The Hero King, Reincarnate to Master the Art of War (LN) - Volume 12 - Chapter 1

Chapter I: Inglis, Age 16—Knights’ Academy Field Day

Bang, bang, ba-ba-bang!

As the smoke of fireworks filled the clear skies over Lake Bolt’s dock, Silva stood on the deck of a hovering Flygear Port which served as an impromptu stage. Surrounding him were not just other academy students, but also many citizens of Chiral. Today was Field Day at the knights’ academy, where students showed off what they’d learned through their regular training. As representative of the students, Silva was there to deliver an opening greeting.

“I’d like to thank you for being here today. I’m pleased to have the opportunity—on such a beautiful day, to boot—to demonstrate what we’ve learned from our daily training.”

It was an orthodox way to begin a speech, just as one would expect from him. Though he did seem a little nervous, perhaps from speaking to a crowd of more than just his fellow students.

A throaty, bellowing cheer rang out from Silva’s brother Reddas Ayren, captain of the Royal Guard. “Silvaaaa! Relax! Your big brother’s here!”

Reddas was overprotective of his brother—while he may have been a guest of honor today, he would have shown up just as surely even if uninvited.

“S-Stop it, Reddas! Quiet down!”

The audience chuckled as they watched Silva squirm.

“Ha ha ha. That must be super embarrassing,” Rafinha said from her close-up view of him.

Inglis couldn’t forget her own embarrassment when his cheers had followed her through her performance with the Weismar Troupe at the Royal Theatre—especially as he’d had his men join in. “Especially with how loud Reddas gets.”

She and her friends were perched in their Flygears, waiting for the aerobatic demonstration slated for after Silva spoke. She, Rafinha, and Liselotte were each flying solo, while Leone and Meltina were in tandem, with Leone at the controls.

“I suppose it’s probably your turn for that next, Meltina,” Liselotte joked.

Meltina had no response. She was staring at the ground, deep in thought.

“Meltina? What’s wrong?”

“Ah! Oh, nothing! Did you say something?” Meltina stammered, as she looked up in surprise.

“You really need to relax, Meltina. Leone, maybe you could give her a shoulder rub?” Rafinha suggested. “It might help her be a bit less tense.”

Leone nodded. “That sounds right. Turn around, Meltina. It’s okay. Calm down.”

“Thank you. I’m not used to this, so I’m pretty nervous...” Meltina sighed deeply.

“I have to assume a princess would have spoken to crowds regularly... But you’re still nervous?”

“This is different! I never had to sing for them!”

That was why Meltina wasn’t piloting. Field Day was originally supposed to be a simple demonstration of the students’ skills, but as Principal Miriela had come up with more and more ideas for student performances, and even invited street vendors, it had gained something of a festival atmosphere. This hadn’t been done in previous years, but now, the spectacle and the entertainment were being used to justify an admission fee.

“Seems like you’re the latest victim of the principal’s bright ideas,” Rafinha teased. The idea of having a first-year sing for the crowd had come up, and a series of competitive auditions had ended with Meltina the victor.

“Well, some would say she’s your victim...” Meltina protested.

“Indeed,” Liselotte added. “The price of the tickets is to fill a certain gap in the academy’s budget.”

“Anyway, you won’t get many chances like this. May as well have fun with it! Broaden your horizons!”

“When you put it that way, Inglis, it makes sense...” Leone said.

“Yes,” Liselotte said. “You’ve been quite tense lately. This is a good chance to relax.” The two nodded in agreement.

“Well, I think Chris’s just looking forward to the live-fire exercise later,” Rafinha said.

Inglis chuckled. “Well, I mean, they did have to pay to get in, so it’s important we give them a show worth the price of admission.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s only happening because you twisted the principal’s arm.”

“No, of course not! It was just a suggestion for further improving the exercise!”

“I knew you’d say that.”

Watching Inglis and Rafinha squabble, Meltina laughed. “You two get along so well. Just watching you cheers me up.”

“Oh? I heard that laugh! Feeling better now?” Rafinha asked.

“Yes, a little. I feel like I’d be missing out if I didn’t relax and enjoy myself.”

“Yeah! That’s it! Okay, now that you’re feeling better, let’s get pumped up for this!” Rafinha began.

But Silva’s speech from the Flygear Port wasn’t over yet. “The duty of a knight bearing an Artifact is to protect the people from the Prism Flow—and from the magicite beasts it brings forth! We train night and day to rise to that challenge. Today, we will show you the results of the training so that you may come to know us! We will renew the oaths we have made on our Runes to become the shield which protects you!” Maybe Reddas’s encouragement had worked; Silva was really getting into it.

“Silva! You’re taking too long! Hurry it up!” Rafinha called out impatiently.

She wasn’t wrong, but it came off as heckling.

“Wh—?! Quiet down, Rafinha! I’m giving a very important speech!”

Their bickering set the crowd to laughing again.

“Rani, Rani. You shouldn’t interrupt him.” Inglis tugged at Rafinha’s sleeve.

“Huh? But we’re fired up, and now Meltina’s feeling better. We need to seize the moment... Oh, right, Ripple! Ripple, tell him to hurry up, please!” Rafinha called to the hieral menace, who was in the seating for guests of honor.

It wasn’t just Reddas and the Royal Guard there that day; Rafael and Ripple were also there, representing the Paladins. Their duties had brought them back to the capital, conveniently in time for the event. And they were more than just guests; they’d also be participating. Prince Wayne, Ambassador Theodore, and Myce and the other Highlander refugees from Illuminas were present as well.

“Huh? Me?!” Ripple exclaimed, confused.

“C’mon, Rani, it’ll only be a little while,” Rafael said, trying to placate his sister. The Paladins pair had other duties to attend to, but Principal Miriela had requested their presence. She had wanted to capitalize on the popularity of the holy knight and hieral menace duo; apparently she was quite serious about attracting a crowd.

“Hmmm, Silva. Rafinha seems pretty insistent, and I want to see what’s next too, so...”

“Of course, Lady Ripple! Then, that concludes my remarks! Let Field Day begin!”

“Wow, that was fast! It sure didn’t work that well for me!”

Rafinha’s nearby friends laughed.

It had indeed been an abrupt about-face, but Rafinha had asked Ripple to intercede for exactly that reason, so she wasn’t exactly complaining.

Principal Miriela then stepped in to take over for Silva. “Now then, first up is a demonstration of formation aerobatics by some of our youngest students, who have just entered the knights’ academy this year!”

“All right, Chris! Let’s go, everybody!”

“We’re off!” Inglis announced.

Many Flygears—not just their own—rose into the sky in an arrowhead formation. The crowd let out a gasp, even though the show hadn’t properly begun yet; they were just lining up.

“Go for it, Leone!” Principal Miriela called from the Flygear Port.

At the lead of the formation was Leone’s Flygear, with Meltina aboard. “Okay! Here goes!” Leone brandished her dark greatsword Artifact and activated its Gift. As she did, the world around her transformed into a dark, empty space—the alternate dimension her Artifact could create. It pulled even the audience into the new space.

“Whoa!”

“What’s going on?!”

“It’s nighttime all of a sudden?! Incredible!”

As the commotion rose to a fever pitch, Inglis and the others scattered and formed a cloud around Leone and Meltina’s Flygear. With the duo between them, Inglis signaled to Rafinha with her eyes. It was on them to make the first move. From behind Leone on both sides, they swooped in, crossing over each other in front of her and continuing in a double helix around her. This was nothing they’d ever use when fighting magicite beasts—they’d practiced it specifically for today.

From behind them, color spotlights filled the space with beams of light following their trajectories, highlighting Inglis’s and Rafinha’s Flygears in blue. This was exactly as Principal Miriela had planned it.

“Chris!”

“Rani!”

Crossing paths once again just ahead of Leone, Inglis and Rafinha exchanged a high five. The crowd gasped, and Meltina, seeing her signal, began to sing beautifully.

At the same time, Liselotte and the other first-years swept back into formation and joined the show. Liselotte, following just behind Inglis, was highlighted in red, while others were in green and yellow. The darkness of the dimension from Leone’s Artifact only made the Flygears stand out more brightly. Leone, of course, was piloting the singer Meltina because the aerobatics everyone else was doing would be too difficult to pull off while maintaining the Gift’s effects.

As Meltina’s beautiful voice echoed through the space, brilliant colors shone every which way. The audience was so captivated that they forgot to blink. Eventually, Meltina’s song ended, and Leone released her Gift.

Clap-clap-clap-clap-clap-clap!

Inglis heard thunderous applause from all around them.

“Wow, that was incredible! It was so beautiful!”

“I’ve never seen anything like it!”

“Worth the price of admission alone!”

Watching the crowd, Principal Miriela nodded in satisfaction. “Great work, everyone! With shows like this, Field Day will be a success—and a profitable one at that!” She laughed, waving to them with a slightly suspicious smile.

“Well, the principal’s happy. She looks like she’s up to no good, though,” Rafinha said.

“Right. Her eyes are on the cash,” Inglis replied.

“Well, I guess she does have legitimate worries on that front.” Leone chuckled wryly.

“Yeah,” Inglis answered. “If we want to keep eating for free, we’ve got to try our hardest.”

“That’s right, Chris! There’s still plenty to do, so let’s get to it!”

“And a certain someone else’s eyes are on dinner, aren’t they,” Liselotte joked.

In any case, the show had only just begun.

◆◇◆

“Hi! Are you hungry? We’ve got freshly grilled kebabs, or fish caught right here in Lake Bolt! Then there’s a veggie and cheese soup, or pancakes with plenty of homemade jam if you’ve got a sweet tooth! All of it handmade!” Rafinha smiled as she called out to the people passing before her.

Field Day’s main stage was a Flygear Port near the dock, but attendees were free to enter the dock itself as well, and a street market was set up for the convenience of those there to observe its workings. Students rotated in and out of staffing the stalls when they didn’t have other responsibilities, and right now, Rafinha was standing in front drumming up business. Her gumption, cheer, and kindness made her perfect for the job. In no time at all, the stall Inglis and friends were running had attracted quite a crowd.

“Wow. It’s certainly gotten rather crowded here. We’ve got to speed it up!” Liselotte quickly ladled out soup from the pot.

“It’s nice to have plenty of customers, but Rani’s going a bit far,” Leone muttered as she cooked pancakes. She was a very skilled cook—the best out of them.

“Well, Rani thinks she has to help by selling a lot, so, y’know,” Inglis explained.

It was true, as Leone observed, that the cafeteria workers had made the soup and that all they had to do was serve it. Additionally, the homemade jam wasn’t from their homes. But Leone was still there at the griddle, and Inglis at the grill. And they were there in hair nets and aprons to keep the oil off, exactly like commoner girls getting a little work experience as waitresses or cooks. So at least it wasn’t all a lie.

“Okay! Three orders of pancakes and kebabs! Thanks! ♪ Meltina, did you catch that? Can you bring them over?”

“O-Okay! Coming right up!”

Rafinha and Meltina were in the front taking orders. Meltina was not so used to dealing with the public directly. She didn’t have the personality that Rafinha had, but she was trying her best.

“Here’s the kebabs, Meltina,” Inglis said.

“And three orders of pancakes too. They’re pretty hot, be careful.”

“Thank you.” Meltina, her hands a little unsteady, brought the orders forth. “Here you go!”

“Hey! You’re the girl who sang from the Flygear earlier, aren’t you?”

“Huh? Oh, yes... I’m sorry I couldn’t do better.”

“No, no, it was great!”

Other customers, hearing the conversation, also turned their heads to her.

“Oh wow! That’s the girl who sang before!”

“Oh my, she’s even prettier up close!”

“It was really good! I was so impressed!”

“That it was! That it was!”

In no time at all, a crowd had gathered around her.

“Er, um... Thank you, everyone!” Meltina said, happy but a bit awkward at the same time.

“And hey! You ever thought of singing anywhere else? I run a bar, and we’ve got a stage for singers and dancers! Maybe I can talk you into a gig?”

“I’m sure it would be an honor, but...” Meltina began, only for Rafinha to interject herself into the conversation.

“Heyyy there! ♪ You should know, we are a boarding school, and we need the principal’s approval to leave campus. Meltina might be interested, but you need to ask the principal first.”

“Oh, really? Got it. I’ll have to do that later.”

“Of course. Thank you.” Rafinha skillfully covered for Meltina.

“Thanks, Rafinha.” Meltina sighed.

“It’s okay. Well, going to a bar, probably not okay, but you know.”

“Yes, that’s right. It’d probably have food I don’t normally get to try, and that would make me extra hungry.”

“No, that wasn’t quite what I meant, just—” Rafinha broke off laughing.

Meltina was an honest-to-goodness imperial princess of Venefic. Inglis and Rafinha were nobles too, but Meltina’s sheltered upbringing must have been on an entirely different level. Inglis and Rafinha were familiar with how commoners lived, but Meltina might have rather different conceptions of what particular jobs involved.

“I understand completely, Meltina,” Inglis agreed. “Cooking sure works up an appetite too.” Inglis looked down at the delicious-looking kebabs and grilled fish just in front of her. They smelled amazing, and she was practically drooling over them.

“Yeah. Chomping into them rather than giving them away is awfully tempting,” Rafinha chimed in.

Inglis, Rafinha, and Meltina fell silent as they slid their eyes over the tantalizing, sizzling skewers and pancakes as one.