kscans

Chapter 74 - The Foreign Prince and the Little One

"Hyaaa, what a great view!"

The Little One flew alongside the carriage, holding onto Pochiko-san. Surrounding her were dozens of honeybees, each carrying a frog, which she had asked Moruto and Merita to have accompany them. The wind pressure was negated by Mugi-ta-kun’s protection on her head, and the girl wore a beaming smile as a pleasant breeze tickled her hair. Inside the carriage, her attendants stared at her.

"Chihiro-sama! Please come back inside!"

"Aaaah, she’s swaying so much! It’s dangerous!"

"It’s high, so high! If she falls from there, she’ll die!"

Dorfen and the others were plastered to the windows, screaming. They thought they were used to it, but this height was bad. Absolutely bad. As the twins swayed and giggled, a familiar swooping sensation hit everyone in the gut. It was a phenomenon unique to thrill rides, but mysteriously, it was happening to the onlookers, not the participants themselves.

"There’s no way we’d fall, right?"

"Right♪"

The Little One was super excited by the endless desert stretching before her.

A moonlit desert, a campfire at an oasis. I’ve always wanted to see that with my own eyes! Whoa! Camels, I wonder if there are any camels!

Flying over Flowers, she was captivated by the beauty of the desert as dusk approached and had impulsively jumped outside. Noticing a light in the distance that she realized was a village, her eyes shone even brighter.

"Hey, isn’t that a village?"

At the girl’s excited chatter, Dorfen and the others hastily spread out a map. Seeing the detailed map that recorded the entire inland region, the two princes from Donautil’s eyes widened.

"This is… from the royal capital to all the major surrounding towns? How did you manage this?"

"Well… you know."

Adonis and the others smiled vaguely.

Agents had added information to the map created by the Golden King in the past, and Frontier constantly produced the latest maps. Since they had a basic template, revisions were easy. Unaware of this, the two from Donautil trembled with an indescribable fear.

What is this? In Frontier, not only is information shared through magic, but they are constantly creating new maps as well.

The only accurate map Masahad knew was of his own country. World maps that included other nations only showed rough locations.

I’m so glad we didn’t make an enemy of them.

Letting out a great sigh of relief, Masahad suddenly noticed his younger brother pressed against the window.

"That looks fun. I want to fly, too."

Oh, give me a break!

The second prince clutched his head again at the sight of Marrow staring longingly at the two outside.

Having studied abroad in Frontier for so long, he felt no strangeness about magic, and Marrow’s standards were far removed from the norm in Donautil. He might be surprised, but he was not afraid. When he heard the logic behind it, he accepted it as just the way things were.

It had only been two years since they had last seen each other, yet his younger brother had changed so much it was startling. Masahad felt both proud and a little scared.

Then he remembered Marrow at the soirée the other day, and a smile crept onto his lips.

His little brother had worn the face of a grown man. Masahad couldn't be happier about his cute little brother's growth.

"Whoa, that’s huge. Is that an oasis?"

"Looks like it. It’s amazing."

The oasis was vast enough to rival the lake at the academy. A quick glance suggested it was about half the size of Lake Biwa. There were several small villages around it, and farmland was cultivated between them.

Lowering the carriage a short distance away, the Little One returned inside and asked the two from Donautil about the place.

"Where are we?"

"On the map, it’s listed as Oasis Village. I don’t know its official name."

"No, it’s Oasis Village. That’s correct."

As the members from Frontier looked puzzled, one of Masahad’s subordinates explained.

Apparently, all villages established near an oasis were called Oasis Village. Depending on the location, a prefix like "East" or "Border" would be added, but nearly all of them were simply Oasis Village.

Was it rational or just rough?

Smiling wryly, the Little One gazed at the map and let out a small cry.

"Huh? Wait, this place is?"

It was an oasis village located west of the royal capital. And further northeast of that village was a flower-mark that the Little One herself had drawn.

"It’s near the border Lord’s Forest!"

The forest was about a day’s flight away, situated between Donautil and the sea.

"Ah, the Forest of Death."

Prince Masahad narrowed his eyes with disgust.

Forest of Death?

At the Little One’s murmur, Masahad gave a small nod.

"It’s a forest with vast greenery, but it’s a forest of death from which no one returns alive. It spawns countless monsters that attack the surrounding villages and towns."

Huh? Why?

Monsters attack people to gain magic power. They had no reason to attack Donautil, where magic had been depleted. In fact, the monsters of Moruto’s forest had attacked adventurers who came to ravage the forest, but they never attacked the nearby farming villages.

"Something’s going on. Maybe we should make our pilgrimage there first."

"Please do it tomorrow. It’s getting late."

Hyrulia edged closer and closer to the Little One. In her hand was a large towel.

"Ah, no. I’ll be fine without a bath for two or three days, nyo."

"You haven’t bathed for a full day already! We’ve finally landed the carriage, so come now, it’s time for your bath!"

"Akyaaa!"

Capturing the fleeing Little One, Hyrulia submerged her, towel and all, into the barrel bath she had already requested be prepared.

"Honestly. Oh, you’re covered in sand! Even inside your ears!"

Wrapped up like a sushi roll in the towel, she was gently washed with a soft cloth, her ears and face cleaned, and the sensation was so pleasant that the Little One went limp.

This is bad… again… honya…

The simple barrel bath had been the Little One’s own invention, designed for the knights on expeditions, yet it now stood as a trap that lured her into the arms of slumber.

Cleaning the softly snoring Little One and quickly dressing her, Hyrulia smiled with exasperation and gently handed her over to Dorfen.

"She truly is thoughtless about these things."

"Indeed. From here on, we’ll need her to behave as quasi-royalty."

Their opponents were the First Consort and the Crown Prince. The nobles surrounding them were surely cunning and not to be underestimated. To win, one must confront power with power. Fortunately, the Little One possessed it.

As the two of them headed toward the carriage to put the girl to bed, the Little One’s troop from Frontier made a firm vow in their hearts to protect her from any and all opponents.

They were united in this resolve. That is, until the Little One, woken by the smell of food a short while later, dropped a bombshell.

"...What did you just say?"

"Hm? I said, we’re going to the border forest first."

The Little One stuffed a tortilla into her mouth, magu magu, and answered nonchalantly.

"I heard it from Prince Masahad this morning."

Hm? Masahad looked up, his eyes widening in recognition.

"Are you talking about the story of the noble one’s apostle?"

"Yeah, that."

It was the story of a local deity, a noble one, that she had heard from Marrow at the soirée. The Little One had gotten the detailed version from the second prince.

Once upon a time, there was a small village at a small oasis. But there wasn't enough water. There wasn't enough food. The small village at the small oasis was constantly filled with laments of thirst and poverty. One day, the clan, which had been living meagerly on the scant blessings of water, met a large person. This person, riding a large insect, listened to the people’s laments and gave a small nod. The large person split the earth, summoned water, and moistened the vast desert. Then, they released the insect into the forest on the moistened land, told the people not to approach that forest, and left the desert. On the enriched land, the people built a country and, while thanking the large person for their blessings, lived happily for a long time. The large person with small horns identified themselves as a servant of the noble one, and the people offered their heartfelt gratitude to the noble one, passing the story down to their descendants for generations to come.

"Something like that."

"That sounds like…"

Chihaya stared intently at the carriage.

"Right. The Lord of the border forest in Flowers. I think it’s one of Legion’s kin."

There was the example of Merita. It was possible for the kin of one Lord to visit another forest. The same thing had happened thousands of years ago. Legion’s kin had been touring the border Lords’ Forests.

For what purpose?

First, she had to confirm that. Legion’s kin, who had made a pilgrimage calling themselves servants of the noble one. Did the current Legion know about this?

In the Little One’s mind, the image of a small mountain of an oni, tears streaming down its face, flickered.

And the blackish-purple magic crystal.

There was a possibility that it too had been intentionally created under Legion’s instructions.

"So, first things first, we need to check, nyo. We have to go to the Lord’s Forest anyway."

Those who heard the story nodded gravely and immediately sprang into action. They quickly cleared up and began preparing to depart.

As she gazed at the hazy oasis village on the horizon, an unpleasant wind blew through the Little One’s chest. Like the wind rushing through a cave, she felt as though she heard a sharp warning whistle in her ear.

There are oni, and there are snakes. No matter what comes out now, there’s no reason to be afraid.

The preparations complete, the Little One boarded the carriage and headed for the Lord’s Forest on the Donautil border.

A sliver of anxiety passed through the Little One and landed within Chihaya.

For now, no one noticed the thing that was quietly raising its head inside him.