episode_0071

When I was young, I thought El Taor was a very big city. My hometown, Galan Village, wasn’t very populated and I only knew everyone, so if I had the chance to come to a city like this, I would have tried to follow them somehow. Even if they did come to El Taor, they did not come often unless it was to pay taxes or sell crops, so no more than three times a year.

“What are you thinking?”

“I thought nothing had changed, well it wasn’t like I was in Ignolia that much… … It’s just like that.”

“If someone saw me, they would think I was an older person.”

“Because I will be an adult next year.”

After talking with Ceresria, I moved towards El Taor’s square. Perhaps because it was early in the morning, not many people were moving around, and now people were seen preparing to open stores and moving to farmland. As I was looking at those people, Ceresria whispered softly to me.

“Are you going to go to your hometown right away?”

“It’s some distance from here to Galan Village, so it would take quite a while to walk.”

“There is quite a bit of time until the martial arts festival, and even if it is held, it will be held after lunch tomorrow, and I don’t know how many participants there will be.”

“I wonder if there will be someone with good skills, and I want to avoid being associated with someone like that.”

“My father said he would give me a title… … Wouldn’t most people who know how to use magic participate? There may be fewer people participating in the academy, but they still have some level of skill. Academy graduates can participate, and there is no age limit yet.”

“There is a saying to avoid older wizards.”

“The fact that you survived until then is proof of your strength. Of course, there are many cases where young wizards are stronger.”

“Talent is scary, including you.”

Then she laughed, turned away, and opened her mouth.

“If you are a royal, you have to be good at everything, including politics, magic, and swordsmanship. If not, you can either go to Chartro and find freedom like your brother.”

“I don’t think you’re a very free person.”

“Among the royal family, he must be the one who moves around the most? Except Araelia. What did they say? Did he say that since he had no intention of inheriting the throne anyway, he would just go around meeting people? It’s a shame, because he’s also a royal who attended the academy.”

“Aren’t there any other royals like that?”

In response to my question, she pointed her finger at me.

“I can’t tell you from there. As you have already seen, if there are no major changes to the throne, the eldest princess, Louise, will probably receive it.”

“She’s the princess on the other side of the palace.”

What remained strongly in my memory was the feeling of warmth. I thought the person next to him was probably the queen, and they looked quite similar. The queen had golden hair, and the princess also had golden hair. It was short hair, not long hair. It was a strange hair color, a mixture of gold and white.

Is that person Princess Louise, the first princess of Araelia, and the next person to inherit the throne?

“Among the royal family, I am the oldest besides my parents, and although I did not go to the academy or anything like that, there is no reason for the royal family to go to the academy.”

As I was talking to her and moving toward the gates of Eltaor, that question began to cross my mind. Is Ceresria really interested in the throne? That kind of curiosity. But I didn’t have the confidence to say it out loud. Because it’s a question I definitely wouldn’t answer if asked.

It was a sensitive and dangerous question. It was true that I was curious. Obviously, if it’s Ceresria… … The Ceresria I know would aim for the throne. However, it was almost impossible to inherit the throne as the youngest princess.

There was even a prince on top of it.

“What kind of person is Princess Louise?”

“He is a difficult person to describe in one word. He is a good person, but he is also cold, and although he seems to have no interest in the throne, he is not.”

“Who is the other prince?”

“Markin? Markin is a just man. If he really wanted the throne, he would be the most powerful person, but he doesn’t. My father must have a lot of worries, too. There aren’t many people in our royal family who are interested in the throne. At first, I sent an academy to Chartre to ask my brother to inherit the throne, but that person learned from the academy that he was free and wandered around. Because I’m going around.”

As we reached the gate while having that conversation, a guard blocked our path.

“Is this Astan?”

And when I made eye contact with the guard, I smiled and spoke at the sound of my voice coming from the corner of my mouth.

“It’s been a while, Uncle Henry. How have you been?”

“Fish oil, of course. How about the Academy? Last time I went to Galan Village, your father told me so much that I was accepted into the Academy. I thought my ears were bleeding, or something.”

“My father is a very talkative person. Oh, this is a friend I study with at the academy.”

“It is called Seria.”

Ceria slightly bowed her head and greeted the guards, and Uncle Henry looked at the two of us and opened his mouth to his colleague.

“Open the door first, I’m from Galan Village.”

“Yep.”

My colleague moved to open the door first, and Uncle Henry spoke to us again.

“It’s probably not vacation yet, but is it because it’s a holiday? It must not have been easy to get from Ignolia to El Taor.”

“Thanks to the convenience of Araelia’s youngest princess, I stopped by Araelia for a while and then came back. I have to go back to Araelia this evening.”

“I hope the light reaches Araelia, I didn’t come here to tell Bill, so he’ll probably be really surprised.”

“If it were my father’s personality, he would go around screaming that I came.”

“Okay, I’ve been holding you for too long. Please go. And what about Astan’s friend, Seria? You too, be careful, because it is a bit far to Galan Village. There won’t be any monsters along the way, but wild animals often appear.”

“Does it have to be that the Academy’s wizard can’t even catch that level?”

Uncle Henry laughed out loud at Ceresria’s joke, and after saying hello to Uncle Henry with Ceresria, we left Eltaor and headed towards Galan Village.

“You are a lively person.”

“Because he’s my father’s friend.”

“What kind of person is Astan’s father? If you listen to the story, he is a talkative person, but Astan didn’t like that.”

“I’m also a more talkative person than I thought. I’m like this because I have no one to talk to.”

“And is it because I don’t talk much?”

“… … Well, there aren’t many commoners who can comfortably talk to a princess.”

“I’m thinking of holding a tea party later. Do you want to come?”

“I don’t really want to go there because it seems to be overflowing with nobles.”

“So, who is Astan’s father?”

“He is talkative and bright, and if he were a nobleman, he would probably hold a banquet every day.”

“I don’t think you are an extravagant person.”

“I’m a person who likes meeting people, so I think I’ll probably ask a lot of questions when you go. You don’t have to answer everything, so just do it yourself.”

She smiled at my words, and I walked quietly down the street with her. The road to Galan Village was longer than I thought, and it was not a very clean or comfortable road. I walked quietly down the street, and after walking for quite some time, Ceresria started talking to me as if she was bored.

“Would you give me breakfast when I go to your house?”

“If the time is right, we can eat it, because my family has to go to farm work.”

“I should have bought something to eat at El Taor earlier,”

“There are places in Galan Village that sell light food. It’s not like a restaurant or anything like that, but there are places that sell things like bread and meat. Since I know how to use fire magic, I think I can do that.”

“It would be really funny to grill meat with magic. If you want to bake it without burning it, you have to handle magic very carefully.”

“Why not think of it as practice?”

At my words, she looked at me, looked around, and came slightly towards me.

“How much further do we have to go?”

“We’re probably halfway there now.”

“Next time, I’ll have to prepare a carriage, otherwise I’ll learn some movement magic.”

“No one in first grade can use such magic, they will learn later.”

“In theory, I know how to use it, but it must be difficult, right?”

“Unless it moves around the wind like Miles.”

She nodded at my words, and now a sign appeared before our eyes indicating that we were halfway on the road to Galan Village. My hometown is not far away. Since it’s my hometown, I wonder what will happen if I go there, and I don’t think anything special will happen. I’ll just talk to my family, and since they’re going to go do some farming, I’ll just talk to Ceresria who stays behind.

With that in mind, I looked at her carefully, and saw that she was humming as if she was in a good mood.

Before we knew it, our steps had arrived at the entrance to Galan Village. In a rural village like this, it was almost natural that there were no guards, but as I looked at the entrance to the village, which had not changed, I spoke to Ceresria.

“Here.”

“It’s small.”

“Because it’s the countryside. It’s different from the city. El Taor is not big either.”

“If I get a chance someday, I will ask my father to fix the road.”

“Then it would be a great honor.”

And then Ceresria and I walked towards the village.