Chapter 705 : At the Frontier VII
Water Magician · Chapter 807 of 810
Chapter 0705 At the Frontier VII
Translator: Jay_Forestieri
Editor: Tseirp
“What the hell...”
“Why...”
Both Abel and Ryo were thrown into confusion.
Of course, they were not the only ones.
The people in the fortress who had been discussing Marquis Nyusha’s proposal, and those who had been watching with bated breath, waiting for what the two would say, were all equally bewildered.
The turn of events was simply too much to process.
“Huh?”
“Maintain independence?”
“Why?”
“Did he say he was withdrawing the proposal?”
“...All-out war?”
No one could understand what was happening.
There was one person who did not change his expression.
Only Don Le, Deputy Minister in charge of Foreign Affairs for the Eastern Eighth District and the intermediary, kept his face unchanged.
Ten seconds later.
“I see. So that’s it.”
Abel muttered as if spitting out the words.
“Huh? Abel, you figured it out?”
“Dark-attribute magic.”
“Eh...?”
Ryo was speechless at Abel’s words.
“Marquis Nyusha probably suspected it after the first meeting. That’s why he wanted this meeting held in full view of the crowd.”
“If dark-attribute magic is making people act strangely, then the people watching would notice... like we just did.”
“I thought something was off from the start. Marquis Nyusha and Chairman Pisek both looked perfectly normal. And yet, at the first meeting, both sides supposedly said they never wanted to meet again, didn’t they? That isn’t normal.”
“Dark-attribute magic... something called <Slave>, was it? I can understand how being controlled by something like that would lead to this kind of behavior.”
Both Abel and Ryo had experienced it.
After the turmoil in the royal capital, when they were returning from the capital to Rune city, they had been subjected to <Slave> by a priest who used dark-attribute magic.
Abel had been unaffected thanks to the status ailment recovery necklace he always wore, and Ryo because of his special constitution...
“I understand the reason now, but what do we do?”
“There’s only one way. We go in there.”
“Huh?”
At Abel’s proposal, which was strangely reminiscent of Ryo himself, Ryo let out an absurdly high-pitched cry.
“Your special constitution, Ryo... it brings people back to their senses if they’ve been controlled by dark-attribute magic, right?”
“That’s right! I remember healing Hugh-san.”
He had once freed Hugh McGrath, who had been controlled by <Slave> used by Vampire Count Haskill.
However, the center of the training grounds was the place where the meeting was being held.
It was not clear whether they were allowed to approach it on their own...
“Can’t be helped. We’ll step forward and declare ourselves as the new mediator.”
“Huh?”
Ryo did not understand what Abel meant.
“Memories of the time while under <Slave> remain even after the spell is broken, right?”
“Hugh-san seemed to be like that, yes.”
“Then that’s fine. Let’s go.”
“...Huh?”
Ryo still did not understand what he meant.
And yet Abel led the way and jumped down from the stands into the training grounds.
“A swordsman who charges headlong always tosses around a calm and collected magician.”
Still grumbling, Ryo jumped down too and followed after Abel.
The training-ground stands had fallen into a great uproar.
But when they saw the two figures who had descended from the stands slowly walking toward the center, the place fell silent once more.
Not everyone in the fortress knew them, but quite a number did.
Two adventurers who had, for the past several days, been training the young guards.
The young people receiving the training were those living in the fortress together with their families.
Naturally, they returned home and talked about the training.
It was also known that the two were staying at the ‘Sleeping Sand Inn’.
It was also known that they were eating at the neighboring ‘Dining Sand’.
That meant they were being noticed by people who held a relatively high position within the fortress.
Even though it had been less than ten days, Ryo and Abel had become known to the people of the fortress.
And now those two were slowly approaching.
From the three ‘three-person seats’ at the center, someone called out to them.
It was the fortress’s military commander.
“Abel-dono? Ryo-dono?”
“Hello, Commander Molga. Actually, we have a proposal.”
Abel smiled at Molga.
When they had walked close to the nine people, he turned toward Molga.
Ryo stood beside Abel.
Now that they had come this close, Ryo’s special constitution... the overflowing ‘fairy factor’... would bring them back to normal.
However, from Hugh’s case, they knew that it would take a little time.
It seemed Abel was trying to buy that time.
“From what I have seen so far, it seems everyone is quite confused.”
“Um?”
“Could it be that the mediator simply is not capable enough?”
“Huh?”
“Hey, you!”
Abel spoke unsettling words while still smiling, Molga tilted his head in incomprehension, and Don Le, the mediator, glared fiercely.
“Could it be that Marquis Nyusha and Chairman Pisek shouted because the mediator was not strong enough? There is no way such shouting could happen in this solemn and sacred meeting place. That alone proves the mediator’s lack of ability. If you would allow it, I would like to serve as the mediator. What do you think?”
“You insolent fool, what are you plotting!”
At Abel’s words, Don Le growled again.
“Oh, I have neglected to introduce myself. My name is... Molga-dono, you know who I am, do you not?”
“Yes... Abel-dono, right?”
“Yes. And you know which country’s Abel I am, do you not?”
“Yes... Abel-dono of the Kingdom of Knightley.”
“Yes. I am Abel I, King of the Kingdom of Knightley.”
“...Huh?”
Unable to comprehend the smiling man’s true identity, Molga tilted his head.
But three seconds later, he understood.
“Abel... Your Majesty? The Adventure King? No, the Hero King?”
Molga’s body was trembling.
And that was only natural.
Abel I, King of the Kingdom of Knightley, was a former A-rank adventurer and a hero who had led half the kingdom, defeated the imperial army, and fought through the Kingdom Liberation War.
Even though he had not known it, the fact that he had requested training from such a person was also enough to make him tremble...
A murmur spread.
“Abel I?”
“Of the kingdom?”
“The Hero King?”
“Rumor said he disappeared...”
“They said he vanished after fighting the revived djinn...”
“No way...”
No one ever raised their voice.
Everyone whispered, or exchanged words with the person beside them.
A whisper spread across the entire stand.
And then, at last, Abel’s strategy succeeded.
The essence of the strategy was to buy time.
Time for recovery.
“What in the world...?”
Chairman Pisek, apparently having returned to his senses, muttered in surprise.
“So it was dark-attribute magic after all. But why did it break?”
At the same time, Marquis Nyusha also returned to his senses and muttered, unable to understand why he had been freed.
Don Le realized that the plan to control the two with dark-attribute magic and drive them into all-out conflict had failed.
He did not know why the spell had broken.
But that was not what mattered now.
There was still room to recover.
“This is ridiculous!”
Don Le roared as he stood up.
“There is no way King Abel is in a place like this!”
Even though his own plan had failed, that did not mean he had lost.
But if he did not remove the person before him, he would no longer be able to recover lost ground.
“If you claim to be King Abel, then prove it!”
As Don Le said that, one of the Union’s mediator members stepped forward, reaching out to grab Abel.
“Back off, you impudent scum!”
A voice rang out, piercing the area.
It came from the magician in the robe.
“His Majesty’s body is not something you people are permitted to touch!”
It was the voice of ‘Duke Rondo’, not the usual Ryo.
It carried a crushing pressure.
In an instant, it made everyone there understand that this was no ordinary person.
“Who do you think you are, telling His Majesty to prove his identity? Do you even understand that you are about to cause an international incident!”
“Eh...”
“I am asking whether the Union is prepared to go to war with the Kingdom of Knightley!”
Ryo declared it flatly.
Starting with Don Le, none of the Union members could say a word.
Neither could the fortress’ people watching from the stands.
Complete silence.
After a while, Ryo changed his tone and spoke again.
“Still, it would be difficult to have the mediator role taken over by people no one even knows. For the people of the fortress, this is a very important meeting. So instead, I will prove my identity. I am Ryo Mihara, Duke Rondo, premier duke of the Kingdom of Knightley.”
Ryo’s words slowly spread among the people of the fortress as well.
“The kingdom’s premier duke...”
“That means... that one?”
“The one said to surpass the Empire’s Explosive Blaze Magician...”
“The Silver Duke...”
“Also known as Icefall...”
Ryo removed the identity proof plate from around his neck.
The one who immediately stepped forward was Molga, the chief of the guards.
Receiving the plate with reverence, he inserted it into the guard verification board.
“Confirmed. Without a doubt, this is the Kingdom of Knightley’s premier duke, Duke Rondo.”
“Ooh!”
Molga then showed the verification board to the Union mediators as well.
“No way...”
The words slipped from Don Le’s mouth.
Without even glancing at Don Le, who was kneeling, Abel turned his face toward the two representatives.
“Marquis Nyusha, Chairman Pisek, I am Abel I, King of the Kingdom of Knightley.”
“Your Majesty!”
At Abel’s introduction, everyone in the marquis’s camp and everyone in the fortress’s camp knelt on one knee and bowed.
This was truly the majesty of a king.
An overwhelming presence proving that identity verification was unnecessary.
“I understand that this region is deeply tied to the Union. But because those ties are so deep, it seems it cannot be neutral. I do not intend for the kingdom to force its way into that. I merely wish, as a new mediator, to watch how things unfold from a fair and impartial position. What do you say? Could you indulge this one selfish request of mine?”
That was King Abel’s proposal.
Yes, a proposal.
Only a proposal.
And yet, after being proposed to by someone with such overwhelming presence, who could possibly refuse?
“I will accept Your Majesty’s mediation.”
“With pleasure, Your Majesty.”
Both Marquis Nyusha and Chairman Pisek accepted.
After that, at the meeting:
There was not a single dispute over the content.
Only...
“Since this is an autonomous district, how about calling it a free city?”
Such a proposal was made by a water-attribute magician who was King Abel’s close aide.
Of course, this person, too, was a hero in their own right, just as well-known as King Abel himself...
“Duke Rondo’s proposal is a good one.”
“Then let it be the Free City of Zaarash.”
Both Marquis Nyusha and Chairman Pisek accepted.
“In the name of Abel I, King of the Kingdom of Knightley, I approve it.”
This event would later come to be called, in later generations, ‘King Abel’s Verdict’.
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