Episode 78: A Summons From His Majesty the King
“Fiine! It suits you so well. You should dress properly more often!”
“I-I mean, that’s honestly too much trouble…”
“Is that really something to say to a person who just helped you get ready?”
Yuria puffed out her cheeks in a sulk.
When Fiine hurriedly apologised, Yuria laughed lightly and said she didn’t mind any more, not at this point.
Today, Fiine had to go to the royal castle.
She’d wanted Yuria to come along, but it was impossible to make someone who was supposed to be dead an official guest.
(I don’t want Yuria to be a spectacle either, so I know it can’t be helped, but…)
She looked at herself in the full-length mirror and sighed.
The dress she’d had made for today was a pale yellow, with an elegant and charming design, but with Fiine wearing it, it looked terribly out of place.
Her hair, which she normally just left down, had also been pinned up today by Yuria.
(If I’d known this was coming, I should have put off cutting my bangs a little longer…)
It was too late for that now.
“Take care, Fiine.”
“…Yeah. I’m off.”
She left the house. The carriage she’d arranged was already waiting in front.
◆
Led along, she entered the hall and was overwhelmed by the dazzling aura of the finely dressed crowd.
Looking in any direction, there was no one as out of place as Fiine.
She shrank her shoulders and edged toward the side of the room, where she heard people whispering about her.
“That’s Fiine Fellner, apparently.”
“Ah, the one… the one who graduated top of the magic academy, was it…”
“She did great things in Mond too, I hear.”
“His Majesty summoned her in person today, didn’t he?”
“You can’t judge a person by their looks.”
She wished they’d at least say it quietly, but the guests carried on as they pleased.
Just as she looked up, thinking of slipping out of the room, she saw Burkhardt.
“Mr. Burkhardt…!”
Relieved to see a familiar face, she hurried over. In formal dress, Burkhardt looked every inch the nobleman.
“U-um, I’m so relieved that you’re here…!”
“Good. But you can’t relax yet.”
“Eh?”
“His Majesty has summoned you. He wants to speak with you before the party begins. Come with me.”
“Eh… eh!?”
Burkhardt took the bewildered Fiine by the hand and started walking.
They left the hall and went to a small reception room.
When Burkhardt knocked on the door, a voice from inside said, “Enter.”
It was low and full of authority.
She swallowed hard.
So as not to be disrespectful, she entered with her head bowed.
“Raise your face.”
She slowly lifted it. The person sitting in the chair was a young man so beautiful it took her breath away.
His long, pale purple hair was tied back, and his crimson eyes were fixed on her.
He had the poise of a statue, yet his red eyes burned like flame.
(This is His Majesty Alexander…)
The noble dignity that wafted from him was of a kind completely apart from ordinary people like Fiine.
Enduring a tension so great it was hard to breathe, she somehow managed to draw a breath and calm herself.
(…Ah. There’s someone else here… huh?)
She’d been too nervous to notice before, but there was another person behind and to his left. A guard, perhaps, or an attendant.
A young man with dark skin and indigo hair, whose looks suggested foreign blood, stood behind Alexander like a shadow.
(I’d heard His Majesty values ability over lineage, but to keep a foreigner at his side…)
It made sense that the nobles didn’t think well of Alexander.
Even so, personally, Fiine agreed with his policy of valuing ability over bloodline.
“I’ve heard a good deal about your abilities from Burkhardt. You can use every attribute of magic, and your unique magic is also specialised for combat, I’m told.”
“…N-not at all…”
“Excessive modesty is only irritating.”
“I-I’m very sorry.”
“Never mind.”
She was relieved that he didn’t reproach her any further.
She’d never imagined that she’d one day stand before the king, and she didn’t remember any proper manners.
“To get straight to the point. Will you join the Magic Corps?”
“T-the Magic Corps…?”
“I’m not satisfied with the current structure of the Corps. I intend to push through an organisational reform in the near future. With your ability, I’ll permit you to enlist as a major general.”
“M-major general!?”
However capable a person might be, no one Fiine’s age had ever served as a general officer.
If she were suddenly admitted to the Magic Corps as a major general, it would surely draw disapproval from all around.
“Yes. Upon enlisting, though, you’d be made to take a practical examination.”
He probably meant to change the Magic Corps drastically. Perhaps not only the Corps, but the very structure of the country.
(…Maybe the Magic Corps really could change.)
If the commanders who’d risen on family name alone were gone, and capable, motivated people gathered, the Corps might truly change.
If it did, wars like the one she’d taken part in as a student wouldn’t happen again.
“Not a bad offer, is it?”
“…Y-yes.”
The reason she’d decided against joining the Magic Corps was that she’d had enough of the Corps’ current system.
And he meant to change it.
(I don’t know whether it can really be done, but…)
At the very least, he was serious.
It was an attractive offer, full of dreams.
And if people were in danger, she wanted to fight.
But.
Even before she’d come here, no matter what she was told, Fiine’s mind had been made up.
“…I’m sorry, but I can’t join the Magic Corps.”