Chapter 68: It’s not gossiping! It’s Intelligence Gathering!
“What do you think, Alicia?”
“Dunno.” Alicia shrugged. “Just because information travels fast doesn’t mean it will become a priority. At least the goddess was wary about it. They said something about the war on the western front being the main hindrance.”
“What does the goddess want us to do then?” Eli asked.
“Hm… Ah! We should stock up on guns! With guns, civilians could become soldiers in a matter of days!” Alicia said.
“Guns? What’s that?” Ludwin tilted his head. Eli eyed them. Eli obviously knew about guns, but she had never seen one in her territories. Even though her territories had bombs and bazookas, she had never seen guns there.
“Erm… I don’t know what they were called officially. It’s like a rifle from, you know, the industrial era? Where you load black powder into the musket and fire a bullet through the barrel. This country should have one—the magic one. The one that uses red arcane stone,” Alicia described the rifle from her memory. Due to her limited language, she described the rifle with her hands.
“Do they have one here, Ludwin?” Eli asked.
“... How do you know that?” Ludwin blinked his eyes. Reports about guns were not as heavily classified as secret escape routes for royals, but they were still classified information.
“Eh? Brother, you knew?” Charlotte asked.
“When I helped Father with administrative work, he told me about this new weapon. Its name was Peasant Handheld Arcane Missile Version 2. It looked just like what Alicia had described—a long barrel, like this, then arcane stone here, then it fired something like a bullet.” Ludwin followed Alicia’s example and gestured with his hands. He was still a child, so he missed the exact specifications for the rifle.
Alicia tilted her head. The name was totally different from the original novel. The original novel only called them rifles or muskets.
“Can we buy it? Guns could change the entire course of war!” Eli hopped on board.
“Buy it? They are not for sale! The Western Front needs them,” Ludwin said.
“...” Elidranthia clenched her teeth. She then started her begging pose, eyeing Ludwin carefully. “Can’t you do something? Just a hundred or two hundred would be enough to ward off the assault, right? I am not asking to buy it. I am asking you to store it just in case someone attacks my territory.”
“Well… I will talk to Father about it.” Ludwin gave up. He is such a simp.
“Hah… why do men always talk about war? Lady Elidranthia, let’s talk about something else, shall we?” Charlotte said.
“Ah. Sorry for intruding on you with my territory’s problem, Princess Charlotte.”
“It’s fine… Father told me to watch out for Alicia’s prophetic images. So… in a way, I did my job. But let’s go and have fun! What do you like for dinner? And then which boutique do you fancy? Have you eaten at the Starsea Restaurant? We often commissioned our chef from there, but ever since Father had decided to strengthen security, the food wasn’t as good anymore. They said it was for security reasons. Can you believe them? If they wanted to kill each other, they should just keep us away from it, right?”
Charlotte began to air out her complaints. Eli was about to argue that safety was the most important thing, but she remembered that Charlotte was only ten years old.
She is just ten years old . Just a child. It’s normal. Don’t argue with royals. I’ve got what I wanted, let’s pander to her. But I don’t know about trends. I will definitely lose if she took over the topic. Ah, I got it. Let’s try bringing her to another unrelated topic. We will be equal then..
Eli then concocted a conversation plan, “Have you tried dresses from Silea?”
“Isn’t that a peasant dress?”
No, it isn’t. It is aimed for wealthy merchants and low nobles, you arrogant princess! Elidranthia screamed in her mind. But who is she? An assassin from another world. This much pandering was normal. She didn’t even bat an eye.
“Well… yes. Don’t you feel that sometimes, you just want to unwind? High society often wore corsets, right? Well, commoners don’t need to wear those. So, I often buy them.”
“But others would mock you for it.”
“Of course you don’t wear them in front of other nobles. Commoners’ clothes are for commoner settings. Shadowstep was a rural territory, so we often engaged with commoners directly. Ah, mages are included, of course. You would gain favor with them if you wore the things they liked.”
Eli didn’t expect Charlotte to support her statements. But when Elidranthia mentioned mages, Charlotte reacted.
“Oh yeah. Mages are often commoners. That’s news to me. Do you think they would like it more if we wore commoner’s clothes?”
This world is unique. Unlike medieval Europe, this world has magic. The goddess didn’t play favorites, so everyone had equal chances of becoming a mage. Nobles and even royals didn’t only need to pander to other nobles, but they also needed to pander to mages.
“No. Wearing low-quality goods would make it too obvious.”
“Hm? That contradicts what you just said. Goods from commoner stores are lower in quality, right? They are cheaper, after all.”
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Princess Charlotte. Just because they came from a commoner store doesn’t mean they are low quality. If you buy the highest, most expensive goods from a commoner’s store, you might be surprised by how good they are,” Eli said.
“Hm… I wonder… Well, no harm in trying it. I shall see to it tomorrow.”
Hm? Tomorrow? Why? Eli tilted her head
“Ah. Is there someone you fancy, Princess Charlotte?”
“No! Gods forbid I fancy a commoner. Father would be furious. I mean Sir Sevan, from the Mage Union. Father said royals must keep tabs on the Mage Union, at least befriending one. And Sir Sevan was the nicest. He is a commoner, though. Most mages were commoners.”
“Mages are not commoners, Charlotte. They are chosen by the goddess. They are different from peasants.” Ludwin said.
Elidranthia almost scrunched her face at the prince and princess’ privileged attitude. Eli kept reminding herself that they were just children. Their attitude could be changed. In fact, she just did. Charlotte seemed to have taken Eli’s advice to heart and promised to buy something from a commoner’s store to wear on her date with a mage from the Mage Union.
“If that would be all, Prince Ludwin and Princess Charlotte, I am eternally grateful for this opportunity to converse with both of you,” Eli said and excused herself. She eyed behind her, only to find Alicia missing.
“... Where did Alicia go?” Eli turned around, looking for her airheaded maid.
“I am here, milady.” Alicia rushed through the door. Elidranthia sighed, almost wanting to shout at her.
What kind of maid abandoned her master?
However, she stopped that line of thought. Fear gripped her as she began treating Alicia as a true medieval maid, thinking her existence must revolve around her.
This high society had secretly gotten to me. Alicia is a human. She had needs. She probably went to the toilet or something. Knock it off, Eli. You can’t be like them. Remember, you are a commoner. Goddess Repeara chose you to bring equality to all people! You are gifted so you can bring prosperity to the people, not be served by them.
Eli swore never to mistreat Alicia—not only because she was a mage, but because she was also a human being. She must not become like those CEOs or those high-ranking FBI officials who treated their underlings as disposable pawns.
Little did she know that Alicia did not go to the toilet. She was called into a secret meeting by Darius. The meeting was short; he only gave Alicia an invitation for a dinner with Ludwin and Charlotte. The premise was that Ludwin wanted to meet with her alone.
And so, during her break day, Alicia went to the castle alone, smuggled like contraband into a tea party with Ludwin and Charlotte.
“Ahem… first of all, I am here to welcome you, Alicia, the strongest mage of Shadowstep,” Ludwin said. Alicia might only have two brain cells, but she wouldn’t be fooled by a child. Ludwin was clearly reading from a script.
“Thank you, Prince Ludwin. I am honored to have received your praise,” Alicia curtsied. “So, is there anything this lowly maid can help you with?”
“No! We are here to invite you to dinner. Please relax. Elidranthia might have already rewarded you, but I thought it would be better to reward you directly. Is there anything you would like?”
Alicia thought for a moment. Her mind immediately went toward the invasion by Elderan. But Elidranthia had already requested aid, so there was nothing she would want.
“My life has been nothing but satisfactory so far. I have no wants, Your Majesty.”
“She is a commoner, right? Wasn’t she supposed to kneel?” Charlotte whispered, feeling unsatisfied as Alicia only curtsied.
“Eli wasn’t the sort who prioritized etiquette. Besides, she only agreed to come here if we disregarded some etiquette,” Ludwin whispered back. “Besides, she is a mage—a high-ranking one too.”
“Mages must not be considered nobles, Your Majesty. We exist to serve the people,” Alicia said. Her words were only right in theory. Though, it was perfect for such an occasion. this too was something that was taught in etiquette class for mages.
“Good. Anyway, we are still in school, but I can see you climbing the ranks in the Mage Union. You might become a court mage soon. So, it’s good that we dine and get to know each other.” Ludwin said.
“Only if Lady Elidranthia becomes one, Your Highness.”
“Hm… that’s unusual. So, it’s okay to become a court mage if your lady also becomes one, huh… Anyway, come, let’s eat,” Ludwin said. Alicia winced at the course meal. She had never been the biggest supporter of rich people’s meals. They lacked volume and had unfamiliar tastes. This one was no exception. However, Darius had promised her that he would keep a hundred guns in reserve in case Shadowstep was attacked, so Alicia had no choice but to accept. She didn’t want Shadowstep to fall either.
And so, the maid dined with the crown prince.