Chapter 5 is here! Sorry for the delay, busy week plus I didn’t want to post this chapter or chapter 6 before checking the novel a bit more to make sure I don’t type in anything problematic when it comes to the magic system and the like. Please do read these chapters even if you’ve read the manga otherwise you’ll be very confused later on as things are explained differently and more in depth here.
Anyway, here is the chapter, I hope you’ll enjoy it!
Chapter 5
Before long, a well-dressed man on top of a horse came galloping towards Kurats. He was likely a knight of the royal palace.
【”He’s huge…”】
Said the knight with a click of his tongue as he saw Kurats’ big body.
He was planning to make Kurats hop on the horse’s backside and then return to the castle, but he was now realizing that if he did that, the horse would surely end up be being crushed and injured under Kurats’ weight. There was no such thing as a knight who would not worry about his personal horse. Moreover, if his horse was rendered useless due to an injury, he would have no other choice than to kill it.
【”If you don’t mind, I’d like to follow after you….”】
【”Then I’ll take you at your word, we have to go to the castle as fast as possible!”】
Kurats braced himself as it seemed like he was going to be introduced to a quite high-ranked person.
【”I accept, of course. But I prefer running rather than going on horse, it’ll be faster that way.”】
“―― What did he just say?” Those were the exact words that went through the knight’s mind.
However, Kurats did not have the time to take the man’s feelings in consideration. It was meaningless to start arguing with him.
【”Let’s hurry up. Won’t you anger your superiors if you take too much time?”】
【”J-just know that If you’re lying about your capabilities, you won’t get away with it!”】
While still half in doubt, the knight jumped on his horse.
He then started galloping at a steady pace, but when he looked back, Kurats was behind him, chasing after the horse with a nonchalant expression on his face.
【”It’s fine, go as fast as you can, you don’t have to hold your horse back for me.”】
【”I, I know!”】
The knight hurried up, going even faster, but even so, Kurats was still sprinting right behind him, without a change in his expression.
Witnessing that surreal scene, the hero Martin, who had stayed in the guild’s quarters, muttered in amazement.
【”Can mages run faster than horses nowadays…?”】
(―― It seems like, until today, he has been using body strengthening magic on himself without noticing it.)
Bernst accurately a.n.a.lyzed Kurats’ abnormal stamina.
Kurats had probably been unconsciously using body strengthening magic while training his body for many years, therefore granting himself these physical abilities that were far beyond normal humans.
Perhaps Kurats’ high talent for magic had reacted to his desires and had affected his body, albeit not perfectly.
“Seriously, and yet he’s so bad with the other types of magic. Well, these types of physical capabilities aren’t worthless, but they don’t fit a magic king’s style, or rather, they’re not elegant enough.” Thought Bernst in displeasure.
Without realizing what Bernst was thinking, Kurats pleasantly kept running at the same pace as the horse that was going at full speed.
For quite a while after these events, there were rumors in the royal capital about sightings of a ghost running at the same speed as a horse.
Once the two men reached the castle’s gate, Kurats was entrusted to another knight, who directly guided him towards the center of the royal palace, without giving him any time to rest.
【”…His majesty the king is the one who will question you. You must not be careless with your words.”】
【”I’ll bear that in mind.”】
Kurats would have never expected that the king himself would be the one waiting for him, but he would have had to meet him eventually anyway to accomplish his own goal.
Kurats took a deep breath, and opened the huge door in front of him.
【”I, Kurats Hans Almadianos, am honored to be in the presence of his majesty, and even more honored to have been called by you.”】
【”Good, you’ve come.”】
King Christopher Heinz Von Jormungand looked down at Kurats with a deep wrinkle in his brow.
【”You are the mage who is here to cure Lunaria?”】
As he gazed at Kurats to a.s.sess him, the king’s eyes were full of a bitterness that was not fitting of the leader of a country.
He might have been the king, but when it came to his daughter, he was nothing more than a father.
The king’s expression was equally divided between hope and a deep anguish, and after he fixed his eyes on Kurats for a little while, his disappointment and despair seemed to slightly take over.
【”How old are you?”】
【”I am 18 this year.”】
【”Who in the world did you study under?”】
【”I was taught everything by my mother…”】
【”What is your mother’s name?”】
【”It is Frigg Hans Almadianos, your majesty.”】
【”―― I’ve never heard of her.”】
This week, Lunaria’s condition had been rapidly deteriorating.
The royal palace’s court doctor had bitterly diagnosed that she would not survive for more than a month.
Nevertheless, the king still wondered, was it really fine to entrust his daughter to some unknown 18 year old boy?
【”Are you prepared to deal with the consequences in case Lunaria dies at your hands?”】
“He’s deeply mistaken if he thinks that he’ll able to return without taking the blame if anything happens. No matter the method of execution, I won’t let him make it out of here alive.” Thought the king.
Although Christopher knew that this was unreasonable of him, he was still determined to do it.
It was perfectly fine to be unreasonable for those who had power. Those were the rules governing this wicked world.
【”Naturally, your majesty… However, if I successfully cure her, then I’ll have a certain request, if I may be so bold.”】
The king barely gave a pa.s.sing mark for the words of Kurats, who turned out to be more dignified and confident than he had thought.
It did not seem that his words were baseless or that he was saying this just for show.
“Should I gamble on this man…?” Wondered the king.
【”I accept, I’ll listen to your request. However, we’ll talk about that only after you’re done curing Lunaria, if you manage to do it.”】
【”…I am very grateful.”】
【”―― Although I went and said that, are you sure this will be okay?”】
The truth was that Kurats was not as calm as he looked.
Although he had responded with a polite tone because he had been told to do so by Bernst, Kurats felt shivers by just thinking of what would have happened if he had faced the king alone.
And though Kurats had somehow got the king to let him examine the princess, was he really going to be able to treat her illness?
From the look of things, it seemed like the king had been hinting that he would immediately order a death penalty if the princess were to die, and that made Kurats quite anxious.
Bernst would be able to turn a kingdom like this one into a vacant land with a single hand, but Kurats was just an ordinary young man who had inherited Bernst’s most basic attainments in magic.
Kurats’ magic was more than a million times weaker than Bernst’s. On top of that, he could only use his physical abilities, and he did not even have any established fencing techniques.
『If there is nothing that can be done about her situation, then we can just escape by transferring our of here, but still… how dare you doubt the capabilities of a magic king?! Unacceptable!』
Bernst did not appreciate that the abilities of a magic king like himself were being taken lightly.
『Do you seriously think I can’t even cure a mere disease? I am Bernst George Von Almadianos, a G.o.d-like being who has even transcended death itself! 』
Although half a year had already pa.s.sed since the second princess Lunaria had fallen ill, the unmoving and beautiful face that she had inherited from her mother was barely affected.
This was why her disease was considered to be strange.
At first glance, it did not seem like the was anything wrong with her body’s condition, but she had been suffering from a continuous light fever and repeated comas, with her life force gradually lowering with time.
At the start, she had been examined to see if she was cursed by someone, but no such magic anomaly was perceived around her body.
However, lately, the princess had been spending most of her time in a comatose state, and her life force had reached dangerous lows.
『…… This is going to be amusing.』
Muttered Bernst with interest, after a single glance at Lunaria.
【”You’ve figured this out already?!”】
『But were this country’s mages really not able to see through this? Unacceptable!』
Said Bernst with a sneer as he realized the true nature of the princess’ nasty disease.
But he could see how, indeed, this was not something that a mere doctor, who was not a mage, could cure.
The princess had a tender, and white porcelain-like skin, plump lips, long eyelashes, and her hair was akin to a stream of gold, but as he looked at the her unique and beautiful appearance, Bernst only had a complacent smile on his face.
『There seems to be more to this matter than I expected…』
Bernst was feeling something that he hadn’t felt for a long time, and he was unable to suppress his delight.
This matter was surrounded by a very sweet and thick smell, the smell of conspiracy.
“This is a great development! The sorts of sc.u.m that would do this are extremely satisfying to crush down!”
As Bernst was thinking that, Kurats grew impatient and asked him.
【”….So… Bernst… What’s the princess suffering from in the end?”】
For Kurats, failing to cure her would mean losing his own life. So it was only natural for him to be worried.
Having been cut off from his good mood, Bernst felt quite displeased and he answered Kyle with a snort.
『How shameful. You can’t perceive that there is something strange about her mana?』
【”Yeah, and how am I supposed to know what’s causing that?!”】
『If you can’t even see through something of this level, I don’t even want to think of how you’ll handle yourself in the future.』
Perhaps it made sense for this world’s mages to have a hard time noticing the magic anomaly since it had been fairly well camouflaged.
However, for Bernst, a camouflage of this level was nothing more than a child’s trick, he easily noticed that there was an organic life form inside the princess’ womb.
The problem was that Kurats was far too inexperienced to reach that conclusion.
【”I-In her womb?!”】
When Bernst straightforwardly told him about the situation, Kurats spontaneously blushed, like an adolescent in p.u.b.erty.
He felt like that word was too raw and vulgar to use it when speaking about the princess.
『Naturally, I don’t meant that the princess is pregnant. It’s just that there is a monster inside her. 』
【”―― A monster?”】
Monsters were humanity’s natural enemies.
The red eyed bear that Kurats had fought was only one type of such creatures, but in the areas that were out of humanity’s rule, monsters were actually the ones in control.
However, even in Kurats’ village, there was no more than one victim from monsters every few years.
But, at any rate, that only concerned the people living in remote regions where the monsters were not taken care of by the country, as for the princess, she hardly ever left the royal capital, and yet a monster had still somehow entered her body, which meant…
【”Is there someone who wants the princess out of the picture?”】
『That’s right. Otherwise, how could such a weak monster stick to her?』
This parasite monster’s ability to hide itself from its host was first-cla.s.s, but in its original state, it was so weak that even a child could kill it. There was no doubt that someone had brought it to the princess from somewhere else.
Even the royal court’s doctors would be afraid of examining the genitals of the marriageable princess without finding any positive proof beforehand. That was likely one of the reasons why they had failed to discover the cause behind her sickness.
This parasite was quite the nasty creature.
『Well, we’ll look into that later. For now, you have to save this girl. 』
Translator’s note: Just a few chapters left before catching up to the manga, I know I said I’d quicken my pace, but I wanted to make sure I didn’t write anything problematic with the magic systems etc… and I hadn’t had time to check things properly before today since I was also doing Tsuyokute.