Chapter 463: The Selfish Siblings (1/2)

“Hmm? Oh, what’s this? The design is different, but it’s probably been made by the same artisan!”

“I know, right?”

“Excuse me…”

Beatrix and that young man started to talk to each other.

The young man was also blond and had green eyes. Since Beatrix had called him “Brother”, Elsa wondered if they were actual siblings.

But more important than that was the knife that Jin had given her.

“Um… Would you mind returning that to me?”

Nervously and hesitantly, Elsa approached the young man.

At that moment, the young man made a surprised face as he saw Elsa.

“Hm? …Oh, what a beautiful young lady! What’s your name? I’m Albert Bertin Du Silicanight.”

“E-Elsa…”

Although taken aback, Elsa answered uprightly as she told that man her name.

“Elsa, huh? That’s a nice name. Very Shouro-Empire-like.”

Albert took and kissed Elsa’s back of her left hand.

“W-What are you doing?”

Astonished, Elsa reflexively withdrew her hand. The Shouro Empire didn’t have a habit of kissing the back of a woman’s hand.

She had already been exposed to such customs in her experience of traveling to other countries with Reinhardt, but this time it was accompanied by a sense of physiological disgust.

After being touched by Albert’s lips, the back of her hand had an unpleasant feeling, almost as if a slug had just crawled over it. And yet, Albert didn’t seem to display the slightest hint of shame.

“My, my, you’re quite the naive young lady. Are you not familiar with the customs of the aristocracy? But that’s okay. I’ll teach you little by little.”

As Albert tried to reach out for Elsa’s hand again, Edgar gently stopped him.

“Excuse me. Could I ask you to please stop bothering my mistress?”

Albert had a stern look for a brief moment, but he soon changed into a distorted smile. His tone changed drastically.

“Hmm, you have quite the cheeky automata… But I guess you commoner women have a right to choose, huh? I’m 13th in line to succeed the throne, but I’ll treat you kindly, so you should consider yourself honored.”

“That is just your own perspective. My mistress has no desire for any of that.”

“Ha ha, I don’t care about that. What matters is that this is what I want!”

Albert raised his left hand.

In response to his gesture, ten soldiers appeared around him.

“Behold. These are my personal guards. Beato, let’s bring Lady Elsa with us. Then we can calmly ask her about the short sword.”

Beatrix let out a heavy sigh.

“As you wish, Brother.”

In the blink of an eye, 8 soldiers and a young man appeared next to her.

“Come now, Elsa. Let’s not force anyone to have to resort to violence.”

“…Lord Albert, do you really think such injustice will be tolerated?”

Stearleana, who couldn’t believe what was happening, quickly came to her senses and took a step forward to complain to Albert.

“Hmm? Umm… What was your name? I really don’t do well with middle-aged women’s names… Ah, I remember now. Stear… something or another, huh? Does a Magi Craftswoman like you have something to say to me?”

“This has nothing to do with social status. Injustice is injustice. That’s all.”

Albert laughed scornfully at her words.

“Ha ha, injustice, you say? Where, exactly? All I’m trying to do is to keep company with a woman I’m intrigued by. Isn’t it a great honor to be accompanied by someone like me?”

“That, again, is your own perspective. There are many girls who dislike that type of thing.”

“That’s precisely why I don’t care. These streets are my father’s territory, and I’m his eldest son. Everything my father has is mine as well by right, so how exactly am I doing anything wrong here?”

Words didn’t seem to work with him. Stearleana was fed up with just how much of a fool this rumored “Selfish Prince” really was.

“Okay, I think that’s enough of this joke. Let’s go, Elsa.”

“…Wait.”

“Huh? Do we really have to get a little rough here?”

In response to Albert’s words, one of his soldiers stepped forward.

“Mistress, please stay behind me.”

Edgar stood in front of Elsa, protecting her.

“Covert Units, you two protect Mistress. And deploy the barrier.”

Edgar stood in front of the armed soldiers and called out to Maron and Plum, the Covert Units who had been guarding Elsa without showing themselves.

In response to that, Maron and Plum appeared to Elsa’s left and right.

“Hmm? You had bodyguards? Ha ha, you aren’t just an average commoner after all. Interesting! I’ll ask you all about it once I’ve brought you home with me.”

Albert smiled as he spoke in a maniacal tone.

“You might have that cheeky automata with you, but all my guards are automata as well.”

The Kingdom of Celuroa was the most technologically advanced out of a small group of countries. They had the best automata and golem technology.

Many of their Magi Craftsmen have been taught by Donald Carou Alpha, the leading Magi Craftsman who once belonged to the Unifiers, and even after the Unifiers were gone, their technology remains.

“They’re custom made as well! First, let’s destroy that insolent automata.”

As Albert nodded towards them, one of his automata guards rushed on Edgar.

Since they were in the city, Albert’s guards were only armed with a small buckler on their left hand and a short sword on their waist, but the unarmed Edgar was still at a disadvantage.

The guard didn’t draw its sword, but instead went for a bash attack with its buckler.

Edgar cleverly dodged the blow, caught its attacker’s arm, and using its momentum, twisted it behind its body. It was a martial art commonly taught to knights in the Shouro Empire.

Automata, which behave like humans, had a range of motion of joints that was similar to that of humans. Therefore, techniques used in human hand-to-hand combat were effective against them.