With its disbandment, the expedition Green Eyes became a legend in Shedil.

It had brought to life, almost as if following a script, the dream of countless explorers who visited this city beside the Demonlands: strike it rich in one brief, spectacular success, then retire.

And among its members, Shan's stature had risen as high as it possibly could. Already renowned for his overwhelming fighting prowess, he was now a legendary warrior said to have defeated a cockatrice in what was effectively single combat.

"Oh, Master Shan! Over here! Come have a drink!"

Whenever he stopped by the explorers' guild, everyone wanted to befriend him.

Who knew? If they cultivated a friendship now, they might secure a place should Green Eyes ever reunite.

He had been popular after defeating all those opponents with his sword, and again when word spread that he had bested a knight. But his standing now was on an entirely different level.

Explorers now addressed the Altoan boy, not even half their age, with the deference due a superior.

Among his fellow Altoans, he had become something close to an object of worship.

"Sounds good!"

Naturally, Shan was delighted that people liked him. He simply grinned, joined them, and helped himself to free food and drink.

"Now, watch. You put these in this cup and shake it. If you guess the number that comes up..."

On one occasion, he learned a dice game and played a few rounds.

The explorers who proposed it figured that, since the youngster had made a tidy sum, they could bleed some of it out of him through gambling.

As they merrily rolled the dice, the man who had invited Shan smiled until his eyes curved into crescents.

"Master Shan, I hear you work with that fellow Roden?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"How do you split the profits, if you don't mind my asking?"

He confidently rattled on about how Roden was a fraud with nothing to recommend him but his build, leeching off Shan, and how he could guarantee Shan a greater return if they worked together instead.

Then his eyes met Shan's, and his mouth snapped shut before he knew it.

'What is it with those eyes...?'

Those green eyes, whose slightly downturned corners had seemed so gentle, stared straight at him, sending an inexplicable chill through him.

He felt as though a blade might cut his throat at any moment...

As silence settled around the gambling table that had been so boisterous only moments before, Shan jerked his chin toward the door and spoke quietly.

"Get out."

There was no need to tack on anything as tiresome as, "If you don't want to die."

The man bowed low and fled like a shot.

Shan enjoyed gambling at dice with other people a few more times after that, but was soon banned.

They discovered that his keen eyes and sensitive fingertips let him correctly call the dice on other people's turns—and control every single die perfectly whenever he shook the cup himself.

While Shan passed his days in leisurely idleness, Roden was quite busy.

He negotiated the magic stone's price with the explorers' guild, completed the sale, then divided the proceeds and sent them to Vent's monastery and Zerpo's school of magic...

Since they planned to rest for a while, he also had to resell the unused magic tools and assorted medicines they had bought.

Most had expiration dates. Left sitting around, they would turn to shit.

Just as the work was mostly finished and he could finally rest, the two received an invitation from the count.

"Roden too?"

"Yes. His Excellency has summoned you both."

Unlike last time, the guard addressed them with polite deference as he escorted Shan and Roden to the count's castle.

The administrator was no different.

He called them "Master Shan" and "Master Wievers," and did not leave them standing in the waiting room for ages before their audience.

"Ah, the heroes of my domain have arrived! Come, come, have some tea!"

The count went a step further still.

Gone was the arrogant man who had looked down on Shan as he knelt at the foot of the stairs. The old bear treated them as warmly as dear friends he had not seen in years.

"I greet Your Excellency Count Shedil, Shield of the East and Commander of the Demonlands Pioneering Order. I am..."

"Oh, enough of that stiff formality! I know your father, so we're hardly strangers. Good to meet you, Roden!"

Shan distinctly recalled the count growling last time that he had driven Kalion out. Yet anyone hearing him now would have thought they were quite close acquaintances.

The room to which he brought them for tea was nothing like the imposing but roughly furnished reception room or dining hall Shan had seen before.

For one thing, though it had no windows, luminous magical devices were set throughout its ceiling and walls. The entire atmosphere was elegant and luxurious.

Pictures moved of their own accord on the walls, and the chandeliers overhead shone enchantingly in different colors.

'I thought the count preferred simpler things.'

While Shan marveled at his surroundings, the count took a sip of tea and immediately posed a question.

"I hear you've disbanded your expedition?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Do you intend to stop exploring the Demonlands?"

Why ask that all of a sudden?

Puzzled, Shan glanced at Roden beside him instead of answering himself.

Taking the cue, Roden replied in his stead.

"For now, we intend to rest for a while. We need to find new members, too... Our last expedition was particularly grueling."

One thing their two expeditions had taught them was that they needed truly trustworthy companions.

Expeditions tested friendship and trust far more often than one might expect.

Though Roden had chosen them with particular care, it was still a stroke of extraordinary luck that their first companions, Vent and Zerpo, had proved so reliable.

Quite apart from that, they needed time to rest.

Two months exploring the Demonlands took a greater toll on mind and body than they had imagined.

"Hmm, I see. Well, that can't be helped. I'll speak to my butler and the guildmaster. If you need anything, ask them for assistance. Are your current lodgings comfortable? I could offer you rooms here in the castle."

"Thank you for the offer, but we're thinking of heading back to the capital soon... We would be grateful to accept your hospitality when we return."

"I see. You're always welcome here, so do come back."

The count frowned at the mention of their return to the capital, but offered no further objection and nodded readily enough.

Then Roden quietly addressed him.

"Your Excellency."

"What is it?"

"Does your statement that it would be difficult to knight Shan still stand?"

The count hesitated, then gave a faint groan and nodded.

"This room is rather extravagant, isn't it?"

"Yes."

As befitted a lord of the Demonlands, his room was filled with every sort of magical device. Merely looking around made one feel transported to another world.

Indeed, it was so ostentatious that it verged on vulgarity, making it somewhat off-putting.

"There's a simple reason I had that shabby reception room built when I already had this. Sometimes, I need to look as pitiable as possible for visitors from the capital. You understand what I mean, I trust?"

"I understand."

It was the count's way of explaining, without sacrificing his dignity, that he could not withstand the hostility of the capital's entrenched nobility, and thus could not grant the request.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, they parted with promises to meet again.

On their way back, Shan made sure no one was nearby before asking Roden,

"What's this about going back to the capital? Weren't we going to stay here for a few months until we'd sold the artifacts?"

"That was the plan, but something feels off. Don't you think the count's being a little too nice to us?"

"Is he?"

Shan had simply taken it for granted.

Ever since he had returned with the cockatrice's head, everyone had been kind and welcoming.

Admittedly, there had been a few vermin who tried to drive a wedge between him and Roden, or attacked them in back alleys for the money from the magic stone, only to wind up dead...

"Even accounting for that, it's excessive. I wondered if he'd changed his mind and was trying to win you over so he could knight you, but that doesn't seem to be it either."

"I see."

In fact, one of Roden's concerns was that the count might have discovered their hidden artifacts.

They had buried the artifacts from this expedition outside Shedil rather than bring them into the city, intending to sell them gradually later. As a result, they had brought back far fewer monster materials than they should have.

In any case, he judged it wiser to return to the capital and leave the count's sphere of influence than to remain here for now.

If the count's decision had some political connection, Roden could also gather information with his father Kalion's help.

In matters like these, Shan trusted Roden's judgment completely.

"Then let's head back home!"

"It's not my home, though."

"Don't say that. Just think of it as home."

* * *

The next day, Shan and Roden left Shedil and headed straight west.

Wary that the count might send troops after them, they rode until their horses were nearly exhausted on the first day, then camped outdoors. By the second day, reasonably satisfied that no one was following, they slowed down and began stopping to stay in nearby villages.

After disposing of a few gnolls they encountered on the road, Shan was cleaning his sword when a thought occurred to him.

"This is bad."

"What is?"

"Eastern Pendia is already starting to look peaceful."

To people from other countries, a land where travelers encountered a band or two of monsters every day was hell itself. Yet after venturing into the actual Demonlands, it almost felt too comfortable.

If you could eat fruit from trees along the road and drink cool water from a stream, what was that if not paradise?

Roden understood exactly what he meant and chuckled.

Of course, Libert and other countries had bandits and pirates running rampant in exchange for their more hospitable surroundings. Even so, Pendians often mocked foreigners for being soft.

Their laughter was short-lived. Roden looked around as though something had occurred to him, then gave a small exclamation.

"Come to think of it, I believe Vent's monastery is near here. Want to stop by and say hello?"

"Is it close?"

"Probably. From what he told me, it should be about half a day's ride toward that hill."

"Sounds good!"

Vent's monastery stood beside a fairly large village called Moniv. Like most settlements in Pendia, it was protected by a sturdy palisade, almost like a fortress.

When they gave the name Green Eyes, they were immediately welcomed inside as honored guests.

"Well, look who's here! It's good to see you!"

"It's been a while, Father!"

"Did the money arrive safely?"

"Indeed it did. Every bit of it, so don't worry."

Perhaps returning home had brought him peace of mind. Though only a few weeks had passed, Vent's face had filled out and his complexion was healthy.

After his warm greeting, he glanced around and lowered his voice.

"Has something happened?"

"Probably not what you're thinking of... Probably."

They shared no shortage of secrets, from killing a noble of the Kingdom of Ajun to concealing a powerful magical device.

But Roden shook his head, denying that it was any of those.

"The count was being so friendly that we got nervous and decided to retreat for a while, that's all. Do you happen to know anything about that?"

"What would I know?"

No meaningful intelligence was likely to reach someone who had retired from exploring and shut himself away in a monastery.

During their conversation, Shan realized someone was peeking at them and whipped his head around.

A girl with hooved feet started in fright and ran away.

"Now that I look, there are quite a few Altoan children here."

"Their lives are hard, so many children lose their parents. When their people can't manage to raise them, they often entrust them to a monastery."

That would have been unthinkable at a monastery run by the Old Faith, but the New Faith taught that Altoans, too, were children of the Goddess.

Of course, that did not mean every follower of the New Faith was free of prejudice against them.

Then Vent hesitated briefly before adding,

"Not long ago, the children those people had been raising came here too."

"Those people...?"

"The Altoan expedition that attacked us."

"Oh."

"That girl just now is one of them."

The Swift Seekers, the Altoan expedition wiped out when they attacked Shan's party, had been formed by a group of fairly talented people from several nearby Altoan villages.

For years, they had explored steadily, building a solid record. But after a string of failures over the past few months, they had disappeared.

The reason for their disappearance, of course, was that they had tried to rob Shan's party in a last desperate bid, only to be killed in the counterattack.

"All the money they'd earned had gone to their villages. When they began running at a loss, they borrowed from moneylenders in Shedil. Once it became clear they were dead, the lenders began trying to squeeze money out of their families, so the children were sent here for refuge. A few had already been taken away before that."

To moneylenders, children were assets worth taking if nothing better was available.

Pretty ones could be forced into prostitution regardless of sex. The others could be sold to gangs to serve as pickpockets or assassins.

Surprisingly often, a child was better at suddenly sticking a knife into someone's back than an adult who would put people on their guard.

"Hmm."

The explorers had died trying to rob them, so Shan could hardly pity the culprits themselves. Still, he could not help feeling some concern for their families.

He looked at the Altoan children watching him from a distance, their eyes shining.

"To those children, I'm the enemy who killed their family."

"Don't feel guilty about it. You can't let a robber kill you just because you pity them. I haven't told the children, so don't say anything unnecessary."

"Doesn't it bother you, Father?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well..."

Shan did not know how to express the discomfort he felt.

Something weighed on his chest, but he seemed to lack the words to explain it.

When he failed to continue, Vent nodded with a kindly smile, as though he understood everything.

"I understand. You haven't done anything wrong, yet somehow you feel as though you've become a bad person. The children's gazes make you uncomfortable too. Drawing a line between good and evil in matters like this is far too difficult and complicated for mere mortals. I went through many such experiences when I was young, and they troubled me greatly. But I've decided to let go, at least to some extent. All things will be as the Goddess wills."

At Vent's words, Shan realized what lay behind the strange emotional barrier he had sensed when he first met the priest.

Having lived longer than most, Vent had probably often seen yesterday's friends become today's enemies, or the reverse.

Perhaps those experiences had made him reluctant to grow too emotionally close to others.

The betrayal of someone he considered a friend would hurt all the more.

Priest Vent invited them to stay the night since they had come all this way, but Shan and Roden firmly declined and left the monastery.

As they rode away, Shan swayed with his horse's gait and spoke quietly to Roden.

"Those explorers were those children's parents and brothers and sisters, weren't they?"

"I suppose so."

"It feels strange."

He had never truly felt that all the people he had killed had families and friends of their own.

To Shan, every enemy who threatened him had been little different from a monster like a goblin.

That did not mean he was suddenly overwhelmed by unbearable guilt for everyone he had killed. But he had at least begun to feel some of the weight of taking a human life.

Whether or not he had progressed as a warrior, he had taken a step forward as a human being.

* * *

Returning after so long, they found the capital, Hasra, as grand and bustling as ever.

People from every region passed one another in the streets with indifference, paying little attention to those around them.

Once a celebrity in Shedil, Shan was now just another face in a vast crowd. He smiled to himself, amused that no one was looking at him.

All that had changed was the absence of attention, yet he felt as though he had become invisible.

Since they had sent no word ahead, Kalion was out when they reached the Wievers mansion. Tata, the butler, welcomed them in his stead.

Kalion returned that evening, after the two had washed in the luxurious baths they had sorely missed and filled their bellies with delicious food.

"Your letter said you planned to stay longer?"

"Something came up."

"Something, eh... I did hear you'd killed a cockatrice."

Even as he spoke, Kalion clicked his tongue as though he still could not believe it.

He had invested in Shan believing the boy would become someone important, but never had he imagined he would accomplish something so extraordinary so soon.

Yet he could hardly dismiss it as a lie, not with the memory of the cockatrice's head displayed in the garden still so vivid.

He could only conclude that he had underestimated the boy's potential.

After Roden explained the situation, Kalion frowned and nodded.

"I see. That explains it. You were right to come back. Staying there could have landed you in all manner of trouble."

"What's happening?"

"His Majesty's health has deteriorated considerably of late. I hear he can scarcely leave his bed."

Giselle III, king of Pendia, was forty-six that year.

For a royal receiving the best of care, that was an age at which he ought still to have been hale and hearty.

Of course, health varied from person to person. Serious illness or death would not be entirely surprising.

But what on earth did the king's health have to do with Count Shedil's behavior?

Perhaps sensing their questioning looks, Kalion immediately elaborated.

"This is only a rumor circulating among people at court, but apparently the king has declared that whichever of his children finds a way to restore his health, by any means necessary, will be named his heir."

"That's absurd..."

Whoever restored the king's health would become the next king.

Roden groaned softly at a tale fit for an old fairy story.

Then Shan, who had been listening quietly beside him, asked a question.

"But what does that have to do with Count Shedil?"

"The most likely means of restoring his health would be a sacred relic of the faith of the Goddess, or a magical device with healing powers. There's no way to acquire the former without going to war with another country. The latter, however, might be found in the Demonlands."

"Hmm... Oh, I see!"

"If you'd remained in Shedil, you could have ended up awkwardly entangled with the count and the two princes. Both princes would have hounded you, demanding the finest explorers, while the count would have posed as your patron to further his own interests. Whatever you decide to do, you need to gather as much information as possible and keep the initiative."

Shan was no fool. With that much explained, he could understand the situation.

If the person who brought back a magical device capable of restoring the king's health would become the next king, Count Shedil was bound to want control over explorers—especially someone like Shan.

The moment an expedition brought back a powerful healing device, a count on the fringes of the kingdom's political world would gain the power to determine who took the throne.

"Then we've learned one thing no one else knows. Count Shedil doesn't currently possess a magical device capable of restoring the king's health."

"Exactly."

Count Shedil's house descended from the Eastern Order of Knights, which had been pioneering the Demonlands since the days of the old Arman Empire.

No one knew exactly how many magical devices they had secretly kept rather than selling elsewhere.

Had the count possessed anything capable of restoring the king's health, he would have had no reason to become so deferential toward Shan and Roden now.

He could simply have used it to strike a bargain with one of the potential heirs.

While Kalion pondered how to make use of this information, Roden gave a faint groan.

"What bothers me more is that the unwritten rule is so entrenched that he still considers knighting an Altoan impossible, even in those circumstances..."

"That probably isn't the only reason. Neither of the two candidates for the throne is well disposed toward Altoans."

The Kingdom of Pendia had two princes. The elder, Conrad, was a devout follower of the Old Faith. The younger, Elvin, was related through his mother to the royal family of Luman, which had suffered an Altoan rebellion in the past.

For anyone hoping to establish ties with one of them, appearing excessively sympathetic toward Altoans would be a liability.

And that was a problem for Kalion as well.

He had wholeheartedly backed Shan, who was practically a sworn brother to his son Roden, for one reason alone: to enjoy the prestige and protection of a mighty knight.

At this rate, however successful the boy became, he might end up producing nothing more than the greatest monster hunter in history.

That would still be an extraordinary connection, of course. But it went without saying that having the kingdom's finest knight—perhaps even the finest in the Arman Alliance—at his back would be many times better.

Still, there was nothing to be done. He could hardly have predicted that a king not yet fifty would suddenly collapse.

"For now, I'll use every connection I have and try to make an approach. Prince Conrad will probably be difficult, but Prince Elvin is at least said to enjoy making a wide variety of acquaintances. We'd be better off speaking to him."

Watching Kalion speak with such a solemn expression, Shan imagined him setting aside every scrap of pride to fawn over those 'connections' of his.