Chapter 96: Go Without Holding Back (Luke’s POV)

The morning after the tiring party, we decided to get Wester to show us the barrier box while fending off the Wester’s side of sightseeing and socialising. Of course, this included filling the magic stones.

As I thought, they cheerfully approved because the Easter Prince also wanted to observe. We completely forgot that the ones approving should be us, who were showing our abilities, and not Wester.

Well, Otou-sama said that filling magic stones was the same regardless of whether they were big or small, and the method that the Four Marquises used wasn’t exactly a secret. However, the barrier box was in the castle, so the citizens couldn’t see it.

Gill and I were shown to a room in the castle after lunch. There were two soldiers at the front door, and I understood that they were firmly guarding it.

When we were guided inside, there was a large barrier box on top of a table in the middle of the large carpeted room. It was the same size as the one Otou-sama had shown us; it was big enough that it could barely be held by an adult.

Prince Gilbert proudly opened the lid of the box. “Oh,” a faint voice said. That came from the nobles of Wester who were also here. This was what Gill and I had expected, and Easter’s Prince Cyrus didn’t even move a single eyebrow.

It was a barrier box with three magic stones arranged beautifully into a triangle like the one Otou-sama had shown.

“Two and a half?” I couldn’t help but say. They had summoned us to help them fill the magic stones, so I thought they would place magic stones which hadn’t been filled yet. Gill and I looked up from the barrier box, and Prince Gilbert looked proud of himself. The same could be said for the Wester nobles too.

“My brother and I can fill two of the magic stones by ourselves. The rest is the problem. However, we tried to get someone with magic to fill it, but they couldn’t fill it all.”

The other half seemed to be the problem.

“How many days before the magic stones have to be filled again?”

“According to legend, once every 10 days.”

According to legend? Gill and I looked at each other. Gill spoke nervously, “Does that mean that you haven’t activated it yet?”

“Of course not. If we suddenly activate it, then the people of Sebel will panic.”

Easter’s Prince changed his expression for the first time. No one seemed to have noticed it except for me, but I can sympathise with his shocked expression.

“Well, I heard that Sebel is directly north of Julius Mountains, which is Easter’s boundary, and that there are a lot of Hollows there and no one can approach it except for Hunters.”

“That’s right.”

“Instead of suddenly experimenting at Sebel, wouldn’t it be better if you did it as a military training camp there instead?” The room fell silent at Gill’s words. Gill was surprised that his words had that much of an impact, and quickly changed the topic.

“Pardon me. So the rest of the magic stones…”

“Yes, we wanted Kingdom to send someone who could fill it. Although, I didn’t expect someone from the Four Marquises to come, but I’m thankful.” The Prince honestly expressed his gratitude, making Gill to pull back a little. However, he wasn’t able to hide his amazement at the royal family who was more haphazard than he thought. Gill looked towards me.

“Luke.”

“Okay,” I replied, and slowly put the small box I had onto the table.

“Luke-dono, what’s that?” Prince Gilbert, who thought that we would channel magic into the rest of the magic stones, was curious. I opened the box without saying anything.

“Oh!” There was a stir in the room. Even Easter’s Prince had his eyes wide opened.

“Th-this is…”

“This is a reward from my father for discovering and bringing back our beloved Leila of the Albans House.”

“What?! Not from the royal family of Kingdom, but from a Four Marquis?!” The person who yelled was Herman, the Deputy Prime Minister. This fat person’s remarks are always subtly rude.

“Like we said from the beginning, Kingdom has nothing to do with this visit. This is a personal visit from the Lisburns and Albans. Don’t get this wrong,” Gill firmly controlled the situation.

“Then, let’s start, Luke.”

“Okay.”

“But Luke-dono is only 11-years-old…” I raised a hand to stop Prince Gilbert from speaking and took out a magic stone from the small box. I slowly began to fill it with magic so that everyone can see. They all watched carefully and gulped as the stone gradually changed from pale violet to dark purple.

Before long, I felt the stone repelling back.

“This is the first one.” I showed everyone the magic stone and put it back into the box. I took out another magic stone.

“Impossible. You’re going to…?!” I slowly began to fill the second magic stone regardless of the Prince’s voice. And by the time I picked up the third stone, no one had anything to say. Like Otou-sama had said, I could fill the third one while only feeling somewhat tired.

I didn’t show that I was tired, and put the last magic stone, which had turned a dark purple, into the box, closed the lid and handed it to Prince Gilbert.

“You can activate the barrier box right now with these magic stones.”

“Oh! Thank you!” The Prince was deeply moved and blushed.

“However…” The room fell silent when Gill spoke.

“We can’t leave Kingdom. Even if we can come here now, we won’t be able to anymore once we become adults. And, if you seriously think of filling the magic stones once every 10 days, then it wouldn’t make any sense if you can’t fill it with the people you have in Wester.”

“That’s…”

“If you count on my family, then he and Luke are both 11. This time, Luke filled the magic stones, but it isn’t something he should be doing until he reaches the age of 18. Even if he, my uncle, agrees, I can’t approve,” Gill’s words upset the retainers. The First Prince was calm.

“Of course. We have been considering this project for many years. It’s not a problem if it’s delayed for a few years. I heard from my brother that Alistair wants to continue being a hunter. He’s going to train here while we educate him as a noble, and get him to cooperate with us when he turns 18.”

In the meantime, he would receive good treatment and eventually belong to Wester. Unlike the noisy retainers, Easter’s Prince was quiet. He probably lost interest because they don’t intend on activating the barrier now.

But unlike his noble appearance, Easter’s Prince had hardly any magic. He might have even less than the citizens of Kingdom.

What surprised me since I came to Wester was that the citizens and the nobles mostly had no magic. Even if this was said in Kingdom, I understood for the first time that this meant that they had little magic.

I heard that Easter receives little to no damage from Hollows, and so they use their vast land for agriculture. I’d like to go to Easter someday.

“Do you want us to fill the last magic stone?” The Prince shook his head when Gill said this.

“We wanted you to do that, but we got three magic stones from you. We’ll do something about the last magic stone with the people we have in Wester.”

“Your Highness!” The Deputy Prime Minister said something. He probably wanted us to fill the magic stone now. He’s disgusting.

Will they activate the barrier box or not in the end?

That answer was surprisingly brought about by Lei.

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