A little later, I received a late-night summons to the palace—more specifically, to the royal kitchen. Waiting for me there was the ruler of the castle and king of adventurers, Remlia ole Armaguest Rhasvah. The king’s friend and highly regarded father of adventurers—Pops—joined him. A beastmaid clad in a maid’s uniform—the king’s illegitimate daughter, Lanceil—rounded out the group of three.
King Remlia and Pops were making their way through the bowls of pasta topped with the meat sauce I had sent to accompany it. They looked neither disgusted nor enraptured by the dish, whose noodles were clearly far past al dente.
“Forgive me for calling you at such short notice. How fares your adventuring?” A very on-brand bit of small talk from the king of adventurers.
“With great difficulty. We’ve had quite a few setbacks.”
“Yes, I imagine. I’m afraid there is no avoiding hardship in this line of work. By the way—”
Pops jumped in, cutting the king off. “This grub came from the Left Continent. I recognize the taste.”
“The Left Continent?” I asked.
The Kingdom of Remlia was located in the Right Continent. You’d have to cross an ocean, slip through an archipelago, cut across the Central Continent, then sail across yet another ocean to reach the Left Continent. In other words, it was ridiculously far.
“I come from there,” explained the father of adventurers. “As did Lanceil’s mother, too. It’s a barren land ruled by war-hungry monarchs. With blood raining and snow falling upon it year-round.”
“Did the phantom ship belong to one of those rulers?”
“Good chance it did. But it’s a mystery how it got here. Not only was it unmanned, but it also carried nothing but flour—which is both strange and unsettling. I had reservations that the flour could have been poisoned, but you were cooking and eating it without any problem. We tested our meals as well; they came out clean.”
I had asked Machina to check it for any poisonous substances. It should go without saying, but I wouldn’t serve others something I hadn’t first tried myself. The flour itself didn’t have any issues.
“Ah.” Actually, there was one problem.
“What?”
“Pops, we did find some bugs in the flour. Strangely enough, they wouldn’t eat anything but wheat grown around here. But please don’t let that concern you. We thoroughly exterminated all of them.” After Machina had discovered the pests, we’d made sure to track down and eliminate all that had found their way to the nearby meadows and farmlands. We did keep a few samples as well in case we’d need to analyze them later.
“Pests, you say? That only makes the whole thing more suspicious.”
“So…you think someone intentionally sent the phantom ship here? To cause an infestation or something?” In that case—
“Two suspects stand out, but instinct tells me only one is the culprit,” the king declared, now noticeably repulsed by the pasta on his plate. “Long have the regents on the Left Continent been at war with Ellusion of the Central Continent. In fact, they’ve been at war longer than they have ever been at peace. And it bears noting the vast majority of the wheat we grow here originally came from Ellusion.”
“Meaning—” The royal pair were looking more dubious by the minute.
“However, I cannot fathom why they would obliterate the crops of a nation they mean to loot. Their people have achieved prosperity not through cultivation but plunder.”
This made Ellusion our number one suspect. Recently, both a hero and his attending knight from the papal state had lost their lives on Remlian soil. Ellusion undoubtedly suspected foul play, though they had yet to make public their misgivings about the situation.
I guess I could see them trying to destabilize the Kingdom of Remlia in retaliation.
“Now then, Souya. I still owe you a reward.”
“A reward, Your Majesty?” I played dumb. I knew “reward” was probably just an official name for the price of my silence. I’d learned more secrets than I ever should. This averted pestilence added another entry to the list.
“I understand you have struggled with your adventuring. It must be challenging to fill the vital roles left by departed party members.”
“………Quite.”
“Challenging” didn’t begin to cover it. An irreplaceable man, our party’s protector and shield, was dead.
“As such—”
“I beg your pardon, Your Majesty, but have you received any news regarding Arianne Forths Gassim?” I had to know how the situation with Arvin’s elder sister stood. Everything else could wait.
The king gritted his teeth in frustration as he answered me. “No, nothing has changed. There has been no progress of which to speak. The Fifth Pope, the very one who proposed I take this throne, has made a mockery of himself, wandering so far and wide his people ridicule him as ‘the Stray Pope.’ Naturally, his opinion now holds very little sway within the country. Though I dispatched several letters, I have yet to receive favorable word from the administrative branch. I did, however, hear news of Arvin Forths Gassim. Evidently, he has been posthumously reinstated as an official knight of the Church of St. Lillideas. His honor has been restored.”
“I sincerely appreciate that, Your Majesty.” I thanked the king for his assistance, but my feelings were decidedly mixed. I was happy at the fact that my departed friend had regained his honor, but at the same time, I worried for his sister and her health. You never heard good things about anything related to Ellusion. It didn’t take much to imagine the hospitality a hostage would receive under such conditions. Even if Arianne did manage to secure her freedom, every single member of her family was dead. Would she have any means to support herself? Maybe there was some way I could reach out and contact her. If she could bear the long voyage by sea, I would love to have her come to Remlia.
“Be that as it may, Souya, we need only one more push—just one. If we can attain one more thing as leverage to negotiate with Ellusion, I give you my word that Arvin’s elder sister will be pardoned. I swear this to you by my grandfather Rhasvah’s name.”
“……I understand, Your Highness.”
This man was a pro. He knew exactly where my bottom line was and had factored that into his plans. For this reason alone, I could assume he was not lying. More like, if this did turn out to be a lie, I would have nothing more to do with him. I’d sneak into the Central Continent and handle it myself if I had to. Though, it would definitely push me past the one-year time limit I had, but that meant nothing to me. It wasn’t like I had any family left waiting for me in the modern world. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to lay my bones to rest here. As for regrets—
“Huh?” Suddenly dizzy, my head spun.
“Souya?” Lanceil caught me just as I was about to collapse.
“Little wonder. All the exhaustion of the last few days must be taking its toll. So, Souya, returning to the subject of your reward,” the king began. Oh yeah, he did mention that. “Lanceil.”
“Yes?”
“Serve him well.”
“As you wish, Your Majesty.” Lanceil glanced over at me, beaming. “My lord, I place myself in your capable hands.”
“Wha………? Sorry?”