After going down the long stairway for what felt like ten minutes, they finally reached a somewhat spacious area. This time, there was a corridor before them, so long that it seemed to go on endlessly.
“Sorry, but let me rest for a moment. I’ll confess, since you’ve already figured me out, this is physically draining for me,” Sachis said listlessly and sat on the lowest step of the stairway.
“Are you all right, Your Majesty...?” asked Estelle, sitting next to him and looking closely at his face.
There was greasy sweat on his forehead.
It frustrated Estelle that she didn’t have anything on her to offer him, since she’d been locked up in a cell until now. She gently put a hand on the king’s back.
“I’m sorry. I should recover after a short rest...” Sachis sighed. Then, he took the gun from his belt along with its holster and held it out to Estelle. “I’m sure I can’t use it properly in this condition, so I think it’s better off in your hands.”
Accepting the gun, Estelle was astonished. It wasn’t a mana pistol like she’d used all this time, but a revolver that used gunpowder.
“This...” she began.
“Do you know how to use it?”
“My apologies. I do not.”
Gunpowder-based guns were used by commoners who had little mana. Not only did they have more recoil and make more noise compared to mana-based weaponry, but they also needed ammunition. For nobles, who could use guns that harnessed mana, using the alternative brought nothing but drawbacks.
“It’s simple. Pull on the hammer like this, then pull on the trigger. And this is how you reload.” Sachis lectured Estelle on how to use the gun. “It has more recoil than mana-based guns, but a woman should be able to use a handgun of this size.”
Unlike mana weaponry, which used mana as ammunition, this was loaded with actual bullets. The possibility of an accidental discharge scared Estelle somewhat.
“Why do you carry something like this...?” she asked.
“After rescuing Arc, I’m going to restrict the use of mana throughout the entire Palace of Albion.”
“You can do that?”
“I can. This is a power granted exclusively to the king by the Key. Duke Marwick has his private troops in the palace... If nobody can use mana, they won’t be able to make use of their mana guns, nor will Liedis and the duke have use of their powers.” Going silent for a moment, Sachis showed a mischievous smile. “Of course, I’ve already equipped my own troops accordingly.”
“Well, that is going to be quite one-sided...”
“It will. The less blood spilled, the better.”
Sachis was, without a shred of doubt, a country’s leader.
✦ ✦ ✦
After a short rest, Estelle and Sachis started walking again. Their pace was naturally slow due to the king’s condition. The corridor was filled with turns, but Sachis walked straight ahead without hesitation.
At some point, Estelle grabbed the king’s sleeve in a fluster. “There is somebody ahead,” she said, having seen the mana of multiple people around the next corner.
“You’re quite sharp, Lady Estelle. That path leads outside. My subordinates should be guarding it.”
Estelle froze up under Sachis’s mildly questioning look.
Should I tell him about my power? But... Estelle hesitated for a moment but shrugged off the thought. She wanted to discuss it with Arcrayne first.
“I grew up in the mountains, so I have good hearing,” she said instead, coming up with this explanation on the spot.
Fortunately, Sachis seemed satisfied with that and didn’t inquire any further. As the two collected themselves and resumed walking, they got to the end of the corridor. There was a panel on the wall, similar to the one in the hidden path outside Estelle’s cell in the Tower of Albion.
“I should check, just in case.”
With that preamble, Sachis took out the Key, directed his mana into it, and summoned a three-dimensional image of the palace. He then magnified a certain point and their current location came into view.
Estelle knew this because she saw herself and the king in the image. She moved a bit to test it, and the image of her moved accordingly. It left quite the impression.
Beyond one of the walls was a storage room tightly packed with barrels and crates. There were five soldiers clad in Sovereign’s Guard uniforms on standby inside.
“I had them wait here,” said Sachis. “There’s nobody in the Guard I trust more than them, so I’ve told them about my condition.”
Putting away the Key, Sachis once again turned to the panel and, this time, directed his mana into it. With the same heavy sliding sound as the secret door in Estelle’s cell, a door-sized segment of the wall slid down below the floor. On the other side, Estelle saw what the Key had just shown them.
“Your Majesty! You are safe!”
“We were worried to death about you...”
All the Guardsmen came running, saying this and that to Sachis. It was really intense to have brawny soldiers close in on you all at once like that.
“Only members of royalty are allowed to know the secret passages that lead outside,” Sachis said grumpily, then started giving out orders.
Per his orders, one would be sent as a messenger to another unit under Sachis’s command, waiting elsewhere; the remaining four would accompany Estelle and the king on their mission to rescue Arcrayne.
As they headed to the dungeon where the prince was held, a man with a fierce look on his face spoke up. “Lady Estelle, I apologize for my rude behavior toward you in the Libra Palace the other day.” He seemed to be in command of this unit.
At that point, Estelle noticed that he was the one who’d arrested her.
“His Majesty has informed me about the necessity of that charade. So please don’t let it bother you.”
The man looked relieved.
✦ ✦ ✦
The Sovereign’s Guard took point, with Estelle and Sachis walking behind them.
“Turn right at the second intersection. Then, at the three-way junction at the end of the corridor, turn right again.”
The hidden passage leading to the dungeon was a labyrinth too. Sachis gave directions.
Apparently, the vast majority of members of the Sovereign’s Guard in the Leo Palace were under Sachis’s command and only pretended to be following the queen’s orders, but there were quite a lot of Duke Marwick’s private troops in the whole Palace of Albion right now, and it didn’t look like a fight could be avoided.
If one were to break out, the Sovereign’s Guard would bear the brunt of the attack, while Sachis and Estelle were told to wait behind them. The soldiers would also be the ones rescuing Arcrayne when they reached his cell.
The Key had shown them several men, who seemed to be the duke’s private soldiers, keeping watch over Arcrayne’s cell.
“Please stay back no matter what, Your Majesty.”
“Exactly. Please mind your condition, and make absolutely sure not to use your power.”
“Lady Estelle, don’t let His Majesty do anything. I’d hate to go through what I felt at the hunting contest once more.”
With all these members of the Sovereign’s Guard asking her, Estelle was so overwhelmed she could only nod like a puppet.
So they were at the contest too... she mused.
They must’ve been harrowed by a feeling of powerlessness back then, just like Estelle’s aides from the Libra Palace. Bodyguards and members of the Sovereign’s Guard alike were thoroughly trained to put their lives on the line for their charges.
Ordinary people were helpless before dragons. The prerequisite for fighting one was distance and a Dragon Slayer in hand. Royal Awoken who could hold off a dragon’s charge with their powers were on a whole different level.
The thought of said Royal Awoken coming into all-out conflict with each other was terrifying. There were stories of Royal Awoken fighting one another in rebellions, and apparently large areas had been turned into scorched earth as a result.
And that’s exactly why His Majesty will make it so nobody can use mana... concluded Estelle, touching the gun on her waist as she walked.
It was her first time carrying a gun that used gunpowder, and she’d never shot a person either. Shooting people was completely different from shooting dragons or ordinary animals. Estelle wondered if she’d manage to pull the trigger, should such a need arise.
The touch of cold metal on her fingers made her uneasy.