v5c80 (1/2)

Chapter 080

It was night, after the sun had completely set, when we finished reporting the current situation to the king at Woodcastle.

s.h.i.+a, Lyss, and I faced the king, not in the throne room, but in the drawing room, because it was a conversation that could not be leaked to anyone.

The king was making his final decision after he finished listening to our story.

“I apologize, but won’t you leave this country?”

(That was as expected, after all.)

As we had foreseen, the king ordered my deportation.

Of course, Lyss cried out in opposition.

“Please wait a moment, father! You already said that if we were able to subjugate the giant scorpion and show our power, we may do as we like. Does father, who is the king of a country, intend to go back on his word?!”

“On one hand, it pains me that the conditions for that promise have changed, but that is the case.”

“!!――”

The king declared without hesitation.

He faced us once again, and with a sorrowful look in his eyes, began to plead earnestly.

“With the disappearance of my daughter Lara and my wife bedridden, if I were to lose Luna as well, who is still just a child,--just thinking about it seems to drive me crazy. It is not my decision as this country's king, but my wish as a father. Somehow, can't you leave this country? I still don't want to lose Luna, my daughter, or anything else just yet.”

If I had a child with Snow or Chrisse, and that daughter had been kidnapped――just thinking about it myself almost drove me crazy. I would absolutely annihilate the kidnapping b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, but above that, I would desperately wish for the safety of my child.

“――Understood. We alone will leave this country as early as tonight.”

“I'm really sorry......”

He lowered his head. Not as a king, but as a father.

“Though it turned out as I expected, I greatly apologize for that.”

The king left together with his guards, and only Lyss, s.h.i.+a, and I were left in the drawing room.

Lyss once again bowed her head deeply.

“I also understand the king's feelings. Don't worry about it, so Lyss please raise your head. ....... More importantly, there's the matter after this, but will you really be okay with just the two of you?”

“Yes, it’ll be fine. Because we have the general-purpose machine gun PKM that Lute-san produced, so we will have enough time before everyone comes back.”

“I will also do my best at protecting the princess”

The two of them firmly made a fist and a.s.serted themselves.

Even before we came to Woodcastle to report Luna's kidnapping, we had already finished talking about our future plans in the living room of the mansion.

Involuntarily, I recall the discussion we had at that time――

▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼

“Somehow, please save my motherland and my younger sister!”

Lyss made a considerably absurd request with a calm look in her eyes.

I unconsciously raised a wry smile on my face.

“To save both the motherland and Luna, huh..... Lyss sure says some unreasonable things with that cute face of hers.”

“C-Cute?!”

For some reason, in response to my words ‘cute face’, Lyss's cheeks were dyed bright red.

She immediately cleared her throat, and after gathering her emotions, she smiled.

“My trusted Lute-san..... because we are comrades, I believe that you will be able to save both my country and my sister at the same time.”

Even if you say so, I am weak.

When I looked around us, Snow and the others had wry smiles on their faces.

Their answers were probably similar to mine.

“I understand. For Lyss's sake, I will do my best to save both the country and the younger sister of my important comrade.”

“I'll also do my best!”

[Me too. I can't forgive the people who would kidnap my important friend Luna-chan. I won't show any mercy!]

“It is necessary to make them pay the price for daring to bare their fangs against Lute-sama!”

“Everyone, really, thank you very much...... -sob-”

Lyss lowered her head deeply.

We immediately moved on to talking about practical matters.

“First of all, let's organize the situation.”

Everyone nodded at my proposal.

“Concerning the day written in the record book on which the barrier stone will be destroyed, though we don't know the details on the exact date, it should be soon, in the next few days. There is no mistake about this so far?”

“Yes, that's exactly right.”

Lyss nodded.

“Next is the matter regarding Luna, but do we really think that Luna was kidnapped?”

“I'm almost completely certain, because this strand of hair has Luna-chan's smell.”

Snow brought the hair close to her nose, sniffed, and a.s.serted as such.

If this first-cla.s.s 'fuga fuga'-ist says so, then without a doubt, this snippet of hair [TL: lit-cutted hair] should belong to Luna.

“Then a.s.suming that Luna was indeed kidnapped...... is there the possibility of that girl returning by her own abilities?”