CH 354

“Hmm, the King of Sandiola and the theater.”

“As Prince Orden’s bodyguard, I mean. He said he’d leave the selection to me, but I’ve decided to take Makina and Fath-san with me. I’m sorry if this seems like an after-the-fact agreement, but it’s okay, right?”

“Of course I’m okay with it! I don’t think anything will happen, though.”

“I’ll fine with it too. But it’s really busy, ho-ho-ho.”

–So about two hours have passed after the luncheon, we were at home discussing tonight’s plans. King Afmand wanted to see an idol perform, so we decided to go to the theater with the King and Prince Orden.

Of course, the king and the others have guards, but he wanted to take me along as Prince Orden’s bodyguard. I couldn’t refuse the prince’s request, so I agreed.

“Well, it might be convenient to have the King of Sandiola remember your face.”

“Why?”

“Well, I mentioned something about transfer magic, right? There are two users of transfer magic that I know of, one of them is in Sandiola. I don’t know where he is now, so if the king knows, there’s a good chance he’ll help us find him.”

“Heh, that’s unexpected. Who’s the other one?”

“The other one is …… difficult to communicate with, so if possible, you should make Sandiola remember you.”

“Don’t tell me, he can’t speak, or something……?”

When Makina asked timidly, Fath-san said that was not the case.

“She’s the princess of the Trianaid Holy Kingdom, a country surrounded by a huge lake two countries over to the west of here. I believe she’s already a Queen.”

I’ve heard in class that the Trianaid Holy Kingdom is a country where women have been king for generations, and it’s a beautiful place. In addition, it is really far from this Reflexion Kingdom, maybe three weeks to travel with the carriage almost without rest.

“I wonder how old she is? It’s amazing that she mastered ancient magic.”

“I met her about fifteen years ago, and she was eight years old at the time, so I’d say she’s twenty-three. Her skill is called “The Essense of Magic”, so maybe she can use Dragonic Blaze now.”

“The only person I know who can use ancient magic besides Lars is Verna-sensei, but even she can only float a little using levitation and invisible.”

“Verna-sensei is also young, but she can use it, right? Well, I can’t ask Queen to teach me, so it’s going to be someone from Sandiola.”

“Ho-ho-ho, exactly. His name is Largo, and he was a great help to me in the dungeon. He’s about fifty years old now, I guess?”

“Ok, Fath-san, he’s Fath-san’s acquaintance, so I guess we’ll recognize him quickly. I think I’ll leave the monsters’ garden to Nibiru-san and we’ll get today’s work done before we leave.”

“Do you want Sarge to take you there?”

“No, we’ll take the carriage in case Aina notices. Johnny and the others should get some exercise, too.”

We planned to leave within a couple of days, including the preparation time, and it was quickly getting late as we took notes from Fath-san on what we would need to travel around Sandiola.

Fully equipped, I walked out the door with Sephiro and Ash to head for the castle.

“Sorry, Schneider and Radia. It’s already nighttime, so please wait quietly.”

“Woof!”

“Grrr.”

“I’ll give you a good brushing when I get back.”

“Kuoon!”

I waved over the fence, and the two of them gave short squeaks to see me off. I felt as if Radia was telling Ash to hang in there. I wonder if it’s okay that she’s entrusting her baby Ash to us.

Anyway, when we arrived at the castle, Basleigh-sensei took us to the theater with Prince Orden.

“The Sandiola side has very few guards …… No, this side too, huh.”

“He said that he didn’t want to antagonize us and that he only needed his aide, Abol, and two skilled warriors. It would have been better if we had more, but I don’t think we could have managed a surprise attack with that many, and there were a good number of people left behind, so we put them under surveillance as well.”

“Oh, just so they don’t take over the castle.”

“That’s what I’m talking about, Makina-chan.”

Prince Orden sniffed happily and looked at the carriage in front of him, which has King Afmand. He’s not a bad person, but he’s not a softie to be trusted.

We continued to talk about random topics as we made our way through the city, where the sun had already set, to the theater.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Albert-sama. Although it was sudden, please rest assured that we will keep the general public away from the theater until you enter.”

“Fumu, I’m sorry. Afmand-dono, I’ve heard that there are special seats available, so let’s watch the show from there.”

“I apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you very much.”

The King and King Afmand walked lightly into the theater, followed by their guards, and then us. Then Prince Orden opened his mouth while patting Ash.

“To be honest, I was curious too. Since my father can’t go to my mother’s side and I can’t really go out because of the strict surveillance. Now that Basleigh is staying with us, I’d like to visit Lars’ house at least as casually as possible.”

“No, that would be too much for me.”

“Isn’t it fine? I’d like to be able to take requests from the guild to kill monsters or something. Right, Ash?”

“Kuoon?”

Ash, who was being held by me, was sniffing Prince Orden’s hand with an unsure look on his face. He seemed to be a little wary because he wasn’t familiar with him.

“We are often not here, so I will just feel sorry to have you visit.”

“Haha, thank you, Makina-chan. Well, let’s think about that in the future …… but for now, let’s just enjoy this live performance.”

“Seriously, you such a carefree prince.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to hear it from Basleigh.”

As Basleigh-sensei and Prince Orden were walking along, exchanging glances, King Afmand, who was walking in front of us, called out to us.

“Hello, Lars-kun, right? Thank you for earlier, it was very satisfying. Are you on good terms with Prince Orden?”

“Y-Yes, well, he’s talked to me a lot since I knew him as a child. I am very grateful to Prince Orden.”

“Then I’d like it if you could invite me to your house, though? Lars is a great cook, wizard, swordsman, and he even made the costumes for the idol we are going to see today. He’s also a classmate of the idol. He is also a classmate of the idol, and is in love with this cute girl.”

“Isn’t that a bit of an exaggeration?”

“It’s true.”

“Ah~hahahaha! I see, so Prince Orden thinks that Lars is both his friend and the object of his envy? I understand. Royalty can be boring as hell and I wish I had the ability to live like that.”

“That’s right.”

He chatted with us in a friendly manner, and we were invited to the special seat where we were the first spectators.

“Well then, I’ll leave you to talk to Albert-dono. I’d like to talk to you again.”

“Yes, please take care of me at that time.”

After making a subtle appeal to King Afmand, we parted ways and I stood next to Makina, who was peering down from the special seat to see what was going on.

“Wow, when you look at it in a bright place, it feels quite expensive.”

“It was dark at the time. Oh, it looks like it’s starting.”

I keep my eyes on the audience, King Afmand and his entourage, not on the show. Makina and Fath-san were also on their toes.

(Thank you for coming today too, everyone♪!)

Helena’s voice could be heard on stage, and the crowd cheered, and Helena, satisfied with the cheers, continued.

(Today, the king and other important people are here, so I’ll sing even harder than usual.)

“Fufu, Oh Helena, she’s still going to do the same whether the king is here or not, though.”

“She said she was going to be a rich man’s wife, but now she’s an idol first.”

Makina giggled at Helena’s comment and said something like that. As I looked around, thinking that I missed the days when I was ten years old, I saw King Afmand looking at the stage with wide eyes.

He seemed surprised to see his countryman Helena playing such an active role in another country. As I was thinking about this, he called his aide Abol with his finger and whispered to him.

“…… What the hell?”

He seemed to be pointing at the stage or asking something to the king, but the distance and the cheers were too great to hear.

Although I was curious, no problems arose, and I drove the king and the others back to the castle.

“Well, thank you all for your hard work! The day after tomorrow, they’ll be going home, but they said they won’t be doing anything like walking around the town, so we probably won’t be needed there. So, let’s talk about going to Sandiola!”

“What!? No, no, no, Basleigh-sensei, you plan to follow us!?”

“What? Of course I am?”

She put her finger to her lips, tilted her head slightly and made a cute gesture.

“It’s troubling even if you make that cute gestures, though …… You work to do, right? This time, it’s going to take longer because we don’t know where people are.”

“Noooooooooooo!? I don’t want to be the outcast!”

“Yes, yes, let’s go to bed, teacher.”

“Ah, wait!? Aren’t a bit too cold than when Aina-chan is here!? Oh, Makina-cha–“

For the time being, Makina has kept the peace in the house.

Now that I’ve gotten my reward, I think I’ll go buy some travel gear tomorrow? It’s a long way, and I’ll probably need a tent or something.

Now, what will happen from here? (Even the author doesn’t know)

Thank you for reading.

[Afterword Theater]

“Will the demon come out or will the snake come out ……”

Jaga? Potato?

“There’s no way that’s what I’m talking about!?”

(T/N: Can’t find anything relating to the meaning of Jaga. I only know that Jaga is a word that is in the Romaji word “Jagaimo”.)