Chapter Text
Conrad finally escorted Yuuri to the castle, and the latter had already begun to prepare for sleep - which he was forced to do - when they felt the first tremors. At first violent and intense, then softened a bit, shaking the entire castle.
Yuuri's first reaction was panic. Books began to fall off the shelves, and glass rattled in the door frames. Conrad ran over to catch him so he wouldn't fall over, and then the first wave of shock passed, and he quickly remembered what they had taught him about how to behave during an earthquake.
He shielded his neck and cocked his head, squatting in the corner of the room where no furniture would fall on him, and waited for everything to pass. Conrad crouched down next to him, clearly alarmed.
"This is the first time I've experienced an earthquake in Shin Makoku. Does it happen often?"
"Never." The concerned tone of his godfather's voice indicated that this was a first for him.
Yuuri smiled slightly and touched his shoulder, hoping it would reassure him. This was the first time he had been in a situation where he was the one who was more in control. Well, he had been in a few earthquakes before, so you could say he already has experience.
Conrad did indeed calm down, smiling softly at him, but all the while, he kept a close eye on the room, moving his gaze from a piece of furniture to a piece of furniture and squeezing his fists when something fell to the floor.
Greta's porcelain figurine, which stood on a bookshelf, moved to the edge of the shelf and fell with a loud clatter, shattering into thousands of tiny pieces. Another one that belonged to Wolfram soon followed it. It was a set they had both picked out for themselves during their little trip to the market. Cheap figurines that they nonetheless loved. Yuuri felt an unpleasant sting in his chest upon seeing them smashed on the floor.
"It doesn't sound like good news, does it?"
"I'm afraid not."
"Do you have any idea what could have caused it? It's a pretty powerful quake. Normally it shouldn't last more than a few seconds, and it's been several minutes."
Conrad shook his head, following Yuuri's gaze with his eyes.
"We'll have to find out once things have calmed down."
Another minute passed before the shocks passed. Conrad got up first and walked over to the window, maneuvering carefully between the broken porcelain. He opened it but immediately afterward closed. A little smoke drifted inside anyway.
"Is something on fire?" Yuuri quickly joined him, pulling back the curtain and carefully examining the view outside the window.
It was hard for him to see anything in the almost total darkness illuminated only by the few torches in the courtyard. The city below was just a smudge of soft glow, too faint to be a fire large enough that everything around was in smoke.
Before he had time to think carefully about what had happened, several soldiers rushed in, relieved to see him.
"Your Majesty? Are you all right?"
"We're fine." He felt slightly uncomfortable, thinking they were so worried about him. "Do you know what happened?"
"Not yet. But his excellency Gwendal has already sent people to investigate."
How responsible of him. So it would be good to find him since he was the fastest way to find out anything. He had already completely forgotten that he was about to go to bed and hoped Conrad wouldn't remind him of that.
"Great. Then lead us to him." He took a step forward, and the soldiers looked at each other, but they obeyed his command and left the bedroom.
Yuuri, however, had not had time to leave it when he heard a concerned voice in his head.
He woke up.
Startled, he grabbed onto the doorframe and reflexively put his hand to his temple. This was not the best time to say such disturbing things to him.
"Are you okay?"
He looked at Conrad, at the same time feeling several pairs of concerned eyes on him. Did the earthquake scare everyone so much? He waved a hand dismissively.
"I'm fine. We can go on."
He moved further down the corridor with Conrad behind him. Aside from a few shattered vases, there were not many traces of tremors. The Blood Pledge Castle must have been solidly built. After all, it had already survived for four thousand years.
Walking led by the soldiers, passing the concerned servants who had been awakened by the earthquake and were now running down the corridor, he answered Maou in a chastising tone.
What did that mean? Who was awake?
He had to wait a few steps before he got a short answer.
Emerald.
What does that mean? Was that the reason for the tremors? Did something bad happen?
It's hard for me to judge right now. However, even from here, I can sense that he is angry.
Maou's tone of voice testified that he was concerned about this person, which made Yuuri share his feelings.
Is he one of those people? You know, like Orwin?
No. He answered strongly and firmly as if Yuuri had insulted him with this statement. He is the same thing as me.
Eh? Shouldn't he be the good guy, then? Why did he cause this earthquake?
Because he's angry.
Well, yeah. So now they not only have to deal with human gods causing them trouble but also their own gods who are angry for some reason. But why must they take this anger out on their own people?
Do you know if this has any connection to Wolfram? And why did he wake up just now?
Probably one of those two did it. Eurus or Amethyst. In either case, it doesn't bode well, but with Amethyst, at least you can somehow cooperate. She shouldn't want to hurt the mazoku.
You know how little these names tell me? Eurus is?
The man you call Otwin.
Oh.
They had already reached Gwendal, so he could not continue the conversation. Maou didn't answer his first question, but since he thought Otwin might be responsible, it still had something to do with Wolfram. He hoped that nothing would happen to him and that he survived the earthquake.
Occasionally, someone would run in or out from the large hall, the soldiers almost shouting a report to Gwendal, only to be quickly sent off to their next assignment. Adelhard stood right next to him, listening intently to everything with a pensive expression on his face.
"Your Majesty," said Gwendal dryly, noticing his presence. Which he must not have been happy about.
"Do we already know what caused the earthquake?"
"Considering the direction from which the tremors came," Adelhard said slowly, glancing communicatively at Gwendal. "And at the thick layer of smoke and ash in the sky. We assume that there was a volcanic eruption in the Fire Mountains."
"Eruption?" Even though the night was hot, Yuuri felt a sudden pang of coolness. "Didn't you say it was where Wolf was taken?"
"Unfortunately." Adelhard opened his mouth to say something else but instead took a few steps forward and put his hand on his shoulder. Only then did Yuuri realize that he had started to back away. "It's still not a good idea for you to go there." He said more quietly so that only he could hear him.
"But -"
"More and more reports keep coming in regarding the losses suffered in this quake. As king, you have much more important things to attend to right now." Gwendal interjected in his words.
"I can't just leave Wolfram like this. What if he needs help?"
"Wolfram is strong enough to handle himself." Yuuri expected another chastising look, but Gwendal instead looked away and clenched his fists tighter. "Besides, what can you do in this situation? No one can get there now anyway, especially after this eruption."
Yuuri looked at Adelhard, hoping that he had a solution, but the man only shook his head with a pained expression.
"We still don't know what exactly triggered these sudden eruptions. If it has something to do with Otwin's plan, it's even more dangerous." He let go of his arm and stepped back, looking away.
"Maou said it was Emerald's doing," Yuuri muttered quietly and uncertainly to himself, but hoped that this information would help him in some way. "He said it was possible to get along with him. So maybe if we go there and talk to him..."
"Maou? Emerald?" Adelhard asked, surprised and interested at the same time. He crossed his arms over his chest and watched him closely, and Yuuri felt a blush bloom on his cheeks. As he actually thought about it now, he had only discussed the Maou topic with Murata.
"Well... That's..." He started searching for the right words to explain it, and his hand reflexively went to the back of his head. He was beginning to feel more and more foolish.
Adelhard looked at Gwendal, who was still looking at them critically, and then at the soldier, who stood to the side looking uncertain. He was probably waiting for an opportunity to give his report.
"Let's go talk about this elsewhere," he said. He nodded to Gwendal, placing his hand on Yuuri's shoulder again and directing him toward the hall's exit. "I'm eager to learn more about what all this Maou has to say," he said.
He led him to one of the smaller rooms off to the side, where they could talk in private. A small table fell to the side, and Conrad put it back in place before they sat down in chairs.
"What is it then? Are you saying that the volcanic eruption happened because of one of the patrons?" Adelhard shook a bit of ash from his coat, then placed his hands in his lap, gazing intently at Yuuri. A note of disbelief could be heard in his voice.
"Patrons? Ah, yes." Now Yuuri felt even more foolish, realizing that he was talking to a priest who actively worships Maou and this Emerald. Now it would be even harder for him to explain.
If someone on Earth started claiming that someone's god was living inside his head and could talk to him, they would immediately consider him insane. And even if the people in Shin Makoku had a much higher tolerance for this kind of thing, he doubted Adelhard would just believe him.
"And the Maou who told you about this is?" Adelhard inquired further, a friendly smile painted on his lips. This did not reassure Yuuri at all.
"Well, I'm not sure how to explain it." He looked at Conrad, hoping the latter would help him, but he, too, was smiling, standing against the wall next to the door. That is to say, he was abandoned and must deal with this on his own. "Have you perhaps heard what my early days of handling maryoku were like? Before I even learned to use it on my own?"
Adelhard nodded slowly with an expression of understanding on his face. "Yes, Wolfram told me about it."
"Great! So that's it, then. This is Maou."
"So you only call yourself Maou when you use maryoku?"
"What, no!" His face turned red again from embarrassment. "It's someone else. Sort of. We share the same soul, but he had it first, and when I wasn't able to use maryoku on my own in the beginning, he took control of me. Now he doesn't have to do that anymore, so he doesn't show himself. However, I can still talk to him. It's hard to say when I want to because he rarely actually answers me, but still." He explained everything in one breath as best he could, hoping Adelhard would understand. Otherwise, he didn't know how he was supposed to put it.
Fortunately, Adelhard nodded again.
"I see. So you can communicate with Onyx. That's interesting. I didn't expect that." He looked straight into Yuuri's eyes, his gaze so intense that Yuuri fled with his gaze to the corner of the room.
"Onyx?"
"That's his original name. Didn't he introduce himself to you?"
"Well, no." He breathed a deep sigh of relief. It seemed that Adelhard comprehended much more than Yuuri could have dreamed. He hoped that meant he didn't come off as an idiot in front of him.
"And he said the tremors were caused by Emerald?" The smile disappeared from his lips, and Adelhard looked down, contemplating something.
"This is also one of the patrons, right?"
"Yes." Adelhard stood up and, placing one hand on the back of his chair, nodded slightly to him. "Thank you for telling me this. Now I have a better outline of what might have happened."
"Really?" Yuuri also got up from his chair, but much more abruptly, causing it to almost topple to the floor. "What's that?"
"You see, Wolfram is in a very similar situation to you." He sighed deeply and looked at the wall on the other side of the room. "I think I should go to my temple and see if there's anything left of it." He smiled weakly at him and nodded again. "And for you, I think you could use a little rest. Too many things have happened today." He left the room, exchanging before that a communicative glance with Conrad.
"What did he mean when he said Wolf was in a similar situation?" He asked his godfather, who approached him.
"Let's go back to the bedroom. You'll have a better time pondering this when you've rested." He grabbed him carefully by the arm.
He didn't like how often today he was escorted somewhere, away from problems he couldn't help. But that was the biggest problem. That he was unable to do anything. Only to go back to the bedroom and go to sleep. And then maybe take care of the paperwork. Yes, those were the only things he was capable of.
He clenched his fists tighter but did not protest anymore. Well, because what should he even argue about? To be allowed to pander even more about Wolfram? He was sure he would be able to do this while lying in bed as well since there was no way he would fall asleep that night.
It turned out, however, that his physiological needs took over, and he eventually drifted off into a shallow sleep, awakened from time to time by some outside sounds, only to fall asleep again after a while. Once he woke up, he was unable to tell what time it was, as there was still darkness outside the uncovered window.
He sat on the edge of the bed for a while, looking at the destruction of the room. Someone had cleaned up the shattered figurines even before he came here to sleep, and now all that was left of them was a void on the shelf. Most of the other things were also back in place. Only the hairbrush was on the floor, overlooked, lying between the dressing table and the wall. He picked it up and put it back in place. He took the opportunity to check that the few small perfume bottles that had belonged to Wolfram were still whole.
He ran his finger over one of the flacons, considering whether to use a little perfume. Maybe smelling one of the scents that Wolfram often used would make him feel at least a little better. Or it might also make things worse, making him feel nostalgic. In the end, he gave up the idea and squatted on a chair in front of the mirror. He felt like looking through the drawers of the dressing table to do anything with his hands, but he didn't want Wolfram to yell at him for making a mess there when he got back.
If he comes back.
He can't not come back, right? The last time they talked, there was an argument between them, and Yuuri hadn't yet had a chance to apologize to him for it. So Wolfram can't fail to return until he does. Even if Yuuri is forced to go there in person and force him to do so, he will make sure Wolfram returns.
He leaned back, laughing bitterly, which caused him to have a coughing fit. He stood up and started looking around for a flask of water.
Go there in person? Who is he trying to fool? After all, it had already been established that his duty now was to make his way to the throne and deal with this ensuing disaster. There was no way or means for him to help Wolfram personally.
He found a pitcher of water and poured some for himself into a glass standing nearby. He drank it slowly, looking out the window out of the corner of his eye. It was dark outside, not because the sun still hadn't risen but because its rays were blocked by smoke and ash that gently fell to the ground like gray snow. A scene straight out of the end of the world. He can already imagine the panicked population that will have to be calmed down.
He put the glass down on the table, putting a bit more force than he wanted to, making the glass make a loud sound.
Alright. Since this is the only thing he can do, he's going to do the best he can. He's going to give it his all by working and fulfilling all the duties of a king. Better yet, Wolfram will praise him for it when he returns.
He walked over to the closet to change his clothes, and while he was in the process, Conrad looked into his bedroom.
"Good morning, Your Majesty," he said in his usual tone as if everything was as normal, but it was clear from him that he had not slept through the night at all.
"I thought you were done with this. It's Yuuri." He replied almost automatically, putting on his jacket. "At least thanks to all the smoke, it's gotten a little cooler outside." He tried to sound more cheerful. Conrad only murmured affirmatively. "Is it very bad?"
"The closer to the Fire Mountains, the more destruction occurred. Some cities were even completely destroyed."
"Great, because we had too few destroyed cities this year." He closed the closet door and approached Conrad. "I suppose Gwendal has already sent the appropriate forces to help with rescue operations?"
"Yes. However, he also said that he must return to Voltaire again. The Fire Mountains are in his and Bielefeld's territory, so that's where the most damage occurred. Lord Adelhrad also said he had to go to check the condition of his temple."
"I see. Alright, I can take care of the rest here myself. Where is Gunter?"
"The last time I saw him, he was running panicked between the rooms of the officials."
"Full of energy since morning, huh?" They exchanged smiles with Conrad, then went to Yuuri's personal office. He didn't even think of eating breakfast, but fortunately, the servants did it for him and brought it to his office, where he wolfed it, already getting down to reviewing the documents, which, of course, managed to appear in abundance.
He spent the next few days bent over his desk or talking to officials and nobles, determining how to respond to the situation that had arisen, deciding which places to prioritize, which could still be rebuilt, and which were completely ruined. Fortunately, there were not many in his domain.
They also had to determine how to explain to people what had happened. The explanation that one of the gods got angry wasn't the best, and they decided to stay with natural disaster for now. It was common knowledge that most of the volcanoes in the Fire Mountains were still active, and no one was surprised that they had erupted. The only strange thing was that they all did at once. It would have been good to have Anissina in place, who would have quickly come up with an explanation that everyone would have bought right away since she is, after all, a scientist.
Lady Karbelnikoff, however, did not move from Erythera, even though the earthquake was felt there as well. She merely sent someone to ask what had happened. But even without her, they managed to come up with an explanation with an unfortunate chain reaction. The first volcano exploded, which triggered the second to explode, and so on. A very unlucky coincidence. An event that is sure to go down in history books in at least a few categories.
One of the big problems right after the tremors was all the smoke and ash that the volcanoes kicked up. Here, however, either they were now incredibly lucky, or some other divine force played its part, as the powerful winds that began to blow across the country blew it all out to sea. Now only small amounts of ash remained in places where the wind did not reach.
Focusing on his work, he almost lost track of time. There was hardly anyone else in the castle except them, so he ate all his meals in his office and only went to bed when he could no longer read the words on the piece of paper in front of him. Eventually, Conrad began to express aloud his worry about his condition, which had previously only been visible on his face. Then he might have recognized it already meant something serious. But he didn't want to. He didn't want to leave work yet. Wolfram hadn't returned yet, which meant he had to give his best all the time.
After ignoring Conrad's comments for some time, Yuuri heard them spoken in a different voice. Out of surprise, he raised his head as much as to see who this new person was.
"Seriously, Shibuya? How did you get to such a state?"
"Murata?" It took his mind a few moments to register who the black-haired person standing in front of his desk was. "What are you doing here?"
"I finally managed to repair all the damage that happened at Shinou Temple, and I figured I might come and help with something. And I see that my help is really necessary."
"What do you mean? I'm doing a great job with everything."
"I can just see that." Murata sighed and looked around the room critically. Everyone was too busy working to clean up anything here. No servants were allowed to go inside because these were too important documents, and even if Conrad tried to arrange them somehow, there were just too many.
"I know it doesn't look good, but it's not that bad. I still have to - "
"The only thing you need to do now is to take a break. And go outside. You look like a corpse. Do you realize that tomorrow we are supposed to go to the Earth How do you want to play a match in such a state."
"Ah," he merely said, suddenly remembering this. In the whole situation, it was the last thing he thought about.
"That's right, ah. Now get up. You're not going to sit here anymore." Murata walked around the desk and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him up.
"I don't think this is a good idea. I doubt I'll be able to focus on the game in this state anyway." Yuuri slumped back in his chair, resisting Murata's lifting.
"On the contrary. It's a great idea. You'll get some mental rest and do some physical activity instead of sitting and rotting in this place. Come on, get moving. Lord Waller! Help me with him!" Despite not being the strong type, Murata was somehow able to overcome him and pull him up anyway. Perhaps this meant that Yuuri actually lacked adequate physical activity.
Conrad walked over to him and steadied him when Yuuri almost lost his balance once Murata let him go.
"I still don't want to just go back to Earth. I promised myself that I would focus completely on my work until Wolfram returned. But what if he comes back while I'm gone?"
"I'm sure he'll wait for you." Murata sighed and put his hands on his shoulders. "And taking care of your well-being is also part of your job. How do you want to take good care of the country if you're exhausting yourself."
"I still don't think it's a good idea." He fled with his eyes to the ground. The thoughts he had tried to avoid by focusing on work now began to press back on him. Could he really console himself with the fact that everything would return to normal while he was gone, and Wolfram would be waiting for him? That would only be creating false hope for himself, and when he returned to Shin Makoku, and Wolfram was still gone, it would be even worse for him.
"Seriously, Shibuya, why do you have to be so stubborn. I'm not going to force you to stay on the Earth for however long, but at least come back for the match itself. It will really make you feel better."
"Yuuri. I think His Highness is right. Take at least a short break, and then you can look at everything with a clearer mind."
Feeling surrounded, he finally gave in and relented. He nodded, raising his gaze to Murata, who smiled softly.
"Now come and at least stretch your bones. In the state you're in now, you won't catch any balls." He laughed and put an arm around his shoulders, leading him out from behind the desk. They hadn't taken a few steps, however, when one of the soldiers guarding the door looked uncertainly inside. It was one of Wolfram's subordinates who had somehow determined that they would be responsible for his protection in their captain's absence. He didn't mind. Somehow, he felt even more sympathy for them now. They must be taking it hard, too.
"Something happened?" asked Conrad approaching the soldier.
"A messenger from Lord Adelhard has arrived. He says he has information that His Majesty would probably like to hear."
"What is it?" Yuuri asked at once, turning out of Murata and joining Conrad. The soldier opened the door, behind which stood a young man standing calmly. He wasn't wearing any uniform, just bright, traveling clothes. He bowed to him when he saw him.
"Your Highness. Adelhard told me to tell you that the person you talked about earlier has appeared at the temple."
"The person we talked about? Oh."
They talked about two people, and one of them is now inside Yuuri. If he can describe it as being. Or maybe he was actually somewhere else entirely and merely communicating in some way with Yuuri or something like that? Adelhard probably meant Emerald. Which meant that one of the gods appeared in his own temple.
"Do you know what he wanted?"
"He asked for access to the library tower."
"Really? Wait a minute. That means this tower survived the upheaval?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. The entire temple is intact."
There you go, what a miracle. But why should a god want access to a library? Shouldn't he be omniscient? Or maybe it didn't work that way with the gods here?
"There is something else," the messenger spoke up again, this time sounding uncertain. He furrowed his brow and focused slightly. Was he worried about Yuuri's reaction to this information? After all, he wasn't the kind of king who killed messengers.
"What's that?"
"This person. He had Wolfram's body."
"What?"
The messenger flinched, but Yuuri only looked at him, surprised. He looked first at Murata, then at Conrad, and then again at the messenger. He noticed out of the corner of his eye how Wolfram's subordinate moved restlessly.
"What do you mean he had Wolfram's body?" he asked.
"Just as Lord Adelhard said. Someone appeared in the temple having Wolfram's body, but there was another person inside."
"I don't understand."
"I think someone else possessed Lord von Bielefeld's body," Murata said.
"Someone else. That person. Oh." So that's what Adelhard meant when he said Wolfram was in a similar situation to him. Before saying anything else, he thanked the messenger and sent him away, then retreated to his office. Conrad closed the door behind them. "Do you think it's like this when Maou takes control of me? Only this time for longer? Or forever?" He said the last sentence in a breaking voice.
"Shibuya. There's no need to think about worst-case scenarios now." Murata said softly, glancing thoughtfully toward the door. "But it's good that there has been some news on the subject." He glanced back at Yuuri, furrowing his brows.
"We're going there," Yuuri replied immediately before Murata had time to say anything else.
His friend sighed resignedly as if he had anticipated what he would say all along. Conrad had a similar reaction, smiling slightly.
I don't think it's a good idea, opined Maou as Yuuri walked back to his desk, intending to clean up the papers. He no longer felt the fatigue that had been nagging him since Murata had mentioned it to him. The news that Wolfram was at least physically all right improved his mood. Now he only had to find out from this patron what he was going to do.
But now he paused, staring in disbelief at an undefined point in front of him.
"Shibuya?" Murata asked anxiously.
"Why do you think this is a bad idea?" He unconsciously said aloud, at which Murata and Conrad looked at each other.
He fled at the sight of us because he could sense me at the time. Now, Emerald will be able to sense me even from a great distance.
"And you think he'll run away as soon as we get close?" He slumped in his chair resignedly and rested his head on his hand.
He hates me. Surely this meeting will not be pleasant.
Yuuri didn't feel like figuring out now what had happened that made Emerald hate him. He didn't care about disputes between gods right now, especially if they were some millennia-old affairs. That's stuff for historians. He now wanted to focus on getting Wolfram back. However, it seemed that, personally, he really couldn't do anything.
"Yuuri?" This time it was Conrad who approached him. "Is something wrong?"
"It looks like I can't meet him in person after all." He tried to smile, trying not to show how much this fact hurt him. However, judging by the look on Conrad's face, he was not particularly successful.
"I understand. Don't worry about it. Adalhard will certainly take care of everything. Wolfram is his son, after all." He smiled at him and helped him up again. The momentary surge of strength completely left him.
"And your brother. You'd probably like to see him, too. Sorry."
Conrad merely shook his head and led him to the door. Murata looked at him questioningly, but Yuuri only smiled weakly and shook his head.
When they stepped outside, Yuuri noticed Arwin running breathlessly toward them. He was frightened for a moment that something had happened again, but Wolfram's deputy stopped in front of him and saluted, then bowed deeply.
"Your Majesty." He began seriously. "I request permission to go to the Great Highlands Temple."
"Eh? I don't think you need my permission." Yuuri replied, confused.
"No. The commander said that in his absence, we are to obey His Majesty's orders. Therefore, I request permission for the entire squad to go." Arwin bowed once more.
What exactly did this mean? Did Wolfram appoint him as someone like his deputy or something like that? Maybe it was a bit obvious since he was the king, though he would have rather expected Gwendal or Conrad to be in charge of they brother's squad. He didn't even know how exactly he was supposed to order them around.
"All right. You have my permission."
Arwin smiled radiantly, and Yuuri shuddered slightly in surprise. The fact that most of the members of Wolfram's squad were of similar beauty to the commander himself (only similar because no one could match him) was already a fact he rarely paid attention to anymore. Now, however, it was too striking. He had to admit to himself that Arwin was quite charming when he smiled like that. He would never have thought that he would think that way about any other boy besides Wolfram. But also, before that he never thought he would think that way about any boy at all. Well, he was Wolfram's subordinate, so he could still let it go.
"Thank you. We'll head there right away tomorrow morning." Arwin bowed once more, then turned on his heel and left almost as quickly as he had come. Now Yuuri also noticed that the boy in the blue uniform was no longer at the door of his office. He must have been the one to give Arwin the news.
"Maybe you'll be even calmer now?" Murata said once the initial shock had passed and they started walking down the corridor again. "Let them take care of it, and we'll go back to Earth ourselves."
"All right," he replied weakly. Maybe on Earth, it would be easier for him to stop himself from dropping everything and going there. He didn't want to spoil anything with his presence.
Still, he didn't think he would be able to play anything. His spine ached as if he were an old man.