Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Volume 19, page 1
Prologue
In front of a thick and overgrown forest, far from human civilization...
Liselotte and Aria had been carried several kilometers away from the capital of the Holy Democratic Republic of Erica by Aishia. The intense battle between Rio and the divine beast was so fierce, they could observe it even this far from the capital.
However, with the naked eye, they could only see the large-scale attacks at this distance. They could just make out Rio evading the light beams when they used a physical ability enhancement to boost their vision, but the larger attacks had stopped a few minutes ago. The sky was a clear blue right now.
Aishia had returned to Rio just a short while ago. While they had succeeded in retrieving Liselotte, the mood in the air was anything but celebratory.
“...”
Liselotte and Aria both gazed at the capital with bated breath; they remained that way for some time.
“It seems they’ve returned.”
“Oh...!”
Aria spotted Aishia first, approaching from afar with Rio in her arms. One beat later, Liselotte saw them as well. She started running to shorten the distance between them as much as possible, with Aria following her.
The distance between them was soon closed, and Aishia landed before the two of them. Rio lay limply in her arms.
“Aishia! Is Sir Haruto okay?!” Liselotte said in a panic, panting for breath as she worried for Rio’s well-being. She leaned right into his unconscious face and stared at him.
“He’s fine. His life is not in danger,” Aishia informed her plainly.
“But...”
There were red stains by his mouth, as though he had coughed up blood. He had been injured enough in the battle to render him unconscious—that was more than enough reason for her to remain concerned. He had to be allowed to rest right away. And in order to reassure Liselotte...
“Yeah, I want to let Haruto rest.” Aishia’s voice was usually monotonous, but she nodded firmly and lay Rio on the ground. She then started pushing her magic essence into the ground, preparing the foundations for the stone house. Small stones on the ground sank into the dirt, and the lumpy terrain flattened in the blink of an eye.
“...”
Aria was familiar with the sight from her travels with Rio, but Liselotte’s eyes widened seeing it for the first time. That being said, there were more important matters to address right now, so she merely looked on with apologetic impatience.
Ignoring Liselotte, Aishia picked up Rio’s arm. It was the arm with a bracelet; the Time-Space Cache was attached, but it could only be activated by the person with the registered essence wavelength. A maximum of two people could be registered. The armband Rio normally used had Celia’s essence wavelength in the other slot, so Aishia wasn’t registered, but...
“Dissolvo.”
Aishia uttered the spell and activated the Time-Space Cache. It was a feat only possible because Aishia was contracted to Rio and had his magic essence flowing through her. “Come in,” she said.
“Okay.”
Aishia picked Rio up gently and started walking towards the newly installed stone house. Out of her worry for Rio, Liselotte dashed for the entrance before Aria to open the door for them.
◇ ◇ ◇
“You two should rest here. I’m going to look after Haruto.”
The first thing Aishia did after entering the stone house was, of course, tend to Rio. She gave Liselotte and Aria directions to wait in the living room, then made for the back of the house with the unconscious Rio in her arms. However, the two of them weren’t about to sit down obediently.
“U-Umm, is there anything I can help with?” Liselotte asked after Aishia’s back, her face filled with regret.
“His clothes are stained with blood, so I’m going to change them and wipe him clean.” Aishia stated her intentions as though she was open to receiving help.
“If you’re going to wipe him, you’ll need to take him to the bathroom. I’ll get the tub and towels ready first.” Aria had stayed in the house for the entire journey to the Holy Democratic Republic of Erica, so she knew where everything was located. She went first into the changing room that connected to the bathroom.
“You come too, Liselotte.”
“Okay!”
Aishia started walking with Liselotte. Aria had already retrieved towels and washing agents from the shelf and was opening the door to the bathroom. There, she fiddled with the magic artifacts attached to the washing area to start filling a tub with warm water.
“I’ll support him while you remove his coat and shirt,” Aishia said to Liselotte.
“Okay.” Liselotte lifted Rio’s arms gently and removed his coat first. Next, Aishia held Rio’s arms up high while Liselotte took his shirt off too. Rio’s upper body entered their view.
As a noblewoman, Liselotte had never seen a naked man in her life—not even her father, Duke Cretia—but now was not the time to worry about that. And yet...
“Uh...”
Liselotte stared at Rio’s naked body from up close and swallowed her breath. It wasn’t because his body was firmer than she had imagined, but...
“These wounds...”
She stared at the countless small scars he had.
“They’re not wounds from the battle with the saint, so don’t worry. They’re old scars from his childhood. They’re all healed already,” Aishia said to reassure her.
“I see...” Liselotte’s expression didn’t brighten. If wounds were treated with magic before they healed, then no scars would be left behind. The fact these old scars remained meant that Rio hadn’t received any magic treatment when he suffered those wounds.
Even then, light wounds would naturally disappear over time, yet Rio’s body was covered in clearly distorted scars. An unobservant eye might have dismissed them as battle wounds, but Liselotte’s eye was unfortunately observant. She suspected they were scars from some kind of torture or abuse.
“...” Aria squeezed the water out of the towel in her hand and stared closely at Rio’s body. But while Liselotte’s expression was pained with her grief, Aria had an odd look on her face.
“Is something wrong?” Aishia asked, looking at the two of them curiously.
“No... Please use this towel.” Aria shook her head slowly and offered Liselotte the damp towel.
“Right.” Liselotte accepted the towel and began to wipe gently at Rio’s mouth, which was dirtied with blood and spit.
Sir Haruto... Sir Haruto...
Tears welled in her eyes, but her hand never stopped moving. She was worrying so earnestly for Rio, who had gotten wounded for her sake, that the affectionate movement of her hands appeared to be shaking.
“If we’re just removing the blood clots, then there should be no need to remove his pants. I’ll wash the dirty coat and shirt.”
Aria picked up Rio’s coat and shirt and began to wash them.
Chapter 1: One Act Before Trouble
Some time later, in the mountainous outskirts of the Galarc capital...
Orphia, the high elf girl, stood at a location with a fine view several kilometers from the capital of Galtuuk. There was no one else around her; she was moving separately from Miharu and the others in the royal castle in order to set up a destination point for teleportation sorcery.
The first step was to select a location. Barely anyone ever climbed this mountain, but she still had to use spirit arts to stabilize the terrain and secure the area. She put up a perception-blocking barrier and a field to conceal the disorder of magic essence after teleporting. There were a lot of steps, but she was finally done.
“Okay, the spell circle is stable and the barriers are complete... Now, Dissolvo.”
Just like how there were two stone houses, there were two Time-Space Caches. Orphia used hers to take out the teleport crystal she had borrowed from Rio in advance.
The destination registered in the crystal was the spirit folk village. Now that the preparations were complete, she had no need to remain here anymore. She would return to the village to bring Gouki and the others here to Galarc.
With Rio gone to retrieve Liselotte, she wouldn’t be able to bring them to the castle immediately, so they’d have to remain in the stone house until his return. But the original plan was to bring Gouki’s group over as soon as the preparations in Strahl were complete, so Gouki and the others were still waiting for that to happen.
“Instans Motus.” Orphia chanted a spell, activating the teleport crystal. The space around her immediately distorted—a sign of the sorcery activating. Just before she teleported, Orphia glanced over at the capital of Galtuuk. Then, just before the spell completed and moved her to the village, the sight of countless black shapes raining down on the capital caught her eyes.
“Wha...?”
The teleportation completed: what filled Orphia’s view now was the sight of the forest and spring near the spirit folk village. The scenery was extremely peaceful, but...
“What...was that...?”
Orphia’s face stiffened at the sinister omen she’d just witnessed.
“...”
She had a bad feeling about this. Propelled by her intuition, Orphia hurried towards the village.
◇ ◇ ◇
At roughly the same time, in the capital of the Beltrum Kingdom, Celia’s father, Count Roland Claire, was visiting the royal castle. He had been personally summoned by Duke Arbor himself.
“What matters did you wish to discuss today?” Roland asked after they had exchanged curt greetings with each other in a meeting room.
“Negotiations with the Restoration will be held in the near future. The location will be the Galarc Kingdom. I’d like you to attend, Count Claire,” Duke Arbor said, stating his demands simply.
“I see... But why me?” Roland feigned confusion as he sought more information.
After being suspected of assisting Christina out of the castle, he was essentially treated as a spy by Duke Arbor’s faction. There was no concrete evidence to convict him, but he had been relieved of his position in the capital and placed under the watch of a dispatch supervisor while managing the affairs of his territory. He had also been cut off from any news of the capital, so Roland wanted to use this chance to gain as much information as he could.
“You should have a lot of contacts with that side, no?” Duke Arbor said with blunt implication behind his words.
“Haha... I don’t think so.” Roland tried to brush off the question with a shrug.
“Your beloved daughter seems to have settled over there.” Duke Arbor pointed out how Celia, who was supposed to have been kidnapped from the wedding ceremony with Charles, was now a member of the Restoration.
Naturally, Duke Arbor was aware that Celia’s abduction had been arranged by Christina, who felt indebted to her from her academy days and wanted her to join the Restoration. Like the spies in Beltrum working for Duke Huguenot, there were spies in the Restoration working for Duke Arbor and keeping him informed.
“I was also bewildered by that news.” Roland sighed to express his lack of knowledge regarding Celia’s abduction.
Duke Arbor furrowed his brow at the sly reaction. “There’s no mistake that your daughter has settled over there. I have contacts who have seen her in person.”
“So it appears. I will not deny that it seems she has joined the Restoration,” Roland said, implying that he had objections to other accusations.
Duke Arbor looked at Roland with suspicion, but he knew it was futile to make accusations without any evidence—it had been as such since Christina first escaped Beltrum Castle.
He had no intention of digging further into either that or the connection between Roland and the Restoration. Duke Arbor chose to get on with the discussion. “Fine. In which case, it should be clear why your presence is requested.”
“However, I cannot imagine my presence making any difference. Are you saying you want me to attend just for numbers?”
Surely not, Roland implied in his tone as he tried to probe for more information from Duke Arbor.
“That’s right.” Duke Arbor nodded dismissively, preemptively cutting off any questions Roland could lead him towards.
He probably wanted to avoid giving Roland any unnecessary information, but his attitude could also be interpreted as that of a successful veteran soldier who loathed the bothersome tactics of civil officials. At any rate, probing any further against such an attitude would be like stirring the hornet’s nest for Roland.
“I see... I have no reason to refuse, then.”
Considering how unbalanced the relations were between Duke Arbor and Roland, there was no choice but to accept. He’d also be able to hear the state of affairs himself if he attended, so Roland obediently accepted without a fight.
“Then it’s decided. The negotiations will be held in the near future. I will send a messenger to your territory once the date is confirmed. I doubt I need to say this, but keep your schedule open.”
Duke Arbor stood up, indicating the end of their discussion. He made sure to add a snide remark about Roland’s lack of duties in the capital as well. Making Roland travel all the way out to the capital for a message like this was also a clear act of harassment, but Roland showed no particular irritation.
“Understood. I shall take my leave after finishing this cup of tea,” he said, picking up his teacup and sipping it gracefully.
“Hmph.” Duke Arbor snorted in disgust and left the room.
What Duke Arbor fears the most right now is nobles outside of his faction regaining power, but... Roland returned his teacup to its saucer and lost himself in his thoughts.
The Arbor family’s power had definitely lessened after Celia’s abduction from Charles’s wedding and Christina’s escape from the castle.
At the same time, there was a definite lack of anyone who could stand up to the Arbor faction in the present capital. Everyone had either been expelled from the capital and joined the Restoration, or been removed from their positions like Roland and lost power. So while there were signs of the Arbor faction’s decline, with no other force that could oppose them in the capital, their position was as strong as ever. The other nobles that pandered to Duke Arbor also received favorable treatment without Duke Huguenot’s faction around, so they had no reason to risk their positions by stirring things up.
Considering how he’s going to negotiate with the Restoration on equal terms—with me of all people present—he must be rather worried about his son being held hostage. Attending the negotiations is exactly what I wished for. I must use this chance to gain as much information as possible. I may even be able to see my little Celia.
Roland’s expression softened.
Celia... It seems she arrived in Rodania safely, but is she really happy over there? Her happiness...
But at the same time, he felt lonely. His expression became gloomy.
Well, I’m sure I can leave her in Princess Christina’s hands. And with that boy nearby, she should be well protected...
He recalled Rio, who had escorted Christina and Celia to Rodania. He had been worried half to death when Celia was abducted from the wedding, but those emotions had been replaced with true gratitude when he was told the truth of what had happened.
He understood that Celia trusted Rio. And that Celia had feelings for him.
Guh. There’s no doubt that she feels for him...
Now that he had caught on to his beloved daughter’s thoughts, he wanted nothing more than to support her happiness. This was the genuine truth, but a father’s parental love was complex.
What if in my absence, they... I won’t allow it. I definitely won’t allow it... They must marry first with me in attendance, at the very least... No, but there’d be no chance to hold a wedding in this situation... Even so, if he touches her before marriage... Or after marriage... Ah, but I do want to see my grandchildren’s faces. Hm. Hmm...
Roland lost himself to a spiral of negative thoughts. The only thing he could say for certain was—
I won’t forgive him if he makes Celia cry.
That much was simple.
What should I do if he makes her cry...? A demonstration of our family’s secret magic would be required at the very least...
Seriousness aside, Roland cared for Celia more than anyone else. Yet, at this moment, there was no way for him to know about the evil that was approaching his beloved daughter.
Chapter 2: Ambush
A short while before Orphia returned to the spirit folk village, some important guests were visiting Rio’s mansion on the Galarc Castle grounds.
“It’s been a while, Princess Christina, Princess Flora.”
They were Beltrum Kingdom’s First and Second Princess and the current Restoration leaders, Christina and Flora.
“Long time no see, Professor Celia.”
“It’s so nice to see you again!”
The two of them greeted Celia happily.
“You too. I’m so happy seeing you two again. It must have been a tiring trip here.”
“Not at all. Thank you for agreeing to see us on such short notice,” Christina said with a bow.
Second Princess Charlotte of the Galarc Kingdom was also there, but in Rio’s absence, Celia’s relationship with Christina and Flora made her best suited as host. Miharu and the other girls didn’t have any experience dealing with the noble class either, so she was the only option other than Charlotte.
Charlotte’s knight Louise and Christina’s knight Vanessa were waiting with the other guards outside the room.
“Unfortunately, Haruto is absent right now...”
“I would have liked to express my gratitude to Sir Amakawa, but the main purpose of my visit today concerns you, Professor Celia.”
