The Capybara Princess's Terrifying Tea Time
The human capybara, the First Princess's tea time of terror, only ended after we returned from slaying the snake. The paladins cleared the corpses with practiced efficiency amid the familiar carnage. Once the gruesome decorations were gone, the Blue Tower mages and the envoys let out silent sighs of relief. At least everyone present would flinch at the mere shadow of heresy for a while.
While the paladins swiftly handled the aftermath, we greeted Torso with relieved expressions.
"It's been a while."
"Indeed it has."
Because time had been short, we'd moved separately and only communicated through artifacts, so this was our first direct meeting. Torso smiled warmly and waved us over.
"Have you been well?"
"I've been busy spreading the gods' teachings to those who have strayed."
"You mean busy beating heretics?"
"You may think of it that way."
He really must be busy. If an Inquisitor says that much, there must be quite a lot of heretics around.
After finishing the last of his tea, Torso maintained his smile and looked at Neon.
"How has Brother Neon been faring?"
"Yes! I am contributing to the peace of the North by following the gods' teachings!"
"Excellent."
Torso gave a satisfied smile at Neon's rigidly disciplined reply. As a priest who served the gods before being the Northern Inquisitor, Torso saw Neon the black mage as a truly innovative presence in the North. If it were up to him, he'd implement a black mage quota system in every temple and use them as meat shields. Unfortunately, wicked black mages were unpredictable if left alive, so executing them on the spot was safer.
"I'd love to sit and hear about everything that's happened over tea, but alas, I am a busy man."
"We can meet when you're free."
"I'll come running anytime, anywhere, when you call!"
Torso nodded at the young people's amusing replies and rose from his seat. His work here was done. It was time to leave the rest to the children with shining talents. Unfortunately, there were far too many places that required the gods' judgment.
I watched Torso quietly depart. Once the Inquisitor was gone, I turned to the envoys, whose momentum had returned. The envoys, who would normally have been quite arrogant, now minded the nearby inquisitors and maintained a moderate level of courtesy.
"Ahem, a pleasure to meet you. I am Baron Carlots, serving His Highness the First Prince."
"I am Viscount Corbatten, serving His Highness the Second Prince."
After offering formal words of comfort to Shinshia, they periodically glanced at the inquisitors and the people around them before wearing regretful expressions.
"Given the circumstances, we'll stop here."
"We'll have to discuss the details through the elders."
"If you're looking for an intact elder at the Blue Tower right now, you should seek out Elder Aquia."
At Shinshia's words, the envoys headed toward the Blue Tower where Elder Aquia was. Only we and the First Princess Karen remained in the tower's garden. Karen had maintained silence until the envoys completely disappeared. The moment all external presence was gone, she let out a deep breath and rushed toward the Lucy siblings.
"Kiiiiids! I missed you so much!"
She must have suffered greatly having tea in such an outrageous environment that even a black mage would be horrified. The First Princess's expression softened as she nestled into the siblings' arms.
"Did you see that uncle who just left?! His face looked like the kind neighbor next door, but in reality he slices up black mages and hangs them on spears...!"
She began explaining in detail just how terrifying Torso had been, and I stared blankly. This was a princess? No matter how I looked at her, she seemed like an ordinary girl next door.
Alice, standing beside me, noticed my expression and explained calmly as if reading my thoughts.
"Karen is of illegitimate birth. She's the child born from the current emperor's relationship with a maid. The maid hid the fact and raised her in secret until she was discovered a few years ago."
"So that's why."
That explained the lack of the usual Central nobility pretense. Having lived as a commoner for so long, she maintained a relatively pure and straightforward demeanor. I could somewhat accept that explanation. However, if Alice's words were true, there was one issue that couldn't be overlooked.
"But wasn't the First Princess's faction also included among the largest powers in the Empire?"
"Even if it's only half, she's still someone with imperial blood. She has a special ability."
"A Mystery ability?"
"That's right. The imperial family has always had high Mystery compatibility, so they each possess at least one Mystery ability."
Since Mystery abilities could be inherited through bloodline, it wasn't particularly strange. Anyway, when I showed curiosity about what ability Karen possessed after hearing Alice's words, the girl who had been listening to our conversation naturally joined in.
"It's affinity."
"As Elicia said, to be more precise, most living beings find it difficult to feel hostility toward the Princess."
At Elicia, the second daughter of the Golden Merchant Guild's words, Alice added more explanation. Just from hearing the story, I could tell how overpowered Karen's ability was. An ability that easily earned others' favor, combined with the natural leadership of royalty, was how she'd been able to rapidly build her faction in just a few years. This was the kind of ability a protagonist would have.
As I inwardly marveled, the two women continued their explanation.
"Well, if her personality were only good, that kind of faction wouldn't have gathered. It's because she proved her ability that she could build a force capable of threatening the princes."
"Alice is right. If she only had the Mystery ability, she would've been used as a marriage sacrifice or, at best, remained a figurehead."
Thanks to their kind explanations, I understood without difficulty. I looked at Karen, who was chattering away beside the siblings. That meant she usually showed a capable side, right? Was it okay for her to show this side of herself when we, Neon, and the princesses were outsiders?
"Why is she showing that side of herself when we're here?"
"Because you're Ruin and Runa's friends, of course!"
It wasn't Alice or Elicia who answered, but Karen herself. She must have been listening to our conversation. With a triumphant expression, she looked at me with interest and said,
"If you're friends with Ruin and Runa, you're my friend too!"
"You're close with those two?"
"Of course! We're the ones who saved my life!"
At Karen's confident words, I looked at the Lucy siblings. They sent wordless signals with their eyes. After hearing the story the siblings conveyed, I rubbed my chin.
"So you mean it's true that they saved your life, but you're the one desperately trying to recruit them?"
"What, how did you know?"
"I have my ways."
Karen, who had looked genuinely surprised at my words, soon regained her composure. It seemed it wasn't something she'd been particularly hiding.
"We're friends now, but someday I'll recruit them into my faction!"
"That might be difficult. The Lucy siblings have goals they want to achieve in the North."
"Then how about helping me until I become emperor? That way, I won't have to marry some old king from a neighboring country, and the siblings will receive the Empire's generous support!"
"That's quite an attractive offer, except for the part where becoming emperor is extremely difficult."
"If you want, you can join my faction too! If you join now, you'll get twice the elixir!"
This girl was similar to Neon in personality. Maybe it was because she spoke with an exaggerated, playful expression, but she didn't seem particularly unpleasant. Rather, I should say she was making the best use of her Mystery ability. She instinctively caught what others would like and used it to get close to them. If I let my guard down, I'd fall for her affinity.
Her appearance was also harmless like a squirrel, making her specialized in breaking down psychological barriers. Her affinity was so great it was no exaggeration to call her a human capybara. Since I couldn't feel any falsehood in how she treated people, I couldn't even guess how many people she'd won over until now. Still, it was fortunate that she seemed to have a good heart. If she weren't a good person, she wouldn't have been able to stay by the siblings' side.
While I was dealing with her appropriately, trusting the siblings' judgment, I suddenly realized that Neon and Shinshia were missing from the group and looked around.
"Wait, where did Neon and Shinshia go?"
"Oh. They snuck out together earlier."
"They went that way."
At my words, Adela and Beatrice gave extremely interesting eyewitness accounts. At their words, everyone's expressions in the garden unified into one. Without needing to say it, I spoke as the representative.
"Let's stop the conversation here. Anyone want to go watch those two?"
"Let's split up and search for now."
"The first one to find them, contact us through the artifact."
"Confirmed."
United as one, we scattered in an orderly fashion. Whether at the Academy or the Blue Tower, whenever those two met, a strange atmosphere always flowed. And most of that atmosphere came from Shinshia.
"From what I can tell, it seems Neon hasn't noticed at all."
"That would be strange if it were Neon."
"Right. We've only met for a short time, but with that guy's personality, he'd remain oblivious."
Listening to the women's words in the party, it seemed my feeling had been correct. Then Neon's disappearance meant Shinshia had secretly taken him away? As my doubts grew about why the two had disappeared, Adela, who was following beside me, spoke with a strangely flushed face.
"I heard that in unrequited love, the one who likes loses. And the childhood friend attribute is a symbol of defeat."
"....Where did you hear that?"
"From a romance novel."
"Romance novels are banned for one month starting now."
"Hieeeek!"
I had no intention of changing my mind even if she made strange noises. The kid had been getting into novels lately and only learning weird things. Still, I'd thought she was improving lately thanks to the various things I'd taught her, but if she was going to learn strange things again, I needed to teach her how to distinguish truth from falsehood. After that, I could allow her to read novels freely again.
Grumbling inwardly, I searched for secluded places where the two might be. It didn't take long before I found two people standing in a rarely visited area. Wondering if it might be Neon and Shinshia, I approached. What was there wasn't the fresh-faced Neon and Shinshia, but the gloomy Robert and the First Prince's envoy.
It was an entirely unwelcome combination, but their secret whispering made me uneasy, so I listened in.
"—The Blue Tower belongs to the Duchy of Carno. Moreover, as a magic tower, they publicly declared they wouldn't participate in the Empire's political struggles."
"I know. So what I'm saying is to help indirectly, not directly."
"Oh my, there's no point saying that to someone as upright and incorruptible as me."
"Would I have called you separately for no reason? As fellow Academy alumni, I'm just asking for a little convenience. And this is a token of sincerity, so don't feel bad about it."
"Ahem! I happen to be the type who doesn't refuse such things......"
Robert, who had quickly accepted the pouch the envoy offered while clearing his throat, spotted us. The elder's face had turned deathly pale, the very picture of someone with a guilty conscience. I smiled at that elder and showed him the Edenberg Count family's medallion.
"Blue Tower sponsor."
"......"
"Should I ban it starting today?"
"Ah, no! Please, anything but that!"
Mages' research was a money-eating hippopotamus. Moreover, there was no guarantee that the money poured in would return as results, and sponsors and nobles would pressure them to only do profitable research. Some ill-natured sponsors even used the funding to make threats. I knew what kind of absolute power an angelic sponsor who provided half the tower's budget without interfering as long as results came in could wield. If the Edenberg Count family's sponsorship were cut off because of him, Robert would soon be found as a corpse.
Robert quickly calculated and threw the pouch back at the envoy before fleeing.
"Forget about sponsoring the Prince's faction! I didn't hear anything!"
"W-wait!"
The envoy, who had been staring helplessly at the disappearing Robert, turned his gaze toward us. Looking at the envoy who seemed ready to pick a fight, annoyed that his carefully laid plan had been disrupted, I deliberately showed him the Edenberg Count family's medallion. Recognizing the emblem engraved on the medallion, the envoy's face turned deathly pale like Robert's. He quickly composed his expression and rubbed his hands together obsequiously. I released a bit of my presence toward him and threatened.
"Want to end up like the black mage you saw at the Blue Tower?"
"N-no, sir."
"If you mess with the Blue Tower from now on, the First Prince's faction becomes an enemy of the Edenberg Count family."
"I'll keep that in mind! I won't touch them, so please forgive my rudeness today!"
"Let's do well from now on."
"Yes!"
At my hand gesture telling him to leave, the envoy, who had answered in a rigid posture, fled as if he'd been waiting for it. In truth, I only had the authority to adjust the magic tower's sponsorship funds. It was fortunate that it worked well since he didn't know that. I resolved to do another round of discipline at the Blue Tower before returning and wondered how much searching I'd done when—
The moment the Lucy siblings briefed the location through the communication artifact, I ran immediately. It was probably the fastest speed I'd run recently.