Youngest 210
by Cristae210
Asha let out an exasperated cry.
“No! No! That’s not how you do it! Hold it gently by the end so the mana doesn’t get unstable… Haah, non-mages, honestly.”
On the bridge leading to Sapphire Hall.
The servants were busily repairing the collapsed bridge.
Asha Drukan anxiously watched the tiny skiffs going back and forth across the lake.
They were bringing over a new crate of magical fireworks, since the old ones had all exploded.
How could the palace staff be so careless!
If anything else blew up, the Duke of Zevert might very well blow her head off himself!
‘Well, he did just leave, but still.’
The Duke had departed with a grim face, taking a boat along with the Emperor to the capital proper.
“Hey! Careful with that—please!”
Asha rolled her eyes, keeping a watchful eye on the situation, then disappeared, saying she’d check on the bridge repairs.
No sooner had that prickly Outpost Mage, who had been squawking like an over-alert deer, left, than a servant carrying the magical contraption could hold back his irritation no longer.
“Hey, why are you wobbling like that? If you drop the crate again, there’ll be real trouble!”
“Sorry, old man,” replied a bearded man, raising an apologetic eyebrow.
“But you… Are you one of the servants picked for this ball?”
“Oh, not exactly, but I brought my boat and saw you were short on hands, so I thought I’d help.”
“A boatman, eh?”
“Well…”
Together, they carried the magical device crate to the spot the Outpost Mage had marked. The servant, clapping the dust from his hands, offered some advice.
“Appreciate the help, but you’d best be on your way. The majordomo is very particular, since even His Majesty himself has devoted special effort to this celebration. He won’t be pleased to see an unauthorized worker about.”
“Oh, quite right.”
The boatman stroked his beard and offered an affable smile as he turned away.
“All right, let’s get the next load! The bridge repairs coming along? Why’s everything so slow?”
He walked off, leaving the others to their work.
Hidden in his coat was a magical firework device he had just pilfered.
Set it off into the sky and it would be a beautiful display. But set it off at the wrong target…
…it would become a small bomb.
“I bribed one of the noble’s attendants. He’ll pretend to drop the crate of magical devices and blow up the bridge to Sapphire Hall.”
“…”
“That’ll force everyone to travel by boat. When that happens, you—the boatman—wait for your chance…”
The voice of the First Prince echoed in his mind like an hallucination.
“Stab the Fourth Prince with this needle and capsize the boat.”
The needle the First Prince had handed him gleamed in the dim light. A sniff revealed it was laced with a paralyzing poison.
“W-while alone in the boat, you mean, attack a member of the royal family?”
“You can just pretend to hand something over and graze him with it! Or lunge as if you’ve stumbled!”
“Uh…”
“That fox is digging into my business and plotting. This should put things to rest for a while. I’m not going to simply stand back and take it.”
While Licht was forced to recover after falling into the water, the First Prince planned to resolve urgent matters and set his next schemes in motion.
“What’s the best way to capsize the boat?”
“Steal a firework device and detonate it. Since the bridge is out, the magical supplies will be moved by boat, so it won’t seem odd if one or two were ‘accidentally’ dropped in the boat.”
That way, evidence like the poisoned needle would rest forever at the bottom of the lake.
‘Once it’s done, I’ll just swim away and escape the palace.’
The boatman thought of the bag of gold coins the First Prince had pressed into his hand. His heart pounded with anticipation.
‘The problem is, how to get the Fourth Prince onto my boat.’
The ball was still in full swing.
With the second half of the dance soon to begin, Licht would surely not be seen for a while.
He resolved to keep a close watch on the situation while lying low. Just then—
“Hey, you’re the boatman? The Fourth Prince is looking for you.”
“What?”
His eyes went wide.
“Seems there’s urgent business at the capital. Get ready.”
“Ah, y-yes, sir!”
This was it.
The boatman rushed off to prepare the boat.
Before long, Licht appeared.
‘Is that a maid?’
The prince was with a woman in a maid’s cloak. Though it bothered him to see Licht wasn’t alone, the boatman plastered on a polite smile and loosed the mooring rope.
‘No knight, and just a puny little woman. If anything happens, I can handle her by force—no danger there.’
“Where is my father?”
Hearing the urgency in my voice, Licht didn’t press for details—he simply led me out of the ballroom. On the way, he found a maid’s cloak and handed it to me.
“The Duke of Zevert has gone back to the capital. The Emperor received an urgent message.”
“An urgent message?”
“It seems something’s happened in the south. He left by boat only moments ago—you can catch up if you hurry.”
Licht carefully wrapped the cloak about me.
“If the guest of honor suddenly disappears, it’ll draw attention. Better to hide your face, at least for now.”
“We’ll go straight to the capital. His Grace just left, yes?”
“Y-yes,” replied the boatman, bowing his head at the prince’s words.
I stood quietly in the maid’s cloak as though I were Licht’s attendant. I could feel the boatman casting glances my way, but Licht subtly blocked his view, so I drew no further attention.
“Please, step onto this boat.”
He indicated a pleasure craft, lavishly decorated and lined with velvet cushions.
“Forgive its condition—it was just used to move magical supplies, so it’s not properly prepared. There wasn’t time to find another.”
“That’s fine.”
“Then let’s depart.”
“Hurry.”
Creak, creak. The boat glided through the water, cutting the current.
Night had fallen over the lake, and several magical orbs floated at intervals like lanterns, set there by Asha.
A road of light spanned the black lake—a breathtaking sight, but I had no mind to spare for such things.
‘I’ll see for myself.’
The truth of this potion.
Only after the cold wind off the river struck me did I remember that Mother Rosetta and Grandfather were still at the ballroom.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t really needed to chase after Father so urgently…
“…”
When I glanced back, Sapphire Hall was already far behind us. I watched the boatman rowing for all he was worth.
It was then.
A crackling signal sounded in my ear. Only then did I remember Khalid’s presence, and I pressed my earlobe with a tinge of embarrassment.
[Ruby.]
‘Kal? Sorry, my head’s a mess—’
[Sorry. I’m with Duke Zevert right now.]
Before I could finish, Khalid added hurriedly.
‘What?’
He spoke quickly, in a low tone.
[A magical beast has appeared in the south. But the energy is a little strange.]
‘Strange how?’
[On the corpses, there were traces that looked like Dark Beast residue.]
‘What did you say?’
A chill poured through me from head to toe.
Dark Beasts? Did the Mage King succeed in summoning a Dark Mage?
At a loss for words, my lips parted soundlessly, and Khalid spoke again in a soothing, low voice.
[Ruby, calm down. It doesn’t mean a Dark Beast has appeared. In any case, I have to check this out myself.]
At last, I understood.
This was why Father had left the ball so suddenly, without a word to me.
[I’m only telling you because I thought you’d be anxious if you heard a rumor. Actually, the Duke insisted I only tell you after the ball was over. Huh?]
Khalid, speaking calmly as if to himself, suddenly paused mid-sentence.
‘What is it?’
A sudden wave of unease washed over me; I pressed my earlobe more tightly, waiting for him to continue.
“Rubian, is something wrong?”
Licht, sitting beside me, regarded me with concern.
Just then, the boat gave a heavy lurch.
The boatman, rowing at the stern, had slipped.
“Ah! I’m sorry! It’s so dark, my foot slipped…”
He apologized repeatedly as he righted himself and resumed rowing. It was only a minor jolt—nothing serious.
With a cool gaze, Licht edged me further into the boat for protection, one hand quietly grasping his sword.
‘Kal? What’s wrong?’
[Ah, the Duke—]
At that moment, I saw a light rapidly approaching from the direction of our destination. My eyes widened.
[He’s suddenly heading back?]