Sylvaril led Mordred and Eris straight through the garden.
After the garden was a huge set of doors with an arc akin to Arc de Triomphe.
Behind it was the castle.
The famous Sky Fortress turned out to be more stunning and more enormous than Mordred previously imagined, and it was only a part of the rock that floated in the sky.
Despite its size, every corner has been decorated with exquisite statues, and every statute was made meticulously by master craftsmen.
Not just on the outside. The inside was covered by golden embroidered carpeting, paintings lined the walls, and each side was decorated with expensive artwork and sculptures.
Eris marveled as they walked. "It's amazing!"
Mordred chuckled and said, "I'll also build us an amazing castle."
Eris looked surprised. "Ah? Don't you already have one back home?"
"I'll build a better one."
Mordred noticed Sylvaril smiling at them, probably taking it as banter between children.
At one point, they reached the end of the hallway, and there was a pair of heavy silver doors.
It took them close to an hour to reach that point.
However, Sylvaril turned and led them elsewhere. Seeing Mordred's curious expression, she explained, "It's the Audience Room where Lord Perugius receives guests, but there's no need to lead you there."
Continuing the side passageway, Sylvaril brought them to the guest rooms.
In the guest area there are almost 20 rooms with the exact same layout.
The same dark wood furniture, feather beds. A large and clear full length mirror. Some type of drink on the shelf.
The only difference between the rooms is the art hanging in them.
It was almost like a hotel, but even more luxurious than the business hotels.
Mordred picked the first room closest to the entrance, and Eris chose one next to them.
Sylvaril said, "You must be hungry. We'll bring you something to eat shortly and prepare you a bath. For now, make yourselves at home."
"Thank you."
"Got it!"
"You must only know that there is one more guest currently in the Sky Fortress, so you might meet her. However, she can't speak the Human Language."
Sylvaril left after leaving behind these words.
Hearing this, Mordred looked at her leaving figure with interest. 'Another guest? It's probably Nanahoshi…'
He then came into his room.
Rushing straight out of the Teleportation Labyrinth, flying across the continent to find Eris, then confronting the Water God and Perugius, he was tired.
He fell onto the bed.
It was surprisingly soft. So soft, it felt like he would sink to the bottom of the feather bed.
He closed his eyes and laid down like this.
However, he felt that he might meet Hitogami if he fell asleep, so he stayed on guard to not do that yet, being prevented from fully relaxing.
Currently, there was no point in him returning to the Labyrinth before receiving another of Hitogami's advice, but before that he wanted to think things through.
A while later, he heard knocking from the door.
He straightened himself. "Come in."
After the door opened, it turned out to be Eris. She gently opened the door and came in.
"Eris." Mordred looked at her calmly.
"Mordred…" Eris looked timid and as if something was bothering her.
"Yes?"
Eris slowly came up to him.
After reaching the bed, she stood there and quietly said, "Father said… that we might become engaged."
"Ah."
So Philip already did tell her that.
Perhaps he should have made him keep quiet for now?
Eris looked straight at him. "Is this true?"
Mordred saw many emotions on Eris's face, but being unhappy about it was not one of them. He muttered, "It's too early to decide anything. But well, I didn't say no…"
"Not no? So… Yes?" Eris's eyes widened as she tried to digest this answer.
Mordred faintly smiled. Instead of replying, he then dropped onto the bed, onto his back.
As he laid there, Eris soon laid down next to him. With no words and no special gestures on either side, she simply laid next to him and took his hand.
'Ah…'
Mordred was surprised, then slowly smiled.
It was very annoying that all this happened while they were still this young. They were not even ten.
Mordred himself didn't even begin his puberty and hardly had any sex hormones. He normally didn't feel any sexual arousal, no matter whom he saw.
Eris should be the same.
But this didn't mean they couldn't have feelings for each other.
What Mordred felt toward Eris was just the wish to treasure her and have her by his side as they grew up together. Whether it was morally wrong because he used to be an adult, he didn't care.
Soon, Eris quietly said, "I also didn't say no. You can read, use Magic, you're strong and can do lots of things… You'll be useful if we went adventuring."
Mordred heard it and felt some pain in his heart. 'Okay. Perhaps I've been overthinking things.'
It seemed that Eris was too young to understand something like love. Perhaps right she was simply scared and lonely after all that happened.
Regardless, feeling the scent of her hair, just laying next to her, he felt satisfied. It was not Rudeus that Eris thought was amazing but him. For now, that was enough. The rest can be left to time.
Even if he met Hitogami now, he was ready for anything.
Staying like this, he drifted off to sleep.
…
Mordred regained his consciousness in a world of white.
The Void World.
After coming to himself, he immediately used his Odd to guard his inner thoughts.
He noticed Hitogami looking at him with a grin.
Mordred frowned. He realized by now that Hitogami might have read his thoughts just before he began guarding his mind each time.
Luckily, he had trained himself to react with 'is this the Void World?' instead of 'is this Hitogami's world?' the first time, so it should be fine.
[Hello, Mordred-kun! I knew you would be safe. You've done a splendid job. Changing the mind of the Water God with mere words and an act of kindness. As expected of a Hero!]
Hitogami complimented him as if he was proud of him and was satisfied with the result.
'...' Mordred was silent.
Hitogami grinned. [Tell me, did my advice not turn out well? You managed to save Eris and had stopped a terrible man from committing more crimes. A happy ending.]
Mordred was still silent.
It was true. Everything turned out well.
But he had no doubts that Hitogami secretly wished he would have died there instead. It's only that his control over his apostles was limited, and so might be his ability to predict Mordred's choices and actions. Preparing for an eventual failure, he set things up so it would appear as if he was helping him instead.
Besides, Hitogami liked to play the long game, so even if it felt as if Mordred had gotten one over him now, he couldn't let down his guard. The chances that the Water God could kill him there were not high anyway.
[Still not fully trusting me? That hurts me. I only want to guide you on the right path. If you're not convinced, I have another advice for you. You see, there's actually a book detailing the exploration of the Teleportation Labyrinth, reaching up to the 6th floor. It will be extremely useful to you.]
Hm?
Mordred focused on him. He already knew what book Hitogami was talking about - the same one Rudeus read in the novel to investigate Teleportation Magic and the Mana Disaster.
Hitogami kept smiling. [Are you interested? The book is called: 'Exploration Records of the Teleportation Labyrinth' and can be found in the library of the Ranoa Magic University. But you don't need to go there personally. Arumanfi can bring it for you.]
Mordred was silent. Now that Hitogami mentioned it, he can indeed go get it. With that book, he can return to the labyrinth…
Hitogami continued, [Apart from that, you will need a better and more experienced Labyrinth guide. And so here's my advice…]
[Ask Arumanfi to bring you the book on the Teleportation Labyrinth. Then go to the Shirone Kingdom's capital and search for Geese Nukadia in the Adventurers' Guild. He's one of the best adventurers at logistical work, but he struggles to find jobs due to having no combat ability. It isn't a problem for you, is it?]
[In addition, visit the Shirone Palace while you're there. Some of the people you know that were swept up in the Mana Calamity had been kidnapped by the 7th Prince.]
Mordred raised his eyebrows. Someone has been kidnapped, again? Was it Lilia? Aisha?
But shouldn't Roxy still be in Shirone at this time? Why would Pax kidnap them?
[Was this too much advice to take all at once? Well, I'm sure you'll do just fine. Get the book, then go to Shirone. And don't waste your time.]
Time, time, time…
…
As his connection with Mordred ended, Hitogami's smile faded. He hatefully gritted his teeth.
"Damn it!!! Daaamn it!"
He stomped the floor in a tantrum.
He hated, he hated that little bastard from another world! He wished he would just die!
From the moment he noticed Mordred, his future became pitch black – a hundred years in the future Mordred would inevitably kill him unless he did something to prevent it.
Before this there was only Orsted – but he was just a small fry. Hitogami could wear him down over the years, then finish him off personally if needed.
Now, apart from Orsted, there was also Mordred – in his late teenage years, not seeming to have aged one bit in the next century, using the holy sword he currently took out.
Being completely overwhelmed by the two of them, Hitogami would be butchered like a pig. Mordred would then even steal his position as the God of the Human World!
Seeing just how strong Mordred was physically and also mentally, and how quickly he grew, Hitogami knew that his usual schemes would not work. He had to strike hard and fast, using full force to do something before he grew up! This was the only way!
Because of this, he was quite desperate in his actions and in a hurry, instantly taking out the strongest and best cards he could.
Unfortunately, he can only contact his apostles while they're asleep. Because the Mana Disaster happened around noon, Mordred would have reached Wyvern and taken away Benedicte before he had a chance to set up any traps there.
For this reason, Hitogami had no choice but to send Mordred into the Teleportation Labyrinth to buy himself time.
The truth was that even if Mordred took upwords of a year to rescue the person trapped inside the Labyrinth, that long wasn't enough to cause permanent damage. There was no great urgency in doing that.
Once the trap in Asura was set, he sent Mordred there while his Magic Power should still be very low, making use of Eris to make him desperate and lose his reasoning.
Yet that little bastard, who seemed so hot-headed and fixated on saving Eris no matter what, managed to talk down the Water God without fighting her once!
Seeing this happen made Hitogami really mad. He had sacrificed two useful pawns for nothing! Both Darius and the Water God!
In a single swoop, he lost control of the Asura Kingdom! And the worst part there was that he didn't even get to see the extent of Mordred's abilities.
However, this couldn't be helped. In order to deal with the threat that Mordred represents, Hitogami was ready to sacrifice all of his apostles without hesitation.
Being already prepared for a failure, he planned several steps ahead.
The good part was that Mordred managed to save Eris safely, so he should continue following his advice to save the other people affected by the Mana Calamity. This was the most important.
'Now that I have already advised him to prioritize the Teleportation Labyrinth, I must continue on this path.'
Apart from allowing Mordred to restore more Magic Power in the meantime, it made no difference in the grand scheme of things. He knew that Mordred would have eventually visited that labyrinth anyway.
It also played well into Hitogami's plans and it would be difficult to send that boy into another trap with a God-ranked being to test his cards without first building up his trust and overconfidence.
In fact, the chance that Hitogami could kill Mordred with many of his schemes was low. He couldn't rely on it.
Fortunately, he had already foresaw a sure-fire way to come out victorious. He had seen it with his Future Sight, and it had never failed him in this manner.
Even if Mordred doubted him, no matter what he did, every step that he took led to an inevitable outcome.
Thinking of this, Hitogami snickered.
…
Asura Royal Palace, Lily Garden.
The Second Princess, nine year old Ariel Anemoi Asura, was sitting in a beautiful garden in the Silver Palace, drinking tea and tasting some cake with a bored expression.
"Princess Ariel! There's good news!"
At that time, someone had rushed into the garden.
Ariel saw that it was his newly appointed Guardian Magician – Derrick Redbat. She asked, "What good news?"
"It's very good news! The Prime Minister was removed from his position! Your older brother First Prince Grabell lost a powerful supporter! It will make it much easier for you to become the next Queen!"
Derrick's red was flushed and he seemed excited, but Ariel only frowned. "The next Queen? I already told you, I have no interest in becoming the Queen."
"But Princess Ariel, the kingdom needs someone like you! And you're the daughter of the queen consort! That makes you the only fully legitimate heir to the throne."
"And I have two older brothers and an older sister. I can't win against them."
She was far younger than her rivals and had no allies. In this situation, it was impossible for her to become the Queen.
Additionally, Ariel was traumatized from the repeated assassination attempts on her life. She only wished to be safe and laze around.
"That might not be so… Without the Prime Minister on his side, the First Prince had lost his wings. There are also rumors that a Mana Disaster had struck Fittoa, so the Boreas might be weakened as well. That only leaves two of your opponents, but they are not as ambitious as the First Prince."
Hearing this, Ariel became interested. "Mana Disaster? Is it related to Eris ending up in the palace?"
"Possibly. I didn't believe her at first, but I don't think that girl is someone capable of lying... It's only troublesome…"
"... What is?"
Derrick showed a troubled face as he explained, "It was revealed that the Prime Minister had done some disgusting and terrible things. When he seized the Boreas girl from us by using the palace guards, it also turned out that he had used false charges."
He then explained how a young boy with the ability to fly and enough strength to kill two Saint rank warriors, appeared in the palace to look for Darius, especially to rescue the Boreas family girl. According to the available information, he was most likely to be the 16th Prince of Kingdragon – a Magic Power Miko.
Ariel looked interested. "That's interesting. There is someone like this in the Kingdragon Kingdom? Is he handsome?"
"That's not important. What is important is that things have gotten quite troublesome…"
"Why is it troublesome?" Ariel didn't get it. She was considered especially intelligent, but she was still just a 9 year old girl.
Derricks explained, "It's because you allowed the Boreas girl to be taken away from your residence by the Prime Minister. If that Prince finds out about it, I don't think he will have a good impression of you."
"I didn't have a choice… But what does it have to do with me?"
"Perhaps nothing, but from the rumors I heard, that Prince is really frightening! It's predicted that he will become the next King of Kingdragon, but I feel that he might become much more than this. Yet, we've made him our enemy…"
Derrick looked troubled.
"But the Kingdragon Kingdom is far away," said Ariel. In other words, the things happening in the Kingdragon Kingdom had nothing to do with the Asura Kingdom. This is what everyone around her said.
"That's true, but… What if that Prince one day launched a war campaign targeted at the Asura Kingdom? He had already become a King ranked Magician at 7, and can kill Saint ranked warriors with his sword before reaching 10 years old! Even if these rumors are exaggerated, he might still be the most frightening human talent since the Laplace War! In the future, he could become a war machine sweeping over Asura…"
Derrick was someone who always looked far into the future. With the current way of handling things, the Asuran nobility would run themselves into a dead end within 50 years and the country might become raided by surrounding nations.
Asuran nobles currently believed that the mountains lining its borders meant it was safe from foreign invasion, but how would it fare against an even more technologically advanced Kingdragon Kingdom army a few decades from now led by such a powerful leader?
And what if the Magic Nations simultaneously seized the chance to seize a part of it from the north?
"You're worrying too much. I don't want to get involved in all this anyway. Just tell me – is that Prince handsome?" Ariel smiled at Derrick in a teasing manner.
Derrick's shoulders dropped. He was frustrated, but he could not find any other words to say but: "... I don't know."
"Useless."
And so he was deemed useless.