“–So today, you came to talk about sushi?”
When asked, Toko nodded despite thinking it sounded foolish hearing just that part.
“Well, that’s important, but there’s one other thing I wanted to discuss. It’s about that situation with the mithril.”
“Oh?”
The origins of the suspicion can be traced back to when Lohengrin, the Margrave – that is, Suzuha’s older brother – rounded up and captured the commanding officers of the Uentas Principality who had been occupying his territory.
It was then that we first realized the commanding officers of the Uentas Principality were excessively equipped with mithril weapons and armor.
Suzuha nii naively admired them, saying things like “As expected of commanders.” But standing beside him, Yuzuriha just tilted her head quizzically.
As a duchess and with extensive military experience herself, Yuzuriha knew that mithril armaments did not come cheap.
Even for a minor or middling noble house with history, such mithril wares would be considered treasured heirlooms.
There was no way mere frontier commanding officers could so casually possess and outfit themselves with such equipment.
This is why Yuzuriha wrote to Queen Toko to report the situation. Upon receiving the letter, Toko ordered an investigation into the source of the mithril.
After all, the widespread circulation of mithril armaments among enemy forces could only be seen as a threat. And so…
“To get to the point, we believe there is a hidden, large-scale mithril mine somewhere in our country.”
“…Was it discovered recently?”
“I don’t think so. In all my years as princess, I never saw any signs of such a thing in this country.”
“So it has been secretly mined from long ago, and this mithril has been sold to the Uentas Principality for just as long?”
“The mining itself has been that way, yes. But I don’t think the large-scale selling of the mithril started until recently. Otherwise, no matter how strong the beautiful Yuzuriha is as our kingdom’s greatest female knight, there’s no way our country’s ramshackle military forces could keep winning against enemies decked out in mithril equipment, right?”
“…I see…”
The duke crossed his arms and thought for a moment, arriving at one conclusion.
“So in other words, they obtained funds for the coup by selling off massive amounts of mithril at prices destructive to the market.”
“Yeah, something like that. Not sure which prince’s faction was behind it though.”
“You have no leads at all?”
“Don’t ask the impossible.”
Toko shrugged helplessly.
“How many nobles do you think were utterly crushed for the crime of rebelling against me in the coup? The potential suspects are far too numerous. And on top of that, Yuzuriha went out of her way to grotesquely obliterate any nobles she disliked to show off to Suzuha nii, so most of the evidence and even the noble houses themselves were completely erased.”
“…Mmm…”
“But looking at it that way, Suzuha nii really is the savior of our nation in more ways than one! Whichever side he was on, if they were illicitly selling off that much mithril to the enemy nation, then no matter who won the civil war, our country would have been destroyed within a few years. He’s so clueless he probably didn’t even realize that!”
“Indeed. I am immensely grateful to that man.”
—This was undoubtedly the sincere feeling of them both.
As the highest-ranking nobles who received elite education befitting their status, the two of them had a patriotism for their nation surpassing that of common people.
To the extent that for the sake of their country’s survival, they would be willing to sacrifice even their own lives.
Which is why towards the youth who was a hero that saved their nation, they felt nothing but pure, inexpressible gratitude.
However, the reason this did not show on the surface was likely because the two were scheming how to somehow bring this hero into their families—
“Still, the mass mining of mithril is a bit concerning.”
“What is?”
“Haven’t you heard the saying? ‘The more powerful a monster becomes, the more it craves the magic silver mithril.'”
At the duke’s words, Toko made a deeply unpleasant face.
“Don’t even joke about that. It’s just an unfounded folktale, isn’t it?”
“One would think so.”
“And places like that mithril mine should have proper altars and offerings to ward off any curses or evil, right?”
“Normally, yes. But I can’t imagine those fools who would sell off enough mithril to disrupt the entire market having the wisdom or leisure for such things.”
“…You don’t think…”
“…………”
“…………”
Cold sweat formed on Toko’s brow.
As the director of the Royal Academy for Elite Female Knights, Toko knew.
That folktale had one other variation:
‘The whiter the monster, the more it craves the magic silver mithril—’
The image of the monster representing the pinnacle of those two conditions flashed in her mind.
Toko shuddered violently, as if to say “You can’t be serious.”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
5
At first, I had planned to go to the mithril mine alone.
But when she heard about it, Yuzuriha-san adamantly insisted on coming along.
“But Yuzuriha-san, looking at the map, this mithril mine is deep within an incredibly tall mountain range. I can’t possibly bring you all the way there.”
“I’m going of my own accord, so you need not worry about such things. Besides, the Sakuragi Duchy also had mithril mines within its territory. With me there, I’m sure I can be useful in some way—and don’t misunderstand, it’s not because I desperately wish to never be separated from you, my partner!”
“I won’t misunderstand that at all…”
“Brother, I too shall accompany you.”
“You too, Suzuha?”
“There’s no need for Suzuha-kun to come. We can handle this ourselves, so just wait in the castle.”
“No, I absolutely must come along. Did you know, brother? In certain regional customs, for a man and woman to visit the sacred mithril mining grounds alone together is considered the highest form of love confession – practically a honeymoon trip itself? If I recall, the Sakuragi Ducal ancestors hailed from that very region—”
“I-I’ve never heard of such a custom!?”
“So in other words, I will be coming along. You have no objections, do you, Yuzuriha-san?”
“……………None…………”
And so the three of us – myself, Yuzuriha-san, and Suzuha – set out to inspect the mithril mine.
*
In the end, I was grateful to have Yuzuriha-san come along.
The thing is, although I was granted noble status, I was originally a commoner.
What I mean is, I do not at all possess the dignity and bearing expected of a margrave.
So what would happen if I, someone like that, suddenly showed up at the mithril mine and peremptorily demanded to see the person in charge for an inspection?
The answer: I would be seen as some delusional fool who had wandered in by mistake.
That’s almost exactly what happened.
Which is where Yuzuriha-san’s entrance comes in.
“—Oh? And just which mouth of yours deemed it acceptable to call your own lord an imposter?”
“………..!?”
“Insolence. Punishable by execution, if you have any complaints.”
Saying this, Yuzuriha-san stepped forward.
Though it goes without saying, Yuzuriha-san is among the most famous figures in this country, known to all.
Her angelic beauty, godly figure, and lethal combat abilities equivalent to the God of Death herself –
these are attributes no ordinary person could ever hope to emulate, not in the slightest.
In other words, her aura is on an entirely different level.
“M-My humblest apologies!!!”
As one would expect, Yuzuriha-san was immediately recognized as the real deal, and we were promptly led to the person in charge without issue.
The lavishly decorated room we were brought to, unsuited for a mine, housed the mine manager and assistant manager.
Both were burly, rugged-looking old men of similar appearance.
Tall and muscular,
with shiny bald heads and unsavory countenances.
For a moment I wondered if they were the leaders of some gang of mountain bandits.
“…Oh? So you’re the new margrave, huh…?”
“And you must be the Killing Goddess beauty over there?”
“Ugh,” was my honest first impression.
I instinctively moved in front of Suzuha and Yuzuriha-san to block their view, that’s how bad it was.
For me, it’s fine.
Suzuha, well I can maybe grudgingly let it slide.
But to leer so lecherously at Yuzuriha-san, a noble-born lady of the highest pedigree, like some high-class prostitute had just arrived – that’s absolutely unacceptable.
If that doting father the duke had witnessed this scene, he would have had the two buried alive in the depths of the mine instantly without a second thought.
“My sincere apologies, Yuzuriha-san…huh?”
I turned to apologize to Yuzuriha-san, who had been subjected to such unpleasant and vulgar leers just for accompanying me, but strangely, she seemed to be in quite a good mood.
No, it was more like she was trying hard to maintain a serious expression,
but failing to hide the beginnings of a self-satisfied smirk at the corners of her mouth.
“Yuzuriha-san, what’s going on…?”
“N-No, it’s nothing! I absolutely did not get flustered seeing you so gallantly shield me with your back!”
“I never imagined anything like that!”
“Your unexpected gentlemanly kindness and wide shoulders giving off a princely, protective air that made me feel like a true princess being guarded by her partner – I did not find such shameless thoughts even fleetingly crossing my mind at all! Suzuha-kun agrees, does he not?”
“…Why are you flustered, Yuzuriha-san? Rather than that, isn’t it more important to get these idiots to understand that my brother is indeed the new Margrave of Lohengrin?”
“R-Right! That’s what I was thinking about this whole time!”
And so afterwards, Yuzuriha-san launched into an impassioned oration about how I came to be appointed as the new Margrave of Lohengrin.
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