Chapter 45: Prince Eldred
Three days had passed since the prince collapsed.
“Oh, Victor! And Pauline is here too. Long time no see.”
“Crown Prince Eldred, it’s been a while.”
Pauline-san greeted, and Victor silently bowed his head. It seems that the prince is unaware of Pauline’s unauthorized absence from work.
“I heard that Victor fell ill and quit his duties at the castle. Are you okay now?”
“…Yes. I have almost recovered.”
“When did Pauline arrive here?”
“Well, it’s been a while.”
“And you there, could it be that you were the summoned person back then?”
“Yes, I’m Ayukawa Haru.”
“Hmm. So Pauline, who had the foresight, Victor, who summoned, and Haru from the other world, are all gathered here. I see.”
While exchanging greetings, the Vice Commander also arrived. I have a feeling that things are going to get troublesome.
Pauline-san had the darkest expression. She had seen it in her daily “foresight” last night. A golden cloud was coming to this town, Deals Town, and even to this square.
“There hasn’t been a major disaster, but if it’s about draining magical power, Victor and the rest should evacuate. But…”
“I won’t evacuate. If that cloud is related to Haru, I want to be by Haru’s side.”
“That’s right. I feel the same. I’ll accompany Haru.”
And so, the three of us came to do business as usual. As for me… After much hesitation, I chose to confront the cloud. I thought that if I ran away, it would be denying the power that they, who have become like family to me, possess.
While I was thinking about last night, Pauline-san poked me in the back. It seems she noticed that I was thinking about something else in front of the prince.
“I want to talk to you guys for a moment.”
The prince said that, and we obediently followed him and the important person from the military. My gelato is going to melt… I asked the soldiers nearby for a favor.
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“First, take a look at this.”
The prince guided us to a room in a building that seemed to be temporarily used by the Chamber of Commerce, and he immediately got to the point. Spread out before us was a map with X marks and what seemed to be dates and numbers written on it.
“These are the dates and locations where magic users collapsed. I also fell asleep for two days after having my magical power drained in the neighboring Heartfield territory. It happened here. Can you notice anything by looking at this?”
“Does this mean that everything started from the royal castle?”
Victor quickly understood.
“That’s right. Moreover, just before the first magical power depletion, there was a demonstration of new magic at the training ground. That’s why I believe that the root cause of this incident is the runaway of the new magic.”
“What kind of magic is the new magic?”
Pauline-san asked the question.
“It’s a combination of absorption magic and wind magic that steals the enemy’s magical power. Originally, it was a magic used by rebels. The Prime Minister proposed to use it in war, so Summoner Henry used a magic circle. The new magic released by twenty pairs of wizards converged and expanded.”
“Henry, huh? He is an excellent summoner, but when expanding and releasing the new magic, did he properly incorporate a way to end it in the magic circle?”
“Oh, Victor, as expected. Henry heard the rebels say, ‘If you just release that magic and steal magical power, it will disappear,’ so he didn’t include a means to end it in the magic circle.”
“What a thing! The rebels were inexperienced and had weak magical power. However, the wizards working at the royal castle are different. Their magical power is incomparably stronger. To gather twenty pairs of them and further amplify it without providing a means to converge it… It’s beyond reckless!”
“That’s right. Listen, all of you. We will hold you responsible for this later. But for now, the priority is to prevent further harm to the magic users. We must not let the public see the magic users collapsing. This is a border town. Many people from other countries come and go. We cannot let them know that our country is in such a state and that we are unable to handle it.”
“Your Highness, I foresaw it earlier. The golden cloud will come to this town, to this square, today. It is likely related to the major disaster I foresaw. However, the major disaster will definitely not happen for another week.”
“Pauline, are you sure about that? If you can see the cloud’s movements in advance, it would be very helpful.”
“Yes. It will definitely come to this town.”
“I see. Let’s inform the magic users who have been evacuated as well. They were hurriedly evacuated, so they must be worried about their homes and jobs.”
Huh? This prince, he’s quite a considerate person, isn’t he?
“Hmm? It seems noisy outside.”
Saying that, the prince opened the window of the room and looked outside. We also stretched our necks to see outside.
Outside, soldiers were distributing the rice porridge I brought in the carriage, along with toppings, gelato, and tea. The soldiers lined up to receive them and happily ate them.
“I told the soldiers earlier to ‘eat them all together before the goods go bad.’”
“I see. Haru. We did something foolish enough to kick you out of the royal palace and didn’t expect to receive such treatment, even expected to be resented. Later, we asked the Prime Minister and apologized for what we had done, then we discussed with my father and searched for you. But by that time, you were no longer in the capital.”
“Is that so?”
“I didn’t expect that you would be kicked out of the castle without any gratitude. It was rude of us. The Prime Minister’s oversight is the royal family’s oversight. I’m truly sorry. This is how it is. Due to our reckless behavior and the runaway of the new magic, the Prime Minister is currently under suspension.”
Knowing that the people of the royal family, whom I had resented so much, had more reasonable thoughts than I had imagined, my anger diminished.
“Your Highness, please raise your head. Let’s join forces and face the disaster together.”
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