“Everyone, you have my gratitude.”
With those words, Prince Willie bowed his head. Mr. Rodrigo, standing diagonally behind him, did the same.
“No, no, please. I’m just glad we managed to get you here safely,” Cohn
said, embarrassed.
“We were only doing our jobs. Please, raise your head, Your Highness.”
Ryo sounded a bit panicked.
They were in front of the Kingdom of Knightley’s royal castle. The volunteers from the Bureau of Royal Magicians, who’d escorted the prince’s entourage, had already departed, returning to their official duties. As for Matthew and Luca, after expressing their thanks, they had set off for the ministry of finance, accompanied by burly bodyguards who had appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
That left Prince Willie and Mr. Rodrigo, who were now saying their final goodbyes to Ryo and the other adventurers.
“Ryo, won’t you grant me one last boon?!” The boy looked determined.
“How may I assist you, Your Highness?” Curious, Ryo kept his tone light in response.
“May I call you ‘Master’ from now on?”
“I’m sorry, but I would rather you didn’t…”
“That is unfortunate,” Prince Willie said, disappointed. “Then I shall simply call you my mentor.”
“I wish you wouldn’t…”
But the word didn’t feel like much of a compromise to Ryo. And then the boy and his retainer entered the castle to report on their safe arrival in the capital.
“All right, Ryo, we’re thinking about visiting the adventurers’ guild. What about you?”
With them gone, it was just Ryo, Cohn, and the other adventurers the other man had led on the journey. Once Cohn and the others went to the guild, this temporary party would dissolve. Since this was his first time in the royal capital, Ryo was in no rush to be anywhere in particular. The only thing on his agenda for the foreseeable future was to say hello to Special
Advisor Berasus. So just as he decided to tag along with Cohn and the rest…he heard a familiar voice call out to him from a group of people coming out of the castle.
“Ryo?”
When he turned around, Sera rushed him at the speed of sound and hugged him tight.
“Ngh…! S-Sera? Why are you here? I suppose that question goes for all of you in Lune’s order of knights too.”
For a few moments, she simply embraced him in silence. Eden, a platoon commander in the order, answered Ryo instead.
“Ummm, we were entrusted with the task of transporting certain items to the royal family. Which we actually completed just now.”
“Huh… Wait, Sera too?”
“Yes, Madam Sera as well. Although, technically speaking…she wasn’t part of the original plan. You could say she was a last-minute addition…”
Eden was clearly trying to be diplomatic.
“It’s not like I had any other choice.”
Lifting her head from Ryo’s chest,
Sera finally spoke. “You asked Sue of Switchback to deliver to me your letter, yes? Then, when I opened it and read that you’d be visiting the royal capital, I… Let me explain myself properly. You see, Ryo, we elves require a vital nutritional supplement, and…that is what you are to me. Without you, I’m lost. So now that you know, please act accordingly henceforth!”
“Uhhh… I’m…sorry?”
“Nutritional supplement”…? What the heck kind of nutritional supplement am I? But also…that’s the first time anyone’s said something like that to me.
“Good.” She beamed. “So long as you understand.”
The destructive power of her smile transcended everything. Ryo was willing and able to fight the entire world for the sake of that smile…
But first, he needed an answer to the mystery she had just dropped on him.
“By the way, what exactly do you mean by ‘nutritional supplement’?”
“Hm? Oh, that. Right. Do you recall the guardian beast who mentioned
something about how being around you extends one’s lifespan?”
“I do…”
“That. That’s it. I told you before how elves are essentially half fairy, so I suspect the guardian beast you encountered also falls in the fae category. Our term for this is the ‘fae facet’ and for those who possess it, you are a very valuable source of nutrition, Ryo. Another feature of this involves the ability to exorcise evil…is the best way I can describe it. And of course, the refreshing effect. We mustn’t forget that either. I suggest you keep all this in mind.”
The knights listening in on their conversation nodded while oohing and aahing.
“Uh,” Ryo said, “does that have an effect on humans too…?”
“No, not at all,” she said frankly. “As far as I know, anyway.”
“Um…then…does that have an effect on me?”
“No, probably not. As far as I know, anyway.”
Her bluntness remained unchanged when he pressed further. For whatever reason, a tremendous sense of defeat afflicted Ryo then. Amid all this, he didn’t even notice Cohn excusing himself and the other adventurers with a “Uhhh, we’re just going to head out now.”
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