Chapter 94, Older Brother (2)

Translator: Hedge

Editor: Lizzz

 

From early morning, footsteps crossing the plaza were bustling.

 

This was because preparations for the festival commemorating Rmain’s birthday had officially begun.

 

Since the plaza was as spacious as the Royal Palace, the work of decorating various parts of the plaza and installing structures continued for a long time.

 

As many people began their busy day on this jubilee…

 

*Clop, clop!*

 

The cheerful sound of horse hooves echoed throughout the plaza.

 

Since entry to the plaza was prohibited to the general public until the work was completed, this must have been the sound of a guest visiting the Royal Palace passing through the Capital.

 

[Who has come this time?]

 

With that thought, those who turned their heads toward the direction of the sound were surprised and all stood up at once. They hurriedly bowed their heads in greeting. This was because they confirmed that the sound was not from just anyone visiting the Royal Palace, but from a ‘certain person’ leaving the Royal Palace.

 

“It’s the Third Prince!”

 

Black hair, black formal attire. And a black horse.

 

A prince who could leave the Royal Palace without even bringing escorts.

 

Naturally, it was Kalian.

 

Usually, Kalian would ride a horse that made unusually loud hoof sounds while walking slowly, and he would acknowledge all the greetings from the people. But today, as if he had urgent business, he was hurrying somewhere, only making eye contact with those who greeted him.

 

[Why is His Highness in such a hurry?]

 

Leaving behind the curiosity of those watching him, Kalian crossed the bridge over the Senu River on Raven, who was moving at a speed just short of running. Finally, they entered Vanensha Street for the first time in a very long time.

 

He was headed to Roten Smithy.

 

When he entered the familiar shop, the still muscular owner jumped up in surprise. And he bowed with an extremely awkward motion.

 

As a result, the chair the owner had been sitting on fell over with a *crash*, but he seemed too preoccupied to pay attention to it. None of these actions were proper etiquette, but Kalian, who rather liked it, just quietly smiled.

 

“It’s been a while.”

 

Those were words as if they had met sometime before.

 

So, in the owner’s confused mind, the voice of a suspicious boy who had visited a year ago overlapped.

 

“Ah, last year!”

 

“You finally remember.”

 

Though Kalian might have wanted to chat more after recalling that time, he first wanted to address the excited feeling that had brought him here in person.

 

“My servant has recently left some good material with you.”

 

Pointing to his eyes, he added.

 

“A child with different colored eyes. I wonder if you remember him as well?”

 

“Yes, Your Highness. I remember. If you wait a moment, I’ll bring it right away.”

 

“Yes. All right.”

 

With Kalian’s permission, the owner went to the back of the store, stumbling so much that it was impossible to tell whether he was walking while clearing things or clearing them while walking. And before long, he returned with two sword hilts and respectfully placed them in front of Kalian.

 

“Here they are.”

 

Kalian’s eyes sparkled brightly as he looked at the swords.

 

They were swords made of the meteorite iron he had waited for so long.

 

It was also the item that was the reason Kyrie had been away for two months.

 

In order to acquire the meteorite and return in time for the end of his suspension, Kyrie had even used the newly completed Teleportation Magic Circle.

 

“Meteorite iron. To think you got your hands on it. I am truly surprised for words. Just how did you find such a thing?”

 

“It just happened that way.”

 

The reason Kalian remembered the location and timing of the meteorite’s fall was simple. It was because Bern had coveted it greatly in the past.

 

The Beurisen Trader’s Guild had accidentally picked up a meteorite and held it at an auction, which he participated in but ultimately lost. Chase, seeing Bern so disappointed, asked Debeullan for a sword as a gift. That sword became the royal sword of Secritia, which stayed with Bern until the end.

 

Kalian wore a face full of emotion as he finally held in his hands a sword that reminded him of so many things, but never actually had the chance to possess.

 

“It’s meteorite iron that’s of the highest grade among the highest grades, Your Highness. Even if you use Aura, it will withstand use for several generations.”

 

[Of course it would. As long as it didn’t face Arsene though.]

 

Kalian began examining the two sword hilts with a very satisfied expression. The dark ash-colored blades, almost black, emanated a sharp energy.

 

“Which of the two is the sword Your Highness will use?”

 

At that question, Kalian smiled mysteriously and spoke.

 

“Neither of them is mine.”

 

Since Kalian had his own more efficient sword, there was no reason to waste this precious meteorite iron on him. For this reason, these two sword hilts were something Kalian would not use directly in this lifetime either.

 

Among the two, the one with a more slender blade was naturally for Kyrie. And the remaining one was not for Kalian either.

 

Watching him hold the sword and swing it lightly to check it, the owner, seemingly pleased for no reason, spoke again.

 

“I’m so happy, Your Highness. When you came last year, you couldn’t even lift a sword.”

 

“Oops.”

 

At the owner’s words, Kalian’s movements abruptly stopped.

 

[Ah! I misspoke!] The owner thought he had made a verbal mistake, and Kalian felt like his secret had been exposed again.

 

[No, he is right. When I first came here, I couldn’t even hold a sword with my own hands. To think that in less than a year, I had become a Sword Master. Does that make sense? Of course not.]

 

Allan’s nagging about being discovered again buzzed in Kalian’s ears.

 

“Ah, well…”

 

Kalian spoke awkwardly, with a face that was clearly trying to maintain a natural smile.

 

“Everyone knows. At that time, yes. I was suffering from a ‘cold’.”

 

“Ah… the former Queen… ah, yes. I understand.”

 

Who in Cyriesus would not know that the ‘cold’ Kalian suffered from at that time was poison from Sillike?

 

The owner erased his doubts with an expression that said ‘of course.’ He understood and overlooked Kalian’s awkward lie as the embarrassment of someone bringing up a topic that was difficult to mention.

 

For such matters, it was certainly better to forget and let go since the perpetrator had already been served justice.

 

Kalian could not stay there any longer and hurriedly left. If he had stayed longer, he felt he might have been truly exposed.

 

He quickly mounted Raven and went to the Pollun Magic Academy.

 

* * *

 

“Is there no new information?”

 

If the owner of the Roten Smithy had seen him now, he would have tilted his head in confusion. The excitement shown while looking at the swords had completely disappeared from his face.

 

Euria, who had once again made full use of the Mages’ information network, shook her head and answered.

 

“No, Your Highness. There has been no special movement from the Priests of Tansyll yet. Gray Beurisen is still in the border county.”

 

“From what older brother Plants said, it seemed like he would come right away, but he’s too slow.”

 

At those words, Euria smiled briefly and replied.

 

“Perhaps it’s because of Duke Siegfried?”

 

“Duke Siegfried?”

 

“Thanks to the Teleportation Magic Circle, the Duke is moving differently than before. Originally, to come to Cyriesus from Siegfried Territory, one had to depart two months in advance, but now he’s not moving with less than a month left, so I thought perhaps he believes Duke Siegfried will not attend this festival.”

 

“You mean he thought Duke Siegfried wouldn’t come this time, so he planned to return to Cyriesus?”

 

“Yes. That’s what I think, Your Highness. He had boldly said he would come here, but when he heard Duke Siegfried had already arrived at his mansion in the Capital, he postponed his schedule.”

 

What Gray still did not know was the existence of the Teleportation Magic Circle.

 

Sleiman no longer had a reason to depart two months early. This was because of the Teleportation Magic Circle.

 

As a result, Sleiman had left his Duchy just five days ago and had already arrived at the Siegfried residence in Cyriesus.

 

Kalian nodded and replied.

 

“That’s highly likely. I didn’t expect the Magic Circle to have this kind of influence, but it sure is welcomed.”

 

There was only one reason Gray needed to avoid Sleiman.

 

It was because no matter how much stronger Gray’s Aura had become, it could not be stronger than Sleiman’s. If Sleiman could not sense Gray’s Aura, anyone would surely find it strange.

 

“Then Gray will probably postpone coming to Cyriesus until after the birthday festival. Since he knows he cannot meet Duke Siegfried.”

 

“Yes. If my reasoning is correct, he will most likely move that way, Your Highness.”

 

Euria, who had affirmed Kalian’s words, watched him nod and then reported on the second matter she had been investigating.

 

“And regarding your request to check if any of the Priests from Tansyll might have slipped away on their way to the Capital to do something else, I’ve looked into it, but the Priests from Tansyll did not scatter. They entered Cyriesus yesterday with their numbers fully intact.”

 

After hearing those words and taking a moment to think, Kalian spoke.

 

“I understand. Then please find out if there is someone named Malcom Chetish among the Priests.”

 

“Yes, Your Highness.”

 

“Also, continue to keep a close eye on the Priests and Count Gray as well.”

 

“Yes. Don’t worry.”

 

Looking at Euria, who readily answered his requests, Kalian added one more thing.

 

“I’m casually asking for this and that, but I feel like I’m working the Mages from the Arcane Enclave too hard, especially after they’ve already worked so hard on building the Magic Circle…”

 

Euria took a sip of the lemon tea placed before her, set it down, and replied.

 

“Mages may do difficult tasks, but they absolutely cannot do things they don’t want to do. Everyone is helping because they want to, so you don’t need to worry about it.”

 

Kalian nodded with a smile.

 

* * *

 

Euria was completely right.

 

Mages may do difficult tasks, but they absolutely cannot do things they do not want to do. That was why the Valkan members at Wilhelm Hall were also working hard today.

 

Of course, it was thanks to Plants.

 

What Plants was teaching now was how to keep those slow-moving Mages from dying.

 

He was trying to prevent them from dying due to attacks that penetrate the gap between them chanting Spells and manifesting their Magic. Currently, he was focused on making all Valkan members chant Spells and manifest them as if they were one person. This was set as their primary goal.

 

As a result, physical training to make Mages move quickly and breathe as one body was taking place each day.

 

At the time when Kalian was meeting Euria outside the Royal Palace, Plants was, without fail, heading to Wilhelm Hall. Unlike usual, instead of taking a carriage for a stroll, he was walking slowly.

 

Wilhelm Hall was located past Arpia Palace where Rmain would be, and as he approached Arpia Palace, an attendant spoke to him.

 

“Your Highness. There will be guests joining you for lunch today. And Prince Randel said he cannot attend lunch due to his busy schedule.”

 

With the festival approaching, the Princes were busy again. There were gatherings at every meal. Plants, who could no longer act as freely as last year, did not miss out on such events.

 

“Who’s the guest?”

 

“Count Manasil and one other, but information about the other person has not been provided.”

 

Someone connected to the King, the Princes, and Allan. It was an odd combination.

 

Plants thought it might be Sleiman but soon concluded it could not be. After all, if it was him, there would be no reason to hide his identity.

 

In any case, it was something he would find out when he entered the luncheon, so Plants nodded without saying anything else, then paused when he saw something.

 

“Who would be covering their face in the Royal Palace?”

 

The voice of an attendant who saw the same sight from behind was quietly heard.

 

Plants had stopped for the same reason.

 

In the Cyries Royal Palace, someone trying to enter Arpia Palace was covering their face with the hood of a white robe.

 

The sight naturally drew a lot of attention.

 

Therefore, Plants continued to watch him while standing in place.

 

Whether sensing his gaze or by coincidence.

 

The person in the robe also stopped walking. And turned their head to look in Plants’ direction. Even without the hood, they were not close enough to make direct eye contact, but Plants instinctively felt it. That the person was looking directly at him.

 

Because of this, Plants’ eyes sharpened as he slowly examined the other person.

 

“Why is he here?”

 

The number of servants, their attire, the energy of the Knights on duty. The long blue-silver hair visible beneath the robe.

 

And.

 

An inexplicable sense of aversion.

 

Though he had never seen him before, Plants could tell.

 

“The Crown Prince of Secritia.”

 

As if hearing those words, the young man in the white robe, Chase Dyurahan Secritia, slowly approached Plants.