Yuri reflexively swung Guilty back.
Feathers scattered.
Flap.
With the sound of wings, a white bird flew up and landed on Sibylla's shoulder.
He had thought someone had grabbed the back of his neck, but it was the bird that had touched it.
Sibylla greeted him.
"Hello, it's been a while."
"Sibylla, since when did you become a bird tamer?"
"It just happened. But you, since when did you start acting like a rat?"
She acted as if she had known of Yuri's presence from the very beginning.
"You were hiding well."
"And you're doing a good job acting like a king."
"Acting?"
Sibylla lifted her head.
"I'm not acting, I really am the king."
"I don't think so."
"What do you mean?"
"Just what I said, I don't think so."
"What's this little game you're playing?"
Sibylla looked at Yuri. Then she sighed.
"Ah, I shouldn't get dragged in. Yuri Briol, you've always been like this."
"Now you're pretending to be calm? So it's not just that you're good at acting like a king?"
"Get to the point. Stop playing word games."
"This is my point. Why are you pretending to be king?"
"I told you, I am the king."
"The king was Larrson."
"That bastard is dead."
Sibylla glared at Yuri.
"So you crawled in here like a rat just to pick a fight? You should be grateful I'm even talking to an intruder."
"Alright."
Yuri agreed right away. Pushing with words in a disadvantageous situation was his habit.
"Let me ask you one thing. Why are you attacking Bursen?"
"Oh, so that's why you came?"
"Of course, that's not the main reason. My friendship with you, and my concern for you, are far bigger factors, but I'm asking while I'm at it."
"Yeah, right."
While the two talked, Glutenshtein crouched in the corner. Sibylla glared at him once, then spoke.
"Alras is our land."
"That's it?"
"What other reason would there be?"
"For example, the Empire might have offered to assassinate Larrson in your place, put you on the throne, and then have you attack Bursen."
"Ha…."
"Oh, no answer? Was it true then?"
"I'm not answering because it's ridiculous."
"That's not like you."
"What's with these baseless accusations?"
"That friend of mine there—was pulling out his tongue your decision?"
"Decision's too fancy a word. I just did it."
Sibylla glared at Glutenshtein.
"This is all because of that guy."
"Yeah."
Yuri folded his arms and stepped toward the iron bars.
Sibylla didn't seem any different from before. She looked exactly as he remembered her. Yet somehow, there was a sense of wrongness.
Deep in Yuri's eyes, something wavered.
His vision stepped into the realm of the heart-soul. The space was no longer a dark, gloomy prison. In the white-hot brilliance, Yuri could see the true forms.
The figures of Sibylla and Glutenshtein flickered faintly.
Then Yuri's sight returned to reality.
"What did you just do?"
"Hm?"
"Just now, you…."
"What do you mean? I was just looking at you two because you're both pathetic. You or that dwarf…."
Yuri clicked his tongue.
"Sibylla."
"What."
"I sympathize with your situation, and revenge is your affair, but my enemy is the Empire. To stop the Empire, your kingdom's alliance must not break. There must be no such nonsense as the Holy Kingdom attacking Bursen over some pretext about Alras."
"And what will you do about it?"
Yuri thought back to when he first met Sibylla.
The way she was now was no different from then, when she had armored her heart to make herself look bigger.
"I will stop you."
"How?"
"You'll find out soon enough. And…."
Yuri, still with his arms crossed, stared straight into Sibylla's face.
"..."
The unflinching gaze flustered Sibylla.
"What are you staring at?"
Yuri gave no answer, only kept watching her. As the silence stretched, her face flushed.
"If you have something to say, say it."
"Sibylla."
"Yes."
"Do you remember the wish coupon?"
Back then, Sibylla had acted as his lover in exchange for one wish coupon from Yuri. Several had been issued, and Yuri had been at a loss as to how to retrieve them.
"Use it now."
"Huh?"
"It seems our fates have diverged. The wish coupon's expiration date has come. You won't be able to use it from now on, so if you're going to, use it now."
Sibylla quietly looked at Yuri.
Their eyes met.
She said nothing.
Yuri nodded.
"Alright, this is the end."
With that, Yuri turned and started up the stairs.
Sibylla spoke.
"Did I say I'd let you go so easily?"
But there was no strength in her voice. Yuri just waved a hand dismissively.
Glutenshtein, who had been silent, began shouting again. It seemed he believed Yuri would save him.
"Uugh! Uuugh!"
"Noisy. Take care of that dwarf yourself."
***
When Yuri failed to persuade Sibylla, the plan moved forward more quickly.
Yuri took Jared, Simon, and Guinness, and with the secret society, headed toward the place where the dwarves' treasure was said to be hidden.
It was a mountain not far from the royal castle.
The Holy Kingdom's soldiers were already standing guard there, but their numbers were few, so sneaking in was not difficult.
Inside was a cave.
"You didn't seem to have gone there to persuade her."
"Sir?"
"From what I hear, you just went there to trade barbs."
Francesco, hiding with Yuri and watching the cave entrance, spoke.
"What do you mean, sir?"
"You just tossed words back and forth, without giving your true feelings. Your true feelings."
"I don't understand what you mean."
"That's not how you hold a conversation. You and that queen both, you've got no social skills."
"Me?"
Yuri let out a short laugh.
"Then how would you have persuaded her, Sir Francesco?"
"Oh, Sibylla, I understand your heart. If I were in your place, I would have done the same. Anyone would have."
"Yes?"
"Just saying, you should at least say it like that."
"What good would that do?"
"Sigh…."
"Sigh…."
The two of them let out a sigh together.
"By the way, is there any guarantee that Sibylla will come here?"
"She'll come herself. She doesn't trust people."
Yuri nodded.
"I'm curious about this treasure."
"You'll know when you see it."
The entrance of the cave was also guarded by soldiers of the Holy Kingdom. But Umstein knew of another tunnel that led inside.
Yuri's group squeezed through a narrow passage barely wide enough for a person, and finally managed to get inside the cave.
Something was there.
"This is…."
Yuri held up a torch.
A massive lump the size of a house lay there, its surface smooth. It was a mix of various colors—black, silver, and at times a hint of red.
Looking closely, it resembled the night sky.
"What is this?"
When he heard "the dwarves' treasure," Yuri had imagined some kind of incredible weapon. But what stood here was just a beautiful rock.
Umstein answered.
"A meteorite."
"Huh?"
"I said, a meteorite. When a meteorite is observed, we dwarves go to the site and retrieve it. It contains ores not found on this land."
"And this is it?"
"Yes. And this was an entirely unexpected gain for us. Who would have thought that the metal we dwarves prize above all else would be lumped together in such a massive form?"
"What is it?"
"The legendary metal. We call it Orichalcum."
"Ah…."
Yuri had vaguely heard of it before. But he thought it was all made up.
"And the dwarves found this?"
"Yes. My brother and I discovered what our ancestors had hidden here. But that foolish brother of mine proposed a trade to the King of the Holy Kingdom for it. That queen."
"Ah…."
"Truly foolish…."
Yuri stared blankly up at the Orichalcum.
"What can you make with this?"
"Anything."
Then Jared, who was beside him, spoke.
"Weapons too?"
"Of course. Make a weapon from this, and it can slice through even the toughest steel with ease."
"Wow…."
Judging by the size of the meteorite, quite a number of weapons could be forged from it.
Yuri murmured.
"If we made weapons from this, even the Empire…."
Just then, a commotion rose from the cave entrance. Yuri and the others glanced around, then slipped behind a rock outcrop to hide.
"Isn't today not the day the queen is supposed to come?"
"Exactly."
The day they had expected her was still some time away. But Sibylla had suddenly appeared.
She was walking into the cave, leading a squad of knights. Behind her, Glutenshtein was being dragged along.
Umstein clenched his fist tight.
"Kh…."
Sibylla looked up at the meteorite with admiration.
"So this is the meteorite?"
"Mm-mm…."
Glutenshtein nodded.
Sibylla placed her fingertips on its surface.
A strange light shimmered from the meteorite. Yuri, and even Umstein beside him, widened their eyes in surprise.
Sibylla stroked the meteorite, then nodded with a smile.
"Perfect."
Then she dismissed all of her subordinates.
"Everyone, out."
"Yes?"
"I'll be alone here, all of you wait outside. Don't come back until I call you."
"Yes, yes."
"Oh, you stay."
The one she left behind was Glutenshtein.
When the other knights had all gone, Sibylla said to Glutenshtein,
"You can smelt this, right?"
"Mm…."
"Good. Then can you make it into the shape I want?"
Sibylla reached out her hand.
Then something astonishing happened. From her fingertips, black energy spread like mist, forming a strange shape in the air.
It was a monster with tentacles.
"I'm asking if you can make it like this."
Glutenshtein nodded. He was too terrified to even look properly at the shape.
"Good."
Watching this, Yuri murmured,
"Shall we do it now?"
"What?"
Francesco asked back.
They had not come here today to act. The plan was to check the route into the cave and conduct a preliminary survey to make a plan.
That meant they didn't have enough strength to fight Sibylla right now.
"Sir Francesco, it's not as if we can't fight at all, is it?"
"That's true, but…."
He had lost his strength from when he was one of the Ten Strongest, but he still retained some combat ability.
Yuri spoke.
"Sibylla is tainted by black magic."
That day, when he saw through the realm of the heart-soul, he had seen a black core growing inside Sibylla's body. She had already been corrupted by black magic.
And ultimately, all of this was the doing of his older brother, Cedric.
"If we leave her alone, she'll only grow stronger. And we have no idea what she's trying to do with that meteorite. Let's strike before she makes her move."
Sibylla was trying to craft a bizarre statue from that meteorite.
He couldn't begin to guess her purpose.
That was why Yuri wanted to stop her sooner.
"It's risky…."
"And a few more knights won't change anything."
With that, Yuri raised his heart-soul slash. Mana began swirling around his body.
Francesco's expression changed.
"No… you…."
Though he had lost his past strength, he had once been a paladin among the Ten Strongest. He could immediately recognize Yuri's skill.
"You're far stronger than I thought."
"Yes. Let's go."
Sibylla must have felt Yuri's aura as well.
In an instant, the cave was filled with a dark energy.
Yuri rose to his feet.
As the heart-soul slash flared, the dark aura pressing in around them scattered back.
"Sibylla. Hello, we meet again."
"Yuri Briol."
Sibylla frowned.
"You were hiding there? To think you'd come all the way here, and with those rats in tow."
Yuri shrugged.
"And you, your tastes have changed? Planning to make such a grotesque statue? How about making me the model instead? I thought my face was more your taste back in the day."
"Nonsense."