Chapter 739 251 - Information Gathering (Part 2)

"Thank you~"

...but by jolting to the side away from the red-haired girl the bashful second prince ended up complying with her request and she could comfortably take the spot by his side.

"Wha...?! WHOA...?!"

That made Surou jolt up even more and he almost lost his balance...

"Whoa there indeed~ Now, let's talk a bit, my prince, ~"

Kierul grabbed his hand and settled him back in without any trouble whatsoever and hummed with satisfaction straight to the boy's ear letting go of his arm but making their shoulders touch.

"It is only the first day of the school year but many students and teachers have missed it. I am curious as to why is that?"

She asked lowering her head and seemingly absentmindedly brushing her fingertips against Surou's thigh.

"You see, even if something is going on in the background, I can understand most of those people being summoned. The strongest wind magician, the strongest fire magician, the strongest earth magician, the genius inventor... and the only healer magician that can actually use one other attribute."

Kierul said while leaning onto the tense as a rock second prince while whispering into his ear, as she mentioned Burushi, her eyes inadvertently wandered to the stack of notes on the desk they were both sitting at.

"The thing that bothers me the most though is that one of the people called out doesn't fit with the rest... Young lord Victureo is average at best when it comes to magic and even if the potential future influence was a factor in the selection his much more powerful and charismatic older sister was already picked."

The red-haired girl wondered while placing her chin on Surou's shoulder while her fingers traced spirals higher and higher alongside the second prince's thigh...

"It is upsetting, honestly. Seeing young lord Vctureo be selected into the closed group while someone like you was left behind. You can come up with such interesting strategies and yet you were forced to housesit in the Academy... or was that a part of some grander strategy you have in mind~?"

Kierul hummed causing the blue-haired boy to loudly gulp down his saliva all while Zoemi still guarding the door marveled at his master bullshitting ability.

The red-haired girl was speaking with utmost confidence despite not being certain about a single thing.

She spoke about the people getting called to some secret meeting and being a part of some important event while basing that merely on her intuition and basically scraps of information that were unreliable at best – and still looked reliable while doing that!

Seriously, if an adolescent boy like Surou could see through Kierul's deception then he would truly be an outstanding talent far exceeding any of his peers including all the transcended magicians.

...but for that he would have to focus enough to break through the silly seduction.

Silly in Zoemi's eyes, at least.

Anyone with at least a bit of experience or at least a fair amount of self-control would see someone else getting close to them like that while asking for information would smell the trickery from a mile away...

...but the second prince wasn't just anyone – he was a boy in puberty...

"I...it is not a part of a strategy per se... but...! But I do know what is happening."

If Surou had some sort of defenses, they all crumbled down from the heat of Kierul's body against his own and the blue-haired boy started spilling out everything he knew in no time.

"Just as I thought, my prince~"

"The situation is actually quite dire and it wouldn't be strange for more students to leave the Academy in the next few days... although you see, if the worst scenario will come true it will be the other way around, a whole lot of people will arrive at the Academy..."

Although Kierul's delighted hum wasn't phrased as an inquiry, it worked as a splendid motivation for Surou to continue talking.

"..."

Kierul furrowed her brows as her expression darkened at the words of the second prince.

"My prince... from what you are saying it sounds almost like our kingdom is preparing for a large-scale military conflict."

The red-haired girl breathed out and spoke in a serious voice – she did not let go of Surou's arm but she did stop teasing his thigh...

"That is exactly what is going on... Ah...!"

Surou nodded in confirmation, looking into Kierul's eyes just for a moment before faltering from the fiery gaze and turning his head away while beetroot red in the face.

"Is the Espine house planning an insurrection? No, then the young lady Espine would not be called unless she was fine with betraying her family... but then... then what...?"

Kierul gasped, gulping down her saliva quite upset before pulling out a blank expression.

It wasn't as if she didn't have any suspicions, it was just that she didn't really want to voice any of them out loud for fear of one of them being true.

"Espine being planning a coup de tat? No. Espines are our kingdom's first line of defense even before the actual army. You see, after the capture of Marigottie the other countries seemed to be reminded of the threat that our kingdom's magicians pose and created a secret coalition to plot our downfall... is what I would like to say but with the recent movements spotted by the allied highlanders by the Perserios territory, the Barbariacca nation bean sending their troops to the Atreterve nation. Not to mention that our spies had been reporting a shift in the Atreterve's research and development tendencies into more offensive ones during the last decade."

Surou revealed, and the seriousness of the information he was sharing made him calm down and get over his shyness.

"Tsk. Then, despite having a nonaggression treaty signed with us, our own magic equipment manufacturers are planning to stab us in the back."

Kierul clicked her tongue straightening her back, remaining in contact through the touching shoulders with the second prince but otherwise pulling away.

"That's one way to call it. There were no sightings of any large weapon storage that would directly break the treaty but that doesn't mean there is none... At this moment our kingdom waits for the response of both Atreterve and Barbariacca about the movement of the troops before anything would be revealed to the public... so I hope you will keep this a secret, young lady Helterose."

Surou let out a short sigh and gulped down his saliva again before glancing at the concerned Kierul.