Seirei Gensouki ~Konna Sekai de Deaeta Kimi ni~ - Chapter 164

Chapter 164

Chapter 164 : Of Those Antagonist

It was sunny during the early hours of the afternoon, making it the perfect weather  for travel . Just like yesterday, Rio carried Flora in his arms . They ran through the trackless path towards Rodania instead of following the highway .

It was not Rio’s top speed, he could go much faster . But he needed to account for his magic consumption, along with the possibility of causing some sort of trauma to Flora if he ran at top speed .

Something entered his range of detection .

(That’s a goblin… Let’s ignore it . )

Rio had spread his senses to his surroundings, widening his field of awareness and keeping his guard up . It was a protective measure to prevent any surprises . Travelers would often find themselves ambushed by bandits or monsters coming from all directions .

Whenever he detected creatures moving fast, like a pack of wolves, he would go around them to avoid fighting unnecessarily .

Flora was quietly enjoying the scenery while perched on Rio’s back .

She decided to break the silence they had maintained so far .

「… Um, Haruto-sama . 」

「Yes?」
 

「Are we in the Rubia Kingdom already?」

Flora had no idea where they were at that moment . Although she knew where they were headed, the route was left entirely up to Rio . To avoid attracting attention they didn’t need they avoided the highway, so the surroundings were unfamiliar to the princess .

「Yes . It seems we’ve already entered Rubia Kingdom’s territory . The next city should be the capital, and we can rest for the night there . 」

「Waah, I see . Understood . 」

It took less than an hour to travel through the wilderness and reach the highway .

Since flying out from within the forest straight into an open area would certainly cause a ruckus, Rio stopped a little distance away from the road and walked slowly toward the highway .

 

Flora praised his carefulness .

「Wow! Even though we didn’t use the highway, Haruto-sama didn’t get lost at all!」

「I merely confirmed our general direction from the position of the sun when we passed through higher ground . 」

「… How incredible . I was taught how to confirm my general direction in case I got lost, but I don’t think I can orient myself as you do . Not losing your way without a map is an incredible feat . I was useless, only here as baggage…」

Flora looked at Rio with eyes full of respect .

「Flora-sama, I’m sure you’ll be able to master the trick immediately once you try it . You just need experience . We’ve almost arrived at our destination but, if you want, I can teach you how to do it on the way there . 」

「Yes . Please teach me, Haruto-sama!」

His offer to teach her was slightly awkward but didn’t stop Flora from agreeing to it immediately . They entered the highway while deeply engaged in conversation .

Rio’ eyes swept quickly through the area, confirming they were alone .

「Let’s go, our destination is not that far . We should be able to reach it today even if we walk slowly . 」

「We’re going to walk from now on? Yes!」

Flora seemed to be in high spirits from the prospect of walking on her own .

「Indeed . From this point on, we’ll begin your rehabilitation training . Please let me know immediately if it’s painful for you to walk . 」

「Yes!」

Rio carefully lowered Flora to the ground and immediately offered her a hand to hold .

She happily accepted the offer . Holding Rio’s hand made her a bit timid, but Flora didn’t let go of it . She knew he held her hand to help her walk, all in the name of rehabilitation since her strength and stamina had yet to recover .

Knowing so didn’t mean she wasn’t secretly enjoying every second of it .

「This way . Allow me to temporarily be your attendant . 」

「Yes, thank you . 」

Flora began walking while being supported by Rio .

She kept careful attention on the ground while he was careful to not let her fall .

As they moved forward at her pace, they were unaware of someone else keeping an eye on them . Reis watched their progress from above, floating in the air .

(As expected, they’ve already reached the Rubia Kingdom . They’ll probably spend the night in that city . I should probably go back and meet Arein and the others after those two find an inn . While at that, maybe I should mobilize that noob Hero and the Knight Princess as well…)

Still floating, he pondered about how he should proceed .

   (His searching range is impressive . It even covers the air! It’s quite hard to follow them from above . At least he doesn’t have a contracted spirit and opted for a land route…)

The duo spent the night at an inn inside the Rubia Kingdom’s capital .

◇　◇　◇

Meanwhile, in a deserted village stood a mansion . It was where Renji and Silvi were resting .

While Silvi and Elena shared a room, Renji was restricted to another room to prevent him from contacting the two women .

Arein and Lucci were constantly on standby as they kept watch over the three of them .

Currently, Arein wasn’t in the mansion .

The only ones around were Lucci, Renji, Silvi and her attendant Elena .

Lucci sat on the living room sofa as he stared at the ceiling, a bored look on his face .

Suddenly, he got up . His senses had detected the approach of his coworker as they got close to the mansion .

The main door was thrown open and, unsurprisingly, Arein walked in . His expression was slightly tense, which made Lucci curious . He could sense something had gone wrong .

「Ou, what happened? You look tense . 」

「… I just received some news from Reis-sama . 」

Arein’s voice was extremely tense .

It did not have much effect on Lucci, as his next question was voiced in a bored voice .

He scratched his head, probably already feeling that whatever it was, it wasn’t good news for them .

「Oh… Then what’s the news?」

「It’s time to make Princess Silvi do her part . We’ll move as planned and bring that brat along . I will tell you the details, but… Oh, f#ck . Okay, just stay calm and listen carefully . 」

「… Just tell me the f#cking news already!」

With how serious Arein’s tone sounded, Lucci was starting to lose his composure alongside him . He got even more curious about the news .

「Our leader… Was killed . 」

After delivering the news, Arein paused, perhaps because even he was unable to accept the truth .

Lucci’s reaction was to just tilt his head, confused .

「… EH?」

「Our leader was killed . 」

Staring at Lucci’s dumbfounded look, Arein repeated the same phrase .

Once he processed what he was told, Lucci let out a dry laugh . However, his eyes weren’t laughing at all .

「… Oi oi oi, what kind of b#lls#t joke are you spouting? Our leader was killed? Today isn’t April Fools, you know? Stop with the stupid jokes!」

「It’s not a joke . Our leader was annihilated from this world . And by that I mean he died without even leaving a corpse behind . Not even a speck of dust was left . 」

A deep sigh left Arein’s mouth .

「Oy!」

Lucci suddenly raised his voice, loud enough to be heard by the other inhabitants of the mansion . His shout resounded through the halls, making Arein wince and warn him .

「… Your voice is too loud . 」

「SHUT UP! TELL ME THE TRUTH! OUR LEADER ISN’T SOMEONE WHO CAN BE KILLED SO EASILY, RIGHT?」

At this point, Lucci abandoned all pretense of boredom . His face held a menacing look as he directly questioned Arein at the top of his lungs .

Arein answered him with a frustrated look on his face .

「Yeah, it’s true . I also couldn’t believe when I heard about it at first . But Reis-sama told me to not make him repeat what he said again and again!」

「… MOTHER F#CKER!!!」

Lucci was speechless, but seeing how serious Arein looked, he restricted himself to cursing and decided to trust the news he had just received .

His coworker was silently grinding his teeth in frustration .

「…」

「… Who’s the f#cker that killed our leader?」

「… It was that bastard from before . 」

Lucci appeared calm, but he was raging inside . Arein, on the other hand, had only shame coating his words . Those same words confused Lucci greatly .

「That bastard from before?」

「That wind magic swordsman who was investigating our leader’s whereabouts . The one who thoroughly beat us . 」

Arein’s words forced Lucci to remember their run-in with Rio .

「WHAT? THAT HANDSOME BASTARD?」

「That’s right . He’s the one who killed our leader . 」

With a nod, the confirmation shocked Lucci to his core… but also made him tremble in fear .

「…」

「Be grateful . Our next target is that guy . We’ll be able to avenge our leader . 」

「!!!??」

「I’ll let Princess Silvi know about the situation now . Stay down here and cool your head, I’ll tell you the details later . 」

Arein left the room, leaving Lucci alone in the living room with his turbulent thoughts .

Sitting back down on the sofa, he leaned back in a comfortable position . Although his body trembled all over, it was unclear if it was from fear or anger .

「… Leader… It’s a lie, right?」

◇　◇　◇

Meanwhile, Arein arrived outside Silvi’s and Elena’s room .

He gave a quick knock on the door and waited for a response before entering .

Once he was inside, Silvi squinted her eyes at him .

「What was that scream just now? Did you meet some sort of trouble?」

「… It’s nothing . I found Lucci asleep during his duty, so I did something to surprise him . But I came because it’s time for you to cooperate . 」

Arein feigned ignorance and quickly changed topics .

「Was it from Reis?」

「Yes . Nice deduction . The situation has changed . 」

He merely shrugged his shoulders at the Princess’s snort .

「Alright . What do you need me to do?」

「We’ve known for quite a while that Your Highness’s chivalric order is stationed in the city nearby . For now, let’s go meet them . 」

「… What did you say?」

Elena knitted her eyebrows at the man’s tone . Arein wasn’t giving them any room to refuse his demands . Her arm was grabbed by Silvi, who pulled her back .

Contrary to her attendant, Silvi’s tone was very calm .

「What are you people trying to do?」

「Don’t worry, we’re not going to incite a war with another country . I just want you to spread your personnel around this region to do some inspection . 」

Arein replied with an aloof expression .

Silvi frowned .

This was different than what she had expected .

「… Inspection? So you want us to search for someone?」

「Correct . Such a small request shouldn’t pose a problem for someone with your level of authority, right, Your Highness?」

「Who are you looking for? And what is your goal?」

「Hahaha… I don’t need to tell that to someone who doesn’t even want to cooperate . 」

「… You want us to look for someone who we don’t even know . How can we cooperate if you don’t tell us who you’re looking for?」

Silvi made her standing on the matter clear after some careful consideration .

Respectfully, Arein obeyed her order .

However, a putrid hatred was visible in his eyes .

「As you wish, Your Highness . Your attendant will be the one to deliver the message . Don’t misunderstand me, please . We need you to stay here, after all . 」