Risou no Himo Seikatsu - Volume 11 - Chapter 2.1

Chapter 2 — The Old Sage, the Magic Researcher, and the Watcher

Ten days had passed and a grand procession of guests had arrived at the capital.

This was the relief force from the Twin Kingdoms of Sharou-Gilbelle. The relatively high number of carriages compared to the people was due to the relatively high proportion of women unused to traveling.

The person in charge of the expedition was a woman, Lucretia Broglie from the marquis family of the same name. Her maid was naturally present, but Talajeh’s and Fiqriya’s were also with them—their charges having been sent earlier via teleportation. There were also maids to replace the roughly half of Princess Bona’s maids who had been brought back home before.

Their presence had been reported via dwarf wyvern when they’d reached Fort Montjuïc on the eastern border, so their reception at the capital went relatively smoothly.

As far as the general protection of the city went, the guard made some fumbles. However, when you considered it was Viscount Regalado’s son’s first major operation after his father had passed the baton on to him, keeping things to that level was more or less acceptable.

It was perhaps fortunate that Marshal Pujol had been watching—having assumed that such things would happen—and immediately moved to assist with any real issues, so the only harm was to the new commander’s pride.

The day of arrival was for administrative formalities, while the actual welcome was planned for two days thence. While the Twin Kingdoms’ magic tools made the journey as easy as possible, a whole month of travel still wore heavily on the body.

The day of arrival—and the day after, unsurprisingly—were spent resting in their rooms in the palace before their invitation to a welcome banquet two days later.

“It is an honor to meet you, Queen Aura, and also to see you again, Your Majesty,” Lucretia offered in greeting as she knelt before the throne, turning to look at Zenjirou for the latter part of her sentence. “I am a noble of the Twin Kingdoms of Sharou-Gilbelle, Lucretia Broglie, of the family of the same name. I am indebted to you for the lavish spread you have prepared for our greeting.”

She gave a deep bow of her head as she finished. Whether due to the magic tools the country commanded or her own youth, she showed no sign of visible fatigue from the monthlong journey.

The seated queen’s lips rose in a slight smile as she spoke. “A most courteous greeting. In the name of Capua, I, Queen Aura I, bid you welcome to our country. Be at ease, Lucretia.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” the younger girl replied, bowing once more, which sent her hair bouncing.

Aura’s gaze slipped from the blonde to the woman with short silver hair off to the side. “We should finish the arrangements while we are here. Princess Freya, come forward.”

“Of course.”

The princess stepped proudly forward, red dress there for all to see.

Lucretia of the Twin Kingdoms and Princess Freya of Uppasala stood before each other to carry out the final formalities of their arrangement. Lucretia was the first to speak.

“Princess Freya, on behalf of Marquis Broglie of the Twin Kingdoms of Sharou-Gilbelle, I have come to deliver the Lulled Sea to you.”

“I confirm my receipt of it and offer my deepest thanks to Marquis Broglie,” Freya replied.

In truth, charge of the item had been passed to her yesterday. The conversation here was merely a matter of formality.

With the exchange completed, the queen spoke in a carrying voice from her throne. “It would appear things have been completed without incident. I hope you can partake of our meager offerings for your welcome tonight, Lady Lucretia. While I would not ask you to unduly stress yourself, I would like to see you present for as much of it as you can manage.”

Of course, without any clear physical ailment, a direct request to attend from the queen was close to a command.

“It would be my pleasure,” Lucretia replied, looking every inch the noble she was as she slightly lifted her dress in a curtsy.

While the banquet was being held in honor of Lucretia, she was—as sad as it was to say—not a particularly important guest as far as both Zenjirou and Aura were concerned. The Lulled Sea she had brought with her was much more important.

As proof of that, the short time between the official ceremony and the banquet that night was spent talking with Freya instead.

“My apologies for summoning you while you are busy making your preparations for tonight, Princess Freya. Take a seat,” Aura said.

“Not at all. I wanted to talk with you as well,” Freya answered before accepting the queen’s offer with a “Pardon me.” She had a neutral expression on her face as she seated herself opposite the queen and prince consort. Her guard, Skaji, stood behind her as ever.

While there was still plenty of time left until the banquet, it took quite a while for women to get ready. Aura’s comment on how busy the princess must have been was nothing but the truth.

“In the interest of saving time, let us move right to business. First, as an apology for taking up this time, I yield the floor to you.”

The short-haired princess nodded at the queen’s blunt words.

“I shall accept that offer. I wish to head to Valentia. Would it be possible to acquire your permission to do so?”

Aura and Zenjirou exchanged glances at that and nodded. It was just as they had expected and was, in fact, exactly why they had summoned her so quickly. The silver-haired woman looked askance at their reaction, but Aura gave a quick response.

“I would not be opposed, but when exactly would you be departing, Princess?”

“If I had permission, as soon as tomorrow, even,” she replied instantly.

“I see. I assume that is due to the Lulled Sea?”

“You are quite correct,” she replied with a slight nod.

Things were going much as the couple expected. It was an easily predicted action for anyone who had some understanding of Freya’s personality and thought patterns.

The Lulled Sea was a magic tool that could minimize the movements of water and air alike across a significant area. It was practically a guardian deity for a sailor. However, without knowing its exact capabilities, it would be impossible to put it into use in the most effective way. Since this world lacked a formal time-telling system, without the division of twenty-four hours into minutes and seconds like on Earth, the sailors would have to test how long the tool could be used for themselves. They needed to know how long it would remain in effect and what the cooldown time was before it would work again.

The sailors needed to gain an intuitive grasp of that. There was also the problem of where on the Glasir’s Leaf to place it. The tool had the form of a massive globe. Even the snow-white sphere itself was easily two meters in diameter. Its age meant that its exact composition was a mystery, but it was even heavier than it looked.

While the Glasir’s Leaf was a massive ship made to withstand the rigors of long voyages, something the size and weight of the Lulled Sea would still be a burden. They needed to plan where to put it and potentially add reinforcements. Otherwise, it was all too possible that they could damage the deck.

Additionally, the ship would be out on the open sea for long voyages, so it would naturally pitch and roll. It could even list almost to the point of capsizing. Something of the Lulled Sea’s size and weight could easily injure or even kill a sailor if it came loose and fell into the sea itself.

The tool, therefore, needed to be made fast to the ship, but that couldn’t be done just anywhere. Even veteran sailors could easily be taken by storms and gales, which was where the Lulled Sea came into its own. However, if it was not placed somewhere with immediate access, it would become nothing more than a decoration, while putting it somewhere with free access to all the sailors—many of whom were fairly rough men—was also risky.

Freya wanted to get the item to Valentia as quickly as possible so that she could determine the best place to put it while also verifying its functionality.

There were only two months until their planned departure for the Northern Kingdom. Her wish to get the tool to Valentia as quickly as possible was easily understandable. That was precisely why Aura and Zenjirou had picked this point to summon her.

“Hm. I can understand your desire to head for Valentia. You want as much time as possible to get your crew acquainted with the Lulled Sea, no? I may be unfamiliar with ship travel, but I am well aware that familiarity with one’s tools can easily be the difference between life and death. I would therefore like to grant your request to go as soon as tomorrow.”

“Thank you,” Freya answered before waiting to hear what the queen would say next. Aura’s tone had made it clear that this wasn’t the end of the conversation.

Just as she had thought, the queen continued after a moment.

“That is precisely why I summoned you here so urgently. There are already only two months until the Glasir’s Leaf departs. It seems unfortunately possible that you may not return to the capital before you leave, so this was my only opportunity. I shall therefore quarry right to the heart of the matter. Princess Freya, when you and your ship leave, would it be possible to add several passengers from our country?”

Freya looked shocked for a moment, but the request was fairly natural. For her, the biggest problem was gaining permission to marry into Capua from her homeland. However, from Aura’s position, the arrangement was nothing more than a means to an end. The real goal was to—by the formation of that marriage—form a bond between the two nations and establish an international trade deal. While it fell in line with Freya’s own goals, it was easily possible that Uppasala wouldn’t be entirely happy about letting their first princess marry a foreign prince consort, even if it was of her own accord.

It was therefore entirely understandable that Capua would also want someone to negotiate on their behalf. Immediately understanding that, Freya instantly drew up estimates in her head of the ship’s capacity, their crew number, how long the journey would take, and so on to determine how much leeway they had.

“Well, until I speak to my vice-captain in Valentia, I cannot say for sure, but I estimate we could accommodate around ten people. Naturally, there will be no special treatment in terms of food and water rations.”

Not wanting to give them too much hope, Freya offered a rather moderate number. If these passengers were brought along as “trade,” they could have packed ten times that aboard. However, Aura was personally approaching to request their passage, so the delegation must have consisted of ambassadors with permission to act in her stead, in which case, she couldn’t treat them nearly as roughly.

Still, the voyage would be a tough one, so her final comment about water and food was nothing but the cold hard truth. Then again, as far as water went, they would be in much better shape than they had been on the trip to Capua—assuming the magic tool for purification worked as they hoped.

While Freya was considering all that, she was surprised to see Aura turn to look at Zenjirou, who nodded once.

Puzzlement, realization, and finally shock flitted through her mind. The mere possibility she had just considered was so shocking she could not hide it from her face. Zenjirou’s next words to her showed that this “possibility” was, in truth, fact.

“Thank you for that permission, Your Highness. The would-be passenger is me, Zenjirou Capua. Naturally, I would not be alone, but the specifics can be confirmed once the precise number of potential passengers is calculated.”

As he spoke, he forced a smile onto his face. While he may have resolved himself to doing so, spending a hundred days at sea on a wooden ship was scary for a person from modern Earth. But now that he had spoken the request before Freya, there was no taking it back.

Still unable to hide her shock but understanding his seriousness, Freya pressed him. “Are you certain? I know this may be rude to say, but perhaps the two of you are looking too lightly on this voyage?”

Zenjirou kept the false smile on his face as he met her ice-blue eyes and conceded the point. “It is hard to truly refute that. Indeed, I know little more of sea travel than you have told me.”

Aura offered a shrug and her own reply. “Yes, that is likely somewhat true. Even so, I believe this is the best decision. I hardly think I need to speak of the benefits to you.”

“You are correct. Truly, I have no reason to object. I simply wish to know if you are both certain.”

Morbid though it was, sharing the ship with her meant Zenjirou would literally be in the same boat as her crew if there was an issue. From her perspective, if he were to sink beneath the waves, there was a high probability that she would be sharing his fate. Therefore, she focused on the benefits of making it to Uppasala, which was a much more welcome outcome for her.

However, as someone more familiar with the open ocean, she could not let someone viewing it lightly pass without comment. It was honest, good advice.

The queen nodded with a serious look. “You stated that the Lulled Sea and water purification magic tools would greatly increase the safety of the crossing. Also, while I will refrain from sharing specifics, there will be multiple other safeguards in place to protect Zenjirou.”

Freya noticed the prince consort’s expression falter for a moment as Aura made her statement. Unless she was mistaken, he looked guilty. The combination of his reaction and Aura’s words actually put Freya at ease, if anything.

I see; the safeguards she mentioned are to protect only him.

Capua’s lineal magic was space-time magic. She had personally experienced what was perhaps their trump card—the teleportation spell—on several occasions now. The queen’s ambiguous wording and Zenjirou’s guilty face let her easily guess that he’d have a way to activate the spell for himself.

With that understood, things were much more easily done. Freya even felt more lighthearted about it.

“I understand. In that case, I would be willing to welcome you aboard. However, I must reiterate the risks of a long sea journey in addition to the various inconveniences inherent to such a voyage. Please bear these warnings well in mind.”

Her icy-blue eyes zeroed in on Zenjirou’s own dark eyes as she spoke. Her statement made him feel like he’d really stepped off the precipice now, and he gulped before replying.

“Very well. I suppose it will be a long journey, but I shall leave it in your hands, Princess Freya—no, Captain Freya,” he said, a smile on his face, even if it was only a bluff.