Prologue
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The wind, carrying the heat of summer, blew into the room through the open window, causing Ludmila Lourie to grimace.
Currently she was in the office of Olmutz’s governmental residence, fulfilling her official duty as Vanadis who ruled over the principality. She had turned seventeen this year and was called Mila by those close to her.
Mila directed her eyes to the window. The sky was a layer of pure azure, only to be interrupted by the dazzlingly bright sun.
Summers in Zhcted were short and precious. But, enduring this heat, which caused sweat to run even when staying still, was hard. Even more so when challenged with a difficult problem.
She shifted her gaze sideways. At a spear that was leaning against the wall.
Frozen Ripple Lavias. Her viralt which possessed a spearhead looking as if a ruby had been deeply buried in a sharp lump of ice and marvelous golden and blue ornaments. It was a mysterious weapon with its own will that could manipulate temperature. Since old times it also possessed the alias 「Sharp Horn of Crushing Evil」.
If ordered, this viralt could likely release her of this heat right away. But, Mila’s mother and the previous Vanadis, Svetlana, had forbidden her daughter to do that. According to her, 「Getting one’s body accustomed to heat is also part of the job」.
It wasn’t as though Mila didn’t understand what her mother was telling her. If she were to encounter a situation where she couldn’t rely on Lavias’s power and behaved disgracefully as she wasn’t able to handle heat, it’d be nothing short of a dishonor.
――But, I don’t want to tackle this problem while fighting the heat.
A single map was spread out on the desk where Mila was sitting. It depicted Zhcted’s southwestern parts. Olmutz, the royal family’s territory to the north, and even further north – Leitmeritz.
Mila’s eyes were pinned on a corner of that map. A huge forest which was connected to the northwestern edge of Olmutz, the western edge of the royal family’s territory, and the southwestern edge of Leitmeritz.
Mila sighed. This forest had been giving her headaches for a few days now.
“Even though I must depart this place tomorrow… I won’t have any other choice than to consider the issue on the road.”
She had many other matters that needed attention, so she couldn’t spend all her time on just one issue. Thus she put the map away into one of the desk’s drawers.
At that moment a letter appeared in her visual field. It had been sent to her by her lover and Mila had stored it in the very same drawer so that she’d be able to take a peek at it whenever she felt like it. The letter’s contents were concise, only informing her that he’d soon visit her and tell her the reason in person.
“I’m waiting for you, Tigre.”
After muttering that with a smile blooming all over her face, Mila began to enthusiastically scan through the documents.
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