Chapter 78

Two days after that incident.

Iefa and I were in a carriage heading back to Rodnea.

“Hey, Iefa…”

“W-What is it, Seika-kun…?”

Iefa glanced at me but wouldn’t meet my eyes.

She’s been like this ever since the day before yesterday.

I asked, my voice slightly ingratiating.

“Um, is there anything you want?”

“W-What, all of a sudden!?”

The suddenness of the question seemed to surprise Iefa, and she turned to look at me with a start.

I cautiously continued.

“Well, I thought you might be angry…”

“No, I’m not angry at all. Why would I be?”

“Well, you know, I messed up the arranged marriage…”

“Seika-kun… I told you yesterday, I had no intention of joining the harem. I was actually glad you said what you did. That prince was really persistent.”

“…Are you just being nice to me?”

“No, I’m not! Why are you so suspicious!?”

“Well, it’s just that… since the day before yesterday, you haven’t looked me in the eye, and you run away whenever I try to talk to you…”

“That’s… well…”

Iefa looked away, her face slightly flushed.

“W-Well… because Rize said something…”

“? What did that forest person say?”

“N-Nothing! Anyway, I’m not angry!”

“Really…?”

“Yes! Besides, I agree with what you said about the prince. He just makes decisions on his own and does things that don’t make sense. He wouldn’t make a good king. He needs to work harder.”

“Yeah, but you don’t have to put him down so much.”

“S-Seika-kun was the one who was really harsh! Why are you making it seem like I’m the one being mean!”

“Hmm, was I? Well, the prince is still young, so he’s bound to make some mistakes.”

Still, he is a bit of a screw-up.

It’s hard to argue with that.

However, the dragon issue seems to be manageable.

After receiving my investigation report, Her Majesty the Queen decided that this matter was beyond Prince Cecilio’s capabilities and decided to intervene personally.

She’s supposed to be quite exceptional, and I’m tasked with writing the report for the empire. It shouldn’t be as difficult as negotiating with the imperial council.

I hope the prince can learn something about politics by watching the queen at work.

However, Protoasta is likely to get quite busy soon.

An imperial scholar who happened to be visiting the capital, Asta, showed interest in this matter and said he would bring his students to see the dragon soon.

This story will spread in academic circles, and other scholars will likely want to visit as well. With such prominent figures coming, the chieftain can’t just sit idly by, and preparations for entering the mountains will be necessary. The prince will be swamped with unfamiliar tasks.

Well, he won’t be looking for a queen for a while.

I hope he focuses on his duties and forgets about the harem for now.

Then, I remembered something.

“By the way, Iefa, you went to see the harem, right? What was it like? Was the smell of perfume really strong?”

“Well, it wasn’t like that at all. It used to be a regular harem, but now that the issue of succession is resolved, it’s become more of an educational institution. When I visited, the girls were taking a statistics class.”

“Really? I’ve never heard of such a place.”

“They were very serious. But it wasn’t at all stuffy. The teacher even gave interesting problems.”

“Interesting problems?”

“Yeah.”

Iefa explained.

“The teacher rolled a die ten times, and all of them came up six. The question was, what’s the probability that the next roll will also be a six? Do you know, Seika-kun?”

I smiled wryly.

“Is the die fair, with an equal chance of landing on any number from one to six?”

“Well, I… can’t answer that.”

“That’s practically giving away the answer. The probability is almost certain to be six. The chance of rolling ten sixes in a row is about one in sixty million.”

“Oh, um, yeah. That’s the correct answer. Hey… how did you calculate the probability of rolling ten sixes in a row?”

“Hmm? It’s one-sixth to the tenth power. The denominator, six to the tenth power, can be found by multiplying two to the tenth power by three to the tenth power.”

“…How did you do that?”

“Normally, 1024 times 59,000…”

I realized.

I have memorized a few powers of prime numbers for convenience in calculations… but if I can’t explain why, I just sound like a weirdo who memorizes random numbers.

I hurriedly tried to explain.

“Well, um… multiplying two five times gives 32. Multiplying these together gives roughly 1000, which is two to the tenth power. Three is a bit more complicated… three squared is nine. Multiplying these together gives 81. Multiplying 81 together gives around 6500. That’s eight powers, so multiplying by nine one more time gives around 60,000. That’s three to the tenth power. Finally, multiplying 1000 by 60,000 gives 60 million. It’s an estimate, but it gives you a sense of the scale.”

“Wow, that’s impressive. Your method seems more accurate.”

“? Is there another way?”

“Well, I…”

I was impressed by Iefa’s method.

“Hmm. It’s a bit forceful, but it gets the job done with fewer steps.”

“But it was a bit of a stretch. It only worked because the numbers were close… Still, Seika-kun, you’re really good at calculations.”

“Ah, ha… But from what you’ve said, the level seems quite high.”

“Many people who leave the harem become bureaucrats. Rize used to be there, but she said her grades were at the bottom. If someone who could become a royal mage failed, it must be tough.”

“Hmm… But how long ago was that…?”

That woman is nearly a hundred years old, so it could have been eighty years ago.

I recalled the powerful flow of energy that Rize possessed.

“By the way… she can see spirits, right?”

Rize had mentioned that this was a power of the forest people.

“Iefa’s magic is forest magic, then.”

“Yeah, I didn’t know that.”

“Did your parents ever mention anything about you having forest blood?”

“No, never. My mother might have known, but…”

“Hmm. Maybe I should ask my father.”

But… he probably wouldn’t know.

He doesn’t seem very interested in anything outside his research.

I had a bit of suspicion that there might be some ulterior motive behind this whole thing, but there didn’t seem to be anything.

Maybe he really just had no one else to ask, or he just wanted to check up on me through this request.

Iefa said,

“But I don’t feel like a forest person at all. My mother died of illness, so I don’t even know if I’ll live a long life.”

“Well, forest people are supposed to be good-looking. Maybe your beauty is due to your heritage. Your mother was beautiful, wasn’t she?”

“N-N-No, w-w-what are you saying!”

Thinking about it, maybe it was a good thing that the bumbling prince was turned down. There might be someone better out there…

…But is there? Someone better than a prince.

Even though it’s not my business, I can’t help but feel it’s a waste.

“Hmm… What kind of person would you want to marry, Iefa?”

“Eh, um…”

Iefa looked down, stammering.

“It doesn’t matter about their background… I want someone who is smarter than me, strong, kind, and a little bit lonely, I guess.”

Hearing that, I smiled wryly.

“Those are a lot of conditions. You sound so demanding, but compromise is important. Otherwise, you’ll have a hard time finding someone.”

Iefa glanced at me.

Then, she smiled wistfully and whispered,

“…That’s not true.”

Chapter 4, end.

Next, Chapter 5.