kscans

Chapter 127 - First Strike

The next morning, I woke up with a headache.

Did I drink too much rum at the tavern? But I thought I only had three glasses. That question flew out of my mind when I saw Tina sleeping next to me. She was wearing her green armor, her hands and feet bound.

Did I do this last night? I had no memory of it.

I untied Tina's restraints and headed to the washbasin. A short while later, Tina came into the dining room.

"What happened last night?" I asked tentatively.

"You don't remember?" Tina replied, placing a hand on her cheek and blushing slightly. "After how rough you were?"

Could it be? Did I cross a line? Did I take her virginity in a drunken stupor?

Just as I was thinking that, Tina giggled. "Fufu… I'm just kidding. We just did our usual play and then went straight to sleep."

I let out a sigh of relief. I wanted to be with her, but doing it for the first time while drunk would have been far too depressing.

"That's good," I said, relieved. "I wouldn't want to take your first time like that."

I then prepared our meal.

After a light breakfast of bread and soup, we got our gear together and went out. We didn't have anything specific to do. The only thing on our agenda was to take the Flame Alligator hide to the black market auction that was happening in a few days.

As we walked for a bit, we noticed the city was buzzing with activity.

I overheard some people talking.

"Did you hear? Delegations from all the other nations have arrived."

"Yeah, I know. Apparently, they came to strengthen ties with the Empire."

"But the timing's pretty good, isn't it? Coming right when the Empire is in trouble."

"Maybe they knew and came on purpose? You never know where information might leak from."

It was the only topic of conversation.

A delegation, huh? The timing was indeed too good. The reconstruction was more or less finished on the outside, but internally, there were still long-term issues like supply shortages and a large number of injured people.

For a delegation to arrive at such a time… it was highly likely that there was some ulterior motive, like a soap opera plot where they offer to provide supplies in exchange for having their demands met.

As I was thinking, someone shouted, "Hey! This is big! Apparently, the heads of the delegations are all royalty from their respective countries!"

"Seriously?! And I heard a cardinal came from the Church too?"

"Not just a cardinal, the Pope himself!"

"That's insane. What's going on?"

They were shocked by the latest news.

I was surprised too. Normally, a noble would come, but for royalty to come in person… was there some important matter to discuss?

"Tina," I said, "I have a bad feeling about this. Maybe we should leave the country?"

Tina replied to my slightly panicked self, "I know what you mean. You think Emperor Yorune or the general will send us another request because of this, right? In that case, let's accept a quest from the guild right now. If we're already in the middle of another quest, we can avoid any nomination quests that come later."

Tina agreed with me. The last thing I wanted was to get involved with royalty again. I just wanted to live my life as a hunter. We both nodded and immediately headed for the guild.

We arrived at the guild and went inside. There were a fair number of adventurers, but the atmosphere was relaxed. It seemed the major news hadn't reached here yet. I went to the board and searched for a suitable quest. There were monster subjugations, but I skipped those. What I found was a local area survey.

A job to ascertain the types and numbers of monsters in the area. I went to the counter and declared my intention to accept the quest.

The receptionist said, "Um, isn't this quest a bit too low-level for an A-rank adventurer like yourself?"

To the bewildered receptionist, I explained quickly, "If there's a quest, it means someone is in trouble. I don't like the idea of picking and choosing based on rank."

I had rushed my explanation and made a slight mistake, but it seemed she didn't suspect anything.

The receptionist's eyes welled up with tears for some reason. "Sniff… I understand. Please, we'd be grateful if you'd take it."

For some reason, she handed me the writ while dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief.

I didn't really get it, but now we could go to work. We quickly left the guild.

Inside the guild, another receptionist next to the first one commented, "He's an amazing person, isn't he?"

The teary-eyed receptionist replied, "Yes. Lately, adventurers have been acting like they're above it all, complaining about the pay being too low or the quest being beneath them. They don't understand the feelings of the people who post the requests at all. But that man, even though he's A-rank, he took on a simple quest. He's a wonderful person."

She said this while shedding tears. Every staff member at the counter vowed to praise that adventurer and pass down his story.

And so, a completely misunderstood and rather troublesome story was born without Shinsuke's knowledge.

Writ in hand, we headed for the gate. We needed to prepare and do some research, but time was of the essence.

We arrived at the main gate and showed our writ to the guard.

"Understood. Please be careful."

He saluted and let us through.

It seemed no orders had come down yet. We decided to leave the capital and conduct our survey so that we could return the next day.

In the throne room of the royal castle, the new Emperor Yorune was perplexed. She had been informed of the arrival of the delegations from the other nations, so she was prepared. The problem was that royalty and the Pope had come in person. That was information she could not have known.

For now, she had them relaxing in guest rooms to recover from their long journey. The welcome party would proceed as planned. Thanks to him, the flavor of the cuisine had improved with the use of the rare food item, katsuobushi. All that was left was for the royals to be satisfied, but the reason they had come was undoubtedly for future negotiations.

She didn't know how much they knew about the Empire's current situation, but they must have known it was in trouble. They would likely use that to their advantage and make demands. Especially the Church.

In that case, being passive would be a bad move. If she did that, the Empire would end up exporting more than it imported, leading down a path of poverty. She had to put on a brave face, even if it was a bluff, or there would be no future.

As she was thinking, Yorune muttered, "Should I ask those two for another request?"

The general, who was nearby, replied with a grim face, "That would be difficult. Just because the cooking was a success doesn't mean diplomacy will be as well. Moreover, with the Kingdom involved, I doubt those two would be willing to lend their wisdom for the sake of the Empire."

It was certain that the two were A-rank adventurers from the Kingdom. If so, they would be ill-suited for negotiations at a party. If they favored the Empire too much, the Kingdom would not remain silent. A-rank was an adventurer recognized by the state. They would want to avoid any action that could be seen as betraying their country, even if they had returned their titles when they left the Kingdom.

Just then, a knight entered the throne room. "Pardon the intrusion. A message has arrived from the main gate."

He handed a report to the general. The general took it. "Thank you for your hard work. You are dismissed."

The knight saluted and left.

The general read the report. "Emperor, it seems the two of them have left the capital on a guild quest."

Yorune let out a small, wry smile. "So they beat me to it. The rumors must have been flying around the city. When they heard, they must have thought I might send them a request and made their escape."

Normally, this would be an act of lèse-majesté against royalty, but she didn't seem to mind.

"This makes it impossible to send them a request," the general said. "We have no choice but to handle this ourselves."

Yorune's face was resolute. "You're right. I will protect the future of the Empire."

Night fell. In the castle's ballroom, which glittered brilliantly, all sorts of cuisine and fine liquors were arranged. In a corner, an orchestra played a violin melody. Around the walls, knights in white cloaks stood in formation. The escort knights and attendants of the various delegations enjoyed the food and listened to the music as they pleased. No one was dancing; it was not the time for it.

In the center of the hall, Emperor Yorune was greeting the representatives of the two nations.

"It is a pleasure to meet you for the first time. I am Olivia, the first princess and representative of the Harg Kingdom."

"It is a pleasure to meet you for the first time. I am Lustolfo, the first prince and representative of the Retil Republic."

"It is a pleasure to meet you for the first time. I am Yorune, the newly crowned emperor of the Deom Empire. Thank you for coming all this way."

The three exchanged greetings. From here would begin the discussions between the royalty of the nations. The wisdom of the young people who would bear the future would be put to the test.

And what was the Pope, who was in the hall but had not yet greeted the new emperor, thinking?