Chapter 35
Chapter 35
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Side Story - A Certain Princess's Memories (4)
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# 35
Side Story - A Certain Princess's Memories (4)
#8 Their Circumstances: The Sword Princess's Circumstances
"Come on, you all will split up into my side and Ast's army here and hold a mock battle!"
The petite Imperial Princess shouted confidently, in a voice that didn't match her small frame at all.
The Imperial Princess's direct magic engineer unit.
She was the only one among the imperial family with such an escort force.
That was how important the princess's position was in the imperial household.
But His Imperial Majesty hadn't given her the magic engineers for this!
To be precise, it was because of what I said!
I'm sorry, magic engineers!
"Come on, then, Lea. You lead my army."
"...Pardon?"
"I can't do it myself."
"B-But even so..."
"It's fine. I can trust you with it, Lea."
"Your Highness..."
As expected, she trusts me. Yes, she trusts me so much that I could lead the army in her stead...
"If what Ast says is true, it's a technique that razes the enemy main base to the ground. You can survive that, right, Lea?"
"...Yes."
Ah, that's the trust.
I barely held back the tears welling up.
Yes, she trusts me. As a reliable shield.
But after five years together! And that's the extent of her trust!
"Very well. If Lady Lea is the target, then it won't matter if we blast her without holding back."
"Wait a moment, Your Highness? Ast said target just now? Does that mean I'm the target right now?!"
"Yeah? Of course. We talked earlier about how Ast secretly hid his forces and assassinated the enemy command with magic bombardment, crippling their leadership. So the commander, Lea, is naturally the target."
"Understood, Your Highness. Then, Ast? What do you mean by blasting without holding back?"
"Exactly what I said. I have to adjust so Your Highness doesn't get hurt, but Lady Lea can block even the strongest attacks, can't she? She's the famous 'Sword Princess,' after all."
"Uwaaaah!"
How embarrassing. Sword Princess? Who came up with that nickname anyway!
Ast teased me for a whole week after hearing it, and he's still teasing me a year later!
"Sword Princess in front of the Imperial Princess? Sounds cool, Lea."
"Y-Your Highness..."
"It's a great nickname I came up with. Doesn't it suit her, Ast?"
"Indeed. I'm impressed by Your Highness's sense!"
"She betrayed me!"
Boom! My body trembled with the shock of betrayal from the princess I trusted.
She spilled the beans!
Of course, thanks to that, I'm becoming the object of envy among all the lady knights!
Aside from the scary older sister knights asking with burdensome gazes, "Can I call you big sis?"—I'm getting recognition at home too! But it's still embarrassing! She spilled the beans!
"What am I to Your Highness, exactly?!"
"My life's joy?"
"T-That much for me..."
"She sees you as a toy."
"Ast! Don't ruin the moment! The bond between Her Highness and me is something you couldn't understand..."
"Yeah, a toy that's the joy of her life."
"Your Highness, how low do you plan to drag my loyalty?!"
Ugh, Her Highness has been too much lately.
She used to tease me with sly pranks before, but now she's direct about it.
This is too far.
Is it all because of Ast? Or was she always like this?
"Why am I the target..."
"Because the princess can't do it herself..."
I grumbled while holding back tears and walking along, and a nearby soldier answered.
Ah, I know that.
I just feel a bit wronged, that's all.
"Still, there's no chance it'll succeed anyway. It's absurd. And knowing it's a bombardment makes magic artillery impossible."
The confident speaker was a squad leader in this magic engineer unit, a veteran who'd fought in the old war against the Harken Kingdom. I could trust him.
"Look. No matter how stealthily you hide your mana, magic activates through mana, so when it's fired, the mana reaction is inevitably detected."
"I see."
I nodded at the glowing red mana reaction device.
Wow, it's kind of amazing. Nothing's visible to the naked eye, but red lights are blinking.
Her Highness was right after all!
She said she'd chew Ast out big time this time, so I'll watch with bated breath!
I should secretly tell her to give him a huge punishment as revenge for everything!
"Look. They might be hiding in the clouds to launch magic, but we can easily block it with a slow mana barrier."
The magic engineers raised a magic barrier to block the now-visible, rapidly falling ice magic.
That ice made of mana could never pierce that barrier...
Crash!
"Huh?"
It shattered the first barrier easily, and dozens more tore like paper after it. Hmm. What was that?
"Um, Mr. Magic Engineer? It's falling—what do we do?"
"...Emergency! Scatter!"
"Ehh?!"
The pale-faced magic engineer yelled to the others, and as expected of veterans, they cast teleportation magic and fled the area in an instant...
Wait a second!
"W-What about me?"
I was clearly the target.
That means all those are falling on me, so then...
"Eek?!"
Hey, Ast?
I'm the target, so you're attacking weakly out of conscience, right? It won't hurt even if it hits, right? Right?
As I thought that, the Ast in my imagination smiled and said,
'If Lady Lea is the target, then it won't matter if we blast her without holding back.'
"Ah, this is dangerous..."
Faced with life-threatening danger closing in by the second, I had no choice but to draw my sword.
***
"...Emergency! Scatter!"
The magic engineer in charge of my army deftly teleported away to safety.
And the falling silver rain.
And the red sword light slicing through it.
What was that?
The Karan Empire's history spanned a thousand years. Thousands of battles big and small had occurred, producing countless heroes who rose and fell.
And more numerous still were the nameless soldiers unrecorded in history.
Countless deaths.
From them emerged the fundamentals of military strategy. But those fundamentals always changed.
Some invented unstoppable attacks that rewrote war's history; others devised counters that did the same.
And the current defense against magic bombardment had been perfected.
Or so it had been. Until this very moment.
"It really broke through?"
"I told you it would."
Ast flashed a victor's smile as he watched the falling silver rain.
Yes, my defeat.
I couldn't even remember the last time I'd bet with someone, but this might be my first loss in life.
Still, with a technique like this, losing feels worthwhile.
"Lady Lea really seems strong."
Ast muttered absentmindedly while watching Lea the whole time.
"Hah, of course. She's my one and only exclusive guard."
I'd known Lea since she was very young, but when she drew her sword, even I struggled to adapt to how she changed.
That's why I gave her the nickname Sword Princess—not without reason—and why no one in the imperial household objected to such a grandiose title.
"Lea's the youngest swordmaster in imperial history."
Officially, the empire's youngest swordmaster. She shaved two years off the current sword saint's record—a genius who could be called sword saint herself someday.
After I die, she'll join the imperial knights and eventually inherit the captain's position.
As Lea sliced the final bombardment and glared at Ast with eyes full of fury, a fun idea suddenly struck me.
"Oh, and I lost this time. Sorry for not believing you. So, I'll give you a fitting reward."
Since I lost, I owed him a proper reward as promised.
Plus, this tactic he'd shown could revolutionize warfare itself.
If I tell His Majesty, who loves battle, he'll be thrilled—maybe thrilled enough to attack a neighbor.
That means I could get an even bigger reward than a personal one.
Ast leading an army with Lea at the vanguard. Quite an amusing combo.
Though it seems tough to me.
#9 Their Circumstances: A Certain Villain's Circumstances
"It really broke through?"
"I told you it would."
I grinned triumphantly as I watched the mana barriers shatter like cookies.
In modern warfare terms, these magics ranged from grenades to nukes in power.
So for people in this world who always had to prep defenses before magic flew, it must've been a huge research topic.
That's why magic bombardment defenses were nearly perfected, making it obsolete.
But why is it magic!
Because it uses mana.
Everything about the magic is made of mana, so deploying a mana barrier greater than the total mana dissipates it naturally.
In short, magic bombardment wins through sheer volume.
Unless an individual has dragon-level mana.
But the ice falling now was pure frozen water gathered from clouds—not mana clumps.
Of course, I added acceleration magic. Faster speed means more destructive power.
Even if the acceleration magic on the ice is dispelled by barriers, it keeps gaining speed on the way down. Blocking it requires magic interception or pure physical force.
But at that speed, it'd need thick steel plates; war tents or wooden outposts would shatter easily.
And yet...
"Lady Lea really seems strong."
"Hah, of course. She's my one and only exclusive guard."
One person was blocking it all.
No, the magic engineers ditched her—shouldn't she have run too? I didn't get why she stayed to swing her sword, but at this point, swordplay might work.
"Lea's the youngest swordmaster in imperial history."
"So the Sword Princess nickname is real."
Honestly, when I called her Sword Princess (lol), it felt like a joke nickname. Even more so once I learned the princess coined it.
But her now? She truly deserved it.
How many swordsmen could intercept dozens of ice chunks—4-5 meters at minimum, over 10 at max—falling in the blink of an eye, using only a sword?
And how many could sustain that brilliant red sword aura, with that mana output?
Slicing ice masses several times her size with elegant, rippling red sword aura—it was beautiful, befitting the Sword Princess.
"Lea's already Arais's strongest swordswoman."
A chill ran down my spine as Lea sliced the last ice and charged at me with resentful eyes.
Yup. Scary. Even that airhead's a monster—imperial family indeed!
I need to bolt even one day sooner! My life's in danger!
"Oh, and I lost this time. Sorry for not believing you. So, I'll give you a fitting reward."
But the smiling princess made it so that three days later, a letter from the knights arrived.
-To commend your outstanding strategy and tactics, which greatly impressed His Imperial Majesty, Honorary Knight title and Lilac Castle are bestowed upon Ast, the exclusive butler to First Imperial Princess Atia Nel Caruan.
Heh heh, deceased parents.
I've finally become a noble! Hooray! I'm a noble! Noble!
Woo, exciting! Even great His Imperial Majesty was impressed! Damn! This makes it even harder to get fired!
-Your current mission performance is highly praised by the organization as well.
Heh heh, even the organization's thrilled? When can I return to the organization? I can return, right?!