CH 134

[Crown Prince Rodrick]

“Fumu, it has been a long time, Lloyd.” (Rodrick)

“I am sorry that I have not contacted you in such a long time, Crown Prince Rodrick.” (Lloyd)

“The last time we met was at the match held to display Alfine-dono’s skills before the king two years ago, was it not?” (Rodrick)

“Yes, I did not have time to go to the royal capital because I was busy governing the territory since that match…” (Lloyd)

So this is Crown Prince Rodrick… this is my first time seeing him.

Crown Prince Rodrick, who will become the next king, is the son of King Frederik. He’s over 40 years old, at the prime of his life. And although he has blond hair, blue eyes, and well-organized features, his body is muscular, giving off strong impression.

It seems that because he was entrusted the command of the elite Royal Guard Knight Order, who was called the shield of the kingdom, by his father, King Frederick during the Great Invasion and saved many numbers of people in the sites of bloody battles, he is popular among the citizen.

However, according to the story I heard from Suzana-san, after the Great Invasion, due to the rising minister Boris, King Frederick gave him the task of defending the remote areas, driving him to a small town in the western part of the kingdom, even though he was the top candidate for succession.

He’s a royalty, but his atmosphere feels similar with that of Lloyd’s.

Perhaps, it’s just that the people who struggled to end the crisis, that was the Great Invasion, gave off a similar atmosphere.

In the corner of the drawing room where the meeting is held, I’m looking at the interaction between the two with a sideway glance while kneeling and bowing my head.

“Well, I, too, would have been training my soldiers on the western outskirts of the kingdom had my father not summoned me to the royal capital for the matter of the Abyss Walkers. I did not expect things to turn out like this.” (Rodrick)

The stern gaze of Crown Prince Rodrick sitting on the sofa is poured on us, who are looking at him sideways with our head hanging down.

“I am grateful to the extremely busy Crown Prince Rodrick for giving me the opportunity to explain about the allegations that are directed toward family regarding the death of King Frederik.” (Lloyd)

“I know that Hero Lloyd, who brought an end to the Great Invasion, is not the kind of man who would scheme to assassinate my father.” (Rodrick)

The stern gaze Crown Prince Rodrick directing at us loosens, and the tense air wanes.

I’ve heard that he’s a royalty that excels in martial arts, and true to that, his sense of intimidation is not half-baked…

Many of the young nobles in the royal capital are weak, but Crown Prince Rodrick gives off such a strong vigor that I feel stinging on my skin.

Al next to me seems to get the same feeling as I do, as I can sweat flowing down from her forehead and dripping from her chin.

“That said, I believe and trust only you yourself, Lloyd. Isn’t the matter this time concerning your daughter and her fiancée? I have heard some bad rumors from the nobles in the royal capital.” (Rodrick)

Once again, the air that stifles one’s breath envelops the entire drawing room.

“I will have my daughter who had become an involved party report everything regarding that matter without leaving anything out. After all, it also contains information that may threaten the kingdom’s established safety. It is for that reason that we entreated you to trouble yourself with going all the way over here. Report to Crown Prince Rodrick, Noelia.” (Lloyd)

“Y-yes. It is an honor to meet you, Crown Prince Rodrick. My name is Noelia, the daughter of Frontier Count. In this occasion——” (Noelia)

“I have no time to slowly listen to your greeting. Just get straight to the report.” (Rodrick)

Crown Prince Rodrick stops Noelia, who’s trying to greet him, with a well-projected voice and urges her to report.

Without being perturbed by his voice, Noelia gives a light bow and begins her report,

“I understand. I will get straight to the report. The kingdom of Hartford is at risk of a second Great Invasion by enhanced Abyss Walkers, which are Abyss Walkers that are incomparably stronger than the ones that appeared in the Great Invasion 20 years ago. The mastermind used Gile, the commander of the Royal Guard Knight Order, to stall for time, and robbed King Frederick of his life to plunge the kingdom into turmoil. It would have been well if we could save King Frederick, however, our strength was lacking, and we could not protect him.” (Noelia)

Exposed to the intimidating gaze that Crown Prince Rodrick shows again, Noelia continues her report without stammering, despite having a slight trembling of her shoulders.

“The man who controls the enhanced Abyss Walkers and tries to start the second Great Invasion is a man named Vigo who served Gile-dono as his vassal. Over the twenty years after the end of the Great Invasion, he has created an underground organization, of which influence reached various parts of the kingdom, and been biding his time to uprise, and now is that time.” (Noelia)

“Fumu, I am already informed of this matter from the letter I received from Cassandra-dono, however… A coup led and caused by a mysterious organization that control Abyss Walkers and has been building up its power in the dark side of the kingdom. It is so absurd that I cannot believe it even if the involved person who was at the scene of the incident told me to believe it.” (Rodrick)

“We had expected that would be the case, so in order to show you the fact that Abyss Walkers had appeared in the royal capital, we secured one of the corpses. Samantha, bring it in.” (Noelia)

After Noelia called, the door of the drawing room opens, and a trolley carrying the corpse of Abyss Walker is brought in.