My Beloved Princess ~The Boy Called Incompetent Rises with Only a Sword and the Princess's Devotion~ - Chapter 99: Homecoming

“I intend to go greet Mother-in-law.”

That proposal was set to be carried out during the one-week preparation period for the Winter Special Practice, after the second semester had ended. Just like the Summer Special Practice, there was a week set aside for preparations.

However, the distance from the academy to Argant was eight days by carriage. No matter how fast they hurried, the week would be over by the time they arrived.

At first glance, a homecoming trip to Argant seemed impossible—a dream within a dream. But there was no way the intelligent Princess would make such a proposal without a plan.

She had prepared a certain secret weapon.

That weapon was—

◇◇◇◇◇

A massive ship.

On a broad stone-paved plaza within the academy grounds, that enormous vessel sat at anchor in all its angular grandeur, gleaming in the sunlight. The sharply curved lines extending from the bow looked designed to cut through wind rather than waves. Large iron wheels protruded from the hull and rested on the stone pavement.

A ship belonged on the sea.

The sight of one moored on stone, anchor dropped, gave off an overwhelming sense of wrongness. Faced with that bizarre scene, Kishō could only stare with widened eyes.

“So this is an airship. A ship that sails through the sky… right?”

Inside it was a magic-powered engine, supplied by a tank of magical energy. With the engine turning enormous gears within the hull, the wheels moved in tandem.

That said, with the technological level of this world, it could not fly by its own power alone. The magic crystals and engine were used strictly to assist flight—steering and movement on the ground were their primary roles. They did not possess enough power to actually carry the ship through the sky unaided.

So then, how did it fly?

“Kugyaaaaaaaaa!”

Shrill cries rose from various points around the plaza.

Claws dug into the stone, and long necks stretched toward the sky. The creatures were small dragons known as wyverns. Since they could not breathe breath, they were a different species from the true Dragons regarded as the ancestors of the dragonkin race. Thick, heavy chains had been fastened around the necks and torsos of those wyverns, and the other ends were connected to the airship.

There were eight wyverns in total, all resting around the vessel anchored in the plaza.

“So basically, it means we’ll be flying through the sky by borrowing the strength of those wyverns, huh.”

Kishō looked up at the magnificent sight of the eight wyverns linked to the airship and marveled.

With no obstacles in the plaza, the wind blew freely across the stone. Beside him, the Princess held down her black hair as the strong gusts tossed it about, then gave a small nod.

“Correct. We will head to Argant by airship, using high-speed aerial travel.”

Kishō had been admiring her beautiful profile when someone tugged at the sleeve on his other side. Short chestnut hair swayed brightly, and Ōka turned a smile on him. She did not seem to notice in the least that her small chest was pressing against the arm she had taken.

“Amazing, Sho-kun. I think I might actually be a little moved. Traveling through the sky and all.”

“A-Ah. Yeah. That’s true.”

When Kishō answered in a distracted voice, Ōka, who had been bouncing around happily, tilted her head with a faintly lonely look. But that expression lasted only a moment before she switched back to her usual teasing grin.

“Ah! You’re making a face like you’d rather be alone with You-chan~.”

“I-I’m not!”

The warmth against his arm vanished, and Ōka skipped away, turning once in place. Then she posed with both hands behind her back and laughed, showing her white teeth.

“You’re embarrassed, you’re embarrassed! Big Sis can see right through you, you know.”

It was now deep winter.

A cold wind blew across them.

Kishō was the only one shrinking against the chill, while the girl in front of him teased him with utter ease. Chewing bitterly on the unfairness of the world, he pursed his lips in a sulk.

“Hey, what does Ōka think?”

“Mm? About what?”

The purpose of this trip home was for the Consorts’ side to greet his mother.

However, Kishō and Ōka were friends, and absolutely not lovers—not even by accident. Even so, for some reason, the Princess had insisted on bringing Ōka along. And Ōka, rather than refusing, had come here in her usual easygoing way.

Ever since the lonely days at the start of his enrollment, Ōka had stayed beside him the whole time. What exactly was his proud best friend, the one who had kept giving him energy, thinking now?

Surely she did not seriously intend to become one of his Consorts.

No matter how he pictured it, he could not imagine Ōka yearning for him. Their relationship had always been one where they traded jokes and teased each other.

And yet… if, by some chance, it were possible—

If she really did have feelings of that sort, and they were directed at him.

If her usual teasing manner was just a cover for embarrassment.

That foolish possibility crossed his mind, and Kishō shook his head hard as though to drive it out.

Unable to look directly at the innocent face tilted up toward him, he turned his eyes away.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Weird.”

Her innocent face tipped in confusion.

Then the self-proclaimed Big Sis, who looked more like the younger one if anything, clung to his arm again. Feeling her body heat on his right side, Kishō grew a little flustered by how aware he had become of it.

And then his free left arm was suddenly taken from the other side and pressed between two soft breasts.

That touch had an adult tolerance completely unlike Ōka’s.

“As for room assignments, there will be two rooms. One twin and one single.”

Whether she was imitating Ōka, or simply trying to force her way into the conversation, the Princess pulled his arm firmly into the deep valley of her chest. He could feel her heartbeat and breathing directly.

Now trapped between two beautiful girls, Kishō experienced supreme bliss even as he flushed bright red in thoroughly appropriate adolescent fashion. Turning his face aside to hide the embarrassment, he stammered,

“O-Oh. Then wouldn’t it be fine if I take the single, and Kuroyō and Ōka use the twin?”

“No.”

“Why not!? That’d cause the least friction, wouldn’t it?”

“I don’t mind, really. You two can use the twin if you want.”

Ōka, pressed up against him as if countering the Princess, grinned at him mischievously. Her face plainly said, You two are engaged, so it should be fine, right?

Naturally, Kishō assumed the Princess meant the same thing—

“No. We can divide the sleeping time at night in half and share.”

“Share what!?”

“Naturally, we would share you between Ōka and me.”

So much for hoping she meant the room.

That hope shattered beautifully.

“We split the night in half: Kishō and me, then Ōka and Kishō. If we do that, then we can both be loved equally.”

The Princess puffed out her chest as if proudly presenting a brilliant idea, and Ōka let out a shriek.

“L-Loved… wha, whawawawa, what are you even saying!?”

Clearly imagining something, Ōka turned bright red. Blushing so fiercely she looked as though steam might burst from her head, she began flailing one hand wildly.

Kishō, meanwhile, was just as red. Surrounded by two beautiful girls, wrapped in their warmth, softness, and scent, his imagination could hardly help going in indecent directions.

And then, as if to finish them off—

“If dividing the time feels awkward, I don’t mind if the three of us are together, you know.”

The Princess casually drove in the killing blow.

That merciless comment struck directly at the danger line, more effectively than anything either of them had said. Steam practically burst from both Kishō’s and Ōka’s heads at once, and their thoughts short-circuited in perfect unison.

The one who had dropped such an outrageous remark—the Princess herself—remained utterly serious, without so much as a twitch in her expression.

“It might also be interesting to use just the single bed.”

The Princess’s face stayed perfectly composed.

“Of course, Kishō would sleep in the middle, and Ōka and I would use that sturdy chest as our pillow.”

“I-If we did that, Ōka’s Honor would be ruined.”

“It would not be ruined. Honor offered to one’s master is infinitely noble and exalted.”

“M-Master… I, I-I-I and Sho-kun are—”

“Not in that kind of relationship!?”

Trying to stop the Princess once she had entered runaway mode was exhausting. In the end, after both Kishō and Ōka desperately talked her down, it was finally settled that Kishō alone would have the single room.

◇◇◇◇◇

Her carefully arranged hair was gradually coming loose in the strong wind. Brushing a long strand of loosened bangs back in irritation, that woman let out a heavy sigh.

A nasty smile rested on her lips.

“So? Where exactly are we going?”

The one who stood waiting on the deck to greet Kishō and the others after they climbed the ladder lowered to the plaza was Headmaster Seiran.

On the deck, where the wind blew violently, the cold was enough to freeze one to the bone. Unlike an ordinary ship, there was no sail fixed to the mast. Instead, metal wings and propellers had been attached.

While Kishō shrank against the bitter cold, the Princess answered for him.

“To Argant, Seiran-dono.”

At the word Argant, Seiran’s cheek twitched.

Then, knitting her brows in displeasure, she cast them a look full of contempt.

After all, returning home to a human city had to seem utterly lacking in common sense to her. In human terms, it would probably be like publicly revealing that one came from the slums. In terms of the gap in status, it was no different from royalty being engaged to a pauper. Either way, Seiran was not about to look pleased.

Still wearing her openly sour expression, she gave the command to the crew—who appeared to be her subordinates.

“Set sail.”

A moment later, a heavy sound rose from near the bow.

The anchor was being hauled up.

Below, in the stone-paved plaza, figures that looked to be mechanics ran about, removing the chains attached to the wyverns one by one.

Once the work was done, the ship began to turn slowly in place.

The familiar scenery of the academy, viewed from the deck, gradually shifted.

The iron wheels turned.

The sharply shaped hull rotated.

At last, the bow came to face northwest.

Toward Argant.

“Ah, Alice-chan and the others are over there.”

Following the direction Ōka pointed, Kishō saw Alice standing on the high ground overlooking the plaza, waving both hands energetically. Beside her were other familiar figures—Kōran and Tsukino as well.

“There’s no need to worry. Kōran will take care of Tsukino.”

“Yeah, I know. Kōran’s surprisingly reliable.”

Eight roars rose together, and the wyverns spread their wings.

At the same moment, the chains connecting the wyverns to the airship snapped taut, and the vessel lifted straight upward.

Leaning out over the deck to look below, Kishō saw that the three girls who had come to see them off had already become as tiny as beans.

Then he tilted his head.

“No, there are four little beans. Which means Fūyō-sensei came too—she just couldn’t be seen because of the fence, huh…”

The airship rose steadily higher.

Up through the clouds, toward the endless blue sky.

And so the flight toward Argant began.

At that time, Kishō had no way of knowing what returning home truly meant.