"This is absurd!"
A gentle-looking man shouted.
Johannes Wolf.
Like Germain, he was one of the elite knights.
If there was a difference, it was that he was a loyal retainer of the Berg Grand Ducal House.
"When he ought to be keeping still, he barges in out of nowhere and demands money!"
It was, naturally, a sharp-edged outburst aimed at Abel.
That he still dutifully used honorifics even while his insides were churning spoke to Johannes's character.
"He came a long way, so we should accommodate him."
"Handing over every last bit of the little funds we have left is hardly something one could call accommodating."
Johannes pressed his throbbing temple.
"There is not even anywhere to spend gold in the first place...... What on earth is the Deposed Crown Prince thinking?"
"I did not ask."
"Your Grace!"
"I am sorry, Johannes."
Freyja smiled bitterly.
"You know well that I am clumsy at everything other than fighting. Dealing with people is no different."
Freyja's red eyes trembled.
Johannes had stayed by her side ever since she was born.
Though it was an irreverent feeling, in his heart Johannes cherished Freyja like his own daughter.
In the end, Johannes had no choice but to keep his mouth shut.
"Still...... do not worry too much. After all, it did not seem like my lord husband asked for the money without any thought."
Johannes couldn't readily agree with that.
That Abel was an incompetent deposed crown prince was a widely known fact, not only in the Empire but even in the Holy Kingdom.
It was, of course, the product of Cassandra's manipulation of public opinion, but Johannes did not know the inside story.
"......."
Johannes fell silent.
It was the best rebuttal he could manage.
As awkwardness settled in, Johannes cleared his throat and changed the subject.
"......Then, have you conveyed Your Grace's intentions?"
"Are you talking about the divorce?"
Johannes nodded.
"Not yet."
"......Hm."
This time, unable to keep silent, he let out a pained groan.
It was only natural.
This was a marriage with none other than the Imperial Household.
That relationship couldn't be broken without a special justification.
No, even with justification to spare, whether a divorce would be possible was an open question.
"If it is truly difficult for you to say, I could at least drop him a hint—"
"No, Johannes. That is something I absolutely must tell him with my own mouth."
Tap, tap.
Fingers in leather gloves drummed on the desk.
"Still, I am glad my lord husband does not seem like someone it is impossible to talk to."
There it was again.
Freyja was showing trust in Abel without realizing it.
'Whether he has some sort of personal charm, honestly.......'
Johannes grumbled inwardly.
'Handing out the gold too...... I can only think of it as a way...... to make it easier to bring up the subject.'
Around the time he was persuading himself of that.
Freyja clumsily attempted to change the mood.
"......Hm, what happened with Kaidel?"
Johannes gladly played along.
"He has reported that he is safely rescuing the territory residents."
Kaidel Wolf.
The North's last elite knight, and Johannes's adopted son as well.
"I hear he has entered the late stage of Sword Expert."
"And he is still a minor. That is remarkable. At this rate, he will catch up to my record."
"How could that be? Your Grace reached the realm of Sword Master at the age of eighteen, after all."
"Who knows. Kaidel might leap over the wall within a year. I have high hopes for him."
Freyja raised the corners of her lips, if only faintly.
Johannes carefully opened his mouth.
"......But why did you send the boy to a detached unit?"
To be precise, it was a mission to rescue and escort the territory residents scattered across the North.
Of course, caring for the safety of the territory residents was a lord's responsibility.
So assigning the finest elite knight to that task deserved all the praise in the world.
But the North was currently in what could be called a wartime situation, where monsters might come crashing in at any time.
Under such circumstances, committing a talent of Kaidel's caliber solely to rescue missions was, in a way, a wasteful choice.
"Kaidel's talent is outstanding, but he is still a boy, after all."
But Freyja was firm.
"The demons....... Even the monsters do not send their young into battle. Even to them, child soldiers are a terrible thing. So how could humans do something worse than them?"
An idealistic, soft-hearted thing to say.
But Freyja was a strong person who could take responsibility for her convictions.
"......I misspoke."
"It is all right. You said it with the North in mind."
Freyja waved her hand, then, after a moment, changed her expression.
"What is Germain doing?"
"He is resting. ......He says it is his fair due."
"He is right, in a way. After all, he did take part in today's defense, too."
Of course, the other knights who had taken part in the same defense were busy hauling goblin carcasses.
The North was terribly short-handed right now.
And in the middle of all this, a so-called elite knight was dropping out as if it had nothing to do with him.
'Insolent bastard.......'
Johannes clicked his tongue.
In the end, only the two of them proceeded with the meeting.
......No.
They tried to proceed.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Until a sudden roar rang out.
"!?"
Freyja reflexively rose to her feet.
Her hand was already gripping the hilt of her sword.
Her body, tensed to the limit, burst out of the tent.
But upon seeing the situation outside, Freyja froze on the spot.
"Wh-What is it......?"
Johannes reacted a step late.
Seeing Freyja's frozen back, he took fright in advance.
The Sword Master who had single-handedly crushed a Monster Wave.
Something had frozen even her?
What on earth had happened?!
Clang-bang, clang-bang!?
The noises kept coming one after another.
Swallowing hard, Johannes slipped out of the tent.
"Wh-What on earth is that......!"
The spot where the Black Tiger Wall had stood.
Something golden was moving busily above it.
Looking closely...... they were giant 'tools.'
Hammers, saws, shovels, awls, and more.
All kinds of tools were flying through the air.
"Your Grace."
"Yes."
"Could it be that I am seeing things?"
"......It seems not."
Clang-bang, clang-bang!?
Rumble!
The golden tools were stacking something up at a ferocious speed.
"......The Black Tiger Wall?"
Freyja murmured without thinking.
Her head knew.
That such a thing made no sense.
But eyes did not lie.
CLANG—!
The impregnable fortress that had been completely destroyed the year before last was being built once again.
A sight one would only expect to see in myths was unfolding right before her eyes.
***
It didn't take long for the [Frontline Wall (E)] to be completed.
Exactly 30 seconds.
It was enough time to heat up two Jeonju bibimbap triangle kimbaps.
......I shouldn't have made that comparison. Suddenly I'm really craving that distinctive spicy taste.
I'd gotten by on tree-bark soup for lunch today too, so my appetite started kicking in all the more.
Holding back my bursting salivary glands, I looked at the golden interface.
===[Frontline Wall (E)]===
- A frontline wall that guards the North. Imbued with the stubborn will of the Legendary Artisan 'Edemrov,' it boasts even sturdier defensive power.
Durability: 100/100
- [Elemental Absorption]: Absorbs elemental energy. When 'Frontline Wall (E)' takes an external impact, it forcefully discharges the elemental energy stored inside toward the front.
======
"Hm."
I turned my gaze.
The knights nearby had all had their souls run away from home at once.
Well, even I, who'd known a wall would be built, had my heart skip when the tools were tap-dancing through the air.
How must those people feel?
'All the better.'
I decided to test the [Elemental Absorption] option while the knights were collectively frozen.
As luck would have it, the magic I wielded was elemental magic, too.
"Graive."
I tapped the shoulder of Graive, whose mouth was hanging open so wide his jaw looked about to come unhinged.
"Gah!?"
He was startled half to death.
"......Judging by the looks of it, this is something Your Highness the Prince did?"
"Yeah. So give me a hand."
Graive looked like he had a lot to say, but perhaps his conscience pricked him for having hidden his identity.
He followed close behind me without a word of complaint.
"But what is the reason for coming outside the wall you went to all the trouble of putting up?"
"What do you think?"
I opened my palm.
And launched a <Fireball>.
Of course, it wasn't at the firepower I'd used to burn the goblin horde.
I used it as weakly as I could.
Boom!
But the impact was unexpectedly fierce.
And I'd tried to control it in my own way, too.
It seemed I needed to get the Sorcerer A.I as soon as possible.
"Wait....... What!? Did you build the wall only to tear it down with your own hands!?"
"Tear down what? It's perfectly fine."
"......So it is."
Thick smoke had risen, but the wall held firm.
Ah, of course, only on the outside.
[Durability: 80/100]
How does one shot knock off a fifth of it?
'......Is its defense not as high as I thought?'
But the description said it boasted even sturdier defensive power.
Which meant...... my firepower was stronger than that.
I didn't know.
'There's no telling when the next Monster Wave will come crashing in, so I can't just keep firing at it, either.'
In the end, I concluded that I would have no choice but to confirm its exact performance in actual combat.
Still, there was a useful takeaway.
[Durability: 81/100]
It actually came with an automatic repair service.
It seemed to fill up by about 1 per minute.
'Not bad. I was wondering if I'd have to pay every time I fixed it.'
Was it because I'd thought something unnecessary?
[Tip: Instant repair is also available for an additional fee!]
A useless tip popped up.
Why would I pay money when it would be repaired just by waiting?
Does it think I've got money rotting away in piles?
"Good thing it was 50% off....... At full price, I'd be flat broke right now."
"What did you say?"
"Nothing. More importantly, look over there."
I pointed at the center of the wall, where I had slammed the <Fireball>.
"It is bright red."
Just as he said.
The wall's surface was giving off a red glow, as if it had been heated in a high-temperature furnace.
'It said it activates when it takes an impact while holding absorbed elemental energy.'
I gave Graive an order.
"You want me to throw a rock at that spot?"
"Yeah, as hard as you can."
"My side aches, though."
"Then do your best, but only enough that it doesn't hurt."
"That is too much."
He already had a handful of rocks in his hand, yet he grumbled away just fine.
"Phew......."
After a short, deep breath, Graive bent his upper body back like a bow, then hurled the rocks with all his might.
It was a fastball to rival a major-league pitcher's.
Whoosh!
The fiercely flying rocks scattered like buckshot and crashed into the wall with a bang.
In that moment.
KABOOOOOOM—!!!
Tremendous flames spewed out.
In the aftermath of the shock, the surrounding conifers shook violently, as if they were about to be ripped out by the roots.
Graive and I gaped at the same time.
"This...... wasn't just a simple reflection, was it?"
To be precise, it was a function that inflated the absorbed energy at least twofold before giving it back.
At the same time, I realized.
That I had drawn a dud.
[Elemental Absorption] was certainly an overpowered option.
The problem was that it was an effect best suited for facing mages.
If the demons were invading, it might be different, but monsters were a breed that charged in relying on nothing but brute physical force.
So it was as good as me having drawn a dud.
Whoosh!
That is, of course, if I weren't a mage.
So what if the enemy didn't use magic?
All I had to do was charge it up with fire in advance!
If my prediction was right, the second Monster Wave would begin as soon as tomorrow.
"No time to rest, then."
I kindled flames in both hands.
And fired them at the wall without holding back.
Watching the wall heat up red, section by section, gave me such a strange thrill.
"Haha, hahaha!"
Laughter even burst out of me on its own.
I wondered whether I'd ever laughed this hard, in my previous life or this one.
"Hahahahaha!!!"
Of course, it was strange.
It wasn't as if I had destructive tendencies.
And I wouldn't feel catharsis just from firing off magic, would I?
But every time I spewed out flames, my laughter only grew louder.
Was it one of the symptoms of magic power deficiency?
'Who cares?'
What was certain was that I was in a fantastic mood right now.
From now on, whenever I felt gloomy, I should consider firing off magic like crazy.
And so, for a while, only my laughter and the sound of exploding flames rang out in turn across the North.
***
"......Your Grace."
"......Yes."
"It is presumptuous of me, but may I ask you just one thing?"
Johannes rubbed his wrinkled forehead.
Cold sweat had beaded on it.
"By any chance......."
Johannes's unfocused gaze turned straight ahead.
"Hahahahahaha!!!"
There was a madman letting out crazed laughter as he wildly hurled fireballs at the rebuilt wall.
"Does the Deposed Crown Prince suffer from madness?"
Freyja couldn't bring herself to answer and gazed ahead.
Surely, when she had come face to face with Abel.
There had been no trace whatsoever of the 'incompetent deposed crown prince' she had heard of in the rumors.
If anything, she had sensed intelligence and will.
But now.......
Whooooosh!
"Yes! You're eating so well! Eat it up until your belly bursts! Hahahaha!!"
Hm.
Let us not think anything rude.
Freyja forcibly erased the thought.
"......."
Of course, she couldn't stop her eyes from trembling.
And so Abel carved his name into history.
As the man who flustered the youngest Sword Master in history twice in a single day.