What Is the Covenant?

Everyone who could read Imperial script spent a while flipping through the documents that had been brought in.

Azu had only just reached the point where she could read and write Kingdom script, so she hung back.

The two nations were neighbors, so their writing systems shared a common origin, but they weren't identical.

Before long, we reached the oldest bundle of documents.

These were records left behind when the territory was occupied and annexed.

The moment the ducal house's glory began.

According to the text, five generations ago, the emperor of that era had ordered territorial expansion, and the duke's ancestor had led an army here.

The indigenous people, Orleans' ancestors, had put up little resistance.

Which was precisely why they'd ended up treated as serfs.

But the lack of resistance had also meant few casualties, which was probably a blessing in disguise.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the Empire of that era was drenched in blood.

Small nations and tribes were wiped out in the pursuit of territory.

Things supposedly only calmed down once the Empire's borders began to butt up against the Kingdom's.

Whoever wrote this must have been a remarkably meticulous individual.

Every detail was recorded in the documents.

The house holds the rank of duke now, but back then it was still a marquis.

The Empire of that period, unlike today, had a strong emperor with an insatiable appetite for expansion.

Not quite on Aquarius's level, but this was fertile land well-suited for an estate.

They must have wanted it at all costs.

The contribution to sustaining the Empire's population had been recognized, and the family's rank rose until they became dukes.

None of that background mattered right now.

Reading further, we finally reached a parchment that likely contained the information we wanted.

Perhaps because the annexation had gone relatively peacefully, relations at the time had been more amicable than they were today.

The records showed extensive interviews with the locals about their culture and rituals.

Starting with food culture, all manner of information had been documented.

And at the very end, it touched on rituals.

Unmistakably details about a ritual tied to the covenant with the Fire Dragon.

"This must be it."

The duke spread the parchment open.

Yohane brought Orleans over to where they could see.

A conversation between the tribal chief of that era and one of the marquis's subordinates had been preserved by a scribe.

"Worship of the Fire Dragon and the Fire Elemental, huh."

Elementals possessed immense power, which naturally made them objects of worship.

The same was true of dragons.

In places beyond the reach of the churches—especially the Church of the Sun God's proselytizing in recent times—venerating powerful beings was only natural.

"A covenant was formed, and the Fire Elemental, the Fire Dragon, and the priestess, the three of them, meet in this land once every hundred years, it says. The contents of the covenant are…"

"A holy trinity, isn't it."

Elza murmured softly from behind Yohane.

Quietly enough that only her master could hear.

He turned to face her.

"What's that?"

"God, child, and spirit. An adult Fire Dragon could serve as a stand-in for a lesser god."

"Explain that in more detail."

At that, Elza brought her mouth close to his ear.

Her breath tickled it.

"It didn't help when the Empire attacked, which means the covenant's terms aren't about the tribe's physical safety. And yet the ritual itself is quite elaborate."

Yohane nodded at her words.

He'd witnessed the power of an elemental firsthand in Aquarius.

A force of nature incarnate.

Far beyond what humans could contend with.

And on top of that, a Dragon.

Its power in the earlier battle had been overwhelming.

Physical strength and breath alone could level a major city.

And that was without magic.

"This is probably sealing some kind of monster, don't you think?"

"A monster, huh."

"The Fire Elemental has turned into an Elemental Stone, likely because its power is being used to maintain the seal. And that Fire Dragon wasn't using any magic either…"

"But if a monster like that existed, wouldn't there be some record of it?"

"I checked, and there isn't. The sealing itself was probably done ages ago. Only the covenant's renewal has been passed down."

Yohane fell into thought.

If Elza's deduction was right, an extremely powerful monster was sealed somewhere near this land.

And the Fire Dragon had come to renew that seal.

But upon seeing the tribe it had a covenant with penned up as serfs in a cramped space, it had come to check on the situation.

Its rampage through the city was probably just the Dragon's idea of a greeting.

The duke, unable to discern the actual contents of the covenant, was holding his head in his hands.

"Duke-sama."

"Hm, what is it?"

He turned around at the voice.

"Is there anything around here where a monster might be sealed?"

"A monster… does that have something to do with this matter?"

"I'm not certain, but if the documents don't contain detailed information, we'll have to work from assumptions."

"A monster, a monster… there shouldn't be anything like that, but, no, wait."

The duke beckoned a soldier over.

"Wasn't there a former monster wellspring to the east?"

"There is, yes. I believe it had already dried up and no monsters spawn from it anymore."

"Right. That's why we left it alone, but…"

A monster wellspring. That's what they called a place where monsters spawned at an abnormally high rate.

They shrank the more you culled them, eventually drying up and becoming harmless.

The massive hole near Spartia was said to be a giant monster wellspring, and that city-state fought an unending battle against the monsters it produced.

After saying that, the duke had soldiers bring over a different bundle of documents.

These appeared to be reports filed by patrol soldiers.

"There have been reports of several strange incidents in that area recently."

Sightings of never-before-seen monsters, sudden temperature spikes in the surrounding area.

The reports had been submitted as a precaution, but since no actual damage had occurred…

They'd been left alone.

"We should go inspect the site. Bring that girl along too. Understood?"

"Understood."

There was no right of refusal. Having stuck our noses in this far, we couldn't just say goodbye and walk away.

We needed to stay by Orleans' side until this matter was settled.