Chapter 384 – In the Southern Palace

Though he seems quite unconventional as a king… judging by the state of the city and Princess Elham’s character, King Farid might be someone we can trust.

“I have brought a personal letter from His Majesty Melvin,” Princess Stephania said, producing the letter with a respectful gesture.

“Hmm.”

King Farid accepted the letter, read through it, and nodded.

“When it comes to demons, no country can afford to treat it as someone else’s problem. If you’re conducting an investigation, I’ll cooperate. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to face the people of the grasslands.”

After putting the letter away in his robe, King Farid spoke.

“Well then… let’s discuss the details somewhere more comfortable rather than here. You all, proceed with preparations for the evening banquet.”

“Yes, sir!”

As the assembled nobles responded, King Farid turned around.

“Please, this way,” Princess Elham urged, leading the way as if following after King Farid. I suppose this means we should follow along. Well then, let’s move deeper into the palace.

Together with Princess Elham, we exited the audience chamber into the garden again—then entered another building. We were guided through a corridor paved with blue tiles to a room laid with carpets. King Farid sat down on the carpet near the window as if crossing his legs.

“Ah, feel free to sit wherever. Normally I’d prefer to use another guesthouse that incorporates northern architectural styles… but due to various circumstances, it’s not in a state where we can receive guests.”

“What do you mean by that…?”

Just as we had also sat down, Princess Stephania asked, and King Farid shrugged his shoulders with a wry smile.

“Among the successive kings, there were some troublesome individuals who enjoyed both hoarding and squandering wealth simultaneously. My father was one of them… Apparently, he incorporated northern architectural styles and furnishings for the guesthouse. Those furnishings were rare here and fetched good prices. If we were to receive guests from the north, perhaps we shouldn’t have disposed of them.”

Hmm… I’ll try not to mind how his self-reference changed from “I” back to “me” the moment we were out of sight from his subordinates in the audience chamber.

“We’ve been taking various items from the treasure room for reconstruction funds as well.”

“We’re not ‘taking’ them. We’re merely returning what those fools ripped off back into the country, just in a different form.”

King Farid shook his head at Princess Elham’s words.

A maid arrived and prepared sugar candies and tea. Both the sugar candies and the tea—their texture and flavor feel different from what we have in Verdgar too.

“Father. Could Mother join us here as well?”

“Sheriti?”

“Yes. Theodore-sama and the others are investigating whether the leader of the demons operating in the shadows in Verdgar might be the King of Ignorance.”

To King Farid, who looked skeptical, Princess Elham explained what she had learned from our conversations and the circumstances.

“I see… Then I’ll have her summoned.”

King Farid called a maid and instructed her to bring the queen to this location.

I thought we should do introductions or explanations in the meantime, but according to King Farid, repeating introductions and explanations would be troublesome, so we decided to wait until Queen Sheriti arrived before speaking.

“I am Sheriti Baharzad.”

The queen who arrived shortly thereafter removed her veil and bowed quietly. She’s probably around the same age as King Farid? As I thought, she resembles Princess Elham. Sheriti quietly took a seat next to King Farid.

“Now that everyone is here, let’s properly introduce ourselves and exchange greetings. I am Farid Baharzad. Thank you for saving my daughter.”

Following the self-introductions of King Farid and Queen Sheriti, each of us also greeted them one by one.

“—Hmm. So you’re royalty and important figures from Verdgar and Silvatoria, then. For such a gathering to be moving together with a flying ship… It seems King Melvin and King Eberhart are quite serious about this.”

After grasping our names and positions through the introductions, King Farid crossed his arms and nodded.

First… let me share what we know about our situation and what we can discuss.

Even if we ask the queen about the circumstances, it’s probably painful memories for her too. Even if she were to speak, she’d need to be convinced. It’s not something she’d talk about just because we need the information.

There’s quite a lot to discuss. The stories about the demon groups and the Duoveris Cult we’ve fought. The demon who called Gardinis, the cult’s founder, “youngster.” That the King of Ignorance appeared near the place the cult’s founder calls the Sacred Land.

And then… even if it’s not directly related to demons, we should probably mention that Kahar and his group are likely hiding in the southwest, and that the vampires might have joined forces with the cult.

“…To be a demon slayer at such a young age… That’s impressive. However, while the stories about the demons are concerning enough… the possibility that vampires have banded together and allied with the cult… If that’s true, it would be quite troublesome for our kingdom.”

After listening to our various accounts, King Farid furrowed his brow.

“Is it possible that the vampires’ charm technique is involved in the movements of the collaborators?”

I asked about something that had been on my mind a bit. Like with Princess Elham, there was some trust placed in the escort knights. If vampires are involved, such manipulation wouldn’t be impossible. Especially… the master of the vampires in the eastern country tended to prefer operating systematically using authority as a cover.

Whether they betrayed or abandoned the cult after losing Gardinis. We should also consider the possibility that they approached Kahar and his group with followers as a gift.

“That is…”

“Your Highness Elham’s escorts should have been people His Majesty considered trustworthy. Extracting information, making them switch sides… If the vampires have abandoned the cult and are now teaming up with Kahar, movements like this recent one would be possible, wouldn’t they?”

“…Indeed. If that’s the case with the inexplicable betrayals, there are several instances that would make sense. There definitely were some during the battles with the cult.”

The vampires would probably be a card the cult would want to keep hidden too. By using them at key moments, they could gain advantageous situations without allowing countermeasures to be prepared.

“…We should check whether important figures have bite marks. These are wounds that cannot be healed even with healing magic. Even without wounds, high-ranking vampires can use their evil eye to charm people, so we should try dispelling charms on everyone in key positions. We’ve also prepared countermeasures for this.”

For bites, blood purification. For charm, we can restore them using the Amulet of Evil Repulsion for dispelling.

We needed to prepare vampire countermeasures before heading south, and for the Clear Blood magic tools and Amulets of Evil Repulsion, while making them simpler, we prepared more than enough for our personnel.

When I informed them about the prepared magic tools, King Farid’s eyes widened, then he shook with amusement.

“Again… you’re quite thorough.”

“We also did preliminary research through the Guild Master’s connections about the increasing number of vampire incidents in the south. The Adventurer Guild here probably handles vampire cases sometimes too. Could you issue a notice to that effect?”

“Hmm. I promise.”

First, we deal with the potential hidden threat. As for vampire countermeasures and cooperation with the Kingdom of Baharzad, this should cover it… but we need a bit more supplementation.

“Regarding the vampires, one more point. If there are any dhampirs, we’d like you to notify them that if they come to Verdgar, we can neutralize their bloodsucking impulses, allowing them to live normal lives like anyone else.”

“Oh?”

To King Farid, who let out an impressed sound, I also explained that Verdgar is moving in the direction of accepting friendly monsters, and about my—the Otherworld Ambassador’s role.

Dhampirs are said to be extremely rare, so I don’t know if there are any in Baharzad or not.

Since we’re protecting friendly monsters, dhampirs would also fall under protection if we can eliminate their bloodsucking impulses.

If they’re too much to handle, we’ll accept them in Verdgar, and we’ve reached agreement on this with King Melvin and Prince Josiah as well. We’ll need to craft cursed tools, but if we can achieve this, they shouldn’t have to live as outcasts anymore.

“Understood. I’ll take responsibility for that matter. If we find any dhampirs, we’ll move to protect them.”

“The remaining problem would be other forces, wouldn’t it? Regarding Kahar’s remnants, what’s the current situation?”

Princess Stephania inquired.

“As for them, on the scale we’re aware of, they’re more like a large band of thieves. That would be appropriate given their nature too. It was said they might be hiding in the desert or mountainous regions, but…”

It seems we can judge that they fled to the desert side. When I told them about the conversations and interactions among them on the ship, King Farid slapped his knee and laughed.

Waiting for him to calm down, Princess Adriana asked.

“What about the Duoveris Cult?”

“They’re rapidly weakening. Originally, it was people dissatisfied with Baharzad who were gathered by the founder, so as governance progresses, they lose reasons to fight, and losing the founder means they lose the means to fight. Though among the followers, the warrior class particularly devoted to demons is another matter… but their numbers are decreasing too.”

…The warrior class, huh. Like the ones Gardinis brought with him.

But it seems there are other followers too.

“As for the lower-ranking members—they probably still have resentment and distrust toward the royal family deep down. But I consider it my job to eliminate that.”

King Farid said with a distant look in his eyes, and the queen quietly drew closer to such a king.