Youngest 124
by CristaeEpisode 124
“Duke, you’ve arrived. I’ll announce you to His Majesty at once.”
The attendant hurried over and bowed to Leviathan.
Leviathan stood before the massive audience chamber doors, quietly waiting for permission to enter. It wasn’t long before the attendant reappeared.
“Thank you for waiting! His Majesty asks that you come in… now…”
The attendant trailed off, glancing warily at the Duke.
“Um, Your Excellency… Did our door somehow offend you?”
It was because Leviathan was prodding the jeweled door with the tip of his sword’s scabbard.
“Why are there so many red jewels embedded in this thing?”
“Excuse me?”
“Change them. To blue. At least then I wouldn’t feel so resentful every time I come here.”
“…Pardon?”
“Can’t you follow simple instructions? I mean jewels that shine so clearly and purely you can see them sparkling from a distance. Jewels that, just by looking at them, fill you with a sense of affectionate mischief and curiosity…”
“Oh, come on. Stop talking about how much you miss your daughter and just get in here already.”
At last, a tired voice from inside silenced Leviathan.
“Tsk. This is infuriating.”
Face dark with discontent, Leviathan fell silent and stepped forward. Behind him, the attendant and his adjutant exchanged furtive glances.
Not ill, is he?
As healthy as ever. …At least physically.
The first thing he saw upon entering was the Emperor, wearing an incredulous expression.
“You’re acting like a sullen teenager. Is it really such a problem that you missed your daughter’s entrance ceremony?”
Leviathan curved the corner of his mouth in a sardonic smile.
“It’s not that I’d call it unbearable, but it’s sure to become a lifelong regret.”
“….”
He’s seriously incurable.
The Emperor shook his head.
“All right, I get it, so relax. You can go to the closing ceremony. What more do you want? Shall I declare a national holiday? ‘Zevert Lady’s Camp Graduation Day,’ or something?”
At that, Leviathan’s thick eyebrows arched high.
“Hmm, in that case, the date should be…”
“Can’t even take a joke anymore. How did you end up like this?”
Where did my old hero go? Bring him back.
The Emperor chuckled in disbelief.
Leviathan looked steadily at the man on the throne, then let out a long sigh.
Noting the Emperor’s oddly haggard eyes and the confusion of documents piled around him, Leviathan decided it was time to halt his complaints.
“Anyway,” he said.
His low voice resonated through the wide audience hall.
“What’s this about the Continental Alliance? Has there been movement from Arcadia?”
At Leviathan’s question, the Emperor straightened, all traces of levity vanishing. The air grew instantly grave.
“Yes,” the Emperor said, his voice unmistakably lower.
“It seems the Mage King is making suspicious moves.”
“…Suspicious moves?”
A dangerous glint flashed in Leviathan’s purple eyes.
After lunch, while I was resting, Khalid came to find me.
Khalid and I had agreed not to use the comms circuit here. With my mana issues, and magic so difficult to use in this place, it seemed wise.
“Could we talk outside for a minute?”
We headed to a small courtyard near the dorms. The squirrel, familiar on his head, was twitching its nose.
“What’s going on?”
“At the entrance ceremony… I think there was someone suspicious.”
My eyes widened.
“Suspicious? How?”
“She seemed to be a maid. But something was off. As for her mana… I couldn’t really say.”
I glanced at the squirrel, lowering my voice.
“Did you follow her?”
Khalid murmured, clenching his fist.
“I tried, but I lost her partway through. Sorry. Even my control is shaky here.”
“It’s not your fault…”
I slumped down on a tree root nearby.
‘A suspicious maid?’
Honestly, she could have been a lost maid, but being on the run, my thoughts naturally turned to the Mage Kingdom. But…
‘That’s not really the Mage King’s style, is it?’
If their purpose was to track me, they’d have sent a high-level mage. All the Mage Kingdom’s top mages were busy right now.
“What’s the Mage King’s situation?”
“Still the same. He’s obsessed with the Delcan Ruins beyond Eosia.”
When I heard that, I was sure the Mage King had caught the scent of dark magic out there.
‘But it won’t be so easy to revive dark magic, will it?’
Because… I held the key to that revival.
In any case.
Whatever the truth, the Mage King’s attention being elsewhere was good news for me. Thanks to that, the tracking mages and all other mages had been dispatched to Delcan Ruins.
‘Ah, except for the mages guarding the royal palace.’
As I thought that far, I narrowed my eyes.
“Hmmm.”
The wind blew. My black hair fluttered softly.
“I’ll look into it more. She seemed to be a noble household’s maid.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. It wasn’t the Academy’s maid uniform.”
Khalid spoke in a reassuring tone.
‘A noble household’s maid… Which family?’
I pondered, then nodded.
“Got it. In any case… I’ll have to be extra careful when moving around.”
More precisely, I realized I’d have to keep a low profile at this Academy.
After all, the real reason I came here was to search for clues about the Crest, so there shouldn’t be much risk of attracting attention.
‘Ah. If they’d announced at the entrance ceremony that I was Rubian Zevert, things might’ve been different.’
As embarrassing as it is to say, it seemed people were even more interested in the “Zevert family lady” than I’d thought.
Out of habit, I fiddled with the watch on my wrist.
Ever since I arrived in the capital, I’d stubbornly worn this thing; in truth, it was a portable mana battery disguised as a watch.
It was Asha’s and my proud creation—a magical device that absorbs and stores mana, then releases it as needed.
“How’s your condition? Are you all right?”
Khalid’s watchful gaze landed on me.
“Yep! Feels about the same as it did in Ipsen.”
“If you need mana, let me know anytime.”
His reassuring tone moved me deeply.
“Thanks… my large-capacity battery…”
Khalid cleared his throat, flustered.
“But you’re not allowed to go wild with magic here either!”
At my strict warning, Khalid scowled but I cheerfully ignored him, clenching my fist in determination.
“Anyway, let’s keep a low profile and stay out of trouble! If anything happens, absolutely no risks!”
“Don’t worry so much. I’m here, and right outside the Academy is the Duke, so there’s no way you’ll be in danger—”
“Oh, Father’s not in the capital.”
I suddenly remembered and added.
At my matter-of-fact reply, Khalid’s surprise was plain.
“…He’s not?”
“Yep, Father’s…”
I recalled the letter a maid had delivered before I left.
“He left on a trip by His Majesty’s order.”
“Your Excellency, everything is prepared.”
“…That was fast.”
Leviathan clicked his tongue, cursing the Emperor inwardly. So this was the real reason he’d been summoned to the palace.
He recalled their conversation in the audience hall.
“The Mage King, you said?”
“The Delcan Ruins at the Eosia–Casalia border. Suddenly they’ve sent a team of mages there.”
“That’s a disputed region.”
During the war, the topography had been changed by Dark Beasts, triggering border problems between the Kingdoms of Eosia and Casalia.
Leviathan let out a short sigh.
‘So the King of Casalia must have granted them entry.’
Casalia, a desert nation, was heavily reliant on magical devices and base mages. The Mage King no doubt exploited that.
“And what exactly are all those mages doing there?”
“They claim it’s for manastone prospecting.”
“Highly suspicious.”
“My thoughts exactly. What kind of manastone can they hope to find in an old ruin? But since Casalia has approved the investigation…”
“So… why did you send for me?”
“You’ve been to the Delcan Ruins, haven’t you?”
The Emperor didn’t hesitate.
“…You want me to go.”
“Your official purpose… will be to encourage an amicable settlement over the border dispute. It’ll be a diplomatic mission. But your involvement will be kept secret.”
He added in a grave tone,
“…Let me be clear: do not collide with the mages. Just find out what they’re investigating, what scheme they’re up to—that will be enough.”
The Emperor still hadn’t decided whether it was the right move to exclude the Mage Kingdom from the Continental Alliance.
There were countries like Casalia who depended heavily on the Mage Kingdom’s support.
Magic was, after all, a useful tool.
It was tempting to maintain the alliance by coaxing the mages along.
But the child soldier incident in the war was unforgivable, and the tracking mage business was an ongoing irritation. He felt a show of pressure was overdue.
“That’s why I don’t come to the capital,” Leviathan said icily.
At that, the Emperor smirked.
Taking it as a cue, an attendant stepped forward, presenting a large chest.