【Hero’s Journey Step 12】

【“Step 4: Minor House Head (Kronprinz/Crown Prince)” achieved!】

【You have become the minor house head (Kronprinz/Crown Prince) of a great house.】

【Penalty for failure: Death】

【Reward for success: Electrocardiogram】

【Excess achievement reward: Sacheol Blade ionized gas】

The night had deepened.

Moonlight streamed in through the skylight of the Rikenta Royal Palace.

I lay on a bed pointlessly wide, staring at the words rising over my stigma.

【Advanced Perk】

【Electromagnetic Railgun (available)】

【NEW! Electrocardiogram (available)】

It had taken a long time to reach this place.

The corpse-waste plains of Flammerios, the main castle of Astreos, the Sky Castle of Rikenta.

Only after passing through all those battlefields had I been able to arrive at this conclusion.

But now that I could feel the warmth of the person breathing evenly right beside me, I concluded that even this amount of time had been worth the price.

I still had a long way to go.

I did not dislike a bond so entangled that whether by political calculation or by emotion, we had no choice but to trust each other.

A political marriage was the destiny of nobles.

If it also greatly benefited both our lives, what more ideal relationship could there be?

【“In that respect, you are different from that younger brother of mine.”】

【The “dreaming thunderous star” is speaking to you.】

An enormous presence brushed past my ear.

I held my breath for an instant.

‘Younger brother?’

I found myself wanting to ask how such a concept could exist for a constellation.

But curiosity killed even a cat with nine lives.

I kept my mouth shut.

“It has been a long time.”

【“You have walked a fine path.”】

“Thank you for saying so.”

【“No, I mean it. You prevented the internal strife of Astreos, and you brought House Rikenta onto your back. It was a solution even I had not anticipated. Then again, I never had either interest or talent in such matters, so perhaps it could not be helped.”】

I murmured in a voice so small it stayed only inside my mouth, so Erica would not wake.

【“That is why I gave you Electrocardiogram. But in truth, it may not even be necessary for you. You can read people’s hearts even without an authority.”】

“With respect, that is a misunderstanding. If this ‘Electrocardiogram’ is the Electrocardiogram I heard about at the academy.”

【“Is there another Electrocardiogram? Yes, the authority that pierces through whether an opponent connected to your body is telling the truth or lying.”】

So it really was that ability.

An Advanced Perk.

As always, it was a device that strengthened me quickly, then guided me to absorb it into my own technique.

It was a good arrangement.

【“Let me congratulate you once more on surpassing expectations. The result was far better than the path originally imagined. I am glad I chose you.”】

【Excess achievement reward: Sacheol Blade ionized gas】

This time, another reward had been given as well.

Saaaaa.

A sensation as if lightning were clinging all the way into the marrow of my bones.

Within high-speed thought, the technique I had thrust forth by instinct was now engraved as a complete authority.

“Thank you.”

I whispered quietly.

Hum.

The presence of the thunderous star slowly faded.

“To whom were you speaking?”

For an instant, I thought my heart had stopped.

Erica had lifted her head and was looking at me.

The moonlight scattered softly over her golden hair, and her green eyes, like an early-summer forest, glittered in the darkness like shining fireflies.

The smooth line of her shoulders was half covered by silver cloth, but the faintly revealed curves still caught the eye.

I willingly let myself be caught.

“You’re awake? Sorry.”

I replied with forced calm.

I swallowed the breath caught in my throat.

“My soliloquy was too loud.”

“A soliloquy?”

“It’s just that, all of a sudden, I found myself grateful for everything.”

“That does not sound like you.”

“That can happen.”

“That is not bad either. It feels as though you trust me a little more.”

Erica laughed lightly.

“I am someone who must always be compared to someone else, after all.”

“Hm?”

“Never mind. It is my own victory and defeat, one you are better off not knowing.”

Within that smile, relief and excitement were both dimly visible.

Once again I realized that ambition and serenity could coexist on a human face.

The fact that the object of both was me filled my chest unbearably.

“Kyrie.”

“Yes.”

“We are going to make a very good alliance.”

“I think so too.”

I meant it.

A few days later.

The castle where the wind never ceased.

The central hall of the Rikenta Royal Palace.

Countless silk banners rippled without end.

…I did not know it would be this luxurious, sir.

Joi walked slowly across the jewel-inlaid mosaic floor and advanced to the center.

Step, step, step.

She knelt.

White stone pillars held up the ceiling.

A wavering green light poured down from an emerald chandelier engraved with constellation patterns.

And there, above those high steps, looking down like a lighthouse with a single eye, was her lord.

Kyrie.

“Deputy Battalion Commander Joi, under the comet-rank of Astreos.”

The voice rang out.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Joi steadied her breathing and answered.

The muscles of Kyrie’s face twitched for the briefest moment.

As Erica had ascended the throne as Viceroy, Kyrie, her husband, had also been invested as Grand Duke of Wind.

His form of address had changed as well.

“Your Highness.”

He was still plainly unaccustomed to the word.

“In recognition of your elevation to retainer, and of the merit you have rendered in the operation to restore the Rikenta throne, I would bestow honors upon you. From this day forth, I grant you the surname ‘Equitaras.’ Henceforth, you shall be called Joi of Equitaras.”

At once, the entire hall stirred.

Equitaras.

A word derived from the language of the Ancient Empire.

Originally, it had been a transformed form of a word meaning knight.

The meaning was blatant to anyone who saw it.

But Joi raised her head proudly.

“Long live Deputy Battalion Commander Joi of Equitaras!”

The Blue Knights cheered first.

Then the knights, attendants, and retainers added their voices.

The vast central hall was instantly filled with acclaim.

“Well now, has our noble retainer arrived?”

“So now Deputy Battalion Commander has a surname too.”

“I shall carve your seal myself.”

“Will you not need a banner and a crest as well? Since House Equitaras has now been born.”

“My adjutant double-majored in heraldic art at the academy. I will ask for a design.”

“Joi! Congratulations!”

“Please continue to assist Senior faithfully from now on as well.”

Knights like Paisen, Augusta, and Xian threw words that were half teasing and half congratulatory.

Even the Blue Knights—Frey, Vane, Daniel, and the others—laughed as they clapped her on the shoulder.

All of them knew.

She truly deserved it.

Equitaras.

Joi lifted her face and looked up at Kyrie.

Thank you, my lord. Thank you.

Even within that dazzling roar of applause, her bright yellow eyes were directed only at that one lord.

A radiant smile spread across her healthily tanned brown face.

You called my name, and now you have even given me a surname, so under you, my lord, I have been born once more, sir.

It was a smile bright as the sun.

That smile soon became an oath.

For the hundredth time, for the thousandth time, she made the same vow once more in that place.

I will become a knight.

I will ensure this surname is never severed, but carried on.

Whooooooosh!

At that moment, the candles in the central hall all shook at once with the wind.

The silk banners billowed grandly as well.

A small whirlwind rose, and marigold petals whirled around Joi.

As a knight of the Lightning Blade, I shall follow you forever, sir.

Even while everyone cheered, Joi repeated the oath inwardly to only one person.

“Next…”

After that, the distribution of honors continued.

Gold coins, silver coins, weapons, magic tools, and rights over prisoners were apportioned.

Joi had tried to slip away at that point.

Deputy Battalion Commander was a salaried post, not a position that took part in the division of spoils.

“Lord Retainer of Equitaras. Where are you going?”

At that moment, Knight Paisen called to her in a voice full of laughter.

“Yes?”

“Now that you are Lord Retainer, you ought to attend the distribution of the spoils.”

Joi turned around with the pleasant sense of being cornered.

“Unless, perhaps, you intend not to join because you already have far, far too much money, in which case I could collect lecture fees for the New Moon Sword Art—”

“My teacher, please do not say such outrageous things, sir.”

Laughing brightly, she ran after Paisen.

The main castle of Astreion.

On a day when blue sky peeked through masses of white clouds.

As the brilliant sunlight filled the gardens of the main palace.

Andromeda was reading a letter in the regent’s office.

[…So that is how I became Grand Duke of Wind. For a while, I think I will have to focus on stabilizing matters inside Rikenta. Negotiations with the Myriad Star Church on Rikenta’s side cannot be omitted either, and after that, I have to find that elder who spread the mutant demonic beasts….]

The handwriting was clear.

There was force in it, as though it had been written in some haste, yet the ends of the sentences remained resolute.

It was a letter from Kyrie.

Andromeda blinked several times.

The corners of her proud, fox-like eyes trembled faintly.

“…My younger brother has suffered.”

An expression came over her face like that of a ruined noble father who, because of poverty, had no choice but to sell off his only daughter to a bourgeois pig.

So in the end, that mad wind-whore got her hands on my younger brother in law as well.

Confusion like being struck by lightning and a sense of loss as if one corner of her heart had been sliced away by a wind blade swept through her entire body.

Kyrie was not someone who existed for the sake of the likes of Erica.

It felt as though she had gathered only the rarest ingredients, boiled soup for three days and nights, and then fed it to a dog.

What should I send? What should I send to make my lovely, glorious younger brother even a little freer from the grasp of that detestable creature?

Andromeda considered how she could check Erica while still helping Kyrie.

Just thinking that sentence made her want to cough blood, but with the two of them now bound as a community of fate, it was difficult to find something that would restrain Erica while still helping Kyrie.

To stabilize Rikenta, he has to crush and win over the great local lords. If Kyrie is to seize the initiative against that wind-whore, he has to accomplish that himself. Naturally, he will be checked as well, will he not? In the form of: are you now the comet-rank of Astreos, or the Grand Duke of Wind of Rikenta?

Only a bitter smile spread at her beautiful lips.

Helping by sending him something will not suffice now. I must be more meticulous.

Crackle!

Andromeda unfolded even high-speed thought as she continued to think.

If I do not help Kyrie directly, then I will help someone who can help Kyrie.

At once, her gaze sharpened.

“Sepeia.”

“Yes, my lady.”

The head maid, Sepeia, hurried over.

“Take this down.”

“Yes.”

[To Nereus of Astreion Astreos, Deputy Governor of Spiramentaon, I bestow the rank of comet-rank ‘off the established orbit.’ I grant you the right to levy manpower and material from all regions throughout southern Astreion; thus my trust in you, and your rights and responsibilities alike, are great. Help my younger brother Kyrie of Astreion Astreos and pacify Rikenta.]

Sepeia wrote down the words on parchment in golden ink.

[This is my will, and so let it be done.]

At the end, she took the quill herself and wrote the final two lines with her own hand.

[Grand Prince Regent. Andromeda of Astreion Astreos.]

Her name, now far heavier than before.

“See that it is delivered at once. Understood?”

“Yes!”

Sepeia took the written order and left the office.

Left alone, Andromeda looked up at the window.

Kyrie. Even if we are apart, we are always together.

The sunlight in the blue sky was still radiant.

I will help you. Because you helped me. Because now your elder sister can help you too.

She unfolded the letter once more.

Elder Sister will go down in history as the head of house who completely resolved the border problem with Rikenta that has endured for hundreds of years. I will make it so.

Kyrie’s handwriting came vividly toward her, as though he were speaking beside her.

Rikentrion.

Kyrie received Andromeda’s reply and doubted his eyes.

…She is appointing Nereus to comet-rank? She is giving him levy rights over the southern region? That is practically the position of Governor. What in the world is she thinking? Surely not…?

His heart nearly stopped.

It was written there clearly in the letter.

[Help Kyrie and pacify Rikenta.]

People were already whispering that Erica was Kyrie’s puppet.

Now if Nereus too became comet-rank, and was entrusted with the armies of southern Astreos, what would happen next was obvious.

Rikenta is far too chaotic right now. If a Blue Knight of Nereus’s caliber leads a great army from the southern region and drives straight down, there is no way they can stop him. Not even I….

In that instant, the whole schematic was completed inside Kyrie’s head.

Erica is Kyrie’s puppet.

If Kyrie becomes Nereus’s puppet, and Nereus is Andromeda’s puppet, then whose puppet is Erica?

Could it be that Andromeda is finally trying to kill me this time? No, surely not. If that were her intention, the last time was the perfect opportunity. …No. Did she miss that chance, and only now change her mind?

Kyrie muttered with a shudder.

“Is Andromeda starting to resemble Father?”

He hesitated for a moment, then picked up a pen.

I need to write to Flammerios. I should at least remind her of the mutant demonic beast enterprise the three of us are conducting together. If she has that diplomacy in mind, she will not be able to press me any further.

No matter how much it was Andromeda, he could not let this happen to him too.

Chapter 188

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