Ankoku Kishi Monogatari - Chapter 96

Chapter 96.1: God of Song and Arts

◆Sword’s Maiden; Shirone

「Welcome to Algore, Shirone-sama. What brings you here today?」

Omiros was bowing to me.

Currently, I was visiting the Algore kingdom.

It only took around one hour for me to arrive at the Algore kingdom by flying with my own wings.

The reason I came was to visit Omiros.

「Long time no see, Omiros-kun. I came for a visit today since we happened to be nearby. How’s the situation in this place? Anything change after that incident?」

I asked for the current situation of Algore after telling Omiros about the reason for my visit.

「Yes, the harvest of our crops were much better than last year, but… that’s not what you really want to know, right? Well, nothing has changed and Daigan is also living a peaceful life here.」

Omiros replied with a big smile on his face.

And then, my eyes caught the figure of a middle aged man.

Though he looked like a human, he was in fact a werewolf.

Due to various reasons, he is currently staying in this country.

「Humph. How strange, you’re not doing something bad right?」

I squinted my eyes as I looked at Daigan.

This werewolf did something bad to the humans before we caught him after all. I never expected for him to have suddenly turned into a new leaf.

「Hehehe. Sorry but I won’t do bad things anymore. That personage is going to kill me if I do bad things again after all. Rather, my current job is protecting this country.」

Daigan spoke with a faint smile on his lips.

According to Chiyuki-san, werewolves were unexpectedly loyal to their master. They’ll obey their master’s order.

「I see. Well, it might be alright since Kuroki is the one who gave that order, right?」

Kuroki is kind after all, there’s no way he could do bad things if not for that Silver Witch’s influence.

I decided to trust him.

「Yeah, that’s right. In addition, he’ll know right away when something unusual were to happen to this cou— woops!!」

Daigan made a face as if he almost spilt the beans.

It seems he just said something that he wasn’t supposed to say.

「Is something the matter? It shouldn’t be a problem to call for Kuroki’s help right?」

Kuroki was protecting this country for Regena.

Thus, he’d placed Daigan in this place. And if something unexpected happened, he would come in person.

There shouldn’t be any problem with that.

「Eh? U~hm. As long as you’re okay with it…」

Daigan replied with a little bit of a curious look on his place.

「What’s the matter? Did I say something strange?」

「N-NO! NOT AT ALL!! Hehe.」

Daigan was laughing. I got this feeling that there was more to his smile.

I wonder what he was trying to say with that smile.

But then, it’s not like I could do anything.

「Uhm, Shirone-sama? We haven’t prepared anything to welcome you since you came out of nowhere. Honestly speaking, we should welcome you with a banquet, but do you want us to do that?」

Omiros-kun asked with an apologetic look on his face.

「Nah, don’t worry about it. I’m the one at fault for this sudden visit after all. By the way, long time no see, Riette-chan. And congratulations on your marriage with Omiros-kun.」

I looked at Riette who was sitting beside Omiros as the latter’s wife.

「Yes. Thank you very much, Shirone-sama.」

Riette bowed elegantly as she returned my greeting.

She had this adult-like air around her compared to the last time I met her. Even though her previous, childlike air around her was more suited for someone as young as her.

Was this what they called the change that came along with marriage?

If this was Japan, a girl around Riette’s age couldn’t get married.

But it was possible in this world since many countries didn’t have legal marriage age laws. Thus, it wasn’t rare for someone of Riette’s age to get married in this world.

But it felt lonely since she lost her childishness along with her marriage.

But well, the person herself wanted this so I really couldn’t say anything in this regard.

「Uhm, Shirone-sama. Uhm…」

Omiros seemingly wanted to ask me about something while he kept glancing toward Riette.

I knew what he wanted to know though. It was about Regena.

「If you’re asking about Regena-san, she currently living a fulfilled live in the Republic of Ariadya.」

Omiros heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing my remark.

「I see, that’s good then…」

「Omiros-kun…」

I felt a pang in my ch*st upon seeing Omiros’ reaction.

Maybe he never stopped worrying about Regena, his childhood friend.

「SHIRONE-SAMA!! THE REPUBLIC OF ARIADYA IS A COUNTRY LOCATED FAR WEST FROM THIS PLACE RIGHT?!!」

Riette drew near as she asked that question.

Different from before, the air around her returned to the childish air befitting of a girl around her age.

「Y-Yeah. Maybe it isn’t wrong to say that it’s the biggest country I’ve ever seen you know?」

「Uwa~. How ni~ce. I want to go there too~.」

Riette was looking up with sparkling eyes.

That was the eyes of a girl from the boonies yearning for the big city.

It seems the Republic of Ariadya was a really well-known country since even the people of Algore kingdom who lived closest to Nargol had also heard about it.

Well, it might be natural for the people who were born in the Algor kingdom which lacked amusement to want to see a big place such as the Republic of Ariadya.

It seems Riette didn’t have any grudge left toward Regena.

I felt relieved upon confirming that fact.

「Oioi, Riette. As the next queen of this country, you can’t say something like that you know? Have you given up on becoming an adult already? As expected, you’re still a brat deep inside, eh.」

「What are you talking about, big brother Maxis! It’s only natural to want to go there right!!」

Riette flew into a rage upon hearing Maxis’-her big brother- teasing.

I was really surprised at first but I guess Riette was still Riette.

I unintentionally smiled upon seeing their interaction.

Omiros, who stood by my side, was also smiling upon seeing the siblings’ quarrel.

「GEEZ!! WHY IS EVERYONE LAUGHING AT ME!!?」

Riette was pouting upon seeing our expression.

Everyone couldn’t hold back their laugh since her pouting was really adorable.

◆Black Haired Sage; Chiyuki

The sun had set and the soldiers were starting to head to their own tents.

Well, most of the warriors were still drinking their fill as usual as they made merry around the camp though.

Their voices were so loud to the point that we could hear them even from our camp.

They really had to fix their bad habit of drinking liquor during the march.

General Portos and co seemed to be in the same opinion as me but, in the end, they said nothing about it.