Chapter 143: It’s Just Simple Training to Accumulate Magical Power.
After seeing Princess Lena off near the border, the royal entourage returned to their country, accompanied by ten airships.
However, there were also those who remained on the airship Yuri and I were on.
Hiroki and his group. And Yukina-san.
George-san and his group, saying they weren’t needed for help, eagerly disembarked at the Lestall border.
They’d probably be getting busy. Fitting, given his name is George (情事 – jouji, meaning ‘affair’)…
As for Yukina-san, Riana-san had requested that she be “lent out” as a servant, so she ended up staying.
It seems Riana-san really wants the marriage with Kai to succeed.
She had strongly instructed Yukina-san, “A chance like this won’t come again. Do your best.”
That was all well and good, but I was racking my brain about what to do next.
Even though only those in the “friend category” remained, I couldn’t very well take them to that village anymore, which had become far too packed with secrets.
Then again, I couldn’t just tell them to go home. Especially not Yukina-san.
I consulted Yuri about what to do.
“Why don’t you just do whatever you want without returning home for now?
We can contact each other, and if you just let them know, I think it’ll be fine even if you don’t go back for a little while.”
Ah, right. There’s no need to force ourselves to go back.
We can live more comfortably on this airship than in the mansion, after all.
If that’s the case, I decided to contact Pops and explain the situation.
When I told him, “—So, I don’t plan on returning to the village for a while,” Pops seemed a little flustered.
“Hold on a minute, didn’t you just say something about Kai getting engaged to someone from the Marquis Randall family?”
“No, I didn’t say they got engaged.
I properly said that I’d give a formal answer after asking you, Pops.”
“I-Is that so? You’ve really grown. That’s good judgment.
However, you should refuse that offer.
That’s precisely the kind of trap that uses bonds I warned you to be wary of.”
Oh dear…
Riana-san didn’t seem to have such intentions, but it’s true that if those around her found out, they might try to exploit it.
She did say she couldn’t refuse if ordered from above.
In that case, thinking it’s better to do it sooner, I headed to the room where Kai was likely talking with her, but I got anxious before entering.
What if they’ve already established a good atmosphere?
It only just happened, so it should be fine, right? As I stood hesitating in front of the room, Mei sent me some information.
It was probably a recorded video.
It began from the point where they entered the room.
“Um, was it truly alright? For you to accept an engagement with someone like me, from a house of lower standing…”
“Yes. If it’s someone His Highness approves of, then status and such are irrelevant.
Besides, I can’t remain single forever.”
“Um, why haven’t you married until now?
You seem to have no shortage of suitors…
Since you were appointed as a Knight, you must have been strong even before serving His Highness, correct?”
When asked, he spoke, albeit vaguely, about his personal history, but when he got to the reason why he couldn’t marry, she tilted her head.
“Certainly, Lord Shuperu is frighteningly handsome, but some women dislike men who are too perfect-looking.”
“No, no, that’s not it. I’ve never met anyone who showed such an attitude before.”
He couldn’t bring up the story about the Empire, so he couldn’t give a detailed explanation, but he still said that there were no women who wouldn’t accept him (Ignat).
“Yes. It would be rude, so normally, one wouldn’t show it.
The other person has no fault, and we feel no aversion; it’s just that we ourselves feel troubled for no reason.
I also made sure not to show such an attitude towards that person (Lord Shuperu).”
“Eh, perhaps… you’re like that too…?”
“Yes. My friend shared the same opinion as me, so I believe a certain number of us exist.”
At her words, Kai continued to stare at her as if dazed.
She looked at him anxiously as the conversation suddenly stopped.
“Is something the matter?”
“No, please excuse me.
I imagine you might be worried due to this sudden development, but I promise to cherish you with all my might.”
“Y-yes… Then, um… I’ll humbly accept your kind words, alright?”
“Y-yes. Please leave it to me!”
Though awkwardly, they confirmed their intentions and were creating a good atmosphere.
The two of them, faces flushed red, kept looking at each other’s faces and then looking away.
Eh, do I have to be the one to cut in here?
I have no idea what to say!?
If it’s a no-go, then leaving it be is worse, but I really don’t know what to say…
Mei, could you tell Pops the current situation and ask him how I should broach the subject?
“Understood,” Mei’s voice echoed in my head, and after a short while, I heard Pops’ voice.
“…You sent this to me, so what do you want me to do about it?”
“Well, it’s just painful to watch… Please give me some advice.”
“Haa… First, tell them that I’m against it.
If they still insist after that, tell that girl to completely come over to our side.
If she accepts that, and you take responsibility, then I’ll allow it.”
“Come over?”
“To become a citizen of Belfast.
I won’t hand Kai over. If that’s the case, we have no choice but to have her come here, right?
Make sure Kai gets a proper house, and get her to consent to marrying into the Belfast nobility.”
Ah, so that’s it. Then, shouldn’t that be fine?
“Got it. I’ll try talking to them along those lines.”
“Yeah, make sure you do. Put yourself in their shoes and learn a few things from this.”
No, for me, it’s only Yuri… but, it’s certainly important not to carelessly accept any proposal.
I see. So, the stuff about a marriage partner’s lineage and the relationship between houses that you often see in stories is the result of meticulously thinking through these kinds of details, huh.
Of course, on top of all that, you can’t really see into their personality.
Unless you’re lucky, you’ll probably end up with a bad match quite often.
While thinking such things, I thanked Pops and knocked on the room door.
When I entered the room, Yukina-san, who had been sitting opposite Kai, moved to sit next to him, so I took the seat opposite them.
“Um, I asked Pops about it right away, and it seems he doesn’t want to let go of the capable Kai.
If you two are to marry, he’d like Yukina-san to become a citizen of Belfast…”
“Y-yes. That is only natural, I believe.
I don’t think my lady (Riana-san) or even the Princess (Lena) believed they could poach His Highness’s Knight, something even they couldn’t achieve.”
Ah, right.
Because of the Ignat incident, it’s normal to think that way, huh.
So, this is fine then…? Just as I thought that, I realized my mistake and said it out loud.
“Ah, Pops told me to first convey that he’s opposed to it, and then discuss the conditions…
So, um, what about you two? Do you still want to get married even so?”
“No, Your Highness, you should have said that first…
But well, if there’s a choice, I wish to have her as my spouse.”
“I-I too, since you’ve made me a promise…”
Ah, yeah.
The order got reversed, but it would have ended up the same way regardless.
Seeing how conscious they were of each other, a question welled up in me, and I asked them unintentionally.
Why could they accept it so quickly just because someone told them to?
“Even if you say that…” Kai said, scratching his cheek.
“To be able to marry a gentleman one finds agreeable, I believe accepting is the normal course of action.”
“Ah, that’s exactly it.
There are also those who must marry partners with whom even being together is painful.
I am grateful to Your Highness for finding me such a wonderful partner.”
Hmm. Is it because they usually fear drawing a losing lot?
It seems they feel it’s natural to accept if the partner is decent, and they don’t find it strange at all.
“I see. Well then, Yukina-san, please take good care of Kai.”
“Y-yes. I don’t know what someone like me can do, but I will do my utmost to serve him.”
“No, just be normal, that’s fine. Just enjoy yourselves.”
Saying that, I also said, “Sorry for interrupting,” stood up, and returned to where Yuri was. She was chatting in a circle with Hiroki and the others.
That was fine, but something about the situation seemed off.
Yuri was looking at Hiroki with a troubled expression.
“What’s wrong?”
“Hey, Rui! Something really bad showed up, right?!”
Ah, so she told the three of them that story too.
No wonder they look so serious.
“Yeah, the Ancient Race. That thing is seriously, insanely dangerous.”
“Then this isn’t the time to be relaxing! Isn’t there something I can do?!”
“Not as far as I can think of. It’s on a completely different dimension of strength from us.
Though, if you gave us about ten years, that might not be the case.”
“Alright! Then let’s do that!” Hiroki exclaimed, standing up.
No, what “that” are you talking about?
I thought, while asking Mei.
“If we keep training for ten years, does it seem like we could oppose it?”
“Measurement impossible.
However, assuming they have that much time left to be active on the surface, there is a possibility.
Shall I begin preparations for that?”
Eh, there’s a possibility!?
It’s a monster that can annihilate a town just by flicking its finger, you know!?
“If there is, then do it! If I can take your place, I’ll do it!”
“Um, before that, let me hear what kind of plan it is.”
“Scatter stealth drones to various locations so as not to be noticed by other Ancient Races, and while probing their movements, conduct subjugation on continents with high Mana Essence concentrations.”
Ah, so it’s about doing what we did last week on other continents too, huh.
If it’s just that, it sounds easy, but…
I thought, but Mei’s words were far from over.
There were many other miscellaneous tasks, like implanting combat skill data and magic circle data into storage, collecting data on magical power property changes, and making it all usable on the Ark.
However, Mei handled most of that automatically.
“Hiroki, are you serious about this?”
“Damn right I am! I stood up to protect the country!”
“I’ll do it too. I don’t want Rui to carry all the burden, after all.”
“I can at least provide support!”
I appreciated them saying that, but could Hiroki and the others really do it?
Well, they’re human too, so I suppose they could if they spent enough time…
As I was wondering about that, Mei scanned Hiroki and the others.
『Scan complete. Will confirmed.
There is a possibility. I recommend entrusting it to the three of them.』
Seriously?
“It’ll probably be, no, it’ll definitely be a fight to the death, you know?”
“Either way, if it comes to a fight, it’ll be a fight to the death.”
“Yeah. It’d be best if we didn’t have to fight, but we want the strength to resist, right?”
Ah, right.
It’s a countermeasure for if a fight breaks out, so it’s like that either way.
Knowing that Ancient Race, they probably wouldn’t kill those who don’t resist, but since these guys are eager, they’ll likely be on the front lines if a battle occurs.
“Alright then, let’s do it! Yuri, you good with this?”
“Yes, of course. It’s a party reunion!”
Yuri said, showing a bright smile.
“Yeah!” Hiroki pumped himself up, bumping his fists together.
“Alright, first, you guys pour all your magical power into this. After that, we’ll just mess around and do something fun.”
“Huh…? Why are we gonna mess around!?”
“Um, shouldn’t we start training right away?”
“You mean there’s no point in pushing ourselves too hard from the start?”
While Hiroki looked like he was about to trip over, Akito and Ami voiced their questions.
“Well, Ami’s words are half right. You’ll understand the other half once you pour in your magical power.”
When I told them that, the three of them, though suspicious, started pouring in their magical power.
Mei, having read my thoughts, made most of the Ark’s body transparent.
We suddenly felt like we’d been thrown into the sky, but Yuri and I were used to it from experiencing it many times with our Maso.
It had flown us to an as-yet-unsubjugated mountain range, and we could see pillars of light falling to the ground.
At the same time, I heard screams that sounded like Ami, Yukina-san, and Natalia-san.
Ah, is it because she made the Ark transparent without saying anything…?
Wait, that wasn’t me. It was Mei.
『It is as per Master’s image of wanting to surprise them.
There are no issues regarding interpersonal relationships, so I proceeded. Please take a look.』
And, when I looked towards them, thanks to the transparency, I could see them clearly.
Kai was holding Yukina-san, who was clinging to him.
Elsewhere, Ignat was similarly embracing Natalia-san.
『The Ark has only become transparent, so it’s alright.
Even if something happens, I will absolutely protect you, so please rest assured.』
『Eh!? Ah, so we weren’t falling…』
She said, then stamped her foot once and slowly moved away from Kai, her face red.
“Hey! Never mind their love lives right now!
What is this!?”
“Your magical power is activating a magic tool and making it automatically intercept enemies.”
“Huh? Can we get stronger like that?”
“I did.”
“…”
He wasn’t convinced. But no words came out, so Hiroki opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it.
Well, from the perspective of someone who seriously grinds in dungeons, this must look like cheating.
“After this, it’ll be done automatically, so we basically just need to stay here.
We can absorb the magic stones the drones bring and occasionally have mock battles for training.”
“Occasionally…”
“Yeah. Just for fun is fine for now. Or rather, it’s pointless at first, so you don’t have to do it.
Even if you get stronger than when you’re using enhancement naturally, it still won’t be enough.”
“S-So even then, it’s still not enough… Right, come to think of it, you said it would take ten years.”
“O-Oh. If it’s going to take that long, then there’s no point in being so tense, huh.”
After that, under the guise of playing, I organized a game of telephone where we made things with Mana Manipulation and passed them on.
Since this kind of thing is my specialty, I participated as an advisor.
First, I had Mei extract Mana Manipulation-related techniques from my memories and implant them into everyone.
With this, Yukina-san and Natalia-san should also be able to participate.
On top of that, we played the game while I gave lectures as needed.
“W-Wow! Isn’t this perfect?”
Hiroki said, having tried his best to create the Raku from the prompt, but it was just a stick with a tail and four legs attached.
But even so, it was apparently great progress.
As the one who provided the technique, I wanted him to try a little harder, but even I, who received Yuri’s combat data, can’t say I’m fully utilizing it yet.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t given them data for creating sculptures either, so I figured this was normal for the beginning and enjoyed looking at everyone’s creations.
Well, most of them were too artistic for me to tell what they were.
Surprisingly, Natalia-san was the best.
She made a flower completely unrelated to the prompt, but since she had no idea what the previous person had made, it couldn’t be helped. It was typical of her to completely give up and make whatever she liked.
While we were doing that, I heard Mei’s voice, and when I looked at the clock, quite a bit of time had passed.
『The invested magical power has been depleted. These are the magic stones from the subjugated monsters.
We will now switch to My Master and Yurisia-sama’s magical power and continue.』
Hearing that, I looked outside for the first time then, and saw a vast, untouched land stretching out.
It seemed we had arrived on another continent at some point.
It was a dense jungle area with some swamp-like places here and there.
Amidst all that, there were swarms of dinosaur-type monsters.
“…It’s a bit late to ask, but is it okay to be doing this so conspicuously?”
Kai voiced his concern about being found by other Ancient Races.
When I asked Mei about that, she replied.
『There is no problem. An Ancient Race would definitely be able to detect us via energy sensing.
Reconnaissance by drones is constantly maintained within a thousand-kilometer radius.』
Ooh. As expected of Mei-san, she’s thorough.
“Alright, once we put in our magical power, let’s eat and sleep for today.”
“Ha, hahaha, so it’s really okay to do just that… Amazing.”
And so, after everyone finished dinner cheerfully and returned to their assigned rooms, I called Ignat and Kai.
“Sorry for calling you out of the blue. There’s something I want to talk about.”
When I urged them to sit in the seats opposite me, perhaps because Yuri wasn’t next to me, they nodded with quite solemn faces and sat down.
Yuri wasn’t there simply because she looked sleepy, so I had her go to her bedroom first.
“Ah, I don’t intend to discuss anything too bad.
I just want to give you some precautions.”
When I told him that, Ignat, his expression still serious, nodded and spoke.
“For my part, it’s about not accepting the marriage with Princess Lena, correct?”
“Yeah. I didn’t expect Natalia-san to react like that. Sorry, but I need you to hang in there.”
At those words, his expression softened slightly as he said, “That is my wish as well. Please leave it to me.”
At the same time, Kai looked at me worriedly and said, “As for me…”
“Ah, it’s just about not revealing confidential information even after she becomes your wife.
It’ll be safer if you don’t tell her anything.”
“That was my intention from the start, but…
By any chance, are the women here not educated not to pry, even from their husbands?”
I heard that among Imperial nobles, prying into national secrets is taught as a criminal act that absolutely must not be committed, even by family.
Figuring she probably wasn’t asleep yet, I had Mei connect a call to Yuri and asked if it was the same in our country. A sleepy voice replied, “I’d think that’s something taught in any country.”
“I see. If she does try to find out…”
“If that happens, you warn her. If you report it to me, I’ll also tell Riana-san.
If something happens and you haven’t told her anything, you won’t be suspected, so please do that.”
Perhaps relieved by those words, Kai finally returned to his usual expression and spoke.
“Understood. Thank you for your consideration.”
Kai also nodded, and after that, the three of us chatted for a bit.