Ask Away, Your Majesty - Chapter 6
Kyle and Pico mounted the horses that had been tied nearby. The horse Kyle mounted was pitch-black with a sleek and glistening mane.
“Really, Kyle Astum?” exclaimed Pico. “How could you reveal your real name?! Do you know how much I was taken aback? I even changed clothes on purpose to look like a servant.”
“You said your real name, too.”
“That was…! Oh, never mind! Because of you mentioning your real name, I just blurted it out. Anyway, your temper can be quite unpleasant.” Pico grumbled as he mounted his horse.
The horses moved slowly, following the signals of the reins. Kyle’s horse initially walked, then with a nudge and a shake of its head, it started trotting, urging Kyle to move faster. However, lost in thought for a moment, Kyle didn’t respond immediately. Soon after, he called out to Pico.
“Pico, do you think that sorceress can actually create a potion that turns one into a dog?”
“It didn’t seem like you lacked confidence in her skills when you asked her to make it by tomorrow.”
“I’m not sure if it’s a reliable potion.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll try it first and we’ll see.”
Pico, who had just shown disapproval moments ago, now confidently pounded his chest as if to say ‘trust me.’
“It’s unusual that you’re not trying to protect yourself.”
“Sir, when have I ever neglected to protect myself? Since I joined the First Knights, I’ve always risked my life for your safety.”
Thinking it was another round of empty talk, Kyle didn’t respond but simply urged his horse to move at a leisurely pace. Among the members of the First Knights, Pico’s skills were in the lower range. His proficiency with daggers and longswords was excellent, but he lacked endurance.
However, Kyle appointed Pico as his personal squire immediately upon his entry into the Knights. While that was his title, in reality, Pico served as his constant aide. Pico was actually Kyle’s half-cousin, whom he had known since childhood. He was talkative and overly dramatic, but he followed Kyle from a young age and had a good heart, so he was a good choice to have around. What Kyle needed wasn’t an exceptional knight to protect him, but someone he could trust and keep by his side. He knew Pico, despite being fearful, consistently stood for justice, and Kyle firmly believed he would never betray him.
“I don’t think my safety will be much different with or without you.”
“Not in the heart, not in the mind, and you don’t trust anyone but me anyway.”
“Who said I trust you? I don’t trust anyone. I only keep you around because you’re my cousin.”
“You keep saying the same thing. Just say, ‘Pico, you’re the only one I trust.’ What do you think will happen if you say that?”
“….”
“Alright, alright. I’ll shut up.” Pico pursed his lips at Kyle’’s cold stare.
Returning his gaze to the road ahead, Kyle thought of the mage he’d just met. It certainly wasn’t going to be easy to get her to brew a potion by tomorrow, and she was visibly distressed by the time frame. But in the end, she nodded and said that it could be done.
That’s a lot of gold to give up so easily, after all.
In any case, Kyle was satisfied that he had found a wizard who could make a potion that would turn him into a full dog, and that he would receive it by tomorrow. However, something about the sorceress Lorienne felt peculiar.
She wasn’t a male mage. I assumed she’d be an older male mage.
In the overall ratio of mages, men dominated significantly. Families preferred training male children when they exhibited magical potential as they were more likely to become proper sorcerers. The reasoning was that if a girl was raised as a mage, she would eventually marry and use her magical powers for another family.
Short, skinny, and wearing thick reading glasses—she didn’t fit his expectations in many ways.. Not only was she a female mage—something relatively uncommon—but she also looked no older than her early twenties. Moreover, she seriously pondered the topic of money and ended up warning against any misuse of her potion. Her audacity knew no bounds.
“Pico, how long has that mage been running her shop?”
“As far as I could gather, it’s been about 5 to 6 years.”
“She doesn’t seem like an Astum local. Her accent had a strong hint of Rixirin.”
“Yes, there have been stories about her being Rixirin.”
Kyle gradually slowed down his horse to ease the pace of the conversation. The Astum Empire was known for its liberal policies towards sorcerers, welcoming foreign mages and embracing diverse magical abilities as long as they didn’t involve dark magic or harm Astum citizens. Due to this openness, sorcerers of all kinds congregated in Astum, engaging in active trade of magical goods and ingredients.
The Rixir Empire, on the other hand, required mages to meet a strict set of standards to be registered as mages, and strongly regulated the activities of unregistered mages.
“If she possessed the skills to create such a potion, she could have surely operated as a mage in Rixirin. So, why did she come to Astum?”
Even as the horse picked up speed, Kyle’s thoughts kept circling back to Lorienne.
