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Rain - Volume 3 - Chapter 4.2

Published at 4th of June 2018 02:38:22 AM


Chapter 4.2

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Part 2

Ralphus became suspicious when he saw the messengers from Chandrys approaching from the other end of the hallway in a hurry. He had thought that they would still be in an audience with the princess.

So why was the entire group, including the chief envoy, at a place like this instead?

He promptly called out to them, causing the person who was most likely the chief enjoy to freeze up at once. Something felt strange to Ralphus.

“Where are you headed, Sir Messenger? Is the audience over already?”

“Yes……rather, it ended without a hitch,”

the chief envoy said rapidly as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. He continued,

“in any event, we were just about to return to Her Majesty’s side.”

“So soon?”

Ralphus knit his brows.

They had only arrived just this morning. He had thought that they would at least stay the night.

Naturally, Ralphus did not take to Chandrys’ sudden invasion very kindly.

However, that was precisely why he wanted to have a discussion with the messenger that Folnier had sent so that he could use it as an opportunity to investigate their underlying intentions.

Additionally, he had thought that they might be able to find some common ground in between them.

And yet, they were leaving already.

Just what kind of conversation had they held with the princess? Ralphus exceedingly regretted that he had not been able to join in.

Still, the messengers had finished saying what they had to say and were trying to walk away as fast as possible. Or rather, the chief envoy alone seemed like he was strangely in a hurry and his attendants were made to follow along after him.

In any event, Ralphus said,

“please wait a moment! In that case, I’ll at least see you to the castle gates.”

Ralphus obstinately shook his head when the chief envoy tried to refuse him and accompanied them out.

A few of Rain’s subordinates were following behind the messengers, but the ever-diligent Ralphus decided to accompany them personally just in case.

 

 

Ralphus immediately noticed that something was abnormal as he exited into the courtyard and approached the castle gates.

A hooded wagon was parked in front of the gates and the gatekeepers were talking to its driver.

From what he could hear, they were arguing over whether the carriage should be let through or not.

“Is something the matter?”

Ralphus called out to them while he was still a distance away.

The two guards on duty saluted him.

The younger of the two answered,

“it’s nothing much, sir. The driver who delivered the vegetables is a different guy from usual. We were trying to confirm his identity. In cases like this, we require that people receive proper authorization from their predecessors. However, this man over there——”

he looked to the driver, who had gotten out of the wagon,

“says that he received his authorization but forgot to bring it with him, so we were in the middle of letting him know that it wouldn’t do.”

“……Hmmm.”

Ralphus pursed his lips upon hearing about the situation.

It wasn’t that he thought there was something wrong in particular, but he informed the messengers to wait for a moment and personally went over to the wagon.

He was not particularly suspicious about anything.

It wasn’t unusual for the driver who normally delivered foodstuffs to a castle to swap out with someone else if the original driver was sick or something similar.

Most people would dismiss such complicated regulations regarding the replacement and would not check each individual driver. They would simply wave their hand and let the driver pass.

Thus, it could be said that the gatekeepers were being overly cautious. It was possibly because Rain, the lord of the castle, was surprisingly strict about such matters.

And so, Ralphus, who had an even stronger sense of responsibility than even the gatekeepers, decided to personally verify whether or not there was any danger presented in the situation.

“What’s going on?”

he asked the man in question who was simply standing around. Ralphus continued,

“you seem to be a different driver than the person who usually comes; did something happen? Did he get sick or something of the sort?”

He felt that something was off about the other man even as he spoke.

The man had no prominent features and looked docile, but he also seemed apathetic. To put it moderately, he seemed out of it, and to put it plainly, his reactions were somewhat dull.

He looked a little like someone half-lucid who had been deep asleep and was suddenly slapped awake.

There was a faint haze over his eyes as the man in question turned away from the gatekeepers to face Ralphus.

Sluggishly, he explained,

“yess. Jean caught a little cold. So today, I——”

The man suddenly cut off his words the moment he nonchalantly looked over behind Ralphus.

He suddenly opened his eyes wide.

His creepy eyes, which had become bloodshot red.

He turned to the wagon and suddenly, as if he was cutting through the air, shouted,

“come out! Those guys are our prey!”

Men, who had likely been hiding in the vegetable crates, jumped out of the wagon’s hood with a racket one after another.

Several among them had bows and nocked their arrows.

“Take cover!”

Ralphus instantly turned around and shouted at the messengers from Chandrys.

But, only the chief envoy and one other messenger reacted immediately and took cover, and the rest were directly hit by the arrows and fell down while clawing at their chests.

They died almost instantly.

Then, one of the gatekeepers finally moved as if he had just woken from a dream and blew the emergency whistle.

The other, slightly older guard tried to draw his sword in a panic but was slain by the driver, who had drawn closer.

A naked blade was suddenly hanging from the man’s hand, possibly because he had received it from one of his comrades. Naturally, it needn’t even be said that all of the men who had jumped out of the wagon were armed.

Each and every one of them was carrying a weapon as they ran toward the surviving messengers.

In addition, the men who had fired arrows were preparing for a second round.

They had prepared a two-staged attack.

Ralphus didn’t know whose idea it had been, but regardless, the attackers wanted the messengers dead.

They probably did not expect to return alive.

“I will not let you!”

Ralphus had not been armed because he was within the castle’s premises. Still, he instantly picked up the fallen gatekeeper’s sword and fought back.

He stepped in and brandished his sword against the enemies who were about to fire arrows. Without sparing even a glance at those who had erupted into a spray of blood upon having their throats slashed, he indiscriminately swung his sword at multiple enemies at once.

Screams rose and blood spewed. Ralphus did not allow his enemies the leisure to escape and they were not able to put up much of a resistance either. Ralphus’ sword mowed down or pierced through his enemies’ torsos as easily as if he had been cutting grass. The men who had initially jumped out of the wagon had no choice but to die as Ralphus’ sword hit their vitals.

Normally, Ralphus was a man who was never seen without a smile on his face and never forgot to show his consideration to even the lowliest of soldiers. However, that was not the entirety of his nature.

Right now, Ralphus was exhibiting his forte as a warrior as he slew the men with bows in the blink of an eye.

He immediately twisted his body and chased down the driver and the other men who were pursuing the messengers.

He clicked his tongue before he knew it.

The two surviving messengers from Chandrys were standing in a daze. The younger gatekeeper ran to stand in front of them and block them from their pursuers, gallantly trying to fulfil his professional duties.

More guards, who had heard the whistle, were running toward them with a hand on the swords at their waists. Things would become more advantageous for them if he held his ground.

In any event, there were only seven~eight enemies remaining.

“Run!”

Ralphus shouted at him as he ran.

It was the most advantageous move to make in this occasion. Their attackers would have fewer cards to play if they made it inside the castle.

He couldn’t let the messengers from Chandrys die here.

The gatekeeper was taken aback upon hearing Ralphus’ rebuke. Still, he soon nodded and urged the messengers to run.

The chief envoy did not remain in a daze this time. He, along with the other remaining messenger, ran to join up with the guards coming up from behind them.

That the messengers had not chosen to fight for their honor——was the silver lining amidst all of these unfortunate events.

It was thanks to this that Ralphus, who was behind the attackers, was somehow able to calm down.

He purposefully swung his sword with a loud yell in order to draw attention to himself. He brought down his sword without mercy.

He slashed one across the back and sank the other into a sea of blood as he drew his sword back.

The attackers unexpectedly did what Ralphus wanted them to as he efficiently cut down their numbers.

They turned around all at once and attacked him with their swords at ready. Only the man who had pretended to be a driver had not. Instead, he accelerated drastically and swung down his sword at the surviving messengers.

The powerful sound of the sword cutting through the wind reached even Ralphus’ ears.

The man was terrifyingly strong. He had clearly surpassed the limits of a normal human being. The vice envoy, who had been split in two from his head to somewhere around his stomach, sank down to the ground twitching.

The blood that erupted from his body dyed the earth red.

“Ginnam!”

The chief envoy, who was finally the last one left, heartbrokenly cried out his colleague’s name. Damn you! he screamed as he tried to turn back around, perhaps because his anger had driven away his fear.

Stop! Ralphus yelled.

His warrior’s intuition had told him that the fake driver wasn’t normal.

Ralphus’ fortune continued yet.

A flood of guards had rushed the fake driver before the one-on-one duel that Ralphus feared could come to pass.

They promptly formed a wall between the fake driver, who had raised his sword again, and the surviving chief envoy.

“Don’t kill him!”

Ralphus yelled once more as he wielded his sword freely in every direction. They had to determine who’s orders the man was working under.

However, that was easier said than done.

“Gaaaaaaaah!”

The fake driver suddenly roared a beastly howl.

It was so beastly and raw that it was impossible to believe that it had come from human vocal cords, and caused the guards, who had been attacking the fake driver all at once, to stop dead in their tracks.

The man’s muscles began to ripple and swell in a creepy manner. His bulging jacket increased in volume before their eyes until it finally burst apart, buttons and all.

The man continued to roar his beastly howl throughout the entire process.

The changes to his body did not stop at his muscles.

Bristles grew from places where his skin was exposed, like his face and arms, and he transformed into something inhuman and reminiscent of an ogre.

“You, you monster!”

someone who had been watching with their eyes bulging cried out sharply and brandished their sword to rush the fake driver.

The rest of the guards followed along at once and jumped the creepy man. The fake driver, who was simply standing there, was promptly attacked by swords all over his body.

However——

The fake driver had been more of a monster than the guards had ever imagined.

Their swords, which they had swung with all of their might, had been repelled by the man’s thick layer of muscle, and the tips of their swords were stopped after only giving the man a few scratches even when they pressed the full weight of their bodies against their blades.

The guards stopped attacking for a moment, knowing that their freely wielded swords were to no effect.

They attempted to fall back as they shared chilly expressions with one another.

Glare.

The beastman glared at them with his large eyes.

“Gwoooooooooooh!”

he roared and chased after the guards.

He swung his large sword sideways with such ferocity that it was barely a blur. Two heads flew with just one swing.

He attacked left and right, leaving everything to brute power while ignoring defense from the onset. Still, his speed and muscular strength were far beyond ordinary, and the heads and torsos of unfortunate guards flew and were rent every time he swung his sword.

None of the guards were cowards, but their barely existent flames of courage extinguished naturally in the face of an opponent before whom they were utterly powerless.

All of them tried to crawl away from the monster. Even the guards who had arrived late as reinforcements stopped in their tracks with pallid faces, unwilling to get any closer.

“Gaah!”

The monster suddenly turned around.

He had found the chief envoy from Chandrys, who was still trying to run away.

“Hold!”

Ralphus’ stern cry reached the monster’s back as he tried to chase after the chief envoy. The tone of Ralphus’ voice had been so sharp and firm that even the fake driver, who had turned into a beastman, had listened.

Ralphus cut down the final attacker who had been trying to block his path and pursued after the beastman.

He already had his sword at the ready by the time the beastman had turned to him.

Ralphus pierced the monster’s eye with a loud cry to boost his fighting spirit. As Ralphus had thought, the monster’s eye could not repel the blade and the monster roared a blood-curling roar as fresh blood spilled from the wound.

Ralphus pulled out his sword and went in to attack the other eye without a moment’s delay but was blocked by the beastman’s thick and hairy arm. The beastman’s skin was tougher than even a real ogre’s, and like the guards, Ralphus could not cut through it. And his sword had been repelled with such ridiculous strength, too!

Ralphus bit his lip.

This sword won’t do.

It would only work on the monster’s eyes, and it would be difficult to reach the monster’s face now that it was on its guard.

On the contrary, it already took Ralphus everything he had just to avoid the large sword that the pseudo-ogre was swinging around.

“Gaaaah!”

“Kugh!”

Having failed to fully dodge the monster’s lunge, Ralphus fell. Then, the monster’s large foot rose to try to stomp on him. Ralphus rolled and somehow managed to escape and back away.

“Boss, you good?!”

Guen’s voice echoed from somewhere.

Evidently, he had noticed the commotion.

At some point, the fight had moved from the castle gates to deeper inside the castle grounds.

“——! Here, take this!”

Ralphus perfectly caught Justice, which Gwen had thrown across the distance to Ralphus with his herculean strength as he ran. Then, Ralphus turned back to the fake driver, who had been on the verge of charging at him, and drew his sword, throwing the scabbard aside.

 

Swish! ——Bzzzzzzzzzt

 

He swung the radiant crimson sword diagonally upward. Drops of blood followed after the sword as it drew a vibrant arc of red light.

Even the monster’s tough skin could not block an attack from a magic sword, which had been imbued with magic. He had avoided a direct hit by promptly twisting his upper body, but a shallow wound still opened across his stomach and chest.

It had been a far cry from a fatal wound, but the monster still cautiously leapt backward. Then, Gwen and Nigel ran forward to stand by Ralphus’ sides.

Evidently, the monster still retained his intelligence.

The monster’s remaining yellow eye darted here and there, likely because he had discerned that the tides had turned against him.

“Uweh. What’s the deal with him?”

Gwen spat and readied his gigantic battle axe. Nigel had already long since drawn his sword.

“An ogre……but its physique’s a little too small. And its face looks human,”

Nigel calmly pointed out.

With his eyes still glued on the monster, Ralphus replied,

“an ogre wouldn’t have appeared this close to town. He was a normal human until just a little moment ago. He suddenly transformed.”

“He suddenly transformed? What’s with that?”

Gwen asked. He continued,

“is he some kinda vampire? But he sure as hell don’t look like one.”

 

“He probably a beast master’s servant.”

 

His brazenly composed voice sounded no different than it always did.

Ralphus turned around to see Rain looking calmly over them with a surprised Princess Shelfa by his side. “Yo,” said Rain while he raised a hand, as if they as met within the palace as usual.

With his eyes fixed on the monster, Rain said,

“I fought with one a bit once during my travels a long time ago. There are these masters who implant their ‘species’ into people. Then, that person gets reduced to being the master’s servant. In exchange for a little bit of the ‘master’s’ power. Well, they’re not a tough as vampires anyhow.”

Rain cut off his words for a moment and observed the monster closely with his black eyes. He continued,

“hmmm. He’s probably a ‘servant’ who had some other species implanted inside of him. If he was the master, he would’ve been a bit bigger and a lot stronger.”

After making his conclusion, Rain added,

“……he’s lacking in speed because he relies too much on his muscles and the sturdiness of his body. And the muscular strength that he’s been so proud of isn’t much to write home about either. I’d give it a thirty-five at most.”

After assigning the monster an arbitrary point value, he finally asked Ralphus,

“you alright?”

“I’m fine. But, according to what you just said, wouldn’t he be strong enough to be the ‘master’?”

Ralphus shook his head and continued,

“this was my mistake……. I let all of the messengers from Chandrys, save the chief envoy, die.”

“You have a bad habit of making everything your fault.”

Ralphus’ friend thoroughly sounded as if he thought that nothing was wrong. Rain continued,

“for starters, you protected at least one, so isn’t it fine? By your logic, I’m the one who has more responsibility over what happened. Since I only posted guards inside the castle building.”

It was Rain’s bad habit that he all too frankly added, “but I don’t mind one bit,” at the end.

The chief envoy from Chandrys, who was now surrounded by a sizeable number of guards, had an unspeakably complicated look on his face upon hearing Rain’s words.

Then, the ‘servant’ in question who had ignored the conversation around him glared at Rain and readily stepped forward. It was as if he had suddenly lost his obsession with killing the messenger and his interests had moved to Rain in the messenger’s stead.

In a grating, unseemly voice, he said,

“are you Rain? My Master told me about you. No, from the start, my true mission was to fight you.”

“Oho. So I guess you’re from that mysterious organization. You’re gonna be my opponent?”

Rain flashed a grin.

Ralphus had seen him grin like that numerous time before.

“Sure. I’ll take you on, just like you want.”

Just like that, Rain casually walked toward the servant to close the distance between them.

By then, Rain’s three aides, starting with Leni, finally came running, but Rain pointed them to the princess instead.

“I’ll trust the Princess and the messenger to you guys.”

“Un, understood!”

Leni answered right away before Gazaram could say anything. That he preferred to guard the princess over fighting was written plainly on his face.

Senoa and Gazaram felt as if they had been dragged alongside Leni. Still, they probably obeyed their orders because they did not doubt that their liege would win certain victory.

 

Suddenly, the servant roared.

 

The roar had been so abrupt that knights, starting with Ralphus, sharply brought up their swords again. The servant roared a deep, long roar that was far more ferocious than he had previously.

Once again, his bestial transformation progressed for all to see.

Stiff bristles grew even on his face this time, making him look like a hairy bear. His muscles swelled again and rippled uncomfortably. The creaking noises that his muscle made reached even Ralphus’ ears. He was probably stronger than an ogre in terms of pure strength.

His jacket had long since been reduced to rags, and now his pants began to expand as well.

His second transformation had completed at the same time that he had stopped howling. Standing before them was a beast that had completely deviated from humanity, which they had never seen before.

He still resembled closest to an ogre, but his face and limbs still looked somewhat human, causing Ralphus to feel psychologically repulsed just by looking at him.

Ralphus was apparently not alone in his sentiment as Selphie and Yuri, who had come running out of the castle building, both screamed magnificently.

The servant glared at Rain as if that had been his signal.

He glared with both his eyes as the eye that Ralphus had taken pains to destroy had regenerated at some point.

 

“Whoa~”

Rain clapped his hands.

He did not look the slightest bit nervous as he apathetically brought his hands together in applause.

He was the only one who stood straight with a sarcastic smile despite that there were many among the soldiers who were trembling in their boots.

It was as if he had left behind his fear and panic in his mother’s womb.

“To think you’d be able to transform twice; you’ve put a lot of thought into this. I’ll add on another five points and make it forty.”

“……Prattle on while you can. You’ll end up getting ripped to shreds by me anyway.”

“Quit bragging, you big ball of fur,”

Rain sneered. He continued,

“I guess you don’t even know why your master ordered you to attack me. Well, that’s how it usually is for underlings.”

“My Master believes that the likes of you isn’t worth the effort.”

“You’re wrong. Your master wanted to use you to test how strong I am before fighting me. If they were sure they could win, they would’ve just come in person. Now, I wanna ask you something too. Were you changed against your will? Or did you want this for yourself?”

“Obviously, I wanted this for myself.”

The servant stuck out his chest as he said his grating words. He continued,

“nobody makes a fool of me anymore. Not a single one!”

The beastman laughed loudly in dark satisfaction, though no one else knew the story of his past and how it had led to his becoming this way.

Then, he swung his large sword and rushed at Rain the moment he stopped laughing. Rain initially put his hand on the hilt of his magic sword, but he reconsidered his actions and let go. He twisted his body and kicked the servant’s wrist the instant the latter appeared before his eyes. It connected cleanly. The sword flew out of the servant’s thick and hairy hand.

However, the enemy did not fall into a daze upon losing his weapon.

“Gaaaah!”

The servant immediately tipped back the scales and grabbed at Rain with both hands.

The black-clad Rain and the pseudo-ogre servant were locked against each other hand in hand.

If anything, Rain’s hands were on the larger side, but his hands looked terribly small in comparison to the enemy’s and they were completely hidden away by the enemy’s palms.

The servant, who was taller than even Rain, forcefully increased his output of strength in order to attack Rain from above.

Ralphus tried to jump in and assist Rain upon seeing that, but he changed his mind after seeing the expression on his friend’s face. Rain was smiling brazenly even as he clashed in a contest of strength against the servant.

“What’s wrong? Put a bit more spirit and power into it, will you?! Your beloved muscles are crying!”

Rain challenged the servant, his countenance still as composed as ever.

It was hard to tell because of his thick fur, but the ogre-like servant was astonished. He had been planning to force Rain down, but was being pushed back by Rain instead and his giant knee was about to buckle.

“Pre, preposterous!”

“Do you really think you can beat a dragon in a contest of strength? ‘Cause that’s exactly what you’re trying to do right now,”

Rain pointed out in a level voice.

Turmoil visibly ran through the servant’s visage.

“——Impossible! Master said that it was just a rumor!”

“Well, your morale would’ve plummeted if they told you the truth. It would’ve been inconvenient in testing me out, even if you can’t go against your orders. Your master used you as they pleased.”

Rain abruptly looked up after he finished whispering his piece.

He shook his head a little at his enemy, whose breathing had grown haggard.

“I can tell. You aren’t a match for me. ……If you’re gonna resent someone, resent the master who used you as an experiment.”

“Lies! Dragon slayers can’t possibly exist!”

Contrary to his words, the servant was already sure of the truth.

Vivid fear colored his face at the last moment as the servant shook off Rain’s hands and attempted to flee.

For a moment, it had looked like he had made a successful escape.

But a dull sound reverberated in the next.

The servant opened his large eyes wide.

Rain had pierced through the chest of his fleeing enemy with his hand with extreme ease. He had effortlessly penetrated through the servant’s tough chest and his bright red hand stuck out of the servant’s back.

The ground rumbled as servant collapsed to the ground the moment that Rain withdrew his hand. There wasn’t even a need to confirm that he was dead.

 

Whooooa!?

 

The castle guards, who had gathered one after another, let out a loud cheer when they saw that the match had been decided. Rain lightly raised his hand to answer to their cheers, but he didn’t seem all that happy for it.

“As expected of you,”

Ralphus said, despite knowing that his friend was not too excited.

“Nah, beating the likes of him isn’t something to be proud of. It would’ve been better if the beast master had come in person instead.”

“So like I’d thought, was he really from the same organization as the girl named Talma?”

“Probably. Like the guy said himself, his main goal was to test out my strength, and the scheme to provoke discord between Chandrys and Sunkwoll was an added bonus. Still, they’re a bunch of shameless jerks, what with all they’re doing.”

“Indeed. But the fact that he——”

Ralphus cast his gaze at the noisy crowd of soldiers that had circled around the corpse,

“wasn’t sent from Zarmine is a silver lining amidst all of these unfortunate events. I suppose they’re still busy reorganizing their army.”

“King Leygur wouldn’t do something this pointless. I think that Talma’s gang doesn’t have a clear grasp of our military strength yet. And they’re underestimating me in particular.”

“You can’t blame them for their disbelief. Though I understand that you don’t want to fight weak foes.”

He pat Rain on the shoulder in an attempt to console him.

Then, the sole surviving messenger from Chandrys approached them.

He bowed his head to Rain and Ralphus in a surprisingly polite manner.

“I suppose I must give you my thanks. In any case, you saved my life.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Rain returned to his usual mood and flashed a grin. He continued,

“it’d be inconvenient for us if you’d died.”

“……Yes?”

“Don’t sweat it, I was talking to myself.”

Rain swiftly exchanged a glance with the princess who stood beside him. As far as Ralphus could tell, there was something going on between them. Rain continued,

“well, that aside. Marvelously enough, my threat from before came true. It’s dangerous, so I’ll have you escorted to the unit that’s waiting for you.”

“H, how did you know that we had troops on standby?”

Sweat slowly but steadily began to form on the messenger’s forehead.

Nonchalantly, Rain said,

“that furball from earlier would’ve killed you guys somewhere where it was easier to do it if you guys had been few in number to begin with. He would’ve wiped you guys out first before coming here. The reason that he couldn’t was because you had a bunch of guards accompanying you. It was better to attack us here where both of us would be present if it was gonna be dangerous either way. In any case, he had a better chance of killing at least one of us if he took us by surprise.”

The messenger had no words to say.

Since their conversation had wrapped up, Rain briskly ordered his three aides to compose an escort unit.

The messenger would more or less be able to return to Folnier with this.

Still, they wouldn’t be able to avoid fighting with Chandrys just because they had saved the messenger’s life.

Ralphus did not know what kind of response the messenger would be carrying back, but he knew that, ultimately, conflict could not be avoided……

The signs of war were closing in on this kingdom once more.

Ralphus was certain of this.

 

 

The disturbance from noon had died down and the castle had regained its tranquility by the small hours of the morning.

Ralphus had been making himself at home in the room that he had been provided when Nigel, his aide, paid him a visit.

It was a terribly rare occurrence.

Unlike Gwen, who would drop by even when he didn’t need anything, Nigel, while still loyal, was not the type of person to visit his liege’s room just for fun.

“What is it? Is there a problem?”

Ralphus asked, steeling himself a little as he offered Nigel a chair and poured him some wine from the North.

After all, in his experience, Nigel only sought a discussion with him when something troubling was going on and the like.

“I wouldn’t really call it a problem. ……The reason I visited you today has to do with Sir Rain.”

“Rain? What about him?”

Nigel rocked the glass in his hand and fell into a contemplative silence. He seemed hesitant on whether or not he should speak his mind—yet another rare occurrence.

A faint trace of distress appeared on his handsome visage.

After finally making up his mind, he gulped down his wine all at once and spoke.

“You were once the authority of Sunkwoll, Lord Ralphus. However, Sir Rain’s voice has grown more influential ever since Her Highness Princess Shelfa’s reign began. From what I’ve heard, our fundamental plan of action for the Chandrys war was finalized and offered to the Princess by Sir Rain. If it had been King Douglas, he would have asked for your opinion first, Lord Ralphus.”

Ralphus stared long and hard at his trusted aide. Nigel did not meet his gaze, as if he was avoiding Ralphus on purpose.

Instead, Nigel stared stubbornly into the center of his glass.

“It’s not that I dislike Sir Rain. The fact that he’s very broadminded and overflowing with ambition isn’t something that he should be ashamed of as a knight. Likewise, I don’t think that Her Highness had any particularly ill intentions for appointing Sir Rain to a position of responsibility. But at the end of the day, I’m your retainer, Lord Ralphus. I can’t turn a blind eye when the liege I respect gets ignored like that!”

It was the first time in Ralphus’ memories that the ever-reticent Nigel had spent so many words in such a fit of passion. Nigel’s cheeks were slightly red. He had apparently been longing to say this for a while.

Ralphus made an effort not to provoke his aide any further as he calmly said,

“so is this what you’re trying to say? That……Rain is a man of many schemes, and ultimately, he’s planning on using us as chess pieces to accomplish his own desires?”

Nigel nodded slightly when Ralphus spelled it out.

He finally looked Ralphus in the eyes.

“I don’t believe that he’s a bad person. Still, he’s too sharp, and much too strong. He might even be aiming for the throne one day…… Am I simply imaging things to be worried about him?”

“You’re unusually talkative today, Nigel.”

 

Ralphus smiled, and without letting that smile fade from his face, he continued,

 

“I personally don’t mind even if that’s what he plans to do.”

“——! Lord Ralphus!”

“Wait. I still have more to say. ……I don’t mind, but I doubt that he’d ever want the throne even if it’s the last thing he does. He’d likely leave the kingdom if someone tried to force the throne on him. That much is as clear as day to me.”

When his aide looked all the more unconvinced, Ralphus gently admonished him, saying,

“you don’t have to understand him, but I want you to trust him. I want you to trust my friend as you trust me. Deep down, contrary to what he says, Rain isn’t the type of person to care about money or prestige. What he’s after isn’t something of that nature……probably.”

“Then, do you mean to say that my worries are unfounded?”

“I do,”

Ralphus declared.

He smiled and prefaced his next words, saying, “it’s not something you’ll ever hear him say,” and continued,

“but I can tell. He doesn’t have any underlying ambitions. He does want to support Her Highness, but he doesn’t want any power or authority for himself. He only appears ambitious because he pretends to be that way.”

Nigel fell silent once again and stared fixatedly at Ralphus.

Ralphus silently accepted his gaze and nodded. Eventually, Nigel let out a sigh.

“……You’re good at seeing people for who they really are, Lord Ralphus. I’ve seen many examples of your skill firsthand, so I suppose all I can do is trust your judgement on this despite how doubtful I am.”

“Hey now.”

Ralphus smiled wryly.

Still, at the very least, Nigel looked like he felt a little better than he had when he first walked into the room.

“Understood. If you trust him, Lord Ralphus, I’ll trust him as well and see how things go in the long term. I’ll clear away my baseless suspicions of him.”

“Please do.”

Ralphus gave Nigel a hefty nod and reached out to pour him another glass of wine.

 

Their kingdom, or rather, their group that was centered around Princess Shelfa, was to face a mighty foe with only what little power they had.

At the very least, I want to stabilize the sense of unity between us as allies…… thought Ralphus.





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