Ch.110Summer Vacation Preparations (2)

# The North, First Defense Line

Irene looked out over the vast snowfield from atop the massive wall.

The overflow of magical beasts occurs periodically.

Generally, there’s one major wave each month.

Besides the major waves, there are occasional small invasions, but the walls can handle a few magical beasts on their own.

That’s why Irene typically visits about once a month to face the major waves.

Thinking about the boring week ahead, Irene was already feeling bored.

“Captain.”

At that moment, Vice-captain Charlotte knelt beside Irene.

Irene, hands behind her back, merely turned her head.

“What is it?”

“Well.”

Charlotte spoke with a stiff expression.

“I’m hungry.”

“…”

Though said like a joke, the situation was serious.

“We’ve been starving for three days now.”

“A knight of Windsor should be able to endure for about two weeks.”

Charlotte realized she hadn’t even recovered her investment.

She lowered her shoulders and answered quietly.

“Yes.”

Her retreating figure looked too pitiful.

Irene pulled something from her pocket and threw it.

“Charlotte.”

Charlotte lightly jumped and caught a key that was taller than herself.

“The key to the food storage. And, if you’re hungry, you should have said so earlier…”

“Woohoo!”

Charlotte, delighted like a child, leaned over the opposite wall as if about to fall.

“I did it, everyone!”

-Woohoo!

Knights who had been hiding in the corners of the wall emerged and cheered.

Irene lazily wiggled her finger toward Charlotte.

Charlotte flinched and then slunk over.

Irene was still smiling. However, Charlotte, who had known Irene for a long time, could tell.

That her mouth corners were slightly less upturned than usual.

That was the expression Irene made when she was angry.

“Why didn’t you say anything? About being hungry.”

“W-well.”

Charlotte fidgeted with her index fingers while watching Irene’s reaction, then gathered courage to speak.

“Since the Captain wasn’t eating anything… we couldn’t eat either. You’ve only been eating strange weeds.”

“Huh?”

Irene tilted her head.

“Ah.”

She pulled out her pouch and showed it.

“You mean this?”

“…After being so shocked during your last visit to the Academy, why are you only eating such weeds? Everyone’s worried.”

Charlotte was full of concern.

“This isn’t just any weed.”

“What?”

“It’s food my brother made for me.”

“…Young Master Ruide?”

“Yes. Want to try some?”

Irene lifted a tiny amount of the herb from her pouch and offered it.

Her expression showed how precious it was.

Charlotte accepted the herb with a curious expression and ate it.

“…!”

Suddenly, Charlotte’s empty stomach was filled with a sense of fullness.

“Magic…?”

“He packed it for me to eat on the journey. What could be more efficient than this? Ruide is so thoughtful.”

Charlotte’s expression changed by the second.

Irene chewed on the herb while staring at Charlotte with an interested gaze.

“Aaaaargh! What about our loyalty!”

Irene smiled brightly.

“It was all for nothing.”

“Captain, that’s too cruel! And humans should eat meat! I’m going to binge eat from now on!”

Irene watched Charlotte jump down from the wall while scattering tears in the air, and thought.

Indeed, she’s an interesting child.

And a sharp one too.

‘Perhaps I’ve been too focused on my siblings. To not even notice the children right in front of me were starving.’

Charlotte was right.

Since returning from the Academy, Irene had been somewhat dazed.

She was worried.

It suddenly struck her that those children were perfect targets for exploitation.

Ruide was just a baby, and Amelia had always been a bit slow-witted.

Her stubborn personality was an advantage when fighting magical beasts but became a fatal flaw when entangled in politics.

She wished she could stay at the Academy until their graduation.

But she had a duty to protect the First Defense Line.

Irene couldn’t leave this place.

Though she was allowed some time away.

The more frequently she visited, the more painful it became.

“It’s almost vacation time. I’ll have to endure until then somehow.”

Just then, Irene’s eyebrow twitched.

Shing.

She half-drew her sword, turned around, and gazed at the sky.

“Flying-type magical beasts shouldn’t come to the First Defense Line.”

But this was unmistakably the presence of a magical beast.

And a rather large one at that.

“Captain!”

The Windsor First Knight Order climbed up the wall.

Except for Charlotte, they were all new recruits.

The Windsor Knight Order had a tradition of having their debut at the First Defense Line.

It was to give them at least some experience.

“Everyone except Charlotte, go back down. You need to eat.”

“B-but.”

Irene gave a cold stare to the knight who raised an objection.

Charlotte wiped away cold sweat and nudged him with her elbow.

“We apologize.”

The knights descended from the wall in an orderly fashion.

“Is it a White Wyvern? This is going to be troublesome.”

Charlotte drew her sword while speaking in dialect.

“No.”

Irene replied calmly.

“It’s more likely a foreign species.”

Foreign species referred to those that deviated from the standard magical beast specifications.

Charlotte gulped.

“I-I’ll trust you, Captain.”

Irene raised the corner of her mouth.

“…Born and raised in the North, yet where did you learn that Imperial dialect?”

“Ah, haha. When did I ever use dialect?”

The presence drew closer.

Unfortunately, the thick cloud cover prevented visual confirmation.

About ten minutes passed in silence. Irene, gripping her sword, spoke quietly.

“It’s coming.”

“I’ll take the first move!”

Charlotte quickly began an incantation.

A pink light gradually gathered around her sword.

“Ren— hmph.”

At that moment, Irene covered Charlotte’s mouth, forcibly stopping the incantation.

She sheathed her partially drawn sword and smiled deeply.

“Rui.”

“Y-young master?”

As Irene spoke, an object breaking through the clouds and heading in their direction became visible.

It was a white fox.

Too large to be simply called a fox, with nine tails.

On its back rode a boy with golden hair fluttering in the wind.

It was Ruide.

**

‘Amazing.’

Ruide had returned to his childhood wonder.

Wow, a fox that flies through the sky.

Burying his face in Miho’s soft fur, he said:

“You’re more useful than you look, huh?”

[…I think Master sometimes forgets I’m a Great Spirit.]

Miho landed gracefully on the First Defense Line wall.

Ruide dismounted from Miho’s back.

The reason he came here was because he agreed with Damon’s plan.

‘His Majesty wouldn’t be able to do such things if Sister Irene were at the Academy.’

Above all, Ruide wanted to be with his family as much as possible.

“Sister.”

“Rui.”

Irene approached with steady steps and crouched in front of Ruide.

She stroked his head, gently caressed his cheek, then hugged him tightly.

“So you’re not an illusion.”

Over Irene’s shoulder, Ruide saw a familiar face.

Charlotte.

Ranked first in the knight order after Irene.

Her distinguishing feature was her pink hair, and she was a comedy character with zero seriousness.

“Hello, Young Master!”

“Hello, Charlotte.”

And she got along very well with Ruide.

Looking at “Lazy Ruide’s” memories, she was remembered as the person who played with him the most.

“You’re cute no matter when I see you. No, no. You’ve become three times cuter since I last saw you.”

Charlotte ruffled Ruide’s hair vigorously.

Irene smiled and released him from her embrace.

“You’ve finally returned. Welcome back. The head of the family will be very pleased.”

“It’s not vacation yet.”

Ruide placed his hand on Miho’s body.

Miho immediately shrank and entered Ruide’s arms.

Holding the fox, Ruide looked back and forth between Irene and Charlotte.

Irene immediately noticed and spoke.

“What a beautiful fox. It suits you well.”

“I didn’t know it had this function. Amazing, right?”

“Yes, yes. Amazing.”

Charlotte looked at Ruide with satisfaction.

‘Now we won’t have to starve anymore.’

Without Ruide, both the head of the family and Irene were ten times colder than usual.

Indeed, only the youngest could melt the ice of Windsor Castle.

But—

Ruide hadn’t returned to the North yet.

“Just to be clear, I’m only stopping by briefly.”

Irene kindly explained.

“Rui.”

“Yes?”

“You may come as you please, but leaving is different. This sister has no intention of letting you go again.”

The back of Ruide’s neck felt damp.

This was clearly serious.

He could vaguely see a future where he’d be imprisoned if he said he wanted to return.

“First, calm down and listen to me.”

“I’ll listen.”

“Sister, isn’t the First Defense Line boring?”

Irene smiled and matched Ruide’s eye level.

“It is boring.”

“Prince Damon suggested it first. Let’s hand over the First Defense Line to the Empire.”

Irene nodded.

“Yes.”

“…You understand?”

“I understand.”

‘Why is her reaction so lukewarm?’

This was the reaction that came when something failed to capture her interest.

Ruide decided to use his trump card.

“For that to happen, we need to raise the skills of the Academy students so the Empire can handle magical beasts on its own.”

“Yes.”

“That means we need someone to guide the students.”

“…Yes?”

“Sister Irene is the perfect candidate. After all, if you come to the Academy, you can protect the Empire and teach the students. Above all.”

Ruide made his eyes sparkle as he firmly held Irene’s hand.

Then he adjusted the angle of looking up, the subtle wrinkles on his face—he manipulated everything.

He used every means possible to appear cute.

This was Ruide’s ultimate move.

“…I can be with you.”

It was aegyo.

“…”

Irene smiled and stood up.

Looking at Charlotte, she said:

“Prepare to withdraw.”

‘This time the decision is too quick!’

Irene had no middle ground.

“No, don’t withdraw yet. I just came to let you know about the plan.”

“Seeing you come in person, you must have been quite desperate.”

Ruide turned his gaze away and nodded slightly.

‘I don’t like fighting.’

Theoretically, no matter what the Emperor did, he couldn’t change the Windsor family’s succession structure.

However, an uneasy feeling kept rising.

Thoughts like, what if Irene and Amelia someday cross a river they can’t return from?

The only way to prevent this for certain was to bring Irene to the Academy.

Honestly, from Ruide’s perspective, whether the Empire was weak or strong didn’t matter to him.

But justification was important. After all, the Windsors were a loyal family. Even if it was his request, Irene wouldn’t move without proper justification.

In that sense, Damon’s plan provided an excellent justification.

With this, he could persuade her gently.

“When should Sister go?”

“I’d like just Sister to come to the Academy first. The goal is to give the Academy students basic training and then send them to the defense line.”

Ruide watched Irene’s reaction as he spoke.

“…Will you allow it?”

If it were Amelia, the answer would have been something like “I’ll ask the head of the family first…”

But Irene had the authority to make decisions on Windsor family matters based on her own judgment.

“Hmm…”

Irene placed her index finger on her lips and made a contemplative expression.

Ruide felt subtly tense.

“Ah!”

Charlotte jumped in surprise and looked beyond the wall.

Kuguguugu-.

A vibration like the earth rumbling was heard.

“Captain, it seems to be starting. Let’s deal with that first.”

Beyond the ridge, numerous white-furred magical beasts could be seen approaching.

It was a monster wave.

‘Not at this crucial moment.’

Ruide looked at the approaching magical beasts with fierce eyes.

He stretched his hand toward them.

A blue light flickered in Ruide’s eyes.

“E-e-e-evacuate-! Everyone evacuate!”

Charlotte shouted to the knights who had formed a line at the base of the wall.

But the knights were already jumping inside the wall without a moment’s hesitation.

When the last knight entered and the gate was locked—

“Judgment.”

A very thin light flickered slightly away from Ruide’s hand.

And when Ruide clenched his fist—

— —!

The ground where the magical beasts had been running was flipped over.

A high-frequency sound beyond the limit of human hearing spread across the land.

At that moment, an enormous light fell from the sky as if to devour everything.

Kuwaaaang!

The light that fell from the center grew uncontrollably and engulfed the magical beasts.

Nothing remained on the ground where the light had disappeared.

No beast corpses, not even the snow that had covered everything white.

As if nothing had ever existed there from the beginning.

“Ugh, how does Young Master produce such power with different magic every time?”

Charlotte wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked at Irene.

Irene was staring at the cleared snowfield with sparkling eyes.

“C-Captain?”

That appearance, seemingly overwhelmed by something, was like a child returning to innocence.

It was an expression Charlotte had never seen before.

Irene took Ruide’s hand and suddenly said:

“Let’s go to the Academy, Rui.”