Chapter 41
“Arctic Volkov.”
Drakir, the imperial capital, was suffused with the air of spring.
The city’s largest square, which was also frequently used for official imperial functions, was especially bustling today.
That was because today….
“I hereby declare in the name of Theodore Pendragon: I bestow upon you the title of Lance Master.”
“Your Imperial Majesty’s grace is boundless.”
In this vast Empire, a ceremony was being held to appoint a Master who was not yet twenty.
“Waaaaaaah─!!”
“Arctic! Arctic!!”
The moment he was bestowed with the title of Master, the hearts of the imperial citizens watching filled with pride.
They felt even safer, for the credibility of ‘The Empire is safe!’ had risen.
“Congratulations, Arctic. I hear flowers have bloomed in the North?”
The Volkov Duchy had been half-destroyed by Glacies’s invasion this time.
Considering the damaged buildings and collapsed infrastructure, it seemed only a matter of time before it effectively fell into the ranks of minor noble houses.
…But!
“I received a report that part of the permafrost has melted. We may finally be able to access the mines that were so difficult to develop.”
The temperature of the Volkov Duchy had risen.
By far more than in an ordinary year. Thanks to that, flowers had finally bloomed in the Volkov Duchy.
“Though they are flowers that bloom only in winter.”
“Didn’t you say they bloom in summer in your domain? Ha ha ha!”
Not everything had been resolved simply because the temperature had risen, but at least they now had an opportunity to access the countless veins of ore buried beneath the permafrost.
And since it had become warmer, the region was far more habitable than before.
Thanks to this, the more perceptive nobles were waiting beneath the ceremony platform for the duke to come down.
They wanted to get a share of the northern development rights.
“……”
And Akion was glaring at the duke from the very center of the VIP section.
‘He pierced skin harder than a 40-centimeter-thick steel plate with that? How does that make any sense?’
More precisely, he was troubled as he stared at the prototype Spiral Spear hanging from the duke’s back.
He wondered what kind of incident had occurred this time.
*
“Oh! Son-in-law! Welcome!”
At the imperial palace banquet held after the ceremony,
Akion met Duke Arctic, whose left sleeve hung empty.
“Duke….”
“Ah, my left arm? Don’t worry too much. The Spiral Style can be performed with one hand as well.”
After the battle with the supreme spirit Glacies, the duke’s left arm had been damaged beyond recovery.
Only a pope or saint could perform healing on the level of reversing time, but the duke had been on the verge of death at the time….
“And thanks to the Spiral Spear you made, I finally reached the Master level! Ha ha ha ha!!”
In the end, the doctors and clergy on the scene had amputated Arctic’s left arm.
It had been such a severe injury, and Arctic was so old, that they had expected him to require several years of recuperation.
“So there’s no need to feel sorry. You did nothing wrong. Still, if it weighs on your mind….”
However, it had taken only one month.
He made a full recovery and rose from his sickbed after just one month.
- Whoooosh…!
“Let’s say I presented my left arm to the new era. Ha ha ha!”
The secret was the spiral vortex rising from his right hand.
More precisely, it was the spiral itself.
“That’s impossible…! He’s over sixty years old, yet he has demonstrated a regenerative ability rivaling divine healing through self-recovery alone!”
Apparently, the spiral force flowing through his body had rapidly healed him.
The astonished clergy even called in mages and hurriedly examined him,
“The power dwelling in this spiral feels very familiar. It resembles the mana waveform knights emit during training, yet it is different.”
“It also resembles the power we use when healing with divine energy. This may be a force that rises from life itself… similar to black magic, yet different. However, it is not evil at all—in fact, its familiarity is what makes it so. Then could it perhaps be related to the power that gives birth to new life?!”
“The tail of an endlessly rotating spiral…? Oh, Lord in Heaven! We may have awakened the key to life itself!!”
They said the spiral Arctic unleashed emitted a pulsating power filled with life.
On top of that, Arctic had become about ten years younger than before.
After hearing all of this, Akion thought….
‘What kind of ridiculous thing happened?’
He wondered what sort of nonsense they were talking about.
What was this spiral force supposed to be?
Why did it contain a dormant power that could make life bloom?
And what was the principle behind becoming younger?
“Anyway, thank you for making the Spiral Spear, son-in-law.”
“I barely did anything….”
“No. I knew the motor you provided was a delicate component, but it did not break during that fierce battle. Instead, it firmly protected me.”
The motor was nothing more than a cold lump of metal.
He could not understand at all how Arctic had gained enlightenment from it.
Of course, Akion gave up on trying to understand.
It would only give him a headache anyway.
“Even though you said it was a component specially made for me, I did not expect much. But, ha ha!”
“Ha ha, I’m truly glad it was of such great help to you, Duke.”
“Ahem! Don’t call me Duke. Call me Father-in-Law!”
And although Akion and the duke had clearly been in a business relationship,
after becoming a Master, he began acting exactly like a father-in-law who had met a future son-in-law who shared his hobby of fishing.
“If there’s anything you want, tell this father-in-law everything! Our Volkov can finally develop its mines as well! Ha ha ha!”
“Ha ha, ha.”
Akion’s head already hurt enough from the relationship being redefined.
He wanted to stop being held up and just eat some of the banquet food.
As he glanced around, wondering whether anyone might come to rescue him,
- Boom!!
the savior turned out to be an unexpected person.
“Heh heh. Sir Arctic….”
“Sir Clad?”
Clad Steelburn had come up to the capital with Akion for the ceremony.
He suddenly appeared, emitting an overwhelming fighting spirit.
“……”
“……”
The two Masters stared at each other in silence before,
“I believe talk of calling me father-in-law is premature.”
“Ha ha ha! Is that so? Before that, though, I heard from Aicirel that your granddaughter was sending my son-in-law letters.”
- Rumble, rumble, rumble…!!!
The two of them suddenly began burning with fighting spirit with Akion between them.
“Though I come from a humble baron’s family, I am your senior as a Master, so I should offer you some guidance.”
“Ha ha ha! A Swordmaster bearing the Steelburn Hammer?! What an honor!”
Was this what it felt like to be a shrimp whose back was broken in a whale’s fight?
Akion felt as though his breath had been knocked out of him.
“Come outside with me, Sir Clad.”
“I like how decisive you are!”
Fortunately, the two men burning with fighting spirit moved outside the banquet hall.
- Click!
- Shing…!
“A-a duel between Masters!!”
“Good heavens, really?!”
They had drawn their weapons and were holding them in their hands.
This was supposed to be a celebration of the birth of a new Master, yet they had dragged the guest of honor outside and were having Masters fight each other?
“Is that really all right?”
They had not only displayed their fighting spirit in front of the Emperor, but had even drawn their weapons without permission.
Wondering whether this was truly okay, Akion asked the Magi Tower Master.
“Hmm? Did you not know? Clad was itching for a fight the moment he saw the duke.”
“Good grief.”
Apparently, this had been foreseen from the start.
And the Emperor whom Akion had been worried about was, in fact….
“A spar between Masters?! Call the knights at once!”
“Yes, sir! Summon everyone immediately!”
“Look at that. The fact that weapons were permitted in the first place meant I was expecting a situation like this.”
“Your Imperial Majesty….”
He was excited at the thought of letting the knights watch.
The commander of the Imperial Knights beside him was even more excited instead of trying to restrain him.
- Bang! Bang!!
“Griiiiiind him into duuuust!!!”
“Ha ha ha ha!! Your sword strikes are terribly feeble, Sir Clad─!!”
Akion slowly began to worry about the Kalid Empire.
*
Despite being sweaty in every sense of the word, the banquet was a tremendous success.
Of course, Volkov had the problem that its domain had been destroyed by Glacies and that countless elite troops had vanished….
“Two Masters in one family. It is a blessing for the Empire….”
“To think we can only watch those sweet mines from afar…! Sob!”
Who would invade a ducal family where both father and daughter were Masters?
If they started a territorial war by mistake, two Masters would invade that noble’s mansion the next morning.
And above all….
“Concrete! A concrete jungle!!”
“Why is that fellow Akion so excited?”
“How would I know something my sister doesn’t?”
Enersis would be participating in the Volkov reconstruction project.
Although Enersis was only a count’s house, its capital and influence were so great that it was nicknamed the Grand Duchy of the West.
Since their allied house had lent its strength as well, no one dared to challenge them.
And the person in charge of the entire construction project was….
“Me?”
“Yes, big sis.”
“I’m your big brother, you damned brat.”
Juan Enersis.
Not Akion, but Juan.
The reason Akion had turned down the chance to showcase modern urban engineering was….
“If there’s an accident during construction, the person overseeing everything is held responsible, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Please become my punching bag.”
“Fine. I’ll kill you.”
“Good heavens! Grab Young Master Juan!!”
It was so that he could shift every possible responsibility onto Juan.
…That was a joke.
“Brother, you haven’t given up on becoming head of the family yet.”
“Of course not. But what does that have to do with this?”
“You seem to have a talent for civil and architectural engineering. Let’s make use of that talent this time.”
Because Akion had discovered Juan’s talent for civil and architectural engineering.
The public bathhouse built in Ridasid this time
had surprisingly incorporated a great deal of advice from Akion’s older siblings, Juan and Hermione.
“You seem like you’d be good at designing on the scale of an entire city, too. Let’s design a planned city this time.”
“……Such a major role, for me?”
Juan had provided tremendous help with the geotechnical and architectural advice needed for the public bathhouse.
Akion knew about civil engineering only theoretically, whereas Juan possessed innate talent as well.
“While you’re at it, look after Noona Hermione when designing the water pipes. Noona Hermione was a huge help when designing the sewers leading to the sewage treatment plant.”
“Then you won’t receive any credit for this, Akion…?”
“If I become famous, I won’t be able to live quietly. I want to live a quiet, comfortable life, so you and Noona can take all the credit.”
No matter how much Akion was praised as a genius here, he was still inferior to experts armed with heaven-given talent.
In that case, things would go more smoothly if the experts took charge,
and if there were no experts, Akion could simply teach and train them.
He had all the knowledge in his head, after all.
“……Ahem. Well, for a younger brother as useless as you, your thoughtfulness is commendable. Fine. When I become head of the family, I’ll look after you a little.”
“Brother, I appreciate that, but it’s a little strange for you to act like Noona since that incident….”
“Fine, I’ll kill you!!”
“Good heavens, Young Masters, please stop fighting─!!”
And so Juan, thoroughly enraged, left for Volkov with Clad.
Clad was going because he intended to revive the iron mine that had been closed by the cold, install a Corex furnace, and supply steel locally.
“Heh heh heh, I’ll have to stay there and trade plenty of blows with Sir Arctic…!”
“Sir Clad, you are going there to work, correct?”
“……”
“You are, right…?”
As for Enersis’s furnace, it could be operated sufficiently by Enersis’s smiths alone thanks to Clad’s instruction.
At this point, Clad had become excess high-quality manpower, so it was better to send him forcefully to the site as the person responsible for establishing the production line.
As for Aicirel’s reaction to Akion’s comprehensive gift package….
- Snap!
“Take this.”
“Huh?”
“I-I’m not giving it to you because I particularly like you. You helped Volkov, so shouldn’t I repay you?”
She made a fiancée-like move and placed the gifts she had bought in the capital into Akion’s arms.
Akion held an armful of men’s clothes chosen to suit Aicirel’s tastes.
He silently looked down at them before….
“So you want me to wear these, Noona?”
“N-no!”
“Then why did you give them to me?”
“Anyway, no—ah! Yes! I do, so don’t go! Where are youuu!!”
Akion had rejected Aicirel once again.
He was a cold laboratory man who accepted dere, but not tsun.
* * *
As Akion climbed into his carriage after the banquet ended,
“Young Master Akion.”
an old chamberlain bearing the imperial crest stopped him.
“Ah….”
He held out a sheet of paper bearing the imperial seal Akion hated most of all.
And this time, it was even….
“Why would Her Highness the Empress Dowager send a request to someone like me…?”
The greatest elder of the current Kalid imperial family,
the mother of the current Emperor, had sent him a commission.
“Actually….”
Of course, Akion was the one who had perfectly completed a request from a member of the imperial family, even if she was the Seventh Princess.
On top of that, he was the leader of the Magi-Engineering field that the Emperor had enthusiastically backed.
Because he was considered trustworthy, the Empress Dowager’s old chamberlain whispered into his ear.
It was this….
“Her Highness the Empress Dowager frequently suffers from aches and pains due to her backache.”
“Gasp.”
“So she has attendants massage her at regular intervals, but might there be a good way to replace that with a magic tool?”
His grandmother was saying that her whole body ached.