「Ah! It’s the Highland! I’ve heard that it’s been a while since it’s been seen around here!」
After that, Rafinha immediately closed her eyes and clasped her hands together.
「Rani. What are you doing?」 「Wishing! I heard that if you wish upon a Highland, your wish will come true.」
Inglis wondered whether it’s similar to wishing upon a shooting star. Nonetheless, the Highland was indeed a rare sight for the population of the fortified city of Ymir, so this would be considered a rather unusual occurrence. Moreover, Inglis had never seen it before as there was no such thing in her past life, thus it really piqued her interest. She also heard that the Artifacts and the 『Baptismal Box』 were both made on the Highland. The Midland were then provided with those tools in order to protect their people.
「Hahaha. Isn’t that just a superstition?」 「Isn’t it fine? Just. In. Case! C’mon, why don’t you make a wish too, Glis?」 「Hmph. Can’t be helped, I guess…」
Inglis closed her eyes and thought of the only wish she had been yearning for.
Please give me a tough and strong opponent to fight! 1
「I wished for big brother Rafa’s wellbeing.」
Even after he graduated from the Knighting School in the capital, Raphael had stayed back in the capital to serve as a Knight. Knighting work had run him so haggard that he hadn’t found any time to return to Ymir ever since and not for the foreseeable future, either. Inglis couldn’t remember how many years it had been since she last saw him.
「What about you, Glis? What did you wish for?」 「I wished for a tough opponent, I guess.」 「Ahaha. Really Glis, you always have the soul of militant hiding behind your angelic features.」 「I can’t deny that.」
It was an expression that perfectly fitted her. That only went to show just how much the younger girl understood Inglis. After all, they had been brought up as if they were blood-related sisters for the past 12 years. Even more so, Rafinha was also the only one who knew that Inglis could defeat a Magic Stone Beast without needing the powers of Artifacts. 2
「For the time being, I just hope that my wish will be granted. Glis, yours… not so much. If it does, we’d probably be facing a big emergency.」 「That’s what one calls a double standard. Double. Standard!」 「If so, why didn’t you make a cuter wish? Look, things like, ‘please give me a wonderful boyfriend~!’ or something?」 「I-, I don’t need, no…! Ugh, that’s out of the question!」
This kind of terrifying thing will never happen. Just the mere thought of it makes me shudder. While I may now be comfortable with getting dressed up like a doll in a female’s body, that’s only because I’m seeing and enjoying my own reflection with the point of view of a male, precisely~ because my consciousness remains that of a male. That’s why, when I think of my male self getting a male lover, it makes me feel uncomfortable. 3
「You’re right. I also don’t want Glis to be a lover of someone I don’t know. I’ll only allow big brother Rafa. I also don’t want anyone else to be big brother Raph’s lover if not you, Glis.」 「E-, erm…. I don’t really—」 4
「Well, why don’t we get back home first?」
The wishes Inglis and Rafinha made that day: The wish to fight a strong opponent; And the wish for Raphael’s good health. They might have just been pure coincidences but both of them were granted a few days later…
「An inspection administered by the Royal Capital?」 「That’s right, that’s what Father said. They’ve been coming here once every two to three years but this is the first time a person from the Highland will come with them.」
During the Chivalric Order’s break time, at the training ground, Rafinha relayed this information to Inglis.
「 … Hmm? Is that so?」 「We have never met someone from the Highland, right? Aren’t you curious about what kind of person they are? Father told me that we should come to the welcome party, so we can take a look at them then.」 「Yeah, you’re right.」
Rafinha seemed to be thrilled about it but Inglis was seriously questioning whether it really was such a joyous occasion. Midland might have gotten the Artifacts from the Highland to protect themselves against the danger known as Magic Stone Beasts but those Artifacts weren’t free. They were actually exchanged with a vast amount of materials and harvests produced on their very land since the Midlanders couldn’t survive without doing so.
It was fortunate that this country still had a functional ruling class with the Royalties and the Nobles. However, it was entirely possible for the Highlanders to eliminate them and directly control the world.
This was the first time ever that there was a Highlander accompanying the inspection under the royal decree, this could very possibly be taken as a sign that they were planning to take direct control over the country… or, Inglis would assume so. Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on NoveI★Fire.net
It was difficult for the 12-year-old Rafinha to wrap her head around such political conspiracy. It was only due to her past life as the King that Inglis was able to see the bigger picture but as for the current Inglis Eux, who planned to spend the rest of her life being an apprentice knight fighting in the front line, things weren’t her concern.
Even so, Inglis didn’t want her hometown Ymir and her family who lived here to suffer any casualties. If push came to shove, she would spare no qualms to use her strength.
And thus came the day of the delegated inspection.