"Here. Have a drink first and settle your nerves."

In the lord of Open's office, Turan seated Armani across from him and set out several cups of flower-petal tea. Perhaps because this was a port city, they had something other than the Gray Zone's notoriously tasteless stonecrop tea.

"This comes from my homeland. Judging by the tartness, is it silk lotus tea?"

Solif savored the tea as he offered his assessment. Naturally, the lord of Open, who had served it, had been sent well away. Whatever Armani had to say, they could hardly let it spread without vetting it first.

There was a minor mishap when Armani, unfamiliar with tea-drinking etiquette, drained his cup in a single gulp, but the tea break gave them all a moment to relax. Meanwhile, struck by a sudden thought, Turan opened his spiritual sight and looked at Armani.

'Oh...'

He had not yet mastered soul magic at their last meeting, so he had never noticed, but Armani's spirit form was far from ordinary as well. Like a human's, it sat behind the space between his eyebrows, with a miniature great sea serpent coiled around it.

The instant Turan's eyes met the serpent's, Armani flinched and turned toward him.

"What is it?"

"Uh, something... felt strange. Like something strange was looking at me."

"And now?"

"It's gone!"

When Turan closed his spiritual sight, Armani nodded, saying that the strange sensation had finally vanished.

'Can he instinctively tell when someone is observing his spirit form? What an intriguing ability.'

Turan and most other practitioners of soul magic generally went about their daily lives without awakening their spiritual awareness anyway. Seeing passing souls and hearing their fleeting voices would, to ordinary people, amount to something close to mental illness.

"Then shall we get back to what you were saying? Can you explain in more detail? What do you mean, war with humans?"

"My royal father said the demons in the west have a treasure that can control us. He said it was time for revenge, after all the years of humiliation we suffered under it. I think its name was..."

Armani's words immediately brought something to mind: the Blue Coral Crown. Back when Turan had infiltrated House Karmine in disguise, hadn't he heard about an object they used to control the merfolk?

"The Blue Coral Crown, by any chance?"

"Yes, that was the name!"

As Armani cried out in delight, Turan spun his teacup between his fingers, deep in thought. If that account was accurate, the merfolk's target was clearly Karmine, the great maritime house to their north.

'From the sound of it, this may not be such a bad situation.'

In truth, Turan bore House Karmine no great personal grudge. Of course, they too were ruled by fallen gods who prolonged their lives by stealing their descendants' bodies... but, cruel as it might sound, they had never harmed anyone he knew.

Still, they had established some sort of communication network with Zahar in preparation for an Arabion attack, and Zahar might one day turn against House Parsha under Turan's leadership. That made Karmine a potential enemy as well. In that sense, the great sea serpents' declaration of war was actually welcome news.

"So you opposed it?"

"Yes! They said they weren't just going to take the treasure. They were going to crush the demons' palace and kill every last one of their slaves too!"

"Oh dear. That won't do."

War against Karmine's wizards could be considered justified retaliation for years of oppression... but what wrong had the ordinary people living there committed? Slaughtering a shepherd's sheep because the shepherd had beaten you was nothing more than petty spite.

"And when I asked what would happen to the good demons, meaning you and your friends, he said we couldn't remain friends with you either. That we'd end up fighting someday anyway."

"Why?"

"Those sea monsters I mentioned before... he said my royal father was actually the one who sent them. He gave the order before he lost consciousness. He said you would never forgive us if you found out..."

"So it was him after all."

At those words, the scales within Turan tipped decisively to one side. Among the great sea serpent clan, Armani's relatives, their leader and those who supported him would someday have to meet their end at Turan's hands.

"So you opposed it?"

"I don't want to fight the good demon. I mean you, Turan! It would feel awful, and I'm scared too."

Now that he could turn into a great sea serpent, Armani was no longer the helpless merfolk boy he had once been. Power even greater than when Turan had last seen him swirled within that small body.

Turan suspected that if Armani fought intelligently in the open sea, diving beneath the surface as needed, even he would have a hard time hunting the boy down. Naturally, if Armani simply fled into the depths, catching him would be almost impossible.

Perhaps the vague fear Armani still felt toward Turan despite all that strength stemmed from the lasting impression of their first meeting. Back then, Armani had been a helpless merfolk boy, weak enough to be captured by passing pirates, while Turan was already a middle-tier noble with considerable power.

"Don't worry about what your father said. You're not responsible."

"You don't blame me?"

"Not at all."

Armani's face lit up at Turan's words. Truly, his thoughts and emotions showed so plainly on his face that there was no need to read them through his scent. Not that Turan could have done so anyway, perhaps because the boy was merfolk.

Solif, who had been listening quietly beside them, spoke with a look of disbelief.

"So everyone tried to kill you because you opposed fighting us and other humans?"

"That's right. My royal father and mother, my brother and sisters, they were all sad... but bad children who disobey the king have to die."

Looking dejected, Armani scratched his shoulder. Turan recalled that, until he had healed it a short while ago, that spot had borne the puncture marks of enormous fangs.

It was almost impossible to imagine, considering how close the merfolk royals had seemed before. Hadn't they been more affectionate with one another than most human siblings?

But Turan had not forgotten their brutal custom: whenever a new merfolk king ascended the throne, he purged every one of his siblings.

In a sense, they seemed like beings whose reason and emotions were entirely separate. They subscribed, one might say, to the belief that what had to be done had to be done.

"Anyway, you did well to get out alive. Shaking off your pursuers can't have been easy."

How many of Armani's kin had survived back then? Around ten, perhaps? If all of them had chased him as great sea serpents, surviving that ordeal deserved the highest praise.

"You didn't lead anyone here, did you?"

"Absolutely not. They probably won't even be able to reach the North Sea for a while!"

They wouldn't even be able to reach the North Sea? That made it sound as though the great sea serpent clan was staying in the South Sea.

Perhaps reading the puzzlement on Turan's face, Armani began to explain, looking sheepish.

"Well, the truth is, I only got out alive because I was lucky."

Several days earlier, while Armani was guarding their stronghold, his fully recovered kin had informed him that they were declaring war on humanity. He objected, but with not only the king but all the other leading royals supporting the war, he was quickly driven onto the defensive.

Naturally, a clash between a dozen or so great sea serpents had all but devastated their stronghold. Desperately fleeing his family, Armani had crossed through the "mirror."

"The one that connects the North Sea and the South Sea?"

"We call it the Jade Mirror."

The merfolk's treasure, the Jade Mirror, measured over twenty meters across and was closer in scale to a building than an ordinary object. Great sea serpents, whose bodies were relatively slender, could pass through it too.

That had given Armani an idea. First, he took the Jade Mirror from the North Sea to the South Sea. Then he pulled himself together as best he could and, once his family had crossed, dismantled the mirror and traveled back the other way. Hearing this, Solif's jaw dropped.

"Wait, you can actually do that!?"

"Only the great sea serpents' kin have the power to possess, dismantle, and set up the Jade Mirror. That's why it was near our stronghold."

Normally, the Jade Mirrors were installed in separate locations to create a passage anyone could use. But someone who shrank one and took possession of it could teleport to the mirror on the other side. Of course, that left nothing behind at the original location, so they could not return.

Thus, now that Armani had fled with the mirrors, his relatives would still be searching for a way to reach the North Sea from the South Sea. Land separated the two, and traveling over it unprotected might expose them to attacks from Zahar and other powerful wizard houses.

"Here. These are them."

With that, Armani brought out the objects he had hidden against his chest. Two mirrors gleamed, radiating distinct presences that had, until a moment ago, been obscured by the power flowing from his body.

* * *

Armani's request was simple. He would help them use the merfolk's treasure, the Jade Mirrors, in exchange for protection from his great sea serpent relatives and the dangers on land.

Turan had no reason whatsoever to refuse. It went without saying how vastly the Jade Mirrors alone would expand his strategic options.

Maysa might be the greatest Enchanter the world had seen since the gods' downfall, but even she could not create a magic tool capable of traversing space.

"No, this is truly... unbelievable. What god could have left behind a Holy Relic like this?"

"Don't you use 'Holy Relic' to mean things left behind by your demons? If so, the Jade Mirror isn't a Holy Relic."

As he answered the awestruck Solif, Armani twirled a mirror in his palm. Though they knew perfectly well that such a treasure could not break from a mere fall, they could not help feeling their hearts lurch.

"My royal father told me these mirrors existed before the demons came from beyond the world. Some say the great sea serpents made them for us, and others say the laws of the world created them... Either way, they're older than your ancestors."

There was no telling whether that was true, but the Jade Mirrors certainly felt somewhat alien even compared to ordinary Holy Relics. Whereas ordinary magic tools and Holy Relics circulated mana through intricate internal pathways, these looked more like solid lumps of mana.

-Turan, my back smells fishy.

In the midst of their conversation, Vije spoke curtly from above their heads. The three of them were flying to Kalamap on the enlarged eagle, and for some reason, she seemed unhappy about Armani. Turan did not remember her acting that way before.

'Is she sensitive to the power of a growing great sea serpent?'

Even if he asked, he probably would not get a satisfactory answer. Such things were usually closer to a feeling, and it was hard to explain why one felt that way.

At least Armani had not heard Vije's remarks. After several hours flying southwest, they reached Kalamap once more. The barrier overhead recognized its master and dispersed, allowing Turan to land safely in the courtyard. Before long, Asiz, whom he had contacted in advance, came out to greet him.

"You're back! Did everything in Open work out?"

"More or less. Let's talk inside first."

"Who's that with you, though? I thought only you and Solif went."

"We'll discuss that too."

As he had in the past, Armani had wrapped thick cloth around his face to disguise his identity.

That was enough to conceal his identity from anyone without a special Holy Relic like Turan's, but if he was going to stay here, they would need a more convincing solution. Unless they wanted rumors that they were colluding with other races, his identity would have to remain a secret from the public.

A short while later, when Armani revealed himself in the office, Asiz's mouth fell open in shock.

"Ah! A m-merman!?"

"Hello, good demon."

Had Asiz's almost frightened expression dampened his spirits? Armani offered his greeting with a somewhat downcast face. At that calm response, Asiz glanced between Turan and Solif for a moment, then extended a hand.

"Uh, hello... Are you Armani, by any chance?"

"You know me?"

"Turan told me about you before."

Apparently delighted that Turan had spoken of him to a friend, Armani's crestfallen face brightened at once. Ignoring Vije's disapproving gaze, he launched into an animated conversation with Asiz.

"So that's what happened..."

"Yes. Now I'm going to serve under Turan."

Asiz seemed to have quickly grown accustomed to Armani's slightly awkward speech. Raising no objection, he looked at Turan. It was not hard to guess what he wanted to say.

"Naturally, this stays a secret from the public."

"I'll have to make something like a helmet."

"Could you take care of it? Maysa is rather busy right now."

"I'm almost finished with what I'm making, so yes."

Asiz nodded at the request for a helmet-shaped magic tool that would not be uncomfortable to wear all the time. After a little more conversation, their discussion turned to their newly acquired strategic treasure.

"So, we'll need to think about how to use these Jade Mirrors."

"For a start, we absolutely have to use them in the war."

"If we had more, we could install them in every city under Kalamap."

Then they could have responded more proactively even to the recent disturbance in Open. Indeed, the beacon network they were currently setting up might have become as good as scrap.

"Should we ask Maysa whether she can replicate them?"

"Please do."

Even if she could only produce an inferior version, something similar would have truly tremendous strategic value. Not that the mirrors themselves lacked value as they were.

They spent the next few hours lounging in the sitting room, talking about everything that had happened. When Maysa emerged from her workshop, looking exhausted from making magic tools, she cried out in surprise.

"What? Why are you here!?"

It was a fitting reaction to suddenly finding a merfolk boy who ought to have been somewhere in the North Sea. But it did not last long. Once she heard the whole story, she let out a soft groan and pulled Armani into a tight embrace.

Flustered by the unfamiliar contact, the merfolk boy murmured,

"Uh, wait..."

"You've had such a hard time, haven't you?"

Turan could guess that Maysa saw herself in Armani, rejected by his own kind. She, too, had been cast out by her kin in Arabion.

Armani's bewilderment at the sudden embrace lasted only a moment. Soon he buried his face against Maysa and broke into heaving sobs. So even the merfolk, who sometimes seemed as emotionless as insects, could shed tears.

At times so alien, at others so very human, the minds of other races were difficult to understand.

A few minutes later, Armani pulled away from Maysa with an embarrassed expression, the skin around his eyes turned purple.

"You can cry some more if you like."

"I wasn't crying!"

Flushing with anger at Turan's teasing, the merfolk boy curled up in a corner of the sitting room. After everyone had laughed and patted his shoulders comfortingly, they settled into comfortable positions and began their discussion.

"First, as you've all heard, we have another enemy. Fortunately, we're not their top priority."

"The great sea serpent merfolk."

Fortunately, according to Armani, their primary target was House Karmine. As long as they kept his refuge here a secret, any clash with House Parsha would probably come relatively late.

There was even a chance House Karmine would stop them outright. Its power to freely control water and ice would be useful against great sea serpents, and it had fallen gods of its own.

"Asiz has agreed to make something for Armani to wear... Maysa, how is your project coming along?"

"About three weeks left. And once it's finished, I'll barely be able to use my power for about a month."

"Right on schedule, then. Let's see, Ravista's army should be setting out around now..."

Even aboard the magic-tool warship supposedly built long ago by an Enchanter in their service, reaching Baraha's territory through the South Sea would take a full month or two. Thus, by the time Ravista reached Baraha in earnest, Maysa would be more than ready to fight again.

"The original plan was to send Solif alone just before they arrived. Sending an army would slow us down, and if either Maysa or I left, we'd be very likely to leave an opening for Arabion."

"That's right."

At Turan's opening words, everyone's eyes turned toward the two green mirrors in the middle of the sitting room. Having just heard about them, not one person failed to grasp how extraordinary a treasure they were.

"But those change everything."

What if they gave Armani one mirror and sent him east, timing his journey to coincide with Ravista's invasion of Baraha? House Parsha could project its full strength into the distant east without losing a moment.

It was a revolutionary invasion tactic that no great house in the world could even dream of attempting.