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~ - Volume 2 - Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Lingering Aftermath

And then, the next day came.

The welcome banquet ended in a heavy atmosphere.

We were now heading into the forest near the village.

“—So. We’ll start the operation as soon as our preparations are ready, but let me explain again. First, everyone from the Call squad will fire magic at the enemy base. After that, if there’s no magical counterattack, we’ll suppress it with knights alone, but if the enemy has mages, please handle the counter-magic.”

That knight who seemed like Suu-san’s attendant explained it that way, and the four of us nodded back.

Then, I stared at the enemy base made hidden among the trees, like a field camp.

…Seeing this, I get why we were called. It’s a simple base made of wood, but no matter how you look at it, this isn’t on the level of something bandits built.

Surrounding the base were wooden stakes, and buildings like a fortress that clearly showed someone with architectural skills had worked on them. No watchtower since it’s in the forest, but soldiers patrolled regularly.

It was exactly like a base in war.

“Remnants of the old royalist faction from the neighboring Jikir Republic, huh. …We need to end that war soon.”

The war with the old Jikir Kingdom that directly caused my hometown to disappear. The conflict between the two countries still dragged on like this even after officially ending.

With the nostalgia stirred up last night, I waited for the knights’ preparations while somewhat lost in sentiment.

A tall figure approached from the knights preparing—

“—Um, Al-kun. I’m really sorry about yesterday…? I was so insensitive…”

“Suu-san. I already told you earlier, right? I don’t mind, so please act normal like always.”

“Okay…, sorry…”

Suu-san looked down dejectedly and glanced up at me. She totally doesn’t get it.

Right now, the other knights were preparing to start the mission—getting projectiles ready or building simple positions… Ah.

“Um… Division Commander? Preparations are almost done, so…”

“… …Okay. Let’s do it.”

“Ah, you’re good? Then please!”

Suu-san’s voice showed no emotion. The knight who came to check hurried back like “better not touch that.”

Suu-san apologized to me once more and went back to the knights.

Hmm, is Suu-san okay? She’s clearly down and not at full strength, and her interactions with her subordinates are stiff.

Well, I’m in the same boat with my subordinates not getting along, I thought, glancing at the three a bit away.

“…Hey. That womanizer squad leader is looking over here. We haven’t done anything wrong today, right?”

“Yes. Not wrong, we haven’t done anything yet today.”

“Good. …I don’t care what he thinks of us, but if we mess up, that big shot Clay division commander will glare at us.”

They’re saying something again. But maybe they learned from yesterday, it’s at a volume I can’t hear. Good job.

Just as I thought that, Ignatz-san said.

“You be careful too—Lily.”

“…!? Me? You’re saying that to me!? With what mouth!”

“Whoa. No, it’s just advice. You’re surprisingly loud when not near the squad leader… …Sorry, sorry, my bad!”

It seemed he was getting harshly scolded by the only woman in our squad—Lily-san.

…She can raise her voice like that. Actually, I haven’t really talked properly with Lily-san. For some reason, she seems terribly scared of me.

But among the three, she seems the quietest, so it’d help if she could rein them in.

…And. It looked like attack preparations were ready. The knights started forming ranks.

Then, Suu-san over there raised her voice.

“—We’ll soon start the attack on the enemy base. All personnel, maintain formation and stand by…!”

“Yes!”

A perfectly unified response.

What, Suu-san was all limp earlier, but she seems totally fine.

…Just as I thought that.

“—Um, also. Al-kun, could you come over here…? …Sorry? Once ready, I want everyone to fire magic all at once…”

“…”

From the knights and my subordinates. Silent, meaningful looks.

“… It’s okay, that’s why we’re here. Um, Clay Division Commander, you can be more confident.”

“C-Clay, Division Commander…? So Al-kun, you really… about me—”

“No, that’s not… Not keeping distance or anything, see, everyone’s watching. Work mode, sort of.”

“C-Call me Al-kun. Like always, call me Suu-san… please…!”

This is bad. Is Suu-san even focused on the mission?

“Uh, our division commander is like this right now… I’ll handle it instead… Everyone from Call squad, could you go ahead?”

Well, no choice. I nodded to the attendant knight.

Okay, get in position.

“We can decide the timing ourselves, right?”

“Yes, no problem! And um, since the division commander is like that now, if the enemy fires back magic, please handle it, really…!”

“Yes. Leave it to us then.”

Good. Let’s start.

“Finally our turn. The division commander was like that, but there are other captain-level people, so good chance to show off…!”

“I’ll protect this beautiful country with my beautiful magic.”

“H-Hurry and finish, I want to escape…”

One said something weird. Well, as long as they do it properly.

We all started preparing to activate magic at once. Taking advantage of the first strike, carefully refining mana.

…Hmm. Everyone’s smooth as court mages, but they’re leaking quite a bit of mana.

“Look. Even in this squad, I have the most mana…!”

Ignatz-san especially. I need to train him next time.

“Okay, here we go…! This is my—[Smoke Shadow], black arrows!”

“Behold my elegant magic. [Ice Statue], ice sword dance…!”

“To finish quick, that means stronger magic… [Wild Storm], wind thunder god palm!”

From the magic circles deployed toward the base, each magic fired.

From Ignatz-san, about twenty arrows like solidified black smoke. Keirens-san, ten beautifully designed ice swords.

And Lily-san’s was the strongest. A thunderstorm wind as thick as a person’s height charged toward the base.

Yeah, as expected from court mages. Of course, there are many parts to improve, but completion rarely seen even in magic academy days.

The entry barrier is high compared to knights, and numbers few anyway. Understandable why called the kingdom’s top elite group.

…Hm? They’re staring a lot. Maybe meaning I should join instead of leaving it to subordinates.

“Show us too, squad leader—what they call the magic skills that caught Her Highness’s eye…!”

Is that provocation, Ignatz-san? Hehe, that rivalry is a shortcut to improving magic, my old master said— ah…

Bad. Suu-san, who was down earlier, is glaring at Ignatz-san—

“…Of course, I’ll join…! I just wanted to watch everyone as squad leader, okay? So here goes—”

Before Suu-san exploded, I instantly deployed a huge white magic circle. Pulling out the mana already refined and boiling inside my body, and then.

I spoke the activation key.

“Since Ignatz-san is a shadow. I’ll… —light.”

Can’t just thoughtlessly kill everyone, right. It’d be an international issue.

…So, even against people from the country that killed everyone in my hometown. I’ll go cultured.

“[Wind], [Flame]—Light Staff, two hundred consecutive.”

Thin straight lines of light bent direction multiple times in the air.

—Silently taking down the enemies of my hometown.