Epilogue I
Several days after Reiji and company left the castle, having made plans for what he would do next, Suimei left Royal Castle Camellia himself. Quite obviously, Suimei didn’t have any sort of grand parade to send him off like Reiji did, and though the beginning of his journey was a lonely one, Suimei didn’t care much about that. After informing Astel’s King Almadious and a somewhat reluctant Felmenia, he descended towards the royal capital of Metel quietly at his own convenience.
His first destination was the so-called Adventurer’s Guild in Metel. There, he had something that he had to attain no matter what. Well, before that, he had to do something about his clothes, but nevertheless…
Really, I didn’t think he would hand over money…
Muttering in slight bewilderment to himself, Suimei gingerly lifted a heavy bag up to his face with the sound of jingling metal. When Suimei had actually left the castle, Prime Minister Gless had approached and handed him a bag containing some twenty odd coins. With a gaze showcasing disdain from the bottom of his heart, he’d told Suimei to thank His Majesty in a patronizing tone before yammering on full of hate, then finally pushing what amounted to charity money on to Suimei and shooing him out the front gate.
From what the prime minister had implied, it seemed to be an arrangement made by King Almadious. Suimei scratched his head weakly at the unexpected development.
Despite telling him not to, is that king trying to put me in his debt…?
Back in the audience chamber, Suimei had turned down his offer of support once before. So being handed money in spite of his polite refusal did lead him to suspect some sort of ulterior motive. But this was the king of Astel. He wasn’t the type to act so craftily in such a transparent way. It was likely just a simple act of goodwill. But speaking frankly, Suimei didn’t want to be bound by any such fetters, so he couldn’t quite bring himself to be happy over the generous little gift.
For example, if the king made it publicly known that he’d helped Suimei and that Suimei had a connection to Astel, Suimei would feel obligated to repay the kindness somehow. That was the kind of thing he was worried about. He didn’t want to have his hands tied in any way. He doubted the king had anything like that planned, but it still put him in a precarious position.
Making use of Suimei’s conscience and naiveté, there was no mistaking that he was set up in such a way that it would be simple to entice him into action. Favors sowed could be reaped later threefold, and the king was an expert tender of his fields in that regard. He’d planted all the right seeds for himself and his kingdom.
“Hahh… What are you gonna do? Well, if he couldn’t do this much, I guess he wouldn’t be a king…”
Perhaps he knew that if he handed the money over to Suimei himself, it would have simply been handed right back to him. That’s why he’d used the prime minister to send it. Suimei wouldn’t be able to refuse him. Certainly, if he rejected the king’s goodwill when that barcode baldy was in such a poor mood, he knew he wouldn’t be able to escape the castle without incident. Though Suimei could deal with whatever may come, he didn’t want to get involved in anything serious. So in the interest of leaving quickly and quietly, he took the money.
It would be a different story if there had been more harm in accepting it, but since he had no articulate reason to refuse, that would make it even more difficult to do so. And what he had received was money. It was something he would require a significant amount of in the very near future.
There were traveling expenses, the acquisition of a base, the production of magickal items, everyday necessities. There would be no end to it if he listed it all out. Right now, that was one of Suimei’s weak points. So when he weighed the overall pros and cons of taking the money, he knew he was right to quietly accept it.
Besides, even if someone tried to extract a favor down the line from him for it, it wasn’t like Suimei was obligated to do anything just because he’d accepted the money. That would be something for Suimei and his conscience to fight out when the time came.
Suimei lowered his gaze to the money pouch and the letter he was handed together with it. Written on a fine piece of paper was a note from the king stating that he hoped Suimei would accept both the money and his apology. Reading it, Suimei’s heart swayed, and he unintentionally let out a sigh.
Suimei knew he should be grateful to the king. Turning around and glancing back at the gate that was already in the far distance behind him, Suimei respectfully bowed his head.
“You damn sly old fox.”
But that old man would never forget his abusive thanks.
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