kscans

Chapter 48 - The Sea Forest and the Little Person ~Eight~

"I fell asleep, huh. Sorry about that."

With a big funyaa yawn, the Kobito-san, held in the lap of a cross legged Dolphen, rubbed her eyes with a kushikushi sound. The knights watched her with fond smiles as they packed up the camping gear. Twisting her neck left and right with an unii unii sound, Chihiro looked up at the high sun.

"Well, everyone was tired, so it was probably for the best. And it seems we've received a reply."

Stretching lightly, Romel raised a hand to shield his eyes as if looking into the distance. Following his gaze, a faint dot could be seen in the clear blue sky. The dot grew larger and larger, and with a sharp buzzing of wings, a toddler sized bee landed in front of Romel.

In its skillfully crossed front legs was a single letter.

Romel took the proffered letter and was about to open it when he felt a strong gaze. The bee that had delivered the message was staring intently at him. Romel tilted his head for a moment, but then he understood its intent and his face broke into a smile. He crouched down and gently stroked the bee's head.

"Thank you. You've done well."

Stroked by a hand infused with magic, the bee's eyes melted with pleasure. It held its stroked head as if it were precious and flew away. Watching it go, Romel was filled with an indescribable feeling.

Romel looked utterly embarrassed.

That feeling was one of bashfulness, but he did not know it.

Then he turned his eyes back to the letter, narrowing them in thought.

"This is strange. Wasn't the emperor supposed to be an idiot?"

What a terrible thing to say.

Romel showed the letter to the wryly smiling Kobito-san.

It was a reply to their declaration of war.

"Huh? A declaration of war... Since when?"

Romel smirked at the feigning Kobito-san and glanced towards the shade of a tree. A set of writing tools lay there.

"Well, attacking suddenly would be against reason. If we don't want to be reviled as barbarians, proper procedure is important, Chihiro."

Even with his friendly smile, the blackness of his heart was impossible to hide. Or rather, he probably had no intention of hiding it. Taking the offered letter, the Kobito-san bared her teeth in a grin. After a quick glance at the text, Chihiro's brow furrowed in thought, just like Romel's.

It stated that they admitted to all their wrongdoings and would surrender completely. Furthermore, it specified that the emperor would also accept punishment.

It was clean, or rather, far too unexpected.

Staring intently at the document for a while, the Kobito-san's eyes suddenly flew wide open.

"Here! This is bad!!"

The place Chihiro pointed to was the emperor's imperial seal. The name on it was Hito Sakura. Romel and the others could not read the imperial family's exclusive seal, which used kanji. Even for Chihiro, the unique, stylized characters of the seal were difficult to read, but here, her mysterious ruby text skill showed its power. Ruby text hovered above the seal. Floating there, clearly in Japanese, was Hito Sakura.

"This isn't the current emperor's name, it's Sakura's name! The emperor plans to make Sakura take responsibility for the war and escape, I'm sure of it!!"

Abdication was not a difficult process. If the current emperor prepared the documents and submitted them, it would be accepted. The one abdicating had no say in the matter. That was the kind of power an emperor held. The reason the current emperor was able to succeed, ignoring the previous emperor's will, was solely because of Sakura. If Sakura were to become the rightful empress, then there would be no complaints if her older brother, the current emperor, took the throne. Furthermore, with Sakura having fled the country, it was a natural course of events for him, the only remaining direct descendant, to become emperor.

This was just speculation, but could it be that the previous emperor's will had come into effect now? Sakura's death had not been confirmed, and Kilfan knew she was alive at the Manmaden. They had even made a formal request for her return. The current emperor, who had not married Sakura, was probably in a provisional position. He was a placeholder until Sakura, the designated heir, could succeed. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to switch heads so cleanly, and more importantly, there's no way they could have prepared an imperial seal in time.

Hearing Chihiro's explanation, the color drained from Romel's face.

"They got us. In that case, I should have specified the current emperor in the declaration of war. Our message only mentioned holding the emperor responsible for the invasion of territorial waters, demanding the surrender of military force and the return of the Master's children, and opening the way to the imperial capital."

Romel gritted his teeth.

It couldn't be helped. If the letter was addressed to the current emperor, then the word 'emperor' in the text would be taken to mean him. Who would have thought they would try to escape by switching heads?

"What's Sakura's brother's name?"

Flinching at the Kobito-san's chilling voice, they muttered in unison.

""Rikuto.""

Romel and Katsumi exchanged a glance. The Kobito-san gave a faint, wry smile and spoke with bitter resentment.

"Rikuto, huh. ...What a despicable coward."

A subzero rage drifted through the air, freezing the spines of even the battle hardened knights. A pipsqueak like Katsumi didn't stand a chance. With her pale green shoulders trembling, the Kobito-san turned around with a radiant smile.

"It's a kind invitation. Shall we go?"

Contrary to her soft smile, a blizzard raged around her. Tset let out a laugh, clearly amused.

...This is not good.

His skin crawled as if it were being stroked by sharp blades of ice, and a chill he couldn't shake ran down his spine. Katsumi was frozen stiff by the little girl's terrifying transformation, unable to move a muscle.

Even though they felt the same cold, Romel and the knights were moving normally, perhaps because they had been through a different number of harrowing situations. Their faces were grim, and it seemed even they could not remain completely calm. Then, noticing Katsumi frozen in place, Dolphen picked him up under his arm with a look of resignation and placed him on a Paanyu.

However, as the Frontier party was about to depart, the sharp buzzing of wings was heard behind them. New bee reinforcements had arrived, and further in the distance, several ships could be seen.

"Ah, they've come."

It was the ships of the Marquis's Knight Order from Lumiere. Though they were nervously approaching the swarm of magical beasts, they drew near the small island where Romel and the others were. A knight disembarked from a small boat launched from a short distance away and came to the island.

"It has been a while, Your Royal Highness. I have come at the command of the Marquis."

"It has been a while, Knight Captain Bittenfeld. This is Her Highness, Princess Chihiro."

The man who had come by small boat was an elderly man with bright red hair. A faint smile played on his lips, and his eyes shone with amusement.

"I am Erabster La Bittenfeld. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"I am Chihiro La Giorge. A pleasure to meet you."

The Kobito-san straightened her back and nodded, her eyes fixed on the man before her.

Red hair, and that name. Could it be?

When she glanced at Romel, he narrowed his eyes slightly.

"That's right. He's Harold's father."

Just as I thought. Both father and son are in the knight order, so it must be that kind of family.

"Let's collect the Paanyus and move to the ship. Pochiko-san and friends, if you please."

At Romel's words, the bees lifted the Paanyus with the knights still on them and carried them to the large ship that had arrived. Erabster watched this with a look of astonishment, his gaze shifting to Romel in disbelief. Romel shrugged at his wide eyed stare and looked at the Kobito-san.

"I had heard stories, but my, oh my. The Golden King is truly something to behold."

At Erabster's murmur, which mingled exasperation with admiration, the members from the royal palace exchanged glances. For them, this was a daily occurrence, and their senses had already grown numb. Sensing their confusion, Erabster laughed heartily.

"This is good. This will pay them back in one lump sum for all the bitter pills they've made us swallow."

Gesperista, the marquisate that governed the southwestern sea. As the ones on the front lines of the disputes with the Kilfan Empire, they must have had their share of grievances. His dark, ferocious smile closely resembled his son Harold's.

As she was carried by Pochiko-san and boarded the ship, familiar figures were waving on the deck.

"Chihiro! Are you hurt?"

"Sakura?!"

Sakura lifted the Kobito-san up, her brow furrowed with worry.

"Really... Don't be so reckless."

Sakura, whom she had parted with at the Royal Palace Branch Office, had been evacuated to a temporary residence with a guard assigned by Romel. She had nodded at his words to wait and had been waiting. But no matter how long she waited, no one returned. At dawn, she visited the Royal Palace Branch Office again with the escorting knights. There, she found the Marquis's Knight Order, as well as the members of the Royal Knight Order who had returned on Romel's orders. Sakura, having heard the gist of the situation, had forced her way into the Marquis's Knight Order, which was in pursuit of Romel and the others, and had come along.

"You're just a child. You should leave things like this to the adults."

"I'm sorry, Sakura. But matters of the Master's Forest are my jurisdiction."

As the two hugged tightly, the people around them smiled fondly. It was a charming sight, though Dolphen alone was chewing on a bitter bug.

"Well then, let's go."

At the Kobito-san's words, the five ships began to move, their crew nodding in agreement. Though they were sailing ships, Frontier's ships didn't need wind. Their basic power source was a magic tool. The sails were merely for insurance. Led by Tset, the fleet headed for the Empire, located at the far end of the island chain.

Trying to frame Sakura, you've got to be kidding me, Rikuto!! I'm definitely going to catch you!!

The Kobito-san's eyes narrowed dangerously.

Angry, laughing, surprised.

Every day brings something new. But today, the Kobito-san is full of energy♪