NBAA Vol. 5 Chapter 4 Part 2
“I’m back…”
“Woof!!”
Ullr nuzzled Reito as he petted his head, but then Reito pushed him away because he was getting crumbs on him.
He decided to eat later. He figured he would practice the new skills he had acquired today until Ullr finished eating. Suddenly he heard the noise of horse hooves approaching his house.
“Hey!! Is my little brother there?”
“Little brother!?”
Reito looked up in response to the familiar voice to find the kingdom’s first princess Nao in white armor straddling a white horse. She was Reito’s cousin and also his step-sister.
“It’s been a while… I’m glad you’re doing well.”
“Are you doing good as well, Nao?”
“Yeah, I am feeling fine… that being said, I still have dreams about it at night.”
She looked tired as she laughed. The Rotten Dragon slaughtered the troops under her command, and she hadn’t quite gotten over it yet. She seemed a lot better, but she was still much thinner than before. But she was much more lively than when she first encountered the Rotten Dragon.
“What’s going on? Did you just come to see me?”
“No, I just had something to report. After the Rotten Dragon incident, I dissolved the Valkyria Knights. There were personnel shortages, and my dad… Or, um, under His Majesty’s request, I am forming a new troop.
“Really? Congratulations.”
Reito welcomed her into his house and heard more details from her.
“Publicly speaking, everyone thinks that the adventurers of Adventure City subjugated the Rotten Dragon and that I was the one who led the troops. Most people don’t believe the part that I used a holy sword to defeat the dragon, however.”
“How did the holy sword strategy work out?”
“The kingdom has put it away under strict isolation… It’s a fake forged by a top craftsman. The real thing is stored elsewhere.
After the battle, Nao retrieved the holy sword that Reito used, Caledfwlch, and took it back to the royal capital. However, she had only taken a fake that Maria had equipped her with. And, Reito had been involved in the procurement of that fake.
The holy sword she used was made by a skilled Dwarf blacksmith who had a contract with the Hailstorm guild. Reito used “High-Speed Shape Change” to engrave the same mark as the real Caledfwlch.
Nao brought back the fake to the kingdom because it might be used for evil by the Queen. According to Maria, that was highly likely to be the case. Reito and Nao have been nearly assassinated by the queen before, so they didn’t doubt it.
The real holy sword had been safely stored away and would not be used for evil.
It wasn’t the case that Nao didn’t feel any guilt at all for fooling the king and queen, but Maria had persuaded her that they couldn’t allow the queen to have the sword, so she consented to the plan.
The Holy Sword was not a weapon that anyone could make use of. For example, Caledfwlch can only be used by Level 70 and up adventurers with an affinity for lightning magic. But, Reito used his alchemy skills to be able to use it by force. In that same vein, it’s greatly possible that there have been people who don’t match the conditions but have used the holy sword.
Nao had been asked by the king how she retrieved the holy sword. She told him that she had got it from Maria.
As a result, Maria was summoned by the King for a one-on-one meeting. She was interrogated fiercely about why she had been in possession of the holy sword. Usually, the property rights of all holy swords belonged to the Kingdom, and it would have been a major problem if she had been in possession of one.
But Maria proudly responded, “you surely don’t think it’s the real thing, right?”
She made no more excuses, sticking to that story.
Naturally, the chief vassals of the kingdom felt a sense of antipathy toward her response and tried to have her punished. But, the following words out of Maria’s mouth silenced everyone.
“Are you aware how much of my strength I put into the defense of Adventure City?”
The Rotten Dragon incident was no longer shrouded in mystery thanks to Maria, and even those angry with her shut up.
Maria also blamed the Royal Capital for not sending in reinforcements to help in the battle.
“Alson, what would the commoners think if something were to happen? In spite of the fact that you guys didn’t really do anything, punishing the person who contributed the most in the battle would make them lose confidence in the Kingdom. I’m sure the aristocrats I’m in contact with wouldn’t sit back and say nothing.”
Maria was highly influential as she was the one who, in effect, ran Adventure City and had an extensive network of aristocratic connections. Many aristocrats residing in Adventure City had good relations with her. It would mean the kingdom’s collapse if they were to do something to her.
“I’m going home now. I will formally apologize for the holy sword incident… I’m sorry.”
She leisurely made her departure from the kingdom, leaving behind only a hollow apology.
Nao explained that Maria’s attitude made some of the chief vassals want to punch her in the face, but the soldiers held them back.
“Phew… It’s good that Maria managed to use her influence to get out of that situation. I was in a cold sweat. But now, the holy sword is safely stored away. By the way, what are you going to do? Your troop was disbanded, right?”
“As I said, the King has permitted me to form a new one. The Valkyria Knights were no more than a security envoy in many ways… They were just there to protect me from monsters since I utterly detest them.”
Reito remembered the first time he met Nao. She was cowering from a monster called a “Sandworm” that had appeared out of nowhere. Reito couldn’t believe that she was a knight.
That being said, the Valkyria Knights spent most of their time tracking down bandits and human criminals.
Nao explained her hatred of monsters, “when I was young, I was attacked by a monster, and now I’m afraid of them… But, thanks to the Rotten Dragon, I don’t like them, but I learned how not to fear them.”
“Ho, ho ho! Ullr, how about you walk toward the princess?”
“Woof!”
“Hmm? What are you trying to do?”
Reito tried having Ullr, a monster himself, approach her, but she didn’t seem afraid in the slightest and embraced Ullr’s head instead. It appeared she had completely gotten over her aversion toward monsters.”
“So, what exactly do you mean you will make a new troop?”
“First, I’m going to recruit members… I have a decent amount of funds, so I should be able to hire members that I approve of firsthand. Some people from my security envoy will join, but I want to get about fifty more members.”
“Isn’t that something that soldiers would decide on?”
“That’s true, but… there aren’t many soldiers in the kingdom that I trust. Most of them have already pledged loyalty to the queen. I don’t want to let that kind of person join my troop so easily.”
She explained that she was in Adventure City for that reason – to find trustworthy soldiers whom she can evaluate for herself.
“I will be using the city as a base of operations. Can I hang out with you when I have free time?”
“Sure. Make sure you bring me a little gift.”
“Woof!!”
Nao had decided she would stay in Adventure City, and Reito decided he would lend her a hand as necessary.
“…By the way, I’m curious. What happened to your right eye? It looks like it keeps changing color.”
“Um… That’s not important. Let me serve some tea!! Just wait.”
“Don’t worry about it… Wait! What are you doing!?”
“I’m getting some tea from another dimension.”
Reito was using his storage magic to divert attention from his pupil. He pulled out a small jar and opened the lid. He made sure steam was rising from out of the pot. Storage Magic can only hold things with fixed shapes, but if the item is stored in a tightly-sealed container, it could also store liquids. Time doesn’t pass in the interdimensional realm, so it wouldn’t get cold.
“You’re a Support Magician. I completely forgot… But I heard you also use a sword. Is that true?”
“That’s right…”
“It’s weird for a magician to use a sword… I guess you would have to if you’re unable to learn attack magic.”
“It’s not really like that… Here’s some tea.”
“Thanks… Ooh, nice smell.”
Nao smiled and took a sip.
“Ahh… That hits the spot. You must be using quite a nice tea.”
“That’s a gift from my aunt, Maria… or should I say from my older sister. She said it increases your magical abilities if you keep drinking it.”
“Wow, that’s a nice present… Speaking of which, have you heard that Ms. Aira used to go on adventures?”
“Yes. She was called a Sword Princess and Fist Demon.”
Reito’s mother maximized her sword and hand-to-hand fighting skills and held the two nicknames. She was called the Sword Princess because of the dance-like elegance with which she could wield a sword, and she was known as the Fist Demon for her ability to leave her opponents covered in blood with her punches.
“Are you a swordsman, Nao?”
“Hmph. I’m a knight! Don’t you think it’s rude to ask me that question?”
“That’s right. My Nao is the one who was afraid of the Sandworm.”
“What a jerk!! Alright, if you are going to go that far, I’ll show you my skills!! Let’s fight!!”
“What…”
Nao was indignant and pointed her finger at Reito. Reito had just finished battling and wanted to rest, but he had few other chances to measure his swordsmanship against real swordsmen and wanted to know how strong Nao was as well.
“Alright. I won’t go easy on you just because you’re my big sister.”
“Hey… Can you call me big sister again?”
“No. Why are you blushing so much…?”
“Hehe…”
The two of them continued battering as they moved to the garden. Ullr watched the two of them, looking puzzled.