“If I show him that he’s now beneath my notice, I’m hoping I can get him to wake up and see sense.” In Nozomu’s mind, if that managed to rouse his father, that would be great—and if he paid Nozomu no heed and continued to laze around, then that would just prove he was never worth looking up to to begin with. Above all, though, Nozomu wanted Ephelia to see how pathetic his father was for herself. For whatever reason, she currently held Yuuto in incredibly high esteem. Whenever they were together, she often had nothing but words of gratitude and respect for him, which rubbed Nozomu the wrong way. He wanted to show Ephelia that he was much cooler than his dad ever was.
“Young master, forgive me, but it seems some suspicious individuals are at the tavern entrance,” his escort Hildegard said in hushed tones.
“Huh?” He cast a glance over at the entrance to the tavern and saw what looked like a group of travelers, all staring in his direction open-mouthed, as if in shock.
“What’s up with them?” he asked, only to be answered by another woman.
“My, my, it seems you still have a long way to go, young master.” It was Kristina. She’d come along with them as an intelligence gatherer and adviser. She was as knowledgeable as she was beautiful, but her cold, unfriendly aura and acid tongue were often hard for Nozomu to deal with.
“Huh? What do you mean by that?” Nozomu replied.
“Those guys are all super strong,” Albertina answered, stuffing her face with a meat kebab. As Kristina’s older sister, she was no less beautiful, but perhaps because of the gentle expression she usually wore, she exuded a warm, fuzzy aura that made her feel much more approachable in comparison.
“You think so?” Homura tilted her head in apparent confusion. However, she was already such an outlier when it came to physical strength that she probably wasn’t a good judge in the first place.
At any rate, if those three said the suspicious travelers were that skilled, then there was no doubt.
“Hm...” Nozomu observed the group more carefully. He was Sigrun’s beloved pupil, after all—despite not having a rune of his own, his sword skills were such that he’d already earned Sigrun’s approval to join the Muspell unit. As such, he could roughly gauge an opponent’s strength by observing their posture.
“I see now. They certainly do seem to be rather impressive fighters. Much too skilled to be mere bodyguards for a merchant cabal,” Nozomu observed.
“Oh, come on, young master, please tell me you know better than to just keep staring—” It seemed that Kristina’s warning came too late. The man in front of the group—likely the leader—locked eyes with Nozomu. And in the next instant, a deathly chill ran down Nozomu’s spine. His body started trembling from its very core, and his teeth began to chatter.
“Heh. I was merely returning the favor since it’s rude to stare, but perhaps I laid it on too thick,” the leader of the bunch said as he approached him with a sneer. Nozomu didn’t even dare to retort back. He wasn’t sure why, but he couldn’t help but be terrified of this man. “In that sense, I have to commend the rest of you. Rather than being intimidated by me in the least, you just leisurely went on enjoying your meal.”
Nozomu looked to his left and right. Neither Hildegard, Kristina, nor Albertina had changed expression in the slightest. As for Homura, she was too busy chowing down on her meal to care about what was happening—either it didn’t interest her, or she was just really hungry. Ephelia’s expression was tense, but she didn’t seem to be anywhere near as frightened as Nozomu. He alone had been completely taken in by this man. Realizing that, he was suddenly overcome by a wave of shame.
“I-I wasn’t sea—”
“Hm?”
Nozomu tried to retort, but the second the man trained his eyes on him, Nozomu was rendered speechless. He felt like a frog being stared down by a snake. Was the man’s presence just that overwhelming? At any rate, it felt like it was gnawing at his heart, causing him to cower almost out of instinct.
“I have no use for the likes of you. Weaklings can just sit down and shut up,” the man spat.
Unable to do anything but stay silent, Nozomu drooped his head in shame.
“Wh-Wlio the hell is this?!” If he had to compare it to anything, it was similar to the bloodlust Sigrun exuded when she faced off against him. But Nozomu was able to handle something of that level by now. He didn’t think this man was stronger than Sigrun, so why was he so helplessly rooted to the spot by his overwhelming presence?
“My, did I just hear you calling our young master a weakling? I can’t let that slide, I’m afraid,” Kristina responded with an icy grin.
“Why are you provoking him?!” Nozomu wanted to shout in panic. Nothing good could come of getting in a fight with this guy, so why was she egging him on?!
“Heh heh heh...” Contrary to Nozomu’s expectations, the man just snickered in amusement. What was going on? “You’re the first woman who’s ever stood up to me, save for my stepmother. Interesting. Give me your name,” he demanded.
“Isn’t it common etiquette for you to give your own name first? I believe even a child knows that,” Kristina responded.
“Hoh?” The man let out a scoff. The moment he did, the air grew dense with his intimidating aura, so thick that Nozomu could barely breathe. Despite the warmth inside the tavern, he felt like his body had frozen over.
“It’s even more pathetic that you have to intimidate a woman into telling you her name,” Kristina continued.
“Heh... I suppose it’s as you say.” The moment he snickered, the pressure in the air immediately let up. Finally able to breathe again, Nozomu sighed in relief. He was saved. If that pressure had lasted any longer, he might’ve seriously died of asphyxiation.
“My name is Thutmose, Pharaoh of Kemet. Thutmose III, to be exact.” The man—Thutmose—finally gave his name. He’d also informed them that he was from Kemet—the large country to the southwest of the Megiddo region, if Nozomu recalled correctly. If he really was the ruler of that land, that would certainly explain why he gave off such a commanding presence.
“I-Is it really okay for you to reveal yourself in a place like this?!” one of his entourage stammered.
“Silence. I am greeting my future wife for the first time. It’s only proper that I display my sincerity,” Thutmose replied.
“Huh?! Future wife?!” While he didn’t let out a cry of surprise, Nozomu was completely baffled. One thing was snowballing into another, and unable to follow the conversation, his confusion grew with each passing moment. Just what had prompted this sudden turn of events?
“Now then, beautiful, strong-willed woman. May I have your name?”
“Kristina.”
“Kristina, is it? What a lovely name. Your spirit has captured my heart, and you possess the qualities necessary for a wife of mine. Please, stay beside me, and...”
“Sorry.” Kristina cut Thutmose off before he could say anything further. “Serves you right!” thought Nozomu, but he certainly knew better than to say that out loud. He wouldn’t dare.
“Don’t tell me it’s because you’re already betrothed to him?" Thutmose jabbed a thumb over at Nozomu. That pissed Nozomu off, but he didn’t have the guts to say so.
“No, the one I love is elsewhere,” Kristina replied.
“Oh? Then I’m rather jealous of that person. But I wonder if they have the capacity to handle you?”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. That person accepts all that I am, and I’ve devoted my life solely to them.”
“Is that so? Then that makes me even more envious.”
“Huh? You have someone like that, Kris?!” Her older sister Albertina went wide-eyed as though it was news to her. Of course, the one that Kristina loved more than anybody else was Albertina herself, but Albertina seemed to be the only one that wasn’t aware. “No way... It can’t be Father, right?! You’ve been holding back because of me?!”
“No, Al. You’re only making the conversation more complicated, so settle down and eat your meal.”
“Eh?! Then, will you tell me afterward?!”
“Sony. It’s a secret.”
“Aww!”
“Now, now, settle down. You’ve got some soup on your face.”
“Huh?! Where?!”
“Right here.” Kristina brushed her finger along Albertina’s cheek and stuck it in her own mouth. The expression on her face was gentle, a far cry from her usual icy demeanor. It was as plain as day who the one she loved really was.
“How unproductive.” Thutmose, apparently having realized what Kristina was getting at, gave a bitter half-smile.
“That’s my call to make,” Kristina replied icily.
“It’s a waste of a good woman such as yourself. I ought to show you how much better being with a man can be,” he said with a grin. His voice was full of confidence, as though he was certain he could get anyone to do his bidding. But he wasn’t putting on airs either. He had a mysterious charisma to him that backed up those words of his, that could get anyone to follow him if he so desired.
Those charismatic powers of his didn’t work on Kristina, it seemed. “I’ll pass on that. I’ve met plenty of men better than you, at least.” She cut him down without hesitation.
“Does this woman not know fear?!” Nozomu, barely managing to contain himself, yelled internally. In fact, save for Hildegard, Albertina, and Homura, the other soldiers tasked with protecting Nozomu were also overwhelmed by Thutmose’s presence and were wincing in fear. The four women who maintained calm expressions were actually the odd ones out.
“Hoh, better men than me? Then, by all means, bring them here.” He seemed to be amused, but Thutmose’s voice became fierce, and the tension in the room thickened once more.
“Again?! Does this guy not have any restraint?! Gimme a break! Get me outta here!” Nozomu screamed in his heart, when...
“Oh, there you are. Yo, did I make you wait a while?”
The completely out-of-place, leisurely voice of his father echoed through the tavern.
“Who is this man coining from nowhere all of a sudden?!” was Thutmose Ill’s initial thought. There was a silver-haired and blonde-haired woman to the left and right of the man as well, but they barely even registered within his consciousness. The man looked to be anywhere from his late twenties to his midthirties, and he seemed to not have a care in the world. In other words, weak, by Thutmose’s standards. His impression of the unknown man quickly shifted, however. Something about him was strangely frightening. For some reason, Thutmose got the feeling he was on the edge of a sheer precipice, staring down into an endless abyss.
“Oh look, perfect timing. Here’s someone who’s far more of a man than you’ll ever be.” Kristina snickered as though she could see through Thutmose’s fear.
He could not show weakness in front of the woman he’d fallen for. He glared at the man who’d appeared out of nowhere and released his aura of intimidation that had caused so many to kneel before him. Despite Thutmose’s best efforts, however, the man just blinked in confusion, as though he didn’t know why he was being pressured in the first place. He didn’t look intimidated or frightened in the least.
“Heh heh... Interesting!" Thutmose thought. Kristina had said this man was more of a man than he was, so there was no need to hold back. With a carnivorous grin, he turned the pressure up to max.
“Yikes!”
“What the?!”
Even the other tavern patrons let out yelps of shock and fear. Thutmose had called forth a magnitude of presence only a great king could manifest to intimidate everyone in the building.
“So, uh, did my son do something to upset you, by any chance?” Even after taking Thutmose’s full-powered aura at point-blank range, the man showed no signs of nervousness. He wasn’t pretending to be unfazed either —Thutmose’s aura was simply like a light breeze to him.
“Hm, well, as a parent, it’d be intrusive of me to get involved in a fight between children, but it looks like this might be a little hard for Nozomu to handle on his own. All right, then, I’ll settle this.” As he said it, a mischievous grin appeared on the man’s face, and in the next instant...
“Whooaaaa?!”
A chill of terror like nothing Thutmose had ever felt before in his life ran down his spine. Sweat began to pour from his face in an instant. Even his stepmother, Hatshepsut, the queen of Kemet who held ultimate power over him, had never inspired such raw fear in him.
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