Investigating

Reinhardt frowned. He thought he ought to report this to the Grand Duke.

As an officer with the word "deputy" in his title, he had to keep his superiors informed, morning and night.

That was advice his father had given him. Without showing what he was thinking, he told the guard to go rest in the gatehouse for a while, then turned and headed toward the main building of the Duke's Mansion.

That was right—Reinhardt lived in the Duke's Mansion, too. His family had served the White Hawk Duke for three generations. They had always been vassals of the ducal family, rather than ordinary lords who had been granted fiefs and the knights sworn to them.

Put simply, the Lainhardt family had been the Andrea family's "three-generation hired help."

He walked into the dining room. The Duke's family of three, Aunt Kaydelin, and Alice were eating breakfast at a small table. This was their family's first reunion meal of the new year.

Lainhardt didn't bother with formalities. He went straight to the point and explained the situation.

The Duke lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then said:

"Lainhardt, I'll have to send you over there. No Large Magical Beasts have appeared near White Eagle City for a long time, but we can't let our guard down. We need to take this seriously."

"Yes!"

The captain of the knights stood at attention and saluted. He was about to turn and leave when Andrea, beside him, wiped her mouth and said:

"I'm finished eating. I'll go with Lainhardt."

She had been practicing swordplay for so long that she was eager for a fight.

"I'm coming, too!" Alice was the sort who couldn't sit still.

"Then I'll come as well. I have more experience," George said, getting to his feet.

Aunt Kaydelin and the Duke exchanged glances. They wanted to agree, but Great Mage Kaydelin still put on a stern face.

"Don't be ridiculous! George and Alice, neither of you is going anywhere! The New Year's Grand Court is about to begin, and you both have to attend! Andrea and Lainhardt can go."

The two who had been stopped were still only half-grown children. They looked unhappily at Kaydelin, then at the White Eagle Grand Duke seated at the head of the table. When they saw him nod in agreement, they fell silent.

The princess and the captain of the knights donned light armor made from Magical Beast leather. After giving the guard from City Hall a few instructions, they left. They wore light armor mainly because it would be more convenient on the boat. Falling into the water while wearing Metal Heavy Armor would be a nasty business.

They didn't take a carriage or go on foot this time. They rode their warhorses all the way to the harbor, where a City Hall boat was already waiting. The mayor had arranged it in advance. He knew the Duke well enough to know he'd send someone to investigate.

It was a small sailing warship belonging to the duchy's coast guard. It had a single main mast and a shallow draft, allowing it to sail on inland rivers as well.

The captain and sailors hadn't expected the princess to come, and hurriedly bowed and removed their hats.

Andrea waved a hand and said:

"All right, put your hats back on. It's freezing out—don't catch a cold!"

Once they were aboard, the captain immediately weighed anchor. With the wind against them and the current running against them, the boat moved slowly. It took a long time to reach the vicinity of the Har River Delta. The princess and Lainhardt gazed toward it from a distance. The entire delta was blackened; all the vegetation had been burned away, leaving it completely barren. They looked around but didn't see any Magical Beasts.

Although little of the delta was above water, the submerged portion was larger than they had imagined. Even a small boat like this didn't dare approach. Andrea motioned for the captain to lower a dinghy. She and the captain of the knights climbed aboard, and two strong sailors rowed them to shore.

When they reached the bank, one of the sailors jumped into the knee-deep water and hauled the dinghy up to shore. Andrea and Lainhardt lightly leaped out.

They searched the area and soon found traces of the battle from the night before: the huge crater left by an explosion, the furrows gouged into the ground as the giant spider had thrashed around, and fragments of spider shell scattered everywhere.

They exchanged a glance. They both more or less understood what had happened.

"Your Highness, it looks like there was a fierce battle here last night," the captain of the knights said. He picked up a fragment of spider shell. It was extremely light in his hand, yet remarkably tough. He tried tearing it by hand, but couldn't. After infusing it with Battle Qi, he managed to tear it with some effort.

He couldn't help drawing in a sharp breath. "Someone killed a Large Magical Beast of the insect kind here last night. It might even have been a Fourth Rank beast!"

"Looks like it. All the larger pieces have been taken away. I suspect a powerful Mage did it." Andrea bent to pick up a fragment, too. Strangely, it looked like a piece of sheet metal, with dark green paint on the outside and half of a white painted letter faintly visible.

The fragment seemed familiar to her, as though she'd seen something like it before, but she couldn't remember where.

"Let's go back. There's nothing else to see."

The princess glanced at the huge crater again, then continued:

"A Magician may have fought and killed an insect-type Magical Beast of the same rank here. Let's go back and report. Aunt Kaydelin and Alice didn't even sense the battle last night, despite how fierce it was. That Magician who hunted the beast must be even stronger than we imagined."

The two returned to the boat. With a grim expression, Lainhardt told the sailors to head back. Then he turned to the captain beside him and said:

"Go back and send someone to collect all those insect shells from the island and bring them to the Duke's Mansion. I know they're valuable. You can keep some as payment for your hard work, but don't get greedy, or you'll see what I do to you!"

The captain grinned and said there was no way he'd dare. Then he cautiously asked:

"Sir Lainhardt, was it a Magical Beast last night? Is it safe around here?"

"It's safe now. Go back and tell the sailors and all the shipowners not to worry. A Magical Beast was killed last night. It's nothing to be concerned about," the captain of the knights said casually.

The captain was reassured. The current and wind were both behind them on the return trip, and they were back at the harbor in less than half an hour.

After disembarking, the two rode side by side toward the council hall. The Grand Court should have started by now. The duchy's municipal staff, the councilors, and others would all be there. It was a ceremony modeled after the ancient monarchs' "court assemblies." Everyone would look ahead to the future, then share a meal at noon before it ended.

When they reached City Gate Street, they spotted the Alchemy Shop still closed. Andrea remembered the farce on the day Edward's Alchemy Shop opened and couldn't help smiling.

Her later meeting with Edward had been an unexpected encounter. But it wasn't quite like the princess's adventures in the knight novels! He was great in every way, except that it would have been better if he didn't have that "younger sister," Monica.

Thinking of Monica reminded her of their sword practice that day. She'd gained a lot from it. Suddenly, she remembered the two metal boxes Edward had left at the Training Ground that day, filled with water and food. They had the same dark green paint and white letters...

When Lainhardt noticed the princess lower her head in thought as they passed City Gate Street, with a faint smile appearing at the corners of her mouth from time to time, he silently cursed the Alchemist for having no sense of decency. He'd built his home so close to the city gate that the princess thought of him every time she passed by.

When they reached the intersection with Flower Street, the princess suddenly seemed to remember something. She immediately turned her horse around and galloped toward City Gate Street. She called back to Lainhardt:

"Go on ahead. There's something very important I need to verify!"

The captain of the knights could only head back, feeling a pang of jealousy.

Edward was wearing denim clothes, with a leather apron over his chest and thick cotton gloves on his hands. When he heard the Doorbell, he went to open the door.

As he opened the back door, he saw the Knight Princess in leather armor, a sword at her side and a horse in hand. He couldn't help beaming and hurriedly invited Andrea inside, but there was nowhere to tie up her horse.

Seeing Edward's getup, the horse seemed to think he was a blacksmith about to shoe it, and shrank back.

"Why not lead it inside? I have plenty of room!" Edward asked.

"That won't do. Your place is too warm. A warhorse couldn't handle such sudden changes in temperature," Andrea said.

"All right, I'll build a temporary stable outside. Just don't report me for putting up an illegal structure."

Edward stepped outside and put on the Alchemist Gloves. He pressed them against the ground. A flash of light later, a small stone stable stood there.

It had been built between the outer wall of his house and the city wall, using the city wall, the cliff, and his house as three of its walls. He'd only built half a wall and a roof.

The princess saw that it had a crossbar for tying up the horse and a stone trough, so she led the horse inside and secured it. She took some bean cakes from her Spatial Ring to feed it, then pulled out a blanket and draped it over its back.

Edward saw that Andrea hadn't tried to remove her saddle and realized she wouldn't be staying long. Seeing how carefully she tended to the horse, he asked:

"Is this your horse? Does it have a name?"

"Of course. Guess what it is!"

Edward looked it over carefully. It was a tall, chestnut horse with a glossy coat. He tried a guess:

"Is it called Mengmeng?"

"Uh..." Andrea put a hand to her forehead. "She's a mare, but I wouldn't give her such a childish name. No wonder everyone says you're terrible at naming things!"

"Then what's her name?"

Edward asked as he went inside with the princess, who had finished tying up the horse.

"Red Cloud!" Andrea said.

Edward thought, That's not much better than the name I suggested. Back in the day, the joke "Mengmeng, stand up!" had been famous everywhere. It was practically an Asian champion racehorse!

He invited the princess into the sitting room and was about to pour her some tea.

The princess suddenly noticed a new black, square box on the kitchen counter. It looked a lot like the oven Edward used to bake bread.

The box had a tiny window. Something inside glowed red-hot, and flames occasionally flickered out. Her curiosity was piqued.

She hurriedly said:

"No need to fuss over me. I was just passing by and wanted to say a few words before I left. You go ahead with what you're doing."

Edward didn't insist. He turned to look at the furnace and explained:

"The Underground Laboratory is too stuffy. This experiment isn't dangerous, so I brought it upstairs to work on. We're short on time, and there's a lot to do! Time waits for no one—we have to seize the day!"

Andrea heard his strange exclamations and couldn't figure out what had gotten into him. She had a faint suspicion.

Curiously, she moved closer and leaned over Edward's shoulder to look at the record book in his hands. The title read:

"Burn Blue Experiment (Third Attempt)"