I'm a court magician. Recently, I’ve been worrying about the princess staring at me. - Chapter 16
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- I'm a court magician. Recently, I’ve been worrying about the princess staring at me.
- Chapter 16 - A certain individual's dream.
[TL/ED Note: In Chapter 14 we had that the festival was the 100th year’s celebration, but it turns out it’s actually the 1000th year. This has been corrected.]
The days before the Founding Festival flew by quickly. During this time, the commercial district came alive with the bustle of people preparing food and setting up stalls and tents.
This year marked the 1,000th anniversary, so the citizens were especially enthusiastic. At least I assumed so, given that I had never seen any of the previous years’ festivals.
Of course, they weren’t the only ones getting ready for the coming celebration. The court magicians, knights, and various other court officials all had their schedules full with countless tasks: maintaining logistics for guests, taking preemptive countermeasures in case of a security failure, preparing to host foreign VIPs, and escorting the royal family, to name a few.
The festival hadn’t even started, yet exhausted faces were everywhere.
These past few days were intense for me, too.
“Raize! Go to Central Square in half an hour and shut down the stalls listed here that haven’t been permitted to operate. You have permission to use force.”
“I don’t need that kind of permission, I’ll just warn them!”
“Hey, Raize, I saw an adult Hippogriff flying just now. It might be dangerous if it comes down, so do you think you could get it from here?”
“Can’t you see how busy I am? You do it, Elt-san.”
“You’re the long-distance snipe monster, you do it.”
“I’ve half a mind to punch you ‘accidentally’…”
“Raize, I’m going to take a nap. Wake me up in five hours, exactly. If you’re off by even a little bit, I’ll collapse the ground beneath you.”
“Arina-san, you have work to do! Now’s not the time!”
Etcetera, etcetera.
I was exhausted from being overworked everyday by my boss and seniors and even other departments. Wasn’t my job supposed to be just protecting the princess from the shadows? My to-do list was increasing everyday.
Because of this, I haven’t been able to think about the conversation I heard the other day. Court magicians were disappearing, but apart from Milena-san’s confirmation, I didn’t know much else. Apparently she had received an order to put the Founding Festival first.
I was a bit surprised that they prioritized the celebration over human lives, but I sort of understood now that I had actually participated in the preparation. I had no time to spare thinking about it. A few people were sent to investigate, but any more and the aristocrats would be throwing a fit.
And if you think about what the general population cares about, the answer should be obvious.
What’s more important to most people: the whereabouts of a few magicians or the annual celebration of the kingdom’s founding? The latter, of course. The former doesn’t concern them at all.
And although it concerned me, I had far too many other things to think about. Well, if something ends up happening, I’ll deal with it then.
My break time was just about coming to an end. My communication stone was shining, prompting me to get back to work. That couldn’t have been more than three minutes…
“Why can’t I be done already?”
With a sigh, I made my way back to the hellscape that was festival preparations.
***
Two more days passed, and soon enough it was the day of the Founding Festival—a day to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of the kingdom.
◇
I was dreaming.
It was a recurring dream, one that I remember quite often.
“──”
I trembled with fear in the middle of the forest path, dim in the early morning light.
“Come back into the carriage, Princess!”
A knight turned around, fearing for my safety—and was immediately mauled by more than a dozen demons jumping out from the shadows. He lost consciousness in a heartbeat, and all I could think about was the fact that he did it to protect me—
“Oh my God! These demons are too strong!”
“Endure it! Do something, even if you can only stand in front of the princess!”
The few remaining knights stood firm to protect me, at the risk of their own lives. They wiped their foreheads, smearing blood on some, and gripped their swords.
All I could do was stand there with an overwhelming sense of guilt.
I’m just the princess of some country. I have nothing. But they… they have a noble spirit and an unwavering heart. They have so much to live for.
“Someone… help them.”
I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for not being able to do anything.
I begged for help that would never come. Instead, the only things that came were the anguished yells coming from the knights struggling in front of me.
My eyes locked on the grotesquely bent arm of one knight knocked down by a demon. The white of bone was clearly visible piercing through the arm’s flesh.
Yet, he stood back up. Even with a wound that made me wince and want to avert my eyes, the knight was still trying to protect me. His chivalrous spirit was admirable. It was everything I wished I had at the moment.
I wanted to run, but I couldn’t move my legs. I wanted to fight, but I was weak. Why? Why? Why?
“Ah, ah, ah, aah—“
Crushed by remorse, tears welled up in my eyes.
“Princess, look out!”
“What?”
I turned at the voice, and a winged demon descended from the sky and bared its fangs at me. It was after me—its prey.
…It seemed that I was going to be a worthless princess until the very end.
I relaxed my shoulders, accepting my inevitable death.
At that moment, lightning engulfed the head of the beast and it fell to the ground, dead.
The knights and I could only watch in surprise as the remaining demons around us were struck down by bolts of lightning, one after another. Not a single one missed its target.
In no time, the horde was gone. The knights sat down in fatigue and the magician with us began healing the numerous wounds among them.
Normally, you would run to your savior to thank them and apologize. But I had to use visual enhancement to see where the lightning had come from.
A few seconds later, I saw—
***
“…”
The sun shone through the gaps in the curtains, and I emerged from my dream.
I was no longer in the forest, but in my private room in the royal palace. The morning light reflected from the polished furniture and onto my luxurious bed.
The time… My goodness, I slept in a little.
Today was the Founding Festival, so royal officials would be very busy. That includes me, of course.
Oh, I still had to think about the royal speech I would be giving this evening.
I got out of bed, walked to the window, and fully opened the curtains.