34 - 第三十四话 帝都からの招待
Sorry to keep you waiting. A messenger from the capital. May I have a moment of your time?"
Finally. I get out of bed and follow the commander. I was originally told it would take three days, but it actually took a week. Thanks to him, I had a really relaxing time. Three meals were brought to me, and the soldiers did not try to talk to me more than necessary. The commanding officer is probably busy, but I hardly see him at all. The only thing I do is to feed Ilimo. Ilimo, too, seems to be taking it easy and relaxing.
This report comes at a time when I am starting to have some free time. It's quite a good timing.
"My name is Seono of the Knights of the Heedata Empire.
He has dark hair and a rather stout build. He has a soft-spoken but fearless appearance.
"Mr. Linos, my Imperial Prime Minister, Mr. Gremont wishes to speak with you in person. We ask that you accompany us to the capital."
I called myself an assistant steward, but judging from the politeness with which he treated me, he must have been under strict orders to show me around politely.
I accepted the offer, and with Gon on my back, we headed for the capital in the Ilimo. The escort of the imperial knights led by Seono was perfect and very well trained.
It is a day's ride on horseback from Kushana to the capital. We take a short rest on the way. One of the escorts seemed to have the skill of a warder and said, "I heard that you are a warder, but I don't see any warder skill. His colleague was angry with him because his appraisal skill is level 1 and he does not have enough training. I will make sure that the level 2 warding skill is displayed.
There were a few such short breaks, but basically, he has been running for almost the entire day. Ilimo, who was well rested, had no problem, but I, who was not used to riding horses for a long time, was quite tired.
We arrived at the capital as the sun was setting. The capital had no city walls and was located on top of a mountain. The capital was located at the top of the mountain, after climbing up the zigzag mountain path and passing through the forest. In other words, it was as if the capital had been carved out of the mountain top and built there.
Passing through the gate, we enter the capital. After walking through the city for a while, you will come across a large building. There, you get off your horse and are led into the building.
It was a luxurious building reminiscent of the royal palace of the Kingdom of Juka. I thought it was part of a castle, but to my surprise, it turned out to be a hotel. A gentleman dressed in a butler's uniform like mine greets us reverently and shows us to our room. The room was very spacious, and it was just like a VI! I was treated like a VI!
He said, "We will pick you up in the morning. Until then, please rest in peace.
Seono bowed to me and left. After that, the hotel offered us a meal, which turned out to be roast beef. It reminded me of the Berthaume family. The bread and soup were also delicious, and I enjoyed them very much.
"They must be very wary of us!
After the meal and dessert, Gon whispered to me.
He had not put poison in the food, but we were being watched so that we wouldn't know. There are two people on each side of this room. And two more on the ceiling. They look like ninjas. They may be guards, but the empire must be very careful about us.
We haven't deactivated the wards since we entered Heedata. I don't want to deactivate it, but I'm going to keep it that way for a while.
Surprisingly, there is a shower in this room. I don't know how it works, but this is the first time I have seen it in this world. The bed was soft and comfortable.
In the morning, Seono comes to pick me up. When I went outside, I could see Miyagi in the distance. Although it is smaller than the Kingdom of Juka, the palace is basically a place for the emperor to live, and the administrative offices such as diplomacy and food are located around the palace.
I thought I would be guided to one of the administrative offices, but I was guided to the palace. No wonder the road is so wide. It is so well maintained and wide that it is hard to believe that it is on top of a mountain.
When we passed through the gate of the palace, Seono told us to wait here. Instead, a gentleman who looked like a butler appeared from inside and showed me the way. The inside of the palace is like a labyrinth, and without a "map" I would have been lost for sure.
I was taken to a room that looked like a reception room and waited for a while. Several people are watching this room as well. There are also people on the ceiling. They are very polite.
As I am thinking this, the door opens and an old man with a bald head and a mustache and a man who looks like a wizard with a robe covering his head enter the room. The old man stood before me,
"You must be Linos. I am the Prime Minister of this land, my name is Gremont. You have come a long way. Please sit down first.
The sorcerer, standing behind Gremont, overheard something.
"Well, you have warding level 2 at your age. You have good education skills. It seems that you are a real Bertherm.
The sorcerer has appraised me. I guess he fell for the dummy's skills.
"I see. I'm Rinos, acting steward of the House of the Marquis of Bertham. Prime Minister, please don't call me that.
"No, that's not how it works. No, it is not so. He is a slave whom the Lord Barsaam wanted to adopt. He was a good man to me. You can't disrespect his relatives."
They know I'm a slave. I bow my head and say, "Thank you, sir," wondering if I have good information-gathering skills.
"Well... I have heard your report. The capital of the Kingdom of Juka was indeed destroyed? Any survivors? I see that the city is now uninhabited. Where is His Majesty the King? And the Marquis? I see, they are all dead."
"Yes, sir. So now it's a kind of a no-man's land. Will the empire invade the kingdom of Juka?
No, I don't think so. The Great Demon King has come down and destroyed one of the largest cities in the world. I think the first priority should be to track down the whereabouts of the Demon Lord.
So the empire won't touch the kingdom?
"The Lord Barsam and General Kargi have vanished. The kingdom will soon be in a state of civil war. You came to the empire because you don't want to be involved in it. Well, that's all right. But we have lost a very dear man."
My Lord, the Marquis de Berthaume?
"No, the Lord and General Kargi. It was no exaggeration to say that the kingdom was supported by those two. The Imperial Army has never been able to defeat the forces led by General Kargi. The Marquis kept the general in check and maintained the balance of power both at home and abroad. There will never be another military genius and politician of that caliber in the future.
"I do not know the details, but I have heard that His Majesty the King had great confidence in my Lord and in His Highness, General Karghi."
"His Majesty was so busy with his cell that he didn't care about the affairs of state. You don't have to hide it. Everyone knows it. But it was good for the country. If the king had meddled in political and military affairs, the country would have been overrun long ago. If the empire had not done it, the neighboring countries would have done it. It was putting everything in the hands of two geniuses that brought that country to this point."
I didn't know that such a pig of a king had such good qualities... It's different when you look at him in a different way.
"But it's a pity that the Marquis is dead. If he had lived, the country would be back on its feet. After all, he worked three days without sleep. When he hired his men, he asked them if they could fight for 72 hours. I heard he asked with a straight face."
The vizier laughs with a "kukkutsu. I see... So that's why he didn't come back to the house much. In a sense, the Marquis was a monster too.
"Even so, people like you are rare. It is a rare, if not unheard of, occurrence for a non-royal to take the trouble to send an emissary to invite a pre-adult child to the imperial capital.
"I am 14 years old. I am already an adult.
"Only in the Kingdom of Jukka is a 12-year-old considered an adult. The Empire and all of its neighbors come of age at 15. In that kingdom, there is a will of the first king that no woman should be allowed to enter the palace before she reaches the age of maturity. The previous king wanted to have a young girl for his concubine, but because of this will, he was not able to bring her into the palace. So, he placed a man of his own free will in the royal consort's palace with the age of adulthood set at 12 years old. It would have been better if the previous king had changed his mind, but he was a king who liked to whip his own body. That's why he died early and became the current king... I heard that the king had the blood of his grandfather in his veins."
The king of Juka kingdom seems to be a pedophile => pervert => pedophile. They are not good kings at all.
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