Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Volume 13 - ebook

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PROLOGUE: AFTER THE BATTLE

Rio grabbed Charles Arbor by the scruff of his neck and dragged him down the hill in front of an audience of 5,000 soldiers.

Christina bit down hard on her lip, maintaining a composed expression as she watched on intently. Before long, Rio was right beside her, throwing Charles onto the floor without a word.

“Ha... Haha...” Charles had completely lost his will to fight. He laughed dryly.

“Is everyone else okay?” Rio asked, mainly looking at Celia and Orphia. Along with Vanessa, the two had been on the ground when he arrived.

“Yup. I was only hit a little, so I’m fine,” Celia answered. “Vanessa was only knocked out, so it isn’t anything life-threatening. Orphia... She had her magic essence sealed with an enchanted collar, but I removed it with _Dispello_.”

Celia currently had her hand over Orphia’s stomach as she cast her healing magic. Right beside Orphia was the collar Charles had placed on her—a magic artifact commonly known as a sealing shackle.

Like its name implied, it had the effect of sealing magic essence. In other words, it made it impossible to release essence from the body. However, it would be more accurate to say it was an item that absorbed the essence of the wearer, activating a sorcery that severely disturbed essence control and prevented them from acting freely. This was why it could activate automatically as long as it had a source of essence to absorb.

“I’m fine. Celia’s healing magic is taking effect,” Orphia replied with an innocent smile.

Just then, Christina, who had been watching the battle while checking on Vanessa’s condition, approached Celia.

“Stay still, Professor. _Cura_.”

She placed her hand against Celia’s cheek and activated her healing magic to ensure the area Charles struck didn’t swell up. Celia had said that she was fine, but, that was probably because she had been so focused on treating Orphia to notice the state of her cheek.

“Thank you very much, Princess Christina.” Celia was dazed, as though she hadn’t noticed the pain until now.

“Not at all,” Christina replied with a frown.

Meanwhile, Rio picked up the sealing shackles that were beside Orphia and approached Charles.

“Hahaha...”

He clasped them around Charles’ neck. Charles showed no resistance, letting him do as he pleased. He merely laughed brokenly, like he was trying to escape from reality.

Rio frisked Charles and found two more sealing shackles in his possession, confiscating them. There was also a rope suitable for arrest, so he used it to restrain Charles’ arms.

“Sara, Alma,” Rio called out.

“Yes?” the two replied.

“Could the two of you disarm the people laying around and gather them together? Then tie them up with a rope or something. There may be some who still have the strength to resist, so be careful.”

“Understood.”

“Leave it to us!”

Sara and Alma both nodded firmly before moving into action immediately. The enemies that Rio swept earlier were lying all over the place.

“Rei, Kouta,” Rio called out to the two boys standing around with nothing to do.

“Y-Yes?”

“Could you also help disarm the enemies and gather all their weapons in one place off to the side?”

“...Okay.”

Kouta and Rei looked a little nervous, but set off right away. After they left, Rio approached Alfred, who was unconscious.

_I should cuff him twice, just in case..._

If the wearer’s essence control was exceptional, it was possible for them to defy the effects of the sealing shackles and control their magic. It was difficult to use advanced magic in such a state, but Rio decided to use two sealing shackles in consideration of Alfred’s abilities. Afterwards, he tied his hands and feets together with rope, retrieved Alfred’s enchanted sword that had fallen to the ground, then left him there.

_As for Rui..._

Rio walked over to Rui and paused, a troubled look on his face. Should he restrain the hero, a disciple of the Six Wise Gods, as a prisoner? He was technically on friendly terms with him.

There was something else bothering him, too—the hesitation he felt from Rui during the earlier battle. When they exchanged those last few words before Rio knocked him unconscious, it almost seemed like Rui didn’t want to fight.

It seemed unlikely that Rui would resist and rage recklessly if he woke up to this decisive scenario. After a brief moment of thought, Rio carefully picked Rui up in his arms. In the end, he decided not to restrain him. If Rui still wanted to fight, he’d have to subdue him.

“Mmgh...” Rui regained consciousness, cracking his eyes open.

“Good morning,” Rio greeted a little awkwardly.

“Haruto... Ah, I see...” Rui said, immediately understanding the situation he was in.

“I don’t want to resort to violence, so will you be compliant?”

“Yes. I have no intention of resisting.” Rui nodded weakly at Rio’s question.

“...” Rio said nothing else as he headed back to Celia with Rui in his arms. Instead, Rui opened his mouth to say something first—and for some reason, quite happily: “It’s the first time in my life... That I faced someone head-on and lost, that is.”

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t control myself and had to knock you unconscious.”

“No, it’s strangely refreshing. Come to think of it, it’s my first time being carried in a bridal style like this, too. At least from what I can remember.” Rui looked up at the radiant sunset and chuckled in delight.

“I’m sorry...”

“Please don’t say that. It’s comfortable. Rui’s laughter drew Rio into chuckling along with him.

“I’m glad you were my opponent, Haruto. Truly...” Rui mumbled softly, looking up at the sky

CHAPTER 1: ACROSS THE BORDER

Several minutes later, Rio woke Alfred and brought him over to where Rui and Charles were beside Christina. Celia was still treating Orphia’s wound just to be sure she was healed, but Sara and Alma stood guard near Alfred in case anything happened. Meanwhile, Vanessa had also regained consciousness and was keeping a watchful eye over Charles’ subordinates, along with Kouta and Rei.

Fortunately, no one that crossed swords with Rio had lost their lives. However, there were a considerable number of people who had been sent flying by his wind spirit arts and landed hard, resulting in severe injuries. Those people had been restrained, and the critically injured ones were allowed to be treated by the sorcerers.

“You’ve done it now...” Christina glared at Charles bitterly.

“What are you saying? Those should be my words. I knew you shouldn’t have been allowed to attend that banquet. You managed to go behind my back and join forces with such a monster,” Charles sneered weakly. His fighting spirit had been completely broken, but he seemed to have regained a little composure and could hold a proper conversation again. He shot a look of detestment at Rio.

“Take back your words and apologize. Sir Amakawa is no monster,” Christina ordered with a frown.

“Ha! Hahaha!” Charles cackled wildly, then lowered his voice to an irritated mumble. “If only... If only that monster weren’t here...”

_He hasn’t realized it was Celia who connected Princess Christina to me?_

Rio brushed off Charles’ resentment with a blank expression and made a guess based on his words. Why Reiss hadn’t explained that to Charles, he had no idea...

Christina seemed to be thinking the same thing, showing a glimpse of a doubt for a moment.

“We’re still within the borders of the Beltrum Kingdom right now. While we’ve apprehended the target, it wouldn’t be a good idea to linger about while surrounded by the enemy’s army. The faster we cross the border, the better, but what would you like to do?” Rio asked Christina.

He looked between Charles, his subordinates nearby, and the troops waiting on the hill. It was up to Christina to decide how to deal with them, and what action to take next.

Christina thought for a moment, but quickly made a decision. “We’ll bring Charles and Alfred with us as prisoners. We’ll investigate the details later.”

“Oh? Then what will happen to me?” Rui asked, shrugging his shoulders in jest.

“We cannot take the hero around as a prisoner. If you wish to follow us of your own will, that would be another matter, but...” Christina trailed off, yielding the right to choose to Rui. Taking a hero captive could be seen as a political attack, so she had to take a stance that thoroughly showed her lack of hostility.

“I see...” Rui looked at Kouta’s back somewhat sadly as he expressed his intent. “I shall return to the capital, then.”

Kouta avoided Rui’s gaze by keeping his face forward, never turning back once as he stood watch of their surroundings.

“Are you sure...?” Christina confirmed, also looking at Kouta’s back.

“Yes. I have a lover awaiting my return,” Rui nodded, answering clearly.

“Ngh...” Kouta’s back shook slightly. Rio and the others couldn’t see his expression from their position, but Rei was sighing in exasperation beside Kouta.

“Kouta,” Rui called. He didn’t respond.

Rui continued speaking to his back. “I knew why you left the castle. I knew, yet I tried to bring you back while dodging the subject, but... It really is true that I acted out of concern for you and Saiki. That’s why I came after you. I wanted to see your face and confirm whether you’d be okay outside of the castle. Whether you’d be able to live well in this world from now on.”

“...”

“If you tell me you’ll be fine, I’ll believe you. I won’t try to force you to come back anymore. I’ll believe that we can meet again someday and wait. You’re an important friend to me, after all,” Rui kept speaking in spite of Kouta’s silence, when—

“_I...!”_ Kouta raised his voice, keeping his trembling back facing them. His bitter words were not in the language of this world, but in Japanese.

“_I’ve... I’ve always felt inferior to you. You transferred into our school from overseas, blessed with your looks and brains, and immediately became the school’s favorite. You joined the same club as Akane and I and before I knew it, you were closer to my childhood friend than I was... I was jealous of you. I couldn’t win against you in school, sports, or looks. Akane kept praising how amazing you are—each time, it filled me with so much jealousy, I almost hated you._”

“Kouta...”

“_But you were such a good person, treating me like a close friend—I couldn’t hate you. Even when we wandered into this world unable to understand the language, you spent hours every day studying grammar and vocabulary to help us... Acting like we were the ones having a tough time when you had it the toughest out of all of us. That’s why..._” Kouta bit down on his lip.

Everyone watched his back silently. While they could understand Rui’s words due to the automatic translation effect of his Divine Arms, most of them had no idea what Kouta was saying. Only Rui and Rei, who were Japanese, and Rio—who had Amakawa Haruto’s memories within him—could understand Kouta’s words.

However, it was clear even to those who couldn’t understand Kouta’s words that he was venting out his pent-up emotions.

“_That’s why it was only natural for Akane to fall in love with you. Then you fell in love with her, too. But I didn’t want to accept that... I was going to go insane with envy if I stayed with you and Akane any longer. I hated myself for feeling like that—it was pathetic. That’s why I ran from you two. That’s all..._” Kouta touched upon the truth and clenched his fists tightly.

“I’m sorry...” Rui apologized with a distressed look.

“_Don’t be... It must have been hard for you, too. Akane’s slow on the uptake, after all. She never realized my feelings. But you did, and that left you stuck between a rock and a hard place. I’m the one who should be sorry. Sorry, for leaving without a word—it was only natural for you to be worried.”_ Kouta returned the apology, his face twisting as he held back his bitter emotions. It was at this point that he turned for the first time, facing Rui. “_I’ll be fine. I’ll do my best to live well outside the castle. So there’s no need for your concern. Don’t worry about me. One day, when I no longer feel inferior to you, I’ll go see you guys... Thank you for thinking of me as a close friend all this time. You’re a precious friend to me, too, Rui._”

“Yeah. We’ll always be friends.” Rui looked down, nodding his head.

“_Look after Akane. Tell her I’ll be fine._”

“...All right.”

With that final exchange, Kouta turned his back to Rui once more.

“Saiki, you take care too,” Rui said to Rei.

“_Yeah. Well, I’ll just be drifting along,_” Rei replied with a shrug.

“Right... By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask—did you dye your hair?” Rui looked at their hair and asked.

“Oh, this is...” Kouta exchanged looks with Rei, then trailed off. Rio had asked them to keep the details of the artifacts that changed their hair color a secret if possible.

Rio interrupted. “It isn’t common knowledge, but there’s a way to change it,” he explained.

“I see. No wonder the search teams were struggling so much, then.”

Rui smiled in understanding. “That aside, Haruto. Thank you. You may not know why I’m saying this, but I was able to stop hesitating thanks to my defeat. That’s why I was able to face Kouta properly. Kouta also turned back to look at me,” Rui said brightly, bowing his head deeply at Rio.

“I did nothing.” Rio shook his head with a gentle smile.

Rui turned to address Christina and the others, who had been waiting. “My apologies—the conversation dragged on because of me. You’re crossing the border before detouring to Rodania, right? I’ll accompany you to the hill. There’ll be less chance of the soldiers picking a fight if I’m there,” he suggested as he looked at the 5,000 soldiers waiting on the hill.

“That would be much appreciated.” Christina nodded at Rui. “Is Orphia doing okay?”

Orphia was still sitting on the ground as Celia cast her healing magic on her. “Yes, I’m fine now. Thank you very much, Cecilia,” Orphia thanked Celia, using her alias, then steadily stood up on her feet.

Yet Celia still looked worried. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Normally, Orphia should have required much more rest. But they couldn’t linger around here for much longer.“I’ll carry her until we reach the border,” Rio offered, approaching Orphia.

“Huh...?” Orphia’s eyes widened in shock.

“It’s just in case. Just rest some more.”

Orphia was flustered, which was rare for her. “B-But... Is that really okay?”

“Could you please, Haruto?” Celia requested.

“Sure, leave it to me,” Rio nodded firmly. He walked over to Vanessa with Alfred’s sword in hand. “Vanessa, this is Alfred’s sword. It’d normally be most appropriate to hand it over to Her Highness, but its weight will be a burden while we’re moving. Could I ask you to hold onto it?”

Vanessa stared at Alfred’s sword and grasped it tightly. “Yes... I can do it. Thanks.”

Meanwhile, Sara and Alma had approached Orphia and were whispering to each other.

“Since he offered, you should just let him carry you.”

“Indeed. Or you may regret it later.”

The two of them were usually the ones being teased by Orphia, so they were delighted by this chance for revenge.

“S-Stop it, you two,” Orphia objected with a red face.

“Is something the matter here?” Rio returned and questioned the girls.

“No, nothing. Orphia just wants to be carried by you.”

“Please look after Orphia.”

Sara and Alma showed an impressive display of coordination to set Orphia up.

“Urgh... T-Then... If you’d please, Haruto...” Orphia blushed shyly, bowing her head at Rio.

“I understand. Then, if you’d excuse me.”

Rio picked up Orphia with ease, fitting her snugly into his arms. When she thought about it, this would be her first experience being carried by him. She knew Rio had strength enhancements activated to make carrying her simple, but actually having him lift her so easily was a little embarrassing.

“...” Orphia ducked her face to hide how red it was.

“Let us depart, then,” Rio said to Christina. They left the knights and sorcerers disarmed and tied up a short distance away and headed for the hill towards Galarc’s border.

◇ ◇ ◇

Rio’s group had reached the top of the hill. There were 5,000 soldiers before them, but they were clearly uncertain about how to deal with their approach. There was evident unrest among the troops—and since they had allowed Charles to be captured without doing a single thing, there was also some guilt involved.

“Looking at them now, there really are a lot of them...” Christina said as she looked around at the mass of troops.

They were currently at the border of the Galarc Kingdom, with which their alliance had gone completely cold. It was also relatively close to Marquess Rodan’s domain, which Duke Huguenot’s faction was using as their headquarters.

It was necessary to allocate an appropriate amount of military force for defense, so it was easy to surmise that a fair number of soldiers had been stationed nearby to begin with.

“They deployed as many of the search party as they could on enchanted ships, then they mobilized the majority of the troops in the walled cities. There’s approximately 5,000 of them,” Rui said.

Indeed, if they used enchanted ships, then it was possible to move several hundred people from Cleia in a day.

“I see. Still, I’m surprised there’s so much military force allocated towards the border. They must be aware that it looks like an act of provocation to Galarc.” Christina turned her cold gaze to Charles.

It’d be one thing if they had just stationed troops in the walled cities, but having such a large army at the border would unmistakably be seen as provocation. Anyone would assume that they were preparing to invade the other kingdom.

They would have given the Galarc Kingdom some explanation when they mobilized all the troops, but there was no one foolish enough to believe anything under these circumstances. Moving the soldiers on this side of the border would cause Galarc to gather the troops on their side, so they had to make the soldiers retreat as soon as possible to clear up the misunderstanding. On top of that, they would need to meet with a representative of Galarc, explain everything, and apologize.

“Hah, you’re far too late for that. The relationship between Beltrum and Galarc became nonexistent long ago. And it was because of that strategy that we were able to catch Your Highness off guard. Haha,” Charles sneered, looking just a little bit smug about himself.

Indeed, common sense would normally cause them to remove that option from consideration, which was why taking said option had allowed Charles to outwit Christina. In that regard, it was a bold and daring—and cunningly effective—strategy.

“...” The temperature in Christina’s gaze dropped even further. The cold relations between Beltrum and Galarc was caused by none other than the Arbor faction’s measures.

“You seem to be feeling rather smug, but the one who devised that strategy wasn’t yourself, but Reiss, no?” Rio suddenly pointed out. The mysterious way Reiss had acted earlier had caused him to conclude that much.

“Wha...!” Charles’ eyes widened in shock.

“Looks like a bullseye,” Christina muttered.

“H-How rude! Sir Reiss and I thought of this plan together! And it would have worked, if not for you...!” Charles wailed with a red face, glaring at Rio.

“I see. To the ambassador of the Proxia Empire, Beltrum and Galarc’s relationship souring would only be in their favor. That’s why he didn’t care about the outcome. You were just being used this entire time, huh?” Rio said calmly, specifically choosing his words in order to provoke Charles.

Charles was stunned speechless, but soon flew into a rage. “W-What... What did you just say, you...?!”

However, for a brief moment, there was an uncertain expression in his eyes.

_I was hoping to figure out Reiss’ objective, but judging from his reaction, Charleswon’t know anything useful either,_ thought Rio.

He had left Reiss behind earlier because he didn’t have a second to lose, but there was no way he could turn back now—not that Reiss would still be there if he did. His only source of information was Charles, but it didn’t seem like he would be of much help.

_That means Reiss offered himself as a diversion while planning for his own defeat from the beginning. It’s irritating how he has a mark on our movements when we don’t have a mark on his. He’s clearly ahead of us in stealth and scouting._

If there was one thing that hadn’t gone as Reiss planned, then it was Charle’ failure to capture Christina while he had been acting as a decoy. Or was it possible that Reiss had predicted Charles’ defeat as well...?

“I apologize for interrupting,” Rio said to Christina, dismissing the issue as hopeless.

“No, I was getting a little heated as well. I’ve calmed down thanks to you. We should hurry and have the soldiers return to their cities.”

“Then I shall go and talk to the soldiers,” Rui offered.

“That would be great... You have my gratitude,” Christina said in thanks.

While they could probably do something about the soldiers by threatening the commanding officer Charles, there was no telling whether they would all be cooperative. There was a fear things could grow complicated if they said or demanded anything inappropriate.

In that respect, Rui was not a commander, but a hero. As long as the Six Wise Gods were being politically used as the state religion, there was no way for the soldiers to make light of the words of a disciple of god. He had far more influence than their order to pursue Christina.

“I’ll be off, then.”

Rui walked the last several dozen meters to the army waiting ahead. Once he was within ten meters, a high ranking officer rushed out from the middle of the troops to speak to Rui. Rui looked back to point at Rio and the others as he explained things to the officer.

Namely, that they had been completely defeated and Charles and Alfred had been taken prisoner. They had no choice but to see Christina and her party off, so the troops should retreat here as well.

A single swordsman had wiped out the elite knights and sorcerers, overwhelmed the kingdom’s strongest swordsman and hero, and left 5,000 soldiers in awe, unable to do anything as they watched their commander-in-chief be taken away.

“Guh...”

Finally accepting the unprecedented defeat as a reality, the officer began to bite down on his lip. His head would definitely go flying at this rate. However, several minutes after that, Rui turned on his heel and returned to Rio.

The officer was also gathering together the soldiers around him. Then, the troops blocking the road suddenly started swarming to the sides, creating a path down the middle.

“Please, go ahead.”

Rui gestured to the hill once he returned, encouraging them to depart.

“Thank you very much,” Christina said respectfully.

“Don’t worry about it,” Rui shook his head, then called out the names of the two prisoners. “Charles, Alfred.”

“...”

Unable to say anything from his bitterness, Charles merely looked at Rui.

“Yes?” Alfred replied calmly.

“I don’t know how much I’ll be able to do, but you can leave the rest to me. I’ll make sure to report to those in the capital about what happened here. I swear I won’t allow anyone to take responsibility with their lives,” Rui said to the two of them.

“Guh...” Charles grimaced.

“Please do so,” Alfred bowed his head deeply.

“I will. I’ll pray that we may meet again someday. Farewell,” Rui said to Alfred.

“Now go,” Vanessa pressed Alfred and Charles.

“All right,” Alfred nodded, and started walking. Charles looked unhappy about being ordered around, but begrudgingly started walking after Vanessa poked him in the back with her scabbard.

The two of them had their magic essence sealed and hands cuffed, so they couldn’t resist. The soldiers that had stepped aside for them were watching them, making their shame even more apparent. There was nothing more humiliating to Charles, who had a lot of pride.

“Damn it... Damn it all...” Charles muttered, looking around at the soldiers that didn’t save him before ducking his head. He increased his pace, fearfully avoiding their gazes. Sara, Christina, Celia, Kouta, and Rei followed behind him.

“See you, Kouta. You take care too, Saiki. Let’s meet again,” Rui called out to Kouta and Rei.

“Yeah,” Kouta nodded, giving a short reply.

“Later,” Rei said, waving his hand lightly before following Christina and the others.

Rui then called out to Rio, who was behind Kouta and Rei. “Haruto.”

“Yes?”

“Do you remember what I said to you when we parted in Galarc?”

“Yes. In the garden, right?” Rio recalled his farewell with Rui at the Galarc castle.

Rui looked directly at Rio. “If we have a chance to meet again, I’d like to talk to you as friends. We weren’t able to fulfil that promise this time, but I hope we’ll be able to do so next time.”

“Yes,” Rio acknowledged in agreement.

“Hopefully we can avoid meeting on the battlefield again. I don’t have enough lives to take you on when you’re fighting seriously—if we have to fight, I’d much rather be on the same side,” Rui joked a little, but finished off his words seriously.

“I wouldn’t want to fight you again, either. Especially in long-ranged combat... You have a brilliant sniping arm,” Rio said in praise.

“I wasn’t able to land a single shot on you in the end, though.”

“If you were able to fight from a distance without any disturbance, the result may have differed.”

“I doubt that...” Rui closed his eyes, looking unsure. Then he raised his head and looked at the backs of Kouta and Rei. “Haruto, if Kouta and Saiki are ever in trouble... If it’s not too much trouble, could you help them out where you can? They’re important friends of mine. That’s why I’d like to entrust them to you, someone I consider an important friend I made in this world. If you could be there for them when they’re in a pinch, that would be enough.”

“I understand. If they’re ever truly in trouble, I shall assist to the best of my ability.”

“Thank you... While I doubt this’ll ever be the case, I swear I’ll be there for you if you’re ever in trouble as well—as your friend.”

“Then, I too.”

The two of them exchanged gentle smiles. Rui said nothing more and started in the opposite direction to Rio.

“Shall we go?” Rio smiled softly as he spoke to Orphia in his arms and Alma who was serving as the rear guard. Thus, they set off after Celia and the others.

◇ ◇ ◇

Rio and the others had arrived at a fortress acting as a checkpoint on the Galarc side of the road connecting Beltrum and Galarc Kingdom. Incidentally, the walled city they last visited on the Beltrum side acted as the final checkpoint for the Beltrum Kingdom.

The gate of the fortress that was normally open was firmly shut, and several soldiers were waiting before the gate.

“Halt!” they yelled, clearly wary of their approach.

“Let’s stop. I shall handle this.” Everyone came to a halt at Rio’s order.

Incidentally, everyone except Celia had removed their hair-changing artifacts and lowered their hoods on the way here. Now that they had shaken off the search party, there was no need for the disguises anymore. Only Celia’s disguise couldn’t be removed because her former fiance, Charles, was right nearby. Even if she were to reveal herself to him someday, doing so now could turn into trouble, so she kept her disguise on.

One of the gatekeepers glared at them, asking with stern glance towards Charles and Alfred, “Who are you people? Those two over there... Are they knights of Beltrum?”

“Orphia, may I let you down here?”

“Yes.”

Rio set Orphia down from the bridal carry he had her in. He had secretly been casting healing spirit arts while they were moving, so she had completely healed long ago, but she couldn’t find the right opportunity to speak up while they were on the road. When her feet touched the ground for the first time in tens of minutes, she looked a little sad.

At any rate, Rio walked towards the soldiers approaching them and revealed his identity. “My name is Haruto Amakawa, honorary knight of the Galarc Kingdom. I’d like to request access to the kingdom through the checkpoint, but I also wish to clarify the situation that occurred at the border with the Beltrum army. May I speak to the person in charge here?”

The soldier’s expression immediately changed. “The... The honorary knight?! F-Forgive my insolence! May I see some proof of identity?” he asked respectfully.

“I have this insignia bestowed upon me by His Majesty. Will that do?” Rio flipped back his overcoat and moved even closer towards the gatekeepers, showing them the insignia he had attached to his collar.

“I-Indeed, this is the crest of the royal family... There’s no issue at all! Someone in charge will be out soon, so please wait over here for a moment,” the gatekeeper said, gulping nervously. He then turned to his subordinate to give an order. “You go inside and immediately explain the situation.”

“Y-Yes sir!” The soldier that received the order ran off in a fluster, entering the fortress through a small door.

“I shall return to my companions in the meantime, then.” Rio turned on his heel and returned to where Celia and the others were, roughly ten meters away from the gatekeeper. They waited there for a while.

“Hey, is an honorary knight that important? Captain looked really nervous about it, but how’s he any different to a regular knight?”

“You fool! An honorary knight is equal to an earl in rank. Our heads will go flying if you show any disrespect. Consider them that important.”

“R-Right...”

And so forth, the soldiers whispered to each other. Furthermore, because Celia, Sara, Orphia, Alma, and Christina—all young and lovely girls—were standing in a row...

“Say, have you ever seen girls that cute before?”

“Nope, never.”

“They have to be noblewomen. Born and raised in different worlds to us.”

“Hah! Nobility must be amazing.”

The soldiers exchanged banter with each other, glancing over with nearly reserved looks of curiosity. Several minutes later, the gate to the fortress slowly started to creak open.

“Looks like the talks went well,” Rio said as he looked at the gate.

The fact it was the gate opening instead of the small door was a good sign.

_In the end, having a title is kind of convenient, huh..._

The gate opened enough for the interior of the fortress to be seen. Several people were standing on the other side—it was the daughter of the Count Cretia family and the president of the Ricca Guild, Liselotte Cretia.

“Liselotte...?” Rio blinked. This location was certainly within the Duke Cretia domain, and fairly close to Amande, so it wasn’t strange for her to be here, he thought.

On top of that, right beside Liselotte was Flora, Duke Huguenot, Roanna, and Sakata Hiroaki. Christina spotted Flora as well; her eyes widened faintly, exposing her surprise. The same applied for Flora, and the two of them looked at each other with burning, amethyst-like eyes.

“Flora...”

“S... Sister...?”

The two spoke slowly, calling for each other as if to confirm their presence. Thus, the reunion of Beltrum Kingdom’s first and second princesses had occurred in an unexpected location.