CH 438

“Oh, Roen-dono! It’s been a long time! And for you and your son to come together at the castle, that’s rare.”

“It has been a long time, Flugel-sama. I have something to tell you, and I have come to request an audience with His Majesty.”

Dad and I applied for an audience at the castle’s reception desk, and as we walked through the entrance, we bumped into Flugel-san and exchanged greetings. Flugel-san, who had heard about my Dad’s request for an audience, looked at the two behind me and gave a small nod.

“I see, so there’s something about these two, is that it? It’s Lars-kun’s case again, you really have it rough,  Roen-dono.”

“What, wait, Flügel-san?”

“Ha-ha-ha, you don’t have to say it. You’re probably helping someone in trouble again, aren’t you? Then I’ll go get His Majesty.”

“……”

As I look away from Flugel-san with a slightly unconvinced look on my face, Lime speaks to me.

“Always?”

“‘Y-Yeah, it’s force majeure, but I get caught up in it quite a bit. I think that’s what he’s talking about.”

“Well, you did collect us and take us to the town, and I have a feeling you’re like that, Lars-kun.”

“…… I’ll send you back if that’s what you mean?”

“Ah, I-, I’m sorry!”

As I walked to the audience hall through Prince Ryde’s hurried attempts to grab my arm and shake me, I was immediately let through, and the King opened his mouth. 

“It’s been a long time, Roen. For you to here together with Lars, did something happen? Well, I think it’s probably because of the two unfamiliar people there. It’s Lars again?”

“I’m fine with that ……”

“Fufu, sorry, just kidding. So, who are they?”

“Well–“

Dad told them what happened.

The first thing he said was that he was sure that the Berias Kingdom and the Gospel’s Descent were attacking, and the size of their forces. And the approximate number of days they would arrive. However, the moment he told him the identity of Prince Ryde and his companion, he stood up from his throne and shivered.

“O-Ohhhhhh …… I didn’t think Godwin’s son was alive ……! You certainly have the look of the queen ……”

“Does father know them?”

Of course, we are sometimes invited to national events. We were supposed to have a party when the baby was born, but ……”

“But the war started before that.”

“Umu. More than fifteen years have passed since then. You were occupied so quickly that we didn’t even have time to go to war …… By the time we got the report, it was too late ……”

The king’s eyes fell down as he remembered those days. He thought that we could pursue them when they were exhausted, but since they were taken in just a few days, there was no talk of rescue, and the king was wary that there was a considerable difference in strength between the two sides due to their too-quick takeover, so he decided to stay put. 

“It’s not like you, father, even though you would have gone there right away.”

“Everlide are beyond the Berias Kingdom. If we’re not careful, we’ll be caught in the middle, that’s why I’ve decided to not dispatch troops for the country. I’m sorry.”

“No, I think it can’t be helped since it’s for the good of the country. Besides, I was a baby too, so I didn’t have the self-awareness as a prince.”

Prince Ryde scratched the back of his head, smiling, “I’ve spent my life like a normal child, after all.”. I thought he was done with that, so I decided to continue speaking.

“May I, Your Majesty?”

“Hmm? What is it, Lars? You may speak.”

“Thank you. It seems that the soldiers heading this way are mostly from Everlide. The two of them not only came to inform us of the crisis, but they also came to the town of Gust with the hope of capturing the soldiers without killing them.”

“Hmmm ……”

When the king heard my words, he put his elbows down skillfully. It’s no wonder, I don’t want to kill people too, but I think it’s difficult to protect them when their lives are at stake in a war.

The two of them knew that, so they cast their eyes down and the place became quiet, and Prince Orden clapped his hands and said to me.

“Hmm, no matter how I think, I think it will be difficult. There’s still time, so why don’t we think about it together? I’m sure Lars can handle it.”

“Prince Orden, what do you think I am ……”

“Hahaha, you can use ancient magic like transfer magic and come up with all sorts of things. I’m looking forward to what you’d do again …… but I think there’s a way to do that”.

Prince Orden began to speak, unusually eloquently, as if he had just come up with a good idea.

“And that’s ……?”

“Lars is a good all-rounder, so we’ll use him as the focal point of our surprise attack. First of all, this plan would put Lars in danger, so it’s really just a suggestion.”

“It’s rare for Prince Orden to do that, so let’s hear it.”

Prince Orden never speaks out unless it’s something important, so this is a valuable moment. When I asked him, Prince Orden turned serious and said.

“I’m not going to change the fact that we’re going to lure them in to the empty town of Gust. But if we don’t, it will be a battle. So if we choose not to fight the soldiers, and if they are all Everlide people, we need to defeat or separate the enemy general, the members of the Gospel’s Descent, right?”

“Yes.”

I replied, but I could imagine a little what Prince Orden wanted me to do. I kept my mouth shut and listened.

“So we’re going to use Lars’ transfer magic to transfer the person in question to another location or have them fly with you. I’ll leave it to Lars to decide how to do it since he can create a transfer magic circle, but I think the only way to do it is to destroy them individually.”

“I see …… So what about the Knights of Reflexion?”

“Hmmm, the first thing you need to do is to lure them in, then close the gate behind them, and then Lars will eliminate the ringleaders. After that, I think we should surround them completely and ask Prince Ryde to ask them to give up the fight, what do you think?”

“I think it’s not a bad idea. The Gospel’s Descent will probably be in the rear anyway, so if we take Sarge and surprise attack them from high altitude, we should be able to transfer them. The question is, how many of them are there. I don’t know if I’d be useful in the fight after that, since I’d be using up so much of my magic.”

“I think we can leave that to the knights. I’m not thinking of letting Lars fight alone, and Tigre-sensei, right? I’m sure he’s strong too.”

…… Indeed. I was mistaken because I’ve always been the one to pick up the pieces, but this time I have a lot of help. Ryuuze and the others will fight too, and if we isolate them, we can destroy them individually. 

The problem is the number of people. I’m not sure if my magic power will be able to handle it …… I wish Dibit-san is here, but should I go get him with Sarge? That’s when I thought about it.

“It’s a good plan. If you’re dealing with Ten Chief Priests, I’d like Lars-kun to deal with at least one of them, so I’ll take care of transferring them.”

“Don’t go in there without permission! Oh, I apologize, your Majesty. Hehe ……”

“Retzel! And Basleigh-sensei!”

The one who came into the audience room was Retzel, and the one who followed him was Basleigh-sensei.

“Hmm, I didn’t think you could catch me even though I used transfer magic ……”

“Hey, Retzel, do you think we can trust that? I hope you’re not planning to use this against us. “

“Well, I don’t blame you for thinking that. Should I also call that Dibit guy? I’m sure we’ll be able to handle it with the two of us working together.”

“Hmm ……”

This time the battle is on a large scale, and the king is reluctant to include the unreliable Retzel in the operation. Of course, I’m of the same opinion. So my dad says to Retzel, “.

“…… Hmm, then, Retzel, you will fight the Gospel’s descent. Lars will use the transfer magic, and you do the fighting. That way, he won’t be able to do anything unnecessary.”

“Kuku, well, I don’t really care either way, though?”

“Don’t get carried away! Come on, let’s go back! I’m sorry to interrupt you.”

Basleigh-sensei grabbed him by the collar and pulled him out of the audience hall. I was wondering what was going on, but the plan is set.

“Lars-kun, are you alright ……?”

“I guess I’ll have to try. I’m fine, everyone is here. Oh, by the way, how’s everyone doing in the house?”

After that, Prince Ryde and Lime stayed at the castle ……. not, they were supposed to, but they wanted to come to our house, and Prince Orden also wanted to come. My father also wanted to come to our house once, so we became a large group.

H-Hmmm …… We left the castle thinking, “You should just let them shelter you here ……”.

Ah, the day that I can finally put up an afterword ……

Thank you for reading!

[Afterword Theater]

“I-I’m dying …… I don’t have time to read other authors’ works ……”

Well, that’s not good, Ha ha ha!

“It’s not funny ……!!”