CH 21

MK 21 – They’re Birds of the Same Feathers, After All

[I am Kunon Gurion. I would like to give my thanks in appreciation for giving me the opportunity to meet with you today.]

‘How polite. I didn’t expect to meet such a refined little gentleman.’ (L)

Lesha thought so as she observes the young boy who demonstrates pristine noble etiquette despite his lack of vision.

[I am Lesha. I’m a newly admitted royal mage.]

[Please treat me well, Lesha-sama.] (K)

Lesha then returns her gaze to Arson after the brief introduction.

[Marquis Gurion, I’m planning on heading to the black tower together with Kunon from this moment onwards if you’d excuse us but do you mind?] (L)

[No, please take care of my son. Thank you.] (Arson)

Lesha asks Arson as they will be both moving in two separate directions. Arson will be heading towards an inner room of the royal castle for his work while Lesha will be heading to the black tower which is… in a pretty isolated location from the royal palace.

[Well then, Kunon, if you finish things late, then perhaps we could… oh, right, you’ll be having dinner together with princess Milika, huh.] (A)

[I do. I made a reservation on the same restaurant where Mother fell inl–] (K)

[Y-yeah! That restaurant, huh! No need to tell me more, enjoy!] (A)

Arson wonders how could his son think that it’s okay for him to spill the beans of his parents’ old love story in such a place?

‘That’s so embarrassing!’ (A)

As such, he looks at Lesha–

[I’ll leave him to you then. Please excuse me.] (A)

And after saying such brief farewells, he immediately walk right into the castle.

[Well, then. Let’s go too, Kunon.] (L)

[Okay – then I’ll go ahead.] (K)

Kunon gives his brief regards to the coachman and walks behind Lesha.

—

[Do you need help walking, Kunon?]

Just as Lesha wonders if Kunon would be needing her assistance as they walk through –

*Turns*

‘Oh…’

Kunon’s already walking right beside her.

[I am alright. Stairs and uneven footing give me trouble but I am fine on flat ground. Much more indoors.] (K)

Lesha and Kunon, who took a different route with Arson, then entered the palace as well.

The black tower is located quite a distance from the castle.

However, a big chunk of that distance would be from the tracks they need to cover if they have to go around the castle. So by using a route from the inside, they’ll be able to reach the tower faster.

[I see. Then, perhaps I could teach you a thing or two as we walk through?] (L)

[Like the essence of being a magician? Will you teach it to me right this instant?] (K)

[*Sweats* I’m just a newly admitted royal mage so I’m afraid I don’t have the qualifications to teach you something like that already.] (L)

[Oh, then would you teach me how the royal mages perform their military magic? Oh, oh, or maybe you’ll teach me how the interpretations from the traditional magic methods transitioned to the new one!? Woooow! That would be so cool, Lesha-sama!] (K)

‘…Am I really talking to a child?’

Lesha seriously ponders as she listens to the technically advanced words coming out from Kunon’s mouth.

‘I think I can now understand why such a child who hasn’t entered the Magic Academy yet is looking for a royal mage as his next teacher.’

‘I can even feel how dedicated and passionate he is in magic even though we’ve just met.’

All that is left is whether the masters in the royal mages would be impressed in Kunon as well – but before that…

[I’m sorry but what I’m about to teach you isn’t related to magic.] (L)

[…Oh, okay.] (K)

‘What a complete turnaround.’ (L)

Kunon couldn’t have looked more disappointed as he is right now.

‘I mean, I get it too. If you only know how much I would rather skip this uninteresting talk right here and now and just talk about magic without being bothered. After all, I’m also curious what kind of originality your magic holds, Kunon.’ (L)

No matter how uninteresting the talk might really be, Lesha decided to push through it.

[Milika asked me to do this. For you.] (L

[The princess asked you to?] (K)

‘Oh, that made him curious.’

‘It seems the two have good things going on between them. Nice.’

[I don’t think you’re interested about this nor curious enough to care but there’s something I’d like you to remember. Succession disputes happen in the family of Yuguria no matter what generation. As such, things related to the throne are moving even at this moment.]

Such disputes happen because the royal family have lots of children.

As to why, it’s because of their blood that has a high probability of awakening mages, therefore inspiring them to produce a lot of offspring.

The current king now has a total of seventeen children.

Majority of which are girls numbering to ten while the princes are seven.

Out of all of them, three had awakened as mages.

They are the second and third princess, then the fourth prince.

The second princess, which is Lesha, had decided to live in pursuit of magic thereby renouncing her rights to the throne. Since then, she’s now working as part of the royal mages of the kingdom.

Her status as a royalty remains, but whether she wants to or not, she’s now ineligible to inherit the throne of Yuguria. And by default, an unrelated party to the dispute of the sixteen remaining children.

The problem stems, however, with the third princess and the fourth prince.

[I believe you are aware as well but the title of the crown prince belongs to the eldest child of His Majesty, the first prince. But that doesn’t mean he could be at ease. Our kingdom has high regard for meritocracy so if he isn’t able to secure a good amount of credits and achievements… as history has shown frequently, he could eventually be replaced.

And these credits and achievements would be the root of the problem.

To be blunt, all princes and princesses who want to fight for the throne want to secure a capable magician at their camp. All for the credits and achievements.

That being the case, Milika is getting worried about you getting involv— w-w-what the? Hey, what’s that supposed to be!?]

As Lesha would like to check how Kunon’s holding up about her long winded explanation about the kingdom’s politics, what she was Kunon —

*Swooosh*

Smoothly gliding on the floor while standing.

‘I’m sure he isn’t walking.’

‘Yeah, he definitely isn’t walking.’

‘…Then how could he move without his feet walking!’

[Huh?] (K)

[Why are you staring at me stupidly!? I saw it! I’m sure I saw it! — That! That’s what I’m talking about!] (L)

‘He’s really gliding! As if he’s sliding on ice!’

[Oh, this? I put something like a sled under my shoes using <A ・Ori> (Water Ball)  and stretch it as thin as I can so I can slide on it.]

‘What?’

Lesha didn’t really understand what Kunon said just now.

[The trick lies in how you manage your center of weight, you know. If you put all of your weight into it, you won’t be able to slide well.]

‘Oh!’

But even if Lesha didn’t understand Kunon’s logic, she was able to get the gist of it after Kunon explained his trick.

[Would you like to skate as well, Lesha-sama? It’s fun, you know. And convenient too.] (K)

[I do! — N-no, wait! Let me finish with my story first!] (L)

After all, Lesha is also a mage.

As such, should it even be a question if she’d be able to ignore a spell that she’d never seen nor heard before?

NO.

On the contrary, the princess is deeply intrigued about it.

‘There’s also the cat from before. And here’s the slide thingy too!’

In not more than an hour, the princess is already hooked under the charms of Kunon’s magic.

‘That’s why… That’s more the reason that he has to–’

[Ah, let’s just get this story over with! All in all, never let yourself get involved in any factions! I’ll try to keep you company and watch over you as much as I can but don’t let your guard down in anything you say and do! Don’t make any promises, even orally, nor sign any documents! Understood!? You get me, right!? Now teach how to do that slide thingy!]

It might have been brief and sloppy at best, but at the very least, Lesha did teach Kunon as she had promised with Milika. In Lesha’s defense, as we said, she’s also a mage. What more can you ask for her in front of a new spell?

Anyway, Lesha has now given his warning to Kunon to stay away with the said ambitious people.

So…

‘A new magic!’

Now that the errand her sister asked to is finally over, the second princess can now indulge herself with her own temptations.

—

That afternoon, a rumor started to surround the castle that a bunch of soldiers are currently chasing what appeared to be a royal mage and a child sliding and gliding around the corridors of the castle.

*Pak!*

Needless to say, Arson could only facepalm when the rumors reached his office.

Translator’s Notes:

Chapters will keep on coming until new years! Hopefully! xDRemember to be like Lesha, okay? Do what you gotta do before letting yourself succumb to your hobbies, okay!?Speaking of which, I wasn’t able to release a thing yesterday because I got caught up in Pokemon Violet. I mean, I’ve finally reached Master Ball ranking so I guess it’s worth it! xD Yey! Leafeon!To be honest, I think the story would eventually touch the politics of the Kingdom in the future. I remember the early chapters about the author hinting Kunon, if by some kind of miraculous chance, could inherit the crown as well… I’m not saying this for sure, but knowing how the author drops hint from here and there in the beginning that could be found even until chapter 180 in raws…. Hohohohoho I can only look forward to it!Images—

a. Lesha sweating at Kunon’s high level questions

b. Foreshadowing of the royal siblings

c. Lesha seeing Kunon glide

d. Lesha dumping it all to start gliding\n