Kays Translations

Chapter 148: Tour of the Royal Capital

　After listening to Brother Cain's story, Brother Alex held his head in his hands. He looked at me with blank eyes.

“Julius, may I see the blessing of the Spirit of the Lake?”

　He said this, looked at the crest on the back of my hand, wrinkled his brow, and fumbled it with his finger. He looked very confused. Before I knew it, cold sweat was running down my back. Is it my fault ……?　No, but I just did a good thing. It’s not my fault!

“Um, Brother Alex?”

"Hmm, I've never heard of anyone receiving divine protection from spirits. I'll look into it later. The problem is that someone saw the scene. I'm sure the rumors will spread from there."

“I’m sorry. I should have told him right away. ……”

"It's impossible, Cain. Even if we keep quiet, there's bound to be rumors somewhere. Instead, it might be more convenient for the story to spread that the Margrave Heine family received the blessings of the lake spirit."

　Brother Cain nodded with a solemn look on his face. He might be thinking, “I see. Certainly, if he has the blessing of a spirit, he will be a deterrent to the other nobles.”

　The problem is that the hot spring resort is another noble’s territory That’s going to be a problem.

"I'll write a letter to father. Fortunately, we’re on good terms with the nobles who rule the area around hot spring resort. I'm sure they’ll be more grateful than angry. After all, one of the best tourist spots in the country was about to disappear."

　I breathed a sigh of relief. It doesn't seem like the relationship between the nobles will deteriorate because of me.

　That's right, it's not the territory of the Margrave Heine family, so it would be bad to cause trouble. I have to be careful from now on.

　I’m not very good at dealing with nobles. I’m not a nobleman to begin with, so I guess you could say that I can’t help it.

“Julius, be careful from now on.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“That’s good…”

　Brother Alex looks at me with a glare. His eyes have a look of disbelief in them. Odd, I think so too. I say I’ll do my best, but the trouble is running from the other side to me. Sometimes it’s unavoidable.

　The servant reports that the room is ready. This conversation ends here at this point. After saying no to my brother, I headed to the room that had been prepared for me.

　I also had my own room in the townhouse. I hardly ever used it, though.

　It is smaller than my room in the capital mansion, but I feel comfortable in this small room. As expected of a former small-towner.

　I took off my jacket and lounged around on the bed, and before I knew it, it was time for dinner.

“May I go out to the capital tomorrow?”

　I asked my brother Alex at the dinner table. Brother Alex looked up to the heavens as if in thought. “It should still be a long way off before we have to go to the royal castle,” he said. After all, it seems that we arrived at the royal capital earlier than planned.  Then there should be time to tour the royal capital.

　Although I didn't want to come here, I came all the way to the royal capital. I want to make the most of this opportunity and not waste it.

“Cain is getting ready to go to the academy tomorrow, right?”

“Yes. There are a few things you can only buy in the royal capital. Perhaps ……”

“I see~ Well then, Cain, take Julius with you.”

　Brother Cain sighs. Do you hate it that much? It's not like I stick my head into trouble just because I like it.

“I understand. Julius, don’t do anything on your own.”

“Of course.”

　He seemed to be satisfied with my good answer.  However, I didn’t expect him to force me onto Brother Cain Is there something going on?

“What are your plans for tomorrow, Alex?”

“I have to get ready for the new school year. We have to select next year’s student body president.”

　I can’t believe there are things to do at the school even though the new term hasn’t started yet. Being the student Body president is tough. But until this handover is completed, brother Alex can’t freely participate in social gatherings, can he? If that’s the case,  It can’t be helped then.

*****

　The view from the carriage seemed less crowded than the main streets of the capital. I had expected the royal capital to be more bustling, but maybe that’s not the case?

　Brother Cain seemed to notice that I was often looking out the window, and started talking to me.

“This area is lined with stores reserved for the nobility. That’s why there are no common people here. The ones who look like commoners are the servants of some house.”

“I didn’t realize that. Then it makes sense why there are so few people walking around.”

　I see, so they make a distinction between the common people and the aristocrats. If that is the case, does that mean that if you go to the streets lined with stores used by the common people, you will find more people? I wonder how busy the streets will be.

“Julius, you didn't think "I want to go to a store that common people use", did you?　I won’t take you there, okay?”

“No, of course not.”

　I smiled and laughed, but my elder brother seemed to be skeptical. How did he know? As I turned away from him and looked outside, the carriage stopped. It appears we have arrived at our destination.

“Julius, please stay quiet in the carriage.”

“Why? I want to go to the bookstore with you.”

　I could see the bookstore from the window of the carriage. This is definitely the destination. A bookstore in the royal capital. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of books they have lined up. I would like to take this opportunity to have a look.

“I’m sure it won’t be much fun since all I’ll be doing is buying textbooks?”

"It's okay. I'll look at the books while you buy your textbooks."

　My older brother sighed. He must have realized that he couldn’t refuse. I’m definitely going with him.

"All right. Just keep it quiet in the store.”

“Okay!”

　When I entered the store, I found it to be much more spacious than its appearance would suggest. It is quite deep. The walls were lined with bookshelves, packed tightly with books. While my brother was looking for textbooks, I also looked for a book. Of course, I was looking for a book on magic potions.

　A book of magic potions in the royal capital. I am very curious about what’s inside.

“There it is, take that book.”

　The knight who was escorting me took the book. I guess he was more of a watchman than an escort. I guess they still don’t trust me after all. The escort knight checked the book and handed it to me, saying that there was no problem.

　The book I was given was a textbook on magic potions used in the royal academy. This should be no problem.

　I flipped through the book. It seemed to be a textbook for advanced students, since it did not contain the rudimentary parts. It contained instructions on how to make elementary recovery potions, etc. The instructions for making these potions were simply “ This is terrible.” Terrible.

　This is a textbook for advanced students? It seems that they don’t study magic potions diligently at the academy. I guess I don’t need to go to the school in the royal Capital any more.

“Julius, do you want that book?”

“Yeah, no, its …….”

　I just wanted to check the contents of the book and I don’t think I want it. But brother Cain, who didn’t know that, smiled when he checked the contents of the book.

“Good, I’ll buy it for you. For what it’s worth, Julius is interested in the Royal Academy, isn’t he?”

“Huh?　Well, yes.”

　I didn’t really mind, but I couldn’t really refuse because Brother Cain was giving me a nice smile. You don’t think you’re going to get a junior, do you?　I’m not going, okay?

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