Chapter 9.1

Chapter 9 – The Former Demon King, Arrives At The Royal Capital

“I underestimated Yuuki Grossalia.”

said Odette Sorey in the carriage of the Sorey family.

“I thought that since he’s the illegitimate son of a Baron family, he would gladly form an alliance with us. But I was rude to someone like him. I was too naive.”

“Such fighting ability… and situational awareness. The familiar is also… powerful. He is a top-notch warrior and mage…”

“Until he defeats the other two, he will be a powerful ally.”

“But… after that…”

“He will be our most formidable rival. Until then, we need to get to know him better.”

With her finger, Odette drew a crest in the air.

She chanted in a low voice and looked at her private tutor. The petite private tutor nodded, “That’s correct”.

“…Come to me. My ‘earth attribute’ familiar. ‘Shadow snake’ ──”

A magic circle formed under the carriage, from which a pitch-black snake appeared.

Even though it is a snake, it moved unusually fast.

It instantly disappeared behind the baggage while Odette watched.

“I will have it sneak into Yuuki Grossalia’s carriage. We should be able to hear at least some voices.”

“…Brilliant ‘Ancient Magic’… My Lady.”

“I still have a long way to go.”

Odette brushed her golden hair back.

“I will be a knight escort, standing next to Her Royal Highness Princess Iris. This is something that I need to be able to do.”

“…There’s a familiar in the carriage.”

‘…Kyu-Kyu’

“Remy-chan has noticed it, too.”

“It probably belongs to the Duke’s daughter, Odette. I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Yes. Take care.”

‘Be careful, Master.’

I waved to Martha and Remy and got out of the carriage.

“T-That’s right. I’ve come to call you! With my familiar!! That’s why!!”

The Duke’s daughter, Odette, raised her voice as she stared at me.

Here we are in the Duke family’s carriage.

I had come to ask her about the familiar and was confronted with the Duke’s daughter, Odette.

“That being said… It’s amazing that you can detect the familiar before it calls out to you.”

“It’s intuition.”

That was a lie.

The four corners of the carriage were smeared with little drops of my blood.

Blood is a part of my limbs. If someone walks by, I would be able to feel it.

“I was wondering if the Sorey family uses an ‘Ancient Magic’ familiar to call people.”

“You know quite a lot!! That’s right! Yes!!”

“If you shout, the soldiers outside will hear you.”

“Urgh.”

The Duke’s daughter, Odette, was staring at me with her cheeks puffed up.

Why is that?

“I called you here for one reason only. I wanted to see the aspirations that you had.”

“Aspirations?”

“You know that when you become an apprentice of the ‘Magic Guild’, the guild’s mage becomes your mentor, don’t you?”

“I heard about that from my brother.”

“Do you know that becoming an official member of the guild gives you the right to explore the ‘Capital of Ancient Magic Civilization, Elysium’ and that finding new ‘Ancient Artifacts’ there will raise your family’s peerage or a new peerage will be given?”

“…I didn’t know that.”

Peerage, huh?

If I find the ‘Ancient Artifacts’, the Baron Grossalia family will become a Viscount family. Or maybe I can establish a new noble household.

“Is the new noble household only for one generation?”

“That’s right. When said person dies, their peerage and territory will be lost.”

“What if they don’t die?”

“That’s not going to happen, isn’t it??”

She is right.

I thought about getting a peerage and relaxing in the territory that the country gives me, but I guess that is impossible.

In my case, there is a possibility that I would not die.

A one-generation peerage. It would be a problem… if the noble does not die.

“I have a weird question.”

“Ask away.”

“Is there any ‘Ancient Artifact’ that makes you immortal if you have it?”

“How greedy can you be?”

“No, it doesn’t have to actually make you immortal. As long as it’s an item that makes the people around you think, ‘If he has that, he can’t die’.”

“There… may be one. Ancient Artifacts are powerful magic items, after all.”

“I’d love to have it.”

“Seriously… just how grandiose are your aspirations?”

said Odette Sorey.

My aspirations, huh…

That is obvious.

It is to know more about humans.

And to find out if Princess Iris Restia is a descendant of Alice.

After that, it is to find out what happened to ‘Fila Village’.

To summarize,

“── My aspiration is to become a knight to protect Her Royal Highness.”

“Is that for the sake of the Grossalia family?”

“There is also that. But more than that, I want to see the results of my efforts. I want to know what happened because of my decisions and to know whether it was a good or bad one. That’s all.”

“I understand. You must have worked hard to handle ‘Ancient Magic’. As a result of your hard work, Her Royal Highness named you a knight personally. In that case, I’d like to see how far you can go. And how far I can go.”

“Eh?”

“Eh?”

“Oh, yes. That’s right. I want to know where I’d end up with my magic.”

“You’re a good person, aren’t you?”

Odette Sorey smiled with her chin in her hand.

“You have no desire to make your own mark in the world. I’ve found you to be a respectable rival.”

“Why did you want to be Her Royal Highness’s knight, Odette-sama?”

It might be rude, but I asked.

I was curious as to why a high-ranking noble would want to become Princess Iris’s knight.

“The reason I want to become a knight is to protect Her Royal Highness Princess Iris Restia. I’m ready to give up everything to protect Iris. That’s all!”

“Iris?”

“──── !?”

Odette Sorey’s face turned red.

Then she sighed and continued speaking.

“Her Royal Highness Princess Iris Restia is my childhood friend. I can’t tell you the details, but Her Royal Highness has a reason that requires her to learn magic. That’s why I want to be the one to support her.”

“…Is that so?”

“You are the first person I have told about this.”

Odette Sorey looked away from me.

She then sighs again.

“I’m sorry. I lied to you earlier.”

“You lied?”

“The truth is, I sent a familiar to sneak into your carriage to find out what kind of person you are. But you are more amazing than I thought, and you even found my familiar.”

“Eh? I was also thinking of using bats to call for people next time.”

“Please don’t do that, you’ll get scolded.”

“So it really was a lie?”

“Please accept my sincere apology. I really wanted… to become Her Royal Highness Princess Iris’s knight escort.”

“All right. I understand.”

After all, even I am hiding my true identity, living off as a human.

Besides, I know what it is like to stop at nothing to protect someone.

“I trust you, Odette Sorey-sama.”

“…Yuuki Grossalia.”

“Next time you want to use your familiar to call for me, please just tap on the window.”

“And not on the premise of using familiars to directly call for you!?”

said Odette Sorey, laughing.

“I’m really… no match for you.”

Sitting on the seat of the carriage, Odette clasped her hands in prayer.

“Please let it be you or me to be Her Royal Highness Princess Iris’s knight.”

“── Odette-sama. Yuuki Grossalia-sama. The royal capital is in sight!!”

Suddenly, I heard the voice of a soldier coming from outside the carriage.

Odette Sorey and I opened the window and looked out.

At the end of the road, a huge city wall rose.

“That’s the royal capital, Milgallia.”

said Odette Sorey.

“And it’s also where the entrance to the ‘Capital of Ancient Magic Civilization, Elysium’ is located.”

…The ‘Capital of Ancient Magic Civilization, Elysium’, huh?

It has been two hundred years since the ‘Sanctuary Church, Elysium Temple’ found that place… I wonder what it looks like now.

I was thinking about this as I looked at the towering city walls.