Chapter 5 — A Goal Confirmed

Immediately afterwards, Prince Francesco left the inner palace. Aura and Zenjirou still hadn’t recovered from their surprise but headed for the bedroom where their child was waiting.

Unfortunately, their goal was not to hold their now-recovered son but to bind the doctor, wet nurse, and maid to silence once more.

“Listen well: the events that occurred in this room are not to be spoken of under any circumstance. If the information were to be leaked, it would not only be your own lives on the line, but your families’ as well. That is all.”

“Understood, Your Majesty,” the three answered in unison, lowering their heads.

“Let us hope so,” Aura finished with a satisfied nod.

Michel was the royal physician, so he was used to keeping secrets. Cassandra too was a loyal woman whom Aura had faith in. And as for the blonde maid, Margarette, it hardly bore reiterating. She was a confidant of the queen’s. If she wasn’t trustworthy, no one was.

With that finished, Aura was satisfied that, barring anything unforeseen, there would be no drastic consequences from the incident. She and Zenjirou returned to their living room and collapsed onto the sofa.

“Phew...” Zenjirou sighed.

“Today has been an ordeal,” she agreed before they fell into silence for a while, slumping down.

Too much had happened. Carlos had fallen ill, and Francesco had visited and revealed his secret while exposing the young prince’s. Each event on its own was enough to shake the couple. They couldn’t even muster the energy to raise their heads as the sunlight streamed in through the windows, lighting up the room brightly.

Zenjirou had canceled all his work for the day, but Aura still hadn’t dealt with everything on her agenda. Regardless, she decided to leave things as they were for the time being. She had an intuitive understanding that forcing herself to continue working would put more and more pressure on her, and she would break sooner or later.

Besides, forgoing her work in the palace did not mean that the day itself would be unproductive.

“Guh...” she managed after getting a modicum of energy back and sitting up. “Zenjirou, do you need more time?”

“Ugh... Hmm? We’re starting already?” he answered, turning his head to look at her from where he lay.

“We are, if you are willing to begin the conversation, that is.”

“Mmm... Got it,” he answered, sitting up with half-lidded eyes.

“Right then, where shall we begin?” Aura crossed her legs loosely, still not entirely alert herself.

Zenjirou cracked his neck and replied through a yawn, “Huh? Well, I’ve got several questions, if that works.”

“I am unsure if I will be able to answer, but very well.”

Permission granted, he began speaking haltingly, putting his thoughts in order as he did. “Right, so let’s start with the fundamental question—or verification, I guess. Prince Francesco cured Zenkichi’s illness. When he did, it was really healing magic, right? He didn’t just use the stone hidden in his hand, did he?”

“He did not. I am certain you noticed as well, but the mana came from him and poured down onto Carlos. It was most definitely his own. Besides, the healing stone remains unused,” she answered, setting a stone redolent with mana atop the table with a clack.

Zenjirou blinked in shock. “What? He left it with us?”

“Indeed. The price of his entry was the use of the healing stone on Carlos, after all, so taking an unused stone back with him would be telling.”

“But didn’t he say that Princess Bona would be angry with him if he used it?”

“By his own account, he is used to people being angry with him, and Bona is certainly used to being angry with him.”

“Oof...that phrasing makes you feel sorry for him, but I can see it happening, and I feel worse for Princess Bona,” Zenjirou mused, offering an internal prayer for her. “Still, he’s definitely no idiot. Which means Princess Bona being tasked with his supervision—”

“Is undoubtedly to hide the truth of the matter, yes,” Aura completed. “Having even one person take his foolishness seriously helps to increase his credibility.”

“What a shame...” Zenjirou murmured, feeling a prickling in his nose. Shaking off his deep sympathy for the princess, he moved the conversation along. “So, I more or less get that Zenkichi will be able to use enchantment as well as space-time magic, but why did he go so far to make sure we knew that? It feels like it only helps us, not them.”

Aura’s expression grew slightly pinched at his question. “No, looking at it in the short term, the information holds nearly no benefit for us. Do you think our son can learn the correct chants and the amount of mana required for enchantment magic along with the necessary visualizations?”

“Oh, right. We just know that it’s possible, but without actually learning it, it’s useless.”

She nodded gravely. “Correct. If we are to make use of enchantment magic without aid from the Sharou family, we need to be prepared for it to take around three generations.”

“Ouch, that’s a blow.”

So...that’s definitely no use in the short term. And it was obvious why Aura would say so.

“What, then?” he asked after some thought, guessing at the foreign royal’s motive. “Prince Francesco tells us, ‘Little Zenkichi can use enchantment magic, and I can teach him how, so how about a deal?’ or something like that?”

Aura nodded in agreement but offered her own interpretation. “The possibility of that is high. However, I doubt this is solely Prince Francesco’s brainchild. The information he revealed is far too damning. If the first prince and king are waiting in the wings, it could be they are aiming for a greater change of opinion.”

“A greater change of opinion?” Zenjirou parroted, looking askance at her.

“Yes,” Aura continued, addressing his confusion. “Carlos learning enchantment provides no direct benefit to the Sharou family. But if the information were to become public, the people’s positions would change, would they not?”

“You mean Prince Francesco?”

“I do. Disregarding his political standing, the prince is an exceptionally talented individual. They would want to pass his immense mana reserves on to the next generation, to say nothing of his ability to use two lineal magics.”

“Right. There are exceptions, but mana reserves are usually hereditary.”

It was similar to the probability of two tall parents having tall children. With royals’ abilities to use lineal magic, more mana was an attractive proposition. Yet despite that, Francesco was forbidden from having children due to a secret agreement, despite his vast mana pool. It was, depending on your perspective, a waste.

“So the plan would be to use Zenkichi as a precedent to ultimately revoke the decision to force bloodlines with multiple lineal magics to die out?”

“It is but a theory. If they actually did so, it would be akin to a revolution in the Twin Kingdoms, so I think the possibility of something so drastic is a remote one.”

“I see. I guess things won’t be that chaotic, then?” he asked, a faint hope in his voice, only for that hope to be extinguished instantly by the expressionless queen.

“Unfortunately, I rather doubt it. Now that an outsider knows that Carlos can become an enchanter, it is most definitely plausible that it will become well-known. If that happens, the next question will be why he possesses the aptitude for both and not just space-time magic. Once that is public knowledge, it is only a matter of time before your lineage is exposed. At that point, the radical faction behind General Pujol will push you all the more to take a concubine.”

“Ugh, man...”

While Aura had been speaking dispassionately about the future until then, her husband’s despair prompted a pained expression to make its way onto her face.

“I apologize, you have broken not a single promise you have made, and yet I could not keep my own...”

You could practically hear the slump in her voice as her shoulders dropped in dejection. Zenjirou reflexively tried to comfort her.

“Nah, you don’t need to worry that much about it. I know it’s not a failing on your part; my ancestors just had particularly unique circumstances.”

It truly wasn’t Aura’s fault. If there was one thing about the situation that could be called a failure on her behalf, it was that she had been too naive in her initial outlook. The situation had developed contrary to his desires, and fighting against it would be bad for the country, so as monarch, Aura had no choice but to push things onto him.

“When I first summoned you, it was on condition that you need do nothing but provide an heir. If only I could use time reversal magic, I would beat myself around the head. Then again, if you had done nothing, the palace would be in chaos,” she spat, deriding her own callow assumptions.

“Hmm, but I never really expected to do nothing. I spent months after the wedding doing just that. It wasn’t as enjoyable as I thought it would be. I can’t argue with the results, though.”

His words were chosen to ease her guilt, but he wasn’t lying. He had grown rather accustomed to the pressures of acting as a representative of the country, for better or worse, so it didn’t weigh too heavily on him. He had no real qualms about his current situation.

That was why he wanted to categorically refuse any suggestions of a concubine—it would turn his life upside down. He would likely need to steel himself if it became unavoidable, but he reaffirmed his conviction to dodge it until the very last moment.

“Still is there nothing you wish for? Nothing you wish to do?” she asked.

The question was a familiar one that she had asked many times before, and after a moment’s thought, he gave her a slightly different answer than he usually did.

“Hmm, if I had to answer... The thing I want most is to hold Zenkichi.”

It was probably far from what his wife wanted to hear, but it was without a doubt the thing he most desired. After all, he had been busy for the past few days and he’d had little time to visit the nursery, then the prince had come down with the fever.

Holding his beloved son and feeling the baby’s warmth with his own hands was his most pressing thought. It would put his mind at ease, and he wanted to do that as soon as he could now that the infant had recovered.

“Zenjirou...” Aura murmured, only able to muster a half-smile.

She had asked because she had wanted to reward her husband in some way for his unfaltering aid. But despite his answer falling short of her expectations, she felt much the same as he did.

“Of course,” she finally replied. “He has recovered now, so Doctor Michel can have no complaints. We should go to see him in a while.”

“Yeah, let’s. Whoo! Just the thought of it is waking me back up!”

As he said, the light was returning to his eyes. He lifted himself up from the sofa and rolled his shoulders.

“However, you are still not to speak in front of him.”

“Hey, I think I’ve been working pretty hard recently. I’m pretty sure my pronunciation’s much better, so I’d like to get on from just saying ‘It’s papa.’”

“I am afraid not. I recognize your efforts, but the results less so.”

“Such cruelty.”

“It is for his own benefit,” she said with a soft chuckle.

Their conversation thereafter was bright and cheerful, to cast off the gloom of their discussion thus far.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

“Prince Francesco, that was far too rash! If you had put a foot wrong, you would have caused an utter scandal by entering another country’s inner palace like that!”

Francesco, meanwhile, had returned to the southern buildings, and—just as he had prepared himself for—his “minder” was giving him a long lecture.

Although the hottest season had already passed, their mist cooler made the room a much more pleasant temperature than it might have been. Yet despite the coolness, sweat was beading on the princess’s forehead, her face flushing as she yelled.

Francesco was reclining languidly on the sofa, but Bona had barely sat down and had her hands on the table as she bent towards him, almost snarling.

“My bad, my bad. I felt sorry for him. Prince Carlos isn’t even two, and he had a disease that could have killed him.”

Royals of the Twin Kingdoms, regardless of which family they were from, had priority access to the Gilbelle healers if they were sick or injured, so they weren’t used to royals losing their life to sickness or injury. From that perspective, Francesco’s “excuse” was rather plausible, but it wasn’t enough to satisfy someone as diligent as Bona.

“I sympathize with him as well, but the red-splotch fever is not such a lethal disease, I hear. Despite that, you used our only healing stone! What will you do if you come down with an illness yourself?! Unlike in the Twin Kingdoms, there are no healers here!”

Her argument was sound, but with Francesco being one of those healers, she was only making a fool of herself to anyone who had the requisite background knowledge.

Of course, a sudden deterioration in his condition due to an unavoidable illness or injury could interfere with his concentration, and in the worst case, his throat could be swollen to such a state that he couldn’t speak the incantation, both of which would render him incapable of casting the spell, so surrendering their only stone was indeed rash.

“It’s fine; I used the dual-burn parchment to get a report to my father. They’ll send a replacement.”

“Y-You used the dual-burn parchment as well?!” Bona demanded, on the verge of collapse.

Dual-burn parchment was another magic tool. Despite originally being developed to use offensively in order to start fires from distant locations, their people had noticed they could take advantage of the fact that they were linked together and would burn the same way, and therefore began burning letters into one piece to use it for transmitting information.

In general, the fastest type of information transfer was by way of dwarf wyverns, so it went without saying that dual-burn parchment was far and away the quicker and more secure option. It was like a single country having email while the rest were stuck with homing pigeons and horseback couriers. The utility of such an item was immense, and the inventor was said to have been the man in the shadows who had catapulted the country to its position of reigning supreme over the central region of Randlion.

There had been later developments, like dual-water parchments, which used the water in ink and dual-sandboxes using earth magic, amongst others, but they hadn’t reached the stage of practical use.

Ordinarily, commanders of border forts or diplomats sent to foreign lands were given a single sheet to use if it became absolutely necessary. Bona was utterly lost for words at her companion’s indifference in using it so carelessly.

Was it due to the difference in their backgrounds, she wondered, conscious of her frugality for a moment.

“Yup,” Francesco answered. “Father was rather strict and told me to inform him as soon as I used the stone. Ah, I also asked them to send a bunch of other stuff we don’t have enough of. I included a pedestal and vise for your engraving. You were complaining that there wasn’t anything decent here the other day, right?”

“You did? Thank you! It’s been a real problem. I hate to say it, but the engraving trade in this country is rather lacking, as are the tools.”

“Yeah, I get you. They’re just not put together the same way.”

“You noticed as well? The hold really isn’t there, and each stroke is slightly off because of it. The craftsmen seem satisfied with that, though, and I couldn’t really bring it u—” She stopped short. “That’s not the point here!”

Bona had just been getting into her flow on the subject of jewelry when she noticed the digression and shook off the allure of it to return to the topic at hand.

“Even if you sympathized with his plight, you could have simply handed the stone to Their Majesties, no? Why did you insist on entering the inner palace yourself?”

“Well, Capua has healing stones of its own, right? They weren’t using them, so even if I gave it to them, there was no guarantee she’d have used it for the prince.”

The argument was certainly logical, but hearing it made Bona’s stomach drop. “Um...Prince Francesco? I imagine not, but just to be certain, I would like to check. You did not say something along those lines to Her Majesty, did you? Right?”

“It wasn’t similar. I said exactly that to her. Why?”

With both hands on the table, Bona slumped forward.

“It’s all good,” the prince said cheerily with an unconcerned wave of his hand. “Queen Aura appreciates directness, and she’s not someone to get caught up on the little things.”

Bona, however, didn’t seem to hear him. “I... I need to somehow gain an audience with Her Majesty and apologize directly. Ah, but she’s likely busy, so I will need to go through His Majesty first.”

The fact that her mumbling was proactive and aiming for a solution rather than holding a grudge just went to show how deep her diligence and responsibility ran, even as she kept her head down. After a brief moment, she seemed to resolve herself and looked up sharply.

“Prince Francesco, I have pressing matters to attend to, so I will be taking my leave. For mercy’s sake, I beg you to stay quietly here. Do you understand that if you need to go to the palace, I expect you to tell me? None of this strange ‘consideration,’ all right? Excuse me, then.”

With her tirade over, she quickly departed the room. The door closed with a soft thud as she left.

As if on cue, Francesco’s already lax posture on the sofa was downgraded even further as he lay down and stretched out.

“Phew...” he breathed.

His earlier posture, lax though it had been, was an attempt to appear a little more dignified. He now had his usual smile on his face as he folded his arms under his head and looked up at the ceiling before speaking with utter exhaustion.

“Bona’s sure cute. Just seeing her relaxes me.”

In truth, he had never known another girl who was as easy to interact with as she was.

“I wonder if I’d be married to someone like her if I wasn’t the way I was?”

He tugged his hands from under his head and stretched them up towards the ceiling, looking at the mana rising from them. It was a huge amount even for a royal, more than double that of Zenjirou or Bona. It led to him being able to use both lineal magics without either of them suffering in skill level. That didn’t mean he had two different types of mana in his body, but he used enchantment magic with his right hand and healing magic with his left to avoid confusion.

The prince continued his monologue as he watched the mana snaking from both of his hands. “It’s a little tough not being able to marry, though I enjoy the carefree side of things too. I’ll pass on taking up a claim on the throne and getting thrown into politics, at least.”

His smile took on a bitter edge that he would never have allowed onto his face in front of anyone else.

“I wish father and grandfather had values a little more similar to mine...” he muttered, not moving from position as he stared silently up at the ceiling.

“The Unity Faction, huh?” he said eventually, a new phrase passing his lips.

Simply put, the Unity Faction was a political organization that decried the current state of two monarchs ruling a single country as unstable and wanted the royal lines to be fused.

While the organization was summed up as “the Unity Faction,” there were various sub-factions that wanted to do things in different ways. One wanted the Sharou family to rule and the Gilbelles to be subordinate, another wanted each to reign in turn, and so on.

One minority was the Total Unity Faction. As the name suggested, it espoused the idea of the families joining as one through marriage and quite literally unifying. One of their main tenets was that someone who was a symbol of both families, or in other words someone who could use both types of lineal magic, should ascend to the throne.

In the past, there had been none who were suitable, so it had all been theoretical. But now there was someone, albeit unknown to the public, who embodied that ideal.

“It’s not like I can’t sympathize, but I don’t want to get dragged into it.”

Their position was one that could destroy the history the Twin Kingdoms had made while standing hand in hand in public, even as the two families vied for power in the background. Getting directly to the meat of it, he could only see it as causing chaos from peace. It was bothersome, so he decided to stop thinking about anything more difficult.

“Well, what will be will be,” he said in summary, hauling himself up as his usual smile returned to his face.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Several days later, the four royals met in a room of the palace. From the Kingdom of Capua were Queen Aura and her consort, Zenjirou. From the Twin Kingdoms of Sharou-Gilbelle were Prince Francesco and Princess Bona. Everyone in the country with the title of “royalty” was gathered there. They were meeting under the pretense of an apology for the prince’s impropriety in entering the inner palace, and as thanks for his healing, but the true objective was something different. In fact, it had ended with a simple exchange between the two women.

Bona had said, “I apologize deeply for the incident.”

Aura had then replied, “Not at all. I cannot thank you enough for using such a valuable healing stone on my son. I will see that you are repaid for it.”

Bona was diligent to a fault and had already found their common ground with an exchange of letters. Aura was aware of the deeper context and had no desire to make things more complicated. Therefore, the meeting between the four of them soon moved on to the next topic.

“We’re done, right? Yeah, we have to be, so I’ll bring my news up next. This is the magic tool of future compensation. Thank you for your cooperation, Your Majesty.”

As he spoke, Francesco pulled out a small gold construction and placed it on the table.

“Oh, wonderful.”

“Wow, it is splendid.”

Zenjirou and Aura leaned towards the table without realizing it as they took in the sight. Zenjirou had had nothing to do with its construction, so his reaction was hardly surprising, and while Aura had helped with the mana on several occasions, this was the first time she had seen the completed item.

It was only about two fingers wide, with an octahedral metal framework surrounding the faint blue marble that Zenjirou had provided. Given how it shone in the light, the framework was probably made of pure gold.

The item was simple, but it was still spectacularly constructed. To Zenjirou’s eye, at least, the pieces of the framework were all of equal thickness and even the holes that displayed the marble were eight completely identical equilateral triangles.

Simple it may have been, but that meant the skill involved was on full display rather than hidden away.

Even as the praise cheered him, Francesco continued his explanation as its creator. “The actual functional part is only the jewel from His Majesty Zenjirou, the outer framework being there to protect it. A spherical magic tool will lose its function with the slightest nick, so this way, it will not be easily damaged. However, that is by no means a guarantee, so please be careful with it.”

“I understand,” Aura answered with a solemn nod as she picked it up. “Hmm, such a small thing.”

“It is, but it does almost all that you wished. Magic tools are broadly separated into three types: single-use, self-recovering, and manually recovered, so I would call this manually recovered if I were to classify it.”

He went on with an explanation of how it worked, “To use it, you directly touch the jewel within and use the language of magic to say, ‘I offer the nourishment of however-many days,’ which will activate the future expense ability to store the mana inside. It is also possible to add to it over time, as you requested. If you were to add a day’s worth now and then do so again a week later, there would be two days’ worth of mana stored within. To use the mana inside, you touch the jewel in the same way and say, ‘I put you to use.’”

He continued to elaborate for a while before finally summing things up. “So, those are the conditions to use the item. However, you cannot use a partial amount of the mana like you wished, so when you invoke it, it will release all of the mana within, whether that be a day’s worth or a year’s, so keep that in mind.”

It seemed the prince was at least serious when explaining magic tools—his expression remained stern and his tone was completely different.

“Amazing, I have never seen such a fine magic tool, and this construction is outstanding. I can see why you are considered one of the best enchanters and one of the best craftsmen,” Zenjirou praised him effusively, keeping his tone polite.

“Ah, you’ll make me blush. The effort was worth it, though,” Francesco said in response, the familiar innocent smile on his face as he scratched his head, embarrassed.

“A splendid creation indeed,” Aura agreed, keeping her face and voice calm but internally marveling over its power. “Allow me to offer my thanks once again.”

The significance of the item was immense. While so far, the mana required for such things as time reversal and greater barriers was too much to be worth using, this gave them a more realistic way of using the spells. It was a pity that it wasn’t possible to use only some mana each time; she could have been much more liberal with her most useful spell: teleportation. One could not have everything, though.

Yet if we could mass-produce these, we could certainly do something similar, she thought.

Of course, the Twin Kingdoms’ enchanters would most likely be unwilling to mass-produce magic tools for Capua. Inevitably, then, it meant that such a plan would rely on having Carlos learn enchanting or for Zenjirou to father an illegitimate child who possessed the magic.

Any child he had with Aura would have too much of the Capuan bloodline in their veins, and it would be rather unlikely for them to awaken their enchanting magic as well. It would be a different matter if they were blessed with a similar amount of mana to Carlos so that they could use both, but expecting two descendants of that caliber, even directly from her, would be far too optimistic.

Until now, the only person Aura had ever met with an amount of mana that matched Carlos’s was the blond prince in front of her. Aura herself only had around seventy to eighty percent of the mana that he did, and excluding the two in question, she was seen as having an exceptionally large amount. With that in mind, expecting her second child onward to have even the same amount of mana as Carlos was ridiculous, and she was well aware of it.

She would continue the development of glass production and eventually be able to mass-produce marbles. At the same time, she could have Zenjirou take several concubines and produce as many offspring as was manageable, to increase the number of dual space-time and enchantment users.

That option, from the perspective of the country, was without a doubt something that should be put into practice. Of course, it wasn’t so simple at present. She also had to take into account any influence from the mothers and how the Twin Kingdoms would react to their magic being stolen.

Regardless, it would be best to assume it is now inevitable that he take a concubine.

Just as the queen came to that heartrending conclusion, there was a knock at the door, followed by the appearance of the familiar slender-faced secretary, Fabio.

“Excuse me, Your Majesty. It is nearly time, if you are willing.”

Aura had far more responsibilities than the other three royals, so she was never able to stay for the entire meeting.

“It is already so late! Very well. Prince Francesco, Princess Bona, I must excuse myself. Zenjirou, I leave the rest to you,” she said, standing, which prompted the others to do the same.

“I had a good time, Your Majesty,” Francesco said with a smile.

“Our thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule for us, Your Majesty,” was Bona’s response, as serious as ever and accompanied by a bow.

“Please do, Your Majesty,” Zenjirou added, seeing his wife off with a phrase more polite than he would ever have uttered in the inner palace.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

With the rest of the meeting in Zenjirou’s hands, Aura’s destination was the most familiar room in the palace: her office.

She unintentionally let out a gloomy sigh as she sat in her chair, but the head secretary was not one to let such an emotional outburst pass.

“Whatever is the matter, Your Majesty? Such a sigh is unlike you.”

The queen had mostly lent him to Zenjirou of late, so his blunt manner was more nostalgic than angering.

“Ah, well, it is simply that I am once again to burden my husband. It is honestly wearing on me.”

She leaned back in the chair, making it creak as she looked up at the ceiling. The secretary’s usually implacable expression morphed into one of a raised eyebrow at her complaint as he spoke mockingly.

“Oh my my, taken with him, are you? Is angering him something to truly be so fearful of?”

His clear jest prompted her to narrow her eyes and almost spit her reply at him.

“Yes, it certainly is. It is honestly the thing I am most fearful of right now. Do you truly not understand why his anger is something to be feared?”

“Pardon? Well, there is the common saying that as understanding as someone is, they are all the more difficult to deal with when they surrender to their emotions.” His answer was oddly indirect for once.

“Oh, no, no, no,” she answered, a tinge of superiority bleeding into her words. “It is nothing so simple. Allow me to offer an example. Assume that Manuel Márquez had been angered. It matters not which of us is in the right, but if we do not ameliorate his mood, the country will suffer greatly. If you were in my position there, how would you approach it?”

While not entirely understanding what she was getting at, the secretary answered immediately despite the puzzled look he gave her.

“How would I ameliorate Count Márquez’s mood? If speed is the biggest consideration, then temporarily exempting his county from royal taxes would be the quickest method. For better or worse, his decisions are founded in what profits him.”

Satisfied with his answer, Aura nodded and brought up her next example. “If the person in question was not Count Márquez, but instead was Pujol Guillén? Under the same conditions, the poor relations with him would see the country lose its strength. What method would you use?”

“I suppose the only method would be to promote him to marshal. He is ambitious, but the ambition is a military man’s, not a noble’s.”

Once again satisfied, the queen grinned and asked her final question. “Indeed. This is the main question here: if the same conditions held true but the person in question was Zenjirou, how would you repair the relationship?”

Fabio fell silent for a while. Yet however long the silence stretched on for, he could find no answer.

“I surrender. There is nothing I can think of,” he finally admitted with a shrug.

Aura’s grin deepened. “Precisely. You do not know of anything? Cannot think of anything? Nor can I. I am sure you understand why I fear angering him so much. There is nothing I can do to soothe that anger if I do so; no card I can play to get him to listen to my side.”

“Truly, I have never before met someone with so little in the way of attachments,” Fabio admitted.

Zenjirou did not desire riches, nor did he show any interest in status. He didn’t even have anything in particular that he collected passionately. He was far from uninterested in women, but he had eyes for no one but his wife, and in fact, was doing his utmost to avoid a concubine.

“I have no method to soothe any rage on his part, and yet if our relationship suffers, so too will the country. Is it truly so strange to fear angering such a person?”

“No, it was my mistake to have implied so. My apologies,” the secretary offered the glaring queen.

“So, what is on the table for today?” Aura asked now that the small talk was out of the way. “A reply to the petition from the Eastern nobles?”

“No. That was the plan, but this morning we received a dwarf wyvern from General Pujol regarding the extermination of the raptors. Please read these first.”

As he spoke, he lined up four tubes containing thin sheets of drake parchment on her desk. Considering the usual custom of using the wyverns, the four would all be identical, but it was important to make sure.

“General Pujol sent dwarf wyverns? There must have been some complication,” Aura mused sourly before opening one of the tubes with a dark expression and unrolling the sheet to read. As she did, her lips twisted in displeasure.

“Your Majesty? It is indeed bad news?”

Aura sighed in answer before explaining. “It certainly is. He failed in the extermination. Or more specifically, the raptors call for more manpower than he has on hand, and he is requesting reinforcements.”

“What?” Fabio managed, his usual composure gone, his eyes going wide in shock.

His reaction was understandable. The message was just that unexpected. Pujol Guillén led the elites, the Drake Marksmen Knights, and yet he had failed to exterminate swarm raptors. Any citizen of the country would doubt their ears upon hearing that.

Aura tapped the parchment in her hand and shrugged slightly. “If the contents of this are true, then it is no fault of his own. In that situation, I would have called for reinforcements myself.”

“If both you and the general are saying as much, it must be true. Shall we dispatch reinforcements?”

“We shall. They will be hunting in the mountains. The quality of the men does not matter as much as the number, but we must be wary of losing soldiers. We should provide a well-stocked supply carriage to ease the burden as much as we can.”

“That will weigh heavily on the treasury.”

“I know, but it is necessary.”

Fabio remained silent for a few moments but eventually agreed. “I understand. I would still like to hear the details later, but the extermination of these mere drakes has grown rather larger in scope.”

“It truly has. I have never seen a situation that the phrase ‘wishful thinking’ was more suited for. It is a cruel world we live in,” the queen agreed, taking a deep breath as she allowed herself a heavy sigh.

To be continued in The Ideal Sponger Life 5.