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Chapter 5: Becoming Famous
Early on the morning of the third day of our expedition, it was lightly snowing outside. The weather was typical of winter so I got ready as usual, thinking it would cause no problems.
Just as we went to leave the hotel, however, the ever-familiar receptionist stopped us as we handed over our key for safekeeping. “Miss, we have received many messages for you.” We really did get stopped by him a lot; just yesterday he had stopped us because I smelled too much of crab.
I knew why that had happened too: it was the fluids from the big one. I hadn’t been able to take down a monster of that size with a single shot, so I’d had to rip off each of its legs and pincers, which meant I’d gotten soaked in its juices in the process.
Honestly, I hadn’t been sure what the issue was. Crab smelled yummy! But it seemed that didn’t matter, so I’d obeyed and let them take me to the employee bath again.
That tangent aside, it seemed the time had finally come.
Е núm ӑ
“It must finally be an invitation from him, Lily.”
It was finally time for our meeting with Prince Hiero. That was the surface reason I was in Vanderouge to begin with, so as Nia Liston, I had to make sure I prioritized that over anything else.
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“Hm...?”
What was this now? Ten folded paper notes were sitting on the well-polished wooden counter. The name of the sender was written on the front of each with the contents inside. The only letter we had been expecting was the one from Prince Hiero, so why were there nine more?
“These ten are the only ones whose identities are known to us. The remaining thirty-five refused to disclose their names, so we did not accept them.”
Thirty-five... Ahh, I see what’s going on.
W е b̌ nоv e ĺ Ӗn̂ú m̂_а
“Master, it looks like your name’s been getting out there, after all.”
“It’s that big crab’s fault, isn’t it?”
Apparently, the port had been in an uproar yesterday because the blood cross crab was being transported through it. It had one of the biggest bounties in the country, so it was famous in Vanderouge. The peak of the commotion had passed around noon, when they had finished processing the crab and removed it from the public eye.
The rabble who still hadn’t cooled down from all the excitement had been there waiting for us when we arrived back in Eunesgo, and it had all turned into a bit of a pain. Thankfully, even though the name of Leeno had spread, details of her appearance hadn’t, so we’d simply walked right by them and they’d never realized who we were.
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“What should we do?” Lynokis asked.
It would definitely look suspicious if the student were to read the teacher’s messages and come to a decision for her right in front of the receptionist.
Wё b́ňò v̇ е l̆ Еn̆ū mа
“For now, let’s just check the important one and then check the rest after we board the airship. The captain is waiting so we really should hurry,” I said.
“Ah... You’re right. Let’s do that then.” Lynokis left the one that was addressed from Hiero and put the remaining nine away in her pocket. “If this person or anyone representing them comes here, please tell them I understand,” she said to the receptionist after confirming what was written in Hiero’s note.
A meeting with Hiero was of the utmost priority, so there was no need for her to consult with me. We would simply adjust our schedule as needed.
Today, we went out the rear entrance of the hotel and took a detour through the back alleys to get to the port—the regular entrance was mobbed with people looking for us. The number of people who wanted to know about Leeno the adventurer had only increased once word of the crab’s death got around.
“Well, at least we’re doing a good job at selling your name.”
“Yes, it will likely be good advertising for the national tournament.”
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She was right. The fact we could manage this level of public interest alongside also raising money really did save us a lot of time.
“Good morning,” we greeted the captain who was waiting in front of the airship as usual. Despite how early it was, the port was surprisingly packed. Though many of them were weaklings, I could feel the gazes of those who were clearly shady. We’d covered up our faces as a simple disguise, but it seemed possible we’d already been spotted.
We decided to board the airship quickly before anyone could approach us.
“You’ve really become famous now. We had a ton of people asking about you,” the captain said to us as he joined our table after getting the airship moving. We had been waiting for him with the aeronautical chart laid out.
It was time for us to discuss the schedule for the day.
“While we’re still in Vanderouge, please avoid talking about us as much as possible,” Lynokis warned.
Ŵẽb̃n о̆v́ еĺ E n̆ u m̈ а
“Of course, Tork’s already made that much clear. Any time they ask us about you, we tell them to ask Cedony.”
Even here, the support from Cedony Trading shone; they were just that capable.
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“So, what’s the plan for today?” he asked.
“We’ve yet to decide on anything specific.”
“I see. Just aiming for whatever monsters will sell for a high price?”
We’d spent the first two days hunting over a wide area to get a sense of how much the monsters sold for, and then starting on the third day, we’d decided to focus on the monsters that were of high value. We’d had a rough schedule that we’d set up in advance, but we’d now make adjustments that would make us the most money.
W еb̂n̊ o vе̌ ĺ È n̊ũ mã
That gigantic and valuable blood cross crab had been one of a kind, so unfortunately, we couldn’t hunt any more at that size. That meant we had to go for a change of plans—towards the road of more money.
“Then allow us to give you the quote for yesterday’s hunt first so you can use it as a reference point.”
“Thank yo— Wh-Whoa... Over sixty million...” Lynokis was bewildered by the figures on the documents that the captain had given her. So we’d earned over sixty million krams yesterday, had we?
“Combined with what you earned on day one, you’ve crossed the one hundred million mark. You’re incredible.”
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Yes, keep piling on the praise. My fists are worth way more than even one billion krams. Though I felt smug, the looks of envy were being aimed at Leeno, not me.
“Any more orders from Mr. Tork?” I asked, interrupting the moment between Lynokis trembling at what was written on the document, and the admiring gaze of the captain. You’ll have time for this once we’ve discussed everything we need to.
W̊ еb̈ n о̀v̇е l Е n̂ u m̂ а
“Yup, he asked for some more fire sea serpents.”
Fire sea serpents, hm? We’d actually searched for some yesterday but failed to find any.
“If you’re after monsters of high value, then the fire sea serpents seem like the best option. Ones around the size of your catch two days ago go for about ten mil each. Plus, Leeno said she has a special way that she wants to hunt them this time.”
Special way? Hearing those words and seeing the meaningful look from the captain, Lynokis took a deep breath and folded over the documents.
“I suppose we do... Does that sound good?” Lynokis asked me. I nodded. I didn’t know what this “special method” the captain was going on about was, but getting ten million krams per monster was not a bad deal.
“Let’s take a look at the remaining messages.” I decided now would be a good time to check those unopened notes from the hotel while we sat down in the middle of the deck.
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“Ah, of course. Here you are, Young Mistress.”
I took the pieces of paper and opened them up. We were the only ones here, so we didn’t have to worry about prying eyes.
Let’s see now... Hm. The nine messages were from the commanders in chief of the Imperial Army, the guildmaster of the Vanderouge branch of the adventurer’s guild, the guildmaster of the merchant’s guild, the Vanderouge sect of the Church of the Saints, several famous adventuring parties, two Vanderouge nobles, and an orphanage.
There were some big names in there, but the content boiled down to three groups: they either wanted to meet Leeno, talk with her, or ask for donations. A portion of them selfishly demanded we go somewhere at some specific time without even trying to arrange it with us first, but I had no intention to pay any mind to those who gave us no consideration. We might have been citizens of the Kingdom of Altoire, but just because we were bound to abide by the laws of the land didn’t mean we had to abide by the customs and conventions of their aristocracy.
We’d be leaving Vanderouge in two or three days anyway, so surely it would be fine to ignore them.
“I don’t care about the rest, but I am a little curious about the one from the orphanage,” Lynokis said.
Ė n uḿ a
“Understandably so.”
The contents of the message from the orphanage had been about how they were struggling for food and so would like a donation. To be quite honest, I didn’t think highly of those who would willingly ask a complete stranger for money.
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That said, if there really were children suffering in poverty, I couldn’t just leave them be. If their situation was so desperate that they could so shamelessly ask for money, I felt sorry for the kids. But I also felt a little uncomfortable at the prospect of getting so involved with a foreign country’s affairs... Outsiders involving themselves in the politics or economics of a country was just begging for trouble.
“Couldn’t we ask Cedony to look into them and, if they seem genuine, give some of our money?” I suggested.
“I...suppose we could do that.”
Good. It didn’t feel good to just outright ignore it— Ah.
Ën ü m̀а
“They found one already,” I said, approaching the edge of the deck.
“That was fast. I look forward to your demonstration.”
Yes, yes. I stood at the edge of the deck and looked at the sea’s surface below. The target seemed pretty big, but how much would it go for?
The surface of the sea split open with a splash, and a huge sea serpent suddenly jumped out, mouth open wide.
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It was a fire sea serpent. Fire sea serpents were known as the ruffians of the sea that would eat anything they could fit in their mouths. It attacked anything that looked remotely edible. If the prey wasn’t edible, the snake would simply kill it and dump it. It was a very rough-tempered beast.
Its body was covered in gray scales, but the inside of its mouth was bright red like raging flames, giving it its name. When airships approached the ocean, they would attack just like this. We—or more specifically, our airship—was its target.
Wёb n̈ ȯvе l̆ Еnu ḿ ȧ
The serpent leaped out of the sea, casting its shadow over the ship—but I got one leg above it and kicked it back down again. It had caused a mighty splash when it leaped out of the water, but it made an even bigger one as it landed back in.
“I’ll be back soon!” Leeno called out as she dived into the sea with a lifeline attached to her thin clothing. She was making it look like she was off to land the finishing blow, but naturally, that was just to maintain the image that she was the one taking down the monsters.
In reality, the serpent had died at the moment I kicked its head—its skull would’ve shattered.
The special method that the captain had mentioned was to fly one of our airships low over the sea and counter any fire sea serpents that came to attack. It was a method that used an airship as bait, like we were fishing for the serpents. All we had to do was wait on the deck of the cargo ship after the other members of the crew had been evacuated and wait for it to attack. It was something we could do because we had two airships.
It was a crazy method that people only trusted would work because they had Leeno’s strength on their side. Not that I minded that kind of reckless thinking.
The hard part of this hunt wasn’t my killing the serpents but Lynokis’s dives into the freezing-cold winter waters. The work would be arduous under these conditions, but I needed her to try her best. This was its own form of training, a kind of ascetic practice. In fact, thinking of it that way made me want to join in, but Lynokis stopped me. She really liked this kind of thing, didn’t she? How dare she keep it all to herself!
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“Wahhhhhh, it’s so cooooooold...!”
Lynokis came to the surface in a way that made it look like she’d killed the serpent under the water. Its body floated up behind her shortly after.
As we approached the surface of the water to pick up the fire sea serpent, Lynokis climbed up the lifeline onto the deck, soaked in the waters of the ocean. The inside of the airship was both heated and protected from the wind, so she should’ve been able to warm herself up properly...
Except there was already a second one approaching.
Just one more and then you can warm your body.
Today’s results:
Ёñ üm̂ a
- Fire sea serpent [massive] x3
- Fire sea serpent [large] x3
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- Lance shark [huge] x2
- Sawtooth jellyfish [huge] x1
There was a table in the hotel’s lobby in an area primarily used as a lounge for those waiting for hotel guests, or for hotel guests waiting for people from outside.
The two men sitting side by side were the former.
É n̆ u m а̃ . іd
“Do you really want to meet her? Maybe we should go home,” the man on the left said.
“Why would we go home? I finally got a chance to sneak out of my dorm. I don’t exactly have many opportunities to meet the Nia Liston.”
What’s that supposed to mean? the man on the left thought to himself. He held his tongue, though all he wanted to say to the other was that he should go home and eat shit. Given their positions, he couldn’t say such aggressive words directly, but had the circumstances been different, he would have said them with no hesitation, regardless of how it would make the other feel.
That girl was already a part of Altoire’s foundation.
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She was an irreplaceable part of the current magivision industry—now, when she wasn’t even a teenager yet. She would continue to grow, shine brighter, and captivate more and more of the people of Altoire, no, the world. She would become a solitary treasure of the kingdom, matched by none.
There was also Hildetaura, who had long been obsessing over magivision, and Reliared of the Silvers, who had recently had a rapid growth in recognition as well. They were already stars, but they would only shine brighter as they grew. They would become like suns illuminating the world.
Е̇ǹ ů m̄ a. î d̊
And yet... And yet, why did they need to attract pests that could devour that light?
The man on the left’s name was Hiero Altoire, second prince of the Kingdom of Altoire. He was twenty years old, a handsome man with characteristic blond hair that flared out slightly. In his youth, he had been an ambitious young man, plotting to overthrow the first prince and take the throne, but when he graduated from high school, he had been given the role of acting chairman of the broadcasting station, and over time, he had forgotten all about that ambition.
Instead, he’d been completely captivated by the possibilities of magivision. He would be willing to give up not just the throne but his royal status entirely if it meant he could remain in his job. He had also called off his engagement to the daughter of a high-class aristocrat who had been adamant about trying to push Hiero onto the throne—her father had simply become too much of a hassle.
Unfortunately, that had put him in an awfully awkward position in the aristocratic circles...
However, deciding to simply ignore all of that, Hiero had distanced himself from the social life and instead focused everything on his work; he seemed happier that way too. At the very least, rather than a face distorted with reckless ambition, he was now able to lead a healthy and dignified life with nothing to hide. With no skeletons in his closet, his former political enemies had decreased considerably, and he had even managed to mend his relationship with his older brother, the first prince.
It had become much easier for him to live his life. He was happy he had found his purpose.
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Next to Hiero was a man who appeared rather shallow with glossy black hair and two distinctive black moles under his left eye. He was Christo Volt Vanderouge. Currently, he was fourth prince of the Empire of Vanderouge and eighteen years old.
Though barely even an adult, the prince had already settled nicely into the role of playboy, with not even a hint of his princely origins coming through in the air he gave off. He’d been greatly interested in the magivision that Hiero had brought to the country.
Their shared interest had led to the two princes’ blooming friendship, and as they were close in age, they’d soon become comfortable with each other. Christo had become a necessary stepping stone and connection for Hiero to spread magivision through the country.
That was why there were some things Hiero just couldn’t ignore.
“Say, is Nia really as fast as they say? They’re not just angling the camera or doing some sort of fancy tricks to make it look that way, are they? It’s not a trick?”
He was flippant, a loudmouth, shallow, and superficial, and he would chat up a girl the minute he knew she was old enough, but what was most important was that he was truly a passionate fan of magivision. If he wasn’t, Hiero wouldn’t want him to meet Nia Liston, and he wouldn’t even give him the chance. He’d stop him no matter what.
W е̂ b́nо v̀еl Е n u m а
“I’d heard she was doing it for real, but I wonder if that’s true. This is the first time I’m meeting her so I have no idea.” Hiero had also never met her, but he’d often heard about Nia from Hildetaura. Apparently, she was always very calm, and no matter whom she met, she was never intimidated. Sometimes, it seemed like she wasn’t really even a child. What was most surprising was that she apparently showed no qualms about making jokes concerning the king.
In short, his sister’s opinion was that Nia was a perfect tool for diplomatic matters.
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The only reason Hiero had brought Christo was because of how unlike a child Nia was. If she were like a regular child, he would’ve been much more worried at the prospect of the two of them meeting.
Christo’s princely status meant that he couldn’t easily leave the country. He now had the chance to meet a magivision actor for the very first time. Hiero really did not want to let them meet, and he really wanted Christo to just go to hell, but...he also deeply understood the desire to meet her, so he had reluctantly agreed to bring him along.
In the course of his marketing, Hiero had watched every piece of magivision footage he was using for his advertising, and so he had great interest in all the actors and actresses who appeared. Naturally, Nia Liston was one of those actresses. Surely even a playboy wouldn’t lay a hand on such a young girl.
That was true for now. But what about a decade from now? Could this meeting inadvertently lead to the possibility that Altoire—no, the world—would lose Nia Liston, its radiant treasure? Would this man do something that would dirty her shine? Just thinking about that left Hiero so, so...!
Е n̂ ūṁа .iḋ
“You are practically radiating hostility, my dude. That’s pretty rude, if you ask me,” Christo pointed out with a sneer on his face. That response threatened to only further stoke his hostility, so Hiero took a deep breath and calmed himself down. If he thought too hard about it, he’d reach the conclusion that the only choice he had was to kill his friend, so it would be best if he stopped.
Nia Liston would soon return to the hotel. It was too late for Hiero to fight the prince over it now.
Would you like to have dinner tonight?
That was the concise message from second prince Hiero that had been delivered to us this morning. We’d given our response then and there, so we’d be meeting tonight as he wished.
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“I think it’s about time we head back,” I said.
“You’re right. Shall we go?”
W̌е̂ b̌n о v̆е̄ľ Е ň ǔ m̌а
Lynokis and I finished up our hunting expedition a little earlier than usual and returned to the hotel. Meeting with Hiero was our “main” reason for being in Vanderouge, after all—we couldn’t skip it, no matter what.
We were all ready for the arranged dinner. The moment we returned, we had a bath to wash off all the sweat and seawater, then dried and styled our hair. I dispelled the magic dye, turning my hair back to its usual white. After that, I sat and sipped away at my tea as we waited for the sun to set.
The snow that had been lightly falling this morning was now much heavier. If it keeps going like this, we might not be able to go hunting tomorrow,I thought to myself while doing my terribly loathed homework, only for Lynokis to interrupt my thoughts by scolding me for stopping my work and insisting that I continue.
Then finally, the time came.
“Let’s go.”
We wouldn’t be attending tonight’s dinner as Leeno and Lily but as Nia Liston and Lynokis. I was wearing the plain dress that I usually wore, and Lynokis was dressed in her servant attire. Even though it had only been a few days since we’d changed our roles, it already felt a little nostalgic.
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With that, we left the room. If Hiero had come on time, he was probably waiting in the lobby already.
Today’s profits:
- 24,000,000 krams, fire sea serpent [massive] x3
- 15,000,000 krams, fire sea serpent [large] x3
- 10,000,000 krams, lance shark [huge] x2
- 3,000,000 krams, sawtooth jellyfish [huge] x1
Е̄ n̆ ümа̊
The total came to 52,000,000 krams. Added to the total of the first and second days, we’d made 154,750,000 krams.
Then we were on to day four of our Vanderouge expedition.
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“Young Mistress, it appears all flights have been grounded due to the weather.”
Early that morning, a member of staff had come bearing a message from Cedony Trading. It was a good thing we had prepared to go out just in case—if Lynokis had answered the door in her attendant outfit rather than her adventurer’s gear, it would’ve absolutely raised suspicion.
After taking the message, Lynokis had closed the door and relayed it to me while I sat at the table.
“So we have to cancel today’s work, after all.”
È num å . і̆.d́_
I had gotten changed into my dogi and ready to leave, but I hadn’t dyed my hair yet—it was still my usual white after last night. When I looked out the window, all I saw outside was white. Not only was the snow heavy, the wind itself was also strong. It was only natural that any flights would be canceled.
The captain had told us yesterday that if the snow hadn’t stopped by today, they might not be able to fly, so we’d already been suspecting this might happen. Though we’d hoped we could avoid it, we had received the unfortunate message that the airships could not be flown.
This was a situation that was well beyond our control. It would be catastrophic if we forced the ship to fly regardless and something happened that caused the airship to crash-land. Being in the sky was not so different from being at sea; fishermen would determine if it was safe to go out based on the weather conditions. Nature was not to be underestimated. So long as it was a hazard to human life, we could not risk it.
“The quote for yesterday’s haul is also here. Would you like to see for yourself?”
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“No, I’ll leave that to you.”
Don’t show numbers to me. I’m already sick of them from all my homework.
Ӗ nŭ.m̄ а . і d
But...
“I am curious about how much we’ve raised so far, though.”
“I’m curious myself.” Lynokis opened the envelope and checked the papers that were inside. “If that high-speed liner is available for our flight back, we could squeeze in some more hunting tomorrow, but if it’s not, we won’t be able to do any hunting before we leave. That would also mean our money-earning efforts would end here.”
It would essentially make yesterday our last day. We’d informed Tork of how long we’d be staying, and he’d told us then that he wasn’t sure if they’d be able to prepare the high-speed liner for our trip back. Even if he could secure it, if the weather was still this bad tomorrow, we wouldn’t even be able to continue our hunting then either.
It wasn’t as if I could change when the next semester started, so we would be going on an airship back to Altoire tomorrow, guaranteed. What time we left, however, was still undecided. Would we be returning home early or did we have some leeway until the evening? Half a day was still enough time to do some more hunting, so I really wished we knew.
“Let’s see, totaling up all we’ve earned so far, we have a bit less than 160,000,000 krams raised.”
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“That’s half what I’d hoped for.”
“Our goal was three hundred million, after all. You know, these conversations are really making me lose my sense of money.” Lynokis sighed.
Hm? Well...I couldn’t say I had any sense of monetary value to begin with. Even now, the only perception I had of one billion krams was that it was a lot of money.
“Given we’ve really only been hunting for three days, I’d say that crossing the 150,000,000 mark is already really good, if you ask me,” Lynokis commented as she folded up the documents and slipped them back into the envelope. “What are our plans for today then? Make good on that promise from yesterday?”
Now that things had turned out like this, it wouldn’t be so bad to aim for a different avenue of fundraising.
“I’m against it,” Lynokis continued. “I don’t care if he’s a prince; he’s a superficial fop. It’s unbelievable how frivolous he is. He’s the kind of man I least want to approach you.”
Ѐ n̊um̆ ä . іd̈
Yeah, you’ve been saying that since yesterday.
“Honestly, take a minute to think of our ages. I’m seven, and he’s eighteen.” What could she possibly be worried about when we were so separate in age?
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“You really don’t understand. Why are you always like this?”
Why was she giving me a scornful look? Huh? What? What are you talking about?
“Listen to me, Young Mistress. It is an undeniable fact that your cuteness transcends all other creatures in this world, erasing the line of even adult and child. As the president of ‘those who will accept anything so long as it’s cute,’ I can tell you those types of people are run-of-the-mill. If you think everything will be okay simply because you’re a child, you’re going to be hit with a reality check one day. From now on, you need to view any adult you come across, except myself, as someone that might not write kids off. Do you understand?”
Yes. I do see, Lynokis. This was one of those things it wasn’t worth listening to. She yammered on for so long, but what she was saying was so inconsequential.
Ẇ еb̃n̊ o̊ v̂ ёl Е̄ ṅ ūm̀ ä
“Shall we get going?”
“Did you even hear what I said?! I’m telling you that man is frivolous! You can’t meet with him! That man is far too easy and superficial!”
The self-proclaimed president of “being okay with children” who should be run out of the mill was saying something to me, but there was no value in listening to her, so I didn’t. Honestly, I couldn’t trust this attendant of mine at all.
Lynokis’s attitude all stemmed from the previous night’s events.
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“She’s...the real thing! She’s the real thing! This is amazing! It’s Nia Liston in the flesh!”
We met with Hiero Altoire in the hotel lobby as we’d planned. But as soon as we went to greet him, someone else excitedly pushed the prince aside—the fourth prince of Vanderouge, Christo Volt Vanderouge.
W̌ e b́_n̆ ӧ vе́ l Ё.nu ḿ ӓ
Hiero suggested that since we weren’t meeting in an official capacity, we should drop all the stuffy formalities and I agreed.
Christo immediately introduced himself in full since it could’ve been a pain if he’d faked or hidden his name and the truth came out later. It was very considerate of him; if you unwittingly got involved with someone important, it had the potential to evolve into something much more troublesome later.
“Just for tonight, I want you to think of me as just another fan rather than a prince,” he said, before blabbering on about the programs and projects I’d been involved in, even though Hiero was insistently kicking him in the butt and telling him to get out of the way.
Christo really did come across as just another fan. No, not a regular fan, he was more like...the staff at the broadcasting station when they suddenly started talking to me with great enthusiasm. They’d watch a show I was in and ask me all sorts of questions: “What was the intention of that project?” “What was the goal of the project?” “What was the reason behind what you said and did then?” They wanted to express their own opinions and ask what I as a performer thought of the ideas they had floating in their heads.
This man came across as one of the passionate broadcasting staff who was idling in seeing their ideas to fruition. That realization helped me understand just why Hiero had brought Christo here to meet me: he saw Christo as an opening. He had his eye on Christo as the man who would plant the seeds of magivision in Vanderouge and nurture them until they were fully grown.
Being the prince was certainly a big benefit, but the strong motivation and passion Christo held was especially noteworthy. There was naturally no way to know for sure how well things would go, but there was no way a person could succeed without either of those qualities. That was why Christo was someone who could already be considered light-years ahead, despite living in a country where magivision was yet to prosper.
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His mindset was already at the starting line of becoming a part of a broadcasting station.
While we ate, I spoke a lot with Christo. Sometimes, I would hear Hiero—who was meant to be the main person we were meeting with—muttering things to himself like “You go home already,” or “Go to hell,” but at the end of the day, he was the one who had brought Christo with him. I prioritized speaking with Christo precisely because I understood that Hiero had known this would happen. Though I really hadn’t done anything other than answer all the younger prince’s questions.
And that led to today.
“Are you really going to go? Can I not persuade you to reconsider?”
“This is also tied to PR and promotion of magivision, you know.” Besides, with us unable to go out on any hunting expeditions, we had nothing else to do. We were meant to be here in secret, so it wasn’t as if we could go out sightseeing around Vanderouge like regular tourists either. The snow was heavy too, so it wasn’t exactly the most ideal weather to be walking around in.
In which case, I thought it was perfectly fine for us to take Christo up on his offer.
Wе̇b̆ n̄ о̄ v̀ е l. Е̂ n̊ u m̊ӑ
“I’ll be having a gathering with some friends of mine—would you like to come for a quick visit? I want to speak with you more. I want to hear more of your stories. Please consider making time for us.” That was what Christo had asked of me last night.
Apparently it was his friend’s birthday, so a few of their classmates who were free were going to meet up. Hiero was invited as well, and it sounded as if they were just going to have a casual meal to pass the time. It wasn’t an official gathering, so anyone could invite anyone.
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When he’d invited me to it, I’d told him that I’d go if we had the time. I had two priorities while I was here: first was meeting with Hiero, and second was earning money. This gathering furthered neither goal, so I’d intended to decline—but then our expedition had been canceled due to the weather and so our schedule had opened up. Now that we had the time, I saw no harm in going.
We could pop in for a little bit and see how things were going, and if I thought I was getting in the way, we could leave. If Hiero was going, then there was no doubt he would try to market magivision in the process. If I was present, I could give him some assistance in that regard—perhaps my presence could even become the deciding factor.
This was both a vital activity of Project Magivision and also a form of networking. When the day came that magivision was finally implemented in Vanderouge, I would undoubtedly end up being called over myself, anyway. I could consider this time spent building the foundations for future work—it didn’t sound half bad when put like that. Especially since my other priorities were impossible right now.
“Listen, it’ll be fine. Get in contact with Prince Hiero, would you? If you don’t do it, then I’ll go on my own.”
Е̄n.um ӓ
“All right, already...” Lynokis grumbled.
We met up with Hiero just before lunchtime. Apparently they would have an assortment of food where we were headed, so we decided we’d have lunch there. When we headed to the hotel lobby at the appointed time, our visitor was waiting.
“Thank you for your patience.”
“Hey, Nia.” When he saw me approaching, Hiero stood himself up from the same table he’d waited at last night and greeted me. His blond hair flared out rather distinctively, but even that made him a handsome young prince. He was one of those kinds of people that you couldn’t see as anything but a noble, because of either the air of elegance that oozed from him or the upper-class vibe that he couldn’t conceal. Though, if you were someone in the know, all you had to do was look at his eyes and see the little red dot in the middles of his green irises to know exactly who he was.
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He did resemble the king quite a bit. It made sense given they were father and son, but I really hoped he hadn’t also inherited the personality of that whippersnapper, or I’d no doubt find him very unpleasant. I prayed that wasn’t the case.
“Sorry for bringing such a nuisance to meet you yesterday.”
E̊ ṅ ũm̆a
Did he mean Christo?
“You needed to, didn’t you? You wouldn’t just bring him for no reason.” The moment I said that, Hiero’s eyes—that proof of his royal lineage—began exerting a little more pressure, though a pleasant smile remained on his face.
“You’re so similar to Hilde. Should I reconsider treating you like a child as well?”
By this, I assumed he was asking if he should treat me as someone who was knowledgeable, as I’d easily figured out why he’d brought Christo along. I could understand that much as the child of an aristocrat.
“I struggle to follow very detailed discussions, but it is unnecessary to treat me as a child. I’m not the kind of carefree little girl who’s appeased by a piece of candy.”
“Got it. I’ll treat you as such then.”
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I thought we were going to immediately head for our destination, but Hiero instead suggested we have a little chat before we left and sat back down. I sat myself next to him. If we were going to be discussing sensitive matters, then we’d likely need to be close. Lynokis stood behind to block possible eavesdroppers. She could be one shady girl, but she was a very proficient personal attendant.
“Am I correct in interpreting you accepting Christo’s invitation as a way of assisting with my magivision promotion activities?”
“Correct, but if it seems I’m only making things harder for you, I will leave immediately.”
Hiero was trying to spread magivision all across Vanderouge—the customer was this country. It was the upper echelons of Vanderouge, the key figures, that he’d have to persuade. There were most definitely various complicated interpersonal relationships and power plays that I simply wasn’t privy to. If I was careless in how I involved myself, I would only end up interfering with Hiero’s already tenuous position among the ruling classes of Vanderouge. I could end up completely destroying everything he’d painstakingly built up.
Acting with the intent of doing good but then having it completely backfire was not a rare occurrence. That was a situation I wanted to avoid at all costs, which meant I had to be able to judge when it was time for me to stand back. Not everything was so casual I could try things out on a whim and see what happened without consequence.
“I’m sure you’ll be fine. You don’t seem like the kind of child who would inadvertently ruin everything. You were answering Christo’s questions yesterday both safely and confidently.”
Wе̊b̀ nоvеl Е n ů.m̈ а
“That was only because he was considerate in his own way, as well.”
As Christo had said at the start, he’d interacted with me as a fan, not as the prince. He’d never once touched on anything that might concern key persons of the Kingdom of Altoire or anything to do with the structure or systems tied to magivision; he had purely focused on the programs and projects I had been involved in. It had made it much easier for me to respond to his questions; not a single one of them had left me digging for an appropriate answer.
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That charisma that allowed him to hold conversations in such a comfortable manner was no doubt his weapon. My ultimate impression was that he was not a book that should be judged by its cover—he wasn’t someone to underestimate. I wouldn’t deny he was a little frivolous though. From my point of view, however, that was also one of his weapons.
“If you could understand that much, then you’ll be completely fine.”
Really? I guess I don’t need to be so tense, after all.
“Then how would you like me to act while there?” I asked.
E n um а̂
“I don’t feel the need to put any restrictions on you. Just continue conversations in the direction I’m leading them. I do feel bad about using someone whom I’ve practically just met, but...”
“Our goals are the same and our interests are aligned. Don’t forget I used you to get into this country myself. It’s simply a give-and-take. The most important thing right now is to spread magivision around the country, yes?”
“Yeah... Yeah, you’re right.” Hiero stood up and held his hand out. “Let’s go, Nia.”
I placed my hand into his.
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“Let’s.”
It seemed he was willing to escort me. I felt awfully humbled being escorted by a prince of all people.
Е nŭ ṁ.а̇
Waiting for us outside was an extravagant black-lacquered skiff that looked like a carriage with no wheels. It appeared to fit around six people. This must have been what Hiero used to traverse through the snowy city.
“I see that airships are allowed to travel through the streets in Vanderouge,” I remarked. It was called the Empire of Flight for a reason, I supposed. It was forbidden in Altoire to do such a thing; the only exception was in times of emergency.
“Only royalty and nobility, and there are limits set on speed and altitude. I imagine the time will come when commoners will own and use their own airships... Accidents will likely increase when it does.”
Our shoes crunched through a light layer of snow as we escaped from the frigid wind into the skiff. The inside was split into front and back with the front being the driver’s seat. Hiero and I sat in the back, while Lynokis, who was accompanying us as our bodyguard, sat up front with the driver.
It was nice and warm inside. The interior was upholstered in a burgundy velvet with a luxurious finish, clearly made for a noble. So this is a luxury skiff... Wait.
“Depart, please.”
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Just as I remembered something, Hiero ordered the driver to leave.
Right. I completely forgot. I haven’t gone to look at what airship I’d like. It had completely slipped my mind. I had been too focused on hunting. I’d also been distracted by having to do my detested winter homework even while abroad. Mmm, I don’t think we’ll have the time to go take a quick look... I think my only opportunity would be on the way home from the party.
I guessed there was the option to consult with Cedony and see what they could prepare, but... Whatever. Having my own private airship wasn’t really that necessary. I could think about it later.
Barely anyone was out and about in the bad weather, but a lot of businesses still seemed to be open. We stopped at a shop along the way, and Hiero bought an expensive crate of wine as a gift. While we were there, I decided to buy a couple bottles of the same wine as a souvenir for my parents. I wanted to drink it myself, but I was still too young. I passed them to Lynokis, who then arranged with the shop to have it sent to our hotel. I hadn’t even realized they did deliveries like that.
Given I’d spent so much of last night talking to Christo, I made sure to talk with Hiero plenty on the way to the gathering. And yet, for some reason, no matter what topics we brought up, we always ended up returning to magivision. Maybe this was one of those occupational habits.
“It was your brother that came up with the idea for Cooking Princess,right? I’d love to reward him for his ingenuity.”
Е n̂ um а.i ď
“Hilde said the same.”
“The paper plays from the Silvers were a painful hit. I really wish we had been the ones to come up with that.”
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“I feel the exact same way. It was frustrating to watch.”
Before long, the skiff reached our destination.
“I’d love to keep chatting, but I suppose we should head in.”
We’d gotten so into our conversation that we were there before we knew it. Hiero, sitting opposite me, disembarked first and held the door open as he helped me step out of the skiff—truly a gentlemanly prince.
Ӗǹ uṁа́
So this was the acting chairman for the Altoire Broadcasting Station. If I remembered what I’d been told correctly, the actual chairman, at least on paper, was the previous king, and he was the leader of the magivision industry. In reality though, he was just a figurehead. Hiero Altoire was really the one at the helm.
Even only knowing him for a short time, I can see that he’s as sharp as his father. The king was so devoted to his position as the ruler of the country that he shut out even his family from his mind, and Hiero was just as devoted to his position as acting chairman. As proof of that, he had watched eighty to ninety percent of magivision programs—no, perhaps he’d watched all of them.
Back before the Silvers had joined the fray, that had likely been quite a simple affair, but nowadays, there were several new shows every day. It would take at least half a day to watch them all. Apparently, he used his authority to view the programs directly from the manastones in which the recordings were stored, so he had the advantage of not having to care so much about when or where he watched them, but...even with that, where did he find the time to watch them all when he was this busy promoting magivision in a foreign country?
That led me to the frightening conclusion that perhaps Hiero’s life outside of work consisted solely of watching magivision. Was he even getting enough sleep?
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I dared not to ask and see. Hiero was not particularly keen on making a point of it, nor did he want me to sympathize with him, nor did he want to boast about it. However, there was no denying that this man was not a gem so easily found. If he were to one day disappear, I didn’t trust that the magivision industry would survive. I was beginning to feel that the responsibility he was being made to bear was far too great.
The finances of the Liston family were a concern, but by this point, I really hoped magivision could become mainstream soon. I hoped we could make things a little easier for Hiero.
W̄ еb́ ń о̄v̀ёl̀ Ё ṅ ũmа̌
Being the acting chairman seemed to be a much harder job than I’d imagined. His mind and spirit might have been keeping up, but what about his body? You could push yourself much more as a young person, but even then, there were still limits.
I really hoped he didn’t end up collapsing from overwork.
“Welcome to the Huskitan Estate.”
While Hiero and I had been chatting in the skiff, we had entered the estate grounds and passed through the garden, and the skiff parked in front of the house located a fair distance from the gate. As soon as we exited, a middle-aged butler was there to greet us.
This house is huge... Given the one who had invited us was the fourth prince of Vanderouge, perhaps it was a given that it wouldn’t be a gathering of the common people. What had the butler said again? The Huskitan Estate? I hadn’t heard of the Huskitans before, but it seemed they were quite renowned within Vanderouge, and decently high-ranking nobles to boot.
I didn’t know the etiquette for nobles in Vanderouge... All right, I’ll stick with what I know, and if it doesn’t work, I’ll just act like a child. Hell, I technically am a child.
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“Nia! It’s so nice to see you!”
And there he was. As soon as we entered, Christo enthusiastically welcomed me. Don’t click your tongue, Lynokis. You’re not subtle.
“You really came! You came to see me! I’m so moved!”
“You still half asleep or something? It’s already afternoon; wake the hell up,” Hiero snapped.
Ignoring the prince’s cold jab, Christo placed a hand on my back and urged me inside. I guessed he wanted to lead me somewhere. Hiero, I don’t think a public space is the right time to tell a prince to go to hell. You’re going to cause a very real diplomatic issue.
I’d rather give my greetings to the host first, but Christo was being insistent, so I decided to let him drag me where he wanted. I doubted he’d treat me badly.
Е nu m а. і̃d̈
He ended up taking me to a warm room with a lit fireplace. I wasn’t sure if it was a reception room or a drawing room. It wasn’t very big, but it was well furnished and looked like a comfortable space to hang around in.
“Nia’s here! The princess of Altoire has arrived!”
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What are you talking about? Hildetaura is the princess. I knew he was simply referencing my fame, but it felt a bit weird when there was an actual princess among my peers. It was a misleading nickname. There were three people to whom Christo made such an exaggerated, false, misleading introduction:
From the right, we first had a girl who looked a lot like Christo. At least...she looked like a girl? She was fairly androgynous so I wasn’t entirely sure. She looked about his age, if not a little younger.
In the middle was a red-haired young man with a fairly large build. He was far from being as strong as Lynokis or myself, but he looked like he kept in shape, at least.
And then on the left was a woman with eye-catching good looks. Her long, dark brown hair was beautiful.
W е b ñ о̇ vе́l̇ Еñ um̊ a
The three were chatting together on the sofas in front of the fire. Christo had probably been with them until we arrived.
“Oh, they’re here. Um... Sorry, let me make my greetings to the prince first.” The red-haired man stood up and gave a quick greeting to Hiero, who was standing right behind me. “Your Highness, thank you for coming all this way. I’d like to reassure you that this is a very private affair, so if possible, I’d love it if we could simply forget our status and positions for today.”
“Of course. I always intended to come here on Christo’s invitation and as your friend, Zack.”
Ah, so this is one of the people of the estate. All of them looked to be in their late teens, so it seemed likely they were friends with Christo not through status but through genuine friendship.
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After finishing his greeting to the prince, he knelt down on one knee in front of me. “Welcome, Nia Liston. I have seen you many times on the magivision that His Highness has shown me.” His smile was endearingly awkward; he probably wasn’t very good with either girls or children. In that respect, Christo stood out even more. “My name is Zackford Huskitan. It’s my fiancée’s birthday today.”
His fiancée, hm?
Wе̂b́ nо v el Е n ú mа.
“It’s nice to meet you, Master Zackford. My name is Nia Liston. I selfishly requested to accompany Prince Hiero to this occasion. I am concerned that my manners may not be suited to your local customs, so I hope you will forgive me if I am a little rude.” I lifted the hem of my dress and curtsied, just as Mrs. Rhyme had taught me. Surely that wouldn’t turn out to be offensive.
“It must have been cold out there. Come by the fireplace. I’ll introduce you to the other two.”
Well, it appeared I was welcome, at least, and I couldn’t detect any animosity towards me from anyone. But...from what I could see, they all appeared to be of fairly high status. They all gave off the vibe of sons and daughters of upper nobility.
First was the young red-haired man, Zackford. Judging from the size of both the estate and the surrounding grounds, the Huskitans must have been a large noble family. They likely held quite a lot of power in the empire.
The girl who looked exactly like Christo was likely a member of the imperial family. I imagined they were siblings, either full or half. Or maybe she was just a relative? I wasn’t sure, but they had to be related somehow.In which case, she would have quite the power herself.
The lady with the dark-brown hair gave a very similar feeling to Hiero. She had a beauty and elegance that just screamed royalty or nobility. Perhaps she was also someone affiliated with the imperial family. At the very least, she had money. Even if you didn’t have the power, money was just as good.
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And then there was Christo himself. There wasn’t much more to say there. Not only could he be relied on for money, authoritative power, and declarative power, he was also fascinated by magivision. If magivision was to spread through Vanderouge, no doubt Christo was the one who would stand at the forefront of development.
I see. What an excellent gathering.
If we did a good job at selling magivision here, then there would likely be great strides made in the progress of promoting magivision in the country.
Zackford Huskitan introduced me to the two girls present—and it was pretty much as I had suspected. It was in line with my expectations, not greatly far off the mark.
The woman who looked just like Christo was Crowen Volt Vanderouge. As I thought, she was his younger sister. Though they had different mothers, they looked very alike. Unlike her brother, who was the picture of a frivolous man, the sister seemed much more uptight. This impression likely came from the sharpness of her eyes. Out of the four of them—five, if you included the prince—she was the strongest. She hadn’t crossed into the realm of the abnormal though, so it was a pointless comparison.
The lady with the dark-brown hair was Phyledia Cauculis. She was a high-ranking noble who was a distant relative of the royal family of the Mech Kingdom of Marvelia. It made her enough of a big shot that it wouldn’t be incorrect to refer to her as a princess. She had money, and she had power. Wonderful. She already had very sculpted features, but the contrast between her dark hair and pale skin was also beautiful. The bright white of her neck was so emphasized by the contrast with her hair that it took on a slight sexual appeal.
Е ň u m а
Phyledia was the fiancée that Zackford had mentioned. Oh, and she was the weakest of the lot. And by weak, I meant that as a noblewoman, she hadn’t had any need to train her body, so she was just a normal woman.
After we’d finished with introductions, we all sat ourselves around the fire, and Christo gave a brief explanation of how they knew each other. “Except for Crow, we’re all the same age and will be graduating from the learning institute next year. Zack and Phyle will be getting married after that.”
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The learning institute in Vanderouge was essentially the same as the academy in Altoire. They’d all ended up as classmates, and Crowen had joined their friend group later on by being Christo’s sibling. In other words, they were a happy little group of noble friends.
“Is this the first time a child hasn’t been scared of you, Zack?” Phyledia teased, sending a smug smile to Zackford sitting beside her.
I see, so she’s the kind who affectionately teases those she likes.
“Hey, give me some credit. At least two or three have been fine with me,” he responded, as if offended.
Е̌ n̊ů m̂ а̀
So that’s how their relationship is. Well, I’m glad they seem to get along.
Incidentally, Zackford’s face really wasn’t that scary. The natural way his eyebrows sat just made him look fierce and stern, as if he had a bit of trouble with social situations.
“Nia Liston... Are you that dog child? The one on magivision? Christo really likes your shows.”
And then Crowen suddenly said something so mean. A “dog child” would imply something else entirely!
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“Magivision, huh? I’d love to consider getting involved to assist with His Highness’s reputation, but it’s just so expensive,” Zackford muttered, his face serious.
He was met with three different reactions. Phyledia took a drink of her wine, clearly disinterested, while Crowen looked completely unwilling to show any interest as if it all had nothing to do with her.
We bn o ṽ е́ l Е̂n um̆ã
“The tech’s crazy though. You’d get your money back in no time.” The only one with a relatively positive reaction was Christo. I wasn’t sure whether to call him an optimist or just someone who didn’t think that hard about things. Actually, no, that wasn’t fair to him—his mind worked fast. Even if he looked frivolous and lazy, I could see he was really quite calculating.
“In what way would it even be profitable?” Zackford asked. “I can think of all sorts of benefits for the military, but that doesn’t seem to be what Altoire’s doing.”
Honestly, I wanted to know the answer myself. In what way was it earning us profits? I didn’t know the answer. I’d heard something about advertising fees once, but I barely had any idea how much money that made or how it was even being used.
“I’m curious too. I’ve heard plenty from Prince Hiero, but I’d much prefer to hear the opinion of someone simply working in the industry rather than a businessman actively trying to sell it to us,” Crowen said.
As she said, I was a little curious about that too.
Wait...
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Oh, she meant me.Hiero was the businessman; I was the performer. Before I realized it, everyone was suddenly looking right at me. Hiero wasn’t saying anything, so it seemed like it was fine to give my thoughts. If it seemed like I was digging my own grave, I was sure he’d stop me.
“Since I’m a child, I’m not told the details, but I’ve heard that there’s something like advertising fees.”
“‘Advertising’?”
“It’s a way to inform people of your products or of a location or even of events. I think you’ve likely seen some of the advertisements already.” I briefly explained Bendelio’s show where he got to drink alcohol...well, his Tales of a Liston Stroll as an example.
He would drink alcohol on the program, and people would watch that program, become interested in the alcohol, and buy their own out of curiosity. These two systems were what turned a profit. There was likely more to it, but that was the extent of my knowledge.
“How it is used is also important. There is nothing better for spreading the word of, say, some new restaurant that’s opened up, or some famous local specialty, or a play. In most cases, the advertisement comes with visual information. Even a little peek of what it looks like can get someone interested. ‘A picture speaks a thousand words,’ as they say.”
Êńû ṁ а̄_
Was that good enough? Hiero wasn’t saying anything, so it seemed fine.
“Nia, are you not forgetting something important?”
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Oops, no, it seemed I had forgotten something. What is it, Hiero? Please don’t expect me to be able to use my brain.
“If it isn’t too difficult for you, could you perhaps tell us about your upbringing?”
My upbringing? Oh... I saw what he meant. Nowadays, the whole of Altoire knew my story, but I’d started to forget it had ever happened.
“It may be a bit of a long story. Is that okay?”
Ẁе́b ǹ о̃v е l Ēn u m а
And that was what led to me telling them the story of Nia Liston’s life and how it had led to the Liston family choosing to participate in the magivision industry.
Three years—it had already been three years since I became Nia Liston. A lot had happened over that time, but in all honesty, all I could vividly remember right now was the chance I had recently been granted to use my martial arts to their fullest to hunt monsters these last three days and all of my magivision work. Oh, and my extreme hatred for Bendelio.
Beyond that, I remembered my detested homework as well. It was like an oil stain that constantly remained no matter how hard I tried to forget about it. What good did homework ever do anybody? What use was it? Numbers? Eight-digit numbers?! Those were a calamitous disaster even worse than an elite monster. I couldn’t even begin to fathom the mind of whoever had invented them.
Forgetting humanity’s worst invention for now, I told Zackford, Phyledia, Crowen, and Christo my story from the start: About how I had been bedridden with what should have been a terminal disease. About how my parents had invested a massive sum of money into the magivision industry and introduced it to our territories in order to seek help from a wider audience. About how my life had been miraculously saved and I had now lived three healthy years.
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“And that is the story of my upbringing. Though whether you can call it an ‘upbringing’ is debatable.” At least now, they would understand why Nia Liston was so obsessed with magivision. “Excuse me.” I had finished my tale, so I reached for the food that had been set on the coffee table in front of us. While I had been telling my story, a servant of the Huskitans had brought some sandwiches. Ooh, the meat is so thick. How luxurious. Incidentally, Lynokis was currently waiting in a different room with the driver of our skiff.
Everyone seemed to be deep in thought after I finished talking. “I see, so there is a possible benefit of being able to disseminate information through magivision...” Zackford eventually muttered to himself.
Е̃n̊üḿа
I was starting to understand why Hiero had asked me to tell my story. The history of Nia Liston was a moving story about the power of magivision that was overall quite simple. There were very few of these kinds of stories, what with how young the industry still was, but my story was no doubt one that frequently came up first.
Honestly, you could maybe even say it was the story that best represented the true benefits of magivision; it very efficiently showcased the potential of the technology. Plus, the four here had the honor of hearing the story right from the source—that had to leave a persuasive impact, however much I myself tended to forget what a terrible state I used to be in.
“Is your health much better now?” Phyledia asked.
I returned my half-eaten sandwich to my plate and nodded. “It is, thank you. I exercise frequently to ensure I will never lose to illness again. In fact, I’m so healthy I can even race dogs.” I had even hunted so many monsters these past three days that I’d earned over one hundred and fifty million krams. I was in such good health that I’d have thought this was truly a perfect and enjoyable expedition if not for my loathed homework.
“Oh, this is what I’d been most curious about,” Crowen spoke up. I’d reached for my sandwich again, but I stopped in my tracks. “Why are you so fast? Never mind racing dogs, your speed in general is insane.”
Wow, so there were those who viewed me in that light, after all? I was happy with people simply enjoying the show, but it seemed natural that there would be those who were seeing something else through those races.
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Altoire as a whole was known for its naive peace, probably as an unfortunate side effect of the kingdom’s ruling classes being so proficient. Domestically, no one who watched me was concerned with my strength. But in the eyes of many foreigners, there would be those who would immediately imagine what I would be like as their enemy—including a woman of the imperial family. I approved of her not being apathetic about it.
“I don’t know what to tell you other than that it is the result of my training. I’m quite desperate to not fall ill again, so I’ve trained quite a lot.” Personally, I still wasn’t training anywhere near enough. If I’d had more free time, I would have absolutely been using it to train. There was no way this body could recreate my old martial arts as it was. I wanted to train more and I wanted to get stronger. I never wanted to have to deal with a terminal illness again.
“Why not challenge her to a race, Crow? You’re pretty fast, aren’t you?” Christo was laughing, but he had made quite the troublesome suggestion.
I had people sometimes challenging me to a race at the academy. I hadn’t thought much of it when I took them on at first, but the moment the number of challengers became unmanageable, I’d started to refuse. Some of them had only become more insistent, so I’d had to shove the hassle off onto Sanowil Badr as a last resort, saying I’d only race them if they were faster than him. Since then, no one had come to challenge me to a race, and I was left alone. I was thankful for Sanowil—though I wasn’t sure how he was handling them—especially since he never particularly came to me to complain.
From my own experience, people would become annoying whether they won or lost. At least with dogs, the most that would happen was that the animal would dislike me after, but with humans there was a large possibility that they would be left with resentment or a grudge. Not that the owners of the dogs were immune to that, admittedly.
“Don’t bother.” Before I could think of how to refuse her, Hiero was already rejecting the idea. Thank goodness he was willing to step in. It was only natural. Matches between those in the same country were already troublesome, but who knew what grudges would be born if it was between those of different nationalities? If we wanted things to end amicably, it wasn’t something we should allow.
Е ń ù m а
“Nia may look like a simple child, but she is undefeated in Altoire. Only pros who run for a living have any chance of beating her. You wouldn’t even stand a chance.”
I... I take that back.
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Hiero was blatantly provoking her. He was fully intending to add fuel to the fire.
“Surely you’re just exaggerating. I’m faster than you seem to think, you know? I’m confident I’m faster than any dog she’s raced against on her program.”
See? Look at what you’ve done. Crowen is raring for a fight now. Only the sore losers who were invested in martial arts but were still lacking in strength would so easily have their pride ruffled. As a fellow sore loser, I knew exactly where she was coming from, but I was most certainly not someone she should race; she would just end up hurting her pride.
“Unfortunately, Nia is exceptionally fast. Give up. She’s out of your league. She’s so fast she barely even seems human.”
Е̊ nŭm а
Yes, yes, listen to His Highness... Hm? For some reason, that didn’t sound like much of a compliment... It didn’t feel bad to be referred to that way, at least.
“Sounds like it could make for a fun match if you ask me. Crow, try and beat her,” Phyledia egged her on out of morbid curiosity.
“I don’t think you should.” But the surprisingly mild-mannered Zackford put a stop to it.
Phyledia giggled. “Oh my, Zack, is this you saying you think Crow would lose?”
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“That’s not what I mean. I just don’t think anyone will be happy with the result no matter who wins.”
Exactly, he was spot-on. People who could be so easily provoked into matches were so annoying. If they lost, they’d keep pestering you for a rematch. If you held back to let them win, they’d get mad and tell you to take it seriously.
W̌е b.n оvе̇l Ė ǹ ũ m а̊
It was a pain, but...if Hiero wanted me to take the challenge, then I had no other choice. If he was taking this route, it had to mean he thought this was the best possible choice for our magivision efforts. Even if it meant there was a chance that Crowen would end up resenting me, I had to play my part in pushing Project Magivision forward, and if that meant choosing to take on a challenge, I would. There was no need to even weigh my choices.
“Fine, let’s do it.”
It appeared Crowen was already worked up; I hadn’t even said yes or no yet.
“Now wait a second.” And yet the cause of all this, Christo, stopped her. “If we make it a simple race with no stakes, it’s practically a kids’ game. Let’s bet on it.”
What?! Betting?! That’s a surefire way to create a grudge if I ever saw one.
“Fine. Brother, you decide what we should bet.”
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Hey! Consider listening to what I want!
“Nia Liston is famous on magivision, so it’s only logical that if you lose, you agree to assist with the introduction of magivision to Vanderouge.”
What’s logical about that? Not that it was a bad deal. Sure, I’d go with that.
“That’s fine. Nia, if you win, I will talk to my father, His Imperial Majesty, about bringing magivision into the country. I’m not sure how much assistance I can give, but at the very least, I won’t make things worse.”
This had all progressed very suddenly, hadn’t it? And without even once asking for my input. I was pretty sure Christo had aimed for this to happen too... These princes really were partners in crime.
You’re definitely okay taking the bet with these conditions? I glanced at Hiero and he gave me a small nod. Good, I’ll make sure to get the results you want.
Ёn̈ ů m̊_а
“Then, regardless of victory or loss, let us have one single match,” I said.
“I’m good with that. I’ll even give you a handicap given our difference in size,” Crowen said with a smirk.
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“Really? How kind of you. Thank you very much.” Whether I had a handicap or not, I was going to win, but it would give Crowen a good excuse; she would be able to state that she had lost without losing face. I wasn’t very picky about the specifics of how I fought against someone I was guaranteed to win against.
“Shall we head outside?”
And so, with no sudden upset, I won the race.
Once the race was over and done with, though a grudge had been formed as I had expected, I was able to spend the rest of the day peacefully without any notable events. Crowen would sometimes direct a passionate gaze at me that was silently begging to have a rematch though. I guessed I’d ended up gaining another fan.
Е̂ n̄ üm а . іd
After that, I was told all manner of stories about the Empire of Flight, I spoke all about magivision, and I got to enjoy playing something called a “board game” that Vanderouge had created. Lose one hundred million krams due to a large business failure? It seemed it was my fate to deal with financial problems whether in a game or in real life...
“You’re so cute. I’d love to have a daughter like you.”
I wasn’t sure why, but it seemed Phyledia really liked me, and she suddenly pulled me into her lap and began to stroke my hair. This would have likely driven Lynokis insane if she’d been there. I was glad she wasn’t. I was so glad she was in a different room.
“But with Zack as their father, I’m sure they’ll end up all tough and bulky.”
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“Hey, no one said that the kid wouldn’t resemble you, Phyle.”
“You think?” she replied. “I’d be okay with them resembling you though.”
W ẽb̃ň о ṽе̌ľ Е̊.ń.u mа̀
“Then there’s only one answer: we simply have to keep having kids until we end up with at least one that looks like each of us.”
Hm. I was fairly sure that this couple was wildly making out behind me. Or above me? In close range, at least. I was pretty sure their faces were touching. Could they not put me down first? Christo, Crowen, and Hiero were very graceful in their efforts to pretend they hadn’t seen. The upper classes really were very good at ignoring that which they didn’t want to see.
Still, whichever parent they resembled, their child would never beat my brother in cuteness. Though I wasn’t so immature to say that out loud.
I would at least send well-wishes for a happy married life for the two of them.
Darkness fell over Vanderouge without a single appearance from the evening sun, the snow refusing to stop in the quiet air. It was still evening, but it was pitch-dark outside. I had stood up with Hiero when he remarked that he’d ended up staying for longer than intended. By then it was shortly before dinnertime.
“You should stay for dinner,” Zackford implored. “I ordered some sword-deer meat. It’s delicious, you know.”
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“Thank you for your consideration. It is a very tempting offer, but I’d like to get Nia home early,” Hiero politely refused. “If you’ll excuse me for today.”
“Aw, you’re taking her with you?”
Yes? Don’t squeeze me like that.
“She’s a busy girl herself. She’ll be returning to Altoire tomorrow, so she needs to prepare.”
I didn’t need to get anything ready, but he was right that I would be returning home. Plus, I really wanted to get out of this position before Lynokis saw. If she learned of this, she would end up throwing a tantrum. I could already hear her now, crying that she wanted to snuggle me too.
“What a shame. I was hoping we could sleep in the same bed tonight,” Phyledia said with a pout.
Е n̈ú mа
Who said anything about that? Phyledia seemed like a polite princess on the surface, but she was surprisingly forceful, wasn’t she? Even when we’d played the board game, she’d been the kind to choose someone as her target and never stop attacking, regardless of what place they were in.
“Perhaps the opportunity will present itself again. Good evening, Master Zackford, Mistress Phyledia.” I was finally freed from her lap and freed from being forced to suffer the couple’s flirtations at close range. I said my farewells to the lady who clearly wasn’t hiding her reluctance and the man who was much calmer—all while thinking to myself that I’d likely never see these people again.
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Then again, maybe it was a little early to say that. Once magivision was introduced into Vanderouge, we might end up crossing paths again.
“When we meet again, I’ll challenge you to another race,” Crowen said, her grudge more than apparent. “I’ll train hard until then.” I didn’t think we’d have such an opportunity, but I nodded in acknowledgment anyway. If there were no developments on the magivision front, this would no doubt be the end of our communication.
“I’ll head out with you both then. I can head straight back to the dorms,” Christo said, deciding to come with us.
And so, my unexpected day at the Huskitans’ drew to a close.
Wе̇b̊_ň о̇_v̇е̊ l̀ Е̊n u̇ må
We met back up with Lynokis and were seen off by Zackford and the others as we all left in the skiff. The two princes sat on the side facing forward, while I faced them. Lynokis was in the passenger seat again. Like this, I could see the two boys’ figures and expressions very easily.
“You managed to finish planting the seed, didn’t you, Hiero?”
Hm?
“Yup. Pretty sure that wedge is firmly in place. We were lucky we had Nia with us.”
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Excuse me?
“I don’t think the timing could’ve been any more perfect. Phyle can be really picky about who she likes, so being that well received is big. Zack seemed to take it well too.”
Е̂ n umӑ
“That was honestly a surprise for me. I’d completely misjudged him—and I’ve never been happier to be wrong.”
Hm...
“What is with your scheming little faces, hm?” I asked. I could tell they were planning something—in fact, they made no effort to hide it. Their smiles were both so very cunning. Anyone would find them suspicious, even a young child. I didn’t know the details of their evil scheme though, so my only choice was to ask. Especially since it seemed as if they’d used me for whatever it was.
“It’s not something we can talk about yet, but we may end up offering you some work soon.”
Work?
“This is where the plan really starts, and I’ve got a very good feeling about it.”
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Yeah... I had no idea what they were on about. And neither of them seemed likely to elaborate, so I decided to stop thinking about it. It seemed like something I’d be involved with eventually, so I could just learn what it was then.
Perhaps the opportunity will present itself again.
When we meet again.
Casual promises that could barely be called promises were exchanged at that moment.
We may end up offering you some work soon.
This is where the plan really starts.
Е n̊u m̀ a
Words foreshadowing the future had been spoken by the two princes, scheming expressions on their faces.
It wouldn’t be long before what I thought were empty promises were fulfilled and I learned the truth behind the princes’ plotting.
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My encounters had been a wedge that I had unknowingly driven into the towering wall between Altoire and Vanderouge—forced in even deeper, even more secure, than ever before. The borders between our countries had been nothing more than a nuisance in the spread of magivision, but this day marked the beginning of the gradual destruction of that wall.
What I had done was take a small step. But that became the foothold that would allow the princes and their collaborators to follow, and what began as a small crack would lead to the complete crumbling of the divide. Great deeds began with small steps, sometimes without the person themselves even realizing what they’d set into motion.
I knew none of this at the time, of course, and once we were informed that the bad weather the following day would prevent us from doing any more hunting, we boarded a flight back to Altoire early, bringing our expedition to Vanderouge to an end.
At least...that was how I thought it would go. But in fact, something unexpected happened that very same night.
Ën̊um̂а.і̀d̆
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