by Michael Sisa
The memories of his previous life passed through Lark’s mind. He felt mixed emotions after reminiscing about his days in the Magic Empire. If the planetary alignment, which happened every ten thousand years, did not occur, maybe the Magic Empire would still exist even in this timeline.
If he was still alive during the cataclysm, maybe they could have closed the void and prevented the mana of this world from leaking out.
Lark canceled his floating spell and the burned wood dropped to the ground.
“After reading this book, I realized why General Alvaren remained undefeated until this recent war with the Empire,” said Lark. “Only those capable of unstructured magic are capable of fighting against him one-on-one. This is the reason why my brother and Viscount Zacharia lost. It’s truly fortunate that the Sword Saint was there during that battle. Only someone like him, who isn’t fully reliant on magic, could defeat the Magic Slayer of the Empire.”
Chryselle was momentarily speechless after hearing these things. Everything Lark said made sense, and if she took his words as reality, then dispelling even spells “unfueled” by mana should be feasible. It was only a matter of how good a magician was in alteration.
“You probably grew up believing the words written in that book,” said Lark. “But as long as you’re under my tutelage, you’ll have to throw several of those things away. We’ll correct all the misconceptions taught to you from a young age.”
Chryselle clenched her fists. “Yes!”
Lark liked those determined eyes of hers. “Then let’s start today’s magic lesson.”
***
The magic lessons continued until dusk.
After dinner, Lark received an unexpected guest in the mansion.
“Princess,” said Lark. “Had I known you were coming tonight, I would have prepared a proper reception.”
The princess looked conflicted. She looked down and remained silent for a moment. Behind her were her personal knights.
Lark waited patiently for her to speak.
“I heard that you’re conducting an expedition to the Endless Forest.” She finally raised her head and stared straight into Lark’s eyes. “I want you to let us come along with the soldiers.”
The latter part of her statement was said with conviction, clearly not taking no for an answer. This was the first time Lark had seen that fierce look in her eyes, as though this expedition meant the world to her, as though she was carrying a heavy weight of responsibility on her shoulders.
Lark remained calm and replied, “I need a reason to let you tag along, Princess.”
The princess bit her lip. “That… I cannot tell you. I’m sorry.”
“My head will come rolling should anything happen to you while you’re in my territory,” Lark said gently. “Unless I know the reason and I judge that it is worth the risk of a royal joining the expedition, I shall have to decline, Your Highness.”
The princess looked at Parzival and silently pleaded for help. The knight understood what the princess was trying to convey and nodded his head.
“The five of us will be responsible for the princess’ safety,” said Parzival. “Rest assured that nothing will happen to Her Highness as long as she’s with us. Her safety will be our utmost priority.”
Lark fell silent. He started pondering whether or not he should let the princess join the expedition.
Truthfully, the Endless Forest was full of mysteries. They were frequently attacked by monsters on their way to the capital, and even the forests near the major cities weren’t safe to traveling merchants. But the Endless Forest was different. It was eerily peaceful, as though someone was controlling all the creatures living inside it. Even the goblins who previously inhabited the mines never attacked Blackstone Town.
Furthermore, the Endless Forest was absurdly large, to the point that it was presumed to be larger than the entire Kingdom of Lukas. All attempts to map the place proved futile due to its sheer size. Even with flight magic, Lark was unable to make a map.
After weighing all possible scenarios, Lark made up his mind. He decided that it would be too dangerous to let the princess wander the Endless Forest, even if she was escorted by the knights.
“I need a reason, Princess,” repeated Lark. “Unless I hear the reason you wish to go, I can’t let you join the expedition forces.”
The princess closed her eyes and sighed. Eventually, she spoke to her knights. “We’re leaving.”
She could have lied her way out of this, but she simply chose to remain silent. Lark found this quite admirable.
She bowed her head. “Sorry for disturbing you at this hour, Lord Lark.”
The knights looked like they wanted to say something but eventually decided against it.
After the visitors left, Lark summoned Anandra and Captain Qarat.
“You called for us, Young Lord?” Anandra and Qarat saluted.
“The princess just left the mansion a while ago. She wishes to join the expedition forces.”
“Ah, she did ask me this morning about the reconnaissance mission to the Endless Forest,” said the Captain of the Blackstone Soldiers. “But why does the princess want to join the expedition?”
“I asked her the same question,” said Lark. “But she refused to answer. Listen, I want the two of you to monitor the movements of the princess and her men. Do not let her take part in the expedition, and you are to inform me immediately if she suddenly enters the Endless Forest.”
Captain Qarat was clearly uncomfortable monitoring the movements of a royal. He hesitated for a moment before he replied. Anandra, on the other hand, immediately made his response. To him, the royals did not matter. His master was Lark Marcus, no one else.
“As you wish, My Lord.”
“Y-Yes, Young Lord!”
Lark had a bad premonition about this. Those eyes filled with conviction—she would surely enter the forest despite Lark’s refusal.
Lark sighed. This was one of the reasons why he hated being associated with royals.
CHAPTER 6
“Princess, maybe it’d be better if we tell the lord the truth?” said Parzival.
“No.” The princess shook her head. “Didn’t Uncle Carlos tell us what would happen if the state of the king’s health is revealed to the public?”
General Carlos, the retired general and close friend of His Majesty, strictly told them to keep this secret under wraps. He was afraid that the moment the power-hungry nobles learned of this, there would be civil war. Although the curse running through the blood of the royal family was an open secret among nobilities, the exact state King Alvis’ current health hadn’t been disclosed to most nobles.
To the anti-royal faction, a king on his deathbed was nothing but an unmoving target. They would definitely plot schemes to worsen the disease and stop any attempts at finding the cure. The princess wanted to avoid this from happening at all costs.
“But maybe if it’s Lord Lark—the hero who valiantly fought for the Kingdom against the Empire,” Parzival said carefully. “Maybe he’ll understand? There’s a limit on what we can accomplish with just our number.”
A princess. Her five knights.
With just the six of them, it’d be near impossible to thoroughly comb even a portion of the forest. This was why they requested the Lord of Blackstone Town to let them accompany the expedition. If they were with the soldiers and the Blackstone Knights, then they wouldn’t need to worry about the princess’ safety at the very least. They could also discreetly task the soldiers to report to them if they saw a certain flower in the forest, although this carried the risk of being found out by the Lord of Blackstone Town later on.
“I can’t trust him,” she said. “For now, we’ll proceed with the search with just the six of us.”
Parzival had heard stories regarding Lark Marcus from his former instructor, Mikael. Unlike the princess, he knew that the bad rumors surrounding the noble were groundless. He knew that Lark was a virtuous ruler despite his notorious repu
tation. Even Instructor Mikael doubted the reason why Lark was thrown away to this town by his own father.
But he couldn’t go against the princess’ wish. As the leader of her personal knights, Parzival decided to obey.
“Yes, Princess.” Parzival bowed his head. “I’ll make preparations right away.”
Parzival and the knights spent an entire day gathering the necessary supplies for their search of the flower in the Endless Forest. At least two weeks’ worth of rations, a portable camp, potions, armors and weapons. They also managed to rent a mule from one of the visiting merchants.
The next day, at the crack of dawn, their group gathered at the Eastern District, near the entrance of the Endless Forest. The mule carried their supplies and the princess, while the knights—armed to the teeth—stood beside it.
“We’re being watched,” said Parzival.
He noticed that the moment they entered the Eastern District, a few soldiers started following them from a distance. An official from Blackstone Town definitely tasked the soldiers to monitor them.
How nosy.
The princess clicked her tongue. “Tomas.”
Tomas, the most proficient in magic among the knights, nodded his head. “Yes, Princess.”
“Erase our presence,” she said.
Tomas channeled mana into his bracer. The gem embedded in the magic tool glowed and mist started enveloping the area. Like a mirage, the images of the princess and her knights distorted then vanished. The soldiers watching them from a safe distance were dumbfounded at this. They immediately reported to the captain that they’d lost track of the group.
***
Lark received the reports of his men. The princess still went inside the forest despite his refusal to let her take part in the expedition.
Although she was accompanied by the knights, he couldn’t help but worry. She was a royal, after all. And she was entrusted to him by His Majesty in the pretext of learning the culture of this part of the Kingdom. Should anything happen to her, it would cause an uproar.
“Young Lord!” Captain Qarat got down on one knee. “I should have personally monitored the princess. This is clearly my blunder! Please allow me to enter the forest with the soldiers and bring her back!”
For a moment, the image of Captain Qarat’s overlapped with Anandra’s.
This guy—he was starting to sound like his first disciple as time went by. Lark glanced at Anandra, who stood silently next to his table, then at the captain.
The knights seemed to have used some unusual magic to shake off the tail. Even if the captain was there personally, Lark doubted if he could trace the princess’ footsteps. The captain was decent in leading his men, but he was no magician like Lark, nor was he a natural-born fighter like Anandra.
“Lord,” Anandra spoke. “Just give the order and I’ll immediately bring the princess back to Blackstone Town.”
Lark shook his head. “No. It’s fine. Captain Qarat, the training of the recruits is going to start soon. You should go back to the arena.”
There were over a hundred new soldiers in Blackstone Town. Just like the veterans, they would undergo daily stamina training, mastery of the basic movements of the spear, and actual combat practice with the humanoids in the arena. Even now, only Anandra was capable of defeating the humanoid basilisks at their full strength. But he’d heard that Captain Qarat and several soldiers were now capable of landing a few hits on them.
This clearly showed that his soldiers were growing stronger by each passing day. There would come a time when they would finally be worthy of wielding the magic spears Lark was secretly creating in the basement of the mansion. Giving them those weapons now would hinder their growth, and Lark wanted to avoid this from happening at all costs.
“Yes, Young Lord.” The captain stood up and lowered his head.
“And forget the princess’ disappearance,” said Lark. “Maybe it’s better this way. She’s a princess of this Kingdom. We can’t really stop her from entering the forest if she’s that determined.”
After dismissing the captain and Anandra, Lark immediately activated the surveillance crystal. He gave an order to the familiars gathered throughout the entire region. More than a dozen birds immediately flew toward the mansion and entered Lark’s office through the window. Lark tied communication crystals on several of them, before ordering them to fly toward the Endless Forest. He ordered them to search for the princess and her men.
They disappeared not long ago, so they should still be nearby. Lark expected to find them in just a few hours, but to his surprise, he could not find even a trace of them after several hours. It was already night when Lark finally found them through the light coming from the campfire. The group had set up camp near the Rile River.
The raven controlled by Lark flew down and landed on the branch of a nearby tree. He watched and listened to the group below using the communication crystal tied around the raven’s body.
“Princess, dinner’s ready,” said one of the knights.
The princess accepted the bowl filled with hot soup. Large portions of meat floated on top of it.
“Thank you,” she said. Her entire body was clad in a thick cloak.
“Tomas, the defensive spells?” said Parzival.
“They’re working just fine. We’ll be safe from projectiles and sudden attacks as long as we’re inside this camp.”
After looking carefully, Lark saw an inconspicuous circle surrounding the entire camp. It was probably the demarcation point of the protection spell Tomas had cast.
“We’ll be taking turns guarding the camp,” said Parzival. “We’ll take shifts every four hours. Noctus and I will be in charge of guarding the camp until an hour past midnight.”
The rest of the knights nodded. “Understood!”
Lark noticed that the knights removed all of their traces. Unless one was nearby, it’d be hard to even notice the glowing campfire. This definitely meant that the knights were well-trained and competent, but it also meant that it would be hard for Lark to send help in times of peril. Just locating them in the middle of this forest would be a pain.
“Parzival.”
“Yes, Princess?”
“Thank you,” she said softly. “And the other knights too. I’m really grateful that all of you came here with me today.”
The knights froze upon hearing this. Slowly, smiles formed on their faces. They had been watching over the princess since she was young. She was one of the kindest souls they’d known throughout their lives.
“This much is natural, Princess,” said Parzival. “We are your knights. We’ll help you find that flower, no matter what.”
“The leader is right, Your Highness.”
Lark finally found a lead to what the princess was looking for.
A flower? She entered the forest to find a certain flower?
The princess nodded. Her eyes glistened, she bit her lower lip, and nodded with determination. “We’ll immediately resume our search tomorrow at dawn. We’ll cover each as area as planned. We’ll come back to the town only once we’ve consumed our rations, then start with the search once again. We’re not giving up until we find it!”
“Yes, Princess!” Her knights responded resolutely.
Lark continued observing the group even after the princess entered the portable tent and fell asleep. Unfortunately, no conversations regarding the flower occurred after that. Lark did not have any idea what kind of flower they were looking for in the Endless Forest. He also did not know why they were desperately looking for it in the first place.
Before going to sleep, Lark ordered a few of his familiars to follow the group from a safe distance. He left the channel connecting the familiars to the vision crystal open. He decided to watch over them again once they started moving out first thing in the morning.
***
The next several days were uneventful.
The princess and her knights had gone deep into the forest but were still unable to find wh
at they were looking for.
Fortunately, there had been no monster attacks to their group. Aside from the recent incident of a snake hidden in the shrubberies almost biting the princess, their search for the flower had gone without hitch or strife.
On the third day of observing the princess’ group, Lark finally found out the name of the flower they were looking for.
The Tears of Ubroxia.
To think that he would hear that name from the knight’s mouth.
It was one of the healing methods he revealed to Silver Claw back then, when he was desperate for someone to heal his daughter.
Unfortunately, Lark doubted they would find the flower even if they searched the entire forest for it. The Tears of Ubroxia grew only in mana-dense areas: the lower floors of great labyrinths, underneath mana wells, lairs of dragons, and any other areas connected to the Dragon Vein below.
Even if they searched for a year, they might not find the flower in this forest. After all, the amount of ambient mana in this region was mediocre. It was simply unsuitable for the Tears of Ubroxia’s to grow.
“A waste of time.”
Lark arrived at this conclusion. He heard that a dragon was guarding the borders of the Dwarven Kingdom. They would probably have a higher chance of finding the flower near that dragon’s lair, since those prideful creatures frequently resided in mana-dense areas.
They could also dive to the lower floors of a great labyrinth and try their luck, but they would surely suffer numerous casualties in the process, and there was no guarantee that the strong monsters residing on the lower floors hadn’t already eaten the flower.
The last and safest option was to find a place connected to the Dragon Vein below. Or, if the Goddess of Luck smiled upon them, a mana well. It had the highest chance for an Ubroxia to grow and bloom into a flower.