A Rather Unique Guest
The round and adorable… wait, was it even adorable? A cute red shark floated gently in the air, hovering protectively beside Princess Amelia. Person… what exactly was a person, anyway? Suddenly, the very definition of the words “person” or “human” in this world felt confusing. To think I’d end up having such a philosophical crisis.
“Quite… a unique appearance, I must say.”
Compared to modern times, the total number of books here was significantly lower. That was unavoidable. Still, from this world’s perspective, the library owned and created by the Franz family was enormous. And I, too, had read quite a few books to kill time. The usual fantasy races—dragons, elves, dwarves, and so on. Had I looked for information on them? Of course I had. I’d even considered whether I could obtain one as a slave using my noble status. Naturally, that thought had crossed my mind.
But a young child suddenly asking, “Do elves exist?” would have been far too awkward. Most of the books in the Franz family library dealt with philosophy, military strategy, politics, or internal affairs. And in nearly all of them, people were simply referred to as “people.” There were no words distinguishing humans from other races. If there was one exception, it was the terms for those who possessed magic power—Blue Blood and Red Blood.
Because of that, by the time I grew older, I’d forgotten quite a bit. And while fantasy novels without other races were rare, they did exist. So I’d vaguely assumed this world might be one of those. However… the creature before my eyes was…
Was that seriously a shark?
Judging by everyone else’s reactions, Irina simply found it cute. But Irina had always been a bit eccentric, so her standards were hard to use as a reference for this world. Neria looked genuinely startled, though commoners rarely left the city, so it was entirely possible she simply hadn’t known. As for me…
“Ahem. I shall guide you.”
I pretended to be unfazed and led… him along. I could faintly sense magic power, suggesting he was flying through the sky, but it felt completely different from the way Boreng or I flew. It was closer to swimming than flying. As if the sky itself were an ocean.
Flying within the city was generally prohibited unless there was a very good reason. What had happened earlier was obviously an exception, but now that we’d met, unless it was urgent, it was only proper to travel on the ground.
-Tap!
Four people… four? Three people and one… creature? Did fish even count as “one creature”? We slowly descended to the ground. Irina and Princess Amelia glided down gently atop clouds, riding what looked like geundoon. I came down straight like I was riding an elevator. And Duke Han Chalineer…
The city is truly massive. As expected of one of the representative cities of the southern region.
The friendly image he’d shown earlier was gone. Now he descended while observing the city with the dignity of a duke from another nation. The only problem was that he still looked like a baby shark, which made the whole thing… incredibly awkward.
“I’m flattered.”
No, no. I speak sincerely. Both Chalineer City and the capital of Bachn boast great beauty, but this is the first time I’ve seen a city of such grandeur.
“Thank you.”
My father and the previous heads of the family had never been particularly obsessed with beauty. Of course, some preferred classical elegance, but many—like my father—favored practicality. As a result, the city’s overall layout was neatly organized around wide main roads.
It was nice to receive such praise, but watching a baby shark dart around excitedly really killed any sense of dignity.
Oh, that appears to be a mid-sized monster. It looks rather delicious.
“As expected of Your Grace! You have excellent taste! That one is truly delicious when prepared as steak! It’s rarely caught even in the Great Mountain Range, so it’s quite difficult to obtain! That specimen looks particularly fine!”
Is that so? Then it wouldn’t be bad to buy one later. I’d love to eat it rare, with the blood still dripping!
“Grandpa. You’re being loud.”
……
After showing my face appropriately to the nobles still remaining in the city, the family carriage that Chloe had prepared in advance for my departure from the castle arrived at just the right moment. We climbed aboard and returned straight to the castle.
Duke Han Chalineer seemed interested in the city’s scenery, but that was something he could explore later when he had time. We returned immediately.
“Excuse me.”
Neria had been a little worried about what to prepare, but Lena, who had been assigned to handle it, soon arrived at the reception room to greet our guests. Her expression remained blank as always, but right now that familiar poker face felt incredibly reliable.
The tea she had prepared carried a scent I had never smelled before. It had a slightly bitter, astringent aroma. I’d heard she obtained it using information gathered while attending to Princess Amelia. Preparing something like this in advance was exactly like Lena.
Oh, to think I would see this tea here.
It was said to be made from leaves that grew while bathed in the sea breeze of Bachn. I wasn’t sure, but I’d heard it had a very polarizing taste. Apparently it was excellent for curing hangovers.
…How exactly was I supposed to drink this?
-Slurp!
Hmm, excellent skill!
“Thank you.”
…Ah. So he was drinking it with magic power. Well, he was from Bachn, after all. Controlling liquid must be easy for him. The liquid in the teacup rose up in a stream and flowed straight into Duke Han Chalineer’s mouth. Apparently satisfied, he offered praise, and Lena gave a short bow in thanks.
For now, the atmosphere seemed to have calmed down.
“You must be tired after such a long journey.”
Not at all! It wasn’t such a long trip. Though I did have to take a few detours, which was inconvenient, but it couldn’t be helped. Flying freely over another person’s house would be quite rude, wouldn’t it?
We received Duke Han Chalineer in the grand, ornately decorated reception room. The scene of a single baby shark floating in the air across from us was rather surreal. Princess Amelia and Irina were sitting beside me, of course.
…Wait, why are you here?
First, allow me to offer my apologies. You are Leoric Franz, the acting head of the family, correct? Then I shall apologize formally.
With a serious expression—if a shark could even have one—his head bowed downward.
As a representative of the Bachn Kingdom, I thank you, Acting Head Leoric Franz, for rescuing Amelia Bachnia. The Bachnia clan will never forget this kindness.
“As the acting head of the Franz family, I accept your gratitude.”
I did not bow my head. As the acting head, I received Duke Han Chalineer’s greeting as an equal. Though we were in a small room within the reception hall, the conversation between us was now officially underway.
I would also like to express my personal gratitude. Both the prince and Princess Amelia have been like grandchildren to me since they were young. When I learned what those filthy Red Blood vermin had done, I was truly shocked.
“I was equally surprised to learn that those bastards still exist.”
The shark let out a sigh.
Even in my youth, they had been nearly eradicated. They really are tenacious creatures.
The Red Blood existed across nearly the entire continent. Whether they communicated with one another or not, there were likely many small organizations that simply called themselves Red Blood in their shared rebellion against Blue Blood.
Duke Han Chalineer shook his shark head.
Princess Amelia is greatly indebted to you. From the general summary in the letter, I have grasped the situation. I heard she had to rush through her coming-of-age ceremony. We have truly imposed on you.
“It was a coming-of-age ceremony I wasn’t planning to hold anyway. It’s fine.”
“……Hmm.”
While Duke Han Chalineer and I conversed, Princess Amelia kept her head lowered with an expression of deep embarrassment. I gave a wry smile and accepted the apology.
Further discussion will come from the kingdom later, but this is a personal gift.
“There’s really no need…”
Despite my words, Duke Han Chalineer’s body floated up slightly and his small mouth opened. Immediately afterward, the illusion of an enormous shark’s maw appeared behind him. I see. I didn’t know the exact principle, but I understood the method.
Sharks were often depicted with only their dorsal fin breaking the surface. It was a common scene in famous horror movies from my previous world and appeared frequently in all kinds of media. In reality it was rare, but the phenomenon of hiding the body beneath the water was so iconic that even people in this world seemed familiar with it.
The duke’s technique used magic to replicate that phenomenon. Treating the world as the sea, the tiny baby shark acted as the dorsal fin barely visible above the surface, while the true body remained submerged. It was a unique magic art of the Chalineer ducal family. It seemed they could hide even their massive main body and store objects this way.
Like an inventory. Come to think of it, I hadn’t really researched anything like that. I’d have to think about it when I had time, but I probably couldn’t copy this method. It relied on the Chalineer family’s unique magic power. Even if I tried to imitate it, I wouldn’t be able to use the same technique.
-Fwaaaaah!
Something slowly fell from the giant maw. At first I thought the softly glowing object was a shield. But upon closer inspection, I realized it was an enormous—truly enormous—scale. If a single scale was as large as my upper body, I could imagine how big the creature it came from must have been. And the magic power radiating from that scale was…
“What exactly is this?”
“My god. Such incredible magic power…”
“Hmm.”
While Irina and I marveled at the object, Princess Amelia’s expression trembled and a small voice escaped her lips.
“A dragon’s scale…”
A dragon?!