by Hiro Ainana
As I was complimenting them on each area of improvement, the butler called us from inside the mansion.
It was time to go.
Miss Karina and I rode in a carriage behind that of the retired Count Worgoch and his wife.
Our destination was the airship landing area.
There was already a great deal of old capital nobles gathered there when we arrived.
“It’s rather small for an airship, no?”
“That’s true. But it’s likely more agile, and its armor is made of mithril alloy.”
Miss Karina and I watched as the airship touched down on the ground. The AR display labeled it the king’s private high-speed airship.
“Is His Majesty aboard?”
“Yes, I believe so.”
As I nodded at the anxious-looking Miss Karina, I referred to the information on my map.
We were here today with the other nobles to greet the king arriving on his private airship. It wasn’t necessarily mandatory, but I did want to see what the monarch looked like, which was why I came along.
Temple representatives had come, too, but I didn’t see Sara or the head priestess of Tenion Temple.
I hadn’t been able to see Sara since the soup kitchen incident, but from what I’d heard at a few of the tea parties, she was lying low in the sanctuary to avoid the prince’s courtship.
With all these nobles and officials gathered in one place, it would have been a likely target for a terrorist attack. However, most of the remaining Wings of Freedom members in the old capital had been hunted down; there weren’t enough of them left to try anything.
Word at the banquet had been that the king was here to attend the wedding of Tisrado, the duke’s grandson and eventual successor, and the granddaughter of Marquis Eluette, whose territory was on the western edge of the kingdom.
From my impression of the bride-to-be at Marquis Lloyd’s dinner party, she was a beautiful, ethereal girl.
The wedding was in five days, and I’d been invited to cook for it already.
“Is that His Majesty the king?”
Raising my head, I saw a man with silver-gray hair descending the airship’s ramp. Oddly, his beard alone was pure white.
The AR display appeared next to him, so I read the text there. He was fifty-five years old, younger than I thought.
The next bit of information surprised me: This wasn’t the real king but a body double.
The minister behind him seemed to be real, though.
The nobles around us kneeled reverently, and I followed suit.
We stayed on our knees as the duke’s heir approached to give a few words of welcome, and then until the king was out of sight.
The heads of the more powerful noble families and other influential people headed into the duke’s castle, but that was the end for the rest of us, so I returned to the mansion.
“Satou.”
Mia, who’d been reading a spell book with Arisa in the living room, trotted over to me and latched onto my waist. In her hand was a message addressed to me.
“Scrolls.”
“Thank you, Mia.”
The card was a notice from the scroll workshop that part of my scroll order had been completed.
“Prr, prr.” Mia was imitating a cat’s purr as she hung off me. I gently detached her.
“Mrrr.”
Patting her head to alleviate her bad mood, I announced my latest errand.
“I’m going to Viscount Siemmen’s place for a bit.”
“’kaaay.”
Arisa was too focused on memorizing Space Magic spells to give much of an answer.
“Hurry back.”
“Of course.”
Mia came to the entrance hall to see me off, and I patted her again.
“I’m just picking up the scrolls and saying hello to Tolma, so it won’t be long. Then we’ll all have dinner together, okay?”
“Mm.”
For a moment, I felt like a father with a young daughter. Then I headed out to Viscount Siemmen’s place nearby.
Mr. Djang, the workshop manager, presented me with the scrolls I’d prioritized highest: Remote Stun, Shooter, Standard Out, and Graphic View.
“Mr. Djang, Mr. Djang! Is Mr. Knight still here?!”
“Quiet down, Natalina!”
Natalina rushed in, waving around two more scrolls.
“Oh, perfect! Ta-da—I stayed up all night finishing Fireworks and Fireworks Illusion!”
The bags under her eyes suggested she was running on a post-all-nighter high as she thrust the scrolls toward me.
“Thank you very much, Miss Natalina.”
“Hee-hee, no prob! …So hey, I was thinking, maybe you could sell us these spells…”
Natalina put on a show of fidgeting and winking bashfully.
“Stop it, Natalina. You don’t have the assets for that.”
“You’re sooo mean, Mr. Djang!”
Djang shook his head and turned to me with a serious expression.
“We’d be willing to pay this sum for the Fireworks and Fireworks Illusion spells.”
Glancing over the contract he handed me, I raised my eyebrows when I saw the sum at the bottom.
“…Has there been some mistake with the number of zeroes?”
A hundred gold coins seemed like way too much for just two spells. Besides, selling the full chant for the spell with explanations and the rights to resell it didn’t mean I couldn’t use the spell myself anymore or that I couldn’t sell it elsewhere. It wasn’t an exclusive deal.
“See? I told you, Mr. Djang! This magic’s worth way more than that! It’s lesser magic—anyone can use it, you know?! And even from a scroll, it still makes beautiful fireworks… If we could finish it in time for Lord Tisrado’s wedding, our orders would go through the roof! We’d make our investment back in a year, tops!”
Natalina seemed to have fallen in love with my Fireworks spells.
Still, the wedding was only five days away. I doubted they could mass-produce it before then.
…Wait, what?
Did they think I meant a hundred wasn’t enough and wanted another zero?
“Good point. A hundred gold coins would normally be enough to buy one new spell, but these will surely be popular with nobles. Let’s talk to Lord Hosarris and see if we can raise our offer to five hundred.”
“Hooray!”
They were planning to buy them for a hundred gold coins each? I would’ve sold them both for ten, honestly…
Neither one took more than a day’s work to create, so getting five hundred gold coins per spell would feel unjust.
“Wait a moment, please. If you really value my humble spells so highly, I’d be happy to sell them at your original price.”
“Oooh, really? Yay! In that case, we’ve gotta start mass-producing them right away! Mr. Djang, we can halt production on other products for now, right?”
“Yes, that’s fine… Except for Sir Knight’s order, of course.”
“Well, duh! But everything else is getting tabled for firewooorks!”
With that, Natalina bolted out of the room at top speed. Then she reappeared moments later.
“Thank you, Sir Knight!”
After a quick bow, she darted away again.
That’s a lot of energy.
“I’m sorry. She can be a handful.”
Mr. Djang and I sorted out the difference between the sale of the new spells and the price of my order, and he gave me a bundle of scrolls.
I made out like a bandit, if you ask me.
Once my business at Viscount Siemmen’s estate was finished, I headed to Tolma’s house nearby.
The maid guided me to a gazebo where, surprisingly, Tolma’s family was enjoying tea with Miss Ringrande.
“Pardon me for intruding, Lord Tolma.”
“Hey, Sir Satou. Come on in. You don’t mind, right, Rin?”
“Certainly.”
I had intended to simply thank Tolma for the information he’
d given me and leave, but it would’ve been rude to refuse his invitation, so I came in and took the empty seat next to Ringrande.
“How’s your social life going?”
“Very well, thanks to the wisdom you were kind enough to share with me.”
“Glad to hear it. So, you’ve got some marriage proposals, too, right? Going to take a few of them up on it?”
I knew polygamy was common among nobles in this kingdom, but I couldn’t get used to the idea of having multiple fiancées.
“No, I feel that I’m still too young for marriage.”
If I settled down, I wouldn’t be free to travel the world.
At a few of the tea parties, I had met young ladies around the same level of beauty as Sara or Miss Karina, but with Lulu and company around all the time, I was confident I wouldn’t fall in love that easily.
“You sure? You must be popular with the ladies, right? If you at least marry your fiancée Karina, you’ll become a viceroy of Muno Barony for sure, and then you’ll have as much income and power as a senior noble. Then you could make Sara your second wife and probably find two or three more besides. If you take on some concubines, too, you’ll have ten women easily!”
So you’re talking about a literal harem? Seriously, what kind of kingdom is this?
Tolma’s wife, Miss Hayuna, looked as appalled as I was, but the reaction of one particular individual was especially intense.
“Satou! So you are after Sara, then? And what’s this about a second wife? She wouldn’t even be your first?!”
Miss Ringrande stood up furiously and grabbed me by the collar, her love for her sister burning in her eyes.
“Please, calm down. Lord Tolma is letting his imagination run away with him. As I said in the temple, Sara is a dear friend of mine and nothing more. Besides, Karina and I aren’t even in a relationship, never mind engaged.”
I put both hands up in front of me.
“…You swear?”
“Yes, on my honor as a hereditary knight.”
Miss Ringrande’s suspicions hadn’t subsided, but she at least let go of me.
Please stop believing everything you hear about me, people.
“I’m sorry. Something upset me earlier, so I’m still a bit on edge.”
Miss Ringrande clenched her fists, trying to control her anger.
She must have remembered whatever that “something” was and gotten mad all over again.
Sensing the tension in the air, baby Mayuna started crying.
“Oh no, I’m sorry! There, there…”
The baby’s cries softened Ringrande’s rage immediately.
“Uncle Tolma, could we use your garden for a bit? Come with me, Satou.”
With that, Miss Ringrande drew her sword briskly and insisted on sparring with me for almost an hour.
“You two must be thirsty, right? Why not drop the training for now and come have some wine?”
Tolma already had the wine in hand as he invited us back inside.
Miss Hayuna had returned to the house to put Mayuna to bed. The only other person left in the gazebo was a maid.
“…Can you believe that? I’m supposed to throw the fight in front of the whole city? And to that awful Prince Sharorik, no less!”
Drunk on the wine, Miss Ringrande leaned into me as she complained about what had been bothering her earlier.
It certainly felt nice on my arm, but it added to her flushed face and the scent of perfume mixed with sweat was threatening to make me dizzy.
“Why should I have to have some mock battle with the prince just because His Majesty will be present?”
Ah, and here comes round number three.
“And His Highness’s sword is the Holy Sword Claidheamh Soluis. It’s supposed to be the symbol of victory, the embodiment of the Shiga Kingdom, you know? So I don’t…” She trailed off.
As it turned out, the third time was the last. She’d fallen asleep.
I eased the wineglass out of Miss Ringrande’s hand and quietly put it on the table.
I let her lean on my shoulder as she napped, and Tolma and I chatted awhile and deepened our friendship with her light snoring in the background.
The Day of the Finals
Satou here. There are a lot of different beliefs concerning omens before natural disasters like earthquakes and such. When birds and small animals start making noise in anime and manga, for example, you know something bad is about to go down.
Tama had been acting strange all morning.
She kept pacing back and forth between rooms, pestering the other girls and rolling around on the floor.
They’d all noticed her unusual behavior.
“What’s going on with you, Tama?”
“Dunnooo? I feel kinda itchyyy.”
“Tama’s being weird today, sir. I don’t like it, sir!”
Hmm? Pochi was unusually temperamental, too.
Tama shoved Mia aside to curl up in a ball on my lap.
What’s going on? Tama was usually so laid-back. It was unlike her to get pushy.
“Mrrr?”
Mia looked bewildered, too.
Petting Tama on the back seemed to calm her down slightly, and soon she fell asleep with a grimace still on her face. Pochi relaxed as well, wrapping herself around Nana’s airship plushie like a hug pillow and rolling about with it.
Nana watched them enviously, perhaps wishing her physique would allow her to do the same.
“Say, master…” Arisa crept up behind me and whispered in my ear. “Didn’t they act like this when we first went into Muno Castle?”
“Did they?”
Thinking back, I remembered they noticed something weird about the floor, but they hadn’t lost their cool like this as far as I recalled.
I suppose they were uneasy in both cases, but…come to think of it, Tama had particularly good intuition in the Seiryuu City labyrinth, too.
Maybe they sensed that something ominous was going to happen today.
“I’ll look into it.”
With that, I opened up my map search.
Gah, these guys again?
Noticing yet another wave of cultists had invaded the old capital, I felt more irritated than worried.
Thanks to the territory map I gave the duke, more than 90 percent of them had been wiped out. How were there still enough to get up to anything?
I scanned the whole territory again to be sure. Evidently these guys were the last of the members remaining in the duchy.
There were only eight of them, and they were pretty low-level, 25 at the highest, so I doubted they could accomplish much. However, I didn’t like that their current location was underground directly beneath the arena.
Because the king was visiting the stadium today, every noble with rank in the old capital was already there.
On top of that, today was both the tournament finals and the exhibition match between Miss Ringrande and the third prince. The arena was full to bursting with spectators.
Now that was a very likely target for some kind of terrorist attack. If they just had a short horn or two, it’d be no big deal, but if any of them had a long horn, it could be a serious problem.
Many of the nobles I’d befriended in the city were attending, too, not to mention Miss Karina and her brother. No way could I just turn a blind eye.
“Something smells fishy here…,” I muttered.
“Seriously?” Arisa exclaimed, and all eyes in the room turned toward us.
“I’m just going to take care of it.”
I slid Tama off my lap onto the sofa and stood up.
“Master, please allow me to come with you.”
“Master, permit me to accompany you, I entreat.”
“I want to help, too, sir!”
Liza, Nana, and Pochi gazed at me with hopeful eyes.
“You have to be a noble to enter, so I’ll need to go alone.” They were probably high enough level that it would be safe to take them along, but they’d be in danger
if the Wings of Freedom had long horns or explosive magic items, which was why I made an excuse. “You’ll get to show me the results of your training soon, don’t worry. For now, I’d like you to protect Lulu for me.”
As I tried to reassure the girls, I debated whether to go out as Satou or dress as Nanashi the Hero.
“Mew!”
Tama jumped up suddenly from her slumber, her ears and tail standing on end as her gaze darted around wildly.
And then, a tremor rippled through the old capital.
It wasn’t an earthquake. Just the feeling of a magic wave passing through.
But that amount of power clearly wasn’t normal.
“What was that?”
“Something went bong, sir!”
“A signal?”
“Master, we must prepare for battle, I report.”
About half my party members had obviously experienced the same thing.
Tama must have been acting strangely earlier because she sensed it coming.
Liza started putting on the new equipment I’d given her. Before long, Pochi and Nana were changing clothes, too.
The sight of Nana’s curves drew my eyes as she stripped off her clothes with no reservations whatsoever, but I forced myself not to stare.
Instead, I had Lulu put a partitioning screen in front of them.
“You change, too, please, Tama.”
“’kay.”
Tama pulled herself away from her restless gazing out the window.
Meanwhile, I continued searching the map.
Just as I suspected, the arena was at the center of the disturbance. Searching for demons, I found that several short horns had appeared in the very spot where I’d seen the collection of Wings of Freedom members gathered. Clearly, it was no coincidence that the number of missing cultists was the same as the number of demons that had appeared.
“What happened?”
“Demons again.”
“Aw, man! C’mon…”
I had to agree with Arisa. I was getting pretty tired of it myself.
Nearly twenty people at the arena were over level 40, including Miss Ringrande, the prince and his accompanying knights, and some of the duke’s military officers. They would probably be fine without my help, but given the strange magic ripple that had just occurred, it was better to be prepared.
