The Royal Family

A few days later, I finished transcribing the mural onto paper.

What came in handy during that was a little Null magic spell called [Drawing]

that I learned. It allowed me to take anything I saw and replicate that perfectly

on paper. In short, I became a photocopier.

In fact, I didn't even touch pen to paper. The spell worked by conjuring up the

symbols straight onto the paper, so I really was like an actual photocopier. I

simply had to look at the image on my smartphone's screen in order to finish

copying it down. The spell was less [Drawing] and more [Printing], not that I

really cared too much about the name either way.

The important part was that with the spell, I had effectively acquired a

printer. As a test, I took down several new recipes for sweets and gave those to

Aer, and she almost exploded with joy. I was thankful that I was able to

translate the words as part of the printing process, if I focused hard enough.

The only downside was that I had to use [Search] to find the actual ingredient

names one by one.

I'd learned to use one of the one hundred yen coins that I had been carrying

to deal with anything concerning weight. Notice these things sooner, idiot, I told

myself.

My next job was to deliver the mural transcript to the capital. I did ask the

others if any of them wanted to tag along, but it seemed like the thought of

meeting the duke again made them all too nervous, so they declined.

It was at those times that I really felt the difference in my perception of what

a noble was, compared to how everyone else thought of them. I mean, there

weren't exactly any nobles back in Japan. Though, strictly speaking, there may

have been some in the past.

I took the bundle of transcribed papers in hand and cast my trusty [Gate]

spell. Stepping through the light, I arrived directly in front of the gate to the

duke's estate.

"What the—?!"

"Whoops, sorry about that..." The guard was startled by my sudden

appearance. To tell the truth, I had been startling this poor guard like that every

time I came to the duke's estate. I kind of wished he'd just get used to it

already, but that was still going to take a while from the looks of things.

Wait a sec... The gate opened and a carriage came out. Were they going out

somewhere? I figured I had timed my visit poorly.

"Touya, is that you?! Thank the heavens! Please, get in!"

"Huh? Wait... Wha?! What's going on?!" The carriage door swung open and

the duke swept down like a bird of prey, grabbed me by the arm, and whisked

me up into the carriage in one movement. Seriously, what the heck?!

"To think you would appear with such impeccable timing...! You're truly a

godsend. I give Him my thanks." The duke started fervently praying.

I mean, technically God did send me here, so... At any rate, the duke's

behavior was definitely not normal. I'd never seen him so frantic before. I

wondered what in the world had happened.

"What happened, exactly?" At my sudden question, sweat appeared on the

duke's forehead as he answered in a rather panicked tone.

"My brother has been poisoned."

...Come again, sire? Wasn't the duke's brother... the king? Was this a case of

royal assassination?

"Fortunately, treatment was delivered swiftly, so he's still hanging on... For

now." The duke's voice came out trembling as he sat face-down, gripping his

hands together tightly. I mean, his brother was on the verge of death. Anyone

would be worried in that situation.

"Do you have any idea who the culprit could have been?"

"...There's one prime suspect, but we have no proof. Surely you remember

the incident where Sue was attacked, yes? I believe both of these crimes were

orchestrated... by the same individual."

"But why would they want to kill the king? Oh, hang on, could it have been an

assassin sent from outside of the country or..."

"If only it were that simple..." The duke let out a sigh and raised his head. He

wore a terrible expression on his face.

"Our Kingdom of Belfast is surrounded by three other countries. To the west

is the Refreese Imperium, to the east sandwiched in the Melicia mountain range

is the Regulus Empire, and to the south by the Great Gau River is the Kingdom

of Mismede. Of these, we have been on good terms with the Refreese

Imperium for a great many years." I see, I see.

"As for the Regulus Empire, we signed a nonaggression pact after the war

twenty years ago, but I cannot exactly say that we're on good terms. It wouldn't

be strange if they launched another attack on us at any moment. Now, as for

the Mismede Kingdom, this is where things get complicated."

"Complicated how, exactly?"

"Mismede is a new kingdom that was established during the war with Regulus

twenty years ago. My brother has been trying to form an official alliance with

this new kingdom, partly to stave off the threat of Regulus, and partly to open

up more trade routes between our two kingdoms. However, there are some

nobles who are very displeased with his decision."

"What's their problem?" If the Regulus Empire could attack again any day,

then it would make more sense to gain as many allies as possible before that

happened. Maybe it wasn't so simple, though.

"Mismede is a kingdom of demi-humans ruled by a beastman king. Some of

the older nobles despise the idea of, well... forming an alliance with a kingdom

like that."

"...Okay, but why?" These nobles would even go out of their way to obstruct

things that would benefit the country just because they didn't like the idea of

an alliance with demi-humans? I couldn't understand that reasoning at all. If

they were simple beasts who couldn't be reasoned with, then that was one

thing, but the beastmen were perfectly capable of holding a conversation. And

that little beastgirl Arma was such a nice kid, too.

"In the past, demi-humans were seen as an inferior race and were the target

of much discrimination. They were treated like a race of crude savages.

However, this all changed during our father's generation. A law was created

such that demi-humans no longer be treated as inferior or discriminated

against. With that, the old ways died out, and demi-humans were able to walk

around with their heads held high without worry. Even as we speak, there are

plenty of them in the castle town itself. On the surface, discrimination against

them is all but gone, but in reality there are still some nobles stuck in the past

who refuse to treat them fairly."

"Discrimination, huh..."

"That's correct. Their opinions are that we should not have to join hands with

a country of savages. Some even insist that we should simply destroy their

kingdom and claim the land for our own. To the nobles of that disposition, my

brother is a very big nuisance." That made sense. So the culprits behind the

assassination plot were probably those old nobles, but was it really necessary

for them to go so far? I felt that it was all wrong. Could it really be so bad that

they'd want to kill the king over it? Hell, if the king died, wouldn't those nobles

be the ones to suffer the most?

"Were my brother to die, the throne would go to his lone daughter, Princess

Yumina. The older nobles are probably seeking to have the princess marry one

of their sons or relatives in order to claw their way into the royal bloodline.

After that, they would be free to abuse their power to purge all of the demihumans from the country... I'm beginning to think that the ones who tried to

kidnap Sue were not trying to twist my arm, but my brother's instead."

A case of "Do as we say if you value your niece's life," then. They wanted to

cut off relations with Mismede bad enough to take hostages. The princess

probably had strong guards protecting her, so they would've aimed for a

relative like the king's niece instead... And then they might've gotten carried

away and demanded that the king marry his daughter off to one of their sons.

Something about the whole thing just felt like the plot of a goofy evil

mastermind from a cartoon or something. The culprit was probably a complete

idiot.

If they were caught, they'd probably get the death sentence right away. I

could almost picture them as the villain in some period drama. Like a greedy

merchant or a corrupt magistrate, something like that.

"So, uh, what do you need me to do?"

"I need you to expel the poison from my brother's body, by way of the same

spell you cured Ellen with." The spell that heals any status ailments, [Recovery].

That made sense. With that spell, not only the poison itself, but all of the effects

it had on the body would be reverted to normal. That explained why the duke

whisked me up into the carriage. And in such a rush, too.

While we were discussing all of this, the duke's carriage pulled through the

castle gates, across the drawbridge, and into the castle grounds. The duke then

rushed me into the castle in a flurry, and we were greeted by a massive hall

covered in bright red carpets. It was my first time in a castle. Everything there

was massive.

From where we were in the center of the hall, I could see a pair of staircases

to the left and right, curved around and leading up to the next floor. On the

ceiling there was a brilliant chandelier, sparkling like stars in the night sky. It

didn't appear to have any candles, though. Was it infused with Light magic? The

duke and I made a dash up the red-carpeted stairs and got up to a small landing

where we crossed paths with a certain man.

"Well well, if it isn't Your Highness the Duke. It is good to see you again."

"Tsk...! Count Balsa..." The duke met the man in front of him with an intense

gaze. He was a plump, thin-haired little man in a showy outfit. His appearance

called to mind the image of a toad. The toad gazed at us with a large, slimy grin.

"You can rest easy. We've captured the one who tried to assassinate His

Majesty."

"What did you say?!"

"That's right, it was the ambassador from Mismede. His Highness collapsed

after drinking a glass of wine, and we later discovered that it was the very wine

the ambassador had offered as a gift."

"That's absurd..." The duke's expression changed. He clearly doubted what he

just heard. If that story were true, then it wouldn't just open a rift between the

two kingdoms, it could easily lead to all-out war.

I really doubt that's what happened. Doesn't make sense for the other

kingdom to do something like that.

"The ambassador is currently being confined in another room. We should

have that filthy animal executed immediately. Chop off her head and send it

back to Mismede, I say..."

"We shall do no such thing! These decisions are for my brother to make! You

will keep the ambassador alive in that room until my brother comes to a

decision!"

"Very well... You really do show far too much sympathy to the likes of a

beastman... At any rate, I will see that she is kept restrained for the time being.

However, if the worst should come to pass, I will not be able to keep the other

nobles in check. They will likely all respond exactly as I wished to." Count Balsa

stood there with a repulsive smile on his face. I see... So he's one of the old

nobles who're opposed to the king's decree on the treatment of demi-human

species. No, he could even be the very mastermind behind the poisoning...

From the way the duke was glaring at the toad, it seemed my guess was dead

on the mark. Yup. This guy? Guilty. Case closed.

"Well then, allow me to be on my way. It seems things are about to get quite

exciting around here." With those words, the toad began to descend the stairs

with a lumbering gait. Things were going to get exciting? Why, because the king

was going to die? The duke's hands were trembling with rage as he saw off

Count Baldy. Alright, let's give this toad a little taste of justice.

"[Slip]."

"Urrbuoah?!" The toad slipped magnificently and rocketed down the stairs

with unparalleled grace. Nothing could stop him as he went tumbling down,

rolling down the stairs until eventually his momentum catapulted him out onto

the carpet of the bottom floor.

"Oof!" Upon reaching the bottom floor, the toad tried to put on a mask of

composure as he tottered to his feet. The surrounding maids and the knights on

guard duty were all trembling trying to suppress their laughter. Damn... He

made it out mostly fine...

The blank-faced duke turned to me when he heard me clicking my tongue,

and inquired of me.

"Was that your doing?" No words were necessary. I threw him a thumbs up

with a smile as clear as the day blue sky. The duke was absolutely astonished

with me at first, but eventually his face softened into a smile as well.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Now, we can't keep dawdling around here all day. We must make haste!"

We resumed our journey up the stairs and proceeded down a long corridor. At

the end of the corridor was a door guarded by the king's strongest personal

guards. The guards noticed the duke approaching and respectfully bowed their

heads as they opened the large door behind them.

"Brother!" What I saw as I walked into the room with the duke was a

gorgeous bed with a large canopy, bathing in the sun's rays and surrounded by

a number of people. All of the people in the room were gazing at the figure on

the bed, most likely the king himself, with sorrowful expressions.

Gripping the king's hand as she sat by his side was a young girl. Next to her

was a woman sitting in a chair, crying. The others present were an old man in

gray robes with a grave expression, a jade-haired woman with downcast eyes

holding a golden khakkhara, and a splendidly mustachioed man in a military

uniform whose shoulders seemed to be shaking with rage.

The duke strode up briskly to the side of the bed and began talking to the old

man in gray robes.

"What's my brother's condition?!"

"We've done all we can, but we've never seen these symptoms from any kind

of known poison... At this rate, I fear the worst..." The old man closed his eyes

and lightly shook his head. Just then, the king began talking in a very hoarse

voice.

"Al..."

"I'm here, brother."

"...I leave my wife and daughter... in your hands... The alliance with

Mismede... you must..."

"Touya, please help!" I snapped out of observation mode and rushed to the

king's side. The military man made moves to stop me, but the duke held him

back.

The king rested there, gazing at me with clouded-over eyes like a dying fish,

and mouthed "Who is that?" in a wordless voice. Between his pale complexion,

his dried out lips, and his incredibly faint breathing, he was the very picture of

death itself. I had no time to waste. Focusing my magic, I extended the palm of

my hand out to him.

"[Recovery]." A gentle light flowed out from my hand and into the king.

Eventually the light petered out, and the king began breathing easily again. His

complexion grew more and more healthy before our very eyes. After blinking a

few times, the light returned to his eyes. Suddenly, he shot bolt upright in bed

as if he'd been sleeping on a springboard.

"Father!"

"Sweetheart!" The king opened and closed his hand while looking at the

woman and young girl clinging to him.

"...I feel quite grand. All that suffering, now gone without a trace..."

"Your Majesty!" The old man in gray robes rushed over to the king. He took

the king's hand, measured his pulse, and examined his eyes, among various

other tests. So that person was the royal physician. That made sense.

"...You are the very picture of health. How could this be...?" Ignoring the

dumbfounded doctor, the king turned to face me.

"Al... Alfred... Who is this boy?"

"This is the same young Mochizuki Touya who cured my wife's eyesight. By

sheer coincidence, he had come to visit my estate. I brought him along with me,

knowing that he would be able to cure you."

"...Aha... yyyyeah. My name's Mochizuki Touya." With absolutely no idea how

to introduce myself to a king, I responded suitably. Like a simpleton. Only after

the fact did I worry that I'd gotten something horribly wrong.

"I see. So this is the boy who cured Lady Ellen...! You have saved my life, and

for that you have my sincerest gratitude!" I had no idea how to act after being

thanked by a king, and before I knew it the mustachioed man came up and

started patting me on the back with vigor uncalled for. Hey, whoa, that hurts,

you know!

"You've done a great service in saving the king's life, boy! Sir Touya then, is

it?! I like the look about you!" So said the mustachioed geezer as he relentlessly

continued in his efforts to break every bone in my back. Seriously, that really

hurts!

"General, that's enough of that now. Still, to think I'd be able to see the nonelemental spell [Recovery] nowadays... How curious..." The lady with the

golden khakkhara smiled as she put an end to the general's ruthless onslaught.

You've saved my spine, ma'am.

"Now brother, we must talk at once about the ambassador from Mismede...!"

"What of the ambassador?"

"She is currently being held captive by Count Balsa as the suspected

ringleader of this assassination attempt. What do you think about that,

brother?"

"How utterly absurd! What could Mismede possibly hope to gain from my

death?! This is without a doubt the work of those who see me as an obstacle!"

In that case, that old toad was the most suspicious after all.

"Unfortunately... the fact of the matter is that Your Majesty collapsed upon

drinking the wine brought forth by the ambassador. There were several

witnesses present at the time. Unless we can clear up those suspicions..."

"Hrmph..." The king fell deep into thought at General Whiskers' words. Well,

it was only natural that they couldn't release a suspect without first proving

their innocence.

"We don't even know what type of poison was employed. It could even have

been a special type of beastman poison. We'd need to investigate that in order

to find out..." The elderly physician mumbled in a troubled voice.

Apparently they'd already used every known method of detecting and

identifying poison, but the wine had shown no reaction whatsoever. Without

knowing the type of poison, there was no way to know what kind of antidote

was necessary. As a result, the king had been teetering on the brink of death for

close to an hour.

Ordinary Healing magic couldn't cure physical status ailments like paralysis or

poison. If I hadn't arrived, the king would have been in heaven at that very

moment. Just as the culprit had planned.

"For the time being, I would like to meet with the ambassador. General Leon,

escort her to me."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The mustachioed geezer left the room as fast as his feet

could carry him.

It was almost certain that the ambassador had been framed. Erase the

bothersome king and conveniently pin the crime on the ambassador. This would

create a fissure between the two kingdoms, and Belfast would be free to wage

war under the pretense of a just cause... Yeah, was probably the plan. By that

point it was almost clear as day, really.

"Uhm..." While I was deep in thought, a girl called out to me. I raised my face

to see that it was the princess — Princess Yumina as I seemed to recall — who

had been standing and staring at me.

She looked to be about two or three years older than Sue. Maybe around

twelve or thirteen? She wore a fluffy white dress, and in her hair sparkled a

silver hairband. She had the same gorgeous blonde hair as Sue, and her large

eyes were very captivating. Looking closely, I noticed that her left and right eyes

were actually different colors. Her right eye was a vibrant blue, while her left

eye was a light green. I'd heard about situations like that before; it was called

heterochromia.

"Thank you very much for saving my father's life." The princess thanked me

and quickly bowed in my direction. She sure was well-mannered. I was worried

she might be some high-handed spoilt brat of a princess.

"Please, don't worry about it. I'm just glad he's feeling better." The way

everyone kept thanking me made me feel embarrassed, so I tried to just smile

my way out of it. But the princess merely kept staring at me veeery closely.

What, was there something on my face?

Staaare...

Staaaare...

Staaaaare...

Staaaaaare...

"Err... can I help you?" I couldn't withstand being engulfed in her burning gaze

any longer, so I shifted my gaze as I asked that question. The princess blushed

slightly and spoke almost in a whisper.

"...Do you dislike younger women?"

"...Come again?" Unable to comprehend the meaning behind her question, I

tilted my head in confusion. Just then the door opened, and in came General

Whiskers with a beastgirl who looked to be around twenty. Hmm? Haven't I

seen you before?

"I, Olga Strand, have arrived as per your summons." The beastgirl genuflected

before the king, who was still sitting in bed. Atop her head were a pair of animal

ears standing upright, and from her lower back protruded a tail. The tail of a

fox.

"Let us get right to the heart of the matter. Did you come to this country with

the intention of killing me?"

"I swear on my life, I would consider no such thing. I would never think to

poison Your Majesty!"

"I had thought as much. You do not strike me as the type of foolish person to

do such a thing. As such, I trust you." The king spoke with a smile, and the

Mismede ambassador's expression turned to one of relief.

"Still, the fact remains that it was your wine from which the poison came.

How would you explain this turn of events?"

"Th-That is..." Unable to respond to the words of the woman with the golden

khakkhara, the foxgirl simply let her head hang listlessly. Of course she had no

way to prove her innocence. It didn't seem like the khakkhara lady was accusing

her because of that, though. It felt more like she was asking "What can we do to

help figure this out?" or something. Hmm...

"Er, excuse me a moment?"

"Wait, is that Touya?" the foxgirl questioned.

"So it was you...!" The foxgirl turned to face me when I called out, and was

surprised when she saw my face. Oh, looked like it really was the same lady

from back then. She was the older sister of that young foxgirl, Arma, who I'd

found wandering lost in the capital on my first visit. So the older sister's name

was Olga, huh?

"Are you acquainted with the ambassador?"

"I made friends with her younger sister, but we only met in passing, really.

Anyway, putting that aside for a moment..." I made a gesture of picking up a

box and moving it to the side as I brushed off the duke's question. Nobody

seemed to get it. Ouch. Moving on, I asked General Whiskers about something

that had been bothering me.

"Where in the castle did the king collapse?"

"That would be the main dining hall... What of it?"

"Has the crime scene been left untouched?"

"Huh? Well, yes, it's exactly as it was at the time of the incident... No, wait,

we removed the wine in order to test it for poison. The tests are still ongoing..."

Which meant that they still hadn't found any trace of the poison whatsoever.

I was pretty sure I had figured it all out, then. It was a common trick. Heck, it

didn't even really count as a trick. The moment anyone realized that there was

no poison in the wine whatsoever, the truth would be blatantly obvious. This

plan had so many holes that it would've made a good fishing net. I wanted to

check one last thing though, just to be sure and all.

"Could you guide me to that room? I might be able to prove the ambassador's

innocence." Everyone in the room exchanged glances, but the king gave his

permission, so General Leon led me to the room.

The room itself was a large hall. It had a big white-brick fireplace and a single

massive window, which was adorned with blue curtains and looking out over

the gardens. The walls were lined with several expensive-looking paintings, and

on the ceiling was a magnificent sparkling chandelier. The long table was

covered in a white tablecloth, atop which rested silver candlesticks plus plates

and cutlery with the food still on them.

Upon my request, the general brought me the wine in question.

"Is this wine rare at all?"

"I'm not too sure myself, but apparently so. According to the ambassador's

story, it's only produced in a certain village in Mismede. It's supposedly very

valuable due to that fact."

"Alrighty then." Okay, it's about time to test out my theory.

"[Search]: Poison." I activated my search-fu. I looked over the wine,

continued on through the rest of the room, and passed my gaze across the

whole of the tabletop. Yup, just as I'd thought. I was pretty sure it would've

been found out eventually, but I was the only one who could use search magic

to quickly confirm it for sure.

The fact that I could find it with the [Search] spell must have meant that if I

ever consumed any, I would know immediately that I had been poisoned. The

thought made me never, ever want to try that.

Now, what was to be done? At the rate things were going, the chance that the

truth would remain unknown was relatively high. The crime was probably

plotted out with that thought in mind. Even if it failed, the worst the real culprit

would get off with was being suspected, and little more. I could prove the

ambassador's innocence with what I had, but we wouldn't be able to catch the

real culprit that way... Okay, think I got it.

"I think I get the gist of it. General, could you get the king to summon

everyone to the dining hall? Oh, that's including Count Balsa, by the way. Also, I

have a small favor to ask..."

"A favor?" The general tilted his head quizzically, but he heard out my

request. If there was no solid evidence, then all we had to do was get the culprit

to fess up themselves.

Alrighty then, time to put on a little act...

◇ ◇ ◇

"Y-Your Majesty! You're already back up on your feet?!"

"That is correct, Count Balsa. As you can see, I am the very picture of good

health. Though I seem to have caused a lot of worry for everyone." The toad

burst into the great dining hall, and His Majesty the King answered his inquiry

most casually. He even beat his fist against his chest as if to prove it.

"I... see... Hahaha, well now, this is quite something. I'm very glad to see

that..." The count was already covered in cold sweat as his smile twitched and

he nervously rubbed his hands together. The king looked him over with

completely sober eyes. Oh, seemed like the king had noticed it, too. This guy

was undoubtedly the true culprit.

"I thought I had met my end for a moment there, but then young Touya

arrived and cleared up the poison in my body in the blink of an eye! I must say, I

was tremendously lucky today. That truly was a close call." At the king's words,

Count Baldy looked at me as though he loathed my very existence. Oh, come

on, he's practically giving it away! Now I can't even picture anyone besides him

as the culprit.

"Alright, Touya. Everyone is gathered. What next?" Holding her golden

khakkhara, the jade-haired court magician, Miss Charlotte, asked me.

The people gathered in the dining hall were: His Majesty the King, Princess

Yumina, Queen Yuel, Duke Ortlinde, General Leon, Charlotte, Doctor Raul, Olga,

and Count Balsa. I had them all stand before me, then began talking.

"As we all know, the king was poisoned just a few hours ago. The crime took

place in this very room, the dining hall. The room has been left exactly as it was

at the time of the crime. Well, maybe exactly isn't the right word, since the

food's gone cold and all, but that's not the issue at hand. The real issue is the

identity of the criminal behind the Case of the Failed Royal Assassination.

And..." I let my words hang in the air as I savored the moment, and then spoke

the words.

"The culprit is right here among us."

I've always wanted a chance to say that line! The room's atmosphere changed

in an instant, and Olga went pale. Her ears jolted upright, and she looked

around with pleading eyes as if trying to say "You're wrong, it wasn't me!"

Don't worry, we already know that.

When he saw Olga's pale face, Count Balsa's lips curled up into a smile.

Come on, dude, it's almost like you want to be caught. He hadn't seemed to

notice it himself since he was staring at Olga, but everyone else in the room had

already turned their eyes on Count Baldy as if they unanimously agreed he was

the culprit. Having everyone besides Olga already know the culprit's identity

kind of sucked some of the fun out of it, honestly...

"To start off with, we have the poisoned wine." The general handed me a

wine bottle, and I held it up for all to see.

"Now, Olga. This is, without a doubt, the wine that you brought with you,

yes?"

"Th-That's right, that is the wine I brought with me, but I didn't do anything

like poisoning it...!"

"Silence, you wretched beast! Do you still intend to act innocent? Have you

no shame?! Everyone agrees, right...?!" Watching the toad verbally abuse Olga

with a sidelong glance, I took a large swig straight from the wine bottle and

gulped it right down.

I'm a minor, but that's no big deal! After all, I'm in another world!

"Ah, it's delicious!" I slammed the bottle down onto the table. To be totally

honest, I didn't actually know how delicious the wine was, because I had no

others to compare it with. I just told you I'm a minor! Looking around, I saw that

everyone's mouths were agape as they locked their eyes onto me.

"S-Sir Touya, a-are you alright?!"

"I'm fine, General. I mean, after all, there was never any poison in the wine to

begin with!"

"What?!" Everyone looked around amongst themselves, trying to figure out

what in the world I was talking about. Everyone except the count, that is, who

was now visibly sweating bullets. Good, I have him all scared.

"Now, I have with me here a bottle of wine from the Far East. It's a very rare

type of wine born from a secret formula, and it's the finest wine that I can think

of." I took in my hand a bottle with a label that read "Bowjolly Noovoe." The

label had in fact been made by me and simply pasted onto the side of a bottle

of some cheap wine. As if to show that my wine was more precious, I took a

glass from the vacant table and poured some wine into it.

"This wine will expose the culprit." I held the wine glass aloft toward the

chandelier, which caused a dazzling array of lights to reflect off the glass and

bounce around the room. I made my way over to the others and offered the

glass to the general.

"Could I ask you to drink this?" The general gave me a doubtful look, but he

downed the glass anyway.

"How's the taste?"

"Ohoh! This is wonderful! It is better than any wine I've ever tasted!

Delicious! Count, would you like some?" Oh god, his voice was completely

monotonous. It was completely monotonous, but the general did exactly as I

had asked earlier and offered some wine to the count.

"Eh? Err, well then, alright..." After the Count nodded, I made my way over to

the table and picked up the glass that had been at the king's seat and poured

some wine into it. The moment I did so, the count's face changed immediately.

"I'm extremely interested to hear your impressions of my finest wine."

"Ah, no, actually I think I'm fine!"

"Come now, just one drink!" I grabbed the count as he started to back away

and forced the wine glass into his hand.

"Drink it with spirit, my friend!" I beamed a smile as bright as the sun straight

into the Count's eyes as I spoke. But he simply stood there flooded in cold

sweat, making no move to drink from the glass.

"What is the matter, Count? Won't you have a drink?"

"Er, well, you see... it's just..." The count began lightly rocking the glass with

shifty eyes as the king spoke. Whoops, wouldn't want that falling to the ground

now.

"...Can you not drink it? In that case, this may be rather forward of me, but I'll

simply have to help you along."

"Wha?! Mgh! Argh?!" I forced the glass to the count's lips and poured the

wine down his throat. Choking all the while, the count reflexively swallowed

some of the wine that was trying to make its way down his gullet. Realizing

what had just happened, he stood terrified.

"Ugh! Uwah! Uwaaah! H-Help me! The poison! It's coursing through my

veeeiiins! I'm dying! I'm dyiiing!" The toad writhed around, gripping at his

throat all the while. Anguish coated his face as he continued to squirm. How

embarrassing. I wonder what it is about us humans and our powers of

imagination that can drive us to act in such overblown ways.

"Urrrgggh! I-It hurts to breathe! The poison! The poooiiisooon! S-Somebody,

help me...!"

"Alright, you can calm down now. That glass you just drank from? It was a

fresh new one."

"I'm dyiiinggg, I'm... pardon?" The puzzled count stopped writhing and rose to

his feet, lightly patting at his throat.

"...I feel just fine."

"Of course you do. It was just a glass of cheap wine. I'm sorry for forcing it

down your throat, but..." I left a deliberate gap before asking the deciding

question.

"What made you think it was poisoned?"

"Uh..." The count's face froze over. Checkmate. This man had outed himself

with that little display. Fearful of a nonexistent poison that he believed he had

been forced to drink, he writhed around on the floor for no apparent reason.

Anyone who didn't know the trick behind it would never have reacted like that.

I had forced him to show his own hand.

"...What does this mean, then?" The duke spoke up all of a sudden.

"The poison wasn't in the wine that Olga brought, it was coated on the inside

of the glass itself."

"On the glass...? I see. No wonder we couldn't find any traces of poison in the

wine."

"I have a spell that lets me detect poison, so I found out the trick to it straight

away. The perpetrator was most likely one of the chefs or waiters, I would

imagine. They probably intended to dispose of the glass after the incident itself,

but our good general here was quicker in securing the crime scene, meaning

they couldn't get to the glass without raising suspicion. All that was left for me

to do was find a way to corner the mastermind... which ended up being way

easier than I thought." Then again, looking at the guy again, I really couldn't

picture anyone else as the mastermind. I'd thought to myself that all I had to do

was create a situation that he couldn't bluff his way out of, but having it

resolved so easily was a bit of a letdown, really. After all, the trick, if you could

even call it that, was so unbelievably simple.

Heck, even if I hadn't done a thing, someone would have eventually

discovered the truth once they realized that the wine itself contained no

poison. At the end of the day, I just really wanted to play the role of the

detective at least once in my life, even if the culprit did happen to be a

bumbling buffoon, you know?

"...Gah!" The toad set his sights on the door and dashed for it. He really didn't

know when to give up. Really, all that meant was that he was an incompetent

third-rate scoundrel of a man who never considered the consequences because

he had deluded himself into believing he was better than everyone else.

Nevertheless, that idiotic plan almost claimed the king's life. The price for that

crime would be a heavy one.

"[Slip]."

"Uohwhah?!" The count slipped with incredible vigor and bashed the back of

his head against the floor.

"You little...!" Almost as if she were channeling all of her resent for the man

into her own strength, Olga slammed into the count with a fearsomely powerful

kick straight to the gut. He lost consciousness instantly. Oof, that's gotta hurt.

Olga's actions were rather unbecoming of an ambassador, but not a soul in

the room felt like voicing any complaints.

◇ ◇ ◇

"According to the general, there were two accomplices: the waiter and the

poison tester. They also found poison of the same type that had been coated on

the glass in Count Balsa's residence. And finally, Count Balsa himself confessed

to attempting to kidnap Sue. Looks like this case is closed." The duke spoke

happily as he sat on a chair in one of the rooms of the royal castle.

We were accompanied in the room by His Majesty the King, Princess Yumina,

Queen Yuel, and Charlotte, who all sat around the same table leisurely drinking

tea.

"What'll happen to the count?"

"A plotted assassination of the king is no less than high treason. The man

himself will be executed, his residence and assets confiscated, and the grounds

sealed off." Well, that was only natural, really. Feelings of guilt... didn't even

cross my mind, for some reason. Probably because the guy got what was

coming to him. It was hard to show sympathy for a man like him.

"What about his family?"

"Treating them as accomplices and executing them all... would be rather

excessive. At the very least, they will lose their status as nobles and be banished

from the country. That said, the man had no wife or children, and his other

relatives were all actively opposed to letting demi-humans integrate into our

society. With them gone now, things should be somewhat easier on my

brother." The duke kept up his cheerful tone as he spoke.

I see. This incident can be used to set an example for any other nobles who are

against the alliance with the beastmen, and keep them in check.

"Honestly, my boy, I am truly in your debt. I should very much like to bestow a

gift upon the man to whom I owe my life. Is there anything you desire?" The

king almost seemed to be pleading, but honestly, I wasn't exactly wanting for

anything at the moment.

"Please, don't worry about it. I just happened to be passing by on my way to

see the duke while all of this was going on. It was just a stroke of luck for Your

Majesty. Simply chalk it up as a coincidence." I really didn't do much with my

own power, that much at least was true. The only reason I could even use the

[Recovery] spell was thanks to God. If I tried to take advantage of an unfair skill

like that, karma surely would've found its way back to me...

Hmm? Hang on, I thought, weren't things like that God's area of expertise?

Just spare me another lightning bolt incident. Seriously. Please never do that

again.

"A man lacking in avarice as always, eh, young Touya?" The duke said, while

returning his teacup to the saucer on the table.

"Isn't it only natural to help a friend in need? It's not like I did any of this

because I wanted a reward. I wanted to do it. No more and no less." That was

genuinely how I felt about it all. If, on the other hand, Count Balsa had come to

me asking for help, I wasn't sure I would've done anything for him. In the duke's

case, I knew the type of person he was, and seeing him in trouble made me

want to help him to the best of my ability. That was all there was to it.

"You truly are one curious person. The ability to use two Null spells, both

[Recovery] and [Slip]... That's quite the rare gift indeed." Charlotte spoke to me

with a bright smile. Being praised for my magic by the court magician herself

made me turn a beet red.

"Two? Heavens no, young Touya can use far more than just two unique spells.

Even as he came to visit me, he did so by way of the [Gate] spell. Then he used

yet another to detect the poison, and I seem to recall him telling me that the

shogi sets he brought as gifts were crafted through non-elemental spells as

well."

"Wh-What?" Charlotte grew visibly tenser the more the duke spoke. Hmm...

Guess the best course of action here would be to just be honest about it, I

concluded.

"Er, well, about that... See, it seems like I can use every non-elemental spell

there is. Though there's always the chance that some won't work, I'm not sure

on the details." At the very least, I had never failed to learn any of the spells

that I'd tried to acquire so far. Well, excluding that one time where I failed to

cast [Apport] properly. Even then, I did eventually manage to add the spell to

my repertoire, though.

"All of them...?! If that's really true, then this could be a momentous

occasion...! P-Please, excuse me for just a bit!" Charlotte burst her way out of

the room, clearly in a frenzy... I hope I didn't just say something I shouldn't have

just now...

"So, you were the one who crafted that shogi set, Touya my boy? Al brought

it over and praised it greatly, and upon taking to the board, I was absolutely

enthralled with it! It truly is an interesting game. So then, what's this about it

being constructed by way of magic?"

Yup, just what I'd been worrying about. The king got hooked on it too. These

brothers really are cut from the same cloth.

To demonstrate, I took a glass from the table and cast [Modeling] on it. The

glass gradually changed shape, and within thirty seconds I had completed my

glass figure rendition of the king himself. It was a ten centimeter tall glass

sculpture, which, if I said so myself, really captured his majestic aura.

"And, well, that's pretty much how it works." I handed the figure over to the

king. Since the model for the piece had been sitting right in front of me, I was

able to capture even the tiniest of detail. The only real problem was that, being

made of glass, it would still shatter if dropped.

"Th-This is incredible... I seem to recall there being someone from Refreese

who could use similar magic, but to see such affection poured into one's

creation to the smallest level of detail..." Refreese... The Refreese Imperium,

was it? If memory served, they were one of the neighboring countries. Nonelemental, Null magic was primarily comprised of unique, personalized spells. It

was entirely possible for several people to share similar, yet subtly different

forms of their personal non-elemental spells.

The king held his little figure up in the sunlight and marveled at how it

sparkled. Seeing that, I felt that I should really complete the set since just the

king alone would be somewhat lonely, so I took two more glasses in hand and

set to work.

Before long, I had completed two more glass figures: One of the queen, and

one of the princess. I gave them to their respective owners. They accepted the

figures with beaming smiles, then chatted joyously as they compared each

other's figures before lining up all three on the table. Yup, I knew it was a good

idea to trust my instincts. The completed set really paints a lovely picture with

the whole family together in one place.

"This is truly a wonderful gift."

"Nah, the glasses I used to make them were yours to begin with. If anything,

I'm sorry for using them as crafting materials without asking first." I lowered my

head to the king to show my small apology. When I raised my head back up, the

duke's pleading little face caught my attention immediately. He really was the

type who made no effort to hide his emotions.

"...I'll make some figures of the duke's family too, the next time I'm around

for a visit. Promise."

"You truly would not mind?! You have my gratitude!" If I was going to make

more figures anyway, it'd be much easier with the models themselves in front

of me as I crafted them.

I gave a wry smile at the duke's calculated assault on my generosity, when all

of a sudden a loud crashing sound resounded through the room and the door

flew open as Charlotte charged in, carrying a large number of things in her

arms. She approached me with the appearance of some terrifying apparition

and held out a parchment with something written on it.

"Child... c-can you read this?!" Charlotte loomed closer and closer. What?

What is this, what's going on? Why do I always end up in these scary

situations?! Giving in to Charlotte's sudden compulsive behavior, I ran my eyes

over the parchment. Whatever was written on it was in a language I'd never

seen before. I couldn't make out a single word.

"...Can't make heads or tails of it. What is this, exactly?"

"So you can't read it, right? Alright, how about this non-elemental spell? Do

you think you can use it?" This time she took out a bulky tome and turned to a

specific page. I could read this one. Let's see... Null magic spell... [Reading]?

According to the book, it was a spell that allowed one to read a number of

different languages. The one stipulation was that the caster had to at the very

least know the name of the language he was trying to use the spell on. Oh, that

made sense. It was possible I'd be able to decipher the parchment with that

spell.

...Wait a minute. If I'd had this spell earlier, then I wouldn't have had to rely on

Linze to teach me how to read and write...

"I think I can probably use it now, but... do you know what language that

parchment is written in?"

"It's written in Ancient Spirit Script. There's almost nobody in the world who

can read it." Hmm... Well, it was worth a shot.

"[Reading]: Ancient Spirit Script." I activated the spell... My eyes darted back

toward the parchment. Uh... Mm...

"This is..."

"Y-You can read it?!" Charlotte locked her gaze on me as I noticed stars in her

eyes. In comparison, I probably had something more like a cloudy night sky in

mine.

"Sorry... I can make out the characters now, but I have no idea what's actually

written here."

"You can read it... but you don't know what it says?! Wh-What do you

mean?!"

"Well, let's see... By taking a Degment, which lacks any meaningful arts to

access the Origin Magic, and introducing that to the nature of the Soma-arts'

method of blasting magic in order to cause a change in the Edos... And well, it's

all stuff like that. I can't really make heads or tails of it." I really didn't

understand a single word. In the first place, reading something and

understanding it were two different things. Whatever that parchment had

written on it, it was far too difficult a subject for me to ever hope to grasp.

"So you really can read it! Touya, that's amazing! With this, our research will

begin making progress by leaps and bounds...! Sorry, could I get you to read this

one, too?"

"Wait, wait, just hang on a second!" I broke Charlotte's barrage of demands

off even as she made her way toward me once more with yet more documents.

Evidently, she was so excited that I could almost see steam coming out of her

nose! Geez, lady! Calm down a little! "Charlotte, would you calm down for a

moment?"

"Y-Yes, of course! I-I-I'm very sorry about all of this! I appear to have gotten

caught up in the moment...!" Having regained her senses, Charlotte hung her

head as a huge blush spread across her face.

"I'm well aware that you've been passionately studying the field of Ancient

Spirit Magic for the longest time, so it's not as though I don't understand your

feeling on the matter."

"That's exactly right! Until now, we've been struggling to piece it all together

one word at a time, sometimes taking many months or even years, our research

riddled with problems such as the occasional mistranslation or whatnot... But

Touya, he read it in an instant! Touya, I beg of you, please assist us in translating

these scripts for the sake of our research!" Huh? She wants me to keep on

reading this stuff...? Without end, for all of the foreseeable future?

"About that... Roughly how much is there that needs translating?"

"Let's see... Well, there are countless documents which still need to be

translated... If we were to start with the documents pertaining to the ancient

civilization of Partheno, then..."

"That's enough! Thanks, but no thanks!" From the moment she uttered the

word countless, I had already mentally thrown in the towel. I didn't mind

helping out every now and then, but I had zero intention of making a career out

of it! I had no plans to work as a translator anytime soon.

At my rejection, Charlotte made a face that could easily have convinced

anyone that the end of the world was nigh. I couldn't live with myself if I left her

like that...

Oh, there was an idea...

"Excuse me, Your Majesty. Could I borrow one more glass?"

"I do not mind, but what are you planning to craft with it this time?" That

took care of the glass part, which only left the metal... I supposed some silver

coins would suffice.

Taking my silver coins and placing them next to the glass, I cast my

[Modeling] spell and began reshaping the materials. I crafted the frame out of

silver coins, then inserted two glass discs into the openings on the front. With

that, my creation was complete.

Humbly designed though they were, I had, indeed, just invented glasses. Well,

the lenses were made from regular glass, so they were just mock-glasses. For

now...

Charlotte was the only one who was truly amazed by what I'd just done, but I

was still just getting started.

For the next step, I cast [Enchant] on the glasses in order to imbue them with

a special effect.

"[Enchant]. Imbue with [Reading]: Ancient Spirit Script." The glasses glowed

faintly for a moment before the light gradually dissipated. I took the completed

glasses and wore them on my face before taking another look at the parchment

from before. Yup, a resounding success. I could read it again. Having confirmed

that fact, I took the glasses of and gave them to Charlotte.

"Please try wearing them just like I did."

"Hm? Well, alright..." Charlotte put on my special mock-glasses as I'd

instructed her. Oooh, this is beyond my expectations! They suit her perfectly! On

this day, this world bears witness to the birth of the bespectacled beauty!

Finally, I handed the parchment back to Charlotte.

"Now, please read exactly what you see written here."

"Eh...? Umm... By taking a Degment, which lacks any meaningful arts to access

the Origin Magic, and introducing that to the nature of the Soma-arts' method

of... I-I can read it! I can really read it!" A job well done, then. And so, on that

day translation-vision glasses were brought unto the world.

Seeing Charlotte grow happier and happier as she quickly glanced over

several more of the documents made her look so adorable that it was hard to

believe she was an adult woman.

"The effect should at the very least be semi-permanent, I think, but if it does

wear off, then please don't hesitate to bring them back and I'll enchant them

for you again."

"I will! I-I mean, wait, does that mean you're giving these to me?!"

"Of course. They're all yours now."

"Thank you so much! Really, thank you!" Good grief. Well, at least I'd

managed to escape the wicked fate of having to go through a class change to

Translator of all things.

Charlotte was in such high spirits that she blurted out something like "I'd like

to put these to work on my research immediately!" and left the room like a

brisk summer gale.

"My apologies for that. Once something catches that girl's interest, she tends

to tune out everything else around her... She is the most talented magical

researcher we have, as well as the pride of our research team, but even so..."

"Oh my, I would rather say that that is precisely what makes her so appealing,

do you not think so?"

"...Well, I'm just glad she was pleased with my little gift." The king and queen

made an amusing image at that moment, him shaking his head as if to say

"What am I to do with that girl?" and her giggling at his side due to the whole

exchange. The sight made me relax in my chair once more, which in turn made

me bring the chilled tea to my lips for a drink. Even lukewarm, it tasted quite

delicious. I supposed that was probably part of what made it first-class.

Staaare...

Staaaare...

Staaaaare...

Staaaaaare...

...Now, who does that burning, intense gaze that's been honing in on me this

entire time belong to? Why, the princess, of course.

She had completely wrapped me in her sights with those mismatched blue

and green eyes of hers, and showed no signs of relenting. It was like she had

locked onto me as some sort of target. Had I done anything to rub her the

wrong way...? Actually, it seemed like her face was a bit red...

Her visual assault came to an end all of a sudden. I cast a glance in her

direction, and she had risen from her seat. She was now standing facing her

parents, the king and queen.

"What's the matter, Yumina?"

"Father. Mother. I have made my decision," Princess Yumina declared.

I wonder what this decision she's talking about is, I thought to myself as I took

another mouthful of my cold tea, watching the conversation with a sidelong

glance.

The princess' face turned bright red as she spoke once more.

"I-I would like to... I would like to take Mochizuki Touya as my husband!"

Pffffffft!!! The princess dropped a bomb that detonated in the form of cold

tea soaring through the air. Ah, what a graceful display.

What'd she just say? Husband? Hundred? Huntsman? Oh, it must've been

hostage. "I would like to take Mochizuki Touya as my hostage." Yup. That makes

absolutely zero sense.

"...Sorry. Yumina, could you say that one more time?"

"As I said, Father. I would like to take Mochizuki Touya as my husband."

"Oh my, oh my," the queen muttered, clearly amused. Yumina repeated

herself for the benefit of her father, His Majesty the King. Queen Yuel, still

sitting next to the king, opened her eyes wide and took a good look at her own

daughter.

Watching all this from the side, the duke was utterly gobsmacked as his gaze

drifted between his brother and niece repeatedly.

"Your reasons?"

"Well, him saving your life, Father, does indeed factor into it... But more than

that, my Touya has a strange charisma that brings smiles to all those around

him. Even just from his interactions with Uncle Alfred or Charlotte, he has done

nothing but bring them joy. I find his kindness appealing beyond words, and for

the first time in my life, I thought that... I would be happy to live out the rest of

my days by a person's side."

"...I see... If that is your decision, then far be it from me to stop you. I wish the

two of you nothing but happiness!"

"Thank you, Father!"

"Hooold it right there!" I raised my hand to interject for a moment. If I didn't

cut them off, things would've sure spiraled completely out of control. Actually,

it was already well beyond any kind of control already.

"Excuse me, but I would really love to have a say in all of this!"

"Ahh, my apologies, son. I'll trust you to take good care of my daughter."

"No, no, no, no, hell no. This is all messed up! Your Majesty, you've gone

mad!" I understood fully well that I'd just said some outrageous things to the

king, but I didn't exactly have the time to care about manners. My entire future

was on the line!

"You barely even know anything about me! Are you really fine with just

marrying your daughter, a princess at that, off to some complete stranger?! I

could be the baddest brigand in all the lands, for all you know!"

"No, there is no chance of that. Yumina has approved of you, so at the very

least it is certain that you are not a bad person. My daughter has an ability

which lets her see the true nature of a person in that way." Huh? She could

grasp a person's nature? What did that even mean?

"You see, Yumina was born with Mystic Eyes. They allow her to see the true

nature or personality of anyone she lays her eyes on. I would say it's somewhat

similar to intuition, but in Yumina's case, she's never been wrong." The duke

explained the situation to me along those lines. So put simply, she could

instinctively tell whether someone was a good person or a bad person? I had no

idea her odd eyes held such a power. Well, in Count Balsa's case, even I could

tell that he was a rascal at a glance, but if that power of hers was genuine, then

Yumina would never be taken in by any shady fellows.

Being recognized as a good person by a girl like that didn't feel half bad at all,

but that was completely irrelevant to the situation at hand.

"...Plus, I mean, just how old is Princess Yumina?"

"She turned twelve years of age not long ago."

"Don't you think it's a little bit early for her to be thinking about marriage...?!"

"Not at all, it is quite a common thing for the royal family to find their life

partners by age fifteen. I recall that I was fourteen when I got married to my

wife." Gah... This was the problem with other worlds... As I made a face like I'd

just swallowed a bug, I felt a hand tugging at the sleeve of my coat.

"Touya, do you dislike me...?" Princess Yumina clung to my sleeve and gave

me the sad puppy eyes routine. Hold up, stop right there! Foul! Red card!

Offside! Anyway, that's just unfair!

"Well... I don't really... dislike you or anything, it's just..." This isn't even a

question of like or dislike! I just don't even know you very well.

"In that case, it shouldn't be a problem!" Yumina's face immediately returned

to a blissful smile... Man, she sure is cute... No! Pull it together, dumbass!

What should I do? True enough, I didn't have any real reason to dislike her as

of yet, and it wasn't like I had anyone I was in love with, either. Her parents had

approved of it, and I'd never struggle for living expenses ever again. Wait,

what? Hang on. Thinking about it, I had absolutely no reason to decline at all!

No! Marriage is where your future goes to die! My older cousin said so! He

accidentally got a lady pregnant, so he got married to her, only to be slapped

with divorce papers just three years later! He had no idea why! And then, after

having taken out a huge loan under her impossible demands for a house, he

was driven out of it without a say in the matter. As a final nail in the coffin, he

ended up having to pay child support for a kid he wasn't even allowed to visit.

As if that wasn't bad enough, it turned out that his ex-wife had mainly been

using the child support payments for her own sake instead of the child's. It was

so bad that whenever the relatives got together at New Years, everyone would

try to cheer him up as he comforted himself with alcohol.

I couldn't ever shake the image of my cousin's withered face from my mind...

Okay, I've decided! I'm going to live like royalty as a bachelor for the rest of

my life! I'll never become a member of royalty, mind you! "...Where I come

from, men can't get married until they turn eighteen, and women can't get

married until they're sixteen. Besides, I don't really know the first thing about

the princess, and certainly not enough to make any decisions about marriage!"

"How old are you right now, Touya?"

"I'm fifteen. Soon to be sixteen, I guess." I answered Queen Yuel's question. If

I remembered right, my birthday should have been in around two months' time.

Of course, that was all assuming that the dates in this world matched those of

my old world. I didn't know enough about the world yet to say for sure.

"Which means the wedding ceremony will take place in two years' time. Until

then, you can just remain betrothed to give you time to think. Those two years

should give you ample time to get to know my daughter Yumina better." Hey, I

see you trying to trick me, you know?! Even after two years, Yumina'll still only

be fourteen! Man, this queen is off her rocker too!

"Touya, boy."

"Whahyyes?!" I almost jumped out of my skin and ended up letting out a

weird voice when the king called out to me. I can't help it, alright?! Just look at

this situation! Even I can tell that I'm working myself up into a panic over it!

"Why not take the two years to get to know my Yumina a little better? If,

after those two years, you still cannot consider marriage, then we will give up

on the idea. How does that sound for the time being?"

"Er, well... I guess that sounds like a more reasonable idea..." It was many

times better than considering something like marriage right off the bat. I was

sure that, after enough time passed, Yumina might calm down or possibly even

find someone she really did love... And besides, maybe if she looked at reality a

little bit she'd realize how ridiculous the idea of marriage at her age was. It

didn't seem like I could bargain with them any further... And so, I decided to

resign myself to these plans for the time being.

"Good for you, Yumina. Now, you've got two years. Give it your best shot and

steal that boy's heart, you hear? If you fail to snatch his heart even after two

years, then prepare to live out the rest of your days as a nun!"

"Of course, Mother!"

"Wait, what?!" I knew that accepting that proposal was a bad idea! I was too

hasty! Heavy! The burden of it all was way too heavy for my poor soul! Now I

see! They're trying to cut off all my escape routes one at a time! Why would me

turning her down equal her becoming a nun? Surely she could just search for

someone better!

"I'll be in your care from now on, my Touya..." The Princess flashed a smile

worth more than a bag of priceless jewels. The best I could conjure up in

response was a hollow smile of my own.

Aaahh, I can hear my cousin calling out to me. He's saying "Don't you ever end

up like me."

"Geez... what in the world have you gotten yourself into this time?"

"You know, I've been asking myself that same question all day..." Upon

returning to the Silver Moon Inn, I relayed the tale of my exploits to the rest of

my party. Elze sounded exasperated right away.

"So Touya-dono is going to be getting married, is he..."

"It's a real shock, isn't it...?" Both Yae and Linze aimed their dumbfounded

gazes at the girl who seemed to be affixed to my left arm.

Yes. This is exactly what it looks like. I brought her along with me. I brought

the gosh-darned princess of this country back with me.

Yup. Princess Yumina Urnea Belfast, the one and only. Great.

"A pleasure to meet you all. My name is Yumina Urnea Belfast." Minding her

manners, Princess Yumina bowed before everyone as she introduced herself.

Her beaming smile was a deadly weapon that made my chest feel heavy.

"So, Princess, whatever are you doing here right now, pray tell?"

"Yes, well. My father has decreed that I live together with my Touya as a part

of bridal preparation. I'm sure that my ignorance of the outside world may

cause problems every now and then, but I would really like to get to know all of

you better." And that was the situation. The princess had basically been handed

right over to me. What in the world was that loopy king thinking?

I seemed to recall that he went on about how being close to someone was the

quickest way to get to know them better or some nonsense. He could have at

least assigned a guard or two! Wasn't he worried about his daughter's safety in

the slightest? No, wait. What if she did have a guard assigned to her, and it was

some ninja hiding up above the ceiling this whole time? Right as that thought

crossed my mind, I heard something clatter above me. It was probably just a

rat... right?

"Live together? You mean, like, here? I mean, you're a princess and all. Are

you gonna be... Will you be okay in a place such as this?" Elze was the only one

speaking any sense here. I agreed with her wholeheartedly. I simply couldn't

picture a princess, who'd been surrounded by servants that met her every

need, suddenly adapting to a life where she had to do everything on her own.

To be completely honest, a little part of me had been hoping that the

difficulties of single life would hit her hard enough to convince her to scurry

along home...

"Please, you needn't be so stiff when you're talking to me, Elze. For the time

being, I'll try to do my best at what I can do, and if I ever require assistance, I'm

sure I can rely on my Touya to help me out. I'll do my best to ensure that I do

not weigh everyone down!" The princess made two small fists and held them

up to her chest, striking a pose that showed she was brimming with

motivation... Gosh, she's such a darling little thing... QUIT THAT! Snap out of it!

"...Uhm, did you have something in mind?" Linze raised her hand and asked a

simple question.

"Why yes. I was thinking I could get registered with the guild for a start, and

try to reach the point where I can be of assistance during any requests we take

on."

"WHAT!" "Uhm..." "Huh?!" "Pardon...?!" Our surprised reactions were

growing more harmonious by the day. For the princess to say that she wanted

to get registered with the guild... Was she planning on living the life of an

adventurer?!

"Excuse me, Princess? You do realize what it means to get registered with the

guild, right?! There are any number of dangerous situations we could wind up

in, and..."

"I'm well aware of that. And please, don't call me Princess all the time. I'd like

it very much if you would call me Yumina, my darling."

"Well, I'd like it very much if you'd cut out the my Touya and my darling

stuff!"

"Then please call me Yumina from now on." The princess... No, Yumina,

declared so with a sugary sweet smile. Hrmmm... The girl could be unexpectedly

stubborn about things. I realized that I couldn't afford to underestimate her just

because she was younger than me.

Anyway, I got her to stop calling me "my Touya," and of course "my darling"

was right out of the question. We settled on just Touya and Yumina for each

other, respectively.

"I've learned the basics of magic from Madame Charlotte, and I'm also well

trained with a bow. I'll have you know that I'm actually rather strong, despite

my appearance."

"Bows and magic... Indeed, more long-range offensive power would be a

wondrous asset to our current party, it would! What might be your magical

alignments, then?"

"Wind, Earth, and Dark. I can only summon three types of contract beasts,

however." Wind, Earth, and Dark. That certainly would fill in the gaps perfectly,

since those were all elements that Linze had no affinity with. Although we still

didn't know just how capable with magic Yumina really was...

"Hmmm... So, what's the call?" Elze crossed her arms as she spoke to Linze

and Yae. What she was really asking was "Do we let this girl into the party or

not?" and checking with the others about that.

"...For now, why don't we accept a request... and see how things go...?" Linze

slowly muttered.

"I see. A trial by fire then, is it to be?"

"Guess so, yeah... Well, if it gets dangerous, then I'm sure Touya will just leap

to her rescue. So that settles it, then." There were so many things wrong with

the situation, but I felt like trying to argue back would be like poking at a

hornet's nest, so I obediently decided to abide by the party's decision. Though,

hell, something in the atmosphere told me that I had no right to voice my

opinion to begin with.

The girls decided on their plan of action, and so we would be heading to the

guild office the next day to get Yumina registered.

With that out of the way, we went to talk to Micah to see about getting

Yumina her own room. She insisted that she would be happy to share a room

with me, but I very much had to draw the line there for a whole variety of

reasons, so she was booked into her own separate room. After that, we all had

dinner and went to bed in order to prepare ourselves for the next quest.

I returned to my room, alone at last, and collapsed right into bed. The day's

events had left me utterly exhausted... So very, very exhausted...

Just as I felt that I was being dragged into the murky depths of sleep, I heard

my smartphone's ringtone for the first time in a while. It was set as Suppe's

Leichte Kavallerie. An upbeat little tune, which, at present, served only to

irritate me somewhat.

I removed my smartphone from my pocket and saw the words on the phone's

screen: Caller ID: God.

"...Hello?"

"Aaah, it certainly has been a while. Congratulations on your engagement,

Touya my boy."

"...Why do you even know about that...? Oh, but I guess it wouldn't be all that

strange for God to know about these things, huh...?"

"Ha ha ha. It was a mere coincidence, I promise you. I had thought to check in

on you, only to find you in quite the amusing state of affairs." I could picture the

jolly old man's face even as he spoke.

"There's nothing amusing about it... I just can't bring myself to think about

marriage at this age."

"She seems like a good girl. What more could you possibly want for?"

"It's not like that. Yeah, Yumina's really cute, and I'm sure she'll grow up to be

a really beautiful woman. Her honest, straightforward personality also makes

her my type, too. But that's got nothing to do with all of this marriage stuff."

"How stubborn you are. You know, in that world polygamy is perfectly normal

and widely accepted. That being the case, you should take any girl who strikes

your fancy and make wives out them!" Huh, I didn't know that... The duke and

the king each only had one wife, so I thought for sure... No, no, that wasn't the

real problem. I had absolutely no intentions of turning my life into a harem

story.

"At any rate, everyone is looking forward to how things go for you from here.

Do your best out there, yes?"

"That's easy for you to say... Wait a sec... What do you mean, everyone?"

"Why, all the gods of the Divine Realm, of course. When I showed you to

them, they all took an interest in you, you know? Although I am sure most of

them are only checking in on you every now and then for a bit of amusement."

Wait, huh? What did that mean? There was more than one God?

"You said gods, right? Does that mean there are others besides you?"

"But of course. Though I would like to say that I am the world god, the highest

of all. Besides me, there are the lower gods such as the god of hunting, the god

of love, the god of swords, the god of agriculture, and many, many more. Oh,

and the god of love, in particular, has taken quite the interest in you." Don't go

sticking your neck into people's love lives, God of Love.

"We were talking about how we would all turn up for your wedding ceremony

as your relatives. It was quite the fun discussion, I must say. Oh, and I would be

turning up as your grandfather, of course."

"Now you listen here..." Those gods must have had a lot of free time on their

hands. What in the world would that even be like? A wedding hall filled with

nothing but gods of all kinds. I mean, yeah, it wasn't like I had any relatives in

this world or anything, but still.

"I seem to recall you saying something about being unable to interfere once I

was down here, or am I misremembering things?"

"I believe I said that I would be unable to do much for you directly. There are

no problems with me descending to that world myself in human form if I so

choose to." I was sure there was a mountain of problems with a plan like that...

But it felt like commenting on the matter any further was only going to make

me seem the fool. When I thought about it, the gods of mythology back in my

old world supposedly visited the human world on occasion too.

"Anyhow, I am right here watching over you, my lad. Do take your time to

think things over such that you will live a life that you may look back on fondly

in your later years. I am wishing you all the best and hope that you find your

own path to happiness. With that, I suppose I really must be going. I will check

back in on you again. Goodbye."

"Yeah..." I cut off the call after giving a vague response. Live a life that I can

look back on fondly one day, huh...?

What did it even mean to be engaged to a twelve year old...? Thinking of it in

terms of a high school freshman and a girl in her sixth year of elementary

school, the age difference seemed overwhelming. On the other hand, looking at

it as a mere four year difference in our ages, it wasn't really that big of a deal,

was it...? Even my parents had a six year difference in their ages. I also seemed

to remember hearing something about some entertainers whose wives were as

much as thirty years younger than them.

Back to the situation at hand, I hadn't even gone out with a girl even once in

my life. There was no way I could be expected to understand the concept of

marriage.

Hell, I just don't get what's even going on anymore. I should just sleep on it all

for now. Yeah, I think I'll do just that.