Five days have passed since the Hihishirokane was completed.
I decided to have Ed craft my new sword, and he’s already started the process. However, it seems that even for a High Class material like Hihishirokane, the consumption of magical power is immense, leaving Ed exhausted every day for the past few days.
Because of this, it’s not finished yet, but he says it should be done in a few more days.
Until then, I’ll be using Ed’s Azure Silver Sword – Pale Green, Type 2, but I’m really looking forward to the completion of my new sword.
Today, we’re here in Memoria for preparations for the General Academy’s entrance ceremony.
The entrance ceremony is in about a week, so preparations are in full swing, and I’ve been running around non-stop.
In between, I’ve also been hunting to familiarize myself and my magic power with the Wingbit Liberator, so I’ve truly been busy lately.
The Helios Orb apparently has more ambient magic power than Earth, and on top of that, I’ve evolved into an Element Human. Thanks to that, I’m told I’m adapting faster than expected, which is a small comfort.
Even so, they say it’s still not enough to successfully perform the Dual Heart Fusion Technique.
“Yamato, it seems there’s a shortage of dormitory supplies.”
“Even if you say supplies, I can’t arrange for anything if I don’t know what’s missing.”
I’m currently at the student dormitory of Memoria General Academy.
The entrance ceremony is on April 3rd, but we can move into the dormitories from the 1st. Therefore, we need to check supplies, furnishings, and facilities.
However, my mother, who offered to help, was told by the butler, who serves as the dorm mother, that there was a shortage of supplies.
“She said magic stones. I believe the baths and toilets are also magical tools, so they require magic stones, right?”
“Ah, magic stones. Understood, I’ll arrange for them.”
Magical tools won’t function without magic stones, so they are absolutely essential.
The bath requires water and fire attribute magic stones, and the toilet requires wind attribute magic stones. I need to arrange for them immediately.
I can buy them at the Trader’s Guild, but there’s also a possibility that Memoria alone won’t be able to supply them, so I’ll need to find out how many are needed first.
“Did she say anything else?”
“No, she didn’t mention anything specific.”
“Understood, thank you.”
The shortage of magic stones is a problem, but it seems everything else is fine.
Due to the regular overhunting of Orcs, the price of fire attribute magic stones has dropped to less than half of what it was before. However, the prices for water and wind attribute magic stones remain unchanged, which is a surprisingly significant expense.
On the other hand, overhunting the corresponding demi-humans like Sahagins and Kobolds would only lead to problems.
The evolution of monsters is a mystery, but there’s a theory that it’s not good for them to be too numerous or too scarce.
This can also disrupt market prices and have significant economic repercussions, so overhunting is not recommended unless there’s an extreme reason.
While Orcs in Mylight are heavily overhunted, this is believed to be due to the influence of Demonic Crystals, and many of them are evolving. Even if we hunt them to the point of extinction, we can’t see the bottom, so it’s deemed unavoidable.
“Was everything okay with the facilities?”
“I didn’t ask about that either.”
“Then after we do a round, we’ll move to the school buildings.”
It seems the dormitory has no major problems other than the magic stone shortage. I’ll check the rooms and then head to the main school building, and finally to MINERVA, which is adjacent to the Scholar’s building.
Moving to the main building, after a brief exchange with the teachers who were having a meeting in the faculty room, I knock on the adjacent headmaster’s office and enter.
“Welcome, Lord Yamato Tenshaku. We have been expecting you.”
In the headmaster’s office, the man who greets us is Alphonse Foalrider, a Dragonewt who serves as the headmaster of Memoria General Academy.
While the General Academy is separate from the Scholar’s Guild branch, within the academy, it’s akin to extraterritoriality in some respects, so the headmaster is treated the same as a Scholar Master.
This means Memoria effectively has two Scholar Masters. However, while Scholar Masters focus on guild operations and are not involved in academy management, the Headmaster focuses on academy management. Thus, even though they belong to the same guild, they operate as if they were separate guilds.
“Headmaster, how are the preparations proceeding?”
“There are some delays, but we expect to be ready for the entrance ceremony.”
The partial delays are concerning, but if it’s ready for the entrance ceremony, it should be fine.
“Also, regarding the Count Enlo Istlias, have we heard anything from that foolish prince?”
“Yes. He said it’s impossible for him to live in the dormitories and demanded that a mansion and a butler be prepared for him. Of course, we refused outright.”
As expected, he’s making absurd demands.
Memoria General Academy is an educational institution that even the Celestial Emperor and the Three Dukes support, so even a king of a nation cannot act arbitrarily.
I have no obligation to fulfill the whims of a mere prince of a county, nor do I see any necessity for it.
“That is perfectly fine. If he says anything further, please forward it to me.”
“I apologize, but he has already made contact. He stated that if his residence as a prince cannot be prepared, he may even have the right to destroy Memoria.”
“Whoa…”
Alphonse’s words were so shocking that even my mother was taken aback.
This is a complete declaration of war.
“Then, Headmaster, I apologize for the trouble, but could you please convey our reply: ‘Try it if you can’? He will likely arrive soon, and I will also request surveillance from the Order’s Guild.”
“Understood. Good grief, I never expected such trouble in our very first year.”
After conveying our immediate course of action, my mother and I left the headmaster’s office. I can understand Alphonse’s befuddled feelings.
Frankly, I can’t comprehend what made him think he could destroy Memoria.
No, I believe he’s laboring under the grand delusion that the world revolves around him. Perhaps he’s simply displeased that things aren’t going his way.
“Yamato, isn’t that boy a prince? Are you sure it’s okay to be so defiant?”
“There’s no problem at all. Emperor Reinhardt and the other kings intend to make an example of that fool. Although I didn’t expect it to escalate this far.”
My mother worries about me making an enemy of a prince, but in reality, the Count Enlo Istlias could face the revocation of its independence, and the entire clan could be executed for such outrageous behavior.
Although it only gained independence in January, Count Enlo Istlias has only been granted authority slightly above that of a noble’s territory.
Their status has been set below the Celestial Emperor, the Three Kings, the Three Dukes, and even the Yamato Tenshaku.
Certainly, they are above the Dukes, but that is solely because the Count is a King. In reality, they can be considered equal.
“Huh? Even though he’s a king, his status is below yours, Yamato?”
“I believe that will change eventually, but for now, it remains the same. Although they gained independence, they were originally a defeated nation, so there are bound to be restrictions.”
Originally, we had planned to grant independence to a different region before Count Enlo Istlias. However, the former Count, now King Istlias, is a man of integrity, and his country was relatively stable. Therefore, it was judged that independence could be granted with minimal effort, leading to the establishment of the nation.
However, the eldest son, who should have been the crown prince, is this idiotic fool. That’s the only concern.
The condition for his succession was to graduate safely. But given his constant behavior, he has already been disowned by his own father, Count Cuervo Istlias. The next in line for the throne is the second son, Prince Agira, with the condition that he graduates safely.
“So, that child is already decided to be disinherited?”
“It would have been better if he could have reformed, but it’s impossible no matter what. And as a side effect of this education, his mother is also scheduled for house arrest.”
If this were a commoner, the situation would be different. But for royalty and nobility, they are nothing but a hundred harms.
Therefore, the foolish prince has been disinherited and is slated for house arrest. In Count Enlo Istlias itself, a containment tower has even been built, designated for the imprisonment of serious criminals.
I don’t know how many years he has left to live, but once placed under house arrest, he will likely never see the light of day again.
“He’s still a child, you don’t have to go that far…”
“Unfortunately, that’s not possible. It’s the same on Earth, isn’t it? Like with supremacists.”
“That’s true, but…”
On the battlefield, my mother acts as the queen of the war goddess who brings death, but she is inherently a kind person.
However, in Helios Orb, which is a monarchical world, such actions by a prince could lead to the division of the country, or even its destruction in the worst-case scenario.
Therefore, strict education is imposed on royalty and nobility. The Solemn nobles, however, were emboldened by their privileged status, and their mindset is vastly different from that of Amister and Torencia.
That is precisely why such severe punishment is being imposed.
“If they adopted democracy… they just gained independence, so would that be impossible?”
“Yeah. Besides, I don’t think introducing democracy carelessly is a good idea.”
“Why… Ah, looking at the politicians in Japan, it’s understandable why you’d think that.”
That’s right.
Although it’s calm now, the opposition parties before the Third World War were apparently petty and only engaged in nitpicking. They even changed their party names to evade responsibility.
Such people are hardly politicians.
It’s not necessarily the case in Helios Orb, but the Libertarian Federation was a parliamentary system. Without approval, they couldn’t move their military, and as a result, they couldn’t even mount a proper defense when invaded by Solemn, due to the presence of traitors colluding with Solemn.
Due to this, more than half of their territory was occupied. In retrospect, it’s no exaggeration to say that Libertà was annihilated.
If the Federation Heavenly Empire, which is already at odds with the demon country of Abaricia, were to face such a situation, it would undoubtedly lead to destruction.
“Ah, I see. Because they’re in conflict with the Divine Emperor’s country, if they introduced democracy and were opposed to dispatching troops or something, the damage would be immense.”
“If it were just that, it would be fine. Absolute monarchy has its problems, but that’s why the Three Kings exist. I don’t think we need to do things the same way as Earth.”
“That might be true. So, even if the opponent is a child, you won’t show leniency.”
“That’s probably how it will be. Moreover, that brat threatened to destroy this Memoria. Even as a joke, there are things that can and cannot be said. If a fool who can’t even grasp that becomes king, it’s too much to hope that the country will only fall into disarray.”
If, by some mischance, the foolish son were to ascend to the throne, the succession of Count Istlias would undoubtedly be revoked.
However, Ralva would not accept this and would likely raise an army.
The soldiers of Count Enlo Istlias would become part of the Soldier’s Guild, and it’s unlikely that the Soldiers would side with him. However, he likely has private soldiers, and he might rally them.
While that might not be enough to shake the Amister-Philias Federation Heavenly Empire, it would undoubtedly cause unrest among the populace. Furthermore, a substitute monarch would need to be appointed in the ruler’s absence, leading to an increase in workload.
“So, despite the harshness, this Prince Ralva is to be disinherited and absolutely kept out of the public eye?”
“I sympathize with the circumstances of his education in Solemn, but his father, Count Cuervo, is a respectable man, so that’s no excuse. And his younger brother is very well-behaved.”
The fact that Prince Agira, the second prince, is diligent and capable is also part of the background for Count Enlo Istlias’s independence being recognized.
“Mother, this is the last one.”
While explaining the internal affairs of Count Enlo Istlias, we continued our inspection and checks, finally arriving at the Coliseum.
As the Glacian facility began construction as MINERVA, the General Academy’s Coliseum has come to be known as the Memoria MINERVA.
Of course, MINERVA alone is understandable, but it’s necessary to indicate its location, so it gradually became known by this name.
“Oh, it looks like someone is using it.”
“Today is open to Hunters.”
Even though we are swamped with preparations for the entrance ceremony, it doesn’t concern the Hunters.
So, many Hunters are still diligently engaging in mock battles using MARS today.
“Since we’re here, shall we watch for a bit?”
“Yes!”
She looks happy, but it probably won’t be of any reference to my mother, and I’m not even sure if she’ll find it enjoyable.
Still, opportunities to watch people fight are surprisingly rare, so I’ll take a look as well.
