Water Magician

Editor: Tseirp

“The ‘Five Dragons’ were in Carlisle all along…?”

Hugh McGrath, the guild master, groaned in the office of Rune Adventurers’ Guild.

The information came from Marquis Heinlein, who was assisting Abel.

The Grand Master himself had previously come to ‘Crimson Sword’ with a request to search for ‘Five Dragons’ when he lost contact with them.

At that time, since the location where they had lost contact with them was near the border with the Empire, it was too dangerous to send Abel, the second prince, so instead he was sent to the Twilight Land, and B-rank and C-rank adventurers from the royal capital were sent to search for Five Dragons.

In the end, the subsequent course of events and information didn’t make it back to Rune city, and Hugh himself was so busy that it had completely left his mind.

Seeing that the Five Dragons remained in the northern region of the country, in the Flitwick Dukedom, they were probably siding with the enemy.

Whether that enemy was ‘King Raymond’ or the ‘Empire’ was yet to be determined.

“Either way, they’re a troublesome opponent to have as an enemy…”

Hugh held his head in his hands.

If they were to appear on the battlefield, ordinary soldiers would be slaughtered helplessly.

A-rank adventurers have serious combat strength.

The only way to suppress them is to prepare adventurers of the same rank or to overwhelm them with B-rankers… either way it’s an immense headache.

Moreover, a total disaster would be if they were to be used as assassins.

Whether it be King Raymond or King Abel, they were still at the stage where their government is built upon the existence of both individual kings.

There was no strong bureaucracy in place to systematize replacements, and there was no one ready to step in to replace them if they died.

‘It’s all over once the king dies.’

The situation was as perilous as a board game.

Should a powerful pawn storm in with an eye for the king’s life….

It would be like a dragon in shogi or a queen in chess barging into the camp.

Even if the king’s life is protected, the damage to those who protect him would be enormous.

They will be shattered to pieces and will end up hindering the maintenance of the front line thereafter.

How would one use powerful pawns?

That is an area that requires both strategic and tactical perspectives.

“The swordsman, the spear-wielder, the fire-attribute magician, and the scout are the four members confirmed…four? They’re called the ‘Five Dragons’, so they ought to be five of them, right? The missing one should be the priest, Henning, I believe…why isn’t he with them?”

Hugh McGrath mumbled as he racked his brains.

“I see, all four of them besides Priest Henning huh…”

King Abel was also checking the same documents that had been sent to Hugh McGrath.

“And they’re all A-rankers, that’s amazing.”

Hearing Abel’s mutterings, Ryo commented, sitting properly today on his usual sofa.

He sat there just for the coffee.

“Yeah. They are adventurers standing at the top of the Kingdom in terms of both achievements and abilities.”

“They were the only A-rank party in the Kingdom until you were promoted to A-rank, weren’t they? Now they’re enemies…”

Abel explained, and Ryo lamented with a slight shake of his head.

“How I hope this is all just some kind of misunderstanding…”

Abel also slightly shook his head and said those words.

“I wonder if Abel would be able to take on those five, I mean four?”

“I’m afraid not. Frankly speaking, I’m not sure how long I can last against only their swordsman, San, on my own…”

“Are they really that strong?”

Abel conceded, shaking his head again, and Ryo blurted out with a troubled look on his face.

“What are you going to do if they come storming into the mansion? If Abel dies, I think there are a good number of people who would raise… raise their brows.”

“Ahh I see …they’ll just tweak their brows once or twice.”

“Don’t be down just because of that. I rephrased it in case there wasn’t anyone concerned enough to raise hell. Which reminds me, you’re still keeping up with your daily sword practice even after becoming a king right? It’s very admirable, so do keep it up.”

“Y-yeah…”

“I practice with the knights every once in a while, and seeing Abel practicing his sword seems to boost their morale. As king, you are doing a wonderful job.”

“I-Is that so?”

“Listen, I actually have a great idea on how to go about improving King Abel’s reputation!”

“Nah forget it, I can take a guess even without you saying anything…”

“You can treat me to a meal or something to find out…”

“Yup, I knew you were going to say that!”

Naturally, staying in the lord’s mansion meant that Ryo was guaranteed three meals and afternoon naps…actually no naps, but he gets three meals plus a good night’s sleep.

So there was absolutely no need for Abel to treat him to a meal.

“Hey, Ryo…”

“Yeah? Again…?”

“It’s not about money!”

“Damn, how did you…”

Ryo hung his head, having been beaten to the punch.

“Um, what’s with that tower made of ice that’s been forming and disappearing in the corner of the room for a while now…”

“You noticed!”

Abel asked as he looked at the corner of the room, and Ryo nodded and replied with a single nod.

In the corner of the room, a Tokyo tower made of ice, about the height of a person, was appearing and disappearing.

“Looks like a slightly bigger version of that thing that you sometimes make on your palms, shoulders, or top of your head. You call it Tokyo Tower or something.”

“Yeah.  I’m surprised you remembered.”

In the past, Ryo used to generate tiny Tokyo Towers with ice as a way of practicing magic control in a place where no one could see him, but since he became Abel’s bodyguard, he’s been doing such training in this room.

Only when he’s alone with Abel, obviously.

Or it could be said that he gave up hiding it from Abel.

“I’m actually impressed with how serious you are with that sort of thing, Ryo.”

“I wouldn’t call it being serious…when there are a lot of strong opponents out there. No one would think about cutting corners if their life is on the line, right?”

“W-Well, I guess so.”

When Ryo tilted his head and said such a thing with a look as if it was a matter of course, Abel replied while scratching his head.

From Abel’s point of view, he was impressed that Ryo continued to work hard even after becoming that strong, but from Ryo’s point of view, he felt that even with all his efforts, it was still far from being enough, if he were to consider fighting against an opponent like Akuma Leonor.

“Magic control…is what I call it, but things like the ability to manipulate magic precisely or the ability to create it instantly, those sort of exercises, you get better at them the more you practice them. It is the same principle as swordsmanship. That’s why I practice every chance I get!”

“From what I can see, it looks to me like you’re just lounging on the couch though…”

“Listen Abel, it’s quite possible that not just in the corner of this room, but maybe a hundred meters away, out of sight, I’m also building a tower, did you consider that?”

“Of course it’s possible. Although it’s possible, you would never do it, Ryo.”

“Why…”

“Because doing it in such a place won’t show that you’re actually working hard!”

“Ugh…”

Ryo was hit where it hurt and collapsed.

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