I was forced to participate in the bust of the Varphan group, but I left the aftermath of the criminal guild to others.
That's adult work, after all. And as a child, I play happily with my younger brothers using magic.
"So there's a place like this."
This is a corner of the palace. A corridor with black and white paving stones reminiscent of a chessboard—one side is a wall, while the other has a row of columns opening into a courtyard. Though called a corridor, the space rivals that of a single room.
"I always use magic here. Sword techniques too—basically, I use this place for any physical activity. What about you, Brother?"
Terry asked innocently. This was a garden inside the palace attached to Terry's room.
I had seen in the history books at the Imperial Library that described the main facilities of the palace. They were listed along with explanations of frescoes of artistic value from renovations and furniture crafted by master artisans. Among them, the space surrounding this courtyard was designated as the Crown Prince's Chambers.
Certainly, nearby were the Queen's Chambers, a bit further the King's Chambers, and further still the Princes' Chambers used by the twins. By the way, though empty now, apparently there was also a Princess's Chambers.
"I only have a room. No garden attached."
"Same as us. No garden."
"They said when we grow up we'll practice in the great hall."
The twins pulled at my hem and said cute things.
But then Her Highness the Princess Consort approached with a troubled expression.
"There should be a courtyard in the left wing. Even though no one uses it, do you not use it?"
"Well, um..."
I evaded the question, but perhaps because she looked suspicious from the start, Her Highness realized.
"You are being prevented from using it, aren't you?"
"No, um, the room's location, poor maintenance... various things."
I had forgotten because I didn't particularly care, but indeed in the left wing there were courtyards that no one used and were unmaintained. Two of them, by the way. Nearby, from the window in the Blue Room, one could look down upon one of the left wing's courtyards. But I had never descended there.
Because the stairs used to descend there could only be used during audiences with Father.
Even if ascending the stairs was permitted, descending was not allowed.
Come to think of it, I hadn't mentioned those stairs.
If he knew, Father would probably be depressed.
Before that, the movement to crush the criminal guild was accelerating, and along with that, the governmental affairs of Father the Emperor were increasing. I didn't intend to push low-urgency problems there.
"May I have permission to speak, Lord Asha?"
Wearrel was also my magic tutor, so he had accompanied me today. He was asking me, but it was probably permission to speak with Her Highness. When I looked at Her Highness, she returned a nod, so I also nodded to Wearrel.
"The left wing's courtyard differs from this place and is unsuitable for training. It is surrounded by walls on all four sides, with glass embedded everywhere. Also, in the central part of the left wing building, there are structures with questionable durability due to excessive renovations, and considering Lord Asha's safety, it is unsuitable."
Excuses—no, indeed there were excessive renovations in the left wing rooms, so it was simply fact. Since the palace was built, numerous residents had made renovations and added artistic decorations. Basically, unused rooms were locked so I couldn't go, but as a result of Sephira wandering around, apparently there were places renovated by cutting through where floors originally existed. From the perspective of a Japanese person who values earthquake resistance, it was a scary place I didn't want to approach.
"So, poor maintenance? When there's no one to use it, it gets put off... I see, I understand. In the current situation, is Asha inconvenienced?"
Her Highness asked out of consideration for me.
"No, and precisely because it's indoor practice, I was able to learn the magic we're doing today."
Today I was teaching Terry the magic I had shown during the incident at the cathedral—like making fireworks rain down on enemies from above. Her Highness, who had free time, had also come to observe. At the same time, the twins were made to sit nearby so they didn't get in danger.
"First, let me show you. Even at the elementary level, if you deploy the same magic immediately nearby and align the numbers..."
I deployed five spells in a horizontal row at a height one adult head above. It was a simple magic that just created sparks, but it required technique. Because if they were too close, the spells would interfere and transform into different magics, becoming something different from what was intended, so they wouldn't activate due to the discrepancy with the image. Or they might explode.
"My, truly precise magic control..."
"Pretty—"
"It's crackling."
Her Highness had also learned magic as part of her education, so she showed surprise. The twins simply delighted in the sight of the sparks scattering. I swelled with pride.
After all, today I was the one doing it. Since I decided to teach Terry, I had asked Sephira to let me learn it. So I couldn't do as many as Sephira did, but I still mastered it to teach Terry.
"The difficult part of this magic is fixing the location reliably. By doing so, even indoors you can reduce danger, and by adjusting to avoid damage, it becomes training to increase magic precision."
Wearrel explained to Her Highness in a manner befitting the situation.
Actually, the magic taught by Wearrel was mostly classroom study due to lack of space. Plus elementary things with little danger. There were fireball spells too, but too dangerous to use inside rooms. So actually, I wasn't very good at magic. Because I didn't use it in the first place.
In these days when magic flourished, I was neither rumored to be good at magic nor studying it enthusiastically. Furthermore, it was well known that I pursued alchemy, said to be a degraded technology of magic, as a hobby. Therefore, apparently, I had heard that I was thought to be poor at magic.
"How is this related to alchemy, Brother?"
"Alchemy is about ensuring that if you perform the same process, you get the same result. If you reproduce that with magic, you can stably demonstrate the same effect like this. For that, first you need preparatory work to obtain reproducibility."
Since it was convenient, I used the paving stones at our feet.
"Now, I'll name the white paving stone in front of Terry 'One-Ten'. And the black paving stone to the right of One-Ten is 'One-Nine', the black paving stone forward from One-Ten in front of Terry is 'Two-Ten'."
In other words, it was a grid with assigned coordinates.
"I'll create sparks at Three-Nine now."
When I did as I said, sparks fell at the center of the black paving stone named Three-Nine as declared.
"You try too, Terry."
"Yeah... Burst!"
Though it was an exaggerated word, sparks properly occurred. But the location was near Three-Ten.
"Create sparks at the same place once more."
I caused sparks as before, but Terry strained and this time the magic deviated toward near Four-Nine.
"...Amazing, Brother."
When I thought I'd have to cover for it not going well, I was looked up at with unexpectedly sparkling eyes.
"Using two or more magics is difficult too! Just now, the height was the same too! Brother, are you a magic genius?"
"That's not true. Anyone can do it if they practice this. Of course, you too, Terry."
Somehow Terry was looking at me with respectful eyes.
(I feel bad, like I'm stealing Sephira's credit.)
(Immediacy, mitigation of damage to Ikt, reliable instructions. It was the Master who accomplished those.)
Is it okay that she doesn't mind?
"The talent lies in first devising such a method. I also studied at the Lukiusaria Academy, but I've never seen such a training method."
Oops, even Her Highness was praising me.
"Being skilled at magic is not merely about unleashing high-powered magic. Certainly, anyone can do it if they try, but there are countless ordinary people who cannot even make the effort to try, Lord Asha."
Since even Wearrel, who knew what Sephira had done, joined in, Terry's eyes of respect shone even more.
This means I can't show any embarrassing sides as an older brother from now on.
Regular update
Next time: Tea Party with Younger Brothers 1
I should check the formatting. The user wants ONLY the translated text. I should preserve paragraph breaks.
One thing: "Varphan group" - ヴァーファン組. I'll keep it as Varphan Group or Varphan Syndicate. "Criminal guild" is fine.
"妃殿下" - This is tricky. In Japanese imperial terminology, 妃 can mean consort/princess. Given the context (she's in the palace, has children including Terry and the twins), she's likely the Queen Consort or Empress. But "Princess" usually refers to the daughter. However, in some contexts, 妃殿下 can refer to a princess (imperial princess). But given she has children (Terry and the twins), and the protagonist calls her 妃殿下, she's likely the Queen/Empress. However, to be safe and consistent with "royal" terminology, I'll use "Her Highness the Princess Consort" or similar, but actually, looking at the context, she seems to be the mother of Terry and the twins, making her the Queen. But the protagonist is Asha, likely the crown prince or a prince. If Terry is his younger brother, and there are twins (princes), then the 妃殿下 is likely the Queen Consort. I'll translate as "Her Highness the Princess Consort" to be safe, or "the Princess". Actually, looking at line 11: "王妃の間" (Queen's Chambers), "国王の間" (King's Chambers), "皇子の間" (Princes' Chambers). So 妃殿下 is likely the 王妃 (Queen). But the text uses 妃殿下, not 王妃殿下. This might be a specific title. I'll use "Her Highness the Consort" or "the Princess Consort". Actually, to make it simple and clear, I'll use "Her Highness" contextually, or "the Princess". Given the user wants consistency, I'll use "Her Highness the Princess Consort".
Actually, looking at the text again, the protagonist is Asha (アーシャ). The younger brother is Terry (テリー). There are twins (双子). The 妃殿下 is their mother figure.
I'll go with "Her Highness the Princess Consort" for 妃殿下.
For 帝室図書 - Imperial Library
For 青の間 - Blue Room
For 左翼 - left wing
The internal dialogue:
(セフィラの手柄横取りしたようで悪いね) -> (I feel bad, like I'm stealing Sephira's credit.)
(即応性、イクトへの被害の軽減、確かな指示。それらを成したのは主人です) -> (Immediacy, mitigation of damage to Ikt, reliable instructions. It was the Master who accomplished those.)
The tone should be slightly self-deprecating but competent.
Final check on names:
- アーシャ (Asha) - protagonist
- テリー (Terry) - younger brother
- セフィラ (Sephira) - familiar/spirit
- ウェアレル (Wearrel) - tutor
- イクト (Ikt) - mentioned in internal dialogue
- ルキウサリア (Lukiusaria) - academy
The text looks good. I'll format it with proper paragraph breaks as in the original. I was forced to participate in the bust of the Varphan Group, but I left the aftermath of the criminal guild to others.
That's adult work, after all. And as a child, I play happily with my younger brothers using magic.
"So there's a place like this."
This was a corner of the palace. A corridor with black and white paving stones reminiscent of a chessboard—one side was a wall, while the other had a row of columns opening into a courtyard. Though called a corridor, the space rivaled that of a single room.
"I always use magic here. Sword techniques too—basically, I use this place for any physical activity. What about you, Brother?"
Terry asked innocently. This was a garden inside the palace attached to Terry's room.
I had seen in the history books at the Imperial Library that described the main facilities of the palace. They were listed along with explanations of frescoes of artistic value from renovations and furniture crafted by master artisans. Among them, the space surrounding this courtyard was designated as the Crown Prince's Chambers.
Certainly, nearby were the Queen's Chambers, a bit further the King's Chambers, and further still the Princes' Chambers used by the twins. By the way, though empty now, apparently there was also a Princess's Chambers.
"I only have a room. No garden attached."
"Same as us. No garden."
"They said when we grow up we'll practice in the great hall."
The twins pulled at my hem and said cute things.
But then Her Highness the Princess Consort approached with a troubled expression.
"There should be a courtyard in the left wing. Even though no one uses it, do you not use it?"
"Well, um..."
I evaded the question, but perhaps because she looked suspicious from the start, Her Highness realized.
"You are being prevented from using it, aren't you?"
"No, um, the room's location, poor maintenance... various things."
I had forgotten because I didn't particularly care, but indeed in the left wing there were courtyards that no one used and were unmaintained. Two of them, by the way. Nearby, from the window in the Blue Room, one could look down upon one of the left wing's courtyards. But I had never descended there.
Because the stairs used to descend there could only be used during audiences with Father.
Even if ascending the stairs was permitted, descending was not allowed.
Come to think of it, I hadn't mentioned those stairs.
If he knew, Father would probably be depressed.
Before that, the movement to crush the criminal guild was accelerating, and along with that, the governmental affairs of Father the Emperor were increasing. I didn't intend to push low-urgency problems there.
"May I have permission to speak, Lord Asha?"
Wearrel was also my magic tutor, so he had accompanied me today. He was asking me, but it was probably permission to speak with Her Highness. When I looked at Her Highness, she returned a nod, so I also nodded to Wearrel.
"The left wing's courtyard differs from this place and is unsuitable for training. It is surrounded by walls on all four sides, with glass embedded everywhere. Also, in the central part of the left wing building, there are structures with questionable durability due to excessive renovations, and considering Lord Asha's safety, it is unsuitable."
Excuses—no, indeed there were excessive renovations in the left wing rooms, so it was simply fact. Since the palace was built, numerous residents had made renovations and added artistic decorations. Basically, unused rooms were locked so I couldn't go, but as a result of Sephira wandering around, apparently there were places renovated by cutting through where floors originally existed. From the perspective of a Japanese person who values earthquake resistance, it was a scary place I didn't want to approach.
"So, poor maintenance? When there's no one to use it, it gets put off... I see, I understand. In the current situation, is Asha inconvenienced?"
Her Highness asked out of consideration for me.
"No, and precisely because it's indoor practice, I was able to learn the magic we're doing today."
Today I was teaching Terry the magic I had shown during the incident at the cathedral—making fireworks rain down on enemies from above. Her Highness, who had free time, had also come to observe. At the same time, the twins were made to sit nearby so they didn't get in danger.
"First, let me show you. Even at the elementary level, if you deploy the same magic immediately nearby and align the numbers..."
I deployed five spells in a horizontal row at a height one adult head above. It was a simple magic that just created sparks, but it required technique. Because if they were too close, the spells would interfere and transform into different magics, becoming something different from what was intended, so they wouldn't activate due to the discrepancy with the image. Or they might explode.
"My, truly precise magic control..."
"Pretty—"
"It's crackling."
Her Highness had also learned magic as part of her education, so she showed surprise. The twins simply delighted in the sight of the sparks scattering. I swelled with pride.
After all, today I was the one doing it. Since I decided to teach Terry, I had asked Sephira to let me learn it. So I couldn't do as many as Sephira did, but I still mastered it to teach Terry.
"The difficult part of this magic is fixing the location reliably. By doing so, even indoors you can reduce danger, and by adjusting to avoid damage, it becomes training to increase magic precision."
Wearrel explained to Her Highness in a manner befitting the situation.
Actually, the magic taught by Wearrel was mostly classroom study due to lack of space. Plus elementary things with little danger. There were fireball spells too, but too dangerous to use inside rooms. So actually, I wasn't very good at magic. Because I didn't use it in the first place.
In these days when magic flourished, I was neither rumored to be good at magic nor studying it enthusiastically. Furthermore, it was well known that I pursued alchemy, said to be a degraded technology of magic, as a hobby. Therefore, apparently, I had heard that I was thought to be poor at magic.
"How is this related to alchemy, Brother?"
"Alchemy is about ensuring that if you perform the same process, you get the same result. If you reproduce that with magic, you can stably demonstrate the same effect like this. For that, first you need preparatory work to obtain reproducibility."
Since it was convenient, I used the paving stones at our feet.
"Now, I'll name the white paving stone in front of Terry 'One-Ten'. And the black paving stone to the right of One-Ten is 'One-Nine', the black paving stone forward from One-Ten in front of Terry is 'Two-Ten'."
In other words, it was a grid with assigned coordinates.
"I'll create sparks at Three-Nine now."
When I did as I said, sparks fell at the center of the black paving stone named Three-Nine as declared.
"You try too, Terry."
"Yeah... Burst!"
Though it was an exaggerated word, sparks properly occurred. But the location was near Three-Ten.
"Create sparks at the same place once more."
I caused sparks as before, but Terry strained and this time the magic deviated toward near Four-Nine.
"...Amazing, Brother."
When I thought I'd have to cover for it not going well, I was looked up at with unexpectedly sparkling eyes.
"Using two or more magics is difficult too! Just now, the height was the same too! Brother, are you a magic genius?"
"That's not true. Anyone can do it if they practice this. Of course, you too, Terry."
Somehow Terry was looking at me with respectful eyes.
*(I feel bad, like I'm stealing Sephira's credit.)*
*(Immediacy, mitigation of damage to Ikt, reliable instructions. It was the Master who accomplished those.)*
Was it really okay that she didn't mind?
"The talent lies in first devising such a method. I also studied at the Lukiusaria Academy, but I've never seen such a training method."
Oops, even Her Highness was praising me.
"Being skilled at magic is not merely about unleashing high-powered magic. Certainly, anyone can do it if they try, but there are countless ordinary people who cannot even make the effort to try, Lord Asha."
Since even Wearrel, who knew what Sephira had done, joined in, Terry's eyes of respect shone even more.
This meant I couldn't show any embarrassing sides as an older brother from now on.
Regular update
Next time: Tea Party with Younger Brothers 1