The Flying Carriage's Triumphant Arrival
It was just another ordinary day in the capital.
Tourists clamoring for passage and merchants who'd sniffed out the scent of money.
The sky was a brilliant blue, and the grass sprouting from the fertile earth swayed in the breeze.
Watching the migratory birds soaring high overhead—and something even higher, a carriage flying through the sky—a capital guard let out a yawn.
"Huh...?"
The carriage was flying through the sky.
"Eek, aaah—!"
As the carriage drew closer, its lead rider came into view—a face even the guard recognized.
The genius mage destined to shape the empire's future.
A dragon risen from the gutters without a single mentor.
In the brief moment he recalled those titles, the carriage was already upon him.
"...Mage Kian Ventus here. Mind if we pass through?"
It was Kian, the future mage who'd supposedly left for the North for a time.
*
My new mentor—no, professor's strategy had been a resounding success.
The scenery unfolding before my eyes proved it.
"I-is that really from the North...?"
"I saw it with my own eyes! The carriage fell from the sky...! Look, it's still floating up there!"
On the road to Victory Square in front of the imperial palace, crowds of onlookers and thrill-seekers gathered, buzzing with excitement.
The reason they hadn't sold the painstakingly transported furs and salt ore first but headed straight for the square was simple.
To present them to the imperial family.
"What a commotion outside—I've come to see, and look at all my beloved imperial citizens gathered here."
From the central terrace of the imperial palace overlooking Victory Square, the First Princess Rosette de Helios gracefully unfurled her fan, her dress draping elegantly as she smiled.
Her gaze, now veiled by the fan at her lips, drifted past the crowd to the Silver Fox Merchant Group's carriage.
"We pay homage to the empire's most noble and radiant star, Princess Rosette."
I knelt on one knee and bowed my head.
"It's been so long since I heard news from the North—I was quite worried. But to bring such rare treasures in your carriage... My concerns were unfounded, it seems."
The princess was a master of theater.
Even after advance notice via messenger bird and explicit permission to arrive, she played it as a chance encounter.
Right in the heart of Victory Square, with all the imperial citizens watching, she flawlessly performed the role of the benevolent princess.
"It's all thanks to Your Highness's gracious concern."
"Oh my, how kind. But what brings you all the way from that distant northern land to the capital?"
The main act of the play had begun.
"With a new era dawning in the North and peace restored, it seemed only proper to bring the first tidings to its lord."
As soon as I finished speaking, Barto retrieved a beautifully wrapped gift box from the carriage.
The North's finest offerings: top-grade furs and salt ore crystals.
The princess sent down her escort, who gladly accepted the box.
It fit together like a perfect puzzle, without a single misalignment.
"But... what of that mysterious carriage? Could it be that the 'future mage' has already arrived to shoulder the empire's destiny?"
"That's beyond my ability to answer."
The princess's brow furrowed at my reply.
"Isn't it magic all the same?"
"Magic far beyond my comprehension. I fear my meager insight might disturb Your Highness."
The carriage floated steadily in the air even now, without the slightest waver.
"There's no mage in the North but you, Kian Ventus."
"My apologies, but my mentor is in the North."
The murmurs around us grew louder.
It was only natural—everyone knew I had no teacher.
In truth, she was more like an assistant; according to my mentor—er, professor—she was a graduate student...
"Is that true? Then, the name of that remarkable mage—"
I'd anticipated the question, but it came more directly than expected.
Can I even say it?
The pattern of bricks etched into my memory from countless collisions with walls and the ground flashed before my eyes.
As I scrambled for an excuse, a figure in armor appeared beyond the curtain.
"Your Highness. It's time to move."
"Oh my. Already...? We'll have to continue this later. I'll treasure the gifts."
That nameless escort was the most welcome sight of all.
The moment the princess's shadow vanished with a wistful wave, I straightened up.
The next step was scripted.
"Hey, merchant leader! That fur you just presented to Her Highness—is it for sale?"
"How much for the salt?!"
The North's specialties, arriving on a mystical flying carriage and stamped with imperial tribute approval, were now the Silver Fox Merchant Group's to claim.
*
Barto had been a merchant since he took his first steps.
Born the son of a merchant.
He'd learned numbers before words or letters.
"Please, everyone, calm down."
His tone was as steady as ever, but inside, he was ablaze.
"In my heart, I'd love to sell to every one of you here, even one more..."
Barto trailed off, gesturing dramatically toward the carriage laden with specialties.
"But the quantity is a bit limited."
"Money's no object! Name your price!"
"Hey! There's an order to things!"
Victory Square descended into chaos.
The guards, who would normally charge in, stayed oddly quiet this time.
"Mind your manners. I won't sell to anyone causing a disturbance."
The rowdy crowd fell silent at Barto's firm words.
"These furs and salt endured the North's bitter blizzards to grow."
"I have no doubt that in the journey of these lives blooming into flowers and reaching the glorious capital of our empire lies the blessing of the gods and guardian spirits."
He despised merchants who sold even their ethics.
"They are sacred goods. Naturally, they should go to the most worthy among you."
Honest trade was the way.
"Today, we offer only one hundred furs and ten crates of salt. No fixed prices."
And the North, which had given him a chance to rise again, along with the grand ducal house, was dearer than anything.
"I'll sell only to those who recognize their true value. Let the auction begin!"
An auction, typically confined to markets.
Even the local merchants who'd chase them off with clubs dared not this time.
The square was under imperial protection.
No bold merchant would dare touch this collaboration between the princess expanding her influence and the North's grand ducal house.
"F-fifty gold coins!"
"Are you mad? Eighty!"
The furs and salt that had filled the humble carriage vanished one by one, replaced by gleaming gold.
The first tidings of a new era, endorsed by the future mage, Kian.
*
The Lupiento Count's mansion sat right in the heart of the capital.
Meaning Victory Square before the imperial palace was visible at a glance.
"Those wretched fools..."
The count's hand trembled with rage, snapping the fountain pen in his grip.
It was utterly pathetic.
That carriage flying brazenly through the sky.
The obvious farce playing out.
Those upstart parvenus buying furs at absurd prices like entranced idiots.
The North's desperate thrashings.
All of it, pathetic.
"Kian!!!"
"Here, my lord."
Everything had been going smoothly.
That mere girl in her early twenties and the North without its unifying former grand duke should have crumbled into his grasp.
They had been crumbling so nicely.
"Explain yourself! What did I order you to do?!"
Kian met the Lupiento Count's eyes squarely.
Not the pleading gaze of the man who'd once begged for work, unworthy of his title as the empire's future mage.
"Infiltrate the North, gather intelligence, and stop any nonsense."
"Well said!! Then what's that mess out there?!"
Unable to contain his fury, the count slammed the desk.
A dent formed in the thick wooden surface, matching his fist.
"People call me the future mage."
"Yes! A title I bestowed! Now answer!"
Rescued by the count who'd recognized his talent early, Kian had been the count's man.
A family in name only.
His single-minded pursuit of magic, free from livelihood worries, owed much to the count's support.
"I'm grateful. However..."
That was all.
Mages were selfish by nature.
"In the North, I saw the future of magic. The place for the future mage is the North."
The count's lips quivered, speechless.
"The Grand Duke asked me to relay this message."
Every word defied the count, yet Kian no longer feared him.
"She said to wait, as the borrowed money will soon be repaid."
"Y-you wretched..."
"I hope we never meet again. Thank you for everything."
As Kian kicked open the door and left, the sound of something shattering echoed from beyond the count's office.
"Haa..."
This was why he'd hated coming.
Yet he couldn't defy his mentor—his professor.
What wouldn't he endure to learn even a fraction at her side?
The methods of wielding natural mana, inscrutable without a mana core, were starting to make sense after dozens, hundreds of painful trials on his body.
"Let's head back soon..."
Clenching his fist, Kian left the count's mansion.
Back to his new home.