Chapter 10 - I - A visit from royalty

 

Another ‘day’ dawned on me…and yet, here I am, couldn’t get even a wink of sleep.

 

“…”

 

Well, I can’t help it, it’s because of ‘that’.

 

In contrast to me, the slave boy, Senshee, was sleeping soundly beside my bed, on the floor.  I tried to get him to sleep on the bed while I took the nearby vacant chair since I couldn’t sleep, but he refused, insisting that he rest on where he was right now.

 

“…”

 

Man, that slave sure takes it easy.

 

I’m getting nervous, you know.  This was the Holy Palatial Gardens, a place where boys were hated.  It’s a miracle that the guards on the gate let us pass with minimal questions and explanations earlier, and I had to lie to Jessica for asking a little more food to feed Senshee.

 

Well, at least, I’m able to have him take a bath since he smelled so bad.  I lent him some clothes after that.

 

Yes, I know.  I couldn’t hide this boy forever in my room; not only it could create misunderstandings, but it would also be unfair to Her Holiness who’s paying for my expenses.  And here I am having the audacity to bring in another mouth to feed.

 

So, I plan to talk to her about Senshee.

 

Well, I tried to approach the Saint before sleeping time.  Unfortunately, that conversation with Sir Simon took off some valuable minutes away from me, and so I wasn’t able to see Her Holiness before she retired to sleep.  So, I had to leave the matter up till now.

 

Honestly, I didn’t know how Her Holiness would react to what I just did.

 

“…”

 

“Good day, Master!”

 

“Hii!” I almost fell from the bed when Senshee broke into my train of thoughts and cheerfully greeted me.  So, he’s finally awake, huh?

 

“I apologize for startling you, Master.” Senshee bowed and apologized, “This slave accepts the suitable punishment you deemed just.”

 

“Ugh, no.  It’s alright.” I answered, showing him a smile so that he won’t be intimidated, “I don’t plan on punishing you, nor do I have any desire to keep you as a slave.”

 

Senshee fell silent and just stared at me.

 

No dude, don’t look at me like that.  I didn’t save you to serve me; I can take care of myself.

 

“Look here, Senshee.” I explained to him, “We’re going to talk to the human saint about your situation.  But right now, you don’t have to worry much about serving me.  I am releasing you from your contract, and even if you push it on me, I’ll still release you.”

 

“But…what will I do then?”

 

“Do anything you want to do, just don’t take me in as your Master.”

 

Senshee only stared at me for his reply.  I hope this guy understood that I already freed him.

 

“…”

 

Anyway, Her Holiness was already awake.  I could see some maids going around the Courtyard.  

 

I better hurry and finish this problem I brought to myself.

 

 

“Oh, Kuro.  Do you need something from me?” the Saint asked the moment she saw me appear at the courtyard of her palace.

 

“What’s up, Your Holiness?” I greeted her with a casual smile.  Keep it cool.

 

“Well, I’m currently trying to understand this complicated Light-type spell,” she replied without removing her eyes from the book she’s reading.  She’s in no mood to read my mind like the usual, “The king of the kingdom of Nerfes will come to have himself healed; after all, a cursed sword caused his wound in battle.”

 

“Oh?”  Now my interest was piqued, “Is there a war going on somewhere, Your Holiness?”

 

“Ah, there’s none.”

 

“But you said the king of this Nerfes kingdom is wounded in battle?”

 

“He got injured battling a wild Junki in the mountains north from here in a hunting accident.” Her Holiness explained, still not taking off her eyes from what she’s reading, “By the way, that cursed sword is his.  His attendants say that the blade broke and bounced back to him when he tried to hit the Junki.”

 

“…”  

 

I was dumbfounded.  By the way, a Junki was a slow and weak slime-type monster that was a favorite children’s pet here in Chersea.  Its body was so fragile that even a youngster could inflict fatal damage to it using only his fists.  And to get injured by such a monster, through your sword, in such a manner too…

 

I wonder if that king is in his right mind?

 

“So anyway, Kuro.” Her Holiness’ voice brought me back to reality, “Do you need something from me?”

 

“Well…uh…you see, Your Holiness…”  My mind had been torn apart by whether or not I should bring Senshee to Her Holiness, but in the end, I left him in my room.  I told him to lock it from the inside, never to speak if someone knocked, and never let them in for as long as I was gone.

 

“Yeah, I approve.  Just take care of him as he is your property.” she quickly answered.

 

At least let me speak properly, Your Holiness!

 

“You’re talking about the slave boy you brought before sleeping time, right?”  It was Her Holiness who broke out the topic that I was supposed to tell her, “The Marquise of Monfort already informed me about it.”

 

“I see…I’m sorry for not informing you immediately.”  Well, at least it removed the heavy feeling in my chest.

 

“It’s fine, it isn’t your fault.” she replied, “Honestly, I am against the idea of my servants having slaves inside my place, but since you’re a guest, I’ll compromise.”

 

“But Your Holiness, I don’t plan to take him in as a slave.”  Now that I have the opportunity, I should bring up the ‘contract’ issue at hand, “In fact, I’m reneging on the slave contract.”

 

“…” the Saint stared at me.  Did I say something wrong?

 

“Hmm…you are one interesting guy.” Her Holiness commented, “Are you sure about your decision?”

 

“Well, as long as it doesn’t have any harm to me or the boy, I think it’s fine with me.”

 

“I see…” the Saint seemed to ponder on my answer, “Your slave is a boy, huh?”

 

“Hm?  Is there anything strange about that, Your Holiness?”

 

“Nope, there’s none.” But I could tell there’s meaning in Her Holiness’ gaze to me.

 

Uhh…I think you’re thinking of something else, Your Holiness.  And you’re utterly wrong, I don’t swing that way…

 

“Well, at least it’s nice to hear your reassurance.”  Her Holiness quipped and sighed with relief, “Or it’ll be an enormous problem if Lily or the Marquise of Monfort learn about your ‘preferences’.”

 

Do you seriously think I prefer boys, Your Holiness?  That’s stupid.

 

 

Oh, I thought you already knew by now, the people in this land use magic like a common tool for everyday living.  Did you need to light a fire to cook?  Fire magic.  Thirsty?  Water magic.  The heat was killing you?  Wind magic.  How about having a problem digging for some stuff?  Earth magic.  Scared of the dark?  Light magic.  You wanted it to be dark?  Dark magic.  

 

Pretty convenient, eh?

 

Unfortunately for me, even if I got transported here, I’m still an ordinary, powerless human.  Though I read all those books in the Saint’s library—memorizing some dangerous-looking spells from some weird tomes and trying out some of the less suspicious ones—there’s absolutely nothing.  

 

Not even a little spark in my hand.

 

Anyway, since I settled the matter about Senshee, I tried to look at what Her Holiness was reading.  It was a spellbook for casting a ‘healing area’—something that would be an absolute necessity if there’s an entire party of injured people that needed medical attention at a moment’s notice.  From what I read, this was an ‘Advanced’ spell.

 

Something told me she’s about to use such kind of magic to heal that king from Nerfes.  Looks like he incurred severe injuries, huh?

 

And that must be the reason I met Sir Simon.  He must accompany the king in Arles…

 

Ah, anyway, let’s get back to the spell the Saint was studying.

 

“Oh, if I may suggest, the principle of this circle is…” I think I quite understood the idea behind it, so I explained to the Saint the things that she had to do for it to work.  It took us quite some time, but in the end…

 

“Whoa!” Her Holiness’ eyes sparkled with delight as the spell that she was having difficulty in casting earlier was a resounding success.

 

“See?” I had this little happy feeling inside me I finally solved my problem and did something useful at the moment.

 

The Saint joyfully laughed at her achievement.  However, it was short-lived.  She suddenly fell quiet as she began trying her spell, “Uh, Kuro?”

 

“Is there something wrong, Your Holiness?”

 

“It’s not exactly wrong but…” there’s a hint of uncertainty in her voice, “Are you sure what you taught me just now came from that book?”

 

“Hmm?  Well, I tried to put in some new ideas based on what I understood, but yep, it’s the same as on the book.”

 

“Uh…” Her Holiness then told me, “I think this magic circle that you came up with is much more effective than the one that is written.  Look!  The area is larger, and once you’re inside, it felt light yet you can immediately feel the effects.”  She even stepped into the healing area to prove her point.

 

“Oh, uh…cool!” was all I could say.  I got no idea that I came up with something new.  

 

Is this something amazing?

 

“With this, I can cast a bunch of healing spells without exhausting my mana.”  she turned to me, “How d’you know all of this?”

 

Well, I’ve been reading about Chersea’s magic for the past few ‘days’.  To cast a magic spell here, you’d have to know the proper magic circle to activate it.  And every magic circle was composed of lines.  Those lines themselves had a meaning to it, so a minor change—like for example, an accidental extra line—could lead to a drastically different spell, or spell strength, or spell area-of-effect, or spell mana drain.

 

With Her Holiness, I noticed that the healing spell she was studying was full of extra lines that could be removed so that its range and power would increase.  Those lines were there to prevent that type of magic to drain the user of mana.  However, it reduced its effectivity, requiring the caster to chant it repeatedly to accomplish something.

 

With the unnecessary lines removed, theoretically, the spell increased in range and power.  But now, I’m concerned about the mana drain so I thought of adding much smaller ‘mana-drain lines’ that would help in keeping the magic from sapping large mana amounts from her.  

 

Well, it’s only my theory, but I never thought it would work.

 

“I see…so that’s how you solved that.” Her Holiness read my mind once again; she needed to stop that nasty habit of hers, “For someone who doesn’t have any magical affiliation, you’re something Kuro.  I know granting you access to that library was the correct decision!”

 

“Your Holiness!” I was about to thank her when the Marquise of Monfort arrived, “The King of Nerfes humbly wishes for your audience and is waiting for you at the palace courtyard.”

 

“Ah, it’s time for me to go, Kuro.  I wish to talk to you later if you have the time, about the slave boy you brought over and other matters about the magic circles.” the Saint smiled and thanked me for helping her.

 

“Okie.  See you later then, Your Holiness!”

 

For some strange reason, Her Holiness is in an utterly good mood this time…

 

She even smiled at me so sweetly I never saw it from her before.  In all honesty, it made my heart skip a beat; she looked so beautiful at that moment.