The Invincible Aloof Yandere Princess Falls in Love with Her Younger Court Mage's Fatherly Warmth! ~She Clung to Him So Much That the King Fired Him. When He Made Marriage His Official Reason for Resigning Under Royal Order, the Light Vanished from the Princess's Eyes~

Chapter 29: The Calm Before the Storm

A long sword glowing brightly in a monochrome style.

Its shape looked slimmer compared to before it was released, and the decorations had gotten way simpler too.

But——

“——The intimidation… it’s on a whole different level…!”

“It’s not just how it looks. Like, for example…”

I slowly swung the sword toward Leo, who tensed up his whole body, letting out so much power that the space around it started to warp.

Right then.

——Every single bit of hostile energy in the area just vanished.

The green aura covering Leo’s body, the silvery-white particles rising off Mel-chan…

Everything disappeared in an instant.

“…! Wh-what the—!? Both magic power and ki, gone together!”

“Heyyy! Even Mel’s star trial disappeared! Whyyy!?”

Leo and Mel-chan freaking out. Okay, time for the big reveal.

“Breaking and exorcising demons… In other words, it interferes with anything and everything that tries to obstruct or harm the owner. That’s the ability of this sword, the ‘Anti-Demon Exorcism Sword Adamas Harpe’.”

“Anything that tries to obstruct you, huh…?”

“Kinda vague and hard to picture, right? …Okay, for example.”

Just to test it, I swung the divine sword—which I still wasn’t totally used to—at empty air.

And then.

“What the……………………!?”

Looks like he got it.

There was a sharp *crack* sound, and Leo frantically patted down his own chest. He pulled something out and stared at it with this stunned look on his face.

“A magic tool that wasn’t even activated… got destroyed…!?”

What he was holding… probably some kind of dangerous enchanted item. But its function was completely dead now. Because, well——

“——I cut down anything that was trying to harm me.”

“…!”

He was looking at me like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

I get what he wants to say. “How the hell am I supposed to fight that?” Right?

But of course this power has limits too.

I’m not telling them this, but… this ability to twist reason can’t be spammed. The bigger the scale I use it on, the longer the cooldown gets before I can use it again.

The reason I didn’t pull it out from the very beginning was because I was wary of the enemy forces coming in waves.

Also, there are things it can’t do if they conflict with other rules. Like, even if Leo has hostility toward me, I can’t judge him as “demon” and erase him outright. Direct interference with life isn’t allowed.

So… I was thinking about how to make the ability look as overwhelming as possible to crush their will to fight, while also taking the princess’s intentions into account.

That’s what I was thinking, anyway.

But what stopped me in my tracks was the sight right in front of me——

“——Only the princess’s power didn’t disappear…”

Suu muttered quietly.

Leo and Mel-chan were too busy desperately trying to resist me, so they hadn’t noticed yet.

——The princess was shining with silver light, looking straight at me like she wanted to tell me something. Her expression was troubled… apologetic. Those deep purple-blue eyes staring at me…

…………. I sealed the Anti-Demon Exorcism Sword. Back to its pre-exorcising state, before it purged hostile “demonic” energy.

The moment I did, the princess started shaking her head up and down really fast like “yes, exactly!”

“! ……Magic power and ki are back! A power this strong… of course there’s a time limit, huh!”

Yeah, that’s what you’d think. In this situation there’s no reason to hold back, normally.

Leo took the chance and charged right in, so I met him with the floating sword. I could do the same thing again, but if I keep going like this, I’ll probably just end up having to cancel the power myself anyway.

……Alright. Then let’s do it this way. Until I figure out what the princess is trying to tell me, I don’t know how I should move either——

“——Temporarily lock Leo and Mel-chan away… Severance Sword.”

Following my will, the second divine sword started glowing faintly.

Severance means cutting off flow and continuity. It doesn’t completely remove the restrictions, but if I combine it with the Anti-Demon Exorcism Sword’s power…

“——…Huh? Wait what, [Teleport]? Why is Mel suddenly right next to that Leo guy!?”

“…This isn’t my magic. It’s that blue sword’s power…! And again the magic power and ki are gone—can he use both at the same time!?”

Good. By severing the space and crushing the distance, I grouped the two of them together. Now just mix in the exorcism power and trap them in a cage.

“!”

Before they could even make a sound of surprise, Leo and Mel-chan’s figures… got shut inside a pitch-black box-like barrier. No light, no sound, no stimulation of any kind could reach them anymore.

“——It’s a barrier that completely isolates them from the outside in both space and time, sealing their power. They probably can’t hear us anymore.”

I gave the jet-black cube a quick glance, then walked over toward the princess. Suu, who followed me, sounded super excited.

“…That was amazing, Al-kun! I’ve always wanted to see it someday! A legendary sword! It’s just as incredible as in the stories…!”

“Once we get out of here, I’ll show you anytime you want.”

“Thank you Al-kun!! But um, if possible…! I really wanna see Al-kun wearing armor and standing ready…!! I’m sure you’d look super cool, just like a real hero!”

“And I’ve got lines I want you to say while you’re like that, and a handshake… and, and, if possible, a hug too…!” Suu kept going on like that.

Ahaha… She really hit me right in the feels. Of course I’ll do all that stuff inside the palace anytime.

But right now.

“I should go first.”

“——Papa…”

Maybe realizing what she’d done, the princess’s face clouded over awkwardly. In that one instant when her eyes met Suu’s, they basically bared their teeth and growled at each other.

But it’s okay, no need to worry. I know the princess is doing this for my sake.

So, yeah. I made sure the bad guys can’t hear anymore.

——Wanna talk? About the princess’s little secret.