CH 435

We picked up the two people who had escaped from the Berias Kingdom and headed back to the town of Gust. I would have liked to do it right away, but the horses were frightened, so I had to fly slowly, but it would still take thirty minutes to get there.

In the meantime, I decided to ask them some questions.

“For now, I’ll ask you what’s going on over there, and I’ll introduce myself again. I’m Lars Irving, you can just call me Lars.”

“I’m Lars’ brother, Dedite.”

“My name is Lime. I apologize for my rudeness earlier.”

I felt that Lime-san was a polite person after she had calmed down a bit and apologized while bowing her head deeply. I thought she was a seasoned adventurer like Mizuki-san, but I think she’s more like a knight.

Then the other person opened his mouth.

“It’s amazing that you have a dragon in your territory. I’m Ryde, and you’ve been a real help, thank you!”

He has short, fluffy blond hair, smiles, takes my brother and me by the hand, and nods repeatedly. He was about the same age as my brother, I guess? I was concerned that he didn’t look like he could fight, even though he had just slipped out of the ranks.

“I can understand Lime-san’s impatience, though, since we suddenly came down with a dragon. But still, the horse is quite worn out. You might have had to abandon the horse on the way.”

“I-Is that so ……? We were so desperate, after all.”

“God didn’t abandon us, you know, Pr- …… Ryde.”

“You’re right, Lime. Hm, Is that the town of Gust?”

<Umu. The horses have finally settled down, we’re going down in the garden.>

Sarge descends slowly and arrives safely at the mansion.

“<Water>, you must be thirsty.”

I released the horses into the garden and gave them some water to drink, which they happily drank, shaking their heads. As I was about to show them to the house, Nora came out into the garden when she noticed Sarge coming down.

“Welcome back!! Huh, horses? You guys look tired, you can rest now.”

“Hi, Nora. Where are the dad and Mom?”

“They’re in the reception office, he said they want you to go there when you come back. They’re in the parlor. I see that you brought the people Sarge talked about!”

“Yes. This is where they were going, after all. I understand. Well then, Ryde-san and Lime-san, let’s go. Nora, take care of the horses.”

“You can just call me Lime.”

“You can just call me Ryde too.”

“……”

""

“Then I’ll talk to you without honorifics.”

Ryde continues to call Lime. For a moment, she looked at Ryde with a difficult look on her face, but why?

For now, I’ll leave this to Nora, and as my brother walks away with the two of them, I followed them. It doesn’t look like they’re going to do anything bad, but just in case.

<Do you want me to go too?>

“Yes, please.”

I put the smaller Sarge on my head and walked to the reception room, Mom and Dad noticed the two people we brought with us, and stood up and made a quick bow.

“They’re the people who you said to be headed this way, right? I’m Roen and this is my wife Marianne.”

“Nice to meet you. Please make yourself at home.”

“Oh, yes! Thank you for your concern.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Ryde. Pleased to meet you.”

Lime and Ryde bowed deeply and sat down on the sofa, looking somewhat relieved. I stand against the wall behind them, and as soon as Dad and Mom sit down in front of them, they started talking immediately.

“Now, since you’re here, I take it that you were planning to come to the town of Gust, correct?”

“Yes. As I told the both of them earlier, we came here to inform you of a crisis from a group from the Berias Kingdom who are on their way here now.”

“Hmmm …… so the Gospel’s Descent is really in collusion with the Berias Kingdom. I can’t elaborate on the countermeasures right now, but we’ve already begun to take action. But thank you for taking the risk to tell us.”

“No …… since you’ve already taken action, that’s very impressive.”

“The other day, the Gospel’s Descent attacked this town, and I heard from a source that they were under the protection of the Berias Kingdom. And from what I heard from those who fought them, I predicted that they would come again.”

Dad spoke well, hiding his foreknowledge of Retzel.

That being said, so they’re really using soldiers from the Berias Kingdom. I don’t know how the other side got permission from the king …… We’ve talked to Ryuuze and the others and it’s obvious that if they move their troops, there will be a war. If the king intends to do so, it’s no wonder ……

When I was thinking about this with my arms crossed, Ryde said to Lime with a serious face 

“Lime, that’s fine. I need to accomplish what I came for.”

“B-But ……”

“? What’s going on?”

My brother tried to say something to Lime, who has a difficult face and lays her face down, but she didn’t reply. But Ryde took it as an affirmation, and after taking a deep breath, he opened his mouth.

“…… My name is Ride. My name is Ryde Everlide. I am the last of the exiled royalty occupied by the Berias Kingdom.”

“What!?”

“What did you say ……!?”

The words that came out of his mouth were enough to startle us! I didn’t think there were any surviving members of the defunct Everlide royal family!

“I-Is that true?”

“No way ……”

As Mom and Dad broke into a cold sweat, Lime gave a small nod and began to speak.

“It’s true. Ryde-sama is the prince of Everlide. When the castle was attacked, my mother, who was the Queen’s caretaker, took me and the newborn prince and fled the castle. However, the siege was so severe that we were unable to leave the country and lived quietly in the castle town.”

“I don’t know how you’ve managed to stay alive until now ……”

When I let out a sigh of relief, Ryde turns to me and sadly says.

“Yes …… I’m seventeen years old, and I owe it all to the people of this town. They taught me how to study, shared their food with me, and hid me from the world. They can investigate me when I leave the castle town, but since not many people live in Berias, and I guess no one really knows that there is a prince still living.”

“It was fortuitous that it wasn’t public knowledge, since it happened right after he was born ……”

“……”

Lime muttered, and we all gulped.

To be honest, I had the impression that an outrageous bomb had wandered into the country, and I wondered if they hadn’t thought of what we might do with them as a souvenir …… but since they were already exiled, he didn’t grow up as a prince, so he might not have much sense of danger.

And then Ryde said something even more shocking–