The Hero King, Reincarnate to Master the Art of War (LN) - Volume 9 - Chapter 1

Chapter I: Inglis, Age 16—The Meaning of a Meeting (1)

In Inglis’s hometown of Ymir, the scale of the tea parties at the Bilford family castle was anything but ordinary. The table at which the mothers and daughters could have some privacy had been laden with a multilayered cake fit for a wedding. As mountainous it was, it was the third to be consumed that day.

“Still, hearing our girls came to the country’s aid in its time of need... I couldn’t be prouder.” Inglis’s aunt Irina was beaming.

“Chris, I heard you took down the Prismer with both hieral menaces?” asked her mother, Serena.

“Well, yes...” Inglis replied.

“Oh, I’m not doubting you. I’m just surprised... Then again, you always seemed to see things we couldn’t. Have you always known you were this strong?”

“N-No... I knew something was different, but I think the lessons at the knights’ academy have helped me a lot,” Inglis said evasively. There was her past life, and there was aether itself, but neither were things she could go into detail about. To begin with, it would confuse people here, but more importantly she didn’t want to be seen as something ineffable. In front of her mother Serena, she wanted to be just her daughter, Inglis Eucus.

“I see... You truly are impressive, Chris. Good job. Your father and I are so proud of you.”

“Thank you, mother.” Inglis had her memories—and her power—from her past life. But as a daughter, she adored her mother. This life was just as real as her previous one. She didn’t want to say or do anything that would damage this relationship.

“C’mon, mom, aunt Serena! What about those letters you mentioned?” Rafinha seemed to notice Inglis’s state of mind as she changed the subject, but Inglis wasn’t fond of this one either.

“Ugh... I’d just managed to forget about those...” Inglis muttered.

“Oh, right! The letters!” Irina said. “Well, so many people who saw you at the celebratory banquet in the capital decided to propose.”

“And there are some from people whose lives you saved on the battlefield in Ahlemin,” Serena added, grinning.

“So in other words, there should be no issues with your rambunctiousness or your appetites.”

“Despite seeing that behavior, they’re still interested in you.”

“Now, Rafinha...”

“Listen, Chris...”

“This is your chance!” Serena and Irina exclaimed in unison. “While you’re home, it’s time to arrange something!”

“Aww, mom, aunt Serena... Yes, understood!” Rafinha nodded, a gleam in her eyes.

Inglis was pretty sure that Rafinha was driven more by curiosity than by a serious desire to marry. Still, I have no intention of letting that happen! “No! Rani’s still too young for that! And we’re students at the knights’ academy, right? We need to focus on school! Mother, aunt Irina, please reconsider!”

“Chris...” Irina stared at her niece.

“The two of you are nearly sixteen years old. Your birthdays will arrive before you even go back to school,” Serena said.

“Err...you’re right, but...” Inglis replied. Her birthday was two days before Rafinha’s, and it wasn’t far away. It seemed so soon to be sixteen.

“This isn’t too early at all. After all, I was sixteen when I had Rafael,” Irina said.

“Wh—?!” Inglis gasped. Not just impure relations with the opposite sex, but pregnancy and even childbirth! That wasn’t just precocious—it was astounding!

“Wow, Mom! I can’t even imagine getting married and having a kid at our age... I guess we really are just kids compared to you then.” Rafinha was staring at her mother with newfound respect.

“Precisely, so you’re not too young to have this on your mind. Chris is a good girl, and she’s trying her hardest to keep her promise to your father, but you don’t have to worry that hard about what she says. These are formal proposals from noble families in good standing, so I’m sure there are no untoward intentions. Besides, if your father was being honest, it’s just that he’d be lonely without his daughter.”

“Ack!” Inglis understood that feeling all too well. That was why she took her promise to Duke Bilford so seriously—she felt the same herself. She didn’t want to lose Rafinha to someone else. In truth, she was using the duke’s words as cover to do what she wanted. “B-But, aunt Irina! We’re still just students! Rani is studying to be a knight, so it’s for our country’s sake! We can’t stop that!”

“You don’t have to marry right away, though. True, it would be better to save marriage for after graduation. It’s just... Don’t you think it would be reassuring to start getting to know your future partner now?” Serena asked.

“You mean, like an engagement or something arranged?” Inglis asked.

“Yes! And I’m sure Duke Bilford will approve as well. That would mean he wouldn’t lose his daughter so soon,” Irina said.

“Okay...” Inglis acquiesced.

This was bad. This was a terrible situation. She couldn’t logically argue her way out of this. If only Rafinha had objected too, it would have been so much easier.

“Hey, Mom! What kind of people are they? C’mon, spill the beans!” Rafinha asked.

Rafinha was, in fact, very excited. For a moment, the idea of telling Ambassador Theodore about this and letting him discourage her entered Inglis’s head, but that had its own problems. It might just cause the two of them to grow closer.

“Okay, come over here and let’s look at them together. It’s best to strike while the iron is hot! You have to make the right choice at your best moment,” Irina said.

Serena laughed. “Irina, you said the same thing when the duke proposed to you way back when, didn’t you?” she asked her sister with a smile.

“Yes. And I made the right choice then, didn’t I?”

“Yes. Very much so.”

“Well, if it worked for you, I guess I’m not so worried! So, what are they like?” Rafinha asked. She and her mother began to scan through the letters.

“Here, look at these. There are other ducal families, even some royal dukes.”

“Wow, foreigners too!”

“Yes. Ilrush, to the south, isn’t too far from Ymir. Even they’re paying attention. That’s how impressive what you’ve done is.”

“I guess hard work pays off! ♪”

Rafinha and Irina were getting really into this.

“Ughhh...!” Dammit! I blew it! Inglis wanted to scream. If her mother and aunt hadn’t been watching, she would have. Maybe she even would have pounded on the table until it broke. It wasn’t good to hit things, but she was profoundly upset at everyone else being so excited about these marriage proposals.

This was an obvious failure of hers. When planning her battle with the Prismer, she’d taken into account Rafael’s future position, and done things with command—albeit temporary—of the Royal Guard. If Rafael and the Paladins’ victory had been snatched from them by an obscure student, their honor would have been tarnished and their position weakened. And if that had happened, she might not be invited back to future battles.

Displeased with this prospect, she’d found a way to share the glory. Even though she had no intent of moving up in the world, she’d put that aside and stepped forward. She also had no intent of abandoning her position as Rafinha’s squire, and thus had arranged for Rafinha to be nominally above her in the chain of command.

That was the only preparation she had thought feasible, pressed for time as she was. And it had worked to spread credit around. It had squared that circle.

She had never expected proposals to follow. She had made herself a bit too prominent—achieved a bit too much. And the flip side of her insistence on being Rafinha’s squire was that Rafinha had become a recipient of proposals as well.

Had she known this was going to happen, she would have been better off concealing her identity completely while defeating the Prismer. Maybe by borrowing the black mask of the Steelblood Front’s leader and calling herself the Black-Masked Lady.

Then again, if she had gone that route when defeating the Prismer, both the outdone Paladins and the entirety of Karelia’s royal forces would have had their reputations so shaken that she could see them launching an all-out war against the Steelblood Front. That was probably why the black-masked man himself had preferred to just lend her his power.

However, that wasn’t Inglis’s problem, and she was not interested in having a partner arranged. I at least should have taken the Prismer down alone. Waves of regret washed over her.

“Now, Chris, your letters are over here. Come and see,” her mother Serena gently called out to her. “Let’s look through them together.”

“Yes, mother... There are even more here,” Inglis sighed. She had received more than double the amount that Rafinha had.

“Yes. I suppose we’re more approachable.”

Rafinha’s family was ducal, part of the peerage, so there was a limit to how many people had the proper rank and background. Only other peers, and then among them only dukes or higher, would bother. The Eucus family, on the other hand, was related to a duke, but they were properly only knights in his service. Compared to the Bilfords, hers would be of lower status. There was a wider net—that was what her mother meant.

There would be some from noble ranks below duke—earls and barons—but also from other knights, and from prominent burghers similar to the Rambach Company. Not that Inglis cared about a family’s rank. She wasn’t interested in marriage or romance at all. She was trying to live a life of mastering the blade—and looking after Rafinha.

“Mother... Do... Do I have to go through with this?”

Life seems long, but it is short. Let down your guard, and it will be gone in the blink of an eye. Inglis didn’t have the time or energy to get caught up in unnecessary things.

“Chris...” Serena wrapped her arm around Inglis and pulled her close. “Do you remember what I told you on the day of your baptism?” she said quietly, so as to slip undetected beneath Rafinha and Irina’s enthusiasm.

“Yes. That you hoped I didn’t get a special Rune, that they doom you to live and die for others... And I said I didn’t want anything that was going to dictate how I lived my life,” Inglis answered in the same quiet voice.

Her mother’s hunch hadn’t been wrong. That was indeed the fate of a holy knight: to fight Prismers for the sake of the people, and to meet an unavoidable death due to the effects of the Hieral Menaces. Inglis didn’t think her mother had known that then, but maybe she really was that perceptive.

“Yes, exactly... But now, even without a special Rune, you may be in that position...” Serena’s expression clouded.

“N-No, it’s not—” Inglis understood what her mother wanted to say—that the life of one with a special Rune was a life where one was expected to be a hero. And yet, even without such a Rune, achieving the same things set one on the same path. Her mother must have worried her daughter was walking that path now.

But she wasn’t. She had no intention of devoting her life to everyone, or anyone, else. She was going to enjoy herself. She’d master the blade, fight powerful foes, and look for chances to take on a Prismer. That’s all there was to it. Even if the situation repeated itself, it was a battle Inglis welcomed.

Which, she supposed, could also be seen as being set on a path in life. But her path was to create opportunities to fight those foes no matter how they schemed, and to continue to use that as good practice to improve herself. She was bound by no outside force—only her own free will.

Still, she couldn’t exactly explain her full situation directly to her mother, so she needed to be vague.

“That’s why...” Serena paused. “I’d be less worried about you if you showed another side of yourself. At least, if there’s anyone you fancy here.” With a smile, Serena brushed her hand over the remaining letters. She was doing her best despite the worry peeking through her face.

Inglis could sense Serena was concerned about her own well-being, and she in turn cared so much for her mother. “Well... I suppose if we’re not firmly deciding anything yet...” She might have to concede at least that much. The failure of her own strategy had led her to this situation. Now she had to clean it up.

And if she made it through this, she’d be back to the knights’ academy. It would be a long time before she visited Ymir again, and in the meantime, fewer and fewer letters would arrive. Right now, the whole country was abuzz with the news of the Prismer’s defeat, and her and Rafinha’s names were on everyone’s lips. If she held out, the storm would pass.

“Chris, is there anyone you’re interested in? What kind of person do you prefer?” Serena asked.

“If we’re talking less about their appearance or personality and more about what interests they have... It could be anyone.”

“So then what kind of interests would you want in a partner?”

“Well...someone who’s strong.”

“I don’t think that has anything to do with matchmaking...”

“But, mother! If I’m spending my life with someone, we’re supposed to help each other, improve each other’s lives, right? I still want to become stronger. So I think it’s important to have someone strong enough that we can grow together!”

“Well...okay. I guess that’s true.” Serena laughed wryly.

Irina, who was listening in, burst out laughing. “Like mother, like daughter! Chris, Serena said the same thing.”

“Irina... That was a long time ago...”

“What do you mean, Aunt Irina?” Inglis asked.

“Chris, did you know Serena used to be a knight?”

“Yes. Father told me.”

“Back then, she was the strongest of them all. It’s hard to imagine now what a hothead she was. She said she was only interested in men who could defeat her, and she beat every single man who tried.”

“Really, Mother?” Inglis couldn’t picture her soft-spoken, gentle mother being like that—but then again, that day when Inglis had still been a baby and a magicite beast had gotten into the castle where they were hiding, Serena had been the first to take up a sword. She definitely had courage when it mattered. Perhaps the young Inglis Eucus had gotten a glimpse of it.

“That was a long time ago,” Serena insisted. “Just a mistake of youth.”

“And then every single one of them gave up,” Irina continued, “but Luke, and only Luke, kept trying over and over no matter how many times he lost. It must have taken dozens of tries before he finally won, and they wed.”

“Really?” Rafinha gasped. “That sounds exactly like something Chris would do.”

“And really, Chris is so much more cutesy than Serena was then,” Irina said. “Serena kept her hair cut short, and she was brusque, very rough.”

“S-Stop it, Irina! I’ve gotten better, okay? Now I’m a proper mom to Chris!”

When Inglis thought back, her mother had always kept a close eye on her behavior. Not so much in terms of manners, but in how to be a girl. Like, for example, to sit with legs crossed. Inglis had needed help in forgetting all sorts of learned habits from a life lived as a man, and her mother was the one who’d taught her to be ladylike. Gently, forgivingly, but still strictly. This was part of what had made Inglis who she was, and maybe Serena had also meant such discipline as reminders to herself.

This had been an enlightening conversation. And now, she had an idea of how to resolve the situation. “I see...! Then I’ll follow my mother’s example!” Inglis stood and clenched her hand.

“What do you mean?!” the others asked.

“Reply to everyone who sent these! If you want me as your wife, you’ll have to defeat me first! If someone does, I will consider life with them seriously!”

“Wow... The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree...” Irina pressed a hand to her brow as if her head hurt.

“You’re the one who brought this up, Irina! Think about this, Chris. You’re someone who defeated a Prismer. If you say that, who will take you up on it?!” Serena asked.

“That wasn’t something I did alone,” Inglis answered. “Eris and Ripple lent me their strength. And I’m not asking for it to be a one-on-one fight either. Bring your knights. Bring mercenaries. Try whatever you will! Whether it be your own power or your authority, your connections, or your gold! All of these are facets of someone’s strength! Come with all the forces you can muster!”

That way, Inglis could enjoy herself. Throw bands of elite knights serving noble houses at her, the most skilled of the itinerant mercenaries... Even a magicite beast would be fine. Strong men she’d never met coming from far away to fight her would be great. It would save her the trouble of finding them.

And in the end, she’d beat them all and win. All fun. The only engagement she wanted was one of combat. This would be like eating for free! Fun, fights, and—most importantly—her freedom. Two birds with one stone.

“If those are your conditions, then does that mean you want to see your partner’s overall capabilities?” Irina asked.

“Exactly! Isn’t this fine, Mother? I’m doing exactly what you did! So this way, I’ll be able to enjoy these meetings!”

“I... I suppose, if you insist... Very well, I’ll write them back with that.”

Inglis grinned. “All right! Thank you, mother!” She clapped her hands, obviously very pleased.

Serena laughed. “I’m not really sure that the glares exchanged before a battle count as ‘seeing someone,’ but...”

Inglis chuckled in amusement. “I never realized marriage proposals could be like this. This sounds much more fun. ♪”

“You should try hard to lose. I want to see what kind of face you make,” Rafinha muttered.

“Huh? What was that, Rani?”

“Oh, nothing! But I’m going to do mine the more traditional way! I hope there’s someone just right for me. Some of them sounded really cool!”

Rafinha’s eyes had lit up, but Inglis tried to put a stop to that. “No! That’s something else we have to discuss! Aunt Irina! Can you add the same condition for Rani too? I’m Rani’s squire, so of course, if someone can’t defeat me, I wouldn’t be comfortable entrusting her to them. That would mean she would be less safe than before!”

“C’mon! I’m not going to let you try to lock me out of a date! Aren’t you the person who brings me onto the front lines so you can combine protecting me with the fights you’re after?! You’ve put me in a lot of danger a bunch of times!”

“But next to me is the safest place! That’s just the most effective way to handle things!”

Irina laughed. “I haven’t seen you two in a while, but it’s good to know you’re as close as ever.”

“Yes, Irina,” Serena said. “I hope that never changes.”

As the mothers laughed with each other, a knock came at the door. Tap, tap, tap.

“Yes, come in!” Irina said.

“It’s really you!” An adorable little girl of ten or so came rushing in. She had blonde hair hanging down to her shoulders, and her face was aglow while her breath caught in her throat.

“Alina!” Inglis and Rafinha called out.

She was the girl they’d met while helping with the Weismar troupe’s performance in the capital. With no close relatives, the people of Ymir had taken her in. She looked well, with a fair complexion and cheerful smile. She’d previously been rather underweight, but now she had plumped up a little and looked prettier.

“Hey! I missed you so much! I’m glad you’re doing well!” Rafinha said.

“Are you done studying? I’m sorry we called for you to visit out of nowhere.” Inglis had been curious how Alina was doing, and wanted to see her as soon as possible, but this was her time to study, so Inglis had requested that she come by when she was done. She seemed to be able to set aside time for schoolwork, which was impressive. Rafinha hadn’t been capable of that at ten years old.

“Weeeellllll... I missed you too!” Alina replied with a beaming smile.

It made Inglis smile too. It was like seeing young Rafinha again. Though Alina’s manners seemed to be better.

◆◇◆

At the knights’ training grounds inside the Ymir castle, there was a girlish “Yaaaah!”

Rrrrrrumble!

A small war hammer Artifact in Alina’s hand produced a stone, which struck and destroyed a wooden target set up at a distance.

“Wow! That was great, Alina! And you just started with Artifacts too!” Rafinha was as proud of Alina as she would be of herself—no, even more so. She seemed like a doting mother. It reminded Inglis of her own feelings toward Rafinha, and now that she was watching her cousin experience the same thing, Inglis felt deeply moved.

“Good job, Alina.” Inglis clapped for the girl. She truly had done well.

“Tee hee. Thanks!” Alina smiled and puffed up with pride.

Ada, the lieutenant-captain of Ymir’s knights, was watching too. “This girl has an upper-class Rune. A lower-class Artifact shouldn’t give her any trouble—she’s gotten used to it quickly.”

Inglis’s father, Luke—the Ymir knights’ captain—was accompanying Duke Bilford on his visit to Chiral, the capital. A full analysis of recent events was still ongoing. The two had been summoned before Inglis and Rafinha even arrived back in Ymir.

Meanwhile, both Inglis and Rafinha had already known Alina had an upper-class Rune. They knew even before they left to infiltrate Alcard. Inglis’s mother and aunt had decided to get Alina baptized in the capital before returning to Ymir. Inglis had noticed Alina’s potential for a Rune when meeting her, but having been sold into servitude, the girl had never been baptized.

After all that, Alina received an impressive upper-class Rune in the shape of a war hammer.

Alina had been happy, but the people of Ymir had been even happier. A knight with an upper-class Rune was an extremely valuable asset for an order of knights. Inglis’s friends Rafinha, Leone, and Liselotte all had such Runes, so it was easy to come away with the impression that this level of Rune was not particularly rare, but only one per several hundred at most were so blessed. Inglis knew so many people with upper-class Runes only because the knights’ academy was established to train the very top prospects; from a more conventional point of view, Rafinha and the others were the crème de la crème.

The people of Ymir warmly welcomed Alina and her potential for greatness, and they also placed great expectations on her. As a result, Ymir’s knights immediately took her in, and she began her training.

“I apologize for leaving her all to you, Ada,” Inglis said. She and Rafinha were still knights’ academy students. Taking in Alina on their own would have been impossible.

“Thanks, Ada!” Rafinha added.

“Please don’t worry about it!” Ada replied. “She’ll do great things for Ymir. Besides...the knights of Ymir took me in as well when I too was an orphan. This is my way of paying it forward.”

“Ada...” Inglis began.

“Oh, right... You were the same as her...” Rafinha murmured.

Inglis and Rafinha had accompanied the knights since they were little, participating in training and hunts of magicite beasts. Ada was usually the one who’d looked after them. She was almost like a sister to them, so of course they already knew she’d been an orphan when the Ymir knights found her. Ada had no family, which was probably why she’d been so protective of Inglis and Rafinha.

“Ah, don’t worry about me, though,” Ada said. “Besides, you two managed to take down a Prismer! I’m sorry I couldn’t be there to help.”

“That’s okay. I didn’t do much either,” Rafinha replied. “I mostly just sat there and watched,” she joked, shrugging.

“That’s not true. You helped how you could, and it didn’t just make me happy—it actually came in handy,” Inglis said.

“Really? I didn’t get that impression at all,” Rafinha said.

“You’re just imagining things, maybe? It really did help.”

“Well, I guess that’s nice...”

Ada laughed. “If you get the chance, I’d love to hear from you about your battle with the Prismer. I’m sure we’d all benefit from learning how you did it.”

“Well... That’s kinda...” Rafinha began with a frown. A full account would include Inglis knocking Rafael out to take his place, as well as other such problematic details. For the sake of his honor, it was best not to say too much. “Maybe a little...but there’s a lot we can’t talk about.”

“Ah, sorry,” Ada said. “I’m sure some of it is state secrets, right?”

“You two beat the Prismer and saved this country, right?” Alina asked. “I can’t believe such amazing people saved me... I want to grow up to be like you,” she said with a look of admiration.

“I mean, we beat it coincidentally, kinda? Just remember that everything Chris does needs ‘coincidentally’ attached. Don’t try to follow her too closely, okay?” Rafinha said.

“Huh?! What does that mean?” Alina was confused.

“Like now, after getting all those proposals in the mail, she’s saying she’ll marry anyone who can beat her and wants to fight all the guys! Chris solves everything through violence. What do you think of that, Alina?”

“Rani, that’s not the kind of thing you should be telling her...” Inglis interjected.

“I... I don’t really know,” Alina began, “but I think you should get married to someone you like, not someone who’s strong...” Her response was surprisingly poignant.

“Aha ha ha! Right? That’s exactly what I said! But that’s who Chris is, so don’t try to be like her, Alina.” Rafinha laughed and patted the younger girl’s head.

Ada laughed as well. “Aha ha! So that was your reply, Inglis? Like mother, like daughter! Serena was the same way!”

“But it wouldn’t be fun any other way!” Inglis protested. “And you need to enjoy yourself!”

“The point I’m trying to make is that there are problems with that idea of ‘fun,’” Rafinha said.

“Watching Chris fight sounds fun! She beat the world’s strongest magicite beast, so she must be the strongest in the world! I’m going to be a knight someday, so I want to learn by watching her!” Alina looked at Inglis admiringly.

Her pure innocence was adorable. Inglis couldn’t help but want to live up to her expectations. “I still have a long way to go. But I’ll do my best if you’re looking forward to it!”

“Don’t try too hard. She won’t be able to learn anything if you do it too quickly for her to see,” Rafinha needled.

“I believe it...” Ada said. “When she scattered that pack of magicite beasts barehanded, it hurt my neck just trying to keep track of her. If she’s gotten even better since then...”

Alina gasped. “Is she really that fast?!”

Inglis chuckled. “Look forward to it. Anyway, Ada, is everything going all right with Alina? If there’s anything I can help with, I’d love to.”

“Hmm. There is one thing...”

“What is it?”

“I’ll help out too!” Rafinha announced.

“As I said, Alina has an upper-class Rune,” Ada began. “She’s gotten quite adept at handling lower-class Artifacts, but we don’t have a middle-class one to give to her. The best way to make the most of her talents would be an upper-class Artifact, but... It’s not exactly easy for Ymir to get one.”

Another way Inglis’s day-to-day experiences were out of the ordinary was that upper-class Artifacts were quite difficult to acquire. They had to be granted by the Highlanders, and the offering asked in return was quite heavy. In the worst case, it was enough to feed a village or a town for a year. The Bilford finances had been quite stretched just acquiring Rafinha’s Shiny Flow.

“I see... That’s a bit of a problem,” Inglis said.

“Too expensive, right? I wish we could just borrow one from the knights’ academy,” Rafinha said.

“Those are the academy’s spares, though. If we did that, everyone would want one.”

“Yeah, probably... It wouldn’t be a good idea.”

“Can Duke Bilford do anything?”

“He said he’ll think about it...but Ymir’s budget isn’t the healthiest,” Ada said.

“Hmm... Wait, I know!” Inglis clapped her hands together. “Can I borrow that Artifact for a little bit?” She pointed to the war hammer Alina was holding.

“Well, we have another of the same type. Shall I get that for you?” Ada asked.

“Yes, please! And any other spare Artifacts you have on hand.”

“Understood.”

“What are you going to do, Chris?” Rafinha asked.

“Oh, just tune them up a bit,” Inglis replied with a grin.

In the capital, the aftermath of recent events was still being dealt with, but a lot had already changed at the knights’ academy over the past month. The flying battleship Inglis had taken as a war trophy from Venefic had been repaired and transferred to the knights’ academy. Talented new instructors had been recruited. Research had begun on how to cure the people who’d transformed into magicite beasts.

Ambassador Theodore had assisted with both the repair of the flying battleship and with the research. The latter, in particular, was for the sake of Rin—his sister, Cyrene—so he would surely put his all into it. There may have been a difference in how difficult things were for a surface human compared to a Highlander, but the goal was the same.

However, Inglis still expected it to be extremely difficult. The black-masked leader of the Steelblood Front, easily her superior in skill with aether, had said as much. According to him, it was impossible to return those turned into magicite beasts to their original form. So at the very least, it would require her to outdo his own capabilities. She couldn’t say for sure whether that could be done, but she fully intended to try and help.

She had occasionally visited Principal Miriela and Ambassador Theodore’s lab, where she had been able to learn about the technology used to construct Artifacts. Creating one from nothing was difficult. Perhaps, though, she could at least adjust or modify existing ones. This was her chance to try it out.

“Wow! You can do that now?” Rafinha asked.

“Yeah, I’ve learned some things from the principal and Ambassador Theodore, and I’ve read the research. May as well give it a shot! If I can make an Artifact stronger, it’ll help with Alina’s training.”

“Wow! Thanks, Chris!” Alina exclaimed.

“Yes, that would be very helpful, Inglis!” Ada added.

Inglis herself hadn’t been particularly interested in Artifacts. Her main interest had been finding something useful about their Gifts that she could reproduce. The physical frame of an Artifact was something she considered unreliable, something that would be destroyed if she infused it with aether. Leone’s dark greatsword Artifact had shattered when she had done so.

It wasn’t until she fought the Prismer armed with hieral menaces—the ultimate Artifacts—that her way of thinking had changed. The performance of the hieral menaces Eris and Ripple had been even more than she had expected. Truly, they were worthy of being called the ultimate Artifacts.

Now, hieral menaces were very different from other Artifacts, but that was still proof that an Artifact could have that level of power. And if so, Inglis wanted to see whether she could tweak an existing Artifact and create something that could endure her aether. Therefore, whenever she’d had the chance, she’d had Principal Miriela and Ambassador Theodore teach her more about how they were built.

What she wanted was something as strong as the sword forged from Fufailbane’s scales. Hastily made though it had been—she’d simply beaten a pile of scales together into the rough shape of a blade—it had been a good weapon, one that could handle her aether.

Unfortunately, she had lost it in the battle with the Prismer and had no replacement. She wanted a new weapon: one strong enough for her aether and containing a Gift would just be perfect. That still wouldn’t be up to the standards of hieral menaces like Eris and Ripple, but to her they weren’t just weapons: Eris and Ripple were people who lent her their strength. That was something subtly different from mastering the blade herself. On the other hand, she was able to accept the dragonscale sword, or some as-yet-unknown enhanced Artifact, as simply a weapon of hers.

And thus, Inglis accepted the lower-class Artifact from Ada and returned to her birthplace, the Eucus residence, to spend some time with just her mother, Serena. Rafinha, likewise, was together with Inglis’s aunt Irina. Inglis was sure they were talking about who would be a good partner. But she was going to strike first!

As night fell, Inglis again visited Ada, who was dealing with paperwork in her office in Ymir’s castle. Alina must already have been asleep.

“Pardon me, Ada.”

“Oh, Inglis! What is it? Ah, have you already finished modifying the Artifact?”

“No, I’m still... Uh, could you do me a favor, Ada?”

“Yes, what is it?” She smiled.

“Could you get this to Duke Bilford in the capital? And, sorry to put this on you, but as soon as possible, if you could.” The contents were, of course, a plea to stop Rafinha’s engagement, and the reasons were stated clearly.

The situation in the country after the defeat of the Prismer had not yet settled. For example, how far would the thaw in relations with Alcard go? Some would accept their apology and try to smooth things over, while others would demand revenge for the attempt on King Carlias’s life. The same went for Venefic. People might demand an attack on Venefic in response to Rochefort’s raid on the capital, or they might make peace on the assumption that an apology, and suitable reparations, were forthcoming. There were many opinions on what was to be done.

At a time when the future leaning of the court was unclear, it was an open secret that to welcome Rafinha as a new member of one’s family after her honors from the Prismer’s defeat was also to welcome stronger political influence. And if her partner’s family were to take a different tack from Duke Bilford on these matters, it could lead to Rafinha being taken away from him by a political foe.

Now was no time to discuss marriage; the wait-and-see approach was best. Inglis had made that point in great detail. In other words, she was telling the duke that all it would take was his word to stop this. The same words could carry a completely different weight depending on who spoke them. And she wanted them spoken by the most effective speaker.

She’d also been frank at the end, saying that she didn’t want to be lonely with Rafinha engaged. As someone else with the same parental love for Rafinha, the duke could surely be relied on to understand her feelings. That was her hope. If this did not go well, she would consider resorting to force.

“Understood. I’ll send someone right away. We do have a few Flygears, so if we travel without stopping, we should be able to get this to him fairly soon. Those things really do come in handy, don’t they?”

Inglis also could have had them use the Star Princess, but Rafinha would have noticed its absence when she wanted to use it. That meant using one of Ymir’s knights’ Flygears was the only choice. “Indeed, they do. Thanks.”

“Leave it to us.” Ada smiled, and murmured, “Perfect. If you’d been a little bit later, we would have had to deliver this and Rafinha’s letter separately.”

Shortly before Inglis had visited her, Rafinha had also asked for a letter to be sent.

Ten minutes earlier, Rafinha had visited Ada in her office and said, “Ada! I need you to rush this letter to my brother in the capital! As fast as you can!”

“Urgent news?! Understood, I’ll have a Flygear ready immediately!”

“Perfect, thanks!” Rafinha laughed. “Chris, you’re coming along with me!” Her face bore an extremely suspicious-looking grin.

“Wh-What do you mean, Rafinha?” Ada asked.

“Don’t you remember? Chris said that she’d marry anyone who beat her! And that she’s going to fight all her suitors.”

“Yes, there was that.”

Rafinha laughed again. “She’s so confident she’s safe and she’ll beat them all, but nothing’s guaranteed!”

“Meaning?”

“Rafael. I’ll call in Rafael! I make sure she’s worn out as much as possible from the other suitors, and then in the end I get Rafael to jump in and beat her! That way, the two of them will marry! Chris herself says that a warrior never goes back on her word!”

“Well, that would be...nice! That way Ymir’s future would be secure!”

“Right? Right? You know how Chris is, and Rafael’s such a shoegazer, so this is a good chance to get them on the same page!”

This plan was why Rafinha hadn’t objected strongly when Inglis described her own take on meeting someone. Well, and that she didn’t want her own chances to be interfered with. But to Rafinha, if Inglis were to fall in love, it would be best if it were with Rafael. That way they would eventually wed, and Inglis would be the future Duchess of Ymir. Honestly, she didn’t want Inglis to marry anyone but Rafael. And she was interested in her own prospects, so it was hard to tell only Inglis not to pursue anything.

“So, this letter is very important, then!” Ada said.

“Yeah! It is! I’m counting on you!”

“Understood!”

With that, Rafinha left the office. Starting the next day, she and Inglis enjoyed themselves in their hometown, snacking in the old downtown section of Ymir for the first time in a while. They visited a familiar seamstress and tried on new clothes. They went out with the knights in pursuit of magicite beasts. And they had a different sort of pleasant time with Alina: not just hanging out, but watching over her study and finding books for her in the castle library. At night, Inglis retired to her room and worked on the Artifact.

Several days passed leisurely as the girls both kept secret the contents of the letters they had entrusted to Ada.

◆◇◆

Several days later, Inglis was oversleeping in her room at the Eucus residence. She’d been up late. The door burst open.

Slam!

Someone was running.

Thump, thump, thump!

“Wh—?!” By the time Inglis realized what was happening, it was too late.

Fwump!

Someone had dived into her bed.

“Eeek!”

“Good morning, Chris!” Rafinha was sporting a huge grin. Her sudden landing had come with too much force, though. “Happy birthday! You’re sixteen today!”

“Rani!” Inglis exclaimed.

The pressure and pain Inglis felt were just from Rafinha’s rush to be the first to celebrate her birthday. Realizing that, Inglis couldn’t complain, only smile.

“Good morning, Rani. Thank you.”

“All right! You know what time it is!” Rafinha began to strip off Inglis’s already-thin nightgown. Rin, meanwhile, took this as an opportunity to dive into her cleavage.

“Eeek! Stop, Rani! Wh-What do you mean?”

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s your birthday, so I made you new clothes! And... Hmm? Has your chest gotten even bigger? I wonder if this’ll fit... Sorry.”

Squish, squish, squish...

Even as she spoke, Rafinha was conducting a more thorough examination than necessary.

“Hm? I don’t think so. My undergarments haven’t been getting tight.”

“Mm... Yeah, right. I just wanted a quick touch.”

“That’s terrible! And that was not quick! Sheesh...”

Rafinha nimbly jumped from the bed and ran away. “Anyway, I worked hard making you this by hand, so I should get something out of it! C’mon, try it on! I’m sure it’ll look great on you!” Rafinha started spinning in glee, a cutely wrapped present in her hands.

“Sure, okay.” Smiling along with Rafinha, Inglis got out of bed to try on her present.

In the midst of it all, Rafinha stumbled over the desk next to the bed. “Aaah!”

Thump!

“Rani!” Inglis was, of course, there to catch Rafinha. Instead, the Artifact she’d been tinkering with fell from the desk to the floor. It, and a pile of parts and materials, fell down in a heap.

Poof!

Inglis didn’t know what had hit what, but a large cloud of smoke filled the room, taking away her vision for a moment.

“Ugh, what just happened?!” Rafinha coughed.

“We need to open a window!” Inglis said. As the smoke cleared, her vision of her surroundings gradually returned.

“Sorry, Chris. That was my bad...”

“I can just make another one, it’s fine. More importantly, Rani, are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you?”

“No, I’m fine...” Rafinha caught Inglis’s extended hand.

Something wasn’t quite right. It felt different. It felt a little bit...soft.

“Hm?”

The reason for this soon became clear. Standing in front of Inglis was a much younger looking Rafinha, as she had been a decade or so prior.

“Wow! I missed this! So cute!” The two each said exactly the same thing.

“What?” And again.

“Th-The mirror!”

Reflected back at them were the five- to six-year-old Inglis and Rafinha.

“Whaaaaaat?!” Even in this, their voices matched perfectly.