DAR Vol. 6 Chapter 22 Part 2

The moment they left the rest stop with the observation deck and headed down the hill, they were already at the entrance to the royal capital.

The outer wall and gate were painted pure white, just like the cityscape itself, and to Roa, who was used to drab stone buildings, it looked like something out of a fairy tale.

A line of people stretched out before the gate.

In any large city, not just this one, criminals were kept from slipping in and dangerous items from being brought through by checking identities and inspecting belongings. This was the queue for that purpose.

According to Nostalgia’s members, the approaching festival meant there were more people than usual, and the line was longer to match. Naturally, Roa and the others were waiting in it, too.

<Hmm. This is my first time entering this country’s royal capital.>

Uncle Gry watched the officials performing the checks and scanned the surroundings with evident interest.

Because other people were frightened, Roa and the others kept Uncle Gry in the middle while they surrounded him. Even so, the people in front of and behind them left an uneasy amount of space.

<Roo’s never been to another country before!>

<Another country is weird! The smell is different!>

Roo and Phi were intrigued, too. With little snuffling noises, they sniffed at the air and peered around them.

They were so adorable that Roa couldn’t help reaching out and petting the head of the red magic wolf, Roo.

“It smells like the tide. Like seawater,” Dietrich said, and perhaps he found them cute as well, because he reached out to pet the blue magic wolf, Phi.

<Smells like Master.> 

<It’s the same smell, right?>

“Master?” Dietrich cocked his head at the sudden comment.

“That’s Mr. Bruno the blacksmith. It seems like he taught even the two of them to call him ‘Master,’” Roa answered, now petting Phi’s head as he spoke.

“…He was trying to get Roo and Phi to call him ‘Master’ too, huh, that old man. Hey, does that old man hear the voices, too?”

By “voices,” Dietrich didn’t mean ordinary speech. He meant the voices of magic beasts talking, the kind normal people couldn’t hear.

Since Roa had a familiar contract, he could hear them, of course.

But for some reason, Nostalgia’s members and even Coralde could hear them too, despite having nothing to do with the familiar contract.

They still hadn’t figured out why anyone besides Roa could hear those voices.

To begin with, almost nothing was known among humans about familiar contracts, and no matter how they looked into it, they couldn’t find answers. Even Uncle Gry, who should have known the most, couldn’t think of anything.

Still, there was no doubt the cause lay with Roa. Everyone who could hear the voices was someone close to him.

So if Bruno, another person in Roa’s orbit, had been telling the twins to call him “Master,” Dietrich wondered if Bruno could hear them as well.

“That’s the thing. I haven’t been able to see him since then. He seems busy, and whenever I go to the workshop, he’s always out, so I can’t confirm it.”

The last time Roa had met Bruno was three months ago, before they went to the Citadel Dungeon.

After that, no matter when he visited, Bruno was never there. Even when Roa asked Bruno’s disciples, all they would say was that he’d gone out of town for work.

“He seems like the type who’d be able to hear it. He’s basically half a magic beast anyway.”

“That’s rude…” Roa admonished, but he was half laughing.

Being told Bruno was half a magic beast, Roa couldn’t help finding it oddly convincing. Truthfully, he’d thought for a while that Bruno felt a bit like one. Especially when he grinned and bared those big canines at the corner of his mouth, he looked like a magic beast making a threat display.

While Roa and the others were talking, Cornelia and Coralde were making small talk behind them as well.

“By the way, Coralde, what are you doing for lodging? Do you have an inn you always stay at?”

“Lodging, huh. Do you have any recommendations, Cornelia?”

Since they were stuck in line, there wasn’t much to do besides chat to kill time with whoever was nearby.

“Recommendations…?”

“Yes. I usually stay at the Golden Wave Inn, but since it’s festival season, I might not be able to get a room. I figured I’d ask, just in case you had a suggestion.”

Coralde probably said it lightly, but Cornelia furrowed her brow and fell into thought.

“…Um, about inns… This is an escort mission, so we’ll be staying together, right? It’s embarrassing to admit, but we’ve been banned from a lot of higher-class inns… and I think we got banned from the Golden Wave Inn too…”

Cornelia spoke with downcast eyes, visibly ashamed.

At that, not only Coralde, but Roa and the others as well, who could hear the conversation, all turned their eyes toward Dietrich.

They’d only just been talking about Dietrich’s drinking habits up on the hill. If their bans from inns had a cause, it was almost certainly Dietrich.

Coralde let out a deep sigh, then forced a strained smile.

“…In that case… then only Roa and I will stay at an inn, and everyone from Nostalgia can stay at your homes…”

“Wouldn’t it be best if I invited everyone to my mansion?”

A woman’s voice, one they didn’t recognize, rang out suddenly.

When they looked, a female knight was standing there. She carried a vaguely familiar air, yet Roa had never seen her before. With so many people around, no one had noticed her approach at all.

She had a crisp, dignified presence. If not for her higher voice and the swell of her chest, she could have been mistaken for a man. She was beautiful in the way a finely honed blade was beautiful.

“Wha… Big Sis?! Why are you here?!” Cornelia cried out in shock.

A short while later, Roa and the others were inside a sturdily built room that wasn’t exactly lavish.

They were in a waiting facility near the gate, a building with rooms used when nobles couldn’t immediately enter the city for one reason or another.

Since it was meant for nobles and their companions, it was absurdly spacious, large enough to be called a grand hall.

Roa and his familiars were there, along with Nostalgia’s members and everyone from Coralde’s company.

The one who had brought them here was the woman Cornelia had called “Big Sis.”

She had appeared out of nowhere, hauled everyone to the waiting facility without accepting objections, led them into this room, and then promptly disappeared again.

“…So, what exactly are we supposed to do now?”

Once everyone had taken seats and settled a little, Coralde voiced the obvious question. Even he seemed flustered by the sudden turn of events.

“I’m guessing Lady Emilia went to handle the paperwork to get us into the capital. If we wait, she’ll probably come back soon,” Kristoff answered.

In this baffling situation, he was the calmest one there. Unlike Roa and the others, he knew the Kingdom of Nereus’s side of things, and perhaps that let him understand this wasn’t some unreasonable trap.

“Lady Emilia?” Roa tilted his head, though his eyes were wandering around the waiting facility. He seemed curious about the unfamiliar place. Roo and Phi were the same, craning their heads up to stare at the high ceiling.

Only Uncle Gry looked as unbothered as ever, sprawled comfortably on a large backless bench.

“Cornelia’s older sister,” Dietrich said in response to Roa’s murmur. “You can tell she’s got the same sharp personality, right? She’s the vice-captain of the Royal Guard, and, uh… a marquis’s daughter, I think?”

Even as he explained, Dietrich kept his back off the chair, poised to move at any moment, restlessly bouncing his knee.

It was like his whole body was broadcasting how unhappy he was with the situation.

“Huh? Cornelia, you’re a marquis’s daughter?!”

“I’m not, you know? Big Sis caught the previous marquis’s eye, and since the current marquis doesn’t have an heir, she was adopted. They said it would be convenient to become a Royal Guard knight, too. My family’s just a humble knightly house.”

“…So the folks in Nostalgia really are nobles…”

Cornelia’s explanation only left Roa even more stunned. He’d pieced together a rough idea from their conversations up to now, but hearing it and seeing the reality of it in front of him were two entirely different things.

A knightly title was a rank granted to knights.

In many countries, once someone was appointed a knight, they were automatically awarded that title and treated as a one-generation lesser noble. That said, since many knights’ children also became knights, “one generation only” often functioned, in practice, like a hereditary line.

And being a knight didn’t necessarily mean holding only the lowest knightly title. Sometimes higher-ranking nobles served as knights as well—like Emilia—so a knightly title was merely the minimum status for a knight.

No one reacted to Roa’s words.

Everyone present, all the way down to Chuck, the head driver of Coralde’s company, had at least suspected that Nostalgia’s members were Nereus nobles.

In fact, it was precisely because Coralde knew their circumstances that he’d chosen these companions for the journey. He’d anticipated situations like this, brushes with other nobles, moments where their identities would inevitably come to light, and he’d only brought people who could accept it without making a fuss.

“Then… does that mean Dietrich and Kristoff are knights too?”

“Huh?”

“Wait.”

“Mm?”

Voices rose one after another, and everyone besides Roa and the familiars exchanged looks.

Then Coralde spoke up.

“Ever since we returned from the Citadel Dungeon, I’ve had the sense that Roa and Nostalgia haven’t been quite on the same page. Everyone, my people and I already understand the situation, so please clear up Roa’s misunderstanding.”

He said it with a gentle smile, as if he had a more accurate grasp of things than Roa did.

Nostalgia’s members traded glances, rummaging through their memories for where the misunderstanding might have started, until their eyes collectively landed on Uncle Gry.

Uncle Gry responded to their stares with a sly grin.

Certain now that the malicious Gryphon was the one feeding Coralde information, Nostalgia’s members let out a heavy, synchronized sigh.

Then Dietrich stepped forward as their representative and faced Roa.

“Roa. Back in the Citadel Dungeon, we fought that female knight from the Nemophila Knights… I mean, she turned out to be some country’s spy. You remember her?”

“Yes. The one who came at us with a knife, right?”

Roa answered, clearly wondering why that was coming up now.

Among the Nemophila Knights who’d accompanied the Citadel Dungeon Investigation Team, one woman had been a traitor; an infiltrator, a spy from some other nation.

And when she decided Roa would someday become an enemy of her country, she attacked him with a knife.

Of course Roa remembered.

He couldn’t forget.

He was the one who had taken her life.

“Do you remember what she said about my status?”

“Uh… oh, the ‘prince’ thing? That was just to shake me up, right? Even for a lie, that’s way too cruel.”

Dietrich clutched his head.

“…Now that you mention it, a lot happened, and nobody ever followed up on that,” Cornelia muttered with a wry half-smile. “If you think about it normally, there’s no way anyone would believe that he is a prince.”

“I mean, I get why you wouldn’t believe it,” Kristoff said, also half laughing. “He’s the Leader, after all.”

Annoyed by their snide remarks, Dietrich forced himself to think it through.

He’d been acting as if he’d already told Roa the truth, but when he replayed it, he realized that the moment he’d spoken plainly about his status, Roa hadn’t actually been there. Back then, Roa and Uncle Gry had been moving ahead, fighting the Gryphons that used the Citadel Dungeon as their nest.

After that, the only thing Roa heard was an enemy calling Dietrich a prince.

There was nothing for Roa to believe.

“Huh? Was something wrong?”

“…It’s true.”

“What?”

Roa leaned in, trying to catch Dietrich’s quiet words.

“The fact that I’m a prince is true. So what, huh?! You got a problem with a prince like me?! And just so you know, the Queen only forced me into becoming her adopted son, and I don’t acknowledge it myself!”

Dietrich practically barked it out, his face burning red. It was probably humiliating to admit a princely status he himself couldn’t accept.

But it was the truth, so he couldn’t exactly dodge it.

No one could think of anything to say. Silence settled over the room.

<Hey, hey, can we crush the mice?>

<They’re kind of bothering me, yeah?>

The ones to shatter that awkward stillness were Roo and Phi. They ignored Dietrich completely, still staring intently up at the ceiling.

“Mice?”

<They are irritating. I was holding back because this is the sleepyheads’ country, but…>

“Ah, sorry to keep you waiting!”

Just as Dietrich frowned at the twins’ words and Uncle Gry was about to continue, the door swung open.

Cornelia’s big sister, Emilia, poked her head in. Wearing a brilliant smile, she swept her gaze over everyone in the room. The air changed instantly with her arrival.

“Coney. It’s been a while. Keeping well?”

“Coney” was Cornelia’s nickname. Emilia’s eyes softened as they settled on her, and she smiled at her warmly.

Emilia resembled Cornelia in a vague way, but her features were so androgynous that she looked like nothing but a strikingly handsome man. If you didn’t think about her gender too hard, she was the sort who would be wildly popular with women.

“Elder sister. I’m sorry about earlier. It was so sudden, I was startled…”

Cornelia performed a refined, aristocratic bow that didn’t suit her adventurer’s attire at all.

“Don’t be so formal, Coney. My beloved little sister.”

Emilia stepped closer, took Cornelia’s hand, and gently kissed her fingertips. The motion was so natural it didn’t feel forced in the slightest. Cornelia, for her part, accepted it without batting an eye, which only made it seem like a familiar routine.

Kristoff didn’t spare the sisters a glance. He rose from his chair, dropped to one knee on the carpet, and bowed his head. Bernhart stood as well, placing a hand to his chest and lowering his head.

They were likely offering a knight’s salute and a mage’s salute, respectively, in the style of this country.

Seeing that, Roa remembered the earlier explanation—Emilia was a high-ranking noble here—and hurriedly stood, too.

But this was his first time in a situation like this. He had no idea what the proper etiquette was. In the end, he copied Coralde’s people, who had risen and dipped their heads lightly.

Only Dietrich remained seated, wearing a sour expression as he stared straight at Emilia.

As for the familiars, they watched the humans bowing with amused curiosity.

“Emilia, why are you here? The Royal Guard should be posted at the castle,” Dietrich said.

“And why were you standing in that sort of line?” Emilia shot back. “Why didn’t you use the nobles’ gate? If you queue there, it’ll take you until dusk.”

The line Roa’s group had been in was the commoners’ gate. There was a separate gate for nobles.

If they used that one, they could enter immediately without waiting. And if a noble accompanied someone, even foreign companions were allowed through.

From Emilia’s perspective, it was baffling that nobles like Dietrich’s group would choose to stand with commoners instead.

“With all due respect!” Kristoff called out, cutting in sharply.

He spoke in a clear, crisp voice, completely different from his usual self. He sounded like a trained soldier. Still on one knee with his head lowered, he spoke without meeting Emilia’s eyes.

“We are now adventurers. It is only natural that we conduct ourselves as commoners.”

“Hm. If you insist you are adventurers now, then you shouldn’t be offering that sort of noble salute either,” Emilia replied. “Raise your head, and speak to me in the same tone you use with that ‘lout’ over there.”

“Hah— Yes. Uh, no, even I can’t possibly…”

The “lout over there” was Dietrich.

Kristoff panicked at the idea of speaking to Emilia the way he spoke to Dietrich.

Emilia probably assumed Kristoff spoke to Dietrich with due respect. The reality was… he treated his party leader with a level of casual disrespect that bordered on contempt sometimes. There was no universe where he could use the same attitude with a Royal Guard knight who was also a marquis’s adopted daughter.

“Your conduct is inconsistent. If you’re going to take noble manners with me, then use the nobles’ gate. If you mean to be adventurers, then respond as adventurers here as well,” Emilia said, her voice firm. “Like that lout.”

“Y-Yes…”

Under that forceful tone, Kristoff couldn’t continue. He simply agreed.

From the way he’d bowed, it was clear Emilia outranked him among knights. Once she declared it like that, even if he felt there were contradictions, he had no room to argue.

<Hmph. Sophistry. This woman is hiding something. She’s answering a question with a question, using sophistry to dodge that sleepyhead’s inquiry. On top of that, she calls Dietrich “lout,” then unjustly berates the playboy Kristoff to provoke anger, pick a fight, and muddy the waters. So what will you do, you blockheaded sleepyhead?>

Dietrich’s irritation flared at Emilia’s words, and he started to rise, only for Uncle Gry’s voice to cut in.

Dietrich shot Uncle Gry a glare, then sat back down.

He took a small breath, then returned his gaze to Emilia.

“Then why are you here?” he asked again, his tone controlled.

Emilia’s eyes widened slightly in surprise at Dietrich’s composure, and then a smile curled at her lips.

“Hmm. Seems this so-called training journey has had at least some effect. The stray dog has become a dog that can restrain itself.”

<If I hadn’t warned you, you would have started a fight, would you not? Looks like your “journey” has had no effect at all, blockheaded stray dog.>

“Shut up.”

Dietrich hadn’t let his emotions drag him into a fight only because of Uncle Gry’s words, but since Emilia couldn’t hear Uncle Gry, it looked like Dietrich had simply held back on his own. Feeling awkward, Dietrich fired a single retort back at both Emilia’s jab and Uncle Gry’s mockery.

“So what’s your goal? Don’t tell me you came all this way just to see Cornelia.”

“I was granted a duty by Her Majesty the Queen: to greet you and keep watch.”

“Keep watch? Don’t tell me…”

Emilia answered Dietrich’s follow-up as if she had no choice. Their gazes collided, hard enough that it felt like sparks might fly.