Chapter 11
I decided to worry about hair loss later and first sorted out the current situation.
‘The said I could get Mithril Powder from the royal treasury. And it also said I had to take that powder to et the Magic Tower Master.’
Sothing was strange. Was the wrong? I didn't think so.
First, I decided to go to the treasury and see for myself.
“Please lead the way for now.”
***
Guided by Elly, I headed to the royal treasury. The royal treasury was in the basent of the Central Palace where I was staying, and I didn't encounter any nobles on the way.
To be precise, I didn't encounter any retainers or servants either, only a few soldiers patrolling the royal palace. Perhaps they were all summoned by the Dukes and went to the East Palace and the West Palace.
—As an aside, Duke Vaimal was staying in the East Palace, and Duke Panshin was in the West Palace. So, one could assu that the nobles currently in each palace belonged to the respective ducal faction.—
Anyway.
I arrived at the royal treasury. I thought soone would be guarding it, as it was the ‘royal treasury’ after all.
But… there was no one in front of the door.
‘Is it left unguarded because the nobles took everything, just as Elly said? Or has discipline beco so lax that they don’t even guard property related to the royal family?’
As I was thinking that and about to enter the vault,
Squeak—.
The vault door opened and an old man ca out. He seed startled as if he hadn't expected anyone to be outside, but upon recognizing , he bowed his head in greeting.
“His Highness Leonardo has visited.”
“Ah… yes. May I ask who you are?”
“I am Lewis, the royal vault keeper, Your Highness. You must have forgotten my face since I haven't been able to see you for so long.”
Haha.
Lewis asked with a smile like a benevolent grandfather.
“What brings you here?”
“I ca to find sothing in the vault. May I go inside?”
“Of course, you may enter. But, Your Highness, I don't know what you are looking for, but the vault is almost empty.”
Even the vault keeper said it was empty.
My head started to throb again.
“Still, since you’ve co, I shall guide you inside first.”
Lewis said apologetically and slowly opened the door. As I stepped inside, Elly tried to follow, but Lewis stopped her and asked .
“Will you permit this maid to enter as well?”
Permit her to enter?
‘If the royal vault is empty, he wouldn't have to ask that. If there's nothing to steal, there's no need to be wary of who enters.’
But his words suggested that there was sothing left. I prayed that it was the Mithril Powder.
“Yes. She is a trustworthy person.”
“…‘person’? Ah, I understand. Then the maid may enter as well.”
At Lewis's polite words, Elly nodded with a slight surprise, and we, led by Lewis, entered the vault.
The inside of the vault was desolate.
‘…There’s really nothing here.’
The royal treasury was a spacious area of about 40 to 50 pyeong. But there were almost no items inside. On the walls, only traces remained, showing where swords and shields had once been hung, and the chests that should have contained sothing were empty.
It was tidy, thanks to the vault keeper’s good managent, but that only made the emptiness of the vault more conspicuous.
Lewis turned to and asked.
“Your Highness, as you can see, there are almost no items left. May I ask what you are looking for?”
“I ca looking for Mithril Powder.”
There was no ti to beat around the bush, so I stated my purpose directly. But Lewis's reaction to my words was unusual.
“…How did you know that the Mithril Powder was here?”
I saw it in the diary.
—I couldn't say that. So I ntioned the na of the person who would most likely know about the royal treasury.
“I heard from His Majesty.”
“If you heard from His Majesty… I see. I will understand it as His Majesty aning to give you the Queen’s nto.”
He seed to be misunderstanding sothing on his own, but it wasn't a bad turn of events for , so I just nodded. Lewis then guided to the innermost part of the vault and spoke secretly.
“Only those who carry the royal blood can enter this inner section. As far as I know, the Mithril Powder you are looking for is inside, so please take it.”
“This inner section? Isn't that a wall?”
“I will open it for you now.”
Lewis placed his hand on the wall and muttered sothing. Then, a part of the wall began to glow in the shape of a door. Was that magic?
Woooong—!
“You can enter through the glowing part of the wall.”
“…I can pass through the wall?”
“Yes. I would like to guide you all the way inside, but as I said, only royalty can pass through this wall. There probably aren’t many items left inside, so you should be able to recognize the Queen’s nto right away.”
Pass through a wall… was there such a magic cast on it?
With a slight doubt, I cautiously pushed my hand into the wall first. And indeed, my hand went inside the wall. It felt cool, like putting a hand in water or a swamp.
With a little more courage, I stepped inside the wall.
Once my head was all the way in, what I saw was…
‘A sword and a necklace?’
There was a black sword, as tall as , hanging on the wall, and a necklace made of a leather strap. In the center of the leather strap hung a round, light green gem-like object.
‘There’s no Mithril Powder?’
I didn’t know what Mithril Powder looked like, but it was called ‘powder’. But no matter how much I looked, there was only a sword and a necklace in this small secret space.
‘Co to think of it, the keeper said it. That the Mithril Powder was the Queen’s nto.’
I decided to get closer to the sword and necklace and examine them carefully. The sword was a longsword as tall as , and it had a strangely black sheen. It seed to have been neglected here for quite a long ti, but strangely, there was no dust on it.
Anyway, this sword didn't seem related to the Mithril Powder.
‘Then it must be this necklace… huh?’
While looking at the necklace, the green ornant tied to the leather strap caught my eye. At a glance, it looked like an ordinary green gem, but upon closer inspection, it was filled with so kind of powder.
And that powder was glowing.
‘Is the stuff inside there the Mithril Powder?’
I wasn't sure, but there was nothing else that could be called ‘powder’, so I first put the necklace in my pocket.
‘I probably don’t need the sword.’
It might be useful soday, but not now.
Besides, I didn’t think I could even lift that heavy-looking sword in the first place.
With the necklace safely in my pocket, I ca out through the wall I had entered. It felt like entering a cool swamp, just like the first ti I passed through the wall, but being the second ti, it didn’t feel as strange as before.
“Did you get what you needed?”
As I ca out, the keeper asked politely.
“I think so, for now.”
“Then I am relieved. And… I am even more relieved that the Queen’s nto has found its owner.”
“What do you an by that?”
“I ant that I am glad the most valuable treasure could go to Your Highness, now that all the royal treasures have been taken by the nobles. It feels like my own sin of managing this vault has been slightly lessened.”
This keeper wasn't ntioned in the , but judging by his words, his loyalty to the royal family seed quite strong.
As I was the Crown Prince, in na at least, I decided to express my gratitude.
“You have worked hard. If the day cos when this vault is full again, I will be counting on you then as well.”
“The day this vault is full… I wish such a day would co, but.”
“It will co.”
“……”
“Then I shall take my leave.”
After a light conversation, I walked past the keeper and headed out of the vault. Elly bowed to the vault keeper and followed . As soon as we were outside the vault, I said to Elly.
“Now, let's go to the Magic Tower.”
***
When I said I was going to the Magic Tower, Elly seed to want to ask sothing but didn't. Perhaps, seeing moving around busily after announcing I would hand over the throne to the dukes, she decided that I had a plan of my own.
Crossing the garden on the way to the Magic Tower.
It was the first ti I had been outside the palace during the day. I had always only seen it from outside the window.
The palace servants I passed by recognized and bowed their heads formally, but they whispered as I passed. Things like, 「“That’s the Crown Prince who gave up the throne.”」 or, 「“Which Duke should we follow?”」
It seed the rumor had already spread even to such low-ranking servants.
‘I don’t care what they call , but I hope they don’t completely side with the noble factions.’
For whatever reason, and regardless of which duke, if they cast their lot with a duke, I would kill them. Even if they were servants unrelated to politics, letting a traitor live would be a foolish act.
Of course… for my part, I wanted to kill as few people as possible.
After walking for about another 20 minutes, Elly pointed ahead and said.
“We have arrived, Your Highness. That is the Magic Tower.”
I could see the ‘tower’ I had seen last night.
The sanctuary of a group of pure mages who had vowed to dedicate their lives to magic and did not involve themselves in politics at all, the ‘Magic Tower’.
‘I hope things go as I intend.’
Perhaps because my future self had failed to persuade the Magic Tower, the tension wouldn’t go away. Of course, I knew the reason my future self had failed and had prepared counterasures for it… but that wasn't a reason to ease the tension.
I approached the entrance of the Magic Tower.
Then, two mages in robes who were standing guard tried to stop , but they recognized and lowered their hands.
“Entry is forbidden to anyone other than the mages of the Magic Tower… It is His Highness Leonardo. What brings you here?”
“I ca to see the Magic Tower Master.”
“The Tower Master? Do you have an appointnt?”
“No. I do not have an appointnt. May I not enter?”
“You may not.”
“This is a very important matter. I must see the Tower Master, may I not enter?”
“You may not. The Tower Master is a busy person, you cannot see him without an appointnt.”
“If you could at least convey a ssage to the Tower Master—.”
“You may not.”
A re guard cut off. But it felt less like they were ignoring and more like they were just doing their job.
‘They really feel like people who have no interest in worldly affairs.’
My plan was already hitting a snag.
But I couldn't back down here.
‘I just want to let the Magic Tower Master know that I am here.’
In that case…
“I ca because I have sothing to say regarding the terrible harassnt that the Magic Tower Master's daughter suffered from the Mage Corps 10 years ago.”
“…Regarding that incident?”
The guard mages, who had been consistently uninterested in , showed a reaction.
“Yes. It is a very important matter, so it is difficult for to say more to you two. So, if you could just tell the Magic Tower Master that I am here—.”
It was at that mont I was speaking.
Caw— Caw—!
Suddenly, a flock of crows covered the sky, blocking the sun and casting a shadow. One of the crows from the flock flew towards like an arrow, and before I could dodge, it flapped its wings in front of my face and ‘spoke’.
「“Please co in, Crown Prince Leonardo.”」
…A crow speaking?
Even though I had a calm personality and was not easily surprised by most things, I couldn't help but be startled by this.
The guards who had been blocking also looked at each other with startled expressions, then opened the gate with a sowhat awkward deanor and said.
“The Tower Master has given permission, so you may enter.”
“The Tower Master's permission… that crow?”
“Yes. That crow is the Tower Master’s familiar.”
A familiar is an animal or monster that a mage makes a contract with to handle various tasks. I had read in a library book that the more powerful a mage, the more and varied familiars they could command.
‘But commanding crows as familiars. What a classic choice for a mage.’
“Thank you.”
As I passed through the Magic Tower gate, Elly tried to follow.
But the guards stopped her.
“You may not. The Tower Master has only permitted Crown Prince Leonardo.”
“I, I am His Highness's maid!”
“That is none of our business. Your Highness, please enter.”
“Wait—!”
Elly’s bewildered voice was cut off.
Thump!
The guards closed the door, leaving no room for argunt.
…In the end, I entered the Magic Tower alone.
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