Ch. 239
Rai and I often found our conversations straying off-topic.
Like master, like Spirit, we both had a tendency to be scattered.
Ash, perhaps misinterpreting my increasingly furrowed brow as disapproval, called my name with an anxious voice.
“Is it that difficult?”
“Not easy. I’ve never actually done it before.”
[You only cause trouble, never fix it!]
Rai, you seem to have a death wish today. It’s true, though.
“But… it’s possible, right? Right?”
“It’s theoretically possible. I can restore it. There’s nothing I can’t do! But it’ll take some time.”
“How long?”
“I’ll have to try to know. I’ve never restored anything before, so I have no idea.”
Actually, I roughly calculated it would take 20 years. Since I’ll meet Magi again in 20 years.
I won’t say it out loud, though, because he’ll keep bothering me.
I smiled sweetly and patted Ash’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry, just trust your Geenie. I wouldn’t just make a family heirloom disappear and wash my hands of it, especially not Rovenin’s personal item.”
[Probably.]
[Damn it.]
[What! I just said what Master was thinking!]
The restored sword will definitely be different from the original, but isn’t the most important thing that I put in this much effort and sincerity?
Ash and Rovenin might disagree, but I don’t care.
I said I could restore it, not that it would be the same as before.
“Can I trust this woman?”
“Of course. She… Geenie Crowell, isn’t exactly righteous… well, she sometimes kills people and lies, but she keeps her promises. You can trust her. You have to!”
“Just hearing that doesn’t inspire any confidence.”
“She’s saved my life countless times. If I had to entrust my life to her hands again, I would do so without hesitation. Besides, do you think she earned the title of Saintess for nothing?”
“…For now, I’ll trust Your Highness, not that woman, since I have no other choice.”
Even though I was putting on this show of effort, Rovenin looked at me with distrust the whole time.
All he trusted was Ash.
Was some beastly instinct whispering to him not to trust me?
“I trust you will take responsibility and restore my sword, Your Highness.”
[Sorry, Ash.]
[Ash is great, but his flaw is that he trusts Master.]
[I agree.]
[Why aren’t you getting angry for once?]
Ash was caught between me and Rovenin, suffering an unexpected ordeal.
That uncomfortable expression was proof that he was feeling the pressure.
“She’s trustworthy… but she doesn’t listen to me.”
“What?”
“She never does anything she doesn’t want to do. So you’ll just have to do your best. Make her want to do it. Understand? Treat her with proper respect. Don’t provoke her any further!”
“She’s the one who got rid of my sword as she pleased.”
“You attacked first, didn’t you!”
“Well, it was right after the fight, so I was still excited… a little lacking. She looked like good prey.”
I know better than to expect common sense from that lunatic.
Ash was watching me carefully, deeply worried that I might explode again.
“Young Master Rovenin, please, I beg you, move further away. I can’t breathe with you two so close. No, just leave this place altogether. And keep our meeting a secret. That’s what I came here to say in the first place.”
“…Am I less important to you than that woman?”
“Well…”
“Of course, you crazy bastard!”
Cutting off Ash, I shouted and kicked, but Rovenin didn’t take the hit this time.
He looked at me like I was annoying dust and stepped back a few paces.
In the meantime, Ash’s arm quickly grabbed my waist.
“Everything you say has a weird nuance!”
“Geenie! Young Master Rovenin often makes statements that are easily misunderstood, so you’ll run out of energy if you react to everything.”
“That’s why I try not to talk, as Your Highness says.”
“…Don’t blame me for not talking because you’re too lazy to respond.”
“That too.”
“You always make things difficult for me. I can’t get involved in any disturbances right now. As you know, I’m undergoing an important trial… and I’m in disguise for it. It’s very troublesome that you recognized me.”
Ash, who had been staring at the ground and sighing deeply as if he had a headache, suddenly lifted his head with a serious expression, and the atmosphere around him changed.
The Ash now was not the kind man I knew, but the Ash who reigned as a prince in the castle.
“I suppose it was my fault for coming here in the first place. I shouldn’t have relied on this necklace alone. Knowing that you’re no ordinary person, I still made this mistake. Since we’ve met, I’ll ask, hoping it’s not true. Young Master Rovenin, is it true that you followed me, as the contact in the castle said?”
What? Why are they suddenly acting like this?
Don’t get all sentimental while having a conversation with your eyes, excluding me!
It’s interesting, so I’ll watch. Looking back, the timing matched.
The time when news of Ash disappeared from the palace and the time when Rovenin began to turn the continent upside down by defeating the strong.
“I didn’t exactly follow Your Highness.”
“Phew… I’m glad to hear that.”
“Your Highness suddenly disappeared. At first, I wondered if the First Prince had killed you, so I dug around….”
“I told you not to say things like that. You never listen.”
“After poking around here and there for a while, Duke Fedri suddenly got angry. He told me to either get married or take over the family, or do something, since Your Highness is undergoing a trial to become the Crown Prince. So I came outside.”
“…Young Master. Then you did follow me, didn’t you.”
It seems Ash has a stalker. A dangerous one who recognizes him even when he changes his face.
“Besides, if you even brought Tenebra out without permission… I’d call that running away from home. Of course, you’re too old for that… but more than that, to bring out a family heirloom without permission and even lose it… this is too much….”
Ash was muttering in a somewhat despondent tone, but I and Rovenin, who had actually caused the trouble, were nonchalant as if it were someone else’s problem.
“But our paths crossing was purely coincidental. As you know, that place is boring, and even more meaningless without you.”
I’m not even angry anymore.
His problematic nuance seems to be inherent.
“…There was no one to stop you since I wasn’t there.”
“Exactly.”
“Young Master Rovenin, anyway, I earnestly ask you this. Once you leave here, pretend you don’t know me. Even if we happen to run into each other again, please don’t acknowledge me.”
“Do you dislike me? Am I the only one happy to meet you?”
I was starting to look forward to how strange he could get.
It was also quite amusing to see how much panic was written on Ash’s face as he looked at me.
“No, it’s not that… it’s just that my current situation makes it difficult to reveal my identity. What would I say if my companions recognized you? There are many people here who know your face. It’s a natural result of you doing such conspicuous things.”
“Make me your companion. The throne will be yours.”
“…You say things that could cause big trouble too casually. I have no words to say if my companions ask how you know me.”
“Just say we met today.”
Having him as a companion would be helpful, but it also seemed clear that he would cause problems on par with me.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Ash’s lifespan was shortened due to mental anguish.
When words failed, Ash finally couldn’t stand it and raised his voice.
“Listen when people talk! I told you not to follow me! Please, go your own way!”
“I will help you.”
“…Don’t say things that doesn’t make sense! You know it’s against the rules, so why are you doing this!”
“But you made this woman, who also has a reputation, your companion. Is this woman a Guardian too?”
“No. It’s not a matter of reputation. And she’s a companion, but she’s hiding her identity, so it’s different from you. But the fact that I can’t make her a Guardian because she knows my identity is the same.”
It was a matter of conscience.
The Path of Trials is based on gathering talent solely on the basis of popularity and leadership ability while hiding one’s identity, so being exposed as a prince is a violation of the most basic and important rule.
The reason why that is considered most important is that the prince can deliberately select strong people with his power and co-opt them in an unjust way, and if the Guardian knows the prince’s identity and helps him, they may help with impure intentions, aiming for the wealth and glory they will gain.
Either way, it’s a major deviation from the intent of the trial.
There are plenty of reasons why you shouldn’t reveal your identity, but decisively, making someone who knows your identity a Guardian is a serious act of cheating.
I, who had been listening quietly, quickly jumped in when I was mentioned.
“I’ll pretend I don’t know!”
“Me too.”
“So I’ll be your Guardian! Just ask!”
Nod, nod.
Rovenin often used nods instead of words to express his intentions, but this was the first time we were on the same page.
Ash had so wished that I wouldn’t fight with Rovenin, but at this moment, he shook his head with the most desperate look in the world.
“Both of you, please… are you two green frogs? This is not a joke!”
“We’re saying we’ll help because we know it’s important. I’ll pretend I never knew you were a prince. Would a prince’s party be complete without a Saintess?”
“Your Highness, isn’t having a swordsman in the team basic?”
“We have enough swordsmen, so let’s leave it out.”
Just because we were on the same page for 0.1 seconds doesn’t mean I want to hang out with him.
“…I’ll just accept your feelings. It’s enough to know that you two care about me. I mean it. But nothing more.”