Chapter 13: Orc’s Frankfurt and the Treasure of the ball

Reading Settings

Translator: Soafp

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After the people in white robe left.

I shoved the golden sphere I'd picked up into my pocket and headed toward the audience seats.

The semifinals had just started, and the stadium was buzzing.

“Damn, there's not a single free seat.”

Should've just paid for a reserved seat if I knew this would happen.

Well, I'll just find a spot that's not blocking anyone and watch while standing.

Thud.

I stopped in the aisle, and someone bumped into my back.

“Oops, my apologies. …Princess Victoria?”

“Hm? That voice—Ask?”

The one who bumped into me was Victoria, her arms full of food from the stalls outside the stadium—yakisoba, frankfurters, all sorts of stuff.

“What are you doing?”

“Mm. Bought a bunch of stuff from the stalls. Wanna eat together?”

“I'll take some.”

“Hmm. The food purchased with the people’s hard-earned tax money tastes exceptional, so you should enjoy it.”

“As a member of the royal family, is that something you should be saying?”

“It's fine. No problem.”

Yeah, that's the kind of line you say when it's definitely not fine.

And so the two of us munched on stall food while standing and watching the magic tournament finals.

Wow—delicious.

“A frankfurter made with orc meat… an orc frankfurter… somehow it's hard to eat for multiple reasons.”

“Mm. True. It's thick and long, and a thick gooey stuff drips out from the tip…”

“Meat juice. You're doing that on purpose, aren't you?”

“I don't know what you're talking about. Mm, greasy food really is the best.”

“You need to eat vegetables too or it's bad for your body.”

And then it happened.

“Princess Victoria, so you were here.”

“Hmm? Ugh, they found me.”

The one who called out from behind Victoria was a white-haired girl wearing a maid uniform.

Most striking was the black cloth covering her eyes entirely.

She walked without hesitation—can she actually see through that?

Also, that maid outfit… if I'm remembering right, only elite maids who work in the royal castle of the Kishirika Kingdom are allowed to wear that.

“His Majesty and Princess Christina are waiting for you in the special viewing area.”

“Oh, right. I forgot.”

“Please return at once.”

“Mm. Ask, can come with us too, right?”

“Eh?”

What is Victoria saying?

“That boy is…?”

“Ask Medicus. Fran Medicus' younger brother. He's a friend of mine and Christina's.”

“…I see. Ask-sama, I am the maid serving Princess Christina and Princess Victoria. My name is Maidol.”

“Ah, nice to meet you.”

The maid girl—now known as Maidol—lifted the hem of her long skirt and gave a graceful bow.

I bowed back out of reflex.

“Maidol was the caretaker for me and Christina when we were little. The previous maid got fired, so she's been helping us again lately.”

“Fired?”

“Mm. When we were sick, she gossiped behind our backs. Father found out and secretly had her dispo—”

“Pardon me, Princess Victoria, there is a stain by your mouth.”

“Mkyu.”

Maidol forcibly pressed a cloth against Victoria's mouth, cutting off her words.

Wow.

Victoria was totally about to say “disposed of.” That's way too scary.

“I see. Well then, goodbye.”

“Wait.”

As I tried to walk away quickly, Victoria grabbed my wrist with a firm grip.

“Ask, come with us.”

“I'll pass.”

“No need to refuse. Royal order—come with us.”

“…Yes ma'am.”

If it were just Victoria, maybe I could've weaseled out of it, but refusing a royal order in front of a castle maid definitely seemed dangerous.

In the end, I couldn't refuse and headed toward the special viewing area.

---

“Victoria!! I told you countless times not to wander off alone!! Where were you—oh? Ask-sama?”

“Hello, Princess Christina.”

“Mm. I ran into him by chance and invited him to watch with me.”

“I see. I'm sorry, Ask-sama. Victoria always drags people into her whims.”

“No, no, actually I had no seat so this is perfect for me.”

The special viewing area was only for royalty, dukes, and those permitted by either.

The chairs were basically sofas—super soft and very comfortable… except…

“Um, Princess Victoria?”

“What?”

“Why are you sitting on my lap?”

“Mm, it looked like the most comfortable spot.”

Victoria plopped herself onto my lap while I sat on the fluffy sofa.

Let's reflect a bit.

Victoria is so beautiful she's called the “Silver Princess.”

She's slender and petite, yet… extremely well-developed in certain areas.

And I am a normal teenage boy.

Having a beautiful girl suddenly sit on my lap—of course I'm not going to be calm.

“Victoria!! That is improper!!”

“Christina, stressing about small things makes you bald.”

“!?”

Then it happened.

“You seem quite close with my daughter.”

“Eh?”

A middle-aged man I'd never seen spoke to me with a meaningful tone.

He called Victoria “my daughter,” right?

Which means… this slightly bald man is probably…

“Your Majesty?”

“Indeed. I am Diald Kiref Dora Kishirika. And you are?”

“Sorry for the late introduction, my name is Ask Medicus.”

“Oh? The eldest son of House Medicus. Your sister did much for my daughters earlier. By the way, were you looking at my head?”

“No, sir.”

“You definitely were. Tell me what you thought.”

“I wasn't looking.”

With all the conviction in the world, I insisted I wasn't staring. The king sat down next to me.

Why next to me?

“…Victoria. Do you fancy this Ask boy?”

“Mm, I don't hate him. I like him second only to No-Face-sama.”

“Oh!! Ask, do you have a fiancée?”

“No.”

Because Nee-san keeps saying, “I won't let Ask go to anyone I don't approve of!!” and sabotages any engagement negotiations.

“Then how about it? Will you take Victoria as your bride?”

“!?”

“Oh, don't mind the difference in status. Considering House Medicus' achievements, there is no problem.”

What do I do.

A king personally asking me to marry a princess—this is the kind of thing you absolutely can't refuse.

“Father, that's impossible.”

“Hm? I thought you liked Ask?”

“Mm, I do. But Ask belongs to Christina.”

“Victoria!?”

…Right.

To break off Christina's engagement with the duke's son, we had planned to make it seem like Christina and I were close.

The king looked at Christina panicking and me freezing, wearing a very complicated expression.

“To think you would seduce both of my daughters… you are quite the playboy despite your looks. —cough, cough”

“Father!? Are you alright!?”

“Oh, Christina. My apologies, I'm fine.”

“You shouldn't have forced yourself to come if your health is bad…”

“Hmph… I thought seeing energetic young folk would improve my condition.”

He's ill? I want to heal him.

But I'd have to touch him to use healing magic.

And barging past the princesses to grab the king would definitely look suspicious…

Maybe I should sneak into the castle at night and heal him.

“You shouldn't overexert yourself, Diald-sama.”

“…And who might you be?”

Someone else appeared.

A young girl with glossy black hair with white highlights, an eerily perfect doll-like face, and a faint seductive aura.

She smelled unnaturally sweet—almost dizzying.

“That woman is Father's concubine, Tiraiza. She's not blood-related to me or Christina.”

“Calling me ‘that woman' is cruel. I want you to adore me like a mother.”

“Our mother is only one person. And it's not you.”

Yikes, Victoria and the concubine are totally at war. I'll stay quiet.

After a while, while Victoria still sat on my lap, a soldier rushed into the viewing area.

“Your Majesty!! Your Majesty!!”

“What is it?”

“W–Well…”

He whispered something, and the king's eyes flew open.

“W-What!? Is that true!?”

“Y-Yes, they say there's no mistake.”

“Father, what happened?”

“U-Um. It seems someone broke into the castle's treasure vault. And the royal treasure—the Barrier Stone—has been stolen.”

“The Barrier Stone…?”

“It's a magic tool that weakens any being sealed inside it by draining its mana. It looks like… a golden ball”

Golden ball?

I slipped my hand into my pocket and peeked at the thing the white-robes dropped.

Yep. It's definitely this. This golden ball is the treasure.

They broke into the castle too?

No matter how deep their chuunibyou goes, kidnapping and theft is seriously bad…

What do I do?

I should honestly say “I found it,” right?

“Find the thief no matter what!! Anyone who might be involved—capture them, interrogate them, torture them if needed!!”

Yeah nope—because torture sounds terrifying, I'm not saying a thing.

Ah, right. Since I'm planning to sneak into the castle tonight to heal the king anyway, I'll just quietly put the treasure back then.

The magic tournament ended, and night fell.

“So yeah, I'm gonna sneak into the castle now, cure the king's illness, then return the treasure—HYAAHAA!! That's the plan.”

“Stop stop stop stop stop.”

Nee-san grabbed me desperately just as I was about to sneak into the castle.