Chapter 45

Chapter Eight The Queen’s Request “Zack, do you remember an adventurer named Leonard?” the queen asked. Six years had passed since the events of that day. Several months after Zack returned to the capital, the queen left the underground temple and summoned the Hero to a room in the palace, where they had a private conversation. It was then when the queen asked Zack that question. “Yes, I remember him. That’s the guy who fought Berzera at Garnahazza, right?” “Indeed. He is the person you saved at my request.” Zack knew the queen was the Prophet. “Has something happened to Leonard?” he asked. “I’d like you to bring him to the palace. Under normal circumstances, I would have gone out to meet him, but I cannot leave the palace as long as I am the priestess. Besides, I doubt he would go along with anyone besides you.” There was an apologetic look on the queen’s face. “I don’t mind. Do you happen to know where he is?” “No,” the queen said crisply. “Huh?” “As far as my information network has told me, he does not appear to be within the kingdom’s borders. It is difficult to track down someone living in another country, as you yourself have proven.” “Well…yes…” Zack scratched his head with a sheepish smile. “But I believe your friends can find him.” As soon as the queen said the word friends, three faces came to Zack’s mind. Certainly, they were a stalwart trio, but they were not the type to shut up and do what someone else told them to, even if that person was the queen. Zack sighed. “I think they’re busy at the moment.” They all had jobs that were important to the nation. They couldn’t go off adventuring at the drop of a hat. “It’s fine. If you tell them you’re going, they’ll come with you of their own accord,” the queen assured him genially. “Do I have to bring Alexia…I mean, Her Highness?” Zack was asking about his fiancée, the princess. “Not this time. I don’t believe she’ll be that useful.” The queen declared that her own daughter was unneeded without batting an eye. The two of them did love each other, but after her long and arduous experiences, the queen had a tendency to dismiss things quickly. After a bit of fretting, Zack decided to ask Solon for his thoughts. Just as he walked out of the room, he bumped into Maria, who happened to be walking by. Maria wore a radiant smile. “Why, hello, Zack. What brings you to the castle?” Although she pretended it was a coincidence, she was well aware Zack had been meeting with the queen. The timing of her stroll was, of course, very deliberate. “Oh, hi, Maria. Her Majesty called me over for a chat.” “What business did she have with you?” Maria cocked her head slightly. The angle of the tilt and her subsequent upturned gaze was precisely calculated to perfection. Had a painter or sculptor witnessed this moment, they would have been seized with the desire to capture it for all eternity. Not Zack, however. He had long since been desensitized to Maria, and so her affectations left him entirely unmoved. “She asked me to look for someone. Do you remember that adventurer named Leonard? The one who challenged Berzera to a fight.” “Oh, him? Yes, I do remember.” This was a lie. Maria had completely forgotten about Leonard, though her mind worked furiously to dig up her memories. “I believe I could be helpful in your search…” “But don’t you have your job as a bishop?” “Oh, that shouldn’t be a hurdle. The youngsters work so hard these days; I’m left with hardly anything to do. It makes me feel a little lonely, even.” Maria’s shoulders drooped; she hung her head. This was another lie, of course. Maria held the reins of the entire church, and she had established a system that was so dependent on her that it could not function without her. “Oh, really?” Zack was well aware of Maria’s true nature, and so he did not take her claim at face value, although a part of him was inclined to seek her help. “Okay, I’ll ask you if something comes up.” “Ah, yes, be my guest.” With that, Zack took his leave. Maria watched until he had entirely disappeared from view, then promptly made for the church. Her eyes were icy cold, the polar opposite of her sunny demeanor just moments earlier. “Now then, who gets to enjoy my workload? This is a chance to pick out a good gofer, I must say.” Maria’s mind started going through the list of potential victims. “Hey there, Zack.” After Zack parted ways with Maria, he came across Leon near the entrance of the palace. “Hi, Leon. Rare to see you around here.” “Well, actually, I was waiting for you.” Leon’s lips curled into a smile. “I heard the queen summoned you to the palace. I was worried she might have given you a weird job to do or something.” Leon was a forthright man, and he spoke his feelings without deception. He was Maria’s total opposite. “Wow, that was fast. Leave it to a count to know what’s up, right?” “I suppose. Money is worth more than gold—especially when you’re in a position of power. I have a lot of ears on the ground.” Ever since Leon had become the head of House Müller, his influence had steadily expanded. This was due in large part to his experiences from their quest to vanquish the Demon Lord. “You learn to stay on your toes when you know there’s people like Solon and Maria out there in the world,” according to him. “So what did Her Majesty say? I don’t mind if you can’t tell me, but if there’s something I can help with, I’d be happy to lend you a hand.” Zack cracked a smile at Leon’s candid demeanor. “You’re a really dependable guy, you know that? Okay, so I was asked to look for someone. Do you remember an adventurer named Leonard?” “Oh, Leonard? Of course. He and his party were a big reason why we were able to achieve the miracle of Garnahazza. If he hadn’t defeated Berzera then, the human side would have suffered more casualties. I guess you could call him an unsung hero.” Now that he was a count, Leon had a higher opinion of Leonard’s party than he had at the time. “Her Majesty wants me to find Leonard and bring him to her. I suppose she intends to give him a reward, but he doesn’t appear to be within the kingdom. I guess she wanted me to put in the work since I’m not doing anything important.” “I see. It certainly is later rather than sooner, but I like the idea of giving someone their well-earned praise. All right, I’ll join you on your search.” “You’re coming in person? Are you sure? Aren’t you busy with all your count stuff?” Zack was surprised. When Leon had mentioned lending a hand, he had thought it would be more indirect. “Don’t give me that look,” said Leon. “I need to see for myself if my absence will cause problems. Can my territory run itself? Will there be political barriers? Best to check now while things are peaceful. And besides…” “Besides?” “I’ve been feeling like going on another adventure with you.” The two of them exchanged smiles—as if they had been transported back to their student days. “Okay, I get why you’re doing this, Zack, but why are you two tagging along?” Solon, the owner of the mansion, had an all-too-obvious look of disgruntlement on his face. His legs were crossed in an exaggerated manner, and his chin was resting on his hands. It was hardly the way to act in front of guests. “Oh, right. Leon said he’d help out, so I asked him to come. Maria is… Wait, why are you in Solon’s mansion?” Zack and Leon had gone to Solon’s mansion after their conversation, but for some mysterious reason, Maria was already there when they arrived. “I don’t understand your confusion. Did I not promise you that I would lend you my assistance?” Maria beamed. Wait, was that how that conversation went? Zack was pretty sure he had said, “I’ll ask you if something comes up.” Besides, how had Maria known to go to Solon’s place ahead of him when he hadn’t even told her about his plans? All sorts of questions swirled in Zack’s mind, but it was nevertheless reassuring to have Maria’s support. “…Uh, yeah,” said Zack. “Looks like you’re all willing to help me out. But I wanted some of Solon’s advice for this kind of thing. Could you lend a hand? This’ll be tough without you on board.” Solon’s huffy expression softened. “Oh? You can’t do it without me? Well, that makes sense. You can’t expect much from a Sword Saint who’s all brawn and a Holy Maiden who’s only good at mind games. Getting advice from me, the Great Sage, is your best bet.” The air in the room instantly froze. Leon and Maria glared at Solon with open hostility in their eyes. Solon, meanwhile, was completely unbothered by the pressure exuding from the Sword Saint and Holy Maiden. “So you’re interested in Leonard’s whereabouts?” Solon began. “Well, this should be obvious since we’re dealing with an adventurer, but asking around at the tavern is a good start. We just need to find a client with connections to Leonard. We know three people who fit that bill: the knight from Arkand, the merchant from Erdelia, and the village chief of Gastan.” “But they didn’t speak well of Leonard, did they?” Leon pointed out. “That’s what you might think if you take their words at face value, but there’s another side to it when you consider the context. You guys might not be able to relate, though.” “Oh? Now that’s surprising, coming from you. You have hardly any friends,” said Maria. “There’s barely anyone out there who can be described as a true friend. Most people use each other, and then they sugarcoat the relationship by calling it a friendship. What people say is no way to gauge their character. It’s only natural I don’t have many friends.” Solon cast a meaningful look at Zack, prompting a self-effacing smile from the other man. “I could be using you too, Solon…,” Zack argued. “Doesn’t matter to me. Because I am your true friend. Our relationship transcends those trappings. What I said before doesn’t apply to us. I want to be helpful to you, plain and simple. I’m not expecting anything in return. It’s the same for you, isn’t it?” Solon’s argument was passionate. For a moment, Zack was speechless. “…Yeah, I guess,” he agreed, sounding slightly uncomfortable. “Look at this weirdo, trying to explain friendship with logic. And the way you’re so convinced that you’re the only special one makes you painful to watch,” Leon said with a groan. “Things like this are why people don’t warm up to you. Are you treating the girl from the confectionary store properly?” Maria looked down at Solon, her gaze icy. “Shut your mouth! That’s got nothing to do with this!” Solon insisted with a bright red face. Today was like any other day. Some penniless sod complained about a goblin nest in the mountains, so there we were on the hunt. “Why am I still doing this adventurer gig when there’s no money in it?” I grumbled as I brute-forced my way through the mountains in search of the goblins. “Because that’s your thing, right?” Evsei answered with a chuckle. “It’s not my ‘thing.’ If anything, it’s like killing time. But I oughtta give up the ghost and retire already. I’m getting old.” I was in my late thirties. My body was getting stiff and achy; it wasn’t cut out for this rough-and-tumble stuff anymore. “Vince, the guy they called Hero of the frontier, was hunting monsters all by himself past his forties. What’s your excuse? There’s four of us.” Sophia jabbed me with her staff from behind. Although she was a mage, she’d kept up her training since Garnahazza, so she had no trouble with hiking even now that she was getting on in years. They say staying active is the key to maintaining your health and looks, although I had no idea how true that was. What I could say was that Sophia had aged well, appearance-wise.