Youngest 231

Episode 231
“……!”

“You said you were searching for a route to the Mage Kingdom, didn’t you? This was created long ago when a problem arose with the southern portal. Though the portal was repaired before it could be completed, and thus it was never used… Having this will allow you to move forward without losing your way, disoriented by the Mage Kingdom’s barrier…”

The mage hesitated for a moment, then bowed his head deeply. The hand gripping his staff trembled faintly.

“I’m sorry, Marquis. This old man… I hid away until now, afraid of going to war.”

“Benjamin…”

“I had a vague sense that war would break out ever since the order to return arrived a few years back… But coming to the decision to betray the kingdom… That was so very difficult…”

The marquis furrowed his brows in sympathy and clasped the staff-bearing hand of the old man.

“But Marquis, you know. How hard I worked in my youth for House Weber and for the people of the south…”

Thick tears rolled down the wrinkled cheeks of the mage.

As the marquis quietly comforted him, he turned his head slightly toward Leviathan, who had been silently observing the scene all along.

‘It’s done, Duke!’

A barely concealed delight flickered across her face.

But Leviathan did not move in the slightest.

As Leviathan gazed steadily at the elderly mage, feeling the weight of that gaze, the mage slowly turned toward the duke and bowed.

“Duke Zevert, I apologize for the late greeting.”

“No need for that. Rather, how can you prove this artifact’s safety? On what grounds can I trust you?”

“Haha, do you suspect an old man who is simply waiting for his death?”

Cough, cough! The mage’s whole body shook with the force of his coughing. The marquis uttered a sympathetic sigh, but Leviathan did not so much as blink.

“If you remain uneasy, you can summon a mage from the capital to test it as you wish.”

Leviathan stared at him, stroking his chin. At a glance, his face appeared serious and deep in thought, but in reality…

‘My daughter is truly something of a genius.’

He was desperately fighting to suppress a proud grin threatening to break out like an overly doting parent.

“Father. It’s true I need the southern outpost mage, but the order matters.”

“Order? What do you mean?”

“The order of meeting. If I go to him, that’s one thing; but if he comes to find me first, that means…”

Whisper, whisper. My daughter’s sweet voice seemed to echo in my ear.

“I understand what you mean.”

Once Leviathan managed to collect himself, he called for a nearby adjutant.

With a brief nod, the adjutant boxed up the magic artifact and carried it off somewhere.

“Then, I’m sorry, but you’ll have to remain where I designate until the examination of the artifact is complete.”

At Leviathan’s words, the mage nodded obediently.

“As you wish.”

---

While Father was at the port.

Before setting off for the Mage Kingdom, I decided to take care of something very important first.

Everyone in the family was busy with their own tasks, so once again I used Khalid as my means of transportation and made my way to the fourth-floor parlor of the marquis’ mansion.

“So it’s you.”

Round, shining eyes stared up at me.

They were the young mages who had been sent to the south under orders from the Mage King.

‘They really are just kids.’

It struck me again. They couldn’t be more than ten to thirteen years old. There was no question—they were simply children.

‘The Mage King is such a bastard.’

I cursed silently and raised my hand in a shy greeting.

“Hi.”

Since I, too, get shy around strangers, my greeting was awkward, and the children huddled together, whispering among themselves.

“Is that the mage princess?”

“What do you mean, is that her? Of course it is, she arrived in the arms of her attendant.”

“She said hi. She must be a nice person.”

“But isn’t her attendant way too handsome?”

“Maybe the princess hires her attendants for their looks as well.”

Murmur, murmur.

“This is getting awkward. Hey, can you maybe put me down in that chair over there…”

“That would be difficult, Miss.”

Khal, freshly washed and radiant from the morning workout, grinned mischievously and held me even closer.

“I have a score to settle, you see.”

It was a silent demand to be included in the vanguard.

For some reason, the children burst into applause. Growing more uncomfortable, I coughed and turned my head.

At that moment, I noticed a girl curled up in the corner.

I thought she must be the very same young mage who had delivered the note from the Mage King to my father.

I approached her cautiously and spoke; at once, tears sprang from her eyes.

“I… I really thought I could become a royal mage… I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

The girl was tormented by guilt—both for receiving a self-destructing magical artifact, and for having drawn my father into all of it.

I hurriedly escaped Khal’s arms to hug the girl tightly.

And at the same time, I sensed her magical power.

‘Is there any sign the Mage King controlled her through the Mage’s Crest…’

My eyes darkened.

‘It doesn’t seem like it.’

Had the Mage King’s power not recovered enough to freely manipulate the Mage’s Crest?

Or was he lying low, contrary to my expectations, or moving in some other direction entirely?

“Don’t cry. It’s not your fault.”

“I’m so sorry, sister… I’ll do anything. If you want me to become your attendant, I will. I can even compete with that handsome big brother.”

“Hm, I don’t think anyone would prefer that. Ah, but would you lend me your strength for a bit?”

The girl roughly wiped away her tears and asked,

“What do I need to do?”

“I want to know what’s happening right now in the Mage Kingdom. What schemes the Mage King might be plotting.”

“It’s horrible there!”

A voice like a scream sprang from somewhere behind.

“Stop it, Damian! You’ll get yourself killed!”

Another child’s voice tried to halt her. The girl began to sob once more.

“Sister, I’m sorry, I really, really want to tell you—”

“You’re under a seal.”

“Sniff…”

I squeezed the hand of the girl, whose tears were like chicken droppings, and the warmth of her damp palm reached me.

Now, what to do?

I could destroy the cores in these children, freeing them from the Mage King’s hold.

Just as I once helped child mages escape at Canalran Gorge.

But that was always a last resort—a desperate gamble with the mage’s own life at stake. In truth, the best solution would be…

‘To erase only the Crest binding these children.’

“Ruby! What are you doing here all by yourself? Look at all that dirt! Good heavens!”

“Mother. This was it.”

Before heading south,

I visited my own grave at the memorial.

“Ruby, are your eyes red—?”

“In the end, digging up my own grave was the only way to obtain what I needed.”

“……”

“So even if I hadn’t used Princess Sevelena’s potion, I would have reached the truth of my birth seeking the Oath Sigil.”

And there, I found the magical formula necessary to break my own Crest. The Oath Sigil.

‘The magic I felt at the gravestone before wasn’t a mistake.’

Everything felt so expertly arranged that it was almost excessive. Was this fate?

At any rate, with mixed feelings, I dug through the blood-red earth laid bare by my mother’s hand. What I found among the upturned soil was…

The final formula, torn apart and half-fused into the dirt.

Using the power of Vizelia, I gathered the formula, crumbled to dust, and reconstructed it into magic words I could decipher.

“Hm. Good.”

Snapping out of my recollection, I straightened my back.

“Khal! Hand!”

When I reached my arm out, a large hand pressed firmly against my palm.

“Power on!”

At once, magic like a storm surged into me without resistance.

“Alright. Everybody, line up.”

“Huh? What for?”

“I have a sweet and refreshing treat for you.”

With a grin, I watched as the children hesitantly formed a line before me, expressions curious.

“Sweet and refreshing? Like the fruit soda we had earlier?”

Sweeping my hair back with the other hand, I laughed.

“Heh. It’s much better than that.”

“Really? There’s something better?”

“Of course. I’d call it… the taste of freedom.”

“Huh?”

The children all cocked their heads at once.

“Ah!”

Just then, the girl, realization dawning on her, opened her mouth like a chick.

“No way, sister…!”

Shh. With a quiet wink, I pressed my finger to the girl’s lips.

“It’s still a secret.”

As if spellbound, the girl nodded, then suddenly frowned.

“But sister, your hand tastes salty…”

“Shh. That’s the taste of your own tears. You won’t have much reason to cry from now on, so taste it while you can.”

“Nom.”

As laughter blossomed on those childish faces, I cast my spell.

The magic I’d spent years searching for—the spell to erase the Crests that had bound the mages of the Mage Kingdom.