Youngest 233
by CristaeEpisode 233
An expedition to the Mage Kingdom.
Two days remaining.
Marchioness Mariel Weber paused as she entered the banquet hall.
The atmosphere in the hall was sharply divided.
One side of the Zevert family looked as if they were in mourning, dark and somber; the other side was already suffused with jubilation, as if they had received news of victory.
‘What’s this? Did they have a fight?’
‘Surely not.’
As the marchioness exchanged furtive glances with her attendant, she suddenly noticed what set the two groups apart.
Around the necks of those rejoicing hung golden necklaces shimmering with a blue light.
“Boo hoo. Hoo hoo hoo…”
“Father, please don’t cry. I know you’re frustrated, but I didn’t get one either.”
“Roze, my dear…”
The others wore nothing of the sort.
‘Ah, it seems the forerunners selected by Princess Rubian have been announced.’
There had been such an uproar over the past few days. Thinking of all those messy, underhanded maneuvers to win the favor of the youngest princess…
The marchioness’s face grew haggard.
“Ah, Marchioness, welcome.”
“Liam?”
It was the first time she’d seen the young master smile like that.
Liam tilted his head in greeting, making a show of the golden necklace jangling loudly at his throat.
At that moment, Void, who had been glaring at Liam with slitted eyes from the start, shouted out.
“To flaunt your prize in front of those who have none! A duel! Let’s fight for that necklace!”
“What’s that? Void, I can hardly hear you without a necklace.”
“Damn it!”
Void squeezed between Balok and Rosetta, burying his face in his fists, sobbing.
What a spectacle.
The marchioness clicked her tongue.
“By the way, where’s the princess responsible for this commotion?”
At that, Leviathan, who sat at the head table casually polishing his necklace, replied.
“She went out.”
“Out?”
“She’s been writing letters somewhere since yesterday. Seems she’s expecting someone today.”
“Alone?”
Just then, the duke’s grip tightened in disapproval.
He quickly checked to make sure he hadn’t scratched his precious necklace, then added,
“With Khalid…”
‘Ah.’
A date, perhaps?
That was the marchioness’s thought, but, as befitted an experienced noblewoman, she certainly did not voice it aloud.
Kal and I were sitting side by side before the southern gate portal, waiting for Licht and Princess Sevelena.
“Hm?”
My gaze wandered and fell on the crooked ribbon of Khalid’s uniform.
“Hey, your tie’s come un—”
“—! Don’t touch it!”
He recoiled in horror.
“Ruby, you have no idea how many hyenas are out there after this golden necklace of mine.”
“But it’s just gold-plated…”
I’d infused each round golden necklace with my mana.
I handed them out to those going to the Mage Kingdom with me, all with various features to prevent a commotion upon our arrival in Arcadia.
“So, what was the selection criteria? Stamina, mana, physical prowess, that sort of thing?”
“There really wasn’t one.”
“…”
“Our main task in Arcadia is to link up the portals, after all. I just picked people who seemed capable of slipping in quietly.”
Grandfather was the very opposite of ‘quiet’ and seemed destined for trouble—so, pass.
Mother insisted on bringing the mercenary maids—pass.
Void… was just a pass, period.
“And honestly, if the Mage King is planning continental invasion, we need to leave enough troops to defend the south. The imperial army will come, of course, but until then… And really, Void is a far better fit than Liam for holding the line.”
Besides, rumor had it the Mage King was conducting experiments with dark beast blood. Liam could be useful tracking any traces of that. Provided, of course, he didn’t get lost…
‘That’s why I added a lost-child prevention feature to Liam’s necklace.’
Nothing fancy—just a function to prevent him from wandering too far from others with the same necklace.
When he received it, my brother beamed and clapped with delight.
“By the way, how did you solve the problem with the auto-navigation mage device? Did you threaten someone?”
“Do you… just get your way by threatening people?”
“Maybe?”
“…”
He must have sensed my gaze, for he brushed some dust off my shoulder, grinning faintly.
He used to be my cute little puppy…
“Just kidding, of course.”
These days he’s more like a big guard dog.
“Tell me, master.”
Sigh.
With Licht and Sevelena likely to be a while, my lips slowly parted.
The previous day.
Outpost Mage Benjamin rubbed his eyes.
“This is the southern… shelter, isn’t it?”
“Please wait here.”
The knight’s response was terse; he stood nearby, saying no more.
“Until the mage tool has been verified, you’ll remain where I instruct.”
The Duke Zevert I’d met at the harbor spoke with an icy edge, so I feared I’d be imprisoned underground.
But instead, after spending two days in a nearby mansion, I was brought to a children’s shelter in the south.
Bemused, Benjamin sat on a bench, drifting into watching the bustling children nearby.
“I’m a dashing knight!”
“I’ll be the Treasurer!”
“What’s a Treasurer?”
“They’re the ones who handle the money, I hear.”
“Oh!”
“I’ll, um… I’ve got a big voice, so I’ll be Chief Gatekeeper!”
“I’ll be the Chamberlain! That’s the king’s closest servant!”
“Ha ha, you little rascals!”
Watching, Benjamin couldn’t suppress a laugh and called out,
“How can you play castle when there’s not a single king among you?”
Such a thing was unthinkable in the Mage Kingdom, but it was a common game in the empire.
The children turned to the old mage, their eyes bright with innocent curiosity. It was all so unfamiliar and fresh.
“We can’t do that!”
Hm?
“Because Ruby is our king!”
Their voices rose in perfect chorus.
“…Ruby?”
In that instant, Benjamin sensed a faint flow of mana.
“Wait, all of you—are you… mages?”
“Huh? Gramps, are you a mage too?”
The sharp girl who wanted to be Treasurer asked. Benjamin straightened in his seat and stroked his beard.
The knights had told him of recent happenings in the south on the way here, and he quickly guessed the truth about these children.
“Who… are you really…”
The kids showed untroubled, fearless faces, which gave him a sudden, wild thought.
“You—show me your Mage’s Crest!”
Just as he reached out to them, footsteps sounded nearby.
“Mister Benjamin?”
A woman with shimmering silver hair tied high on her head approached. Her small, pale face was gentle and delicately featured.
“You are…”
Supported by Duke Zevert—as if her leg were injured—she came closer.
“Hello!”
Her beaming greeting shone as she sat down beside him.
The knights nearby ushered the children away, and Duke Zevert leaned loosely against a distant tree, watching over the scene in the knights’ stead.
“Mister Benjamin, thank you for the mage tool.”
Rubian spoke with lively candor.
“I checked it myself—it’s an excellent auto-navigation mage device.”
“…”
“For returning to Babylon.”
Benjamin clicked his tongue inwardly.
He’d tangled the coordinates to be nearly impossible to decipher.
‘To have it revealed so soon…’
Had he always been outmatched? Or was this woman before him even more skilled than he’d feared?
Rubian’s lips curled into a gentle smile.
“I was actually planning to find you myself, Mister Benjamin, and ask you to craft an auto-navigation mage device for me. But you brought one at just the right moment.”
Benjamin fell silent.
“As I told my father, if you showed up first, I’d assume it was a trap. There was a high chance the Mage King was controlling your Mage’s Crest.”
“Controlling? I’ve no idea what you mean.”
Benjamin gave the princess a sidelong glance, feigning nonchalance.
“I don’t know how you verified it, but that tool… I made it of my own volition, to aid Babylon. If the coordinates were a mess, it was just the failing of an old man’s skill.”
“Is that the truth?”
“Princess, the Mage King… would never remember a lowly mage like me.”
His voice carried a weary sigh. Rubian laughed soundlessly.
“Perhaps the Mage King wouldn’t.”
“…”
“But what if his advisor—the ‘First’—would?”
The air turned cold and still.
“He wouldn’t have forgotten a single outpost mage left on the continent.”
The Mage King didn’t remember the weak. He paid as much mind to lowly mages as to stones by the roadside. But the ‘First’ was different.
“Even sending a low-ranking mage to pose as my so-called father—the sort of scheme the ‘First’ would devise.”
Rubian continued gently, her expression barely touched by amusement, though her eyes sparkled with unyielding sharpness.
“Having considered it all, I thought you must be my enemy… but after seeing that worthless mage device, I’m not so sure. The Mage King must have ordered you to lure me to Arcadia, didn’t he?”
The princess’s gaze moved to the old man’s wrinkled palm—etched with a nullification spell circle. He gripped it tightly.
“So tell me, Mister Benjamin—whose side are you really on?”