The house Toale led them to was a rather large one.
Recently, Ryner has been researching hard in a room in this house.
“Heh~ so there’s such a heroic legend here…but it sounds like a bluff or something…if my memory serves me right, this legend seems like it can be heard in all countries…”
Ryner muttered to himself and flipped through one book after another to browse, as he wrote words into his report.
The room that was lent to Ryner was meaninglessly large, but there was a table and a bed, and it was a good place to do research.
He used the ample space in the room efficiently—in other words, since it was given, it would be a waste not to use it—and ended up filling the room with large piles of books, so much that they were piled up to Ryner’s location at the desk beside the door. This place was already at the level of a maze.
At this moment—
The kids’ voices could be heard from outside.
“Ryner nii-chan! It’s time to eat!! The food will get cold if you don’t come down!”
However,
“…”
Ryner didn’t respond,
“Ah, I see. So this legend was derived from this fable…that means, over here…”
“OII, ONII-CHAN!!”
“We’ll eat it if you don’t want to eat!”
“Can we, can we?”
The kids’ voices rang out.
There were 15 kids in this house…the youngest was one year old, and the oldest was Toale at 19…
To think that the man could give birth to so many kids…
That was why Ryner already felt that the kids were too loud right at the beginning, to such an extent that he couldn’t do his research properly…
“OIII, ARE YOU LISTENING!? RYNER NII-CHAN! I SAID IT’S TIME TO EAT!!”
“…Fmmm. Then, the god of the religion over here includes the religion there…in other words, it means that there won’t be too many results even if we checked this place…”
It’s been the 4th day Ryner has been inside this house, and he started to learn how to get used to the kids’ loud voices and filtered them out automatically.
“I’M ANGRY! IF YOU’RE NOT GOING TO HAVE DINNER, THERE WILL BE MONSTERS COMING OUT TO GET YOU TONIGHT! THAT’S WHAT TOALE NII-CHAN SAID! DON’T YOU EVEN KNOW ABOUT THAT!?”
“THAT’S RIGHT, THAT’S RIGHT!”
The kids left these words behind and walked away from the door to this room.
Ryner lifted his head and sighed…
“If I go out there now, I’ll be messed around with by them for the entire day…”
On the first day when he came to this house, the kids were all clamoring over, and he was forced to play hide and seek and ghost hunter with them. He wanted to rest and take a next nap, but Ferris started hitting him and forced him to work properly…and he had to take care of the kids…
It got so bad that he couldn’t even leave this room…
It’s thanks to Toale telling the kids off that they wouldn’t enter this room…
“Really, so they would only listen to Toale…”
Toale’s words were absolute.
To the kids, Toale was their parent, brother, friend and teacher.
And to the kids, Ryner was just an interesting toy…
“Uu…time to get back to work…”
He again turn to look at the book that wasn’t written in the common language, but in an ancient language…
But—at this moment.
The window to the room opened slightly.
For a moment, the curtain swayed slightly even though a slight breeze blew in. But that was for a slight moment as the window closed slightly again as the room became silent again.
It was a change an ordinary person wouldn’t detect…
However, Ryner looked away from the book and turned slowly in that direction…
His body tensed up.
He felt a slight change in this room.
(How troublesome…what in the world entered here?)
The intruder had completely hidden their presence. There wasn’t even a slight sound made while intruding, and obviously the person was not at the level of a mere thief.
This action was trained, and a skill of assassination…
That means, the person who entered just now was an assassin…
That means I might get killed…
That means I have to move to take that person down…
“How troublesome. Besides, I don’t remember being targeted by anyone anyway.”
He continued to face the book without any tension.
And at this moment, suddenly, inside the room,
“Even if you ignore me, I'm still here!”
Unexpectedly, this voice sounded like a young girl’s. However, this wouldn’t be enough to form a reason, and Ryner understood this well. When he was still a kid in the Roland Special Institute number 307, those with ability, no matter whether they were kids or not, would all be sent into actual combat…
Whether it was assassination or onto the battlefield…
Ryner would never hold back on an opponent that could hide her presence completely.
No matter how unmotivated he seemed, no matter how gentle his expression seemed to be, he was trained in that facility to deal with all sorts of situations…
He sensed that the air inside the room was wavering somewhat, even though there was no sound.
However, he understood that the enemy was attacking.
“Nn.”
Ryner turned around, thinking of checking out the enemy…
“Wha.”
Just when the enemy appeared in his eyes, he was shocked.
A book was flying at him.
“Damn it!”
Ryner clicked his tongue. The wavering in the air just now was just a bait.
He diverted his attention away from the book that flew over, and at this moment, the attack came from another direction, with the presence completely hidden perfectly…
“EHH!!”
“UWAH!?”
As the sound echoed, there was a strong punch let out from behind. Ryner hurriedly dodged it and threw the book that came flying over in the opposite direction straight at the enemy.
Of course, the enemy easily dodged this attack and leapt forward with tremendous impact, stepping onto the wall and using the recoil to attack.
Amazing physical ability.
The enemy was moving around this cramped room, without distinguishing between ceiling and floor and traversing around relentlessly.
Ryner looked at the enemy clearly.
What terrified him was that it was really a girl.
About 7, 8 years old?
For some reason, she was wearing a dress with frills draped all over the side, and her slender back had a red backpack. She had nice blond hair, and though young, was undoubtedly pretty looking.
A beauty…She’s not of the age where she could be called that, but she was undoubtedly a pretty girl.
And, inhumanly pretty…
“Erm…”
As he looked at this girl, he suddenly realized that the term he wanted to describe this girl was shockingly similar to a certain person he was already very familiar with.
“This is…”
But right now was not the time to talk.
This pretty girl was swinging her sharp knife wildly.
“Hu, hurry up and die!! The man who took nee-sama away…you definitely become some hated monster at night and do something to nee-sama. That’s what Sion nii-chan said…I, I have to work hard here!!”
“Ah!? I say…beast? Sion? Nee-sama? Hold it right there…”
But the pretty girl ignored Ryner’s words as she continued to launch an attack that would have killed an ordinary person a 100 times over. Ryner continued to try his best to dodge them and at least managed to defend against all of them.
“Ku...looks as if it is a little complicated here…huh?”
He frowned, and at this moment.
The door to the room opened, and a real beauty who was holding a bowl stuffed full of food in one hand walked in,
“Nn. It’s you, Iris. What are you doing here?”
She stared at Ryner and the girl with emotionless eyes.
And—
Suddenly, the girl called Iris stopped her attack on Ryner and leapt up as if she was bounced back.
She kicked the wall, kicked the ceiling again, and leapt over with superhuman speed.
“Nee-samaa!?”
Wanting to hug Ferris.
Ferris used her other hand that wasn’t holding onto the bowl to hold her face, stopping her…
“Nee-samaa~ nee-samaa~”
Iris continued to rub against that hand happily…
This scene looked so intriguing it felt like they either had a good relationship or a bad one…
And Ryner could only look at them blankly…
“Nee-sama? So that means, that’s your sister, Ferris?”
Ferris nodded.
“Yes. She’s a beauty like me, right?”
“……….No, well, I can’t actually deny that…”
And so similar to Ferris in that she always brings trouble to others…
He wouldn’t say such a thing even if his mouth was ripped…
“Speaking of which, Ryner, how is the research going? Toale asked me to bring you dinner.”
“I say, can you please ask the question why this troublesome sister of yours is here? Such a young kid being alone…”
But even if he said so, he remembered Iris’ superhuman movements,
“…No, it’s not exactly impossible here in this case…but why is she here?”
Ferris nodded her head in agreement and turned to Iris, who was still rubbing her face against her hand,
“Oi Iris? Why are you here?”
Iris showed a radiant look.
“Iris came here to save nee-sama! Because nee-sama suddenly went off without saying goodbye to me! That’s why I went to a lot of dango shops, but couldn’t find you, nee-sama…after that, Sion nii-chan came over when I was crying and said that nee-sama took a savage beast and went on a trip to find the best dango shop…and then, Iris wanted to make…that…thing called conveying information or something! I’m amazing, right? Right?”
Even though it was hard to understand what she was saying, one could finally understand that she was to be a messenger between Ryner and Sion.
Ferris nodded and patted Iris on the head,
“Nn. That’s impressive. However, you’re still lacking something.”
But Iris was smiling even more now.
“Of course I do! I brought some local stuff for you, nee-sama! Here, Wynnit dango combo sets!”
After saying that, she took out dango boxes from the bag behind her, many, many…
Iris took out about 5 boxes, and the bag was deflated…
It seemed that the bag had only dango inside…
On seeing this, Ryner started to wonder how the girl arrived here without preparing any necessities for travel…
Even though Ryner’s group didn’t bring anything here…
But let’s leave that aside for now.
On seeing this, Ferris showed a rather satisfied expression,
“100 points.”
Iris jumped up happily and turned to Ryner,
“YAY! IRIS GOT 100 POINTS! I’M AMAZING, RIGHT? RIGHT? EHEHEHE♪”
She grinned in a cute manner…
It’s really hard to imagine that she’s Ferris’ sister…
But the moment Ryner thought about it, Iris showed a troubled look,
“Ah! This is bad! Nee-sama taught me that I’ll have children if I talk to beasts!!”
“…Oi oi…”
Ferris continued to eat her dango as she directed her words viciously at Ryner,
“Un, to think that you could still remember, Iris. Remember. This foolish-looking man represents the appearance of a beast that will attack women every night.”
Iris was shocked,
“Re, represents…? Don’t tell me…something happened to you, nee-sama…”
For some reason, Ferris was blushing really hard and looked really anguished,
“…Sorry Iris. I’ve…already talked to the sex maniac…”
“NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!”
Ryner just looked at them in an unenthusiastic manner,
“I say……you two…if you could have kids just like that, this world would be utter chaos…”
But Ryner’s words were interrupted,
“I DEFINITELY CAN’T FORGIVE YOU!!”
“AH!?”
He widened his eyes…
Immediately, Iris’ metallic punch came flying over at an unbelievable speed…
“GYAAAAAHHHHH!!!?”
Ryner’s cry of anguish rang through the entire house.
Soon after, Ryner, Ferris, and Iris, who wouldn’t leave Ferris no matter what, were gathered at the table, eating dango and drinking tea.
Iris took out a memo pad from her bag.
“Then, anyway, tell me what the situation is now! I have to write a report to Sion nii-chan! Come on, say it!”
She was energetically shouting away. Ryner sighed in an unenthusiastic manner, and Ferris was chewing on the umpteenth dango unknowingly, moku moku.
“Okay, hurry up, hurry up!”
“…Haa, seriously, that Sion. Why must he push such a person onto me…HAU!! I, I WAS JOKING…no, well, I’m really happy to be surrounded by such beautiful sisters…so, well, can you please put down that dango stick you’re about to throw over…I really can’t defend against your attack……haa…”
Ryner had been sighing quite a lot recently…
Leaving that aside for now.
Ryner looked lethargic,
“Anyway, based on our current situation…ahh…or rather, to be honest, we haven’t gotten many results recently. We’ve been researching in the Royal Library of Nelpha Imperial on the stories of the legends in this place. Something like that. Will this do?”
It’s unknown if Iris actually understood or not as she continued to mutter Ryner’s words and wrote something in the book.
Ryner was silent for a while,
“……”
Iris was still writing.
“………”
Iris was still writing…
“…I say, do you need that much time to write the content mentioned just now?”
Ryner was wondering somewhat about what she wrote and peeked at the memo pad in her hand…
There was a weird and bad drawing there…
“I SAY, ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME!!?”
Iris was shocked as she looked at Ryner…
“THAT’S NOT TRUE! I KNOW ABOUT EVERYTHING!”
“Liar.”
“I’M NOT LYING! IT’S TRUE!”
Iris continued to insist in her own words as her hand moved. Ryner just nodded away in response,
“Fine fine, I’m going back to read then. Don’t disturb me. I haven’t had much time to read properly, and there’s not much progress in the research…”
As he said that, he opened the book again. Iris puffed her cheeks and clenched her fists,
“DON’T IGNORE ME!!”
“GGGYYYYYAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!”
His anguished cry rang out for umpteenth time…
And soon after…
Ryner described everything about Nelpha ever since he entered this country to Iris.
The reason why he had to explain this vague situation to Iris was that Sion wanted Ryner’s group to not only search for the relics of the legends, but also move around the countries and obtain information from them before compiling them into a report.
And so, Ryner continued to calmly explain to Iris, who was converting words into an artistry on her memo pad,
“Ahh…it’s because of this that we’re now living with the son of a prince in this country, Toale’s house. This guy is rather decent. If Toale has the heart, he definitely has the ability to start a revolution. He’s similar to Sion…ah, but looking at the situation in the city, it seems that the people have more life in them, so a revolution probably wouldn’t happen…there doesn’t seem to be any wars in this country recently, but looking at the situation now, the current king is still there, sort of a wise king there. But looking at things now, if the current king falls, that stupid prince will become king…
"And the country will change…it’s said that a lot of people hate that prince. It seemed that those women he liked would be taken, and he would carry out sexual acts inside the country while acting like no one was looking…
"Looking at things now, if he becomes king, it’ll be really bad, right? Besides, that idiot prince is the king’s only son…and the nobles will definitely have him as king. They hid the evil deeds of this stupid prince from the king…so it’s to be expected that Toale was given lots of expectations.
"Also, there’s a rumor that Toale had been reporting the tyrannical acts of several nobles over to the king and solved them—it seemed that he became a window of contact between the king and the people. If there was anything wrong, everyone would look for Toale.
"Of course, Toale got the majority of the people’s support…but he wasn’t proud of it…
"Well, he’s more or less similar to Sion in personality, but he was gentle and responsible, which made him a complete contrast.
"Anyway,
"Sion you bastard!! Handing these two troublesome women over to me!! I’ll definitely kill you next time!!"
Just like that.
After saying that, Ryner looked at Iris, and Iris seemed to have finished drawing as she lifted her head.
“Okay! It’s perfect now!”
Ryner glanced at her with his half-closed eyes,
“………Okay okay.”
“Ah~! What’s with that attitude of yours!? You’re definitely suspecting me there!”
“…Because you’re…just drawing there.”
On hearing Ryner say that, Iris shoved the memo at him,
“Then, just ask away! Iris can answer them all perfectly!”
“…”
Ryner opened the memo pad that was handed over, and was even more lethargic.
All the pages inside the memo pad had dogs, cats and all sorts of animals that were incomprehensible and unnerving. There were two suns, a house with a red roof was shot out with tremendous force from the sea surface…
And the next page showed that the red house hit the sun…
It’s really scary…
It’s like I’m in some sort of a crazy world here…?
Ryner suddenly had this feeling as he hugged his head and groaned.
But the crazy pretty girl looked at Ryner with expectant eyes,
“Hurry hurry!”
And prompted him…
Ryner pointed at the two suns reluctantly,
“Then…what’s this?”
Iris probed her body forward and looked really happy like a kid describing a drawing to her parents.
“This one this big one refers to the king, and the slightly smaller and darker sun refers to that stupid prince! But then, this red house that flew out is Toale, and the sea’s the people! The red house can pierce through the black sun with the people throwing, but the sun’s still very bright now, so there won’t be a revolution for the time being!”
“…Erm…”
On hearing the explanation, Ryner was completely stumped.
And on seeing Ryner’s expression, Iris suddenly lost her self-confidence as she looked at Ryner in a disappointed manner,
“…Ah, erm…can’t it do? Has Iris failed?”
Ryner shook his head,
“No, that’s not the issue. It’s really good…so good that I’m a little surprised here…”
Iris’ face lit up again,
“Really? That’s great! Nee-sama, nee-sama!! Iris passed!”
And after saying that, she immediately rushed over to Ferris, who was ignoring the situation here and eating dango, with a force that would definitely kill an ordinary person immediately.
Ferris simply moved aside…and used the momentum to swing her once in the air before grabbing her on one leg to carry her upside down.
“Nn. As expected of my little sister.”
“I love nee-sama the most!!”
And then, she hugged Ferris while upside down.
As he looked at the weird sisters…
“…So I’ve been dragged into such a crazy world…”
Ryner hugged his head and groaned again…
At this moment, there was knocking on the door,
“Erm, Ryner-san. Are you done with your meal yet? If you don’t mind, I’ve already prepared some red tea and dessert after the meal…”
It was Toale’s voice.
Ryner and Ferris looked at each other.
“This…seems a little troublesome, isn’t it?”
Ryner looked at Iris who was held upside now and whispered.
Iris looked like an ordinary kid no matter what right now…but she was a spy sent over by Sion’s group in Roland, so if Toale spotted her…
“That might be troublesome, yeah.”
Ferris nodded…
And then,
Ferris threw Iris out.
“Eh? EH? Why? Nee-sama!?”
And Iris was rolling in the air.
She continued to ask as she was thrown out of the window just like that…
Ryner just looked at this in a dumbstruck manner.
On a side note, it’s the 3rd floor here, and if she flew out of the window…
She most probably wouldn’t be alright…
But Ferris didn’t look worried at all as she checked that Iris disappeared from the window, took Iris’ memo pad from Ryner’s hands and threw that out of the window before turning around,
“Nn. I’ll bring Ryner over, Toale.”
“Okay. I’ll be waiting for you downstairs.”
He went off while leaving those words behind, and Ferris heaved a sigh.
And then, she turned to Ryner,
“Nn. That was a little dangerous just now.”
Ryner looked outside the window wordlessly…
“……Or rather, for some reason, I’m starting to feel that staying in the same house as you is rather dangerous…”
Ferris nodded hard,
“Um. It’s true that it’s dangerous when a sex maniac like you and a beauty with an angelic pure heart are living together in an enclosed space. I can understand that.”
“……”
Ryner didn’t even have the strength to argue back…
On a side note, as Ryner was dragged down to the dining room by Ferris, Iris was already playing with the kids from who knew when and enjoying dessert happily…
As she saw Ryner’s group, she waved at them with an innocent smile…
“………………Haa……I had enough……”
And Ryner waved back at her weakily…
In this pitch black room with only the moonlight outside the window as the light source.
Sion was lying down on the bed he had missed for a long time.
He took off the usual old-fashioned suit and changed into normal plainclothes before looking outside the window.
This was the inside of the Roland palace, a rather high place, and as the city itself was built on elevation, one could see the entire capital of Roland from this window—Reylude.
Sion narrowed his eyes and looked at the capital.
It was already late at night, and there were almost no lights on the streets. However, Sion could still see everything on this street clearly as if it was in the palm of his hand.
The right side area was the slums, and in front of him, the area surrounding the city was where the nobles lived. The outskirts had farmers, and the center had merchants…
And the rest were where ordinary people who were scattered around lived.
Sion…was raised in this city.
Of course, his mother was…
When Sion’s mother gave birth to him, she was just a 20 year old girl. Her family wasn’t rich, and she was just an ordinary girl, who fell in love like that, who got married normally.
But on one day, she, who caught the eye of the king…had her life changed completely.
Sion once asked his mother.
Whether his mother hated Sion for not being the child of the one she loved, whether she hated that man…the king’s son, Sion.
However, she shook her head and said,
“You’re a gift bestowed to me by God, Sion, why must I hate? I’m really happy. I have such an outstanding child like you, Sion, so you definitely can’t think of anything else.”
After saying that, she kissed Sion on the forehead.
And carried the usual smile.
She never let Sion see herself in pain.
She was always saying that she was happy.
No matter how much the nobles bullied her, no matter how much they hated her…
She said that she was happy having Sion with her.
“…”
Sion got up from the bed, walked to the window and took a deep breath of air from outside. The curtain swayed a little.
Sion poked his head outside the table and looked down at the area where the nobles lived.
The nobles…
People who were of higher status than ordinary people…
“How stupid…”
Sion muttered softly,
His mother’s status in this city was lower than anyone else…but she was purer than anyone.
At this moment, Sion gave a self-mocking smile.
Yes. Even more than me…
If mom sees the ambitious me using Froaude, Lucile Eris and the rest, what would she say…
Will she still smile and say that I’m her son who makes her proud?
And what about the deceased Fiole? Ryner, Kiefer, Tony, Fualu and Tai…
Sion continued to stand there silently as he looked at the night scene, remembering the names one after another.
But he soon shrugged.
“Since when did I become so timid…I’m thinking too much. I have been burying myself in work recently…Fiole will start throwing tantrums again…”
He said it, and laughed.
He poked his head out of the window, took a deep breath, and closed it.
At this moment.
Suddenly, a large object came flying down from above.
“UWAH!? WHAT!? I SAY, UWAAAHHH!!!”
Sion nearly fell out of the window because of this impact.
However…
“Kuu…I can’t let myself die here like this!!”
He instinctively jumped up and knocked the thing riding on his back right into the room.
That thing easily spun in the air…
The thing then stood on the bed, raised both hands to make a pose and turned around,’
“Jyan! It’s Iris!”
Standing over there was Iris Eris, one of the spies that Sion was making use of…
“How is it? Are you shocked? You were shocked, right? You haven’t seen Iris for a long time. Are you happy?”
She asked with a beaming face.
“…”
Sion tried his best to take a deep breath and wanted to recover the heartbeat that felt like it was going to kill him during that fright, and then immediately showed a smile.
“Un. But you’re fast. Have you seen Ryner and Ferris?”
“Un! I saw them already! And Toale’s desserts were really good. Iris raced against Ibel and the rest and got first!”
Sion was already used to Iris jumbling up words in such a vague manner and smiled back kindly, un un,
“Really? You must have quite the fun, is it? Then, what did Ryner’s group say?”
“Un. He said, well, erm…ah, Iris wrote down everything beast-san said.”
After that, Iris took out a memo pad from the bag on her back.
“Here! I wrote them all here.”
And handed it over to Sion.
Sion took it over…
And opened the memo pad.
Immediately!
“…………………………………………………”
Sion’s mind nearly went to outer space for a moment…
And he finally managed to stop it…
Sion continued to maintain his smile as he started to ask Iris about the meanings behind what she wrote—no, what she drew…
Iris answered happily,
“And then, and then, finally, this cat that looks sleepy is Ryner, and this fox that looks smart here is Sion nii-chan. And then, this sleepy cat is very angry and said that he will kill the fox one day! That’s how it is.”
Basically, it took him more than an hour to finish listening to the explanation—
Anyway, once Sion got Ryner’s report, he smiled and said,
“Ahaha. So Ryner’s still angry at me. Not bad. Guess it’s the right decision to pair him with Ferris. He likes to slack, but there’s still a need for him to work…however…at this time, I didn’t expect them to be in the capital of Nelpha Imperia…
Is this a coincidence? …Or…”
As he said this, he sank into deep thought.
Eris continued to look around the room for something nice to play with and continued to jump up and down the bed…Sion glanced at her, and narrowed his eyes…
The next day.
Around 20 men and women were gathered at the round table in the center of the hall.
They were all close aides to Sion, including Claugh and Calne. Also, there were also a few nobles who followed Sion.
And then—
Calne stood up.
“But it’s still inappropriate this time, Sion…pardon me…Your Majesty. This is obviously a trap set by the anti-king coalition.”
And then, a skinny middle-aged man who had wrinkles on his face and could be aptly described as a gentleman stood up,
“Yes. I too feel that your visit to Nelpha Imperia is somewhat inappropriate this time, Your Majesty.”
His tone wasn’t tense or slow, but sturdy.
He was one of the nobles who stood by Sion in the earliest stages.
Count Nuble.
He himself didn’t have much authority, but as he followed Sion, there were more nobles who followed his decision and went under Sion’s authority.
Right now, the nobles here were all recruited by Nuble.
Right now, everyone here was intensely debating about a proposal the powerful nobles, who weren’t here, raised, that Sion—as the new Roland Empire’s king, whether Sion Astal was to visit Nelpha Imperia. Those nobles spoke plainly with a respectable expression,
“Right now, the Roland Empire is under your rule immediately due to the revolution you started so beautifully, Astal-sama…however, as the situation change was too drastic, the other countries, who have been keeping their distance from us are all nervous. So we have to show one thing, and that is that Roland wishes for peace. Thus, if possible, we want to let all the countries see our new king…therefore, we feel that it will be great if Your Majesty visits Nelpha Imperia personally. What do you think?”
The representative of the nobles, Count Stearead knelt down in front of Sion as he said these words.
At that time, Sion had reservations about this proposal…
But for some reason, there were rumors outside that the king of Roland was about to visit Nelpha Imperia. Some of them were praising the king of Roland for risking his life and hoping for peace, and some of them said that this was an important thing, for the new king of Roland to show his authority.
Regarding this, Nuble continued,
“Besides, I’ve never heard of such a thing before. A country’s king visiting other countries without caring about danger; there’s nothing more foolish than this. If you’re killed, there’s no respect to talk about …besides, it’s definitely Count Stearead’s group that released this rumor. Please consider this properly once more, Your Majesty.
The nobles present and Sion’s own aides all nodded in agreement with his words.
Claugh looked at Sion,
“Everyone said so already. You can tell that this is definitely their trap, so there’s no benefit in going there. Just give up.”
He said in a frivolous tone,
Nuble stared at him,
“Major General Claugh, please take note of your own words when talking to His Majesty…won’t this cause a problem? Even if you were a good friend of His Majesty in the past, Astal-sama is the king right now. When you’re saying such words, the people below will…”
“Ahh, I got it! It’s my fault! Really, such a long-winded uncle. Okay, okay, fine, Your Majesty the king.”
Sion showed a slight smile on his face and secretly patted Claugh, who didn’t show any manners as he sat beside him, on the back.
This seemed to cause Claugh to feel better as he shrugged and pulled himself together.
Nuble nodded his head in a satisfied manner as well,
“Then, Your Majesty, what will happen next? All of us unanimously agree that you shouldn’t visit the Nelpha Imperia…”
Everyone present turned to Sion.
On seeing that, Sion wanted to answer…
But suddenly,
“You should go to Nelpha, Your Majesty.”
A cold and sharp voice came from a corner of the round table.
Everyone's stares were directed in the direction the voice came from.
The one who spoke was Froaude. It was like that corner was covered in darkness, as he used the dark cold eyes to look at the people around him.
Nuble spoke,
“What do you mean by that, Colonel Froaude-sama?”
“Simply put, the simple-minded nobles set a dirty trap. Then, the king couldn’t show that he could break through the trap easily…oh, pardon me. You lords here are also nobles.”
Claugh, Calne and all the army personnel present were taken aback, and the nobles’ eyes flushed red with anger.
“YOU BASTARD! ARE YOU HUMILIATING US HERE!!?”
“AREN’T YOU A NEW ALLY!? BE CAREFUL IN YOUR WORDS!!”
Nuble then stared at Froaude,
“Even so, aren’t you of nobility too?”
And mocked Froaude.
But Froaude’s expression didn’t change at all as he stood up,
“That was disrespectful on my part. I might have gone a little overboard there.”
After saying that, he lowered his head slightly, and then looked at the nobles who were present,
“However, I hope that all of you may understand what I’m about to say. What I’m referring to are the nobles who insist on protecting themselves and are riddled with greed. Unfortunately, there are quite the, rare, number of nobles like you who worry about the country…am I right? Your Majesty?”
On being asked, Sion could only nod his head with a wry smile.
And then, some of the nobles present felt embarrassed, and some of them grinned in a satisfied manner…
Froaude checked out the situation, and then continued,
“Anyway, His Majesty’s reign has just started. We can’t let them see that we’re scared. Besides, this time…it’s obviously a trap set by the aristocratic nobles…so there’s definitely a way to respond to this. If we’re successful, we can even take down the nobles who are against the king in one swoop…if that’s the case, the name of Count Stearead, who had been looking down on you, will be taken out as well. You will be the ones supporting this country.”
On hearing that, the expression of all the nobles present changed.
“I see.”
“So there’s such a way to think about this as well…”
One by one, each of them changed their view and sank into deep thought…
He effectively used the name of Count Stearead, who was standing at the top of the nobles that were suppressing the king’s side and the nobles in Nuble’s group.
Froaude skillfully angered the nobles to attract their attention and then pacified them to praise them before baiting them into agreeing with his view…
But at this moment, Claugh spoke up. He showed a disgusted look that was obviously directed at Froaude,
“Fuun. Talk is cheap. And then? What if Sion gets killed once he parades around in Nelpha? We’re doomed then.”
But this time, Froaude turned to look at Claugh,
“Major General Claugh, have you considered the reason the anti-king coalition want His Majesty to head to Nelpha?”
“Ah? I say, it’s to kill Sion.”
“Yes. Then why won’t they take action inside the country, but outside? The anti-king coalition is comprised of Roland nobles, so their authority would definitely be strongest inside the country. Wouldn’t it be easier for them to take action inside the country?”
“Fuu, if it’s inside the country…‘that’ swordsman clan…the Eris family will protect the king. It’s not so easy for them to take action.”
“The Eris family…ever since the beginning, they are famous great nobles. It can be said that with them around for a day…the Roland family’s blood will never stop. Whether it is the revolution or being occupied by the other countries…it’s true that under the Eris' protection, it would be very difficult to take His Majesty’s life. However, it would be a different case altogether if the location of His Majesty changes and royal members of other bloodlines take over…
Leaving this aside, then, since it’s difficult to kill His Majesty inside the country, what would you do if you’re one of them?”
The indirect talk really annoyed Claugh.
“You…what are you trying to say. If they can’t kill him in Roland, they’ll just let Sion go to Nelpha and kill him there, that’s all?”
Froaude nodded,
“Then, let me answer. If you’re going to kill a king outside the country, what will you do? Nelpha doesn’t have your subordinates because it’s another country, and there’s no room for failure. If you fail, wouldn’t that mean handing the power over to the king’s men…there’s only one chance…then, what should you do?”
“…”
At that moment…Claugh finally realized it, and turned to Sion.
Sion added,
“That’s how it is. There’s some internal link between Nelpha and Roland. Most likely, it’s with some noble in Nelpha…”
These words caused the nobles’ expressions to change,
“How is that possible!? That Count Stearead…actually working together with other countries!? Such a shameless person!!”
“All the more reason we can’t let His Majesty head to Nelpha!”
But Froaude increased the weight of his tone,
“Then, if I may ask everyone, are you going to leave the traitor with ties to Nelpha alone!? That’s called shameless. The seeds of betrayal have to be removed as soon as possible!”
“Bu, but…!”
Froaude interrupted the nobles’ words,
“His Majesty will not die even if he heads to Nelpha. His Majesty isn’t someone who will easily die in such a place.”
“Why are you so certain! You bastard…saying this out all of a sudden, you’re the one who’s a spy for the anti-king coalition!?”
Froaude stared at the nobles with icy cold eyes.
“…That’s impossible…I can’t erase this doubt now, but this action can prove my innocence. I’ll go with His Majesty…I want to go to Nelpha as well, and this will be the proof of my loyalty. Then, what are you going to do? The act of going to Nelpha will be risking your lives. Is anyone of you willing to give up your lives to protect His Majesty?”
None of the nobles answered his question, and all of them showed awkward looks…
At this moment, only Nuble lifted his head,
“I understand. I’ll go too.”
He stood up, and one after another, all of them stood up to volunteer themselves with expressions showing that they were against Froaude…
And Froaude himself merely smiled back at them…
At this moment, Claugh interrupted.
“I say, oi oi. Don’t be ensnared by him so easily. Really…besides, Froaude, you’re saying that you’re going with Sion, but what happens if you’re the killer?”
“Fum, at that moment… you can kill me, the bodyguard, Major General Claugh. Or…you don’t have the confidence yourself?”
Froaude’s words were really taunting.
However…
“Even if you say it that way, I won’t fall for it. Unfortunately, I hate it when others dodge my ability. If I know that you may kill Sion in Nelpha…I’ll definitely kill you here.”
Immediately, Claugh’s red eyes showed a sharp glow. He raised his hand gently, and the fingers showed the shape of a claw as they exerted force.
Froaude faced all this coldly,
“Crimson Finger…is it. It was stained with a lot of noble blood during the revolution…”
“You’re really noisy. You’ll soon follow them, so shut up.”
Claugh growled.
However, Froaude was unsurprised at all…
“This is unexpected…you’re not as easy to manipulate as I thought. Not falling for my taunt and forcing me to show my true face and scaring me away…as expected of the right hand of His Majesty, is it?”
He faced the calm Froaude,
“…”
Claugh lost his mood and put his hand down,
“…Tch, you bastard…you saw through it. How boring. Besides, show some fright, will ya?”
“Fm, why must I show a frightened expression? I don’t have any secret that’s hidden in the darkness, you know?”
“You…actually said such a thing with such heinous and dark eyes.”
“…”
“DON’T IGNORE ME!”
But Claugh was completely ignored, and Froaude looked at Sion,
“Then, Your Majesty, please make your decision, I’ve said what I wanted to say, but the decision lies with you, Your Majesty.”
“Nn.”
Sion looked around.
Everyone present was looking at him.
Sion smiled.
“I’ll go to Nelpha. Froaude alone will be enough to accompany me.”
Immediately, everyone present other than Froaude couldn’t help but stand up,
“WHAT!? IS THAT A JOKE!? THAT’S TOO DANGEROUS! PLEASE CONSIDER!”
“SUCH A TRUST HAS THE RISK OF BETRAYING US. BRINGING THE DANGEROUS MAN TO ANOTHER COUNTRY…”
And Claugh,
“Oi, Sion, isn’t that a little too much? At least bring Calne and me along too.”
But Sion shook his head.
“If it’s a trap, it’ll be dangerous to head to Nelpha. I can’t let everyone go to such a dangerous place. If there’s a need to bear such danger, only I and Froaude who raised the suggestion here will be enough. Also, if I’m not here, we need people to suppress the nobles…”
“But that’s too dangerous as well. At least bring a few people you can trust.”
But Sion didn’t accept this as he merely chuckled in an interesting manner,
“No need for that. No, I suppose it’s better not to have any. I don’t know what kind of trap the nobles set up for me in Nelpha…but there are some interesting people who are thinking the same thing as me and are headed there. They…may not listen to my orders in that situation.”
Sion gave a wry smile as he said that, and Claugh gave an intrigued look.
“Interesting people?”
Sion whispered softly to Claugh’s voice,
“I said it to you before, right? That guy who took down all 50 members of the Estabul magic knights.”
“Wha…at, that one? The owner of the ‘Alpha Stigma’…”
Sion didn’t answer him as he looked around,
“It’s decided. I’m going to visit Nelpha Imperia. Everyone, please make your preparations as quick as possible.”
The king’s orders were absolute.
And it was decided.
The people around the table stood up.
“Understood.”
Everyone was dismissed.
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