The Silver Bride

by Yuri Kitayama

  “I see. I believe I may have visited this store once before, back then. No wonder I felt a strange sense of deja-vu when I saw the front of the store. I remember your daughter was tending to the store back then, too,” he said, explaining his sudden realization.

  Sophie twitched in surprise at the mention of herself. “Oh my, is that so? Thank you very much for your continued patronage,” she thanked him happily, having no recollection of Rio.

  The last time Rio had visited this store, he had been preparing for his journey to leave the kingdom after receiving his arrest warrants. Rio had grown a lot since then, with different colored hair to boot, so it was understandable that the mother and daughter wouldn’t recognize him.

  “No, not at all. Here’s the money. Aishia, here.”

  “Thank you,” Aishia nodded, accepting the sandwich and taking a small bite of it immediately. “...It’s delicious.”

  “Please feel free to have a seat as you eat,” Sophie’s mother said with a pleased smile, stepping out from the back of the stall and setting up seats for Rio and Aishia beside the counter.

  “Well, if you don’t mind.” Rio and Aishia both accepted the seats offered to them. Rio took a bite of the sandwich first.

  “Wow, this is really good.”

  The bread was a firm type of baguette and the fillings were a mix of meat and vegetables that were seasoned with meat juice and a salty sauce; it filled his mouth with rich flavor.

  “Thank you very much. Please, take your time eating,” Sophie’s mother said, returning to the stall. Sophie occasionally shot glances over at Rio and Aishia. Eventually, Rio felt awkward enough to speak up.

  “Umm, Sophie?” he asked.

  “Y-Yes! How can I help you, mister?” Sophie replied happily.

  “If I’m not disturbing your work, there’s one more thing I’d like to ask...”

  “As long as no other customers are around, feel free!”

  “Do you know anything about the hero that was summoned around four months ago?”

  “Oh, there was a huge fuss about that for a while. A huge pillar of light shot up from the royal castle, so that kind of reaction makes sense!” Sophie said elatedly, recalling the events that occurred.

  “The... has this kingdom officially announced the existence of the hero?”

  “Yes — the castle issued a proclamation to the people.”

  “Huh... Do you know the name of that hero, by any chance?” Rio asked with interest, but Sophie shook her head apologetically.

  “I’m sorry, I don’t know the hero’s name...”

  “I see... That’s all right. Thank you for telling me,” Rio said, resuming his meal. Aishia continued to chew on her sandwich in an adorable manner next to him.

  “Thank you for the meal — it was truly delicious. I’ll drop by again if we’re ever nearby, so maybe we’ll meet again,” Rio said once they had finished their food several minutes later, leaving the store behind him.

  “Yes, please come again anytime!” Sophie and her mother saw Rio and Aishia off cheerfully.

  “What a lovely couple they were,” Sophie’s mother — a woman named Angela — said to her daughter.

  “Yeah. I only saw a little bit of her face under the hood, but that lady was really beautiful...” Sophie agreed with a mix of fascination and jealousy.

  “Fufu, it’d be nice if we could meet again,” Angela said, smiling amusedly.

  ◇　◇　◇

  After lunchtime, Rio and Aishia continued to walk through the market in search of information. The sky gradually grew darker; eventually, all the stores closed up shop for the day. Instead, inns and bars started to bustle with life, but the two travelers had no business with those establishments.

  Rio walked down the much less crowded main street beside Aishia. “All right, I guess we’ve gathered as much information from the market as we can for now. Sorry I had you accompany me for so long. Thank you, Aishia,” he said, offering words of appreciation to Aishia for keeping him company the entire time.

  “I didn’t do anything. All the information was gathered by you, Haruto.” Aishia shook her head with a calm voice.

  “No, having you beside me helped make people less wary when talking to me. You were a big help.”

  “I’m glad to hear that, then.”

  Though she had her face hidden by the hood the entire time, it was easy to tell Aishia was a woman from close up because of her figure. A man and woman walking together was easy to mistake for a couple, and a few of the store attendants were more willing to chat after being distracted by the glimpse of Aishia’s beauty that they caught. It was all thanks to Aishia that their bout of information gathering went so smoothly.

  “I was thinking of going to the academy next, as planned. But if you’re tired, you can go and rest first...”

  “It’s okay. I’ll go too. If we’re sneaking in, my spirit form might be useful,” Aishia offered without any sign of reluctance.

  “...Then I’ll take your word for it and count on you. Let’s hurry, shall we?” Rio smiled with a mix of gratitude and guilt at Aishia’s devotion, before resuming their walk toward their objective. They were, of course, headed for the Royal Academy of Beltrum, where Rio once attended and Celia’s research lab was located below the library tower.

  However, the academy grounds were deep inside the noble area surrounded by castle walls, adjacent to the castle itself, so there was no entering from the front. That inevitably meant they had to sneak in instead, but Rio and Aishia had access to spirit arts to make that task much easier.

  The two of them went around the wall to locate a relatively unguarded location and leaped into the air with spirit arts, easily clearing the ten-meter-tall castle walls. They had waited until dark simply because it was easier to sneak around with the cover of night; there was no way they could have flown through the air so recklessly during the day.

  “This way.” Rio jumped down to the roof of a moderately sized building and enhanced his body with spirit arts. Then, he burst into a light run across the rooftops of the noble district with Aishia bringing up the rear. With that pacing, they arrived at the academy in a matter of minutes.

  As a former student, Rio made his way around the school grounds without hesitation. The number of guards were also fewer than the noble district, so they were able to reach the library tower with ease. Two guards stood at the entrance of the library tower, but with no sign of anything amiss, they didn’t seem very motivated about their jobs at all.

  “There’s a terrace on the second floor at the back. The lock on the window there used to be easy to break, so let’s try that. If we can’t get it to open, you can enter in your spirit form and just unlock it.”

  “Got it.” Rio and Aishia leaped up to the second floor terrace.

  “I believe it was around here... Oh, it’d be faster to just get you to go inside in the first place, wouldn’t it?” Rio stood before the wooden window and looked at Aishia with a wry smile. She could also check if there was anyone inside.

  “Yup, leave it to me,” Aishia nodded, dematerializing her form and disappearing from sight. Less than ten seconds later, a click sounded from inside as the window unlocked and creaked open.

  “Come in. There’s no one inside.”

  “...Thanks, Aishia. You made this so much easier than I was expecting,” Rio laughed, then climbed into the library tower and closed the window once more, locking it shut.

  “Let’s go. Professor Celia’s lab is underground.”

  They refocused themselves on the task at hand and headed downstairs. There were no guards inside the library tower, but there would be researchers working overnight — they couldn’t afford to let their guards down.

  This sure brings back memories, Rio thought to himself as they walked down the familiar underground corridor. They advanced down the illuminated hallway, dimly lit by the light of magic artifacts, until they reached the room Celia used as her research laboratory. The name plate on the
door was still carved with the name Celia Claire.

  It’s still her name. Rio broke into a grin, then took a deep breath and quietly knocked. However, the inside of the room remained silent, with no sign of a reaction for several seconds.

  “...Is she out?” He knocked once more to check before his expression fell with a frown.

  “I’ll take a look,” Aishia said, turning into her spirit form. Her body scattered into particles of light and dispersed.

  No such thing as privacy with her, huh? He hadn’t realized it before as she was usually in her physical form, but she could really abuse that ability if she wanted. Rio would have to have a talk with her about when and where it was appropriate to invade someone’s privacy — and who, of course, he thought with a wry smile. Soon after, the light particles gathered once more to form Aishia’s figure.

  “Celia isn’t there. It’s completely deserted,” Aishia reported.

  “You mean she’s gone home for the day?”

  “No. At the very least, the room hasn’t been used at all recently. Most of the things in the room have been removed.”

  Rio placed a hand against his mouth with a contemplative look. “...Looks like we’ll need to investigate this a little more,” he murmured in thought.

  “What do we do?”

  “It might be a little risky, but let’s see if there are any other researchers around and cast a spell on them. For now, let’s search as many of the research labs on this floor as we can,” Rio replied.

  “Okay. I’ll search in my spirit form.”

  Rio paused for a moment. “That’s probably the least risky option. Can I ask you to get to that right away?”

  “Leave it to me.” Aishia immediately took on her spirit form and set about on her task. Then, less than a minute later, she materialized once more before Rio.

  “This way, Haruto,” she said, leading Rio to the room she had marked.

  “Thank you. What’s inside?”

  “A middle-aged researcher. I’ll enter the room and cast an illusion on him before calling you, so come inside after that,” Aishia said. Illusion arts were a type of spirit arts that affected the five senses of perception of a person. For example, planting suggestions into someone’s mind was also considered a form of illusion arts. There were many different kinds of illusions, the most difficult and powerful of which were capable of making the other party experience what was, in short, a waking dream.

  However, as illusion arts required time to cast, its effect was weakened when met with resistance — to the point where it could be completely repelled. In addition to requiring a great amount of skill in spirit arts to perform, it was also extremely difficult to use it in a practical way. Therefore, it was best to cast illusion arts when the other party was unaware of it.

  Even if an illusion was forcibly cast, the illusion would be noticed the moment any resistance was met. Therefore, even if the art was successfully activated, the utility of the illusion was essentially ruined.

  With all that in mind, Rio nodded uneasily. “...You’re right. It’d be better for you to cast the illusion arts in your spirit form, Aishia,” he said with a small sigh. “Remember, we’ve snuck into this academy in search of information about Professor Celia. We can’t have anyone realize that, so you need to put him into a dream state before he resists.”

  If they could place him under a dream state before he noticed them, his memories of Rio and Aishia would be hazy even after the illusion wore off. Rio was capable of casting the illusion arts himself, but after considering the time lag between opening the door and approaching the researcher, he decided it was more reliable to have Aishia do it.

  “It’ll be fine, don’t worry.” Aishia didn’t seem to have any concerns at all, as her response to him was blunt.

  “...Yeah. If it’s you, then I don’t need to worry.” Rio gave a faint smile as he relaxed.

  “Yup,” Aishia nodded, dispersing into particles of light again. Then, after a short while...

  Come inside, Haruto, Aishia’s voice echoed in Rio’s head.

  Rio immediately opened the door without knocking; a single middle-aged man sat at his desk in the room. Beside him stood Aishia, her hand held up against the man’s head.

  “Hey.” The researcher seemed to perceive Rio’s entrance and called out to him in a friendly manner. However, his eyes were unfocused and had a dazed look about them.

  He thinks you’re an important work-related visitor. If you want to ask him your questions, he should answer them properly — to the extent of his knowledge, at least. Aishia explained to Rio via telepathy. Rio gave her a brief thanks and began to question the man sitting before him.

  “I have business with Professor Celia Claire. Where can I find her?” he asked.

  “Shouldn’t she be in the castle?” the man replied casually.

  “The castle... Why would she be there?”

  “Hahaha. Duke Arbor’s faction may have regained their power, but the kingdom’s internal affairs are still very much unstable. They’re probably being wary of Duke Huguenot’s faction, what with the upcoming wedding ceremony and all.”

  “...Wedding? Of who?” Rio almost doubted his hearing.

  “Celia’s, of course. She’ll be wed to Sir Charles of Duke Arbor’s house,” the researcher stated the fact simply.

  “Charles?! Charles Arbor and Professor Celia?” Rio’s jaw dropped, his shock making his words come out louder than intended.

  His reaction made sense — Charles Arbor was the same person who forcefully tortured Rio under the name of interrogation during the incident where the Second Princess Flora was kidnapped. It went without saying that Rio didn’t have a very good impression of Charles.

  “Well, it’s your standard political marriage. Celia’s family is from the Fontaine faction... Or rather, the faction recognized as the leading nobles with regard to their support of His Majesty. With the Huguenot faction chased out of the capital right now, they’re the perfect marriage candidate to increase the Arbor family’s power. And though it pains me to admit it, Celia’s worth as a genius researcher also gives her a high value as a wife,” the man explained.

  “Professor Celia... No, the Count Claire family also wanted this political marriage?”

  “That’s anyone’s guess... But with the current state of the kingdom, it wouldn’t be smart to turn down a request from the Arbor faction. It would have benefited Count Claire’s house more to side with the winners, so to speak.”

  Rio took a deep breath and calmed himself down on the surface before continuing his line of questioning. “...I see. But I still don’t quite understand why she is living in the castle. What do you mean by being wary of Duke Huguenot’s faction?”

  “The Huguenot faction is currently being treated as a rebel faction in this kingdom and have hidden themselves. But their power cannot be underestimated. A link between the Duke Arbor and Count Claire families would be most undesirable to them, so the families probably feared for Celia’s safety. It was for those reasons that she was taken to the castle.”

  “I see, so that’s what happened... I suppose it would be easier to guard the castle...” Rio muttered with a grimace.

  I guess a lot of political disputes occurred after I left the kingdom, huh? And because of that, Professor Celia ended up with the short end of the stick... He felt ashamed of his own ignorance of Celia’s predicament, though he couldn’t have known otherwise.

  “...The wedding ceremony was to take place tomorrow, right?”

  “Yes. There’ll be a grand parade and all,” the researcher confirmed with a nod.

  Rio took another deep breath to calm himself down as much as he could. Then, he changed the subject. “On another note, could I ask you a few things about the dispute that happened with the Proxia Empire, in which the king and the Huguenot faction lost their power?” he asked.

  There was no mistaking the fact that the shift in internal politics was what had prompted Celia’s marriage, but he
needed to have a more accurate grasp of the situation.

  “Mm... I’m not very interested in politics, so I’d just be repeating what I’ve heard from others.”

  “That’s fine.”

  “The dispute in question happened roughly half a year ago.” The Proxia Empire was a large military nation located to the north of Beltrum. The former mercenary and current first-generation emperor, Nidol Proxia, rose to power when he killed the king of a small kingdom forty years ago. He had since absorbed numerous small, northern countries and their armies, rapidly developing Proxia into the current empire. Because of their track record, the neighboring kingdoms became inevitably wary of the empire. Those sharing borders with Proxia — including Beltrum and Galarc — also had a history of getting into frequent skirmishes dating back to the first founding of the empire.

  Despite this, ever since a military alliance of several kingdoms led by Beltrum and Galarc was formed to oppose Proxia, the tension between the alliance kingdoms and the empire had at least been reduced to a stalemate.

  “The conservative approach His Majesty and Duke Huguenot had maintained for so long became their downfall as Proxia launched a daring invasion of one of our kingdom’s key locations. Our troops had their station captured and had to admit defeat.” The invasion had greatly changed the tension between Beltrum and Proxia.

  “I don’t know the details of the retreat, but I heard the Proxia Empire’s strongest army, the Winged Knights, played a huge part in their victory. In any case, that was when Duke Arbor made his appearance. He hounded His Majesty and Duke Huguenot for responsibility over the seized location and had since taken over the role of negotiations with the Proxia Empire, which have been going fairly well.” As the researcher also doubled as a professor of the academy, his explanation was well arranged and easy to follow.

  “After that, while I’m not sure of the particulars involved, it was thanks to Duke Arbor that our kingdom succeeded in making peace with Proxia. That Duke Arbor’s influence and esteem within our kingdom shot up, allowing him to turn most of the nobility in the royal court on his side and duly purge the Huguenot faction with just cause. He used that momentum to criticize His Majesty and seized a portion of his power.”