Wait, Why Is an Artifact Coming Out of There...? (1)
Wait, Why Is an Artifact Coming Out of There...? (1)
The Grand Archduchess, the Princess, Balea, and I left the castle accompanied by several maids and escorts.
The Duchy was certainly much freer than the Carlos Kingdom.
Aside from the two knights standing guard right beside the Grand Archduchess, the other knights wore disguises and escorted us from a discreet distance.
You could call them undercover bodyguards, like the ones I used to see on TV in my past life.
If this had been the Kingdom, knights and soldiers would have surrounded the Princess tightly, but the Duchy was surprisingly flexible.
Whether they trusted the Duchy's knights or me to escort her, the Royal Knights who had accompanied us to the Duchy didn't join us on this outing.
I had heard that the Royal Knights were busy running Havier senior ragged at the forward outpost, but whether that was true or not, I had no way of knowing.
In any case, since Princess Aisha was also a capable inherited ability User, I wasn't particularly worried.
To outside observers, then, the Princess and the Grand Archduchess seemed to be enjoying a pleasant stroll, like young ladies from a high-ranking noble family.
Thanks to that, I was able to get a proper tour of the Duchy's capital.
No one dared treat a noble family's procession carelessly, yet people didn't prostrate themselves on the ground as they would if grand high nobles or royalty appeared.
People showed them a modest degree of courtesy but otherwise carried on as usual, and Princess Aisha thoroughly enjoyed taking in the sights of the streets.
As I'd noticed when we first arrived, the Duchy's capital was immensely vibrant.
The residential districts, administrative quarters, and commercial avenues were all bustling with people, and street stalls were pitched everywhere the eye could see.
"It's a bit chaotic, but everyone is just trying to make a living. We can't just shove people who pay their taxes faithfully into a single corner."
At the Grand Archduchess's words, I took another look at the stalls. A permit issued by the magistrate's office hung on one side of a stall.
So as long as they paid taxes, they could do business anywhere?
The government might have no issue as long as it collected taxes, but could street stalls really be managed that way?
Just as the question crossed my mind, the Grand Archduchess spoke up.
"That doesn't mean they set up stalls just anywhere, though. Everyone naturally avoids setting up in front of important buildings or the residences of officials doing critical work."
Were they really avoiding those places of their own accord?
I'd wondered how they managed the street stalls, and the Grand Archduchess's explanation gave me the answer.
Free on the surface, but beneath it, class and power kept the stalls in check.
It had seemed somewhat different, but the Duchy wasn't all that different from the Kingdom after all.
The street stalls multiplied exponentially as we entered the shopping district.
They lined the streets like the traditional markets I used to see in my past life.
Countless people stood in front of the stalls, haggling over prices.
There were locals from the Duchy, people from the Kingdom, people from the Empire, and even folks in peculiar attire who seemed to have come from distant lands.
Captivated by the unfamiliar sight, Princess Aisha and Balea grabbed the Grand Archduchess's arms and began browsing the stalls.
It was a sight I was seeing for the first time in this world, too.
Thinking about it, the scene highlighted just how commercially stifling the Carlos Kingdom was, while also making me appreciate the Grand Prince of the Duchy's considerable abilities.
The people's expressions were bright. Buyers and stallholders alike conducted their transactions with upbeat energy.
Whether violence and class hierarchies flowed beneath the surface or not, in this world, if a ruler kept the people from starving and put bright smiles on their faces, that monarch was recognized as a wise and benevolent ruler.
In that sense, the Grand Prince of the Duchy truly deserved to be called a wise ruler.
The noble ladies wandered from stall to stall, eagerly inspecting the goods.
At first, the Grand Archduchess had intended to guide them around and introduce them to various places, but before long, she, too, was so absorbed in looking at the merchandise that she showed no intention of moving on.
She showed particular interest in relics.
"This item is a relic excavated from an ancient ruin in the south. We haven't figured out how to use it yet, but whoever unlocks its secrets stands to make a massive fortune!"
As a stallholder held up a tarnished silver candlestick and blustered, the Grand Archduchess shook her head.
"That is no relic. It's merely a southern candlestick crafted after the Great War."
"What nonsense! Trying to ruin my business with nonsensical talk...!"
The vendor began to fly into a rage at her words, but quickly shut his mouth when he noticed the knights standing right beside her.
"This piece of jewelry is quite ordinary, too, isn't it? Even if you reset the gemstone, nothing about it will change."
"..."
The neighboring vendor and the other merchants nearby firmly clamped their mouths shut at her commentary.
Princess Aisha and Balea gasped in continuous admiration at the Grand Archduchess's expertise, but I couldn't help letting out a bitter smile.
Customers who came here wouldn't genuinely believe these items were real relics anyway.
These were goods bought and sold with both sides fully aware of the deception.
Glancing over discreetly, I noticed that Balea was already aware of that, too. Though she chimed in with exclamations alongside the Princess, there was no actual trace of awe on her face.
'She's really sharper than me.'
Admiration for Balea aside, the Grand Archduchess seemed to possess a surprisingly detailed knowledge of relics.
She didn't identify relics through a special ability like the Auction House Owner, but her ability to evaluate and correctly identify them one by one purely by eye showed that her skill was far from ordinary.
'Maybe I should just ask the Grand Archduchess?'
It seemed like a good idea to casually ask her later, when time permitted.
As we continued browsing the items, the Grand Archduchess suddenly came to a halt in front of one particular stall.
An item far more worn and broken than any of the other goods was displayed before her.
Everyone else was distracted by other things and failed to notice, but I knew immediately why the Grand Archduchess had stopped.
Because I, too, was looking at the exact same item.
Examining it, the Grand Archduchess opened her mouth to speak.
"Oh, though this is broken..."
Ah, crap.
"This looks completely broken, doesn't it?"
I stepped forward before she could reveal the whole truth.
The Grand Archduchess looked at me in surprise.
Having seen me maintain the utmost polite decorum up until now, she had every right to be taken aback by my sudden intervention.
But I pressed on, facing the street vendor.
"Still, since the young lady here seems interested, I shall purchase this i-tem. How much is it?"
"Uh, well, this relic is..."
"Are you certain it is a relic?"
It was a genuine relic. Even to my eyes, it was clearly broken, but it was undoubtedly a relic.
But the vendor didn't know that.
At my words, the vendor stole a quick glance at the accompanying knights.
"Anyway, I brought it from afar. I can't give it to you cheap."
The vendor named a price for the item.
It was by no means cheap. It didn't match the price of a proper relic, or even a broken one, but it was quite steep for an ordinary antique.
But I didn't haggle over the price.
"You accept Kingdom gold coins, right?"
"Of course!"
The vendor's face lit up when he sold it at the full asking price. Taking me for a magnificent sucker, he wrapped the item up nicely and handed it to me.
"I hope this gift serves as a stepping stone between the two of you!"
On top of that, he'd gone way over the line with his banter.
It was an embarrassing situation, but I took the opportunity to hand over the gift anyway.
"Please accept this as a gift commemorating our visit to the Duchy."
Though it was a broken relic rather than a fully functioning one, if I could leave a lasting impression at such a low cost, I had no reason to envy a proper relic.
Holding the gift I had handed her, the Grand Archduchess looked up at me.
But her expression didn't seem particularly pleased.
Both the Princess and Balea stared at us, and the Grand Archduchess let out a soft sigh before leading us toward a less crowded area.
Then she spoke to me in a demanding tone.
"This item is a relic. Even if it is broken."
"I am aware."
"What? You were aware? Then why did you stop me?"
The Grand Archduchess's eyes widened. She seemed even more annoyed now.
But I spoke to her calmly.
"What would have happened if you blurted out that it was a relic?"
At my question, the Grand Archduchess blinked. It seemed she hadn't considered that aspect.
"That is..."
Broken or not, the moment the word 'relic' was uttered, the price would shoot through the roof, and everyone's eyes would lock onto us.
If a crowd gathered, the knights would step in, and naturally, our outing today would come to a screeching halt right then and there.
Fortunately, I didn't need to explain any further.
The Grand Archduchess realized it immediately.
"Ah, so that's why... I was being short-sighted."
The Grand Archduchess apologized.
Though perhaps not quite on par with Princess Aisha, she was a remarkably intelligent woman.
To be completely honest, though, my biggest reason above all else was that I hated wasting money.
Spending a fortune on a broken relic?!
Having already come close to financial ruin once before because of a relic, I couldn't bear to watch such a tragedy unfold again!
After hearing the Grand Archduchess explain what had happened, Princess Aisha looked at me with admiration, but Balea covertly formed a circle with her fingers to show me.
She had caught on to the fact that I did it purely for the money.
Whatever Balea thought, I maintained a steadfast poker face while the Grand Archduchess unwrapped the gift package to examine the damaged relic.
"By the way, what kind of relic is this?"
In response to Princess Aisha's question, the Grand Archduchess examined the relic for a long moment before answering.
"Originally, it was a mace-type relic, but the shaft is snapped, and all the spikes are completely blunted. It also seems to have had a function that let it fire lightning bolts, but since it's broken, it can't be used."
In the end, it was just a broken relic, but the Grand Archduchess derived immense joy from examining it.
As expected, it had been a good gift.
While we were chatting and inspecting the relic, I noticed the noisy surroundings suddenly fall quiet.
I was the first to raise my head, followed by the knights, who scanned the vicinity.
Looking around, the cause of the sudden silence became immediately clear.
In the brief moment we were focused on the relic, the crowd had thinned out drastically.
What's more, the expressions of the few people who remained didn't look bright in the slightest.
Instead, a gang of rough-looking men was surging in our direction.
Mercenaries clad in crude armor and carrying bloodstained weapons were marching through the shopping district.
With mercenaries like that approaching, the citizens had no choice but to scramble out of the way.
Stallholders were grumbling under their breath about how their business was being ruined.
As the silently approaching mercenaries closed in on us, they began shouting one by one.
"Damn it, so all the money earned in our Kingdom is being handed over to these Duchy bastards?"
"I heard they sell Kingdom goods without paying a single dime of tax back to the Kingdom."
"Hey, they call it a Duchy, but it's our Kingdom's land anyway!"
"Exactly! On top of that, word is most of these guys are sucking up to the Empire!"
What started as chatter between a couple of men quickly turned into an excited rampage as the mercenaries began terrorizing the street vendors.
Crash!
Clatter!
"What do you think you're doing?!"
"Call the guard!"
"Aargh! My leg!"
People screamed, goods crashed to the ground, and innocent bystanders were injured in the chaotic stampede.
The street plunged into complete pandemonium in an instant.
"Stop them at once!"
The Grand Archduchess stepped up.
The knights concealed among the crowd revealed themselves and moved in to engage the mercenaries.
"Who the hell are you?!"
"He's no ordinary guy!"
"Damn it, I'm no ordinary guy either!"
But contrary to expectations, the battle didn't turn one-sided.
The skill of these mercenaries was far from ordinary.
Pandemonium piled upon pandemonium, and we found ourselves swept right into the fray.
I drew my sword, and Princess Aisha took hold of a sword handed to her by a maid.
"What is this nonsense? No matter how I look at them, these aren't ordinary thugs."
Balea grumbled to me while subtly stirring her mana.
She was spot on.
Mercenaries capable of holding their own against trained knights were hardly common, and elite mercenaries like that wouldn't stage a senseless rampage in a place like this.
As the mercenaries fought their way closer, they discreetly exchanged glances with individuals in the distance who appeared to be from the Empire.
The mercenaries' acting was flawless, fooling everyone except Balea—but they couldn't fool me, a man forged by the tropes of web novels.
It might be a rare occurrence in this world, but to me, it was nothing more than a run-of-the-mill cliché.
So, rather than the mercenaries' stellar performance, my attention was completely stolen by a different scene altogether.
I stared at the Grand Archduchess's hand.
The broken relic was held in the hand of the Grand Archduchess, who glared down the approaching mercenaries.
It was a relic said to have once been a mace, though it was now an antique whose original shape was barely recognizable.
That broken relic was now crackling with a blue light.
Crackle.
Blue sparks.
Lightning was surging from the broken relic.