Chapter 54: Erin -4-
The great golden ship Prydwen cut through the rough waves of the Celtic Sea as smoothly as if it were gliding across a tranquil lake.
"All right, everyone, let's get lunch ready! Since we're out at sea, we should be eating fresh seafood!"
Standing at the prow, I hurled the massive net Merlin had woven with Magecraft out toward the sea with all my strength.
Dozens of minutes later, when we hauled the rope back up, the net came up packed full of cod as thick as an adult man's forearm, their silver scales flashing as they thrashed.
"Ohh! Your Highness, what an astonishing catch!"
General Morholt and the soldiers of the Munster delegation cheered with awestruck eyes.
"Today's lunch is fish and chips!"
I rolled up my sleeves on the spot and got straight to cooking. Barghest lit the fire under the pot, and Medea filleted the fresh cod before coating it in the special batter I'd made.
Sizzle, whooosh!
The rich, oily aroma spread across Prydwen's deck on the sea breeze.
When I piled the crisp golden fried cod and thick-cut fried potatoes high onto wooden plates and passed them around, everyone rushed in with their forks.
"Mmf... crispy on the outside, and the inside melts in my mouth! Can this truly be a dish made from fish?!"
General Morholt cried out in deep emotion, blowing on the hot fried food as he ate.
Nobunaga had gone so far as to stuff her cheeks full to bursting with fries.
"Mmph... mm! Just as delicious as I thought! Another plate, Master!"
"Swallow what's in your mouth before you talk. You look ridiculous."
With that peaceful, cheerful mealtime, we crossed the Irish Sea at overwhelming speed, never even giving its fickle storms a chance to trouble us.
A few days later, Prydwen finally docked at the grand port city of the Kingdom of Munster in southern Ireland.
"Welcome to the Kingdom of Munster, Prince Arthur."
General Morholt was the first to disembark and politely led the way.
The streets of Munster held a vitality and tension subtly different from Britain.
The red-haired Celts walking the streets whispered among themselves as they looked at our party, especially at me with the holy sword at my side, but perhaps because they felt relieved to be free of the tyrant King Rience's rule, there was no deep hostility in their eyes.
Without delay, we followed Morholt's lead toward Munster's royal castle.
On the throne sat King Anguishaus, High King of Ireland and Isolde's father, his expression stiff.
"My king. I have brought before you Prince Arthur Pendragon, the new overlord of Britain."
Morholt knelt respectfully as he made his report.
King Anguishaus rose from his seat and studied me carefully.
His gaze passed over my youthful face and radiant blond hair, then sensed the suffocating Mana and pressure emanating from Morgan, Merlin, and the Heroic Spirits accompanying me.
"You have come a long way, Prince Arthur. Is my daughter Isolde safe?"
King Anguishaus spoke cautiously.
Not King Arthur, but Prince. So he was already prepared to show the proper respect due from a vassal state. For him to act this way toward someone far younger than himself meant that his country mattered more to him than his pride.
I gave a light nod.
"The princess is doing well at Nogares Castle and has been treated with the highest courtesy, so there's no need to worry. As General Morholt must have told you, I have no intention of trampling this land of Erin by force."
Since he had shown courtesy first, I should return the proper respect due to an elder. For now, it was an attitude I liked.
I went straight to the point.
"If Munster does not raise its banner against me and acknowledges my suzerainty as a vassal state, I intend to cut the excessive taxes Rience imposed by half and firmly guarantee Munster's autonomy. Of course, that is on the condition that Princess Isolde first fulfills the geas oath she promised."
A deep look of relief passed over King Anguishaus's face.
'So the rumors were true. He is no merciless tyrant like Rience. Rather, he demands submission on terms this fair, without unjust plunder. Compared to Rience, even compared to Rome, these are good conditions. With terms like this, I may be able to secure not only Munster's survival, but peace for all Erin.'
After exchanging a brief look with General Morholt, he gave a heavy nod.
"Very well. If Your Highness keeps your promise, then I, Anguishaus, and the royal house of Munster shall swear absolute loyalty for the duration of Prince Arthur's reign and accept the geas spell."
The diplomatic negotiations concluded with astonishing smoothness. It was the moment a great alliance and submission between Britain and southern Ireland was achieved without a single drop of blood being shed.
At that same time, while Arthur's negotiations were proceeding smoothly—
Elsewhere, in the dark underside of Ireland, a terrible despair was swirling.
In a remote forest in western Ireland, hundreds of li from the Kingdom of Munster, far from human habitation.
Beyond a swamp thick with the stench of blood and dense demonic miasma, a lone knight sat atop a rock in an open plain.
An elite knight dispatched from the Fairy Kingdom ruled by Queen Gloriana to subjugate the tyrant Grantorto.
It was Britomart.
"What... am I supposed to do now?"
Britomart's eyes were empty, and tears of despair slowly ran down her cheeks.
Where her gaze rested lay the horribly mutilated corpse of a man.
He was Artegall, the righteous hero who had been dispatched alongside her for the cause of the Fairy Kingdom, with the mission of reclaiming the Kingdom of Eden.
A few days earlier.
While tracking Grantorto, they learned the horrifying truth that the tyrant had joined hands with the worst monster in Ireland, the giant boar Twrch Trwyth.
Twrch Trwyth had originally been a man, and a king.
But he had been a pagan king, and because of his savage nature he harmed countless people, until at last he was cursed by God and turned into a monstrous boar.
His seven children also became piglets, yet even so he never changed his violent nature and continued rampaging everywhere.
Then Grantorto, the tyrant who had conquered and usurped the Kingdom of Eden, proposed that he join him.
The two were beings of a similar kind, and they formed an alliance.
Grantorto had built a magical stronghold on Twrch Trwyth's back and was ravaging the forest. Britomart and Artegall fought desperately to stop them, but they were not enough.
Before the pincer assault of the giant venomous boar's charge and Grantorto's wicked attacks, Artegall threw himself forward to save Britomart and was pierced through by the boar's enormous tusk.
"Artegall... because of me... because I wasn't enough..."
Britomart clutched Artegall's cold hand and wept bitterly.
The grief of losing her companion, the helplessness she had felt before an overwhelming monster, and the searing frustration of failing to fulfill her mission to save the Kingdom of Eden were gnawing away at her soul.
"What... what am I supposed to do now..."
She lowered her eyes to the cold ground.
The usurper Grantorto, with Twrch Trwyth at the forefront, was even now turning the forests of western Ireland to ashes and plotting to invade other kingdoms.
The footsteps of overwhelming ruin she could never stop alone.
Dark, heavy clouds of despair were settling deep over Britomart's heart.
"—"
Then a being placed a hand on Britomart's shoulder, encouraging her.
"Talos..."
"———"
It was the iron spirit Talos.
A spirit the goddess Astraea had given to Artegall, whom she had raised; in truth, it was Talos, the giant automaton that had once guarded the island of Crete in the distant past.
He had met his death at Medea's hands, and afterward the gods had recovered him, after which he came into Astraea's possession.
She had reconstructed Talos as small as possible so he could operate with the feel of a spirit, then sent him to Artegall.
Talos, who had failed to protect his master, comforted Britomart, and Britomart nodded.
She could not remain here in despair. So that his death would not be in vain, she had to defeat Grantorto no matter what.
But for just the two of them, she and Talos, it was impossible.
And so she decided to seek out another kingdom and ask for help.
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