…the impact of the Divine Wind Barrier Mandala fell.
✦ ✦ ✦
Creak.
The atmosphere gave way, and dozens of violent gales swept past Growley’s vision.
The gusts, which created a geometric pattern, brought all the enemy shells to a halt and swept away the tanks, as though they were scraps of paper.
“What?!”
What was this violent tempest?!
It had to be some form of astral power. But who could do that in this situation?
“So I made it in time.”
Beyond the cloud of dust, a petite girl leaped into the battlefield, her short golden locks fluttering violently in the wind. She wore a short-sleeved garment that hardly looked like it was appropriate on the battlefield.
“The Lou girl?”
Mirabella Lou Nebulis IIX.
The girl branded a failure as a princess emerged from the cloud of dust.
“The reinforcements have arrived,” she said.
“Huh?! B-but where are the others?!”
“Why would you need anyone else when you’ve got me?”
She stepped on the fallen wheelchair and heaved Growley onto her back.
Or so Growley thought…
“Hold on tight, please,” Mira told him.
“Agh?!”
All of a sudden, she shot off. Princess Mira began to run toward the precipitous cliff that had been behind them.
“Surely you’re not about to do that, girl?!”
She didn’t respond to Growley.
Just as he had feared, Mira leaped off the steep cliff.
Was she trying to kill them?
They fell dozens of meters below toward the chasm.
But while she was still in the air, Mira began to fly to the side. She wedged her foot into divots on the rock face, using them to propel herself deeper. She ran down the rock face like a wild goat.
“Ah?! Are you even human?!”
Growley couldn’t believe it, even as he rode on her back.
She was carrying an entire adult with her, after all. Regardless of how strong or how athletic she could have been, this was a miracle in acrobatics.
They landed.
The cliff Mira had just run down transitioned into a valley surrounded by a rock face.
The Imperial forces were above the cliff. Here, they were safe from both the tanks and the meddlesome noise produced by the Siren. Growley started to let his guard down.
“You’ll die like that,” Mira told him.
“Wha?!”
“Keep your eyes to the front.”
As Mira said those words, she threw Growley to the ground. Something frighteningly fast grazed his cheek.
“A sniper?!”
He scowled as he flipped around.
He saw them. Behind a boulder in the valley, there were some Imperial soldiers toting guns while wearing camouflage.
“They even infiltrated this godforsaken place?!”
“I discovered them earlier. Their headquarters are in this valley.”
“What…?”
He didn’t follow.
As Growley readied himself to accept that the Imperial forces were a step ahead of them, the golden-haired girl unsheathed a large knife, as if doing so were the most natural thing in the world.
“Girl, don’t tell me you’re…”
“You’ll slow me down, so go hide somewhere.”
Mira began to run toward the gun-toting Imperial soldiers.
Yes, the princess hadn’t run down the cliff face to escape the Imperials. She had planned on annihilating the Imperial forces’ base from the very start.
It was pure coincidence she’d rescued Growley.
“…”
Growley lay on the ground and watched…
✦ ✦ ✦
…as the Lou princess single-handedly took down the Imperial forces.
✦ ✦ ✦
“It’s done.”
Mira looked down at the guns scattered around the valley.
She had forced the Imperial units, who had been equipped with cutting-edge weaponry, to retreat. Growley had gotten a firsthand view of her spectacular show of force.
“…Is this it for the Zoa’s chances?”
Growley’s entire face broke into a cold sweat, from forehead to chin.
The House of Zoa would lose.
Did Mirabella have the education befitting a princess? The character? The knowledge? No. She had trampled on all those requirements and demonstrated her power with overwhelming success.
If I let the princess live…
…the throne will undoubtedly be hers in the next conclave.
To secure the Zoa’s future, he needed to eliminate this girl. Fortunately, they were on a battlefield shared with the Imperial forces. He could pretend the Empire had taken her out.
“…”
He silently summoned his avatar from earlier.
Princess Mirabella had her back toward him to collect the Imperial soldiers’ discarded guns.
“O Vice, my astral power.”
Growley commanded his avatar to attack her defenseless back…
“Are you blind?”
Crunch.
He felt something cold and hard against his neck.
It was the blade of a knife.
“—?!”
Before he could even process what was going on, the princess had gotten so close that even he could feel her breath. Her emotionless eyes bore into him.
“There are no Imperial soldiers that way. Just me.”
“Wha?!”
“You attempted to attack with your astral power. Who were you after?”
“…Hrk!”
With a shudder, Growley broke into a cold sweat.
“This is a battlefield. I could tell everyone that you were shot by an Imperial,” Mira said.
“I give in…”
He called back the avatar.
Now defenseless, Growley raised both his hands.
“Once we return, I’ll make sure to tell everyone else of your feats. I’m positive that will help you in the next conclave. Let’s call it even.”
“It’s good you know how to do what’s best for yourself.”
Princess Mirabella sheathed her knife. Or so he thought—instead, she headed forward.
“I’m going after the Imperial forces deeper in before I go back. You’ll only get in the way, so please return ahead of me.”
“…”
Growley watched in a daze until the princess vanished into the distance.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Amazing.”
✦ ✦ ✦
All of a sudden, an ill-fitting round of applause resounded across the battlefield.
It was unclear where or when he had arrived. Behind Growley, a blond boy elegantly lingered.
“Princess Mirabella of the House of Lou. No princess has ever been like you. Finally, an aberrant in the royal family. What deadly combat abilities.”
He smiled like an actor from a movie.
The boy was hardly acting like he was on a battlefield. He was even wearing a stylish white suit one might wear on a picnic.
“It’s been a while, Lord Growley,” the boy said.
“Talisman?”
“I came to assist, but it seems I did that for nothing. Then again, perhaps I’m lucky to have witnessed her power from up close.”
His suit fluttered as he flipped around.
“I must hurry back to my research.”
Research?
Growley didn’t even have time to question the young heir to the House of Hydra about his utterance, as the young man gallantly walked deeper into the valley, heading in the opposite direction from Mira.
“The Zoa rescue unit will get here soon. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Lord Growley.”
“…”
The next day.
Thanks to Growley’s report following his return, Princess Mirabella’s reputation did an about-face.
She went from being a failure as a princess to being the strongest candidate for the throne in history.
Mirabella Lou Nebulis IIX was quickly acknowledged for her skills.
✦ ✦ ✦
But as for the princess herself…
“My lady! What did you say?!”
“I’m bored.”
She lay on the lawn in the courtyard, absentmindedly staring at the trail of clouds in the ultramarine sky.
The sky was nice.
She tired of gazing at it.
“I’m bored of fighting the Imperial forces. Schwartz, please inform Her Majesty I will no longer be going out to the battlefield.”
“Wh-what?! But with your abilities, we…”
“The Imperial forces are a snooze.”
Things were either fun or not fun.
It was no exaggeration to say that was Mira’s value system.
A good 99 percent of the Imperial soldiers were weaklings.
Bullets were a threat to most astral mages, but once the soldiers realized they would not work on Mira, they were surprisingly quick to surrender, much to her disappointment.
They were so unimpressive.
“The Empire’s weapons are powerful, but their soldiers are anything but. So I’ve lost interest.”
“B-but, my lady… The Imperial forces have people called Saint Disciples…”
“They’re just exceptions.”
The Saint Disciples were the highest-ranked Imperial soldiers. But since they served the Lord, they rarely left the Empire. It would be close to a miracle for her to run into one of them on the battlefield.
“It’s so boring… The world is so boring…”
She rolled over to sleep.
Then she pouted as she murmured something.
✦ ✦ ✦
I want a rival.
✦ ✦ ✦
Wasn’t there anyone out there for her?
Someone who was endlessly interesting, someone with whom she could enjoy herself?
She offered her childish prayer to the stars.
A few days passed.
✦ ✦ ✦
Then Mira heard tales of Sorcerer Salinger that shook the Sovereignty.