Chapter 42: Chapter 41: Open and Closed Borders

“Alright, the spells should last for the next hour.” Scarlet said after putting up a strong wind ward around the room, one that would stop any sound from exiting. She’d also used a spell to scan the room with wind, so that even if someone like Typhus was hiding in there, she would still be able to detect him.

She didn’t understand why they wanted such secrecy, but it wasn’t difficult for her to manage, so she didn’t complain.

The only people in the room were Charles, Nico, Scarlet, Prince Isaka, one of the Prince’s attendants, who Scarlet didn’t know the name of, and Lloyd himself. Chad had opted out of attending, as he didn’t want to get involved in messy politics and the rest of Charles and Isaka’s groups were making preparations for the next day’s events.

“Thank you.” Charles said before looking to Lloyd, as the 10-year-old Tier 7 Exalted Paladin sat at attention at the other end of a group of desks. “I’m going to be blunt and just ask you why someone of a high rank in the Old Noble Faction would wish to party with us.”

“The answer to that is very simple. I wish to one day be King.” Lloyd replied, getting a growl of anger from Isaka.

“You have a lot of nerve saying that right in front of my face.” The Half-Elf child spat, glaring at Lloyd. “The crown should be my eldest brother’s by right.”

“In an ideal world, that would be the case, and I would welcome it. But we don’t live in that ideal world.” Lloyd replied with a shake of the head. “While the King has the hearts of the common folk and the support of the Heroic Faction, the same can not be said for the rest of the Royal family. Despite everything she has done for us, the people still view the Queen and her children as foreign invaders trying to steal the throne. A rumor helped along in no small part by the three factions. Even if your brother was named the Crowned Prince, his status would never be accepted. It would only lead to a Civil War.”

Isaka’s face contorted at the reminder that his own Kingdom saw his mother and siblings as unwelcome outsiders, leeching off his father. No one had dared to say it to his face before, but his long ears weren’t for show. His small hands tightening into fists and his body shaking with anger.

“The older three factions are all waiting for the King to pass on so that they can place their own chosen heirs on the throne and restore the status quo. And I absolutely cannot allow that to happen.” Lloyd said coldly.

“And why is that? Are you not a part of the Old Nobles’ Faction?” Charles asked, a mixture of curiosity and accusation.

“By birth, I suppose. But I can’t work with them, or any of the original three factions, because of one important factor. All of them wish to return our Kingdom to its previous isolationist state.” Lloyd said.

“They do?” Scarlet said, surprised.

She wasn’t very interested in politics, but she did live in a port city.

Even for someone who spends 99% of their time in their family’s basement, or out hunting in the mountains, she still saw enough foreign ships coming into port carrying goods.

Most of the people at the port said that the goods that were brought in were a breath of fresh air for the Kingdom, and that the foreign ports they could sell their own goods at were welcomed as well.

“But the foreign market for our textile industry and low grade enchanted items is so good. Why would they want to close it down?” Scarlet asked.

“Because they are old fossils who cling to an idea of the ‘old days’ that never even existed in the first place.” Lloyd scoffed. “They don’t like change, even when it is for the better and do whatever it takes to ruin it using fear tactics and lies.”

“They are also a bunch of racist assholes.” Isaka huffed.

“If any of our relatives take the throne, we can kiss even our current levels of relations with the Elves and Beastkin goodbye. Not only would this be a huge loss for us economically, but we would lose access to the enchanted goods that are produced by the Kingdom of Elves. Surely the two of you can understand that.” Lloyd said, trying to appeal to Isaka and Charles’ logic as leaders of men.

“...I do understand that.” Charles said with a nod of his head. “But you still haven’t explained why you would do this. Going against your faction is the same as abandoning your family.”

“I am well aware of that.” Lloyd said without a hint of remorse.

“Why? Why would you do such a thing?” Charles asked, with a frown.

“Because… years ago, I went to a dinner at the Royal Palace that was welcoming foreign dignitaries, and at that meeting, I realized something. That our Kingdom’s culture is terribly far behind that of the Beastkin.” Lloyd said in confusion.

“The Beastkin’s?” Scarlet said, surprised to hear that their culture was being that of the Beastkin’s Kingdom.

Because Beastkin have magic stones, just like monsters, they struggle with learning to control magic, since mana inside of their body is normally held onto by the magic stone. Because of this, the Beastkin had almost no enchanters, and in a world without engineering, that was a huge disadvantage in the cultural front.

So why was it that Lloyd said that their culture was superior?

“Because Beastkin can grow levels as their magic stones grow, even their most lazy of children achieve 2 Talent Points before it is time to get their Classes. Because of this, even their commoners are able to achieve high Tier Classes. As you well know, a Tier 4 weaver was considered the best our Kingdom had to offer, but to the Beastkin, that is just average. And that goes for all aspects of their culture. Cooking, clothing, dancing, singing, writing, drawing, all if it is so much better than our own.” Lloyd said, his voice getting louder as he continued to speak. “I can still remember it to this day, the food that their chef served us was delicious, using spices that I didn’t even know existed. Compared to it, the salted meats that we have are just bland and tasteless.” 

“Really!?” Scarlet asked, sitting up straighter. “Spicy food? That sounds so good.” 

Scarlet had just kind of gotten used to the small variety when it came to food in this world. And since she hadn’t exactly been an expert cook in her previous life, eating mostly microwave meals and delivery, she hadn’t the slightest clue how to create some of the dishes she had in her old life.

She’d have an easier time making a computer from scratch than making a half decent curry powder.

“That’s right. And they had these picture books with incredible, stylized drawings that told amazing stories.” 

Picture books? Like comics or manga? Did those kinds of things really exist in this world? Why hadn’t she seen any of this yet? Perhaps she shouldn’t have avoided venturing into the market so much.

Everyone else exchanged awkward glances as the previously somewhat stoic Lloyd continued to rave about Beastkin culture, with an excited Scarlet eating it up as he talked about their lighter clothes, and singing and dancing routines.

“But the best thing has to be their girls! They are just perfect in every way!” Lloyd shouted as his rant continued.

“...The girls?” Scarlet said, taken aback. Up until then she had been on board with his descriptions of Beastkin culture fads, but that one threw her for a loop.

Granted, she was not one to deny the appeal of catgirls, since all Beastkin had the ears and tail of cats, but things like that weren’t exactly uncommon in this world. Caesia had a cat-type Bond, and had cat ears and a pair of tails for her Spirit Merge. So she was a little confused why Lloyd was so enthusiastic about it.

“I don’t get it. Aren’t they just the same as a human girl using Spirit Merge?” Scarlet said.

“IT IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!” Lloyd shouted, his fist coming down on the table hard enough to split it in two, startling everyone in the room even more. “It isn’t just the ears and the tail, it’s their whole body figure. It’s the way they dress! The way they act! The way they talk! It’s that cute thing they do when they try to hide their faces with their hands whenever they get embarrassed! It is everything about them! You can’t just stick a pair of cat ears on a normal girl and have it be the same thing!”

...So… He had a catgirl fetish?

In her previous life, Scarlet had called such people harmless enough, but in a world where catgirls really existed… This wasn’t going to be a problem, was it?

After a few moments of silence, Lloyd seemed to realize that everyone was staring at him and coughed into his hand. “Anyways. In order to ensure that our borders stay open, I wish to become King, without the help of the old three factions. And in order for that to happen, I need to secure the support of the Heroic Faction and His Majesty. And what better way to do that than to assemble my own version of the Big 10, the next generation of heroes.”

“So in other words, you wish to use us in order to fulfill your own goals.” Isaka said coldly, crossing his arms.

“...I’ll do the best I can to assist you all… but yes.” Lloyd admitted weakly. “I am going against my family and all of our allies in order to do this, so I don’t have much I can offer beyond my own sword and shield. I will acknowledge that despite my blood and my Class, I am a beggar, but I promise I will fight with everything I have if you will take me.”

After saying so, Lloyd just sat there awaiting judgement... after apologizing to Scarlet who had to use magic to repair the desk he just broke. In the meantime, Isaka and Charles both sat quietly in thought, letting the tension in the room grow.

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“What do you think?” Nico asked his young lord after a minute had passed and Lloyd’s desk was fully restored.

“...Our House has always remained neutral when it came to the Kingdom’s politics.” Charles said quietly. Lloyd’s face shifted momentarily into a look of despair before he quickly recovered himself, swallowing and glancing towards Isaka.

“To support you could be said to be the same as betraying my elder brother.” Isaka said.

“...I see.” Lloyd said, his shoulders falling, as if the pair had just struck the final nail in the coffin. Scarlet felt sorry for the boy, but there wasn’t much she could do.

The decision belonged to Charles and Isaka, and the two appeared to have made their choice, but they were surprised when Charles spoke up again.

“...Our House has avoided politics. However, I have a personal reason to make sure that the others do not take the throne.” He said, his hands tightening. 

“Ah… You mean Caesia, don’t you?” Nico said a look of understanding crossing his face as the boy nodded.

“Caesia? Why is Caesia involved in this?” Scarlet asked, confused by why the girl’s name would be brought up.

“...We haven’t told you, but there have been a good number of marriage requests for Caesia from the great nephews of the King who are being supported by the three factions, since she is the only girl to obtain a Tier 6 magic-type Class in the last thirty years, if you don’t include Princess Willow.” Nico explained for Charles.

High Tier magic-type Classes were extraordinarily rare, so even if you included Joshua, and hybrid Classes Typhus and Mehal, there were only 10 in the entire kingdom. If you broaden your view to those with Tier 5 and up, there were 50 people who had reached that Tier in the last 50 years.

It wasn’t just difficult to even get started by learning [Mana Control] at an early age, but the act of training magic required an insane amount of mana. To reach level 125 before you turned 10 was nothing short of an extraordinary achievement. And the children of any woman who reached this landmark would receive +300% growth to their magical abilities.

“At the moment, grandfather is able to simply turn down all of their requests, but if one of them was to become King, that request would become an order.” Charles said bitterly. If they became King, those bastards would claim that it was the girl’s duty to help keep the Royal bloodline as strong as possible, regardless of her personal feelings. “Caesia worked hard to obtain that Class so that she would have the right to marry whomever she chose. I won’t let them take that right away from her.”

“...You have absolutely no idea how much like your grandfather you are, my Young Master.” Nico said quietly to himself, though there was a smile on his face.

He wondered what the young boy would say if he realized that the boy that Caesia had always had a crush on was him.

They also failed to mention to Scarlet that there were some of those same requests popping up for her, along with questions about her Class, ever since she turned 10.

Given that the girl and her mother were frightened by the subject of marriage in general, they did their best to shelter her from the requests from total strangers.

“I see. So we have one vote for allowing him to join.” Isaka said before looking to Scarlet. “And what is your opinion on all this?”

“Huh? You want my opinion?” Scarlet said, surprised that the prince would ask her.

“Of course. You do have one, don’t you?” Isaka said, leaning back in his seat.

“Well… I think everyone is getting too far ahead of themselves.” Scarlet said plainly. “Agreeing to all go down into the Labyrinth together isn’t some kind of thousand year oath of allegiance. And regardless of our personal reasons, everyone is really just trying to grow strong. And since there aren’t any real downsides to bringing Lloyd with us, I don’t see why not. His ability should be useful.”

“Hm… I see your point. Very well. While I can’t agree to support his… odd goals, I will welcome him into the party… for now.” Isaka said. He wasn’t happy with Lloyd, but he didn’t hate him either. ...Just found him weird. “It seems like our business has concluded, so if you would excuse me, I need to start training soon if I am going to reach my next Class Change by tomorrow.”

“Alright. Good luck and tell me if you need any help.” Scarlet said as the boy stood up and left the room with his attendant following behind him.

...Seriously, what was that guy’s name?

“Thank you for speaking up for me.” Lloyd said, giving Scarlet a small bow. 

“Ah, I didn’t really speak up for you…” Scarlet said awkwardly. Even if he was a black sheep, he was still a lord of the highest noble status, higher even than Charles, and while she was used to Charles, having Lloyd bow to her felt weird.

“I suppose. I’m just glad to have found another man of fine culture.” Lloyd laughed, holding out his hand to Scarlet. “Let us do our best.”

...Alright. She’d trained for this.

Holding back a swallow, she reached up and took Lloyd’s hand, hoping his wouldn’t notice the goosebumps on her arm as she shook it. 

‘This isn’t so bad. This isn’t so bad.’ She kept telling herself as she forced a smile. “I’m looking for...forward to it.”

Scarlet congratulated herself on the small victory as she tried to let go of Lloyd’s hand, only to be pulled forward as the boy threw an arm around her shoulder, squeezing it tight. “I can already tell we are all going to be the best of friends!” Lloyd laughed even as Scarlet started to pale.

‘Everything is okay. Everything is okay. Everything is… NOT OKAY!’

“Scarlet don’t!” Charles shouted, grabbing onto Scarlet’s arm as she pulled a blade and went for Lloyd’s throat.

Nico pushed a startled Lloyd to the side as he and Charles pushed Scarlet away from him, the girl dropping to the ground, knife still in hand, her eyes wide, but not seeing any of them as she started to hyperventilate. 

They were lucky she was, as it was disrupting her attempts to cast spells, and each of them was tanky enough to not be affected by the discharges of lightning attributed mana bolts she was wordlessly flinging at them. Though it did make movement difficult, and was causing their hair to stand on end.

Charles and Nico tried to reason with her, but she couldn't even hear their voices properly. Their attempts at gentle voices only sending further shivers up her spine. As she knew from old experiences that gentle voices came with strong hands.

(Scarlet stop! It’s alright!) Branwen shouted into Scarlet’s mind, as she lighted down on the girl’s shoulder and started to rub her face against Scarlet’s cheek. (It’s alright! You’re safe! You don’t need to attack!)

Her Bond’s words distracted Scarlet’s barrage, and pulled her focus away from the boy’s long enough for Charles and Nico to drag Lloyd out of the room, leaving Scarlet and her Bond alone.

(It’s alright Scarlet. It’s just us now. You can calm down. It’s just us.) Branwen said soothingly into Scarlet’s mind until her panic subsided, after which the girl began to cry. (It’s alright. I’m with you.)

Scarlet hugged Branwen to her chest and continued to cry for the next half hour, until the wards she had set up around the room started to die down.

After that… she left. She returned to her room and no one stopped her from shutting herself inside. They just sent in large amounts of food with their Bonds to make sure than Scarlet wouldn’t get hungry and left her be until the next morning, when it was time for her to pull herself back together.

“Are you alright?” Charles asked the girl.

“...No. I never have been. But I will manage.”