On the city wall, Furin had her legs drawn up, as if gazing into the distance at sothing, when she suddenly turned around to see Jeanne walking over at a leisurely pace, looking from her angle just like a little sun shining brilliantly.
"The Lord went down?"
"Mm."
"Hey, you’re a bit too blinding like this, aren’t you?"
Furin reacted at once: "Wait, your injuries... they’re already healed?"
When she saw her co back earlier, wasn’t she still like a paper doll that might be blown away by a gust of wind? How co now she looks even more dazzling than she did at her peak?
"They’re a lot better, but I can’t say healed yet... didn’t expect to run into soone with such powerful Golden Radiance here on the New Continent."
It was just that its nature was a bit too fierce; compared to the Golden Radiance she possessed, they were two extres. To fully ta it would still take so ti. The reason she was so dazzling now was purely because that Power had not yet been fully subdued.
"What’s the situation down there? I heard a Bavaria Prince ca, looking for Viviana?"
"I’ll give you a Mage’s Eye, see for yourself."
Furin had very little interest in this; if Cherina hadn’t told her to keep an eye on things, she normally couldn’t be bothered with such matters.
...
"Who are you?"
The Crown Prince Ruprecht frowned. A Dragon Knight this young—how had he never heard of him before?
In this era, Dragon Knights were virtually extinct. A Dragon Knight so young could be said to have boundless prospects; in any country he would be showered with praise, flowers, and applause. Why hole himself up in this godforsaken backwater?
Besides, this guy’s dragon looked sowhat familiar.
The Habsburg Family and the Ottomans were hereditary enemies; the Wittelsbach Otto I—his father Ludwig III’s uncle Otto—had once been King of Greece, that very small country that had thrown off the Ottoman iron heel.
So the two families had quite a lot of records about the Ottomans, especially about that legendary three-headed Giant Dragon, the so‑called destroyer of the "City That Never Falls," Constantinople.
The Crown Prince was sizing up Losa, and Losa was sizing up the Crown Prince.
Ruprecht—Losa had long heard the na in his original tiline. In World War I he was the most capable commander among the Germany Royal Family; at his peak he had commanded four army groups, a full million n fighting on the Western Front.
"A nobody, that’s all. For now, you can consider Viviana’s employer."
Losa didn’t bother to give his na; just saying a na was aningless, and he was too lazy to state his surna to cling to the Habsburg Family. If anyone was going to cling, it ought to be his descendants clinging to him, the forefather.
Losa paused slightly, then continued, "You, exalted as the Crown Prince of a kingdom, coming to a war zone on your own initiative, putting your life in such danger—if you really died here, wouldn’t all the effort the Wittelsbach Family and His Majesty the Emperor have invested in you these years go completely to waste?"
"And you claim to represent His Majesty the Emperor’s will. By your logic, if you die, won’t that also cause Bavaria and Austria to fall out, leading to yet another split in Southern Germany?"
Losa turned his head and smiled at Viviana. "Don’t go taking on responsibilities that aren’t yours. The world runs just fine without any one person. How can you dump so many heavy responsibilities onto yourself alone?"
Viviana was a conscientious sort. If it were him, he wouldn’t give a damn about this moral blackmail from Ruprecht.
Viviana still looked a bit conflicted. News on the New Continent was scarce, and she had no way to verify whether what Ruprecht said was true or not.
Ruprecht frowned. "You do have quite the sharp tongue, but you’re rely playing word gas. This trip was my own doing, and Bavaria has always been close to Austria. How can you lump everything together like that?"
Losa snorted. "So you do know that Bavaria and Austria are close, and that Brandenburg and the Northern German States have long had rifts with Southern Germany. You’re really going to pin that on Viviana too?"
Besides, when he took Viviana away, he had already discussed it with the Great Elector; that counted as a properly arranged union, and in the future he’d repay it with a recorded advancent operation tied to himself.
As for the little sches that ca up afterward, they were nothing but the Great Elector making a fuss out of it to weaken the old Emperor’s prestige. Their relationship had been bad to begin with, and in light of the Great Elector’s "grief of losing a daughter," the old Emperor couldn’t really do anything anyway.
"As for so‑called diplomatic incidents, that’s even more laughable. That bit of drizzle is nothing to you lot. Your Highness Ruprecht, let’s be honest with each other and just state your purpose here, shall we?"
The Attendant, seeing his master silent, summoned his courage and said, "Insolent cur, how dare you speak to His Highness like that?"
"Enough, it’s not your place to speak here."
Ruprecht pushed his own Attendant aside. Only the ignorant were fearless. From Losa, he could feel an intense sense of danger. Even if Losa did not state his identity, he could see that this was definitely soone of exalted status, no ordinary figure.
Most likely he was that Dragon Knight ntioned in the reports, the one who had destroyed half the Expedition Army’s Floating Fleet.
Ruprecht’s voice was firm. "Her Highness Viviana should return to Germany. That is her mission."
"Whose idea is that? The old Emperor’s?"
Ruprecht nodded. "Naturally."
"Then let’s settle it with our hands."
Losa frowned; Golden Radiance gathered in his hand and manifested the King’s New Spear, wreathed with the shadow of a Giant Dragon and looking like the Celestial God’s Spear itself.
The Attendant, who had still dared to bluster a few monts ago, swallowed hard and started shaking as if standing naked in the dead of winter. "Y‑Your Highness, you mustn’t, you mustn’t fight..."
He tugged at his own Crown Prince’s sleeve. The Crown Prince having a duel with soone—wasn’t that pure farce?
This wasn’t like back in Europe, where duels still paid attention to the opponent’s status. From the look of this man, he really ant to fight to the death, and if the Crown Prince died, there’d be no way to avenge him.
Even though His Majesty Leopold doted on the Crown Prince, there was no way he could persuade the Federation to go to war with Texas.
With only Bavaria’s strength... if even the people of the United Kingdom had broken their teeth and swallowed sand in Texas, there’d be no way to even talk about revenge.
"I can."
Ruprecht’s expression beca eager. "But I’d like to have a bout with Viviana first."
This wasn’t like back in Europe, where duels still paid attention to the opponent’s status. From the look of this man, he really ant to fight to the death, and if the Crown Prince died, there’d be no way to avenge him.
Even though His Majesty Leopold doted on the Crown Prince, there was no way he could persuade the Federation to go to war with Texas.
With only Bavaria’s strength... if even the people of the United Kingdom had broken their teeth and swallowed sand in Texas, there’d be no way to even talk about revenge.
"I can."
Ruprecht’s expression beca eager. "But I’d like to have a bout with Viviana first."
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