Chapter 40: 23

Characters in this chapter:

Sapphiras Perfectio, 2nd son of the Earl of Aldridge

Percival Belisario, 3rd son of Margrave of Vanderwall on the Eastern Frontier

Aurora Steinfeld, daughter of the Duke of Bloomfield

Liliana, daughter of a Viscount, Aurora’s lady-in-waiting

 

“Sapphiras!”

When I returned to the courtyard, Percival rushed over.

“Percival, just in time. I’ve just come back. I have a souvenir for you.”

“Souvenirs? Did you go somewhere?”

“Yeah. I went on a little pilgrimage. Here, for you.”

I hand over the amusing doll I found in Saltus.

“……What’s this?”

Percival tilted his head as he received the doll. Now that I think about it. It looks like a dried-up kobold, carved out of a rather ghastly piece of wood.

“It’s said to be an amulet. It also seems to repel insects. It’s got a bit of a sinister taste to it, don’t you think? I bought one for Miss Aurora too.”

“……Is that so……I’ll take it gratefully.”

After staring at the amulet doll for a while, Percival pushed it into his jacket. Maybe he didn’t like it. I liked it so much that I hung it on my wand. It seems that this deep charm is not for everyone.

“By the way, is there something urgent?”

As I recall, Percival said that he would be practising swordsmanship this afternoon. And yet, I wonder if there was something that made him come all the way to me.

“Oh, it’s Miss Aurora. There’s a somewhat troublesome problem going on.”

“Eh? A problem?”

“Aah, that’s…….”

While I was back in my previous life’s hometown, Aurora’s fiancé, His Royal Highness the Second Prince Alexis, came to the training grounds and apparently took the sceptre used by the Holy Mage from the castle’s treasury without permission, and made Aurora and Herrera Stiard, the daughter of  the Marquess of Fargerson, use it.

Naturally, Aurora reprimanded him for taking out the national treasure without permission and for behaving selfishly, but His Highness Prince Alexis, in his capacity as prince, brandished his own theory and forcefully urged them to use the sceptre​ for prayer. However, the magic of Aurora’s prayer, which should have been abundant with holy magic, did not spread, while Miss Stiard’s magic spread without any problem. When His Highness Prince Alexis saw this, he cursed and insulted Aurora a lot, calling her a fake holy magician.

What is that, I don’t understand it at all. Why did he go to the trouble of humiliating his own fiancée?

Besides, taking out a national treasure without permission would be a no-no, even for a prince, is a very bad idea. I think the person who manages the treasury should also manage it a little better, but that is the royal family’s problem and I am not the one to be worried about it. The only thing that bothers me more is the fact that Aurora couldn’t wield holy magic properly.

“Aurora is definitely a user of holy magic, comparable to the Great Saintess Urla.”

“I know, I’ve seen it myself. But when it came to praying with the sceptre​, which is a national treasure, Miss Stiard clearly had a stronger prayer.”

“Hmm?”

I wonder why. The daughter of Marquess Fargerson is certainly a white magician. She can’t fake her magical powers. However, she is not a holy magician. She can’t even compare to Aurora, who has enough magical power to heal missing appendages.

“Apparently, His Highness wants to remove Miss Aurora as his fiancée in this matter, and get formally engaged with Miss Stiard.

“Huh? Is he an idiot? After all, Miss Aurora was chosen as his betrothed because her holy magic is needed by the royal family, right? The white magic of Fargerson’s daughter is little more than a talisman.”

I know it’s impolite, but I couldn’t help but say it out loud.

The Marquess of Fargerson’s daughter, Herrera Stierd, is one grade above us. She is in the same grade as the second prince. I saw them chatting in the cafeteria, and she is a beautiful young lady, with a feminine appearance that is well developed for her age. She smiled at everything the second prince said and replied, ‘Yes, that’s right’. She seemed to have no feelings in her words, and I wondered if she was listening to people properly. I thought, but since the Second Prince seemed happy, I remember wondering if it was okay.

The rumours about the second prince and the daughter of the Marquess of Fargerson, had also reached my ears, who is not familiar with many things, but neither Aurora nor the Duke seemed to be concerned about it, so I did not even put it in the corner of my mind, thinking that it was not something that I should be concerned about.

In the case of a marriage between nobles, there are external and hidden circumstances that cannot be put into words. Especially when it comes to an engagement between a country and its nobility, the circumstances are probably considerable. After all, Aurora is a user of holy magic. The royal family would not want her to marry into a bad place.

The crown prince is a little older than Aurora, so it seems that the second prince of similar age was chosen for the engagement, but from my point of view, there was no atmosphere that the second prince and Aurora were getting along well. Even though they attend the same academy, Aurora greets him at most. It’s not a very good relationship, I thought.

Everyone has their own compatibility and preferences for their future spouse, so I’m not going to say anything about that. As a commoner, I can understand the feeling of wanting to be with someone you fell in love with. But the problem is the way you make that assertion.

The second prince is, if I may put it this way, a bit of a disappointment compared to the crown prince. It is true to say that the crown prince is too good, but the second prince seems to be a man who is unwilling to make any effort. Even if he does not succeed the throne, he is a troubled prince who is a little childish, even though he will be in a position to support his brother in the future.

Even if there wasn’t the holy magic incident, Aurora, the daughter of a Duke who has been supporting the country for a long time and who is also a steady person, would have been the perfect companion for the second prince, who is a little lacking.

That’s why I wondered what it would be like as a person who insults the Duke who supports themselves as a member of the royal family.

“I think he must have been seduced by this love affair and had his eyes clouded.”

When Percival says that, it sounds very heavy. I think it’s because he’s a really serious man with a gorgeous appearance.

“……Let’s meet Miss Aurora. My dear friend, Cait Sith.”

The black shadow jumps out of the summoning circle which spreads out instantly.

“Did you call nya?”

“Yes. Can you deliver a message to Miss Aurora for me?”

“Of course!”

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When I left a message that I wanted to meet her in the courtyard pavilion, Cait Sith turned into a small black cat and pranced away.

But how could he want to break off his engagement with Aurora by taking the royal treasure with him? It’s true that she has an unyielding spirit, but that temperament is not bad for a princess consort. She is rational and thinks logically, which is also suitable for royalty.

Well, she may be a little too much for a slightly inadequate prince. Even so, no matter how much he is the second prince, it is hard to believe that a man who can’t even understand such things is royalty. No matter how powerful the Duke of Bloomfield’s backing was, this would be unmanageable. I think the good crown prince would cut him off immediately, saying he doesn’t need a useless younger brother.

I don’t know if he was compared to his brother at every opportunity, but a woman who agreed with him on everything appeared when he was feeling somewhat inferior, and he was quickly cajoled into it. But I wonder what is hidden behind Miss Stiard’s smiling agreement. Does she simply want to be a princess consort herself? Or does the Marquess of Fargerson have an agenda? In any case, if he can’t even read a woman’s true intentions behind her smile, I don’t think he can negotiate to protect the country against the best from all over the world, so I think it would be better to have him removed from the royal family at once, but I am just a humble commoner. I was not asked for my opinion.

“So, what did Miss Aurora say after using that sceptre?”

“She said the flow of magic was bad, like something seemed to be stuck.”

“Something is stuck?”

Aurora and Liliana were already waiting for us when we moved to the pavilion in the courtyard.

She seems to have been humiliated in the public eye, but Aurora looks calm and doesn’t look depressed. Rather, Liliana looks more pale.

“Thank you for taking the trouble to make time for me.”

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it. Actually, I was on a day trip until a while ago. I have a souvenir for you, please hold out your hand……”

“A trip?”

Aurora tilted her head and held out her hands. In the palm of her hands, a Kobold doll was placed.

“……What is this?”

Like Percival, Aurora froze for a moment at the dried-up Kobold doll in her palm.

“It’s a doll made of Palo Santo to ward off evil. Isn’t it cute in its own ominous way?’

“…………Yes, it is.”

“Look, the three of us are matching. I gave it to Percival too.”

I took out my wand from around my waist and showed her the Kobold doll I had hanging from it. 

“Thank you very much.”

“I’m sorry I don’t have anything for Miss Liliana…..errr…”

I offer Liliana one of the candies that I have hidden in my jacket. It is a hard candy mixed with fruit juice. This is so delicious that it’s one of my favourites. Each one is wrapped in wax paper, and I like the fact that I can carry it around with me.

Liliana’s tense face softens a little and she accepts the candy. The master she serves has been told terrible things. Liliana must have been quite heartbroken.

“So, I heard the story from Percival. He said you couldn’t use holy magic properly.”

“That’s right. His Highness suddenly brought a national treasure sceptre and asked Herrera sama and I to pray. However, my prayer didn’t work.”

“I heard that it was difficult for the magic to flow.”

“Yes……How should I put it? It was as if there was a foreign object in the sceptre that was blocking the flow of magic.

What is that? A sceptre that blocks the flow of magical power. Originally, it is a magic tool for amplifying power. The sceptre accumulates magic. That’s because the sceptre that channels magic is not matched with the magical power. But how can the national treasure sceptre be such a lousy thing?……

No, it can. It can.

Thanks to my recent memory being so cluttered, I can now recall old memories as if they were recent. Thanks to this, I immediately remembered that Urla had indeed said something like that once.

That was just before I went to defeat Insania Metus. Urla was furious that she had prayed with the sceptre given to her by the king at some kind of grand ceremony, but she had been greatly embarrassed because the magic didn’t work.

So even though it was just before the dragon slaying, I was forced to go with her to search for the sceptre of Caeres Ais, which is said to maximise the power of holy magic.

If she was as good a user of holy magic as Aurora, it would be only natural that a lousy sceptre would cause a magic jam.

I wonder what Urla did with that Caeres Ais sceptre. She had it when she killed the dragon. I wonder if her successor inherited it after Urla retired.

“Hey Miss Aurora, have you ever heard of the sceptre of Caeles Ais?

“It’s the legendary sceptre said to have belonged to the Great Saintess Urla…….”

“Legendary? Why is it legendary?”

There was nothing more powerful than the sceptre of Caeres Ais to demonstrate the power of the Great Saintess Urla. It wouldn’t be strange if the sceptre of Urla, who was famous as a saintess, was kept in a temple somewhere. I wonder what happened to the weathervane party after I, Fortis, died.

It seems necessary to take a closer look at Urla’s life. I should go to the library and have a look.

“……I’m sure it’s because of the sceptre that Miss Aurora’s holy magic didn’t activate properly. So don’t worry about it. I have a bit of an idea, so I’ll get back to you if I find anything.”

The moment I was about to jump to the library by transferring, Percival grabbed my arm and transferred with me.

“Percival?”

“You’re going to look something up, aren’t you? Let me help you.”

“……Thanks, that would be great help. I want to find out about the Great Saintess Urla. The time period is from after the slaying of the dragon until her death. I need you to find any mention, no matter how small, of the sceptre she was carrying.”

“Okay.”

I don’t have to ask, Percival lends a helping hand as a matter of course. He is a really dependable man. If he wasn’t an aspiring knight, I’d love to recruit him to my party. But there is the right person for the right job. Even though he is the third son, it would be quite natural for Percival, the son of a frontier margrave, to pursue the path of a knight.

 

melon: Fyi, the sceptre mentioned should be more accurately translated as Khakkhara, which is a sceptre used by monks with rings hanging from it. But then, sceptre is more easily understood and most importantly, it’s easier for me to type lololol. 

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