Volume 3

    CH 164

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    Chapter 164

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    It was sunny during the early hours of the afternoon, making it the perfect weather  for travel . Just like yesterday, Rio carried Flora in his arms . They ran through the trackless path towards Rodania instead of following the highway .

    It was not Rio’s top speed, he could go much faster . But he needed to account for his magic consumption, along with the possibility of causing some sort of trauma to Flora if he ran at top speed .

    Something entered his range of detection .

    (That’s a goblin… Let’s ignore it . )

    Rio had spread his senses to his surroundings, widening his field of awareness and keeping his guard up . It was a protective measure to prevent any surprises . Travelers would often find themselves ambushed by bandits or monsters coming from all directions .

    Whenever he detected creatures moving fast, like a pack of wolves, he would go around them to avoid fighting unnecessarily .

    Flora was quietly enjoying the scenery while perched on Rio’s back .

    She decided to break the silence they had maintained so far .

    「… Um, Haruto-sama . 」

    「Yes?」

    「Are we in the Rubia Kingdom already?」

    Flora had no idea where they were at that moment . Although she knew where they were headed, the route was left entirely up to Rio . To avoid attracting attention they didn’t need they avoided the highway, so the surroundings were unfamiliar to the princess .

    「Yes . It seems we’ve already entered Rubia Kingdom’s territory . The next city should be the capital, and we can rest for the night there . 」

    「Waah, I see . Understood . 」

    It took less than an hour to travel through the wilderness and reach the highway .

    Since flying out from within the forest straight into an open area would certainly cause a ruckus, Rio stopped a little distance away from the road and walked slowly toward the highway .

    Flora praised his carefulness .

    「Wow! Even though we didn’t use the highway, Haruto-sama didn’t get lost at all!」

    「I merely confirmed our general direction from the position of the sun when we passed through higher ground . 」

    「… How incredible . I was taught how to confirm my general direction in case I got lost, but I don’t think I can orient myself as you do . Not losing your way without a map is an incredible feat . I was useless, only here as baggage…」

    Flora looked at Rio with eyes full of respect .

    「Flora-sama, I’m sure you’ll be able to master the trick immediately once you try it . You just need experience . We’ve almost arrived at our destination but, if you want, I can teach you how to do it on the way there . 」

    「Yes . Please teach me, Haruto-sama!」

    His offer to teach her was slightly awkward but didn’t stop Flora from agreeing to it immediately . They entered the highway while deeply engaged in conversation .

    Rio’ eyes swept quickly through the area, confirming they were alone .

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    「Let’s go, our destination is not that far . We should be able to reach it today even if we walk slowly . 」

    「We’re going to walk from now on? Yes!」

    Flora seemed to be in high spirits from the prospect of walking on her own .

    「Indeed . From this point on, we’ll begin your rehabilitation training . Please let me know immediately if it’s painful for you to walk . 」

    「Yes!」

    Rio carefully lowered Flora to the ground and immediately offered her a hand to hold .

    She happily accepted the offer . Holding Rio’s hand made her a bit timid, but Flora didn’t let go of it . She knew he held her hand to help her walk, all in the name of rehabilitation since her strength and stamina had yet to recover .

    Knowing so didn’t mean she wasn’t secretly enjoying every second of it .

    「This way . Allow me to temporarily be your attendant . 」

    「Yes, thank you . 」

    Flora began walking while being supported by Rio .

    She kept careful attention on the ground while he was careful to not let her fall .

    As they moved forward at her pace, they were unaware of someone else keeping an eye on them . Reis watched their progress from above, floating in the air .

    (As expected, they’ve already reached the Rubia Kingdom . They’ll probably spend the night in that city . I should probably go back and meet Arein and the others after those two find an inn . While at that, maybe I should mobilize that noob Hero and the Knight Princess as well…)

    Still floating, he pondered about how he should proceed .

    (His searching range is impressive . It even covers the air! It’s quite hard to follow them from above . At least he doesn’t have a contracted spirit and opted for a land route…)

    The duo spent the night at an inn inside the Rubia Kingdom’s capital .

    ◇　◇　◇

    Meanwhile, in a deserted village stood a mansion . It was where Renji and Silvi were resting .

    While Silvi and Elena shared a room, Renji was restricted to another room to prevent him from contacting the two women .

    Arein and Lucci were constantly on standby as they kept watch over the three of them .

    Currently, Arein wasn’t in the mansion .

    The only ones around were Lucci, Renji, Silvi and her attendant Elena .

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    Lucci sat on the living room sofa as he stared at the ceiling, a bored look on his face .

    Suddenly, he got up . His senses had detected the approach of his coworker as they got close to the mansion .

    The main door was thrown open and, unsurprisingly, Arein walked in . His expression was slightly tense, which made Lucci curious . He could sense something had gone wrong .

    「Ou, what happened? You look tense . 」

    「… I just received some news from Reis-sama . 」

    Arein’s voice was extremely tense .

    It did not have much effect on Lucci, as his next question was voiced in a bored voice .

    He scratched his head, probably already feeling that whatever it was, it wasn’t good news for them .

    「Oh… Then what’s the news?」

    「It’s time to make Princess Silvi do her part . We’ll move as planned and bring that brat along . I will tell you the details, but… Oh, f#ck . Okay, just stay calm and listen carefully . 」

    「… Just tell me the f#cking news already!」

    With how serious Arein’s tone sounded, Lucci was starting to lose his composure alongside him . He got even more curious about the news .

    「Our leader… Was killed . 」

    After delivering the news, Arein paused, perhaps because even he was unable to accept the truth .

    Lucci’s reaction was to just tilt his head, confused .

    「… EH?」

    「Our leader was killed . 」

    Staring at Lucci’s dumbfounded look, Arein repeated the same phrase .

    Once he processed what he was told, Lucci let out a dry laugh . However, his eyes weren’t laughing at all .

    「… Oi oi oi, what kind of b#lls#t joke are you spouting? Our leader was killed? Today isn’t April Fools, you know? Stop with the stupid jokes!」

    「It’s not a joke . Our leader was annihilated from this world . And by that I mean he died without even leaving a corpse behind . Not even a speck of dust was left . 」

    A deep sigh left Arein’s mouth .

    「Oy!」

    Lucci suddenly raised his voice, loud enough to be heard by the other inhabitants of the mansion . His shout resounded through the halls, making Arein wince and warn him .

    「… Your voice is too loud . 」

    「SHUT UP! TELL ME THE TRUTH! OUR LEADER ISN’T SOMEONE WHO CAN BE KILLED SO EASILY, RIGHT?」

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    At this point, Lucci abandoned all pretense of boredom . His face held a menacing look as he directly questioned Arein at the top of his lungs .

    Arein answered him with a frustrated look on his face .

    「Yeah, it’s true . I also couldn’t believe when I heard about it at first . But Reis-sama told me to not make him repeat what he said again and again!」

    「… MOTHER F#CKER!!!」

    Lucci was speechless, but seeing how serious Arein looked, he restricted himself to cursing and decided to trust the news he had just received .

    His coworker was silently grinding his teeth in frustration .

    「…」

    「… Who’s the f#cker that killed our leader?」

    「… It was that bastard from before . 」

    Lucci appeared calm, but he was raging inside . Arein, on the other hand, had only shame coating his words . Those same words confused Lucci greatly .

    「That bastard from before?」

    「That wind magic swordsman who was investigating our leader’s whereabouts . The one who thoroughly beat us . 」

    Arein’s words forced Lucci to remember their run-in with Rio .

    「WHAT? THAT HANDSOME BASTARD?」

    「That’s right . He’s the one who killed our leader . 」

    With a nod, the confirmation shocked Lucci to his core… but also made him tremble in fear .

    「…」

    「Be grateful . Our next target is that guy . We’ll be able to avenge our leader . 」

    「!!!??」

    「I’ll let Princess Silvi know about the situation now . Stay down here and cool your head, I’ll tell you the details later . 」

    Arein left the room, leaving Lucci alone in the living room with his turbulent thoughts .

    Sitting back down on the sofa, he leaned back in a comfortable position . Although his body trembled all over, it was unclear if it was from fear or anger .

    「… Leader… It’s a lie, right?」

    ◇　◇　◇

    Meanwhile, Arein arrived outside Silvi’s and Elena’s room .

    He gave a quick knock on the door and waited for a response before entering .

    Once he was inside, Silvi squinted her eyes at him .

    「What was that scream just now? Did you meet some sort of trouble?」

    「… It’s nothing . I found Lucci asleep during his duty, so I did something to surprise him . But I came because it’s time for you to cooperate . 」

    Arein feigned ignorance and quickly changed topics .

    「Was it from Reis?」

    「Yes . Nice deduction . The situation has changed . 」

    He merely shrugged his shoulders at the Princess’s snort .

    「Alright . What do you need me to do?」

    「We’ve known for quite a while that Your Highness’s chivalric order is stationed in the city nearby . For now, let’s go meet them . 」

    「… What did you say?」

    Elena knitted her eyebrows at the man’s tone . Arein wasn’t giving them any room to refuse his demands . Her arm was grabbed by Silvi, who pulled her back .

    Contrary to her attendant, Silvi’s tone was very calm .

    「What are you people trying to do?」

    「Don’t worry, we’re not going to incite a war with another country . I just want you to spread your personnel around this region to do some inspection . 」

    Arein replied with an aloof expression .

    Silvi frowned .

    This was different than what she had expected .

    「… Inspection? So you want us to search for someone?」

    「Correct . Such a small request shouldn’t pose a problem for someone with your level of authority, right, Your Highness?」

    「Who are you looking for? And what is your goal?」

    「Hahaha… I don’t need to tell that to someone who doesn’t even want to cooperate . 」

    「… You want us to look for someone who we don’t even know . How can we cooperate if you don’t tell us who you’re looking for?」

    Silvi made her standing on the matter clear after some careful consideration .

    Respectfully, Arein obeyed her order .

    However, a putrid hatred was visible in his eyes .

    「As you wish, Your Highness . Your attendant will be the one to deliver the message . Don’t misunderstand me, please . We need you to stay here, after all . 」

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