His daughter had certainly followed the stipulations of their deal to the letter. She hadn’t done anything contrary to the king’s order, not a single thing.
“Your Majesty, surely this cannot be allowed…” The civil official who had come to deliver the report frowned.
But Guorios’s answer was definitive: “It is. I gave my permission.”
Mirika had asked if she could bring along anyone who wanted to accompany her, and the king had said yes. And as a result…
“But I never expected she’d take Grand Master Londimonde! Some nerve he has agreeing to go with her, that miscreant.”
Indeed, the fifth and last person Mirika took with her from the castle was the head of the Royal Sorcerers, Londimonde. Although to say she had taken him was a bit misleading.
Incidentally, as Raysha was also a Royal Sorcerer, taking her from the castle also posed some issues… But not only was there a more pressing matter at hand, one could argue the very fact that Londimonde, her supervisor, was with her, made her absence less of a problem.
“…So Your Majesty is truly going to allow this?”
“Yes. I won’t go back on my word.”
If the king had made his decision, the civil official couldn’t argue.
“In that case, Your Majesty will agree to take over the Grand Master’s assigned paperwork, I presume?”
“…Huh?”
“I’ll have someone else handle anything only a sorcerer could understand. But regarding reports and requests from the Royal Sorcerers, as well as documents related to any problems they cause, I’ll arrange to have them sent here.”
The king already dealt with a mind-numbing amount of paperwork on a regular basis—and now there would be even more?
“…How much is it?”
“Not quite half of the volume Your Majesty processes daily.”
Wasn’t even half rather a lot? Didn’t that mean his workload was about to increase by 50 percent?
As this dawned on the king, he finally realized exactly what had just happened.
“Londo, that scoundrel. He’s run away.”
There had been a slight mix-up.
Mirika had initially asked Royal Sorcerer Zeonly Finroll to accompany her.
He had been easy to approach since they were already acquainted with each other. Both his manner of speech and his attitude were nasty, but Zeonly’s skills were indisputably first-rate. Plus, he was an earth sorcerer, which was ideal for land development.
And Zeonly had accepted Mirika’s request on the basis that it was a favor for his disciple’s fiancée. But in the end, things had gone a little differently.
“What lovely weather. Perfect for traveling, don’t you think?”
An old man stretched his arms out wide under the blue sky.
This was Londimonde Achthard, the man who held the lofty position of Grand Master of the Royal Sorcerers. As it happened, he had snatched Zeonly’s spot in the group right out from under him.
When he heard the circumstances regarding the journey Zeonly was to undertake, Londimonde realized something.
Hold on, he’d thought. By those rules, wouldn’t I be allowed to go? If the king had said Mirika could bring anyone with her, didn’t that include the Grand Master?
And so without a shred of remorse, Londimonde had stolen Zeonly’s spot.
He spent most of his time cleaning up after his troublesome subordinates, so wasn’t it only fair for him to take some of their fun for himself now and then?
It had also been quite amusing to see Zeonly look so annoyed. In Londimonde’s opinion, putting the troublemakers in their places every so often was just another part of his job.
“I haven’t been on a trip in ages. Not since my honeymoon, I think… Was that about thirty years ago? Ha-ha-ha! This sense of freedom is addicting! Isn’t it, Princess Mirika? Don’t you think so, too?”
“Y-yes…”
Londimonde looked really happy, like he was having a ball.
Because of his position, he wasn’t allowed to leave the capital. In fact, he wasn’t even allowed to step outside castle grounds.
Mirika knew that, but she couldn’t bring herself to say something.
I’d like to switch you for someone else, please.
She just couldn’t say the words, no matter how much she wanted to.
Having someone so important around would only make things more difficult. They needed to work on land development, and she couldn’t even imagine asking someone like him to do manual labor.
“Well then, Raysha, shall we go?” said Londimonde.
“Ah yes… Are you sure it’s okay for you to leave the castle?”
“Oh, it’s certainly not.”
“……”
What a thing to say so brazenly.
“But you know, I’m human, too. There are times when I want to prioritize my own desires even though I know I shouldn’t. You understand, don’t you?”
“…Right. Yes.”
Londimonde’s eyes sparkled.
No one had the heart to tell an old man who was this excited, “No way, go back now.”
But no matter. Based on the promise Mirika made with the king, it probably wasn’t going to be an issue… Probably.
And so, with every member of their group still wondering if this was really okay, the group set off for unexplored territory.
The journey there—which was accomplished using wind sorcerer Raysha’s flight magic—was extremely comfortable.
About six months had passed.
“Princess Mirika, the post has arrived.”
Mirika turned at the sound of her name. “Where from?”
“The Gurion estate. Most likely a letter they’ve forwarded from Master Kunon. A small parcel was sent with it, too.”
It was from Kunon. In that case, she had to go now.
“Take over for me, Iko,” she said, holding out the meat cleaver she was using to the new servant who had brought her the news.
“Huh? But I’m taking a break right now… Can I eat some of it?”
“Just a small amount from the ends.”
Handing over the knife, Mirika left the hut. Outside, she took in a deep breath of fresh air.
She’d spent a while butchering demon carcasses, and she felt like the stench of blood was still lingering faintly in the back of her nose.
It was summer. The sun was strong, but it wasn’t too bad in the shade.
Because they were in undeveloped land, there weren’t many people around. And while they were still short on labor, even the princess had to work.
Actually—no, as the future wife of Kunon, the one who would be in charge of settling the area, Mirika had to take some initiative or else she would set a bad example for everyone else.
Starting development from the ground up had made the last six months difficult indeed…
“There’s a bug over here I’ve never seen before!”
“Does anyone know what this plant is?!”
“Anybody wanna go hunting? Let’s go hunt!”
……
And even now, more challenges remained.
Londimonde, who had made the original journey out with them, had been very quickly recalled to the capital. And then, as if to replace him, other Royal Sorcerers started showing up. It was like they were each taking a little vacation.
Relaxed and carefree, they passed their time in the great outdoors as they wished. Occasionally they also helped with the development work, so no one minded. They hunted demons that posed a threat to humans and gathered ingredients that became the settlement’s provisions. Though from an outsider’s perspective, they did appear to be merely fooling around.
Mirika got the feeling that sorcerers were a crafty bunch. But there had always been a difference between magic users and everyone else, and there was no use pointing it out now.
Development had begun with seven people, including Mirika. Soon after, supplies arrived from the Aglia family, followed by a very slow influx of carefully recruited volunteers.
They were, at present, a tiny community of approximately thirty permanent residents.
Mirika washed her hands and made her way back to the mansion.
It was far too grand a manor for such an undeveloped area, but it would theoretically become the ruling lord’s residence. Even if it was all empty rooms for now.
There was hardly anyone to live in it and still very few furnishings.
The mansion had been built in about a week by a very enthusiastic and completely unassisted Londimonde.
Though he might have seemed like nothing more than an aging man with a pompous title, it turned out that he hadn’t been put in his position for no reason. Londimonde’s power as a sorcerer was undeniable.
Even if, to an outsider, it looked like he was merely fooling around.
Truly, Mirika thought. Sorcerers are a crafty bunch.
“Oh, Your Highness. The post has arrived.”
As soon as she entered the mansion, Mirika saw her maid, Laura.
The post had been delivered to the entry hall, and Laura appeared to be in the middle of checking it over.
“Where is the letter from the Gurion estate?” asked the princess.
“Here.”
Mirika took the small parcel from Laura. Letters from the Gurion estate were high priority in this region.
Since Kunon was the lord of the land, they had to handle his requests with flexibility. Though, in reality, he probably wasn’t yet aware of Mirika leaving the royal palace or about her starting development in his stead.
Kunon was studying abroad. What’s more, it had only been one year since he left for school. Not wanting to disturb his studies, Mirika figured there was no need to tell him anything yet.
She did, however, think that the rate at which the land was being developed might become something of a problem. It was all thanks to the Royal Sorcerers’ whims, of course. At the current rate, they would probably have a decent-sized town established by the time Kunon came to live here.
Well, things were fine, for now.
Mirika unwrapped the parcel she had received. Inside was a letter and…
“…This…is…”
…a small silver box. At first glance it looked like a cigar case, but that couldn’t be right.
“Oh my!”
Laura, gazing at it from the side, gasped in wonder.
The floral engravings on the box’s exterior were exquisitely done—so intricate and delicate that even to an aristocratic eye accustomed to fine art, the design was captivating.
Moreover, the flower depicted was…
“…Oh.”
The moment she recognized it, Mirika felt her eyes start to burn.
The flower in the design was a silver campion.
Silver campions symbolized magic silver. And to Kunon and Mirika, magic silver brought to mind a pair of matching bracelets. Mirika had given one of the pair to Kunon when he left Hughlia.
This box was a message from him. One that said he hadn’t forgotten about her, that she was still precious to him. Mirika was certain that was the meaning behind the gift.
“…Sorry, Laura, but I’d like to be alone for a little while.”
“Understood.”
The land they were on was still undeveloped. There was a mountain of things that needed doing.
But for now—just for now, Mirika wanted to savor these feelings by herself.
She and Kunon had been apart for just over one year.
Mirika wondered how long it would be until they got to see each other again.