ISSUE 17
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CAIN: Whaaaat?!
CAIN: Marriage?!
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CAIN: You can't just spring marriage on me out of nowhere—I'm only ten! And I don't know the first thing about you, Knight Commander…
TIFANA: Fair enough.
TIFANA: I'm Tifana. I've been entrusted with the position of Knight Commander here in the Esfort Kingdom.
TIFANA: I'm the daughter of Duke Ribelt, who governs the northern forest — my own peerage is Honorary Viscount.
TIFANA: I take it you're worried about the age difference, but there's no need — I'm an elf. I'll live three hundred years, and my looks won't be changing anytime soon either.
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TIFANA: Don't you think I'm pretty?
CAIN: U-uh…
TIFANA: The reason I came to the capital—
TIFANA: —was to find someone stronger than myself.
TIFANA: And then — I've just found him.
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CAIN: I'm glad you think I'm strong, but I don't think it's right for a duke's daughter to decide on marriage all on her own.
CAIN: Please start by talking it over with your family.
TIFANA: It's fine — when I left home, I told them I wouldn't come back until I'd found someone to marry.
CAIN: …Even so, that puts me in a bind.
CAIN: There are people I need to talk to first — my father, for one.
TIFANA: ……
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TIFANA: …I suppose that's fair.
TIFANA: This isn't something I can decide for the two of us alone.
CAIN (thought): Whew... She's pushy, but weirdly reasonable — what a relie—
TIFANA: In that case, I'll take this to the King myself.
CAIN: !!!
CAIN (thought): Oh no — that's a problem...!!
CAIN (thought): This is the last thing I want the King finding out about—
[SFX: WOMANIZER]
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CAIN: W-well, I've got somewhere to be today, so... another time, maybe?
CAIN: Right, I'm off!
TIFANA: No need — I'll settle this right now.
CAIN: Wha—?!
TIFANA: Daim. Arrange an audience with the King, right now.
DAIM: ……Understood.
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DAIM (thought): Sorry, Lord Cain…
CAIN (thought): Daaaaim...!!
CAIN (narration): Unfortunately, the audience was arranged almost right away――
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REX: I came the moment I heard it was urgent... but why are you here?
REX: Weren't you supposed to be dropping your materials off at the Knight Order Station?
CAIN: Yes... I already did that.
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TIFANA: Your Majesty!
[SFX: CLATTER]
TIFANA: I intend to marry Baron Cain von Silford!
REX: Wha-?!
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REX: …Cain. Start from the beginning.
REX: …How did it come to this?
CAIN: …Right, well, actually――
REX: ――So you're saying you beat the Knight Commander — the strongest fighter in this country……
CAIN AND TIFANA: Yes.
REX: I see.
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REX: Cain — you haven't told her about Teles and Miss Silk?
CAIN: That's still confidential, so I haven't said anything…
REX: Hmm... I knew the Knight Commander said she wanted to marry someone stronger than her, but...
REX: ...Who would've thought it'd turn out to be Cain…
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REX: Ribelt was originally a nation ruled by elves, but it was constantly under attack — targeted by slavers, and dragged into wars.
REX: These days, we keep it under our protection as one of our own territories.
REX: Though I say 'protection' — we grant it autonomy, so it's practically its own independent nation.
REX: Which means — duke's daughter or not, the Knight Commander is a nation's princess. A princess who's proposed marriage to you.
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REX: Understand what I'm telling you, Cain?
REX: Tifana — this is still confidential, but you should know.
REX: Cain is already engaged to my own Telestia, and to Miss Silk, Duke Eric's daughter.
REX: Does that change your mind?
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TIFANA: ……
TIFANA: So he's talented enough to earn the approval of both Your Majesty and Duke Eric...
[SFX: CLENCH]
TIFANA: Hearing that only makes me want to marry him all the more.
CAIN: Ehh?!
REX: All right, all right. I see your mind's made up.
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REX: First, write a letter to your father.
REX: This process only continues once you have his permission. Understood?
TIFANA: Understood.
TIFANA: I'll write to my father right away.
CAIN (thought): This is all coming together awfully smoothly, but... she's a nation's princess, and I'm just a ten-year-old kid.
CAIN (thought): There's no way her father approves that easily... right?
CAIN (thought): If this makes the whole thing fall through, all the better... but—
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TIFANA: Well then, Your Majesty—
TIFANA: My business here is finished, so I'll take my leave.
CAIN: Well then, guess I'll get going too, so—
REX: Not so fast.
REX: We need to have a little talk, don't we?
CAIN: ……Yes.
CAIN: I know we do.
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PAGE 17
REX: Still, to think you'd actually beat the Knight Commander — the Sword Saint herself...
REX: She has Swordsmanship Level 5 and the God of War's Blessing at Level 5 — the highest status there is. She's the strongest knight in the kingdom; that's exactly why I made her Knight Commander.
REX: You get what I'm saying, don't you?
CAIN: ……Maybe Commander Tifana is just feeling under the weather…?
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REX: Cain―― just who are you?
CAIN: ……
CAIN: I'm Cain von Silford, Garm's third son.
REX: Hmm... well, fair enough.
REX: Cain. Let me ask you one thing.
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REX: Do you intend to do this country any harm?
CAIN: ……I would never.
CAIN: I was granted the rank of Baron by the King, and recognized as the fiancé of Princess Telestia and Miss Silk.
CAIN: I fully intend to serve this country — I don't have the slightest wish to see it harmed.
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REX: Mm. Understood.
REX: I trust you.
REX: I'll tell Teles and Miss Silk what's happened today, in case the engagement does go through.
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CAIN (thought): I thought I was going to die in there......
CAIN (thought): I suppose I should report this to my father too.
CAIN (thought): I'll stop by his mansion on the way back…
CAIN (narration): And then, several days later—
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REX: So, Daim — how did that fight between the Commander and Cain go the other day?
DAIM: Yes, sir!
DAIM: The Commander fought using only Physical Enhancement for most of it, but neither of them could get the upper hand. Partway through, she switched to her specialty — Wind Magic — and unleashed a barrage of high-speed sword strikes, but Lord Cain handled them without breaking a sweat.
DAIM: Then, suddenly, Lord Cain became faster than she was,
DAIM: and the match was over in an instant.
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REX: To think a ten-year-old could defeat the Sword Saint……
REX: Where does that kind of strength even come from?
REX: —Garm. This is your son we're talking about.
REX: What do you make of it?
GARM: Well… It seems that, ever since he was little, he's been sneaking out of his room night after night to train and hunt in the Monster Forest.
GARM: He apparently took down, single-handedly, the Red Dragon mounted in his hall — when I first saw it, I nearly fell over from the shock.
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REX: That's an SS-class monster — not something anyone should be able to take down alone.
REX: Let alone a single child…
DAIM: Your Majesty, about what was just said…
DAIM: Before the duel, I asked Lord Cain, 'Are you a Hero — or an Apostle of the Gods?' and at those words, his body reacted, just for an instant.
REX: W-what?!
REX: C-could he be a Hero, or — dare I say — an Apostle of the Gods?!
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GARM: Now that you mention it — the other day, he showed me his status, and it felt off. He might be hiding something.
GARM: ……
MAGNA: Your Majesty.
MAGNA: Perhaps it's time we showed Lord Cain what we have.
REX: Hmm. That, huh…
REX: Showing it to him might tell us whether he's really a Hero.
REX: Go fetch Cain, now.
DAIM: Yes, sir!
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DAIM: Your Majesty, I've come as summoned.
CAIN: What can I do for you today?
CAIN (thought): Knowing my luck, it's something bad again…
REX: Cain. There's something I want to show you.
REX: Magna — bring it out.
MAGNA: Lord Cain. Here.
CAIN: ?
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REX: That's an Imperial-class spellbook, passed down in the royal family. They say the founding king wrote it himself, and it's been carefully kept safe, generation after generation.
[TEXT: IMPERIAL-CLASS SPELLBOOK]
CAIN: An Imperial-class spellbook…!
CAIN: Can I really look at this?
REX: Mm. Go ahead and look.
CAIN: Thank you so much!!
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CAIN: Wow…! Magic like this really exists…!
REX: ――Just as I suspected…
CAIN: Is something wrong?
REX: Cain — none of us can actually read that book.
REX: Do you know why?
CAIN: Huh…?
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CAIN (thought): Hmm... nothing about it looks all that unusual to me, though…
CAIN: Ah――!!!!!!
[TEXT: IMPERIAL-CLASS SPELLBOOK]
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REX: That's a book the founding king left behind.
REX: It's written in something called 'Japanese,' and tradition says it's called the 'Imperial-class spellbook' — but no one's ever been able to read a word of it.
CAIN (thought): Right — the language of this world isn't Japanese. Which means this book, written in Japanese, can only be read by someone who came from Japan. Someone like me…
[TEXT: IMPERIAL-CLASS SPELLBOOK]
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GARM (thought): A status like this could be dangerous. If word got out, you could end up under the crown's control for the rest of your life. Whatever happens, this can't get out―
REX: ―Cain. I'll ask you again.
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PAGE 32
REX: Just who are you?
