Chapter VIII: Inglis, Age 15—The Hieral Menace’s Sickness (1)
“An order each of Bolognese, gratin, and paella! Sorry about the wait!”
“Thanks!” Inglis and Rafinha received their orders with wide smiles on their faces. They were grabbing food in the knights’ academy cafeteria. Inglis and everyone else who had already finished their first serving had asked the middle-aged woman working in the cafeteria for seconds.
“You have such healthy appetites. I can make a lot more, so eat up and get strong!”
“Of course!” Answering in unison, they returned to their seats.
Leone was seated at the same table. “You always eat such absurd amounts... And it’s so early,” she said, half-astounded.
“I... I don’t know how you fit so much in. It’s unbelievable.” Liselotte’s eyes widened as she stared in shock.
Lahti and Pullum were just as surprised.
“Those two eat so much, yet they don’t get fat.”
“In a way, I’m jealous...”
“Honestly, I overeat the smallest bit, and I immediately get meaty, yet...” Leone, who seemed to put on weight easily, enviously watched her friends fill their bellies.
“Really? Personally, I’d rather a bit more meat on me. Especially here.” Rafinha patted her chest. “C’mon, Leone, tell me. How do I get them to be bigger?”
“I-I want to know too!” Pullum, who had a figure like Rafinha’s, also latched onto that line of thought. Liselotte’s body type was somewhere in between theirs, so she just listened quietly.
“I, uh, I don’t know. It kind of happened without me realizing it...” As Leone became flustered, Rin nested along her neckline.
“Lucky... I’d like to try trading places for once,” Rafinha said.
“If you ate like that with my body, you’d be incredibly fat in no time,” Leone retorted.
Rafinha turned back to Inglis. “So Chris, who’s got an impressive figure and doesn’t get fat no matter what, is the strongest?”
“Wha—?! Don’t touch my chest like you just get to anytime, Rani!”
“It’s fine! I’m just jealous!”
“Sheesh, I’ve told you, at least save it for the bath—”
“Oh! Meaning, from now on in the bath, I can feel your chest as much as I want?”
“Absolutely not!”
Leone cut in, laughing. “Aha ha ha... But is it okay to eat that much? Aren’t we meeting up with Rafael after this?”
Leone was right. There were no classes that day, so they’d made plans to see Rafael in the city. Some time had passed since the Highland offering incident, and Rafael had recently returned to the capital. The transportation of the Prismer’s corpse to the neighboring country’s border had succeeded with no real problems. If they were meeting him, it was almost certain that he’d end up feeding them.
The two agreed in unison, naturally. “Yeah. So we’re only eating up to about thirty percent.”
“Th-This is thirty percent?” Leone gawked.
“If you eat that much, food must be expensive,” Lahti said.
Rafinha nodded. “It’s pretty pricey. When we traveled from the countryside to the capital, we ate too much and ran out of money on the way.”
“Indeed we did,” Inglis said.
“Thanks to the principal, we can eat all we want at the cafeteria,” Rafinha said, “but it won’t last forever, and once the all-you-can-eat is over, we’ll probably be asking Rafael for lunch money, huh?”
“Unfortunately, it seems that way.”
“Ahh. I wish we were able to get some kind of fabulous reward for our work the other day.”
“But there’s no way we can,” Leone said. “Officially, nothing happened, right?”
“Yeah. Seems like it.” Inglis nodded in agreement.
Officials explained the trouble at the offering, which occurred when Rafael and the other regular knights were away, as “an unknown accident causing the Highland ship to crash.” Chancellor Arcia’s subordinates had mutinied and made an attempt on Highland Ambassador Muenthe’s life, and Muenthe himself had set the Rune-Eater, which was the result of his experiments, free in the capital to prey on innocent knights at night. Both were problems which would deteriorate the countries’ working relationship. If the truth came out, military clashes would not be unexpected. Neither Highland nor Karelia wanted that.
Furthermore, writing off the trouble as a Steelblood Front plot, as was done with Rahl, would be difficult this time. If Chancellor Arcia and the knights on duty had allowed the Steelbloods to assassinate an ambassador, they would have to be held responsible. Therefore, treating the incident as nothing more than an accident was the logical solution.
However, because of that, Inglis and the others could not be publicly rewarded for having stopped the ship from crashing into the royal palace. With the public story characterizing the event as an accident, officials were claiming the ship had never been on a course to crash there. If anyone in a position of authority were to casually mention Inglis and the others, unknown sources would interrogate those students, possibly endangering them of unjust suspicion. That went all the more so with Leone among them; it was easy to imagine her being subjected to such misgivings. Thus, writing off the crash as nothing was the safest course.
Still, it was unrealistic to have absolutely no response, so Inglis and the others were invited to a party, held at the royal palace soon. Today, they planned to select the dresses that they’d wear there. Because they were all lacking in funds, Rafael offered to pay for them.
“All right, Chris, Leone, it’s about time to get going,” Rafinha said, signaling that they should be off. “The shop is in the capital, so I’m sure we’ll have way better things to see there than we did in Ymir. Exciting, isn’t it?”
“Absolutely. I can’t wait,” Inglis said, still a fan of dressing up.
“I’m surprised you’re not interested in romance, but you like fashion, Inglis,” Leone said.
“I enjoy it because I feel good seeing myself in nice clothes. Self-satisfaction is important.”
“I...I see...”
“Chris looks good in anything, so it’s fun to dress her up! All right, let’s go!” Rafinha said, excited.
Inglis, Rafinha, and Leone left the campus of the knights’ academy and waited for Rafael in front of the lesser-used back gate.
But it wasn’t Rafael who appeared after a short time.
“Oh...! Hey, everyone!”
“It’s been a while.”
It was the two hieral menaces, Ripple and Eris.
“Hello, Ripple. Hello, Eris. It’s a pleasure to see you after so long.” Inglis curtsied politely to the pair. It was her first time in years seeing Eris, and it brought back memories.
“Yes. Three years have passed, I believe? You’ve gotten so beautiful,” Eris said. “You were still young then, but now you’re all grown up.”
“Thank you. It seems like you haven’t changed at all,” Inglis replied.
“I suppose. I am a hieral menace, after all.”
Inglis had heard hieral menaces were long-lived. Indeed, even after several years, Eris’s appearance hadn’t changed at all; she was still beautiful and resembled a young woman just under twenty years old. Compared to the fifteen-year-old Rafinha and Leone, Eris seemed somewhat more mature, but she looked around the same age as Inglis, who appeared mature for her age.
Rafinha and Leone also gave polite curtsies.
“Good to see you again!” Rafinha said.
“Hello!” Leone said.
Ripple turned a charming smile to Inglis. “I heard all about you and what happened during the recent offering to Highland! Seems like you all did a really good job! Really, it should have been us dealing with that. Thanks for working so hard!”
“I’d like to thank you as well,” Eris said.
“No. We had taken on a separate mission as guards, so we were simply doing our duty,” Inglis insisted. “And I might not have had the chance to fight if you had been there.”
Under the watchful glare of a hieral menace and the holy knight Rafael, Arcia’s subordinates probably wouldn’t have acted rashly; Ambassador Muenthe may have refrained from allowing the activities of his Rune-Eater; and the Steelbloods may have taken a more guarded approach and chosen to stay in the shadows. Meaning, Inglis felt it was likely that things would have gone quite differently.
“I got some good experience because of what happened. Thank you.”
“Wow. You haven’t changed at all—you still absolutely love fighting,” Eris said.
In response, Inglis flashed a cute smile. “Of course. If it’s possible, I’d be happy to celebrate our reunion with a match. Shall we spar again?”
“Not here! People will think we’re weird!”
“Ha ha ha. Good ol’ Inglis!” Ripple said.
Interrupting the conversation, Inglis quickly shot up her right hand.
Thwap!
She gripped a shining, thick blade, blocking the sudden attack from overhead. The attack was from somewhere she couldn’t have possibly seen, but she had sensed it and reacted nonetheless. Next was the heavy thud of something big landing—the attacker had jumped down from above.
The others all had surprised reactions. “Huh?!”
“F-From where?!”
“Ch-Chris, wh-what’s happening?!”
“I was just in the mood for someone to attack me. Thank you,” Inglis said.
Inglis turned to face her attacker. They looked strange, sort of humanlike but not in a form she was familiar with at all. The figure was a giant with a bluish-black hide, with the ears and tail of a beast, and about twice her size. Studded over their body were hard gemlike things—a clear indicator of a magicite beast; Inglis could recognize them at a glance. The giant’s gems were blue, and their body was covered with a piercing cold fog, which made Inglis deduce that this magicite beast had fairly strong ice elemental powers. Each hand grasped a giant hatchet-like sword with a thick blade.
“Huh? You aren’t Rafael,” she said, surprised. She’d expected Rafael had leaped in at her unannounced. Instead, she was staring at a completely unrelated magicite beast—not just that, but one with a human form, ears and tail aside.
“My brother would never do that!” Rafinha insisted.
“I thought maybe he was being generous.”
While Inglis was facing Rafinha, the giant swung their sword down from Inglis’s blind spot, but without even looking, she blocked it as if it were nothing. She then proceeded to pull the beast in by the arm and immobilize them.
“No way. But more importantly, what’s with that thing?” Rafinha asked. “Is that a humanoid magicite beast?!”
Leone was just as shocked. “Meaning—Highlanders?!”
On the surface, the Prism Flow turned animals into magicite beasts, which then attacked humans. Normally, the Prism Flow didn’t affect humans, but Highlanders were susceptible. Inglis had already seen that for herself several times. Nonetheless, for one to suddenly appear was obviously an exceptional circumstance. In the first place, the Prism Flow wasn’t falling where they were now.
“No, it’s a demihuman magicite beast,” Ripple explained. “The Prism Flow does affect demihumans... Though it’s different for me, because I’m a hieral menace.”
Ripple was a demihuman, with doglike ears and tail. Inglis didn’t know how hieral menaces were created, but Ripple seemed to consider the beast one of her own. Her eyes, trained on the giant, were full of compassion and sorrow.
“Another one’s appeared, then. Well, we can’t let it loose.” Eris drew a stern frown.
“Another? You two know something about this?” Inglis asked.
“Ever since we returned to the capital, magicite beasts have suddenly been appearing from somewhere,” Eris replied. “I’m not sure why, but it’s happened more than a few times.”
“Anyway, we’ve gotta beat any magicite beast that shows up. That’s our job.” Ripple’s expression became empty. Her face flushed, as if blood was rushing to her head. She looked sick, like she had a cold.
Inglis wasn’t sure if hieral menaces could catch colds, though. “Ripple, are you okay? You don’t seem like you’re feeling well.”
“Mm, i-it’s fine. I’ll feel better soon.”
“For years, she’s been like this when a magicite beast suddenly appears. Though I don’t know why,” Eris added.
“And if we defeat the beast?” Inglis asked.
“I suppose that may help. Previously, she’s gone back to herself.”
“I see. In that case...” Inglis pushed back the beast she’d pulled in earlier. Demihumans often boasted an imposing physique, but she sent it tumbling back to the ground without any tricks.
“You’ve got some arms, Inglis!” Ripple cheered.
“It’s just brute force,” Eris said. “She looks like a skinny little thing, and yet...”
As the two hieral menaces spoke, Inglis quickly converted some of the aether swirling around her into mana. As she manipulated it, she formed a sword made from ice.
“I’ll defeat it. Allow me one moment,” Inglis remarked casually as she turned her azure blade toward the beast. “Haaah!” Inglis stepped toward the giant and thrust the ice sword toward their barrel-like chest. Her speed was incredible, and the magicite beast took the blow without being able to take a single step.
Clang!
Alongside a clear, hard sound, the magicite beast bent backwards. The force of Inglis’s thrust had twisted the giant’s body—but the tip of the sword was repelled, and it had chipped slightly. The magicite beast’s chest was left with only a faint scratch. With Inglis’s speed and power, it would have made sense for the sword to pierce it in one blow.
One thing in particular had weakened her attack.
“Chris! Elements, remember your elements!” Rafinha shouted.
This magicite beast’s gems were blue, meaning the giant resisted ice mana. Red indicated a resistance to fire Artifacts, and green was strong against wind Artifacts. Those with gems of multiple colors on their bodies were superior varieties that could withstand multiple types of elements. Therefore, when knights fought magicite beasts, the standard tactic was to bring groups with a variety of elements and use Artifacts from an element to which the beast was not resistant. Rafinha’s Light element and Leone’s Dark element were rare higher-tier elements, and very few magicite beasts were strong against them. Thus, people with those elements could be described as second only to holy knights.
The sword Inglis had created wasn’t an Artifact, but it was an ice elemental. Therefore, the blue gems reduced the power behind her blade.
“Yeah, Rani. I know.”
Even if only a little bit, her foe was hurt. Since she’d had the opportunity, she’d wanted to see what would happen if she attacked a magicite beast with its own element. Would her attack be completely negated by the same element? Or would it be severely reduced in power, but still work to some extent? The answer was the latter.
“If you know, you should attack with a different element—” Rafinha began.
“No,” Inglis interrupted. “See? It may have been reduced, but my attack still did some damage.”
In any case...
“With a lot of work, I can defeat it!” Inglis, focusing on a single point, let loose a flurry of thrusts—fast enough that others saw what appeared to be multiples of her hand and her blade.
Thud! Bam, bam bam, bam!
It sounded as if she were trying to chip through a boulder. The impact of her every sword strike echoed. The ice sword pierced a single point of the magicite beast’s chest with unrivaled accuracy, and as everyone watched, they saw a deep wound open on the giant’s chest.
“Wow! Not bad, Inglis!” Ripple cheered once more.
“You haven’t even seen her at her full strength. But regardless, I can tell she’s getting even better,” Eris said.
“Haaah!” Inglis’s last thrust, delivered with a large step, pierced through to the magicite beast’s back. The strength ebbed from their gigantic body as they disintegrated in place with a roaring sound. In no time at all, the battle had been settled.
Rafinha gawked. “Chris... You just forced your way through with power and speed.”
“Yeah, you ignored the basics of fighting magicite beasts. Avoiding its resistances really is the most elementary of tactics...” Leone said.
“I think being able to take on an enemy’s strengths is important,” Inglis refuted. “That way presents more of a challenge, you know?”
Inglis wanted to find a way to use any battle for her own growth. If possible, she wanted to win after letting a foe properly express its own strength. That was the best way to train.
“That’s so like you, Chris... Well, personally I’d normally prefer to use a different element.”
Leone nodded. “I agree with Rafinha.”
“But it’s good training!” Inglis insisted. The two of them didn’t understand at all.
“It seems that was the only one,” Eris said.
“Thanks, Inglis. You were super helpful,” Ripple said.
“No, it was a good workout. More importantly, Ripple, are you feeling better now?”
“Yeah. I feel a bit better! I’m fine, I’m fine.” Ripple still seemed to be a bit ill, but she waved off any such implication.
“I see. But where did that magicite beast come from?” Inglis stared overhead, but all she saw were blue skies. Nothing unusual at all.
“The beast came suddenly from above, didn’t it?” Rafinha asked, turning her gaze upward.
Leone looked up too. “Yes. What a shock.” Rafinha and Leone also looked up at the sky.
“Demihuman magicite beasts definitely aren’t something you see often. There aren’t even that many demihumans anymore—I wonder if it has something to do with me...?” Ripple wondered aloud.
“We don’t know anything for sure. We’ll need to check it out. Let’s wait for the arrival of the new ambassador from Highland,” Eris suggested.
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“By the way, Eris, Ripple, why are you here?” Rafinha asked. “We were waiting to meet with Rafael.” It was a natural thing to be curious about.
“Well, about that... Rafael had sudden orders and couldn’t come,” Eris said.
“So we came to let you know about that and pass along the money for your outfits. You’re attending the reception for the new ambassador, right? Here you go.” Ripple handed Rafinha a leather pouch containing gold coins.
“Wow! Thank you!” Rafinha exclaimed.
“Sorry to bother you,” Inglis said.
Leone wasn’t so sure. “Asking a hieral menace to handle such a duty is—”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. We volunteered for it,” Ripple insisted. “But in exchange, will you let us go shopping with you?”
“What?! Hold on, Ripple, weren’t we supposed to head back when we finished?” Eris asked in surprise.
“It’ll be fun! Breathers are important! Very important! We’ve been stuck to the dead Prismer lately, our nerves all on end. Let’s just be girls for once. It’s fine to go have some fun with Inglis and the others, yeah?”
“Aren’t you sick? Don’t play around. You need to rest.”
“Laughter is the best medicine! If I have fun, I’ll get better.”
“That makes no sense.” Eris sighed.
Inglis paused, watching the hieral menaces, and said, “Somehow, Ripple reminds me of Rani. I always end up caught up in her whims, like Eris here.”
“Oh really? I think I’m the one who always gets caught up in what you do, Chris,” Rafinha shot back.
“The things Inglis does are so flashy...” Leone muttered.
“And I’m not battle-crazy like Inglis is,” Eris said, disagreeing with the comparisons.
“Aha ha ha. Eris, I guess you aren’t quite as much of a tomboy as Inglis is,” Ripple said.
No one really agreed, but the two hieral menaces ended up accompanying them on their shopping trip in the end.
◆◇◆
Several days later, in the girls’ dorms at the knights’ academy...
Knock, knock. Knock, knock.
A knock arrived at Inglis and Rafinha’s door. When they opened it to invite the person in, they saw Leone peeking in. She was already prepared, wearing an indigo dress. “Inglis, Rafinha! It’s almost time, will you be much longer?”
“Shhh, quiet! You’ll break my concentration!” Rafinha, a serious look on her face, was in the middle of something. Rafinha herself was ready in her yellow dress.
“Sorry, Leone. Rafinha is pretty focused, so she’s intent to finish this. Anyway, that dress looks great on you. It’s cute,” Inglis said.
Leone chuckled. “Thanks. But I don’t stand up to you at all.”
Inglis had already finished putting on a vivid red dress. Now, Rafinha was styling Inglis’s hair in an elegant updo as the finishing touch. One of Rafinha’s oldest hobbies was to dress up Inglis in beautiful ways. It was a skill that came naturally to her now after having learned various things from the tailor she’d befriended in their hometown, Ymir.
“Really? But you’re quite cute, Leone,” Inglis repeated.
“If you insist! Thanks for the confidence booster.”
“And—done! Chris, can you stand up and turn around for me?”
“Okay.” As Inglis twirled, the hemline of her dress fluttered gently. The decorations in her hair gleamed.
“You’re incredibly beautiful!” Leone said. “Anyone could fall for you.”
“That’s why I can’t stop dressing her up. She’s the best possible material to work with,” Rafinha said.
“Hey, Rani, can I look in the mirror?”
“Sure. Go ahead.”
Inglis saw herself in the mirror placed on the wall by the room’s entrance. The dress she chose at the tailor in the capital was sewn from a high-quality fabric with an exceptional sheen, decorated in places with elaborate embroidery. When Inglis wore it, and had Rafinha do up her hair, her usually stunning beauty shone even brighter. The soft, pearly skin peeking out from beneath it surpassed all other treasures.
“Wow! It’s amazing! It looks incredible!” Wanting to see herself from different angles, Inglis tried various poses in front of the mirror. All of them could be summed up in a single word: fabulous. She’d grown into quite a beauty, if she did say so herself. She hummed to herself, obviously pleased.
“Yay! Chris is so cute when she’s excited about herself. I love her when she’s like this.”
Leone smiled. “Definitely. She’s so perfect she’s almost unapproachable.”
Grrrrumble!
Grrrrumble!
Inglis’s and Rafinha’s stomachs rumbled at the same time.
Leone paused at the synchronized sound. “You’re both hungry, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. We’ve spent all day looking forward to the party at the palace, so we haven’t eaten.” At Rafinha’s suggestion, they’d fasted all day.
“Sheesh, you two! That’s another reason you’re unapproachable. People will think my stomach’s rumbling too.”
“It is rather rude, isn’t it?” Inglis said hesitantly.
“Yes, very. Especially you, Inglis. People will be really surprised if someone as beautiful as you has a noisy stomach.”
Inglis had a suggestion. “I guess we should get something to eat beforehand—”
“There’s no time left for that, Chris. We can eat something when we get there. Now let’s go! Delicious food is waiting for us!”
“You’re right. Make hay while the sun shines.”
“The principal is waiting for us too. Let’s go,” Leone said.
Inglis and the others left the dorm and entered the courtyard, where Principal Miriela was waiting. It seemed that she, too, would be attending today’s party, and she would be escorting Inglis and the others there. The carriage she had arranged for was ready to depart.
“Wow! Those dresses look so cute on you all! You’re gorgeous!” the principal cooed.
“Thank you!” the trio said together.
“Come on, now. Get in the carriage. We’re off to the palace!”
When all four were aboard, the carriage set off.
Rafinha asked, “You aren’t wearing a dress, Principal Miriela?”
Miriela was still wearing the robe of an academy instructor. “Well, yes. For this occasion, I’d like to properly negotiate as a principal.”
“What kind of negotiations?” Leone crooked her neck.
“About whether they’ll, perhaps, supply new equipment we haven’t yet been sent down, of course. Today is a good opportunity to ask the new ambassador directly. Don’t you want a flying battleship like that? You want one, don’t you? Don’t you?” Principal Miriela’s eyes sparkled.
“That sounds great. I want their state-of-the-art anti-personnel weaponry. Can you ask them for that for me? I’d love to fight it,” Inglis said.
“No, no, something dangerous like that is— And you only want to fight it and destroy it! Please don’t destroy things we went through great troubles to be given.”
Rejected—and so fast too.
“But, Principal, do you think they’d listen to such a request?” Leone asked.
“Leone’s right. If it’s another Highlander like Muenthe...” Rafinha said.
“If I show off my, shall we say, charms...” Miriela suggested.
Rafinha and Leone whispered to each other, “That sounds extremely dangerous. No way.”
“Well, this time, we’ll be speaking with someone who will actually listen. Actually, I have contacts,” Miriela said.
“So, someone with experience as an inspector of the surface?”
“That too, but primarily the other way around. Someone who took care of me when I studied in Highland—but they’re a good person! Rare for a Highlander... It’s a shame I have to say that.”
“Huh, you can study in Highland?” Rafinha asked, curious.
“Well, it was a very special case. When Prince Wayne went to study in Highland, I went with him as a guard. I do have a special-class Rune, so I was wanted for my skills.”
“So you’re friends with Prince Wayne? Amazing!” Rafinha said, impressed.
“Ha ha ha. I wouldn’t go that far. More like, we grew up together.”
“Then, if someone close to not just you but Prince Wayne as well becomes the ambassador...”
“Yes. I’m going to lean as hard as I can on that connection to request all-new equipment!”
“The Steelbloods seem to have a flying battleship, so we may need one too,” Inglis advised.
“Yes. That’s an unfortunate situation, but on the other hand it’s also a sufficient reason to request new equipment. I don’t know who their black-masked leader is, but he sure can get his hands on that kind of thing.”
“Is he a collaborator with Highland?” Rafinha asked.
“Possibly, or he’s a Highlander himself,” Miriela said.
“That’s right. He could be,” Rafinha noted.
Leone said after a pause, “I think it’s also possible that the black-masked man is my brother, Leon. After all, he saved me...”
“All these possibilities... But that means we don’t know anything, right?”
“Yeah, Rani, there’s still so much we don’t know,” Inglis said. “But there’s one thing I’m sure of.”
“What?”
“He’s pretty strong. Next time we meet, I want to be sure to fight him. If I peel that mask off of him, maybe he’ll try to take me down to keep me silent.”
“Ha ha... Peeling it off, not to find out who he really is or to know his true goals, but to make him angry enough that he attacks you? That’s just like you, Chris.”
“Well, he seems like he’s trying to avoid fighting me—even though I want to fight him.”
“Well, whatever your motivations, I think that if you discover the true identity of the leader of the Steelbloods and capture him, that’s exactly what our country is hoping for,” Miriela said. “So the next time you meet him, go for it. I give you my approval.”
“Thank you. And no matter what happens, you’ll take responsibility, correct?”
“Well, that’s a scary thing to hear... Just what in the world are you planning?”
As they chatted, the carriage carrying Inglis and the others approached the palace.
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