Since When Did You Have The Illusion That You Don’t Have Magical Powers?! - CH 31

FYI: this chapter is written from Clawis’ POV

According to the founding records of the country, the predecessors of Worstitters were originally settlements of small tribes. The beastmen, who were much smaller in number than humans, did not live in groups.

Even if the strong beastmen did not live in groups like humans, they had no difficulty in finding food and were able to defend themselves against magical beasts.

However, the greatest threat to the beastmen came from humans, who were much less powerful than they were. The human tribe threatened the beastmen, who lived in small numbers, with their strength in numbers. They raided minority tribes as if they were hunting magical beasts and took their weak children away. The treatment of beastmen as slaves was rampant at the time. To protect the young beastmen, the beastmen, who had previously lived individually, began to band together. It did not take long for the small groups to become villages and eventually a country.

It was during the reign of the king three generations ago that the country took its current form. It is said to have been the age of the Wise Beast King. Until then, the stronger one had been king, but that practice changed drastically. The Wise Beast King’s brother was instrumental in this movement.

He was praised for his strength and was considered to be the next king, but he renounced his right of succession to the throne, believing that the time had come for the country to be ruled with wisdom rather than strength. From then on, he has supported his younger brother, the king, from the shadows and actively tried to communicate with the human race, which had been kept at a distance until then.

The current king, in other words my father, Benedict Regalia Worstitters, is said to be the second coming of the Wise Beast King.

Forming an alliance with the Kingdom of Solmontana, a major human power, has been a long-cherished wish since the time of the Wise Beast King. That is finally about to come true in my father’s generation.

The benefits of an alliance are great. Trade and cultural exchanges are still active, but they should flourish even more than before. We have spent a long time preparing for the alliance, but now that we are on the verge of achieving our long-held dream, a dark cloud is beginning to loom over us. The source of this is Marshal Hastings Fels Worstiters, the highest-ranking officer in the national army. He is my father’s brother and my uncle.

He is a man who, like a beast, believed that power is justice. He did not wish to be close to the human race. Even in this day and age, there are still many beastmen who knows of the former days of slavery and not hide their dislike of the human race. It seems that he is slowly gaining the support of such beastmen and nobles who respect power, and is planning something sinister.

Before forming an alliance, learn about the culture of the human race and become the foundation of friendship. That was the ostensible reason I decided to go to the Royal Creare Academy in Solmontana as an exchange student, but I understand that it was really to keep me away from the royal palace that had recently become stinky. It was judged that in a country where the human race has great power, no matter what uncle did, it would not be possible if done unskillfully.

I may be the crown prince now, but I have no power. I don’t have the wisdom of my father, nor the skills to influence people. At the very least, if I had been as powerful as my uncle, I might have been able to silence the nobles of my uncle’s faction who opposed my father’s policies.

All I can do is do my best not to hinder my father. So while I was here in Solmontana, I wanted to lay the groundwork for forming an alliance, even if only a little.

But the reality is harsher than I thought. Just as there are discriminatory ideas against the human race in our country, there is still discrimination against beastmen among the human race. It is precisely among the nobility, who are supposed to be role models for the people, that discriminatory ideas are prevalent. I want to eliminate this as much as possible in my generation. That is my mission in this country. I came to this country with that in mind. That is why I do not dare to call myself the Crown Prince, hoping to have a realistic relationship with people of the same generation.

My escort, Rivera, is my foster brother who studied in this country with me, has pledged allegiance to me, but he doesn’t like the human race very much. This is because some students often throw discriminatory words at us.

“I don’t care what they say about me. But I will not allow you to disrespect Clawis-sama! That’s enough! There is no need to force yourself to build friendship with the human race!”

Rivera is a good-natured, friendly guy, but he has a short temper. I know he has been very patient with me.

“Well, these things don’t happen overnight. The underlying negative feelings between us are deeply rooted. It’s a feud that is etched in the history books after all. We have to be patient and work at it over a number of years. Forming alliances with the human race is a necessity for the future. That is why our young generation must be the foundation for it.”

“Clawis-sama……”

Perhaps Rivera’s way of thinking is similar to uncle’s. But, even so, he followed me to the country of humans.

Fortunately, the household of the Duke of Bloomfield, who are our caretakers in this country, are very friendly towards beastmen. If the old1 nobility, who are the oldest and most powerful nobles in the country, are open to an alliance with the beastmen nation, there will be many nobles who will follow suit. Above all, this alliance is being led by the Crown Prince of Solmontana, Melchior-dono. Among the commoners, exchanges between beastmen and humans have been taking place for a long time. I am sure that in our generation, it will be possible for beastmen and humans to join hands.

I’ve just entered the human race country, and although I’m excited about everything that is yet to come, I honestly can’t hide the sighs that increase every day because of the walls that are thicker than I thought.

It was then that I met Sapphiras. The daughter of the Duke of Bloomfield introduced me to him as a magician who would be in the same group for the field exercises. He had the backing of the Duke’s household beforehand, and there are no problems with his identity. She also said that he is skilled in magic and would be perfect as an escort. However, the magician I actually met was a beautiful and ephemeral boy. Although physique has nothing to do with a magician, I wondered, rudely, whether he was really a magician good enough to be an escort. But my doubts were easily dispelled. The only thing that was ephemeral was his appearance.

Sapphiras had an expression like a vicious vizier on his beautiful face, and he had argued with the students who had made disparaging remarks about beastmen. And to top it all off, he manipulated summoning magic, defensive barrier magic, and even transference, and defeated a giant beast serpent with lightning magic all by himself.

He was a man of substance that was completely unimaginable from his appearance. I see. There are things that the Duke’s household can only back.

My uncle says that power is justice, but if that’s the case, isn’t he2 the one who is justice?

The boy who eats the stew deliciously with an expression appropriate to his age is still beautiful and ephemeral. He is indeed a mysterious boy. If I had that much power, I think it would have been easy for me to persuade my uncle.

The Book of Genesis states that the goddess gave magic to the human race and power to the beastmen. My uncle probably intends to invade the small countries of the human race through warfare and eventually create an empire of beastmen. But warfare places a heavy burden on the people. Even if he were to invade one country, it would be the end if another country invades while he is still rebuilding his war-torn country. And if there are several magicians like Sapphiras, the beastmen will probably not be able to do anything about it. No matter how powerful the beastmen army is, the result will be as plain as day.

My narrow-minded uncle, who believes that beastmen are the strongest race in history, doesn’t understand this.

I looked out into the courtyard and saw several female students waving their wands. How should they wave their wands to use magic more beautifully and brilliantly? I heard such a conversation. I’ve been seeing a lot of students using wands lately. Come to think of it, Sapphiras also uses a wand. At the time of the field exercise, he was using powerful magic even without a wand, so if I asked Sapphiras now if he actually needs a wand, he would say ‘isn’t it cool’ and laugh happily.

I felt an indescribable uneasiness towards Sapphiras, who was so powerful yet somehow innocent, and although I thought it was rude, I asked to have him investigated.

He had been living an unhappy life until he lost his family name, and although he is attending the academy with the backing of the Duke’s household, Sapphiras himself even thinks that he could quit the academy at any time. And I was honestly surprised to hear from the daughter of the Duke of Bloomfield that he is aiming to become an adventurer in the future. The daughter of the Duke of Bloomfield smiled when I asked her what benefit would there be of supporting someone who has no intention of serving the country or the nobility.

“There is no answer you can get for that right now. It just means that he can only move according to his own will.”

And I felt that I understood, albeit vaguely, the meaning of her words at the soirée to which Melchior-dono had invited me.

Standing proudly beside the daughter of the Duke of Bloomfield, his sapphire gaze shining with a strong will. The way he spoke back to the Second Prince without timidity was truly poignant. He is acting for what he believes is right. Even if I don’t worry about it, that powerful magic will not be used to the advantage of someone else. If anyone tried to use him, he would surely fight back with all his strength.

Oh, I really envy him. If only I had unshakable power too, how much I could have helped my father.

“Clawis-sama, a messenger has arrived from His Highness the Crown Prince, Melchior. It is urgent.”

Rivera and I exchanged looks. I had a bad feeling about this.