After the floating island where Kuro came from appeared, we went through the «Transfer Gate» and met up with Baretta and the others to prepare for our journey on the island while also looking at the situation of the «Empty Wilderness».
«Master. We, the maids, do not wish to be a hindrance to your activity, but please know we also feel lonely when you're absent for a long time.»
"I'm really sorry, Baretta. But don't worry, I've already decided to take a good long break once we settle our current issues."
"Teto is also becoming a bit tired of seafood."
«Then we will eagerly await your homecoming, Master, Teto-sama. At the same time, we also wish the master to bring other guests aside from Kuro.»
I chuckled dryly as I nodded to Baretta's request, which she proposed before we left and returned to our home in the Lovile kingdom through the «Transfer Gate».
"We're bac—, eh, Yuishia isn't home yet, huh?"
"It's strange, Teto is usually welcomed by a fragrant aroma."
«Meow~»
While Teto and I thought it was a bit strange, Kuro purred in a discontent tone, but then his ears suddenly stood upright and his nose twitched as he let out another purr.
"What's wrong, Kuro?"
«Meow!»
"Teto is going after him!"
As we hurriedly left our home to chase after Kuro, who had suddenly dashed outside, we caught sight of Yuishia walking down the street in front of our house.
Her hair was a mess, perhaps due to the wind, and the insignia of Suzurland, the green robe she had donned, as well as the inner clothes she wore were torn up here and there, exposing her fair skin to the cool evening air.
Though she looked unharmed and uninjured, probably due to covering herself with «Body Strengthening» magic, despite her clothes being a mess. Her gait was also unsteady, but a certain content smile was on her face as if she had achieved her dream of sorts.
"Ehehe, Chise-san, Teto-san. I'm home."
"Welcome bac— or wait, it's not the time to say pleasantries! What in the world happened to you!?"
"Your clothes look like rags-nanodesu!"
Yuishia floated a complex smile as I took out a spare robe from my magic bag to cover her exposed skin.
"Actually, I have been expelled from the magic clan by Olbert."
"What, expelled!?... Between, Majou-sama, what is 'expelled'?"
Teto first exclaimed in surprise and then turned to ask me the meaning of expulsion. Her antics somehow calmed the impatient part of me.
"'Expelled' means she has been driven out...... She is no longer welcome in the magic clan."
"Oh no, that's..... not a problem then. Yuishia can live anywhere she wants."
"Yes, that's why I was expelled!"
I smiled wryly at her, who puffed her chest as if saying 'Quick, praise me', and asked her in an amazed tone.
"Expulsion or whatever doesn't matter, but how come you ended up meeting Olbert?"
I carried Yuishia inside the house using the dark magic «Psychokinesis», and heard her side of the story while checking her body for any injuries.
So, Olbert seemingly had noticed my «Immortal» skill, through which he managed to make the King his ally, who then ordered him to figure out the secret of immortality. Then he tricked Yuishia into visiting his residence where he played his plan by proposing he can put some good words for her to become a court sorcerer and tried to cajole her to capture me. Should she refuse, he intended to turn her into a hostage.
"Fortunately everything worked out in the end, but that's why it's not advisable to follow strangers so readily."
"*Pout* You're treating me like a child, Chise-san. I mean, that man was donning the knight armor so I absolutely didn't have any inkling of it being a trap! My word, I never expected that the King would be involved in this and he even ordered to capture you!"
"Well, yea......"
Next to me, who was drilling some advice into Yuishia's head, Teto and Kuro shared an identical look and nodded at each other.
"Kuro, Teto is going to beat the guy who hurt our Yuishia! Are you coming with me?"
«Meow!»
"Hold your horses, both of you. Don't make haste, and calm down."
I pacified both Kuro and Teto and shifted my focus to Yuishia's checkup once again. She was unharmed, so I guess she sailed through the storm with her own power.
I performed a deeper checkup and found that incredible changes had been taking place in her body.
"Like bam, I feel my emotions erupting and mana began to overflow from my core...... It was like, I could do anything at that moment. All I had to do was act on my feelings and wham, everything would go as I desired."
"Yuishia, that sensation was actually due to the increase in your mana. You now have around— 50,000 units of mana."
"Ehh?"
Her senses had yet to catch up with the changes happening in her body since she had mostly depleted her mana in battle at the Suzurland's residence, but in short, her mana reserve was growing at a stellar rate.
Just like how there were many scenes where the protagonist awakened their latent potential when they were in a pinch in fiction, her emotional outburst similarly became the catalyst that brought forth the changes.
It wasn't like such a phenomenon was rarely seen.
While the abilities in the current world were coined by the numbers of one's status, the foundation for those numbers was still the status-less beings of the bygone era 2000 years ago. There were many similar sightings where people awakened the potential slumbering within them through mental trauma or when they were facing a fatal situation—— though, this was just my guess.
"Wha, surely you jest... woah, reall— ehhhhhh!? «Slow Aging» skill!?"
It was a time for celebration, however, it was also a headache-inducing situation.
I had initially taken an interest in her because of the same immortality factor I had sensed in her, just like me. And with the appearance of the skill «Slow Aging», the prelude to the actual «Immortality» skill, it should have been time to make the young fledgling take flight on her own, but——
"I almost forgot~ I have a request for you, Chise-san!"
"What happened? There's no need to stand on ceremony at this point."
"Chise-san, please make me your disciple, a magician's—, no, a witch's disciple! Please!"
The plea of Yuishia, who had already taken off the green robe of the Suzurland clan she was expelled from, made me recall our first meeting.
"Alright. Then, you're now my first disciple. Let's get along well, Yuishia."
"Yeah, let's get along like before-nanodesu, Yuishia."
"Chise-san, you're really cool from beginning to end, huh?"
«Nya~»
Kuro licked the tears that streamed down Yuishia's eyes from happiness as Teto congratulated her.
"I originally intended to leave this house in your care when it was time for us to leave for the Floating Island. Well, it seems impossible with your outburst at the Suzurland's residence."
"A, Ahh...... sorry."
I consoled Yuishia who bowed her head apologetically.
"Pay it no heed. After all, in the king's words, if something is black, then it's black, no matter how white it is."
"Majou-sama, there's no way white can be black. White will always be white no matter the angle."
"That was just an analogy, Teto......"
Then I explained our revised plan to her who looked slightly bemused, apparently finding mine and Teto’s trifling banter odd.
"Since we're all under their radar, let's ditch the Lovile Kingdom and set off for the floating island together."
"We're going to visit Kuro's birthplace."
"Wha, ehhh!? I'm also going to Kuro's birthplace?"
"Of course. Alright, stop dawdling, and start putting all the items in the house into the magic bag. We're leaving right away."
"Hold on, Chise-san! I think you just said something incredible that I failed to understand! I mean, you're behaving completely differently!"
Looking at Yuishia who was flustered when facing the sudden situation, I said.
"I was just being considerate of you, as our housemate, and was hiding a few things. There's no need to put up a front now that you're my disciple."
"Majou-sama, you seem lively and enjoying yourself."
Teto said so while grinning, and Yuishia muttered 'Perhaps I was too hasty' as she had a faraway look in her eyes.
Then she took a look outside—
"E, Err, Chise-san...... knights, and court sorcerers are gathering outside the house."
"They must have come to capture us, huh? But that's a futile endeavor. They're not going to release powerful spells just to break my barrier in this urban area, so rest assured."
In the meantime, while we prepared for our departure, Zerrich rushed here with personnel from the Adventure Guild in tow after fully grasping the situation, causing the circumstances to take a chaotic turn.
I can sense the fear and unease in the surrounding houses due to the intense situation, so it was best to leave this place quickly.
"Yuishia, is everything ready?"
"Y-Yes ma'am! We're good to go at any moment."
With a tense face, Yuishia headed to the second floor while wearing my spare robe. There, we eyed the floating island after arriving at the roof from the window of the second floor.
It was pleasant weather, and the floating island had moved much closer to land compared to when we first saw it in the morning.
I guess we should be able to reach it at this distance.
"You guys, get on the flying carpet. Yuishia, you hold on to Kuro tight."
"Okay-nanodesu!"
"B, But it is my first time flying in the sky, though! How did it come to this!?"
Originally, I planned to ride on the magic wand Hisui with Teto carrying Kuro in her arms.
However, the situation was now different with the sudden addition of Yuishia. I got on the unfurled carpet, Teto sat beside me, then Yuishia sat behind us, her one hand grabbing Teto while hugging Kuro inside her robe with the other hand.
"Alright, we're off then!"
"Let's go to the floating island!"
"Eek, uwaaaa——!"
The flying carpet rose into the air carrying us, which was noticed by the people who came to capture us as they turned their gaze towards us.
"Oops. It's a bit harder to balance this thing."
"Chise-san! I beg you, please don't crash it!"
My skill in operating the flying carpet had significantly rusted after not using it for a long time, causing it to sway in the air at the beginning.
Though, that was only for a while, as I quickly stabilized it, raised the altitude, and flew freely into the sky in the direction of the floating island.
"Chise-san, attacks are coming from below!"
"Relax. I already put up a barrier to fend off attacks."
"Everyone, farewell-nanodesu~!"
Teto bid her goodbye to the neighbors as she looked at the people on the ground below.
It seemingly incited the attackers as they further increased the output of their attacks but soon, we were out of their attacking range.
"Woahhh, the ground is so far away, and the floating island is so close."
«Meowwww!»
Yuishia expressed her admiration for the floating island whose appearance was getting clearer and clearer in our eyes. Kuro too looked excited at the sight of his birthplace.
I gathered mana into my eyes, and confirmed the floating island was encased in a barrier to cut off the mana flow, just like the «Empty Wilderness».
"Grab on tightly, I'm going to raise our speed and enter the island at once!"
"Roger-nanodesu!"
After informing everyone, we crossed the floating island's barrier, piercing the clouds at a high speed and making our way to the surface of the island.
"This is... the birthplace of Kuro-san."
The surface of the island was overrun by trees, and the remains of a stream and a mountain peak could be seen there.
Approaching the floating island resembling a colossal biotope, I cautiously lowered the altitude of the flying carpet and descended gradually.
SIDE : Adventurer Guild - Zerrich
I used to be a royal prince but I relinquished my noble status and inherited the title of Duke.
With the title of Duke coupled with my inherent personality, I assumed the role of a diplomat for this nation, the nation of trade, and effectively gave it an edge on various fronts. However, the result also invited a problem.
——The elder brother was mediocre even as a King, but the little brother was still excellent as a Duke.
That was how the aristocrats usually decided to value us.
Although there had been improvements in recent years, the King's value further plummeted for not being able to properly handle the famine situation, as the focus was shifted to the trade front to replenish the fallen tax yields.
This shift resulted in the House of Count Suzurland, who could use wind magic which was the boon for unhindered sail, being favored.
"This is quite troublesome, but perhaps it will improve things a bit."
It was far from enough to have an upstart adventurer assuming the seat of guild master if they wanted to restrict the Suzurland Clan who were unceasingly flaunting their authority.
Normally, it was not considered desirable for the Adventurer's Guild and the nobles of each country to be closely intertwined. However, to counter poison with poison, I became the new guild master at the suggestion of the former guild master.
At that time, I wanted to maintain my distance from the King, so thinking it was the right time, I appointed the former B-rank adventurer Sherryl the sub-master, and while I became the Guild Master and took up the role of overseeing the two adventurer's guilds in the royal capital.
From there on, a game of tug-of-war unfolded between us and other magic clans behind the scenes, all scrambling for hegemony. It happened then, the apparent heir of the Suzurland clan set his eyes on the A-rank adventurers Chise-dono and Teto-dono, who traveled here to take a temporary break from her work, harassed her with extortion, kidnapping, and attempted assassination.
Just when I thought I had severed the arrogant wings of the Suzurland clan and that the guild would finally be free from their toxic influence, a piece of shocking news made its way to me.
Apparently, the heir apparent of the Suzurland clan had managed to turn King into his supporter through his nonsense claim of «Immortality», and moved to capture the innocent Chise-dono and her friends.
The knights who were torn between following the King's orders and their own sense of justice and the adventurers under my command clashed in front of her house.
And then, Chise-dono and her friends set off to the sky, vanishing into the vast blue expanse above. The commotion died down with their departure.
"——You have gone mad, my King and brother."
No matter what the reason was, this was an unfavorable situation diplomatically. This nation could no longer be left in his hands. Thus, I immediately took action.
One year later-- joining forces with the nobles, we ousted my deluded brother, who was obsessed with the idea of immortality, from the throne and imprisoned him.
The root of all evil, the House of Suzurland, was executed for inciting the King, throwing the nation into chaos, and several other illegal acts, leaving only their name behind as a magic clan.
I held no desire to take upon the throne since I had already relinquished my royal status. I realized that even if the main cause was the Suzurland Clan, the situation had arisen due to the King's favoritism towards a single faction which led to the crisis.
So I transformed the current structure of the Lovile Kingdom's government to a parliamentary system of nobles, where I assumed the role of its first-generation chairman.
In the annals of history, future historians would recount the following words——
After the execution of the House of Count Suzurland for their illegal activities and for inciting the King, the influence of the royal family waned.
And fifty years after the death of Duke Zerrich Lovile, the first chairman of the parliament who was also the younger brother of the King, the direct line of the imprisoned King also ceased to exist.
Although Duke Zerrich had children, none of them ascended to the throne, and with no one to uphold the banner of the royal family, who had been reduced to just a symbol of the nation, the era of the Lovile dynasty completely vanished into the river of time.
Transitioning to a parliamentary system, the nation adopted the name of Lovile Republic, which no longer required a King to function.
Odd enough, the fate of the Lovile royal family mirrored that of the Suzurland Clan, which retained only its name as a magic clan.
The real reason behind the demise of the dynasty was said to be due to them laying their hands on the «Creation Witch» Chise.
Their doom that was born out of their unjust actions towards the «Creation Witch» Chise, who had left her footprints throughout history, had historians say—— «Like a mirror she acted, goodwill met goodwill, and ill-will met ill-will».
