kscans

Chapter 120 - The Secrets of the Claudia Kingdom and the Little One

"Hmm. So we’ve come this far."

"Looks like it."

"Shall I send a herald?"

They were on the outskirts of the royal capital. Another half day’s carriage ride would bring them to the royal palace of the Claudia Kingdom. They had passed through two towns on the way, but the priest was not in either of them. The only place left was the capital.

"Send a herald, just in case. Everyone, get ready."

With a sharp glance at the distant royal palace, the Little One’s lips curved into an uneven smile. Chihaya watched her with a weary expression. Why does that villainous look suit you so well? And you’re still cute, which makes it even worse.

‘What does it matter? That place is a den of villains, is it not?’

Well, maybe, but starting a fight right from the get-go… Can’t we do this a bit more peacefully?

‘Did you not do something similar in Flowers? Have you forgotten?’

Huh?

Chihaya searched his memories. And he remembered firing arrows without a second thought at the frenzied monsters in the caves beneath Bastok.

Hey, that was against monsters.

‘It is the same thing. Did you not say it yourself? That it was because they were getting in Chihiro’s way. This time, too, they are interfering with her. Go on, loose your arrows upon them.’

Feeling mortified by the conversation in his head, Chihaya slumped into a gloomy mood. Dorfen looked at him, puzzled. Adorned with their monster unit and on high alert, the Frontier party entered the grounds of the Claudia royal palace.

"This is Her Highness Chihiro La George, from the Kingdom of Frontier. She requests an audience with His Majesty the King."

Stepping down at the gate, Dorfen called out in a loud voice to the gatekeeper. In response, the drawbridge was lowered, and from within emerged knights clad in lavish uniforms. Their bright red uniforms were adorned with copious amounts of gold and silver thread. Given that the other soldiers wore dark green uniforms, they appeared to be high-ranking officers. Their brilliant attire was not suited for actual combat.

Are they the Royal Guard or something like that?

In the Frontier army, the formal attire was white for everyone, down to the lowest ranks. Flowers’ was blue. Donautil’s was black. This might be the first time he had seen knights distinguished by their uniforms like this. The bright red uniforms standing out amongst the dark green of the non-commissioned officers gave a somewhat mismatched impression.

"Welcome, you have come a long way. Please, His Majesty the King is waiting. We shall guide you."

Ignoring the knights who greeted them with unnecessarily cheerful smiles, the Little One and Chihaya disembarked from the carriage. The knights in the red uniforms stared for a moment at the twins who had emerged, then their eyes filled with clear disdain.

"What lovely guests we have here. Your Highness Chihiro, please take my hand."

The Little One glanced at the offered hand, then snapped open her fan with a crisp sound. Holding it to her lips, she beckoned Dorfen over and whispered in his ear.

"Her Highness states she does not recall giving you permission to use her name. You will refrain."

Casting a haughty glare down at the opposing knight, Dorfen fell into step beside the Little One, who was now walking with Chihaya’s escort.

"Wh… Ah, no. …Please forgive my rudeness."

The Little One gave a small nod and proceeded gracefully.

Though they offered an apology, the knights in red uniforms glared daggers. The members of the Little One’s unit glared right back. The Claudia knights felt a chill run down their spines at the ferocious gazes that promised to cut them down if they so much as touched her.

What is with these people? They look like they’re ready for battle.

Carrying a tense and unsettling atmosphere, they were guided to the audience hall. With greetings barely exchanged, the Little One cut straight to the point. This was a goodwill visit from a distant land. Many nobles had been summoned and were crowded into the audience hall. Undaunted, the Little One glared at the throne on the dais.

"On our way here, we witnessed a great many refugees."

"Refugees, you say?"

The King of Claudia furrowed his brow in suspicion.

"Yes. About a hundred people of impoverished appearance. They were being sheltered in a church, but it seems the priest who took them in was arrested on that charge and has gone missing."

Ignoring the King of Claudia, who grimaced as if he wanted to hear no more, the Little One smiled sweetly and continued. The surrounding nobles also began to stir, wondering what was going on.

"I have heard nothing of the sort. We have planned a banquet in your honor this evening. You must be tired. We have had rooms prepared for you, so please, rest and relax."

The king tried to cut the conversation short, as if to say the matter was closed, but his eyes widened as he felt the atmosphere of the Frontier party standing before him change.

"I see. So you are saying they do not exist? In that case, I shall take them."

"…Take them?"

"As refugees from the Kingdom of Claudia, the Kingdom of Frontier will take them in. They are a people you know nothing of. You have no objection, I trust?"

Not understanding what she was talking about, the King of Claudia stared intently at the Little One.

"Also, the priest is here, is he not? In this palace. I would like you to hand him over as well."

The little girl’s glare was sharp.

The King of Claudia gripped the armrest of his throne, his lips trembling with rage.

What is with this child? So arrogant!

And then, the thought carelessly slipped from his mouth.

"Someone! Guide our guests to their rooms!"

This was an order to remove the Little One from the audience hall. The knights in red uniforms moved as if they understood, but the moment one of them tried to lay a hand on the Little One, his arm fell to the floor with a thud.

"Huh?"

There was no blood from the severed wrist or arm. The clean cut had been frozen solid.

"Kyaaaaaaah!!"

Screams erupted from the assembled Claudia nobles, and in an instant, the audience hall was a storm of pandemonium. Before the King of Claudia, who was rendered speechless by the sudden turn of events, the Little One shed the dress she had been wearing as an overcoat. Underneath, of course, were her usual salopette pants.

"Negotiations have broken down, I see. I shall help myself to a search. You were the ones who made the first move, after all."

There was no time to spare. In a brutal world like this, a direct confrontation was the only way to save the priest, whose life could be forfeit at any moment. If they hesitated and wasted time, he would be spirited away in an instant. If she lacked the power, it couldn't be helped. But the Little One had the power to overturn the situation. She must not misjudge when to use it.

"Power and authority are meant to be used at times like these! Go, Pochiko-san and the others!"

In a world as harsh as this, you fight selfishness with selfishness.

Countless monsters released from the carriage ran rampant through the Claudia royal palace, and screams and war cries erupted from all over. Glaring at the unmoving Frontier party, who stood with their arms crossed, the King of Claudia bellowed at his knights.

"What are you doing? Seize them!"

Frightened by the monsters flying about, the pale-faced knights looked at the Little One as if they were seeing a monster. Of course, not a single one of them could move. Amidst the chaos, someone was watching the Little One from behind a door with eyes full of admiration.

Is that the princess from Frontier? Commanding monsters… she is just like the Golden King from the legends.

The observer was the younger prince. His eyes sparkling with adoration, he sent a fervent gaze her way. Noticing a spider walking beside him, he called out to it.

"Hey, you! There’s somewhere I want to guide her! Could you bring her to me?"

Pleading desperately, the younger prince tilted his head. The spider scurried over to the Little One. It then tugged on the cuff of her pants and led her to the prince.

"Oh, thank you!"

Unafraid of the monster, the younger prince affectionately patted the head of the spider that had granted his request. Seeing this, the Little One’s eyes widened slightly. Grasping the astonished girl’s hand, the younger prince hurried down a staircase.

"Hey? Where are you going?"

"It will be faster to show you than to explain. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!"

Without giving Dorfen or Chihaya a chance to intervene, the younger prince led the Little One down into the basement. At the bottom of the long staircase was a prison. Countless damp cells were filled with people.

"This is…!"

"Beast-humans…?!"

Inside the cages were countless beast-humans.

And chained up in a particularly large cage that drew the eye was a penguin the size of a toddler.

Why is there a penguin in a place like this?!

There were over a hundred beast-humans alone.

"Explanation, please!"

The Little One yelled, her limbs flailing about. From above them, ominous footsteps echoed, and the battle between the Claudia Kingdom and the Frontier party began.

"For now, we’ll barricade ourselves in. Collapse the stairs."

At the Little One’s command, the spiders blocked the staircase with their webs. She also gave instructions to the honeybees, and they flew out of the clerestory window as told.

"Now then, shall you explain?"

The Little One stood with her arms akimbo before the stunned younger prince.

It was here that the Little One first learned of the Claudia Kingdom’s conspiracy, which had spanned the past several hundred years.

The incident began with the death of the previous Golden King. In the old days, it was apparently normal to make the pilgrimage over land, a journey that took decades, unlike the first king who could fly with Merda’s help. Naturally, by the end of the pilgrimage, old age made the journey arduous. Amidst this, the previous Golden King passed away in Claudia, near the end of his pilgrimage. His body was respectfully laid to rest and sent to Frontier, but something happened at that time, and the Lords of the Forest came to obey the commands of the King of Claudia.

"Why?"

"I do not know. But because of that, all the beast-humans were hunted down and are being bred here as commodities."

They had cornered the beast-humans who lived in hiding, found them, and imprisoned them here. Beast-humans apparently sold for a high price, so it was not entirely incomprehensible. Though it made her sick.

"My father the king says that a pure-blooded beast-human is necessary. He says that if one is not born, the beast-humans will go extinct."

He had heard that the pure-blooded ones called Lycans were more likely to produce males, and were essential for maintaining the predominantly female beast-human species. But no Lycan had been born, and the current king was at a loss.

"A Lycan is born only once per generation, and I believe one isn’t being born because they are imprisoned in a place like this."

That made sense. An unsanitary prison with barely any sunlight. One could not hope for the healthy preservation of a species. The Little One agreed with the younger prince’s assessment.

"So, what about that penguin?"

"It is the child of the Lord of the Plain Forest."

Surprised yet again, the Little One stared intently at the penguin. He explained that it had come alone to try and save the beast-humans. As a result, it was captured and chained up, and was now being used as leverage to control the other Lords.

"I wanted to save them somehow… Please, help them!"

"Understood. Seeing as I’ve already picked a fight anyway."

The Little One grinned broadly.

On the prison staircase, the Claudia soldiers were struggling to break through the spider webs. Glancing at them, the Little One broke the sealing orb she had received from Zack. From within, food overflowed. The younger prince stared in amazement. Smiling at him, the Little One went around opening the cage doors. Dorfen and the others joined in.

"Well, you can’t fight on an empty stomach, as they say. Let’s have a meal."

"They also say a samurai uses a toothpick even when he has not eaten, you know."

The Little One grimaced at Chihaya’s retort.

"Such idealism is nonsense! Delicious food is justice!"

No matter where she was, the Little One was the Little One. To her, even a dungeon was a picnic.