Chapter 23
As always, Sir Lancer did not teach me swordsmanship.
He would read me my favorite storybooks, all the while nervous about when Chief Attendant Dailtha-nim would come in.
I sat on Sir Lancer’s lap.
“Now, today’s story is about the Guardian Dragon. Once upon a time, there lived a very, very scary black dragon. The black dragon’s name was Kadelina.”
“S-scary.”
Having a young body that was even serious about playing house, I felt an instinctive fear of such stories.
Shiver.
A chill ran down my spine.
For some reason, it felt like a black dragon was really staring at me.
I covered my eyes with my hands without realizing it.
‘It’s rare for me to be this scared…… Strange. It’s like there’s really a black dragon around here, right?’
I swallowed my saliva and listened to the story.
Kadelina was a terrifying dragon.
What was unique was that it was a dragon with many names.
“The Black Flame Dragon of the Ultimate something. The Black Flame Dragon of Termination something. The Black Flame Dragon of Destruction something, Transparency something. It had a lot of nicknames. That means it did a lot of diverse and scary things, right?”
“R-really scary.”
“So, ‘something Black Flame Dragon’ came to mean Kadelina.”
“Is the ‘something Black Flame Dragon’ still around? Is it still doing bad things?”
“Don’t worry. A brave hero punished the bad black dragon. The hero and the black dragon made a pinky promise.”
“What promise did they make?”
“They promised that it would never do bad things again and would become a good dragon that helps the hero.”
“Wow.”
My pride was hurt again today.
To think that I find such storybooks so enjoyable.
‘No. This is also reality. Let’s not be hurt.’
I decided to just accept it now.
A child’s body has a child’s joys.
Wouldn’t it be a happy thing that there are many enjoyable things in the world?
Sir Lancer closed the storybook.
“Your Highness. Do you know that?”
“Yes?”
“The hero in this story is the first Emperor of the Bilotian Empire.”
“No way, you’re lying!”
I shook my head.
Of course, Sir Lancer’s stories are interesting, but he should be reasonable.
I was a reader of this novel, and the word Guardian Dragon never appeared in the novel.
“It’s true. It became the Guardian Dragon and is secretly protecting the Imperial Family.”
“My dad is protecting the Imperial Family!”
Sir Lancer seemed to have made up his mind about something.
He muttered to himself as if he had been deeply moved.
“Dailtha! It’s the daughter, the answer is the daughter!”
He went out into the hallway and shouted ‘The answer is the daughter! The daughter!’ towards Chief Attendant Dailtha-nim, but I couldn’t understand the meaning of his words.
✦✦✦✦✦✦
The next day.
I took a small mana stone. It was a mana stone that emitted a slightly cool breeze.
I headed to Michael’s room with it.
Michael, with his animalistic senses, flung the door open before I could even knock.
“Oh? What’s that? Is it food?”
Michael snatched the mana stone from my hand and put it in his mouth, crunching it.
He seemed to think it was some kind of ice cream.
He spat it out.
“Ew, it’s hard, it tastes bad.”
“O-older brother. Your teeth, I mean, your molars…… are you okay?”
I definitely heard a cracking sound.
“I almost shattered them.”
“…… Usually, people say they almost broke them.”
“Why would they break?”
“Because it’s a hard stone!”
Michael grinned as if he didn’t care.
“My teeth are harder.”
Michael was clueless as always.
“So? What is this? My present?”
“No.”
This was made for Honey Badger.
I added my rudimentary magic formula to the Siberun mana stone, which has a cold attribute.
“If you infuse mana like this, a cool breeze comes out.”
As I infused mana, a blue light dwelled in the Siberun mana stone.
Soon, a cool chill seeped out, making the surroundings cool.
It was like an air conditioner in the modern era.
“Wow. This is really amazing.”
“Right?”
While studying magic, I learned one unfortunate fact.
It was true that magic was incredibly advanced in this world.
There were also terrifying spells that could destroy walls and summon lightning with a single gesture.
However, magic related to everyday life was not very developed.
‘Because it’s not a peaceful world.’
It was different from Earth.
The humans here are still fighting for survival against monsters, and wars break out frequently across the continent.
Therefore, instead of magic related to everyday life, only magic related to war and combat developed rapidly.
“I wanted to try researching these trivial spells.”
Since real mages would be busy researching magic related to war, I decided to research these trivial spells.
Since I had a lot of time and knew ways to make a lot of money, it was the perfect environment to study trivial magic.
“Yeah, go ahead.”
My older brother seemed indifferent.
“Kyaa!”
Fortunately, Honey Badger really liked the magic stone I made.
I was very proud that it even hugged the magic stone while sleeping.
“I’ll make you a cooler one next time!”
If Karin wasn’t around, the interpretation magic applied to Honey Badger worked well.
Honey Badger really liked being called by its name.
『Name call. Request.』
“Honey Badger.”
『That’s X. Totally X.』
“Huh?”
Honey Badger didn’t seem to like the name ‘Honey Badger’.
It repeatedly displayed X marks.
“Then…… um……”
Why doesn’t it like Honey Badger? It’s cute and nice.
But I couldn’t ignore Honey Badger’s expectant eyes.
“Kim Honey Badger?”
『Correct answer.』
『Very correct answer.』
『♡』
I don’t know what’s so different between Honey Badger and Kim Honey Badger, but anyway, Honey Badger sent me a heart, and I gently rubbed its forehead.
✦✦✦✦✦✦
Ruruka hummed as she descended the basement stairs.
“Today, I should serve chocolate milk with ice cubes. Your Highness will like it, right?”
Ruruka happily prepared Isabel’s snack.
The chocolate milk was ready. All she had to do was take out the ice from the basement freezer.
“……Huh?”
But something seemed to have happened in the basement.
“Oh my goodness. What is this?”
The basement walls were covered in frost.
A cold chill could be felt, making her hands very cold.
“What’s going on?”
This small freezer in the basement is a great luxury.
A product of magic engineering that ordinary people can’t even see.
“Why are the ice cubes frozen so solid?”
It was strange.
It was too bizarre to happen in the middle of summer, so she reported it to Chief Attendant Dailtha.
“Chief Attendant-nim. In the basement……”
Dailtha also hurriedly went down to the basement.
As Ruruka said, the basement was filled with magical energy.
The basement is quite a secret place even within the Imperial Palace.
The fact that magic could penetrate this far meant that it could penetrate anywhere else.
‘If an unknown force conducted a simulation experiment…… it’s a big deal.’
They might have tested whether magic could penetrate the basement or not, perhaps with non-lethal magic.
Dailtha felt great anxiety, but she couldn’t figure out what had happened.
‘This is why I repeatedly suggested that mages should be stationed in the Imperial Palace.’
The Geomrim scholars of the Geomrimwon, who had excessive pride in swords, strongly opposed bringing mages into the Imperial Palace.
‘Those stubborn old men.’
She walked quickly to see the Emperor.
It was an urgent report since it was something that happened within the Arena Palace, the palace of the Imperial Family.
As she was walking down the hallway with quick steps, she bumped into someone.
“Chief Attendant Dailtha-nim, hello?”
“Sir Viaton?”
It was Deputy Aide Viaton, who had been on a business trip to the Mirotel Magic Federation.
“Hiiii.”
“……”
“Nice to meetcha!”
“……”
It was a greeting that had been used for more than ten years, so Dailtha felt embarrassed for no reason.
Dailtha looked around.
“You still have no dignity.”
“I risked my life on a mission, and you’re going to be so cold to me? Viaton is hurt.”
“……”
There were exactly two people in the world that Dailtha found difficult to deal with.
It wasn’t her husband or the Emperor.
It was Viaton and Michael.
The two made Dailtha struggle in different ways.
“Have you already forgotten the glorious, magnificent, and solemn camaraderie we shared on the battlefield?”
“Shut up.”
“Why do you insist on using honorifics even though you’re just adding ‘yo’?”
“I said shut up.”
“Yes. This is the Dailtha I know. If you keep wearing a mask, you won’t live long. I want my friend to live a long life.”
“If I d*e early, the cause of death will be high blood pressure and stress.”
“Huh? Dailtha, are you stressed out these days? Is it because of your husband?”
“……”
Dailtha gave up on having a sensible and normal conversation with Viaton.
She sighed deeply and took Viaton to the basement.
It was to get a closer look at the strange phenomenon that occurred in the basement before reporting it to the Emperor.
“At least you seem to remember that I’m a magic swordsman.”
“Are there any traces of external intrusion?”
“I don’t think so.”
Viaton tasted the frost that had formed on the wall by putting it on his finger.
“Hmm. It’s not a particularly threatening mana…… Hmm?”
Viaton tasted the frost again.
Once. Twice. Several times.
“I think I know who the owner of this mana is.”
At first, he wasn’t sure.
But now he thought he knew.
This feeling that was so familiar and nostalgic.
The owner of this mana was someone Viaton cherished and cared for very much.
He thought of that sunshine-like child he wanted to run to and hug right away.
“Who is it?”
Dailtha’s expression became serious.
Who would dare to use magic that was not allowed in the Imperial Palace and play such a shallow trick?
Viaton lowered his voice.
“Well, that is……”
And he whispered with a bright smile.
“I won’t tell you.”
