Chapter 295 (1/2)

「Something of a friend… huh?」

「Yes. Something of a friend.」

Vermudol began thinking about what her introduction exactly was implying.

Basically, she’s saying that she isn’t being employed by the princess.

From the information he had gathered from Ichika’s reports, it sounded like she was a guardian or insurer of some sort, but since she purposely said 「something of a friend」, that didn’t seem to be the case anymore.

It wasn’t as serious as that… perhaps more like someone helping out a neighbor.

「I didn’t mean to imply anything significant with my words just now. You just seemed to be the type of person who liked to read deeply into the words of others, so I thought I’d just give it to you straight to avoid making anything too complicated.」

「…I see.」

Realizing that she was half-teasing him, Vermudol ceased his thoughts on the matter.

「I am Vermudol. The king of the Zadark Kingdom… I thank you for inviting us here.」

「Oh, are you not going to call yourself a Demon King?」

「That would just be my personal view on my position, not my actual standing. I felt that giving you my exact standing would avoid making anything too complicated, after all.」

Reina smirked in response to Vermudol’s words.

「Yes, you’re right. You’ve been summoned here as the king of the Zadark Kingdom. This will be a conference between the top members of our countries.」

「Yes, that sounds about right.」

As Vermudol and Reina locked eyes, the hooded Celis was slightly trembling.

Even though she was the main subject of this meeting, the presence of Vermudol and Reina strongly overpowered her own.

Recognizing this, Vermudol let out a deep sigh and continued with his introduction.

「…Anyway, these two are Sancreed and Ichika. Sancreed is… let’s see, he’s like a general. If Ichika were to have a position, she’d be something like a prime minister. She has no specifically defined role, however.」

Crim, who was waiting in the back, was a maid, so there was no need to introduce her. Nino found the atmosphere to be a pain so she made quite the early leave, so he had no need to introduce her either.

Celis was gazing at Vermudol with a very curious stare after he finished his introduction… and as if she had just gathered her resolve, she put her hands to her hood.

「Reina has already introduced me, but I am Celis. I am the Canal Kingdom’s third princess… and I am currently a candidate to be this country’s next queen. I am grateful that you have accepted my request for you to arrive here, Lord Vermudol.」

「It was no trouble at all, Lady Celis. We are here today as fellow leaders of our countries. And seeing as we are seeking out peace and friendly relations with you, this meeting is much to our benefit.」

Celis looked a little surprised to Vermudol’s response, and then quickly began shaking her head.

「I-I see. In any case, well…」

-illustration-

「Hmm?」

「I had felt that you would have made a comment towards my appearance.」

Upon hearing this, Vermudol once again took a good look at Celis.

However, he couldn’t find anything particularly out of the ordinary. Her clothes were a little plain for someone of royalty, but her robes were well-made.

「Hmm… I’m afraid I’m not entirely sure what you’re referring to. If you were trying to imply something with your words, then I apologize for not catching on. I have still yet managed to fully grasp the customs of humanity, you see.」

「Huh? Oh, um, don’t worry about it…」

Celis’s words grew to a mumble as she drew her hands to the cat ears on top of her head.

Vermudol nodded with understanding upon observing her actions.

Black cat ears and blonde hair. It was a typical beastmen trait, but if she was that concerned over her cat ears, then they must have held some kind of important meaning.