Chapter 107: Departure from the Capital
Gloria took flight for the Great Demon Forest and swept over the royal capital. I found myself worrying about Elna. First Sharon had nearly been eaten by a dragon right in front of her; then, because I brought Elna along, King Amado had started flirting with her. She couldn’t have enjoyed that. If King Amado had known she was the very one who finished off Count Gantz with magic, would he still have come on to her like that?
At high speed, though, a dragon’s back isn’t the place for nuanced conversation. Sharon, Gloria, and I could talk over comms, but Elna doesn’t have Nanom, so we couldn’t loop her in.
I signaled Gloria to descend. We touched down on a wooded hill near the capital. For long flights, Gloria needs to feed on Magic Stones, and before and after long movements we also need to eat and hit the latrine.
We’d stopped here on the way in, so the toilet I’d set up and the bag of cached stones were both intact. I conjured water with Water, rinsed our hands, and topped the water bottles up. I’d hoped to eat inside the palace, but—yeah—nobody’s serving lunch with a dragon in the courtyard. We made a quick meal from our stores. I’d packed sandwiches today, just in case. Once we’d caught our breath, I spoke to Elna.
「Elna, about earlier—sorry. I didn’t expect King Amado to pull something that indecent.」
「Even if he is a king, to treat a lady like that is beyond belief.」
Sharon, of all people, was fuming. Elna—who had seen how I ordered Sharon to stand on top of a dragon’s snout—blinked at her, surprised Sharon was angry at King Amado instead of me.
「It’s all right. That was an act. He whispered a message for you, Alan. And… being courted directly by a king didn’t exactly feel bad.」
「A message?」
Both Sharon and I had taken it as the king hitting on Elna. So he played the womanizer so no one would notice and slipped her a note.
「He said, ‘Forgive my impropriety. I am aware of Princess Cleria. The Prime Minister has me under watch and I cannot act openly, but tell Lord Corinth I will assist as far as I can.’」
I folded my arms and thought it through. I don’t dislike Amado. He looks a lot like Ria, for one, and even if Prime Minister Burke was absent this time, things went smoothly largely thanks to the king’s help.
「Ideally, we avoid harming him. Whether politics will allow that is another matter.」
「You don’t want to harm him because he looks like Ria, right?」
Sharon put it plainly. Even to her eyes, the resemblance was striking.
「I think I see why you brought me to the audience. You wanted to know whether, to us Royal Guards, he looked like Cleria-sama.」
Exactly what I’d hoped to confirm.
「Right. I wanted the opinion of someone who’s known Ria a long time.」
「They’re the spitting image. Even twins rarely resemble each other that closely.」
「Hypothetically—would the people of Starveek accept King Amado as one of their own royals?」
「I considered that as well. His bloodline is sound, and more than anything, his features match the royal family. If His Majesty Amado marched on the Alois Kingdom and we hadn’t yet reunited with Ria-sama, we would have offered our cooperation. Which is why I can’t forgive tossing Captain Heinz and the others in a cell.」
「Naturally, I’m thinking of the reverse—standing Ria, who resembles Amado, up as Queen. Her presence is a powerful trump card.」
「Yes. With Ria-sama at the fore and Alan commanding the army, the Alois Kingdom would fall easily.」
Elna’s confidence had grown now that we’d cleanly taken down Count Gantz and secured control of the city. One thing still nags me, though, the fact that King Amado knew about Ria’s existence. Prime Minister Burke hadn’t known about Princess Cleria.
Heinz swore he hadn’t given anything up under interrogation. Whether it’s Burke’s angle or Amado’s, we need to trace how that information surfaced.
「We’ll treat King Amado as Ria’s kin—family. Even if he ends up our enemy and holes up in the capital, if he’s the Queen’s relative, no one will dare rough him up.」
「So you think, at this rate, we’ll be marching on the capital.」
Elna sounded impressed. I’d said as much, but it’s still only a plan on paper. It won’t happen overnight. First we have to defeat Count Khalifa.
「About what comes next—we’re not heading straight to Gantz. We’ll swing by Ares. I want to brief Ria in person, even if it adds a detour.」
「Agreed.」
「Good. I’ve been wanting to report to Ria-sama quickly.」
Right—time to drop Iris’s palace feed.
「Iris, we’re clear of the palace. Cut the monitor. Resume standard drone overwatch.」
「Roger, Captain.」
「Sharon, brief Selena on our situation just in case. Once we pick up Ria at Ares, we’re heading back to Gantz today.」
「Roger.」
After a short rest and a bathroom break, we mounted Gloria—who had just gulped down a fresh load of Magic Stones—and the three of us lifted off for Ares.
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