Isekai Journey Of The Magic Archer

[Eon's POV: ]

The principality of Lakmer.

A special trade country that used to be part of the Roxana empire until three hundred years ago, however, through the achievements of the founding prince of the principality, it managed to sign a treaty with the empire and obtain status as an independent country.

'I remember reading the founding prince's name was George K. Roxana however, after the independence they lost the imperial name 

settled on the name Lakmer, a word originating from the ancient empirical language which means the 'Independent ones'.'

It used to be a place situated quite a distance away from the empire to the northwest beyond the great labyrinth.

Their struggle for independence was perhaps only possible because of the presence of the forbidden zone to their northeast, however, a great part of it was fulfilled by the prince of that time who was, according to the rumors, a reincarnation.

'He was perhaps from some democratic liberal country since the systems he established in the Principality resemble concepts that this world isn't quite familiar with even to this day.'

However, he is long gone so without bringing back his soul from the afterlife, confirming the fact that he in fact was a reincarnation would be unpossible.

'But we aren't doing that right now.'

Rein and I had just passed through the personal Space jump portals only available to permitted student council members, and, right now, we were standing in the special institution that was part of the Academy.

"Welcome to Principality of Lakmer. We have been expecting your arrival." A young and well-built butler spoke up with his heavy voice and, the four of us, and our familiars bowed as a greeting to the gentleman and maid ladies standing before us.

"We will be going straight to our chambers. And, please notify the estate of the house of Heliox that their young master and Lady Reinelle Atraxia have arrived in the capital city."

"Right away, miss."

The people here were professionally trained specifically for the special tasks that only the student council or the closest confidants of the headmaster could achieve so even after hearing our names, all their expressions were the same as they had been before.

The butler was especially a good one. 

"You must be Rionheart? Headmaster speaks highly of your prowess."

"Haha, he is generous with his prises sometimes."

"No no. A valedictorian of his batch specially trained to become a servant isn't something the academy has produced more than two hundred times in the eons of its history. You are praiseworthy, and also Miss Keen, Lina, Olivia, and Jennifer. 

Please take care of us for the time being."

"Hahaha. I did hear someone interesting has been chosen but seeing it with my own eyes sure is special."

Every single person in this estate was a hardcore professional hardwired to achieve at least a hundred percent of what was asked of their expertise.

They were former graduates and rankers of the academy, certainly best of the best in their field and, they worked for the academy, mainly for the headmaster directly.

They were special units with no concrete files of them available so I had quite trouble figuring them out just from their appearance.

'But, well, since I have memorized all the records on the people that had been affiliated in the academy and sorted out some special ones to make my own data list, figuring them out was pretty easy.'

But still, the people here were amazing.

"We are expecting to receive a word from the estate of the Heliox in about twelve minutes. Please rest until then and ask any of us for anything you will need."

"Ah, yes. 

Someone named Miss Monnem will be arriving here shortly so give her details of the entire capital and brief her on the geography of the Principality."

"Of course sir."

He went back after a bow, no questions asked. 

'He's cool in a way lol.'

The people here knew nothing about the demonic humans or the fact that they were planning to create a commotion during the annual alchemy competition but they did not need the details.

If we were here, they knew it meant there was some urgent business that many lives depended on. And also that only we could fulfill it.

They just had to do their jobs and that much would be their contribution to saving countless lives. 

Questions, doubts, and such unnecessary things weren't their business. And, this level of professionalism was something rare.

"Alright then, Rein. Get ready."

"I am ready already."

She had changed her Mana clothing into an extraordinary-looking dress which certainly was eye-catching, but, clothes weren't the only thing needed for an important event like the one we were going to at the moment.

"Of course you are ready, fourth percent that is. We still have to do the hair, some light makeup, and add some final touches to this too-glamorous dress to make it a little better."

"Tsk. Must we do those things?"

She was bored after that short travel and her eyes definitely screamed that she wanted to do some pastime since there was a bed present right here. But that wasn't happening.

"No. Sit here. We are going to start with the hair."

Her hair had grown a little so I would first have to trim it a little and then I would have to bride her royal hair so that they would at least look presentable… wait, no. 

They had to look the best in the room!

Yes! That was the bare minimum!

"Dudeeeeee… you are boring."

"Yes, I am. So just stay still or I will call the maids for help and you won't even have a chance to try and seduce me."

"Tsk! Bastard! Hump!"

She was difficult to deal with sometimes but, there is always a simple solution to her moods.

"Alright. Tell me how you want them?"

"Do it by yourself… you know better about my hair anyway."

Well of course I knew about her better than her since I had been the one to make them for the past few years but she had her hair since she had them… yes, well. They were her hair. Her opinion mattered.

"Cute, attractive, opposing, approachable, or 'stay away' kind?"

"Oh… hmmm. Let's go with a little attractive and a little Stay-away kind. We will need some people to approach us while keeping the leeches away."

"Nice."

The principality of Lakmer has a rich history of only three centuries and despite that, it was a nation that stood as one of the major powers of the western continent, it was all mainly because of the founder, his foresighted system, and his wife… the one that initiated the annual alchemy competition.

'She was a smart person and the only partner the Prince had. 

She was not some noble either and, in the first place, the whole independence thing started because of her… but that is a story for later. A good story, I dare say.'

She helped the prince in many places and her idea of organising a competition in one of the empty lands of the Principality was a decision that the Prince or the rulers of this place after him never regretted.

'The whole of the capital city that we are in right now was developed after the decision to organize the alchemy competition was made, and, all the infrastructure present in this capital city is thanks to this one yearly competition that is not only a platform for all the alchemists of the world to showcase their talent but also, this competition is a platform for many unexpected discoveries.

'The principality works on a simple democratic system where the leader is elected by the people directly for a decade and the highest power here is a constitution that I would say is far better than many of the countries of my previous world.'

It is pretty simple to understand and the local schools have the constitution as a subject, but still… 

This is a principality, so, the highest order still stands alongside the constitution. A part of it possesses a unique authority, but, still, not the highest authority that the people cannot overthrow if they wish to.

'The system is simple sounding but there are laws and rules for many of the weird things present in the constitution so not only the authority of the crown is guarded but the powers of the people that the constitution has granted them also remain preserved.'

According to the political system, this place is more of a constitutional monarchy instead of a Principality with a clear monarch but, seeing according to the constitution of the land, it is more of a Democracy, not a republic, but certainly a unique democracy that we cannot compare to the governments of my previous world.

Anyway…

"Alright. You look presentable."

"And you look hot… kissy?"

"N. O. Miss Moon should be done with the briefing from the butler so we are going now. I don't want that makeup to be ruined."

"You bastard! This isn't fair!"

"Endure it, dear. Here, this should do the trick for now."

I gave her a kiss on the back of her hand, three actually. And, her eyes lit up instantly.

"It's been a while since you did this…"

It was the Witches' special kiss that meant a lot of things. 

"Hehehe, alright! This will do for now~. But are kissing in the venue of the event! No excuses allowed!"

There would be nobles and royals from all over the world present there. Perhaps some of our distant relatives as well. And, she wanted to kiss in some corner of a place like that? 

'She's getting more and more daring with each day.'

Perhaps because of the burden of her house members and all?

'We joined the school hoping to have a quiet, carefree life… and now look at us.'

Haaaa… this was bad. But there's no point lamenting over something like this anymore.

"Alright… let's go now."

The annual alchemy competition's first round will begin three hours from now, we will need half an hour to reach the event venue in the city's heart by our special carriage, which is a must for the event since we are going there as our original selves and not as student council members.

But this half an hour isn't going to be peaceful since the streets would be full of people gathered to see the high-ranking people and the carriages they would be arriving in.

'Huuuu… the high society shenanigans. Things are going to be tiring for the three days now.'

There was a political matter to take care of, some insider things, dealing with the other nobles, and then the competition itself. And if that wasn't enough, the tension of the demonic humans.

"Good luck to us."

We will need luck.

A loooooot of it, actually.