Magic Stone Gourmet: Eating Magical Power Made Me the Strongest Volume 8 (Light Novel) (eBook)

Ryou Yuuki (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025 | 1. Auflage
250 Seiten
J-Novel Club (Verlag)
978-1-7183-8971-7 (ISBN)

Infos

Just as he's about to set foot in Heim, Ein steels himself for what is sure to be a gruesome battle-one that will settle a feud that has gone on for long enough. As the Ishtarican-Heim conflict escalates, however, questions surrounding the red foxes' endgame hang over the battlefield. But the crown prince quickly realizes that his first war will be full of surprises when he's thrown into combat against his father, Rogas-the very man who taught him how to wield a sword. But the familial in-fighting only intensifies when Ein's brother proceeds to stand before his blade. Fully aware of the tall order ahead of him, the crown prince must brave these hardships in order to vanquish the foxes once and for all. He vows to fight until the bitter end, even if he falls in the process. Will justice prevail? Or will the royal family's second Demon Lord make the same mistakes as his predecessor?

Textauszug

Chapter One: On the Royal Capital’s Outskirts

Things are going smoothly, oddly so, was the thought on Ein’s mind when he saddled up in the morning. The Ishtaricans marched towards Heim unimpeded, without a chimera or Heim soldier to be seen along the way. This strange phenomenon led the prince to furrow his brows cautiously.

“This march is going well, too well,” Dill muttered as he rode his steed, trotting only a few paces behind the prince. The knight’s words made it sound like he’d just read Ein’s mind.

Considering that he was galloping alongside the knight, Majorica could easily overhear Dill’s grumbling. “Well, Heim did just suffer a fatal blow to their manpower,” the eccentric replied before he continued, “Perhaps they’re mounting a defense of Roundheart’s port? After all, we did blow them away with the ship’s cannons upon our arrival.”

The cannons were first fired in Rockdam, then again in Bardland. Needless to say, those devastating blasts had ripped through the kingdom’s soldiers. Then, as Ishtarica continued its push, Heim had been undoubtedly put on the back foot.

In other words, Heim was running out of options to fall back on. Even with chimeras at their disposal, no one could deny that the kingdom’s resources had been pushed to their limits.

“Oh dear, it seems the expression on your face says otherwise,” Majorica said.

“Ah, it’s nothing like that, Master Majorica,” Dill replied. “Your theory is sound, but there’s something that still bothers me. You know as well as I do that we can’t get a read on the red foxes’ motives. I can’t help but try to decipher their actions.”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“We don’t know why the red foxes are acting this way,” Ein chimed in. “What’s the reason behind it all?”

“But if we were to look at the foxes’ base nature, Your Highness, are they not creatures who simply take pleasure in war and chaos?”

“I don’t think you’re wrong. That tome—Aunt Katima’s book—did mention that red foxes are a hedonistic people. If we can trust what’s written, it wouldn’t be out of the question to say that these foxes just love living in the eye of the storm.”

But if one shifted their focus from the theoretical to reality, they’d find that Heim currently fought at an overwhelming disadvantage. If the foxes were genuinely taking pleasure from the situation’s tension, anguish, and danger, there was nothing to fret over. But if this torrid state of affairs was their doing, Ein could only put his hands up in defeat. Heim has no chance of clinching a victory here. Ultimately, the deaths of Edward and Shannon had been practically set in stone.

Even if the red foxes let their hedonistic urges take the reins, reveling in the danger facing them and savoring the thrill of war, their moves were still far too cryptic to decipher. It seemed as if the foxes were on a suicide mission.

“It feels as if they’re trying to claim supremacy over the continent... But if that were really the case, they shouldn’t have attacked Euro,” Ein concluded. “A strike on the principality would make our involvement virtually guaranteed.”

“Which means that they must have other motives in mind. I wonder...” Majorica murmured, tilting his head to one side.

Ein shrugged. “Honestly, I haven’t a clue. Regardless, all their attempts thus far have been half-baked.”

Or perhaps... If they have me in their crosshairs, it’ll become an entirely different matter. Marco once said that the foxes were waiting for Ein. Not to mention that Jayle’s diary from the villa claimed that the foxes would never forget their grudge against him. When one put two and two together, it was reasonable to assume that Ein, a member of the Ishtarican royal family, was their target. Without question, they were trying to drag the crown prince out and onto the battlefield.

“Indeed... There’s nothing indicating that they’ve tried to launch an attack on Ishtarica...” Majorica went on. “But you know... I have a feeling that they hadn’t accounted for Rayfon’s death either.”

“Huh? Why’s that?” Ein asked.

“I’ve never seen a human emit miasma. Not once. While it’s not impossible to find miasma capable of penetrating our gear, you’d have to crawl into a deep, almost subterranean cave thick with the stuff to do it. Miasma like that doesn’t just pop out of nowhere, nor would it be a coincidence. And despite all of those very specific conditions, Heim’s first prince was emitting a dense haze of it. Am I correct?” Majorica skillfully wriggled around in his saddle while Ein and Dill listened intently. “If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say it’s extremely difficult to mass-produce entities capable of emitting miasma. If they could’ve done it, they should’ve had two or three emitters prepared for us. But if they had, I doubt the marshal would be here with us today.”

When one considered Rayfon’s lack of a skill or special talents, it became difficult to assume that only he could be modified in such a way.

“And it’s all because of you, Your Highness. No one can accurately gauge just how mighty you are,” Majorica said. “I’m sure that they’ve lost almost all of their chimeras.”

For many, the nauseating number of chimera corpses littering the outskirts of Bardland had become a vivid memory, fresh in their minds.

“Nothing would make me happier than to never see a troublesome chimera again,” Ein said.

“Still, there’s no guarantee that the surviving chimeras won’t attack,” Majorica reasoned. “But I seriously doubt there will be as many of them next time. After all, they lost most of their strength during the last battle.”

“I know. Let’s remain vigilant.” Still, there were many questions that remained unanswered. “The more I think about it, the more puzzling the red foxes’ motives become.”

“I agree... Their actions are just too cryptic.”

“Sir Ein, the Demon Lord’s Great War is just as mysterious,” Dill said. “What did they want after taking control of her? How did allowing her to run wild play into their endgame? I’m not sure we can simply say, ‘Don’t worry, they’re just hedonists.’”

“You’re right,” Ein replied. He sighed and added, “I guess we can only say this for sure: they wish nothing but harm upon Ishtarica.”

“But perhaps knowing that is good enough,” Majorica said. “If they really do wish harm upon us, we won’t hold back. Simple, lovely, and directly to the point.”

Once the trio’s discussion concluded, they reoriented their focus on marching onward, towards Heim.

***

It’d been two days since the Ishtaricans left Bardland, and they’d already reached the outskirts of Heim’s royal capital. As they marched over a hill, the kingdom’s flourishing capital city slowly crept into view. It was only now that Ein found himself struck with pangs of the past—the view causing a series of bitter childhood memories to flash across his mind.

“Sir Ein, I understand that this may trigger some conflicting emotions,” Lloyd said. “Please don’t push yourself, and leave it to me to—”

“No, I’m fine,” Ein assured him. “I’d just fallen silent thinking of back then.”

Oddly enough, the marshal’s new eye patch suited him quite well. In fact, he now appeared as if he were an elderly war veteran who’d fought his way through more than a few wars. Lloyd was enthusiastic about the style shake-up, yammering on about how he’d commission a hand-embroidered, custom eye patch upon his return home. Despite losing an eye, his morale hadn’t dropped an ounce—far from it. Lloyd found himself eager to grasp victory and return home. Considering the situation, it was a good sign for the marshal.

“‘Back then...’ Before you came to Ishtarica, perhaps?” Lloyd inquired.

“That’s right,” Ein replied. “You know about that time in my life, don’t you?”

“You mean...”

“When I was living in Roundheart.”

The marshal quickly turned pensive and started to carefully choose his next words, but Ein replied with a smile as though to imply that there was nothing to worry about.

“I heard that you were never allowed to leave the manor, nor were you treated all that well,” Lloyd admitted. “I used to remember His Majesty jumping for joy whenever one of Lady Olivia’s letters arrived... But once he started reading, that joy would turn to sorrow in a matter of seconds.”

“Yep,” Ein replied. “Unlike me, my younger brother, Glint, was allowed to leave the estate quite frequently. When my fath—Rogas started looking after Glint, he was allowed to leave the city.”

“I see...” Lloyd nodded solemnly.

“But you see, even I was allowed to go on a trip. My first one, actually. Do you know what day that was?”

“H-Hmm... Your first trip... I apologize, but I haven’t a clue.”

Ein hadn’t talked about it before, and Lloyd was curious to learn more about his prince’s past.

“My first trip out was during my social debut party,” Ein revealed.

“Ah! The one that was held in the royal capital... At Grand Duke August’s manor if...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 18.2.2025
• Reihe/Serie: Magic Stone Gourmet: Eating Magical Power Made Me The Strongest
• Illustrationen: Ryou Yuuki
• Übersetzer: Ryou Yuuki
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy
• Schlagworte: Coming of Age • hero learns to use a cool skill • inherited magical power • Isekai • nobility and aristocratic life • political intrigue and drama • Shonen
• ISBN-10: 1-7183-8971-X / 171838971X
• ISBN-13: 978-1-7183-8971-7 / 9781718389717