The summit ended without much discussion. A summit held every few years. The main focus this time was, of course, the prophecy concerning the divine beast… it seems to be a butterfly effect caused by me taking in Aife.
I think that bull was probably the cause of the war. I remember now. The bulls that pulled Medb's chariot in the original story, those bulls were Donn and the nameless white-horned bull. Is it because it's been so long that I'm starting to forget the original stories? No, it's just that it's trivial information. Thanks to the Wisdom of the Land of Shadows, I remember the major things, including FGO.
I had forgotten about this too, but now I remember…
However, it was called an oracle, not a prophecy. If so, as long as the white-horned bull exists, the possibility is high. But I can't just kill a bull owned by the King of Connacht. That would be me breaking the peace first. The High King of Erin declaring war is on a different level, and the four kingdoms might form an alliance.
Then it would be nothing but ruin. Even if Ulster wins, Erin would be devastated, so that's not an option.
For now, I'll have to leave it alone. The other thing is Deirdre. Since it's a prophecy, there's a possibility that Deirdre will be involved in some incident. She's still young, so it's fine for now… but I don't know if that will be the case in a few years. Fedlimid often contacts me to say that she is doing well.
I hope this peace lasts for a long time.
"Your Majesty, are we to end it like this?"
"Hmm? Celtchar, why are you here?"
"Hmm? Did you not hear? Lady Scáthach said, 'It is too humble for the master of Erin to go with only two wives, so we must show them our strong warriors,' and sent us here with runes…"
"...I see, so that's what it was."
Outside the summit hall, he and the strongest warriors of Ulster were gathered and waiting. There were about 30 of them.
"This is a problem, it being night. Even with my Primordial Runes, it's impossible for me to teleport this many people. Aife, can you do it?"
"...Ah, I forgot to engrave a teleportation rune in Ulaid."
She's a bit of a ditz…
"Then let's find a large inn nearby. This is Mide's territory, and we can't be indebted to the King of Mide."
Eterscél, he looks down on me, so I can't owe him anything. I'll have to find a large inn.
"Hmm… there should be a large inn around here. I remember coming here a long time ago. It's an inn run by a rich man, so it can accommodate over 100 people."
"Heh, that's practically a hotel."
Medb was royalty of Connacht, so it's only natural. She must have traveled to many places.
"As expected of Medb. I may know how the world works, but I'm not interested in tourist spots or things like that…"
"A family trip… come to think of it, we haven't even gone on a honeymoon. Ulster is so busy… that would be nice."
"Hmm… what about the fairy realm?"
"I'll pass, I feel like my sense of time would be thrown off."
To be enchanted by the fae. There's a folktale about a father who went to the fairy realm and returned to find that his child had become an old man. The fairy realm is that dangerous.
For now, we found the inn that Medb recommended, and we stayed there.
"Ugh…! I'm tired."
"Tired? We were looking forward to it…"
"That's right, I want to do it without Scáthach."
"Haha… can't you just let me off the hook today? I'm tired from the long journey."
Knock, knock.
Just then, a knock sounded, and I answered.
"What is it?"
[Your Majesty, it's… the innkeeper says he has something to tell you.]
"? Yes, let him in."
Celtchar carefully opened the door and let the innkeeper in.
"What is it?"
"Yes… I am Blai Briugu. I-I know this is a very rude thing to ask… but, would it be possible for me to sleep with your wives…"
"....What?"
Of all the things I've heard in my life, that was the most absurd and bewildering.
"You scoundrel! What kind of outrageous thing are you saying! How dare you say you'll take the queens of Ulaid!"
"Th-there are circumstances! It's my geas!"
"A geas…? What kind of geas?"
A geas…?
"Well… it's a curse-like geas that my ex-wife cast on me when we divorced… I must sleep with any woman who stays at my inn without a companion. That was the geas."
"Was… so there's more. That geas has nothing to do with the present."
"Yes, it was like that until a few days ago. That's why I wasn't accepting any female guests who came alone. But, it was… a few nights ago. A person in a black hood, whose face I couldn't see, came and overwrote my geas."
"Overwrote a geas…?"
It's not impossible. To overwrite a human's geas with a higher-level geas. However, it's not an easy thing to do. It's generally close to impossible. But to say that it was done… I can see that he's not lying.
"I must sleep with any woman who stays at my inn… that's what the geas was changed to. And he cast another geas. I must accept any female guest, no matter what…"
"That's a rather disgusting curse. The ex-wife's curse is one thing, but for someone to come and overwrite it. Who did you hold a grudge against?"
"No, no! I am a rich man who makes a lot of money, but I also give a lot to those around me, donate to orphanages, and occasionally visit to give them gifts! I have never done anything bad! I only separated from my ex-wife due to personality differences!"
"..."
At the very least, I don't sense any lies in his words. But… for someone to cast such an artificial geas on him. Even if one knew of such a geas, there would be no reason to cast it. Even if he held a grudge, it feels artificial. The timing is too perfect. As if they knew we would be staying here.
"Then, are we to leave?"
"Yes, there should be no problem with leaving. I apologize for bringing up the matter of sleeping with them so abruptly, but I thought that since you are the king of a nation, you would only listen if I spoke directly. Even if you refuse, if I break the geas, I will die. It's the same whether I die this way or that way, so I hoped you would listen to my story."
"Hah… what would you have done if I had just killed you without hearing you out? You should have started with the geas."
"Yes, I'm sorry…"
So we're sleeping outdoors. This is the only inn nearby… I can make a small one-room house with runes, so I'll have to do that.
"Good grief, innkeeper! I almost cut you down! You should have told your story in the right order! I almost killed an innocent man for no reason!"
"I'm sorry… but I will prepare breakfast for you tomorrow morning."
"I appreciate that. Then we will be leaving."
"Are you sure you'll be alright?"
"It's fine, Celtchar. I can easily make a small house with runes. You all can rest here. We will rest nearby."
"Yes, I understand."
We left the room and were about to leave the inn when I opened the door…
"What's this?"
"Th-this is a temple-class barrier!? Hey, innkeeper! What's going on!"
"I-I don't know!? There's no barrier in the inn! There's a luck rune that was engraved a long time ago, but there's nothing like this!"
Suddenly, a temple-class barrier that wasn't there before has been erected. Well, it seems someone is deliberately trying to mess with us.
"Well… this is a little annoying."
Crack…!
"Y-Your Majesty…?"
I clenched my fist and punched the barrier.
SHATTER!!!
""Eek!?""
"As expected~"
"To break a barrier with a fist. As expected of the man who defeated me."
You just have to imbue your fist with magical energy and break it with force. It's not that difficult.
"Nothing major happened, but this is quite unpleasant. Such a prank…"
I felt a gaze from somewhere. I felt a magical gaze from afar. Tracking is… done. I have no intention of just letting this go.
I took out Curruid Bolg, transformed it into a bow, and nocked a magical arrow on the bowstring, drawing it back.
Creeeak…!
"{Curruid Bolg}(The Gouging, Piercing, Downing Arrow)."
FWANG!!!!!!
The shockwave from the shot bent the nearby trees and shook the buildings. A red arrow of light flew off into the distance. This should be enough, right? It seems they didn't learn their lesson from that time.
"Ugh…! Well, the summit was an interesting result. You were right, my lady."
"Of course. I was watching his surroundings, so I knew that the bull had been eaten."
In a building far from the summit hall. The King of Mumu, Cú Roí mac Dáire, and a goddess were there.
"I don't know what kind of grudge Lady Morrígan has against the King of Ulaid, but to say that you will humiliate his women. Will it really work?"
"I wonder. It doesn't matter if it doesn't work. Just the fact that he kills the innkeeper will be a good source of amusement. If he sleeps with them, that will be interesting in its own way. Of course, that won't happen. His subordinates are all blockheads. They will probably be swayed by their emotions and kill him. Even if Fergus doesn't have to get involved, he will have committed murder in another country."
She was the Morrígan. The chief goddess of the Celts who had been defeated by Fergus and Scáthach in the past.
"Well… I'm looking forward to it. I wonder how the King of Ulaid will react. He wasn't ordinary at the summit either, so I'm looking forward to seeing what he will show us."
"Hmph, your little prank is insignificant. I have borrowed your scheme well. If there is another matter, I will call you—"
Just then, the Morrígan was startled by the sight of a huge amount of magical energy flying towards her at an incredible speed, but it was already too late to react.
BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"Guh!!!"
"!?"
A red arrow pierced through the wall of the building and through the Morrígan's shoulder. She belatedly grabbed the arrow that had pierced her, but the moment she grabbed it, the magical energy of the arrow shone and burned her palm. And even though she had been hit, the force of the arrow was so strong that she was sent flying backwards.
THUD! KRAKOOM!!!
Breaking through the wall of the building, the Morrígan flew into the forest, breaking dozens of trees and tumbling to the ground.
"K-kuh… a cursed Noble Phantasm… the power of a god-slayer…"
The privilege of the High King of Erin, a divine-slaying bonus that judged the gods of the Celts. The High King was originally a position held by a god. It was passed down to humans in later generations and became a purely formal position with no real meaning, but when Fergus took the throne, it regained its former glory as the throne of the gods.
Combined with Fergus's powerful strength, that power had reached a level where it could even blow away a chief god.
"I was careless… but to think he would notice so quickly."
"H-haha… he knew she was a chief god, and he still shot her? Fergus mac Róich… is this High King, the real deal?"
Cú Roí was impressed by Fergus's actions and could not help but pay him respect. It was a power befitting the master of Erin.