Chapter 95: Older Brother (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 95: Older Brother (2)
The square had been bustling with activity since early morning.
Preparations for Lemain's Birthday Festival were finally in full swing. Decorating the vast square and erecting festival structures was a massive undertaking that had been underway for some time.
Just as many were starting their busy day—
Clack, clack!
The brisk sound of horse hooves echoed across the square.
Ordinary citizens were barred from the area until preparations were complete, so the sound had to be from a guest passing through the Royal Capital on their way to the palace.
‘Who is it this time?’
Those who turned toward the sound gasped, their eyes widening in surprise. They straightened up at once and hurriedly bowed their heads, realizing the rider wasn't a visitor arriving at the palace, but a certain someone leaving it.
"It's the Prince!"
Black hair, a black suit, and a black horse.
The only prince who could leave the Royal Palace without an escort.
It was, of course, Calian.
Usually, Calian would ride at a leisurely pace, his horse's hoofbeats exceptionally loud, and acknowledge everyone who greeted him. Today, however, he seemed to have urgent business. He offered only brief eye contact to those who bowed and hurried on his way.
Leaving the curious onlookers in his wake, Calian spurred Raven into a near-gallop. He crossed the bridge over the Senyu River and entered Banensha Street for the first time in a long while.
Rotten Forge
When Calian stepped inside the shop with the familiar name, the muscular owner, looking exactly as he had before, shot to his feet in shock. He then offered a clumsy, awkward greeting.
The chair he’d been sitting on clattered to the floor, but he was too flustered to notice. Though it was a complete breach of etiquette, Calian found it rather endearing and smiled softly.
"It's been a while."
His words implied they had met before.
As the flustered owner tried to gather his wits, the memory of the suspicious boy who had visited a year ago surfaced in his mind.
"Ah, could you be the one from last year...?!"
"You remember me."
Calian would have liked to reminisce, but he was eager to satisfy the excitement that had brought him here in the first place.
"My servant should have left some fine material here not long ago."
He pointed to his own eyes and added, "A boy with different colored eyes. Do you remember him as well?"
"Yes, Your Highness. I remember. Please wait just a moment. I will bring it right away."
"Very well."
With Calian's permission, the owner scurried into the back of the shop, moving so frantically it was hard to tell if he was navigating the clutter or simply shoving it aside. Before long, he emerged carrying two swords and respectfully laid them before Calian.
"Here they are."
Calian's eyes sparkled as he looked at the blades.
It was the sword forged from meteoric iron—the very material he had been so eagerly awaiting.
It was also the reason Kyrie had been away for two months. To retrieve the meteorite and return just in time for the end of his suspension, Kyrie had even used the newly completed Teleportation Magic Circle.
"Meteoric iron... I was truly astonished. How did you find such a thing?"
"It just happened that way."
The reason Calian remembered the location and time of the meteorite's fall was simple: in the past, Bern had coveted it deeply.
The Brissen Trading Company had discovered the meteorite and put it up for auction. Bern had participated but was ultimately outbid. Seeing Bern’s deep regret, Chase had asked Devlan to gift him a sword, which became the royal sword of Secritia and remained with Bern until his very end.
Holding the sword that brought back so many memories—yet one he had never owned—Calian's face filled with deep emotion.
"This is meteoric iron of the highest quality, Your Highness. Even with Aura, it will last for generations."
Of course it would.
As long as it didn't cross paths with Arsen.
In any case, Calian began to examine the two swords with a highly satisfied expression. The dark, ash-gray blades, nearly black, exuded a sharp, keen energy.
"Which of the two will Your Highness be using?"
At the question, Calian gave an enigmatic smile.
"Neither of them is mine."
He already had a more efficient sword of his own, so there was no reason to waste this precious meteoric iron. In this life, just as in his last, these swords were not meant for him.
The sleeker of the two was, of course, for Kyrie. The other wasn't for Calian, either.
Watching Calian lift the sword and test it with a light swing, the owner spoke again, a sense of pride in his voice.
"I am so glad, Your Highness. When you came last year, you couldn't even lift a sword..."
...Oops.
The owner's words and Calian's movements froze simultaneously.
‘I spoke out of turn!’ the owner thought, aghast.
Calian felt as though another of his secrets had just been exposed.
‘Ah, right.’
How could someone who couldn't even lift a sword become a Sword Master in less than a year? It made no sense.
Alan's nagging voice, asking if he’d been caught again, rang in his ears.
"Ah, well..."
Calian managed an awkward smile, his expression strained. "Everyone knows, don't they? Back then... yes. I was suffering from a 'cold'."
"Ah... the former Queen's... Ah, yes. I understand."
Was there anyone in Kairisis who didn't know that the 'cold' Calian had suffered from was actually Silike's poison?
The owner's face cleared. Ah, of course. He took Calian's clumsy excuse—from someone who was clearly a terrible liar—not as a deception, but as the prince’s embarrassment over a painful topic, and let the matter drop.
Nostalgia be damned.
Calian couldn't stay a moment longer. He hurried out, feeling that if he lingered, his secret would truly be exposed.
He quickly mounted Raven and headed for the Polun Magic Academy.
* * *
"Was there no new information?"
If the owner of the Rotten Forge had seen him now, he would have tilted his head in confusion. The excitement Calian had shown while looking at the swords had completely vanished.
Euria, having once again put the mages' information network to full use, shook her head.
"No, Your Highness. There is no unusual movement from Tensil's priests yet. Margrave Gray Brissen is also still in his territory."
"Judging by what my brother Franz said, I expected him to march over immediately. He's being quite slow."
At those words, Euria smiled briefly.
"Could it be because of Duke Siegfried?"
"Duke Siegfried..."
"His travel methods have changed, thanks to the Teleportation Magic Circle. Normally, traveling from the Siegfried Territory to Kairisis would require setting out two months in advance. Since the Duke hadn't departed with less than a month to go, the Margrave likely assumed he wouldn't be attending the festival."
"So you're saying he planned to come to Kairisis thinking Duke Siegfried wouldn't be here?"
"Yes, that is my guess, Your Highness. He probably declared boldly that he would come, but upon hearing that Duke Siegfried had already arrived at his mansion in the capital, he must have postponed his schedule."
What Gray didn't know was that the Teleportation Magic Circle now existed.
Suleiman no longer needed to set out two months in advance. He had left his territory just five days ago and was already at the Siegfried Mansion in Kairisis.
Calian nodded. "That's highly likely. I didn't expect the magic circle to have this kind of influence, but it's not bad."
There was only one reason Gray had to avoid Suleiman.
No matter how strong Gray's Aura had become, it couldn't possibly be stronger than Suleiman's. If they met and Suleiman didn't sense his Aura, anyone would find it strange.
"Then Gray will try to postpone his arrival in Kairisis until after the Birthday Festival to avoid crossing paths with Duke Siegfried."
"Yes. If my reasoning is correct, that is likely how he will act, Your Highness."
Confirming Calian's words, Euria looked at the nodding prince and reported on the second matter she had been investigating.
"Also, regarding your request to check if any of Tensil's priests broke away on their way to the capital, I looked into it. Tensil's priests did not scatter. The entire group entered Kairisis yesterday without any deviations."
After a moment of thought, Calian spoke. "I see. In that case, please find out if there is a man named Malcolm Chettish among the priests."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Aside from that, keep a close eye on the priests. The same goes for the Margrave of Brissen's side."
"Yes. Do not worry."
Looking at Euria, who answered without hesitation, Calian added, "I've been ordering you around quite casually. I feel like I'm overworking the Association's mages, especially after they worked so hard to construct the magic circle."
Euria took a sip of the lemon tea before her, set it down, and replied, "Mages can handle hard work, but they will never do something they don't want to do. Everyone helping is doing so by choice, so you needn't worry."
Calian smiled and nodded.
* * *
Euria was right.
Mages could handle hard work, but they would never do something they didn't want to do. And so, the Valkan members at the Wilhelm Pavilion were scheduled for more hard work today.
Of course, this was thanks to Franz.
What Franz was currently teaching them was how to keep mages, who were notoriously slow, from getting killed. His primary goals were to ensure they wouldn't die in the vulnerable gap between chanting a spell and its manifestation, and to train the entire Valkan squad to chant and cast as one.
As a result, physical training was conducted daily to make the mages move quickly and breathe as one.
Around the same time Calian was meeting Euria outside the palace, Franz was heading to the Wilhelm Pavilion as usual. Unlike his normal routine, he was walking instead of taking a carriage, treating it as a stroll.
To reach the Wilhelm Pavilion, he had to pass the Arpia Palace, where Lemain resided. As he neared it, his attendant spoke.
"Your Highness, I hear there will be a guest joining you for luncheon today. Also, Prince Randel has stated that he cannot attend due to another engagement."
With the festival approaching, the princes had become busy again. There were gatherings at nearly every meal, and Franz, who no longer had the freedom he did last year, made sure not to skip them.
"Who is the guest?"
"I was told there are two, including Count Manasil, but I have no information on the other person."
Someone connected to the King, the princes, and Alan. It was a strange combination.
Franz wondered if it might be Suleiman, but he quickly dismissed the thought. If it were him, there would be no reason to hide it.
In any case, he would find out at luncheon. Franz nodded and continued walking, but then stopped short as something caught his eye.
"Who could that be, covering their face in the Royal Palace..." his attendant muttered from behind him, having spotted the same thing.
Franz had stopped for that exact reason.
Someone was walking toward the Arpia Palace with their face concealed by the hood of a white robe—an incredibly eye-catching sight within the Kairis Royal Palace.
Franz remained standing, his gaze fixed on the figure.
Whether they felt his gaze or it was mere coincidence, the robed figure also stopped walking. They turned their head, looking in Franz's direction. Even without the hood, the distance was too great for their eyes to meet, but Franz felt it instinctively. The figure was looking directly at him.
As Franz slowly examined the stranger, his eyes grew sharp.
‘Why is he here?’
The number of attendants, their attire, the aura of the escorting knights. The long, bluish-silver hair visible beneath the robe.
And…
An inexplicable sense of aversion.
Though he had never seen him before, Franz knew.
"...The Crown Prince of Secritia."
As if he had heard those words, the young man in the white robe, Chase Dullahan Secritia, slowly began to walk toward Franz.