Aside: Welcie’s Report
I watched Kazuki-sama, Suzune-sama, and Usato-sama embark on their journeys, and then I returned to Llinger Kingdom. As a mage serving the Llinger Kingdom, I did not leave the country often. So while Usato-sama’s journey was anything but calm, it was nonetheless very fun, too. Heading home was so quiet that I couldn’t help but feel a bit lonely. It was just me, the gentle rocking of the carriage, and the knights guarding it.
Upon my return, I reported to King Lloyd that Luqvist had recognized our letter and agreed to support us. The king and his attendant Sergio were both relieved to hear the news.
“So, Gladys agreed, did she?” said the king. “I am glad for it; fighting off the Demon Lord’s army will require teamwork with our neighbors. Their territory will also secure us a supply route.”
Luqvist was home to a wizardry school. A huge number of its population were children, and nobody intended to send those children into battle. So, because Luqvist had so many people too young to fight, the youths would work to support communications and supplies between nations. If they showed themselves capable of rear support, it would give us an advantage in case the war with the Demon Lord’s army dragged on longer than expected.
“Well done, Welcie,” said King Lloyd. “I’m grateful to you and our three heroes for their work.”
“I merely supported their efforts, Your Majesty,” I replied. “It was their efforts, after all, that earned us Luqvist’s support.”
“Is that so?” said the king, nodding thoughtfully.
The man was overjoyed to hear that they were growing and maturing while they traveled.
“However, their real journey begins now,” I said. “They have since split up to visit their assigned nations.”
“That they have. Even now they are working hard for our home. So it is up to us to respond in kind and make sure that we are well prepared for the next battle.”
Another battle with the Demon Lord’s army . . . The last time we had gone to war, Kazuki-sama and Suzune-sama were badly injured. Usato-sama had saved them from death, but it was no exaggeration to say that their actions swayed the very tide of the war. The survival of our nation, then, rested in the hands of children we had summoned from another world.
King Lloyd naturally felt a sense of responsibility for them. But it wasn’t just him. Those who had seen the two heroes fight, and those whom Usato-sama had saved, were training to support their heroes when war once again reared its head.
“I apologize,” said the king. “I’ve gone and spoiled the mood, haven’t I? Welcie, do you have anything else to report? If Kazuki and the others got up to anything in Luqvist worthy of note, now is the time to bring it up.”
“Worthy of note, you say . . .” I uttered, my voice trailing off.
“What is it?”
In the back of my mind, I pictured the Luqvist healer, Nack, being pushed to his limits by Usato-sama, and I felt suddenly thrown into confusion.
Should I bring it up?
I knew that King Lloyd cared for Usato-sama, so I wanted to let him know about it, but . . .
“Er, well, now that you mention it,” I said, “Blurin sent Suzune-sama flying in the midst of our travels!”
“I am well aware that you are trying to change the subject, Welcie,” replied the king. “And while I am curious about Suzune’s incident, I’m more concerned by what you’re hiding.”
“Oh? But I’m not hiding anything!”
“It’s written all over your face. It always is when you’re stressed.”
I gasped and tried to hide behind my hands. I couldn’t hide anything from the king!
“While we were waiting for Gladys’s reply, there was a . . . disturbance, of sorts.”
“A disturbance?”
I explained to King Lloyd and Sergio what had happened in Luqvist. Naturally, I started with the plan that Gladys and I came up with: to show the students the heroes’ powers in order to change their mistaken beliefs. Many of the children were convinced that magical potential trumped hard work. I told the king about Usato and Halpha’s sparring match—how in some sense this had been a success. But then, of course, there was the punishment and suffering that Nack went through and how Usato had saved him from the brink of death and made the decision to train the young healer.
“Hm, so Usato helped the young man to grow stronger,” mused the king. “And exactly how did he do this? I’m going to assume that he didn’t train young Nack the way Rose trained him, yes?”
Sergio laughed at the king’s words.
“Your Majesty,” he said. “If you were to train an ordinary young boy with Rose’s methods, it would be a disaster, surely.”
“Yes, you raise an excellent point.”
The king laughed, and the two men shared a smile. With such a calm air filling the room, it was all I could do just to keep my face from twitching.
What do I do? What do I do?!
There was just no way you could call Usato’s training ordinary or straightforward, not even if you wanted to paint it in a positive light! I had truly believed that Usato would just run Nack through the basics and not have him do anything ridiculous, but I should have known better. I should have known back when I saw flashes of Rose in his own features while we were traveling to Luqvist.
“That . . . disaster you speak of . . . it came to pass,” I finally uttered.
King Lloyd and Sergio froze in place. The king’s face was suddenly grave. He put his fingers to his eyelids.
“Let me rephrase my question,” said the king, his voice wavering slightly. “Did Usato train the boy Nack like Rose trains?”
“Though it is perhaps unbelievable, yes.”
“But we know that Usato is a gentle, kind young man! Surely his face did not show the sheer rage we have seen upon Rose’s?”
Unfortunately, Usato had shown more than just Rose’s rage; he had also shown her wicked grin too. King Lloyd must have noticed me look away, and more importantly, he knew why. His face immediately went pale. This was not at all surprising; it was the look of someone who now understood that the kind young man known as Usato had transformed into a beast not at all unlike Rose herself. I had seen it myself firsthand, and it had left me frozen in astonishment.