Chapter 80

As I was gazing out the window, there was something I needed to ask Winnie.

 

“Do we pick up the mercenaries at the next village?”

 

My trip abroad had been decided so chaotically that I had heard we hadn’t been able to secure any mercenaries or knights for protection yet.

 

“No, My Lady.”

 

“?”

 

“Sir Derek has agreed to provide our escort.”

 

“By Sir Derek… do you mean Sir Derek?”

 

The moment I mentioned him, the small hatch connecting to the driver’s seat slid open, and Sir Derek’s voice drifted in.

 

“Did you call for me?”

 

I stared at Derek with a look of pure bewilderment. It really was Sir Derek.

 

“Sir Derek, why are you here…?”

 

Winnie answered in Derek’s stead.

 

“The schedule was so tight that it was difficult to find mercenaries. But then Sir Derek mentioned that he happened to have no schedule for a while, you see?”

 

“And so…?”

 

“Well, wouldn’t he be the perfect person for our journey? So, he joined us.”

 

Feeling a bit uneasy about something, I asked Derek cautiously.

 

“Is it really alright for Sir Derek to leave Prince Freyer’s side…?”

 

“It does weigh on my mind, of course. However, since my current duty is to stay by Lady Lilithia’s side, I believe His Highness will understand.”

 

“But still…”

 

“Thank you for your concern, Lady Lilithia.”

 

It seemed I was the only one who found his company strange; Winnie and Derek were both wearing casual smiles.

 

“My Lady, it’s a long road ahead, so why don’t you try to get some sleep?”

 

“Mm-hmm…”

 

The fact that Sir Derek was with us felt strangely nagging. But we had already been traveling for an hour. I couldn’t exactly tell him to get out of the carriage, nor could we turn back.

 

 

***

 

 

“Could you please step out of the carriage for a moment!”

 

At the sound of Derek’s booming voice, Winnie glanced at the young lady. She was sleeping soundly.

 

‘Thank goodness.’

 

The young lady usually suffered from motion sickness whenever she rode a carriage. Seeing her like this allowed Winnie to breathe a sigh of relief. She opened the driver’s hatch and asked Derek.

 

“Sir Derek, is something wrong?”

 

“Oh, no, it’s not that. I just… I need to use the restroom for a moment!”

 

“The restroom?”

 

Derek’s hunched-over posture was awkward to the extreme, but it looked like the behavior of someone who didn’t want to show his embarrassing state.

 

“Please stop the carriage, driver.”

 

As soon as Derek hopped down, he shouted out lustily.

 

“Thank you! I think something I ate this morning disagreed with me! I—I’ll be over there, so could you wait just a moment?”

 

“Yes, alright.”

 

Derek let out a sharp sigh of relief and hid himself behind a tree. He felt as though he were swaying between heaven and hell.

 

Because he couldn’t expose Lady Lilithia to mana, Derek crouched down even more carefully.

 

“Your Highness! Why are you only picking up now!”

 

Derek asked accusingly to the image of Freyer that appeared in the air. Freyer frowned at the unfamiliar scenery.

 

— Where are you right now?

 

“That is… I am on the way to the Kingdom of Pearching.”

 

— The Kingdom of Pearching?

 

“Yes!”

 

Derek began his detailed explanation. By the time he arrived at the Baron Baimery’s mansion, they were already on the verge of departure. He had tried to contact the Prince urgently, but when he didn’t pick up, Derek had scrambled around and ultimately ended up joining the party.

 

— Suddenly?

 

“Yes. It appears Lady Lilithia departed in a hurry for Baimery Guild business. It wasn’t a situation I could stop, so I followed them in haste, but I don’t know if I did the right thing…”

 

— You did well.

 

Derek blinked slowly at the unexpected praise.

 

— Once I finish everything here as quickly as possible, I will head over there myself.

 

“You’re coming over?”

 

— I received word that Leader Ricardo is facing some difficulties. If it’s the Kingdom of Pearching, the timing is actually perfect.

 

Derek blinked rapidly.

 

— What is your destination?

 

“Currently, there is a village called Kona on our way, but…”

 

— Fine. Contact me if there are any peculiarities or problems.

 

“Understood.”

 

Derek was briefly confused by the lack of even a small reprimand when he heard a voice from behind.

 

“Sir Derek! Is it taking much longer? I think we need to reach the village before the sun sets!”

 

“I’m coming!”

 

Derek hurriedly shoved the communication device into his pocket and ran toward the carriage. Soon, the carriage set off toward the village again.

 

 

***

 

 

As soon as Freyer placed the communication device on the table, a knock was heard.

 

“Enter.”

 

Special Envoy Riulfo entered the office carrying a high tower of documents.

 

“Your Highness. You must look over these papers as well.”

 

Riulfo, who hadn’t supported Freyer when he first gained authority over the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had now begun bringing every single document related to the ministry to him.

 

“You must check these documents!”

 

Most of the papers he brought were simple matters, but among them were documents crucial to the political climate, so Freyer couldn’t just skim through them.

 

“Very well.”

 

“Also, tomorrow, the delegation from Urune Kingdom wishes to meet with Your Highness.”

 

Frequent delegation meetings. Mountains of paperwork. It was as if they were trying to restrict his movements.

 

“Until tomorrow?”

 

“Yes. Is it too much of a burden?”

 

“Of course it isn’t a burden. If it’s something I must do as the head of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, I should do it even if it means staying up all night.”

 

Freyer smirked, the corner of his mouth curling upward. Just then, a loud clatter! was heard from outside, the door burst open, and someone stumbled in backward.

 

“Excuse me!”

 

Riulfo looked toward the door and saw a familiar face.

 

“An attendant…?”

 

“Hor! What are you going to do about this!”

 

An angry voice echoed through the hallway, and Hor was backing away as if terrified by the sound.

 

“Please don’t come at me with such a scary face!”

 

“You! You’ve done it again!”

 

“I am innocent!”

 

Looking at the black ink staining Hor’s clothes, it was clear why the owner of the voice was shouting.

 

“Aah!”

 

At the noise from outside, Hor trembled all over, his foot slipped on the carpet, and he went flying into the air.

 

As he fell, Hor collided with Riulfo, who was holding an armful of documents. The sudden impact sent the papers in Riulfo’s hands scattering to the floor.

 

“Ah…!”

 

Splosh!—

 

“Eh?”

 

Amidst the chaos, there was an unexpected variable. In the hand of the falling Hor was a small ink bottle, and as it left his hand, the ink sprayed across the documents as they fell.

 

“…….”

 

They say when one is truly shocked, they forget how to speak. Riulfo stared at the ink-soaked documents with the expression of a man in utter despair.

 

Thud—

 

Hor, who had fallen on his back, looked up at Freyer with a sly grin while still lying down.

 

‘How fascinating.’

 

Freyer hadn’t imagined what kind of “help” the Emperor had meant when he said he would assist. It was simply amazing how the Emperor knew of his current ordeal and provided help in such a natural way.

 

“……Second Prince?”

 

Hor quickly scrambled to his feet and bowed his head to Freyer.

 

“We meet again! I am Hor, the attendant!”

 

Shortly after, Freyer surveyed the scene before him. Riulfo was staring at the ink-stained documents on the floor, Hor was grinning sheepishly, and the diplomats who had followed Hor stood with their eyes wide upon seeing Freyer.

 

“We greet the Second Prince.”

 

The diplomats’ clothes were marked with damp spots.

 

“Heavens! Diplomats, did you follow me all the way here?”

 

Hor tried to move as if scared, but he stepped on the documents Riulfo was looking at, slipped again, and fell back to the floor.

 

“Oh dear…”

 

Hor grimaced in pain as he landed on his backside. The Special Envoy, seeing the situation worsen, screamed.

 

“You, Hor! You rascal!”

 

Hor was famous within the Imperial Palace for being incompetent, but Riulfo hadn’t paid him much mind before since Hor had never caused him personal harm. Looking at the current situation, Riulfo looked like he was about to faint while clutching the back of his neck.

 

“Oho…”

 

Riulfo had every right to be angry; while very important Imperial documents would have preservation magic cast on them, that didn’t apply to the simple documents of the Foreign Affairs Ministry. Most of these were recorded directly by the hands of the envoy and the ministry staff.

 

If the envoy wanted to present new documents to Freyer, he would have to rewrite hundreds of pages.

 

“I-I’m sorry! I’ll put them back in order for you!”

 

At Hor’s frantic touch, the ink on the documents smeared even further. Riulfo’s eyelids began to quiver.

 

“Oops…”

 

“O-oops?”

 

“I’ll rewrite them for you…! Even though… I don’t know how to write.”

 

“…….”

 

Riulfo reached out his hand as if he were about to wring Hor’s neck. Since Riulfo was known to be more benevolent than anyone on the surface, everyone watching held their breath.

 

“Enough.”

 

At Freyer’s cold voice, Riulfo froze mid-motion.

 

“Since the documents you were going to hand me have ended up like this, first decide what you’re going to do.”

 

“I… I would like to explain them to you verbally.”

 

“What a shame.”

 

Freyer said, turning up one corner of his mouth.

 

“I have a poor memory, you see, so I prefer to verify everything through documents.”

 

“Then why did you ask—”

 

“I simply thought there might be a better way. How truly unfortunate. It must have taken many days to write all these.”

 

Freyer stood up, straightened his clothes, and spoke to Hor.

 

“Hor?”

 

“Yes!?”

 

“Is that indeed your name?”

 

“Y-yes, it is!”

 

Freyer stood up, tapped Hor on the shoulder, and said: “Making too many mistakes isn’t good, but I believe it will all serve as experience for you. I forgive you.”

 

“T-thank you!”

 

Since Freyer, the superior, had forgiven such a massive blunder, the diplomats who suffered could no longer say a word.

 

“It will take quite some time to rewrite them. I have a place I must be. Contact me when you have finished rewriting them all.”

 

Freyer clicked his tongue as he passed the despair-stricken Riulfo.

 

‘The Kingdom of Pearching, he said.’

 

Freyer quickened his pace.