TL/ED – Miso

By the time I reappeared before Linmel, the persuasion was already over.

“J-Jern? Where did you go?”

“I just had a little chat. Right?”

Linmel stared at me in shock after I’d suddenly vanished into the Deep Sea. I gave the fake Lumia a light tap on the shoulder, and she nodded frantically, her face drained of all color.

“Y-yes, yes. I’m sorry. I, I’m a fake princess who infiltrated under an infiltration mission.”

“Wow, so it’s true?”

Of course, this one must have been prepared to die too, but no matter how one was prepared, it wasn’t as if the manner of death didn’t matter.

Watching a shark’s tentacles slowly coil around her feet, a mouth splitting open in four directions to reveal rows of yellowed teeth packed tightly inside- she had admitted defeat and agreed to confess everything.

She seemed like she never wanted to enter the Deep Sea again, no matter what. Head bowed low, she began making excuses.

“B-but. I really don’t know much about the client.”

“…What?”

“The ones who commissioned us this time, it wasn’t just some noble or organization… it had a national seal on it.”

“…”

Linmel wore an expression that said she didn’t understand what any of this meant, but I felt my heart slowly turning cold.

An order stamped with a national seal. There was only one thing that could mean.

“You’re saying this was a state-level commission?”

“Our superiors also conveyed that the likelihood is high.”

“Which country?”

“Br-Branhelm.”

Branhelm. Not an enemy of the Empire. It was, in fact, a city-state located near the capital.

…It would have been better if it were an enemy nation.

As I clenched my jaw, Linmel asked with a bewildered expression.

“Um… Jern, what’s going on?”

“A vassal state has raised its banner in revolt.”

“I don’t understand what that means!”

“A tributary state, meaning one of the nations that belongs to the Empire, is trying to start a rebellion.”

“Why?”

“The reasons would have been brewing for a long time. They’re doing it now because this is the perfect opportunity.”

After Sharmia had effectively inherited the position of Emperor, the Empire had grown so powerful that no one could challenge it.

Naturally, the discontented tributary states had no choice but to keep their heads down. The most terrifying fact for them was that Sharmia was still very young.

If she truly became Emperor, there would be no chance of defying the Empire for decades to come, so no matter what feelings they harbored, they would have had to stay put.

Until the Crimson Circle appeared. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

‘They’re exploiting a moment of weakness…’

It was only recently that Decay had wreaked havoc across the entire territory of the Empire.

If not now, there would be no chance. Now is the time! It would be nice if it were that kind of reckless action, but since this was the work of a nation, they wouldn’t have acted so carelessly. Especially when it involved touching the Empire’s princess.

They were preparing something. I sprang to my feet, pulled out a gag, and bound the fake Lumia’s mouth.

“Linmel, thank you for the help. I need to go now.”

“You’re going to rescue Lumia?”

“Yeah.”

It must have been a plan they had built and deliberated over for a long time. I may have caught on early, but even that was likely within their expectations.

No, in fact, their plan had already succeeded. All we’d managed to do was arrive at the murder scene and examine the victim’s body.

“I need to go right now. If this is a nation-level operation, it won’t end with simply kidnapping Lumia and demanding certain conditions.”

“What about Princess Sharmia? Aren’t you going to tell her?”

“Right now, it would only be a burden.”

Sharmia hadn’t foreseen the future where Lumia would be kidnapped.

That meant she was using every ounce of her attention on the Crimson Circle’s movements. Throwing a massive, unsolvable problem at her would be wrong; it was better to put it off until after doing everything I could first.

As I was gathering my things, Linmel stood before me with a resolute expression.

“Jern, take me with you!”

“…”

Of course I’d known Linmel would say this.

The reason “no” didn’t come easily was twofold.

First, if I had no intention of explaining the situation and needed to move right now, there was no one I could bring along besides Linmel.

Second, Linmel’s skills were far higher than I had initially thought.

‘Taking her along wouldn’t be a disadvantage…’

With only slight exaggeration, she already possessed the skill level of a Heaven’s Judgement Knight.

As if sensing my hesitation, she pleaded even more earnestly.

“I know Lumia. She’s a princess, but before that, she’s just an ordinary girl who likes to show off, hates her sister while spending lavishly, and she’s my friend. If there’s even one place where I can be of help, I really want to.”

Her words were sincere. And so I answered with equal sincerity.

“Alright. Promise me you’ll never say those words again, to anyone, and I’ll take you.”

“I promise!”

At this level, that kind of irreverence could warrant execution. Once this was over, I’d need to give her a lesson on what it means to be a princess.

I hid the fake Lumia safely inside the Workshop, stepped outside, borrowed a horse from nearby, and relayed the necessary details to Linmel.

“By the time the carriage reaches the capital, word that Lumia is missing will spread through the Imperial Palace. Of course, the rumors won’t spread instantly. Our goal is to find Lumia as quickly as possible and bring her back, then wrap it up as nothing more than a simple escapade. If we don’t, it’ll cause far too much chaos for the Empire.”

“Find Lumia! Got it!”

“Branhelm isn’t far from the capital. By horse, we should get there in a day.”

“Hm? We could get there faster, though?”

“How?”

Instead of answering, Linmel grabbed my shoulders and lifted me up.

Before I could even resist, I found myself sitting on her shoulders in a piggyback position.

“…What are you doing?”

“I’m going to run, so hold on tight!”

“?”

Linmel was not speaking figuratively.

-BOOM! The ground where her feet struck cratered as though it would burst, and Linmel sprinted at breakneck speed.

The tremendous acceleration nearly folded me in half at the waist. Gritting my teeth and slowly lifting my upper body, I saw a carriage running at full speed beside us gradually falling behind.

“How’s that? I’m faster than a horse, right?”

I moved my lips with every ounce of strength I had to answer her proud shout.

“You… this… you’ll have to run for at least eight hours…”

“Yeah! I can do it!”

“…”

Looking at her as she declared it with supreme confidence, I forced down the thought that surfaced in my mind.

…The thought that maybe Karos hadn’t created a knight, but a horse.

***

Astonishingly, Linmel really did run for eight straight hours without rest and arrived at Branhelm.

“Ehhh? What is this?”

And even then, without a single sign of fatigue, she gazed up at the walls.

I answered the wonder in her eyes.

“Branhelm is a country the Empire destroyed. But the king and his vassals surrendered quickly and made sure no unnecessary blood was shed, so they were allowed to continue their…”

“No, not that. That.”

The walls- had no gate.

Instead, a massive river flowed ceaselessly into the walls, and everyone entering or exiting, even the guards, conducted all their business by boat.

The boats came in all different sizes.

Merchant vessels were so large they barely squeezed through the opening, while some people entered using equipment like kayaks.

“Eighty percent of Branhelm is a great lake. The buildings where people live are built in a ring around the lake. It’s supposedly the final destination where nearly every river converges, so they say every freshwater fish in the world lives here.”

“…Wow, wooow…”

“What is it?”

“It looks like so much fun…”

Linmel murmured as if entranced, watching the kayaks, but soon slapped her cheeks lightly and shook her head.

“No, this isn’t the time for that. We need to save Lumia. This is enemy territory!”

“Enemy territory, well, not yet.”

I nodded, glaring at Branhelm.

Obviously, a city-state like this couldn’t have single-handedly defied the Empire and kidnapped a princess.

There had to be some other backing behind it.

And the absolute worst-case scenario among those possibilities was…

‘A scenario where they’ve already finished negotiations with the other tributary states… perhaps.’

If all the tributary states drew their swords at once, it would be like a bomb with its fuse already lit. A threat on par with the Crimson Circle.

My resolve hardened further. I led Linmel forward with long, determined strides.

“Let’s go for now, looks like they’re renting kayaks over there.”

“Okay!”

Together with Linmel, I took a kayak and entered Branhelm.

“Purpose of visit?”

“Sightseeing, and our identification is…”

“What, it’s just kids? Let them through.”

“Yay.”

Fortunately, the guards saw that it was only children and decided we posed no threat, letting us pass without issue.

Linmel had changed out of her armor into ordinary children’s clothing, and my robe looked a bit too shabby to pass for a mage’s, which only made us look more harmless.

The moment we entered, I activated Current Sense and scanned the surroundings.

[Damn it… damn it!]

[What the hell!]

[Absolutely dreadful.]

“?”

I frowned immediately.

The citizens’ language was extremely coarse, and they all looked furious.

No matter where I listened, there was nothing but cursing, sighs of despair, and groans.

‘It’s not a plague, though?’

[Hey, you catch anything over there?]

[Another bust today. It’s been almost a week now, hasn’t it?]

They just seemed very, very angry. Most of it started with complaints about the fish not biting, then spiraled into having no money, merchants leaving, and the city going to ruin.

As I slowly took stock of their anger, I began to piece together the reason.

[Can’t help it. After that cursed snow fell, all the fish died…]

Extreme Ice.

The climate upheaval that thing had unleashed had struck Branhelm far more devastatingly than anywhere else.

The vast majority of the population had been living comfortably off the golden fishing grounds where new fish constantly flowed in, and then it all froze over. It had effectively reached the point where maintaining daily life was difficult.

So they’d planned to declare war on the Empire to divert attention from that. I was following the thread of reasoning when I realized this wasn’t the time for it and examined the surroundings more carefully.

“Jern, let me search for Lumia in secret. If it’s buildings of this scale, I think I can search them all within three days.”

Linmel surveyed the buildings around the lake with confidence. She probably wasn’t just saying it for show, and considering her speed, it was entirely feasible.

But this time, there was no need.

“-No, I just found her.”

“…Huh? With magic?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow! That’s Jern for you! Where is she?”

“There.”

I pointed to a structure in the center of the lake.

A massive lighthouse, built to guide the boats that came in through the open waters even at night.

Lumia was confined at its very top.

Though there was something a bit odd about the situation…

[Hmm, bring me more strawberries.]

[Ah, yes.]

Lumia looked extremely comfortable.

She was just sprawled out on a bed, eating fruit and reading some bizarre novel.

‘…Why is she like that?’

Her demeanor was so carefree that I genuinely wondered whether she even realized she’d been kidnapped.

But the moment I tried steering the kayak closer to the lighthouse, a sharp whistle pierced the air.

“You there! Stop!”

Soldiers on speedboats cut swiftly through the water, closing in on us. They glared and began tapping their oars threateningly.

“Do not approach the lighthouse. It is a restricted area.”

“Ah, yes. Understood.”

Well, that was to be expected.

There was no way they’d let anyone freely approach the place where they were keeping Lumia.

Looking at the speedboats packed tightly around the lighthouse, Linmel asked worriedly.

“Jern, what do we do now?”

After a moment of deliberation, I- recalled a scene from a movie and let the corner of my mouth curl up slightly.

“Linmel, can you hold your breath?”

“Hm? Yeah.”

“-Then let’s swim there underwater.”

“…”

Hm.

That was the first time I’d ever seen Linmel make a face of absolute disgust.

*****

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