I Already Know That My Magic Power Is Ridiculously High! Now I Just Need To Get A Lovely Bride - Chapter 13

Sixty years ago, the Naiya family staged a coup and planned to seize the throne. They succeeded in overthrowing the royal Ortenos family and establishing the Naiya dynasty, but they also allowed Princess Ilmina to escape to the Zakurian Empire. This major incident, which occurred in central Atra, completely redrew the balance of power between nations at the time, and it is still widely talked about today.

“Yes, from our perspective, Elmia is a major nuisance. There is no one as conveniently useful as she is to serve as the banner for the restoration of Ortenos.”

For Naiya, this was the ultimate disgrace, and now that a girl like Elmia has been born—one that reminds everyone of those past events—the Naiya royal family will not tolerate her existence. Their top priority is to eliminate Urgool, and once that is done, Neftis believes the next target will have to be none other than Elmia.

“I told you, I’ll make Elmia my plaything. And yes, Neftis, once I have her, I might even share her with you—of course, only after she has rotted away and become worthless.”

Seeing Balbat’s handsome face twisted into a sneer, even Neftis frowned.

It is common knowledge among nobles that the primary role of a Hoshistera-class individual is to pass on their bloodline to the next generation. However, Balbat fails in that duty—instead, he preys on and ruins innocent young girls—and this has given him an extremely poor reputation in noble society. Although Balbat, who is supposed to be a royal, is now being sent to war because his misdeeds have come back to haunt him, he shows no sign of remorse. As a result, Neftis, who serves him, is constantly worried; his hair is thinning day by day from the stress.

“Your Highness, do you understand? You are the key to our operation. Right now, the ‘lid of the cauldron’ is still open.”

Neftis fought back the urge to complain and brought the conversation back to the plan. Here, the “cauldron” is a metaphor for the three Hoshistera-class members of the Hoshiros Marquis family who are currently surrounding Lonshant Fortress. Since the Ortena River behind the fortress has not yet been blocked, the encirclement is incomplete. However, if Balbat positions himself on the west side of the river as the “lid of the cauldron,” then Urgool will have nowhere to escape.

“I get it, you know! That’s why I’m already planning for what comes after. Listen—once I kill Urgool, I will be king. If I can eliminate him, there will be no way for Naiya to stop Ortenos. When I become king, I will have my revenge on that damn queen who exiled me and on those worthless royal siblings!”

Upon hearing that Balbat was plotting personal revenge against the Naiya royal family, Neftis felt even more stress—as if he could literally hear his hair falling out.

“Your Highness, have you forgotten that the Raanekki family is waiting behind Ortenos?”

“Tch, oh right. That accursed traitor Raanekki. In the first place, it’s because of them that this war has even started.”

The Raanekki family was once part of the kingdom’s nobility but has now switched over to being imperial nobles. They own territory to the west of Ortenos and secretly support the Ortenos family, making them a constant thorn in Naiya’s side.

“Yes, the current Ortenos is nothing but a puppet controlled by them. Unless we hit the root of the problem, this messy war will never end.”

“Those Raanekki bastards make our former lord Ortenos stand in the spotlight and watch from above like pathetic scum. There is no choice but to destroy them, no matter what…”

Just as Balbat was about to finish speaking, he sensed something was wrong. Thanks to his high-level magic detection as a Hoshistera-class, he felt a slight chill.

“Yes, we must be extremely careful with the Raanekki…”
“Shh.”

Balbat silenced Neftis with a hand on his shoulder. Neftis did not seem to notice, but the chill only grew stronger. Balbat’s guard rose to the maximum as he sensed a powerful magical force approaching at an incredible speed. —But it was already too late.

“Your Highness?”
“…This is bad! Something is coming!”

In the next moment, a massive burst of magic exploded behind Balbat, sending overlapping waves of magical energy spreading out in concentric circles. Suddenly, his view switched to the sky. Then he spun around in mid-air—once, twice—and was forcefully slammed head-first into the ground.

“Gah…! Guh… Goh…!”

Balbat was tossed like a small animal hit by a truck, tumbling across the ground for several tens of meters before finally coming to a stop.

“Ugh! Hah… Hah… What on earth just happened?”

Balbat, who had been riding at the front, realized that a powerful wave of magic from behind had struck him and knocked his horse unconscious. Although his once-handsome face and the royal black armor were now covered in dust, giving him a wild appearance, his Hoshistera-class body had suffered almost no damage.

“Hey, hey! Neftis! What on earth…?!”

Trying to get Neftis to explain the situation, Balbat stood up and looked behind him, only to be rendered speechless.

“Huh?”
—Bodies lay everywhere; ten thousand soldiers were lined up and had fallen to the ground.