Kin, kin, kin.
In the backyard of the Lemurian Palace, a shrill, metallic noise reverberated. A black haired boy and a girl with fiery red hair were fiercely clashing swords.
The black and red colors blended into each other time and time again. Then…
Kin!
The black-haired boy's sword was flung into the air. It spun as it dropped to the ground.
The boy raised his hands.
"I give, I give. I'm really no match for Carolina. As expected of General Garphis' daughter, the female knight who joined the ranks of the Empire's Ten Fingers at merely 14 years old. I'm not fit to be your opponent at all."
"That's not true, I fought with my all just now… Your Majesty could really handle a sword."
Carolina complimented Hercule. Considering that he was able to hold his own against Carolina who was one of the Empire's Ten Fingers, Hercule was clearly quite strong himself.
"Not just swordsmanship, Your Majesty is excellent at martial arts, archery, horse-riding and spearmanship too, aren't you?"
"That's only because I was taught well. Even an ordinary person can become proficient at anything if he has a good teacher and sufficient practice… That said, even if I'm somewhat skillful, you are way beyond my level."
Hercule shrugged his shoulders. An ordinary person can become proficient at anything, but they will never reach the realm of superhumans.
Hercule evaluated that this was the limit of his physical capabilities.
"To begin with, weren't you going easy on me because we were using weapons?"
Hercule picked up his sword. The sword made of iron had had its blade ground down to a round edge. Carolina's sword was rounded in the same way for safety reasons.
They should be using wooden swords if they were serious about safety, but then they wouldn't be able to feel the weight of iron. Elves didn't have to worry much about safety though, their bodies were stronger than other races so they didn't die so easily.
"You could beat me handily if you use your contracted spirit and magic."
"Your Majesty can use your own spirit as well, can you not?"
Magecraft, magic, and spirit art. These were the three powers that most elves could use.
Magecraft was a "field of study" specialized in analyzing the principles of the world in order to interfere with it. Therefore this field involved a number of philosophical and religious elements.
Magecraft was rather time-consuming: during the time it took a mage to shoot a fireball strong enough to scorch an enemy's armor, a longbowman could take out five soldiers. There were also many ways to easily nullify a magecraft attack.
Magecraft was simply unfit for use on the battlefield. But it's a handy tool in medical treatment, manufacturing, construction work, and castle sieges.
Magic was a lot like magecraft, but in fact totally different. It was much stronger than magecraft in combat. One could only shoot fireballs like in RPGs through magecraft and the to-be-mentioned spirit art, though.
Magic was distinct from magecraft in that it couldn't be learned. Anyone could learn to use magecraft if they tried hard enough, but effort was meaningless when it came to magic. People who could use magic were simply born with it, and they came to be able to use it from their personal experience. People who possessed magic were also few in number. That was the most prominent characteristic of magic.
Magic was classified into three categories.
First was innate magic—that is, magic that the user was born with. An example was Carolina's innate magic: "Extreme Speed". As the name would suggest, it accelerated her movement speed several times over.
The second was bloodline magic. This type of magic was also present from the moment one was born, but they inherited it from their lineage. The Galeanos family's—Carolina's and Garphis's magic, "Our Swords Serve the Emperor" belonged to this category.
It amplified their physical capabilities when they held a weapon in hand. It was not limited to swords though; the magic worked just fine with spears or bows. It would even activate with a spoon or a fork if the user recognized that object as a weapon.
The third was inherited magic. This kind of magic was transferred from one person to another and the owner could designate the inheritor. Unlike bloodline and innate magics, inherited magics were one of a kind.
For example, Hercule's "Imperator". This magic had been inherited by generation after generation of Lemurian Emperors; it was the proof of legitimate imperial succession.
The effect of this magic was having psychological domination over elves.
It's very difficult for elves to refuse an order from an emperor with "Imperator". That said, they could refuse if they really detested the order, and a hated emperor could very well find himself assassinated.
The assassin must overcome a massive psychological hurdle, however.
Hercule met little opposition from the elven clans while going about his financial reforms thanks to this power.
As for spirit art, it was the practice of forming a contract with a spirit to make use of its power. It's also called the demonic pact technique.
It was the specialty of the elf race; the Lemurian Empire expanded through the use of spirit arts. Unlike magic, anyone could use spirit arts once they had formed a contract with a spirit, and unlike magecraft, they didn't require troublesome calculations and chanting. Spirit arts had a lot of merits to them.
If he had to point out a flaw, it was the necessity of forming a contract. The content of this contract differed from individual to individual, but the one thing they had in common was the requirement of magic power. Hence when creating the same phenomenon, magecraft consumed less magic power than spirit arts.
Most elves were contracted to a spirit and able to use spirit arts. The majority of spirits were low-class and could only make a light breeze, however. That may sound useless, but… Even a light breeze, when collectively fired out by ten thousand shamans would turn into a squall. That gust of wind could be used to boost arrow fire or hurled at the back of a cavalry unit; it was a considerable military asset.
Because of this, spirit arts were highly valued. To a degree, they were useful for weather forecast, agriculture and fishing as well. It was thanks to spirit arts that Lemuria became a great power.
"My innate magic is just plain old 'Body Enhancement'. It's nothing compared to your magics. My contracted spirit is also not battle-oriented."
Hercule shrugged. Even magics with the same effect had different ranks; Hercule's "Body Enhancement" was a very common one. On the other hand, within the same group of body enhancement magics, the ones comparable to Carolina's "Our Swords Serve the Emperor" and "Extreme Speed" could be counted on one hand.
"But…"
"Isn't it a good thing that you're strong? You just have to protect me. There's no need for me to be strong in the first place."
With that, Hercule placed his lips on Carolina's cheek. Carolina's face reddened from the surprise attack.
"Come on, let's do it again."
"P-Please don't make fun of me."
"What a nice day…"
"Um… Your Majesty, don't you have business to attend to?"
"I don't care."
Hercule was reading a book while resting his head on Carolina's thighs. These days Hercule had taken to having Carolina give him a lap pillow while he idled away.
Carolina made a troubled, yet somehow relieved expression while gently brushing Hercule's hair. Following Hercule's example, she picked up and read a book, which was something she normally didn't do.
This was the two's recent daily routine. But then two men barged in, spoiling their sweet atmosphere.
""Your Majesty!!""
One person who just arrived was General Garphis Galeanos. He was Carolina's father and the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Lemurian Army.
The other person was General Christos Augusto. He was Hercule's uncle and the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Lemurian Navy.
The two men hurried to Hercule's side as if to compete with each other and knelt.
"Your Majesty, I implore you to expand our armament arsenal."
"Your Majesty, I need to discuss with you about the military budget."
The two men said simultaneously then glared at each other.
"Carolina, your dad and my maternal relative are scary."
"There, there."
Carolina stroked Hercule's cheek with a wry smile. Then she tried to persuade Hercule.
"Your Majesty, isn't national defense an important duty of the Emperor?"
"Haa… If you say so."
Hercule got up with a sigh, then fixed his hair as he said.
"Last year I spent most of the newly gained revenue on public projects… but I do plan to allocate more fund to expand the military this year."
Hercule had spent most of the Empire's newly increased income on flood control, irrigation, repairing bridges and roads for military use, building aqueducts and public health services. He had to strengthen the foundation of the nation before thinking about military expansion.
But without expanding the military, they could not win against foreign enemies.
The barbarian tribes of this world paid no regard to peace treaties; they would repeatedly invade the Empire to pillage and plunder. No matter how much effort he put into internal affairs, if the army remained weak, the Empire would be devastated and it all would be meaningless.
The current Lemurian military was weak. Hadrianus III had encountered successive defeats in part because of his own lack of military talent, but the main reason was the fragility of the military.
Hence it was absolutely necessary to reorganize the military, just like how he had made financial reforms. But…
"It's a pain you know… I don't feel like doing it all."
"…Then,"
With a slightly blushed face, Carolina said.
"If Your Majesty manages to strengthen the military, I will do anything for you."
"All right! Christos! Garphis!! Fetch me the documents!!"
He was such a simpleton.