With Mana, Even a Whip Can Shatter Rocks
The pile of dishes had grown into a small mountain. Princess Mage stood at the sink gripping a scrub sponge, washing plates and teacups with clumsy, unpracticed strokes before stacking them on the opposite counter. I watched the scene with mild concern while I baked cookies. Well… I couldn’t exactly call her skilled, but for someone who had never washed a single dish in her life, she was doing surprisingly well.
That was when Charlene walked in, inspected one of the plates Princess Mage had finished, and spoke in a razor-sharp tone.
“Do it again.”
“Pardon?”
“There’s still grease left here. And cookie crumbs. Again. All of it. Redo everything.”
Charlene shoved the entire stack of freshly washed dishes back into the sink with the strict voice of a mother-in-law from hell. Ugh. Princess Mage bit her lip, unable to talk back, and simply glared at Charlene. Her eyes were glistening with tears. Having grown up as a princess, this was probably the first humiliation of her life. Still, she had volunteered to become a maid, so she had no right to complain.
This wouldn’t do. I needed to comfort her.
“Princess? Don’t take it too hard. Charlene may look like that, but she apparently received some elite maid training when she was young, so she’s unnecessarily strict. She does the same thing to me sometimes. Haha.”
“Yes. Thank you, Kailon.”
At that, Charlene poked her head back into the kitchen.
“Oh my? Master? You weren’t just badmouthing me, were you?”
“Who, me? Badmouth someone? Just bring out the cookies and tea.”
“As you wish. And Master? Stop making unnecessary moves on the princess.”
“Wh-what? Are you suspecting me?”
“You seem to lose all reason when a woman is involved.”
Having said that, Charlene went back to serving tea and cookies.
Although Princess Mage had declared she would work as a maid, there was no way I could put her in the front of the house. If customers recognized her, I might end up in serious trouble too. So for now I had her doing dishes in the kitchen where guests wouldn’t see her.
Princess Mage, who had resumed scrubbing diligently, suddenly asked, “Kailon, is Charlene actually human?”
Hmm. It sounded like a joke, but it hit the nail on the head.
“O-of course she is. Can’t you tell from her ridiculously picky personality? She’s completely human. Charlene isn’t some kind of monster.”
“My father once said something when he first met her. He told me she didn’t seem human.”
……That indecisive Emperor actually had sharp instincts in that regard.
Should I tell the princess the truth? No. Not yet. Honestly, I still couldn’t fully trust her. There was always the chance she had some hidden motive for volunteering to work here as a maid.
While we were busy working in the kitchen, a voice called for me from the hall.
“Kailon! Is Kailon here?”
That serious tone… It was Guard Captain Mikhail.
Why was he looking for me again? I wiped my hands roughly on a dish towel and stepped out into the hall.
“Uncle Mikhail? What brings you here?”
“I came to tell you about Sephirot and the Demon King Apocryon. It looks like those bastards are hiding somewhere and preparing another scheme—”
Mikhail stopped mid-sentence. Huh? Why was he making that face?
Princess Mage had poked her head out to see who it was, and their eyes met. Mikhail’s face turned deathly pale. His lips trembled as he spoke.
“P-Princess Mage? What are you doing here? Huh?”
“Mikhail? I… well… there are complicated circumstances behind me working here as a maid right now…”
Facing someone she knew, even the princess seemed flustered. This situation had taken a strange turn.
Suddenly Mikhail drew his sword and pointed it at me.
“You insolent bastard! What the hell are you doing to Her Highness? Have you lost your mind?”
As expected from someone who took everything seriously. I had to explain.
“U-Uncle Mikhail! Just listen to me first. Here’s what happened—”
Right then, Charlene appeared in a flash and pressed the huge Grim Reaper’s Scythe against Mikhail’s neck.
“Sir? Put your sword away.”
Whoa. That killing intent. I could clearly feel the Grim Reaper’s mana radiating from her. With the blade against his throat, Mikhail froze completely, only his eyes moving to look at Charlene.
At that moment Princess Mage rushed out and shouted, “Ch-Charlene! Put your weapon away! This is nothing!”
“Yeah! Charlene, stop it.”
In the end I had to intervene as well. Mikhail let out a choked grunt and dropped his sword. Charlene kept the scythe at his neck, her red eyes glowing with power as she spoke.
“No matter who you are, I will not allow anyone to point a blade at my master in this shop. Understood, Guard Captain Mikhail?”
“Y-yeah, I understand. Just get that scythe away from me first.”
When Charlene raised her hand, the scythe in her grip vanished with a soft pop. Whew… Thank goodness there were no other customers right now. If anyone had seen that, it would have been a disaster.
Charlene gathered the teacups and plates from an empty table onto a tray and said, “Princess? Please explain the situation to Mikhail yourself so he doesn’t get worked up again. I’d rather not have the shop turn noisy over something like this.”
“Yes? Yes, I’ll do that. Mikhail, could you come with me for a moment?”
Whew. It looked like things had been resolved peacefully.
After carrying the dishes back to the kitchen, Charlene placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Master? I think it’s time you started training.”
“What kind of training?”
“You’re Annette’s acolyte, remember? Mikhail drew his sword because you looked weak. It’s about time you learned how to use your power, don’t you think?”
Oh. Right. I had become Annette’s acolyte. I had been so unaware of the changes in my body that I had completely forgotten about it.
Charlene patted my shoulder a couple times and added, “Let’s go somewhere quiet tonight. I’ll teach you the basics. Master, do you have a weapon?”
“No, I don’t.”
Charlene smiled brightly.
“Then get one. You’ll be using it quite often from now on.”
That afternoon, we closed the shop for a short while and headed to the weapon store. Of course I didn’t go alone. Both Charlene and Princess Mage followed me.
“Princess? You really don’t have to come with us,” Charlene said pointedly. Princess Mage gave an awkward laugh.
“Our imperial family owes you and Kailon a great deal. Don’t worry about the cost. I’ll buy whatever you need.”
“R-really?”
When I asked in surprise, Princess Mage nodded.
“Father already told me to give you and Charlene a large reward. You don’t need to worry about money.”
I see. Whew. Looked like I could finally escape from debt.
But Charlene looked at the princess with clear displeasure and whispered to me, “Don’t trust her too much. She’s only acting friendly because she needs us.”
“Ch-Charlene. She’s still a princess…”
“So what if she’s a princess? Master, have you fallen for her?”
“N-no! Why do you always twist everything I say?”
“In any case, you’re a man who can’t be left unsupervised.”
Bickering like that, we arrived at the weapon shop. Hmm. This was my first time visiting a weapon store in Marenost. Being a port city, they really did have every kind of weapon imaginable. I looked at the swords, spears, and bows hanging on the walls.
“Welcome, customer. What kind of weapon are you looking for?”
A friendly shopkeeper with a mustache approached us, rubbing his hands together.
The weapon I would use from now on… Honestly, I had never held a sword, let alone learned swordsmanship. I had never used a spear or bow either. Even if I could handle Grim Reaper mana, it would be useless if I wasn’t comfortable with the weapon.
As I browsed, an old memory suddenly resurfaced. Come to think of it, I had worked on a ranch for a few years when I was young. It was just a short-term job to make ends meet, but I had handled livestock—sheep, pigs, cows—and used a whip quite often.
A whip… A whip?
My eyes landed on a weapon displayed beside the swords. A black whip.
“What’s this whip?”
The shopkeeper rubbed his hands even more eagerly and answered with enthusiasm.
“Ah, you have a good eye, sir! This is a premium whip made from the tail of a thousand-year-old dragon. It’s so tough that even a magic sword can’t cut it. How about it? Does it catch your fancy?”
Yes. Rather than a boring sword, something unique like this seemed perfect. I turned to Charlene.
“What do you think, Charlene?”
After touching the whip, she nodded.
“It does appear to be made from a dragon’s tail. It looks quite expensive, though?”
The shopkeeper quickly jumped in.
“Yes, the materials are rare, so… I’d have to ask for 100 million gold.”
One hundred million gold??
Princess Mage, who had been standing behind us, spoke up.
“That’s cheaper than I expected. Buy it if you want. I’ll pay.”
Ugh… This princess’s sense of money… She thought 100 million gold was cheap? Was this some new form of torture? If she lived like me, drowning in debt for a while, she might learn the true value of money.
Anyway, it was fine. I gripped the whip’s handle. The grip felt perfect. It sat naturally in my hand. Should I get this one?
That night. The Forest of Barcanus. It was the same mountain where I had first met Charlene. With few people around and a quiet atmosphere, it was the perfect place for training. A full moon hung brightly in the sky, so the surroundings weren’t completely dark.
Charlene, holding her Grim Reaper’s Scythe beside me, spoke.
“Master, listen carefully. You can use Annette’s mana now. First, you need to learn how to handle mana itself. Close your eyes.”
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. In the distance I could hear the wind sweeping through the trees.
“Master, imagine gathering mana and energy with both hands. Take a deep breath.”
Alright. Let’s try it. I focused on my hands. Oh. It felt like my hands were becoming lighter.
“Good. Now swing the whip while maintaining that state. Now!”
I gripped the whip tightly and struck the rock in front of me with all my strength.
—BOOM!!!
The rock shattered with a tremendous noise. W-whoa… Did I just break a rock with a whip?
“Yes. Well done. That’s the basics.”
Charlene stroked my head. I grumbled, “Charlene, stop patting my head like I’m a kid.”
She laughed brightly. “That’s right. You are my master, after all. So? Don’t you think we match quite well now?”