“Come to think of it, you haven’t been acting very annoying recently. Seeing your annoying side again was so nostalgic that I accidentally hit you.”
“Focus on the task at hand, you two,” Laus said in an aggravated voice. He was using his spirit magic to its fullest extent, picking up on the souls of even the monsters and animals in the forest below, so he was a little on edge.
“But, Lau-chan, wasn’t it absolutely hilarious—I mean, wasn’t Meru-nee so cute when she was looking to us for help?”
“I will admit it was rare to see her chastised like a child.”
“Not you too, Laus-kun?”
“Didn’t your stepmother just lecture you about using the proper honorifics for your elders?” Laus asked with a mischievous grin.
“Rrrgh...”
For once, Meiru was at a loss for words.
After negotiations had finished and the deal had been struck, Miledi and the others had been invited to the royal palace. There, they’d hashed out more concrete plans for how they’d look for Alfard, and they’d also introduced themselves to the acting king, Sveit. They’d needed his permission to run around the country unsupervised, and they also needed to discuss what to do once Alfard had been brought back.
Only Sveit and a few of his closest retainers had been told the plan, and Sveit had readily agreed to give Miledi the information she wanted if she could retrieve Alfard. However, when Sveit had been told about Meiru’s true identity, he’d needed multiple Soul’s Reposes to recover from his shock.
By the time all the discussion was over, night had fallen, so the party was invited to dine with the queen and given chambers within the palace. And throughout the meal, Anya had complained about Meiru’s table manners, her regular manners, and her attitude toward royalty.
At first everyone had thought Anya was resentful of Meiru, but over time, they realized that wasn’t the case.
“I can’t believe she asked you everything from what your favorite food was to what kind of accessories you liked. She really wanted to know everything about you, huh?”
The reason Anya had been so fussy with Meiru was because she actually liked her.
Anya had even complained that Meiru was too scantily clad for a girl and had pushed several dresses onto her.
Grinning, Miledi said, “I was worried she might have some ulterior motive, so I interrogated one of the maids, and apparently, Queen Anya always wanted a daughter, which was why she—”
“Aaaaaah, I can’t hear youuuuuu!”
“The maid also said she’d never seen the queen look so excited. Apparently, she’s normally a lot more reserved.”
“Oh, shut up already!” Meiru snapped, frowning. “I don’t get that woman at all! I’m her husband’s illegitimate child! Normally, you’d hate someone like that! Or at the very least, you wouldn’t want to be around them! But instead, she’s lecturing me about my manners and telling me how I should dress, going on about how my mom wouldn’t want to see me like this! Sheesh, does she never get tired of lecturing people?!”
For all her complaining though, Meiru didn’t look all that annoyed by the attention she’d gotten.
“I dunno, you seemed to be enjoying it,” Miledi teased.
“She’s like a teenager in her rebellious phase. I can’t believe she tries to act like the older sister in the group when— Oww!”
This time it was Laus who got a taste of her water whip right on his bald head. His wet head reflected the sunlight right into Miledi’s eyes, who screamed, “It’s so bright!”
Meiru was a master of teasing other people, but she wasn’t used to being on the receiving end. It looked like she was about to start sulking for real, so Miledi and Laus held in their laughter.
After dinner was over and Anya had finished lecturing Meiru, she’d taken her to Alesand’s grave. The two of them had spent a lot of time there, presumably talking about what kind of person Meiru’s father had been. When Meiru had returned, she’d acted normal, but it was clear she was grappling with a lot of complex emotions.
“Thanks for trying to cheer me up, guys, but you don’t need to worry. I’m in top form,” Meiru said, prompting Miledi and Laus to exchange stunned looks. It seemed Meiru had seen right through them. Regardless, they’d been worried Meiru’s relationship with the vampire kingdom would end up a lot more sinister, so it was heartening to see that Anya cared for her.
“Things are finally looking up for us!” Miledi said with a smile. “I bet we’ll find Prince Alfard in no time!”
Three days of fruitless searching passed.
“Where the heck is he...?” Miledi said, staring blankly down at the untouched meal in front of her.
Oscar and the others looked similarly defeated.
Anya and Sveit, who were also sitting at the dining table, looked off into the distance. They’d both spent two years searching for Alfard, so they knew just how Miledi and the others felt.
“Maybe he’s left the country...?” Sveit muttered, and a shiver ran down everyone’s spine. Sveit had only just turned twenty, but his blond hair was already beginning to thin and the bags under his eyes were barely hidden by his silver-rimmed glasses.
“L-Look, it’s just a possibility. We don’t know for certain,” Sveit added hurriedly when he saw the despair in everyone’s eyes.
“Right, but if he has, then we’re doomed, aren’t we?” Meiru said, looking up at the ceiling.
If Alfard really had left, it would mean he’d abandoned his homeland completely. It would also make finding him infinitely more difficult.
“Come to think of it, we haven’t searched the marshes yet, have we?” Lyutillis said.
“There’s no way he’d go to such a dangerous—” Morgan replied, but then suddenly caught himself.
“I imagine for someone as strong as Prince Alfard, the marshes wouldn’t be all that dangerous, would they?” Oscar asked.
With a stiff expression, Sveit replied, “We pretty much never patrol the marshes to the northwest, near where they border the ocean. The forest is too dense there, and the monsters that inhabit that section of the marshes are even more dangerous than the other regions...”
There was also no reason to patrol that zone, since it made far more sense for anyone trying to infiltrate the country to come by sea rather than purposely land in the Azure Land’s most dangerous area and push through on land.
Everyone exchanged glances. It was clear where they’d need to search next.
The next day, everyone once again split into three groups and started combing the marsh. Before long, Miledi’s group struck gold.
“Pursuers?”
She finally found where Alfard was hiding. He’d woven a camouflage barrier that was so perfect Miledi couldn’t even sense the mana powering the spell. Were it not for Laus’s spirit magic and Lyutillis’s analytical skills, they would have never noticed. However, hidden near the coast, next to a small spring, hidden by a thicket of trees, was a log cabin decorated with vines and flowers. There was a small wooden swing in the front yard and a big vegetable field.
Standing outside the cabin was a beautiful young man, the very same one who’d spoken when Miledi and the others arrived. He had short, cropped blond hair and a face that greatly resembled Anya’s. His baggy clothes couldn’t hide his perfect physique either. However, he was wearing a straw hat and overalls, had a towel wrapped around his neck, and a hoe resting on his shoulder. He looked like a veteran farmer.