episode_0040

At some point, the 3rd prince and I were back in the board game room instead of the white space.

Less than a second after midnight.

“… … … … … .”

“… … … … .”

And then silence follows.

It’s not that I felt awkward or that I was so shocked that I couldn’t speak.

The 3rd prince was watching me.

The 3rd prince is watching me, and I am looking at him like that.

Because the silence was created like that.

It was the prince’s responsibility to break the silence.

“Day… … Do you despise it?”

“What are you saying?”

“You gave me a chance. Stupidly, I couldn’t think of it myself, and although I said I was going to take advantage of an opportunity that I didn’t know when it would come, I was in a hurry to bow my head in front of that opportunity. In the end, I was a person who never took chances for myself and just looked at what others thought.”

“It is His Highness the Prince who was recognized by the Archmage.”

“That answer was the problem. Is it true that the position of emperor and the power of the empire is achieved through the sacrifice of innocent citizens of the empire and the existence of an enemy who will make the people of the empire tremble with fear?”

“… … … … .”

“What I really want is not to cause war or chaos. It is enough to unite the empire and to know that there is a threat… … … No, this is also an excuse. Nevertheless, it is clear that innocent people are sacrificed.”

“Your Majesty.”

“But still, I… … … .”

The prince was distressed.

After much thought and hesitation, I presented it, and thanks to that, I was able to have the Archmage as my backbone. It became possible to challenge the competition for the throne. There was a possibility of becoming emperor. Everything the 3rd prince hoped for has now come true.

Still, he suffered.

Is the answer you gave correct? Is it okay for him to sacrifice innocent people of the empire for his own sake?

and… … For saying all that in front of me.

Maybe I am one of the ‘innocent imperial citizens’ that the 3rd prince will sacrifice.

“I… … … still. I think that answer is not wrong.”

“… … … .”

“If given the same situation, I would have given the same answer. No matter how much I thought or hesitated, I would have answered that way in the end.”

Blood was flowing from the prince’s mouth and hands.

It was a sign of worry.

It was also a symbol of an unchanging answer.

“Ask again. Kyle Byron, do you despise me?”

“Your Majesty.”

“If you despise it, even if you don’t, leave quickly. I’m saying this because I’m worried about you. Two brothers… … … No, I don’t have the confidence to protect you from competitors.”

“… … … … .”

“I invited you to play a board game that would help you get closer to your brothers. Now there is no need for that.”

The 3rd prince ended his words like that.

After shaking my head a few times, I gave up my hesitation.

He bowed down to me.

“Thank you so much, Kyle Byron. For creating an opportunity. For giving me a chance to shine.”

“… … … … .”

“You are my benefactor and honored guest. You can come to the castle whenever you want. Anytime, any time… … I will welcome you.”

After giving his sincere thanks, the prince straightened his back and quietly turned around. As if to tell me to go now.

If the back looked somewhat lonely, was it because of my mood?

I whispered quietly while looking at the 3rd prince’s back.

“Do you know that? His Royal Highness was always smiling brightly when playing Catan. In the end, you truly enjoyed the board game. Even before.”

“… … … … … .”

“I will leave Catan behind. Since you know all the rules, you can play with other people.”

“… … … … .”

“Someday, when I see you again.”

I hope I can see that unchanging smile again.

I sincerely hope.

*

It rattled. It rattled.

“… … That’s how it happened.”

The night we played board games to comfort the 3rd prince and met the great wizard.

That was already 2 days ago.

As soon as the night passed and the day dawned, I told everyone to leave. With the word that he received permission from the 3rd prince.

Everyone was taken aback by the sudden remark, but they were just thankful that they followed along without asking anything.

‘Because it’s hard to tell everything as it is.’

In any case, everything would be revealed when the 3rd prince returned to the competition for the throne in earnest, but the 3rd prince did not want me to get caught up or cause trouble. I followed the wind and left the imperial castle as quickly as possible.

He was traveling away from the capital on the Heavenly Horse Carriage that the 3rd Prince had given him to take with him.

After a day of running without stopping, as the next day dawned, I explained everything to Adela, Water Tiger, and Sally.

“Of course, I understand.”

“Could it possibly affect the Magic Tower?”

“The 3rd Prince’s participation in the competition for the throne is clearly a major political incident, but the 6th Magic Tower is prohibited from engaging in politics in any way. Of course, it is being done secretly, but the owner of Olpin Tower is not interested in that, so you don’t have to worry.”

“Thank goodness.”

Adela surprisingly accepted it calmly.

[Growl!]

“Um… … Well, there’s no need to tell you this.”

[Rung.]

In the first place, there was no need to tell a story to a water tiger who was just a spirit.

“Woman, you are also a master… … ! Even the great wizard has eyes that see!!”

Sally completely ignored the story about the Third Prince and only emphasized the part that I had been invited by the Grand Wizard of the Imperial Castle.

It was an imperial castle that I had to leave in a hurry without being able to achieve my original purpose.

I was worried about what would happen to the 3rd prince in the future.

‘When I come back, I’ll be able to find out through Catan.’

Will he remain the same or change amidst the competition for the throne?

Well, it didn’t mean there was no harvest at all.

“Adella, the letter of recommendation given by His Royal Highness is.”

“I have it well. Although the 3rd Prince does not have his own name, the Severus Imperial Family emblem is certain.”

First of all, there is a letter of recommendation from the imperial family that the 3rd prince personally provided.

Although it is of lower quality as it is not in the name of the prince himself, it is a letter of recommendation with the royal family emblem that only the Severus royal family can use. This alone was enough to leave no place in the empire that could not be entered.

‘If the 3rd prince’s name was written on it, it would naturally become associated with him.’

In the future, the 3rd Prince will be the nucleus of a storm in many ways. Since the Archmage is protecting them, the 1st and 2nd princes cannot directly target the 3rd prince, but the people around them are a different story.

That’s exactly what the 3rd prince was worried about, and that’s why he didn’t write down his name on the recommendation letter to avoid getting involved as much as possible.

Nevertheless, there was no change in the fact that it was a very useful item.

“There’s a dwarf… … … .”

“Originally, it is a race that is impossible to contact even if they are nobles. There is even a saying that the reason the Empire was able to gain hegemony on the continent was because it first included the Dwarves.”

“Definitely, one board game would make it awesome.”

“… … … … … .”

Second, a permit to enter the dwarven village.

As Adella said, dwarves are strictly managed by the imperial court and are the highest-ranking engineers who work only for the imperial court.

‘Even with his status as the 3rd prince, he couldn’t mobilize the dwarves.’

It would not be an empty statement to say that all the weapons and buildings that were legendary on the continent were made by dwarves.

These people can only be seen at least once in a lifetime if they are a marquis or a duke or a great noble or royal family member.

This is a pass to a village where such dwarves gather.

‘I asked you to return this later.’

It cannot be issued or done separately. Even if it were not the 3rd prince, but the 1st or 2nd prince, such a thing was impossible.

I heard from the 3rd prince that each member of the direct royal family is given one pass. Without it, even members of the royal family cannot enter the dwarven village.

His words of gratitude were so sincere that he even gave him a letter of recommendation, so it was safe to say that he did virtually everything the third prince could do.

Since he was competing for the throne without having much, each and every one of these things must have been precious to him.

‘A board game made by dwarves.’

The pass was in the form of a necklace elaborately engraved with the image of a dwarf holding a nail and a hammer.

If you stopped by the dwarven village once, it was also an item that you asked to return when you came to the imperial castle later.

Honestly, I can’t stand board games made by dwarves.

And, finally, there was a harvest that overwhelmed both of them.

“Sally, you brought 8 board games, right?”

“ㄴ, yes! Oh, I definitely got all the board games you made! Wow, I left Katan behind like you said.”

“Good… … !!”

There are 8 high-quality board games created using imperial engineers, a whopping 8!

Unlike Abracadabra, which is entirely made up of fantasy magic, and Kyle Galli or Spirit Poker, which require only cards and a few tools, each game is made with an elaborate board game board and various complex tokens.

Although they were particularly simple, games this complex and sophisticated were virtually impossible to mass-produce, making them even more valuable.

‘It could have been made by mobilizing the Byron family’s blacksmiths.’

It would have been difficult to expect this level of quality. In addition, there were no painters or scribes of the highest skill in the empire within the family.

To be honest, just being able to make these board games was more than enough to benefit me from this project.

‘Board game fad? ‘Spread to aristocratic society?’

Oh, of course that’s important, but in the end, it’s something that can be done slowly, right?

It was truly a satisfactory income, as we never knew when the imperial engineers would be able to create a board game of this size.

I’m just holding back since I’m in the carriage, so I’ll try again as soon as I get to my destination.

As I was stroking the water tiger sitting at my feet, reminiscing about the harvest, Sally, who was laughing, came up to me.

“Do, Master. So, are we going back to the Demon Tower? … ?”

“Oh, you didn’t tell me where you were going? It’s true that I’m going to the Magic Tower, but I have a place to stop before.”

“If you want to stop by… … … .”

“Where are you? I have to go get the water tiger.”

[…] … Urrung!?]

The water tiger that was being petted with its eyes closed quietly at my words immediately raised its head.

Although its body was made of water, it was squishy like slime, so the hand I was stroking did not enter the water tiger, but it reacted quite violently.

“I received a letter from His Excellency Duke Nicholas. Since he has already returned to the duchy, the Water Tiger asked you to send him back when the time comes.”

[Ugh, growl… … !]

“I’m on my way anyway, and I also want to meet Princess Lacia.”

“… … Princess Lacia, what are you saying?”

“Now that I think about it, Adela, you don’t know. When I went to Arche Magic Tower, didn’t I come as a member of the Everts duchy?”

“… … … … I was wrong.”

“Yes? Anyway, the reason I received the qualification at that time was because I helped Princess Lacia at the Duke of Everts. This water tiger is also the princess’s spirit.”

[Ur… … … .]

“At the end, we parted ways as if we were being kicked out, but we continued to exchange letters after that, so I guess our anger went away. It’s been a while since I last saw you, so I’m a little nervous.”

There wasn’t any indication of that in the letter, but I’m worried as he got angry and slammed the door when he told me he was leaving at the end.

What if Lacia’s mistrust of humanity gets worse? I tried to find it, but I guess I got turned away at the door.

As I was worrying so much, I suddenly realized that Sally and Adela’s eyes were looking somewhere.

The gazes of those two.

[Grrr… … … ?]

He looks like he’s very upset about something.

It was facing the water tiger.

… … … why?

*

“… … … … .”

One of the four spiers in the Duke of Everts Castle. The top floor of the spire where the youngest princess stays.

Lacia quietly opened her eyes and woke up on the bed in her room there.

Wow. Crack.

“Ugh… … … .”

How many hours did this happen? In fact, when I stood up for the first time in a while, my joints screamed.

‘Synchro’, one of the highest level elemental arts, is a truly powerful and useful secret technique that can enter the body of a spirit with a deep bond with the elementalist, but it also has significant drawbacks.

As the Spiritualist’s spirit is sent to the Spirit, the Spiritualist’s body becomes vulnerable during that time. Additionally, if one was not skilled in synchro, there was a risk that the spiritist’s consciousness would be assimilated into the spirit.

Of course, it was a meaningless story only for Lacia. She was at the top of a spire protected by numerous spirits, and as she was already familiar with synchro, there was almost no risk of her being assimilated.

Right now, I was just feeling dizzy from lying down for so long.

Growling.

“… … … … After.”

How many hours did they stay in sync? No matter how short it was, it felt like 24 hours had already passed.

When I returned from the water tiger’s body to the human body, I heard a growling sound from my empty stomach, and it took quite a while for my pounding head to come to its senses.

[Whirl!]

[Shut up!]

“… … Yes.”

Seeing her awake, several spirits hurriedly approached Lacia with beauty and used their bodies to massage Lacia.

The spirits’ response was very familiar, as if it had not happened once or twice.

Even as she ate the rice with trembling hands, Lacia’s consciousness was in her head.

To be exact, above the head where someone’s hand had touched.

‘It was warm.’

Lacia’s consciousness was still dazed, and her head was filled with only someone’s caress.

I miss those soft and gentle touches. The top of my head that is not stroked feels empty.

Lacia was vaguely repeating those thoughts.

“… … … .”

Sreuk.

After eating all the rice, I very naturally lay down on the bed again.

As I have been doing over and over again for the past few weeks, I was going to wake up once a day, consume minimal calories, and then sync right away.

“… … … Ah!”

Only then did he seem to have regained some of his senses, opened his eyes wide, and stood up.

Unlike before, the reason I turned off synchronization this time was to ‘prepare.’

Lacia, who was slowly catching her breath, looked at the dozens of spirits gathered around the bed.

“Everyone, get ready… … !”

[Whirik?]

[Meow?]

[Quarantine?]

“Cleaning, cleaning the entire spire! Organize my room too! Choose from cosmetics to clothes! It will arrive in half a day!!”

[Whee, whirrish!?]

[Shut up!]

As soon as an order is given, there are spirits that move in perfect order.

Lacia also quietly stared out the window before moving to prepare.

“… … Those bitches.”

Two truly arrogant women who were approaching from afar and who had guessed her identity.

“Kyle, Byron… … .”

Remembering the warmth, touch, and smell I felt all this time.

Until the spirits finish preparing.

Lacia quietly indulged in the warmth of her memories.

For minutes, for hours.

continue.