Chapter 137 – The Warrior Inside (1/2)

“Ekwuse me fo disturpin.” (Sabnak)

“… What happened, with that face?” (Imeraria)

A soldier announced the arrival of Sabnak who entered from outside, but Imeraria understood the reason for the soldier looking strangely baffled after seeing Sabnak who came in. Both his cheeks are swelling in bright red.

If they were in the middle of receiving an attack, she might have misunderstood this as sign that they permitted an enemy invasion.

“Nyo, thiw is…” (Sabnak)

“He was scolded by Origa.” (Hifumi)

“The cause of his misfortune lies with his own mouth.” (Alyssa)

Alyssa and Hifumi showed their faces from behind Sabnak who faltered to talk about it.

“Was she able to get here?”

Origa is together with the troops so that she can take a rest together with the soldiers.

“You were quite fast.” (Imeraria)

Urging them to a simple table set which was prepared inside the tent, Imeraria orders the maid to brew some black tea.

“To begin with we were heading to the capital with the intention of bringing you a souvenir, Imeraria. But, we heard the story about soldiers of Fokalore having been done in from Biron’s messenger.” (Hifumi)

“It’s alright to go see the souvenir later since it arrived in the capital”, Hifumi smiles, but there’s something that worries Imeraria more than what the souvenir is about.

“… Do you intend to take revenge against Horant?” (Imeraria)

Without wiping away the sweat which is streaming down her cheeks, Imeraria watches Hifumi making sure to look up at him with upturned eyes.

Alyssa waits silently for Hifumi who accepts her gaze with a smile as Imeraria is seriously waiting for a reply.

“Ah, ouwch, t-therz’s a wuund in my mouwh… ah.” (Sabnak)

Tasting the black tea which was poured in, Sabnak, who muttered that with teary eyes, realized that the looks of everyone are focussed on him.

“Haa… Sabnak-san, since you have to communicate later on, please go now to receive medical treatment.” (Imeraria)

“G-Gwot eet…” (Sabnak)

Seeing off Sabnak who leaves in low spirits, Hifumi grins broadly.

“As usual he is an amusing guy. That man will probably be manipulated by women for the rest of his life.” (Hifumi)

“Which reminds me, even his elder sister who was married to Earl Biron… no, for now such talk is sufficient. Hifumi-sama, after I go to check the situation for a bit now, I plan to advance negotiations with Nelgal-dono once we have recovered the occupied ground up to the national border.” (Imeraria)

“Don’t become a hindrance, is what you want to say?” (Hifumi)

Having a daunting gaze turned at her, Imeraria just doesn’t avert her gaze although she ended up unintentionally making a sound with her throat.

“… It’s as you say. This place is a battlefield under my command.” (Imeraria)

“Fufu… ahahaha!” (Hifumi)

Hifumi, who burst into laughter unable to stand it any longer, tapped the head of Alyssa who is sitting next to him.

“Alyssa, Her Majesty the Queen has made a statement like this. But, what will you do?” (Alyssa)

“Mmmmmh…” (Alyssa)

Although she looks like she is troubled by that while folding her arms, the low height of Alyssa and the pieces of baked sweets clinging to her mouth cause the feeling of tension to be zero.

“What’s this about?” (Imeraria)

“Ah, I entrusted this time’s case to Alyssa. I’m acting as, let’s see, guardian. I will simply watch from behind. As planned, that is.” (Hifumi)

“Then…” (Imeraria)

“I decided!” (Alyssa)

At the moment Imeraria started to say something, Alyssa raised her voice.

“Princess-sama. Let’s compete.” (Alyssa)

“C-Compete? And, I’m not a princess-sama…” (Imeraria)

“For starters it will be about who will be able to retake the border first! So, how about it?” (Alyssa)

Due to Alyssa selfishly advancing the conversation, Imeraria asked for help from Hifumi with her eyes, but he grinned broadly.

“I told you that I won’t get involved, right? Discuss it among each other.” (Hifumi)

“Gu… Alyssa-san! Listen to my part of the story!” (Imeraria)

With Alyssa tilting her head to the side, Imeraria applies pressure into her gaze to her best ability.

“There’s no way that we will be able to have something like a competition.” (Imeraria)

“Eh? Then we will just do it with the two of us.” (Alyssa)

“I can’t allow that.” (Imeraria)

Although Imeraria declared it without hesitation, Alyssa looks like she’s unable to comprehend.

“…? Since we will just do it with the two of us, we won’t receive any particular help or such?” (Alyssa)

“Hifumi-sama, please ((do something about this)) one way or the other.” (Imeraria)

As Alyssa didn’t understand coercion or dignity, Imeraria requested help from Hifumi after becoming more and more teary eyed.

“I don’t care.” (Hifumi)

“I will depart tomorrow morning before the sun rises. If it’s now, I might be able to still save Ma Calme’s unit. Princess-sama, as that’s my revenge, don’t stop me.” (Alyssa)

“Revenge… Hifumi-sama, you are…” (Imeraria)

Hifumi proudly snorted at Imeraria who is shocked.

“She has grown up properly, right?” (Hifumi)

“How to call it…?” (Imeraria)

Imeraria, who curbed her brows, ponders about the best move even while groaning.

It’s probably difficult to stop Fokalore’s feudal army led by Alyssa. Even while he says that he won’t get involved, it’s clear that the one essentially pushing her is Hifumi. It doesn’t look like I will be able to prevent it physically or logically.

Then, what shall I do about it?

There’s also the option of advancing the ceasefire negotiations in the style of getting on with Alyssa raising some military gains after leaving.

However, Imeraria looked at Hifumi’s face with half-open eyes.

“… Got it. Then, Alyssa, I will join the retake of the border by leading my soldiers tomorrow early in the morning.” (Imeraria)

“Huh? Princess-sama as well?” (Alyssa)

“It’s queen-sama!” (Imeraria)

While being embarrassed by the matter of having raised her voice against her better judgement, Imeraria clears her throat with a “ahem” and stands up.

Imeraria took a hard and long look at Alyssa’s face while making sure to not put Hifumi, who is rolling about in laughter after seeing that, in her field of vision as much as possible.

It’s a face that’s more childish and naive than mine. Until now she has acted together with Hifumi. I can’t even imagine just how many people she murdered, but it’s likely not one or two, Imeraria guesses.

“Let’s not have a competition but a cooperation. That way even the rescue might go smoothly.” (Imeraria)

“That’s true. Thank you.” (Alyssa)

Why is this person able to smile in such situation? Imeraria wanted to ask that, but expecting that Hifumi’s name will appear there without fail, she decided to drop the matter.

“Then, let’s talk about the concrete method. Someone, please call Earl Biron and Sabnak-san.” (Imeraria)

Thus the meeting, where Imeraria and Alyssa played a central part, regarding “the method to retake the border without relying on Hifumi” continued until very late.

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