Following the Line (2)
Following the Line (2)
We left the carriage behind and set out onto the streets in casual clothes, without any knights or servants.
Although the Princess and I were carrying swords, to anyone looking at us, we simply seemed like a young boy and girl taking their little sister for a stroll.
I asked Balea, who looked quite amused, once again.
"We're not going sightseeing around the city. We're going to look at a blacksmith's workshop. Will you be all right with that? The Princess is a student of the Knight Faculty, so it's fine for her, but it won't be any fun for Lady Balea..."
At my words, the Princess looked at Balea as well.
"I'm sure it will be fun. Since Young Lord Alex said he was going alone, something interesting is bound to happen."
Balea hadn't come out to see the blacksmith's workshop or sightsee around the city.
She fully intended to follow me around and watch whatever incident unfolded.
The problem was, given my track record, I couldn't easily think of a retort.
On top of that, since I'd tried to slip out alone this time for another reason as well, I had even less to say.
Still, now that we'd come out together, I couldn't just ditch them.
Although they were both women capable of defending themselves, there was no telling what might happen in this rough mining city.
'Is it a relief that the line leads toward the blacksmith workshops?'
Getting to the blacksmith's workshop didn't seem like it would be a problem.
I'd have to figure out what to do next once we actually got there.
As expected, walking the streets myself made it clear that this city was hardly a place for sightseeing.
Once we left the upscale residential district, the city's dire circumstances became painfully obvious.
The filthy miners. The exhausted-looking residents.
In a different way from territories where public order had completely collapsed, this estate also seemed to be in pretty bad shape.
"The residents are dirty because of the mines, but this kind of estate is actually the norm."
Perhaps noticing the Princess's grim expression, Balea spoke about the reality of the situation.
Indeed, the Balea Territory, back when the Baron ruled it, had been no different.
Although I'd only seen other territories after their security had collapsed, they were even worse.
The territory where Ivana used to live was decent, but it was incredibly small.
'Was our territory the only large one that was actually decent...?'
If so, it meant my ill-tempered father was actually an exceptionally great lord.
Come to think of it, the Duke of Gracia might just be one of those "great men who neglect their families."
Well, whether he was a great man or not didn't really matter to me.
I was the one who suffered, so even if the Duke were a saintly grandfather, it meant nothing to me.
Trying to avoid looking at the filthy surroundings, the Princess let her gaze drift up toward the sky.
She was looking precisely in the direction the Mana Thread pointed.
Seeing her gaze fixed on the Mana Thread, I made a decision.
I erected a soundproof barrier around just the Princess and me.
Both the Princess and Balea noticed that I'd put up the soundproof barrier.
That was the downside of soundproof barriers.
If someone was nearby or had a keen sense for mana, they could easily tell when one was deployed.
It would be great if there were something like the telepathy techniques from martial arts novels.
I felt like I should look into whether such an ability existed.
I apologized to Balea with my eyes, then asked the Princess:
"You can see something in the sky, can't you?"
I could see the Mana Thread too, but I couldn't tell the Princess that.
Neither the Princess nor anyone else could ever find out that I possessed 'Mana Resonance'.
'Mana Resonance' was the most crucial requirement for becoming the King of this country.
Because both princes possessed Mana Resonance, choosing the next king had become complicated. That was also why the Princess hid her own 'Mana Resonance'.
Besides, the Gracia ducal family was still in the line of royal succession.
Which meant that, officially, I was also of royal blood, and I wasn't without the qualifications to become the next king.
Because I was an illegitimate son and weak, no one would ever bring up the throne, of course.
The problem was, if those vying for the throne found out I possessed 'Mana Resonance', they would never leave me in peace.
Not only the two princes, but the nobles of both factions would swarm like hornets to kill me.
When it came to this matter, it was hard to trust even the Princess, Katrin, or the Queen.
At my question, the Princess answered cautiously.
"There's a line drawn in the sky. I've been seeing it since yesterday, and it still hasn't disappeared."
She wondered if I couldn't see it, but I shook my head and asked again.
"Is it just a line? Like an optical illusion?"
"Yesterday, I thought it was an optical illusion... but I think I can see it because of my ability. It looks like a line made of mana..."
It was clear that the Princess could see it perfectly well too.
"Is it pointing in the same direction as yesterday?"
"Yes. It stretches from the mansion toward where we're heading, over that way."
The direction the Princess pointed was exactly where the Mana Thread led.
"Hmm. Since it's not pointing in a very different direction, why don't we check out the blacksmith's workshop and then investigate that line of yours?"
"Oh, no, you don't have to go that far..."
No, I absolutely had to.
My attempt to go alone had failed, and I wasn't the only one who could see the Mana Thread.
In this situation, all I had to do to avoid raising suspicion was pass the buck to someone else who could see it.
Though it would be difficult to reap the benefits on my own right now, I had one trump card up my sleeve.
I could return to the past.
After saying that much, I deactivated the soundproof barrier.
As soon as the barrier vanished, the Princess immediately apologized to Balea.
"I erected the barrier because it was a matter concerning the royal family. I'm sorry. I couldn't share it with you, even though we're together..."
Balea shook her head.
"It's fine. I completely understand that much. And the one who cast the soundproof barrier wasn't you, Princess, but Young Lord Alex."
It was true that I was the one who'd cast the barrier and caused the situation, but hearing Balea put it that way made me feel somewhat wronged.
Though there wasn't much to see, we looked around as we headed toward the main street.
The white smoke billowing into the sky gradually drew closer.
We were nearing the blacksmith workshops clustered along the main street.
The streets changed in appearance, too.
They were just as dirty as before, but their dark, gloomy atmosphere had transformed into something incredibly lively.
There were many shops, and plenty of mercenaries and merchants could be seen walking around.
I let the Princess lead the way and followed behind her.
Since I'd claimed I couldn't see the line, it was only natural to follow the Princess, who could.
Surprisingly, Balea didn't find it strange to see me following behind the Princess.
It seemed that lately, no matter what I did, Balea assumed I had some hidden motive.
Following behind the Princess, we soon arrived at the street where the blacksmith workshops were clustered.
There were more blacksmith workshops than I'd expected.
Countless items—from weapons and farming tools to all sorts of implements—were being crafted and sold along this street.
The heat radiating from the forges made the street intensely warm, and the accompanying din was deafening.
Since we'd come to a blacksmith's, I should at least have gone into one to get my sword repaired, but I didn't.
The Princess didn't stop walking, either.
We passed through the hot, noisy, crowded street and made our way through a quiet back alley. At last, the Princess stopped in front of a certain blacksmith's workshop.
It was a worn-down, quiet workshop.
The forge seemed to have gone cold, as no heat emanated from inside.
The Princess and I both stared blankly at the cold, dark workshop.
There was only one reason I hadn't looked for another workshop and had followed the Princess, and why she'd kept walking without stopping.
The Mana Thread was connected to this very blacksmith's workshop.
I hadn't expected some grand ruin, but I never imagined the line would end at a workshop like this.
The Princess wore an openly disappointed expression.
She seemed to have expected something grand.
Indeed, since it was the first unusual phenomenon she'd witnessed outside the capital, she might have dreamed of an adventure or an exploration.
But with a workshop like this, dreaming of adventure or exploration seemed out of the question.
Still, I didn't give up hope until the very end.
In the martial arts novels and fantasy stories I'd read in my past life, workshops like this always housed an incredibly skilled, elderly blacksmith.
A cliché where you solve the blacksmith's troubles and receive a magnificent sword as a reward could very well happen!
But reality wasn't so accommodating.
"Ah, customers after such a long time. But you've come too late. All the decent items have already been sold off. I was planning to sell the rest as scrap metal in a few days..."
The person inside the workshop was a scruffy young man.
He didn't have a blacksmith's muscles or a speck of soot on him; he was just an ordinary resident of the estate.
"Still, there are some things left, so feel free to take a look. Just keep in mind that it's a mess, since I haven't cleaned up since my father passed away."
Seeing our appearance, he added those words cautiously.
It seemed that even in casual clothes, we didn't look like commoners.
I stepped inside and asked the young man:
"Was this workshop run by your father?"
"Yes. He passed away not long ago, so I've put everything up for sale to clear it out."
Was it not that the cliché was wrong, but that I'd arrived too late?
"By any chance, was your grandfather or father a legendary blacksmith?"
"No. Both my grandfather and father barely scraped by making farming tools just to put food on the table. I hated seeing them live like that, which is why I didn't take up the trade."
But that wasn't the case, either. It was just an extremely realistic reason.
After I entered, the Princess and Balea followed me into the workshop.
Balea clearly disliked the filthy workshop, but this time, she seemed determined to follow me to the very end.
The Mana Thread led deeper into the workshop.
The place the young man guided us to was the very spot the line led to.
Passing the abandoned forge, the young man led us toward the backyard of the workshop.
There, broken and rusted items were piled high.
A clear, bright Mana Thread stretched out from a mountain of junk where farming tools, weapons, and unrecognizable scraps were tangled together.
Seeing this, the Princess looked troubled.
"It leads right into there..."
The Princess pointed to the center of the junk pile.
"We just need to dig through there, right?"
Although we'd used the soundproof barrier to hide our conversation, Balea seemed to have figured out that the Princess had seen something.
I figured someone as sharp as Balea would notice that much.
"Ah, wait a moment."
I stopped Balea as she was about to reach out, then asked the young man who'd guided us:
"How much for everything piled up over there?"
"Pardon? All of this?"
To get to the item inside, we couldn't just leave this mountain of junk as it was. To prevent any complaints, it was best to buy the whole lot.
"You'd have to give me at least half a gold coin..."
I pulled a gold coin from my breast pocket and tossed it to him.
"This includes the cleanup fee."
"Y-Yes! Thank you so much."
The young man bowed deeply to us.
"So, can we smash it all, Master of the Junk Pile?"
"Yes, please dismantle it, leaving only the center."
"Understood."
Balea reached out her hand once more.
Rumble.
She hadn't spent time establishing a domain, and her ability leaned more toward illusions, but that didn't mean physical objects wouldn't move.
The high-piled junk scattered in all directions.
Rusted scythes flew through the air, and something resembling a shield rolled aside.
It was as if the junk had exploded outward.
"Eek!"
A small shriek escaped the young man standing beside us.
He'd realized we weren't commoners, but apparently hadn't expected us to be nobles capable of using abilities.
Commoners rarely had any direct interaction with nobles.
Most only saw nobles from afar; the people they actually dealt with were merely the butlers or employees those nobles sent.
The young man was likely witnessing a noble use an ability for the very first time.
In the center of the scattered junk lay an oddly clumped mass of iron.
It was a lump of iron that looked as if it were encasing something.
I drew the sword at my waist.
"Eek!"
Another shriek rang out, but I ignored it and brought my sword down on the lump of iron.
The blade was damaged, but that didn't matter.
A shimmering sword aura sliced through the iron mass.
Once it was cut open, the object connected to the line was revealed.
It was a sword.
A broken sword. Its blade was bent, and its edge was heavily chipped.
Yet the moment I laid eyes on it, I knew.
This sword was a sibling blade to the 'Divine Sword'—just like the Divine Sword of Pisen.
Though I had no idea why it had been rolling around encased in a lump of iron in a place like this, we'd undoubtedly found a relic in a remarkably short time.
It was a broken sword, but that was fine.
Right now, at the Pisen Marquisate, there was someone who could repair damaged relics.