Volume 8 - CH 4

Translator: Silver Editor: Namorax

「Everyone’s Kingdom」

After finishing a rather loud lunch, Ivana looked back at Ariane one last time before she returned to her patrol.

Ariane looked somewhat tired, but as she watched her sister leave, she released a sigh of relief and gave my armor a light tap.

“Lunch is over, let’s head over to Rhoden immediately. Lille-chan is waiting.”

“That’s right.”

“Ky〜uh……

Ponta, who’d eaten her fill during lunch, let out a small cry and raised one of her paws when I replied to Ariane.

Post-meal tiredness had overtaken her and Ariane had to start carrying her when she nearly rolled off my head.

Ponta let out a large yawn as I bought the pair with me to Rhoden using 【Transfer Gate】.

It seems that their forces were ready to go when we arrived. Lille Nozan Soulia, the first princess of Nozan and the creator of this alliance, stood before a line of soldiers with her bodyguards Zahara and Nina at her side.

“You’re late, Arc-dono! I was worried that something had happened over there!”

We had arrived in Rhoden’s royal palace’s large courtyard, and Lille ran over to us when she noticed Ariane and me.

She was about a hundred and forty centimeters tall and retained her childish features.

I’d also heard that she was only eleven years old.

Her bright, slightly curly hair was bounced along the top of her shoulders and reflected the liveliness of someone of her age.

Her large grey eyes were wide open as they wondered about my form as if she was examining me.

Despite her young age, she had traveled to far off lands for the sake of obtaining Canada’s and Rhoden’s aid, all the while carrying the fate of her country on her shoulders.

In spite of her appearance…… very little was childish about her.

She was so sensitive to the progress of things because she was fully aware of the current situation.

“Sorry to worry you, Lille-dono. The transfer of the Canadian warriors went off without a hitch, and they are currently waiting in Nozan. There’s no problem on that end.”

I kneeled and bowed my head as I was reporting to her, all in an attempt to ease her worries.

“I-Is that so? That is a relief.”

“With his ability, a small delay isn’t an issue. Rather than rushing things, it’s better that preparations are completed over here, Princess Lille.”

When Lille breathed a sigh of relief, Rhoden’s first prince spoke up as he slowly approached us from behind.

Sect Rondaro Carunon Rhoden.

He was tall, had regal facial features and light brown hair…… despite the suit of light armor he was wearing, his almost fairytale-like, princely charm still managed to shine through.

Even though he was young, the dignity of the royal family already dwelled within his eyes, and even as he bowed his head and greeted me with a thin smile, it didn’t inspire the image of a gentle prince.

He was a man with many secrets…… that was my opinion of him.

Beside him stood a young girl of equal standing.

Her wavy hair boarded on yellowish blonde and she wore a modest dress despite being Sect’s younger sister and the second princess of Rhoden. Her name was Juliana Marill Melissa Rhoden Olav.

Although she had big and lovely brown eyes, if you looked a little closer you’d see a strength within them befitting of her status as a princess.

“Isn’t that a little bit insensitive, Sect-oneesan? Lille-cha─ Princess Lille is just worried about her country. It is a gentleman’s duty to put someone at ease, isn’t it? Right, Arc-sama?”

Juliana glanced at Sect for a moment before she asked for my agreement with a cool expression.

The relationship between the two siblings wasn’t that good.

Even though she’d only asked me a question, it would put me into a difficult situation no matter how I answered. I glanced to my side, but Ariane was avoiding my eyes.

Ponta was peacefully sleeping in Ariane’s arms.

I avoided the topic by bringing up another, more important one.

“I was hoping to speak with King Calron before taking the reinforcements to Nozan. Is there a reason he isn’t here?”

I wasn’t expecting the king to greet us and see us off, but one of this country’s princes would be acting as the leader of their forces, so it seemed rather incongruent that the king didn’t show up.

Both prince Sect and princess Juliana physically reacted to my comment.

“……There was a bit of a commotion in the capital this morning. Father went into the city to bring things under control.”

When princess Juliana spoke of the king’s whereabouts her tone wasn’t as clear as it usually was. He eyes seemed to twitch as she looked at me.

Next to her, Sect shrugged his shoulders and shook his head with a sarcastic smile on his face as he listened to Juliana.

“I know that there’s no shortage of our countrymen who have committed crimes against the elves, so I understand why you wouldn’t give us a warning in advance.”

Both Ariane and I shared a confused look at their behavior.

A small body hopped up between us and interrupted the conversation.

“I was still asleep when the uproar happened, but it seems that two huge dragons visited the capital! Zahar went outside to see them, but they had already flown away by the time he made it. The king spoke a few words with them, but I really wanted to see them myself.”

Lille looked dejected as she said so, but one on her guard, Nina, knelt before the princess with a complex expression.

“You cannot, Lille-sama. No matter how intelligent a dragon is, it’s dangerous to approach them. Think of what would happen if something happened to you, the king would grieve.”

While Nina tried her best to persuade the princess. I whisper into Ariane’s ear.

“Ariane-dono, that huge dragon that appeared in Rhoden wouldn’t happen to have been Ferufivisurotte-dono by any chance?”

I don’t know why Ariane shock her head in response.

Those huge dragons that Lille was talking about…… I didn’t know every type of dragon in this world, but only those of the king-variety seemed to be able to speak. Ariane seemed to agree with me on that point.

However, the numbers were obviously not matching.

She left Maple early this morning…… and Ferufivisurotte definitely was alone then.

Maybe she’d met up with one of the other three dragon kings within Canada, but another question arose as I thought about who could be accompanying her.

She was supposed to be heading to Nozan, not Rhoden.

Even if there was another dragon king, it made no sense for the highly intelligent dragon kings to sweep down and bother people. Based on Lille reaction, it was rare for dragons to appear in human territories.

Moreover, there didn’t seem to be any damage done to the capital and the dragons had left after a short talk with the king.

According to Sect, the dragons that landed were seen as acting on Canada’s behalf, so it would be a bit difficult to ask the context of the king’s conversation with them.

Since the great elders hadn’t informed us about anything, Ariane and I decided to change the topic after a silent glance.

“How about we start transferring everyone over to Nozan. Can we get the people going to gather around me?”

Prince Sect was the first to move at my prompting.

“As our representative, I’ll be heading to Nozan first to exchange greeting with our allies. There are a few guards accompanying me, but that’s to be expected.”

Ten or so nearby knight escorts quickly joined his side.

When I looked around, I noticed that, in addition to the waiting soldiers, the palace garden was filled with fully loaded horse-drawn carts and mounted cavalry. It was obvious that the human soldiers had gathered an amount of supplies that was several magnitudes larger than those of the elves’.

I did the math in my head and calculated that it should take half a day to transfer everything to Nozan.

Then Lille announced her inclusion.

“I’ll be going too! I have to report to my father, and I’m worried about the capital.”

After saying her goodbyes to Princess Juliana, Lille and her two guards joined my side.

“We’re in your care, Arc-dono.”

“Yes.”

It seems that my chest wouldn’t be crushed this first time around. Then I let out a mental sigh as I remembered that the place I took Fargus and Dylan to was already overcrowded with troops.

The two of them didn’t seem concerned so it shouldn’t be a problem.

“Those who are not going to Nozan right now, stay outside the magic formation.”

After I declared my intention to use the transfer magic and moved to the center of the group, some of the knights were starting to back away.

Unlike the with the elves, who were familiar with transfer magic, several people let out surprised shouts when I invoked 【Transfer Gate】.

I released another sigh as I looked at the supplies and people that would need to be moved to Nozan’s capital.

“I guess I’ll be finished by this evening……”

The surroundings had already changed when that utterance left my lips.

After witnessing the exchange between Sect and Asparuf, my monotonous round trips began anew……