Chapter 100

That night. In the living room of the harem, King Consort Zenjiro and Queen Aura sat facing each other, having a conversation.

The first words spoken were Queen Aura's words of praise for King Consort Zenjiro's efforts.

"You've worked hard, Zenjiro. I'm glad you managed to fulfill the duties of the Carpa royal family without any issues."

Using 'Instant Teleportation' to travel to the provinces, teleporting people to the provinces, and bringing people back from the provinces—these are the strengths of the Carpa royal family.

Until now, only Queen Aura could use 'Instant Teleportation,' so the family's strength was only half realized. The queen, as the ruler, could not use 'Instant Teleportation' to travel to the provinces unless there were exceptional circumstances.

However, Zenjiro is different. Although he is a rare adult member of the royal family and thus a valuable person, he can be considered somewhat free as long as his safety is secured.

Within the country where his safety is guaranteed, Zenjiro can use 'Instant Teleportation' to bring people to the capital. Of course, this is not something he can do frequently, but it will be a significant trump card in emergencies.

"I'm relieved it all went well. I was worried I might fail when teleporting others, but it went smoothly."

As he said, Zenjiro let out a deep sigh of relief. For Zenjiro, the trip to the Marquis Lala's territory was his first official duty outside the palace.

No matter how much he tried to hide it, he was very nervous. Although he is not usually shy and can handle conversations with new people, he is not bold enough to meet the guardians of his beloved wife without feeling nervous.

"I'm sorry, but this kind of work will increase in the future. Please be prepared for it."

"I know. I'm fine with it."

While Queen Aura can also use 'Instant Teleportation' to send people from the capital, bringing people from the provinces to the capital is something only Zenjiro can do.

Queen Aura, in principle, cannot leave her throne. Unlike Zenjiro, Queen Aura can cast 'Instant Teleportation' three times a day, and she can theoretically teleport to the provinces, bring the target back to the capital, and then return herself, but this is a last resort. It is a genuine trump card that should not be used unless absolutely necessary.

In comparison, Zenjiro, who has learned 'Instant Teleportation,' is a much lighter card. Of course, this is only because Queen Aura is such a heavy card. Zenjiro is also a significant card, not one to be used lightly. However, with his safety secured within the country, Zenjiro's card will likely be used multiple times in the future, almost a certainty.

"I took photos, so I can travel to the Marquis Lara's territory alone from now on."

"Indeed. I hope you can do the same for 'Valentia,' 'Potosi,' and 'Mujyik.'"

"Sure, sometime soon."

The western port city 'Valentia,' the southern silver mining city 'Potosi,' and the eastern fortress 'Mujyik' are key locations in the Carpa Kingdom, alongside the northern former capital 'Lara Marquis Territory.' It was inevitable that Zenjiro, who has learned 'Instant Teleportation,' would eventually visit these places.

However, that is not an immediate concern. Zenjiro decided to return to the main topic of their conversation.

"I met the Marquis and Marchioness Lala and delivered your message. Their response was, 'We would like to see our granddaughter, but traveling to the capital would be against the national interest.'"

"Hmph, just like the Marquis."

Zenjiro's words made the queen chuckle. While her chuckle was not unusual, the warmth and affection in her voice were rare.

"To be honest, I was relieved to meet your family."

Zenjiro said this sincerely, even though it was belated. Until Zenjiro was summoned, Queen Aura was the only member of the Carpa royal family. Initially, Zenjiro saw this as a serious issue for the royal family and the state, but there was a more fundamental perspective.

Namely, Aura had lost her parents, grandparents, siblings, and other relatives in the great war.

Queen Aura is strong and flexible in spirit. That is why she has been able to govern the great kingdom of Carpa as the sole surviving royal family member. However, just because she is strong enough to endure, it does not mean she does not feel the pain of losing her loved ones.

For Zenjiro, confirming that Aura, despite not being blood-related, had family-like figures, was a source of joy.

His wife, slightly embarrassed, averted her gaze.

"Emotionally, they are family. But they are very formal and do not show affection openly."

The Marquis and Marchioness Lala are people who can control their words and actions with reason. Therefore, they maintain a clear distinction between public and private life, and they never show familial affection in public. Unfortunately, there is almost no private interaction between the queen and the Marquis and Marchioness Lala. As a result, the 'family affection' between Queen Aura and the Marquis and Marchioness Lala is not openly displayed.

"I successfully teleported the Marquis Lala's third and fourth daughters to the capital. The Marquis and Marchioness accepted that they would be candidates for Xavier's engagement, so I want to leave the rest to Lucinda."

"Agreed. Make sure to have Lucinda report regularly."

Aura's instructions were to prevent any issues in Xavier's 'arranged marriage' and to increase the opportunities for Zenjiro and Lucinda to interact.

"Everything we planned went smoothly. The problem is an unexpected event."

With that, Zenjiro opened a small box on the table.

Inside the rectangular wooden box were two amber stones.

"Hmm. These are the 'Dragon Sealing Stones,' I see. Indeed, I have never seen such deep-colored amber before."

Queen Aura picked up one of the amber stones and held it up to the light of the LED desk lamp. While she is not as knowledgeable about gemstones as Prince Francesco or Princess Bonna, as a female member of the royal family, she has seen many high-quality gems. Even to her, this amber looked like a rare find.

"I remember Primo saying that the Tucare Kingdom is also a producer of amber. But these are not from the Tucare Kingdom, right?"

Zenjiro asked, just to be sure. After thinking for a moment, Queen Aura replied.

"While I am not an expert on gemstones, the likelihood is low. If such a valuable vein existed, it would have been known in high society long ago. Of course, it's possible that the Tucare Kingdom has been hiding it or discovered it recently, but that's unlikely."

"In that case, as Prince Francesco said, it's more natural to assume they are from the Northern Continent. The Tucare Kingdom is involved in intercontinental trade, right?"

Zenjiro asked, recalling what he had learned from Lady Octavia, though he was not entirely confident in his memory.

"They are involved, but it's not their main focus. The countries further north are more active in intercontinental trade."

Intercontinental trade is a perilous endeavor, even with large ships from the Northern Continent capable of withstanding the journey. To minimize the risks, intercontinental trade ships tend to dock at the northernmost ports in the Southern Continent. Of course, some ships take greater risks for higher profits and venture further south.

"If these are 'Dragon Sealing Stones' as Prince Francesco said, they must be extremely valuable. There's no way they would just give them to us without a reason, right?"

As Zenjiro said this, he recalled the Marquis Lala's words. When Zenjiro asked, "How much do they know?" the Marquis Lala replied, "At this point, it's just a bluff."

Given that the Marquis Lala, a seasoned veteran who dealt with the Tucare Kingdom during the great war, made this statement, it was likely a bluff. However, this made Zenjiro curious.

Why would the Tucare Kingdom, which knows little about their situation, give them 'Dragon Sealing Stones'? A simple explanation would be to unsettle them and gather more information by observing their reaction.

However, Zenjiro thought, isn't 'Dragon Sealing Stones' a bit too valuable to use as a mere bluff? If they had no other options, it would be understandable. But the Tucare Kingdom is a producer of amber. If they were just trying to bluff, they could have used domestic amber.

"But if the Marquis Lala said it's just a bluff, maybe there's no deeper meaning?"

"No, I think the Marquis Lala is wrong on this point. They are one step ahead of us."

Zenjiro was taken aback by his beloved wife's unexpected answer to his almost rhetorical question.

"Really? The Marquis Lala?"

The Marquis Lala, whom Zenjiro saw as a capable and cautious gentleman, and whose reputation was consistent with what he had heard from others, could have been wrong?

Reading Zenjiro's thoughts from his expression, Queen Aura smiled wryly and defended her foster parents.

"The Marquis Lala is capable, but not omniscient. If he lacks necessary information, he can make mistakes."

Even Zenjiro, who is not particularly intelligent, understood this.

"Oh, right. The Marquis Lala wouldn't have known about the 'Dragon Sealing Stones.'"

"Exactly. To the Marquis Lala, they would have just looked like high-quality amber. Without the information from Prince Francesco, I would have said the same. Given the wrong premise, it's understandable that he reached the wrong conclusion. The person who sent these amber stones must have anticipated this."

In other words, the person who set this up wanted to send a message directly to Zenjiro, bypassing the Marquis Lala.

"The message is that the Tucare Kingdom has some connection to the Northern Continent, right? And they wanted to convey this to me directly, without going through the Marquis Lala?"

Queen Aura shrugged slightly in response to Zenjiro's contemplation.

"I think the Marquis Lala's prediction of 'just a bluff' is partly correct. After all, the instigator and the Marquis Lala have a long-standing rivalry from the great war. It's likely they just wanted to embarrass him a little."

Queen Aura's theory was plausible. It was well-known that she trusted the Marquis and Marchioness Lala, who raised her. Even if the information was conveyed directly to Zenjiro, it could still be shared with the Marquis Lala.

"Wasn't it Prince Joao-Cobra?"

Zenjiro recalled what he had learned about the Tucare Kingdom from Lady Octavia.

"Yes, just 'Cobra' is fine. His real name is Joao, but as you know, almost all male members of the Tucare royal family are named Joao, and all females are named Julia."

Therefore, members of the Tucare royal family have nicknames, and they are generally called by these nicknames in informal settings. It is common to address them as 'Prince Cobra' or 'Princess Julia,' and there is no need to use their full names like 'Prince Joao-Cobra.'

"Unifying everyone's names seems to cause a lot of inconvenience in daily life. Is it because of magic?"

Zenjiro asked, and the queen nodded.

"Probably. Officially, the Tucare Kingdom says it's just a custom or tradition, but there have been rumors. According to my grandfather, it is theoretically possible."

The queen's grandfather is the head court magician, Espiridion, who is an extremely skilled magician and a renowned researcher of magic and magical languages in the western part of the Southern Continent. His opinion carries weight.

"By unifying the first-person pronoun in spells to a single personal name, multiple people can share a single spell. It sounds convenient, indeed."

Zenjiro recalled the 'rumors' he had learned from Lady Octavia in recent lectures. These rumors about the Tucare Kingdom are related to the 'backdoor techniques' of bloodline magic, which are said to be kept secret by royal families across the Southern Continent.

Zenjiro already knows that these rumors are not baseless. The rumor about the Sharwa royal family's ability to drastically shorten the time to create magical artifacts is true, and the rumor about the Carpa royal family's ability to resurrect the dead by rewinding time, though limited to creatures with no or very low magical power, is also true.

Considering this, the rumor about the Tucare Kingdom's ability to share a single spell among multiple people seems quite plausible.

"Yes. According to my grandfather, some of the 'acquired magic' used in the past by the Tucare Kingdom was clearly impossible for a single person's magical power. They must have some solution."

The issue of maximum magical power is a shared problem among all royal families in the Southern Continent. The 'bloodline magic' possessed by each royal family is a special type of magic, and while the power varies, they are all powerful spells.

However, powerful spells require a lot of magical power. As a result, even royal family members with vast magical power have a stock of spells that are theoretically possible but impossible to cast.

The Carpa royal family solved this problem with the 'Future Compensation' magic, and it is said that the Tucare royal family solved it by 'sharing a single spell among multiple people.'

"Conversely, if the number of royal family members decreases, the number of spells they can cast will be limited. ... Wait, can't the same thing be done with non-royal family members? There should be enough people with the same name. It seems like it should be possible with ordinary Great Magic as well."

Zenjiro asked, and the queen shook her head.

"Others have thought of this before, but there are no known successful cases. My grandfather also researched it in the past, but he did not achieve any results."

The reason could be that 'acquired magic' is special, or that the Tucare royal family's research is more advanced. There is also a theory that there is a minimum required magical power for each individual to share a spell. The truth is known only to the Tucare royal family.

"I see. For now, we should assume that this is a technique only the Tucare royal family can use. Getting back to the topic, the intention behind sending us these valuable 'Dragon Sealing Stones.' If we assume that the Marquis Lala not understanding it was just a prank, the act of sending the stones itself must have a purpose beyond just pranking or bluffing, right?"

Zenjiro's words, which lacked confidence, were met with a clear response from the queen.

"Yes, I'm almost certain. There is some significant intention behind this. In this case, the important point is not that the Marquis Lala was bypassed, but that it was brought to your and Prince Francesco's attention."

At this timing, when Prince Francesco is trying to create a decorative oil lamp, the Tucare Kingdom, or more specifically, Prince Cobra, must have wanted to show these 'Dragon Sealing Stones' to Prince Francesco and Zenjiro. Normally, the Tucare Kingdom would not know that Prince Francesco is aware of the true nature of the 'Dragon Sealing Stones.' However, with the element of 'acquired magic,' it is not impossible that they do know.

"... Wow, this is so complicated."

Zenjiro sighed in exasperation, and the queen smiled wryly in agreement.

"That's the reaction of everyone who has dealt with the Tucare Kingdom. When it comes to information warfare, they almost always take the initiative, forcing us to react."

"Reacting means they will take further action, right?"

Zenjiro asked, and the queen nodded slightly.

"Most likely."

The queen's expression was far more exasperated than Zenjiro's.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

A few days later, in the office of the palace, Queen Aura, as usual, was diligently working when she received a report.

"A letter from the Alve Kingdom?"

"Yes, here it is."

As usual, Secretary Fabio spoke in a calm tone and placed a letter on the desk.

"Hmm... I see. It's within the realm of expectation."

The letter stated that the Alve Kingdom was prepared to host a meeting between representatives of the Tucare Kingdom and the Carpa Kingdom.

Formally, it appeared to be an initiative by the Alve Kingdom, but in reality, it was clearly a proposal from the Tucare Kingdom.

Since the great war, the Tucare Kingdom has officially severed diplomatic relations with other countries. For them to now propose re-establishing relations is, to put it mildly, a major event. This alone will have a significant impact on the entire western part of the Southern Continent, if not the entire Southern Continent.

Depending on the content of the discussions, it could even shake the entire Southern Continent.

The content of the meeting was not specified or hinted at. This is understandable, given the Tucare Kingdom's reputation for handling information carefully.

"Read it as well."

"Of course