She felt it coming. For some reason, it felt like a soft breeze was blowing.

If she opened her eyes now, wouldn’t a majestic Spirit King with a long beard ask her what her wish was, eh?

Evelia, full of anticipation, slightly opened her right eye.

From the open window, a refreshing breeze was blowing. The edge of the spirit book page she had spread out swayed in the wind.

“What?!”

Her oceanblue eyes widened.

The room was still quiet.

Nothing had happened.

Elym heard the voice calling him and abruptly got up from where he had been idly killing time.

Behind him, the wolfshaped superior spirit Elest who had been massaging the king’s shoulders jumped up in surprise. It seemed that what he had pressed with the soft jelly part of his front paw was not very good.

“I’m… I’m sorry!”

Towards Elest, who was frightfully bowing his head, Elym brought his index finger to his lips in a quieting gesture.

“Shh.”

Soon, the shape of the summoning circle came to his mind. He reached out to touch it, but the summoning circle dimmed so faintly as if it was nonexistent and then disappeared.

Thinking that he was going to be summoned properly, he had weighed himself down and prepared to appear. Elym, with an expression of having a highly anticipated gift snatched away from him, slumped back into his seat.

“It seems it’s not the time yet…”

Elest, who had been sneaking a look, raised his front paw again and gently massaged the shoulder.

The small voice still reached him.

Elym. Lord Elym. Your Majesty.

The voice that dared to call his name and recited the summoning verse with a heavy voice.

After the child had grown a bit, the water mirror that had not been used for fear of being rude again shone.

A peaceful room, the sun and wind seeping in through the window, the swaying curtain, the soft rug, the sweet cocoa.

Elym who had been examining it, understood. He realized why the summoning circle was so weak that it couldn’t respond at all.

The basic principle in summoning a spirit is to have the will to sacrifice one’s natural power.

It takes a significant amount of natural power to summon a superior spirit, equivalent to taking a life from a human, and when it comes to a king, it’s not possible with just the right amount of natural power and will.

The will to exhaust most of the possessed natural power in order to manifest the king, even if it meant losing one’s life. The child didn’t have that.

‘Whether I’m summoned or not, it doesn’t matter. Still, that’s the level of will, huh?’

The figure of the child who frowned and pouted when what she wanted didn’t appear before her eyes, and who closed the book in great disappointment was reflected.

Just in case, the voice that softly called out ‘Elym?’ again had a vague desperation.

The weak summoning circle rose again and then quickly disappeared.

The golden color that resembled the child was fading away, which was quite a pity.

While stroking the afterimage, Elym swallowed his emptiness and smiled gently.

“That’s not it, child.”

The capital was protected by walls and gates that guarded all four directions.

As the boundary between the capital and the outside, it was usually quite a peaceful place, but not today.

In front of the North Gate.

Waaah!!!

A cheer like a massive typhoon shaking the air echoed.

The number of aristocrats, soldiers, and royal knights leaving for the subjugation, as well as the citizens who came to see them off, was enough to occupy the area. The gate was literally teeming with people.

The subjugation had been talked about since early last winter, but it’s common knowledge that the possibility of a winter expedition ending in failure is high. Therefore, early March, specifically today, was chosen as the departure day.

The flag that flew the highest in the sky was undoubtedly the royal family’s flag, but in the context of war and subjugation, there was another flag that was more prominent.

The citizens pointed to the golden flag shining brightly against the blue sky and shouted.

“It’s the Duke!”

“It’s the flag of the Artina family! The knights!”

The knights, who always maintain a leisurely and light attitude, did not act frivolously under the family flag.

They knew well the weight of this flag that they would not hesitate to give their lives for. The weight of becoming the hope of their allies and the fear of their enemies.

“Your Highness! Your Highness! Please bring victory to the Empire this time!”

“The demon has appeared, will it be okay?”

“Hey, this guy! His Highness is going out in person, and you’re worried about some demon!”

The citizens of the empire hailed the name of Artina.

“Did you hear? The leader of this subjugation war isn’t the Duke, but the younger Duke!”

The citizens of the Empire, who had long been aware, nodded. They had been dubious all along, but today they could see with their eyes that the person at the forefront of this procession was the younger Duke.

“He hasn’t even come of age yet……”