He ran up to the Heavy Mithril embedded into the wall, bringing his face next to it.
Its beautiful jet-black surface, which had been polished to a shine, was now riddled with cracks.
âW-W-Wha?! Are you serious?! HUUUUUUH?!â
You could tell how dejected Lihilt was at a glance.
I felt sorrier by the second just looking at him.
ââŠI, uh, screwed up a bit, didnât I, LihiltâŠâ
âOh, no, donât say that!â Lihilt turned to me and shook his head. âYou didnât do anything wrong! I was the one who said you could shoot!â he said. Despite what he just said, he petted the Heavy Mithril, looking reluctant to part ways with it. âBut still⊠aahâŠâ His shoulders drooped.
I know how you feel, Lihilt⊠I canât stress enough how sorry I amâŠ
âAh, who cares! Get over it, Lihilt!â Lihilt said, slapping both his cheeks out of nowhere. He then grinned ear to ear. âThatâs Albert for you! Never in my wildest dreams did I think youâd put a dent in our most prized possession!â
âSo thatâs your most prized possession, huhâŠâ I stared at the Heavy Mithril.
I gotta say, it was pretty tough, all things considered. I couldnât fully pierce through it with my Magic Arrow; that much is for sure.
Or, to put it the other way around: it withstood my Magic Arrow, only getting cracked in the process.
I take it Iâd only need a few more shots to destroy it, but itâs clear that just one isnât enough to finish the job.
Lihilt raised his voice, âWell, donât let it bother you too much, Albert. Thereâs a bunch more Heavy Mithril I can get right around the corner, anyway!â he said as he made his way to the exit.
Sounds to me like heâs pushing himself a bit, butâŠ
âLet me guide you to your rooms. We can talk all we want over dinner!â
As we exited the room, Laura called out to me, âYour Magic Arrow really is amazing, Albert!â
âHuh?â
âI couldnât so much as scratch it, but you shattered it in a single shot!â
âHaha, thanks.â
Having it pointed out like that made me feel a bit bashful.
That day, we stayed the night at Lihiltâs residence, and the following day, we began our trip to the neighboring Countâs domain.
We were going to use a high-speed carriage as our means of transportation.
A high-speed carriage, as the name would imply, was a horse carriage capable of higher speeds than usual.
Naturally, there was a reason for its increased speed: the carriage itself was imbued with a powerful spell, substantially reducing the horseâs fatigue.
As a result, the horse can pull the cart at full speed for the entire trip.
And although extremely convenient to have, installing and maintaining it was unduly expensive, so you didnât see one every day.
âThis thing came with the Transportator, all because my territory used to be owned by the royal family!â Lihilt said with a smile.
The only people who ever used high-speed carriages were those ranked nobles or higher, so the interior was quite extravagant.
âHawa, hawawawawa!â Laura raised her voice in excitement. âItâs so wide! And soft!â
High-speed carriages were on the larger end, and the passenger area was much more spacious than regular carriages; naturally, the seats were made of comfortable and cozy cushions.
Laura enjoyed herself as she poked at the cushions, then realized what she was doing. âI-I-I-Iâm sorry! I just couldnât help myself!â
âNonono, itâs totally alright. I get how you feel. Iâm an ex-poor noble myself, so I made a huge ruckus when I first stepped foot into this carriage. I was all like, UUUUUUUUUUUUUOH!â Lihilt said as he laughed and sat in his seat.
Laura and I took a seat in front of Lihilt.
âI always love seeing those kinds of reactions. I gave Third Princess Nastasia a ride a little earlier, and she took it all in stride.â
What he said stood out to me. âThird Princess Nastasia?â
I knew that name. Nastasia Valentine, the Third Princess. As her title would imply, she was a part of the royal family.
If I recall, she was in her twenties or so.
Lihilt replied, âYup, that same Nastasia. Sheâs been staying at the Countâs domain for a while now, which is where weâre headed. Thereâs a festival thatâs held at the Countâs domain every few years, and itâs customary for royal family members to participate in it. The Countâs domain doesnât have a Transportator in it, so I took her there with this carriage.â
âIf sheâs still staying there, we might be able to meet her.â
That caught Lauraâs attention. âWith a royal family memberâŠ?â Her shoulders began trembling. âA-A-Albert! What are people from the royal family like?! Do they actually glow golden?!â
âThey do not.â
âRainbow, then?!â
âI donât think colorâs the issue here.â
âWill it really be alrightâŠ? I-Is it ok for a commoner such as myself to enter her field of visionâŠ?â
Royalty, huhâŠ
Itâs been over 10 years since I last conducted myself as a noble, and my memories of then are getting foggy, so I donât know anything about Nastasiaâs personality. She was around 10 years old at the time, I believeâŠ
Iâm pretty sure she was hailed as being astonishingly beautiful as a child or something, but thatâs all I really remember.
âItâll be A-OK!â Lihilt responded in my steed. âMiss Nastasia is a super friendly person! I donât think she cares much about someone being a commoner or whatnot!â
âI hope so, butâŠâ Laura looked up at me. Her eyes were filled with anxiety. âI-If we⊠ever end up meeting royalty, then⊠I, um, would like you to teach me the ways of interacting with them, and stuff!â
âYou can count on me.â I smiled and nodded in response to reassure her.
Lihilt spoke up in a cheerful voice, âLetâs get moving, then!â
The high-speed carriage began moving, and we headed off to the Countâs territory.
Letâs turn back the clock a little, right around the height of autumn.
Third Princess Nastasia Valentine had arrived at Viscount Lihiltâs domain via Transportator.
She was traveling to the neighboring Countâs domain, and this was a quick stopping point.
Nastasia flashed a charming smile at Lihilt, who had come to welcome her.
âItâs a pleasure to meet you, Viscount Lihilt Strahm.â