Nido Tensei Shita Shounen wa S-rank Boukensha Toshite Heion ni Sugosu ~ Zense ga Kenja de Eiyūdatta Boku wa Raisede wa Jimi ni Ikiru ~

Episode 62: The Sky King and the Inherited Name

“Here is the throne of the Sky King.”

After that, the captain of the Royal Guards, who had been completely defeated by us, accepted the invitation to guide us to the Sky King’s presence in exchange for fixing his equipment, including his wings.

“But really, Rex-sama’s skills as an engineer are remarkable.
Even here in the castle, he can freely fly using his wings!”

The captain of the Royal Guards flies slowly through the narrow passage, speaking happily.

“H-Haha, yes… It was a mistake to challenge someone who could provide such incredible technology without hesitation…”

For some reason, his laughter sounded hoarse and somewhat desperate.

“By the way, why is this castle so run-down? Or rather, isn’t this more of a fortress than a castle…”

Since it seemed like it would still take some time to reach where the king was, I asked about the strange feeling I had when I saw this castle.

“We don’t know much about that either.
According to what we’ve heard, it was the first Sky King who designated this place as a castle.”

I see, so there must have been a reason for choosing this place as their base.

“But why is it so run-down?”

As I started chatting, Liliera also voiced her curiosity about the castle.

“Well…”

The captain of the Royal Guards glanced briefly at Calm-san, but since Calm-san didn’t react at all, he sighed and answered the question.

“The rocks and minerals of this sky island have a special composition, which makes it a bit problematic to process them.”

Ah, he’s talking about gravium.

“There used to be ways to deal with them in the past, but now that technology has been lost.
So we can only resort to these temporary measures.”

Indeed, if materials containing even a small amount of gravium, which can float with just a little magic power, were used as building materials, those parts would float up.
Even if they were initially fixed with some kind of adhesive, if those parts kept moving and trying to float up, they would eventually break and fly away into the sky.
I’m sure there have been cases like that in the past, so they had no choice but to give up on repairing the fortress.

“And yet they continue to use this place as their base.”

Yes, as Liliera said, there must have been a reason why they had to continue using this place as their base.
Maybe it was due to its location, or maybe there was something about this fortress that was necessary.

The questions are not getting resolved, but rather increasing.

…But well, that’s part of the adventurer’s journey, and it’s exciting in its own way.
The lost Sky Continent, the mysterious race, and the half-destroyed fortress.
It’s like the setting of a story.

It reminds me of the popular episode of the great swordsman Lighard’s story, the adventure in the underwater labyrinth, where mysteries abound!

“This is the room where the throne of the Sky King is.”

“This is it?”

It’s just an ordinary door for a room called the throne room.

And the captain of the Royal Guards knocks on the door.

“Your Majesty, it’s Barudi.”

Ah, so the captain of the Royal Guards is named Barudi.

“…Come in.”

“Excuse me.”

As a response came from inside, Barudi, no, the captain of the Royal Guards, entered first.

“Please come in.”

Calm-san urged us, so we entered the audience chamber, followed by Calm-san who closed the door behind us.

“This is…”

The first thing that caught my eye when I entered the room was a collection of armors crowded along the walls.
They looked like knights guarding their master, and they seemed to be intimidating anyone who entered the room.

“What is this…”

“You’re late.
Have you captured the illegal immigrants?”

The voice that came from the front caught my attention, pulling me out of the armors.
At the back of the room, there was a large desk, and behind it sat a man.
Is that the Sky… King?

It was indeed the king.
He wore a crown on his head and a red cape over his shoulders, the typical look of a king.

However, his appearance was completely out of place in this room.
After all, this room looked like just an ordinary office.

The large desk seemed decent enough, but it didn’t look like a throne or a desk fit for a king, just something suitable for the person in charge of the fortress.

“Your Majesty, I have brought guests from a distant place.”

Saying that, Barudi introduced us.

“This is Rex-sama, a traveling magic item engineer, and his companion Liliera-sama.”

“Guests? A magic item engineer? What are you talking about? I ordered the capture of illegal immigrants.
Why did you bring such suspicious individuals here? I did not give such an order!”

Well, I can understand why he would want to say that.

“W-Well… You see, Rex-sama here is a highly skilled engineer, and we judged him to be a very valuable person for our country, so we brought him along.”

“And what does that matter? I ordered them to be captured! Hurry up and capture them!”

However, despite the Sky King’s order, Calm-san and the others didn’t move at all.

“What’s going on!? Why aren’t you obeying my orders!?”

The Sky King became furious at Calm-san and the others for not obeying his orders.

“W-Well, the truth is, these people are incredibly strong.
Even our Royal Guards couldn’t do anything against them, despite attacking them with all our might.”

“Our Royal Guards… were the same.”

Calm-san and Barudi-san bowed their heads apologetically to the Sky King.

“You couldn’t defeat them!?”

The Sky King looked at me with an incredulous expression.

“Nice to meet you, Your Majesty.
I am a traveling adventurer named Rex.”

Let’s start with a smile and a greeting.
Calm-san and the others told me that even when they joined forces, they couldn’t defeat me, so he probably won’t do anything strange.

However, the Sky King’s reaction was the complete opposite of what I expected.

“Silence, you rascal! It is the height of disrespect for a commoner like you to speak to me!”

Oh dear, I seem to have angered him.
He seems to be one of those nobles who can’t communicate with anyone below their status.

Among the nobles, there are those who can communicate and those who simply don’t care about commoners and impose their own will on them.
Most nobles don’t care about commoners, but the former can have a conversation if it benefits them.

But the latter, regardless of their own interests or the situation, simply refuse to listen to anyone below their status.
They believe that those below them will obey their orders without question.
So, if their orders are not followed, they throw a tantrum like a child.
Just like now.

“Who do you think I am? I am a descendant of the great Seraphim royal family, which has ruled the Sky Continent since the time of the Demon War!”

There it is.
When things don’t go their way, they always bring up their family name.
It’s really tiresome…

“Seraphim royal family?”

When I heard that name, I couldn’t help but ask again.

“Yes! The Seraphim royal family, which once ruled the vast Sky Continent in the sky!”

“What’s that?”

Wait, what’s that?

“What!?”

The Sky King was taken aback by my unexpected reaction.
After all, even I had never heard of the Seraphim royal family before.
It’s a name I’ve never heard in my past lives.

“Hmph, let me educate you, ignorant fool.
The Seraphim royal family is the name of the great royal family that once ruled the enormous sky island, the Sky Continent!”

“No, that’s a lie, right?”

Without missing a beat, I denied the Sky King’s words.

“What did you say!?”

The Sky King tried to deny it, but it’s not that simple.

“No, it’s not a careless statement.
At that time, the Sky Continent was ruled by five countries, and there was no room for other countries to intrude.
Because the rulers of the Sky Continent were the five royal families, they were called the Five Star Kings.
If there were a sixth king, it would become the Six Star Kings, right?”

“What kind of nonsense are you talking about!?”

The Sky King tried to deny it, but it won’t work.

“No, this is not nonsense.
At that time, the Sky Continent was ruled by five countries, and the other royal families were Sky Arc, Lysandra, Osyl Fes, Stormbar, and Cleudam.
There was no Seraphim family as a royal family during the time of the Demon War.”

“W-What? I have never heard such a thing!”

“Yes, it has been a long time since the literature from before the destruction of the Sky Continent was lost, as my late father used to say.”

Even Calm-san and the other Sky people are wide-eyed in surprise.
It seems that they have lost records from a certain period, not knowing the cause of the destruction of the Sky Continent.

“Regarding this matter, it will become clear if you go to the libraries in the countries on the ground and investigate the ancient documents related to the Sky Continent.”

Even at that time, there were quite a few books about the Five Star Kings.
Those books should still be preserved in some libraries of certain countries.
Most of them are just gossip, though.

“Who exactly are you…”

The Sky King glares at me with a bitter expression.

“I’m just an adventurer.
So, who exactly are you?”

There’s no doubt.
This man is a fake king.
But when did this man and his ancestors start deceiving the Sky people? Does it have something to do with the mystery of the disappearing Sky Continent?

“U-ugh…khh”

And then, the voice of the king, who was groaning, changes.

“Kuh, kukukuku, kuhahahaha!!”

“Y-Your Majesty!?”

Calm and the others are astonished by the sudden change in the Sky King’s behavior.

“Hmph, it’s impressive that you knew about the ancient royal family’s story.
But it seems you’ve talked a bit too much.
Know that I can’t even let you leave alive, let alone imprison you!”

This must be the classic time to silence someone.

“My loyal knights, obey your master’s command!”

As the Sky King raises his voice, the eyes of the armor displayed in the room glow, and in an instant, their bodies tremble and start moving all at once.

“W-What is this!?”

Calm and the others are taken aback by the sudden movement of the armor.
It seems they weren’t informed about it.

“These are mail golems used for VIP protection.
They are usually disguised as works of art and placed in key locations of castles and fortresses.
When a battle breaks out inside the facility, the golems activate and fight against intruders as a defensive force.”

“Oh, you know quite a lot.
As expected of a magical item engineer.”

The Sky King shows a hint of admiration for the first time.

“Yes, and that’s also the reason why the successive Sky Kings chose this partially destroyed fortress as their castle.
It became their trump card in case of emergencies.”

The Sky King smirks.

“I understand that golems are a force to be reckoned with, but why cling to this fortress? If the golems are so important, why not take them and build a castle in another location?”

Liliera asks, surprised by the golems but also curious.

“It’s probably because… although I’m not entirely sure, those golems were deployed here as the defense of this base.
Perhaps the golems are restricted in some way and can only be operated within this base.
So the ancestors of the Sky King, who knew this, decided to use this fortress as their headquarters.”

And then, I point at the Sky King, or rather, the chair he is sitting on, the chair where magic power circulates.

“And that chair you’re sitting on is the magic item that commands the golems, in other words, the throne that controls the base.”

The Sky King claps his hands in response to my reasoning.

“Impressive that you understood that much.
But knowing something and being able to fight are two different things! These golems were once the strongest soldiers in the Sky Continent!”

The Sky King laughs gleefully.

“Now that these golems have been activated, you have no chance of winning.
I will kill you here and make sure no unnecessary information leaks to the outside.”

By unnecessary information, he probably means the fact that the Seraphim family, the royal family, doesn’t exist.
In other words, it’s also a matter of keeping that information from being exposed.

“Golems, kill them!”

Following the Sky King’s command, the golems start moving.
With a creaking sound, they unsheathe their swords, which are most likely magical items.

“Y-Your Majesty, the golems are also approaching us!”

The golems, who were thought to only attack us, start approaching Calm and the others, and Calm asks the Sky King for help.

“Hmph, you also heard things you shouldn’t have.
It’s just as well that you die along with them.”

“W-What!?”

Calm and Barudi cry out in despair.
Well, if someone you’ve been loyal to suddenly abandons you, it’s natural to want to complain.

“Now, let’s do this!”

The golems swing their swords and come towards us.

“Huh!”

Liliera prepares her spear, but I stop her with my hand.

“Leave it to me.”

Saying that, I calmly extend my hand towards the golems and release magic.

“Burst Wave!!”

A fan-shaped shockwave of magic power is released from the palm of my hand, intercepting the attacking golems.
The heavy metal-armored golems are easily blown away by the shockwave I unleashed.
And being blown away behind them means, of course, that they were blown towards the Sky King who was behind them.

“Gyaaah!?”

The golems that were blown towards him collide with the desk, causing it to be destroyed.
The Sky King, who was sent flying, crashes into one of the golems, and then gets crushed by another golem that flew towards him.

“Guh… *thud*”

Well, it’s karma.
It’s a fitting end for someone who ignored negotiations and attacked.

“Well, these poorly maintained golems are no match for us, right?”

Besides, these golems are clearly outdated.
They were probably equipped with outdated gear, just like the wings and armor of the knights.
This fortress was most likely equipped with outdated equipment.

“You… fools… they’re… golems! The main weapons… feared as… the Sky Continent’s… main force!”

“Ah, golems were feared because of their endless numbers and their ability to fight tirelessly day and night due to being inorganic.
But a small number of golems can be easily dealt with by someone with a certain level of skill.”

“Th-That’s…!?”

This time, the Sky King is left speechless and falls silent.
His defeat was due to his overconfidence in the golems.

Furthermore, the Sky Continent had a small population, so the golems, which were originally meant for labor, were used as military force.
This distorted message led to the misunderstanding that they possessed an endless army of golems.
Although, only a few important individuals knew this as a state secret.

How do I know all this? Well, it’s because I was the one who created the basic form of golems to be used in the Sky Continent at that time.

“Now then, shall I have you tell me everything you know? My dear Sky King?”