“The fabled plant known as the Moontear Flower is worth more than this whole bag of coins. I was hoping to bring some back and make a profit,” admitted Harry. “Goodness, it’s so humiliating to have to divulge my disgraceful behavior before such esteemed company.”
His composure seemed abnormal for someone whose plans had just fallen apart. I sensed he had something up his sleeve.
“You nearly got your underlings killed for a goal as stupid as that?”
Sir Osvalt’s anger finally wiped Harry’s smile off his face.
“Don’t get me wrong, Your Highness. I would never put another person’s life at risk for my own financial gain. What happened was an accident.”
“An accident?”
“I told my assistants to stay away—that they’d only get injured—but they simply ran amok.” Harry shook his head, looking sorry for himself. “Perhaps that’s the peril of hiring foreigners. I paid a high price for that mistake.”
One Moontear Flower alone could be worth a fortune. The allure of such riches drove the men Harry had hired to act recklessly. It was a plausible story.
“Is this guy telling the truth?” Sir Osvalt asked Harry’s accomplices. “He’s claiming you trespassed into the Volcanic Miasma Zone on your own accord. Is that the case?”
“Y-yes. We heard there was a fortune to be found there, and we couldn’t resist…”
“But Harry bailed us out after we got caught.”
“No need to thank me. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t spill the beans.”
The two accomplices who’d been seriously injured answered Sir Osvalt’s question, expressing how grateful they were for Harry’s help. It didn’t sound like they’d irresponsibly set out to fetch the Moontear Flower, fully aware that they could get hurt.
Still, Harry had admitted that it was that flower that brought Harry to Parnacorta. That could only mean one thing.
“Nevertheless, watching them recklessly charge in, only to be battered after less than a minute, made me realize something,” said Harry.
“And what was that?”
“That the rumors were true. The Moontear Flower was so challenging to retrieve that even the archsaint and her sister, another saint, barely managed it together. If even you, Saint Philia, deemed the task too difficult to handle alone, ordinary folk like us don’t stand a chance. I now understand my own limits.”
Harry wasn’t entirely correct.
As reckless as it was, I’d originally planned to go into the Volcanic Miasma Zone alone. My arrogance nearly cost me my life. If it weren’t for my sister’s quick thinking, I never would have survived. I didn’t regret my attempt to fetch a Moontear Flower to save my uncle, but there were a few things I needed to reflect on.
“I get that you came to this country for the Moontear Flower,” said Sir Osvalt. “But Harry, you also bribed Rick to let you into the ruins. What was your goal there? Something tells me you weren’t just planning to rob the place.”
Harry laughed. “You’re right about that. I’d never resort to something as lowly as theft to build my fortune.”
“But you did commit bribery and trespassing. We’ll get to that later. First, tell us why you ravaged the ruins.”
I already had a theory about that—but if my suspicions were correct, then Harry had come here with an even more daring scheme than I’d originally thought.
“My goodness. I’m upset that you think I ‘ravaged’ them.” Harry shrugged his shoulders, sounding exasperated. “If my goal was merely to wreak havoc, I wouldn’t have needed Rick’s help. If I really wanted to, I could have forced my way in myself.”
Harry had defiled the ruins by entering them without permission, so he didn’t have much of an argument there. Putting that aside, his claim that he could force his way into the ruins worried me. They were stringently guarded. How could that be?
“You sound pretty sure of yourself,” said Sir Osvalt. “Well, maybe. Your bearing does seem like someone with a lot of training, particularly in your legs. You walk with an efficiency a person can’t master overnight. One of my attendants has excellent footwork, and you move just like him.”
“Oh my, Your Highness. You have quite a keen eye,” said Harry. “You see, for a traveling merchant, the body is an essential tool of the trade. I’ve undergone a little training, yes.”
In Sir Osvalt’s estimation, Harry was a well-trained individual—so much so that he even reminded him of Leonardo, a master of footwork.
I’d seen my fair share of traveling merchants. Their work was physically demanding, so they tended to be tough. Still, I didn’t imagine any of them could get past the security around the ruins.
Harry was definitely no ordinary merchant. I wasn’t sure whether he was deliberately concealing his true nature or not, but he was certainly a puzzling individual.
“If looting wasn’t your goal, what did you enter the ruins for? It’s about time you explained yourself.”
“Hrm.” Harry paused. “As a merchant, I need to know about a country’s culture and history to create trends. When you know what’s transpired in the past, it’s easy to determine what’s needed in the present.”
“That’s a pretty vague answer,” said Sir Osvalt. “What are you really trying to say?”
How infuriatingly indirect. Was he speaking in a roundabout way for a reason, or was it simply a habit of his?
As vague as he was being, I knew what he meant.
“You were looking for old records that might have valuable information,” I suggested. “Studying history yields useful knowledge that lays the foundations for new discoveries.”
“I’d be wise not to underestimate you, Lady Philia. You hit the nail on the head.”
Sir Osvalt nodded. “Fine. So what were you hoping to learn from the ruins?”
Harry was almost certainly trying to confuse us, but Sir Osvalt persevered, refusing to lose his patience. His attitude wasn’t what one might expect from a prince, but I respected him for it.
“I learned of a fascinating historical tale,” said Harry. “The ancient people’s records suggest there was once a region marked by frequent explosions, just like the Volcanic Miasma Zone, but on a much smaller scale.”
“D-did I hear that right? Is that true?”
“Of course. I would never lie to you. Even more surprisingly, the ancients somehow put a stop to the blasts. I ventured into the ruins to discover what that method was.”
Sir Osvalt seemed genuinely astonished, and no wonder. The Volcanic Miasma Zone was impossible to enter because of the constant magical explosions, and now, this man was telling us we could get rid of them.
“So you were seeking a way to put a stop to the explosions, too,” I said.
“Goodness. Don’t tell me you were on the same page, Lady Philia.”
“I was. I hoped that the ruins would provide some sort of knowledge from the ancients that could supplement my research into the Volcanic Miasma Zone.”
Although I’d chosen to tour the ruins on our honeymoon to satisfy my own curiosity, that wasn’t my only goal. The ancients weren’t just adept at magic. Their expertise in crafting magic tools surpassed ours as well.
I was hoping to find clues—information that could help me figure out how to stop the explosions.
“My, my. You really do amaze me, Archsaint Philia. I’ve sized up all sorts of people in my time, but I’ve never encountered anyone quite like yourself. My usual means of evaluation don’t seem to apply.”
“…”
“Oh goodness, I should have thought that through. To weigh up a saint like that would be sacrilege. Please forgive me.” Harry held his hands up and flashed a smile.
I wasn’t particularly interested in how much he thought I was worth, but I was curious about his true intentions. Harry must have revealed his plans for a reason.
“Have you found any clues as to how to stop the explosions, then?”
“Ah, of course. I’m not the type of man who walks away empty-handed.”
“What?”
Both Sir Osvalt and I were taken aback. I hadn’t expected him to have solid information.
Actually, no—as surprising as it was, this was a possibility I had considered. There had to be an explanation for his relaxed demeanor. This was what he had up his sleeve.
“This here is a stone tablet,” said Harry, pulling something out of his backpack. “As you can see, it’s inscribed with what appears to be a blueprint in an archaic language. I brought Rick into the fold so he could decipher it for us, but it sounds like it’ll take a while to fully decode.” Harry shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.
Intriguing. He bribed Rick because he needed an archeologist.
“Would you mind if I had a look?” I asked him.
“My goodness. Don’t tell me you know archaic languages, Lady Philia.”
“Well, yes. I had to learn them to research magic.”
“The surprises just keep coming today, don’t they? I’m in awe… If the one and only Lady Philia wants to take a look, it feels wrong to decline—and yet…”
I spotted a momentary glint in his lone eye. It sounded like he was hesitant to hand over the slab.