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Side Story Part 1

Side Story: Love in Elam

More than a month had passed since Marine Kraische came to Elam for her studies abroad.

She is the only daughter of Archduke Matthias Kraische, leader of the Factory Alliance, and his successor. Her father had granted her the title of Margrave and claim to the territory of Waldrind.

Right now, as she was rocked by the movement of the carriage, Marine looked out the slightly opened window at the city of Elam. Just like she’d heard, it was a huge city.

All the buildings are splendid, and the colors of the walls are uniform for each section. Right now she was going through a section of the city where buildings had yellow walls. It’s supposed to be a middle-class residential area, but there’s not a single piece of trash on the street. The cobblestones were marked with ruts, and the carriage glided on them easily. There was very little shaking and the carriage didn’t make any noise as it continued along the street.

Horse carriages were coming and going back and forth all the time, so the streets should be littered with horse droppings, but she couldn’t even see them anywhere and there was no smell that would indicate their presence.

It was only recently that she learned that the homeless members of the lower class collected garbage and dung and exchanged it for money.

She also heard people say that there are springs with cool water in various places, and dirty water is purified as it passes through underground passages and is discharged into rivers that surrounded Elam. It was reminiscent of the prehistoric civilization that existed before the Age of Chaos began.

Bertha, the royal capital of Waldrind, where Marine was born and raised, is also a large city, but compared to Elam, it was superior in terms of area, population, economy, technology, culture, and military.

「…The Mages Association of Elam rules the entire continent from Elam. 」

Marine was beginning to realize the hidden meaning behind the words of her father Matthias.

Even though the Mages enabled the Lords as the members of the most privileged class of society, they actually have power even greater than that of the Lords because they manage them through the intricacies of the peerage system. Without the help of the Mages Association, it would be difficult for the Lords to even manage their own territory.

「As for the rival faction of the Factory Alliance, the Fantasia Union, they are nothing to be feared, since the Factory Alliance will eventually defeat them and rule the entire continent, allowing the Kraische family to ascend the rank of their head to that of the Emperor. But is this what the Mages Association of Elam really wants? I remain skeptical about it. 」

Marine’s father also said something like that as well.

It is said that when the Crests of each Lord of the continent are going to be united, the Grancrest, a symbol of the Emperor’s rule will be born, bringing an end to the Age of Chaos and ushering in the Age of Order.

The Mages Association was established for that very purpose. However, for Mages, magic is their greatest power, and Chaos is the source of it. That means that when the Age of Chaos ends and the Age of Order comes, they will lose their power. That is why Matthias doubted whether the Mages Association really wanted to bring about the birth of the Grancrest, since that would directly lead to the loss of the hold that they had over the entire continent.

Immediately after arriving in Elam, the Mages Association held a welcome party for Marine. At that time, she also met some of the members of the Sages Committee, the de facto ruling body of the whole Mages Association. Everyone treated her with courtesy, but she couldn’t shake off a strange and eerie feeling as if she didn’t belong there off of her.

(Looks like I still have a lot to learn.)

That is what Marine thought to herself. Her carriage was traveling comfortably, and she was just a short distance away from her destination.

But suddenly there was the sound of a bell, and the carriage started to slow down, until it came to a grinding halt. All that Marine could hear was the snorting of the disgruntled horses.

「What’s wrong? Why did we stop? 」

Marine asked her maid, Layla, who was inside of the carriage with her.

「I’ll go check it out. Please wait for me right here, my Lady. 」

Layla answered and she left the carriage.

Marlne opened the small window in front of the carriage and checked the situation outside herself.

The one driving the carriage was Irvin, a Chamberlain apprentice.

He is a young man who has served the Kraische family since he was a child. He worked hard and was clever and dexterous with his hands, so the current Chief Chamberlain took him on as his apprentice. Someday, the Chief Chamberlain will hand over his Arts to him.

It seems that the carriage stopped because it was about to run someone over.

A young man is crouching down in the middle of the road and staring at something.

「I rang the alarm bells, but he still wouldn’t move. 」

Irvin looked back at the small window and said to Marine.

「Perhaps you are not feeling well? If so, then put him in the carriage and get him wherever he wishes to be taken. 」

「Layla is checking up on him now, so please wait a moment. 」

Maline nodded quietly and went back to her seat in the carriage.
The conversation between Layla and the young man continued for quite some time. After a while, she came back to her carriage while looking rather angered.

「I am shocked, astonished even. 」

Layla says sullenly.

「That man said he was looking at the stones used for the pavement. 」

「The stones? 」

「Yes. It seems that green crystals are mixed into the black stone. 」

「Green crystals… you mean emeralds? 」

「No, they’re not jewels. They’re ordinary green crystals about the size of a grain of sand. 」

「So he was staring at such ordinary things? 」

If so, then Marine thought that this young was quite a peculiar and funny one.

「He said that he couldn’t resist staring at them because of how beautifully they were reflecting the sunlight. 」

Layla said with a sigh. It must have been an exhausting conversation for her.

「Thank you for your hard work. 」

Marine said with a smile.

The security of Elam is extremely good, but that doesn’t mean that the possibility of being attacked while on the streets has been reduced to zero.

That being said, Marine’s father has assigned Irvin, the Chamberlain apprentice and two maids, Layla and another one named Cammy to act as her protection detail. All three of them were young, but they were all excellent shadows.

On top of that, Marine has also trained her in martial arts to the extent where she could protect herself just fine if she was ever attacked.

「What about that young man? 」

「I forced him to stand up and move him to the side of the road. That being said, I was surprised at how good-looking he was. The clothes he was wearing seemed to be quite expensive, so he must be the son of a Lors with a considerable title to their name. He must’ve come to this city in order to study just like you, Lady Marine. 」

「Then I should at least say hello to him. 」

She didn’t know to which of the two sides the young man belonged to, but in Elam, it is an unspoken rule that the children of the Lords should keep their family names a secret and not reveal them to anyone under any circumstances in order to avoid provoking unnecessary quarrels, but on the other side, she heard that that the parties during which the children of the Lords can gather together are being held rather frequently.

Layla even recommended that Marine should show herself up at such a party at least once, but Marine herself wasn’t interested in them at all.

「It’s worth giving a look at least once. You wouldn’t have to do anymore than that. 」

Layla said to her with a tinge of regret in her voice.

(That sounds like a terrible idea.)
Marine thought to herself, but she got out of the carriage anyway.

The spring sun was warm and there was a gentle breeze blowing through the air. She couldn’t help but want to stretch for a bit, but that’s not what a lady should do in the middle of the street.

The young man was standing by the side of the road, staring blankly at the carriage.