The Mischievous Princess Who Calls the Storm (2)
Hair that looked as if it had been woven from pure gold thread. Eyes that seemed to have actual jewels set into them. Snow-white skin, a high, elegant nose, and soft, moist lips.
Princess Elenoa Astra was beautiful. Evan realized that the woman standing before him was more beautiful than any woman he had ever seen, and that his meager vocabulary could not capture even half of her beauty.
Naturally tense, Evan greeted the princess with a stiff, rigid posture.
“I am Elenoa Astra, Swordmaster.”
“Y-yes. Evan Kalshooter, Your Highness.”
“Hehe. You don’t have to be so nervous.”
Elenoa said this with a smile full of mischief. It was not a smile meant to charm or seduce—quite the opposite. It was a smile designed to pull someone into her schemes. And yet, the moment Evan saw it, he fell for her completely.
She’s so pretty…
He had always wondered, while reading fairy tales, why those valiant heroes sang of love so blindly for their princesses.
Having grown up with only one girl his age—his childhood friend—the most beautiful woman Evan could imagine was someone only a little prettier than her.
Even that modest standard had been thoroughly shattered once he came to the city. But the princess before him shattered the newly updated standard all over again.
She was beautiful enough that he could finally understand why the heroes and warriors of fairy tales threw themselves at a princess’s feet.
“—Your Highness. Might I ask why you have come seeking the Swordmaster?”
The Guild Master, glancing sideways at Evan, realized that if things continued like this the conversation would drag on forever and never reach a conclusion. He quietly inserted himself into the discussion.
Elenoa shot the Guild Master a look that clearly said he was interrupting, then snapped her fingers and called someone waiting outside into the room.
“Come in.”
Creeeak— The door opened and a figure in a hooded robe stepped inside. Upon spotting Evan, the figure’s shoulders twitched with clear delight before quickly settling into the seat beside the princess.
Even though this person had claimed the seat next to the princess without permission, the royal guards assigned to her protection showed no reaction whatsoever.
A high-ranking noble, maybe?
Watching this, Evan speculated about the newcomer’s identity while staring intently into the depths of the robe. He couldn’t see anything. It was just like someone he had met before…
“Oh, long time no see, Evan.”
“……Canelly?”
The magic robe that completely hid the face, and that distinctive metallic, gravelly voice like scraping steel. It was the state-approved Alchemist, Canelly.
Realizing that Evan had recognized her, Canelly happily pulled off her robe and grinned. But only for a moment—Elenoa immediately yanked the robe back over her head as if to say, What do you think you’re doing?
“What are you doing? We’re in front of people. What if someone sees your face?”
“Ah, y-yes. I forgot……”
“You lot didn’t see anything, right?”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Elenoa asked her surrounding guards whether they had seen anything, and of course they all replied that they had seen nothing at all.
The Guild Master pointed to the teacup in his hand and claimed he had been so absorbed in savoring his tea that he hadn’t been in any state to notice other things.
And then there was Evan.
“Um…… Your Highness?”
“Yes, Swordmaster. Please speak.”
“I already know what she looks like. What should I do?”
Having already traveled alone with Canelly and seen her true face, Evan confessed that he already knew her real appearance.
Elenoa fell silent for a moment, then let out a light laugh.
“You’re a special person, Swordmaster. It’s fine if you know.”
“Ah, is that so? That’s a relief.”
“Yes. By the way, you’re truly impressive. Is that kind of confidence what it takes to become a Swordmaster?”
“Pardon? What do you mean by……”
“There are things like that, Swordmaster.”
Ending the conversation with a smile, the princess jabbed Canelly in the side with her finger. Canelly flinched with a squeak, rubbed her side, and pulled a tiny case from her robes.
“E-Evan. A present……”
“What is it?”
“Just look……”
Seeing a case so small that even a single finger might barely fit inside, Evan opened the lid with a puzzled expression. Inside lay a single small earring set with a gemstone.
Not a pair—just one. An earring meant for only one ear. Evan looked at Canelly as if asking what the intention was.
“T-try it on.”
“Why should I……”
“I-it’s a good thing.”
“Please put it on, Swordmaster.”
With both Canelly and the princess pestering him from the side to try it on, Evan lacked the courage to refuse. He simply did not have enough experience with beautiful women to build up the nerve to turn down their requests.
In the end, Evan had one ear pierced and put on the earring. The Guild Master sitting beside him helped with the piercing.
Even after putting on the earring, nothing seemed to change, so Evan shrugged as if to ask what now.
“J-just wait a second!”
Canelly suddenly stood up and left the room. And a short while later—her voice began to sound right next to his ear.
“E-Evan… can you hear me…?”
“……Canelly?”
“Y-yeah! You can hear me……”
Having finished her experiment, Canelly returned to the room and sat back down beside the princess.
“T-ta-da—! I-I’m wearing the exact same earring as you, Evan…… Anyone wearing these can talk to each other no matter how far apart they are……!”
“And what am I supposed to do with that?”
“I-it’s a couple earring…… D-do you not like it…?”
Canelly looked stunned, as if she had never expected such a cold reaction. Beside her, the princess, the Guild Master, and the guard knights who had just heard the earring’s true nature all dropped their jaws.
An earring that allowed conversation no matter the distance? She had created something like that and was using it as a mere couple accessory?
The princess stared at Canelly with an expression of pure disbelief. If she had known it was that kind of item, she would have immediately offered it up to the royal family……
The Guild Master, realizing the strategic value of the earring, broke out in a cold sweat as he looked at the princess.
“……Your Highness. If I didn’t mishear just now.”
“Yeeees. It seems our gloomy blockhead of an alchemist has caused another incident.”
“I-I’m not a blockhead……”
“Shut up! If it was that kind of item, you should have said so from the start!”
“B-but if I said anything, you’d take it away……”
“Of course I would! You think you can just use something like that as a couple earring!?”
Elenoa immediately used force to snatch the earring right off Canelly’s ear, then let out a long sigh as she looked at Evan.
Unable to understand why everyone was making such a fuss, Evan tilted his head and glanced back and forth between the Guild Master and the princess.
“Swordmaster. Forgive the imposition, but would you return that earring?”
“Ah, well. That’s not difficult, but……”
“I’m sorry for wasting your time.”
Having recovered the earring, Elenoa exhaled as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Canelly, her couple earring stolen, slumped her shoulders as if the world had collapsed and stared only at the floor.
Glad she had come along for this very reason, Elenoa pressed Canelly further, asking if she was hiding anything else. Canelly shrank into the corner of the sofa as if to insist there was nothing more.
“I’m glad I followed her…… To think she planned to release something like this to a civilian.”
“Is it really that dangerous an item?”
“Of course. An object that allows communication regardless of distance—and miniaturized to this degree? If the existence of something like this became known, it would change the entire paradigm of warfare.”
“Hmm…… Is it that big a deal?”
“……You, Swordmaster, who can face entire armies alone, may not feel it as keenly.”
Elenoa realized that both Evan before her and Canelly sitting beside her were superhumans of the same caliber—only in different fields.
Both of them could face an army alone, so of course they could not grasp the value of an earring like this.
It was like how, even if an ant could send pheromone signals to a companion thousands of kilometers away, it would mean little to a human.
So this is the kind of person he is.
Having roughly sized Evan up, Elenoa beamed as she looked at him.
“Well then—shall I finally tell you the reason I came?”
“Pardon? I thought Your Highness had simply come along with the person next to you……”
“I did come along for that as well, but I also have business with you, Swordmaster.”
Leaving the visibly anxious Guild Master behind, the princess rose from her seat and casually approached one of her guard knights.
She drew the sword hanging at the waist of the blankly standing knight with a soft shing—, pointed the tip at the Swordmaster, and spoke.
“Let’s have a match, Swordmaster.”
Princess Elenoa
Learned swordsmanship as a cultural accomplishment.
Strong in both curiosity and competitive spirit.
“Y-you mustn’t, Your Highness……!”
“Why? I said I want to.”
“We’ll be killed by His Majesty!”
“It’s fine, it’s fine!”
“Your Highness!”
The guard knights desperately tried to stop the princess from crossing swords with Evan herself, but just as Canelly had been earlier, turning the princess’s mind was impossible.
Annoyed by the knights swarming her, Elenoa pressed the blade against her own throat and began threatening them.
“Don’t stop me! If you stop me, there’ll be blood!”
“Y-Your Highness!”
“Please!”
Having successfully persuaded her guards through sheer force of will rather than any brilliant logic, Elenoa stood before Evan with a bright smile.
Evan looked at her with a dubious expression. Just what kind of situation was this……
“I’ve been curious ever since I first heard the stories. Just how strong is a Swordmaster, really?”
Elenoa’s eyes sparkled as she spoke.
“I wanted to see it for myself.”
“……Should I go easy?”
“Ah, do as you please! I won’t make any arrogant demands that you come at me with full seriousness!”
With that, Elenoa gripped the sword and leapt in with a light hop. Watching her, Evan casually raised his own blade to meet hers.
Light movements. Delicate arms. He moved under the assumption that an attack like that couldn’t possibly carry much weight.
KWAANG—!
“Guh—!?”
That was a mistake.
Evan felt an impact as if a house-sized chunk of metal had just dropped on him and barely managed to deflect Elenoa’s sword. Her blade, sliding down along his, slammed into the ground and half-destroyed the training ground right then and there.
“Heeeeh— You blocked that.”
“What the hell kind of strength is that……”
“I’m a princess, after all!”
The princess who carried the blood of this nation’s king—the Blue King.
Having inherited the blood of a superhuman, she possessed power that could rightly be called semi-superhuman.
“Well then, here I come!”
She was not someone who could be taken lightly.