It’s been a bit over a year since I started attending the academy. Like they said at the entrance ceremony we got to choose our own classes this year. Bel took swordsmanship, Alexia took magic and since I don’t think the magic class would teach me anything and I’m still banned from swordsmanship classes I took magic tools, it would most likely have been my choice anyways but I would have been tempted to take swordsmanship if I wasn’t banned. There weren’t any more issues for Alexia or any of the other commoners that attend the academy after I scolded the principal. He also got replaced shortly after I told grandma what happened. I figured she would be angry but I didn’t imagine she would be this angry. I think Bel and Alexia started dating but keep it a secret. Alexia has been staying over at Bel’s room a lot and every time I saw them coming to class together they blushed. I asked them about it before but they denied it, all while having beet red faces. They also started to do more and more things together after school while I practised blacksmithing. I took up blacksmithing in order to create better magic tools. I'm also trying to use the proper materials now instead of whatever I find, at least if it’s not something I make for myself. I also made a first prototype for Bel’s rapier. It uses an Adamantite core and for the rest I used a material I created myself. There is a magic metal that gets stronger by absorbing mana from its surroundings. At first I carried some with me but it takes a long time for it to get stronger, even around my mana but I found a work around for it. It still takes a bit and it’s not something others can replicate easily but I made a box out of Adamantite with increased space and I can put my mana into the box and the metal inside that space will start absorbing it. The Adamantite increases the efficiency as well as keeps the mana inside without any leaks. For an amount that’s enough to create a single weapon it takes about 3 months and I have to add most of my mana into the box each day. Bel said she would have to do the same for about 5 years to get the same result and her magic power is now at around 21’000.
We are about to head out on a test from the academy, it’s a joint test where a magic tool student, like me, has to deliver some things to a town outside the capital while students from both the magic and swordsmanship classes are the escorts. We were allowed to make our own groups so I have Bel and Alexia as my escorts. To ensure the safety of the students during this trip there is going to be an adventurer tagging along but they are only allowed to interfere during an emergency the students wouldn’t be able to handle. We are ready to head out but are still waiting for the adventurer that is going to tag along with us. I wonder who it’s going to be.
“Hey there little miss, long time no see.”
I look at where the voice is coming from and I see a man around mom’s age coming towards me. He is the receptionist I met at the adventurers guild 5 years ago.
“Hey Ad, I didn’t know you were an adventurer as well.”
“Of course El didn’t tell you anything. I retired and became a receptionist for the guild. El actually wanted to come herself but of course Her Majesty didn’t allow it so she asked me to come instead.”
Bel and Alexia look at me expectantly.
“Ah right, let me introduce you.” I gesture at Ad, “This is Adrian.”
“Hey here, I’m a retired adventurer working as a guild receptionist, I’m here because El requested me to be her replacement.”
I gesture at Bel and Alexia, “And this is Bella and Alexia, they are my friends and escorts for this test.”
Alexia leans in and whispers, “Who is El?”
“Ah, he means my mom.”
“By the way Lucina, where is your sword? El made a really big fuss when she asked me to find a good sword for you.”
“Since I’m from the magic tool class I’m not allowed to bring one. It’s part of my assessment, if something goes wrong it’s because I didn’t choose enough or capable enough escorts. And for the worst case you are here as well anyways.”
Since we are all here now we leave for our journey. It’s going to take about 4 days to arrive at our destination but nothing should happen until around the second or third day when we are a bit further away from the capital.
The first day went as predicted and we are now setting up camp for the night. I pull a tent from my backpack. The tent is pre built and one of the new magic tools I made and now is a good time to test it. Bel, Alexia and Ad look at me questioningly, which is understandable, a single tent is usually a bit small for 4 people.
“It’s the latest magic tool I created, you will understand once you get inside.”
I give them a smile and then enter the tent. I’m waiting for them to follow me in, the inside is much bigger than the outside would make you think and I’m really curious how they will react to it. Bel and Alexia are the first to enter but they don’t look very surprised. Their reaction is a bit disappointing but I guess they got a bit dull from my previous antics. However when Ad enters he looks very shocked. It makes sense, I’m pretty sure most people would be shocked if they entered a small tent just to find out there are multiple rooms in there, including a small kitchen.
“What? How? Why?”
I give Ad a proud smile but Bel is letting out a sigh and shakes her head.
“It’s a bit sad how used we got to ridiculous things like this.” Alexia turns to Ad, “I guess her highness Eliza never told you that Miss Lucina is creating increasingly more ridiculous magic items.” She shows him her brooch, “For example, she created this brooch on the first day of school. It blocks attacks by countering them with an equal force, or at least that’s what she intended it to do, in actuality it counters with about 120% of the force of any attack. And it doesn’t even stop there, while defence tools like this usually need to be charged and thus have a limit on what they can block, this one actually uses the mana of the environment instead as well as creating a shield if the wearer's mana is used.”
Ad looks even more shocked now.
“This tent is still a prototype though, it’s safe to use but I want to increase the space a bit more.”
“What the hell else would you want to add?! Aren’t 4 separate rooms and a kitchen enough?!”
“W-well like I said this is a prototype so I made it to be used during this test. I want to make one I can use once I can go on adventures so I want it to have a workshop, bedroom, bath, kitchen and a small living room space.”
This ended that discussion. I made dinner for everyone which we are now eating.
“By the way Ad, I always wanted to ask but I never got the chance. Why is it that you use the prayer to change your gender so often? I thought people usually only use it once?”
They taught us about prayers in school. Prayers are a special type of magic that everyone can use no matter how much mana they have. Not too much is known about them and they were discovered by coincidence. Someone was in so much pain because of the gender they were born into and in desperation they prayed to God for help, God answered by changing their body to their desired gender without any side effects, or that’s how the story goes at least. It doesn’t really matter how much truth there is behind the story because the prayer works just like the story says.
“There isn’t really much to it to be honest. I just change to whatever I feel like that day. I figured if I’m not supposed to do that it wouldn’t work to begin with.”
We soon finished our dinner and headed to bed since we planned to leave early tomorrow.
I’m packing up the tent again and we are ready to leave. Ad changed to a woman this morning, she said she feels more comfortable that way because she’s travelling with 3 young women.
The remaining days went by pretty boring. There were a few monster attacks but nothing Bel and Alexia couldn’t handle, it wasn’t even enough to test out the performance of Bel’s new rapier.
Now that we arrived at the village my real job starts. Before we got informed about where we have to go I received a letter from grandma. This is the 3rd attempt to deliver supplies to this village this month, usually they only get supplies about once every 4 months. All of the people from the previous deliveries disappeared so she wanted me to investigate while I’m here to see if I can find out more. From the journey so far it doesn’t seem that dangerous to come here, while I might not be the best at judging danger for normal people I do trust that the escort selected would be able to handle what we encountered without any issues or they would have increased the strength of the escort a long time ago.
“Welcome to our small village, your highness. I’m sorry to ask but did something happen on the way?”
“Thank you for having us. No, nothing out of the ordinary, why do you ask?”
“Usually our supplies arrive in a carriage, the route here can be dangerous so we get a lot of supplies at once but less frequently. But you don’t seem to travel with a carriage so I wasn’t sure if something happened to it on the way here.”
“Ah, no. I thought it would be easier to travel by foot.” I put down my backpack and start taking out the supplies. The village chief called over a few people to help put away the supplies, Bel and Alexia offered to help but he said we should rest.
While they are putting away the supplies I’m taking a look around the village. The village looks pretty normal, there aren’t any signs of it being attacked or recent fighting. The villagers I saw were all unarmed as well. If they can be so relaxed out here why do the supply deliveries including the trained and armed escort just disappear.
The village chief approaches me, “Your highness, we finished putting all of the supplies away, why don’t you all join us for dinner. We also prepared lodgings for all of you while you stay here. You are staying here, right? It would be dangerous to leave now.”
I give him a sincere smile, “Of course, thank you for your hospitality.”
The village chief leads me to the centre of the village, where a few tables and benches are set up and preparations for what seems to be a feast have already started. Bel, Alexia and Ad are already here so I walk over to them. We sit down next to each other at one of the tables and before we can even say a word a few people from the village bring us something to drink.
“Your highness please enjoy this wine and relax until the food is ready.”
“Thank you so much but there is no need to go out of your way this much for us. We don’t mind waiting for everyone.”
“Don’t worry about us. Just enjoy yourself, we insist.”
I have a bad feeling about this but I can’t let it show or they might get suspicious. I take a sip from the wine but I can’t really taste anything wrong with it. It doesn’t take that long for preparation to finish and everyone else to sit down as well and meals are served. Alexia only takes a few bites and starts to slowly doze off, Bel and Ad also look quite sluggish.
“Looks like you’re getting tired, why don’t we show you where you can rest for the night?”
“I think that’s a good idea, I’m getting a bit tired myself. Thank you, again, for your hospitality.”
I carry Alexia while one of the villagers leads the way. It’s a single room with 4 beds in the village chiefs house, it’s better than nothing but my tent would have been a better option. I put Alexia into one bed and help Ad and Bel to get in another each before lying down myself and pretending to fall asleep. I can understand Alexia getting affected by the wine but Bel is a noble, she should be somewhat used to it and Ad is around the same age as mom so she should most definitely not get done in by some wine, especially if I’m not affected by it. I’m pretty sure they did something either to the food or the wine they gave us but if I don’t fool them by pretending to be affected by it they might not make a move, I did put a protection spell on everyone just to be on the safe side though. I think I’m not affected because they fed me so many drugs in that institution that I got a resistance to most poisons. It’s a good thing mom insisted I learned how to use my magic to see because I can now monitor everything around us. All the villagers, except the village chief, seem to have gone into their houses while the village chief appears to be still in the village centre where the feast was. It looks like he is waiting for someone and only a short time later a few unknown people arrive. I can’t really make out much and this is the disadvantage of using magic as vision, you can’t really make out people clearly unless you recognize their mana.
They talk for a bit and then walk towards the village chief’s house. Only the village chief and another person, who seems to be the leader of the new arrivals, enter the house while the rest wait outside. They stop in front of the room and I can clearly hear them now.
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“We are taking a great risk today since one of them is the first princess, I hope this will be considered in our compensation.”
“Of course, of course. But this country really is pathetic. Sending a princess on a mission where the previous people sent all disappeared.” The unknown man lets out a laugh.
From how they are talking I get the feeling he might be from another country.
He opens the door and I create an invisible barrier around the whole village. He walks over to me first and before he can do anything I use a paralysing spell on him, jump up and do the same to the village chief who is in too big a shock to react. There are still about 10 people outside and fighting them all with magic would be difficult so I grab the first thing I can use as a weapon on the way out.
I stop at the door to assess the situation outside and I can hear two of the people outside talking.
“It looks like we overestimated the Gairyn Kingdom. Sending the princess on a mission where everyone before went missing is pretty dumb.”
“I agree but at least she is lucky. Since she is worth more alive than dead we won’t have to kill her and her companions.”
I open the door, “Looks to me like you underestimated us.”
They all look at me shocked and I use that time to start knocking them out, it’s probably better to take them prisoner rather than killing them. I rush from one person to the next, whatever it is I picked up as a weapon it feels very natural to use. It doesn’t take long to knock them all out and use magic to bind them. I carry them inside and bind both the village chief and the leader of the group as well, both of them still paralysed. I made sure everyone is secured and won’t be able to escape and then make my way over to Alexia. She seems the one who is affected the most so I think it’s best to check up on her first.
My suspicions were correct, they gave us a rather weak sleeping drug. I concentrate my magic on dispelling the drug from her body. I learned how to do it in that institution to make my life a little bit easier but it’s the first time I’m using it on someone else. I was a bit worried but it looks like I managed to do it successfully but Alexia is still asleep. I go over to Bel and Ad and repeat the process. They should be fine now but they are all still fast asleep. It’s probably for the best if I stay up to keep guard, while I trust that my binding spell can’t be broken easily it’s better to be safe than sorry. I take a chair from another room and sit down in a way where I can see the whole room.
It took a few hours but Ad is the first to wake up. She looks very confused when looking around.
“What happened?”
“The village drugged us with something that makes you fall asleep and tried to hand us over to what I think are soldiers from another country. The people over there are bound by my spell and shouldn’t be able to escape and I made a barrier around the village in case I missed someone.”
She looks around half in shock and half in surprise. “Wait, why didn’t you fall asleep? I’d assume they would try to drug you as well? And were you already aware of what was going on? Why didn’t you warn us? This could have been dangerous!”
“Well, you remember how mom rescued me, right? A weak drug like that is nothing compared to what they gave me regularly there. And yes, I was aware, grandma specifically sent me to investigate this and I didn’t tell you anything because all 3 of you suck at acting. Just look at Alexia and Bel, they clearly have been dating for awhile but they think they can fool me by saying they aren’t while having faces that would put a tomato to shame.”
““YOU KNEW?!””
Oh looks like Bel and Alexia woke up as well.
“I mean it’s not that hard to guess given how often you have been sleeping over in Bel’s room.” I shudder. “And the walls aren’t as thick as you think they are.” I get up from my chair and head to an empty bed. “Anyways since you are all up I’m going to take a nap. Ad, can you please fill them in? Including stuff from over 5 years ago.” I don’t wait for an answer and lie down, exhaustion taking over.
By the time I wake up again it’s already starting to get bright again. Bel, Alexia and Ad notice me waking up and Bel and Alexia look at me with a troubled expression.
“Good morning.”
Alexia is the first one to speak up. “Why have you never told us about your past?”
I rub my eyes, “It’s not really something I want to think about too much and it can be dangerous to let others know how strong I actually am. The school thinks I have the Magic Talent and the magic power result is because of that. Besides, ever since mom rescued me from there my life has been pretty good.”
Bel is speaking up this time, “But if it’s that dangerous, why tell us now?”
“After what happened today it’s kinda hard not to tell you and I trust you. There aren’t many who would swear loyalty to someone after such a short amount of time knowing them.”
Ad is pointing next to the chair I used yesterday, “What is that scythe doing here?”
“I have my weapon in my backpack and it wasn’t close enough to get it out so I grabbed the first thing I could use as a replacement. I do think it might be my compatible weapon though.”
“What are you saying? A scythe is for harvesting, it’s not a weapon.”
“I know that but it felt natural to use, like it’s an extension of my body and all the prisoners still being alive is proof of it as well. You know how bad I am with holding back my strength.”
“It did surprise me that they are all still alive but I figured you just used magic. The only question left now is how do we get back with all those prisoners?”
I get up and grab the scythe, “I know how to make a teleportation magic circle to get back. Just give me maybe an hour and gather everyone in that time.”
That being said, I start working on the magic circle. I use a smaller version of it to exchange letters with mom. This one is probably only going to work once though because there isn’t another one set up in the capital and since it’s this big it needs a lot of mana.
Just as I finish Alexia comes over. “Lady Lucina, why did you never say anything if you already knew Bella and I are dating?”
“I did ask before but you both denied it so I left it at that. I figured you’d tell me once you’re ready and there is no need for me to force it.”
Alexia thinks for a bit while Bel comes over, “To be honest I’m more curious how you found out.”
“Well, like I said yesterday, the walls aren’t as thick as you think they are,” I shudder again, “I made my room soundproof because of that. Also every time you came to class together you blushed and avoided making eye contact with me and the restaurant next to the blacksmith where I learn blacksmithing isn’t exactly the best spot for a date if you don’t want me to know. But why were you hiding it anyway?”
Bel and Alexia exchange glances before Bel answers. “As you might know, many nobles still have a more negative view on commoners so we wanted to wait until we have actual achievements and we both agreed that if we were to tell you the reason you’d try to help us.”
Alexia chimes in, “Don’t get us wrong, Lady Lucina, we appreciate all you do for us but this is something we need to do on our own. If you were to do something about it they would accept it publicly but behind closed doors we would still be scrutinised.”
I think for a moment, “ I can understand that but this would be the ideal situation now. It might cause trouble if people find out that I overpowered this many people by myself. I was thinking to give either you or Ad the credit because of that and knowing that it would probably help with your situation as well. Stopping the plots of another country and keeping the first princess safe isn’t something to be taken lightly and if I talk with aunt Emelia and grandma I’m sure they will agree and help out as well. That would solve both of our problems in one go, what do you think?”
They think for a bit, it seems they aren’t that convinced. “Both of you are more than capable enough, if you hadn’t been drugged you would have easily overpowered them. I know how hard you both train and how strong you are.”
They look at each other, smile and then drop on one knee. ““We know we already swore loyalty to you but this just confirms to us again that we made the right decision. Thank you so much for all you do for us, your highness.”"
I avert their gaze and blush. “I’m also doing this for myself. Anyways, you’re over here because everyone is gathered, right? So let’s go.”
Everyone gathers on the magic circle and I activate it. A bright light blocks my vision and once it disappears we are in front of the castle. One of the guards rushes over, “Your highness, what’s going on?”
“We ran into some trouble on our test for the academy, Bel, Alexia and I used a magic circle together to get back here as soon as possible. Those people behind us are captives, please escort them to the jail and inform her majesty about my arrival.”
The guard nods and calls over more guards to escort them to the jail. I enter the castle, Bel, Alexia and Ad following behind me. We enter a reception room and wait for grandma to arrive. Bel and Alexia look pretty nervous, I can somewhat understand why but they have been friends with me for over a year now so they should be used to being around royalty.
The door opens and grandma, mom and Emelia enter.
Ad, Bel and Alexia give a bow, “Don’t be so stiff, we aren’t in public here.” Grandma waives her hand and sits down. Mom and Emelia sitting down on each side of her.
“Adriana, it’s great to see you again. How are Cerys and you doing? I hope my daughter hasn’t caused you too much trouble.”
“Of course not your Majesty. Cerys is doing good, she is actually pregnant, otherwise she would have probably accompanied me.”
“Oh? Congratulations. Bella Ordno, Alexia Barnes, thank you for looking after Lucina and being her friend. I’m sorry for all the trouble she caused.”
“I-it’s no problem, your majesty. Lucina helped us out a lot as well.”
“That’s good to hear. So Lucina, tell me what happened.”
I told grandma about what happened, the people that are now in jail and my plan for how to continue forward.
Grandma lets out a sigh, “I also think it’s a good idea to give credit to Alexia and Bella and I would also like to knight both of them and assign them as your personal knights. It wouldn’t really change much but it definitely makes the claim more believable. That is of course if they agree?” She looks at Bel and Alexia, waiting for them to respond.
““We would be honoured, your Majesty.””
With that settled everyone but mom and I left. They need to figure out the details and organise things and mom and I want to catch up.
“Mom, I think I finally found my compatible weapon.”
She looks at me excited, “What is it? I can’t believe you found it randomly after we tried so many things!”
“Don’t tell anyone about this, I’m gonna get scolded again.” I take the scythe from my pocket, “I found it randomly like that because it’s not used as a weapon.” She now looks at the scythe in my hand sceptically.
“You do realise this is not a weapon?”
“Yes I know, but you said that I will know I’m using my compatible weapon when I feel like it’s part of my body and natural to use. None of the weapons I ever used felt natural to use let alone like a part of my body, but when I used this scythe it felt like I’ve been using it all my life.”
“Well, there is one easy way to find out. Let’s have a duel, it’s been awhile since we had a go at it.”
“Sure but this scythe is meant to be a harvesting tool and not a weapon so I don’t know how well it will hold up against your sword.”
We left for the courtyard to have our duel. I have never won against mom before, which shows the difference between someone with the Sword Talent using their compatible weapon and an amateur with a random weapon. To be fair I never used magic because that would make the whole thing pointless but I still can’t underestimate mom. We both take our positions and wait for the other to make the first move. She is probably waiting for me so I can show what I can do so I rush her. She swings her sword towards me but I duck under it and rush past her. On my way past I hit her chest armour and drag her along a short distance. She gets launched a few metres when I come to a stop.
I rush over to her, “Mom! Are you okay? I’m so sorry.”
She slowly gets up and looks at the dent I left in her armour. “I’m fine. It’s a good thing that scythe isn’t meant to be a weapon, that was terrifying.”