The morning after the tiring party, we decided to get Wester to show us the barrier box while fending off the Wester’s side of sightseeing and socialising . Of course, this included filling the magic stones .
As I thought, they cheerfully approved because the Easter Prince also wanted to observe . We completely forgot that the ones approving should be us, who were showing our abilities, and not Wester .
Well, Otou-sama said that filling magic stones was the same regardless of whether they were big or small, and the method that the Four Marquises used wasn’t exactly a secret . However, the barrier box was in the castle, so the citizens couldn’t see it .
Gill and I were shown to a room in the castle after lunch . There were two soldiers at the front door, and I understood that they were firmly guarding it .
When we were guided inside, there was a large barrier box on top of a table in the middle of the large carpeted room . It was the same size as the one Otou-sama had shown us; it was big enough that it could barely be held by an adult .
Prince Gilbert proudly opened the lid of the box . “Oh,” a faint voice said . That came from the nobles of Wester who were also here . This was what Gill and I had expected, and Easter’s Prince Cyrus didn’t even move a single eyebrow .
It was a barrier box with three magic stones arranged beautifully into a triangle like the one Otou-sama had shown .
“Two and a half?” I couldn’t help but say . They had summoned us to help them fill the magic stones, so I thought they would place magic stones which hadn’t been filled yet . Gill and I looked up from the barrier box, and Prince Gilbert looked proud of himself . The same could be said for the Wester nobles too .
“My brother and I can fill two of the magic stones by ourselves . The rest is the problem . However, we tried to get someone with magic to fill it, but they couldn’t fill it all . ”
The other half seemed to be the problem .
“How many days before the magic stones have to be filled again?”
“According to legend, once every 10 days . ”
According to legend? Gill and I looked at each other . Gill spoke nervously, “Does that mean that you haven’t activated it yet?”
“Of course not . If we suddenly activate it, then the people of Sebel will panic . ”
Easter’s Prince changed his expression for the first time . No one seemed to have noticed it except for me, but I can sympathise with his shocked expression .
“Well, I heard that Sebel is directly north of Julius Mountains, which is Easter’s boundary, and that there are a lot of Hollows there and no one can approach it except for Hunters . ”
“That’s right . ”
“Instead of suddenly experimenting at Sebel, wouldn’t it be better if you did it as a military training camp there instead?” The room fell silent at Gill’s words . Gill was surprised that his words had that much of an impact, and quickly changed the topic .
“Pardon me . So the rest of the magic stones…”
“Yes, we wanted Kingdom to send someone who could fill it . Although, I didn’t expect someone from the Four Marquises to come, but I’m thankful . ” The Prince honestly expressed his gratitude, making Gill to pull back a little . However, he wasn’t able to hide his amazement at the royal family who was more haphazard than he thought . Gill looked towards me .
“Luke . ”
“Okay,” I replied, and slowly put the small box I had onto the table .
“Luke-dono, what’s that?” Prince Gilbert, who thought that we would channel magic into the rest of the magic stones, was curious . I opened the box without saying anything .
“Oh!” There was a stir in the room . Even Easter’s Prince had his eyes wide opened .
“Th-this is…”
“This is a reward from my father for discovering and bringing back our beloved Leila of the Albans House . ”
“What?! Not from the royal family of Kingdom, but from a Four Marquis?!” The person who yelled was Herman, the Deputy Prime Minister . This fat person’s remarks are always subtly rude .
“Like we said from the beginning, Kingdom has nothing to do with this visit . This is a personal visit from the Lisburns and Albans . Don’t get this wrong,” Gill firmly controlled the situation .
“Then, let’s start, Luke . ”
“Okay . ”
“But Luke-dono is only 11-years-old…” I raised a hand to stop Prince Gilbert from speaking and took out a magic stone from the small box . I slowly began to fill it with magic so that everyone can see . They all watched carefully and gulped as the stone gradually changed from pale violet to dark purple .
Before long, I felt the stone repelling back .
“This is the first one . ” I showed everyone the magic stone and put it back into the box . I took out another magic stone .
“Impossible . You’re going to…?!” I slowly began to fill the second magic stone regardless of the Prince’s voice . And by the time I picked up the third stone, no one had anything to say . Like Otou-sama had said, I could fill the third one while only feeling somewhat tired .
I didn’t show that I was tired, and put the last magic stone, which had turned a dark purple, into the box, closed the lid and handed it to Prince Gilbert .
“You can activate the barrier box right now with these magic stones . ”
“Oh! Thank you!” The Prince was deeply moved and blushed .
“However…” The room fell silent when Gill spoke .
“We can’t leave Kingdom . Even if we can come here now, we won’t be able to anymore once we become adults . And, if you seriously think of filling the magic stones once every 10 days, then it wouldn’t make any sense if you can’t fill it with the people you have in Wester . ”
“That’s…”
“If you count on my family, then he and Luke are both 11 . This time, Luke filled the magic stones, but it isn’t something he should be doing until he reaches the age of 18 . Even if he, my uncle, agrees, I can’t approve,” Gill’s words upset the retainers . The First Prince was calm .
“Of course . We have been considering this project for many years . It’s not a problem if it’s delayed for a few years . I heard from my brother that Alistair wants to continue being a hunter . He’s going to train here while we educate him as a noble, and get him to cooperate with us when he turns 18 . ”
In the meantime, he would receive good treatment and eventually belong to Wester . Unlike the noisy retainers, Easter’s Prince was quiet . He probably lost interest because they don’t intend on activating the barrier now .
But unlike his noble appearance, Easter’s Prince had hardly any magic . He might have even less than the citizens of Kingdom .
What surprised me since I came to Wester was that the citizens and the nobles mostly had no magic . Even if this was said in Kingdom, I understood for the first time that this meant that they had little magic .
I heard that Easter receives little to no damage from Hollows, and so they use their vast land for agriculture . I’d like to go to Easter someday .
“Do you want us to fill the last magic stone?” The Prince shook his head when Gill said this .
“We wanted you to do that, but we got three magic stones from you . We’ll do something about the last magic stone with the people we have in Wester . ”
“Your Highness!” The Deputy Prime Minister said something . He probably wanted us to fill the magic stone now . He’s disgusting .
Will they activate the barrier box or not in the end?
That answer was surprisingly brought about by Lei .
Translator: Blushy
Editor: Sam