, keepers were waiting.
"Oh, what's that?"
Shirone pointed at a huge featherless bird crouched at the end of the tower.
"That's Kaidra?"
A tier-3 high-speed flying creature Julu had summoned once; it could fly seven thousand kilometers in a day.
"Is it a summoning?"
"No, I raised it. Its name is Ratusa. I ride it when I want to get some air."
Just from seeing Uorin capture and tame a grand mage's summoned beast alive, one could tell how much power she wielded.
"It's quite far to Andre. But with Ratusa we should arrive tomorrow afternoon."
"Wow, tomorrow afternoon?"
"It's been trained since birth to sense humans well. It won't be too difficult."
Uorin explained a few matters about crossing the desert and Ratusa rubbed its beak against her cheek as she approached.
"Damn, the sky isn't very friendly though."
Grumbling, Uorin looked back at Kido and took a pouch of gold coins from her bosom.
"Take this. You'll need it."
Before Shirone could speak, Kido snatched it.
"Heh heh, our Empress has sense. I'll overlook the earlier joke about pets."
"Oh? That wasn't a joke."
Uorin pretended to pull an invisible leash and laughed.
"I'll buy the best leash."
"Because you're actually being nice…."
As Kido straightened and approached solemnly—
"They call him Kido of Appetite, I heard."
"Huh?"
"Maybe… I could even give him my blood."
Only then did Kido realize something odd and blink, lost in thought.
"Kido, what are you doing? Hurry and mount."
"Ah, right."
When Kido finally climbed up, Shirone seized Kaidra's reins and looked back at Uorin.
"Thank you. You saved time. I'll repay you someday."
For Armand, the Moratorium debts, and even today's situation—she owed Uorin too much.
"Be careful, Shirone. The world is wide, and Kashan's desert is even wider."
Murmuring Uorin's words, Shirone nodded and tugged the reins.
"Go, Ratusa!"
Kaidra threw its beak up, rose its massive body, and drove free from the watchtower.
Kreeeeeeaaaaaa.
The shadow trapped beneath the sun grew smaller and smaller.