CH ss - 32

[Alfine: Grave Crisis of the Kingdom]

I’m uncertain on whether or not I should divulge the information I knew, but as expected, I feel that it would be bad if I keep silent about it, so I ask Meila next to me to match my story with my eyes.

Meila looks a little surprised, but perhaps she comprehends my intention, as she nods silently.

“Frontier Count-sama… Actually, I have one thing I would like to report… If possible, please clear out the people…”

“Al? Something you want to report to me you say? Is it a report that you have not given even to Arnold?”

I nod silently to the question of Frontier Count Lloyd.

“That expression and to clear out the people… it makes me think that it is an important report. Alright, the escorts are to get out of the caved-in area. Those who are to stay are Al, Meila, and me… as well as Meiss. That is fine, right?”

Perhaps because he sees my serious appearance, he tightens his expression and tells the escort knights to get out of room, leaving only his right-hand man, Meiss.

“Thank you very much. I should have reported it much earlier, but I thought that a punishment would befall me if I reported it, so I didn’t. However, given the situation, I judged that I shouldn’t keep silent.”

“…If Al divulges the information, a punishment would befall him, huh. It may happen depending on the content, but I will give it a full consideration.”

“I deeply thank you for your consideration. Then, I will tell you the report… Actually, I had fought people who might be Abyss Walkers in the Royal Capital…”

The faces of everyone who heard my report are stiffened all at once.

As I thought, that kind of reaction will occur.

That’s what happen if you say that you fought Abyss Walkers in the Royal Capital, which is said to be the safest place in the kingdom.

If I hadn’t fought them myself, even I would think that it was only a madman’s nonsense.

“What on earth are you talking about, Al-dono? There is an Abyss Walker in the Royal Capital you say—”

“Then, are you saying that there are other humanoid creatures that have black scale skin and shed green blood? I have been researching about various monsters so far, but I’ve never heard that there is such a monster, so…”

If I could see their face, I would have been able to tell if they were monsters or an Abyss Walkers though.

I was frantic because I was fighting, and they were wearing helmets that covered the entire face.

Therefore, I’m still at a loss if asked whether I’m confident, but the ability to accept the full-powered slash of mine, the one who was called the Sword Master, was a skill that a common swordsman unlikely to have.

“Black scaled skin… green blood… is that true?”

“Yes, I fought it myself and am sure of it.”

“Where in the Royal Capital was it?”

The face of the Frontier Count Lloyd is getting graver.

His voice is filled with such seriousness that if it turns out that I was lying, his sword will immediately cut off my neck.

“It was……”

““It was?””

The voices of Meiss and the Frontier Count Lloyd are overlapping.

Their pressure is urging me to give the answer quickly.

I open my mouth as if to escape the pressure.

“It was at the secondary residence of Gile, the commander of the Royal Guard Knight! I fought against two Abyss Walker-like creatures there.”

The facial expressions of Lloyd and Meiss are hardened at the name that came out of my mouth.

It seems that they did not expect the name of the close aide of the king – that is the commander of the Royal Guard Knight and the heir of a great noble of the kingdom, Gile to appear.

“What… did you say… is that true?”

“Impossible…”

“There is no falsehood in what I said.”

When they learned that I’m connected to the commander of the Royal Guard Knight, I see the color of doubt about my identity in their eyes.

Having seen that sign, Meila stands in front of me and begins to explain the situation.

“U-um! Al and I are siblings that aren’t related by blood, and Al is actually an illegitimate child of a certain noble in the Royal Capital. Though he wasn’t acknowledged… However, Gile-sama of the Radcliffe family found out about Al’s identity from somewhere and wanted him to be his page, so Al became employed in his mansion, but… because of a matter, he was chased, and we discussed and decided to hide in the frontier, thus we came here.”

Meila make up a plot of a story that I don’t even know of arbitrarily.

She knew I escaped Gile’s secondary residence in the Royal Capital and was being chase by him, so she used it cleverly to create a story so that they wouldn’t find out that I’m the Sword Master Alfine.

The color of doubting about my identity disappeared from the eyes of the two who are listening to such a defense from Meila.

“There is such a circumstance, huh… I will accept about Al’s identity. I won’t snoop for his identity either. However, I want you to talk about the matter of the Abyss Walkers clearly.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Lloyd-sama… this might be a grave crisis. If Abyss Walkers are in cahoots with the commander of the Royal Guard Knight in secret…”

“Meiss, don’t say such things lightly. Even we cannot do anything about it unless we have a definite evidence. First of all, we have to examine the information from Al. But before that, let’s have the bodies in this room to be brought to the surface in order to hold a memorial service for them.”

Frontier Count Lloyd stops talking there, summons the knights outside, and instructs them to take the corpses out.