Volume 13 - Prologue

I received the news that the Dark Dragon Armor I had ordered was finally ready.

I immediately went to the weapons shop to pick it up, but an Guard knight was waiting for me in front of the inn.

I recognize his face, but I don't remember his name.... I did an appraisal, Ah yes, his name was Gareth.

「What do you want, Gareth?」

「Yes, His Majesty the King has Officially requested that I bring Alec-sama to His Majesty. And your friends too, please..」

He must have heard from the survivors of the Gallard clans that I went to the place where the first king had arrived.

What a hassle. And the part where you say "officially".

「What happens if I ignore it?」

「Now, ...... that has been entrusted to me, but if I can't use it like this, I'll lose the name of the Guard chief, and I'll have to be prepared to use emergency measures.」

It is likely that they will slash at me with deadly determination, which will cause even more trouble.

「All right, all right. I'll follow you quietly, so please be gentle.」

「Yes, of course.」

He wanted to me take my friends with me, but if I took the second and third team with me, there would be too many people and it would be too much trouble to lead them. I decided to take only the leaders of the teams, the first team, and those who really wanted to go.

「Alec-san! I've never been to a castle before! I'm looking forward to it.」

「Will I get to meet the king? I'm so nervous!」

「H-hey, what about etiquette?」

「I don't know. Just kneel down properly, I guess.」

「I don't know if it's appropriate, that's why I'm asking.」

「I said I don't know.」

Zeed is honestly happy, but the rest of them are confused. Well, I don't think they've ever been to a royal castle.

「You should imitate Serina for etiquette. You'll be fine.」

「Yeah. When you see the King, kneel like this and bow your head.」

It seems like Serina studied etiquette as well, so she demonstrated and explained it properly.

「I see, like this.」

I thought about dressing up as well, but Gareth urged me to do so by noon, so we all decided to go in armor, the formal attire of adventurers.

When we arrived at the castle gate, it seemed that everyone had already been informed of our arrival, and there were many commoners waiting around.

「There they are! The Black Cat of the Wind is here!」

「Oh, that's them, huh」

「They've got a nice face, as expected.」

「Is that Alec, the leader in the front?」

「The red-haired girl in the back is cute.」

「I like the blond one next to her.」

「Aleeec!」

One after another, the crowd cheered.

「There's a huge crowd.」

Serina murmured as if she was under pressure.

「Yeah, tsk, I would have at least prepared a fancy cloak for this kind of thing.」

It's a shame that Gareth didn't even let us prepare for this special occasion.

A soldier on top of the castle wall took out a trumpet and greeted us with fanfare. This seems to be the official welcome of the Grand Sword.

「This way, please. Come in.」

Gareth led the way and we walked through the castle. Soldiers lined up in the corridor in an upright posture, and as we passed, they raised their swords up in a nimble motion in a ceremonial gesture.

I was worried that we would be attacked on the way, but we made it safely through to the throne room.

「King of Grandsword, His Majesty King Caius II, Honorary~!」

I had never heard the king's name before, but I didn't know it was like that. But it doesn't seem to make much sense to know now that His Majesty can understand it.

There were many ministers and nobles in the throne room, so I knelt down politely to avoid causing any trouble.

The king opened his mouth.

「Good to see you, Alec. And welcome, 【Black Cat of the Wind】. You can make yourself comfortable.」

Wearing a crown and a red cloak, the king really looked like a king today.

「Ha!」

「I've already received a report that you've reached the place where the first previous king reached in the Labyrinth of No Return.」

「That's right.」

「「「 Oh 」」」

The nobles are thunderstruck.

「Give them a round of applause. They have rivaled the feats of the first king. They deserve to be praised.」

The applause is sparse, but it erupts.

「Well then, Alec, here's my gift to you. Please accept it.」

「Ha, thank you.」

With both hands, I accepted the bag of gold coins that Gareth had given me. Whoa, this thing weighs five million gold.

He was complaining that he was short of money the other day, but it seems that the king was quite excited.

「Then, it was a great honor. Get back.」

「Ha!」

I leave the throne room.

「Uheee, I'm so nervous!」

「Me too, me too.」

「I got stiff shoulders, too.」

「At times like this, I feel like screaming and destroying everything. Well done, me!」

Everyone started talking like a dam, but even I get nervous in such situations. I was relieved until Gareth called out to me.

「Alec-san, please wait in the other room. His Majesty will be there later.」

I guess it's not over yet.

「All right then, you guys can go home first.」

I said to the members of the team who were standing there looking stupid.

「Phew, good.」

「I'll do that.」

「Go home, go home.」

「If that's the case, I'll go home first.」

Perhaps thinking that it would be too much to deal with the king, everyone chose to leave.

The only ones left were Meena and Serina.

As we sat waiting in the usual bleak reception room, the king came in, dressed only in cloth.

His minister, Zenon, was with him.

「Good grief, there are too many people are making unnecessary assumptions..」

The king turned his head and said in a tired voice.

「You're right.」

The minister chimed in. The king looked at me and said.

「Alec, just for the record, do you intend to become a nobleman of this country? Of course, with a territory.」

「No, let me refrain from doing that. My shoulders get stiff every day.」

「Fufu, I knew you'd say that. If you want to be king, I'd be happy if you take my place.」

「Your Majesty!」

Zenon says in a sharp voice as if scolding the king, but I guess that's an unintentional remark in this world.

「I was joking, Zenon.」

I'll tell him that, too, when I hear it.

「Just to be safe, let me formally decline that as well. I don't think I can take your place.」

「Yeah, you're a lifesaver, Alec. Some of the nobles are worried that you might try seek the throne.」

Guiding questions? You are a disgusting bastard.

「If I'd been in on the joke, I'd have been slashed from behind, wouldn't I?」

「No, no, I said it was a joke. It's a joke, and you can laugh it off..........However, there are those who have unnecessary concerns. I'm sorry, but I don't think you should stay in this country for too long.」

The king said with a regretful look on his face.

「How much time do we have? We haven't finished our search for the Labyrinth of No Return yet.」

「Is there anything left to be done?......Or are you planning to move on?」

The king asked me with a slightly surprised look on his face.

If I said yes, it would probably be more trouble than it was worth. I shook my head.

「It's an oversight. I don't know how you got the report, but we just came back to see the first king's warning. That's good enough for me.」

「Well said. According to Arnett, you have defeated the Dark Dragon. One that even the First King couldn't stand.」

「You must have heard it wrong. It was claws and flame that I defeated, not the dragon.」

「I heard you left the scales with a weaponsmith.」

You're still in possession of all that information.

「I did, but what proof do you have that the scales belonged to the dragon?」

「I don't. You have six months. If you stay here any longer, rumors will start that Alec is trying to get past the king. This is ridiculous, but I have no control over it.」

「I don't need six months. It'll be over in a month or so.」

「I see. I'm sorry for everything. If you ever raise a flag in any country, I'll help you. It's a man to man deal.」

「Yeah. Are we done here?」

「Yeah, that's it. I'm sorry I kept you company today.」

「Don't be.」

I'm leaving the parlor.

「It's getting to be a bit of a mess, isn't it?」

Serina says, who had been silent earlier, you're right Serina. It takes a lot of nerve just to conquer the ninth layer, and now the outside world is being too noisy.

「That's right. Now that we've given a month by the king , let's make that as a deadline for the capture.」

「I'm sure the king will be fine if we talk to him and tell him we've postponed.」

「I doubt it. I don't know. If he sees that I'm ambitious, I won't even know if I'll make it out of this country alive.」

「Hmm, do you think the king would go that far?」

「He might not, but he has Zenon and his men.」

I say.

Zenon, the minister, who was looking at me without even smiling. I think that guy is going to send assassins without a care in the world.

I'd better keep an eye on the movements of the castle.