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Chapter 183

When Merle suddenly burst into the room, she was surprised to see it wasn’t just us in the room, but His Highness as well, and rather than being shocked to see her, I felt bad for her — although that might be rude — and we simply explained the situation to her.

Now that Bastrell is gone, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Merle is now the strongest mage in all of humanity, but it seems she couldn’t quite grasp the reality of this situation right away. Perhaps Merle is only an average person, or less than capable person, when it comes to anything other than magic.

「We’re about to head back to Galois now, but His Highness came all the way here to send us off. We don’t really deserve it, but we’re very grateful」

His Highness smiled wryly, while saying, “Not at all,” but it’s true that we are grateful.

It’s not every day that the crown prince would personally see off a peasant knight, and even though I am not familiar with noble society, I can understand that.

In response to my explanation, Merle, who is a true and authentic noble and has been working at the royal palace for a long time, looked at me with wide eyes in disbelief.

Fumu, as a court mage, she doesn’t only use magic, but she is also responsible for paperwork and making suggestions, but this kind of response makes me wonder if this Arc Witch is actually doing her job properly.

I had a slight feeling a while ago, but perhaps Merle is actually quite a disappointing woman in all matters that don’t regard magic.

「Oh, I see, I see. You all are returning to Galois now. Huh… Huh!? You’re already leaving? N-No way, even though we just met again! No way…!」

Merle didn’t seem to be conscious of the fact that she was in front of His Highness, and she foolishly and honestly revealed her true feelings in a loud voice.

Depending on the time and place, other people would have risen in an uproar and accused her of being disrespectful, but His Highness is already used to this kind of behavior from Merle, and he could only shrug as if to say, “Good grief.”

Compared to the Romal Empire, the Arkrest Kingdom is much more lenient, or a more broad-minded spirit, so that is probably why Merle is able to maintain her current position.

If this were any other country, she would only be desired for her fighting ability, and they would try to restrain and control Merle by varying means.

Merle possessed enough power to make a drastic upheaval in the military relations with the neighboring countries, but the reason why Arkrest Kingdom hasn’t tried to make use of her more aggressively, is because they understand that Merle’s personality is not suited for taking lives at all, despite her abilities.

If they were to force Merle to wield her great power, she could easily slaughter hundreds, thousands, or even millions or tens of millions of soldiers from the enemy countries with her abilities, but Merle’s spirit would definitely be crushed by the guilt, causing her to collapse.

Although she has the abilities worthy of being called the strongest mage in humanity, Merle’s mental structure and fortitude is still the same as that of an ordinary human being.

She probably understood her own position and responsibilities, and was even prepared for them, but even so, in the short time that I’ve known her, I’ve analyzed that her mind couldn’t possibly withstand committing mass murder.

If Merle is to be used as an effective and long-lasting fighting force, the best way to do that would be to flaunt her existence as a powerful check against enemies, or to have her crush the enemy countries’ most powerful individuals, and shut down the enemy countries’ maximum power.

It may be a matter of preference, but rather than people who can kill if they are prepared or have a reason to do so, I personally prefer people like Merle, who are never prepared to kill.

「Hey, hey, Dran, just a little is fine, so would you stay in the capital a little longer? Even Dramina is welcome to stay, how about it? Well, well?」

Merle spoke alluringly like a purring cat, sending shivers down my spine, as she pleaded with me and Dramina.

If she were a woman who was aware of what she was doing and did these things to men, then she probably wouldn’t keep being told that she was letting her marriageable period pass her by.

The sound of her pleading voice was plenty attractive enough to make me feel that way.

But I guess it’s because she can’t make full use of it, that’s what makes her truly herself.

「It’s an honor to receive a request from you, the Arc Witch, but there are strict regulations regarding the use of this transfer magic zone, so I don’t think we can just shift the time of its use…」

This transfer room is one of the most important rooms in the country, since it connects to the interior of the royal castle. There are strict regulations regarding its use, and the time of day and the number of times it can be used are determined by a schedule.

Even if it’s Merle, she couldn’t just overturn that at her own discretion like that. Besides, I’d like to get back to Galois as soon as possible. If I don’t, I’ll end up constantly worrying about Lenia, no matter how much time passes.

「Ugh, th-that’s true, but… Oh, I know, then, why don’t I just transfer you back to Galois myself later? In that case, it’s fine, isn’t it, isn’t it? Just this once is fine, right?」

Merle raised her voice to try to appeal to me, as if she had just come up with the best idea ever.

It seems once she got a taste of getting to wield all the power she had, Merle was now in a state where all she could think about was crossing blades with me or Dramina again.

Good grief, it’s not a bad feeling to be wanted so much, but now wasn’t the right time and place.

Fumu, if I reject Merle’s proposal here, I get the feeling that that in itself would become a big problem. I had no choice but to give in.

「It’s unexpected that you would wish us to stay so enthusiastically, but anyway, Your Highness, Merle said she will be sending us back to Galois herself later, so would it be alright if we had a single match together?」

His Highness looked exasperated by Merle’s conduct, and he pretended to think about my proposition, but if it was a match with me, the one who is being considered as the successor to the country’s strongest mage, he would probably decide that there was no loss in letting me go.

Well, if we’re going to have a fight at full power like Merle wants, we’ll need to conceal various things so that other people won’t see our fight.

His Highness immediately evaluated my proposition, and then looked at my and Merle’s faces as he opened his mouth to speak. He looked as Merle’s eyes shone with the light of expectations. It would be hard to refuse her now, for sure.

「If you do, it would be a match that would gather the most attention in the whole country. It wouldn’t be a problem if the planned use of this room itself doesn’t change. The number of people being transferred will be reduced, but since it’s only by one person, it should be permissible.

But it will only happen after Merle finishes her work. If you are going to go to great lengths to fulfil your own desires, then you have to fulfil your responsibilities and pay for it with something of equivalent value」

Although she was being warned by His Highness, Merle’s face lit up when she heard that he wasn’t denying a match with me, and then she immediately tightened and straightened her back.

The moment she recognized that her selfish request was going to be accepted, she corrected her standing posture so beautifully, as if a steel rod had been put in through the top of her head.

「Yes! Just as Your Highness says, I shall complete all of my work for today excellently. Dran, until then, please wait a little bit.

I’m sorry to Dramina and Selina and the others, but please let me borrow Dran for a bit! Well, then, Your Highness, Sir Shald, I’ll be excusing myself now」

Without giving us a chance to say anything, Merle, with her energetic movements and brisk words, left the room as fast as the wind, and rushed off as quick as she could to take care of today’s work.

Jeez, with that behavior, if she had been any less competent, she would have been recommended for resignation a long time ago.

As Merle disappeared in a flash, I let out a single sigh, and His Highness turned to me.

「Didn’t you perhaps spoil her a bit too much?」

「If she had an arrogant personality on top of that, I would have treated her much differently, but Merle has a somewhat childish personality in some ways. Including the commander of the Magic Division, we’ve been very lenient to her」

「Merle has more common sense than most ordinary people, but sometimes she has trouble controlling her emotions」

「You could say that, but the only time she prioritizes her own desires is when you’re involved.

Fufu, if you would be the one to marry her, we’d all feel reassured, but is there any room for consideration for that possibility?」

Me and the Arc Witch, as partners? It’s something that the upper class of the kingdom might not consider as bad or strange, but it would probably be a political marriage.

But if Merle is in a hurry to get married, and I’m not planning on getting married for another several years, that might be difficult.

「I wonder. But if you could, I would appreciate it if you don’t talk about such things in front of Selina and the others. They’ll look at me with scary eyes」

His Highness didn’t seem to be all that serious about it, so it was a relief that Selina and the others wouldn’t find fault with me or blame me for it. Jeez, he made my heart stop for a while there.

「I think you should resign yourself to that fate, don’t you? There is no other man in this kingdom who is surrounded by more beautiful and intelligent women than you. Not even just in Arkrest Kingdom, any man in this world would be jealous of you」

「I am very much aware of that, and prepared for it too」

「Oh, so you are aware of it. That’s good. So if someday, some guy jumps out of the shadows somewhere and tries to stab you, you can avoid it」

「Sometimes I’ve been told similar things by Selina, so please rest assured that I will be careful every day」

Well, in Selina’s case, it wasn’t just limited to men, people at the Galois Magic Academy would occasionally try to curse me, and I’m sure it’ll be fine in the future, but maybe this is still too optimistic.