The beast tamer exiled from the hero’s party and the cat eared girl from the strongest race meet
"W-what!?"
Tina and I exclaimed in shock.
"Nyaa?"
Kanade, who didn’t hold much reverence for royalty, reacted in her usual laid-back way.
"Um… excuse me. I mean no offense, but do you have any proof of your royal status?"
Claiming to be royalty is a serious crime.
Depending on the circumstances, it could result in the death penalty.
That’s why, under normal conditions, no one would dare to falsely claim such a thing.
So, logically, I could believe Yuki’s words were genuine…
But still, just to be sure, I wanted some evidence.
"Let’s see… how about this?"
Saying that, Yuki placed the sword hanging at his waist onto the table.
When I checked it, the royal family’s crest was engraved on the hilt.
The royal crest is intricately designed, something only specialized craftsmen could replicate.
Luckily, I had met the king and Lady Sarya before, so I remembered what the crest looked like.
It wasn’t fake.
It was the real deal.
I quickly got off the sofa and knelt down.
Tina knelt beside me, bowing her head.
"My deepest apologies, Your Highness. I spoke out of turn and tested you…"
"No, please don’t worry about it. That was a natural reaction… and, really, please stand up."
"But…"
"This isn’t a public setting… and even if it were, I’m just the king’s son. That doesn’t make me your superior or anything like that. If you treat me that formally, I wouldn’t know what to do."
I lifted my head slightly.
Yuki—no, His Highness Yuki—looked genuinely flustered.
"Nyaa… When I think ‘prince,’ I imagined someone more confident and imposing, but I guess that’s not the case, huh?"
"H-Hey, Kanade!?"
"Nyan?"
Please, even if you think something like that, don’t say it.
It’s bad for my heart.
I might just die from the stress.
"Ahaha…"
I braced myself for a charge of disrespect, but instead, His Highness Yuki laughed cheerfully.
"You’re quite amusing. My father didn’t tell me much about Kanade, so this feels… refreshingly new."
"Did I… just get complimented?"
"In any case, please, don’t worry about formality."
"…Understood. I’m grateful for your generosity."
"Although… it’s things like that I still need to get used to. It'll take time."
His Highness Yuki smiled wryly, but I could understand why.
Kanade might be one of the strongest races, but I was just an ordinary person living in this kingdom.
There’s no way I could stand before royalty and not show respect.
"Well, I get how you feel. But the young master’s a pretty easygoing guy, so you really don’t need to stress about etiquette. If he were the uptight type, I’d have been fired long ago—or maybe even literally lost my head! Hahaha!"
Gray let out a booming laugh, but that joke was far from funny to me.
In any case, since His Highness said so, I sat back down on the sofa.
"Um… so, what is it you wanted to ask of us?"
"What I’m about to say must not leave this room. It’s fine to share it with your companions, Shroud, but no one else."
"Understood. I swear not to tell anyone outside our group."
"Thank you. I came here because I wanted to personally ask you and your companions for help with a certain request."
For a prince to come all this way himself…
This clearly wasn’t a trivial matter.
"Shroud, are you familiar with Kriegland?"
"Let’s see… if I remember right, it’s a city on the western edge of the Central Continent, right? Since it’s closest to the Western Continent, it’s heavily fortified and called a fortress city."
"Exactly. We can’t be certain yet… but there’s a possibility that demons might attack Kriegland."
"What!?"
I had figured it must be something serious if a prince was getting involved…
But this was beyond anything I had imagined.
There’s never been a case of demons attacking a human city.
…Well, not exactly never.
It did happen during wartime.
But now, with the Demon King dormant, an attack by demons should be impossible.
"Could it be… the war is about to start again? Has the Demon King awakened?"
"No, it’s not that. We are constantly monitoring the demons’ movements, especially the Demon King. For now, he hasn’t awakened, and there’s no sign of war resuming."
"That’s good news, at least…"
"Then why would demons be attacking a human city?"
Kanade’s very reasonable question made His Highness Yuki frown deeply.
"We don’t know. Even the current situation is not confirmed. This is just a possibility we’re preparing for…"
"And the source of this information?"
"It comes from two sources—my own independent information network, and the kingdom’s intelligence agency. The information overlaps."
"I see…"
So it didn’t just come from national surveillance, but also His Highness’s own network.
That made the intel all the more credible.
True, he couldn’t confirm it with 100% certainty…
But that didn’t mean we could ignore it either.
"How did the king react to this matter?"
"The king is taking the situation very seriously. Further investigations are already underway… and I’ve also decided to act on my own. I plan to go to Kriegland myself and conduct an on-site investigation."
"That sounds… extremely dangerous. Isn’t that something a prince like Your Highness Yuki shouldn’t be doing?"
"Yes, if the information proves accurate, it will be very dangerous. However, that’s not a reason to stand by and do nothing. I can’t just run to safety and hide. Precisely because I am royalty—meant to lead the people and guide the nation—I must take the lead and press forward."
"…"
I couldn’t help but admire such a firm and resolute mindset.
He is the son of that king, so I had assumed he must be someone noble and capable…
But this was beyond my expectations.
Yuki van Rollreeze.
This man might very well become an even greater king than we can imagine.
"To be honest, though, we’re short on manpower. Gray is a former A-rank adventurer and highly capable, but he can’t cover everything by himself."
"You’re really blunt, young master… Well, you’re not wrong, though."
"You’re just admitting it outright?"
"Of course I am. I’m confident in my skills, sure. But I’d never be so foolish as to claim I can handle everything alone. I know my limits."
There are very few people who can look at themselves objectively and acknowledge their own limits.
As expected of someone trusted to be Yuki’s bodyguard—not only skilled but also wise and grounded.
"Aren’t you bringing any other guards with you?"
"Embarrassing as it is, when it comes to people I can absolutely trust, no one but Gray comes to mind… and with the incident involving Monica, the situation’s even more delicate."
"Ah, I see."
"So, when I consulted the king, your name came up—Shroud."
…Why me, though?
"There’s a possibility that one of the Four Generals is involved in this incident."
"One of the Four Generals?"
"If things are as serious as I suspect, we may be facing an intense battle. I know it’s asking the impossible to want someone to come into such danger… but even so, I’m going to be selfish here. Please, would you lend me your strength?"
Yuki stood up…
And to my utter shock, he bowed—deeply, deeply—to me, a mere commoner.
Thank you for the chapter!
ReplyDelete