Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Volume 11, page 1
Table of Contents
Cover
Color Illustrations
Character Introduction
Chapter 1: After the Uproar
Chapter 2: Masato’s Decision
Chapter 3: Farewell, Onto a New Journey
Interlude: Sakata Hiroaki’s Interlude
Chapter 4: Celia’s Decision
Chapter 5: Chance Encounter
Interlude: The Pursuers
Chapter 6: Escape
Afterword
Bonus Short Story
Bonus Illustration
About J-Novel Club
Copyright
Download all your Fav Light Novels from Just Light Novels
Chapter 1: After the Uproar
After knocking Takahisa off his feet and leaping down from the enchanted ship, Rio held Miharu in his arms as he landed gracefully in the rooftop garden. Satsuki and Charlotte stood in waiting.
“Haruto! Miharu! Are either of you hurt?!” As soon as Satsuki saw Rio with Miharu in his arms, she ran over in a hurry.
“No, I’m fine. Thanks to Haru-ku... Haruto,” Miharu replied, glancing up at Rio’s face. She met his eyes, then looked down in embarrassment. At the same time, Rio had a faint smile tugging at his lips, before letting Miharu down onto her feet.
“I see...” Satsuki seemed to sense the strange atmosphere as she watched Rio and Miharu’s expressions, wondering what on earth had happened. She was a little curious, but there were more important matters to address.
“What about Takahisa?”
“He’s still on the ship. Probably still knocked out,” Rio replied, looking up at the Centostella Kingdom’s enchanted ship flying far above them. The faint sense of guilt he felt was probably because he had punched Takahisa out of legitimate self-defense.
Satsuki blinked. “Knocked out... Hehe, I see,” she giggled.
“So what happens now?” Rio asked with a troubled expression.
“Now... Takahisa’s the one at fault here, since he tried to kidnap Miharu. I guess we’d have to bring him back and question him properly about why he did this. And it’ll have to be before the royals,” Satsuki said, her words laced with fury towards Takahisa. She glanced back at Charlotte, who had followed her.
“In that case, allow me to lead you three to Father,” Charlotte suggested calmly.
Satsuki looked up at the sky. “But if we don’t bring Takahisa back first, the enchanted ship might sail away from the capital like this...”
“There’s no need to worry. Sir Takahisa will be brought directly to the castle.” Charlotte spoke as though it was a settled matter.
“What?” Satsuki asked in confusion. Was it really something to be so calm about?
“The capital is currently surrounded by our kingdom’s enchanted ship fleet, so it would be extremely difficult for anyone to depart. Princess Lilianna is also with my father right now, so I cannot imagine the ship’s crew would forcibly charge through without their master on board. Doing so would even be considered a declaration of war against our kingdom,” Charlotte explained with a smile. It was almost as though she had planned for Takahisa’s rebellion in advance.
“...I see.” Satsuki gazed at her in awe. No matter how she looked at it, the preparations were too thorough.
...So an enchanted fleet has surrounded the capital, huh? Charlotte’s explanation seemed a little odd to Rio, too.
“...Why was the capital surrounded by an enchanted fleet?” Satsuki asked Charlotte.
Charlotte looked at Rio as she answered. “Sir Haruto’s efforts have greatly altered the outcome, but these were originally arrangements made to prevent Sir Takahisa’s scheme from succeeding,” she smiled impishly.
In other words, she knew that Miharu would be kidnapped, Rio guessed immediately, but wondered why she would stay silent about it.
Satsuki’s jaw dropped. “Char... Did you know that Takahisa was going to kidnap Miharu?” she asked.
“Yes,” Charlotte nodded calmly. “I was half in doubt about whether he’d actually do so, but I had received warning from Princess Lilianna of the Centostella Kingdom in advance.”
“W-Wait, hold on! Does that mean you could have stopped Takahisa’s rampage before it escalated to this?” Satsuki objected in a fluster, but Charlotte remained calm as she answered.
“I devised this as a backup plan precisely because that would be difficult. I avoided acting in advance out of fear of the worst case scenario occurring.”
Satsuki regained her composure by hearing that and sighed. “The worst case scenario?”
“A scenario where Sir Takahisa uses his divine arms to go on a rampage inside the castle before taking off with Lady Miharu on the spur of the moment, to put it simply. There would almost certainly be casualties if that were to happen, and we would lose track of both Lady Miharu and Sir Takahisa.”
“Wha...” The Takahisa she knew would never do such a thing—that was the first thought that came to Satsuki’s mind, but she quickly accepted Charlotte’s conjecture as a possibility. Takahisa had, in fact, tried to kidnap Miharu after all.
“...Yeah, I see your point. Takahisa was really backed into a corner.”
“Thank you for understanding. After the duel with Sir Haruto, Princess Lilianna learned of Sir Takahisa’s scheme and warned him against it, but he wasn’t in the right state of mind to discuss things properly. He threatened her with quitting his hero role and forcefully made her promise to assist in Lady Miharu’s kidnapping.”
Satsuki looked pained to hear that. “I see...”
“It would normally be Princess Lilianna’s duty to follow the will of her kingdom’s hero, but this time was an exception. She pretended to make various arrangements to assist Sir Takahisa while secretly making contact with Father for his support in stopping him. This all happened merely an hour ago,” Charlotte explained eloquently.
She could see he was on the verge of running amok anyway, so she wanted to let him do so in a controlled environment, huh? Rio guessed.
“And so, we had to move as secretly as possible in order to prevent the crime from happening with what little time we had. As a result, we had to overlook the risk of Lady Miharu being momentarily kidnapped, which was very regrettable. I’d like to extend my most sincere apologies, Lady Miharu.” Charlotte finished her explanation with a sorrowful apology towards Miharu.
“That’s okay, I’m here safe and sound now, thanks to Haruto.” Miharu reflexively shook her head at having a princess bow to her, but she stiffened upon making eye contact with Rio.
For some reason, it seems as though Miharu keeps getting embarrassed whenever she looks at Haruto... But Haruto seems calm about it, Satsuki observed quietly, analyzing the situation.
“We laid out the plan and watched it proceed accordingly, but the only factor that exceeded our expectations was the extent of Sir Haruto’s abilities. Seeing you retrieve Lady Miharu so easily was beyond anything we could have imagined. Honestly, it was a stunning upset.” Charlotte looked at Rio with a mischievous smile.
“It seems I went and made things worse instead. I apologize.” Rio solemnly bowed his head.
“No, no, not at all. You were able to retrieve Lady Miharu sooner that way, so it was for the best. And personally, my heart has never fluttered as much as the moment I saw you leap from the castle. You were incredible, Sir Haruto. If Father caught wind of it, I believe he’d hold you in an even higher regard,” Charlotte said, gazing at Rio with more than just inquisitive heat. She proceeded to maintain fixed eye contact with him.
Rio looked a little uncomfortable with being stared at for so long. “...I am honored.”
“Hmm...” Satsuki stared at Rio’s side profile. Miharu was also watching his face closely. When he noticed both of their gazes, Rio smoothed over his expression awkwardly.
“Hehe. Now, allow me to lead you all to Father. I’m sure there are some things to discuss before Sir Takahisa arrives as well.” Charlotte smiled alluringly and turned around to begin walking, but immediately came to a stop and spun back. “Ah, but first—there’s something I should probably tell you beforehand, as you may want to prepare yourselves before discussing this with Father present.”
“What is it?” Satsuki looked at Charlotte and asked.
“It’s the reason why I wasn’t able to inform everyone of the situation in advance. I believed it may be quite an unsettling matter to hear.” Charlotte looked a little somber as she looked from Satsuki to Miharu before finally glancing at Rio.
“What do you mean...?” Satsuki stiffened faintly, exchanging looks with Miharu.
“Lady Aki proactively cooperated in the kidnapping of Lady Miharu.”
“Wha...”
The truth that Charlotte thrust at them was more than enough to leave them shaken.
◇ ◇ ◇
After that, Charlotte led Rio and the others into a meeting room of the Galarc castle reserved for royalty. They had been greatly bewildered by Aki’s cooperation in Miharu’s kidnapping, but decided to prioritize relocating to the room.
Waiting inside the room was King Francois and First Princess Lilianna.
“Lady Miharu...” Lilianna blinked at the sight of Miharu. She must have been surprised to see Miharu here after Takahisa had just caused an uproar.
Meanwhile, Francois sent his daughter Charlotte a questioning look. What exactly happened? Explain the situation, his eyes said.
<
“...Flew into the sky, you say?”
In the Strahl region, the only means of flying were to board an enchanted ship or ride a flying mount. If Rio had flown under his own power, then it was indeed something to be taken aback by.
“That’s exactly what I said. Sir Haruto used the power of his enchanted sword to leap into the sky and board the ship that Sir Takahisa was on. It seems like Sir Takahisa was knocked out onboard the ship, so it should be easy to bring him back,” Charlotte said happily, looking at Rio.
Francois had been listening in a near-daze before he determined his daughter was telling the truth, then burst into hearty laughter. “...Ha! Hahaha! I see. It’s just one surprise after another with you, Haruto,” he said, looking at Rio.
“Thank you for your kind words.” Rio bowed his head in embarrassment.
“Now, how much have you told Satsuki and the others, Charlotte?”
“I’ve already given them the general gist of how we were moving in secrecy, but it seems like they’re still a bit shocked by it all and have yet to accept the situation completely. While it’s easy to feel rage towards Sir Takahisa for directly committing the crime, there must be conflicted feelings towards Lady Aki for her secret involvement.”
“Hmm. Well, that’s understandable.” Charlotte and Francois’ gazes turned towards Satsuki and Miharu, who were beside Rio.
“Could you tell us more? I’d like to hear the details about why Takahisa and Aki decided to kidnap Miharu,” Satsuki asked, holding her breath quietly.
Francois looked at Lilianna. “It would be best for Lilianna to answer that, as she was there. But have a seat first.”
“Lady Satsuki and Lady Miharu can sit over there. Sir Haruto, please come this way.” Charlotte offered Satsuki and Miharu the empty seats of honor before softly entwining her arm around Rio’s and pulling him to sit with her.
“Excuse me.” Rio sat in the seat Charlotte offered to him. Miharu and Satsuki exchanged a meaningful look after seeing them before they took their own seats.
“Before you tell us, can I ask where Aki and Masato are right now?” Satsuki asked Francois.
“We took them into our care as soon as the commotion started. Right now we’ve left them in another room and told them that an unexpected situation has occurred.”
“Got it. Please go on, then,” Satsuki said, looking at Lilianna.
“Of course. I’ll start with Sir Takahisa’s motive behind this foolish act. As I’m sure you must know, Sir Takahisa has romantic feelings towards Lady Miharu,” Lilianna said, looking at Miharu.
“Indeed,” Satsuki nodded naturally. Meanwhile, Miharu was taken aback and looked slightly uncomfortable. Rio continued listening without any particular change in expression.
“That’s why Sir Takahisa was overjoyed to be reunited with Lady Miharu. But, at the same time, he was flustered. He panicked at the thought of a man he didn’t know getting close to Lady Miharu.”
When he heard Lilianna’s explanation, a distant look appeared in Rio’s eyes. The situations were similar: in his previous life as Amakawa Haruto, he had spotted Miharu with Takahisa after entering high school. As a result, Amakawa Haruto had felt a strong sense of loss, but an even stronger feeling of panic.
“Knowing that Lady Miharu strongly favored Sir Amakawa and knowing what kind of person Sir Amakawa is, Sir Takahisa’s panic gradually turned into a feeling of rivalry towards Sir Amakawa. Then, when Lady Miharu said she wanted to stay with Sir Amakawa, that rivalry transformed into undeniable jealousy.”
In Takahisa’s case, the panic of losing Miharu had changed into a sense of rivalry and envy instead.
“Envy can cloud a man’s judgment. This was especially so in Sir Takahisa’s case, as he tends to feel more strongly than other people. He can be immature and weak of heart, which was why he wasn’t able to view his situation objectively. He couldn’t accept reality, couldn’t face his own weakness. Unable to suppress his jealousy, he challenged Sir Amakawa to a duel, but he couldn’t give up on Lady Miharu despite his defeat... Resulting in the uproar over kidnapping Lady Miharu,” Lilianna said, giving her own analysis about Takahisa’s emotional state.
“...” Both Satsuki and Miharu fell silent with pained expressions.
“Sir Takahisa insisted that Lady Miharu would only be unhappy remaining with Sir Amakawa, so he sought a duel to pull them apart—but he actually just wanted Lady Miharu to remain by his side instead. He knew he would lose to Sir Amakawa before they even fought, but he was unwilling to accept that, and went on a childish tantrum like this instead...”
Whether it was because she had been closest to him since he arrived in this world or because she had the observing eyes of royalty, Lilianna guessed at Takahisa’s emotions accurately.
“I suppose I can understand that, if I really tried,” Satsuki said sullenly.
“Even after being defeated by Sir Amakawa, Sir Takahisa couldn’t accept the thought of being separated from Lady Miharu. Lady Aki and I followed him into the castle after he departed the arena, and it was there that he said he had thought of a plan to keep Lady Miharu away from Sir Amakawa.”
“He really is a child...” The more Satsuki listened, the greater her anger was building.
“I proposed to Sir Takahisa that we returned to our kingdom. That he should put some distance between himself and Lady Miharu, in order to cool his head. But he immediately shot me down...” Lilianna said, smiling quite sadly. “Because I had emphasized the lack of options left for Sir Takahisa, he turned to the most destructive means he had left: to forcefully bring Lady Miharu to Centostella against her will...”
Lilianna had tried to direct the conversation towards how unfeasible that would be, but unfortunately, Takahisa was past the point of reasoning by then.
Satsuki was dumbfounded. “No way... He really just thought that would work?”
“...Yes. He insisted that Lady Miharu would understand once they talked it out afterwards. It was my irresponsible words that caused all of this. Please accept my sincerest apologies.” Lilianna bowed her head, deeply regretful for her words.
“No, no one in their right mind would go ahead with that...” Satsuki defended Lilianna while feeling extremely exasperated. Miharu seemed to agree with her, as she was nodding along.
“However, the fact of the matter is that my words caused all this. I frantically tried to get Sir Takahisa to change his mind, but he wouldn’t listen to me at all. He said he would no longer return to Centostella if he couldn’t bring Lady Miharu with him, and that he would quit being a hero.”
“...” Satsuki fell speechless once again.
“If there is one thing that Princess Lilianna must prevent at all costs, it is the rebellion of the hero. For a kingdom that worships the Six Wise Gods, it would be a tragedy that could rock the land. It is a more than effective threat to make,” Francois added, joining the discussion after remaining silent up until that point.
“If Lady Satsuki rebelled against us, our kingdom would also be in a world of trouble,” Charlotte added with a giggle.
“I would never do such a thing when I’ve been given no reason to distrust our relationship,” Satsuki sighed, pressing her hand against her head.
Charlotte chose not to press the matter any further, instead turning to Lilianna with an unrelated question. “That aside, there was one thing I was wondering. Why does Sir Takahisa think that Lady Miharu would only be unhappy with Sir Haruto?”
“In the world that Lady Satsuki and Lady Miharu originally came from, the act of killing another person is extremely frowned upon. This is apparently relevant here because, well... It seems that Sir Amakawa has a history of doing so...” Lilianna explained awkwardly, looking at Rio.
“Haruto is a wandering swordsman, so it would only be natural to kill bandits and the like in self-defense on his travels. The way Princess Lilianna puts it, this act sounds like it is condemned even in the case of legitimate self-defense. Is that so, Lady Satsuki?” Francois asked curiously.
