[EN] Episode 7 - New Pinkssum Street 1

In the end, Wingester's revealed most of the story, excluding parts like the Barret Staff.


The princess listened to his tale calmly, while Romulus, sitting across from him, twitched his eyebrows whenever his own story was mentioned.


“...I see. Thank you for telling me.”
“Hmm...”
“......”


The princess shot Romulus a look of pity.
The reason Wingester's academy life had been so difficult was because of the bullying he and other students with high magical aptitude endured.


“So such things were happening in places I didn't know about...”
“It's common in this country, isn't it? No need to worry about it.”
“......”


Watching Wingester dismissively wave his hand as if indifferent, the princess fell deep in thought.
Meanwhile, the carriage procession was steadily approaching the border between the Magic Kingdom and the Maritime Kingdom.


Originally, the Sea Kingdom's capital and major cities existed on an archipelago formed by three large islands beyond the coastline.


Through wars and land acquisitions driven by the Sea Kingdom's long-standing territorial expansion policy, they had secured the current mainland.


Their desire for expansion persisted, often leading to clashes with the Magic Kingdom.


Knock knock.


The guard mage outside lightly knocked on the door before urging them to be cautious upon entering the Maritime Kingdom.
For while the Maritime Kingdom might appear friendly on the surface, their actions often diverged.


Knowing that none other than the Third Princess, one of the Magic Kingdom's most crucial figures, was here on a school trip, they wouldn't just stand by.


“…….”
“Wingester.”
“…?”


Wingester almost turned away when he saw Romulus suddenly looking at him with a serious expression, but reluctantly met his gaze.


“Regardless, we were assigned to the same group by the princess herself. Right?”
“…….”
“……?”


Gritting his teeth, perhaps out of pride, Romulus forced the words out.


“If it comes to it, we have to protect the princess.”
“I won't be much help.”


Wingester flatly refused and turned his head away.


“You seriously!”
“...Like you said, I'm barely a 2nd Circle. I won't help in combat.”
“You...!”


Wingester's glared at him as he pointed at the Barret Staff, trying to say something, and quietly hid the Barret Staff behind his back.


It wasn't wise to argue about this in front of her, especially since she was royalty.
“……?”
“Dammit! Are you seriously doing this!? You're a citizen of the kingdom too!”
“…A two-circle nobody. Not a citizen.”
“…Guh!”


Wingester sneered, chuckled, then pulled a book on mana concentrators from his bag and began reading.
Since there was nothing more to say, he intended to continue his original contemplation on the concentrator.


“...Romulus?”
“Ah, yes?”


The princess, who suddenly called out to Romulus, tilted her head.


“I did hear that Romulus lost to him in the magic duel... but is his magic tool really that formidable?”
“......”


His mood sank when the princess mentioned his defeat, and Romulus mumbled, lowering his head.
The princess turned to Wingester next, her eyes full of curiosity.


“Wingester?”
“…….”
“What kind of magic tool do you use, specifically?”
“…Trade secret.”
“Is it a secret from me too?”


Wingester flinched under the pressure of the princess's bright, sparkling gaze looking up at him and hid his face behind his book.
She puffed out her cheeks slightly, swiftly pulled his book away with her hand, and met his eyes again.


“Guh…!”


Unable to roughly push her away because she was the princess, Wingester groaned and quickly hid the book again.


“Tell me.”
“I said it's a trade secret.”
“…….”


She really was a troublesome princess.
The Barrett Staff was a wand modeled after firearms, treated as an icon of rebellion within the kingdom.
It was extremely dangerous for her, a member of the royal family, to know about it.


“Hmph. Well, this is the one I use most often.”


Wingester rolled up his sleeve as if to say there was no other choice, revealing a bracelet.


"... A bracelet?“
”Yes.“
”How exactly does that defeat Romulus?“


Wingester silently grabbed the split part of the bracelet and twisted it slightly.
A mobilization sound accompanied a strange mana fluctuation spreading out, making the princess flinch.


”This is…."
“It distorts all magical maneuvers within this bracelet's effective range, causing mana to backflow within the bodies of spellcasters and destroying them from within.”
“……!”


He returned the bracelet to its original state, halting its operation, and looked at Romulus.


“The stronger the magic the opponent uses, the greater the damage proportionally.”
" …So that's how it works.“
”Due to its nature, it requires close proximity, makes no distinction between friend and foe, and cannot block magic above 6th Circle, so it's a magical device that's been phased out in the world.“
”……."


While introducing several magical devices to appease the princess, the carriage procession entered the Maritime Kingdom's border, and the scenery outside the window changed dramatically.


Unlike the Magic Kingdom, where stone structures dominated, the Maritime Kingdom primarily featured wooden architecture. Quaint, wooden houses began appearing.


“Looks like we've arrived at the Maritime Kingdom.”
“…….”
“These buildings look like they'd burn easily…?”


Even amidst this, Romulus observed the wooden structures, anticipating their vulnerability to fire magic.


“Unfortunately, that's not the case.”
“What?”
“……?”
“While the Sea Kingdom's architecture is primarily wooden, they apply a protective coating to the surface, making it resistant to moisture and fire.”


Wingester explained as if he couldn't believe Romulus didn't know this, flashing a victorious smile.


“How do you even know that….”
“I learned it from reading various books in the library. How about you try focusing on reading calmly sometimes?”
“Kuh!”


After briefly getting under each other's skin like that, they finally arrived at their destination: New Pinkssum Street.


After gathering briefly to check headcount, they unpacked their belongings at the lodgings.
Whether it was unfortunate or fortunate, the lodgings for men and women were separate, meaning he could be apart from the princess.


But….


“Gulp….”
“…….”


Of all people, the two assigned to the same team ended up sharing a room.
Wingester gritted his teeth, inwardly cursing himself for not being more rude to the princess earlier.


“She wouldn't actually get revenge while I'm sleeping, would she?”


He tentatively tested the waters, hoping to poke at Romulus's pride.
Romulus immediately shot his eyes wide open.


“Kch!…You bastard! Unlike you, I bear the name of the Seiz family! Do you think I'd stoop to such shameful acts!”


With that, Wingester was at least safe from the threat of being caught up in his schemes while asleep.
Smirking inwardly, Wingester set down his luggage, opened the window, and looked out.


Pinkssum.
A decade ago, it was the infamous slum known as Pink Rose.
It was here that the notorious human-beast violent gang, the Brash Brigade, rose to power. The entire district was said to have been thrown into turmoil by their rampage.


Brash Brigade later evolved into Another Blood, rejecting the national system and attacking the Maritime Kingdom government, nearly pushing the nation to the brink of collapse.


Ultimately, the Maritime Kingdom had no choice but to sign a ceasefire agreement, ceding part of its territory to them.
Over the next decade, the Maritime Kingdom used the civil war with Another Blood as a lesson, focusing its efforts on rooting out corruption.


Originally a slum, this area was redeveloped about five years ago into a tourist city centered around Brash Brigade as its main attraction, renamed New Pinkssum.


“Brash Brigade...?”


That brutal, sadistic gang—so vicious even demons and fiends cursed them and avoided them.
It was intriguing how such a group had now transformed into one protecting the rights of other races and opposing authoritarianism.
Of course, Wingester's primary interest lay in firearms.


“Wingester.”
“……?”


Romulus, who had been organizing his belongings, suddenly called out to Wingester.
Wingester turned with an expression of disinterest,


“Where do you want to go? Honestly, I don't know much about the Maritime Kingdom, so I was thinking of just wandering around the market...”


Even though it was free time, they had to stick together in groups, so Romulus seemed to want to confirm Wingester's plans.


“There's a shop I want to stop by in the market.”
“What kind of shop?”
“A specialist shop for hunters.”
“A specialist shop for hunters? Why there? Trying to become a hunter or something?”


Romulus looked puzzled, but nodded as if convinced.


“Alright. Then we can look around near there.”
“Surprising. You actually cooperating with me.”
“...What choice do I have? Since the princess specifically requested it...”


He grumbled, but clearly couldn't refuse the princess.
Of course, Wingester could vaguely sense it was because he had feelings for her.
After all, someone from the prestigious Seiz family would be a perfectly acceptable match for the royal family.


“Well, thanks for that.”
“But! If the princess decides to go somewhere else, I'll follow her. You'll have to come too.”
“…….”


Wingester's face, which had forgotten that fact, instantly scrunched up as if he'd bitten into something hard, and Romulus's lips curled upward.
It was a small victory, but he felt like he'd landed a blow on Wingester.


*


The epithet “Maritime Kingdom” aptly captured the essence of this nation, formed by a confederation of islands whose primary activities were piracy and maritime trade.


They sent fleets as far as the Eastern Continent, playing a role in spreading the civilization's goods—such as spices and gunpowder—from the East to the West.
Moreover, thoroughly steeped in materialism, they held the belief that everything could be solved with money.


Not content with regularly contracting the massive mercenary corps of the Mercenary Kingdom to handle a significant portion of their military power, they also employed mercenaries as crew members for their fleets through alliances with the Mercenary Kingdom.


Purchasing magical artifacts from the Magic Kingdom to sell on the Eastern Continent was also a primary trade for the fleets, and to that extent, the Maritime Kingdom maintained superficially friendly relations with neighboring countries.


On the other hand, driven by its greed, it used some unscrupulous mercenaries to attack foreign merchant caravans and steal goods. In the past, it even openly engaged in human trafficking.


Currently, the human trafficking industry has been completely devastated by the activities of Another Blood, but its notorious reputation still lingers, tarnishing the nation's image.


Given such a nation, its market naturally dwarfed those of other countries in scale.
Centered around a broad paved road wide enough for four carriages to pass side by side beyond the horizon, countless shops of every conceivable kind lined both sides.


It wasn't just the main thoroughfare either; venturing down the alleyways branching off it revealed even more peculiar shops hidden away.


“...Impressive...”
“......”
“Truly befitting a maritime kingdom.”


Wingester and Romulus stood flanking the princess.
And surrounding them were the guard mages, dressed in plain clothes, escorting the princess.


And though Wingester's group didn't notice, even the shadowy agents of the Secret Service were leaping across the rooftops of the shop buildings, joining the escort.


-To be continued-