Published at 15th of August 2023 9:21 am

Volume 12, Chapter 2 “Two Dudes and Their Partners”

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

Part 1

Holy Magic Empire Voldenowa.

The capital, the Imperial City, is a fortified city, protected by two high walls.

In the center of the imperial city, which appeared to be a double circle, was a towering castle.

In the audience chamber of the castle, the Crown Prince, acting Emperor [Moritz Luks Erzberger], sits on a throne on high and looks down on his vassals.

The young man, in his late twenties, had a firmer, connected beard.

He also had a large, muscular body with brown skin and a look that gave the impression of bloodlust.

He is a man who is usually rough around the edges and was described as lacking in composure when he was crown prince.

However, Moritz does not have the same vigor today as he did when he was the Crown Prince.

He looked slightly pale.

General [Gunther Rua Zehbart], a fierce warrior who has fought many battles in his career, asks Moritz.

“Are you really sure, Your Majesty?”

“There is no other way.”

Moritz squeezed out a voice and answered, but his face was distressed.

Behind Moritz, who is struggling with his decision, floats a two-meter-large sphere.

[Arcadia], a strange being with one large, black flesh eye, squinted happily with an arched look in his eyes as he praised Moritz’s decision.

[Yes, Your Majesty the Emperor. You made the right decision. So don’t be so down.]

Gunther raises an eyebrow at Arcadia, who is waiting behind Moritz.

In the eyes of his vassals, Moritz was already a puppet of Arcadia.

But no vassals admonished him for it.

Gunther, another general loyal to the empire, believed that Arcadia could not be eliminated at this time.

(Don’t be conceited, you, a magic creature that made Moritz-sama into a somebody and caused the death of the previous Emperor Karl)

Part of him wants to eliminate Arcadia immediately and help Moritz, but unfortunately, Gunther can’t beat it.

There were many who were dissatisfied with Arcadia, which had suddenly appeared and was behaving as it pleased in the empire.

The imperial families who opposed Moritz’s accession to the throne once moved the military under their influence.

Not a number that can be ignored, and everyone expected a war to break out that would split the empire in two.

However, the main body of Arcadia went out and wiped out the opposing forces.

In the face of such overwhelming military might, even Gunther could not easily cause trouble.

And then there were those who made him hesitant to risk his life to challenge Arcadia.

——The Kingdom of Horfalt.

Arcadia spreads its hands, which are small compared to the main body, and gives Moritz an order in the form of a proposal.

“Your Imperial Majesty, we need to get the princess back from the kingdom sooner rather than later.”

Moritz’s expression turned bitter when he heard a princess who was in the kingdom.

“——My dad did some troublesome things.”

The existence of [Mirialis Luks Erzberger], the illegitimate son of the previous emperor, Karl, did not matter to Moritz.

He doesn’t seem to feel the need to bring her back.

However, he must have felt so guilty for killing his father that he thought he could at least protect his illegitimate child.

“Send an emissary to the Kingdom”

At Moritz’s command, Arcadia laughed, her large mouth forming a crescent moon.

[Fufu, I shall prepare to welcome the princess. I’ll have to give her a grand welcome.]

The scene was so eerie that Gunther broke out in a cold sweat.

(What are you planning to do, bring back the illegitimate child of previous emperor from the kingdom?)

Seeing Arcadia’s odd behavior, the vassals in the audience chamber wondered, “Will it do something bad to the princess?”.

What will it do when it brings her back?

Moritz has his back to Arcadia, so the expression on its face cannot be seen.

In addition, he is struggling with the decisions he has made and does not seem to have time to pay attention to the condition of his vassals.

(I never thought I would have to rely on such a monster)

Gunther clenched his hands in shame at himself for being unable to do anything but watch the situation unfold.

Part 2

After the school festival, what awaits the students is a series of holidays.

On the first day of the holiday weekend, I saw many students cleaning up the school festival, but on the second day, only a few were left. That very few included me and Finn.

Me and Finn came to the tea room with our partners.

Normally I would prepare the tea, but today Finn is preparing the coffee.

The coffee was prepared from beans, and the aroma of coffee spread throughout the room.

“Sorry to drag you into Mia’s shopping. As a guy, I just can’t follow through on some things, so thank you for your help.”

I accepted the coffee prepared in return for a thank-you, and while I said I didn’t mind, I also spilled my true feelings.

“I didn’t do anything, so if you want to thank me, thank Ange and the others. Rather than that, I was in the mood for a cup of tea, though?”

Finn is amazed at my true feelings.

“Can’t you just shut up and drink? I thought you must be tired of drinking the same thing every day, so I prepared this for you.”

“I never get tired of it.”

The tea leaves are changed according to the mood of the day.

Even the pouring method varies.

Some flavors remind me of my previous life, and some teas are unique to this world.

Don’t lump them all into one category.

I took a sip of my coffee and it wasn’t as bitter as I thought it would be.

“This is good.”

I was so impressed that I let my true feelings slip.

Finn looks at me as if to say, “Right?”.

He stood and sipped his coffee as if savoring it, then exhaled a sigh of relief and looked a little apologetic.

“I’m glad Mia is feeling better, but I can’t be too happy about it. I heard the princess collapsed again.”

Finn is worried about Erika, but I didn’t tell him about the situation.

I am sure he would be concerned if he heard that Erika’s condition has worsened in exchange for Mia-chan’s getting better.

“Don’t worry, we’re looking for a cure. Besides, we’ve already found a way to prevent things from getting worse.”

I look at Luxion as I say it.

Luxion looked at Brave, who couldn’t drink the coffee because it was too hot.

Brave is trying to cool the coffee by blowing on it.

Finn is relieved and strokes his chest.

“I’m relieved to hear that. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help. You’re Mia’s benefactor.”

“If so, I will not hesitate to ask for your help. —— That being said, have you heard anything back from Karl-san?”

When I bring up the subject of Karl-san, Finn makes a sour face.

He was angry with Karl-san, not me.

“I’ve sent him many letters from here, but no reply has come. He seems to be very busy, but I’ve never heard of that old man not responding to Mia’s letters.”

Finn mumbles in a whisper, “He made Mia sad.”

After hearing Finn’s story, Luxion becomes suspicious and starts talking to me.

[Isn’t there something going on in the Empire? Rumors are spreading in royal capital that the Empire has been acting strangely lately.]

“Did trouble happen?”

Finn shrugs his shoulders as he worries while sipping his coffee.

“Don’t worry, if there is a disturbance in the empire, that old man will take care of it himself. If there is any trouble, it will be taken care of by a Magic Knight other than myself.”

The Holy Magic Empire Voldenowa is probably the most powerful nation in the world at this time.

The vastness of the country means that the number of lost items owned is also large.

From the way Finn talks, it seems they have multiple cores of Magic Equipment.

In other words, it is a troublesome country with several magic knights like Finn.

It’s a superpower country that even the Kingdom of Horfalt is no match for.

Luxion bites into Finn’s story.

[That’s really interesting. Magic Knights——How many magic cores exist?]

Luxion attempted to find out about their strength, but Brave interrupted the conversation.

He steps forward to protect Finn and extends his small hands.

[Buddy, don’t let your guard down! He’s calculating our strength based on what you said. We can’t let our guard down in front of this guy.]

To the wary Brave, Luxion makes a deliberately mocking electronic sound.

It was like he didn’t understand what Brave was doing.

[Oya? We have no intention to antagonize you, but if you are so blatantly cautious, we might suspect that you are up to something. If you have nothing to hide, I would be happy to hear from you in general, if not in detail.]

Brave replies, trembling with anger.

[Because you can’t be trusted!]

[I am a being who obeys my Master’s commands. I cannot be hostile to you unless Master is hostile to you. If you still say that you cannot tell me, then you are still willing to antagonize me. How is it that the master is friendly, but the servant is hostile?]

Finn was smiling wryly at Brave who looked frustrated saying ‘Gunununu’.

On behalf of Brave, Finn answers Luxion.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t talk about it because it’s classified military secret. Is that okay, Luxion?”

[——Yes, understood.]

Luxion backs down, but I’m sure he didn’t expect Finn to talk about military secrets.

I guess he tried to stir up Brave to get information out of him.

AI that makes you unable to stop let your guard down.

I turn my face to Brave and apologize.

“I’m sorry, Kurosuke. Please forgive him.”

Instead of Luxion, I, his Master, apologized to him.

But Brave looked displeased.

[I’m Brave. Don’t call me “Kurosuke” so familiarly.]

His usual cuteness disappeared and he told me with a straight face.

“O-Oh.”

It seems I was being a little too familiarly to him.

Seeing that I was in trouble, Finn chided Brave.

“Don’t look so displeased, Kurosuke. Here, I’ll give you some sweets.”

Finn tossed a piece of sweets to him, and Brave was excited to receive it.

[It’s a cookie! Hehe, let’s eat it with the coffee my buddy gave me.]

—— He didn’t seem too bothered when Finn called him Kurosuke.

Well, considering the nature of the relationship, I guess it’s inevitable.

I look at Luxion and make a suggestion.

“A nickname is good, isn’t it? I’m going to call you Luc-kun from now on, with a friendly tone?”

When I asked if I could call him Luc-kun, Luxion distanced himself from me.

He quickly takes a distance of about one meter, and he answers in a cold electronic voice.

[I refuse.]

“Don’t be so blatantly averse to it.”

Perhaps finding our conversation amusing, Finn chuckled.

Then, when he sits down in his chair, he changes the subject.

“The girls are going to be home late, so what are we going to do until then?”

He asks, and I tell him my plans for the day.

“I don’t have anything in particular to do. What about you?”

“——Actually, I don’t have any either. To begin with, I’m having trouble figuring out how to spend the holidays without Mia. What do you think I should do?”

Finn, who prioritizes Mia-chan and acts together even if it’s a holiday, seems to have a hard time figuring out what to do when he’s alone.

A workaholic? Or should I say, “his love is too heavy”?

“Don’t ask me. ——Don’t you have something you want to do?”

Finn put his hand to his chin and thought about it, but nothing seemed to come to mind.

“Nothing.”

“What were you doing before you met Mia-chan?”

I’m stunned, but I’m getting seriously worried.

For Finn, it would be no exaggeration to say that Mia-chan is now his whole life.

“Before I met Mia? I think I did a lot of reckless things back then.”

Seeing Finn’s distant look, Brave happily enters the topic.

[Before we met Mia, my partner picked me up. Back then, he was more thorny and unfriendly than he is now. But he was nice to me, so I guess you could call him tsundere!]

Finn, who was called tsundere, closed his eyes and blushed, perhaps embarrassed.

Is that what you thought of yourself at the time?

I wanted to tease Finn.

“Even though you are so dere dere to Mia-chan now, you have a past like that?”

“Don’t grin! I was just a little rough back then. Then I met Mia —— and I found the meaning of life.”

“The meaning of life?”

Finn’s words struck me as odd, and I think I probably had a straight face when I asked.

——Why did we reincarnate? Even I have my questions.

I think it’s just a coincidence and doesn’t mean anything, but there are coincidences happening that can’t be explained by that alone.

It’s the existence of Marie and Erika.

How is it that we reincarnated in the same generation, with some margin of error, even though we died at different times?

Finn notices a change in my mood, and after sipping his coffee, we have a serious talk.

“I look after Mia, who resembles my little sister. I think that’s why I reincarnated and got a strong power. Well, that’s my selfish wish.”

Finn was embarrassed and bashful, so I lowered my gaze.

“No, that’s fine. I don’t think I’ll ever find meaning in it.”

Finn seemed to want to switch to another topic, perhaps thinking the mood was getting worse.

“You must at least have some meaning, right? After all, you’ve been reincarnated, you have three beautiful fiancées, and now you’re a grand duke. You’ve got everything.”

You must be living a life of satisfaction, right? It sounded like that.

I look up and let out a deep sigh.

“I wanted a modest happiness. I didn’t wish for position, honor, or even three beautiful fiancées.”

“——I’ve been meaning to ask you this for a while.”

“What?”

Finn asks me a question with a straight face, and it is an outrageous one.

“Who do you like best among those three?”

“Ha?”

“Don’t say that you love them all equally. If you’re a man, too, be clear.”

With a serious look on his face, he asked me, “Who do I like the most among Ange, Livia, and Noel?” What a question for a normally serious person.

“There are more meaningful questions to ask!”

“I’m asking seriously, though? I mean, what’s it like to have three fiancées? I can’t even imagine.”

Finn is seriously concerned, but it’s not like in a mood ‘I envy you having more than one fiancée’.

He seems to be asking out of a really simple interest.

The siscon, who is devoted to Mia, does not seem to want to date more than one girl.

“In my case, it just sort of happened. Before I knew it, the obstacles in my way had been removed.”

“So you don’t have any special feelings for those three?”

“I’m going to hit you seriously.”

I really wanted to slam my fist into Finn’s face when he tilted his head and said, “So you don’t love those three?”.

Of course I love them! But being engaged to three people at the same time is, according to the values of my previous life, extremely unfaithful.

Do I really love the three of them? I began to doubt myself.

In that sense, I envied devoted Finn.

But the five idiots are different, even if they are also devoted to the same person.

I don’t envy those five all loving one Marie, or whatever it is.

I’m sure they are devoted, but I’d like to ask them, “Are you guys okay with that?”.

When I don’t answer, Brave gives his guess.

[I think Olivia is his favorite. What about you, buddy?]

Asked by Brave, Finn seriously considers the question before giving his answer.

“Noel-san, I guess?”

I don’t know what they are using as a basis for mentioning their names, but they are really troubling.

As they make their guesses, Luxion steps forward and raises his voice slightly.

[That’s enough, please.]

“Good. Tell these guys, Luxion. Tell them this is not a good topic to talk about——”

[Master has a strong interest in breasts. Of the three, Angelica has the biggest breasts. Therefore, the answer is Angelica.]

What is this guy? Not only did he take the initiative to get involved in a topic that his Master didn’t want to touch, but he also clearly insisted that his guess was the answer.

“All of you, let me hit you one by one.”

While making noise in the tea room, the door to the room opens a little.

When I looked in that direction——.

“Looks like you’re having fun.”

——It is Julius and the others, the five idiots.

Looking through the doorway into the tea room, I turned my lifeless eyes on the five idiots as I raised both eyebrows.

“What are you doing? You guys said you were going to help Marie with her stuff today.”

Why are the five idiots who were supposed to accompany Marie and Erika shopping in this room?

Peeking into the room, Greg replies.

“When we tried to go with them, they turned us away, saying it was just the girls today.”

Brad looks sad.

“Thanks to that, I had to spend my holiday with just the guys.”

Is that a sarcasm against me having coffee with a guy?

Zilk, sensing that I am in a bad mood, peeks at us through the doorway and tells us the rest of the story.

“Marie-san turned us away, so the five of us decided to make the most of our vacation. In that case, I thought of inviting you, too, Leon-kun.”

—— These guys are trying to invite me out? As I looked at them suspiciously, Chris, who was peeking through the gap, told me his true feelings.

“We don’t have enough money to go out on the town and have some fun.”

“What happened to the pocket money I gave you?”

I glare at the five people trying to take me out as a substitute for their wallets, and a flustered Julius makes his excuses.

As he opens the door and walks in, he speaks with gestures.

“You’re wrong, Leon! We put all our money into the school festival to make it more exciting——”

“Don’t even spend your pocket money!”

“Because you told us to make it more exciting!”

Indeed, I told them to make the school festival more exciting, but are they stupid enough to throw in the allowance I’m giving them? ——Well, come to think of it, they were idiots.

They are five idiots because they are idiots.

“I didn’t tell you to go that far. So you want to use me as your wallet and have fun?”

I ask as Julius turns his gaze away from me.

“I didn’t say that. I’m just saying that it would be helpful if you would let us borrow in advance——”

A prince who asks for an advance of allowance —— even like this, he was one of the capture targets in that otome game.

Despite their excellent academic performance, these guys are so dumb in their behavior.

As I hold my head in my hands, Finn sympathizes with me.

“I respect you for taking care of these five people.”

Brave offered me a piece of cookie.

[You can have my cookie.]

Their sympathy seeps into my heart and I almost cry.

Luxion, who was watching us, muttered in amazement.

[It’s going to be another noisy day]

.

Part 3

In the evening, the royal capital was crowded.

However, some of them still have traces of having been destroyed during the rebellion.

Ropes were placed around the collapsed building to prevent people from approaching.

Every time one sees the place, memories of the battle come back to them.

Many of the residents of the royal capital had returned to their daily lives.

For a while, there was a war with the Holy Kingdom of Raschel, and the royal capital was in danger! Rumors spread that the city was in danger, and the air was heavy with anxiety among the residents.

Thanks to the short end of the war, smiles returned to the residents.

Walking through the streets of such a royal capital, Mia was carrying a paper bag in her hand.

“Ehehe, I bought a little too much.”

Mia is in a good mood after shopping.

Not only did she get what she had planned, but she also got an item she liked, although it was unplanned.

Seeing Mia looking so happy, Noel with a shopping bag in each hand calls out to her.

“Good for you for buying a souvenir for Herring-san.”

“Yes! ——Will Knight-sama be pleased?”

She replies happily, but soon afterward she looks troubled, as if she had become anxious.

Livia, who was watching Mia like that, said to her.

“I’m sure he’ll be pleased. Right, Ange?”

When asked to speak, Ange smiles and affirms.

“Right. Besides, it’s that guy. If he hears it’s a gift from Mia, that alone will make him happy.”

Dissatisfied with Ange’s answer, Livia puffs her cheeks.

“Ange’s way of speaking is starting to sound a lot like Leon-san’s these days.”

When told, Ange gasps and puts her hand over her mouth.

“I wouldn’t have noticed that myself.”

Livia let out a small sigh, then gave Ange a mischievous look.

“Recently, Ange has become less reserved with Leon-san. The two of you have been sarcastic and criticizing each other more and more, so it’s natural for you to become more alike.”

“Livia is so mean today. Well, I don’t dislike that part of you, but if you’re getting more sarcastic and ironic, you’d better watch out. ——I’m sorry, Mia.”

Mia shakes her head as Ange lets out a small sigh and looks remorseful.

“I-It’s okay!”

The four of them are on their way home after a long day of shopping and eating —— when Ange suddenly stops and looks up at the sky, and Noel asks her a question.

“What’s wrong?”

Ange replies in wonder.

“——An Imperial airship is coming. I thought there was no appointment, but is it something urgent?”

The magnificent airship, proudly bearing the imperial flag, was escorted by six flying battleships.

The sudden visit of the empire seems to have made Ange feel a sense of crisis.

Her expression turned stern and she looked slightly worried, “Another trouble?”.

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