After everyone finished eating, the King spoke up and started speaking. From what Hiro could determine, it seems that the Princess undergoes a trial for a suitor whenever challenged, and if she wins, then they are not worthy of her hand in marriage. Like this, she is still keeping herself from being married off.

Indeed, the bandaged guy happened to be some noble trying to marry her. Though looking at the princess, it seemed unlikely that she would be able to keep winning forever. Well, not without help. Was she under the tutelage of anyone?

After a bit more talk, the feast came to an end and everyone was dismissed. While the royal family remained behind to talk, Hiro left the hall near the end as he contemplated what he wanted to do for the night. Up until he left the hall, he still felt the princess’s suspicious gaze, as well as the Queen’s curious gaze, probably because her daughter seemed to be showing him attention.

Back in the hall, while the King and Prince were having a discussion, mainly a lecture about the Prince’s attitude during the feast, the Queen leaned in to her daughter, having a quiet conversation.

“You seem distracted… is there something wrong, my child?” (Queen)

“...” (Eileen)

“It was that young man, wasn’t it? With the white and black hair.” (Queen)

“... He irritates me, but he hasn’t done anything wrong. But…” (Eileen)

“But… you feel like there’s more to him, don’t you?” (Queen)

The Queen also had sharp sense, and had felt something odd about him as she looked at Hiro. She didn’t sense any ill will, but there was a feeling of a calm but oppressive aura about him. His countenance throughout the feast only solidified this feeling.

As the one who was next to the King, the Queen would have a lot of contact with the aristocracy and politics. And having been born in the Northern Kingdom where combat is in one’s blood, she had quickly learned to analyze anyone and everyone that got close to her family, and vice versa.

“Elrik says he is close to Maximillian. If you hurry, you might be able to ask him about the youth. Clear up your doubts.” (Queen)

While thinking for a moment, Eileen eventually shook her head.

“It’s alright, Mother… It was just a chance run in…” (Eileen)

Like that, the conversation came to an end as the Mother stroked her daughter’s fine hair.

As for Hiro, he had returned to the garden, finding it the best place to relax for him. With no one around and the starry night sky above, he sat down with the tree against his back, looking at the bright moon high in the sky.

Humming a light and peaceful tune, he zoned out while keeping a minimum awareness on his surroundings for his own safety. His thoughts drifted to the future, and things he needed to do in order to prepare for eventualities.

While he could use magic to make up for anything, there were still things he needed to have in person in order to not be underestimated. Weapons and armor were a must. These, he just needed to buy the ore or ingots. With magic, he could smelt it himself by making a forge purely with mana. He had enough knowledge to do this at least.

As for armor, he didn’t want too much metal armor, so probably a strong hide armor would be enough. He was supposed to be a merchant, after all. This, he didn’t have any knowledge on, so it would have to be custom made.

For being a merchant, he would need to get himself a carriage or two, as well as the horses to pull them, and most likely some escorts. For the escorts… He would need to find some trustworthy people, or finish developing a doppelganger type of magic. Though he had a feeling that such a magic may be outside the realms of magic, and more into alchemy… Well, that’s what future studies would be for.

As he finished his thoughts and humming, he waited for his one audience member to speak up.

“You were at the feast earlier… Haven’t seen you around the castle before. Who are you?” (???)

With no comment on his singing, the young female voice resounded in his air. Putting his hands behind his head and yawning as he stared up at the leaves, he glanced at the girl who was here. It was the same mage girl he had seen a couple of times, still wearing her robe. She had red hair, but none of her clothing could be seen with her robe on.

“A guest, at least for now. I came here were the Magus, Maximillian Eisenwald.” (Hiro)

“The great Magus?! Are you… his apprentice?” (???)

“Hmm, not quite. I come from a land too far away. He teaches me about magic to protect myself with, and I teach him about where I came from.” (Hiro)

The girl seemed flabbergasted, not knowing how to respond to that for a moment. She seemed probably around the same age as the princess when he looked at her facial expressions closer. After a while, she managed to speak up again.

“My name is Lily Eilidh Fernis, Court Mage under the authority of the King of Allard.” (Lily)

“Ārohirohi. Hiro is fine, though. Used to be a Bard, but I’ll probably end up as a travelling merchant.” (Hiro)

“Hiro. I see. You can call me Lily. So… have you learned anything from Sir Eisenwald?” (Lily)

From what Hiro could tell, it seemed Lily was fascinated by Max, no doubt being a fan of his due to his accomplishments as a Mage. As for her interactions with himself, it seemed to be out of a mix of curiosity because of his relations with Max, and probably just being polite and keeping the conversation going.

“Hmm… I’ve learned a couple of things. He praised my control over mana, though. For example…” (Hiro)

Holding his hand out palm up, he focused a little of his mana to it, creating a ball of mana after a few seconds. He could have used a chant, but felt it would best to make it seem like he could do simple stuff chantlessly, since he doesn’t know the words in Elvish.

Back when Max had introduced magic to him, he had said that there were different ways to cast magic. Chants, gestures, runes, and then pure imagination. When he later asked the Magus about this in detail, it seems that chants can help shorten casting time by tying the effect to the words in one’s mind.

To Hiro, though, he felt like the different between using words and not using words, could be summed up in one phrase form his world. “Shouting Makes You Stronger!” Well, that was stupid. Why give away what he’s going to do? He’ll just keep things in his mind, even if the speed or effect is slightly reduced. He’ll just overpower anyone anyway.

While having these thoughts, a small reddish orange flame appeared on his palm, hovering in the air slightly, before compressing to the size of a fingernail. From here, he made four more, having all five at the tips of his fingers, and then started weaving them in and out between his fingers.

After that little display, he had them gather in his palm, combine, and then he grasped his fist around it, letting it disperse. Looking at the mage girl, she seemed astounded and confused.

“T-that… You casted that without words, and moved them around…” (Lily)

“Ah~ I guess I should explain. Because of my culture and imagination, it seems I’m more cut out for using magic for entertainment purposes like what I showed you. I can also do this…” (Hiro)

With that, he created the figure of a woman with water magic, giving enough detail to have a distinctly human shape, and had it start dancing and spinning on the palm of his hand. After the dance was done, it finished with the figure spinning round and round, the water turning to mist before finally dispersing.

Seeing the face of the mage girl, she was both intrigued, entertained, and blushing. Why? Because the figure of the dancing woman was naked, and seemed a bit too realistic despite being water. Looking at Lily, inside, Hiro was smirking. Ah~ these types were fun to tease.

“Hiro… Are you busy tomorrow afternoon?” (Lily)

“Not as far as I know.” (Hiro)

Looking at her expression, it seemed she wanted to talk more at another time when she was free.

“Tomorrow afternoon, 3rd step of the plateau. You’ll find a training hall there. If you come by, I’ll teach you some magic. In return… maybe you could teach me what you’ve learned?” (Lily)

“Well, I thought information about magic is a strict secret, wasn’t it~?” (Hiro)

With a sort of a playful tone of voice, Hiro responded to the girl whose facial expression had a mix of unease and curiosity. After hearing his words, she looked ashamed of her actions.

“Heh. No need to look so troubled. He never said I couldn’t tell anyone, so it should be alright.” (Hiro)

With a bright expression on her face again, Lily nodded and said goodbye, her steps taking her further away. Just before she was too far, she turned around and said to him.

“I liked the tune you were humming. It was relaxing.” (Lily)

“Thank you, Lily.” (Hiro)

……

………

……

At the King’s Study, Max and Elrik once again sat opposite each other, a glass of liquor between them to take the edge off the day. While the King was getting some work done, the Magus was going about the room and looking at books, seeing if any of them had information on a particular topic.

“Say, Max… What are your impressions of the young man?” (Elirk)

“Have you tried talking to him one on one before?” (Max)

“I don’t see how there would be anything for us to discuss.” (Elrik)

“My old friend… He is a wise young man. Meet with him, alone. Talk about anything you want to. Maybe even about the war. You may be surprised with his responses.” (Max)

“If you insist…” (Elrik)

“And Your Majesty, I implore you. Listen to my advice. Don’t treat him like an enemy.” (Max)

“...” (Elrik)

While the King was still dubious about these warnings, he still couldn’t ignore them. He had known Max for a long time, and knew better than to doubt the old man. With a nod, he returned to his work for the night.

……

………

……

Once Hiro returned to his room, he gave himself a clean with magic, applied a sound barrier, and started weaving some anti-theft and anti-intrusion magic, using things such as ill will and bloodthirst as triggers to alert him when they were tripped, while leaving a magic trace on the person.

He had read several stories where the guest gets attacked or manipulated in their room, or have things done to their room. He hadn’t done this precaution the previous night, but to be fair, he’s had a lot to think about, and doesn’t always remember everything he’s read straight away.

With those done, Hiro finally went to sleep for the night.

When morning came, he started his physical and magical exercises like previously. After finishing those and cleaning up, he stayed dressed in the noble attire since he would be in the castle for the most of the day it seemed. As he was about to leave his room, he heard a knock.

After a short conversation with the maid, it turned out that the King had requested his attendance this morning. Knowing that rejecting would be a sleight to the King, he reluctantly went along to the King’s Study.

Once there, he was let in where he stood up straight while waiting for the King to finish what he was doing. Once he was, he was allowed to take a seat. Though it seemed that the conversation wouldn’t move along that much as is.

“Max seems to think that the best way to understand you would be to talk with you.” (King Elrik)

That annoying old man… He did this on purpose, didn’t he? (Hiro)

“Well, talking is a valid means of communication and understanding… though I guess that isn’t what you mean. Did he suggest anything in particular we could discuss?” (Hiro)

“As it turns out, he did. He believed you would have some interesting words to say about the war to the south east.” (King Elrik)

Max must have suggested that for a reason… Fine, lets go along with it this time. (Hiro)

“I’m not privy to all the information, so I may not be able to offer a solid insight… I don’t know the lay of the land, but I’ve heard enough to make a rough guess. As for the war and those involved…

Beastmen believe in Vitae, and their attackers, Argos, believe in Kror Mhot. Nature versus Death. Elves and Allard who are nearby… From what I know of the different groups, the following is my interpretation of the information provided.

Argos want to control everything, being zealots who wish for nothing more than the eradication of all else in the name of their God. So they’ve attacked the Beastmen, while the Elves couldn’t care less what happens outside of their lands. Allard would be waiting for both sides to be weakened…

How long has the war been going for?” (Hiro)

Elrik was surprised at the quick and concise conclusions that Hiro had come to in regard to the situation, and so it took him a moment to recover and respond.

“110 years now.” (King Elrik)

Nearly jumping out of his seat, Hiro looked at the King in surprise, astonished at the number. Wars were not meant to last that long, typically coming to an end quickly do to the exhaustion of resources and loss of life, as well as mutual damage inflicted.

The only reason a war would be dragged on so long would be... (Hiro)

Adopting a thinking posture, Hiro’s mind quickly went to work thinking about what was happening. With a war between two powers going on, both sides would be weakened and the victor would be in turmoil for a short while afterward. With powers such as Allard and the North being in an alliance, it would be a major disadvantage for Argos who had started the fight if they happened to win.

So the war dragging out would be on purpose, obviously intelligent enough to understand that they would be fighting against a bigger enemy while they were weakened. So to counter this, they would need to extend the war until they’ve finished carrying out plans to prevent this outcome.

Such things that could be done would have to include divide and conquer. And to do that, infiltrators would be in both sides to cause seeds of doubt and mistrust, before eventually destroying the alliance. Possibly, they may even destabilize both kingdoms from the inside, crippling them through politics, or may even with military might. Coup d'etat, assassination, kidnap, famine, guerrilla tactics, cutting off supplies and supply routes. Any number of these things and more could be used.

Saying all of this to the King, and explaining how and why, Hiro looked at him with a serious face. He remembered that yellow coat Knight Captain who had looked at him with a fervent gaze during the feast.

The face of the King darkened as realization dawned on him about the severity and likelihood of the described things happening, which aligned too well with what had already been happening. Hiro kept a strong gaze and serious expression on the King.

“Your Majesty… take due care… You may already be at risk. The sword in your hand is at risk of harming its wielder…” (Hiro)

Taking a moment to repeat the words in his head, King Elrik understood what the young man was meaning, and he did his best to not scrunch his face up. A spy among my own trusted Knights?! With this thought, he sat there with his hands in front of his face for a moment, before thanking the youth for his time, and dismissing him.

As he left, Hiro looked back towards the King briefly before leaving. The gears are moving in this complex machine. Hopefully this wrench is enough to shake the waters. Whatever happens from now on is not my problem. You hear that, Max? Annoyed with the Magus in his mind, Hiro sighed as he made his way to the garden, some time still left until when he was to meet with Lily.