Chapter 41
“Arctic Volkov.”
The imperial capital, Drakir, was brimming with the spirit of spring.
This largest square in the city, often used for the imperial family's official public events, was especially crowded today.
The reason was simple….
“In the name of Theodore Pendragon, I hereby declare: I grant you the title of Lance Master.”
“I am overwhelmed by Your Majesty's grace.”
A Master appointment ceremony was being held for someone under twenty—a rarity even in this vast Empire.
“Waaaaah─!!”
“Arctic! Arctic!!”
The moment he was granted the title of Master, the watching citizens of the Empire swelled with pride.
They felt even more reassured, since their trust in the slogan ‘The Empire is safe!’ had grown stronger.
“Congratulations, Arctic. I hear flowers have bloomed in the North?”
The Volkov Duchy had been half-destroyed by Glacies's invasion.
Considering the damaged buildings and collapsed infrastructure, it seemed only a matter of time before they were reduced to an insignificant noble house.
…or so it would have been!
“I received a report that part of the permafrost has melted. We may finally be able to access the mines that were too difficult to develop.”
The temperature in the Volkov Duchy had risen.
By far more than usual. Thanks to that, flowers had finally bloomed in the Volkov Duchy.
“Though they're flowers that bloom only in winter.”
“Don't they bloom in summer in your domain? Hahahaha!”
A mere rise in temperature had not solved everything, but it had at least created an opportunity to access the countless veins of ore buried beneath the permafrost.
And the warmer weather had made the region far more livable 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 piece of the northern development rights.
“……”
And Akion was glaring at the duke from the center of the VIP section.
‘He pierced skin tougher than a forty-centimeter-thick steel plate with that? Does that even make sense?’
More precisely, he was staring at the Spiral Spear prototype hanging on the duke's back and racking his brain.
Wondering what sort of incident had happened this time.
*
“Oh! Son-in-law! You've arrived!”
At the imperial banquet held after the ceremony,
Akion met Duke Arctic, whose left sleeve hung empty.
“Your Grace….”
“Ah, you mean my left arm. Don't worry too much. The Spiral Style can be performed with one hand as well.”
After the battle against the supreme spirit Glacies, the duke's left arm had been damaged beyond recovery.
Healing on the level of reversing time was possible only for a pope or saint, but the duke had been on the verge of death at the time….
“And thanks to the Spiral Spear you made for me, I finally reached the Master level! Hahahaha!!”
The doctors and field clerics had ultimately amputated Arctic's left arm.
The injury had been so severe, and Arctic was old enough, that they had expected him to spend several years recuperating.
“So you needn't feel sorry. It wasn't your fault at all. Still, if it weighs on your mind….”
But only one month had passed.
He had made a full recovery and risen from his sickbed in just one month.
- Whooosh…!
“Consider my left arm a gift to the new age. Hahaha!”
The secret was the spiral vortex welling up from his right hand.
More precisely, it was the spiral itself.
“That's impossible…. He's over sixty, yet he's showing a recovery rate rivaling divine healing through self-regeneration alone!”
Apparently, the spiral force flowing through his body had rapidly healed him.
The astonished clergy had even called in mages to examine him in a hurry, and
“The power dwelling within this spiral feels very familiar. It resembles the mana waveform knights release during training, yet… it's different.”
“It also resembles what we see when we heal with divine power. This may be a force that rises from life itself… similar to dark magic, yet different. But it is not evil at all; rather, it feels familiar. Could it perhaps be related to the power that gives birth to new life?!”
“The endlessly rotating tail of the spiral…? Oh, Heavenly Lord, have mercy! We may have awakened a clue to the secret of life!!”
Apparently, the spiral unleashed by Arctic emitted a throbbing force of life.
On top of that, Arctic had become roughly ten years younger.
After hearing all of this, Akion thought….
‘What the hell kind of nonsense just happened?’
He wondered what sort of absurdity they were talking about.
What was this spiral force supposed to be?
Why did it contain a power that caused life to bloom?
And what principle explained becoming younger?
“Anyway, thank you for making the Spiral Spear, son-in-law.”
“I hardly did anything….”
“No. That motor you provided. I knew it was a delicate component, but it didn't break during that fierce battle. Instead, it protected me steadfastly.”
The motor was nothing more than a cold lump of metal.
Akion couldn't understand 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 made especially for me, I didn't expect much. But, well, hah!”
“Hahaha, I'm delighted it was such a great help to Your Grace.”
“Ahem! Don't call me Your Grace. Call me Father-in-Law!”
And even though Akion and the duke had clearly been in a business relationship,
after becoming a Master, he had begun acting exactly like a father-in-law who had met a prospective son-in-law with a fishing hobby—one who actually liked fishing.
“If there's anything you want, tell your father-in-law everything! Volkov can finally develop its mines now, you know! Hahahaha!”
“Hahaha, ha.”
Akion's head already hurt enough from redefining their relationship.
He wanted to get away and eat some banquet food instead.
He glanced around, wondering whether there was anyone nearby who could rescue him, and then
- Boom!!
The savior turned out to be an unexpected person.
“Heh heh. Sir Arctic….”
“Sir Clad?”
Clad Steelburn had come to the capital with Akion for the ceremony.
He suddenly appeared, emitting an overwhelming fighting spirit.
“……”
“……”
The two Masters silently gazed at each other before
“I think talk of being a father-in-law is premature.”
“Hahahaha! Is that so? I heard from Aicirel beforehand that your granddaughter was sending letters to my son-in-law.”
- Rumble, rumble…!!!
With Akion caught between them, the two of them suddenly began burning with fighting spirit.
“Though I may come from an insignificant baronial house, I am your senior as a Master, so I should teach you a thing or two.”
“Hahahaha! The Swordmaster who wields the Steelburn Hammer?! What an honor!”
Was this what it felt like when a shrimp got its back broken in a fight between whales?
Akion felt as though his breath were being squeezed out of him.
“Come outside with me, Sir Clad.”
“I like your decisiveness!”
Fortunately, the two men burning with fighting spirit moved outside the banquet hall.
- Clack!
- Shing…!
“A-a duel between Masters!!”
“Good heavens, really?!”
They had each drawn their weapons.
It was a banquet to celebrate the birth of a new Master, yet they had dragged the guest of honor outside so two Masters could fight?
“Is that really all right?”
They had not only displayed their fighting spirit in the emperor's presence, but had even drawn their weapons without permission.
Wondering whether this was truly acceptable, Akion asked the Magi Tower Master.
“Hmm? You didn't know? Clad had been itching for a fight from the moment he saw the duke.”
“Good grief.”
Apparently, it had been inevitable.
And the emperor Akion had worried about was, in fact….
“A duel between Masters! Bring the knights at once!”
“Yes, sir! Summon them all immediately!”
“Look at that. Allowing weapons into the banquet in the first place meant I was hoping for something like this.”
“Your Majesty….”
He was excited at the thought of letting the knights watch.
The Imperial Knight Commander standing beside him was even more excited, rather than trying to restrain him.
- Bang! Bang!!
“Griiiiiind him into duuuust!!!”
“Hahahaha!! Your sword strikes are rather feeble, Sir Clad─!!”
Akion was beginning to worry about the Kalid Empire.
*
Despite the sweat-inducing circumstances in every sense, the banquet was a tremendous success.
Of course, Volkov still had the problem of its territory being destroyed by Glacies and countless elite troops being lost….
“To think there are two Masters. It is a blessing for the Empire, but….”
“To think we can only watch that sweet mine from afar…! Sob!”
Who would invade a ducal house where both father and daughter were Masters?
If someone foolishly started a territorial war, two Masters would invade that noble's estate the next morning.
And more importantly….
“Concrete! A concrete jungle!!”
“Why is that fellow Akion so excited?”
“How would I know when you don't?”
Enersis would be participating in the reconstruction of Volkov.
Though it was merely a count's house, Enersis had enough capital and influence to be nicknamed the Grand Duchy of the West.
With their allied house lending its strength as well, no one dared to challenge them.
And the person in charge of the construction was none other than….
“Me?”
“Yes, big sister.”
“It's big brother, you bastard.”
Juan Enersis.
Not Akion, but Juan.
The reason Akion had refused the chance to introduce modern urban engineering was….
“If there's an accident during construction, the person overseeing everything is responsible, right?”
“That's right.”
“Please be my punching bag.”
“Fine. I'll kill you.”
“Good grief! Someone grab Young Master Juan!”
To dump every bit of responsibility onto Juan.
…was a joke.
“Big 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.”
Akion had discovered that Juan possessed a talent for civil and architectural engineering.
The public bathhouse recently built in Ridasid.
Surprisingly, it was a project that had received considerable input from Akion's big siblings, Juan and Hermione.
“It looks like you'd be good at designing on a citywide scale too. Let's design a planned city while we're at it.”
“……A role that large, for me?”
Juan, in particular, had been a tremendous help with the geotechnical and architectural-engineering advice needed for the public bathhouse.
Akion knew civil engineering only in theory, while Juan even possessed an innate talent for it.
“While you're at it, bring big sister Hermione in when we design the water pipes. Hermione was an enormous help when we designed the sewage system all the way to the 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 peaceful, comfortable life, so you and big sister Hermione can take all the credit.”
No matter how much Akion was hailed as a genius here, he was inferior to professionals blessed with heaven-sent talent.
In that case, things worked out best when professionals took charge,
and if there were no professionals, Akion could simply teach and train them.
He had all the knowledge in his head, after all.
“……Ahem. Well, for an inept little brother, your thoughtfulness is commendable. Fine. When I become head of the family, I'll look after you a little.”
“Big brother, I'm grateful, but it's a little strange for you to act like big sister after that incident….”
“Fine, I'll kill you!!”
“Good grief, please stop fighting, both of you Young Masters─!!”
And so, the thoroughly enraged Juan left for Volkov with Clad.
The reason Clad was going was to revive the iron mine that had been closed because of the cold, then install a Corex furnace and supply steel locally.
“Heh heh heh, I'll have to stay there and exchange plenty of bouts with Sir Arctic…!”
“Sir Clad. You are going there to work, correct?”
“……”
“You are, right…?”
As for Enersis's furnace, it could already be operated sufficiently by Enersis's blacksmiths alone, thanks to Clad's instruction.
At this point, Clad had become surplus high-level manpower, so it was better to send him to the site to establish the production line there.
As for Aicirel's reaction to Akion's comprehensive gift package….
- Snatch!
“Here.”
“Pardon?”
“It's n-not because I like you or anything. You helped Volkov, so I should give you something in return, shouldn't I?”
Playing the part of a fiancée, she pressed the gifts she had bought in the capital into Akion's arms.
Akion ended up holding a whole armful of men's clothing chosen to suit Aicirel's tastes.
He silently looked down at them, then….
“So you want me to wear these, right, Big Sister?”
“N-no!”
“Then why did you give them to me?”
“Anyway, no— Ah! Yes! That's right, so don't go! Where are you goinggg?!”
Aicirel had been rejected yet again.
He was a cold laboratory man who accepted only the sweet side of tsundere affection, never the prickly side.
* * *
The moment Akion climbed into his carriage after the banquet,
“Young Master Akion.”
an old chamberlain wearing the imperial crest stopped him.
“Ah….”
He held out a sheet of paper bearing the imperial seal Akion hated most.
And this time, it even said….
“Why would Her Highness the Empress Dowager send a request to someone like me…?”
The most senior member of the current Kalid imperial family,
the current emperor's mother had sent him a commission.
“Actually….”
Akion had, of course, perfectly completed a commission for royalty before, despite her being the Seventh Princess.
Moreover, he was the leading figure in magi-engineering, which the emperor trusted and strongly supported.
Since he was considered trustworthy, the Empress Dowager's old chamberlain whispered into his ear.
The request was this….
“Her Highness the Empress Dowager frequently suffers from lower-back pain.”
“Gasp.”
“So attendants massage her regularly. But might there be some good way to replace that with a magic tool?”
In short, Her Highness's whole body was aching.