68-Chapter 4-4 Reunion

Temma, why do I have to share this thing with you?

Grandpa has complained for the umpteenth time since we left.

'If you don't like it, you can just get off, old man! Fortunately, you can fly.

From there, it was the usual pattern (cursing).

I created a small ice cube in the palm of my hand and threw it on their backs.

''It's cold!''

Come on, you two, that's enough!　

At my words, they fell silent in agony.

Tida is looking at those two people with a complicated look. Apparently, Tida has had an illusion about these two. That has fallen away and she seems to be lightly confused.

With Tida by her side, Luna is munching on some sweets and asking for more tea.

Jeanne and Aura are also confused about the rumored reality of the famous Grand Duke and the Wise Man and the fact that my grandfather was a wise man.

That's why it was decided that I would make Luna's tea instead of the confused Aura.

''Hmmm.......By the way Temma. It's a good idea to have a good time with them.

Grandpa seemed to have heard that I had gotten a slave in Seigen, and he looked at Jeanne and Aura.

At the same time, the Grand Duke looked at Jeanne, too.

'Could it be that the white-haired girl is the daughter of 'Viscount Almeria'?

Jeanne and Aura's faces drew together in response to the name.

From the look on their faces, the Grand Duke seemed convinced and turned to face me.

Temma, will you give me these two men?

He said it out of the blue, and I said.

My Lord, the Grand Duke, you're on your way back.

Without asking why, he pointed to the door of the carriage and tried to kick him out.

'Here, get the hell out of here! Otherwise, I'll kick you out by force!

Grandpa agrees with me and hurries the Grand Duke up.

'Well, wait, Temma! Listen to me!

At the Grand Duke's words, Grandpa was quicker than I could react.

You're probably going to give the young mistress a.... or something. You dirty old bastard!

At Grandpa's words, Jeanne and Aura hid behind me, hiding themselves.

''Great Uncle........''

Dirty.

Tida has a sad look in her eyes and Luna has a disdainful look in her eyes. Surprisingly, Luna seemed to know what her mistress meant.

The Grand Duke was impatient under such a gaze.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. You're wrong! I'm only interested in your dead wife!

What do you mean, then?　

The Grand Duke, looking uncomfortable with my hostile voice and the stares from the others, pouted a name.　

''It's about the Quartermaster of Chloride.

There was a guy with a name like that...

Honestly, I'd forgotten about it half the time because it was a small thing. Jeanne and the others didn't want to be reminded of it, and they both frowned at each other.

''So, what's up with this quasi-consort of Chloride?''

There are three main factions in the kingdom today: the Royalists, led by the royal family and their aristocrats; the Reformers, led by the Minister of the Interior and a few dukes; and the Neutrals, who do not belong to either side, including the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.　

His Excellency the Grand Duke told me a bit about the factions here.

The Royalist Faction, as the name implies, is made up of those who believe that the rule of the royal family should be centered around the rule of the royal family and supported by other nobles on the side, many of whom have been around for a long time.

The Reformers, many of whom are emerging aristocrats, are made up of those who agree with the idea that the royal family should exist as a symbol of the country and that most political affairs and decisions should be made by those elected to represent it.

Many of the neutrals are neither of these, and many of them are on the opposite side of the spectrum, so to speak, but there are others, like the Prime Minister, who believe that those who hold public office should renounce their private desires, and others, like the Foreign Minister, who believe that we should not go to war with other countries.

At present, there are five royalists, three reformers, one neutralist and one other, and although the royalists have the upper hand, they are said to be in a tricky situation.

Incidentally, the Assistant to the King is the Crown Prince, and the Finance Minister and the War Minister are His Majesty's second and third sons, so they are naturally royalists.

The Associate Viscount Chloride in question is apparently a reformer and a protégé of the duke at the center of the organization.

''What about it?''

I'd like to have as many of them as possible in my possession that could help the reformers increase their strength. If it's worthwhile, so much the better.

After listening to the story in detail, it seems that Jeanne's father, Viscount Almeria, was a person who was at the center of the connection between the lower nobles (under the Viscount) among the neutrals, and if his daughter was attached to the reformers, there is a possibility that some nobles will move from the neutrals to the reformers.

Conversely, if the royalists acquire Jeanne, there is a possibility that some nobles will become royalists, so His Excellency the Grand Duke wants Jeanne to be given away.

''So, how about it?''

That's up to Jeanne and the others, but she doesn't want to, so I'm afraid not.

When I looked at Jeanne and the others in the middle of the conversation, I decided to refuse because they were all shaking their heads.

''Mmmm.......then, Temma to the royalists.......''

''I'm an adventurer, so I don't want any trouble. And I'm not a nobleman...

At my last words, the Grand Duke grinned at me and

Don't worry about that. Temma has done enough to earn her place in the peerage!

Heh....　

As if to ignore my astonishment, His Excellency the Grand Duke began to tell me why I was being nominated as a nobleman.

'Firstly, you saved His Majesty the King five years ago, which alone is a reason to be nominated for an honorary knighthood. Secondly, the fact that he almost single-handedly killed a dragon zombie, which was a national crisis if one thing went wrong, makes him eligible for an ordinary knighthood. Lastly, he saved Tida, the Grand Grandson of the Emperor, which is another reason for him to be nominated for an honorary title. Moreover, it's a curious thing to give the title to Merlin's grandson, who is famous for being a wise man, by mistake, although it's a curious thing to do, because it would help the people gain popularity.

Seeing that everyone including me (except grandpa and Luna) were surprised, His Excellency the Grand Duke continued to say more.

After that, he'll probably become a count in recognition of his appropriate achievements. If you've reached that level, the duke will offer you a wife in the future.

No, no, no, not by any amount of money, not by any amount of money.......and there is no such thing as a wife from a duke.......　

Before I could say it, His Excellency, the Grand Duke said.

"Miss Primera of the Dukes of Sangha.

I muttered.

Merlin responded to that.

'Come to think of it, Temma had a female acquaintance in Gunjo City... the three cat sisters, the deputy head of the guild, and the woman he rescued from the bandits, Primera...'

As Grandpa casually folded his fingers and counted them, a strange sense of intimidation began to waft from behind me.

''Hee, what the........''

Jeanne and Aura were standing behind their grandfather when they all noticed the intimidation.

''Merlin-sama, I'm late to greet you. I am Tenma-sama's slave and maid, Aura. Together with Jeanne over there, Master Tenma saved my life.

'I apologize for the delay in greeting you, Mr. Merlin, but my name is Jeanne. I look forward to working with you in the future.

Jeanne and Aura began to greet their grandfather. Wondering why at this time, Aura continued.

Actually, this Jeanne is a candidate for the wife of Master Tenma.

I dropped the bomb.

'This story is something that Master Temma himself has agreed to, a sort of forgiveness, so to speak.

Before I could challenge Aura's fabrications.

Well, congratulations! I'm looking forward to seeing my great-grandchildren!

Grandpa started to splutter. I tried to deny it, and this time the Grand Duke, the

That's fine with me. In fact, it would be easier for the royalists if Viscount Almeria's forgotten relatives were to join Temma.

And the Grand Duke laughed. And furthermore, even Tida and Luna

'Congratulations, Temma! I see that's what you meant when you made us sit with you earlier!

Congratulations to my brother and sister!

And one by one, they blocked the way of escape.

It's hard to say that I've never thought of Jeanne as a wife when I've come this far. Glancing at Aura with a sideways glance, Aura notices my gaze and smiles slightly.

As I was feeling a headache at Aura's black-heartedness, as I suddenly remembered, His Highness the Grand Duke said to Aura

Speaking of which, your sister works for the Royal Castle.

Aura's face paled as she said.

''Your sister.........?''

I muttered in a shaky voice. It was so strange that I asked Jeanne in a whisper about Aura's sister, but she nodded her head.

'I don't remember much about Aura's sister,' she said. Aura was the child of a maid who worked at my house when she was little, and I used to play with her on that connection, and before I knew it, she became my maid... but her sister was gone before I knew it.

Even as we were talking about this, Aura's shaking didn't stop, and her face was even more pale and covered in cold sweat.

As I was listening to such a situation, Aura suddenly turned towards me.

''Te, Tenma-sama can I go back to the city of Seigen on my own, or rather, I'll go back!

Suddenly, Aura moved quickly to the door and was about to open it and jump out... but just before she jumped out, I pulled her inside as hard as I could.

'Ngh.'

Because the place I grabbed her was the back collar, Aura went limp when she made such a sound and passed out while leaning back against me.

''That's dangerous Jeanne, I'll put you on the bed, get ready.............Good.

I instructed Jeanne to get the covers out on the bed and took Aura in my arms.

Although she looked like a princess hugger, Aura, her face blue and limp, looked more like a drunken drunkard than a princess.

''Well.''

He put Aura down on the bed, asked Jeanne to follow him and then returned to his seat and continued the conversation as if nothing had happened.

'So, what is Aura's sister like?'

At my words, the Grand Duke thought for a moment and then said

Aina is a good maid in many ways.

The sister's name is Aina, they say. I'm more interested in what the Grand Duke's last blurbs meant in so many ways.

I asked Tida and Luna about it, too.

'Oh, Aina was Aura's sister.......in a word, an amazing maid.

Aina is a beautiful girl. All the men in the castle love her. She's also very strong!

Per Luna's last words, I think that's what caused Aura to be the way she was.

Anyway, we'll see each other soon, so let's look forward to that time.

After that, we talked about what happened after we left my Kukri village until we got to King's Landing, Luna slept in bed with a full stomach, I asked her about the tournament, and Tida urged me to talk about the dragons.

I showed Solomon to Grandpa and the Grand Duke at that time, and the Grand Duke was quite surprised and shouted out, so the Dinhs who were around the carriage gathered around the carriage and made even more noise at the sight of Solomon, and they were all pissed off at Luna, who jumped up in surprise at the sound of his voice.

Grandpa seemed to have heard about Solomon and wasn't really surprised, but he started bragging about me to the Grand Duke, which led to a cursing match and Luna getting angry at him again.

After that, Luna was in a better mood with Solomon in her arms, but Aura didn't wake up despite the commotion, occasionally talking in her sleep and moaning, 'Oh, sister..............stop' or 'Oh, please forgive me, sister'.

We arrived at the royal capital just as it was beginning to get dark.

It is said that the royal capital is surrounded by an outer wall about 10 meters high, and the city boasts a size of 100 km from east to west and 80 km from north to south, with a population of about 600,000 people, of which 70% are humans and 30% are sub-humans (beastmen, elves, dwarves, etc.), a surprisingly large number.

There are walls in the city, built around the royal castle, at points of 5, 10, 20 and 30 kilometers.

The walls are used during the war, but the original walls are the remnants of the city's expansion as the royal capital grew, and the more you go inside the city, the older the walls become.

Within 5km from the castle, the residences of the higher nobility line the streets, 5-10km from the castle are lined with wealthy lower class aristocrats and a few rich people, 10-20km from the castle are for the ordinary aristocrats, the wealthy and the high class inns, and from 20km the outer walls are for the general public, and so on.

If there is money and land available, an ordinary person can build a house next to a nobleman's house, but since the area within 5km is completely reserved for the nobility and the annual tax increases as you go further in, this division of living is made possible.

Incidentally, some workshops are located inside, but the screening process is very strict for those that make loud noises, and the equipment to reduce the sound level is very expensive, which is why most of the works in the inner workshops are expensive.

The more you go inside, the more 'high quality' the people, shops and products are.

The wall has one large gate at each of the north, south, east, west, and north-south sides, and these gates were built in order to make it easier for the troops to go out during the war, and they are triple-layered from the outside: a drawbridge, a sliding iron fence, and an open door.

The width is about 30 meters and there are a lot of guards, but nowadays they are rarely used, only occasionally for military drills and state events... Mainly because it takes a lot of effort to open and close them once, and also because it requires a lot of money to pay for the various things that go with it. Yes.

Other entrances and exits are built at 20-30 km intervals, and this one is about 5-15 m wide, with a double drawbridge and an open door.

There are usually two or three guards, but in some cases the gates are completely closed and you may have to move to another open gate.

To enter, you are briefly checked for identification, and then those who do not have a citizen's card are taxed and charged 1000G. However, if you bring the wooden tag given at this time to the office, a temporary citizen's card will be issued and half of the 500G will be returned.

If you lose your citizen's chart, you must immediately report to the office for a new one. In the worst case, it is possible to be executed.　

In the worst case scenario, the death penalty is not carried out unless there is some kind of intentional sale of citizen's charts to an evil person, which leads to a violent crime.　

We were given top priority by the guards who saw the Grand Duke's coat of arms and allowed us to pass through the gate.

Well, since His Highness the Grand Duke, the prince, the princess, and the wise man are on board, the guards can't (or don't have the guts to) confirm their identities, right?

''Din, continue on to the royal castle.

The royal castle is located near the center of the royal city, about 40 kilometers from the gate, less than two hours away by carriage.

The Grand Duke tells this to Ding, who is leading the way, but Grandpa looks like a bother.

Then you, Tida and Luna had better change trains here. Well, that's too much trouble. I'm going home with Temma and the others.

"That's not going to happen! Now that you're back in King's Landing, I don't suppose we can't just say hello to His Majesty!　　

I started arguing with him again. Sure, Grandpa was right, it's a pain in the ass to go to the king's castle at this time of day to greet the king, but I remembered the king in Kukri village and

'Grandpa, it's certainly a hassle, but if we don't go here, it's almost certain that the king will charge us in the middle of the night. It's a real pain in the ass, but since we have no choice, let's just show him our faces.

Grandpa seemed to growl and give up on my troublesome comment, but there was a huge sense of disgust in the air.

My comment was not that it was too much trouble to go to the castle at this time of day, but that it was too much trouble to keep the king company at this time of day.

When I mentioned this to His Excellency the Grand Duke and Tida, who were surprised at my comment, they both laughed bitterly, as if they had some idea of what I was talking about.

'No, no, Temma! You're going to get caught for disrespect!

Jeanne takes my statement seriously and turns pale, but the Grand Duke sees it and laughs.

The Grand Duke saw this and laughed, "Don't worry about it. That's not enough to make me angry. His Majesty considers Tenma to be a memento of his best friend, and he himself considers Tenma to be his nephew.

Jeanne seemed reassured by these words.　

The only problem is, if we try to catch Tenma, we'll have to be prepared for the castle to be completely destroyed, so it's not worth it.

He laughed. 　

When I was thinking about that, my grandfather looked at me.

Temma don't ever do that but leave it to him in his room when you do.

He was quite serious about it. And as it was, it was the usual pattern.

By the time the two of them stopped arguing, the carriage was at the gate of the King's Castle, and even Grandpa seemed to have given up completely.

By the way, Uncle Mark got off the carriage a little before the wall at the 20km point.

He told me to come and see him once when I had time to spare.

'The Grand Duke, Tida and Luna are back! Open the gates at once!

At Mr. Din's words, the thick gate opens.

The gatekeepers tried to stop my carriage, but Mr. Din said that His Excellency the Grand Duke and others are riding inside, and the passengers are the wise men and their relations, and they see His Excellency the Grand Duke inside and salute him.

We were to get out of the carriage in front of the entrance, about 500 meters away through the gate.

We stowed the carriage and Tanikaze in the magic bag, while Slarin and the others waited in the dimension bag.

Aura still hasn't woken up.

I had no choice but to carry Aura on my back and slip through the front door, where more than a dozen butlers and maids are all waiting with their heads down. At the head of the butlers is Cliffe.

''Cliffe, where is His Majesty now?''

The Archduke asked Mr. Cliffe for the king's place, and the rest of the people were dismissed.

'His Majesty would have been in his own room, but word has just gone out that he is going to the audience chamber.

Mr. Cliffe looked at me after he said that.

'It's been a long time, Mr. Cliffe,'

It's been a long time, Master Tenma. It's a pleasure to see you safe and sound so soon after your arrival, but be prepared for what His Majesty has in mind.

It's a light greeting, but Mr. Cliffe tells me something ominous. Apparently, the king is no different.

As Mr. Cliffe was about to lead us to the audience room, I noticed a maid waiting nearby.

It's not so much a maid as a model in a maid's uniform, with shoulder-length blonde hair that is neatly groomed and shiny, with a well-proportioned style, and a height of about 170 centimeters, a little taller than I am, with a slightly tighter face, but that's what makes it look like a cool beauty. There.

Such a maid approached quietly and stopped in front of me.

''Excuse me.''

Along with those words, the maid bowed neatly, and then the maid took a deco-pin to the forehead of Aura, who is still unconscious at my back.

Unexpectedly, the blow (the deco-pin) made a loud sound and bounced Aura's head back.

''Yes! What's going on? Enemy! Enemy attack!

Aura looking around vigorously at my back two soft touches are dancing on my back as she moves her body close to my back.

As I was distracted by the sensations, my eyes met with the maid in front of me.

The maid smiled meaningfully, and she seemed to notice that I enjoyed the feel of her back.

'What is it?!' What the hell is this? ....Huh? .... where am I?

As Aura's movements, which had begun to calm down, began to slow down.

Long time no see, Aura.

As such, when the maid called out to her, Aura heard the maid's voice and stopped moving with a snap.

Then, like a rusty toy, she slowly turned to the maid and checked her face before........

Aina, big sister....

He called the maid's name in a frightened voice.