Maydare Volume 5 Chapter 1 - Nero, The Meaning of Garnet Team 9.

 Updates for this will be slow since my schedule is crazy this semester...but on the bright side this isn't a very long volume

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My name is Nero Pachelbel.

My real name was left behind in the snow, cold, and flames of a distant northern country a long time ago.

“Mr. Nero, Mr. Nero, please stay with us!”

“Oi, Nero, we’re safe now! The knights are calling a healing magician over right now! Just endure the pain a little longer!”

In the midst of my hazy consciousness, I heard my teammates Lapis and Frey.

The two of them sounded desperate.

Where was I? From the ceiling, I guessed that I was in the first labyrinth’s “Salt Maze.”

My body hurt. I was cold.

I remembered that I was stabbed in several places with knives by the magicians of the Heavenly Empire who planned the attack on the school. At first, I thought they were just stab wounds and pretended to be fine, but the pain and anguish gradually intensified. I was clearly in a bad situation.

There wasn’t just the pain from being stabbed with the knives.

The healing magician brought by the deputy commander of the knights tried all possible means, but they couldn’t close up my wounds or stop the blood from flowing.

“Oi, Miss Lapis, the healing magic isn’t working at all. Don’t tell me it’s poisoned!?”

“No, this is Twilight’s curse magic. There’s a high possibility that Vidar’s knives have curses applied to them. They’re terrifying curses that spread into the body from the wound and result in death while causing great pain. Mr. Nero is suppressing and controlling that erosion with his own strength, so that’s most likely why he endured for this long.”

“No way…! Then what do we do! Poison is the Kingdom of Ruschia’s specialty!”

It was true that the Kingdom of Ruschia was second to none when it came to dealing with poison.

But when it was a curse magic that they had never seen nor heard of, Frey’s worries were valid. Was there anyone here who could remove this curse?

Even I tried to remove it myself, but it was considerably complicated.

I can now deeply appreciate the depths of Twilight’s magic, Lapis.

“Your Highness, what’s wrong with Mr. Nero!?”

Even Team 1’s Beatrice Asta was here.

At first, she was snobbish and self-important, the type of person I hated, but not so much recently.

Ever since she became friendly with Makia, the air around her had noticeably changed.

Beatrice saw me and let out a small cry. Did I look that bad?

“Nero!? You’re Nero, aren’t you !? What awful injuries…!”

I even heard the voice of the Savior girl, who I met at the school a while ago, was here.

I was pretty sure that her name was Airi.

Before, I was questioned by her Guardian knight at the palace about what happened at the atelier, and I had heard a little bit from this girl about how she wanted to make up with Makia. 

Did they make up in the end?

Maybe it wasn’t something I should be worried about. But, the protective barriers of spirit magic covering this Salt Maze…

It was most likely the Savior’s power

As the Savior, she was protecting my Lune Ruschia schoolmates.

What was I doing, thinking about things so detachedly when it hurt so much that it felt like I was going to die.

It was also partly because I was concerned about the current situation, but I felt terrible, because so many people were worried about me beyond these blurry eyes.

For instance, if I died here and now. I would be surrounded by many schoolmates, and I would be able to end my life reasonably happily, not knowing the hardships and pains ahead. 

But if I died here, it would cause difficulties for some people.

I still had things I needed to do. I made a promise with my brother.

And Makia was gone. I saw her fall into the sea.

“Makia…Makia is…”

I unconsciously stretched out my hand.

Somehow, I felt like I couldn’t die unless I confirmed that she was okay.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Nero, Makia is with Mr. Thor. The ‘Black Box’ was operating, so they are both safe.”

“...Lapis.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Nero. Master Nero…”

Lapis took my hand and pressed it to her forehead, trembling with anger and regret.

She probably felt that way because it was the Twilight magicians and their magic who gave me these wounds.

Frey seemed to feel a strange sense that something wasn’t right when Lapis called me “Master Nero.”

Feeling a little relieved that Makia was safe, I felt my consciousness growing more and more distant. And then my vision began to fade to white.

In that white world, however, there was a purple butterfly that fluttered about.

It landed on my forehead.

“...A butterfly?”

Before I knew it, there was a holy maiden with her hand on my forehead, peering into my face and smiling.

“I shall bestow upon you my compassion, Nero. You still have to live.”

My body was enveloped in a warm light.

There was the delicate sound of something being bitten away.

And then…the pain receded.

It wasn’t just the pain. Everything that was harming my body was disappearing.

That was all I felt.

That must be the ability of the longhorn beetle spirit, Kirus, who had the ability to bite off any kind of curse. It seemed that another spirit’s powerful healing and restoration magic was added to this, and in no time at all, my wounds were healed and even my clothes were beautifully repaired.

“Mr. Nero!?”

“Oi, Nero, your injuries…”

My complexion must have improved immediately.

Beatrice, Frey, and everyone there seemed shocked.

The people of this country’s knight order and the third prince were particularly taken aback.

What surprised me the most wasn’t that my curse or wounds had been healed, but that this person had come here.

I took several steady breaths.

I knew that my life was out of danger.

Then, I slowly got up and knelt before Her Majesty Queen Shatoma, who took the trouble to come here and save my life, and put my hand on my chest.

“I sincerely apologize for causing you trouble, Your Majesty. Thank you for your compassion.”

“What? I merely did what I could for you, who didn’t need any help.”

“Brother is…?”

“...Kanon? He’s going where he needs to go. No need to worry about him.”

I see. So Brother’s on the move.

If that was the case, then I already felt like everything was going to be okay.

“The Queen of Frezier? Why are you here?”

The Savior girl Airi had noticed that Queen Shatoma was there.

Immediately after that, Frey also let out a loud “aaah!” Did he also have an acquaintance with her?

“This person! She’s the Queen of Frezier! That’s right!”

“Shh, Frey, you idiot! You’re too loud! And rude!”

Prince Gilbert covered Frey’s mouth and grabbed his hand that was pointing at Queen Shatoma and brought it down.

The queen chuckled and looked at Lapis.

Lapis understood the queen‘s intention just from her look and put up a simple ward around us.

I guess this was to conceal what was happening here and our conversations from the other students.

Seeing this, the clever Beatrice Asta swallowed back her many questions and chose to stay where she was.

“Anyways, why did the queen heal the commoner Nero!? And why is she in our school uniform!?”

“Fufu. Does it suit me? I’ve always wanted to wear this school’s uniform. They’re adorable, after all.”

“A-Adorable…”

Queen Shatoma did a turn with an innocent look and gracefully flipped the Lune Ruschia robe. It also had the significance of being a disguise.

“Your Majesty, I’m sorry. My clan had caused such a situation, and we have done something that couldn’t be undone…”

Lapis also knelt before the queen and bowed deeply.

Her voice was still trembling slightly.

“Do not worry, Lapis. You have done your duty and worked hard for the past year. Leave the rest to us.”

“...Yes, Your Majesty.”

Lapis looked frustrated.

I looked at her face as she clenched her teeth and cried quietly.

“Um, I have no idea what’s going on here. What does all this mean? Do Miss Lapis and Nero have some kind of connection to the Queen of Frezier?”

Despite scratching his cheek and looking puzzled, Frey was surprisingly following the conversation.

“You’re sharp, aren’t you, Fifth Prince. As you have guessed, Lapis Twilight is a magician employed by our military who has been dispatched to this country by my command. And young Nero Pachelbel over here is a special duty ensign of our country.”

“Huh, the military!?” Frey was probably as surprised as the queen expected.

“But for Nero, this is only a temporary identity. This young man’s true name is…”

“Your Majesty…”

I couldn’t help but raise my face and interject.

But Queen Shatoma looked down at me and shook her head slightly.

As if to say, it is no longer time to hide it.

“...”

I decided to follow her will, resolved myself, and stood up.

Queen Shatoma, holding her hand out toward me, announced it to those present.

“The true name of this young man is Nero Alexei Vas Hermedes. He is the prince of the Hermedes Heavenly Empire who has defected to our country.”

〇 

In Maydare, there was a country in the north called the Hermedes Heavenly Empire.

It was a bleak country with vast lands but little fertile ground, gray skies all year round, and a people suffering from hunger, cold, and the threat of demons.

It had a royal family with a long history, but ten years ago, a military coup killed the emperor at that time and most of the royal family, and the surviving members were placed under house arrest. 

Currently, a figurehead emperor sits on the throne, and Hermedes was ruled by the army general who married his daughter.

It was during that time that Hermedes expanded its military strength and intensified its acts of aggression.

With this coup, the militarization of demons and the development of transference magic by the Twilight clan were pushed forward. Everything was connected.

Nero Alexei Vas Hermedes――

That was the name of the prince who had an emperor grandfather and a father who was first in line for the throne. 

At that time, I think I was called Alexei, not Nero.

The royal family of the country had distinctive magenta eyes that corresponded to the thickness of their blood. I, like my emperor grandfather and father, was born with the same eye color that made me royalty.

On the day of the coup, I was only six years old. 

My emperor grandfather, father, and mother were shot to death in their sleep. 

I was also supposed to be killed that day by the same military personnel.

But among the soldiers who came to kill me, there was a spy from another country.

A man with blond hair and garnet eyes.

He held me, who was about to be killed, in his arms and escaped from the castle that was in flames. He rescued me and only me.

His name was Kanon Pachelbel.

He was a soldier of the Frezier Empire, a large country in the west.

“Why did you save me? Frezier is an enemy country that has been in a long stand-off with Hermedes, isn’t it?”

“There is something you need to do alive.”

“What can I do right now?”

“There will be a great war in the future, and you’re going to be a necessary pawn…a trump card for the world at that time.”

Kanon Pachelbel told me that in a matter-of-fact tone.

After that, I would hide my identity as a prince of the Heavenly Empire and live as the younger brother of this soldier named Kanon Pachelbel. Luckily, our hair colors were somewhat close, so those around us didn’t seem too suspicious. 

People called Brother–Kanon Pachelbel–the “Grim Reaper.”

It was true that he never smiled, and he might be a little cold-hearted sometimes.

But to me, my brother saved my life and taught me many things. Though he wasn’t sweet or indulgent, I considered him kind.

I later found out that Brother also came from Hermedes. But he had no love for his homeland, and his loyalty was only to one person–the princess of Frezier.

The princess, Princess Shatoma, also trusted the man named Kanon wholeheartedly and kept him by her side as her right-hand man.

Princess Shatoma and Brother Kanon…

I had always thought that they had a strange relationship.

At the time, she was a young princess, not much different from me, but she already possessed the wisdom and thought beyond that of an adult, and she had a talent for exceptional magic.

However, I think that the princess at that time was secretly concealing her own power and proceeded with things deftly. She acted like a young girl in front of her father the king and her older brothers, so that no one would suspect that one day she would take the throne.

And so, she proceeded with her preparations with a watchful eye, and with Brother Kanon, who had become a general, and the Vabel State’s Bishop Eska as her guardians, she took the throne as the queen of the Frezier Empire.

It was also by the queen’s order that I enrolled in Lune Ruschia Magic School. 

The reason why I took the general exams and enrolled as a commoner instead of a Frezier exchange student was because I wanted to hide my connection to Frezier as much as possible. 

I understood.

I was placed in this place for a reason, under the direction of the great magicians.

When I first arrived at Lune Ruschia Magic School, I looked at the sky of this country through the water of the fountain and thought that the sky was endlessly blue, the sea was sparkling, and the sunlight that poured down was warm.

I was almost feeling dizzy because this country, so green and bountiful, was so different from my own homeland.

And your red hair, which I happened to see on the other side of the fountain, was so beautiful…

At that time, I wondered why I was in this place.

But now, I can kind of understand what it means that I was sent here.

Hey, Makia.

In the Garnet Team 9 you created, everyone was an important “pawn” in this world.

The descendant of the Scarlet Witch.

The descendant of the Black Demon King.

A prince of the Kingdom of Ruschia.

The prince of the Hermedes Heavenly Empire――

You didn’t know any of this, yet you found us and reached out your hand to us. Well, I’m sure that there was someone who thought it would be amusing if that were the case and skillfully arranged the pawns…

But you still chose us, and we chose you. 

I’m sure that the friendship and trust we built up in the peaceful box garden of Lune Ruschia Magic School were very pure things. 

Even if all the circumstances that we kept hidden from each other were all revealed.

Our connection, our bond, would be a force that could change the future.

In the future, we would be placed in different places and become pawns on the game board called “Maydare.”

But I believe.

I believe that when everything was over, none of us would be missing, and all four of us would be together again, laughing.

Our year together, Garnet Team 9, was dazzling.

I’m sure that the days of our youth would lead us to the paths we should walk.

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