episode_0184

“… … It’s a big deal.”

I felt troubled as I watched the soldiers on top of the castle wall, who looked smaller than ants, moving around busily.

In order to move comfortably, the plan was to get as close as possible without causing a fuss, then dismount and approach on the skeleton horse, but the soldiers’ reaction distance was much longer than expected.

No matter how large the zombie wyvern is, if you look at this place from the castle wall, the zombie wyvern will look smaller than a ladybug flying in the sky. I thought I had managed to find it.

Thinking that I was in trouble, I immediately made a sharp turn towards the zombie wyvern. It would be okay if you simply discovered it and issued an alarm, but if you used magic to intercept a zombie wyvern from a distance, there was no way it would end in trouble.

“Viscount Steel. Let’s go down first and then approach carefully. Or, it might be okay for Viscount Steele to send a skeleton to tell the story.”

“That may be the only way.”

He slowly nodded to the princess’s suggestion and immediately landed the zombie wyvern a little further away from the castle wall.

The zombie wyvern’s skin instantly landed on the ground with a quivering sound.

My lower abdomen felt like it was tingling for no reason, and my body began to tremble. The princess also showed similar behavior to me.

“Hmm… … . Princess. Is there any way to prove that she is a princess? I don’t think if I just sent in a skeleton, it wouldn’t be able to get anywhere and would be destroyed… … .”

“Oh, wait a minute!”

The princess immediately rummaged through the luggage she had brought with her to see if there was any way to prove her identity.

The princess was embarrassed, wondering if she couldn’t see it clearly or if she didn’t bring it with her, but she soon smiled brightly as she held something in her hand.

“It’s here. My identity card. Since the magic is combined with the sacred magic of the priests, it cannot be used for counterfeiting. Moreover, since it can determine life and death, two are made and one is kept in the royal family.”

“It’s fascinating.”

I received the princess’s identity card from the princess who handed it over to me, saying this would be enough.

There didn’t seem to be anything special about the princess’s identity card, which only had the name Chemis Barnoal written on it.

“By the way, Viscount Steele. Are you okay?”

“Yes? Why are you doing that?”

“That identity card also has sacred magic attached to it. I’m worried because Viscount Steel is a warlock.”

“A warlock doesn’t react to divine power with a loud cry… … . Although the efficiency is very disastrous, it is possible to recover with divine power. Although it may be a bit difficult if you are using dark magic.”

“Then why do priests say that black magic is evil energy?”

“Because it’s a conflicting energy. It is mainly the energy gained from death. You can think of it as a reason why black magic feels strange to priests, and because divine power feels strange to warlocks.”

He took a moment to satisfy the princess’s minor curiosity and at the same time took out several skeletons from his arms.

To be exact, it was one skeletal horse and one regular skeleton with the ability to speak. It was a skeleton with the ability to talk, and I was planning to send it.

It is said that a skeleton can be restored even if it is destroyed, but since it was not destroyed to the point where it could not be restored, a skeleton mage could not be sent.

It’s not a big deal to lose a regular skeleton, but when you become a Skeleton Mage, it’s a huge waste to lose it.

Anyway, after taking out the two skeletons, I immediately dressed them up.

It was a garment dyed with chestnuts and acorns to a color somewhere between black and brown, but since it was not dyed, my seal was engraved with slightly yellow thread.

Not everyone knows my seal, but since it is a symbol known in its own way through Smith Skeleton, I thought there would be people who would recognize it.

“Let’s go!”

They dressed the skeleton and made it run toward the castle wall with the princess’s identity card and a piece of cloth bleached white in its hands.

At the same time, I was instructed to shout to let the zombie wyvern know that it was not a wild wyvern and that the princess and I had come to visit.

“Princess Chemis Barnoal and Viscount Steel… … .”

The skeleton, screaming loudly from the start, rode the skeletal horse and quickly headed towards the castle wall.

Of course, at first, the sound did not reach the top of the castle walls, so the attack came. Dozens of arrows flew towards the skeleton, but the skeleton horse easily dodged them by running with all its might.

Next, I felt the flow of mana as if magic was about to be used, but I could feel the mana dispersing as if I heard the sound of the skeleton.

Since it seemed to recognize the skeleton I sent as not an enemy, I immediately connected its consciousness. Since it was a regular skeleton, it couldn’t do anything special, but it was able to understand the surrounding situation.

A knight, who I don’t know when came down from the castle wall, was next to the skeleton, holding a sword and looking very wary.

Seeing that, I controlled the skeleton and immediately made it present the princess’s identity card, informing it that I had visited the capital with the princess. Also, the wyvern from before was simply a vehicle.

“I heard that Princess Chemis went to Viscount Steel, a warlock… … . I guess I’ll have to check first. I don’t know if you can understand them as if they were speaking, but if you can, tell them to move to the checkpoint. That wyvern… … First, tell them to wait at that location.”

I don’t know if it was because he was a knight defending the capital, but he seemed to know that the princess had come to my city.

Thanks to this, we were able to gain access to the castle walls without being attacked any more. Even though you couldn’t ride the zombie wyvern, it wasn’t a problem because you could ride the skeleton horse.

“Princess, let’s go.”

Since the princess was included, it would be possible to take the wyvern over the castle wall as long as it passed the checkpoint, so I left all my luggage and headed to the checkpoint attached to the castle gate with the princess.

Of course, passing the checkpoint was not difficult. This is because there was an artifact that could authenticate her identity as a princess through magic.

The princess was accused of being a fake and I was accused of being a leader who was plotting a rebellion with the fake princess at the head, something like something out of a novel didn’t happen.

“Lord Shird, is it okay if I bring the wyvern in?”

“Yes? That… … Do you mean?”

“My luggage is on the Wyvern, and there are also things that Viscount Steel has to deliver to my brother.”

I don’t know if it was because there were items to be delivered to the crown prince as well as the princess’s personal luggage, but the knight in charge of the inspection reacted as if he was having trouble.

It seemed like he should grant it because it was the princess’s request, but he seemed hesitant because it was certain that his head would be taken away if the zombie wyvern went on a rampage near the castle.

In the end, as a compromise, we decided to have the soldiers carry our luggage instead of leaving the Wyvern outside. It was a good thing because we didn’t have to work hard and the drivers didn’t have to take responsibility.

“Mr. Ao, the air raid warning suddenly went off and now you have to be a porter?”

Although the soldiers were the only ones to express their dissatisfaction, that part could not be helped. Instead, it was possible to soothe their complaints by giving them a few pennies as a token of their hard work.

There was nothing wrong with them if they received enough money to spend some time exercising and have meat and alcohol in the evening.

Anyway, after turning what could have been such a big problem into a minor problem, the princess and I headed straight to the castle. Perhaps the story had been relayed in advance from the checkpoint, but there were people at the entrance to the royal castle.

They must have been helping the princess, so the princess welcomed them very much. It felt like reuniting with friends I hadn’t seen in a long time.

“Oh, I have to meet you, so will you tell me the story?”

“I will convey this to the Chamberlain. Princess.”

Nevertheless, the princess seemed to have not forgotten what she had to do, and arranged a meeting with the crown prince through one of her maids.

And, perhaps because the story was told right away, the meeting with the Crown Prince took place right away. Guided by the crown prince’s direct servant, we entered the palace where the crown prince resides.

“Viscount Steel. Long time no see? Chemistry, you too.”

“Yes, it’s been a while. Crown Prince lowers.”

“Brother, I guess you’re not very happy with me?”

“That can’t be possible. I just thought you came earlier than expected. I thought he would sneak back after about half a year and then go to Viscount Steele’s estate and stay there for the winter.”

The princess seemed to be pouting at the sight of the crown prince welcoming me first, but she subtly looked away as if her thoughts had been discovered.

The crown prince burst out laughing at that sight, and the princess jumped up from her seat as if she was really pouting.

“I’m going to go see my mother, and you can have a chat with Viscount Steele, whom I haven’t seen in a while.”

The princess turned around, her gray hair fluttering, and immediately left. I was embarrassed to see him disappear so quickly, but the crown prince waved his hand as if there was no need to worry.

“You ran away because you thought I would nag you and stop you from doing alchemy. If you go to your mother anyway, you’ll get scolded so don’t worry.”

“Ha, haha… … .”

He smiled awkwardly when the Crown Prince said that he would be scolded by his mother like children in normal families.

At the same time, I remembered the princess muttering on top of the zombie wyvern.

“Maybe I won’t get scolded… … .”

“Hmm? What did you say?”

“No, no.”

I muttered something quietly to myself, and the crown prince responded. It wasn’t a particularly important story, so I lightly shook my head.

“By the way, I heard some really interesting news. You turned a wyvern into a zombie and rode it, right? Thanks to you, there was an uproar. Hahaha, while I was chatting with His Majesty, I was so surprised when they suddenly told me that I had to evacuate.”

“… … Sorry.”

“No. Thanks to you, I am now able to take care of the things I used to worry about, so I am glad that I did. The guy in charge of the castle gate was bribed by the noble faction. I was wondering how to throw it away, but thanks to you, I was able to throw it away easily.”

The crown prince burst out laughing, feeling good that even though he was not in charge of the air raid, he could somehow tie it up and send it away.

“Well, that’s right. Why did you come here? Oh, I heard you started a textile business. I heard that the Marquis of Kurid went on a rampage because profits were down, but you did a great job. If I have enough stock, I will bring it to the capital and sell it. Marquis Kurid’s textiles are sold in quite a lot in the capital.”

“Oh, I didn’t come here because of the textile business. Last year, you requested weapons to further arm the royal family, right?”

“That’s right. Did you bring it this time?”

“There is enough stock… … . I have a separate proposal for you.”

I immediately started telling the crown prince about the weapon made of erythronium alloy.

The weapons were harder, had longer blades and were less prone to breakage, and the armor was lighter but boasted higher defense power.

“… … So, I came here directly to ask if it would be a good idea to replace the quantity ordered by the royal family for additional armament with erythronium weapons.”

“Not bad. But if the performance has improved that much, the price will definitely be different, right?”

“Yes. It inevitably became more expensive. As additional processes are required, price increases are inevitable.”

“I would like to arm the entire royal guard right away, but you know that it is impossible. The royal family’s wealth is not infinite.”

“I completely understand. So here’s my suggestion… … . We will supply it at a lower price than the existing product, so we hope that those who wear this weapon will be able to openly suppress monsters and bandits.”

It was clear that if those wearing erythronium alloy armor publicly subdued a group of monsters or bandits, it would be an opportunity to clearly publicize the excellence of the weapon.

The loss incurred by supplying it to the royal family at a low price could have been sufficiently covered through publicity.