A King is Born on the Road

To be honest, even after hearing his mother’s warning, Hayer was not yet particularly afraid of his biological father. He was strong, and he had no real father.

Iris answered Hayer’s question as clearly as ever.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“I see.”

Hayer asked again with a relieved smile.

“Is it okay if he’s from Siere?”

“Is he from Siere?”

“It seemed so. Although she didn’t tell me exactly. He seemed to have a relatively high status.”

“I see.”

Iris nodded.

“It still doesn’t matter. Do you have any inclination to go and live in Siere?”

Hayer, who was examining all her reactions, shook his head immediately to the question he had also heard from his mother.

“Not at all. I’ve never imagined it.”

“Then even more so, it doesn’t matter.”

Iris was right. What’s wrong with his father being from Siere unless he’s going to cross over?

───  ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅  ───

Meppo began to walk through the maze with the sage.

Meppo asked.

“May I ask for your name?”

“I am…”

The sage blinked and checked here and there anxiously. He didn’t seem to remember for a moment because no one called his name nor did he say it to himself for a while.

The sage murmured.

“My name is Herbin. It’s been so long since my name has been said, so I’m confused even though it’s my name.”

“Herbin. It’s Herbin. Nice to meet you. Umm, I came in after relatively memorizing the names of the traitors… it’s not a name I remember.”

“Really? Oh dear. My presence.”

Herbin grumbled as if he was disappointed.

He was a man with a comfortable atmosphere. Meppo, who was a little lonely to go alone, was satisfied with the fact that he had someone to walk with him.

While walking like that, he stopped at the roar of the wall breaking again.

Herbin looked up at the wall anxiously.

“Oh dear, oh no.”

“It sounds like the walls are wailing. To the point it makes my heart ache.”

Herbin smiled and replied to Meppo’s words, who is easily immersed in things.

“It’s true that the walls are wailing.”

“What?”

“This maze is actually alive.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Aren’t you curious? What force is this maze moving by?”

“……”

Meppo looked at the broken wall. And he continued with an incredulous look.

“Are you saying it is… alive?”

“Yes. It’s alive.”

Herbin still looked at the wall with a smile.

“But it’s not dangerous. What’s really dangerous is humans.”

“I see.”

The sages were truly talking babbling beings. But there was truth and wisdom in what they said.

Meppo said.

“How did you end up here? How long have you been here?”

“Won’t you find out when you leave the maze?”

“That’s true.”

In the meantime, the sun began to set again.

After a day, the maze healed itself as much as it could. Knowing the fact, Meppo said to Herbin.

“I think you should run. To get out.”

“This place… are you leaving?”

“Yes. Our leader is breaking down the wall ahead of us. If all these walls are broken, we’ll be able to go outside. Of course, you have to pledge your allegiance to our leader before then.”

“Really, are you sure you can get out of here?”

“Yes.”

Herbin couldn’t believe it, so he stood and looked up at the sky for a moment. Then he said to Meppo.

“You asked me how long I’ve been here.”

“Yes.”

“It’s been over 300 years.”

“…That can’t be. The maximum penalty for a traitor is 170 years. As far as I know, you disappear after 170 years.”

“I thought so too.”

Herbin smiled and walked again.

“How can I put into words the fear I felt when I knew that I would not die even though I lived only looking at the day I turned 170?”

“……”

“300 years. It’s been 300 years.”

“……”

They hurried their steps. As they walked through the maze all night, a panoramic view of the desert came into sight.

Like a flower blooming in the desert, the bright crimson sun slowly rose. There was a hole in the maze.

Herbin stopped at the sight. And asked Meppo.

“May I run?”

“Ah, yes. Even if I fall behind, please go ahead.”

“Are you hurt?”

Herbin was concerned, and he put Meppo’s arm on his shoulder.

“Let’s go, together!”

Seeing Herbin trying to help him, who seemed to be having a hard time collecting himself, Meppo came to think that he was a very good person.

He was curious to think so. Why did this sage enter the maze?

Meppo continued to walk through the maze.

It was not until the sun rose from the front to the middle of the sky, and then began to fall behind their backs that the two came out of the maze.

Meppo found Kernin standing in front of the maze and ran to him.

“Captain!”

“You’re late.”

“I’m—I’m sorry.”

Meppo collapsed on the sand, relieved that he had barely escaped the maze.

Kernin opened his mouth.

“There is an oasis nearby. Let’s go.”

“Yes, Captain. By the way, the party has increased.”

Meppo saw three men following Kernin. All of them seemed to have been taken out of the Traitor’s Labyrinth.

Kernin said.

“I met twenty people, but only these three were worth using.”

Seventeen meant to kill.

Meppo felt appalled, but he wondered what significance the deaths of those who must have been traitors meant to him, as he also abandoned his right-hand man.

A long time in the maze was a time to cultivate the loyalty of a traitor. The three, brought out by Kernin, were sure to pledge eternal loyalty to him.

Meppo followed Kernin diligently.

When the party arrived at the oasis, they found a fallen tree.

It was a sacred tree.

It was unbelievable that both the sacred tree fell to both the traitors and Royal Knights.

“The— the sacred tree…”

Meppo ran frantically and checked the sacred tree.

It was completely dead. Even the base made it seem clear that it was artificially cut by someone.

Kernin also seemed surprised, but he thought it had nothing to do with him, so he immediately began to quench his thirst with the water of the oasis.

The oasis where the sacred tree disappeared was muddy, but they had to drink this water to cross the desert.

While the rest of the party were also quenching their thirst at the oasis, the sage Herbin walked to the base of the tree.

“It’s all right. It’s still savable.”

“You can save it?”

When Kernin asked, Herbin knelt under the tree. He took his hand to the base. Then he looked back at the party and said,

“With me, will you put the sacred tree back up?”

The rest of the party clung to his words and lifted the tree. And not too long after it was set straight on the base.

“S-sage!”

Meppo pointed to the leaves in surprise.

The divine blue energy of the dead and withered sacred tree began to slowly return.

───  ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅  ───

After leaving the palace, Iris arrived at Hayer’s house.

Iris checked Cadella’s room first. Looking through the wide-open window, she saw Cadella with a book open and concentrating with a serious face. Not wanting to distract that concentration, Iris backed away quietly.

Hayer explained.

“It seems that he has something he wants to do after seeing my mother.”

“What does he want to do?”

“It was for a moment, but his hallucinogenic drug cleared my mother’s mind. After that, he wants to see if he can use his abilities as a medical technique. Anesthesia, or conversely, to keep the mind intact.”

Iris spoke with eyes full of affection at his words.

“He is a good person.”

“He’s pretty good for a traitor.”

Hayer said and laughed merrily.

After checking on Cadella, Iris went into the room where she stayed for a while. Hayer left her room empty for granted, and even the items likely to be found in a princess’s room increased one by one.

Iris sat at the desk, grateful for Hayer’s consideration. The King of Siere wrote and sent a rough reply on any letter paper, so she intended to do the same this time.

In the beginning, she wrote about the rotting disease of pomegranate flowers. And since she knew the solution, she asked for a call to be granted.

With such courtesy, but not servile, she wrote a letter requesting entry again.

Just as she wrote down her last signature, she heard Hayer knocking.

“Come in.”

When Iris said, Hayer opened the door and entered.

He checked the letter Iris wrote, and immediately entrusted it to Edwin the courier.

After Edwin left, Hayer said to Iris.

“Then now we have to choose jewels.”

“Are you really going to choose?”

“If I don’t, I think I’ll be scolded by the lady-in-waiting. Don’t you think so?”

Hayer was right.

Iris got up to pick out the jewellery despite it being cumbersome, afraid of being nagged at by Agatha.

At that time, the messenger rushed in urgently.

“Ca-Captain!”

Hayer, who guessed that something was wrong with the urgency, accepted the letter right away. And after opening the letter, he narrowed his eyes.

The contents of the letter were twofold.

That Kernin Lepos escaped the maze. And that the sacred tree was reviving.

afterword 

iris’s room in hayer’s home gradually getting filled with items for a woman that is so adorbs im going crazy anyway sorry for the late-ish update i kind of forgot erm yeah