It took quite a bit of time to persuade Cedric.
I checked my wristwatch and hurried to the location Peril had mentioned.
Thugs strutting around Western Street spat on the ground and kept an eye on me.
But the moment our eyes met, their pupils quivered in fear.
Now that’s what I call effective.
I smiled in satisfaction and touched my face.
There was no need for a mask that couldn’t even cover my face properly.
A hood was the best.
Wearing a piece of black cloth with no holes for eyes, nose, or mouth was the best choice.
Though my vision was a bit limited due to the night, it was well worth the trade-off.
If I’m going to get caught by someone suspicious, I’d rather be the suspicious one myself!
The place Peril had mentioned was an old, abandoned building. As I approached the building, a man sitting at the entrance blocked my way.
“Go back. This area is off-limits.”
But that didn’t last long—once he saw my face, the man flinched. His eyes began to tremble violently.
I silently held out the invitation to him. Hesitating, he took it from me. As he injected magic into the invitation, a moon symbol floated in the air.
“Oh my, you’re a guest. I thought you were a robber―. Goodness, I didn’t recognize you out of ignorance.”
Apparently, the Moon’s Shop was located underground, because the farther down I went on the stairs, the more I could hear pounding music.
‘Ah, this is it.’
It was just like the original story described.
Nobles dressed in dresses as fancy as those seen at imperial balls. And the hall where the shop’s items would be displayed.
Scenes that had only existed in print now naturally unfolded before my eyes.
I pulled my hat down low and stepped inside.
Conversations that could never be spoken during the day reached my ears.
“The princess?”
“Yes. Didn’t you see her during the last hunting tournament? She took the brooch His Highness gave to Lady Idette! But rumor has it that brooch was found in the junkyard.”
“Oh my, I should’ve seen it with my own eyes……!”
“So that’s why His Highness seemed to be in such a bad mood.”
Seems like the development where Idette is humiliated at the hunting tournament has changed.
But… is this something I should be happy about?
“And they say Lord Seiren is actually still alive. Seriously, who even spreads such ridiculous rumors…….”
“Anyway, poor Lady Idette. Now that she’s fallen out of favor with the princess…….”
“Oh come on, poor? She’s a vulgar woman who flirts with a man who already has a fiancée.”
“More importantly, what’s today’s auction item? I heard the Madam put a lot of effort into it.”
While looking around, I spotted a man who seemed to be searching for someone, just like me.
His eyes gleamed blue behind a black mask.
Ah, there he is.
But unlike me, who recognized Peril immediately, he was still frantically looking for someone.
I approached Peril and grabbed his arm. His eyes instantly turned fierce behind the mask.
“Who are you?”
“It’s Bianca.”
“…….”
Peril seemed at a loss for words for a moment.
I thought I heard someone mutter that it would’ve been better to come wearing just feathers on bare skin.
……Was it that bad?
* * *
Peril took me to a secretive room on the third floor.
As I passed through the bead curtain and entered, there was a luxurious sofa placed inside. Peril scanned the shelf lined with liquor bottles and asked me.
“Do you drink?”
“No.”
“……I see. It would be hard to eat or drink in that getup.”
Peril clicked his tongue slowly and turned his head.
“Let’s get to the point, shall we?”
I had told Cedric I’d return to the mansion by one o’clock, so I was in a hurry.
“I like how fast you talk.”
“What do you want? A pass into Drimokan? Or are you looking for the whereabouts of your disciples?”
“Their whereabouts, huh. That’s not something that matters to me.”
Peril plopped down into the seat. His long silver hair spilled over the sofa.
I hesitated before sitting across from him.
“Do you think the dead can return?”
That name I’d heard earlier from the crowd.
Seiren.
He was the name of the enemy commander who had perished in the brutal magic war.
If I recall correctly, he was the crown prince of the Kingdom of Orphen.
Logically, it sounded like absolute nonsense.
But this was a romance-fantasy world. There was nothing that couldn’t happen realistically.
“I don’t know the details, but since you brought it up, I figured you must have a reason.”
“……That’s right.”
“Do you think the rumor about the dead coming back to life is connected to the Drimokan Forest?”
“Because that place is the heart of the Empire.”
“True.”
Drimokan was where the gods once lived during the Divine Era.
Due to the magic war, more than half of the Drimokan Forest was destroyed. The Imperial family and the temple couldn’t manage it properly, so they handed the authority over to the Roygin family, and as a result, Drimokan became property of the Marquisate.
Well, Peril was making it sound serious, but honestly, the Drimokan Forest wasn’t that important anymore.
Because the current temple no longer worshipped the gods of the Divine Era.
The current Imperial family had gained control of the throne with the temple’s help. So there was no way they would value Drimokan, which symbolized something entirely different from the temple.
Besides, although the World Tree grew inside the forest, the temple had burned it down.
……I think they managed to grow a new World Tree afterward.
In any case, to the Empire now, Drimokan was nothing more than a burden.
“I’ll get straight to the point. I want to transplant the root of the World Tree in the Drimokan Forest to the Magic Tower.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“Are you saying you want to betray the Imperial family?”
Has he lost his mind?
Even if Drimokan was now considered forsaken land, who would want to take the root of the World Tree—once the symbol of the Empire?
“Of course not.”
“With my dull mind, I can’t interpret it any other way.”
Well, sure. Peril would be safe. That guy’s the head of the Magic Tower.
But me? The Roygin family?
“A portion would be enough. I’m not asking for something huge.”
That’s still massive.
I slowly leaned back against the chair.
“……If you’re going that far, then you must have a way to cure Drimokan disease, right?”
“Yes.”
“……!”
“Why are you so surprised?”
Last time, he said it wasn’t a disease, but a curse……
Peril swept back his hair and smiled slowly.
“Do you know where magic originated from?”
“……From the mercy left behind by the gods of the Divine Era when they vanished.”
The world had rapidly advanced based on the magic that emerged from the gods’ disappearance.
“You know your stuff. Then you must also understand what it means for magic to have gone wrong?”
No way……
“It means that the mercy of the gods has become punishment. It’s a curse placed upon the true owner of Drimokan—divine punishment.”
〈How foolish. Do you even know who the caster is before you say such things.〉
Now I could begin to understand, just a little, what Peril had said last time.
The caster of the curse was none other than the gods of the Divine Era, long believed to be extinct.
As if a mere human could kill a god.
I was starting to get why Peril had scoffed.
“But didn’t you say the curse could only be broken if the caster dies? Then what you’re saying is, to kill a god―.”
“And you, a human, dare to say such things.”
Calling someone who’s lived for a thousand years a human is a bit…
“To put it simply, I’m saying I’ll relieve them of their grudge. Since what was placed on Drimokan’s true owner wasn’t death but a curse, surely there’s something they want.”
……Now that he said it, it made sense.
I mean, even in the world I came from, if the ancestors wanted something, they’d appear in their descendants’ dreams. And if the descendants didn’t get the message, they’d fall ill.
As I quietly listened to Peril, a question came to mind.
“Then what about you, Teacher? Is relieving their grudge your goal?”
Peril was a natural-born businessman. He never got into a deal that brought him loss. But based on what he’d told me so far, there was nothing he would gain.
At my words, Peril chuckled faintly.
“Well. What do you think it is that I want?”
Peril’s goal in the original story was death.
To sever the shackle of immortality he’d been granted and continue living as a human alongside Idette.
But if I brought that up, he’d probably bury me next to the World Tree.
I shook my head in response.