44. Everything Melted Away (1)
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A full day had passed since the two calamities swept across Lisbond Port and, with it, the entirety of Adolevit.
There was no one who did not know that the Pirate King’s vengeful spirit had awakened at the Levian Coast, and that the Fire Spirit Flower—the treasured heirloom of the Adolevit royal family—had run wild, nearly wiping the entire kingdom from existence.
It was the first stain ever left upon the life of Hong Seryu: 8-Class mage, queen of Adolevit, and a woman who had lived her whole life without failure.
And……
people knew something else as well.
They knew that the one who had perfectly covered for Hong Seryu’s mistake was none other than the Third Princess, Hong Biyeon.
She had calmed the rampaging Fire Spirit Flower, something no one since Adolevit herself had ever been able to control.
And then, using that very power, she had even brought down the Pirate King’s vengeful spirit.
Could there possibly be a more dramatic reversal of fortune?
“……I keep telling you, I’m not the one who took him down.”
Not only Adolevit’s own press, but media all over the world had begun spreading Hong Biyeon’s name.
And perhaps that was only natural.
After all, a mere seventeen-year-old girl had apparently stopped the double calamity brought about by both the Incarnation of Ice and the Incarnation of Fire at once.
Meanwhile, Queen Hong Seryu had been unable to do anything at all, which only made Hong Biyeon shine all the more brightly by comparison.
The praise and admiration directed at her felt wonderful.
There was nothing Hong Biyeon enjoyed more than being exalted by others.
But from Hong Biyeon’s point of view, it was deeply unfair that Baek Yuseol—the one who had actually brought down the Pirate King—was receiving no attention at all.
Almost no one had seen him.
The boy who parted the clouds, rode down the aurora, and felled the Pirate King with a single blow.
People only knew that a streak of lightning had fallen.
So Hong Biyeon had tried desperately to publicize Baek Yuseol’s achievement, but no one believed her.
Who in the world would believe that an unconscious high school boy with no wounds on him at all had actually struck down the Pirate King in a single hit?
……Though, to be fair, the idea that a seventeen-year-old girl had done all that was hardly any more believable.
“Princess. Shall we arrange your discharge?”
The attending physician at Lisbond Port’s university hospital asked carefully.
Since Hong Biyeon had no physical injuries whatsoever, she could have been discharged as soon as she was admitted.
“……I’m not sure.”
She considered it for a moment.
She could return to the royal palace immediately if she wanted……
but she chose not to.
“No. I’ll leave when I feel like it.”
“C-Cough…… understood.”
The hospital in Lisbond Port was extremely well organized.
That was only natural.
The city itself was a mecca for adventurers, so there were always many who got injured while exploring dungeons or hunting monsters.
Even so, the doctors’ expressions looked deeply uncomfortable—perhaps because, no matter how common injuries were here, having a direct member of the royal family admitted was another matter entirely.
Of course, Hong Biyeon did not care in the slightest whether others felt uncomfortable or not.
She was selfish, after all.
“Princess…… then, ah, what should we do about the reporters waiting outside?”
Hong Biyeon lifted the curtain slightly and looked out the window.
Truly……
an enormous crowd had gathered in front of the hospital.
The royal knights were blocking the way, so no one could easily approach—but with things like that, other patients would not even be able to be admitted properly.
Then again, would there really be many new patients needing admission right now?
Hong Biyeon let her gaze drift toward the distant seashore.
The water sparkled beneath the warm sunlight, rising and falling beautifully.
That was right.
The Levian Coast had begun to breathe again.
The waves, though gentle, had returned.
The water trembled with the wind.
The temperature had dropped sharply, and yet the sunlight now felt pleasantly warm.
The ice had not completely melted yet……
but before long, Lisbond would recover the appearance it had worn a thousand years ago.
Because when Pirate King Black Belize had fallen, the Incarnation of Ice that had slept within the pirate ship had been sealed away, and the curse of eternal winter had vanished completely.
Of course……
whether that would bring immediate, wholly positive consequences remained to be seen.
It had already been more than a thousand years since Lisbond had functioned as a port, and there was no one left who remembered those days.
Still, it made no sense for Lisbond—built in a fantastically strategic location at the very heart of the continent—to remain frozen and paralyzed forever.
If it were redeveloped as a proper harbor, then this place would become a stepping stone that could make Adolevit into an even greater power.
“……Send the reporters away.”
Selfish as she was, Hong Biyeon decided that, for the time being, she would keep this place quiet for the sake of the injured and of the patients who were already admitted.
After all, the people in this hospital would one day become her people too.
Other people’s things were not worth caring about.
But her own things had to be cherished.
That was the kind of person Hong Biyeon was.
“Then…… ah, what about the distinguished guests who keep coming to see you?”
“Didn’t I say to send them away?”
“That’s the problem…… people important enough that we can’t easily turn them away just keep showing up……”
At the doctor’s words, Hong Biyeon swept her hair down over the front of her face for a moment.
The gesture had no real meaning.
She merely wanted to hide the way the corners of her mouth were twitching upward.
Until now, the only people who had truly supported her were a handful of Stella students trying to secure some sort of royal connection, and House Atallek at most.
But now it was different.
Everyone wanted me.
Everyone had started looking for me.
“Ahem. Tell them I can’t see anyone yet. Say that I’ll announce my discharge ahead of time, and that they should come then.”
“Announce…… your discharge?”
“Yes.”
If Baek Yuseol had heard that, he probably would have muttered that she was an attention-seeker to the bone.
But no one here would dare say such a thing to Hong Biyeon.
Besides, the treatment she was receiving was only natural.
If not for Hong Biyeon, then the doctors here might have been swept away by the catastrophe and vanished without a trace.
The benefactor of the entire nation.
In fact, for a doctor, it might already count as the glory of a lifetime if every patient in the hospital were sent away and the whole place were devoted to the care of her alone.
“Then we’ll let them know.”
The answer came not from the doctor, but from the knights assigned to guard Hong Biyeon.
Ordinarily, she should have had a proper attendant of her own by now, but since Queen Hong Seryu had never officially appointed one, the knights had no choice but to handle those matters themselves.
Queen Hong Seryu had returned to the capital immediately after the incident ended.
She herself knew very well how shameful and recklessly dangerous the whole affair had been.
Soon enough, she would probably prepare some kind of public apology to the nation……
but that was none of Hong Biyeon’s concern.
“Hmm-hmm……”
Once the doctors left and the hospital room fell silent, Hong Biyeon softly hummed to herself.
Everything was perfect.
Could there possibly be a day more perfect than this?
She felt so happy—so overwhelmingly, absurdly happy—that she thought she might die from it.
So happy that she felt she could fly into the sky and ascend on the spot.
And yet, she still could not set all of her worries aside.
There was still one thing.
One great concern remained.
‘When is Baek Yuseol going to wake up?’
As soon as Hong Biyeon herself had regained consciousness after the battle, the first thing she had done was ask for him.
Fortunately, the doctors’ answer had been reassuring.
‘There’s nothing physically wrong with him, but…… it seems he’s suffered tremendous mental stress. We ran a full examination because it was strange to see stress of that severity, but in the end, we couldn’t identify a clear cause. Most likely, he must have gone through something extremely difficult just before he lost consciousness.’
Hearing that medical opinion made Hong Biyeon feel one side of her chest tighten.
For Baek Yuseol to have gone through something severe enough to leave him under such extreme stress……
He was someone who had never once shown weakness through any trial or hardship, so there was no way she could avoid worrying.
‘Still, he’ll wake up soon. His recovery speed is surprising.’
Hong Biyeon had chosen to believe that.
Partly because she respected the doctor’s knowledge and examination.
But even more than that……
because she believed in Baek Yuseol himself.
She simply could not imagine him collapsing for good over something like this.
Knock, knock.
As she was lost in thought, someone knocked at the door.
—Princess. Lord Black Matalle is here to see you.
“Let him in.”
Black Matalle.
Lord of the Cheonhwa Ice Palace, ruler of Lisbond Port, and descendant of the legendary Pirate King Black Belize.
The hospital room door opened……
and Matalle stepped inside, his complexion looking noticeably better than it had when she’d seen him a few days earlier.
He was still wearing a patient’s robe, but had at least covered it with a coat in the interest of decorum.
Hong Biyeon rose to receive him—
only for Matalle to abruptly kneel before her.
“……What exactly are you doing?”
Then, following behind him, the men who had come with him also knelt in turn.
Hong Biyeon did not understand what was happening, but she remained silent and watched them.
“Princess, we owe you an immeasurable debt.”
“I know.”
“……It is not simply that you saved our lives.”
Matalle raised his head and looked directly into Hong Biyeon’s ruby-red eyes.
“For a thousand years. For exactly one thousand years…… our Black bloodline has fought against a curse.”
The urge to go out to sea.
But also the fate of certain death, should they do so.
That terrible curse had begun with Black Belize’s generation and only deepened with each generation thereafter, until now it had reached the point where even looking out at that beautiful horizon was painful.
The reason the Black bloodline never lived long lives was, absurdly enough, because they could not resist that urge to go out to sea, and ultimately hurled themselves into the water and died by their own hand.
Just as Matalle’s father and grandfather had done, he too might have met the same end one day.
But no longer.
“Thanks to you, Princess, our Black bloodline can set sail again for the first time in a thousand years.”
“……That’s good.”
Hong Biyeon turned her head and looked out the window.
Just watching that slowly thawing sea made her feel strangely clear and refreshed.
Although they had been released from the curse, they still could not go out to sea yet.
That was because of their contract with the royal house of Adolevit.
“If I become queen…… I’ll free your whole bloodline.”
“……Is that so.”
“Yes. I’m not joking. Go out there and live however you want—whether that means piracy or anything else.”
“Your words alone are enough. Thank you.”
“It’s not just words. I really am going to become queen.”
“That is not what I meant.”
“What?”
Black Matalle looked straight at Hong Biyeon with unwavering eyes.
“I too…… have spent my whole life fighting the urge to go out to sea. And though I have finally been freed from that curse, I have no intention of turning my back on the royal house of Adolevit.”
“Then…… what do you intend to do?”
“It would be fine if the next generation were the ones to roam the seas freely. I will remain here in Lisbond and raise this city properly. And…… if the day comes when I have grown enough to be of use, then I will lend you my strength.”
“What?”
Those were not words Hong Biyeon had expected at all, and she could only stare in surprise.
Even in the modern era, the value of a port city still carried enormous weight.
Warp Holes and airship technology might exist, but they were terribly inefficient when it came to moving cargo in bulk, so sea transport remained the primary means of trade.
In that sense, Lisbond Port occupied a position so central that, if it were developed properly, it could spread its reach across the entire world……
and would inevitably possess tremendous power.
Up until now, Black Matalle’s title as lord of Lisbond had been little more than an empty shell.
But once Lisbond became a real port city, would that title still remain empty?
Of course not.
In the future, his power would soar beyond anything it had ever been before.
And if, by then, Black Matalle held wealth and authority in his hands and chose to support Hong Biyeon……
then it would undoubtedly become a tremendous asset in the struggle for the throne.
“That……”
“……If you find the blood of pirates distasteful, then I will step down cleanly and surrender the office of lord.”
“No. There’s no need for that.”
If Black Matalle relinquished the title, then Lisbond would fall back into Queen Hong Seryu’s hands.
That absolutely could not be allowed.
“I’ve never looked down on pirates. In the first place, beneath me, all humans are equal. Noble or slave, it makes no difference. I judge people by ability, never by status.”
“Is that so……”
It was a statement that pricked oddly at her conscience, but in recent times it had become true enough that Hong Biyeon could say it without shame.
“Thank you. I will absolutely grow this city into the greatest port there is, and become your strength.”
“Yes. I’ll be coming here often, so work hard. I’ll support you in every way I can.”
“Thank you!”
Black Matalle pledged his loyalty to Hong Biyeon.
And after he left, Hong Biyeon secretly turned away and clenched her fist.
Things were moving in the right direction.
And it felt as though even more good things would come soon.
And perhaps that feeling had not been wrong—
because exactly one week later,
Baek Yuseol woke up.
Read only on MugenCodex.
I had a dream.
—I do love swift, refreshing developments and dramatic presentation!
Blue Winter December’s voice boomed like thunder.
—Good luck!
Then my body began to fall.
When a person suddenly feels themselves suspended in midair with no warning, fear should be the natural reaction.
But I don’t think I even had enough strength left to be afraid.
The world spun wildly around me, and by the time I came back to myself, I was already flying through the sky above the Levian Coast.
And then, filling my vision—
Pirate King Black Belize.
He was truly enormous, a body both gigantic and heavy with presence.
I’d seen his graphics in the game, sure, but the pressure he gave off in reality was on an entirely different level.
Even so—
I wasn’t afraid of him either.
There was only one thought in my head.
‘Stab his heart!’
The tiny icicle given to me by Blue Winter December had, at some point, grown longer than my own height and was now radiating a vivid blue light.
Aigirix’s Orbit.
If I drove that into the Pirate King’s heart—the place where the Incarnation of Ice slept—then I could seal the source of his power.
—That is……!
He seemed startled the moment he noticed me, but it was too late.
Without bothering to control Blink, I used it repeatedly, one after another, at maximum range.
Forty-five meters was all I had.
But that was enough.
Enough to reach the heart of Pirate King Black Belize.
It was simple.
I leveled the spear at his heart.
And stabbed.
—..!!
And at that very moment,
Black Belize’s blue skull suddenly turned into Mint Chocolate Chicken.
I sat down at a table and picked up a fork to eat the mint chocolate, but as expected, that flavor really wasn’t for me.
So I handed it to Flame, who was sitting next to me, and she said this:
‘If you get hit by the mana-piercing light barrage fired by Mint Chocolate Chicken, you’ll be cursed so that you can never eat the drumstick from boneless chicken ever again!’
Unfortunately, Flame had already become the sort of person who could no longer eat boneless chicken……
but luckily for her, she liked Hawaiian pizza, so apparently it didn’t matter.
The problem was that I also hated Hawaiian pizza, so when the Mint Chocolate Chicken came charging after me while swinging a mop, I had no choice but to run.
Since I was a person who lived for the joy of picking out the drumstick from boneless chicken, I fled for my life……
but got caught because I didn’t have enough money for the taxi fare.
And then, right at that moment, a Gundam appeared out of the sky and used a Hyper Flame Jet Kick to knock out the Mint Chocolate Chicken.
‘Once again, I’ve protected world peace today!’
I felt horrible looking at the corpse of Mint Chocolate Chicken, but then I thought I couldn’t be the only one who had to suffer through seeing that, so I donated it to a museum.
People gathered to look at the Mint Chocolate Chicken, and all of them suffered.
‘Jesus!’
‘You’re telling me food like this actually exists in the world?!’
‘I can’t believe my own eyes!’
And while I was watching all those people suffer with a heavy heart, Eizel quietly called me out to the school courtyard, shyly twisting her mint-colored hair between her fingers as she confessed:
‘Actually…… I think I might like Mint Chocolate Chicken…….’
The moment she said that, I snapped my eyes open.
“Uwaaaah, no!”
“W-What…… commoner……”
Right beside me, Hong Biyeon was staring blankly at me in startled confusion.
“Uh, huh? Whew……”
A dream.
It had been a dream.
I guess it must have been.
Sometimes when I go through something too intense, I end up reliving it in my dreams.
Although admittedly, the story tends to go off in very strange directions.
“I had a nightmare……”
When I said that in a grave voice, Hong Biyeon listened with an equally serious expression.
“What kind of dream?”
“It was a dream where if you get hit by the mana-piercing light barrage fired by Mint Chocolate Chicken, you get cursed so you can’t eat the drumstick from boneless chicken anymore……”
“And then when I showed it to Flame, she said it didn’t matter because she likes Hawaiian pizza…….”
“……And then?”
“So then I had no choice but to put it on display in a museum, and Eizel said she actually liked it and wanted to eat it……”
Even while saying it myself, I could tell how ridiculous it sounded, so I glanced at her carefully.
Sure enough, compared to earlier, her expression was now all scrunched up in annoyance.
“Yes. And then?”
“Uh…… that’s the end?”
After saying that, I looked around cautiously.
Only then did I realize that this was a hospital room.
The walls were spotless white, and the medical equipment looked rather expensive, so I guessed I must have been treated pretty well.
Even while I was still trying to understand the situation, Hong Biyeon kept asking about the dream.
Like she was waiting for something.
“That’s the end…… why?”
“……It’s nothing.”
And then Hong Biyeon frowned.
Judging by the look on her face, my nonsense had probably just irritated her.
“Hoo……”
Quite apart from whether she was angry or not, I felt mentally exhausted for some reason, so I lay back down on the bed.
“Hey. How long was I out?”
“Two weeks.”
“Holy hell. That’s kind of a disaster.”
“……Why?”
The moment I reacted in horror, Hong Biyeon looked just as startled.
“To think I wasted an entire week of summer vacation unconscious like that……”
Hong Biyeon gave me a look that said, What kind of lunatic is this?
But from my point of view, it was a serious matter.
I’d been running through life nonstop as it was, so I’d been hoping to at least enjoy a little bit of vacation just for myself.
‘Ugh. Was that bet with Blue Winter December really that rough on me……?’
Then again, even if my body had been in a completely frozen environment where I didn’t need to eat or sleep, I had still gone through that for three months.
Maybe only being knocked out for a week was merciful, if anything.
“Then…… where am I?”
“Lisbond Hospital.”
She said that and got to her feet.
For some reason, the way she was grinning made me uneasy.
“Uh? Where are you going?”
“I confirmed that you woke up and finished your discharge procedures.”
“Ah…… really.”
“What are you doing? Get dressed.”
“I’m getting discharged too?”
“Of course.”
Was that how it worked?
I had no clue, but when a princess tells you to do something, it’s not as though you can refuse.
So I got up and rummaged through the wardrobe.
All that was left was my uniform coat, but I figured I should at least throw that on for now.
Then I waited.
……And waited.
I think I sat blankly on the bed for almost two hours.
“What’s with this. When’s she coming back?”
Click!
No sooner had I said that than the door opened, and in walked Hong Biyeon—dressed properly, unlike me.
“They’ve all gathered now. Let’s go.”
“Uh…… sure.”
I followed after her.
The fact that Hong Biyeon seemed to have put noticeable effort into her appearance felt suspicious.
And then I found out why.
Click-click-click!!
Murmur, murmur.
“It’s the Princess!”
“The Third Princess is here!”
“Princess! Please look this way just once!”
‘……What the hell?’
The number of people waiting for us was so absurdly huge that for a moment I thought I might get dizzy.
No, more accurately—
they were all waiting for Hong Biyeon.
They screamed out what were basically shrieks masquerading as cheers, and the reporters were mashing their shutters nonstop while thrusting microphones forward.
This was bigger—far bigger—than every ounce of media attention I had ever received from all the accidents and incidents I’d caused put together.
‘What the hell is going on here……?’
Hong Biyeon elegantly swept her silver hair back and started walking forward.
Thunk. Thunk.
The knights of Adolevit opened a path before her, and she stepped through it as naturally as if she had been born for this.
Could there possibly be a more perfect model walk than that?
I followed behind her feeling weirdly like the maid of honor at someone’s wedding, when all at once Hong Biyeon turned around and looked at me.
“Baek Yuseol.”
“……Yeah.”
Why had that happened?
The moment Hong Biyeon called my name, all the noise around us vanished.
As if the two of us were the only people left in the entire world.
“Forget every Hong Biyeon you’ve ever seen until now.”
“What?”
The words were so sudden that all I could do was stare at her in confusion.
But instead of explaining, she stepped closer.
“And engrave the me of this moment into your memory.”
“W-What is that even supposed to mean?”
“You…… have you ever, even once, seen me this happy?”
At those words, for some reason, Aether World Online flashed through my mind.
In the game, Character Hong Biyeon never knew even a single instant of happiness.
In the end, she was brutally crushed by the protagonists and died.
But the Hong Biyeon standing here in reality was different.
Not only had she smoothly cleared one of her greatest death flags……
“Princess Hong Biyeon!”
“Long live the Princess!”
“Please look this way just once!”
“We love you!”
She had become the most beloved princess of all, adored and praised by everyone.
That was something I had absolutely never seen before.
A completely new Hong Biyeon.
I had no idea what exactly she meant by asking me that.
But I answered according to the way I understood it.
“No. I’ve never seen you like this.”
“……Yes. Of course not. If it hadn’t been for you, I never could have become this way.”
She took another step closer.
Close enough now that I could feel her breath.
It was more than a little overwhelming, and yet for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to step back.
“So forget every Hong Biyeon until now. And then……”
She hesitated for a moment.
But in the end, she dragged out the words she had kept buried inside herself.
“No matter what happens to you, remember only the me of now.”
“……What?”
I didn’t understand what she meant at all.
The context made no sense to me either.
But the atmosphere was such that it felt like something terrible would happen if I refused, so I hurriedly nodded.
Only then did her expression ease.
She smiled at a slant, then turned around and walked ahead of me again.
Maybe it was just my imagination……
but Hong Biyeon’s footsteps looked strangely light today.
Then again, seeing her in such a good mood made my own steps feel lighter too.
I had no idea why.
