Volume 6 - CH 12

But ...... this turn of events was not what I expected either.

There are bars in front of us.

We are in a prison cell.

"What is this? What the hell?"

I muttered to myself.

"I'm sorry, ......."

Luka says apologetically, but I wish she had calmed down sooner.

Erwin, the liar who deceive her, was very outspoken.

In addition, because of Luka's rage and slashing at the rushing soldiers, we are now in jail.

"But if you tell them what happened, I'm sure they'll understand."

Serina said that, but.

"No, I told them. You didn't tell them?"

"Hmm, I told them everything honestly, but..."

"I've been honest about what I know, but, you know, I didn't directly see Luka get attacked either. ......"

Ione said, choosing her words carefully. Of course, Ione probably doesn't suspect Luka, but it's also true.

"I am!"

"Calm down, Luka. No one is doubting you. It's just that fucking Andre is an annoying liar. I wish I could find some way to prove he's lying."

I think about it.

Well, he was originally wanted for marriage fraud, so as long as we can establish his real name, Andre, the rest will be easy.

If only we could appraise .......

No, that's it. I'm sure there are people with that kind of skill in the royal castle.

"Guard! Tell them to appraise that Erwin's real name. Serina, give me the gold. Gold."

I don't think we can just appeal here. It's Bribe, bribe.

"Yeah, okay."

"Wait a minute, we don't accept that kind of thing here." said the guard in armor standing in front of the bars.

"How about 10 gold coins?"

"What!?"

The Guard recoiled, but 100,000 gold would be more than enough for a year's income, if not a lifetime.

"Okay, your mind is wavering. Serina, one more word."

"Alec, you take out your gold too. That's all I have right now."

"Oh, I can give you 50,000."

"Master, I'll give you 20,000."

Ione and Meena also put out their gold coins.

I'm a little low on cash right now, you know. I've just distributed it.

"Okay, I don't have it now, but I'll give you 50,000 later. That's an extra."

"Eei!, stop it, don't flick me the gold coin!"

"Here we go."

"Come on, come on."

"I won't look, I won't look! I can't betray you, Your Majesty!"

The stout-looking guard turned his back to us.

"Then make a noise, make a noise."

I also insisted on mixing in some copper coins to make a jingling sound.

"Hey, bro, if you've got that much, why don't you share it with me?"

The guys in the next cell started to react, but it had nothing to do with you.

"That's enough."

"Y-Your Majesty."

Your Majesty?

The guard straightened his back and straightened his posture, but the other man was a middle-aged man who looked like he could be found in any bar in the area.

He was not dressed in glittering clothes, but in ordinary cloth. However, his muscles were quite strong and he had the body of a warrior.

It's just that ......, I feel like I've seen this guy somewhere before. This confident smile...

"Oh, you were in the temple."

I remembered.

He's the one who told me that "I'd be a witness" when I made the slave deal with Janatha.

"Huh?"

Serina looks at me suspiciously.

"Haha, well, let's just pretend for the moment that someone were in the temple, pretending to be someone else."

The warrior-like king laughed lightly.

So what's the point of being a witness?

"Don't give me that look, Alec. If necessary, I'll reveal myself and testify. But now it's a different matter."

"You're not letting me out of here?"

"Hey, watch your language. This man is the king of Grandsword."

The Guard blamed me, but the king heard him and quickly waved his hand and laughed.

"It's okay, don't mind him. Let's not get too formal here. Alec, your identities are currently being checked with the Kingdom of Vernia. You'll have to wait a week or so ...... for the return of the fast horse."

Well, I guess they want us to be grateful that we're not being executed. However, it is a little disgusting to be trapped in here for a week.

"Excuse me, Your Majesty, I can't help it, but these people are unrelated. Can you please let them out?"

Luka asked.

"How can you say they are unrelated? I've heard reports that Luka of the Silver Scorpion has joined the Black Cat of the Wind."

"Oh, that's ......."

"Well, that's fine. Guard, let him out."

"Are you sure, sir?"

"No problem. It looks like their level is a little more than thirty. If it gets out of control, I'll take care of it right away."

"That's a problem, but yes, I understand. As you command, Your Majesty."

The guard took out the key and opened the door.

"Hmm, I'm glad. Thank you, Your Majesty."

Serina bowed with a smile.

"Thank you."

Although I was relucant, I was careful about etiquette. The heroes in this world are mass-produced with a very low status.

And he's not the one who summoned me. I'm is a heroes from another country.

"It's not crowded, so feel free to be rude. We'll talk upstairs."

The king seemed to be a man who understood what he was saying.　

I thought I was going to be in a luxurious room, but instead I was ushered into a bleak room that looked like a soldier's lounge.

There were two soldiers outside the room, but only the king was inside. Is such security enough for you? Well, I'm not planning to attack him, but...

"If the other party is a heroes, he should be treated accordingly, but don't feel bad. But don't take it personally. You're suspects for all intents and purposes, and your identities have not yet been confirmed."

"No, don't worry about it."

Serina replied. Well, I guess I'll leave it to her. The King is a good judge of character, so I doubt he'll be angry enough to execute us.

"Luka, you keep your mouth shut."

I'm going to nail the guy who looks like dangerous.

Luka nodded as if she understood.

"Not so fast. That's not going to happen, because I called you here to ask you what happened. I've already figured it out from your attitude, though. The self-proclaimed Erwin was frothing at the mouth when I told him that I had sent confirmation of his identity to Austin, claiming that it was a divine revelation or mission and that he had urgent business to attend to."

"Yeah, ...... you got what you deserved."

Serina shrugged her shoulders, a little taken aback.

"I guess so. You can do whatever you want with Erwin, Luka, as soon as the early horse from Austin returns. You can boil him or roast him, I'll give you the King's permission."

"Thank you, sir!"

"But on one condition."

Correction. As you can tell, but he was a troublesome type of king.　

"What is it...?"

"What, don't be so cautious, it's easy enough for you to be a member of a B-rank party. As a simple adventurer, all you have to do is accept the quests I give you."

The king said in a light tone.

At this rate, Luka might respond in a whimsical way, so I'll interrupt him.

"Your Majesty, why don't you tell us what the quest is about first? If you're an adventurer, you have your own style of adventuring."

"Oh, yes. I have no intention of hiding it. It's just escorting, or rather monitoring, a certain party. That's what I want you to do in the Labyrinth of No Return."

"Escort? Why don't you use soldiers?"

Serina asks the obvious question.

"There's a reason I can't do that. The target of the escort is Elisa-Michele, a temple knight of Holy Kingdom Ufa. If possible, I'd like you to escort her entire party, but she's my top priority."

"Holy Kingdom Ufa ...... is a country quite a bit to the west, I believe?"

Serina asked back.

I've never heard of this country, but it seems that she knows the name Ufa.

"That's right. It's so far away that it would take two months to go one way from here. But that's a big country and they have a lot of influence over the Kingdom of Portiana."

I know the Kingdom of Portinana. It's a neighboring country to the southwest of the Kingdom of Grandsword. According to Nick, they don't get along well with Grandsword.

"When you're a temple knight in that Holy Kingdom Ufa, well, think that you have status as a princess in a small country, let's put it that way."

"Huh? A princess-like person in a dungeon?"

"They come, those people."

The king, sounding a little annoyed, didn't seem to like the idea. Well, if a VIP from another country dies in his country, there is bound to be trouble.

"Can't you just say no?"

"No, I can't. Of course, I'll explain to them that it's dangerous, and I'll try to persuade them. However, we have made agreements with many countries. As you can see, we don't allow troops in, but we are obligated to accept a small number of research teams from other countries. This agreement was made long before my grandfather's time, and I can't do anything about it on my own."

"That......sounds like a lot of work."

"It is, in fact, it's very difficult. If we were on good terms with a country, I would have given them a good soldier, but this time, things are different."

The more I heard about it, the more I didn't want to take it on, but there seemed to be other complications as well.