Chapter 114: Those Fools Never Learn

Corbens, the Chancellor, pointed it out, and Meredith’s twisted his face in irritation.

This man is hopeless. He pushed aside the quiet crown prince to take his position, yet his thinking is shallow and he only cares about immediate glory. Even though I reported yesterday’s results in detail, he still dares to present his idea to His Majesty as if it were brilliant. Sometimes i wonder what drives this man to action. So irritating.

“Corbens, is there no other way?”

“There is… but it would take too long, and the enemy will surely be on guard. It won’t go smoothly.”

“What method is it?”

“A classic one… but if we fail even slightly, our kingdom will be destroyed.”

“Why? If there’s no proof, we can talk our way out of anything.”

“Your Majesty, the enemy is an adventurer. He doesn’t need proof. He sees those who attack him as enemies—he would simply decide our kingdom is his foe and strike back.”

“But he came here as Sutherland’s envoy.”

“Yes. But adventurers accept jobs from anyone if the conditions suit them. This task is perfect for him—and for the Kingdom of Sutherland. His mission was to deliver a letter to us and bring back our reply. We attacked him. The justification for retaliation lies entirely with him, so he has the right to do as he pleases. And this conflict is no longer between kingdoms—it is between that man and our own.”

“Even so, he asked us for Sutherland’s reply.”

“That is the task he accepted. Deliver the letter, receive the response.”

“And that insolent man barged into the castle without warning—”

“We are currently in a temporary ceasefire with Sutherland, but we have no agreements in place. The reports say he first flew to the residence of their envoy before coming to the castle.”

“Then he should have landed at the envoy’s residence and followed the proper procedure!”

“Your Majesty… the envoy, Count McNeil, is imprisoned in the dungeon under Prince Merediths’ orders, and the residence is under military occupation.”

“What…? Meredith, I never gave you permission for that!”

“W-well, Your Majesty, they are our enemy. I thought leniency was unnecessary—”

By the time he realized it, it was too late—the situation was beyond repair.
Had they won the fight, they could have spun the story however they wished.
But now there was no excuse.

And, as always, Meredith would push all responsibility onto others.
Still, it was my job to minimize the damage.

Magic power recovers after a night of sleep, but stones do not… and I have to go collect the ones I dropped. This was such a hassle.

While wandering the plains near the capital gathering stones for tomorrow, adventurers appeared—of course, since we’re near the royal city.

“Never seen you around.”
“There aren’t even good herbs here, y’know.”
“What’re you doing? You look well-equipped… making good money, huh?”
“You’re in our way. Go somewhere else.”

As they slowly surrounded me, one of them grinned.

“Good face, nice clothes… bet you’ve got cash, yeah?”

Yep, bandits disguised as adventurers—classic.
Wind Whirl will handle them.

After a good spinning, none of them could stand.

When I demanded their magic pouches, they hesitated.
So I tossed them back into the whirlwind again.

After some threats—and demonstrations—they finally coughed up their pouches.
One tried to pull a sword on me and ended up slicing his own companion.
Another fainted without me touching him.
Useless bunch.

Since dealing with the guards in this kingdom would only cause trouble, I handled it the simple way:
one by one, lift them high up in a tornado and bye-bye.

What a waste of time.
Now I had fewer stones than planned, so I moved to another spot to prepare for tomorrow.

Meanwhile…

“Olga, you’re heading back?”
“Yeah, we prefer familiar places. What about you?”
“My wife…”
“We bought what we needed and made friends with Farana, so we’ll stay a bit longer.”
“I wanna go home already…”
“Husband can’t go against his wife, huh?”

“We’ll head back to Roxanne soon enough. With the ID we got to keep that creepy deputy away, we’re safe.”

“Tell Dale and Leon to visit Rosenne if you see them.”

Today was clear skies again.
From above the city, I could see the training grounds deep inside the castle.
On the walls, red-and-white cloth flags were waving—the signal.

I circled the training field and landed smack in the center, raising a shelter and waiting.

Before long, a carriage approached—accompanied by many knights.
I asked for a single representative from their kingdom, so why bring an army?

The carriage was luxurious, but the atmosphere around it felt wrong.
The driver, too, radiated hostility.

Then the door opened—
and arrows from stone-bows shot from the windows.

Clink—Clang—
The bolts bounced off my barrier, surprising the knights.

A flash of red filled my vision and a loud blast rang out—someone tried magic too.
They never learn.

So I resumed the attack.

I swept the carriage and all the knights into a tornado and blasted forward toward the castle.
Arrows flew from the castle walls but passed far beneath me; fireballs exploded midair before reaching me.

Over the rooftops, I dropped stones onto fresh, undamaged sections—
but yesterday’s stone collection was too small… I ran out of ammo quickly.

“It failed—! The carriage, the knights—they were blown away!”
“He’s coming this way!”

“Shoot! Kill him!”
“Magic unit, don’t fall behind—full power!”

“He’s too fast!”
“He flew above the arrows!”
“We lost sight of him!”

Screams followed as men fell from the roof.
Soldiers fled their posts as thunderous impacts rang out across the compound.

Still they hadn’t learned.
I blasted the roof archers away with Wind Whirl and slipped through a large hole into the attic.

Today, I’ll destroy everything thoroughly.
They need to learn exactly what happens when they attack me.