Daniel and Vikram, Luke and the knights.
The reason why everyone gathered was to check the guidelines for action during the founding festival.
“It looks like everyone has gathered, so let’s start now.”
After moving to the large round table between my office and Daniel’s office. Daniel looked at the knights and said.
“In this period of the foundation festival, it is most important to show the potential of Prause to the aristocrats of the capital.”
As the head of the household, Daniel’s appearance of distributing roles and giving orders to the knights was dignified.
I was appreciating his straight nose and heavy eyes without realizing it.
“And, Frey.”
“Ah…”
Daniel passed the remark to me.
I was casually dictating the words from his mouth on paper so I could get the context.
‘The role of wizards during the founding festival.’
My eyes naturally turned to Vikram and the wizards.
“At the beginning of the founding festival, you can concentrate on research as usual at the grand duke’s residence in the Prause estate.”
The most important task for wizards right now is to study the Fog of Fall with the holy knight dispatched from the temple.
In the process, If they find anything that can be used to destroy the Duke of Gelon.
“Then you will participate in the battle for the flag. I will introduce you to people as a magic swordsman.”
“Magic Swordsman…?”
The wizards made puzzled faces.
Judging by their hands and posture, the only swords they’d ever held were lab knives.
“You really don’t need to learn swordsmanship. Being a magic swordsman is to appeal to everyone that there are wizards who can participate in battle.”
Most of the aristocratic families knew that I recruited some of the wizards of the Magic Tower.
However, to the common people, ‘combat wizard’ meant Lord Carlton, a legendary magician belonging to the Duke of Gelon.
‘If we want to let people know that Prause also has wizards who can fight, there’s no better opportunity than a flag battle that draws everyone’s attention.’
Vikram, who had been listening to me quietly, asked.
“Performance pay and extra pay, no…To appeal that there are wizards who will fight for Prause, I guess I just have to participate as a wizard.”
“That’s true. But you need to raise your sword because of the role you have to play.”
I gave a signal to Lina. Receiving a signal, she brought me a wooden sword that looked somewhat crude.
“It’s an ugly wooden sword.”
Vikram’s cold and blunt evaluation pierced my heart.
‘In my previous life, I made a good teaching tool to play with children, but why am I a mess in this life?’
It was a moment when I felt a little resentful of my skills in this life, which only handle jewelry well.
“Even though it looks like this, the function is excellent. It’s a model I made to help you understand, and the actual sword you’ll be carrying will be even better.”
I pointed to the jewels on the hilt of the sword.
“This is an Aquarine that has been processed to contain the capture magic.”
“If it captures magic…”
“That’s right. I’ve set the magic to react to the Fog of Fall or Demonic Spirit, so we can gather useful information, right?”
No matter how much it is a rule to use a wooden sword, the flag battle is a place where competent knights gather.
There were also several holy knights on standby, so even if undead monsters appeared, there would be no major casualties.
What I was trying to capture was not information about whether undead monsters were approaching or not.
“Move around with a sword containing the capture magic. If anyone in the arena touches the fog of Fall, there will be an immediate response.”
“Oh…!”
The question marks on the faces of the wizards were replaced with exclamation marks.
“It’s the wizard’s job to uncover those who have touched the fog of Fall.”
“With Her Highness’s Aquarin, this kind of thing is possible.”
“Yes. If you use the magic scroll it is quite bulky, so even if you hide it under your clothes, it will show through.”
I smiled and affirmed.
“That’s right, but putting decorative jewelry in a sword is a long-standing trend in the empire, so there’s no doubt about it. It also has a long shape, which helps capture the magic.”
[If you have something in the form of a long stick, the capture magic will be easier.]
It was a characteristic of capture magic that even I, who was not good at magic, knew well.
‘The long body of the wooden sword will serve as an antenna.’
As if they understood what I meant, the wizards began to look at the ugly model sword I made with serious eyes.
“Well, Her Highness the Grand Duchess…”
Vikram, who was rolling his eyes and imagining the actual battle situation, asked again.
“What if I catch people who have, or have used, the Fog of Fall? Should I hand it over to the Holy Knights?”
“Well, I’ve been thinking about that too.”
I turned the wooden sword upside down. Then a very small rose quartz, adorned on the other side of the sword, appeared.
“I believe in you and the Holy Knights, but if you hand over the humans who touched the Fog of Fall to them, ordinary people watching from afar won’t be able to know what happened, right?”
I put some magic into the rose quartz.
Zingg!
Then, the divine power I had put began to be released in all directions.
“This works on the same principle as the jewels in the Sacred Tower. The advantage is that you can turn on and off the emission of divine power with a little magical power.”
If someone touches the fog of Fall, it emits divine power on the spot.
If they do…
“If they face the divine power, their whole body will twist in pain.”
“If that happens, even from a distance, it’s obvious that they are addicted to Fog of Fall.”
“Isn’t this like having the holy knight as a private soldier?”
The knights exchanged opinions with their eyes sparkling at new ideas, and the hall became noisy for a moment.
Daniel, who spent several days developing our ideas together, seemed proud.
[“Because of the sacred power barrier, a small amount of divine power always flows in the capital. Those who used the Fog of Fall must have used the Fog of Corruption just enough to not be detected by the divine power of the barrier.”]
[“Yes. And if some magic swordsmen suddenly emit a high level of divine power, their body will definitely react.”]
[“If you release your divine power that much, even if they used a very small amount of fog of Fall, their whole body would be twisted.”]
The result Daniel helped me improve my capture magic and correct my mistakes in the details.
I felt pride as I realized that we had worked well together.
“Of course, if you release divine power to an opposing knight who has not been touched by the Fog of Fall, it will only restore their fatigue, so be careful.”
“Haha, I’ll be careful not to do anything unnecessary and cause more harm than good.”
“Using the wooden sword’s jewels will be easy with wizards who can control magic, so everyone please take care of yourself.”
“Yes, Your Highness the Grand Duchess.”
If the gelon is clean. If, as Duke Gelon insists, everything related to the fog of corruption was carried out by the dead Anton, Master of the Tower.
‘Then my strategy will be useless.’
However, the truth will be revealed in a few days, where everyone can see.
* * *
A cold wind blew in the Crown Prince’s Palace every day.
The cold energy that had been established since Frey had built numerous sacred towers intensified after Grand Duke Prause purchased a mansion in the capital.
The servants gritted their teeth and cowered, to avoid making even a small mistake.
‘His Highness, the Crown Prince, has a good smile for his image, but…every time he’s alone, he breaks vases and throws all sorts of things.’
They wonder if he needs to vent his anger that way to stay sane.
Whenever there was a sound of something breaking, the servants lowered their eyes as they thought that.
Crashh!
“….”
Tahar, who was in the room, threw objects off the table to the floor.
Water flowed from the vase and soaked the newspaper he was leafing through.
[Obelir Post]
The leaflet was distributed free of charge at the Holy Tower.
According to reports, the popularity of the newly started serial novel was great, but that was not Tahar’s concern.
His eyes were fixed only on the title.
‘Obelir? How does a lowly thing dare to use this name?’
Blood-red cracks began to form in his mad eyes.
Tahar could not believe that the people of the capital, who knew the dignity of the imperial family, were enthusiastic about this kind of reading material.
Just as he was about to vent his anger once more, someone knocked on the door.
“His Highness Tahar. This is Carlton.”
“Ah, Sir Carlton…”
Tahar gave a drawn-out smile and moved his fingertips.
The delicate magic of Gelon neatly undid the marks of his destruction.
Everything returned to its original form and place.
Even the lowly leaflet named ‘Obelir’.
“Sir Carlton. You must be busy with family matters, but thank you for coming.”
“No. If it’s Your Highness’s command, I’ll always follow.”
Carlton was a loyal knight.
He pledged his lifelong loyalty to Gelon, who recognized his talent when he was young, and has been a knight who does his best to bring joy to his master ever since.
He never speaks what is not in his heart.
He knows neither sweet lies nor hypocrisy and is just loyal and upright.
Tahar liked Carlton like that and even selected him as his escort.
“It is most reassuring to have you by my side, but the battle for the flag of Gelon is more important right now.”
“This is an undeserved compliment, Your Highness.”
Tahar smiled, then spoke in a lowered voice.
“I’m saying this because you seem to know how important this flag battle is…How is the condition of the knights?”
“Isn’t this year’s Founding Festival very cool? I think we need to take care of that part because their body warms up later than usual and hardens quickly.”
“Hmm, their body is the problem.”
Tahar waited for a while pretending to be worried, then looked at Carlton.
A little curious about how this knight, obsessed with winning for his master as much as his upright heart, would react.
“By the way, Sir Carlton. Did you know that using a very small amount of the Fog of Fall has the effect of strengthening the body?”
* * *
