Black Haired King Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Cloaking

「How's your body, Redius?」

「I took it easy for a whole month, so I can now pretty much move around as well as before getting injured」

Before I knew it, one month had gone by. Although I became Mistrea-san's temporary pupil, I hadn't been able to move at all. I had to stay in bed until I could.

And then, since I could finally leave the bed, the week of temporary training began. I faced Mistrea-san. Standing beside her was Helen-san. It appeared that Helen-san would help with the training.

Ropo was yawning and dozing off under the Sun. It went up to me earlier and tapped my leg as if saying, "Well, do your best," then went to sleep at a sunny spot. It somehow became really attached to me during this one month. Helen-san said that it could be because of our similar hair colors.

「Before we start… Redius, can you use magic?」

「Ah, yes. It puts a big burden on my body, though」

I demonstrated with Body Strengthening. It was the only spell I could use.

「Fumu. Well, let's begin with that, shall we. Redius. I'll teach you the basics of cloaking.」

「'Cloaking,' you say?」 (think naruto's chakra cloak)

I asked Mistrea-san about the word which I wasn't all that familiar with.

「That's right. Well, kids these days call it Body Strengthening. What Redius is doing right now is also one of those basics」

「I see」

「What you're doing right now is called 'Magic Armor'. You're basically enveloping yourself in magical power which enhances your defensive strength. However, your Magic Armor is still very rough; the difference between parts where the magical power is too dense and parts where it's too thin are obvious. If you don't fix this problem, your enemies will aim for those spots where your Magic Armor is thin, and you'll be done in」

What the! Is Mistrea-san actually able to see the layer of magical power I put on? How does she do that?

「Mistrea-san! Can you see my magical power?」

「Yeah, it's also one of the Basics. But we'll leave that for later. Right now, know that Magic Armor is the most basic of all kinds of magic. We'll spend this week helping Redius attain the perfect, full body Magic Armor」

Evenly distributing magical power across my body, huh…… Doesn't it sound pretty difficult? I feel like I'm already doing it, but if I focus a bit more, I can feel the difference in density at a few places. Then…

「This place and this place are too thin!」

Mistrea-san slashed at the spots where magical power density was lacking. She went easy on me, but pain is pain. When I focused on those painful spots…

「Redius! Distribute your magical power more evenly! You'll lose the fight very quickly if this goes on!」

…she slashed at other spots with thin magical power. I see. I now understand why children of n.o.bles would dislike this kind of training. It's nothing but pain. But there's no way I'd give up. I'll definitely master the Magic Armor in this one week and become an official apprentice. All for the sake of becoming strong.

Albast, the royal capital.

「Fuu~ It seems like I've gotten quite used to life at the academy」

It had been two months since I, Elicia Gremond, enrolled in the Royal Academy in Albast. Having separated from my parents, I came here with my two attendants, Clena and Mia, to live in a dormitory; it was quite tough getting used to living here.

In the academy, we were all allowed up to 2 servants to come with us, regardless of our social standing.  For that reason, I brought two people with me. Had this not been allowed, maybe I would've been unable to familiarize myself with school life.

While thinking about such things, I was hanging out in the dining hall by myself. Clena was busy cleaning the room, and Mia had gone out to receive the luggage sent to us from home.

……Come to think of it, I wonder if Redius is doing well. He said that he'd send me a letter once things settle down, but it's been two months.

If I recall, he was going to become an adventurer in the neighboring town of Reclium, which belongs to Count Kentry. From there, it'd only take around two weeks for letters to arrive.

「Haaa. I wonder if I'll get one soon~」  

I let out a sigh.

「What's troubling you, Elicia?」

My senpai, Prince William Albast, approached me with a smile.

Behind him was Gramoa Helmund, who is said to be the successor to his father's position as the Helmund knights leader. There was also the Prime Minister's genius son, Feriense Testoran, the usual members. (f.u.c.k…these…names)  

When I enrolled into this school, I did greet them, but for some reason they keep coming up to me like this.  Even though I'm just a poor baron's eldest daughter. It's because of my red hair after all huh?……..No no, I can't be worrying about this stuff. After all, the one who really has it hard when it comes to hair color is Redius.  

While thinking that, I look around me. Prince William also made an appearance, so the surrounding people are making a lot of noise.  Sure, he looks kind of cool, but, I already have…… (this conveys her meaning a lot better than the proper TL imo)

「Is this seat free?」

「Ah, Yes, Feel free to sit down.」

I get up from my seat and wait for the prince to sit down. After all, it would be rude to continue sitting when the prince comes.  

「There's no need to be that respectful. Aren't we already tied in a relation?」 (not dating kind)

Says Prince William while smiling.  I don't remember ever getting this friendly with him though… Plus, Prince William has a fiancee, Victoria-sama, so he really shouldn't be meeting me so often…

「Please use those words on Victoria-sama.」

When I say that, Prince William's face warps. (not sure if evil kind, or the wry kind) But, that was only for an instant, and he immediately went back to his usual fresh expression.

「Well, that doesn't really matter does it? Rather, why were you sighing earlier? If you don't mind, you can consult with me.」

「That's right,  if anyone weird approached her, I would beat them down.」

「Then, I'll beat them down so much that they won't be able to move from their bed.」

Riding on Prince William's words, Gramoa and Feriense spout their delusions. It would be really worrying if they beat up Redius so much that he wasn't able to get up….

「No, I was just thinking about something, so it's ok. Now then, If you'll excu-….」

「Elicia-sama!」

When I'm about to excuse myself from my seat, I hear a voice calling me from the dining hall's entrance. When I look towards the entrance, I see a blue faced Mia running towards me. When she finally gets to me, she bursts into tears.

「W-what's wrong, Mia? Why are you so fl.u.s.tered, even to the point of crying? Did something happen?」  

「Just now, I received the packages from Gelman-sama that just arrived but….. but…..」

Mia pa.s.ses me something she held in her hands while crying. It was something long and thin wound up in a cloth. What in the world is it? When I get it from Mia, I open it up and…

「Th-This is…」

「*sniffle* Yes, that's the sword that Mary-sama gave to Redius. If you input mana near the hilt, the Gelman family emblem shows up.」

When I put mana into the hilt to confirm, certainly, the family emblem does show up. I couldn't even keep my feet on the ground, my strength left me as if I was floating.

「Elicia-sama!」

Mia helped me sit down, but more importantly than that..

「Where did Otou-sama get his hands on this?! Why does Otou-sama have this?」

「It arrived at the estate from a weapon shop about a month ago. After all, if you input mana into it, the family emblem shows up. When Gelman-sama asked to confirm where they got this sword, he was told that a man and woman sold it to the weapon shop.

That weapon shop's attendant noticed that it was covered in blood, so he asked what happened, and they said that the owner of the sword died so they retrieved it…..

My vision suddenly went black, There's no way, no way! Before I realized it, I was overflowing with tears. Redius..

「T-this is all my fault. It's all because I couldn't keep him in check. I should have never listened to that talk about becoming an adventurer….U-Uwaaaaaah!」  

I didn't care at all about my surroundings and just continued crying. When I thought that I would never be able to see Redius again, I couldn't stop my tears.