[V7C1] The Prince of the North
Translated by Jodas 7: To the NorthSophie Schwarzenberg, Shaman and Apprentice Mage of the Wedge Tower, ran into the classroom that morning in a hurry. Her pink eyes practically sparkled as she spoke.
“Big news, everyoneee! A prince is here! A prince!!”
As Sophie giddily waved her arms and jumped about, Tia and Wren subtly averted their eyes.
The night before, when Tia and the others snuck out of their dooms to investigate the Wedge Tower, they encountered Julius and formed an agreement to seek the secrets of the Wedge Tower and share any information they collected.
Immediately afterwards, the Prince whom Sophie mentioned appeared.
Sixth Prince of the Darwock Kingdom of the Northern Federation, Axel Olaf Dahlbeck. The same person whom Sevil’s brother ordered her to marry.
Even in the middle of the night, Axel’s arrival sent the Wedge Tower into a frenzy.
Obviously, with that going on, no one would pay attention to the fact that Tia and the others were out of their dorms.
So, they decided to cut their investigation of the gardens short there, blending in with the chaos as they slipped back into their dorms.
Once she got back to her room, Tia opened her window and tried to listen in, but the Prince in question quickly went inside one of the Spires, so she couldn’t catch anything else of importance.
(In the end, all I got was that Monsters had appeared in a palace in this Darwock place…)
Apparently, there were plenty of buildings in Darwock that were called palaces. That said, if it was Axel, the Sixth Prince, who was coming to ask for aid, Sevil supposed that he must have come from the Royal Palace.
Royal Palace. That meant the very core of the country. Where the King was.
(But, isn’t Darwock north of the Empire? There’s dangerous mountains to the North. It’s not easy even for Harpies to fly over those…)
And even if they did cross the mountain range, if there wasn’t enough mana density on the other side they’d wither away and die.
Or was the mana density really high up in Darwock and Tia just didn’t know it? In that case, then it might be possible to try going East to the sea in order to get around the mountains.
As Tia huffed and puffed in thought, Sophie ran up and spoke to her, unable to contain her excitement.
“Hey, hey! Tia, did you hear? About the pri~nce!?”
Rumors of Prince Axel’s arrival had already spread like wildfire across the Wedge Tower.
However, the intent of his visit — that Monsters had appeared in the Palace — had yet to get out. With that in mind, Wren cautioned her not to run her mouth carelessly.
Therefore, Tia spoke with caution.
“Yeah, I heard.”
“Hey, hey, hey, Tia! What kind of person do you think the prince is? Do you think he’s got blonde hair and blue eyes? Or maybe he’s the black-haired fashionable type? What kind’s your favorite, Tia?”
“…Piyo. Sophie, you seem happy.”
“Because it’s a prince! A prince! Anyone would want to go see him, right~? Oh, of course, I know that he’s Sevil’s fiancee. I’m not a homewrecker or anythinggg~? But that and finally getting to see a prince are two different things, you knooow~?
Look, you get me, riiight~?”
Sophie weaved her fingers together and twisted her body back and forth, squealing in delight. She was having the time of her life.
Tia tried her hardest to think.
Sophie liked these creatures known as ‘princes,’ but since the Prince of Darwock was Sevil’s prey, Sophie wouldn’t steal him from her. But no one could blame her if she was just imagine how tasty he was! …Or something of that order.
“Vuvuvu…” Tia groaned, at which point Rukiye coldly quipped under her breath.
“Basically you just want to see a prince and fangirl over him.”
“It’s a prince after all, okaaay? I might never get a chance to see one agaaaain~!”
“You say that even though you’re classmates with an Imperial Princess?”
As Rukiye calmly criticized her, the classroom door swung open and Hütter walked in.
Saying “Everyone, take your seats!” Hütter looked around the room.
“Oh, sounds like you’ve already heard the rumors, but a very important guest has arrived at the Wedge Tower. If you run into him, please try not to do anything rude…”
As he cast his eyes around the classroom, Hütter’s eyes landed on an empty seat.
His eyes began to twitch.
“…Tia, where is Sevil?”
“She said ‘I’m going to crash the meeting’!”
Hütter closed his eyes and forced a gentle smile.
Tia had no idea what that smile indicated.
— It was the smile of a man who had left all his ties to reality behind the veil of oblivion. In short, a moment of escapism.
Three seconds later, Hütter’s eyes snapped open again and he clapped his hands.
“Alright, everyone, self study! I want everyone to read ahead to prepare for Mr. Hütter’s Inspiring Imperial History Lesson ‘The Wonderful Relationship Between the Krewings and the Ras Belsch Orthodoxy’ on their own! That is all!”
Elaborating no further, Hütter disappeared out of the classroom like the wind.
“Pefufun.” Tia vocalized and looked at Wren. In a voice only Tia could hear, Wren whispered “Let’s go.” and the two of them silently stood up.
They intended to tiptoe into the hallway just as the Apprentices’ Representative, Ella, told them off with a smile.
“You two, you know you’re not allowed to do that?”
Feeling a chilling seriousness in her gentle voice, both of them wordlessly returned to their seats.
Tia had learned that when Ella said not to do something, she shouldn’t do it.
With a sad “Pefufun,” Tia opened her textbook. Then it hit her.
Something about the lesson that Hütter had assigned them to do for their self-study: ‘The Wonderful Relationship Between the Krewings and the Ras Belsch Orthodoxy.’
(Isn’t Krewing…?)
In a meeting room on the top floor of the First Spire: White Smoke, all of the Spiremasters and Directors gathered in one place, with the exception of Headmaster Möbius who had yet to return from his mission.
Assistant Headmaster Miriam, the three Spiremasters Abel, Lowein, and Alto. Plus, the Directors of each Office, not counting the Branch Offices.
Sitting at the far edge of the table, Guidance Office Director Hegelich anxiously pursed his lips as he glanced at the visitor who appeared last night out of the corner of his eyes. This was a man at whom it would be improper to stare at directly.
The visitor in question was a large man in his mid twenties wearing clothing of the highest quality.
His pale blond hair that extended past his shoulders was tied in a knot at the base of his neck and he wore a pair of glasses on his face.
Behind him stood two middle-aged guards.
This man was the Sixth Prince of the Darwock Kingdom of the Northern Federation, Axel Olaf Dahlbeck.
“I deeply apologize for arriving at an abnormal hour last night.”
As he spoke, Axel bowed his head deeply.
It was far from ordinary for Royalty to apologize in such a manner. Not to mention the fact that this prince did not hesitate to bow his head.
That was testament to the dire situation this man was in.
In place of the absent Headmaster, the woman in a nun’s habit — Assistant Headmaster Miriam — opened her mouth.
“We do not mind. The door of salvation shall always be open, regardless of the time.”
There was no smile on Miriam’s beautiful face, and her voice was methodical, bordering on cold.
Nevertheless, she was a woman to whom ‘salvation’ meant more than just words. That was why, even though Hegelich was terrified of her, he respected her deeply.
At times like this, the responsibility for keeping the proceedings moving fell to White Smoke Spiremaster Abel.
The gentle old lady Abel, whose friendly voice was the exact opposite of Miriam’s, asked Axel:
“My subordinates gave me a report of your circumstances overnight. Do you mind if I share that information to everyone else present in this room?”
Axel slowly shook his head.
“…No. I would like to communicate this to you all with my own mouth. Exactly what went down at the Darwock Royal Palace…”
At that point, Axel fell silent and pinched his brow between his fingers.
His face was pallid and his eyes wavered. At any other time, this man would have been the image of strength and courage.
However, following roughly two weeks of forced march through rough terrain, he was exhausted and his face had grown gaunt.
When he arrived at the Wedge Tower the night before, his clothes and body were covered in grime, his hair had grown longer, and no matter how one looked at him it would have been hard to tell this man was royalty.
Since then, he explained his situation to the Wedge Tower, took a brief nap, changed into fresh clothes provided by the Wedge Tower, and found himself here.
“…It was just before sunset. As His Majesty sat in the throne room… suddenly something flew in through the window. That something…”
“Would you mind including me in this discussion as well?”
When he heard the voice calling from the doorway, Hegelich felt his stomach turn over.
Of all things, why in the world was that person here?
The one who opened the door was a gorgeous woman in a man’s uniform with a curved sword hanging from her waist — Sevil.
(What in the world is Hütter doing!?)
Completely unaware that, meanwhile, Hütter was desperately running through the halls, shouting “Oh shiiiittt! At this rate it’s all going to be my fauuuuult!” Hegelich held his head in his hands.
A tense atmosphere fell over the room as Axel stared at Sevil, his expression betrayed mixed feelings: half cautious, half suspicious of her.
Said strong and courageous man’s face proudly conveyed the message of ‘Who the hell is this woman?’
The heels of her jackboots clacking lightly against the floor, Sevil marched in front of Axel. Then, with her hand on her waist, she declared with pomp and circumstance:
“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Your Highness Prince Axel. I am Adelheid Sevil Lamea Krewing — The very Barbarian Sword Princess whose mother hails from the Grassland Nation of Torgai that you were scheduled to wed.”