Risou no Himo Seikatsu - Volume 13 - Chapter Pr

Prologue — Valaskjálf

Uppasala was one of the northern countries of the Northern Continent. Its capital was on the north of Lake Mater.

The lake was an exceptionally big body of water. Saying that it was about twice as large as Lake Biwa—the largest freshwater lake in Japan, covering 250 square miles—would probably demonstrate just how large it was.

It was originally connected to the eastern sea by multiple rivers, but prior kings had ordered them to be both deepened and widened, and in some cases connected to form a wide waterway. The lake itself now served as a massive bay.

In the center of the capital was their royal palace—Valaskjálf—and the current king of the country, Gustav V was listening to a report from one of his subordinates.

“I see, so the Glasir’s Leaf has safely arrived in Logfort.”

“It has. The messenger ship from there confirmed it.”

“So that is the state of things.”

The king nodded several times, not hiding his relief at his subordinate’s words.

Logfort was a port town to the east of Lake Mater. If you considered the lake itself to act as a bay, the town was the entrance to the sea.

In recent years, the increase in the size of oceangoing ships had made navigating the waterway more dangerous with their deeper drafts and the tight turns. More and more people who wanted to visit the capital on larger ships had started docking in Logfort and taking smaller ships into the lake proper.

Naturally, the behemoth that was the four-masted Glasir’s Leaf came under that category as well.

“Princess Freya and her crew will be switching ships and heading here. They are expected to arrive tomorrow.”

“I see, and this would also include our guests.”

The king’s icy-blue eyes narrowed as he spoke the word “guests.”

Gustav had acquired at least some information since the ship had docked in Złota Wolność. While it didn’t compare to Pomorskie, Uppasala’s port in Logfort was a fairly large one as well. Naturally, there were many ships that visited both ports. Information from those ships had reached the king’s ears.

“Guests from the Southern Continent... Goods or spoils would have been much simpler,” he murmured, his expression souring.

There were few specifics, and what information he did have was difficult to tease apart, so it wasn’t certain, but it at least appeared that one of the guests was royalty from the Southern Continent. He had heard—though wasn’t sure how well-founded the information was—that both Marquis Pomorskie and Princess Anna had treated the man as such.

“I suppose you could view inviting guests as establishing successful trade.”

If a member of the Southern Continent’s royalty was indeed aboard the Glasir’s Leaf then it would be consistent with Freya cementing friendly relations with that country.

“Freya aside, Skaji and Magnus being there mean that there are likely no major lapses in judgment.”

Skaji referred to Victoria Kronkvist, a female warrior of such skill that she was allowed to use the name of the legendary witch Skaji. Magnus was a veteran captain such that the scent of the sea was said to constantly be on his breath.

Both of them were warriors and had not only the ability to be on a ship, but the courage and insight required.

In truth, Freya was not inferior to them in terms of her insight or negotiation skill. But as a father, he would always look at her with the filter of being her guardian.

“Still, I may have erred in her upbringing...”

While she was at sea, concern had been the dominant feeling. Now that she was back in the country, though, grumbles and regrets about his beloved daughter filled his heart.

“Are you sure? Princess Freya is a strong-willed soul,” his subordinate replied.

Taken on its own, it would be praise, but in response to concerns about her upbringing, it was a rather harsh remark. It essentially implied that her current demeanor was nothing to do with how she had been raised, but because she had been warped to begin with.

The king offered no real reprimand to his subordinate, just a rueful smile.

“Perhaps I named her wrongly instead. She is a tad wild. She would have been better as a man.”

“If you will pardon me, I have to say that her actions would be equally questionable if she were a male royal.”

“True...” Gustav replied, his face returning to seriousness.

The Glasir’s Leaf’s intercontinental voyage was the first attempt for Uppasala as a whole. With no prior attempts, there was a significant risk to life.

Allowing a royal aboard had bigger issues than that royal’s gender. Of course, there was the problem in Uppasala that such views were not prevalent in relation to men, strictly women.

“Of course, the country would certainly be more willing to accept her recklessness from a man.”

“A dilemma indeed. For a warrior, the courage to face the unavoidable risks—even of sea travel—is a virtue, yet avoiding even needless risks is decried as ‘cowardice.’ I wish we could change that in some way.”

Uppasala was a country of warriors. Originally, they were a country of pirates. Due to that, for better or worse, warriors had high standing and acts of valor were encouraged. In itself, that was not a bad thing, but due to the pathological avoidance of anything that could be taken as cowardice, it was also an unadaptable mass of fighters.

Gustav was pained that it was not just limited to the warriors and that the traditions and nature of Uppasala’s underpinnings were inhibiting the country’s growth.

He slumped back into the chair, resting his body weight against its back as he directed his gaze up to the ceiling before closing his eyes in thought.

“We are at a turning point. Technology and the economy are progressing rapidly. We need to gain at least a grounding in the areas where we struggle to survive the upheaval. Simultaneously, we cannot abandon our strengths.”

Uppasala was a country founded by pirates. They had no real specialism outside of the waves. They could not afford to lose their naval strength. To continue the upscaling of their ships and the increase in their efficiency while maintaining a powerful navy would naturally require a focus on shipbuilding and training sailors, both of which needed a certain economic strength as a foundation.

“We are pushing our way into international trade. We truly are in a rough position.”

“We are?”

“Indeed. Though more accurately we are in a position which could become so. Still, I have been prepared for that for a long while now. We should focus on more immediate issues. Are you certain the commonwealth declared war on the Knights?”

A different subordinate took a step forward at that.

“We have yet to confirm things. However, we have heard multiple corroborating accounts of the knights attempting a sneak attack on Pomorskie, so it seems credible. The country declaring war in response seems an entirely natural response.”

With rumors and hearsay being their only sources of information, teasing out the truth inevitably became more difficult.

There was information from ships that had left before the port was sealed, and information from those that left after the reopening but before the Glasir’s Leaf. Then there was the information from ships that left around the same time but arrived at Logfort first.

If each set of information was concrete, then things would be easy. Unfortunately, the reality was far from that. After all, the majority of the information was from the crews of merchant ships, which rarely even left the ports they stopped at. The information they had gained in Pomorskie was already secondhand at best, and each individual would add their own spin and imagination to it. Some people would then say it as if everything they had heard had actually happened, even the parts which were added earlier in the chain.

This complicated the information and created chaos that could not be easily parsed.

The current credible information suggested that at least the Knights had attacked Pomorskie. The country then reacting to that seemed rather likely. It was easy to forget, but Uppasala and the Knights’ territory shared a coast. There was a perpetually snowy mountain range that separated the two countries, so crossing the land border was all but impossible, but they were geographically neighboring countries.

“Freya has established international trade. We also have a guest from the Southern Continent. Then there are the knights. We will have to prepare a suitable welcome for all of them.”

Naturally, the meaning of “welcome” was different for each of them.

Their princess returning would be the subject of an affectionate welcome. The guest she had with her would be the target of a calculating welcome, masked by politeness. Meanwhile, the uninvited guests in the form of the Knights would need a welcome of ammunition prepared for them.

The common point between them was that they would need sufficient preparation to ensure that each would be satisfied.

“I shall make the preparations,” his subordinate said.

“I appreciate it,” the king replied with a magnanimous nod.