Episode 64. The Road to Philimond (1)
A door that opens carefully.
Tina, who entered the room while looking around, showed a relaxed smile. As soon as she entered, she placed the snacks on a tray on the table.
“Wow! Thank you all for your hard work. I have brought you some refreshments that only the imperial nobility can enjoy.”
She was cheerful and relaxed. Was nothing wrong? In front of the two people who were looking at her with concern, Tina transformed back into a cat and jumped onto the bed.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Isn’t it already resolved?”
“Was there no problem with Celestia?”
Problem? Was there a problem? Tina blinked and wagged her tail.
I recalled the situation when I went into the kitchen to receive refreshments.
“I just tried my best to keep Celesne.”
Tina answered confidently.
Of course, it wasn’t easy. It wasn’t comparable to Rubin, who defeated the demon spirit, or Kuze, who assisted Rubin.
‘I ate so much while praising my pastry skills, I feel like my stomach is going to burst.’
The Witherspoon family did not even take snacks lightly, and Celestia would make cookies and bread right in front of her. It was fortunate that they tasted great, otherwise she would have been in trouble in her role as Kuze.
After tasting the snacks, I wandered around the kitchen, making excuses for one thing or another.
He pretended to make a mistake and knocked over the cooking utensils, and then he actually made a mistake, and Celesne’s impression was completely ruined.
‘Your impression of Kuze may have changed a little, but I still did what I had to do.’
There was also one minor episode that Kuze had to endure for the sake of the cause.
But Tina felt like she wouldn’t hear anything good if she talked about it here, so she kept her mouth shut and pretended not to know.
“Because these three people did their best in their respective positions… the peace we have now is sweet.”
Tina lay face down on the bed with her chin resting on it. She closed her eyes and pretended to be sleepy.
“… … .”
“I feel uneasy for some reason.”
The anxiety that Kuze felt was not wrong.
About two hours later, at dinner, Kuze was treated coldly by Celestia.
Even considering the previous Celestia, it was a reaction that could not have been more cold.
It was easy to guess that something had happened between Celesne and Kuze, but no one had the heart to ask them directly.
The most bewildered one was, of course, Kuze. He felt like he was sitting on a bed of thorns the entire mealtime without even knowing what he had done wrong.
And it wasn’t just then. Celesne’s cold treatment and neglect continued afterwards.
‘What the heck? What did Tina do?’
Rubin pretended not to care and continued eating quietly.
* * *
The Blue Cat resumed sailing just before daybreak, just as Cozy had announced.
The Blue Cat rose toward the surface as the anchor that had secured the ship in the deep waters of the Gray Strait was raised.
However, instead of rising to the surface, it began its voyage submerged several hundred meters below the surface.
About two hours after sunrise, the Blue Cat finally emerged from the Ashen Strait.
Creak, creak!
As the ship appeared like a whale emerging from the water, the seagulls flying in the sky were startled and changed the direction of their flight.
“Ugh! Ugh!”
Acook and Warak climbed up onto the deck and together they removed the dragon scales that covered the ship. Then, they raised the mast that had been lowered and hung the dragon scales in the shape of a triangular sail.
With the wind in its wake, the ship began to gain speed.
The sea was peaceful. It was enough for the passengers, who had been trapped on the ship since the deep sea, to come out and enjoy the sunlight.
“Meow, meow.”
The cat jumped up and down on the deck, and Rubin watched quietly.
I had no idea what Tina had done, but I had a feeling it wasn’t anything too serious.
‘I don’t think it will interfere with our trip.’
Of course, it would be better if Tina confessed first.
Now Tina was lazily lying around in the sun, pretending to be a cat.
“Nyaaaaah?”
“Okay, okay.”
Rubin clasped his hands behind his head and lay down on the deck, looking up at the clouds floating across the sky.
With the course set, the Blue Cat will reach Philimond within a week, and that will put an end to the uncomfortable ride with the Witherspoons.
‘Philimondra… … .’
The so-called white city, Philimond.
The fifth largest city in the empire’s mainland. The reason it is nicknamed the “White City” can be seen from the checkpoint.
Because every place in the city, even people’s clothes, will be dyed pure white.
Philimond contained the original copy of the sacred Imperial Code, and was the meeting place for many essential administrative procedures in the Empire.
It was, so to speak, the administrative capital. Of course, in reality, the imperial mandate existed above imperial law, but externally, the law was propagated and updated from here.
‘I chose this city because it was supposed to solve the problems of comfort and comfort… … .’
It wasn’t just for that reason. Philimond was a pretty good stopover for Rubin, too.
If not this time, then someday, it was a city that I had to visit at least once in order to complete my revenge.
Rubin had originally planned to do it about five years later, but it wouldn’t be a big problem to bring that time forward a lot.
‘I guess I could say it turned out well.’
Rubin calculated the date carefully.
I matched today’s date with the history I knew. The result was 14 days later.
That means, two weeks later, an incident will occur in Philimond.
‘I guess I’ll have to wait a few days in Philimond.’
Although it was my original policy to spend as little time as possible on the Empire’s mainland, this was worth breaking.
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“… … ?”
While Rubin was admiring the clouds and thinking about Philimond.
Suddenly, he saw a very thin thread floating before his eyes. It looked like a spider web, but it was slightly thicker.
Besides, the color was strange.
It was a light blue thread.
Rubin raised his upper body. He followed the direction in which the thread moved through the air with his eyes.
On one side of the deck. Opposite Rubin and Tina, Chloe and Celestia were facing each other.
The two looked at each other and occasionally looked out at the sea. But there was no conversation between them. Chloe, who was always talkative, wouldn’t do that…
however.
‘Do wizards use telepathy like this?’
Between Celestia and Chloe.
The threads flying around were tangled together. The same was true of the single thread that had passed Rubin’s eyes.
The threads that had come together were now crackling and sparking, as if they were igniting and burning from the end of the string.
Then, in front of Chloe’s eyes, the line began to move and form a sentence.
‘Oh, was it a game?’
As far as Rubin knew, the form of transmission was not different for wizards.
The operating principle was different from that of the assassins, but the method was voice transmission.
If so, then Chloe and Celestia’s leisurely scribbling sentences is either a kind of play or another form of training.
-So what are you going to do, Miss Celestia?
Miss Celesne? Was that a joke when you referred to the maid like that? Or was there something you hadn’t noticed?
It was a conversation between two people that I happened to watch, but now I couldn’t turn away.
-When you decide, give me a signal, Celestia.
-miss!
The blue threads moved in front of Celestia this time and carried her words, even adding an exclamation point.
It was like having a secret conversation on paper, taking turns using a quill.
-Isn’t that the first thing I know?
-Are you really going to keep doing that?
-Kuje… … .
Kuze? Rubin took a step forward in shock at the mention of a familiar name. Selesne, who realized Rubin was watching, quickly stopped Chloe.
“master?”
“Luden?”
Both of them looked surprised.
Only then did Rubin realize that it wasn’t possible for just anyone to witness the conversation between the two. That meant that Tina and Kuze, who were next to him, couldn’t see it.
“Did you see our conversation?”
Chloe asked the question and then went to check it out herself before even hearing the answer.
I just snapped my fingers… … .
The light blue line that had been forming the sentence flew towards Rubin. Then it fluttered before Rubin’s eyes, and Rubin confirmed that he was following the movement with his eyes.
“You see, that’s right! Why didn’t you tell me?”
Chloe quickly approached and stood in front of Rubin. She was the epitome of cheerfulness, without any hint of malice or aggression. A smile spread across her face.
“You were a wizard too?”
“No, miss.”
Celestia did not prejudge. She interpreted this situation rationally and re-inferred from the way she had observed Rubin since she first met him.
“In my opinion, Lord Luden is capable of responding to mana. If it was more than that, I would have noticed.”
Even if he wasn’t a wizard, if he could understand the secret conversation between Chloe and Mana Sun, then he had to be seen as a bit different from ordinary people.
“Tch, that’s too bad. I thought you were a wizard friend.”
“Miss, I was too careless. I didn’t think there would be anyone who would see our story… I’m sorry.”
“There wasn’t anything important to talk about anyway, right?”
As serious as Celesne was, Chloe was lighthearted. Chloe found the fact that Rubin could sense mana amusing in itself.
“But just in case, I need to check it out. Lord Luden, if you don’t mind, could you spare some time?”
“What do you mean by exact confirmation?”
“As far as I can tell, it seems to be at the level of mana sensitivity, but I still need to find out for sure. For the sake of your safety.”
It was meant to be a test of Rubin’s mastery of mana.
Judging from Celesne’s attitude, it seemed like she would keep pushing even if she refused. The only person who could stop this maid was Chloe, but Chloe just shrugged her shoulders.
‘Mana sensitivity… I was curious about it, so this is a good thing.’
A few years ago, he recalled when he had toured the Tower of Light and Rebellion. At that time, Rubin had difficulty controlling himself due to the overflowing mana in the tower.
What had been bothering Rubin back then was his ability to respond to mana.
Before returning, he was not sensitive to mana like other assassins. As an assassin, that was a weakness, if anything.
But now that I have become vaguely sensitive to Mana, that doesn’t mean it’s a strength.
“Instead, can you tell me what the conversation between the two of you meant?”
If you tell me that, I will allow Celesne to judge you.
Rubin guessed that the secret conversation between the two was related to Celestia’s cold treatment of Kuze.
In other words, it’s about finding out the inside story of what Tina did.
“Pfft.”
Chloe held back a laugh. Then Rubin noticed Celestia’s face turning slightly red.
