The Black Prince was no longer a prince or a crown prince. He was now, without a doubt, the king of a nation. He wasn't the ill-tempered prince I knew before. He was now the ill-tempered king.

There was a big difference between the two.

I greeted the Black Prince, who had returned as king, with great ceremony.

"You have arrived, Your Maaaajesty."

"...."

"To grace this humble place with your royal presence... Your grace is truly, truly boundless, Your Maaaajesty."

"...You all wait here."

He had many attendants following him, but the Black Prince ordered them to wait outside the door and entered the hospital room with only Smith on his left and Fluffy on his right. Was he afraid that his honor as a king would be tarnished by my nonsense? If so, it was only human nature to do it more.

"No, Your Majesty. For such a precious person to be in such a humble place... I don't know where to put myself, Your Maaaajesty."

"...."

The Black Prince sighed, then ordered the Black Knights, who had shot up from their seats at his appearance, to be at ease, and then strode to my bedside. I didn't like his pretentious walk, so I picked a fight for no reason.

"As expected, the head of a nation doesn't come alone even for a hospital visit. Why did you bring so many people with you? Are you showing off that you have many friends?"

"...All that blabbering. Your mouth wasn't injured?"

"My mouth is perfectly fine."

"A pity."

The four people who had been by my side until then naturally made way for the Black Prince. No, to be precise, three people. Because the other one didn't want to give way. The clueless Linda resisted, but Shushruta forcibly dragged her away.

"Waaaah! Let go! I want to be with the Devil!"

"Try to read the room."

For Shushruta to tell someone to read the room. You live and you learn. But there was no way our Linda would read the room. Linda screamed and struggled wildly. It was like watching a little kid throwing a tantrum.

"Aaargh! Aaaaargh! Let go! I said let go! Aaargh... Mmph, mmph!"

"Ouch! This brat. Did you just bite my hand?"

Her resistance was fierce. She wasn't usually this bad, but maybe it was because I had woken up after a long time. Linda was struggling with all her might.

"Kiyaaaaaak! Iyaaaak! Let go! I said let go! Devil! Deviiil!"

"Eek! Sir Ashley, Sir Walpole. Grab her."

"Yes!"

"Kiyaaaaaak!"

"...."

"...."

It's so noisy. It was a situation where we couldn't possibly have a conversation, so we quietly waited for Linda to calm down. In the end, it took Walpole, Ashley, and a few other Black Knights to subdue Linda.

"Deviiil..."

Linda, pinned down by them, looked at me with teary eyes. I clicked my tongue at her and said in a stern tone.

"Be quiet. The adults are talking."

"But..."

A strong hand clamped over Linda's mouth as she was about to say something else.

"Mmph, mmph."

I looked at the finally quiet Linda and shook my head. What was wrong with that girl? It's hard to guess the thoughts of madmen.

The Black Prince just had a look of "so be it." As if he wasn't even trying to understand in the first place. Maybe that was the wise thing to do.

Thanks to the efforts of several knights, an environment where we could finally talk was created.

The Black Prince, after running a hand through his hair, looked me over and asked curtly.

"How's your condition?"

"Not bad."

"When do you think you can leave the sickbed?"

"I don't know. I think I'll have to wait and see for about ten days."

"Ten days."

"What about the teleportation magic circle?"

"...Is that the first thing you ask?"

The Black Prince let out a short sigh and answered.

"It cannot be activated right now."

"I heard. They said the mages ran away."

"Many ran away, and many were caught and killed."

"Hah."

"We need to select new royal mages. We need to contact the Mage Tower, screen the candidates, and complete the verification. Since mages are such rare individuals, it is expected to take some time."

I stared at the Black Prince with a sullen face and asked.

"How long?"

"I can't say for sure, but we are proceeding with it as the top priority."

"Are you sure?"

The Black Prince nodded with a determined gaze.

"I have to repay you for what you've done. It's only natural."

"What a commendable king."

"...."

The Black Prince looked at me with slightly more serious eyes.

"Devil."

"What."

"Do you really have no intention of becoming my knight?"

I blinked and stared at him. After all that cursing, has he still not come to his senses? When he had subtly declared to the people in the arena that I was his knight, I had clearly drawn the line. Now he was subtly fiddling with the line again.

What a sly bastard.

I looked the Black Prince straight in the eye.

"Your Majesty. I believe I have clearly conveyed the opinion of this humble servant. That I have no such thoughts, not even a penny's worth, so wake up from your dream. Have you still not come to your senses? Did the curses suit your taste?"

But the Black Prince was no pushover either. His stubbornness was no ordinary stubbornness. He was a man who lived entirely as himself. He looked at me with clear eyes that would never bend his will.

"There is plenty of time, so think about it carefully. I will accommodate you as much as possible."

"No, Your Majesty. I don't need it, you bastard. What kind of knight is a mere mercenary? What kind of nonsense is this?"

Of course, there would be good things about becoming a knight, but I stubbornly refused because it felt like a kind of leash. I don't know what kind of device this sly, tiger-like guy would install. A tiger trying to pull a fast one.

As if he had already guessed my inner thoughts, the Black Prince explained in a somewhat softer tone. Though how soft could he be?

"You seem to be misunderstanding something. Not all knights are the same. There are vassal knights and free knights."

"Vassal knights? Free knights?"

This was another unexpected fact.

"A vassal knight, as the name suggests, is a knight who is subordinate to a person or organization. It is common for them to be subordinate to a lord or a state. In fact, you can consider most knights to belong here."

"Oho."

"The knights here are subordinate to the royal family or each lord, but in a broader sense, they can be seen as beings subordinate to the Blake Kingdom. It will be easy to understand if you think about who they pledge their loyalty to."

"Aha."

Indeed, I understood immediately. Was the Black Prince always this good at explaining? He could be this kind when he was in a desperate position.

"Then what's a free knight?"

"As the name suggests, a free knight. They are not subordinate to a specific country or monarch, so they have a strong adventurer-like character. Because they wander around freely, they are also called wandering knights. Just like Sir Roetgel here."

I tilted my head.

"Who's Roetgel?"

"...I'm talking about Sir Fluffy."

Fluffy glared at me with his red eyes.

"Devil. To pretend you don't know on purpose."

I looked at Fluffy and nodded.

"Yes, nice to see you too, Sir Fluffy. Are you feeling alright?"

"No problem."

"Of course you should be fine. A guy who didn't fight directly and just ran away like a coward."

Fluffy stared at me.

"Weren't you the one who taught me to run away without delay if I judged I couldn't win? That as long as I won somehow, that's all that matters."

"...."

He was right, so I had nothing to say.

"Shut up! How dare you interrupt while His Majesty is speaking?"

"...."

Still, since the topic came up, I decided to ask Fluffy, who was a former wandering knight, for his thoughts.

"Sir Fluffy."

"What is it."

"You were a wandering knight before. So have you converted to a vassal knight now?"

Fluffy nodded.

"I have come to serve the highest person in the kingdom, so that is the case."

"No regrets? You'll have to follow that guy around and carry out his orders from now on."

"Regrets? What are you talking about?"

Sir Fluffy answered with a determined tone.

"Where else is there such an honor? I, Roetgel Göbekli, have not a single regret."

A strange name was added next to the hard-to-pronounce name Roetgel.

"...Görekli?"

"Göbekli."

"Görekni?"

"...Göbekli."

"What are you saying?"

"Göbekli. I said Göbekli. Roetgel Göbekli."

"Right, Göretli. What's that?"

Fluffy grinned.

"Are you jealous? I was granted a glorious name by His Majesty. Isn't it cool?"

"...You got a name just like you. Still hard to pronounce."

"You flatter me."

He just mentioned it on purpose because he wanted to show off his new name.

As if it was the right time, the Black Prince chimed in.

"Is there a name you want? If not, I can give you one. How about Rafalino?"

Ashuban Rafalino?

Hearing it, it sounded kind of nice... no. This was truly putting on a leash. Since it's a one-and-only second name, it would inevitably have a great meaning. More than anything, there are those who consider receiving a second name an honor for their family, but not me. I don't have a family either.

What would I do with a name like that? It sounds noble, and I don't like it. For that reason, I refused flatly.

"Forget it. I don't want a second name. One name is enough. Ashuban. Isn't it a nice name to hear? That's enough."

The Black Prince ran a hand through his hair and grumbled softly.

"Tsk. Country bumpkin. So damn picky. With a tacky name like that."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing."

I had a staring contest with the Black Prince for a moment, then looked at Fluffy.

"So, you have no regrets, right?"

Fluffy nodded with a tone full of conviction.

"That's right."

I studied Sir Fluffy's determined face, then turned my gaze to the Black Prince.

"So he says."

"I see."

"You must be happy, right? Our king. To have such a loyal knight."

The Black Prince let out a short sigh.

"I must strive to live up to that loyalty."

"A good attitude. I like to see it."

"Anyway, I have no intention of appointing you as a vassal knight. A free knight is fine too. So think about it. There is nothing that will harm you."

"Benefits? Are there any?"

"Of course, there are. A knight appointed and notarized by me. As long as you are within the territory of Blake, no one will be able to treat you carelessly. The lords will also try their best to get on your good side. You will be invited to meals whenever you visit a domain."

"Oho."

I like that one thing. Doesn't it mean that those stiff-necked nobles won't be able to ignore me? Not to mention passing through checkpoints.

...But does that have any meaning? It's a place I'll be leaving soon.

The Black Prince, before I could even answer, cut me off as if to stop me.

"In addition, the royal family will bestow a sword upon you. It's not as good as the famed swords of Ophosis, but it's a top-quality sword that you can't get anywhere else."

"Oh."

This was a bit tempting.

"Besides that, since I am personally appointing you, you will gain the tremendous honor that all knights desire, but... you're not the type to care about such things."

He was right. What honor is there for a mere mercenary who rolled around in the back alleys? To hell with honor.

Thinking that, I looked at Fluffy.

"...?"

Fluffy looked back at me with a puzzled face.

"Ah, you already gave it."

"Gave what?"

"Göretli."

"I said Göbekli."

"Right, Göretli."

"...."

(End of Chapter)