Chapter 173
Chapter 173
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Crown Prince (1)
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After mounting my horse once more.
I started walking it side by side with Tina's.
"Veil, how is the princess faring?"
"She's fine, doing stretches inside."
"I see. As expected from someone from the East—she's full of energy."
The princess of the North nodded with a light chuckle.
In the meantime, I closely observed Bakal's soldiers.
The troops accompanying her as guards numbered around twenty.
However, none of them wore equipment utilizing mithril.
They were all clad in heavy steel armor, trudging along with ponderous steps.
Feeling something off about this, I asked the white-haired princess riding with us.
"By the way, what is the reason for so generously providing us with mithril?"
"Our army doesn't use mithril."
Was Bakal still lacking in mithril refining techniques?
Even if that were the case, they surely knew mithril's reputation well enough—why export it to bolster another nation's military might...?
"May I ask the reason?"
At my question, Tina elegantly swept her hair behind her ear.
She glanced at me sidelong, sending a sensuous look from her eyes.
"Well, want to take a guess?"
A quiz out of nowhere.
Tina was definitely no ordinary character.
"If you get close, I'll tell you the right answer."
"Very well."
I pondered her words for a moment.
Mithril's greatest feature was its lightness, and while not as tough as steel, it was sturdy enough.
In a way, the most perfect superior metal.
Yet why didn't Bakal's burly soldiers use it?
'Body size, body size...'
The words connected like links in a chain, and I soon organized my thoughts.
Then, I answered the princess with her intelligent gaze.
"Could it be because it doesn't suit Bakal's fighting style?"
At my question, Tina narrowed her eyes.
Her icy blue eyes sparkled coldly.
"Care to elaborate?"
"Bakal's soldiers are mostly heavy infantry, wielding thick, massive weapons like axes or spears."
In other words, they favored brute-force pushes or savage tactics of slashing foes with weapons over striking battles.
"No matter how light mithril is, unlike steel, it tends to dent under impact. And being lightweight makes it easier to get pushed back on collision."
I narrowed my eyes at Tina in retort.
Then, I told the princess.
"In other words, if every nation armed fully with mithril, it would actually weaken Bakal, where most troops are heavy infantry."
The more I spoke, the more mischief filled Tina's eyes.
Pleased with my answer, she lifted the corner of her mouth.
"Exactly. Mithril would be overwhelmingly advantageous against other nations, but it would weaken us."
I stared blankly at Bakal's princess.
I'd thought they'd simply agreed to export trade due to our alliance.
My lips parted in surprise at the revelation of another motive.
"Hey, why the long face, Veil."
Tina gently stroked my shoulder.
Then, she whispered softly into my ear.
"As long as you don't make us your enemy, right?"
The princess said that, then took up the reins again.
She deeply inhaled, savoring Leon's air.
"Anyway, don't worry too much even if conflict arises."
The princess pointed at my heart with her finger.
As if she knew the grand aura slumbering within.
"I'll save you, at least."
She was no mere immature youngest princess.
She was closer to a thorough sovereign, imbuing meaning into every action.
"Why reveal this to me? What if I tell the other princesses?"
Bakal's princess, Christina.
The frail royal daughter who survived in a nation filled only with hulking, barbaric men.
"The top candidate for Leon's next emperor is the crown prince anyway. And the princesses don't get along with him."
Such a woman gazed steadily at me.
"So, when the mithril-armed crown prince clashes with the others in the imperial succession struggle—who do you think the princesses will seek as an ally first?"
"Bakal, strong against mithril troops. Surely Your Highness doesn't intend to intervene in our civil war...?"
Tina placed a finger on my lips.
Then, pressing her face to my neck, she whispered.
As if inhaling a comrade's scent.
"On the diplomatic journey home, my brother Urus tried to kill me and the elders."
The attempt to kill the elders at the hot springs, and exposing us to werewolves on the return—Urus's schemes, having deliberately returned to Bakal first.
With the elders and Tina eliminated, no one left to oppose him as he ascended to emperor.
"And the one who tacitly aided that was the empire's crown prince. The two were allied from the start."
Tina slipped a note gently into the pocket of my dress shirt.
"When Leon's emperor takes the throne, he'll surely help Urus eliminate Bakal's elders and me. Conversely, if Urus becomes king, he'll aid in purging your princesses."
Afterward, the princess returned to her horse as if nothing had happened.
With the cold, sovereign gaze of a ruler, she said.
"So, we daughters have to help each other."
Provide mithril to the enemy nation's powerhouses.
And the counter to mithril to the weak.
With Urus allied to the crown prince, only the princess could aid the imperial princesses.
She was the sole heavy infantry wielder besides Urus.
"Does that mean I can relay all this intent to the princess as is?"
"Yes, the note has everything written down."
Tina drew a small missive from her bosom.
Handing it to me, she said.
"From the princesses' perspective, they'll have no choice but to ally with me anyway. This is just a heads-up."
The princess showed no intimidation despite knowing the imperial princesses' fame.
Instead, she responded with the pride of a fellow beast.
"Understood. I'll relay it exactly."
I spurred my horse toward the carriage carrying Lydia.
Inside, Lydia still wore a dazed expression, the shock not yet faded.
"Your Highness."
When I called at the window, Lydia reacted.
"Yes...."
Lydia's face flushed, still immersed in shame.
"Are you feeling alright?"
"Y-Yeah... completely...."
The empire's Third Imperial Princess glanced up briefly.
Her face remained hotly flushed.
"We'll enter the capital soon. If you wish, you can go rest first...."
I spoke calmly, slipping the missive into her window.
She took the paper, read it, and her expression shifted accordingly.
"No, it's a business I'm involved in—I need to check everything myself."
However, she soon read the note and tore it neatly.
Returning to her wise sovereign's gaze, she said.
"From the capital onward, it's the crown prince's territory. Better to destroy it now that I've memorized the contents."
'She memorized that long text at a glance...?'
As I widened my eyes, Lydia smirked.
"The princess has cooked up something amusing. I like her cheekiness."
Lydia neither panicked nor took offense at Tina's scheme.
She only bristled at the princess when we chatted amicably.
―――.
Even a bear comes if called, they say.
Tina spurred her horse to Lydia's carriage.
Seeing the princess's flushed face, she chuckled.
"Your Highness, your cheeks are red—caught a cold, perhaps?"
"No.... The carriage is just hot, that's all."
Lydia immediately countered the princess's words.
Tina smiled brightly and offered her coat from Bakal.
"Take care—dressed like that, you're prone to catching one."
"...."
Lydia accepted the coat and covered her bare thighs.
Crossing her arms alone, she half-closed her eyes.
"Well, thanks for looking out."
"Hee hee.... How much do you think I like Your Highness."
Perhaps because I'd learned Tina's true intentions from our talk.
Her words carried profound meaning.
'Does Lydia know the princess's aims too...?'
――――――.
Soon, the grand capital gates of the Leon Empire came into view.
I spurred my horse to the front of the caravan.
"Finally here."
Burke, leading ahead, spoke with eyes full of emotion.
For a man who'd dreamed his whole life of entering the capital, this was a new market opening.
"Look forward to it—plenty desperate for first dibs on mithril."
I smirked and told the caravan master.
He nodded confidently in response.
"No worries—the more customers, the better!"
The massive gates began to open.
The great door beneath descended into the river below, forming a bridge.
Then, the main gates slowly creaked open.
「―――――――」
I rode briskly alone to handle the entry procedures.
The moment I reached the gates.
"...!"
I locked eyes with someone waiting inside.
Radiant golden hair.
A splendid white uniform.
And a man resembling the emperor, wielding powerful mana and cold blue eyes.
'Crown Prince of Leon...!'
Someone I'd only watched from afar until now.
The empire's enemy I'd never met even in my past life.
He awaited our mithril caravan at the capital gates.
"You've arrived."
The young man spoke in a voice as solemn as the emperor's.
Nearly thirty now, he was surrounded by countless imperial knights and elite soldiers.
Arrayed like an entire legion.
"Are you the one in overall charge of this mithril distribution deal?"
I made no reply to his question for a moment.
I simply stared at the crown prince with cold eyes.
"...."
"Insolent! His Highness the crown prince is addressing you...!!"
The imperial guard captain bellowed at me.
The crown prince silenced him with a wave, annoyed.
"It's fine. Some freeze up like that upon seeing me at times."
The countless knights slain by him in my past life.
Thinking of them made my teeth grind uncontrollably.
Still, I dismounted and knelt before him.
"Veil Mikhail, at your service, Your Highness the Crown Prince."
The crown prince gazed down at me silently for a time.
Then, he looked up, taking in the long line of the mithril caravan stretching behind.
"You led this massive caravan alone?"
"No, Your Highness. I merely guaranteed the contract between Bakal and Cornell."
Guarantor.
At the word, the crown prince smirked.
"You're no mere guarantor. You must have proposed the conditions yourself to facilitate the deal between Bakal and Burke's caravan."
The crown prince's eyes differed from Hakim's.
If the third prince's gaze was utterly dull...
"Just who are you? How do you connect Bakal and Cornell?"
He knew most noble houses.
Yet my name appeared in none, putting the crown prince deeply on guard.
"I was a defense knight who joined the recent diplomatic escort."
I revealed just enough to satisfy him.
Only to the extent of being the link between Bakal and Cornell.
"I barely survived the werewolf battle and luckily gained ties to Bakal's elders."
I called over Burke, bowing from afar.
"They wished to export mithril, so I introduced my senior from home, Caravan Master Burke."
"An honor to meet you, Your Highness."
Burke bowed in sync with me.
"So that means you're from Cornell too?"
The crown prince spoke with cold eyes.
His gaze made my grand aura twitch.
"Yes, born in an orphanage there."
The empire's second-in-command nodded at my orphan admission.
No particular look of disdain.
Rather, suspicion that an orphan had risen to such a position.
"Fine. Where did you plan to sell this imported mithril?"
The crown prince's real interrogation began.
He questioned me suspiciously for importing a vital foreign metal directly through the emperor, bypassing him.
"You must have customers in mind if you're importing."
From orphan to baron—who did I side with?
"...."
Tina and Lydia watched silently from afar.
They quietly observed the crown prince and my bold stance.
In response, I bowed my head.
Smirking faintly, I answered in a flat tone.
"Why, to Your Highness the Crown Prince, naturally."
A shining golden peach boy, a fatal weakness—this metal delivered to the empire's worst enemy.