Magic Apprentice

Hamon saluted and rushed away to call for Charle.

Charle still had the same idle smile on his face as if he was a senile old man and nothing was wrong. All smiles as he neared the princess, Charle began to address her without at all acknowledging the frown on her face.

“Ah, my dear ol’ niece. What can yer uncle do for you? Hey now, don’t frown so much, yer face will wrinkle like an ol’ prune.”

Her frown deepened. How she wanted to get angry and shout at her uncle, but she knew that it would accomplish nothing. “Commander,” She spoke after composing herself, “should we or should we not consider altering our course toward Melkruth?”

“Melkruth? What for?”

He was playing dumb, she was sure of it. There was no reason why a man like Charle wouldn’t know about the safety Melkruth offered. But what else could she do but play along with her uncle?

“Commander, are we not going to attempt entry to Karth via Chizra Valley?”

“Through Chizra Valley? Whatever for?”

“Then do you so desire having us travel around the entirety of Valkner’s Mountain?”

“Ye think I’d care to trample through that birdshite of a land?” Challenged Charle.

Everyone was sufficiently confused now. Was there a third path through Valkner’s Mountain then? The way Charle answered made them think so.

Not that anyone but the princess was going to ask.

“Then presumably you know of a secret passage into Karth?” The princess didn’t fail to live up to expectations with her next question. 

Geographically speaking, Chizra Valley was the only way to enter Karth from the western border, thus why Melkruth was constructed there. It was perfectly situated and defended from every angle, making it the perfect first military stronghold. It was also because of Melkruth that Karth had the opportunity to attack Sovereign and be safe from retaliation. A secret passage would be extremely beneficial to Sovereign then in the case of a conflict, even if this diplomatic mission failed.

And such was the reason why the princess was so eager for an answer.

But Charle’s reply wasn’t what she expected: “I’ve no idea of any such passage.” He shrugged.

A vein bulged to life on the princess’ forehead. Had she been a certain other princess, the surrounding area would’ve been lit up with lightning and fire already.

Presumably not wanting to truly experience his niece’s wrath, Charle immediately followed up his statement with another.

“Relax, Madoshi said it’ll be fine.”

That did the trick. Hearing Madoshi’s name calmed the princess down a considerable amount. Madoshi was a magus of rational thinking, he’d never agree to a plan with low levels of success.

The group arrived at the foot of Valkner’s Mountain by noon. The mountain range was like an insurmountable wall that protected Karth from her enemies. Each mountain tip were shaped like canines, sharp at its tip and large enough to be imposing from any distance. Most noteworthy about this mountain was the fact that it was actually the result of an earth magus from the ancient past. Made larger through his magic, the range was magically expanded so that no passage could exist between any two mountains.

Farther ahead, Madoshi was currently stooped over the ground and inscribing a giant magic circle into it.

It was complex and not even the princess, an expert of magic, was able to tell what this magic circle was supposed to do. No one else in the convoy, magi or priest alike, were able to tell.

An answer would probably be given by the elder magus later, but it wouldn’t be for another hour until the magic circle was finished and a tired Madoshi walked up to the princess.

“Venerable Archmagister Madoshi, is this a teleportation circle to transport us past Valkner’s Mountain?”

Weary-eyed, the magus replied, “Please step into the circle, princess, and quickly now. These questions can be answered later in Karth, this circle won’t last for long.”

The princess said no more and quickly strode into the circle. 

As large as it was, the circle wasn’t capable of encompassing every single person and horse, so the convoy was split into four groups to be led into the circle one at a time by their leader.

Whenever a group stepped into the circle, the sigils would light up and render everyone inside into a wisp of smoke, allowing them to melt into the mountainous wall.

Madoshi was the last to step into the circle. Once everyone else was gone, he stepped into it and allowed himself to be transformed into smoke and disappeared through the mountain.

On the other side of the mountain range, Madoshi reappeared through the wall and resumed his normal material form. It was then that the princess ran forward to greet the magus.

The sweat-browed and weary form of Madoshi told the princess that now wasn’t the best time to be asking questions either. Hurriedly, she had the knights ease Madoshi onto an already-constructed sedan—one that was originally made for the princess and princess. Accepting the sedan without a word, Madoshi crumpled onto the offered seat and got comfortable.

“Please excuse this old man’s uselessness these past several days, your Highness. My mana has been depleted, and I am once again without power. It will be up to you to defend yourself now.”

“Grand Magister Madoshi, your services were highly indispensable and will not be forgotten. My only request now is that you rest well.” The princess answered. A maid was quickly summoned to wait on the magus for whatever need he might have while the others prepared themselves to resume their journey. The princess herself took up a seat on the warhorse offered by Charle.

This was the first time Charle could be seen with furrowed eyebrows. No bandit might be in this area, but that hardly meant that this place was without danger. It was even likely that they were in even greater danger than before.

Their greatest protector, Madoshi, was without mana at an extremely crucial moment. This was what worried Charle most.

In silence, the group resumed their journey to Kradyne. It’d take another two days or so to reach the western city if their speed was of any indication,

But a disturbance would appear not even two hours later. The sky had yet to grow dark when the convoy came to a stop. Filled with questions, the princess took Kite with her to investigate the matter, but was stopped when vice-commander Hamon stopped them. 

The reason behind their stop was because a knight from the advance group reported back, citing a cavalry division being sighted up ahead. From their appearance, the cavalry seemed to belong to Karth’s most elite chivalric order, the Paladins.

The princess became grim. The paladins were the strongest Karth had to offer, but they were often stationed near the capital rather than the border.

She was feeling panicked, but not for herself. The large-scale deployment of the paladins was also a good indicator of the declaration of war. Was Karth finally planning on invading the motherland?

Hamon took initiative here to do what he was meant to do: protect the prince and princess. While she could try to handle the diplomatic side of things, it was time for him to handle the defensive side. The vanguard drew forward to protect her while Hamon and the other knights lined up like a wall in front of the entire group. Two knights were also stationed near the princess to prevent her from getting too close. With everything in place, Hamon turned his attention back to the front where Charle was.

Charle looked away, “So? She took to being stuck in the back well?”

Hamon shook his head. Convincing the princess to remain in the back had been even more tiring than fighting a war. The princess was a troublesome opponent to convince and he was nearly forced to compromise with her several times. It was only thanks to the honor and responsibility of the knights that she finally acquiesced to him.

Hamon glared at the cunning fox in front of him. He should’ve known better than to let Charle stick him with such a task. Charle knew his niece’s temper better than he did!