CH 98

Norfe would have liked to have asked Chouze why the orange girl had been in the room, but he decided to greet the merman first. After all, the merman on the sofa looked familiar to him.

Chouze was too young to remember it. However, the royals of every country must meet the merfolk chief when they are young. That’s why Edwy remembered Amia as well.

“Merfolk chief.”

“So, you remember me, human child.”

“I remember meeting you when I was very young. What brought you to a place like this?”

Norfe couldn’t help but ask the question.

“I merely answered the request of the child.”

Amia said as he looked at Chouze. She was smiling happily at him.

“No, that’s not what I meant. Why are you even in Highland in the first place?”

“I was in the lakes of the dwarf lands last month.”

Amia said. It was as if going from lake to lake was the most natural thing for him.

“Well…that is… But merfolk are almost never seen in these parts.”

Surprisingly, Norfe seemed to realize that something was going on. Amia leaned on his elbow and shrugged carelessly.

“I could ask you the same question. Why are you here, when it’s not even the hottest season?”

It’s odder that you are here. Norfe was at a loss for words, however, this was the reason.

“I didn’t think that it was you, but I heard the news that a merman was taken by the mirror lake. And I was ordered to bring this merman to the royal capital.”

Amia raised an eyebrow.

“The royal capital? Of Highland? But there are no waterways that connect to that city. It’s impossible.”

“Yes. And so a large lake will be prepared. You can stay there…”

Norfe was sweating as he said this. In fact…

“I want to see the captured merman. So bring him to me. There is a large lake near the palace if it needs water.”

That was the actual order. He hadn’t really thought much of it at first. But now that he was facing Amia, the whole thing looked incredibly insolent and rude.

“Water that does not move? It will not do.”

“Then we shall prepare clean water that flows. Will you come then?”

Norfe was persistent. Unlike the other royals who were merely curious, Norfe had always wanted to invite the other races to Highland. Even if it was not possible now, they could draw water from the mountains in a few years’ time.

“I discussed this with that child already. If you want to meet us, you should come to the merfolk island. There are always many of us waiting there. They especially enjoy meeting children.”

“However, we would have to pass through Midland in order to reach it.”

Norfe wanted to tell him that it was no easy thing to do.

“Borders may as well not exist. Besides, you are all humans.”

“Maybe that was so in the past. But royals cannot just pass through Midland. There is no way to avoid traveling through Midland or Lowland in order to visit the other territories.”

“And you do not want to do that?”

Norfe nodded.

“Still, the Highland capital is not so enticing that I would go against my instincts in order to visit.”

“If not you chief, perhaps some other merfolk can?”

“I doubt anyone would want to visit.”

Norfe was troubled. An order was an order. Failing was not an option. Chouze watched them both with a worried expression.

“Will you not consider it? Think about it for one day.”

“No.”

The chief would not budge. Norfe bit his lip. But…

“I will visit you again tomorrow.”

He said as he tried to leave the room.

“Norfe…”

“Chouze. You come too.”

Norfe said to her as he looked back. Then they both left the room.

“It’s perfect. If I run away, then he’ll have an excuse for not being able to take me back to the capital.”

To Amia, Norfe was also a child.

He could leave right now if he wanted to. Amia thought as he looked out the window, where the guards stood. With a swing of his hand, they would fly into the air. However, if the beloved children were going to come for him, that would be more amusing. His tail slapped the sofa happily.

At the same time, Maki and Chiharu were on a road that was quite far from the lake town. Aaron was very angry with them. To be precise, he was very angry at Chiharu.

“Why is it always you!”

“Yes, I’m sorry. By the way…”

“By the way?”

“No, um, yes…”

“Are you really sorry!”

And on it went. However, the reason that it went on longer than it should, was because Chiharu was quite distracted. She kept looking at what was behind Aaron. As for why that was…

“I had heard the rumors, but the upwards wind current in Highland sure is nice.”

“It’s only one day from Midland.”

“Next time, we should quietly sneak into the royal capital.”

Very loud indeed.

“Chiharu?”

“Ahh! But, um, I…”

“I didn’t see anything.”

Aaron did not look behind him. As for Maki…

“Huh. So this is the current Saintess.”

“It’s just as Sauro said. She looks very easy to carry.”

“And very cute, just like Saikania told me.”

She was surrounded by brown birdfolk and seemed quite stunned.

“Edwy, Zynis. Isn’t this supposed to be a secret mission?”

Maki asked.

“I heard that it was. That’s why I invited eagle birdfolk, because they don’t draw attention when flying up high.”

Answered Edwy.

“Hmm? We didn’t come here for any mission.”

“We’re just sightseeing in Highland.”

“Because Sauro told us that once we cross the sea, all the human lands are connected.”

“And while we birdfolk don’t like flying long distances, if we do our best and cross the sea, we can then play as much as we want!”

The birdfolk said. That Sauro! He always brought the most troublesome types. She wasn’t sure how many of them there were, but with so many noisy brown birds around, Maki was reminded of sparrows. And they would still stick out, no matter how high they were.

“Since they came all the way here, I asked them to carry us to the villa. That will be faster.”

Edwy said with a shrug. It was like he didn’t care much anymore.

The carriage they had used was already being driven to the next town. Maki and Chiharu were supposed to rescue the merman and then fly with the birds to the border.

“You can fly during the night as well?”

“It’s harder to see, but normal flight shouldn’t be a problem.”

Kleo said.

“Now, let’s practice!”

“Practice?”

“We don’t have much experience carrying humans. So we want to practice to see how long we can carry you.”

“Practice for you!”

Chiharu was surprised. Even though they weren’t Sauro, they were just as odd. Then Kleo turned to Chiharu.

“Now, baggage.”

“I’m not baggage!”

“Line up! First, you must fly down towards their backs and grab onto them before rising into the air. After that, we’ll do it while they are running. Start!”

“Are you listening?”

However, Maki and Chiharu, and even Aaron and Edwy as well, were forced to train with the birdfolk until the sun came down.

“Ah. It’s perfect, thanks to you…”

Maki sat down and looked at the sky. Even though they were small, these birdfolk were strong. In fact, the birdfolk were still flying around energetically after training. Maki was sure that people would be able to see them from the road. Chiharu, who was sitting next to her, said,

“But, Maki-chan…”

“What?”

“Why did everyone need to train? It only needed to be one birdfolk for each human.”

Maki looked at Chiharu with surprise.

“Chiharu. It took you that long to notice…”

“So-sorry…”

Chiharu was tired as well. After all, so much had happened that day.

And then the night of the mission arrived.