Our spirits? We’ll just keep drawing them in, no hesitation. Sorry, Your Imperial Majesty, but I want my carriages.
I needed to travel all around the domains along the coast this winter to give lectures. Since they were in the south, the temperature wouldn’t be an issue, but being jostled around in a carriage for so long was tough on a child’s body.
“Our carriage will be the first prototype we’re testing during an estimated five-year development period for this new product,” I declared.
“Ohh.”
“It will also help show off what people can do if they work together with spirits.”
“I see. It’s a very basic but effective example for you to use when giving your lectures,” Glen mused.
I turned to my spirits. “Ifri, Levvy, can I ask a question? There’s no lightning element, is there?”
(That would require further maturation,) Ifri answered.
(Lightning is a compound element acquired upon mastering all four elements,) explained Levvy.
(With all elements at your command, you can develop all sorts of magic.)
“Right. It would be a bit pointless if all we could gain by raising you guys further was your human forms!”
“They can take human form?!” Nick exhibited quite the reaction.
Hey, glasses, sit down. What trope are you trying to fit here exactly, huh?
“One more question, then. Is spatial magic possible?”
(It is possible,) Ifri said.
Oh, hell yeaaaaah! We’re in! We’re soooo in!
Before I realized what I was doing, I was standing on top of my chair waving my fists triumphantly in the air, and everyone was gawking at me with eyes and mouths wide open.
“I do apologize,” I said sheepishly before I asked that the sofa be returned to the ground because we really didn’t need it floating forever.
Stop looking away from me like that. My dear brothers, I also need you to stop laughing so hard.
“This is no laughing matter. Logistics are what make or break a merchant.”
Glen suddenly realized what I was considering. “Oh, that’s a good point. If we can make carriages float, then we can transport fragile goods as well.”
“Yes, exactly,” I crowed. “And if one driver can only move a carriage for two hours, then we just need to make sure we build stations where drivers can swap shifts. We can start up a whole delivery company. And that’s where spatial magic would come in!”
“A driver?”
“I mean a coachman,” I quickly clarified.
“I’ve never heard of spatial magic before. What does it do?” Chris asked.
“Imagine you could stick a whole carriage’s worth of luggage into your jacket pocket.”
And once again a stunned silence blanketed the room. You guys need to develop an immunity to this already. We’re in a fantasy world. I’m talking about an inventory. If we could use spatial magic, we might even be able to use teleportation magic at will. I’m suddenly getting fired up about it all!
(Deir, something of that level could definitely only be managed by a very limited number of mages,) Ifri cautioned.
“Then what about something the size of a box that a person could easily carry?”
(Then, yes, the number of mages who could manage it would increase.)
“And what if we made carriages half the size?”
(You could store more luggage than a regular carriage.)
See, look at that!
“I think...we should prioritize this idea,” Glen said after a moment of thought. “We should establish a logistics company first.”
“We have a lot of ports here,” Hugh pointed out. “I’d be surprised if this didn’t succeed.”
“Wait, it’ll still take a while before we can manage spatial magic,” I warned them.
“You said that the carriages would have a five-year development period, didn’t you? In that case, we should begin training the mages as soon as possible.”
Chris spoke up next. “First, let’s keep it within our domain. We are doing far better than we should be right now. If other domains try to copy us, simply let them. For now, we’ll only let Deir’s carriage travel out in public. Don’t get ahead of yourselves until we confirm all of this with father.”
The logistics company is coming first, huh? But I really wanted to make something cute and pretty, something a girl would prioritize... This was the safer business decision, though.
“Chris, there are people in the central region who received spirits more than a decade ago, right?” I asked.
“Yeah. I’ve heard they’re rushing to raise their spirits.”
“In other words, those older than eleven have spirits there?”
“Well...it seems quite a lot of them have had their spirits disappear on them since they hadn’t been tending to them this past decade.”
No wonder Her Sacred Majesty was so mad.
“I have a request!” I shouted, standing up and raising my hand with my usual enthusiasm. “If anyone asks who came up with the carriage idea and the logistics company, please say that we all came to this conclusion after exchanging ideas here in this meeting. Or you can say my brothers suggested them. That’s fine too.”
“I’d rather not,” Chris cut in.
Alan made his concurrence clear with a “No way.”
“If they ask about me, say that I suggested yummy sweets and cute clothes,” I pleaded.
Why was everyone looking so upset? Those gathered here were part of our inner circle, so it was okay for them to know about me, but it wasn’t a good idea to let other domains know.
Don’t forget you all signed a magic contract.
“Isn’t it fine to let everyone know you’re all prodigies by now?” Rex asked.
“I’d rather do it gradually. If you wait until I’m six, people won’t find it too strange, right?”
“No, they will,” he shot back immediately.
“It’ll seem strange until you’re an adult,” Nick put in.
“You’re already well-known within the castle as the strange young lady,” Rex said with a shrug.
“How about we blame it all on the spirits?” Monica suggested.
Why were even those who had been quiet before speaking up now?
“I don’t want to stand out.”
Excuse me? Can you all not look away from me with such pitying expressions on your faces?!
✦ ✦ ✦
I spent the whole year after my fifth birthday on my preparations. While everyone predicted that I would receive an overwhelming number of invitations to tea parties once I turned six and was allowed to attend them, my two ladies-in-waiting only knew how to take care of me at home in my personal quarters; my valets had been doing everything else, including guarding me. But there were times that male valets weren’t allowed to attend a women’s tea party, and Rex had already switched to working at the company. Plus, Dana and Cynthia had both found boyfriends among the knights, so it was probably only a matter of time before they got married.
That was what led to me hiring a female valet who could protect me.
Plus, next year, I’d have to decide on which of the kids around my age I’d like to appoint as my retainers. The children who would become my brothers’ retainers and bodyguards had already been showing up at the castle almost every day. Soon, those I selected would also be joining them, so it would be tough work for the trainers who had to prepare all these children to serve us by the time we were adults.
Our family’s horseless carriage had become famous in other domains for changing shape each time it appeared. Rumors even began to spread that it was a lucky carriage that would grant you good luck if you caught sight of it.
We’d decided to prepare several smaller fiacres as well as some carriages fit for nobles so that our various tourists could use them to tour the march when summer came. The company was aiming to begin offering the service in two years.
Small problems had also been cropping up now that the spirit population had increased. There had been multiple cases of spirits getting caught in entryways or people tripping and hurting themselves because a spirit beast had given them a fright. Many commoners hadn’t given much thought to their mana until now, so some had ended up collapsing or vomiting in the streets.
Transitional periods like this were great for producing stories that people of the future would find hilarious. I’d heard that when trains were first introduced in Japan, people would take off their shoes at the platform and then get angry when their shoes weren’t waiting at their stop.
There were also preparations to be made for visiting the other Royal Spirits in their respective territories. The other margraves seemed to be well on their way to receiving their first spirit beasts, so next year would be busy indeed.
And then, during my fifth autumn after being born into this world, Chris called me to his study saying he had something to discuss with me.
“Would you be willing to have a meeting with Andrew?” was the question he posed upon my arrival.
I’d never imagined that my brother’s request would be that I meet with the crown prince.