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The Tale of the Wizrain Kingdom

The Dragon Festival and the Boy: Final Part

Translated by: S3

Treat me to a Ko-Fi to give me more motivation!!!

*****

The thief was chased by Dorafe, and Dorafe was chased by Elna. It would have taken Elna only a moment to reach them, but she managed to recall her position. Leaping forward with her royal palace maid uniform billowing would be attracting too much attention. However, Dorafe was running with remarkable effort. The thief, instead of heading for a deserted area, was trying to lose himself in the crowd, perhaps hoping to escape by following the flow of people.

「You, stop!」

Dorafe's shout was lost in the audience, yet people turned to see what the commotion was about. Though they became a disorganized mess, they pushed forward, parting the waves of people.

「Give back what you stole!」

Dorafe's fingers finally caught the thief's clothing, and the one who was grabbed cried out and tried to fall down, but managed to endure and turn around. The moment the man raised a hand to swat the small Dorafe away, Elna slid in.

She instantly pulled the boy's collar and shielded him with her back.

「—Got you!」

「W-W-What!?」

Then the Hamster Spirit, which had jumped out of her pocket, violently threw a sunflower seed shell at the thief's face. The thief covered his face with one hand, staggering in surprise. Before long, the surrounding people had formed a circle, excluding Elna and Dorafe, creating a space between them as they whispered amongst themselves.

「Damn it, what was that, damn it...!」

The thief, covering his face with one hand and staggering, backed away, but the human barrier meant there was no escape. His bloodshot eyes scanned the surroundings, understanding the situation, and then glared at Elna and, past her, at Dorafe.

「Don't get in my way!」

The man's outline warped, and the water mana that welled up as if being kneaded was released.

（—A Mana user!）

A Mana user is a human born with concentrated mana who can freely manipulate natural phenomena. There was no time to worry about being seen. Elna completed a spell at many times the man's speed and gathered flames on her right arm. Water was the attribute Elna was most terrible against. There was only one way to extinguish the roaring and swelling wall of water, which resembled a tsunami: strike it with a massive blast of fire—flames large enough to incinerate even the caster.

Elna made this judgment in the blink of an eye and simultaneously brought her right hand down towards the man. The raging fire consumed the water, and the caster himself would be reduced to ash without a trace of bone—or so it should have been.

「...Eh?」

Suddenly, Elna's mana disappeared.

The flames that had overflowed, ready to swallow the man, vanished right before their target, and Elna was reduced to a mere girl.

「............!」

At that moment, Elna suppressed her twisting emotions and swiftly spread her slender arms to protect the boy behind her. The water mana had already transformed into several ice arrowheads and, in a few seconds, would pierce Elna's entire body from all directions—just then, an explosion of wind burst up from the ground.

It swallowed and whipped up even the screams of the surrounding people, and Elna stiffened her body, protecting both herself and Dorafe.

The wind stopped. When she looked up, the shattered ice was falling lightly like snow, with a faint glimmer. What on earth had happened? Even the man who had targeted Elna stared blankly at the sky, but quickly noticed the surrounding murmur and looked around. Elna did the same.

（...What is this atmosphere...?）

Unlike the previous screams, people were raising their voices as if they were excited, and those voices were getting closer. Finally, when she saw the person who came through the crowd, Elna let out a small gasp.

「—To cause a disturbance on this auspicious day. To call it merely an unruliness would be going too far.」

The golden hair shone more brilliantly than usual, perhaps because he was backed by the sun. The decorations rattled. He stood with a dignified presence, as if the heavy ornamentation of his clothes was no trouble at all, and looked down at Elna and the others. As the young man—Cross—approached, the Royal Guards rushed up behind him in a panic, and the people, seeing the King's appearance, cried out in joy before dispersing to kneel.

The Royal Guards tried to address the chaotic situation by ushering the citizens away, but Cross stopped them with a casual hand, saying,

「It's fine.」

（...Why is Cross here?）

Elna, still sitting, looked up at Cross in a daze. Then, she realized. The thief had tried to hide by fleeing into the crowded area, meaning he was caught in the wave of people who had come to see the King. In that case, it wouldn't be strange for Cross himself to have heard the commotion. The blast of wind that blew away the ice arrows aimed at Elna must also have been Cross's doing.

In this place, Cross was not merely Cross; he was present as the King to resolve the disturbance. Therefore, Elna rushed to shout.

「That man just now committed a theft at the jewelry store! Please investigate the matter!」

「Hmm.」

Cross, perhaps deliberately, ignored Elna and stared down at the man.

「I am aware of the villain targeting the jewelry store. However, I cannot conclude that this is the culprit solely based on this scene. But using mana capable of harming others without permission, without justification, is a grave offense. Well, let us investigate thoroughly.」

He snapped his fingers.

「Seize him.」

「Yes, Your Majesty!」

「H-Hey, let me go!」

What an unexpectedly quick resolution.

The thieving man was escorted away while resisting, but the excitement of the people toward the King standing before them did not seem to fade.

「Now then」

Cross placed his hands on his hips and glanced at Elna, opening his mouth, but his question was not directed at her.

「—Why is a prince of this country present in this location? I believe I am owed an explanation for that as well, Feliol.」

Dorafe, who was hidden behind Elna, flinched.

「Ah... Brother...」

Now that she looked closely, Dorafe was the spitting image of Cross, from his hair color to his eyes. The two looked at each other with their golden eyes, but Dorafe immediately turned his face away.

Cross sighed with a wry smile at the sight of his younger brother, but the boy, who wouldn't even look at his brother's face, merely shrunk down in discomfort.

***

「Say, Cross, what are they doing over there?」

「They're distributing sake, I imagine. It's a celebratory drink.」

「Huh.」

「You seem completely uninterested.」

「Because I've never drunk alcohol.」

「Only for now, though」

Elna replied lightly, and Cross nodded, walking through the town as the day gradually drew to a close.

「...Hey, is it really okay for the King to be walking around so casually?」

「No one would imagine the King is right next to them. Although I at least wear a hood, you see.」

「Is that how it is...?」

Elna tilted her head, but Cross, having discarded the heavy regalia for simple townsman clothes, assured her it was fine. Elna also changed from her castle maid uniform into a simple town girl's apron dress that covered her knees.

「...I apologize for the trouble with my brother.」

「Eh? No, it's fine. He used 'Dora' in his pseudonym. I can only find it endearing, you know. I had a feeling that might be the case, anyway. —Jeanvaidferioladir El Wizrein, right?」

Elna spoke his brother's name perfectly without stumbling, and Cross smiled faintly, looking surprised at her proud demeanor.

Though it was a long, spell-like name, Elna of course knew there was a boy who was originally the second prince, now treated as the Prince Royal, who went by the nickname Feliol. She had confirmed the story with Commonwald after hearing about him from Noma and had desperately memorized the name.

The boy who had jumped to Elna was identical to Cross in appearance, and the place they met was notable. On top of that, his pseudonym was Dorafe. It would be difficult not to figure it out. Cross had once said,

「Everyone in this country seems to want to put 'Dora' in their name,」

The boy was no exception and she found it all quite amusing.

—And so, Elna couldn't just leave the young Prince Royal alone, so she had kept him company until now.

The Hamster Spirit, which had moved to the pocket of her apron dress, popped its head out and nodded agreement.

Feliol, the Prince of Wizrain, whose secret escape from the castle had been completely exposed, looked dejected and shrunk down like a cat on a leash when he saw his older brother, but he had already been escorted back to the castle by the Royal Guards. Before leaving, he apologized to his brother and told Elna he would see her again. It had been a short time, but it felt like a mysterious encounter.

And so, after one thing and another, time passed, and now she was walking around the town as the sun was setting, this time with his older brother, Cross.

「...But still, I feel like the King shouldn't be wandering around so carelessly.」

「What I needed to do is finished. Besides, I have no intention of creating a system that cannot function without me.」

「That's not what I meant...」

She was about to say she meant danger, but she reconsidered. If anything happened, Elna could simply protect him. She tried to accept that, then involuntarily looked at her own right hand. At that moment, Elna had intended to strike the man with the fire mana she had gathered. However, the mana's sudden disappearance was unmistakably Elna's own will. At that time, Elna had a strong, unconscious feeling of displeasure toward killing a person.

Even recalling it now, her insides felt strongly shaken, enough to make her fingertips tremble.

（...Why couldn't I kill him?）

When she was a dragon, she had killed countless people. Now that she had become human, she knew that killing was certainly not an act to be praised, but that had been simple self-defense. It should have been an act that was perfectly acceptable, even by human standards.

「............」

She opened her fingers and looked down, seeing only a small, white palm.

Come to think of it, the first time Elna showed her power in front of Cross, she could have killed any number of soldiers but only melted their armor as a threat. It would have been simpler to just kill them.

And yet, a strange, conflicting emotion was swirling deep within Elna. She could kill people endlessly. But.

（I don't... want to kill...）

If possible, she didn't want to hurt anyone, either.

「Elna, is something wrong?」

「N-No. Nothing... Um, Cross, what about that? What are they selling?」

Her name being called and her heart leaped, making her feel as if he had seen right through her. She quickly pointed to one of the stalls to distract him, but then,

「Eh, what are they really doing...?」 Elna's brows furrowed.

Before them, the shopkeeper was making something that was growing soft and billowy, like a cloud, as they watched, and was handing it to a child waiting in front of the stall. Hmm? As Elna tilted her head, the child, who was smiling sweetly, took a bite of the object, which was as big as their face. Elna let out a strange cry.

「E-Eat, eat, is that food...?」

「It's cloud candy. It is definitely food. It's sweet and delicious.」

Cross's following words, said in a gentle voice, 「You really don't know anything, do you?」 strangely caused her no offense. Cross smoothly bought a cloud candy and offered it to Elna.

「...You're very practiced at ordering that. You've been doing the same thing as your little brother, haven't you? Escaping under the guise of an inspection.」

「Just eat it.」

「No, stop...! Oh! It's so fluffy and sweet!」

She had created a new language out of sheer bliss.

The soft candy melted in her mouth. 「Ah, oh, ah.」 Too much sweetness all at once was not good. Too much deliciousness was not good. Elna pressed one hand to her chest, breathing heavily as she busily moved her face closer and further away, and Cross watched her, grinning down at her.

Finally giving in to temptation, she buried her face in the soft cloud candy, and Cross quietly murmured, looking at the street where the festival's heat was not fading even as dusk began to settle.

「I don't think I need to be so critical of Feliol's actions. Of course, I can't praise him freely, but recklessness can be rephrased as bravery. He is trying to protect this country in his own way. I believe he will eventually grow into a fine king. But I am not.」

There were so many people here. Yet, Cross looked as if he were standing all alone. His golden eyes mingled with the setting sun, staring into a distant place.

「—This country, the Kingdom of Wizrain, is mine. The memories of the previous King assert that. ...But that is not true.」

Cross held out one hand, intertwining his fingers with the sunset that was sinking into the town, grasping the sun. Then, he slowly opened it. There was no way to keep the light in his empty palm; there was only nothing there.

「A King merely borrows the throne from the people. Even if I have the memory of clearing the fields and naming this country Wizrain in this body, a country is never the property of an individual, nor should it be. That is why I must someday relinquish this seat. And I believe Feliol is perfectly suitable as the one to hand it over to.」

Feliol had been depressed, comparing himself to his brother who could do everything, but it was often difficult to see oneself clearly. Elna, forgetting even to eat the cloud candy, looked up at Cross. He, who had recalled his past memories at a young age, must have suffered alone all this time. How wonderful it would be if he could simply declare, 'The past is the past.' His suffering, his sorrow, and his joy. Elna was not the only one whose life had become a continuation of a previous one.

「...Is that why you said it would be difficult for you?」

It was the phrase Cross had let slip when speaking to the guardians of the country, Kiarole and the Great Tree. It had stuck in her memory due to the strange sense of incongruity. 「That is correct,」 Cross nodded slowly.

「I wanted to convey that even if you became my wife, I would not expect the responsibilities of a Queen.」

He then opened both arms in a welcoming posture, telling her to marry him without worry, making Elna unable to stop herself from retorting,

「You always manage to bring everything back to that...」

The Hamster Spirit also quietly interjected,

「...He is certainly unyielding, isn't he?」

Considering Cross's age and position, Elna had found it strange that he didn't have a single fiancée. Perhaps he had deliberately avoided it, knowing his plan to eventually step down. Most women would surely have high expectations upon becoming the King's wife. Elna, on the other hand, did not desire power. She had had more than enough of that in her past life, so she felt that a quiet, secluded life with Cross in this life might not be bad after all.

「...Well, I'll think about it.」

「Good, good. Now all that's left is to wait for your affirmation.」

「You're unbelievably optimistic. I'm not going to argue with you anymore.」

The red-stained town and its people gradually grew darker, and the sky turned to the brightness of the stars. Still, the liveliness remained, and the boisterous commotion did not cease. Closing her eyes, she felt as if she could be completely immersed in fond memories.

She realized his fingers were intertwined with hers. My heart leaped and I opened my eyes, and Cross's voice, full of playful laughter, reached her. Unable to look at him, Elna's cheeks faintly flushed as she returned the pressure in her own fingers to the ones intertwined with hers. She felt a slight twitch in his warm palm, but that might have just been her imagination.

The sharp scent of winter cold seeped into Elna's nose, fading into the clamor of the crowd.

「The wind has gotten quite cold. It is always like this around this time of year.」

「Even in the Royal Capital, it's the same, then.」

「But your hands are warm. I suppose that is to be expected of the Fire Dragon?」

「I wonder. Your hands are plenty warm, too, Cross. ...But if you're still cold, I can warm you up like this for as long as you need.」