Published at 22nd of January 2020 4:07 pm

Volume 2, Chapter 3: The King’s Melancholy

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

The manor Toale led them to was big.

Ryner was given a room to immerse himself in his research in.

“Hmm… who would’ve thought this region had so many heroic legends? Oh, but this one’s gotta be fake… although this legend does seem to have an awful lot of variations across different countries’ folklore,” Ryner mumbled to himself as he turned pages one after another, writing a report as he went.

The room Ryner had been allocated was needlessly large, seeing as it only housed a bed and table, but that made it ideal for research.

He made the best of the room’s size - well, when he left, he just left things as they were, but thanks to the mountains of books that’d accumulated, getting from the table that Ryner was currently seated at to the door was a bit of a labyrinth.

A kid’s voice called to him from the door. “Ryner! Dinner tiiiime! Hurry uuuup or it’ll get coooold!”

“……”

Ryner didn’t reply to the kid. “Oh, okay. I get it,” he mumbled to himself. “This folklore changes depending on that fairy tale… that means…”

“Heeyy, I’m talking to you!”

“If you don’t want your food, I’m gonna eat it all!” Another kid said.

“Is that okay? Is that really okay?”

The children took turns talking. There were over fifteen children in this manor… the youngest was only one year old, and oldest was Toale, who was nineteen… it made one wonder how someone could even have that many kids.

Because of how loud it always was, it was never really that good of a place to do research in.

“Hey, are you listening!? Ryner, I said it’s time to eat!!”

“Hm, hm. Then that region’s god was adopted by this other region… so that’s why I wasn’t getting any results from all the research on that topic…”

After staying here for four days, Ryner had gotten a little too good at ignoring the voices of children.

“Ugh! If you don’t eat your dinner, you’ll be haunted at night! Toale said so! And I don’t care even if you do get haunted!”

“Yeah, what he said!”

With that, the kids ran off noisily.

Ryner raised his face and sighed. “If I let those guys get to me, I’d be stuck being their toy for the whole day…”

The second Ryner had arrived at the manor, kids caught him in a hug one after another and forced him into playing tag with them. When he managed to escape that for a nap, Ferris hit him and told him to do his work… on top of that, he had to help a kid with the…

So it went without saying that he couldn’t leave his room carelessly.

Fortunately, Toale had told the kids not to enter Ryner’s room.

“Geez, those guys won’t listen to anyone but Toale…”

Toale’s word was absolute. To the kids, he was their father, their brother, their friend, and their teacher.

On the other hand, Ryner was just their toy… and that was putting it nicely.

“Uu… better get back to work,” Ryner said and returned to his book. It wasn’t written in this country’s official language; instead, it was written in the ancient language.

The window opened soundlessly. Wind flitted through, weakly blowing at the curtains for a second - no, less than a second. Then the window closed, soundlessly as it had opened. The room returned to its original stillness.

A normal person wouldn’t have noticed any of that. But Ryner’s body tensed a bit as he continued to read. He’d sensed the change.

What a pain… just what exactly had come in?

The intruder hid their presence splendidly as they moved about soundlessly. It was clear that they weren’t a robber or anything like that. Their movements were well-trained, typical of assassins…

So that meant the person who entered was an assassin…

So that meant there was a possibility Ryner would be killed…

So that meant he had to move a little to get them to go away…

“What a paaiin… what did I even do to deserve this,” Ryner mumbled to himself in a relaxed tone, never raising his head from his book.

Suddenly, a voice came from inside his room. “I’ll get you with this!”

It was the voice of a surprisingly young girl. But Ryner knew better than anyone that that wasn’t a problem. He was fighting in Roland’s Special Institute #307 from a young age, too, as potential was all that mattered there…

Whether it was potential as an assassin or potential for war…

Ryner didn’t let his mind wander from his opponent. He surveyed the situation with his exhausted eyes, just as they’d taught him to in that institution…

He felt a distortion in the room. A soundless distortion. Ryner understood that she was moving.

“Mm.” Ryner turned around to confirm. “Hey.”

She was nowhere to be seen. A single book flew towards Ryner.

“Shit!” Ryner said and clicked his tongue. The distortion had been a decoy. She threw the book, and then, moved her completely hidden presence to another place to attack from…

“Wham!”

“Uwah!?”

An intensely powerful fist struck at him from behind. Ryner moved, flustered, and threw his own attack to where the book had flown from, where his opponent likely stood. She moved out of the way naturally, like she’d known that’d happen, and kicked off the wall to fly back at him.

What tremendous physical ability. She jumped around as if the distinction between the ceiling and floor didn’t exist at all.

Ryner studied his opponent as she came hurling at him. Scary as this was, she was really just a little girl. She was probably around seven or eight years old. For some reason she was wearing a frilly dress and a little red backpack. She had golden hair, and though she was of course still young, an unbelievably pretty face. She wasn’t yet at the age where she was a beauty, but she was undeniably a beautiful girl.

And yet, her abilities were separated from that of humans…

“…Gh.” Ryner realized that the adjectives he’d used to describe her had an awful lot in common with someone else he knew and let out a shocked sound. “What does this—”

She didn’t give him the time to put his words in order. She was lunging at him, her hand ready to karate chop him and her expression serious as a heart attack. “I-I’ve gotta beat you quickly! If I don’t, you’ll turn into the abominable beast of legend and go out of control on my sister, Sion said so… I, I have to do my best!”

“Hah!? Hey… Beast? Sion? Sister? Can you wait a—”

The pretty girl didn’t listen to his words. Instead, she continued to fire off an attack that could kill him 100 times over.

Ryner moved skillfully, somehow managing to avoid it.

“Sh… this is kinda bad,” Ryner mumbled to himself and scowled.

Then the door opened to show a peerless beauty carrying a tray of food in one hand. “Mm. Iris is here. Why did you come to such a place?” She asked as she looked between Ryner and the girl with her usual expressionless eyes.

Suddenly, the girl called Iris stopped her attack and leapt for joy. For her, that meant kicking off the walls and flying high into the air like some kind of superhuman. “Sisteeer!?”

Ferris made to embrace her and pet Iris’ head with her free hand.

“Sisteer, Sisteeer~!”

Iris clung to the hand that pet her affectionately. It was a strange scene, and just by watching, it was hard to place if there was any love in it. So Ryner just stared, astonished. “Sister…? Are you telling me that is Ferris’ sister?”

“Yes. She’s similarly beautiful, isn’t she?”

“…No, well, I guess I can’t deny that…”

More than that, their family resemblance lay in how troublesome they were… but he’d take that thought to the grave.

“Mm. By the way, Ryner. Is your research going well? Toale asked me to bring you your dinner.”

“Hey, before we talk about that, doesn’t it bother you that your bothersome sister’s here? This is Nelpha, yeah? A kid this little coming all the way…”

He recalled the amazing speed Iris had moved with.

“…No, I guess that’s a non-issue… Why’d you come, again?”

Understanding dawned on Ferris. She looked down at Iris, who was still cuddling her hand. “Hey, Iris. Why are you here?”

Iris’ face shone. “Geez! Iris came to save you, Sister! Because you disappeared so suddenly. Every day I went to a bunch of dango shops to look for you, but you were never there… I cried and then Sion came and said you left with an atrocious beast on a quest to find the ultimate dango… So Iris sort of… um… did this and that and connected the dots! Was I remarkable? Remarkable?”

What a thing to say, Iris. It was a pretty hard-to-understand explanation, but he understood that she’d be useful for relaying information back to Sion.

Ferris nodded and pet Iris’ head. “Mm. You’re remarkable. But there’s one part that wasn’t good enough.”

Iris smiled. “I know thaaat. I brought you a souvenir from Roland! Here you go. Wynnit Dango’s combo set!”

She retrieved a box of dango from her backpack. And another, and another… five whole boxes of dango. The backpack was completely flat once it was all out. It looked like dango was all she’d brought with her…

He was beginning to doubt that she’d made it all the way here herself without even a set of travelling clothes… though Ryner and Ferris had also made it here with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Those clothes were currently sitting atop his dresser.

Anyway, Ferris’ expression had changed to one of satisfaction. “You get a perfect score.”

The second the words were out of her mouth, Iris leapt for joy. Then she looked at Ryner. “Yay! I got a full score! Amazing! Amazing, right? Ehehehe!”

It was, above all, quite scary…

It was really pretty unthinkable that this girl was Ferris’ sister…

He squinted at Iris, whose expression turned troubled. “Ah! Oh no! Sister told me that when you talk to beasts, more kids’ll be born in a flash!!”

“…Hey…”

“Mm. You remembered well,” Ferris said as she chewed on her dango. “Iris, look at the man making a stupid face over there. He’s a prime example of a beast who attacks women and children night after night.”

Iris stared in astonishment. “P-prime example…? Oh no… what’ve you done to my sister?”

For some reason, Ferris’ face went red. She hung her head sadly. “Sorry, Iris. I… ended up talking to that sex maniac.”

“Nooooooo!!”

Their conversation was really pushing Ryner to his limits. “Hey… you guys… if you can have a conversation like that with a kid, then the world’s fallen on tough—”

“I won’t forgive you!!”

“Huh?” Ryner said, his eyes widening.

Iris’ fist was coming straight for him with unbelievable speed…

“Gyaaaaahhh!!”

His scream echoed through the manor.

---

Sometime later, Ryner, Ferris, and Iris - who was glued to Ferris’ side - were sitting around the table eating and drinking tea.

Iris pulled a notebook out from her backpack. “So anyway, tell me the situation. I’ve gotta report it to Sion. C’mon, tell me!” She half-yelled, energetic as could be.

Ryner sighed, tired of her, and Ferris continued chomping on her dango. He wasn’t sure how many skewers she’d finished off by now.

“C’mon, hurry huuurryy!”

“…Right. Geez, why’s Sion always making me deal with people like this…? Ah! I-i-it was a joke! Maaaan, I sure am happy to be surrounded by such beautiful sisters…. so can you please put down that dango skewer you look like you’re about to throw? I wouldn’t be able to dodge one of your attacks…”

Ryner sighed.

It felt like he was doing that a lot lately…

“So, anyway, the current situation,” Ryner said, tired. “Um, even if I do a good job explaining it, nothing good’ll happen, right? I’m researching this region’s legends in detail at Nelpha’s imperial library right now. Yeah, that’s about it. That’s all you need, right?”

Iris nodded along as he spoke. It wasn’t clear if she understood or not, but she was writing something in her notebook.

Ryner waited for a while.

“……”

Iris was still writing.

“……”

Iris was really still writing…

“…Hey, do you really have that much to write from what I just said?” Ryner asked.

He was getting kinda curious. He peeked over at Iris’ paper. She was drawing a bunch of weird pictures…

“Hey, you weren’t listening to me at all!”

Iris looked up at him, startled. “Th-that’s not true! I understand everything when I look at these pictures!”

“Liar.”

“I’m really not a liar! It’s really true!” Iris said, waving her shaking hands around defensively.

Ryner nodded to appease her. “Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I’m gonna read now, so don’t talk too much. I wasn’t getting any research done even before you came…”

Ryner opened a book up. Iris pouted, holding a fist up. “I hate being ignooored!!”

“Gyyaaaaahh!!”

Just how many times had his scream echoed throughout this house?

---

Sometime later… again.

Ryner recited what’d happened since entering Nelpha to Iris. He gathered from another one of Iris’ poor explanations that Sion didn’t just want information about their search for the Heroic Relics, but information they gathered while travelling through other countries, too.

He continued, wholly disinterested as usual, as Iris drew her own artistic representation of the events.

“Uh… so the detailed version is right now, we’re staying with the son of the crown prince, Toale. This Toale guy’s pretty popular with the people here, and compared to the idiot heir, he seems like a pretty good guy. If he wanted to, he might be able to stage a revolution. His lineage is pretty similar to Sion’s… ah, but when you look at the streets, everyone’s full of life, so there likely won’t be a revolution… it seems like this country hasn’t seen war for a while now. When I think about it, the current king must be a pretty accomplished guy. I think he’s a good governor. But it’s what comes after. When this king dies, the idiot prince’ll succeed him…”

Ryner paused for a moment, then continued.

“This country’ll probably change… In any case, I heard that the people all hate the successor. He, like, sleeps with girls indiscriminately and goes around causing trouble like he knows there are no repercussions for his behavior in the city…”

Ryner again paused to make sure Iris was following.

“It’d be horrible if he became king, right? To top it all off, he’s king’s only son… the nobility has already decided that he’s gotta be the next king, so they never tattle on him to the king… because they understand that Toale’s promising. Apparently Toale’s reported some of the nobility’s tyranny to the throne before, so I guess he’s kinda taken on the role of the window between the king and the people. Naturally, that’s won him tremendous popularity with the people… and yet, he doesn’t let it get to his head at all.”

Ryner glanced back at her drawings. She was still at it.

“Even though his lineage is more or less the same as Sion’s, Toale’s kind and has a strong sense of responsibility, so there’s actually a big difference between them. Write about that. Sion’s an asshole who’s forced me to go along with you troublesome sisters, so I’ll definitely kill him next time we see each other! Yeah, put something like that.”

He finished speaking and looked to Iris, who’d finished her drawings. She raised her face. “Alright! It’s perfect!”

“…Yeah, sure.”

“Ah~!! What’s that supposed to mean! You’re doubting me!”

“That’s because, well… what exactly do you understand from those pictures?” Ryner asked.

Iris shoved her notebook in his face. “Ask away! Iris can explain it all!”

Ryner took the notebook and opened it. As he looked through, he became more and more disheartened. Page after page, it was covered with ominous figures. He couldn’t tell if they were supposed to be cats or dogs or what, and there were two suns, and houses with red roofs were being shot out of the sea with tremendous force…

On the next page, the red roofed houses pierced the suns…

It was frightening…

Ryner had to wonder just what kind of crazy world he’d gotten sucked into. He felt like he was hallucinating. He looked into the shining eyes of the crazy girl who’d drawn it.

“Hurry hurryy!” She urged.

There was no getting out of it. Ryner pointed to the two suns. “What’re these?”

Iris embarked on a long explanation, talking so proudly that it was more like she was a proud parent showcasing her child’s drawing than something she’d drawn herself. “Um, umm, this big sun over here is the current king, and the kinda dark little one over there’s the prince of the idiot country! The flying red house is the person you called Toale, and the sea’s the people! The people might fire the red house at the black sun, but right now the big sun’s too bright, so there’s no revolution!”

“…Wow,” Ryner said, amazed.

Iris went timid, losing confidence in herself. “Um, um… that wasn’t any good? Iris didn’t pass?” She asked and stared at Ryner.

Ryner shook his head, flustered. “No, it’s not that. You got a bull’s eye… too good of a bull’s eye…”

Iris’ face lit up. “Really? Yay! Sister, Sister! Iris passed!” She said and launched herself at her sister, who was eating dango like nothing else mattered, with strength that’d kill a normal person.

Ferris dodged easily, then held out a leg. Iris latched onto that leg, spinning Ferris around once by it, then hung off it. “Mm,” Ferris said. “As expected of my little sister.”

“I love you, Sister!” Iris said, all while hanging from Ferris’ leg.

Ryner watched the weird sisters interact, rubbing a hand over his face. “I really have gotten wrapped up in a crazy world…”

Someone knocked at the door.

“Um, Ryner? Have you finished eating?” Toale asked from the other side of the door. “If you’d like, we have black tea and dessert ready downstairs…”

Ryner and Ferris looked at each other.

“Isn’t this kinda bad?” Ryner asked quietly, glancing at Iris as she hung off Ferris’ leg. No matter how he looked at it, Iris was just a kid… and to make matters worse, she was a spy Sion sent from Roland. If Toale saw her…

“It’s certainly bad. Alright,” Ferris said and nodded. She took Iris and flung her off.

“Huh? Huh? What? Sister?” Iris said as she spun around in the air, straight back out through the window where she’d come.

Ryner watched, dumbfounded. His room was on the third floor. If she fell from that height…

If she was just anyone, this’d gnaw at his conscience. But Ferris wasn’t worried at all. She confirmed that Iris had left through the window, then snatched Iris’ notebook from Ryner and threw that out after her. “Mm. Toale, I’m taking Ryner down now.”

“Understood. I’ll see you downstairs then.”

Ferris sighed in relief at Toale’s words then turned to Ryner. “Mm. That was a little dangerous.”

He was still staring out the window. “I’m starting to feel like being in a room with you is really dangerous…”

Ferris nodded a little too enthusiastically. “Yes. It is. I also understand that it’s dangerous for a pure-hearted beauty like me and a sex maniac like you to be in the same locked room.”

“……”

Ryner didn’t have the energy to argue against her anymore…

By the time Ferris and Ryner made it down to the dining hall, Iris was talking enthusiastically with all the other kids while chowing down on dessert…

When she saw them, she turned her innocent face their way and waved happily.

Ryner sighed. “No more…”

It went without saying that he didn’t wave back.

---

The only light that ushered tomorrow in was a light in the otherwise dark room.

Sion was lying in his bed for the first time in a while. Compared to his normal strict and suffocating clothes, he was wearing something casual and watching the sky outside the window. On top of being high-class, the royal court was high in elevation as well, being a part of the castle - he could see all of Roland’s imperial capital, Reylude, from his window.

His eyes narrowed as he watched it.

It was already quite late, so there were few lights outside. Even so, Sion understood what he was looking at perfectly.

The sections to his right were the slums, and the areas just before the castle were where the nobility lived. The city’s outer edges were made up of farmhouses, and the center was merchants… and the remaining classes were dotted through the city.

Sion… was raised in this city. Of course his mother was as well…

When Sion was born, his mother was only twenty years old. She didn’t come from money, and was a very normal girl who fell in love in a very normal way, and married very normally.

Then the king fell in love with her at first sight… and her life changed in an instant.

There were some things that she told him. That she didn’t hold a grudge against Sion. That she didn’t hate him for being a child of the king instead of a child of the man she loved.

But she said those things while shaking her head.

“You’re a gift from God, Sion. How could I hate you? I’m happy that I was blessed with a smart kid like you. So please don’t think those things anymore,” she said and kissed his forehead.

She was always smiling. He’d never seen her make a bitter face. She always said she was happy, too. No matter how much the nobility belittled her, no matter how much hatred she was forced to accept…

She said she was happy as long as she had Sion.

“……”

Sion rose from his bed and walked to the window. He inhaled the fresh air as the curtain blew just a little in the night breeze.

He stuck his head through the window and looked down on the nobles’ quarters.

The nobility… People who were more noble than others.

“How stupid,” Sion whispered.

His mother was of lower status than anyone in this castle, and yet she was more noble than all of them. A weak smile rose to his face. Yes, she was more noble than he was…

He was using people like Froaude and Lucile Eris to satisfy his far-reaching greed. What would his mother say if she saw him now…?

Would she be able to smile and boast that he was her son?

What about the late Fiole? Ryner and Kiefer? Tony, Tyle, Fahle…

Sion stopped as he recalled those names, staring at the nightscape before him. He shrugged his shoulders.

“What am I doing feeling weak… I’m overthinking things. If I keep working now… Fiole will get mad at me again…”

Sion laughed. He stuck his face far through the window one last time to take a deep breath, then made to close it.

Then something big slammed into him from above.

Sion fell back in shock. Whatever it was, it was on his back. “Uwah!? What!? Uwahahah!” He said without thinking, then caught his bearings. “Gugh… I can’t die here!”

He stood himself back up to try to drive whatever it was away. When he did, it jumped off his back and spun around… then stood on the floor, both hands raised in some sort of pose. “Ta-da! It was Iris!”

Iris Eris stood before him. He was currently making use of her as one of his spies, but…

“So? Did I surprise you? Did I surprise you? Are you happy to see Iris after so long?” Iris asked, her smile reaching every corner of her face.

It’d been a while since Sion’s heart had beat that fast from fear that he’d be killed. He took a deep breath and smiled. “Whew. You didn’t take long, huh? Did you already meet with Ryner and Ferris?”

“Yeah! I met them! And Toale’s dessert was really tasty and Iris won first place when she raced Ibel and the others!”

Sion was already used to Iris’ unfocused speech patterns. He nodded along, smiling happily. “I see. Sounds like you had fun. So what did Ryner and Ferris have to say?”

“They had stuff to say. Yeah. It was like, umm, uh… aw, geez, Iris! You wrote down what the beast said just like you were supposed to,” Iris said and rummaged through her backpack. She pulled out a notebook. “Here! Everything’s written down here.”

She handed it to him. Sion took it, opened it, and…

“………”

His brain was suddenly transported to a strange and dangerous dimension…

He had to escape somehow…

Sion forced his smile to stay put and lined up question after question as he studied Iris’ writing - no, her drawings.

Iris answered them all happily. “And see, see? This sleepy kitty is Ryner, and this clever looking fox is Sion. The sleepy kitty said that he was gonna murder the fox someday! That he was real angry!”

It took about an hour to get through her whole explanation.

Sion laughed once he received all of their information. “Ahaha. So Ryner’s mad at me? That’s fine. I can see that it was the right choice to have Ferris accompany him. He’s working properly without slacking off… but, well… if they’re in Nelpha now, then…”

Sion’s words trailed off as he thought.

Iris was wandering around his room, rummaging through his things like she was searching for something, and jumping on his bed…

Sion shot her a sidelong glance and narrowed his eyes…

---

The next day, about twenty men and women were assembled around a round table in the center of a parlor to talk.

Among them were Claugh, Calne, and Sion’s other close associates. There were also a number of nobles who were on his side.

Calne was standing and speaking. “But I really think things are bad this time, Sio… no, Your Majesty. This is clearly a trap set by the anti-monarchy party.”

Next to stand was a tall and thin, deeply wrinkled old man who was the perfect picture of a gentleman. “Agreed. I also believe your coming visit to Imperial Nelpha is far too rash, Your Majesty,” he said in a voice that, though relaxed, was absolutely certain.

He was one of the first nobles who’d come to walk Sion’s path with him - Count Newbull. He alone didn’t hold great political power, but after he decided to follow Sion, a few other nobles gathered around him as well. All of the nobles gathered here had done so on account of Count Newbull.

Everybody here was gathered today to discuss Sion’s - no, the new king of the Roland Empire, Sion’s Astal’s coming visit to Nelpha, as well as report to their superior.

It came down to what a triumphant noble had said.

“The current Roland went through a brilliantly skilled revolution in the blink of an eye, bringing Lord Astal to the throne… however, it was not sudden. Until now, the other countries have maintained a nervously neutral position on the matter. Both here and there, we all wish for peace in Roland. That is the world we’re aiming for as we follow you, our new king… What do you think? Should His Majesty really go to visit Nelpha himself?”

They were the words of Duke Staelied, something of a representative among the nobility. After speaking he had fallen to his knees, bowing respectfully.

Sion had shared his plan here, and shortly after, a rumor that the king of Roland himself would visit Imperial Nelpha appeared. Someone said that it was dangerous for Roland’s king, praising him as someone who wanted only peace. Another said that the new king boasting to Nelpha was a huge undertaking. At some point, the situation veered so that he wouldn’t be able to go…

Newbull spoke on the matter. “In the first place, a king visiting another country regardless of the danger is unheard of. Such gossip is foolish. There will be nothing to boast about if the king is killed… it’s plenty obvious that Duke Staelied’s faction put those rumors into motion. I beg you to consider the matter.”

The nobles gathered here as well as Sion’s close confidants all nodded their approval.

Claugh looked to Sion. “Well, everyone agrees. It’s obviously those guys’ trap, so give it up. You’re not going,” he said lightheartedly.

Newbull glanced over. “Major General Klom, isn’t it… a bit of a problem for you to speak to His Majesty in such a manner? No matter how close of brethren you may be, is Lord Astal not king of our country? People will be displeas—”

“Ah, I get it already! My bad. Geez, shut up already, old man. Yes, yes. Lord His Majesty, Gracious Lord of Our Country.”

Sion smiled. He stealthily poked at his bad-mannered friend’s back. Claugh corrected his posture.

Newbull nodded, satisfied. “Now then, Your Majesty. If I may ask, what will you do? I believe we are in unanimous agreement that you should not visit Nelpha now…”

Newbull looked around everyone present, then back to Sion, who made to speak. But someone beat him to it, his cold voice seeming to cut through the air from across the room.

“You should go to Nelpha, Your Majesty.”

Everyone’s eyes gathered on the man who spoke - Froaude. He was like a dark spot in the room, his dark and cold eyes looking down on the people around him.

“What are you saying, Lord Colonel Froaude?” Newbull asked.

“It is simple. The stupid nobility set a filthy trap. His Majesty mustn’t avoid it… he should face it straight on. Oh, pardon my rudeness. You too are nobility, aren’t you.”

Claugh, Calne, and the other military personnel present snickered, rousing the nobles.

“You bastard! This is slander!”

“You’re talking far too much for a newcomer!”

Newbull sneered at Froaude. “Are you not a noble yourself?”

Froaude didn’t pale or redden. He stood, dignified. “I seem to have said a bit too much… how rude of me,” he said and lightly lowered his face. He looked to the nobles without raising it. “But I believe you understood what I was trying to say. I was pointing out that the nobles are obsessed with their own security and greed. Unfortunately, considerate nobles such as yourselves who think of our country are few and far between… is that not so, Your Majesty?”

Some of the nobles turned away, embarrassed, and others smiled in satisfaction…

Froaude confirmed that fact and then continued. “In any case, His Majesty’s sovereignty has only just begun. He mustn’t show weakness. It is clear to me that this is a trap by the nobles of good pedigree… and so we must deal with it. If we do so skillfully, we may be able to catch the entire anti-monarchy party at once… If we do then Duke Staelied, who made light of you all, will fall from grace. The ones who make this country from now on are those of you assembled here.”

The expressions of the nobility present changed.

“I see.”

“Certainly, one could think of it like that too…”

One after another their opinions changed as they lost themselves in thought.

Mentioning Duke Staelied, who’d tyrannized Newbull’s pro-monarchy party for some time now, had a strong effect on the nobles.

He lured everyone’s attention by baiting them into anger directed at himself, then turned it around and made them sing his praise. How cunning. It looked like the nobility’s opinions would bend to Froaude’s from now on…

Claugh looked at Froaude, not bothering to hide his expression of plain disgust, and raised his voice. “Hmph. In theory. What would we do if Sion was killed in Nelpha? Their country’s in high spirits now. That’d be the end of all of us here, too.”

Froaude looked to Claugh. “Major General Klom. Why do you think the anti-monarchy faction wants His Majesty to go to Nelpha?”

“Ahn? So they can kill him.”

“That is correct. So why do they not just kill him at home rather than abroad? They are Roland’s nobility, so of course their power is stronger within Roland’s borders. Why can they not reliably kill His Majesty within our country?”

“Hmph. Because of that swordsman family, house Eris… They’re always following and protecting the king. It’s not easy to get a hit in on them.”

“House Eris… they are a greatly noble family who has managed to reach the realm of living legends. It is said that as long as they are here, the king’s lineage can withstand anything. Even in times of revolution, it is difficult to take the life of the king without Eris support… though their ability to change kings through those with royal blood is another conversation altogether. In any case, killing His Majesty within Roland is difficult. If it were you, what would you do?” Froaude asked.

Claugh scratched at his head. This conversation was taking a weird turn. “What’re you tryin’ to say? That they can’t kill Sion in Roland, so they want him to go to Nelpha so they can kill him? Is that it?”

Froaude nodded. “Now then, please tell me. If you were to kill His Majesty abroad, how would you go about doing so? Your troops are not in Nelpha. It is another country, after all. You mustn’t make mistakes, either. If you should blunder, you’d be caught by the pro-monarchy party, unable to struggle… you only have one chance. Now, what would you do?”

“……”

Claugh looked like he realized something. He turned to Sion.

“Well, that’s the state of things,” Sion said. “People are able to travel between Roland and Nelpha. It’s likely that some of Nelpha’s nobles…”

The nobles present reddened.

“Duke Staelied, the bastard! Communing with those of another country, does he know no shame!”

“We mustn’t let His Majesty be led into Nelpha!”

Froaude spoke, his tone powerful. “Do you intend to leave the traitors as they are!? You are just as shameless. We must nip their rebellion at the bud.”

“B-but—”

“Even if His Majesty goes to Nelpha, he will not die,” Froaude interrupted. “He is not someone who would die in a place like that.”

“How can you say that!? You bastard… I bet you’re actually a spy for the anti-monarchy party!”

Froaude studied his opposition with cold eyes. “What a ridiculous declaration… I cannot disprove your suspicions right now. How about I prove my integrity through my work instead? I will accompany His Majesty… to Nelpha. That will be proof of my loyalty. Does that please you? This trip to Nelpha will likely have our lives on the line. Is there anyone else here with the guts to personally protect His Majesty’s life?”

No nobles answered Froaude’s call. They just sat, expressions sour.

Then Newbull alone raised his face. “I understand. I’ll go.”

Then another person volunteered himself, then another. When Froaude looked back around the group, their expressions showed that there were only volunteers among them.

Froaude answered them with a smile…

“Whoa, whoa,” Claugh said. “You guys are letting him win you over way too easily. Geez… in the first place, Froaude. What happens if you’re a hitman after Sion?”

“Hm. In that case, you kill me to protect His Majesty, Major General Klom. Or… are you not confident that you’re capable of doing so?” Froaude asked provocatively.

“I’m not falling for that,” Claugh said. “Unfortunately, I hate using my full strength on other people. But I get that you’re telling me that you might kill Sion in Nelpha. So why don’t I just kill you here and now?”

Claugh’s red eyes fixed on Froaude in a bright glare. He held up a hand, spreading his fingers like a claw.

“Crimson fingers, are they. Dyed red from the nobility during the revolution…”

“Stop dawdling or I’ll send you straight across the room,” Claugh muttered.

Froaude wasn’t flustered in the slightest. “You’re surprisingly… hard to handle,” he said. “You didn’t raise to my provocation, and are even trying to draw out my true character… As expected of His Majesty’s right-hand man, I suppose?”

“……”

Claugh lowered his hand at Froaude’s anticlimactic reaction.

“Tch. It’s boring now that you’ve found me out,” Claugh said. “I went through all that trouble, so get frazzled about it already.”

“Hm. Why should I be frazzled? There’s nothing questionable about me,” Froaude said.

“How can you say that with eyes like yours?”

“……”

“Hey, don’t ignore me!” Claugh said.

Froaude ignored him completely and looked to Sion instead. “Your Majesty, the choice is yours. I have spoken my piece, but everything is for you to decide.”

“Mm.” Sion looked around, studying each and every person present. Everyone observed him in turn. He accepted their gaze and smiled. “I’m going to Nelpha. As for accompaniments, just Froaude is fine.”

In an instant, everyone except for Froaude stood.

“Ah!? That is foolish! It’s far too dangerous. Please rethink this.”

“This newcomer may someday betray you. And in another country, at that…”

“Hey, Sion,” Claugh said. “Isn’t that a lil’ much? At least bring me and Calne too.”

Sion shook his head. “If it’s a trap, then going to Nelpha is dangerous. There’s no need for everyone to go out of their way to go somewhere dangerous. Just me, and Froaude, who thought of this plan, are enough. And if I should die, we need people here to subdue the nobility…”

“But it’s too dangerous. At least take a few people you can trust.”

Sion laughed like he thought it was funny. “I don’t need them. No, maybe it’s better if I say that I don’t think they’re necessary. I don’t know what kind of trap the nobility has set in Nelpha, but… no matter what it is, I have the support of all sorts of interesting people over there now. They won’t take my life easily,” Sion said and smiled wryly.

Claugh’s expression turned to one of wonder. “Interesting people?”

Sion moved to Claugh’s ear to whisper. “I told you before, didn’t I? About the guy who actually defeated fifty of Estabul’s Magical Knights.”

“Ah… that. The Alpha Stigma bearer…”

Sion didn’t confirm or deny. He studied the room once more. “It’s decided. I’m visiting Imperial Nelpha. Could you all start preparations for my trip?”

The king’s orders were absolute. Everyone stood one last time.

“Your wish is my command.”

With that, their meeting came to an end.

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