Pawahara Seijo no Osananajimi to Zetsuen Shitara, Nanimokamo ga Umaku Iku Yō ni Natte Saikyō no Bōke

[Unageing King]

I released Fire God Form at the outskirt of Lastall, as usual, and went to the castle town with the girls.

Although the town was surrounded by high walls, the gates were left open, seemingly so as to let people come and go freely.

The town was lively, and it felt like the locals were in quite a bright mood, which kinda surprised me as the country was in a state of tension with Berqua.

As for my first impression, yes—it was a ‘prosperous country’.

“Fumu, this is surprising. It feels quite different from what we heard…” Arca remarked.

“Indeed. Everyone seems to be living very happily,” said Magmell.

“Well, that’s the case as far as the surface goes. But I think we better off not to let our guard down,” said Zana.

Ophir agreed, “Yeah, I think so, too. Everythin’ ain’t as it seems on the surface, after all.”

I laughed, “Haha, haven’t heard that phrase since we were at Afraal.”

“Yeah, don’t ya forget it!”

Speaking of which, back then, Afraal had seemed to be a lively commercial city at first glance too, but turned-out slave market was run behind the scenes.

Who we were up against this time the higher-ups of a country, so we had to be especially careful.

“For now, let’s head to Lastall Castle to deliver King Zestgard’s letter. We’ll discuss more after that.”

““““—””””

After everyone nodded, we all headed straight towards the towering Lastall Castle.

◇ ◇

“—Welcome to Lastall. I am its king, Vale A Lastall.”

The one who said that with a refreshing smile was a young man who seemed to be in his mid-20s.

At first glance, he seemed to be a kind and sincere young man.

He had a pretty good look, too. He was probably quite popular with women.

“I never thought that the day would come when I could meet so many saintesses. And for one of them to be the saintess of Berqua—Princess Zana, I am very honored.”

“Y-yes, I am that Zana, Your Majesty…”

“?”

I wondered why.

I felt like Zana was looking strange.

Or was it just my imagination?

“Haha, please don’t be nervous. We did have met once before, no?”

“T-that’s right…”

“You were still quite young back then, but look at you now, you have grown up to be so beautiful, I’m happy for you.”

“…Thank you. Your words are wasted on me.” Zana bowed.

King Vale, with a smile still on his face, said, “I heard you came to deliver a letter from your father—the king of Berqua. Will you show it to me?”

“Yes, here it is.”

After Zana handed the letter to an attendant, the attendant silently carried it towards the throne and handed it over to King Vale. “—I see. He wants to relieve the tension and make peace with my country again.”

Zana nodded, “Yes, my father has that intention.”

King Vale also nodded, “I of course welcome it. After all, according to what I heard, to prevent Berqua from having a conflict with my country, even the agent of the god of fire appeared and resurrected the late Queen Lifia.”

I knew it, the information spread quickly.

Berqua’s border regulations shouldn’t have been loosened yet, though.

“A truly wonderful event it must have been. It is nothing short of a miracle of god. On behalf of all the people of Lastall, I would like to extend my heartfelt blessings to you.”

“…Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“…”

Zana smiled back at King Vale, but I didn’t miss it.

That her shoulders were shaking as if she was enduring something.

She had been looking strange since a while ago, too.

It must have something to do with King Vale.

As I was thinking to myself, King Vale suddenly turned to us and said, “In any case, you all must have been tired from the long journey. I already have a highest-class inn prepared for you, so please stay and rest your bodies there tonight. I actually wanted to host you in the castle, however, I already have some guests who arrived earlier, so the guest rooms are all full. My apologies.”

“No, we are grateful for Your Majesty’s kindness.”

◇ ◇

After the audience with King Vale, we went to an inn in the castle town led by an attendant.

True to what King Vale said, the inn gave off a very high-class vibe, and the room was also decorated so luxuriously that I wondered just how much it would cost to stay per night.

Needless to be said, we searched every nook and corner in case of eavesdropping or the likes, but we couldn’t find anything suspicious.

Did he really have this place prepared out of goodwill?

That idea passed through my mind all of a sudden, but then I recalled Zana’s condition at the audience and regretted that I had such a foolish idea even for a moment.

I then asked her, “Zana, it’s okay if you don’t want to answer, but… is there something bothering you? Like that king perhaps?”

“Sorry for worrying you. I must’ve been acting unnaturally. I tried to behave naturally, but…” said Zana with a downcast look.

After a brief pause, she continued, “…it was him.”

“Eh?”

“It was him who killed my mother and made my father go mad… But that wasn’t what surprised me…”

““““?”””” The rest of us all frowned.

Zana then said with an expression as if she herself couldn’t believe what she was saying, “It was his appearance… more than 10 years has passed since the incident, yet, his appearance hasn’t changed at all since back then…”

““““!?””””

Just what does that mean?

For a while, we stood stock-still, stunned by her words.