Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire ♀ Volume 5 E-Book

Hayaken

• Herausgeber: J-Novel Club
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Serie: Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire ♀
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 178

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

Inglis, once a hero-king and now a beautiful squire-in-training, is on a dangerous infiltration mission to avoid an all-out war with the snowy northern country of Alcard. As Alcard’s Prince Lahti leads the way, Inglis’s sword arm and stomach alike call out for a northern tour of engaging fights and delicious food. But with Alcard under the oppressive rule of a hieral menace named Tiffanyer, Inglis is faced with her greatest enemy—hunger!

“You know, Rani, when I get mad about something, I get really mad.”

The wild north stirs before her!

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Chapter I: Inglis, Age 15—The Evil Hieral Menace (1)

Chapter II: Inglis, Age 15—The Evil Hieral Menace (2)

Chapter III: Inglis, Age 15—The Evil Hieral Menace (3)

Chapter IV: Inglis, Age 15—The Evil Hieral Menace (4)

Chapter V: Inglis, Age 15—The Evil Hieral Menace (5)

Extra: Inglis to the Infinite Power

Afterword

Color Illustrations

About J-Novel Club

Copyright

Landmarks

Table of Contents

Color Images

Chapter I: Inglis, Age 15—The Evil Hieral Menace (1)

Whoosh... Whoosh...

A chill wind howled, carrying snow along. The snow covering the nearby trees took on a red tint from the setting sun. This was where Inglis and her group would bid farewell to their country, Karelia. The border shared with their northern neighbor Alcard lay just ahead. It was already quite cold, but it would become even more frigid as night fell.

“Phew, it’s freezing. I’ve never been this cold in my life.” Leone shivered as she peered through the trees at a mountain stronghold. It seemed to be a guard station held by Alcard’s army.

Once they passed the border into Alcard, they’d be infiltrators. The expedition was organized around a single Flygear Port acting as a mobile base. It carried several Flygears—including Inglis and Rafinha’s personal aircraft, the Star Princess—as well as mountains of foodstuffs.

They were, to give a succinct description, quite conspicuous.

A Flygear Port soaring through the sky in the light of day would surely be spotted. Their plan instead was to wait for now and cross the border under the cover of darkness.

“Indeed, it is. The wind is stinging my cheeks,” Liselotte said. She was well prepared for the weather, with fur clothing and even earmuffs, but the unfamiliar chill sunk down to her bones.

“It’s because we avoided the plains and went through the mountains... The route through the plains is a bit warmer this time of year,” said Pullum, clearly a true native of Alcard.

“It’s not like we wanted to go this way, but it looked like Alcard’s army was gathering in the plains,” Rafinha said. Thanks to that, the group of students had needed to traverse the mountainous area of the border.

That didn’t make this path easy, though. There was a scattering of forts, requiring them to be cautious. Alcard’s army seemed to still be mobilizing and hadn’t made any formal moves yet.

If they were spotted here and provoked Alcard, word might be sent to the forces on the plains, causing them to accelerate their moves to war. There would be no way to avoid a direct clash between both countries, as the Karelian army was mobilizing as well.

The Karelian army was a combined force made up of the Royal Guard, under the direct authority of King Carlias, and a number of feudal levies, including—from Inglis and Rafinha’s hometown—the Ymir knights under Duke Bilford’s command. Their group’s mission was, before the two armies clashed and sustained significant casualties, to infiltrate Alcard and trigger a coup, a revolution, or a change of position by the country’s leaders, thus forcing Alcard’s army to pull back.

A connection to those leaders wouldn’t be a problem with Lahti along. He’d hidden his identity, but in truth he was Alcard’s prince. There was no one better suited to the task.

This had been Inglis’s idea, and if it worked, it could prevent a war. It could save the lives of many knights and soldiers as well as those of innocent civilians who could be caught up in the conflict. However, by Rafinha’s analysis, Inglis was perhaps more concerned with the chance to fight Alcard’s military elite, Highlanders, Prismers, or whatever else happened to cross her path.

Leone wasn’t going to press Inglis on that matter, considering she wouldn’t be able to stop her anyway, and she considered the mission meaningful and an important duty. She couldn’t afford to be preoccupied just because she was cold.

“Maybe I should exercise a little. I don’t want to be all stiff if anything happens.” She held up her dark greatsword Artifact and was about to start swinging it when Rafinha called out to her.

“Leone, Liselotte, eat this if you’re cold. It’ll warm you right up!” She flashed a grin as she gestured to a gigantic pot. They couldn’t help but wonder how many people such a large pot was meant to feed.

Inglis and Rafinha had specially ordered a pot intended for field kitchens, saying that a smaller one would be too much trouble to constantly refill. In it, a hearty seafood stew simmered.

“It’s good to fill your stomach with something warm when you’re cold, right?” Inglis said with a gentle smile.

Leone stared. “But we already ate.”

“I’m absolutely stuffed!” Liselotte said.

Ordinary people couldn’t possibly eat for as long as Inglis and Rafinha. They needed a different method to get warm now.

“Really? Then I guess we should finish it?” Rafinha suggested to Inglis.

“Stew is even more delicious in a place like this,” Inglis remarked.

“The setting really brings out the flavor. Agreed, toootally! ♪”

Lahti grimaced as he watched. “Ha ha ha... A bunch of food’s gone already. Will our supplies even last?”

“Well, we can always buy more on the way!” Rafinha insisted.

“We still have the military funding from His Majesty—and we’d like to try out some of the local specialties while we have the chance,” Inglis said.

“Exactly! That’s why we checked ahead of time for what’s tasty in Alcard!”

“I kinda think you should’ve been focusing on other things...” Lahti replied.

In the middle of their conversation, a boy approached nervously. This wasn’t Lahti, of course, but it was Ian. Thanks to Yua’s wanting to take him home with her, he was the sole survivor of his countless duplicates involved in an assassination attempt of King Carlias. The group had rescued him from Yua’s clutches, her kidnapping attempt nearly successful, and he was accompanying them on their mission.

He was the one most familiar with the current situation in Alcard. He’d been complicit in going after the Karelian king, but he was remorseful now. He also showed no malice toward Lahti, the prince of Alcard. Thus, everyone, not just Inglis, had decided he wasn’t a threat.

On the other hand, if he ended up being a problem, Inglis would naturally welcome that. She wanted as many tough opponents as she could get—as long as they didn’t lay a finger on Rafinha.

“Umm, Inglis, Rafinha. Would you like some more vegetables?” Ian asked.

“Sure! Thanks, Ian!” Inglis answered.

“Fish too, please,” Rafinha chimed in.

“Understood. I’ll go get them.” Ian was working hard to atone for his crimes. To be honest, it was a great help to have him along in the current circumstances.

“All right, I’m going to find the best spot to chow down! Maybe those cliffs,” Rafinha said.

“Don’t fall off. I’m going to try up that tree,” Inglis replied.

“Ah! So we’re leaning toward the higher, the tastier? Then maybe I’ll eat in a Flygear!”

“That’s a bad idea! It’ll draw attention!” Leone insisted, flustered by the pair’s losing track of why they needed to be covert in the first place.

With one-track minds for food, Inglis and Rafinha continued eating until the sun had completely set.

◆◇◆

The next day, Inglis and her group entered Alcardian territory. It was around dawn when they arrived at the town of Tsira, near the border. Since their plan was to secretly infiltrate the central regions of Alcard, it was theoretically best to march under cover of darkness and conceal themselves during the light of day. However, because the two countries’ armies inched closer to clashing as time went on, and because of the situation in Alcard, it was hard to know whether it would be better to advance with haste or to proceed with more caution. Making such a decision required as much information as possible.

Therefore, Inglis’s group concealed their Flygear Port in the forest on the outskirts of Tsira and made their way into the city for reconnaissance.

“All right, city living! I think the spicy food here is supposed to be good,” Rafinha announced.

“It’s perfect for warming you up too,” Inglis said.

“Ahh, I’m starving. Let’s hurry, Chris! I can’t wait to check out the town!”

“Me too, Rani. I can’t help imagining all the tasty food.”

As the two worked up an appetite, Leone broke in with a sigh. “You two, we’re not here to sample the local cuisine. We need to gather intelligence...”

Inglis chuckled. “You’re being too straightforward, Leone.”

“Huh?”

“People will be wary of us if we look like we’re hunting for information,” Rafinha remarked.

“We’d seem more natural as tourists who really were here to try the local cuisine. Right, Rani?” Inglis continued.

“Yeah, that’s what I mean. It’s not like I just want to eat here so I can get out of cooking, or that I want to sleep in an inn because a tent’s too cold!”

“Sheesh. You should take your turn cooking. We’re all supposed to do it, right?” Leone scolded.

“But you’re so much better at it...” Rafinha whined.

Leone had often cooked for herself in her hometown back in Ahlemin. After her brother, Leon, had abandoned his position as a holy knight and joined the Steelblood Front, the Olfas, who had come to be despised as a family of traitors, had lost their servants. Leone had been forced to take care of herself—and so, her cooking skills had improved. She had been the one to prepare the stew the group had loved the night before.

“That line won’t work on me. It’s a knight’s duty to eat well and stay in shape while on the march. That’s why you need to learn how to cook.”

“But the knights’ academy doesn’t have cooking classes,” Rafinha argued.

“I’m not the best at cooking either, so it would be nice to eat in town,” Liselotte chimed in.

Leone sighed. “Even you, Liselotte?”

“See, Liselotte gets it,” Rafinha said.

“After all, it would truly be a shame if you fell ill with a stomachache from my cooking.”

“Huh?!” Leone gasped. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, when I made a meal for my father, he became ill...”

“Th-That just happens sometimes. I’m sure it wasn’t the food. Chancellor Arcia has poor health to begin with...”

“But it’s happened more than once. More than twice, even.”

“I-I see...”

“I imagine things have been hard on him,” Inglis remarked. The former chancellor had seemed to be a stiff and formal man, but his risking his health repeatedly for his daughter’s sake revealed a more devoted side. Inglis felt a commonality with him in that parental love. Rafinha was a granddaughter to her rather than a daughter, but still a dearly adored one. It was nothing to her to put herself at physical risk for Rafinha’s sake. She hoped for Rafinha’s happiness from the bottom of her heart—as long as it didn’t involve illicit affairs with the opposite sex. Rafinha was still too young for that.

Having quietly listened until now, Ian chimed in, “D-Don’t worry. I’ll help out. If anything comes up that might look suspicious, I’ll point it out.” His fur hood was pulled up tight, so his eyes couldn’t be seen. Ian was Alcardian nobility, and Tsira was near his family’s lands, so he was being cautious so that residents wouldn’t recognize him.

Next to him, Lahti also wore his hood in the same way. As Alcard’s prince, it was even more important that he conceal his identity. Pullum had no need, so she was wearing her hood normally.

“Thanks. That’ll help,” Inglis replied to Ian.

“Of course. If there’s anything I can do, just ask. At the very least, it lets me make up for what I’ve done...”

“Well, anyway, I’m hungry, so I’m off to eat! Then I’m going to sleep in a bed in a warm room! It’s important to be well rested!” Rafinha called out.

“So first up should be an inn with a kitchen!” Inglis agreed.

“Yeah! Ah, how about over there?”

“Looks good to me.”

“Then let’s go for it.”

“Ah, hold on, Rani. You’ll slip on the snow. Don’t go too fast.”

“Eeek!”

“As I was just saying...”

Lahti laughed. “You two definitely look like tourists.”

Things were going well so far.

That is, until Inglis and Rafinha spoke with an innkeeper.

“I’m sorry you came all the way here, but we’re not serving meals right now. There isn’t enough food. It isn’t just us either. Every restaurant in town is the same.” The innkeeper sighed, frowning.

“Whaaat?!” the two girls yelled.

Grrrgl!

The pair’s screams and stomachs echoed in unison.

“So...the restaurant’s closed?!” Rafinha asked.

Inglis was in just as much of a panic. “And all the others are too?!”

They wouldn’t be able to enjoy the famous local cuisine at this rate. Having no spicy delicacies was coming as a shock to them both.

“Yes. We’re still offering lodging, so I can get you a room... Would you like that?” the innkeeper asked.

“If everywhere is the same, we should at least have a place to sleep. I guess it’s our only choice,” Inglis said.

“Yeah, agreed...” The others nodded along with Rafinha. They were short on sleep since they’d been traveling at night. They all wanted to rest.

“But why is there so little food? Was there some kind of disaster?”

“No,” the innkeeper answered. “They took most of the food as an offering to Highland... We’re having trouble finding food for ourselves, never mind the restaurants. I haven’t eaten since yesterday.”

Suddenly a rumbling sound came from someone’s stomach. It didn’t belong to Inglis or Rafinha this time. “Oh my, how embarrassing. Do excuse me,” the innkeeper said.

“It’s okay! We—” Rafinha began.

“We’re the same!” Inglis finished.

Grrrgl!

“Aha ha ha! Healthy young ladies indeed.” The innkeeper’s expression brightened somewhat.

“That’s terrible, though. Taking so much food that you’re left like this...” Rafinha said.

“The Prism Flow increased, and a magicite beast that could have been a Prismer appeared. So they wanted more Artifacts, and if possible a hieral menace too...and made that the townspeople’s problem,” Inglis summarized, understanding the situation.

Artifacts and hieral menaces did not come without a price. In fact, they were quite difficult to obtain. Alcard would already have had them if the price wasn’t so high. As a result, someone had to shoulder the burden—they could see that clearly.

“Of course not. The Artifacts and the hieral menace would be to protect the people from magicite beasts, right? So why take the food away from the people you’re protecting? Why make them suffer?” Rafinha asked.

“You can’t give what you don’t have.”

Whether by requisitioning food in quantities large enough to starve its own people or by mobilizing its army for an attack on Karelia, Alcard had chosen the path it saw fit for obtaining Artifacts and a hieral menace.

Rafinha paused, thinking over Inglis’s words. “I don’t like that. It’s not right at all.”

“I thought you’d say so, Rani.”

The idea would be unacceptable to Rani, young and with a firm sense of justice. She also probably didn’t know how to solve this contradiction. That wasn’t really a problem for her. If it became necessary, Inglis would do something about it. She loved Rafinha’s rash, childlike sense of justice.

Putting her own feelings aside, they were in Alcard to get the country’s leadership to change its policies and pull back its army. If things went well, Alcard would naturally break off its agreement with Highland. That would mean the need for such harsh requisitions from its people would disappear as well.

That would present no major problems, though some measures would be necessary to deal with the weakened countermeasures against magicite beasts.

The root cause was the presence of magicite beasts on a never-before-seen scale in Alcard. It was only natural that the country’s leadership would feel a need to adopt new measures to deal with the new threat.

“Argh... This is just wrong! It’s unacceptable!” Lahti grumbled. Like Rafinha, he was young and had a strong sense of what was right and wrong. Inglis considered him a friend, but he wasn’t as adorable as Rafinha, so she’d leave him to the person who was his own soothing influence.

“C-Calm down. Getting worked up like this won’t solve anything,” Pullum said.

“But, Pullum—! What in the world is Da—uh, His Majesty doing?! I can’t believe he’d put everyone in this situation!”

The innkeeper watched the group with concern. “Please do not fight. His Majesty is ill. If he were well, this never would have happened. That’s what I believe.”

“His Majesty is ill?! When I left Alcard, he was still in good health...” Ian said, shifting his gaze to his feet. “But I suppose his worries have taken their toll. It doesn’t surprise me that he’d become ill.”

“Then why did this happen? Who’s making you do this?” Rafinha asked the innkeeper.

“It’s that hieral menace! She came from Highland, saying we owed a debt and we’d better pay up!”

Rafinha gasped. “Huh?! A hieral menace?!”

“How could a hieral menace do something so evil?!” Leone cried.

“I... I can’t believe it!” Liselotte said.

Those three were especially shocked. Being from Karelia, their only experiences with hieral menaces were with Eris and Ripple, who were noble, compassionate, and dutiful in their protection of surface dwellers from magicite beasts. Whether in terms of power or spirit, they were truly the country’s guardians. Even the Steelblood Front’s hieral menace, Sistia, while in a different position, had a sense of duty and a strong will like theirs.

Inglis had gotten the impression that hieral menaces were generally noble in spirit and dedicated to protecting others, but perhaps that was just how Eris, Ripple, and Sistia were. Maybe it wasn’t universal.

“Hieral menaces are terrible!” the innkeeper insisted. “She came to this town, and as cute as she was, she slaughtered anyone who resisted...or at best, they were taken away. No one has returned.”

“I see... So hieral menaces aren’t all here to protect us, you’re saying,” Inglis replied.

“Exactly, young lady. I’m telling you this for your own good. Don’t go against her. The knights and soldiers of this country still show some mercy, but the hieral menace and the Highlanders with her are absolutely merciless.”

Rafinha’s face flushed and she shook her head at the innkeeper’s warning. “We understand, but they can’t treat people like this! We need to do something!”

Lahti was fired up as well. “Yeah, I can’t ignore this!”

“W-Wait. Who knows what will happen if you let your anger get the better of you,” Ian cautioned.

“Yes, we need to be calm,” Pullum said, also trying to soothe Lahti. “Inglis, help us talk some sense into him...”

Inglis shook her head. “Sorry. I can’t let this go either.”

“Why...?”

“I can’t ignore an evil hieral menace! For the sake of justice and peace in this country! Ma’am, if you would. Does the hieral menace come here often? What kind of person is she? Do you know if she has any powerful abilities?”

“Huh? Err... I suppose she—”

“Cut it out, Chris!” Rafinha pulled on Inglis’s ears.

“Oww! R-Rani?! Why are you—”

“You’re not supposed to be like that! You’re listening to the townspeople talk about their troubles, but you’ve got a happy twinkle in your eye!”

“Well, I want to enjoy myself for once... I didn’t get to fight last time. You had all the fun.”

“You and Yua got to beat on each other!”

“But that didn’t feel like actual combat. Rani, you and the others had a real fight, didn’t you? I think there’s experience you can only gain while fighting seriously—”

“Ugh! That’s your response?! That wasn’t my point—”

“I mean, we did fight, though it didn’t really come to anything...” Ian weakly said. He made a noise that was partly a sigh, partly a bitter chuckle.

“I saw that hieral menace, Tiffanyer,” the innkeeper began. “She had long hair, a soft color like clear water. Big round eyes. She was really pretty. Just as much as you are. You’re surprisingly pretty too.” She was staring at Inglis.

“Thank you... Did anything else stand out about her?” Inglis asked.

“She had many Highlanders with her, all of them clamoring, ‘Oh, Lady Tiffanyer! Oh, Lady Tiffanyer!’ It honestly seemed rather silly, but they were terribly cruel. They forcibly took our food, and as I said before, they slaughtered or dragged away anyone who tried to resist... All the while, that hieral menace watched like she was enjoying it. Some warriors saw an opening and tried to attack her directly, but she dismembered them in an instant—it was over so fast.” Her face went pale as she thought back to the scene. “Hieral menaces are supposed to protect us from magicite beasts, but she was more terrifying than the beasts themselves... Some of my own neighbors and acquaintances...”

“I see... They sound like a pretty violent bunch.”

That wasn’t bad. If Inglis encountered them, she could expect a quality fight. The hieral menaces Inglis knew never fought without a good reason.

A hieral menace who would attack without provocation was beyond Inglis’s wildest dreams. It meant she wouldn’t have to go through all the trouble of coming up with a reason for a battle. The local food situation was not good, which meant there was little hope of enjoying the local cuisine. If she couldn’t eat, then she wanted to fight—her original goal anyway—without letting the chance slip away.

“Do they come to this town often?” Inglis asked.

“The hieral menace has only come once, but her Highlander underlings visit occasionally—several times so far. And every time, someone disappears...”