Chapter 53
Eleven years ago.
At the time, the Empire was locked in a fierce war with the Kingdom of Perlan to the west.
In the midst of this, the Sokal Empire to the east invaded the neighboring dwarven country and destroyed it.
Many dwarves fled to the Empire, and some members of the royal family were taken under Imperial protection. However, the Sokal Empire had its sights set on the dwarves' technology, which it valued even more than the gold and silver treasures they had hoarded, so it protested and issued repeated warnings to the Empire.
The Empire replied, "It is impossible to prevent every refugee from entering," but at last, the Emperor of the Sokal Empire lost patience and sent his own son as an ambassador.
"This has become quite troublesome."
"Indeed."
Emperor Johannes nodded at the words of Franz, the chancellor.
The three nations known as the continent's three great powers were the Empire, the Kingdom of Perlan, and the Sokal Empire. The Empire lay in the middle, sandwiched between the other two.
While engaged in a conflict with the Kingdom of Perlan, the Empire absolutely wanted to avoid turning the Sokal Empire into an enemy as well.
"If we hand over the dwarves we've already taken under our protection, every demi-human on the continent will turn against us—including the demi-humans living in the Empire. If that happens, we'll have no hope of fighting a war against any other country."
"So it's a choice between making an enemy of the Sokal Empire and making enemies of the demi-humans?"
"Not necessarily. If we give the Sokal Empire something comparable to the dwarves' technology, that should calm them down for the time being."
"What do you suggest we give them?"
"The Sokal Empire is a great magical power. However, it lacks the magic gems essential for developing magical devices. It is especially short of enormous gems, to the point that the development of magical weapons has ground to a halt."
Magic gems were a general term for ores that stored magical power. Since they retained this property, they were precious resources that could be reused even after the magic stored inside them had been depleted.
The amount they could store was proportional to their size, and the larger the gem, the rarer and more valuable it was.
"You want us to give them some? I don't like it. Do we really have to take such a weak-kneed approach? All we did was protect people who fled here."
"Yes. This will allow us to avoid fighting on two fronts. Fortunately, our country has no shortage of magic gems. If giving some away can prevent a war, it is a small price to pay. We are not handing over a mine, after all. It will not hurt our country."
For more than a century, the Sokal Empire had been frantically mining magic gems from its domestic mines to develop magical devices, causing its annual production to decline year by year.
The Empire, on the other hand, had not focused on mining magic gems and possessed several excellent mines. Thanks to those two factors, it had no shortage of them.
"So we'll feed them a little and keep them quiet. I don't want to burden the military any further."
"Exactly. We should hand over an enormous magic gem at once and silence them for now. The western front is nearing a stalemate as well, so perhaps we can use the opportunity to negotiate a ceasefire."
"Shall we do that, then? We're in the stronger position, after all. The Kingdom will probably go along with it."
With that, Johannes and Franz settled the matter.
■■■
The day came to receive the ambassador, with Franz having prepared an enormous magic gem.
A girl had come to the castle that day.
She had cherry-blossom-colored hair. Her name was Erna, and she was six years old.
Erna was intensely curious by nature. While her father was chatting with someone, she grew bored and, before she knew it, had wandered away.
"Huh?"
She found herself somewhere unfamiliar.
She looked around, but saw nothing she recognized.
It was definitely still the castle, though. Assuming she could simply ask someone for directions, Erna continued walking.
Then she spotted a small hole in the castle wall. It was just large enough for a small child to squeeze through.
Hidden by grass and foliage, it seemed to be a ventilation shaft, but it was strangely well maintained, almost like the entrance to a secret base.
Her curiosity piqued, Erna crouched down and crawled into the shaft.
After making her way through the darkness for a while, she arrived in a dim room.
The closed-off room was lit by magical devices giving off a pale glow, and Erna immediately realized it was a treasury.
"Wow..."
It was even larger than the treasury owned by House Amusberg, and all sorts of things were stored inside.
Then Erna immediately spotted something.
"A magic sword!"
They were swords imbued with elemental magic such as fire and wind.
What was more, the sword in the treasury was not a modern creation but a famous blade forged in ancient times.
Erna picked one up and drew it from its sheath.
Its brilliance and sharpness left Erna entranced, and she swung it a few times to test it.
"Mmm! What a nice sword!"
The sword was far too long for a child of Erna's age, but she was a daughter of House Amusberg. Her inborn physical ability let her wield it with ease.
Pleased by how the sword seemed to fit her hand, Erna moved on from simply testing it and began performing sword forms.
Even though it was spacious, it was still a treasury, with many valuable objects placed inside. Performing vigorous sword forms there could only lead to trouble.
But caught up in her excitement, Erna never considered that.
"Ah..."
A horizontal swing caught a cloth-covered box beside her.
Erna's sharp slash cleaved the box in two. At the same time, the powerful magic released from it destroyed the magical devices illuminating the treasury, plunging the room into darkness.
In the darkness, Erna heard a heavy thud, and her heart sank further and further. After a little while, her eyes adjusted to the dark.
Inside the box, she saw an enormous magic gem, larger than a human head, split cleanly in two.
She had cut through something in the treasury. Panicking, Erna somehow lifted the top half of the gem and tried to fit it back together, but the clean cut meant it could not simply be restored.
After fretting helplessly for a while, Erna could no longer bear the situation or her anxiety and burst into tears.
"Sob... sob, sob... hic... Daddy..."
"Hmm? Is someone here? Wait, it's pitch-black in here."
Just then, a boy entered through the ventilation shaft Erna had used.
He had black hair and black eyes. He was seven-year-old Arnold.
Al was surprised to find someone in the treasury he always used as a hideout, and by the darkness as well, but he soon noticed that Erna was crying.
"Are you crying?"
"Sniff... sob..."
Al could not see well in the dark, so he could not tell what sort of person was there.
From the sound of the sobbing, however, he could tell it was a girl about his age.
Al groped his way forward, but he soon realized that something had been broken.
"You really made a mess of things... This is that magic gem I've heard about, isn't it?"
"Magic gem...?"
"Yeah. I hear it's a present for the ambassador."
"Ambas... sob, sob..."
"Ah! Don't cry, don't cry! I'll do something about it."
He had only said that to soothe the crying girl.
He thought it would be a hassle if she cried any harder.
But then the situation changed.
"Here it is, Ambassador."
It was the Emperor's voice.
Al was confused for a moment, but he quickly understood the situation and sent Erna toward the ventilation shaft.
"Get out! Hurry!"
"But..."
"Just go!"
Despite his young age, Al understood how serious the situation was.
The Emperor had come there to show the ambassador the magic gem. If it was broken, the Emperor was certain to fly into a rage.
If he learned that a child who was not even a prince had done it, there was no telling what punishment would be imposed.
Considering the worst-case scenario, Al immediately helped Erna escape.
Just as Erna reached the vicinity of the ventilation shaft, the treasury door opened.
Al sighed once at what was about to happen, then drew a deep breath and steeled himself.
"This is our country's treasury. The magic gem is... Hmm?"
"I'm sorry, Father! I broke it!"
Al bowed to the Emperor, who had yet to understand what was happening, as if to say he might as well get his apology out of the way.
The Emperor, the ambassador, and all their attendants were unable to comprehend the situation for a moment.
A prince was standing in a treasury that should have been securely locked, and beside him lay a magic gem split cleanly in two.
No one spoke. No one had the courage to say anything before the Emperor.
Nor could anyone look the Emperor in the face.
The Emperor slowly approached Al.
"Did you really do this, Arnold?"
"Yes..."
"You really did?"
"Yes, I really did."
Al looked up and answered.
Thus, Al alone could see the complicated expression on the Emperor's face.
The Emperor closed his eyes for a moment, then slowly exhaled.
And then.
A dry smack rang out.
"You great idiot! This magic gem is a symbol of friendship between the Empire and the Sokal Empire! How dare you break it!? Do you have no awareness of your responsibilities as a prince!?"
"S-sorry, Father..."
Al clutched his cheek, tears welling in his eyes from the pain.
But he did not cry.
He thought he must not cry.
Al knew.
Erna had not yet made it outside.
So Al did not cry. He felt that if he did, she might come back.
Meanwhile, seeing Al after he had been struck, Erna shed even more tears.
Not knowing what to do, she struggled over whether she should honestly come forward. But then the Emperor's roar echoed through the room, frightening her into silence.
"Someone! Put this great idiot of a son in the dungeon! Keep him there for a week! I don't even want to see his face!"
"...I'm sorry..."
Al merely apologized; he did not try to defend himself.
Erna could only watch as Al was taken away. Realizing there was nothing she could do herself, she crawled out through the ventilation shaft and ran off as fast as she could.
Still crying, Erna ran through the castle until she finally found her father, the head of House Amusberg.
"Erna. Where have you been?"
"Daddy! Daddy! The prince! The prince!"
"Wait, wait. Calm down. Tell me what happened."
After her father urged her to calm down, Erna explained what had happened through a flood of tears.
Seeing her father's expression grow graver and graver, Erna's heart was once again filled with anxiety.