Chapter 439: Returning to the Embassy

There was no moon and it remained dark, but carrying Konoka on my back we passed through the forest where the rain had stopped. There was no sign of enemies around. For some reason there were no beasts either. It was strange but welcome, so without thinking deeply we exited the forest, came out onto the plain, and passed the traces of the battle. The enemies’ corpses were still scattered. I tried lighting a light. I think only a little time had passed since we left here, but they had already been eaten and ravaged by beasts. There was no common light novel development of them having been cleaned up without us knowing. Of course no one was still alive. Wolves or something must have come. I think someone will find this miserable state tomorrow, so I will leave the disposal of this to someone. I also thought about storing everything from the corpses, but I thought there was no need to go that far, and I did not want to take time in a place like this. In the first place, what would one do with those corpses? I pray that they rest in peace, but my prayer probably will not reach the Sophia god, so it will not be heard. Well, they tried to kill people, and this is surely not the first time, so they probably cannot go to heaven.

After that nothing happened, and we arrived at the first landing point. Nearby, the guys who had tried to abduct Konoka were still rolling. Traces of them having been eaten and scattered remained here as well. We left these as they were. Lily ran up the wall and lowered a rope from above. If it were just me a rope would not be needed, but since I was carrying Konoka on my back I could not jump up as usual. Intending it as insurance I put a hand on the rope and quickly climbed onto the wall. Looking around the gate area, it did not seem anyone had come yet. That meant the corpses at the gate place were probably left as they were. Running and jumping through the still sleeping Royal Capital, we safely arrived at the embassy, good. The only incident along the way was that because of flying and jumping, Konoka vomited, Konoka vomiting onto the Royal Capital from atop a roof.

The ones waiting at the embassy were only the Rudolf couple, and the maids were sleeping. Since the maids had finished repaying their debts, their numbers had increased now. Since we did not want to make noise as much as possible inside the embassy, tonight it was decided that Konoka would sleep in Lily’s room.

The next morning, I spent it pretending to wake up as usual. It was decided that Konoka would spend some time inside Lily’s room. There would probably be searches for Konoka inside the royal palace, and searches for the culprits of those who died near the gate, so until such things became vague and people’s interest disappeared, I was thinking of hiding Konoka. I also intended to stay still inside the embassy for today. However, since I intended to keep my ears greatly open toward the outside, I had Rudolf gather as much information as possible. I held a faint hope that if Her Majesty the Queen’s people had cleaned up those corpses it would be good.

Completely separate from such thoughts of Robbie, a major problem had arisen in the royal palace.

From first thing in the morning, the ministers and Prince Green were called before the King and surrounding the table.

Prince Green had not slept a wink since the evening. The evening was the night of expelling Takamoto Konoka, and at the same time the night of disposing of Ambassador Marie. Although the expulsion of Takamoto Konoka had been left to the Duke of Vélez, when monitoring from the shadows what the Duke of Vélez was doing, the arrangements were far too sloppy, and it became obvious that leaving it to him would not result in anything decent. Therefore, Prince Green reluctantly pulled strings behind the scenes and had the executors appointed as ones under Prince Green’s influence to the Duke of Vélez. Of course, so that the Duke of Vélez would not notice that Prince Green was pulling strings. And regarding the assassination of Ambassador Marie as well, he left it entirely to the ones appointed as executors.

That man was supposed to report the results at the latest before dawn. However, even when morning came there was no report. That one was said to be first-class. Could it be that he had failed? Could he not kill that Ambassador Marie? What had he failed at? Had some interference come in? What failure could there be against a brat like that?

Prince Green did not think that Robbie could kill people. Normally, for royalty the act of killing people should not happen even once in a lifetime. The creatures called high-ranking nobles, even if they order subordinates to kill, do not dirty their own hands. And he knows from hearing that the mental hurdle of killing people is high. Therefore, he thought that one accustomed to killing people, called an assassin, would not fail against Robbie. He thought that Robbie facing an assassin would not be able to turn the tables on the assassin. The Robbie who confronted Count von Kirchhoff was merely an extension of acrobatics, and Prince Green thought that performance would not work in actual combat. Therefore he had not thought there was even a one in ten thousand chance of failure. Therefore he greeted the morning in anguish, and there was a summons from the royal palace.

With everyone including Prince Green who received the summons gathered (the Queen was not called. Because the Queen does not engage in political affairs outwardly), the Prime Minister opened his mouth.

"I apologize for gathering everyone from early morning. It is that an urgent matter has occurred, so I ask for your understanding. The matter is about Magic Division Head Hütter."

Saying that much, he looked around the attendees. Stopping his gaze on Prince Green,

"Prince Green, it seems Division Head Hütter has been missing since the day after the Hero Summoning, is that true?"

The Prime Minister knew, but asked Prince Green as if he did not know. Prince Green thought toward the Prime Minister, why do you make such theatrical phrasing while knowing, and

"Yes, that is so. From the day after the Hero Summoning ceremony, Division Head Hütter suddenly disappeared. We have been searching, but his whereabouts have not been grasped at all."

he answered. Hearing that, the Prime Minister nodded gravely,

"So that was the case. In fact, there was contact from the border guards with the Marie Kingdom. There was contact that Division Head Hütter had left the country together with High Priest Andropov of the Sophia Kingdom."

Hearing that, the attendees made a fuss. For what purpose did he leave the country? Is it all right to leave the country arbitrarily? Whose permission did he obtain? Was there someone who ordered it? That one does arbitrary things, did he leave the country selfishly again? and so on, voices rose. However Prince Green remained silent. Prince Green was inwardly surprised, but thought there was no need to make such a big fuss over just that. If he was acting together with High Priest Andropov, he had probably gone to return the divine stone to the Sophia Theocracy. There were also ministers who thought the same thing, and were stating it.

The Prime Minister waited for the ministers’ voices to settle, and uttered the next words.

"If it is only leaving the country, it is not a major problem. In fact, urgent contact came from the Marie Kingdom. Division Head Hütter and High Priest Andropov left the country for the Empire, but does the Mainz Kingdom know of it? Is it an action the Mainz Kingdom recognizes? they are asking. In the Marie Kingdom they consider Division Head Hütter a key retainer of the country, and harbored suspicion about that person going to the Empire, and asked. They prepared a fast horse and sent a special envoy."

This also greatly surprised the attendees, and they began to become noisy. The Hagen Empire and the Mainz Kingdom are in a quasi-combat state, and the border is on the verge of outbreak. For a magician representing the kingdom to go to that country, what does that mean? Why did he go? Who made him go? Who permitted that action?

The Prime Minister turned to Prince Green,

"Did Prince Green know of Division Head Hütter’s series of actions?"

The attention of those gathered focused on Prince Green. Prince Green recognized that his current position was very bad. He had accomplished the Hero Summoning in tandem with Division Head Hütter, and the next day Division Head Hütter vanished. That Prince Green, who had been closest in distance to Division Head Hütter, not knowing his whereabouts would not work as an excuse.

"I do not know. I am not involved!"

Prince Green stated firmly. There was no other way to say it. However the surrounding eyes were severe.