A few days later, I finished transcribing the mural onto paper.
What came in handy during that was a little Null magic spell called [Drawing]
that I learned. It allowed me to take anything I saw and replicate that perfectly
on paper. In short, I became a photocopier.
In fact, I didn't even touch pen to paper. The spell worked by conjuring up the
symbols straight onto the paper, so I really was like an actual photocopier. I
simply had to look at the image on my smartphone's screen in order to finish
copying it down. The spell was less [Drawing] and more [Printing], not that I
really cared too much about the name either way.
The important part was that with the spell, I had effectively acquired a
printer. As a test, I took down several new recipes for sweets and gave those to
Aer, and she almost exploded with joy. I was thankful that I was able to
translate the words as part of the printing process, if I focused hard enough.
The only downside was that I had to use [Search] to find the actual ingredient
names one by one.
I'd learned to use one of the one hundred yen coins that I had been carrying
to deal with anything concerning weight. Notice these things sooner, idiot, I told
myself.
My next job was to deliver the mural transcript to the capital. I did ask the
others if any of them wanted to tag along, but it seemed like the thought of
meeting the duke again made them all too nervous, so they declined.
It was at those times that I really felt the difference in my perception of what
a noble was, compared to how everyone else thought of them. I mean, there
weren't exactly any nobles back in Japan. Though, strictly speaking, there may
have been some in the past.
I took the bundle of transcribed papers in hand and cast my trusty [Gate]
spell. Stepping through the light, I arrived directly in front of the gate to the
duke's estate.
"What the—?!"
"Whoops, sorry about that..." The guard was startled by my sudden
appearance. To tell the truth, I had been startling this poor guard like that every
time I came to the duke's estate. I kind of wished he'd just get used to it
already, but that was still going to take a while from the looks of things.
Wait a sec... The gate opened and a carriage came out. Were they going out
somewhere? I figured I had timed my visit poorly.
"Touya, is that you?! Thank the heavens! Please, get in!"
"Huh? Wait... Wha?! What's going on?!" The carriage door swung open and
the duke swept down like a bird of prey, grabbed me by the arm, and whisked
me up into the carriage in one movement. Seriously, what the heck?!
"To think you would appear with such impeccable timing...! You're truly a
godsend. I give Him my thanks." The duke started fervently praying.
I mean, technically God did send me here, so... At any rate, the duke's
behavior was definitely not normal. I'd never seen him so frantic before. I
wondered what in the world had happened.
"What happened, exactly?" At my sudden question, sweat appeared on the
duke's forehead as he answered in a rather panicked tone.
"My brother has been poisoned."
...Come again, sire? Wasn't the duke's brother... the king? Was this a case of
royal assassination?
"Fortunately, treatment was delivered swiftly, so he's still hanging on... For
now." The duke's voice came out trembling as he sat face-down, gripping his
hands together tightly. I mean, his brother was on the verge of death. Anyone
would be worried in that situation.
"Do you have any idea who the culprit could have been?"
"...There's one prime suspect, but we have no proof. Surely you remember
the incident where Sue was attacked, yes? I believe both of these crimes were
orchestrated... by the same individual."
"But why would they want to kill the king? Oh, hang on, could it have been an
assassin sent from outside of the country or..."
"If only it were that simple..." The duke let out a sigh and raised his head. He
wore a terrible expression on his face.
"Our Kingdom of Belfast is surrounded by three other countries. To the west
is the Refreese Imperium, to the east sandwiched in the Melicia mountain range
is the Regulus Empire, and to the south by the Great Gau River is the Kingdom
of Mismede. Of these, we have been on good terms with the Refreese
Imperium for a great many years." I see, I see.
"As for the Regulus Empire, we signed a nonaggression pact after the war
twenty years ago, but I cannot exactly say that we're on good terms. It wouldn't
be strange if they launched another attack on us at any moment. Now, as for
the Mismede Kingdom, this is where things get complicated."
"Complicated how, exactly?"
"Mismede is a new kingdom that was established during the war with Regulus
twenty years ago. My brother has been trying to form an official alliance with
this new kingdom, partly to stave off the threat of Regulus, and partly to open
up more trade routes between our two kingdoms. However, there are some
nobles who are very displeased with his decision."
"What's their problem?" If the Regulus Empire could attack again any day,
then it would make more sense to gain as many allies as possible before that
happened. Maybe it wasn't so simple, though.
"Mismede is a kingdom of demi-humans ruled by a beastman king. Some of
the older nobles despise the idea of, well... forming an alliance with a kingdom
like that."
"...Okay, but why?" These nobles would even go out of their way to obstruct
things that would benefit the country just because they didn't like the idea of
an alliance with demi-humans? I couldn't understand that reasoning at all. If
they were simple beasts who couldn't be reasoned with, then that was one
thing, but the beastmen were perfectly capable of holding a conversation. And
that little beastgirl Arma was such a nice kid, too.
"In the past, demi-humans were seen as an inferior race and were the target
of much discrimination. They were treated like a race of crude savages.
However, this all changed during our father's generation. A law was created
such that demi-humans no longer be treated as inferior or discriminated
against. With that, the old ways died out, and demi-humans were able to walk
around with their heads held high without worry. Even as we speak, there are
plenty of them in the castle town itself. On the surface, discrimination against
them is all but gone, but in reality there are still some nobles stuck in the past
who refuse to treat them fairly."
"Discrimination, huh..."
"That's correct. Their opinions are that we should not have to join hands with
a country of savages. Some even insist that we should simply destroy their
kingdom and claim the land for our own. To the nobles of that disposition, my
brother is a very big nuisance." That made sense. So the culprits behind the
assassination plot were probably those old nobles, but was it really necessary
for them to go so far? I felt that it was all wrong. Could it really be so bad that
they'd want to kill the king over it? Hell, if the king died, wouldn't those nobles
be the ones to suffer the most?
"Were my brother to die, the throne would go to his lone daughter, Princess
Yumina. The older nobles are probably seeking to have the princess marry one
of their sons or relatives in order to claw their way into the royal bloodline.
After that, they would be free to abuse their power to purge all of the demihumans from the country... I'm beginning to think that the ones who tried to
kidnap Sue were not trying to twist my arm, but my brother's instead."
A case of "Do as we say if you value your niece's life," then. They wanted to
cut off relations with Mismede bad enough to take hostages. The princess
probably had strong guards protecting her, so they would've aimed for a
relative like the king's niece instead... And then they might've gotten carried
away and demanded that the king marry his daughter off to one of their sons.
Something about the whole thing just felt like the plot of a goofy evil
mastermind from a cartoon or something. The culprit was probably a complete
idiot.
If they were caught, they'd probably get the death sentence right away. I
could almost picture them as the villain in some period drama. Like a greedy
merchant or a corrupt magistrate, something like that.
"So, uh, what do you need me to do?"
"I need you to expel the poison from my brother's body, by way of the same
spell you cured Ellen with." The spell that heals any status ailments, [Recovery].
That made sense. With that spell, not only the poison itself, but all of the effects
it had on the body would be reverted to normal. That explained why the duke
whisked me up into the carriage. And in such a rush, too.
While we were discussing all of this, the duke's carriage pulled through the
castle gates, across the drawbridge, and into the castle grounds. The duke then
rushed me into the castle in a flurry, and we were greeted by a massive hall
covered in bright red carpets. It was my first time in a castle. Everything there
was massive.
From where we were in the center of the hall, I could see a pair of staircases
to the left and right, curved around and leading up to the next floor. On the
ceiling there was a brilliant chandelier, sparkling like stars in the night sky. It
didn't appear to have any candles, though. Was it infused with Light magic? The
duke and I made a dash up the red-carpeted stairs and got up to a small landing
where we crossed paths with a certain man.
"Well well, if it isn't Your Highness the Duke. It is good to see you again."
"Tsk...! Count Balsa..." The duke met the man in front of him with an intense
gaze. He was a plump, thin-haired little man in a showy outfit. His appearance
called to mind the image of a toad. The toad gazed at us with a large, slimy grin.
"You can rest easy. We've captured the one who tried to assassinate His
Majesty."
"What did you say?!"
"That's right, it was the ambassador from Mismede. His Highness collapsed
after drinking a glass of wine, and we later discovered that it was the very wine
the ambassador had offered as a gift."
"That's absurd..." The duke's expression changed. He clearly doubted what he
just heard. If that story were true, then it wouldn't just open a rift between the
two kingdoms, it could easily lead to all-out war.
I really doubt that's what happened. Doesn't make sense for the other
kingdom to do something like that.
"The ambassador is currently being confined in another room. We should
have that filthy animal executed immediately. Chop off her head and send it
back to Mismede, I say..."
"We shall do no such thing! These decisions are for my brother to make! You
will keep the ambassador alive in that room until my brother comes to a
decision!"
"Very well... You really do show far too much sympathy to the likes of a
beastman... At any rate, I will see that she is kept restrained for the time being.
However, if the worst should come to pass, I will not be able to keep the other
nobles in check. They will likely all respond exactly as I wished to." Count Balsa
stood there with a repulsive smile on his face. I see... So he's one of the old
nobles who're opposed to the king's decree on the treatment of demi-human
species. No, he could even be the very mastermind behind the poisoning...
From the way the duke was glaring at the toad, it seemed my guess was dead
on the mark. Yup. This guy? Guilty. Case closed.
"Well then, allow me to be on my way. It seems things are about to get quite
exciting around here." With those words, the toad began to descend the stairs
with a lumbering gait. Things were going to get exciting? Why, because the king
was going to die? The duke's hands were trembling with rage as he saw off
Count Baldy. Alright, let's give this toad a little taste of justice.
"[Slip]."
"Urrbuoah?!" The toad slipped magnificently and rocketed down the stairs
with unparalleled grace. Nothing could stop him as he went tumbling down,
rolling down the stairs until eventually his momentum catapulted him out onto
the carpet of the bottom floor.
"Oof!" Upon reaching the bottom floor, the toad tried to put on a mask of
composure as he tottered to his feet. The surrounding maids and the knights on
guard duty were all trembling trying to suppress their laughter. Damn... He
made it out mostly fine...
The blank-faced duke turned to me when he heard me clicking my tongue,
and inquired of me.
"Was that your doing?" No words were necessary. I threw him a thumbs up
with a smile as clear as the day blue sky. The duke was absolutely astonished
with me at first, but eventually his face softened into a smile as well.
◇ ◇ ◇
"Now, we can't keep dawdling around here all day. We must make haste!"
We resumed our journey up the stairs and proceeded down a long corridor. At
the end of the corridor was a door guarded by the king's strongest personal
guards. The guards noticed the duke approaching and respectfully bowed their
heads as they opened the large door behind them.
"Brother!" What I saw as I walked into the room with the duke was a
gorgeous bed with a large canopy, bathing in the sun's rays and surrounded by
a number of people. All of the people in the room were gazing at the figure on
the bed, most likely the king himself, with sorrowful expressions.
Gripping the king's hand as she sat by his side was a young girl. Next to her
was a woman sitting in a chair, crying. The others present were an old man in
gray robes with a grave expression, a jade-haired woman with downcast eyes
holding a golden khakkhara, and a splendidly mustachioed man in a military
uniform whose shoulders seemed to be shaking with rage.
The duke strode up briskly to the side of the bed and began talking to the old
man in gray robes.
"What's my brother's condition?!"
"We've done all we can, but we've never seen these symptoms from any kind
of known poison... At this rate, I fear the worst..." The old man closed his eyes
and lightly shook his head. Just then, the king began talking in a very hoarse
voice.
"Al..."
"I'm here, brother."
"...I leave my wife and daughter... in your hands... The alliance with
Mismede... you must..."
"Touya, please help!" I snapped out of observation mode and rushed to the
king's side. The military man made moves to stop me, but the duke held him
back.
The king rested there, gazing at me with clouded-over eyes like a dying fish,
and mouthed "Who is that?" in a wordless voice. Between his pale complexion,
his dried out lips, and his incredibly faint breathing, he was the very picture of
death itself. I had no time to waste. Focusing my magic, I extended the palm of
my hand out to him.
"[Recovery]." A gentle light flowed out from my hand and into the king.
Eventually the light petered out, and the king began breathing easily again. His
complexion grew more and more healthy before our very eyes. After blinking a
few times, the light returned to his eyes. Suddenly, he shot bolt upright in bed
as if he'd been sleeping on a springboard.
"Father!"
"Sweetheart!" The king opened and closed his hand while looking at the
woman and young girl clinging to him.
"...I feel quite grand. All that suffering, now gone without a trace..."
"Your Majesty!" The old man in gray robes rushed over to the king. He took
the king's hand, measured his pulse, and examined his eyes, among various
other tests. So that person was the royal physician. That made sense.
"...You are the very picture of health. How could this be...?" Ignoring the
dumbfounded doctor, the king turned to face me.
"Al... Alfred... Who is this boy?"
"This is the same young Mochizuki Touya who cured my wife's eyesight. By
sheer coincidence, he had come to visit my estate. I brought him along with me,
knowing that he would be able to cure you."
"...Aha... yyyyeah. My name's Mochizuki Touya." With absolutely no idea how
to introduce myself to a king, I responded suitably. Like a simpleton. Only after
the fact did I worry that I'd gotten something horribly wrong.
"I see. So this is the boy who cured Lady Ellen...! You have saved my life, and
for that you have my sincerest gratitude!" I had no idea how to act after being
thanked by a king, and before I knew it the mustachioed man came up and
started patting me on the back with vigor uncalled for. Hey, whoa, that hurts,
you know!
"You've done a great service in saving the king's life, boy! Sir Touya then, is
it?! I like the look about you!" So said the mustachioed geezer as he relentlessly
continued in his efforts to break every bone in my back. Seriously, that really
hurts!
"General, that's enough of that now. Still, to think I'd be able to see the nonelemental spell [Recovery] nowadays... How curious..." The lady with the
golden khakkhara smiled as she put an end to the general's ruthless onslaught.
You've saved my spine, ma'am.
"Now brother, we must talk at once about the ambassador from Mismede...!"
"What of the ambassador?"
"She is currently being held captive by Count Balsa as the suspected
ringleader of this assassination attempt. What do you think about that,
brother?"
"How utterly absurd! What could Mismede possibly hope to gain from my
death?! This is without a doubt the work of those who see me as an obstacle!"
In that case, that old toad was the most suspicious after all.
"Unfortunately... the fact of the matter is that Your Majesty collapsed upon
drinking the wine brought forth by the ambassador. There were several
witnesses present at the time. Unless we can clear up those suspicions..."
"Hrmph..." The king fell deep into thought at General Whiskers' words. Well,
it was only natural that they couldn't release a suspect without first proving
their innocence.
"We don't even know what type of poison was employed. It could even have
been a special type of beastman poison. We'd need to investigate that in order
to find out..." The elderly physician mumbled in a troubled voice.
Apparently they'd already used every known method of detecting and
identifying poison, but the wine had shown no reaction whatsoever. Without
knowing the type of poison, there was no way to know what kind of antidote
was necessary. As a result, the king had been teetering on the brink of death for
close to an hour.
Ordinary Healing magic couldn't cure physical status ailments like paralysis or
poison. If I hadn't arrived, the king would have been in heaven at that very
moment. Just as the culprit had planned.
"For the time being, I would like to meet with the ambassador. General Leon,
escort her to me."
"Yes, Your Majesty!" The mustachioed geezer left the room as fast as his feet
could carry him.
It was almost certain that the ambassador had been framed. Erase the
bothersome king and conveniently pin the crime on the ambassador. This would
create a fissure between the two kingdoms, and Belfast would be free to wage
war under the pretense of a just cause... Yeah, was probably the plan. By that
point it was almost clear as day, really.
"Uhm..." While I was deep in thought, a girl called out to me. I raised my face
to see that it was the princess — Princess Yumina as I seemed to recall — who
had been standing and staring at me.
She looked to be about two or three years older than Sue. Maybe around
twelve or thirteen? She wore a fluffy white dress, and in her hair sparkled a
silver hairband. She had the same gorgeous blonde hair as Sue, and her large
eyes were very captivating. Looking closely, I noticed that her left and right eyes
were actually different colors. Her right eye was a vibrant blue, while her left
eye was a light green. I'd heard about situations like that before; it was called
heterochromia.
"Thank you very much for saving my father's life." The princess thanked me
and quickly bowed in my direction. She sure was well-mannered. I was worried
she might be some high-handed spoilt brat of a princess.
"Please, don't worry about it. I'm just glad he's feeling better." The way
everyone kept thanking me made me feel embarrassed, so I tried to just smile
my way out of it. But the princess merely kept staring at me veeery closely.
What, was there something on my face?
Staaare...
Staaaare...
Staaaaare...
Staaaaaare...
"Err... can I help you?" I couldn't withstand being engulfed in her burning gaze
any longer, so I shifted my gaze as I asked that question. The princess blushed
slightly and spoke almost in a whisper.
"...Do you dislike younger women?"
"...Come again?" Unable to comprehend the meaning behind her question, I
tilted my head in confusion. Just then the door opened, and in came General
Whiskers with a beastgirl who looked to be around twenty. Hmm? Haven't I
seen you before?
"I, Olga Strand, have arrived as per your summons." The beastgirl genuflected
before the king, who was still sitting in bed. Atop her head were a pair of animal
ears standing upright, and from her lower back protruded a tail. The tail of a
fox.
"Let us get right to the heart of the matter. Did you come to this country with
the intention of killing me?"
"I swear on my life, I would consider no such thing. I would never think to
poison Your Majesty!"
"I had thought as much. You do not strike me as the type of foolish person to
do such a thing. As such, I trust you." The king spoke with a smile, and the
Mismede ambassador's expression turned to one of relief.
"Still, the fact remains that it was your wine from which the poison came.
How would you explain this turn of events?"
"Th-That is..." Unable to respond to the words of the woman with the golden
khakkhara, the foxgirl simply let her head hang listlessly. Of course she had no
way to prove her innocence. It didn't seem like the khakkhara lady was accusing
her because of that, though. It felt more like she was asking "What can we do to
help figure this out?" or something. Hmm...
"Er, excuse me a moment?"
"Wait, is that Touya?" the foxgirl questioned.
"So it was you...!" The foxgirl turned to face me when I called out, and was
surprised when she saw my face. Oh, looked like it really was the same lady
from back then. She was the older sister of that young foxgirl, Arma, who I'd
found wandering lost in the capital on my first visit. So the older sister's name
was Olga, huh?
"Are you acquainted with the ambassador?"
"I made friends with her younger sister, but we only met in passing, really.
Anyway, putting that aside for a moment..." I made a gesture of picking up a
box and moving it to the side as I brushed off the duke's question. Nobody
seemed to get it. Ouch. Moving on, I asked General Whiskers about something
that had been bothering me.
"Where in the castle did the king collapse?"
"That would be the main dining hall... What of it?"
"Has the crime scene been left untouched?"
"Huh? Well, yes, it's exactly as it was at the time of the incident... No, wait,
we removed the wine in order to test it for poison. The tests are still ongoing..."
Which meant that they still hadn't found any trace of the poison whatsoever.
I was pretty sure I had figured it all out, then. It was a common trick. Heck, it
didn't even really count as a trick. The moment anyone realized that there was
no poison in the wine whatsoever, the truth would be blatantly obvious. This
plan had so many holes that it would've made a good fishing net. I wanted to
check one last thing though, just to be sure and all.
"Could you guide me to that room? I might be able to prove the ambassador's
innocence." Everyone in the room exchanged glances, but the king gave his
permission, so General Leon led me to the room.
The room itself was a large hall. It had a big white-brick fireplace and a single
massive window, which was adorned with blue curtains and looking out over
the gardens. The walls were lined with several expensive-looking paintings, and
on the ceiling was a magnificent sparkling chandelier. The long table was
covered in a white tablecloth, atop which rested silver candlesticks plus plates
and cutlery with the food still on them.
Upon my request, the general brought me the wine in question.
"Is this wine rare at all?"
"I'm not too sure myself, but apparently so. According to the ambassador's
story, it's only produced in a certain village in Mismede. It's supposedly very
valuable due to that fact."
"Alrighty then." Okay, it's about time to test out my theory.
"[Search]: Poison." I activated my search-fu. I looked over the wine,
continued on through the rest of the room, and passed my gaze across the
whole of the tabletop. Yup, just as I'd thought. I was pretty sure it would've
been found out eventually, but I was the only one who could use search magic
to quickly confirm it for sure.
The fact that I could find it with the [Search] spell must have meant that if I
ever consumed any, I would know immediately that I had been poisoned. The
thought made me never, ever want to try that.
Now, what was to be done? At the rate things were going, the chance that the
truth would remain unknown was relatively high. The crime was probably
plotted out with that thought in mind. Even if it failed, the worst the real culprit
would get off with was being suspected, and little more. I could prove the
ambassador's innocence with what I had, but we wouldn't be able to catch the
real culprit that way... Okay, think I got it.
"I think I get the gist of it. General, could you get the king to summon
everyone to the dining hall? Oh, that's including Count Balsa, by the way. Also, I
have a small favor to ask..."
"A favor?" The general tilted his head quizzically, but he heard out my
request. If there was no solid evidence, then all we had to do was get the culprit
to fess up themselves.
Alrighty then, time to put on a little act...
◇ ◇ ◇
"Y-Your Majesty! You're already back up on your feet?!"
"That is correct, Count Balsa. As you can see, I am the very picture of good
health. Though I seem to have caused a lot of worry for everyone." The toad
burst into the great dining hall, and His Majesty the King answered his inquiry
most casually. He even beat his fist against his chest as if to prove it.
"I... see... Hahaha, well now, this is quite something. I'm very glad to see
that..." The count was already covered in cold sweat as his smile twitched and
he nervously rubbed his hands together. The king looked him over with
completely sober eyes. Oh, seemed like the king had noticed it, too. This guy
was undoubtedly the true culprit.
"I thought I had met my end for a moment there, but then young Touya
arrived and cleared up the poison in my body in the blink of an eye! I must say, I
was tremendously lucky today. That truly was a close call." At the king's words,
Count Baldy looked at me as though he loathed my very existence. Oh, come
on, he's practically giving it away! Now I can't even picture anyone besides him
as the culprit.
"Alright, Touya. Everyone is gathered. What next?" Holding her golden
khakkhara, the jade-haired court magician, Miss Charlotte, asked me.
The people gathered in the dining hall were: His Majesty the King, Princess
Yumina, Queen Yuel, Duke Ortlinde, General Leon, Charlotte, Doctor Raul, Olga,
and Count Balsa. I had them all stand before me, then began talking.
"As we all know, the king was poisoned just a few hours ago. The crime took
place in this very room, the dining hall. The room has been left exactly as it was
at the time of the crime. Well, maybe exactly isn't the right word, since the
food's gone cold and all, but that's not the issue at hand. The real issue is the
identity of the criminal behind the Case of the Failed Royal Assassination.
And..." I let my words hang in the air as I savored the moment, and then spoke
the words.
"The culprit is right here among us."
I've always wanted a chance to say that line! The room's atmosphere changed
in an instant, and Olga went pale. Her ears jolted upright, and she looked
around with pleading eyes as if trying to say "You're wrong, it wasn't me!"
Don't worry, we already know that.
When he saw Olga's pale face, Count Balsa's lips curled up into a smile.
Come on, dude, it's almost like you want to be caught. He hadn't seemed to
notice it himself since he was staring at Olga, but everyone else in the room had
already turned their eyes on Count Baldy as if they unanimously agreed he was
the culprit. Having everyone besides Olga already know the culprit's identity
kind of sucked some of the fun out of it, honestly...
"To start off with, we have the poisoned wine." The general handed me a
wine bottle, and I held it up for all to see.
"Now, Olga. This is, without a doubt, the wine that you brought with you,
yes?"
"Th-That's right, that is the wine I brought with me, but I didn't do anything
like poisoning it...!"
"Silence, you wretched beast! Do you still intend to act innocent? Have you
no shame?! Everyone agrees, right...?!" Watching the toad verbally abuse Olga
with a sidelong glance, I took a large swig straight from the wine bottle and
gulped it right down.
I'm a minor, but that's no big deal! After all, I'm in another world!
"Ah, it's delicious!" I slammed the bottle down onto the table. To be totally
honest, I didn't actually know how delicious the wine was, because I had no
others to compare it with. I just told you I'm a minor! Looking around, I saw that
everyone's mouths were agape as they locked their eyes onto me.
"S-Sir Touya, a-are you alright?!"
"I'm fine, General. I mean, after all, there was never any poison in the wine to
begin with!"
"What?!" Everyone looked around amongst themselves, trying to figure out
what in the world I was talking about. Everyone except the count, that is, who
was now visibly sweating bullets. Good, I have him all scared.
"Now, I have with me here a bottle of wine from the Far East. It's a very rare
type of wine born from a secret formula, and it's the finest wine that I can think
of." I took in my hand a bottle with a label that read "Bowjolly Noovoe." The
label had in fact been made by me and simply pasted onto the side of a bottle
of some cheap wine. As if to show that my wine was more precious, I took a
glass from the vacant table and poured some wine into it.
"This wine will expose the culprit." I held the wine glass aloft toward the
chandelier, which caused a dazzling array of lights to reflect off the glass and
bounce around the room. I made my way over to the others and offered the
glass to the general.
"Could I ask you to drink this?" The general gave me a doubtful look, but he
downed the glass anyway.
"How's the taste?"
"Ohoh! This is wonderful! It is better than any wine I've ever tasted!
Delicious! Count, would you like some?" Oh god, his voice was completely
monotonous. It was completely monotonous, but the general did exactly as I
had asked earlier and offered some wine to the count.
"Eh? Err, well then, alright..." After the Count nodded, I made my way over to
the table and picked up the glass that had been at the king's seat and poured
some wine into it. The moment I did so, the count's face changed immediately.
"I'm extremely interested to hear your impressions of my finest wine."
"Ah, no, actually I think I'm fine!"
"Come now, just one drink!" I grabbed the count as he started to back away
and forced the wine glass into his hand.
"Drink it with spirit, my friend!" I beamed a smile as bright as the sun straight
into the Count's eyes as I spoke. But he simply stood there flooded in cold
sweat, making no move to drink from the glass.
"What is the matter, Count? Won't you have a drink?"
"Er, well, you see... it's just..." The count began lightly rocking the glass with
shifty eyes as the king spoke. Whoops, wouldn't want that falling to the ground
now.
"...Can you not drink it? In that case, this may be rather forward of me, but I'll
simply have to help you along."
"Wha?! Mgh! Argh?!" I forced the glass to the count's lips and poured the
wine down his throat. Choking all the while, the count reflexively swallowed
some of the wine that was trying to make its way down his gullet. Realizing
what had just happened, he stood terrified.
"Ugh! Uwah! Uwaaah! H-Help me! The poison! It's coursing through my
veeeiiins! I'm dying! I'm dyiiing!" The toad writhed around, gripping at his
throat all the while. Anguish coated his face as he continued to squirm. How
embarrassing. I wonder what it is about us humans and our powers of
imagination that can drive us to act in such overblown ways.
"Urrrgggh! I-It hurts to breathe! The poison! The poooiiisooon! S-Somebody,
help me...!"
"Alright, you can calm down now. That glass you just drank from? It was a
fresh new one."
"I'm dyiiinggg, I'm... pardon?" The puzzled count stopped writhing and rose to
his feet, lightly patting at his throat.
"...I feel just fine."
"Of course you do. It was just a glass of cheap wine. I'm sorry for forcing it
down your throat, but..." I left a deliberate gap before asking the deciding
question.
"What made you think it was poisoned?"
"Uh..." The count's face froze over. Checkmate. This man had outed himself
with that little display. Fearful of a nonexistent poison that he believed he had
been forced to drink, he writhed around on the floor for no apparent reason.
Anyone who didn't know the trick behind it would never have reacted like that.
I had forced him to show his own hand.
"...What does this mean, then?" The duke spoke up all of a sudden.
"The poison wasn't in the wine that Olga brought, it was coated on the inside
of the glass itself."
"On the glass...? I see. No wonder we couldn't find any traces of poison in the
wine."
"I have a spell that lets me detect poison, so I found out the trick to it straight
away. The perpetrator was most likely one of the chefs or waiters, I would
imagine. They probably intended to dispose of the glass after the incident itself,
but our good general here was quicker in securing the crime scene, meaning
they couldn't get to the glass without raising suspicion. All that was left for me
to do was find a way to corner the mastermind... which ended up being way
easier than I thought." Then again, looking at the guy again, I really couldn't
picture anyone else as the mastermind. I'd thought to myself that all I had to do
was create a situation that he couldn't bluff his way out of, but having it
resolved so easily was a bit of a letdown, really. After all, the trick, if you could
even call it that, was so unbelievably simple.
Heck, even if I hadn't done a thing, someone would have eventually
discovered the truth once they realized that the wine itself contained no
poison. At the end of the day, I just really wanted to play the role of the
detective at least once in my life, even if the culprit did happen to be a
bumbling buffoon, you know?
"...Gah!" The toad set his sights on the door and dashed for it. He really didn't
know when to give up. Really, all that meant was that he was an incompetent
third-rate scoundrel of a man who never considered the consequences because
he had deluded himself into believing he was better than everyone else.
Nevertheless, that idiotic plan almost claimed the king's life. The price for that
crime would be a heavy one.
"[Slip]."
"Uohwhah?!" The count slipped with incredible vigor and bashed the back of
his head against the floor.
"You little...!" Almost as if she were channeling all of her resent for the man
into her own strength, Olga slammed into the count with a fearsomely powerful
kick straight to the gut. He lost consciousness instantly. Oof, that's gotta hurt.
Olga's actions were rather unbecoming of an ambassador, but not a soul in
the room felt like voicing any complaints.
◇ ◇ ◇
"According to the general, there were two accomplices: the waiter and the
poison tester. They also found poison of the same type that had been coated on
the glass in Count Balsa's residence. And finally, Count Balsa himself confessed
to attempting to kidnap Sue. Looks like this case is closed." The duke spoke
happily as he sat on a chair in one of the rooms of the royal castle.
We were accompanied in the room by His Majesty the King, Princess Yumina,
Queen Yuel, and Charlotte, who all sat around the same table leisurely drinking
tea.
"What'll happen to the count?"
"A plotted assassination of the king is no less than high treason. The man
himself will be executed, his residence and assets confiscated, and the grounds
sealed off." Well, that was only natural, really. Feelings of guilt... didn't even
cross my mind, for some reason. Probably because the guy got what was
coming to him. It was hard to show sympathy for a man like him.
"What about his family?"
"Treating them as accomplices and executing them all... would be rather
excessive. At the very least, they will lose their status as nobles and be banished
from the country. That said, the man had no wife or children, and his other
relatives were all actively opposed to letting demi-humans integrate into our
society. With them gone now, things should be somewhat easier on my
brother." The duke kept up his cheerful tone as he spoke.
I see. This incident can be used to set an example for any other nobles who are
against the alliance with the beastmen, and keep them in check.
"Honestly, my boy, I am truly in your debt. I should very much like to bestow a
gift upon the man to whom I owe my life. Is there anything you desire?" The
king almost seemed to be pleading, but honestly, I wasn't exactly wanting for
anything at the moment.
"Please, don't worry about it. I just happened to be passing by on my way to
see the duke while all of this was going on. It was just a stroke of luck for Your
Majesty. Simply chalk it up as a coincidence." I really didn't do much with my
own power, that much at least was true. The only reason I could even use the
[Recovery] spell was thanks to God. If I tried to take advantage of an unfair skill
like that, karma surely would've found its way back to me...
Hmm? Hang on, I thought, weren't things like that God's area of expertise?
Just spare me another lightning bolt incident. Seriously. Please never do that
again.
"A man lacking in avarice as always, eh, young Touya?" The duke said, while
returning his teacup to the saucer on the table.
"Isn't it only natural to help a friend in need? It's not like I did any of this
because I wanted a reward. I wanted to do it. No more and no less." That was
genuinely how I felt about it all. If, on the other hand, Count Balsa had come to
me asking for help, I wasn't sure I would've done anything for him. In the duke's
case, I knew the type of person he was, and seeing him in trouble made me
want to help him to the best of my ability. That was all there was to it.
"You truly are one curious person. The ability to use two Null spells, both
[Recovery] and [Slip]... That's quite the rare gift indeed." Charlotte spoke to me
with a bright smile. Being praised for my magic by the court magician herself
made me turn a beet red.
"Two? Heavens no, young Touya can use far more than just two unique spells.
Even as he came to visit me, he did so by way of the [Gate] spell. Then he used
yet another to detect the poison, and I seem to recall him telling me that the
shogi sets he brought as gifts were crafted through non-elemental spells as
well."
"Wh-What?" Charlotte grew visibly tenser the more the duke spoke. Hmm...
Guess the best course of action here would be to just be honest about it, I
concluded.
"Er, well, about that... See, it seems like I can use every non-elemental spell
there is. Though there's always the chance that some won't work, I'm not sure
on the details." At the very least, I had never failed to learn any of the spells
that I'd tried to acquire so far. Well, excluding that one time where I failed to
cast [Apport] properly. Even then, I did eventually manage to add the spell to
my repertoire, though.
"All of them...?! If that's really true, then this could be a momentous
occasion...! P-Please, excuse me for just a bit!" Charlotte burst her way out of
the room, clearly in a frenzy... I hope I didn't just say something I shouldn't have
just now...
"So, you were the one who crafted that shogi set, Touya my boy? Al brought
it over and praised it greatly, and upon taking to the board, I was absolutely
enthralled with it! It truly is an interesting game. So then, what's this about it
being constructed by way of magic?"
Yup, just what I'd been worrying about. The king got hooked on it too. These
brothers really are cut from the same cloth.
To demonstrate, I took a glass from the table and cast [Modeling] on it. The
glass gradually changed shape, and within thirty seconds I had completed my
glass figure rendition of the king himself. It was a ten centimeter tall glass
sculpture, which, if I said so myself, really captured his majestic aura.
"And, well, that's pretty much how it works." I handed the figure over to the
king. Since the model for the piece had been sitting right in front of me, I was
able to capture even the tiniest of detail. The only real problem was that, being
made of glass, it would still shatter if dropped.
"Th-This is incredible... I seem to recall there being someone from Refreese
who could use similar magic, but to see such affection poured into one's
creation to the smallest level of detail..." Refreese... The Refreese Imperium,
was it? If memory served, they were one of the neighboring countries. Nonelemental, Null magic was primarily comprised of unique, personalized spells. It
was entirely possible for several people to share similar, yet subtly different
forms of their personal non-elemental spells.
The king held his little figure up in the sunlight and marveled at how it
sparkled. Seeing that, I felt that I should really complete the set since just the
king alone would be somewhat lonely, so I took two more glasses in hand and
set to work.
Before long, I had completed two more glass figures: One of the queen, and
one of the princess. I gave them to their respective owners. They accepted the
figures with beaming smiles, then chatted joyously as they compared each
other's figures before lining up all three on the table. Yup, I knew it was a good
idea to trust my instincts. The completed set really paints a lovely picture with
the whole family together in one place.
"This is truly a wonderful gift."
"Nah, the glasses I used to make them were yours to begin with. If anything,
I'm sorry for using them as crafting materials without asking first." I lowered my
head to the king to show my small apology. When I raised my head back up, the
duke's pleading little face caught my attention immediately. He really was the
type who made no effort to hide his emotions.
"...I'll make some figures of the duke's family too, the next time I'm around
for a visit. Promise."
"You truly would not mind?! You have my gratitude!" If I was going to make
more figures anyway, it'd be much easier with the models themselves in front
of me as I crafted them.
I gave a wry smile at the duke's calculated assault on my generosity, when all
of a sudden a loud crashing sound resounded through the room and the door
flew open as Charlotte charged in, carrying a large number of things in her
arms. She approached me with the appearance of some terrifying apparition
and held out a parchment with something written on it.
"Child... c-can you read this?!" Charlotte loomed closer and closer. What?
What is this, what's going on? Why do I always end up in these scary
situations?! Giving in to Charlotte's sudden compulsive behavior, I ran my eyes
over the parchment. Whatever was written on it was in a language I'd never
seen before. I couldn't make out a single word.
"...Can't make heads or tails of it. What is this, exactly?"
"So you can't read it, right? Alright, how about this non-elemental spell? Do
you think you can use it?" This time she took out a bulky tome and turned to a
specific page. I could read this one. Let's see... Null magic spell... [Reading]?
According to the book, it was a spell that allowed one to read a number of
different languages. The one stipulation was that the caster had to at the very
least know the name of the language he was trying to use the spell on. Oh, that
made sense. It was possible I'd be able to decipher the parchment with that
spell.
...Wait a minute. If I'd had this spell earlier, then I wouldn't have had to rely on
Linze to teach me how to read and write...
"I think I can probably use it now, but... do you know what language that
parchment is written in?"
"It's written in Ancient Spirit Script. There's almost nobody in the world who
can read it." Hmm... Well, it was worth a shot.
"[Reading]: Ancient Spirit Script." I activated the spell... My eyes darted back
toward the parchment. Uh... Mm...
"This is..."
"Y-You can read it?!" Charlotte locked her gaze on me as I noticed stars in her
eyes. In comparison, I probably had something more like a cloudy night sky in
mine.
"Sorry... I can make out the characters now, but I have no idea what's actually
written here."
"You can read it... but you don't know what it says?! Wh-What do you
mean?!"
"Well, let's see... By taking a Degment, which lacks any meaningful arts to
access the Origin Magic, and introducing that to the nature of the Soma-arts'
method of blasting magic in order to cause a change in the Edos... And well, it's
all stuff like that. I can't really make heads or tails of it." I really didn't
understand a single word. In the first place, reading something and
understanding it were two different things. Whatever that parchment had
written on it, it was far too difficult a subject for me to ever hope to grasp.
"So you really can read it! Touya, that's amazing! With this, our research will
begin making progress by leaps and bounds...! Sorry, could I get you to read this
one, too?"
"Wait, wait, just hang on a second!" I broke Charlotte's barrage of demands
off even as she made her way toward me once more with yet more documents.
Evidently, she was so excited that I could almost see steam coming out of her
nose! Geez, lady! Calm down a little! "Charlotte, would you calm down for a
moment?"
"Y-Yes, of course! I-I-I'm very sorry about all of this! I appear to have gotten
caught up in the moment...!" Having regained her senses, Charlotte hung her
head as a huge blush spread across her face.
"I'm well aware that you've been passionately studying the field of Ancient
Spirit Magic for the longest time, so it's not as though I don't understand your
feeling on the matter."
"That's exactly right! Until now, we've been struggling to piece it all together
one word at a time, sometimes taking many months or even years, our research
riddled with problems such as the occasional mistranslation or whatnot... But
Touya, he read it in an instant! Touya, I beg of you, please assist us in translating
these scripts for the sake of our research!" Huh? She wants me to keep on
reading this stuff...? Without end, for all of the foreseeable future?
"About that... Roughly how much is there that needs translating?"
"Let's see... Well, there are countless documents which still need to be
translated... If we were to start with the documents pertaining to the ancient
civilization of Partheno, then..."
"That's enough! Thanks, but no thanks!" From the moment she uttered the
word countless, I had already mentally thrown in the towel. I didn't mind
helping out every now and then, but I had zero intention of making a career out
of it! I had no plans to work as a translator anytime soon.
At my rejection, Charlotte made a face that could easily have convinced
anyone that the end of the world was nigh. I couldn't live with myself if I left her
like that...
Oh, there was an idea...
"Excuse me, Your Majesty. Could I borrow one more glass?"
"I do not mind, but what are you planning to craft with it this time?" That
took care of the glass part, which only left the metal... I supposed some silver
coins would suffice.
Taking my silver coins and placing them next to the glass, I cast my
[Modeling] spell and began reshaping the materials. I crafted the frame out of
silver coins, then inserted two glass discs into the openings on the front. With
that, my creation was complete.
Humbly designed though they were, I had, indeed, just invented glasses. Well,
the lenses were made from regular glass, so they were just mock-glasses. For
now...
Charlotte was the only one who was truly amazed by what I'd just done, but I
was still just getting started.
For the next step, I cast [Enchant] on the glasses in order to imbue them with
a special effect.
"[Enchant]. Imbue with [Reading]: Ancient Spirit Script." The glasses glowed
faintly for a moment before the light gradually dissipated. I took the completed
glasses and wore them on my face before taking another look at the parchment
from before. Yup, a resounding success. I could read it again. Having confirmed
that fact, I took the glasses of and gave them to Charlotte.
"Please try wearing them just like I did."
"Hm? Well, alright..." Charlotte put on my special mock-glasses as I'd
instructed her. Oooh, this is beyond my expectations! They suit her perfectly! On
this day, this world bears witness to the birth of the bespectacled beauty!
Finally, I handed the parchment back to Charlotte.
"Now, please read exactly what you see written here."
"Eh...? Umm... By taking a Degment, which lacks any meaningful arts to access
the Origin Magic, and introducing that to the nature of the Soma-arts' method
of... I-I can read it! I can really read it!" A job well done, then. And so, on that
day translation-vision glasses were brought unto the world.
Seeing Charlotte grow happier and happier as she quickly glanced over
several more of the documents made her look so adorable that it was hard to
believe she was an adult woman.
"The effect should at the very least be semi-permanent, I think, but if it does
wear off, then please don't hesitate to bring them back and I'll enchant them
for you again."
"I will! I-I mean, wait, does that mean you're giving these to me?!"
"Of course. They're all yours now."
"Thank you so much! Really, thank you!" Good grief. Well, at least I'd
managed to escape the wicked fate of having to go through a class change to
Translator of all things.
Charlotte was in such high spirits that she blurted out something like "I'd like
to put these to work on my research immediately!" and left the room like a
brisk summer gale.
"My apologies for that. Once something catches that girl's interest, she tends
to tune out everything else around her... She is the most talented magical
researcher we have, as well as the pride of our research team, but even so..."
"Oh my, I would rather say that that is precisely what makes her so appealing,
do you not think so?"
"...Well, I'm just glad she was pleased with my little gift." The king and queen
made an amusing image at that moment, him shaking his head as if to say
"What am I to do with that girl?" and her giggling at his side due to the whole
exchange. The sight made me relax in my chair once more, which in turn made
me bring the chilled tea to my lips for a drink. Even lukewarm, it tasted quite
delicious. I supposed that was probably part of what made it first-class.
Staaare...
Staaaare...
Staaaaare...
Staaaaaare...
...Now, who does that burning, intense gaze that's been honing in on me this
entire time belong to? Why, the princess, of course.
She had completely wrapped me in her sights with those mismatched blue
and green eyes of hers, and showed no signs of relenting. It was like she had
locked onto me as some sort of target. Had I done anything to rub her the
wrong way...? Actually, it seemed like her face was a bit red...
Her visual assault came to an end all of a sudden. I cast a glance in her
direction, and she had risen from her seat. She was now standing facing her
parents, the king and queen.
"What's the matter, Yumina?"
"Father. Mother. I have made my decision," Princess Yumina declared.
I wonder what this decision she's talking about is, I thought to myself as I took
another mouthful of my cold tea, watching the conversation with a sidelong
glance.
The princess' face turned bright red as she spoke once more.
"I-I would like to... I would like to take Mochizuki Touya as my husband!"
Pffffffft!!! The princess dropped a bomb that detonated in the form of cold
tea soaring through the air. Ah, what a graceful display.
What'd she just say? Husband? Hundred? Huntsman? Oh, it must've been
hostage. "I would like to take Mochizuki Touya as my hostage." Yup. That makes
absolutely zero sense.
"...Sorry. Yumina, could you say that one more time?"
"As I said, Father. I would like to take Mochizuki Touya as my husband."
"Oh my, oh my," the queen muttered, clearly amused. Yumina repeated
herself for the benefit of her father, His Majesty the King. Queen Yuel, still
sitting next to the king, opened her eyes wide and took a good look at her own
daughter.
Watching all this from the side, the duke was utterly gobsmacked as his gaze
drifted between his brother and niece repeatedly.
"Your reasons?"
"Well, him saving your life, Father, does indeed factor into it... But more than
that, my Touya has a strange charisma that brings smiles to all those around
him. Even just from his interactions with Uncle Alfred or Charlotte, he has done
nothing but bring them joy. I find his kindness appealing beyond words, and for
the first time in my life, I thought that... I would be happy to live out the rest of
my days by a person's side."
"...I see... If that is your decision, then far be it from me to stop you. I wish the
two of you nothing but happiness!"
"Thank you, Father!"
"Hooold it right there!" I raised my hand to interject for a moment. If I didn't
cut them off, things would've sure spiraled completely out of control. Actually,
it was already well beyond any kind of control already.
"Excuse me, but I would really love to have a say in all of this!"
"Ahh, my apologies, son. I'll trust you to take good care of my daughter."
"No, no, no, no, hell no. This is all messed up! Your Majesty, you've gone
mad!" I understood fully well that I'd just said some outrageous things to the
king, but I didn't exactly have the time to care about manners. My entire future
was on the line!
"You barely even know anything about me! Are you really fine with just
marrying your daughter, a princess at that, off to some complete stranger?! I
could be the baddest brigand in all the lands, for all you know!"
"No, there is no chance of that. Yumina has approved of you, so at the very
least it is certain that you are not a bad person. My daughter has an ability
which lets her see the true nature of a person in that way." Huh? She could
grasp a person's nature? What did that even mean?
"You see, Yumina was born with Mystic Eyes. They allow her to see the true
nature or personality of anyone she lays her eyes on. I would say it's somewhat
similar to intuition, but in Yumina's case, she's never been wrong." The duke
explained the situation to me along those lines. So put simply, she could
instinctively tell whether someone was a good person or a bad person? I had no
idea her odd eyes held such a power. Well, in Count Balsa's case, even I could
tell that he was a rascal at a glance, but if that power of hers was genuine, then
Yumina would never be taken in by any shady fellows.
Being recognized as a good person by a girl like that didn't feel half bad at all,
but that was completely irrelevant to the situation at hand.
"...Plus, I mean, just how old is Princess Yumina?"
"She turned twelve years of age not long ago."
"Don't you think it's a little bit early for her to be thinking about marriage...?!"
"Not at all, it is quite a common thing for the royal family to find their life
partners by age fifteen. I recall that I was fourteen when I got married to my
wife." Gah... This was the problem with other worlds... As I made a face like I'd
just swallowed a bug, I felt a hand tugging at the sleeve of my coat.
"Touya, do you dislike me...?" Princess Yumina clung to my sleeve and gave
me the sad puppy eyes routine. Hold up, stop right there! Foul! Red card!
Offside! Anyway, that's just unfair!
"Well... I don't really... dislike you or anything, it's just..." This isn't even a
question of like or dislike! I just don't even know you very well.
"In that case, it shouldn't be a problem!" Yumina's face immediately returned
to a blissful smile... Man, she sure is cute... No! Pull it together, dumbass!
What should I do? True enough, I didn't have any real reason to dislike her as
of yet, and it wasn't like I had anyone I was in love with, either. Her parents had
approved of it, and I'd never struggle for living expenses ever again. Wait,
what? Hang on. Thinking about it, I had absolutely no reason to decline at all!
No! Marriage is where your future goes to die! My older cousin said so! He
accidentally got a lady pregnant, so he got married to her, only to be slapped
with divorce papers just three years later! He had no idea why! And then, after
having taken out a huge loan under her impossible demands for a house, he
was driven out of it without a say in the matter. As a final nail in the coffin, he
ended up having to pay child support for a kid he wasn't even allowed to visit.
As if that wasn't bad enough, it turned out that his ex-wife had mainly been
using the child support payments for her own sake instead of the child's. It was
so bad that whenever the relatives got together at New Years, everyone would
try to cheer him up as he comforted himself with alcohol.
I couldn't ever shake the image of my cousin's withered face from my mind...
Okay, I've decided! I'm going to live like royalty as a bachelor for the rest of
my life! I'll never become a member of royalty, mind you! "...Where I come
from, men can't get married until they turn eighteen, and women can't get
married until they're sixteen. Besides, I don't really know the first thing about
the princess, and certainly not enough to make any decisions about marriage!"
"How old are you right now, Touya?"
"I'm fifteen. Soon to be sixteen, I guess." I answered Queen Yuel's question. If
I remembered right, my birthday should have been in around two months' time.
Of course, that was all assuming that the dates in this world matched those of
my old world. I didn't know enough about the world yet to say for sure.
"Which means the wedding ceremony will take place in two years' time. Until
then, you can just remain betrothed to give you time to think. Those two years
should give you ample time to get to know my daughter Yumina better." Hey, I
see you trying to trick me, you know?! Even after two years, Yumina'll still only
be fourteen! Man, this queen is off her rocker too!
"Touya, boy."
"Whahyyes?!" I almost jumped out of my skin and ended up letting out a
weird voice when the king called out to me. I can't help it, alright?! Just look at
this situation! Even I can tell that I'm working myself up into a panic over it!
"Why not take the two years to get to know my Yumina a little better? If,
after those two years, you still cannot consider marriage, then we will give up
on the idea. How does that sound for the time being?"
"Er, well... I guess that sounds like a more reasonable idea..." It was many
times better than considering something like marriage right off the bat. I was
sure that, after enough time passed, Yumina might calm down or possibly even
find someone she really did love... And besides, maybe if she looked at reality a
little bit she'd realize how ridiculous the idea of marriage at her age was. It
didn't seem like I could bargain with them any further... And so, I decided to
resign myself to these plans for the time being.
"Good for you, Yumina. Now, you've got two years. Give it your best shot and
steal that boy's heart, you hear? If you fail to snatch his heart even after two
years, then prepare to live out the rest of your days as a nun!"
"Of course, Mother!"
"Wait, what?!" I knew that accepting that proposal was a bad idea! I was too
hasty! Heavy! The burden of it all was way too heavy for my poor soul! Now I
see! They're trying to cut off all my escape routes one at a time! Why would me
turning her down equal her becoming a nun? Surely she could just search for
someone better!
"I'll be in your care from now on, my Touya..." The Princess flashed a smile
worth more than a bag of priceless jewels. The best I could conjure up in
response was a hollow smile of my own.
Aaahh, I can hear my cousin calling out to me. He's saying "Don't you ever end
up like me."
"Geez... what in the world have you gotten yourself into this time?"
"You know, I've been asking myself that same question all day..." Upon
returning to the Silver Moon Inn, I relayed the tale of my exploits to the rest of
my party. Elze sounded exasperated right away.
"So Touya-dono is going to be getting married, is he..."
"It's a real shock, isn't it...?" Both Yae and Linze aimed their dumbfounded
gazes at the girl who seemed to be affixed to my left arm.
Yes. This is exactly what it looks like. I brought her along with me. I brought
the gosh-darned princess of this country back with me.
Yup. Princess Yumina Urnea Belfast, the one and only. Great.
"A pleasure to meet you all. My name is Yumina Urnea Belfast." Minding her
manners, Princess Yumina bowed before everyone as she introduced herself.
Her beaming smile was a deadly weapon that made my chest feel heavy.
"So, Princess, whatever are you doing here right now, pray tell?"
"Yes, well. My father has decreed that I live together with my Touya as a part
of bridal preparation. I'm sure that my ignorance of the outside world may
cause problems every now and then, but I would really like to get to know all of
you better." And that was the situation. The princess had basically been handed
right over to me. What in the world was that loopy king thinking?
I seemed to recall that he went on about how being close to someone was the
quickest way to get to know them better or some nonsense. He could have at
least assigned a guard or two! Wasn't he worried about his daughter's safety in
the slightest? No, wait. What if she did have a guard assigned to her, and it was
some ninja hiding up above the ceiling this whole time? Right as that thought
crossed my mind, I heard something clatter above me. It was probably just a
rat... right?
"Live together? You mean, like, here? I mean, you're a princess and all. Are
you gonna be... Will you be okay in a place such as this?" Elze was the only one
speaking any sense here. I agreed with her wholeheartedly. I simply couldn't
picture a princess, who'd been surrounded by servants that met her every
need, suddenly adapting to a life where she had to do everything on her own.
To be completely honest, a little part of me had been hoping that the
difficulties of single life would hit her hard enough to convince her to scurry
along home...
"Please, you needn't be so stiff when you're talking to me, Elze. For the time
being, I'll try to do my best at what I can do, and if I ever require assistance, I'm
sure I can rely on my Touya to help me out. I'll do my best to ensure that I do
not weigh everyone down!" The princess made two small fists and held them
up to her chest, striking a pose that showed she was brimming with
motivation... Gosh, she's such a darling little thing... QUIT THAT! Snap out of it!
"...Uhm, did you have something in mind?" Linze raised her hand and asked a
simple question.
"Why yes. I was thinking I could get registered with the guild for a start, and
try to reach the point where I can be of assistance during any requests we take
on."
"WHAT!" "Uhm..." "Huh?!" "Pardon...?!" Our surprised reactions were
growing more harmonious by the day. For the princess to say that she wanted
to get registered with the guild... Was she planning on living the life of an
adventurer?!
"Excuse me, Princess? You do realize what it means to get registered with the
guild, right?! There are any number of dangerous situations we could wind up
in, and..."
"I'm well aware of that. And please, don't call me Princess all the time. I'd like
it very much if you would call me Yumina, my darling."
"Well, I'd like it very much if you'd cut out the my Touya and my darling
stuff!"
"Then please call me Yumina from now on." The princess... No, Yumina,
declared so with a sugary sweet smile. Hrmmm... The girl could be unexpectedly
stubborn about things. I realized that I couldn't afford to underestimate her just
because she was younger than me.
Anyway, I got her to stop calling me "my Touya," and of course "my darling"
was right out of the question. We settled on just Touya and Yumina for each
other, respectively.
"I've learned the basics of magic from Madame Charlotte, and I'm also well
trained with a bow. I'll have you know that I'm actually rather strong, despite
my appearance."
"Bows and magic... Indeed, more long-range offensive power would be a
wondrous asset to our current party, it would! What might be your magical
alignments, then?"
"Wind, Earth, and Dark. I can only summon three types of contract beasts,
however." Wind, Earth, and Dark. That certainly would fill in the gaps perfectly,
since those were all elements that Linze had no affinity with. Although we still
didn't know just how capable with magic Yumina really was...
"Hmmm... So, what's the call?" Elze crossed her arms as she spoke to Linze
and Yae. What she was really asking was "Do we let this girl into the party or
not?" and checking with the others about that.
"...For now, why don't we accept a request... and see how things go...?" Linze
slowly muttered.
"I see. A trial by fire then, is it to be?"
"Guess so, yeah... Well, if it gets dangerous, then I'm sure Touya will just leap
to her rescue. So that settles it, then." There were so many things wrong with
the situation, but I felt like trying to argue back would be like poking at a
hornet's nest, so I obediently decided to abide by the party's decision. Though,
hell, something in the atmosphere told me that I had no right to voice my
opinion to begin with.
The girls decided on their plan of action, and so we would be heading to the
guild office the next day to get Yumina registered.
With that out of the way, we went to talk to Micah to see about getting
Yumina her own room. She insisted that she would be happy to share a room
with me, but I very much had to draw the line there for a whole variety of
reasons, so she was booked into her own separate room. After that, we all had
dinner and went to bed in order to prepare ourselves for the next quest.
I returned to my room, alone at last, and collapsed right into bed. The day's
events had left me utterly exhausted... So very, very exhausted...
Just as I felt that I was being dragged into the murky depths of sleep, I heard
my smartphone's ringtone for the first time in a while. It was set as Suppe's
Leichte Kavallerie. An upbeat little tune, which, at present, served only to
irritate me somewhat.
I removed my smartphone from my pocket and saw the words on the phone's
screen: Caller ID: God.
"...Hello?"
"Aaah, it certainly has been a while. Congratulations on your engagement,
Touya my boy."
"...Why do you even know about that...? Oh, but I guess it wouldn't be all that
strange for God to know about these things, huh...?"
"Ha ha ha. It was a mere coincidence, I promise you. I had thought to check in
on you, only to find you in quite the amusing state of affairs." I could picture the
jolly old man's face even as he spoke.
"There's nothing amusing about it... I just can't bring myself to think about
marriage at this age."
"She seems like a good girl. What more could you possibly want for?"
"It's not like that. Yeah, Yumina's really cute, and I'm sure she'll grow up to be
a really beautiful woman. Her honest, straightforward personality also makes
her my type, too. But that's got nothing to do with all of this marriage stuff."
"How stubborn you are. You know, in that world polygamy is perfectly normal
and widely accepted. That being the case, you should take any girl who strikes
your fancy and make wives out them!" Huh, I didn't know that... The duke and
the king each only had one wife, so I thought for sure... No, no, that wasn't the
real problem. I had absolutely no intentions of turning my life into a harem
story.
"At any rate, everyone is looking forward to how things go for you from here.
Do your best out there, yes?"
"That's easy for you to say... Wait a sec... What do you mean, everyone?"
"Why, all the gods of the Divine Realm, of course. When I showed you to
them, they all took an interest in you, you know? Although I am sure most of
them are only checking in on you every now and then for a bit of amusement."
Wait, huh? What did that mean? There was more than one God?
"You said gods, right? Does that mean there are others besides you?"
"But of course. Though I would like to say that I am the world god, the highest
of all. Besides me, there are the lower gods such as the god of hunting, the god
of love, the god of swords, the god of agriculture, and many, many more. Oh,
and the god of love, in particular, has taken quite the interest in you." Don't go
sticking your neck into people's love lives, God of Love.
"We were talking about how we would all turn up for your wedding ceremony
as your relatives. It was quite the fun discussion, I must say. Oh, and I would be
turning up as your grandfather, of course."
"Now you listen here..." Those gods must have had a lot of free time on their
hands. What in the world would that even be like? A wedding hall filled with
nothing but gods of all kinds. I mean, yeah, it wasn't like I had any relatives in
this world or anything, but still.
"I seem to recall you saying something about being unable to interfere once I
was down here, or am I misremembering things?"
"I believe I said that I would be unable to do much for you directly. There are
no problems with me descending to that world myself in human form if I so
choose to." I was sure there was a mountain of problems with a plan like that...
But it felt like commenting on the matter any further was only going to make
me seem the fool. When I thought about it, the gods of mythology back in my
old world supposedly visited the human world on occasion too.
"Anyhow, I am right here watching over you, my lad. Do take your time to
think things over such that you will live a life that you may look back on fondly
in your later years. I am wishing you all the best and hope that you find your
own path to happiness. With that, I suppose I really must be going. I will check
back in on you again. Goodbye."
"Yeah..." I cut off the call after giving a vague response. Live a life that I can
look back on fondly one day, huh...?
What did it even mean to be engaged to a twelve year old...? Thinking of it in
terms of a high school freshman and a girl in her sixth year of elementary
school, the age difference seemed overwhelming. On the other hand, looking at
it as a mere four year difference in our ages, it wasn't really that big of a deal,
was it...? Even my parents had a six year difference in their ages. I also seemed
to remember hearing something about some entertainers whose wives were as
much as thirty years younger than them.
Back to the situation at hand, I hadn't even gone out with a girl even once in
my life. There was no way I could be expected to understand the concept of
marriage.
Hell, I just don't get what's even going on anymore. I should just sleep on it all
for now. Yeah, I think I'll do just that.