Youngest 238
by Cristae238
I appeared behind Father.
“Amazing, isn’t it?”
Pop. This time, right next to Khalid.
“Wahahahaha!”
Next, directly in front of Licht as he buckled his sword! On top of Brother Liam’s back as he poked through beach debris!
“Isn’t it amaaazing? Impressive, right? Huh?”
Yahoo! Yahoo, yahoo!
The moment I arrived on the southern shore of Arcadia, I began teleporting wildly, casting spells like mad.
Teleportation magic was high-level, but any mana I used quickly returned. The short distances consumed little energy.
‘And it’s even easier than when I was a kid!’
Perhaps I’d gained some knack for manipulating magic circles.
The mana of Arcadia was so dense I could see the bluish flow of its power with the naked eye. And that power seemed to cling to me, as if welcoming me.
“Hahahahaha! I’m a mage!”
“I raised her to be modest,” Father said, shrugging apologetically to those nearby.
The golden necklace round his neck reacted to the ambient mana, activating. Soon, a bluish aura of mana swirled around Father’s massive form.
Having hidden the ship with an invisibility spell to keep out of sight, we quietly dropped anchor beneath the cliffs. A few guards, alerted to the disturbance, rushed over, but Khalid dealt with them swiftly as he leapt from the ship like a gale.
Father gave orders to the senior knights.
“For now, you lot wait here. If you’re attacked, Leon, it’s up to you to decide whether to fight or flee.”
“Understood.”
Sir Leon and the other senior knights hurriedly donned mage robes and stowed the ship between the cliffs.
Since our priority was reaching the Arcadia portal, we decided to move with a small, elite group.
On the white sand beach, I sketched a rough map.
“We’re on Arcadia’s southern coast, so first we all need to head a little north towards the center. Along the way, we’ll come upon the southern temple where Benjamin was. We’ll use the portal located there.”
Since the portal hadn’t been used in a long time, I was a little anxious about whether it would still work. But being an abandoned temple with no people around made it the best option.
“If the temple portal is down, we’ll need to go further north and use a village portal instead. But that’s risky, so it’s our backup plan. Also, mages who patrol regularly are probably here, and here…”
As I poked at the map with my finger, Liam, who had been silent, pushed up his glasses with a grave expression.
“This is… an anatomical diagram of a mud beast?”
“Liam, close your eyes. If you look at this map, you’ll wander lost forever.”
“Rubian… you’re as hopeless with drawing as ever.”
“I understood everything,” Khalid said at last. All eyes snapped to him.
“Traitor in our midst,” Brother Liam muttered, shoving up his glasses in mad fury as he glanced at Khalid. As always, Khalid merely shrugged and rose to his feet.
“Let’s go. We don’t have time.”
Dusting off my hands, I gazed thoughtfully at Khalid’s broad back.
He swept his eyes over the empty coast and muttered, “Not a village in sight.” He seemed no different from usual.
‘Is he… alright?’
I couldn’t tell.
Maybe if I just held his hand I’d know…
‘But now I can’t even use magic as an excuse to touch his hand.’
What do I do, I’m doomed.
I regretted that earlier bout of showing off. I should have kept my humility.
Carefully, we left the southern shore of Arcadia behind us.
Unlike the Empire, which was ringed by port cities, Arcadia had little contact with other nations and its villages were built around teleportation portals. Few mages could use teleportation themselves, so portals effectively served as their main means of travel.
The capital—where the royal palace stood—was in the central region, commonly called the royal city.
‘Traveling there by portal would be convenient, but since we’re infiltrating, that’s not an option.’
Besides the royal city, the palace itself held several portals.
But, of course, the area would be swarming with palace mages; until we secured our own forces, we couldn’t use those portals.
‘And my strength isn’t enough to teleport this many people at once.’
Which means, in the end, we’d have to walk honestly to the southern temple.
‘At least it’s not far.’
Besides, Arcadia was a country sparsely populated for its size.
Few traveled on foot; as long as we avoided patrols, chances were slim we’d encounter anyone.
“Air quality isn’t great in the Mage Kingdom,” Liam said, sticking close by.
“Yeah. The air by the shore seemed a bit better, but now it’s just some kind of thick haze.”
Licht, keeping an eye out ahead with Khalid, waved his hand through the murky air.
‘It feels like there are impurities mixed in with the mana. The closer we get to the center, the worse it gets.’
“Ah! I should’ve brought a mask!”
Blurting out the sudden thought, I saw Father’s face scrunch up beside me as he kept pace.
“You mean that little thief’s item?”
“I’m not a thief.”
Father teasingly tapped his foot at me, but I lost my chance for revenge.
Licht chuckled at the scene, then resumed his vigil, cutting down a stray young beast that burst from the brush.
‘Look at him.’
He’s a prince, after all.
Soon to be crown prince, even.
‘Shouldn’t he be the one in my place at the front?’
Why am I the one getting all the attention as if I’m royalty, not the crown prince-to-be?
And why is he beaming like a pleased knight as he kicks beasts aside with a grin?
I had no clue.
“Sigh. This really is uncomfortable,” Liam grumbled again, pondering the iniquities of the class system.
Rattle, rattle.
Hearing the familiar clatter, my eyes darkened.
“Get rid of that cart, would you? When did you even bring it?”
“Get rid of it? How could you say such a thing…! It’s my other self!”
Liam’s cart, making its first appearance in a while, was now piled not with books but with scientific instruments and emergency medicine. And—
“If you get hungry, just say so, fairy. I can prepare a feast in no time, right here.”
“We’re not on a picnic, you know.”
There were even foods labeled .
“And that phrase isn’t for people, you know.”
“…? Of course it’s meant for magical beasts.”
“What?”
“Our fairy needs to eat and sleep well wherever we are. By the way, want a lift?”
Appalled, I darted around Father to escape to the other side. He caught up to me soon enough.
“Come on, let’s stop the tomfoolery and keep it down, will you?”
Father nagged me like a parent scolding their precious child running in a restaurant.
A little embarrassed, I cast a silencing spell on Liam’s rattling cart. As he gained a magically silent cart, he strove to contain his overwhelming gratitude.
“By the way, I agree with Liam—the clothes are uncomfortable,” Father complained this time.
“It’s stifling enough to die.”
He flapped the priest’s robe he had donned for disguise. We’d swiped it from the guards’ sentry post on the shore earlier. Just in case we ran into anyone, he was posing as a palace mage.
The white robe was a symbol of the mages who served the royal palace.
It had a tall collar and a cape design covering the arms and chest, giving an extremely neat look.
Of course, Father…
‘It really doesn’t suit him.’
Utterly ill-suited.
Like mixing oil and water. Nothing about him matched such tidiness.
“Buttons, strings, collar—all failed, Father. It’s hard to tell if you’re wearing it or just set it atop yourself.”
“I never wanted to pass in the first place, son.”
Liam, looking like a monk who’d spent a lifetime in spotless asceticism, turned his head away with a snort.
“But why do all palace mages wear priest robes?”
Licht, the epitome of divine beauty and mercy, asked quietly. I answered, “It was a sign that they served the goddess directly. That’s why the palace was built like a great temple, and the mages who served there wore priest’s garb…”
“Oh, I’ve heard that. So in the beginning, it practically started as a theocracy.”
“It’s long since been corrupted, though. Look at that—provincial temples abandoned to ruin, the priests all driven out.”
My finger pointed up toward the gentle hill where a white stone building stood.
Broad plains stretched out in front of us, and behind the building, thick cedar forest rose.
Our destination had come into sight at last.
“The Mage King will be cursed by the goddess yet.”
Khalid snickered.
“He won’t die easy, by the looks of it.”
Perhaps because he was at the front, cutting down the occasional low-ranked beast.
His pristine robe was increasingly spattered with crimson. If Father looked like a delinquent priest, Khalid had already crossed the line into full corruption—something altogether blasphemous.
Next to us, Liam cursed the Mage King faster than the goddess ever could.
“May he wash his hair with lava and snack on a bowl of needle soup.”
Ugh.
The thought alone was ghastly.
So—amen to that.
The white stone building was half-ruined.
Gone was the brilliance of its golden past; now it was nothing more than dirty, battered wreckage, waiting to be worn away by the wind.
“Ruby, stick close behind with Liam.”
With that, Father drew his sword and began keeping a sharper lookout.
Passing beneath the great archway, a wide forecourt opened up. Between broken fountains and scattered ornaments, a haze of dust hung over everything.
“No suspicious signs,” Khalid said sharply.
“This way.”
We followed the corridor running along both sides, heading for the main sanctuary at the very back.
The building with its thick columns and huge domed roof was, amazingly, the best-preserved place here.
“The portal should be in the chapel, toward the back.”
Just as I recalled Benjamin’s words and headed for the central sanctuary, Father beside me suddenly stiffened.
“Father?”