Esmuer Bistim Tel Nua
Esmuer Bistim Tel Nua
If you asked the people of the Empire who the next emperor of the Empire of Eshnua would be, opinions were divided between the First Princess and the Second Imperial Prince, but within the Imperial Household, everyone unanimously treated the First Princess, Esmue Bistim Tel Nua, as the next emperor.
That was true even for the emperor's other eight children. She possessed most of the qualities necessary to succeed the emperor.
Intelligence, charisma, magical aptitude... She excelled in every area except swordsmanship, but what shone brightest was that utterly unpredictable intelligence.
Using nothing but her cold intellect, she had ended the conflicts of the Imperial Household, shattered the factions, and dried up the roots of the succession dispute in just three short years, making her the undeniable next emperor who no one could challenge.
Therefore, all matters related to the Hero, who could become the empire's core military asset, passed through her hands. If an incident occurred, she was the first to receive reports; she was also the one who first reviewed plans to utilize the Hero, and it was her job to be briefed on the trivial daily affairs that arose around him.
So Esmue hated the Hero.
It wasn't because of the Hero's utterly debauched behavior. Esmue knew her younger sister Eselua well. If the Hero had been a complete moral degenerate, she would never have stood by his side. Therefore, whatever the reports said, Esmue firmly believed that the Hero was putting on an act of debauchery while hiding a viper within.
If the Hero had been born after her death, or if he had been born much earlier and defeated the Demon King long ago, it would have reduced one of her overflowing tasks. As it was, she had no choice but to despise him for being born in the same era.
She spent her days overworked, and the Hero was one of the greatest culprits who suddenly multiplied her tasks.
That was the case up until just two days ago.
"Aaaaaaaah!!!"
"Y-Your Highness! Please calm yourself!"
"Me?! How can I calm down right now?!"
No matter how much she disheveled and clawed at it, her snow-white hair remained as soft and lustrous as silk, maintaining its volume. That was why the personal maid who managed her deportment wasn't worried, no matter how much Esmue tore at her hair.
But her slamming the desk and thrashing about was a separate matter. Esmue's rampage, as if she would destroy everything around her in her rage, would damage her own body, not the objects around her.
For among all her exceptional talents, she was so frail that she couldn't even learn swordsmanship, and she possessed a body smaller and more delicate than her younger siblings.
The maid rushed at her and blocked her thrashing with her own body before she got seriously hurt. Enraged, Esmue continued to struggle futilely, but it was all in vain.
"Just what is that bastard?! Why did he beat the Hero like it was the most natural thing in the world?! And why the hell did that Rudran imbecile suddenly get himself killed?!"
The initial objective had been to create a point of contact between the Hero and the Margrave of Itisel.
Unlike the previous Margrave of Levien, she was a girl believed to be beloved by Mana. From the day word spread through the Empire that even the battle mage Radnelbandes had set everything else aside to devote himself to her education, she had been slated to eventually join the Hero's party in subjugating the Demon King. Ragnis herself likely knew nothing about it, of course, but making that future happen was exactly the kind of work Esmue had been doing—and what she did best.
If only she could create a pretext for disillusionment with Itisel amid the strife between the Royal Faction and the Noble Faction and the inevitable war to follow, she believed there was a distinct possibility that she would defect to the Empire.
If the Hero could simply be made to take an interest, and she could arrange for them to meet often enough that she could gauge the Hero's unknown true feelings the way Eselua did, the possibility was definitely there.
But then an entity no one had planned for popped out and stole all of the Hero's attention.
Eldmia Ega.
An unidentified man who wore the protection charm of High Elves. That fact alone would have elevated him to a person of interest, and on his very first day visiting, he had beaten the Hero.
His name had come up when Esmue investigated Ragnis's circumstances, so she wasn't completely unaware of him. But the information available to her only covered his activities in the capital, and she had been convinced he was nothing more than a hired hand temporarily lent to Ragnis through her connection with House Ogatorf.
Even if she had heard that he wore a platinum earring on one side as a distinguishing feature, what kind of lunatic would guess from that alone that it was a High Elf's protection charm? In the first place, records of a human ever obtaining one were few enough to count on one hand!
Even she had only been able to figure it out because records remained of a previous emperor who had entered into a marriage pact with a High Elf and abdicated the throne; otherwise, there was simply no way to know.
She could never have imagined that the brief deviation from her duties, back when she still believed in romance and sought out only such stories, would prove so helpful.
"How on earth was such a worthless idiot praised as a candidate for the next commander of Rudra's Magic Knight Order?! Do all Rudra bastards just carry those things on their shoulders as ornaments?!"
Magic Knight Gwilb Buis Beluin. The Young Lion of Rudra. A man who would have been called a viscount had just one more month passed. Despite being only 18 years old, he possessed talent recognized to that degree. He was one of those geniuses whom storytellers never failed to mention when talking about this age of heroes.
That was why she had intended to invite him as planned and have him meet the Hero.
"What genius! He's a dimwitted moron! Who wrote the report on this bastard! How in the world was he dismissed as merely having 'excessive noble pride'?! That's dereliction of duty! I'll have them severely punished!"
"Your Highness, please...!"
Since at 18 she was a tiny thing barely 150 centimeters, Esmue's thrashing wasn't threatening in the slightest. The limbs she swung in fury were so weak they couldn't even properly dent a doll.
But the words she spat were never light. The elderly head butler watching the not-quite-scuffle between Esmue and the maid calmly ordered someone to prepare documents on who the investigator was.
"Huff... Huff... Ollend!"
As expected, Esmue, who had poor stamina, quickly wore herself out. Although she still didn't seem to have vented her anger, the reason she called the head butler's name was clear, so he bowed slightly and answered.
"I have already dispatched a letter to Rudra."
"What did you send!"
"The death of Sir Gwilb and its circumstances; proof that it was a legitimate duel; the schedule for transferring the body and his belongings; and a request that they dispatch an envoy to discuss the situation."
"The deadline!"
"I emphasized that they prepare and come within the day, immediately."
"Excellent! Prepare to go out at once!"
"Though I urged them to hurry, it will still take time for the envoy to arrive..."
Trailing off, Ollend had been straightening his back, but when he saw Esmue almost tearing off her work dress as if to throw it aside and the maid with a tearful face half-screaming, he sighed and bowed again.
Esmue yelled at his bowed head.
"They are the ones who committed the offense, so why should I be the one to wait? Eldmia! Prepare to leave for the academy at once!"
"I shall carry out your orders."
As Ollend turned his bowed body 180 degrees to exit, Esmue added.
"Also, draft and submit reports on those who submitted the reports about Gwilb!"
"Already in preparation. I will have them ready for you to read in the carriage."
"Very good!"
Hoping that their erroneous reports had a valid reason, Ollend left the room.
◈
"Sir Eldmia!!!"
"Please! Please teach us!"
"Marry me, Eldmia!"
"Sir Ega, please...!"
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
That Lord-of-the-Rings bastard. He was far more famous than I'd expected.
What? The Young Lion of Rudra? Call him Rudra's stray mutt instead!
I'd anticipated that once again, the madness would surge as they fell for Eldmia's charm, but because of that bastard's fame, the madness far exceeded my expectations. Amid the relentless harassment from morning classes on, as I struggled not to drop my fairy-tale knight mode, already entirely drained, Ragnis looked at me and smiled.
"Still, I can at least understand that absurd confidence now."
"It's just information utterly devoid of any nutritional value."
The information itself was pure junk, but that bastard's death was extremely useful to Ragnis. Right and wrong were already crystal clear, the Empire itself was siding with us, and thanks to Gwilb turning out to be such a spectacularly sheltered fool, she explained that we might even be able to extract compensation from the Kingdom of Rudra.
"If it had happened inside Rudra, maybe not, but since he came all the way to the Empire and made such a disgrace of himself, the next envoy will probably feel like their hair is falling out."
Moreover, he wasn't just some rabble. He was a leading candidate to become the next commander of Rudra's Magic Knight Order, and he'd delivered such outrageously arrogant insults that, if Itisel chose to press the issue, they could even frame it as a deliberate insult intended to provoke a war.
Still, it was a wonder he had that much ability.
"His skills were dreadful. Even if he fought Sheryl, he'd barely last about ten rounds and then lose."
"...Must've lacked real combat experience."
"Hmm. You think so?"
He'd piled on buffs like Strong Body and whatnot, so his body was fairly sturdy. He probably had little experience taking hits, and because he'd underestimated me, he died before he could display his full ability.
Maybe it was because Delt, who reacted to my attack and even accepted death, still lingered in a corner of my memory? Anyone who didn't measure up to him seemed utterly unimpressive.
The standards of strength in this fantasy world, I really could never figure them out.