episode_0097

*

Me, Reika, and a few guards assigned by Jinor.

We were riding in a carriage, with hoods covering our faces, approaching Heathfield Castle as fast as we could.

As expected of the soldiers assigned by Jinor, they were aware that Reika knew how to use magic.

It felt like a private soldier belonging to the Nighthart family, but perhaps because it was small, Yuuri didn’t seem to touch it at all.

“Wow… … .”

Reika was looking around outside the carriage for a while.

Perhaps trying to capture each and every scene of the outside in his eyes, the blue world was clearly visible on his pink retina.

“… … .”

I look at Reika’s profile.

It was definitely pretty cute.

A gentle face and fair skin.

Unlike Irene, who walked the path of a warrior on the battlefield and gained some fine muscles, her body looks soft even when she pretends to be protected in the mansion without being exposed to sunlight.

There are many women in this world, but there are probably not many people like Reika who emphasize that they are women from head to toe.

“… … Ah.”

Reika, who had been staring intently outside the carriage, must have finally noticed my gaze, and started waving her arms with her eyes wide open, not knowing what to do.

“This, this, this… … Well, that’s not it… … That’s right! So… … !”

I wanted to enjoy her visibly embarrassed appearance a little more.

Because constantly teasing wasn’t my style.

“You seem to like looking outside?”

“Yes? ah… … I guess, that… … This is my first time leaving the Balharat territory since my father was commissioned into the Aishous Army… … Yo.”

I see

Then there would have been that much interest.

at that time.

—Gurgling.

“… … ah… … .”

Reika’s face turned bright red, up to her ears.

Instead of making a big fuss, I handed him the hard wheat bread I had in my arms.

“Would you like to eat?”

“Ah, I… … That.”

As she covers her mouth with her hand and doesn’t know what to do, I say it without putting as much weight on the words as possible.

“It’s okay if you don’t ask. Because I’m not hungry.”

“… … Well, then… … !”

Reika stretched out her white hand to take the bread, then took a bite as big as she could.

Of course, from her perspective, it was just ‘as big as possible’, and she could barely put the corner of the bread in her mouth.

When I saw her munching while holding the bread with both hands, I thought she looked strangely like a hamster.

It’s peaceful.

Compared to what we were about to do now, the scenery was too peaceful.

“It would have been nice if this was a place to have fun. It’s a nice day, so I pack something like a delicious lunch and go on a picnic.”

“Ah… … It’s you. I heard that my father said there was something I had to do… … .”

” Now that I think about it, Jinor gave me permission.”

Jinor didn’t allow her to go outside the mansion, but-

For some reason, my request was responded to right away without saying anything.

Thanks to that, we didn’t have to argue pointlessly, so this was good… … If you’re going to unlock it so easily, why did you keep it so tight?

… … Well, from my perspective, it didn’t really matter.

“I was surprised too… … I guess I have to do something very, very important… … want. Yum.”

After she finished speaking, she took a bite of the bread and ate it.

“Now that I think about it, do you know what you do?”

“Just because I was told to help Swen properly… … I don’t know.”

“Aren’t you worried?”

“Yes?”

“You came out of a situation where you didn’t know how to help, right?”

Given Reika’s personality, wouldn’t this be a situation where she would be embarrassed and overbearing?

It’s a little obvious, but ‘How dare someone like me…’ … .’ or something like that.

Even though he clearly had skills, he always seemed to lack confidence.

but.

She turned her head and glanced at me-

Soon, he gave me an answer I didn’t expect.

“Not really… … Master Swen, isn’t it because of my magic that you called me…? … ?”

“Yes? That’s right.”

“Then… … are you okay. I’m confident… … Yum.”

oh?

Although the voice was hushed, there was no bravado in those words.

Purely, it looks like he wasn’t worried about that at all.

Well, following me means going to battle. Even though they are agitated, they don’t look scared, so it wouldn’t be surprising if they were unusual in their own way.

“Really? It’s nice to have faith.”

“Hehe… … If it’s about magic and nothing else, I’m confident I can help… … .”

“… … ?”

I recognized something subtle hidden in her sentences.

“What does that mean?”

“… … Yes?”

She looked at me with very clear eyes, as if she had said something wrong.

“If the magic stuff is helpful, what about the other stuff? Reika, you’re good at other things too, right? Baking or something.”

“Ah… … no. Just baking… … It’s just a hobby. The reason I can afford to eat properly is because I know how to use magic… … Because it reads mana.”

Reika said that-

He smiles a slightly sad smile that he has never shown me before.

A smile like that. I have seen it.

Back in the day, when Irene couldn’t let go of Lin Brans, she used to smile like that as if she would collapse at any moment.

“I… … Mr. Swen. You know that I am your foster daughter… … ?”

“Yes.”

“Well, actually… … Before my father took me in, I was an orphan.”

This is information I already knew… … All I know is the setting of ‘orphan’ written in Reika’s character description.

This was not the path she had walked while alive.

So, in fact, it was like hearing it for the first time.

“I see.”

“My father recognized my talent… … There’s something you said when you adopted me. The reason you have the ability to read mana is to become the person who will save this world… … If you can use that power correctly, you will definitely be able to achieve great things.”

She lowered her head and maintained a calm tone.

She often trembled and stuttered slightly… … The conversation continued very clearly and without interruption.

“So… … I have to use magic. Because that is what my father, and by extension this world, wants from me.”

“… … .”

“I’m really happy. I, who have no family, have this ability… … Thanks to being born with the ability to use magic, you can become a hero of this world, right? If we can help create a peaceful world… … That’s enough for me.”

Reika said that, then smiled brightly and said, ‘Ahaha, I guess I’m showing off somehow…’ … ‘He said something like this and scratched his cheek with his finger.

Looking at that… … I felt like something was making me cry.

“Mr. Reika.”

“Yes?”

“Are you lying?”

“… … E?”

Reika’s eyes trembled slightly when she heard what I said.

but… … However, I had no intention of including what I said.

“Is that really enough? If you can become a hero, are you satisfied with that?”

“Yes? Yeah, yeah… … Well, that’s probably the reason for my existence-”

“No. Mr. Reika. There is no separate reason for human existence. It just exists because it was born and exists.”

“… … !”

Reika heard me and looked at me in surprise.

It may be a very radical idea in this era, but… … Still, I really wanted to tell her this now.

“Reika as a magician… I admit it’s great. Perhaps, with Reika-san’s power, we can bring peace to this land as Jinor said. However, that doesn’t mean you have to be a wizard. If there is something you want to do, it is okay to choose that. I don’t think anyone can criticize Reika for not taking the path of a wizard. Reika, who is not a wizard, is also Reika. That alone is worth it.”

“Ah… … .”

After saying that, I laugh inside.

I may have said this out of my own mouth, but isn’t it really funny?

The reason I approached Reika in the first place was because she would become a powerful magician in the future.

But I was telling Reika, ‘There is no need to follow the path of a wizard.’

Why on earth did I cry when I saw that expression on her face?

Was it because I saw Irene in her?

When I was confused by the words I said without realizing it –

Her crawling voice came into my ears again.

“Ah, that… … that is. that… … .”

Just like before, she lowered her head again… …

With a bright red face, he spoke cautiously.

“Thank you… … ”

“… … .”

Obviously, ‘No, what. I was trying to say something like this-

For some reason, those words don’t come out well.

Instead of saying that, I did the same thing as Reika.

Lower your head and just stay still.

When there was a subtle silence inside the carriage-

With perfect timing, a soldier’s voice was heard.

“Arrived, Swen.”

Phew.

After wiping away the cold sweat that had spilled for some reason, I looked at Reika and said.

“… … Should I get off?”

“Ah, yes, yes… … !”

*

“This is… … .”

This place was in front of the watchtower on the outskirts of Hispil Castle Wall.

This watchtower was where the archers climbed during the sit-in war, but it was empty now as it was not in battle.

There are a lot of these watchtowers installed on the castle wall, but the location on this side is relatively awkward to place guards, so I assumed it would be empty, and it turned out I was right.

Well, it was good because there were different plans when there were people.

“Mr. Reika. Do you see the watchtower over there?”

“Ah, yes… … !”

“Please destroy that watchtower.”

“Yes… … ?”

Yes.

The main reason why I brought Reika.

It was to create a situation where ‘some kind of problem has occurred at Hispil Castle.’

In order to create false propaganda, you needed a plausible truth to back it up.

In the first place, propaganda itself does not exert its true power unless it is full of lies and contains a few drops of truth.

[The watchtower of Hispil Castle has collapsed] -> [The soldiers inside the castle are shocked and report the news to the royal castle] -> [We send in a soldier as a spy to report the news to the enemy camp] -> [ After cross-checking with the report of the soldier who came from the castle, he senses that something has happened and retreats.]

This was ‘Herbo’s plan’ planned in my own way.

In fact, it wasn’t a complete disaster as one of the watchtowers suddenly collapsed-

No matter how mysterious it was, it was not something that would make me sick.

That’s why the spy’s performance was important.

I thought that if I leaked the news that a rebellion was about to break out in the castle, in the most over-the-top way possible, I would be able to get a kick out of it.

‘Since my intelligence is 100, it would be nice if it had some effect on the success rate of the plan.’

There is a high probability that it will not happen that way.

Because it’s been like that so far.

I roughly explained this plan to Reika.

Reika nodded, looked at the watchtower a few times, and then… … He soon released his lips.

“… … huh. I think I can do it. Destroying that watchtower… … !”

“As expected, you are Reika. I rely on you.”

“Is that so? lol… … Thank you.”

After that, I explained my strategy to the guards.

As soon as it is confirmed that the watchtower has been destroyed and the commotion has occurred, we will be deployed to the enemy camp.

The armor he was wearing had the Serpina military pattern engraved on it, so it was clear that he would be fooled at some point.

“Okay. I will keep this in mind.”

good.

Once the explanation of the strategy is over, all that remains is the beginning.

“Mr. Reika. Please.”

“Yes… … !”

Reika nods and slowly closes her eyes.

And then he reached out and focused… … Without difficulty, I created a fireball on my hand.

That moment when I was thinking, can I just wait until this thing grows to a usable size?

‘uh?’

I turned my head when I realized something was blinding me.

The rapier hanging from my waist… … It was suddenly shining brightly.

‘what? Come on?’

For something that had never happened before, I took out the rapier hanging from my belt.

The green ceremonial rapier was shining more intensely than the sunlight at this moment.

And the moment I pulled it out.

“Uh, uh… … ?!”

Reika, who had been concentrating on collecting fireballs, suddenly started to look embarrassed and startled.

The fireball in her hand… … It flew to where I was.

no. To be precise, they started to gather at the end of the rapier I was holding.

“Ah? Mr. Swen?”

“What, what?!”

Grrr!

I hesitated, unable to properly accept this situation.

No, this ‘faltering’ was tantamount to coercion.

The fireball hanging at the tip of the rapier began to grow exponentially as it burned at the tip of the blade.

“Uh huh, huh, huh?!”

An unexpected situation.

I was startled and shook the rapier as if shaking it off.

okay. I really had no idea what was going to happen until now.

Squirt!

As I flicked away my rapier, the fireball that grew so large left its end and headed towards the walls of Hispil Castle at high speed.

No, you should shoot at the watchtower, not the castle wall?

No matter how strong Reika’s magic becomes, if it is enough to destroy a few trees, even if it is used on a castle wall, it will have the same destructive power as just scorching it.

If I had been in a more relaxed situation, I think I would have thought like that.

of course.

Reality had no intention of giving me time to think like that.

Quaaa

“… … !!!!!”

A huge fireball flew from the tip of the rapier and struck the walls of Hispil Castle.

Accompanied by a tremendous roar, fierce smoke blocks our eyes.

and… … How much time has passed?

Hey, when you open your eyes… … An unbelievable scenery unfolds before us.

“This… … This… … !”

On the walls that protected Hispil Castle… …

There was a really neat, huge, circular hole.