Vol 5: Chapter 64
「H-Hey… the next Queen would of course hold back against a human.」
One of the High Elves said.
「Holding back, I see. Of course, that makes sense.」
「Yeah, just going easy on a human.」
The other brothers nodded in agreement.
「No… I definitely did not hold back! What did you do!?」
Yuri-san asked me with an astonished look.
「I just analyzed the wind created by【Wind Magic】and unraveled it.」I said.
「That is not possible! It’s like unwinding a complexly woven carpet with a single thread of needle!」
I was about to applaud her unexpectedly good analogy.
Wind is the flow of air.【Wind Magic】acts on the atmosphere to create wind, but conversely, if you can grasp the flow of air perfectly, you can unwind it.
【Earth Magic】, which usually throws a mass of rock, could not be unraveled in this way.
Of course, it is necessary to have the same analysis capability as a supercomputer to grasp the air flow and unwind it–which is where【World Ruler】, my personal supercomputer, comes into play.
Yuri-san understands exactly what【Wind Magic】is, which brought out the “carpet” analogy. Her understanding of the subject matter was as amazing as her talent.
「Eh? What happened?」
Matvey-san, who was crouching next to me, should follow Yuri-san’s example a little more.
「Silence!!」
A sharp voice echoed like a horn. The door of the mansion had opened, and a High Elf who was accompanied by the Secret Service, including Polina-san, appeared.
Adorned with a dark green gown and a crown of fresh flowers on his head. But unlike the handsome-looking guys here—the High Elf was so old that he couldn’t walk without the support of Polina-san and the Secret Service.
Wrinkles were engraved on his face. His curly hair was pure white. I could tell that he was about to reach the end of his life even without【World Ruler】- although, according to【World Ruler】, he seems to still have another 10 years left.
Yuri-san was the first to kneel, and the other High Elves followed suit. Perhaps Matvey-san was tired of crouching, and he just sat cross-legged. And I, for the time being, knelt with my right hand on my chest, and bowed my head as taught in the Sillys residence.
「You are Reiji, I see. Raise your head.」
Strictness and kindness accompanied the hoarse voice.
I raised my head.
「I am Sylvis the 8th, King of Sylvis. Everyone here is my children… and they are doing their best every day to fulfill their responsibilities as High Elf royalty. Please excuse Yuri’s behaviour.」
「…Your Majesty!」
Yuri-san tried to say something to King Sylvis who apologized, but when His Majesty turned a gentle look towards her, she fell silent.
「I want to talk to Reiji for a moment. Leave us alone.」
「!?」
Everyone was astonished yet again. The most terrible reaction was from Polina-san and the Secret Service.
「Your Majesty, that is not advisable. It is already unusual for a human to step so far inside our kingdom. Having Your Majesty talk to him alone is…」
「Even if I insist?」
「Yes, that is our mission. If Your Majesty still insists, then please do so after severing our heads. This is the consensus of the Secret Service.」
Polina-san and her team bowed before His Majesty the King. As expected, His Majesty scratched his head in a troubled manner. He looked like a normal grandpa–except for his long, pointy ears.
「I did not come here to meet with Your Majesty. I am fine with just meeting Asha.」
Just as I said so, Polina-san and her team glared daggers at me.
「For the time being, I am still the head of the country.」
The King’s appearance, with a bitter smile, seemed to overlap with the “failure” Matvey-san more than anyone else here.
「I was going to decide whether to let you meet Asha or not, but it seems that we cannot be alone. Let’s do this then. It will be I, Yuri and Reiji.」
「B-But your Majesty!」Polina-san started to oppose.
「Can the Secret Service as a whole win against Yuri?」the King asked.
「U-Uh……」
Oh really? Is Yuri-san that amazing?
「—Your Majesty, I would like Matvey-san to be present as well.」
As I said so, His Majesty looked at me and Matvey-san, who sat cross-legged, with great interest.
It meant “acceptance”.
**
4 chairs and a table with a tea set was set up on the terrace of the mansion. Polina-san and her team were keeping watch of me from within the mansion, but it was at a distance where they wouldn’t be able to hear our conversation.
The “World Tree” a few kilometers away provided a spectacular view on the green carpet of trees, but no one else was enjoying it. Flocks of birds gathered in the “World Tree” to nurture their lives.
「As expected of you, Matvey.」
Brewing tea with the tea set was Matvey-san. I think he was willing to brew tea of his own initiative because he was worthy of it from his viewpoint and confident in his ability to brew tea.
His Majesty enjoyed the fragrance of the tea to the fullest, and then took a sip. Matvey-san sat back on his chair in a shy manner.
「Well, brewing tea is the only thing you have ever been good at.」Yuri-san said.
「Anytime you tried to brew tea, it always turned into muddy water. So, anyone would be better than you.」Matvey-san said.
「What did you say!?」
「Enough of that.」
The King intervened in the exchange between Yuri-san and Matvey-san.
His Majesty, sitting to my right, lowered his cup and said–
「Now, then… I have a lot to say to an exception like you, but you don’t seem to be nervous at all.」
「I know Your Majesty is not going to hurt me.」I said.
「But Yuri, who is said to possess the highest mana in High Elf history, is also here. She used tremendously great magic earlier, right?」
Is that so? Was it really that great?
Yuri-san’s lips curled into a small smile as she looked away. She must be feeling happy hearing the praise no doubt.
「Yes, but I also knew that Yuri-san wasn’t going to hurt me.」
「!」
Yuri-san looked at me with surprise, and His Majesty the King remained smiling as usual. “No, I can guarantee she was definitely trying to kill you,” said Matvey-san, who was glared at by Yuri-san again.
「Hou… why did you think so?」the King asked.
「If I had been blown away by the wind attack at that time, I would have been falling to the ground head first. But an airflow created by magic was swirling underneath. I think Yuri-san was thinking of dropping me to the ground with a controlled speed instead of having me free fall.」
「…………」
Yuri-san looked at me with a surprised look without saying anything.
「Since her elder brothers could be plotting various other things, perhaps she prioritized putting on a confident act against the human for the time being.」
In other words, this person had little hostile intentions towards me from the beginning. Well, I didn’t know how serious she was, so I shot a counter magic just to be safe.
「Hoho. Did you hear that, Yuri? Reiji is a pretty sharp guy.」the King said.
「Yes, I noticed that when my magic was countered.」Yuri-san said.
「So it was not that you held back, but Reiji countered it?」
「I seriously shot with the intention to send him flying.」
She probably shot that magic because she was confident she could catch me while I was falling.
Yuri-san’s mana seems to be equivalent to the magic capabilities of an entire country.
I use【Fire Magic】and【Wind Magic】together to move through the sky. This is because the power of air alone does not have enough buoyancy to carry a person. However, Yuri-san can solve that problem with just【Wind Magic】- that’s how much mana she has.
「Unwinding wind is not an easy task. It’s impressive that you were able to come up with that. I wonder if that way of thinking and insight helped to treat Asha’s illness.」
His Majesty’s question finally revealed his true intention for meeting me.
How did I cure Asha, who couldn’t be cured by anyone else. Asha probably didn’t explain. She probably was worried that explaining things would have a negative effect on me – for example, the Secret Service could attack me for reasons such as inappropriately touching their Princess.
And on the other hand, His Majesty, even if he knew that I was the one who treated her, he has no idea how I did it. So he was probably thinking that I have some kind of connection with what caused Asha to get sick… That I might have caused her to get sick just to provide the solution later.
Perhaps the reason why he wanted to talk “alone” even after all that was to get me to lower my guard and squeeze out as much of the truth as possible.
(…I see. He looks like a gentle grandpa, but he is considering multiple things in his mind.)
I wouldn’t have thought so far without【World Ruler】. However, thanks to【World Ruler】noticing expressions such as “doubt” and “inquiry” on His Majesty’s face, I was able to surmise this much.
「I have been wanting to talk about this. That is because… I want any child who is born with Asha’s condition in the future to live peacefully.」I said.
「Hey! You make it sound as if His Majesty has oppressed Anastasia!」Yuri-san exclaimed.
「Quiet, Yuri… I let Asha live comfortably, yet it is also true that she was more constrained than others.」
His Majesty then listened to me quietly. I didn’t know if it was just a pose or if he truly believed so, even with【World Ruler】.
「I will explain Asha’s innate constitution.」
