Youngest 229

Episode 229

But this time, Mother’s hand gently rose.

“I’m absolutely against it, too.”

“Sorry, Rub. I’m opposed as well.”

“…Excuse me, but what is this conversation? Who’s the real daughter here?”

Liam seemed to mutter something, pale and aghast, but I couldn’t hear him over my shock at my family’s reactions.

“What the—why! Why are you against it!”

“Because it’s obviously a trap.”

Father, arms crossed and one leg slung over the other, calmly assessed the situation.

“In the first place, you’re what the Mage King is after. Just handing you over to him ourselves—it makes no sense.”

“But that—!”

“I’ll go to the Mage Kingdom myself. My order is already in the south; if we push forward now…”

I clenched my hand atop the table. My lips jutted out in frustration.

“Dad. Why did you give me this necklace? Isn’t it to commemorate my coming of age? Didn’t you always say that once I turned eighteen, I could go on assignments with you?”

“Of course, Ruby, that’s true, but…”

Father gave a long sigh, glancing at my wound.

“I can’t take you somewhere so obviously dangerous. This has nothing to do with your age.”

He was adamant.

I glared at him with smoldering eyes. We bickered every day, but it was rare for Father and me to truly clash, so a tense air settled between us.

With a long sigh, I straightened from where I’d been leaning on the table.

“Then, Duke Father, how do you plan to push through all the way to Arcadia?”

“Well, that’s…”

“By using those little mages? Aren’t they so scared at the mention of the Mage Kingdom that they cry? Or are you planning to put them on a ship to the Mage Kingdom under the pretext of needing guides? By the way, weren’t the navigation magic tools they had only one-way?”

Seizing the moment before Father could reply, I pressed on.

‘Ugh, sorry, Dad.’

But I can’t lose this argument…

“And even if by some miracle you make it to the Mage Kingdom—then what? Has anyone here ever been to Arcadia? The terrain there is a maze. Who knows the shortcut to the palace? And what if the mages ambush you on the way? Who here can sense their mana and tip us off in time if there’s a surprise attack?”

“…”

“Yes! That would be me!”

Of course, I understood why my family wanted to stop me.

The Mage King was king of all mages—the one at the very top of the power structure. Even I feared that his limits were unknowable. Most frightening of all was that he had nothing to protect.

Those with nothing to lose can so easily break their own limits, spiral out of control, or commit acts of destruction beyond my comprehension.

And yet, we were planning to invade the very land where such a Mage King could move at will.

I might well end up far more gravely injured than just my leg.

But hiding behind my family now—nothing could be more hateful.

The Mage King was Father’s arch-nemesis, yes.

But he was mine, too.

A heavy silence filled the room.

No one in my family could refute my points, clear and logical as they were. The truth was, my arguments were simply too reasonable.

“…Hoo.”

Eventually, a long, deep sigh escaped Father’s lips. In it, I heard resignation.

There was a little more pushback from the others, but none of them could break my stubbornness.

After all, this was an argument I was destined to win. Perhaps even Father and the others opposed me knowing that.

“If only you could be ten forever. So you could hide behind me all your life.”

His face, stroking my hair, looked somehow a little sad.

But only for a moment; quickly, returning to his usual expression, Father straightened his back.

“…Alright. Then let’s discuss how we’ll get to the Mage Kingdom.”

Thinking it over, I spoke.

“Normally, we’d use a portal or travel by sea, but as things stand…”

The portal to the Mage Kingdom was currently cut off from Babylon.

It was like a phone call where the other line never picks up—a forced connection was impossible.

‘That’s why Kal came to meet me when I traveled from the north to the south last time.’

Actually, activating the portal was just a matter of pressing the magical device switch embedded in the gate, so even a non-mage could do it. Come to think of it, he’d had no need to meet me there.

In any case.

“Portal travel isn’t possible right now,” I concluded simply.

‘Unless someone in the Mage Kingdom opens the way from their side, that is.’

“Then we’ll have to use the exploration ship we’re preparing this time.”

“But every attempt has failed at the Mage Kingdom’s barrier before.”

“I’ll make a magic device.”

I grinned.

“An automatic navigation device. As long as we have the coordinates, it’ll get us anywhere with no trouble. And the coordinates are probably…”

“…”

“The outpost mage in the south will know.”

I took a scrap of paper from my pocket—small enough not to cover even half my palm, its edges tinged blue where it burned.

“This is…”

Of course, it was Father who recognized it first.

“Recently, the ‘second’ seems to have regained their senses. Knowing I’m in the south, they revealed quite a bit to me… Including advice to seek out the southern outpost mage.”

I picked up whatever pen was at hand and wrote, Blue flame flared, consuming the paper completely.

“But I heard the southern mage disappeared ages ago. There were even rumors they died long ago, or had already returned to the Mage Kingdom.”

Mother added,

“Marquis Weber said he would look into it for us, so let’s wait and see. If not, Khalid said he’d track the mage’s mana in the area. Right?”

Khalid, seated like a shadow, silently nodded his agreement.

The rest of the family nodded in understanding.

“Then what about after we reach the Mage Kingdom?”

Void asked.

“Hmm…”

At last, I voiced the plan I’d been turning over in my mind.

“I think we should split into two groups.”

Father frowned at my words but did not object. He already seemed to know my reasoning.

“To fight in the Mage Kingdom, we’ll need a substantial force. The battle-mages there will give it everything they’ve got. Obviously, our family alone isn’t enough.”

I turned toward Father.

“We can’t transport a large force on the exploration ship. Isn’t that right, Dad?”

“Yes. It’s no warship.”

“And there isn’t enough time to ready other warships. Babylon’s troops are relatively weak at sea combat, too.”

Grandfather added,

“In the end, for a full-scale engagement with the Mage Kingdom, the troops will have to move via portal. Which means…”

“Someone will have to go first and open the gateway from inside the Mage Kingdom.”

Mother flatly concluded.

I smiled, nodding.

“In other words, we’ll be the advance party.”

Hmmm. My gaze slowly swept the room.

“I know exactly where the transportation portal is in Arcadia, so naturally I’ll be in the advance party… Which probably means I’ll end up as the leader of this team.”

At that, the atmosphere in the room froze.

“How about it?”

Grinning, I gave a thumbs-up and offered it across the table.

“Who will join me in this great endeavor…”

“…”

“Recruiting underlings.”

Thud.

Like a gust of wind, someone clasped my raised thumb.

“Me.”

Khalid, long silent, spoke at last.

It was as if he’d done nothing but watch for my move, snapping up my thumb the instant I raised it.

“Captain, I may not be strongest, but—”

Khalid hurriedly pushed the sword at his hip far away.

“I’m a mage. I’ll serve wholeheartedly as your aide.”

“Wow, look at this sly fox. Not an ounce of a knight’s pride in him.”

Void muttered, dumbfounded. At that moment—crash!—the table split apart.

“See? Now Grandfather’s mad—”

“Iiiiiiii am!”

A booming self-introduction began.

“A former vanguard! Victorious in two hundred battles out of a hundred wars!”

“How do you win two hundred battles if there were only a hundred wars?”

“I made more fights where there weren’t any!”

“That’s just being a brawler…”

“Watch your mouth, kid!”

Void tried to object, but Grandfather’s iron fists clamped over both his temples, leaving him utterly defeated.