The Emperor Who Was Chapter 100 : Chapter 100

Chapter . 100

"What?"

I shouted in surprise.

"That's the reason you can't step forward right now. Because you can't explain why you disappeared for so long."

"But that's your house, it shouldn't be revealed. Telling even a small fact could arouse people's suspicions."

"It doesn't matter. Without , it will just look like a big cave anyway. Of course, magic would be needed to enter, but you can just say you got in thanks to Yolande and Vincent. You can make up an excuse that their magic only allowed the two of us to enter, and they couldn't reveal the truth because of your orders. Say they luckily succeeded just that once, and failed ever since."

Michelon shrugged his shoulders.

"Even if your father mobilizes mages to search thoroughly, wouldn't it be funny if they find nothing and co out empty-handed?"

"Still, Father was also a contractor, and his mages might accomplish sothing. We cannot risk that even a little."

"Then what will you say? You can move to Petrafis now, but if you appear suddenly after disappearing and can't explain properly, even bigger suspicions might follow. Many will think you really discovered a dragon egg and took so long hiding it secretly from the Emperor."

"......."

"In that situation, your mages will be suspected the most. Even Jero, who barely escaped the holy knights' clutches."

Michelon's voice was casual, but his eyes were scrutinizing

sharply.

"Can you bear that?"

I closed my eyes for a mont. While reflecting on all of that, with my friend watching .

"Michelon?"

"Open your eyes when you speak."

"Thank you so much for saying that."

"Shall we go to your father now? You'll be delivering a big blow to your brothers and the Empress who are busy preparing for dispatch. Just thinking about it is fun."

"No."

"Why, I'm really fine."

"I am not fine."

"Leontes?"

"First, that's not even a big blow. They plotted such a conspiracy against , should I repay them with just an anti-climax? I shouldn't disappoint everyone, let alone Rhiannon."

"......."

My friend was silent for a mont. As if impressed by my ambition to satisfy everyone.

"Above all, the reason I couldn't co forward saying I returned was because the cause of disappearance wouldn't be clear unless I told the truth. As you said, it could arouse all suspicions. Which enemies would exploit to no end."

"But you can't talk about the Empress either. That the Empress tried to kill you? Do you have evidence? You said yourself this artifact has no recording device. Because adding that would increase the possibility of detection and getting caught. Saying you overheard by chance would only invite ridicule."

"That's true."

"You aren't disheartened knowing you fell for the Empress's conspiracy from the start, are you?"

"Actually, I'm happy."

"What?"

"Until now, I agonized over how to clarify the cause of my disappearance without revealing the truth about Mount Petrafis, having no thod. But it turns out even that was the Empress's conspiracy? Then I just have to tell the truth."

Michelon stared at

piercingly, caught his breath, and asked.

"...What have you been listening to all this ti? How will you do it without evidence?"

"Although there is no evidence, an opportunity will arise. Since Rhiannon is herding those who will beco my witnesses to the Dragon's Mountain like sheep. With the Empress even acting as the shepherd."

"Okay, Lauderdale said he'd torture you for Rhiannon. I'll torture him for you."

"No, no need for that. Unlike Rhiannon, I prefer confessions."

"How? Would they confess? Lauderdale is the only one who knows the whole story, surely you don't expect him to confess?"

"We have to try to know everything. I will beco the mystical power itself arising from the Dragon's Mountain, and thereby give them all a chance to crawl out of the darkness of conspiracy and find light."

"......."

Michelon looked at

with a speechless face for a mont, then shook his head and changed the topic.

"...Why is that woman so crazy? Crazy in a different way from the Emperor."

"Rhiannon is a politician who pulls off gambles over and over again that others might try once in a lifeti. With bold strategies catching others off guard, overcoming checks from people like Grimiati, she grew her power in the court."

"So, do you also gamble with your life often like that?"

"When it cos to politics, I can't deny learning a thing or two from the Empress."

I admitted.

"So, as a repaynt, shouldn't I be the one to cure the Empress of that gambling habit?"

"Hahahaha!"

My friend laughed loudly. Sincerely, for the first ti since coming here.

We spent that night casting an invisibility barrier on the Throne Magic Circle. Even if I wanted to return to my dwelling and wash up, the Emperor's faction had already occupied it and was searching thoroughly for clues. Eventually, I washed with water and wind magic.

"It's surprisingly comfortable? Just staying still, streams of water go around cleaning every corner of the body and even wash my hair? It even dries

with hot wind by adding fire magic."

"I imagined putting you in a tub, fixing you in place, and spinning only the tub. Doing that washes the clothes too, which is good. Dries them too. I didn't know magic would be so useful in real life either."

I made the bedding with magic too.

"What is this, an invisible bed? It's quite comfortable?"

Michelon said nonchalantly and lay down in the middle.

"If you lie down and look at the night sky, you can see constellations. I imagined laying that down and lying on it. The floating feeling is implented with water and wind magic."

"Try making a campfire with fire magic too. It would feel like camping with an army."

Even amidst everyone frantically searching for , my friend's unchanging presence stayed by my side. Unlike when I stayed up all night wrestling with magic circles for the first ti here, I wasn't lonely even without imrsing myself in work frantically.

Eating plenty of food stolen from the kitchen again, joking and giggling, Michelon stood guard alone.

"Although your barrier detects external approaches well, it can't beat a dragon's eyes, ears, and nose. I'll detect faster, so there will be more ti to react."

"Then let's take turns."

"What did you listen to until now? If you don't have dragon's eyes, nose, and ears, just sleep. I can't trust your eyes, nose, and ears, and I trust your stamina even less. If you stay up tonight, you won't even be able to open your eyes tomorrow."

Although it was an obvious exaggeration, to Michelon who had strong pride in his stamina, it was a joke. Friends should accept even unfunny jokes.

"Don't compete with a dragon in stamina and sleep quickly. Or I'll leave you behind tomorrow."

"Leaving

behind, are you going to walk?"

"If you don't sleep, will you even be able to use magic tomorrow?"

Even in a difficult situation, we exchanged jokes and laughed like that.

The next day, as soon as dawn broke, the two of us set off on a long journey again.

***

"Sohow it takes less mana as we go?"

Michelon said from the Throne Magic Circle.

"Efficiency is getting better. Originally, the Throne Magic Circle is hard to manifest and consus trendous mana afterward, but once manifested, its efficiency is also the strongest. Now that manifestation has beco easier and I'm getting used to the magic circle, utilization has also increased. I want to beco Emperor quickly and utilize it more."

"Yeah, rather than trying an experint no one has done before for the first ti, it would be safer to focus on what can be done with what already exists. Let's go now."

With Michelon's urging, we moved.

To the Dragon's Grave. No, in front of it.

"Now that I'm here, I want to go inside."

"No. Unless we clarify the phenonon of ti passing slowly inside, we'll just go missing again."

"I didn't intend to go in either."

Speaking bluntly, Michelon frowned.

"Why on earth does such a thing happen? Even I don't know that. Whether Mother or past dragons knew, or if it belongs to lost knowledge, or if it's a change that occurred in the abandoned space itself, I don't know that either. Not knowing that, I recklessly told you to go and caused this ss."

I was surprised by Michelon's glumness.

"Why be upset? This is just the price for a new discovery. Even now, that space beca the base coordinate and an axis of the formula, making movent really fast and safe without an arrival magic circle. Although we had to modify it a bit not to enter inside, if we had set the coordinates inside the grave like when we ca, it would have been easier."

"Ah, really?"

"Of course. We discovered a new power, or a new phenonon of power. Just thinking about researching this discovery makes

happy."

"...I'm happy that you're happy too."

"Because we're friends."

"...Okay, if you have a hypothesis about this problem, you can tell ."

"Really? You won't get annoyed telling

to go chat with Yolande about such things? You won't get angry saying experinting pulls out pillars?"

"I promise. But only about problems limited to my house. Tell Yolande other things."

"Okay."

As we were about to move with happy hearts, sothing fell from the sky. Thinking it was a rock falling, I tried to deploy a barrier, but Michelon was faster. He reached out over my head and snatched it.

Flap! Screech! My ears were deafened by the bird cry and feathers flew wildly, blinding my view.

"It's my hawk!"

I shouted inadvertently, then quickly corrected myself.

"No, Harald! Why are you here alone? You should be with the others!"

"What nonsense are you talking about? This guy followed you from the beginning. Even when we entered my house, he tried to follow and even scratched you. I should pull out all his claws."

Michelon shook Harald, whom he held upside down by the ankles.

"Don't do that. Since Harald said he felt that power, he must have wanted to go too. He never hurt

before that."

"If you insist on saying that, I'll just pull out his feathers."

When Michelon, whose hands and feet were exceptionally larger than others even though his body wasn't fully grown, roughly grabbed Harald's feathers, Harald looked at

with red eyes, opened his beak, and cried loudly.

"He says he was wrong, and asks if his beak will be pulled out too."

"Don't pretend to understand animal speech."

It was a dragon that even fierce stallions feared. When I detached Harald who had been scolded enough, he clung to

and buried his head in my bosom. I soothed him by stroking his feathers.

"Harald, are my people still on this mountain?"

Harald raised his head stiffly. I looked into those ruby-like eyes.

Soon, what Harald saw unfolded before my eyes. Sir Rolf wandering in the mountains, Yolande, Jero, Vincent.......

"I know where they are. Let's go pick them up."

"You, are you sharing vision?"

When I spoke with Harald sitting on my shoulder, Michelon was amazed.

"Such things existed only in ancient tis; I didn't know it was possible even now."

"Mages don't keep animals anymore. Even if it's just a pet, if it's a mage's animal, people burned them at the stake together. Old won raising black cats were burned to death even if they weren't mages."

While telling the story my Master told , a thought suddenly occurred to . In the old days, weren't so of the animals known to use magic through a mystical bond with mages actually humans transford by magic like Harald? Or, animals the mages themselves transford into. Or like Jero, a mage transford into an animal to et a friend.

Before we even moved to the place Harald showed, voices were heard.

"This way! It went this way!"

Soon, a large wolf appeared through the dense bushes.

"Awoo! Awoooo!"

The wolf lunged at , but Michelon snatched its scruff again. He was definitely slightly behind , but suddenly the dragon was in front. As if teleporting a short distance even without using magic.

"Jero, is it Jero?"

"Awoo! Awoooo!"