Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Volume 12, page 1
Table of Contents
Cover
Color Illustrations
Character Introduction
Prologue: Christina’s Recollections
Chapter 1: On the Move
Interlude: Secret Talk
Chapter 2: The Road to Restoration
Interlude: Meanwhile...
Chapter 3: Signs of the Pursuers?
Interlude: Another Secret Talk
Chapter 4: Before the Border
Chapter 5: Ruler of the Battlefield
Epilogue: Yearning to be Special
Afterword
Bonus Short Stories
Bonus Illustration
About J-Novel Club
Copyright
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Prologue: Christina’s Recollections
In her youth, Christina Beltrum considered herself to be someone special.
She was born as the first princess of Beltrum, first in line to succeed the throne of the most influential kingdom of the Strahl region, blessed with both academic and magic talent, and hailed as a genius by all her instructors in everything she learned.
Hard work wasn’t difficult for her, either. She considered working hard to be a natural obligation imposed upon her because of who she was—a person that stood above others. Plus, if she worked hard to get better results, her parents would praise her, and her beloved little sister would look up to her with respect.
That’s why she was naturally able to work harder than the average person from as early as the age of three or four. She wanted to meet her parents’ expectations. She wanted to be an older sister worth respecting.
Her hard work paid off. She never experienced failure and was hailed as a genius no matter what she did. It was truly smooth sailing throughout her entire youth.
However, that background caused her belief that she was a superior, special person that stood above others to gradually grow stronger. Because she was special, there was nothing she couldn’t do. There was no one above her. Her pride grew until it was all she could believe.
And yet, despite that, she never considered her less-talented little sister to be stupid. She adored Flora. She was also happy to be complimented by her parents. As royalty, there were few people that could treat her on an equal level, so she always treasured her family.
Which was why when she was seven years old, her world fell apart when she learned that Flora had been kidnapped on her ceremonial outing outside of the castle. She followed Vanessa and Celia, who had gone to investigate on the confidential order of her father; she forcibly snuck out of the castle in what was a most foolish act.
She arrived in the slums of the capital. It was her first time stepping into such a place—a place she normally would have never ventured in her lifetime.
There, she met an orphan.
His name was Rio.
His messy hair was long enough to cover his face, his skin was rough and covered in dirt and grime, and his tattered clothes had a sour stench to them. On top of that, the boy himself was withering away.
He was the same age as Christina, and lived a life that was completely opposite from the one she spent in the castle as royalty.
So there are children like this in the world—that was what she thought after seeing an orphan for the first time in her life. But she didn’t know how to approach such a boy, and—with her rising panic over Flora’s kidnapping—ended up hurtling inexcusable words at him.
Rio’s response was unexpectedly polite. They weren’t able to gain any beneficial information from their first conversation with him, but later, they spotted Rio carrying an unconscious Flora through the slums. Christina flew into a rage—this orphan had lied to her face, saying he knew nothing about her sister.
Christina slapped Rio and screamed at him, but Rio stared back at her with a gaze that chilled her to her core. It scared her into reflexively attempting to slap him again, but Rio caught her hand. When she tried to slap him with her free hand, he caught the other one, too.
And that...
That was the first time she had ever had her freedom taken away from her by force.
That was the first time she had ever been glared at coldly.
That was the first time she had ever thought of another human as terrifying.
Because she was the first princess, no one had ever treated her rudely or roughly. Everyone had always respected her.
She was mortified. Her pride had been wounded. She realized that she wasn’t actually a special person at all, but rather, an extremely unreliable girl.
Christina had been fiercely enraged at the time, but looking back on it now, the events of that day were probably what made her come to the realization that she wasn’t someone special. She was a normal person no different from anyone else.
She was simply born in the position of the first princess. What was special was her position, not herself. That became even more clear once she started attending the Royal Academy.
Indeed, she was able to produce results better than the average person in every field. But her talents stopped there. She was able to maintain her top scores in the academy, but that was simply because she was well-behaved and studied hard.
She didn’t have any prodigy-like talent, and couldn’t compete with the true geniuses of each field. For example, Celia Claire was considered a genius sorcerer—and Christina was no match for her. She had once read the thesis Celia submitted to skip her grades and though she could understand its contents, she couldn’t imagine writing something similar at the age Celia had been.
Besides...
There was one more person that could have been a genius. She didn’t want to accept it at first, but that person was Rio.
He couldn’t have had a proper education in the slums, yet he was able to read and write shortly after entering the academy, eventually pulling ahead of the rest of the students to reach the same top grades as Christina. He had tremendous learning capability.
Christina had prided herself on her ability to study, so she had been secretly shocked at the time. If she were in Rio’s position, would she be able to achieve the same grades as him?
On top of that, she saw him practicing with his sword after class multiple times. His form was extremely beautiful—his movements were clearly different from the other students.
He was elegant, yet sharp, with movements honed until he stood far above anyone else in terms of skill level. Perhaps that was why Christina found herself captivated by the sight of him swinging his sword before she realized it.
Yes, he must be a genius, she thought.
But that realization didn’t change the relationship between them, and she continued to do her best to avoid him on the academy grounds. Part of the reason why was because of the guilt and awkwardness she felt about their first meeting. Even if she were to reach out to him, she didn’t know what to say. Because of what had happened, she didn’t think he wanted to talk to her, either.
More importantly, she was the first princess. She couldn’t just thoughtlessly apologize to other people, as it could end up causing a bigger problem.
She was special, but it was a restrictive kind of special.
Considering the inconvenience she could cause for her father, who was already distracted by the power struggles within the country, she decided to refrain from any actions that could cause discord.
Being born into a special position meant that she had to act like someone extraordinary. Even if it wasn’t true...
That was the duty of someone like her—of royalty entrusted with the rule of a kingdom, she believed.
However, when she saw Rio isolated in the academy, she felt a sense of discomfort she couldn’t identify.
The sons of nobility mistakenly assumed themselves to be special and acted with no consideration for others. Watching them reminded Christina of her past self, causing feelings of shame to well up alongside the discomfort within her.
When she saw Flora’s sad face on top of all that, she felt pathetic. Powerless to do anything against this reality...
Yet, despite that, she maintained her path as a spectator.
And the result of that was a scapegoat being born. Rio must have sensed the danger he was in, as he disappeared without a trace and never appeared before Christina again.
The memories, as sour as they were, sometimes resurfaced on a whim.
They would never meet again. Rio would be better off that way.
With that thought in mind, she nailed the coffin shut over her bitter memories.
That is, until today...
Chapter 1: On the Move
Somewhere along the road stretching south of Cleia...
“From the avenger to the avengee, if you will... Human karma is a truly difficult concept. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Reiss left behind those words in his exchange with Rio before retreating into the forest. Rio continued glaring into the forest afterwards, his expression grim.
“...”
Meanwhile, Christina watched Rio’s back, dumbfounded and in shock. The same went for Celia, Sara, Orphia, and Alma. Several seconds passed like that, silence falling over their surroundings. Everyone held their breath. Rio secretly probed the area using his wind spirit arts to confirm Reiss had withdrawn into the forest and taken off, and that there were no other enemies. Then, he turned back to the party.
“Let’s go.
“...Huh?” The group blinked in shock, taken aback in surprise.
“It’s just as he said. If we linger here any longer, the pursuers will catch up to us in no time at all. The roar of the minotaurs would have reached the city, so they’ve probably noticed that something has happened. There’s a high risk in using this road, so come this way.”
Rio smoothly ignored the fact Reiss had uttered his real name and succinctly explained the emergency. Then, he started walking into the eastern forest on the left-hand side of the road that stretched south. It was the opposite direction that Reiss had retreated toward.
An awkward air flowed between the party.
“...Yeah, let’s go.”
“Yup.”
“Yes.”
Sara, the silver werewolf disguised as a human, took the lead in following Rio. Similarly disguised as humans, the high elf Orphia and elder dwarf Alma echoed her words.
“Indeed, we don’t have time to be chatting here. Let us go,” the guard knight Vanessa called out to Christina.
“...All right,” Christina nodded, walking forward hesitantly. At that, Celia sighed in relief and followed after them.
Kouta and Rei exchanged a look with each other before doing the same. Meanwhile, as all of that was going on—
Aishia, can you hear me?
Rio sent a telepathic message to Aishia, who hadn’t come running to join the earlier battle.
Yup, she replied immediately.
Where are you right now?
At the edge of our telepathic range. I’ve confirmed the stone house is safe.
Perfect. Thank you, Rio said with a small smile. She had probably decided to move separately from the spirit folk girls and check up on the stone house when she sensed the minotaurs’ appearance.
The only ones present in the stone house right now were Miharu and Latifa, so the fact that she prioritized their safety and checked on them was truly a relief.
What should I do now? Aishia asked.
I’d like you to stay there and keep watch over Miharu and Latifa. You can fly after us every day and stop before the sun sets, without getting too close. We’re going to give up on taking the detour down the south road and head to Rodania via the east road instead.
He would have liked to ask her to monitor their surroundings, but with Reiss around, he didn’t want to leave the stone house unguarded—its safety was his highest priority. They also had the extra Time-Space Cache that Orphia brought along, so moving the stone house wasn’t an issue either.
Got it.
Unless there’s a major emergency, I won’t be contacting you again until we reach Rodania. If anything urgent happens over there, just scatter a load of ode and mana and I’ll come running.
Understood.
Later, then.
Their telepathic conversation ended there. He could ask for more details from Sara and the others later.
“Is something the matter, Haruto?” Celia asked, having followed Rio into the forest.
“No, it’s nothing. The monsters made a fine mess out of the surrounding earth, so I was considering how we could use that to our benefit and hide our footprints from the pursuers,” Rio said, looking around at the forest floor that had been trampled by the large number of monsters. “We could move through the treetops and cut our traces off here.”
It was pretty much guaranteed that troops would be sent to investigate the commotion that had happened, and the most prominent information they could leave behind was their footprints. If their footprints were discovered amongst the ground that had been trampled by the monsters, they’d definitely be tracked down.
In this case, it would be best to cut off their footprints here and leave no information for the pursuers, delaying them by extending their investigation time. If they find Reiss’ footprints moving in the opposite direction, they might even split their personnel further. However...
“Through the treetops...?”
How was that possible? Christina, Vanessa, Kouta, and Rei looked up at the trees overhead in confusion. While they could certainly erase traces of themselves if they moved through the treetops, the forest was lined with trees over ten meters tall.
As a physically-trained knight, Vanessa could probably manage it, but it would be a feat for the others to simply climb a tree, much less jump between the spaced out branches. They couldn’t waste time struggling to climb either, or the pursuers would arrive.
“We’ll carry you. I can take Kouta and Rei, and the other three... Can I leave them to you guys, Sara?” Rio said.
“...Sure!” Sara exchanged looks with Orphia and Alma before nodding happily.
“Then let’s get going immediately. I’ll carry Kouta, so could you climb on my back, Rei? Here goes,” Rio said, picking Kouta up in his arms in a bridal carry.
“Huh? Wai...” Kouta froze, having been picked up smoothly before he could give his consent.
“Hurry please, Rei. Hold on tightly so you don’t fall off,” Rio urged.
“Ah... All right. Excuse me,” Rei nodded obediently and climbed on Rio’s back, figuring this was no time to be arguing.
O-Oh... Wow, he’s really buff. Rei was quietly in awe at how Rio didn’t even flinch under the weight of two men.
“I shall carry Celia, then. Sara and Orphia, you take care of those two,” Alma said, approaching Celia.
“Thank you, Alma,” Celia smiled warmly. She turned to address Christina and Vanessa, hoping to ease their wariness towards the girls they had yet to be introduced to. “As you witnessed in the fight earlier, these girls have enchanted weapons just like Haruto and can enhance their physical bodies by quite a bit. They’re very reliable, so you can trust them to transport you safely.”
“I understand. I will be in your care, then,” Christina nodded at Sara and Orphia.
“I’ll take the swordswoman so you can carry her, Orphia,” Sara offered, leaving Orphia to handle Christina.
“Yup, got it.”
“Thanks.” Vanessa quietly bobbed her head at Sara. After Sara and the others arranged themselves and picked up their escorts, they finally departed.
“Let’s go. I’ll lead the way, so please follow me carefully.”
“Understood!”
Rio first took a great leap with Kouta and Rei in tow, landing lightly on a branch overhead.
“A-Amazing...”
“...I knew he had incredible physical abilities, but this is something else.”
Kouta and Rei easily surpassed 120 kilograms together, but Rio had leapt as though gravity didn’t exist, leaving the two muttering in shock.
“You may bite your tongues if you speak, so please keep conversation to a minimum.” No sooner than he had said that, Rio leapt to the next tree. Sara and the others followed suit, lightly jumping to thick branches behind Rio. They continued making their way through the forest, putting the battlefield behind them in no time at all.
Thus, just as Rio planned, the only traces left behind were those of a grand battle that had taken place on the road and surrounding forest. The troops from Cleia—including Alfred and Rui—arrived at the scene of the commotion mere minutes later.
◇ ◇ ◇
Ten or so minutes after they departed the battlefield on the south road, Rio and the others reached a decent point down the eastern road.
We should have gained a fair distance from our previous location, but...
The further they moved away from Cleia, the further they would be located from the areas being thoroughly investigated. More distance would also give them more chances to outwit their pursuers, so ideally, Rio wanted to gain even more distance, if possible.
However, maintaining both physical ability and physical body enhancements at the same time consumed a large amount of magic essence, so it was known as an inefficient magic or sorcery. Being able to sustain them for several minutes was difficult.
Of course, Rio and the spirit folk girls all possessed extraordinary amounts of essence compared to regular humans, so they could still keep their enhancements up for as long as needed, but prolonged use in front of Christina and the others might be seen as unnatural.
...Let’s take a break for now. Sara and the others need an explanation, too.
Having decided that, Rio reduced his speed and gently landed in a basin in the forest. The spirit folk girls followed his lead and landed next to him easily.
