Chapter 479 – Magatama and Mask

000

Traveling in a wagon for a long time is also a strain on the body.

Of course, the quality of Cleon’s party’s carriage wasn’t that low, and it was a fairly valuable item, so it wasn’t that they didn’t mind rattling that much when they were running down the street-

Even so, it is quite painful to have to sit still without moving your body.

“Ahh, we finally arrived.”

As soon as Lila gets out of her wagon and stretches her body, the others sigh in relief from their stuffy box.

“As expected, the unicorn was strangely fast, is it this much if you use a wagon… “

It took about three times as long as I thought when I headed from Asteris to the excavation camp, but I’m glad I managed to get there before sunset.

Seeing that the wagon had stopped in front of the Amryong Company, an employee of the company walked out from the inside.

“Ah! Mr Cleon. You are back.”

Cleon greets the employee who bows his head.

Cleon’s party and their general circumstances were known to the Dark Dragon Firm, so they were guests of Herti and the Beauty Painter, and they knew what they were doing.

“I want to report the work at the excavation camp to Hertie… Is she inside?”

“Sorry. Sang Sang-ju is out with Calia-sama to discuss preparations for the ‘Five Elements Festival’.”

“Five elements… ?”

When Cleon questions the first word he hears from her staff her, who politely informs her of Hertie’s absence her, she lets out a small exclamation and nods her head.

“The Five Elements Festival is a traditional festival in our eastern country. Once a year. On the day when the magical energy of the moon and sun is strongest, the enormous magical power gathered in the divine tree is connected to the spirit vein that flows through the land. It is a festival that hopes to restore the lost vitality of the land and to purify the accumulated organs.”

“Huh- It’s quite a magic-related festival.”

If Layla hears the story without even realizing it and expresses her feelings her-

“A festival related to witchcraft. No see.”

The employee smiled and replied that way.

When Lyla made a mistake, Cleon smiled bitterly.

“It seems to be a fairly large festival.”

“Yes. It’s a three-day festival held throughout Asteris. Even in the provinces, to pray to the divine tree during festivals… Ah-“

The staff who said that far had an expression that seemed a little troubled.

“…Why?”

“No. …In fact, every year in the Five Elements Festival, delegations come from the kingdom. The purpose is for the sake of peace between the two countries, but…”

“… “

Hearing her words of her, Amelia, who was behind Cleon, must have reacted.

It was the first time I learned that there is such a thing as the Five Elements Festival and that envoys are being dispatched from the kingdom, but more than curiosity about such things, if the people of the kingdom recognize themselves—

“Then, in the meantime, would it be better to leave Asteris… “

When Quon said that with a worried expression, Sasha nodded her head as well.

“Yes… At least until the festival is over, in another city—Eratus or something?”

“Not bad. If it were that girl, she wouldn’t throw us out.”

Ryla nodded, but-

“Don’t worry. There is no need for you to leave Asteris.”

The soft voice of a woman heard from behind.

When Cleon turns her head towards her, there is Herti smiling with her eyes closed, and her standing slightly behind her to accompany her, greeting her this way. I saw Calia’s figure standing there.

“You’re back, Cleon. And everyone. Everyone has suffered a lot. Before arriving, I was contacted by Artis.”

Herti talks with her hands neatly together, and Calia sighs in trouble behind Hertie.

“Really, Mr. Herti. No matter how much you heard that the party is planning to return today, it’s too urgent. To hear you cut off the meeting midway through and leave.”

“Oh. There is no such thing. The opinions of the two of them on Cleon were running parallel, so I just judged that further discussion was meaningless… Both the Great Maiden and the Beauty Painter need to cool down a bit.”

“That… Maybe so.”

Calia agreed with Herti, but she only shook her head as if the method was a bit problematic.

In response to Calia’s reaction to her, Hertie shrugs her shoulders and tells Cleon with an expression that she has done nothing wrong.

“Ruler. More than that, I want to hear about your adventures with Artis. Of course, if you guys are tired, I’ll put it off until later-“

“No. I can’t procrastinate on this… Lila, go back to the mansion first with everyone. Quon will check on Lilim and Galatea’s condition.”

When Cleon says that, Layla blinks her eyes two or three times, then smiles and shrugs her shoulders.

“Yes, yes. Now, let’s go back and rest first~ Soak in the bathtub for the first time in a while~”

While talking like that, Cleon silently watched Lila from behind as she led the party members into the garden.

He lets out a small sigh.

“Indeed… You were trying to get your party to rest first.”

When Hertie came right next to Cleon and said that, Cleon seemed a little surprised and as if he was a little embarrassed by what she said, her face her blushed and she took two or three steps back.

“…What? It’s not something everyone should go and talk about…”

“And. There is a story I want to tell just the two of us. Is that? Whoops. I’m glad you talked to Cleon.”

“…Herti-nim. Please don’t make fun of Cleon. Cleon-sama, would it be better for me to attend the report?”

“Ah. I do not care.”

“Such~”

At Cleon’s words, Hertie puffed out her cheeks as if she was a little disappointed, but Calia approached and talked to Hertie.

“There are not only Cleon-nim here, but also the people of the upper house. Please refrain from words and actions that damage your image as the owner of the store.”

“Whoops… Yes. Then, before I get further scolded by Calia, let’s go somewhere where we can sit and talk first.”

Saying that, Bahamut Herti’s cat appeared out of nowhere and meowed beside her.

“Oh. You came to guide me, Bahamut. Then, I’ll ask you.”

Once again, the cat’s answering cry rang out, and Hertie, Cleon, and Calia followed behind the cat as it walked away wagging its tail.

001

While listening to Cleon’s story, Herti’s appearance her is quite mysterious, yet slightly different from the woman with a strong corner.

His expression her changed moment by moment, showing that he was enjoying Cleon’s adventures her from the depths of his heart her.

And, seeing her like that, Cleon himself got excited and talked about her diligently, so some time had passed even after he returned to her company her.

Outside, when the bell rings to signal the setting of the sun, only then do you feel that time has passed, and Bahamut opens her mouth and yawns in Herti’s arms.

“Oh. It’s already this time… Soon, Cleon-nim should have dinner too.”

“Ah, yes. … Well anyway Excavation is a success. Attis and his disciples will excavate the ruins. Even the regressors will lose one of their top executives, so their movements will slow down.”

Hearing Cleon’s words, Herti first sighs with tea and then answers with a small smile.

“Everyone, thanks to Cleon-sama and his companions.”

“No. Thanks to everyone who was there. Without Artis’ knowledge and Fleur’s support, it would have been a much more difficult journey.”

Hearing the humble reply, Herti nodded her head more satisfied.

“Until you are humble there. … This is even more so, he must not be the right person to entrust ‘that job’.”

“…That thing? Are you talking about the next mission?”

When Cleon asked that question, Hertie drank the tea again with a thick and meaningful smile.

“Regarding that matter, I will first listen to Cleon-nim’s business before answering. To some extent, it is to be expected about what it is about.”

“…Is it. Well then, I’ll talk without reservations. During the ‘Five Element Festival’, it is necessary to protect the party – especially Amelia. I heard that an envoy from the kingdom is coming… They must have their doubts as to whether she is even here.”

Herti nodded at his words her and spoke.

“Yes. As far as I know, in recent years, the kingdom’s envoys to the Five Elements are a few nobles centered on Duke Tromeya, and royal vassals.”

“It’s Trome… Sir Percys!”

If Sir Percys is coming as an envoy, Aurelia, her wife her, may also be with her, and Cleon, who thinks that if Aurelia is present, she can ease her worries about Amelia.

However-

“Sorry, Cleon. I think I made you look forward to it, but the delegation that will come this year has already been decided… Since Sir Percys’ wounds sustained in the previous parade have not yet been fully healed, he is not coming as an envoy – instead, a person from the Regent family, a ducal family of equal rank, is coming.”

“Regent… “

What comes to Cleon’s mind is Cassius’s political mentor, and the head of a coalition of aristocrats renowned as gatekeepers of the kingdom.

Hellion Regent.

He, one of the people who contributed to this, would of course be one of the people who would not recognize Amelia as her royalty her and would be desperate to catch her her.

“That… That’s dangerous If Hellion Regent comes to the Orient in person, he will wander around looking for Amelia’s whereabouts her.”

When Cleon muttered that, Calia replied as if to reassure Cleon.

“Ah. Don’t worry about it. It is not the Hellion Regent who comes, but his daughter his. Hellion, too, would not be able to vacate the royal road in the absence of Percys.”

“…Does Hellion have a daughter?”

“Selena Regent. She is Helion’s eldest daughter and only child. And – she’s a court wizard.”

“The court wizard.”

Cleon repeated the word and closed his eyes for a moment.

If you recall what Layla explained earlier, court wizards are wizards who are employed by the royal family and work for the state.

Unlike belonging to an adventurer’s guild or academy, they have the right to participate in politics, and most of their work is to maintain and repair the protective barrier spread over the capital, and to provide means to detect and eliminate entities that will harm the kingdom in advance. Is to do

“…If that’s the case. You can think of it as coming after Amelia.”

Of course, as a wizard, he would be sensitive to her magical powers.

Especially, if it was a person with a bit of unusual magical power like Amelia, if she was in the same city, she might be able to find it easily.

“Yes. But as I said before, there is no need to worry.”

“Is there a way?”

As she listened to Herti’s confident words her, her concerns her eased a little, as she had said.

No matter how it was, even Cleon wouldn’t be relieved if he didn’t listen to the method.

“Yes. Although it is connected to my request that will follow after this – In order to protect Amelia-sama, Beauty Dye and Maid Maid have prepared a special method. Calia. That.”

“Yes. Herti.”

And what she took out and put on her desk was a dictation made of unusually shaped jade in a wooden box.

A round bead with a small hole through which a rope can be threaded and one end pointed like a comma.

“This is called Magatok. It is a kind of ‘magical medium’. Inside, you can put the shrine maiden’s spell.”

“Guardian… Is it similar to?”

“Yes. If Amelia-sama has this, it contains magic that will prevent those who are hostile to Amelia-sama from recognizing her as Amelia-sama. It’s a kind of illusion.”

After hearing Calia’s explanation, Cleon nodded and acknowledged the usefulness of the magatama.

“Shows an illusion that protects its owner from enemies. … That’s what But, what about magical power?”

“That too, of course. Miko’s magical powers are mixed, so you won’t be able to detect it with only magical powers. … It’s something that Asteris’ greatest magician, the Great Maiden, made by herself. You won’t break easily. As long as Amelia-sama doesn’t take off the magatama herself.”

“…That’s amazing.”

“Whoops. I’ve had a bit of trouble. In order to make such a powerful magatama, we had to procure materials from all over the East.”

“…You’ll have to pay for it.”

When Cleon says that, Hertie smiles.

“Oh my, is it really? I’m glad However… It is a commodity that cannot be priced in gold. That. So, I will pay you something else.”

“That is. It leads to the ‘thing I wanted to ask for’ that I was talking about earlier. That’s what it is.”

Cleon nodded as if he understood now.

The moment I saw something like this, there was no option to refuse, but it was no different.

“To put it bluntly. Cleon-sama, I would like you to take the leading role in the ‘ritual of exorcism’ that takes place in the Five Elements system.”

“…The protagonist of the exorcism ritual?’

Here’s Herti’s explanation:

In the Five Elements Festival, from the first day to the last day, bad things flow into Asteris as if attracted by the gathered magical power.

Such bad things are a type of monsters called ‘ghosts’, appearing all over town and attacking people, or taking possession of their bodies and wreaking havoc.

Hearing such an explanation, Cleon remembered the ‘noble’ woman he had defeated before, and her subordinates her.

Apparently, she said she was possessed by her own ghost too.

“Ordinary ghosts can also be dealt with by knights within Asteris. But for powerful ghosts or demons possessed by them, you need to use a special sword. It is the only sword in Asteris that is kept in the temple.”

“A holy sword or a demonic sword. Are they the same?”

“You can see that they are similar. Anyway, it’s not a talking sword like those two. In my opinion, there is no one better suited for this role than Mr. Cleon in Asteris right now. In dealing with the nobles, not only sword skills are important, but the power of witchcraft, or ‘magic’ from Cleon-sama’s point of view, is also important.”

Cleon nods his head knowingly.

“Then, I’d like you to use that sword to patrol within Asteris and take on the role of stopping nobles.”

“Exactly.”

Hertie nodded at Cleon’s answer as if to say it was true.

“Okay. If that’s the case, there’s no reason to refuse. I will try to be as helpful as possible.”

“Thank you. If so, this.”

In another box, Herti said, there was an antique-looking mask made of gold and jade.

As if expressing a bird’s beak, it covered only the eyes and the surrounding area, and was exposed as it was from below the nose.

“…Mask?”

Since Cleon has many bad memories in the mask, he is a little stiff without knowing it, but Herti didn’t care because he couldn’t see Cleon’s expression like that and continued the story.

“Yes. This is also an item that comes down to the Dark Dragon Chamber along with the sword kept in the temple. During the festival, you must wear and act on it.”

Looking at it, Cleon made a slightly subtle expression and adjusted the glasses he was wearing on his face.

“…Come to think of it, Cleon-sama. You have to wear glasses. It’s a magic problem…”

“Okay. … So if you put on this mask… Do I have to wear glasses over the mask?”

When Cleon answered Calia’s point, Calia must have imagined it. She involuntarily burst into laughter and covered her mouth with her hand.

“Kuh… Ha, but if so. As for the mask, I need to think of a little method.”

At Calia’s words her, Hertie put her finger to her chin, pondered a bit, then spoke.

“Well… Well, if I remodel Laila-san so that it has the same effect as the glasses…”

“Miss. Still, changing things that have been handed down at will…”

“… I’ll leave that part to you. Anyway, there is still time until the five elements system. … So? Is that all?”

“That’s all… ?”

Cleon pondered for a bit whether she was trying to judge himself or if she was serious about her words.

“A while ago, when we were greeting each other, we talked. ‘Two people’s opinions about me run parallel lines.’. Called. Are you a beauty dyer and a priestess?”

In response to Cleon’s question, Hertie nodded as if she remembered, saying, “Ah!” Calia also became a little nervous.

“That… Yes. It’s a story that can’t be separated from this job, so it’s good to talk about it.”

Herti frowns a little, wrinkles her forehead.

In her head her, she recalls the argument that the three of them had been having before.

And seeing her face her like that makes Cleon nervous as well.

What the hell were these two talking about me?

If, by any chance, a trouble intertwined with them would occur during the Five Elements Festival, did they try to decide their disposition in order to rule out the possibility first?

Thinking like that, I waited for Herti’s words for a while.

“The clothes… “

“…Costume?”

Cleon couldn’t keep his mouth shut for a moment at her sudden words.

“Yes… Costume. All three of us agreed to use Cleon-sama as the lead role in the exorcism ritual… At that time, Cleon-sama will be active wearing a specially made costume… What to do with that costume .Because Beauty Painter and Maid Maiden don’t stop arguing.”

“… “

Cleon’s silence continued for a long time.

Calia also looked at Cleon and bowed her head as if she was really sorry.

“It seems that the Beauty Painter wants you to wear a traditional, traditional swordsman-black suit. Daemunyeo, the main character this time is not an oriental, so in a slightly new style. You said that it would be better to prepare black armor. From there, they said they put on a muffler- they added an extra mouthpiece to the mask… ”

“Ha… No. Okay. I think it will be fine without saying more.”

Cleon seemed tired of hearing her story, but she was a little relieved.

… At least the two of them don’t think of Cleon and the others as a nuisance. It must be that there is no worry about countermeasures against the vassals of the kingdom who will come from the Five Elements Festival.

“That part, I don’t think I can comment on. I can only hope that the two of them will find an appropriate agreement.”

“Yes… I’d like to hear your opinion as quickly as possible. Otherwise, the person who makes the clothes will be in tears.”

Cleon had no choice but to nod her head as if agreeing with her.

002

When Cleon returned to her own quarters, it was shortly after her talk her with Hertie was over.

In his hand her was a magat from Herti, and a string passed through a hole in it so that it could be worn as her necklace her.

As she slowly sorts out what she needs to do in the future, as she walks through the store after sunset-

“… Amelia?”

In front of the inn, I saw Amelia crouching down a bit.

As Cleon approached her, the sound of her footsteps her echoed on the gravel floor, and Amelia noticed Cleon and stood up.

“Cleon. Is the story over?”

“Ah. Why are you outside? What about dinner?”

“It’s still here. We decided to eat together when Cleon came. Little… I’m worried about what Cleon and Herti are talking about. … As expected, the envoys from the kingdom…”

After hearing her words of her, Cleon was silent for a moment, then nodded.

“Ah. It seems that what is coming is the daughter of Duke Regent. Seeing that she deliberately chose her mage her, there is no doubt that she is trying to find you with her.”

“… Well, then. After all, it would be better to leave Asteris in the meantime.”

To her words her, Cleon shook her head and replied.

“… Amelia. Can you close your eyes for a bit?”

“…? Yes, yes.”

Despite Cleon’s sudden request for her, Amelia nodded her head and gently closed her eyes.

Suddenly, the feeling of something touching her hair passed her, and then something light and powerful was caught on her neck her.

“…This… Magatok? Are you?”

“Did you know? Right. It was made for us by the godmother.”

Saying so, Cleon explains the effect of her magatama her to her her.

“…Indeed…! Then, even if I am in Asteris, people from the kingdom cannot see me!”

“Okay. But be careful. If you remove that gem from your body, you will definitely be caught.”

“… Ah, okay Cleon. I will never be separated from you.”

As she said that, Amelia’s cheeks turned a little red as she looked down at the thing hanging from her own neck her.

‘… A gift from Cleon… ’

While saying that, she rubbed the surface of her magatama a little, and as if she couldn’t calm the pounding in her chest, she let out a sigh.

“Then. Shall we go in? Lila must be crying because she is hungry.”

“…Yes!”

At Cleon’s words to her, Amelia answered as if she had regained her energy, opened the door and went inside.

“Cleon-! Are you here now!? They said they were waiting for dinner until you came, so they said they were hungry-!”

Then, the voice of a red-haired girl came from inside.