Chapter 4: Family Of Ezel

“...Alice, how long have you been able to use magic?” Julian asked.

“Not very long. I learned it a few days ago-Hey! Your grip! Hold onto Celly properly!” Alice shouted.

“Ah. Sorry, it’s just... that surprised me.” Julian said, fumbling to regain his balance.

Alice frowned.

{It’s not that I don’t understand their shock, but… That shouldn’t be very strong compared to most other magic, right? Come to think of it, I never did learn much about magic in this world before. Does that mean… Magic here is somehow underdeveloped? And when they mentioned the steel armor. Do they not know how to strengthen armor? No, they might not even know basic enchantment magic in that case. Unless they were referring to unenhanced steel armor?} Alice thought.

She bit her thumb in thought.

“Oh! Right, Julian!” Alice shouted.

“Wh-Y-Yes? Alice, what’s wrong?” Julian asked.

“You were talking about how my magic can easily tear through steel armor, right? What about enhanced armors?” Alice asked.

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“Enhanced? Hm... Well, I guess that would be able to stop it, but… Erm. There isn’t really a point in trying to take that into account.” Julian said.

“Why not?” Alice asked.

“What do you mean, why not? Those are national treasures. Unless you’re planning to fight the king of a country, there isn’t much to worry about.” Julian said.

“You’re joking, right?” Alice asked.

“Why are you drooling?” Julian asked, backing up.

“H-How much would that armor be worth?” Alice asked.

“Worth?! That stuff is priceless! Not to mention that it would be idiotic to buy or sell that stuff anyway. Nobody can fix it, so it’s not actually useful, and nobody can make them anymore either. It’s basically a collector's item.” Julian said.

“Heeeh? Is that so? Hm. Julian, if you had the chance, would you want to have some enhanced armor?” Alice asked.

“Pft. Duh, that’s pretty much every knight's dream.” Julian said.

“I seeee, so… Your birthday is coming up in a few days, right brother?” Alice asked.

“Yeah!” Julian said, smiling warmly.

“Huh? You’re smiling a lot more than… usual. Julian, are you all right?” Alice asked.

“I’m just excited. I’ll be meeting my fiancee for the first time at the party.” Julian said.

Alice stopped dead in her tracks.

“Are you talking about Mrs. Rose, possibly?” Alice asked.

Julian nodded.

“I’ve heard that she lives up to her name, so I’m rather excited to meet her,” Julian said.

Alice balled her hand into a fist.

“This is….” Alice said.