Heavenly Swords of the Twin Stars: Volume 2 (eBook)

Riku Nanano (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2024
250 Seiten
J-Novel Club (Verlag)
978-1-7183-1562-4 (ISBN)

Infos

Sekiei and Hakurei have successfully fended off Gen's assault on Keiyou, but the situation remains dire for the Ei Empire. The country's former ally Seitou has joined the enemy, and now the western border stands open and hostile. With tensions continuing to rise and infighting commonplace within the capital's courts, invading Seitou-however inadvisable-has become inevitable. A strategist to devise tactics and navigate the political waters is sorely needed, so when the self-professed ascendant who helped Meirin unearth the Heavenly Swords arrives in Keiyou, the answer has practically fallen into Sekiei's lap...or so it would seem, were she not absolutely against participating in war. With the odds stacked against them and the armies from Gen and Seitou looming, Sekiei knows that Ei's and the Chou family's soldiers will need it all-Ruri's wisdom, Hakurei's leadership, and Meirin's connections, along with his own strength and skill-if any of them are to survive the upcoming battle.

Textauszug

Prologue

The Ou family’s manor had been built on the finest property that Rinkei, the capital of the Ei Empire, had to offer. Instead of the usual quiet that made it so attractive, however, today it was bustling with activity.

“The ships for Keiyou are leaving at noon, but they haven’t been stocked with food or supplies yet. Where are the people who were supposed to handle that?!”

“Get all the free workers and carriages to the ports!”

“The National Shield never loses, but man, I feel like we’re making a lot more money than usual!”

“Where’s Lady Meirin? We need her orders.”

None of the Ou family workers who walked by noticed that they’d just passed me, Shizuka, Lady Ou Meirin’s personal attendant. They were too busy calling out orders and words of encouragement to each other as they transported the necessary supplies to the port. After Lady Meirin had her talk with the self-professed ascendant, it had been my job to see her off.

It’d been a month since Gen, which ruled over the land north of the great river, launched a large-scale invasion of Keiyou, Ei’s largest, most northern city. Keiyou had managed to fight them off after a vicious battle, but it had not been the National Shield Chou Tairan—the greatest hero of the current empire—who had defeated them. It had been Lord Sekiei, left in charge of the city’s defense in Chou Tairan’s absence, who’d accomplished the task. Not only did Lord Sekiei share the same black hair I possessed, but he was also Lady Meirin’s beloved.

Ever since first meeting him, I’d had the distinct impression that he was no average fellow. However, I hadn’t expected him to be so powerful that he could kill one of the feared enemy generals, the Crimson Wolf, and protect Keiyou until General Chou’s return! One could say that his triumphs rivaled those of a storybook hero. However, despite the victory, I heard that the city itself had suffered a lot of damage thanks to the weapons called “catapults.” That wasn’t all. Seitou—a long-term ally of Ei’s—had revealed itself as a traitor, working with the enemy instead.

Since the victory, there had been no movement from either Gen or Seitou, but that didn’t change the fact that Keiyou needed to strengthen its borders now that it had to face enemies from both the north and the west. It was precisely why the merchant families of Rinkei—including the Ou family—were seeing a lot more business than usual.

“I’d say that from Lord Sekiei’s and Lady Hakurei’s perspectives, things went from bad to worse,” I murmured to myself as I thought of them. Through some strange twist of fate, I’d become acquainted with the black-haired boy and the beautiful silver-haired girl. I imagined that despite defeating a famous enemy general, their battles would only become more difficult from here on out. As I headed to my lady’s room, my thoughts on the two members of the Chou family in Keiyou, I heard someone call out.

“M-Miss Shizuka!” An apprentice attendant, her short brown hair whipping behind her as she ran, hurried towards me. She looked in a panic.

I handed her a paper bag filled with sweet sesame dumplings, a gift that I’d bought for my lady, and used my hands to tidy her. “Your hair is a mess. Calm down. What happened to helping Lady Meirin change her clothes?”

“Ah, thank you very much. Um, about the clothes, well...” The girl held on to the bag but looked down in embarrassment as she trailed off. It appeared that she hadn’t been successful. Normally Lady Meirin was a very lively girl who always kept an eye out on the workers in the house. Lately, though, she’d started to spend more time shut away in her room.

I placed a hand to my forehead and heaved a heavy sigh. “What am I going to do with her? Don’t worry, just leave it to me.”

“Th-Thank you so much!”

The apprentice attendant hurried off to her next task so I resumed my journey down the hallway, making my way to the inner sanctums of the manor. Along the way, I looked at all of the strange and bizarre items that Lord and Lady Ou had collected during their travels around the continent. From the round windows I could see the bright blue sky, with nary a cloud in sight. What nice weather we were having today! Maybe I could take my lady out for a walk later.

I finally reached Lady Meirin’s door, which was decorated with a number of intricate carvings. I gently pushed it open and poked my head inside. As I did so, I heard several groans and mumbled sleep talking from the bed.

“Lord Sekiei... Let me, Meirin, take care of you...”

So, she took advantage of my absence to sleep in? It was hard to believe that she was the one in charge of the family while Lord and Lady Ou were absent. As soon as the battle for Keiyou ended, Lady Hakurei, the heiress of the Chou family, sent us a letter stating: “Sekiei received a wound on his left arm during the battle, but other than that, he’s fine. I’ll take care of him.” Lady Meirin must have been really shocked about that last line.

I sighed and walked past the long table in the room. Upon it I could see the long, narrow wooden box that Seitou’s refugees had given us through the ascendant. Inside, it contained a strange anti-cavalry weapon. I approached the bed and then—

“Lady Meirin, it’s already noon! Wake up!”

I ripped the exquisite silk blankets right off of her and her pale orange pajamas. Her long and loose brown hair was sticking up every which way. Little Lady Meirin blinked her big eyes before she puffed out her cheeks and sat up.

“Whoa! What the heck, Shizuka!” she yelled, waving her fists about. “Announce yourself if you’re going to come into my room! I’m heartbroken right now, you know? I want to go to Keiyou where my beloved future husband is, and yet I’m forced to stay here. Then, as if to kick me while I’m down, that terrible and flat-chested Chou Hakurei sent me a letter saying th— Oof!”

I picked up some clothes that had been folded on a nearby chair and pressed them against my lady’s face. Then I pointed a finger into the air and started my scolding. “First things first: you need to get changed! If you don’t do paperwork this afternoon, then you’ll cause everyone a lot of trouble!”

“Okay,” Lady Meirin replied, still looking a little peevish, before she started to do as I told her.

How come only her breasts have grown larger, but the rest of her body remains so small? Is this some sort of sorcery or magic that’s been passed down through the Ei Empire? This question had bothered me ever since I started working for the Ou family, and it bothered me yet again today. Though I burned with curiosity, I busied myself with tea.

“After you wake up and make yourself presentable, you must drink a cup of tea.” This was a family tradition, according to Lady Ou.

Lady Meirin quickly changed all by herself, then brushed her teeth and washed her face with the cold water that’d been prepared in the corner of her room before sitting down. I’d served Lady Meirin ever since she was a child, so I was happy every time I noticed her growing or becoming more mature. It made me want to spoil her rotten. Granted, I never showed her that side of me; if she knew I felt that way, then she’d let it get to her head.

Maintaining my stoic exterior, I carefully poured the tea into the cup, breathing in the fruity fragrance from the steam. “Today’s tea is from the southern regions. I hope you enjoy it.”

In lieu of replying, Lady Meirin let out yet another unhappy groan. I walked behind her to comb through her hair as she picked up the cup and took a sip.

“Oh, this is good,” she said. It was obvious from the tone of her voice that she wasn’t just paying lip service. “But if I give this to Lord Sekiei, he’ll probably be able to guess it from the taste alone. Hmm...”

And she was so upset just a few seconds ago. How adorable. I smiled and tied up her hair as my lady lost herself in fantasies about her next meeting with her beloved Lord Sekiei. Once I was done with that, I set a document I’d been given at the port on the round table.

Lady Meirin turned and blinked up at me with her big doe-like eyes. “What’s this?”

“It’s from Keiyou. I received it when I dropped by the port.”

“Oh! Could it be from Lord Sekiei?!” Lady Meirin’s face brightened immediately. The sight of her obvious joy and excitement made me smile wider as well. Lady Meirin looked the best when she had a smile on her face. I didn’t have enough words to express my gratitude to Lord Sekiei.

I sat down next to Lady Meirin as she started to read through the document and poured some tea into my own cup. I took my time enjoying it while listening to Lady Meirin’s muttering—“Hee hee... Tsk! I knew it! Miss Hakurei really is my enemy... A cat?” Even just observing her filled me with warmth. As I smiled, I noticed Lady Meirin raise her eyebrows and she made a disgruntled sound.

“Lady Meirin? Is something the matter with Lord Sekiei?” I asked. As I poured more tea into her empty cup, I watched her slowly hand the piece of paper towards me. “May I read this?”

“Yeah. Since it’s you, I don’t mind.”

“Thank you very much. Very well then.” I smiled at the way she said it, as if it were a...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 26.6.2024
• Reihe/Serie: Heavenly Swords of the Twin Stars
• Illustrationen: Cura
• Übersetzer: Stephanie Liu
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy
• Schlagworte: action • Historical • lazy male protagonist • Light Novel • Military • past Life • snarky heroine
• ISBN-10: 1-7183-1562-7 / 1718315627
• ISBN-13: 978-1-7183-1562-4 / 9781718315624