Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 24 - Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

The Capital

THE HOUSE WAS QUIET. A simmering pot wobbled on the hearth at the center of the room. In front of it sat a man with green hair. Ruijerd. I sat opposite him with the hearth in between us. We didn’t speak. Between Ruijerd and I, there was only silence.

We didn’t need to speak. Or maybe it was more accurate to say we didn’t have the luxury. Right now, my every thought was focused right in front of me. I couldn’t screw this up. I waited for the moment to come, keeping a close eye on the hearth.

And then the moment came. I reached out slowly…and extinguished the hearth fire. It wasn’t over yet. I couldn’t rush this.

For ten minutes, I stayed where I was, unmoving. Then, when the time was up, I spoke at last. 

“Ruijerd, have you prepared yourself?”

“I am ready,” he said. With that, I reached for the object at my side. It was perfectly white and rough to the touch, shaped like an egg—no, not shaped like an egg. It was a chicken’s egg.

Without a word, I cracked the egg into a bowl, then whisked it with my chopsticks. I did all this in one fluid series of motions, as though I’d been doing it all my life. 

The child is father to the man, as the saying goes. You practice riding a bicycle until you can do it and then you never forget, no matter how many years pass. It’s the same thing.

Except I’d never once practiced. I might have had this skill since birth. It was pure instinct.

The egg white and yolk were now combined.

I repeated the same process once more. Now there were two bowls of whisked egg. I set them to one side, then I reached for the pot lid.

I lifted the lid, looked inside, and nodded. “All right.”

The white grains within were cooked through. There was a hiss as moisture escaped and the air in the room grew thick with the aroma of freshly steamed rice. I found myself gulping as my mouth began to water. The impulse to shovel the rice into my mouth then and there seized me, but I forced myself to resist—instead, I gently loosened the grains from the bottom of the pot. I took a bowl and heaped rice into it. It was precisely one bowlful. Too much or too little would end in disaster.

Next, I picked up my chopsticks and made a well in the middle of the rice. Into the well, I poured the freshly whisked egg. The white rice turned a sticky golden yellow. But I wasn’t done.

It was what came next. This was the part of the process I’d so hungered for ever since I came to this world. I picked up the little bottle beside me. Gradually, I tipped the narrow, tapered spout over the golden rice. A dark liquid emerged. It was so pure black that you could have mistaken it for poison: soy sauce. 

I poured it in a circular motion, once around. Twice would be fine too, but for now, once would do. Just that was enough to stain the surface of the golden rice black. It was the same color as custard with caramel sauce, which made my stomach growl.

Keep it cool, I told myself. You can eat real soon.

I steamed four cups of rice for this. From now on, I could eat this whenever I felt like it, any time I liked. I was going to make every moment of this first time special.

“It is ready,” I announced at last, passing the bowl to Ruijerd. He accepted it with a noise of thanks, then waited for me. Right away, I went through the same motions to produce another bowl with the same contents.

“Thank you for the food,” I said, bringing my hands together and bowing my head. I took the bowl in my left hand and my chopsticks in my right. I opened my mouth wide. I crammed in a heaping mouthful.

“Mm! Mmm!”

This taste. This was it. Perfection. There was room for improvement, but this was it. This was the flavor I’d been pursuing all this time.

“Mm…hm…hmmph!” I ate one mouthful, then another, then a third. No talking, just eating, chewing, swallowing, pausing occasionally to exhale, then inhaling another mouthful of rice with the next breath. I ate and ate.

Before I knew it, my bowl was empty. “Thank you for the meal,” I said. My moment of bliss was over in a blink. I was left feeling satisfied, but also wanting more. Before I dug into bowl number two, however, I looked over at the man opposite me. Ruijerd was still eating in silence. He was never the type to chat during meals, but he seemed even more taciturn than usual. Of course, he and I were the only ones here. I couldn’t expect a conversation when I wasn’t talking either. Wasn’t he eating slowly though? It looked like he was barely half done.

Okay, maybe I was too fast.

“Rudeus?”

“Agh!” 

Norn was sitting right next to the hearth. I hadn’t noticed her.

“Norn, when did you get here?”

“Only just now. I did say something when you were eating, though…”

Ah, right.

“What is that?”

“A special dish. Want some?”

Norn glanced at Ruijerd before she answered. “I suppose.”

Right away, I scooped rice into a bowl, then whisked an egg, poured it over, and topped it with soy sauce. The whole process took less than ten seconds, but I could say with certainty there’d be no difference in flavor. This was craftsmanship.

“Eat up!” I prompted her.

“What even is this?”

“The food of my people.”

Norn hesitated for a long moment, then took the bowl with a “thank you” and started to eat.

I waited. I sat there and waited for the two of them to finish. Still not done? Hurry up, I wanna hear what you think. If you don’t have anything to say, that’s fine too, but I wanna know.

Ruijerd finished eating. “Is this the food you told me about during our travels?” he asked.

“Yeah. What did you think?”

“It was good.” That was all he had to say, but it was more than enough for me. In the good old days when we’d traveled together, this was what I’d hankered after. Now I was eating it together with my old traveling companion. My only regret was that Eris wasn’t there with us.

“Thanks for that,” Norn said when she was finished. She’d only just started; she must have wolfed it down.

“Let’s hear it then, Norn. This is what I told you about back home.”

“It was actually…quite good. This flavor, it’s not like anything I’ve had before. Is it that seasoning?”

“That’s right. Soy sauce is incredible. You can put it on anything and it’ll taste great.”

“Wow…” 

I got a rave review from Norn as well. I’d make it for her again at home. Today was a historic day. Today marked the birth of tamago kake gohan in this world.

“The only thing is,” I added, “eating raw egg can make you sick. I’ll cast detoxification magic on you when you’re done.”

“You can’t feed something that needs detoxification to a person who’s still recovering!” Norn exclaimed. On this historic day, I’d earned a scolding.

Two days passed. The Superd steadily moved toward recovery. Many were still bedridden, but those with mild symptoms were back to their normal lives. With that, I decided to build a darkroom in a corner of the village and plant Sokas Grass. We still didn’t know whether the plague was the result of the soil or Abyssal King Vita, but if they ever came down with the same symptoms, having this would make all the difference. If Abyssal King Vita had caused the plague, I supposed he was gone and there’d be no chance it’d recur. If it was the vegetables, the Superd would have to change their lifestyle, either by moving closer to the edge of the forest or by going to the Earthwyrm Ravine Village for their produce. One or the other. Whichever one it was, they’d need the blessing of the Biheiril Kingdom. Moving them to the Asura Kingdom was an option too, but many of the Superd were uneasy or outright opposed to the idea. They’d lived on this land a long time, and they were loath to leave it. Not to mention that the Millis faith had great influence in the Kingdom of Asura. The Superd might have eased up around Cliff, but their fear of the Millis Church ran deep.

And so, I set off to the capital city of Biheiril to negotiate with the Biheiril Kingdom. I had two objectives. First, acceptance of the Superd. Second, dissolution of the hunting party. The Superd were generally blunt in their interactions, and they’d faced ongoing persecution, so they were a little insular. They were good-hearted people, though. Even if the Biheiril Kingdom had reservations, I had all sorts of ways I could persuade them. The quickest would be to have someone come to the village. Once they saw the Superd for themselves, saw they were awkward but warm-hearted, saw the innocent children, they’d know they were harmless… At least, that’s what I hoped. I couldn’t count my chickens. The Biheiril Kingdom’s inspectors might see children and think They’re breeding?! We must exterminate them at once! as though they were cockroaches. 

If it came to that, I’d just encourage the Superd Tribe to move. Settling them in the north of the Asura Kingdom would mean putting another burden on Ariel, but… If all else failed, I’d pay her with my body. 

It’d be fine. Whatever else you thought, the Superd children were all sweet and beautiful. I didn’t want to believe the Biheiril Kingdom was full of jerks who wouldn’t even be moved by the sight of those children playing with their animal-hide ball, the picture of innocence.

“So,” I concluded, “I’m going to the Biheiril Kingdom.”

“I see.”

“Cliff says he’s going to keep an eye on how things progress, and Elinalise will stay with him. I think Norn is going to keep caring for Ruijerd. What are you going to do, Sir Orsted?”

“I will remain here. Cliff Grimor is researching the plague. Next time, I may be able to cure it.” As he spoke, a ball came hurtling at him and he whacked it away. It happened in a flash. I barely saw his hand move. The ball flew back in a gentle arc right into the arms of the child.

“My presence shouldn’t be required for negotiations,” he continued.

“No arguments there. Even with the helmet holding the curse at bay—” Another ball came flying and whack, back it went again. “—that doesn’t mean it’s gone altogether, does it?”

“Indeed.” Whack. Back went the ball.

“Should it come down to it, though, I’d appreciate you making an appearance. Even with the curse, the sight of you should strike awe into them.”

“Very well.”

Whack, again. 

“Should I make them cut it out?” I asked, looking in the direction of the incoming balls where a group of Superd children was hurling ball after ball at Orsted. They didn’t look hostile so much as curious. Who’s the weird guy? Let’s hit him with the ball! Something like that. Without the helmet, they might be hurling stones rather than balls…

“It’s of no concern. Such trifling shots don’t count as an attack.”

“You…you don’t say.” Was Orsted playing? There was no telling what his face was doing underneath the helmet, but he didn’t sound grumpy.

“Are you enjoying this?”

“It’s not so bad,” he admitted. All right, then.

“Great. I’ll be back soon.”

Orsted grunted his approval and I left. Dohga and Chandle were already waiting for me at the teleportation circle. While I was in the capital, Chandle was going to the second city to make contact with the informant. It wasn’t how we planned it, but we’d decided splitting into two groups would be more efficient. Dohga was coming with me for protection. At this stage, I didn’t see him being much help. I supposed it was better having him there than not.

“Oh!” On the way, I passed Ruijerd. He was shaky on his feet, leaning on Norn’s shoulder for support. “Ruijerd, you can walk?”

“Short distances,” he said. Judging by the stern look on Norn’s face, he wasn’t supposed to.

“I’m going to the Biheiril Kingdom for a little while to negotiate with them. When I come back, I might have some soldiers with me. If you could be as welcoming as possible, that’d be a real help.”

“Very well. I’ll let the chief know,” Ruijerd said, but he was looking at Orsted. Orsted was backed up against a wall, with children throwing ball after ball at him. You’d be forgiven for thinking they were bullying him, but there was something charming about it. Orsted deflected each ball with precision—the children were laughing.

“Looks can be deceiving,” Ruijerd remarked.

“They sure can,” I said, the corners of my mouth quirking into a smile.

***

I passed through the magic circle at Orsted’s office, then on to the Biheiril Kingdom. Naturally, when I stopped off at the office, I checked the communication tablets. Zanoba reported all was well. Aisha and the Mercenary Band said the same. There was still nothing from Sylphie, but that was all right. She was pretty far away, and wasn’t supposed to be close to her nearest teleportation circle. Roxy had made some progress. She didn’t know where the Ogre God was, but spurious rumors were circulating that the ogres were readying for battle over on Ogre Island. She also said that Eris was itching to come back to me. She wanted to see Ruijerd. I bet she did, but I needed her to hang on a little longer. 

I also sent out messages to everyone to let them know the Superd were on the way to recovery. It’d all been solved in a few days. It made me feel like I was bothering everyone by calling for all hands on deck and then quickly calling them off, but they’d have to deal with it. When that was done, I put on my disguise ring once more and hopped onto the teleportation circle that led to the capital of the Biheiril Kingdom.

Zanoba had set up the teleportation circle in an abandoned village in the forest, half a day’s journey from the city.

The moment I arrived, Zanoba bowed and said, “I’ve been expecting you, Master!” Julie and Ginger were with him.

“You were waiting for me?” I asked.

“Indeed. I came at once when I received word you were coming.”

How dutiful.

“This is perfect!” he continued. “Now I can tell you what’s been happening without worrying about eavesdroppers.”

“True that. All right, let’s hear it.”

“I must admit we haven’t had much success,” Zanoba confessed. He told me what they’d been up to. First, after arriving in the capital and securing lodgings, he set up the teleportation circle in this forest. Then he started collecting information in the capital, where he learned that the kingdom was putting together a hunting party—that was when he sent his initial report via contact tablet. I’d seen that one. After that, he learned that the North God had joined the hunting party. Now he was searching for news of Geese and doing reconnaissance to identify the North God. That about summed it up.

“So we know nothing,” I summarized.

“My sincere apologies. I heard North God Kalman the Third was a conspicuous man, so I thought we’d find him straight away, but it hasn’t been that simple…”

“No, don’t apologize.” We hadn’t been in the Biheiril Kingdom for long. Zanoba’s team had arrived in town, set up the magic circle, then gotten to work. It had only been a week. It was too soon to demand results.

“We’re just getting started,” I said. “Let’s do this thing.”

“All right,” Zanoba replied. 

The North God joining the hunting party was interesting. If that were true, I’d love to get in touch with him. Only…a guy that conspicuous, and he was nowhere to be found? That made me suspect he was up to something. Maybe Geese had already recruited him. When Vita failed, Geese probably decided the plan had failed. He’d lost the advantage and retreated with the North God in tow. Or Vita might have been a diversion. He’d gone down easily.

The news about Vita might not have even gotten back to Geese yet, but that was probably overly optimistic. Either way, I’d still gotten Ruijerd on my side. That was enough to make coming to the Biheiril Kingdom worth it.

“Well then, Master, shall we be off? I’ll take you to the capital.”

“Yes, please.”

What I have to do hasn’t changed, I thought as we set off for Biheiril.

The capital of the Biheiril Kingdom kind of reminded me of the Shirone Kingdom. It had the ambience of a mid-sized nation on the Central Continent. This country had timber in abundance, and almost all the buildings were made of wood. Trees dotted the city. Maybe they were what provided its unique atmosphere. It was night when I arrived, which also gave it a particularly cozy, yet grand feeling. In this country, they lit great braziers in the street when it got dark. 

Otherwise, nothing set it apart from any other town. We passed inns and hawkers near the entrance. As we approached the town center, it steadily grew more extravagant—merchant houses gave way to noble mansions. Right in the middle there was a castle. It was built at the meeting point of two rivers, similar to Fort Karon in Shirone and just like Sunomata Castle in Gifu. Behind the castle, on the other side of the river, were the slums. Just where they were in any other town.

“Right, we have to see the king.”

“Do you think we can get an audience?” Zanoba said. “The authority of Her Majesty Queen Ariel doesn’t extend to places like this…”

“Hmm.”

Zanoba and I strategized in a room we’d gotten at the inn. This wasn’t the kind of place adventurers stayed; it was a swanky establishment that catered to nobles visiting from the provincial cities. I wasn’t sure whether to remark on how differently wealthy people lived than the rest of us or to reprimand him for doing something that could draw attention. Not that it was so conspicuous that it’d wreck anything.

“What about slipping in with the hunting party? There’ll be a departure ceremony where the king will make an address. You could force your way close to him; then you’ll definitely get your audience.”

“That’ll be too late. If we try to call a time-out just when the kingdom’s got everything ready and said, ‘Go,’ they might plow ahead anyway.”

There was an order to these kinds of missions. You put the party together, you gathered food supplies and weapons, then off you went. If someone showed up at the last moment telling you to hold on a minute! there was a good chance you wouldn’t stop. You couldn’t—the kingdom’s reputation would be tied up in pulling this off.

“It might be too late now, but I want to explain to him why there’s no need to attack the Superd.”

I’d tell the king about the existence of the Superd Tribe, get the kingdom to guarantee their safety, and then the hunting party could catch some Invisible Wolves or whatever and come home. I could even cover some percentage of whatever money they’d wasted on it. Orsted would fork out a decent amount if I asked.

That was why I wanted to meet the king as soon as possible before the hunting party set off. I conveyed this to Zanoba as I tried to think of a way to do it.

“Let’s try going there directly first. It might draw unwanted attention, but I’ll introduce myself as a follower of the Dragon God, then name-drop the Asura Kingdom and—if the situation calls for it—Perugius. If that doesn’t work, we can think of something else.”

No other great ideas came to me. We decided to ask for an audience like everyone else.

The next day, after breakfast, we set off for the area around the castle. It really did look like the one in Shirone, from the size to the vibe… The main difference was the number of wooden parts this castle used. That meant it was vulnerable to fire, not unlike Zanoba.

“We’ll probably get turned away at the door,” I said.

“I’m sure Queen Ariel’s name will at least get us a meeting.”

“The Asura Kingdom doesn’t have any diplomatic ties with this country… It’ll be tricky if we follow the proper procedures.”

“You’re not going to follow the proper procedures?”

“I can’t follow them.” 

It was unexpectedly difficult to get a meeting with the king. I’d always skipped most of the steps to getting royal audiences in the past. Usually, you leveraged connections in the nobility to get an appointment, got an outfit and a carriage, and handed over documentation to prove who you were. Then you were sent to a palace official who made sure you were trustworthy. After that, they officially put it on the king’s schedule and you got to go to the audience chamber. That was the process. It was a tall order if you didn’t have the connections. That didn’t mean it was impossible to do a walk-in. If you were important enough that the king wanted to see you, even an applicant showing up out of the blue could get an audience. The only problem was that Geese would find us if we drew too much attention. That limited our options. Honestly, I could probably just assume I got identified ages ago, seeing as I’d taken out Vita.

“Okay, Zanoba. It’ll be no good if we go around together—people are bound to start talking. Dohga and I will take things from here.”

“May fortune smile on you in battle,” Zanoba said. We parted ways on a busy street, and I went with Dohga to a guardhouse near a canal. Despite the early hour, the soldiers were marching around busily. They weren’t going to arrest me as a suspicious person if I went up out of nowhere and asked for an interview, were they? I was dressed like a noble, at least, but there was no embassy in this country. I didn’t know what the proper attire was.

Hold up. It’s not a guardhouse. That looks like a reception desk.

“Excuse me, may I have a moment?”

“State your business.” A man with a magnificent handlebar mustache sat at the desk. He wore an official-looking tunic, so I guessed he wasn’t a soldier. I needed to compliment him on the whiskers, pronto—scratch that, he’d asked me about my business. I should tell him what I was here for.

“Well, you see, I was hoping to request an audience with His Majesty the king…”

“When?”

“Huh? I suppose today. As soon as possible if that’s all right…” I know, I’m one to talk, but this process seemed super sketchy. 

Whatever. I had nothing to lose, so I might as well accept we were going to draw attention and go through the proper procedures.

The mustachioed man glanced at me, then rifled through a stack of papers. “One gold,” he said.

“Sorry?”

“For the audience. It’s one gold.” A tip, I guess.

“Here you are.”

“To be sure—eh?” The man stared intently at the coin I’d given him. Then he bit it. Was there a problem? A forgery and I hadn’t noticed?

“This is Asuran money, isn’t it?”

“Um, yes, as it happens, this is who I am,” I said, flashing the insignia Ariel sent me at him. He didn’t say anything. That wasn’t ideal. He was looking at me suspiciously now. The authority of the Asura Kingdom really didn’t extend to these parts, just like Zanoba said. This looked bad.

But then he put the gold coin into his pocket, went through his pile of papers and filled something in, then handed the sheet to me. 

“Fill out your name and the purpose of your audience.”

“Um, okay.”

“Return here when the noon bell chimes.”

“Um. Okay. Thank you very much.” Despite the poor reaction, it looked like my tip had worked. He was passing my request along. Money had gotten us past the first hurdle. It really did make the world go round!

Noon came and I stood in the waiting room for the audience chamber. I was nervous. I’d come to the palace thinking there was no chance we’d get an audience that day, but Whiskers from the reception desk had passed me over to another official. They’d led me here, and before I knew it, I was next in line. Soon they’d call me into the audience chamber. It was like I’d cleared level one only to find the final boss waiting for me. It was all happening too fast. My mind was blank. 

Stop it. Pull yourself together, I told myself. The others waiting for their audience had told me some things. In this kingdom, the king would give audiences to anyone for the two hours after noon. There were some conditions on “anyone,” of course. First, if you wanted an audience, you had to pay one Biheiril gold coin. A gold coin was about what a village could just scrape together all chipping in. Each person got fifteen minutes. Only eight people could go in per day. Anyone who could pay could get an audience with the king, offer their views, ask questions, and make requests—it was the policy in this country to let anyone who had a problem to come and make their petition. The fee kept people from coming in with trivialities. I supposed the system was fair. Biheiril Kingdom wasn’t a half-bad country. Of course, there were probably real problems in places that couldn’t afford a gold coin, too. On the other hand, if you could petition the king directly, every guy off the street would be here. Sordid merchants who never got to hobnob with the king and the city’s wealthy would bring in their petty grievances and seek personal gain. In any case, when we showed up, the king was already fully booked. Ain’t that always the way? Luck was on our side, however, and someone had canceled. A real break for us. I bet that Asuran gold coin, worth ten times as much as a Biheiril gold coin, hadn’t hurt. People can’t resist gold. Anyway, however this had happened, things were looking up for us.

The audience was fifteen minutes long. Not much time. There was no need to panic, though. I only had two requests. If I revealed my identity and made my case brightly and briskly, the future would brighten up to match!

“Master Rudeus? Please proceed to the audience chamber.”

“I’ll be back,” I told Dohga. 

“…Uh-huh,” he grunted. I took a deep breath, then stood up and went down the corridor that led to the audience chamber. The chamber itself… I guess I’d give it a C. It wasn’t all that spacious, the carpet was drab, and the eight soldiers standing around looked like they were bored. There weren’t any ornaments either. Not a regal place. When you considered that commoners came in here every day, however, maybe it was just right. I couldn’t fault it on practicality. Three stars.

I entered the audience chamber, proceeded to the right spot, then knelt and lowered my head. “It’s an honor, Your Majesty,” I said. 

After a while, the king addressed me. “I see you are a man of gentility. Rise, and state for me your name and your purpose in coming here.”

I did as he said and looked up. The king was an elderly man. He looked worn out, like he wasn’t long for this world. If you told me he was ill, I wouldn’t have been surprised.

“My name is Rudeus Greyrat, follower of Dragon God Orsted, the second of the Seven Great Powers.”

“Ooh, the Dragon God, you say!” The king was unable to conceal his surprise. A positive reaction. That was a rarity. I guess this king knew who the Great Powers were. Maybe that was thanks to their connection to the ogres.

“What business does an associate of the Seven Great Powers have with us…nay, with this kingdom?”

“Well, Your Majesty, I have heard you plan to hunt devils in the Forest of No Return. I am here to request that you call it off.”

“Call it off?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Why would you ask that?”

“Because the people in the forest are not devils,” I said. Then I told him about the Superd Tribe. They had lived in the forest since long ago, maybe even before the Biheiril Kingdom came into being. They were not the race commonly believed to be devils. In the distant past, the Superd made a contract with a nearby village to hunt the invisible monsters and keep the area safe from harm. Recently all the Superd had contracted a plague, which meant the invisible monsters hadn’t been kept in check. Thanks to the efforts of Dragon God Orsted, they had recovered from the plague and returned to hunting the monsters like before. 

I kept my explanation brief but made sure to highlight what a good people the Superd were.

“A race of devils, and now invisible monsters too…” the king murmured. “Your tale is a hard one to believe.”

“I thought you might say so, Your Majesty, and so I came with a proposal. The only way to understand it is to see it with your own eyes. Would you consider sending someone, one of your people, to see the village for themselves?” I’d show them the secret life of the Superd—the womenfolk around the cooking pot, the men who made their livelihoods hunting the invisible monsters, the children who entertained themselves by throwing balls at the Dragon God…

“Hmmm…” The king stroked his chin, considering. But then he slowly shook his head. “Even if what you say is true, I cannot call off the hunting party at this hour. Many brave souls from throughout the land have already assembled here.”

“If Your Majesty would only convey to them that the ‘People of the Forest’ who dwell beyond the Earthwyrm Ravine are not devils, so that the hunting party doesn’t attack, that would be enough. The invisible monsters do exist—I humbly suggest they could hunt those instead. We are prepared to compensate you, if gold is a concern.”

“Hmmm.” 

I took another breath. “Since time immemorial, the Superd have kept this country safe in secret. Even now, they are not asking for special treatment. They only wish to be left to themselves in a forest in a corner of your kingdom, where they burden no one… If Your Majesty refuses them even that, if you don’t want them in your kingdom, then I will make arrangements for their relocation myself.”

“You are a staunch ally to these Superd,” the king said after a weighty pause.

“They saved my life when I was very young,” I replied. The king stroked his chin. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed an official looking at the time. My fifteen minutes must be almost up. Crap. That went faster than I’d thought.

“Your time is up. Please make your way out of the audience chamber.”

“I beg you to consider my request, Your Majesty! I promise your kingdom will not regret it!” I took another breath, then stepped forward and bowed.

“Galixon, Sandor!” called the king. Two soldiers stepped forward. One had a handlebar mustache, the other a long face like a horse. I was about to get thrown out on my ass. I thought I’d talked well, but apparently it’d been too much too fast after all. I’d screwed up this time. Next time—

“Go with this man and confirm the truth of what he says!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

I goggled at the king. “Y-you’re sure, Your Majesty?!”

“I am sending with you these soldiers. Know that if you have lied to me, I shall see off the hunting party on the decided day personally.”

Okay, I panicked there for a second, but he was actually sending soldiers to go with me. He wasn’t rejecting me out of hand. He was going to make his decision after confirming the facts. I liked this king. Maybe listening to petitions day in and day out had made him amenable to suggestions. The credibility of the Biheiril Kingdom in the eyes of the Orsted Corporation had just shot up. Good job!

“Thank you for your understanding, Your Majesty,” I said. Before I left, I bowed once more.