Risou no Himo Seikatsu - Volume 13 - Chapter 3

Chapter 3 — Days of Searching and Private Talks

As the biggest breakthrough in the deadlock happened outside of his knowledge, Zenjirou was falling into a rhythm.

In the morning, he would teleport out to the mountain for his rite and return the same way before sunset. He would use the sauna and eat, then go to bed. Now that he was used to it, he wasn’t even tired in the mornings. As he got even more used to it, he had enough time some evenings after eating to speak with those who wished to see him.

As a result, he would be meeting with the people who had sent requests to him tonight. There were several such requests, but the station of the sender meant that there was not a surplus of choice when it came to deciding who to meet with first. He had wanted to meet with Freya, but that was not to be.

Inevitably, the first meeting ended up being with King Gustav V of Uppasala himself.

“My apologies for taking your time of rest, Your Majesty,” the king said. “I am grateful we could meet sooner than expected.”

Zenjirou was wearing his third uniform and sitting opposite the king. He raised a hand with a smile and replied, “It is nothing. I was certainly exhausted on the first and second days, but I have gradually gotten used to it. I would like to refrain from alcohol, though, so I ask for your mercy there.”

“I see. Then I shall drink alone.”

“By all means. Ines.”

“Of course,” Ines replied, stepping up from behind him to pour alcohol into the king’s silver cup. Gustav’s lips twitched up as he saw the almost transparent drink with powdered gold floating within it.

“Oh, Lord Pomorskie gave you some of his drink? It would seem the rumors of your protection of the city were true.”

The alcohol that Zenjirou was serving had been given to him by the lord of Pomorskie before they had left as thanks. The lord had proudly declared it a delicacy of his lands, and it seemed that was true from Gustav’s reaction.

Zenjirou decided he would try some once things calmed down and was now looking forward to it all the more as he replied modestly.

“It was not by my power that the city was protected. It was a sequence of coincidences that I happened to be able to assist with. With regard to Pomorskie, I would credit Princess Freya’s wisdom rather than my efforts.”

“Oh?”

Zenjirou’s praise prompted the man’s expression to turn sour in spite of his enjoyment of the drink. It was the best thing he could ask for from a son, but for a daughter, the more he heard, the more his head hurt. He and his son had rather similar outlooks.

“Your Majesty, with this liquid courage between us, I would like to ask in truth: do you truly wish for my daughter as your bride?”

The question was shockingly blunt from a royal—someone who was supposed to live and breathe acting a role. Zenjirou was stuck for words for a moment; the question was just that apt. While the king’s concerns likely ran in a different vein than his, the fact remained that he did not actively want Freya as his bride. He didn’t think he could get a lie past a seasoned royal like Gustav, so he spoke the truth.

“I personally respect Princess Freya as a person to a great extent, and marrying her would be an honor beyond compare. I would treat her as such an honor would dictate.”

“Hm...”

His respect for her as a person and how he would treat her if they married were both true. However, whether he loved her or wanted to marry her was completely absent from his answer, and Gustav would have noticed that.

He did not point it out because he did not want to reconsider things. Gustav had heard about what had happened in Capua now, from more than just Freya. He had spoken to Skaji and the vice captain of the Glasir’s Leaf as well. His talks with them had cemented how much value there was in this agreement. However, the fact remained that it would be poor for their reputation, so he had to push the negotiations through to their end.

“Very well, then. I suppose you will be calling me father-in-law before long.”

“I will?” Zenjirou asked after a pause.

The king’s statement was tantamount to accepting the marriage. Zenjirou couldn’t hide his surprise, and the king answered in amusement.

“I would accept it. You’ve already fulfilled my conditions.”

The private meeting between the two of them had added the condition that either Zenjirou would have the escorts accompanying him vouch for him, or else break their viewpoint. In other words, to do the same as he had to Eric during the meeting.

The warrior’s perspective had supported Uppasala through the ages until now, but as time passed, it seemed likely to become an impediment. It was a constant concern of Gustav’s. Zenjirou had—by not fitting into that perspective at all—broadened Eric’s horizons just a little.

The escorts with him, other than Victor, were all staunch supporters of the prince. They were strong warriors and would serve as the center of a fighting formation. The king would consider them broadening their horizons even a little to be a major win. Enough of a win to permit Freya’s marriage.

“Considering the situation, their spirits will certainly be broken. I am willing to say you have already fulfilled my conditions, so I need to make a show of good faith.”

“It is an honor,” Zenjirou replied as the king chuckled, clamping down on his habit of offering slight bows from his life in Japan. He might be sitting in front of a king, but he could still not lower his head so easily.

As far as the king was concerned, people like Eric were dependable as the country’s swords but simultaneously headache-inducingly stubborn. There was a dark humor to be found in them being stuck in the cold mountains for days at a time without any real preparation. Conversely, you could also consider it a show of his faith that even in such a situation, they would not be overly injured.

He continued in good humor. “Since we are in private, I would like to speak openly. We need to consider our position as a nation. Allowing our first princess to marry a prince consort from the Southern Continent does not reflect well on us. I would appreciate your cooperation to prevent the continent as a whole from looking down on us.”

“I understand your feelings. The Rite of Age I am currently undertaking is part of that.”

Visibly putting him through the wringer let them say something along the lines of, “If you’re willing to go to that much trouble, then our hands are tied.” It somewhat reminded Zenjirou of a story he had heard about marriages during his childhood. It wasn’t entirely wrong.

“Indeed. Normally, if one of our princesses was marrying into another country, we would not require that. As they marry into another nation, they would follow that nation’s customs. To make up for the situation, though, we need to keep as much of that type of tradition as we can. I would request that the marriage itself be done here, as we would do, in our clothing.”

In other words, for them to follow Uppasalan customs right up until they were married. It showed the public in earnest that Zenjirou making as much effort as he could.

“Very well,” he replied, agreeing readily, since this was up to his own discretion. It was a common Capuan custom that the wedding ceremony and the joining of families be held at the bride’s family home. There was no reason for him to refuse.

“Good. Look after her, Your Majesty.”

“I will,” Zenjirou replied, showing as much honesty as he could to the king’s words as her father.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Meanwhile, two very similar-looking royals—each with silver hair and blue eyes—were seated on either side of a table.

“It’s been a while, Freya. I’m glad to see you well.”

“You too, Yngvi.”

They were Princess Freya and Prince Yngvi of Uppasala, the first princess and second prince. Being twins, the two of them were very similar. In terms of the actual order they were born in, Freya was the older of the two, but Yngvi still claimed to be her big brother and wouldn’t refer to her as “older” even in private. That led to both of them claiming to be the older of the two, forming a bizarre equality between them.

Being male and female royals, it took quite the effort to arrange a meeting, but they had grown up together sharing bed and meals alike. He was the member of the royal family she got along best with.

“You took longer than I expected, though,” she told him. “I thought you would show up the day after I returned.”

Yngvi was similar enough in his curiosity—though focused differently—that no one doubted they were twins, and Freya felt like he had taken his time arranging the meeting considering that.

The silver-haired prince pouted at his female reflection. “That’s mostly your fault. You messed up with Princess Anna in the commonwealth, so we had to put the navy on alert in Logfort because of the risk of war. We only finished today. I might even have to board Naglfar. I suppose the rest of it would be His Majesty’s fault? This would normally be Eric’s job, but he’s currently on the Southern Continent,” he said unhappily.

Freya wasn’t entirely comfortable with him pointing it out so strongly either. “Sorry,” she apologized quietly, looking away. “Father said the same. So, things will affect us as well.”

“Well,” Yngvi said, comforting his slumped twin, “I don’t think it will amount to much. It’s a matter of speed. If the commonwealth clashes with them in truth, then we can’t just sit and watch regardless. Tuurukku and Berggen are doing the same.”

“What about Utgard and Ofus?”

“Ofus hasn’t made any moves yet. They have the strongest presence from the church of the five of us, so they can’t act carelessly in this situation. Utgard will probably keep their usual neutrality. Whatever happens, they’re not going to move until the end of things,” Yngvi said, summing up the reactions of the five northern countries, including their own.

While they were the same age, being a male, Yngvi had been placed into military and political roles and thrived.

“It’s a shame you got caught up in things, but considering the international situation, we’re better off if the commonwealth doesn’t get routed by the knights. We’ll have to follow Princess Anna’s desires regardless. The risks are too high to send reinforcements, but we have to at least deter them.”

“Hm? If we’ll have to do so anyway, then wasn’t that a mistake on her part? The result will be the same either way, but this way there’s bad blood between us.” Freya asked.

“No,” he replied, shaking his head. “It will be to her benefit on the whole. Doing what she did means that domestically she can argue that we are involved because of her actions. We clearly reacted the most quickly, so there looks to be some truth to it as well. Earning favor with her own people is more important than avoiding bad blood with foreign royals. It’s the blatant arrogance of bigger countries.”

While there was a hint of scorn to his words, his explanation was confident. She couldn’t help but look enviously at him.

“You’re so lucky. You get to hear about international politics and influence our policies.”

“Well, I worked hard to be able to...though not as hard as you.”

He was able to take her complaints so gracefully and even agree with her because he knew that she had worked harder than him.

Women who went through even more training than a centurion could gain the title of warrior as an exception and be allowed the same occupations as men. When Freya had found that out at a young age, she had put all her efforts towards that. However, she was slight for an Uppasalan woman, so she had only managed to gain the strength of an average warrior.

She still hadn’t given up and had spent a lot of effort convincing her father, mother, and wet nurse to allow her to go out on reindeer hunts and seal fishing expeditions, and summoned people from the universities to deepen her knowledge. She was still instructed in the etiquette of a female royal but undertook her other instruction separately.

“You’ve still done well. Whatever else, you captained the first intercontinental voyage with the Glasir’s Leaf. Congratulations.”

“Thank you. That was due to your help as well, though.”

Yngvi had been the only member of the royal family to support her desire for captaincy and to undertake the voyage. In fact, it was unlikely she would have been made ship’s captain if it not for his assistance, even if that “assistance” mainly took the form of threatening to collude with Freya and do something even worse if others interfered too much, so there was certainly much that could be said about his methods.

“Still, you’re getting married? I can understand you marrying into the Southern Continent, but I’m honestly more surprised about you marrying royalty.”

That was what made him the best at understanding her. Considering her intense wanderlust and curiosity as a child, it was practically inevitable for her to choose some far-off land.

“That’s rude. I’m not entirely inconsiderate. I had the common sense to know that whoever I married would have to benefit the country.”

“A princess with common sense would not have captained an international voyage and arranged a betrothal without her father’s permission.”

“I didn’t say that I had common sense in every respect. Just ‘the common sense to know that,’” she growled, lifting her teacup to her mouth.

“That’s rather limited for being ‘common.’ Still, I’m glad. You’ve found a better marriage than I imagined. With how kind His Majesty is and Queen Aura herself wishing for it, you’ll probably be treated well.”

After she’d swallowed a mouthful of herbal tea, Freya looked curiously at him. “Huh? Where did that come from? I haven’t mentioned anything about Her Majesty yet. Did you hear about it from Skaji? Or maybe His Majesty?” Only those three should know of Aura’s disposition as far as she could think of.

“No,” Yngvi said confidently. “No one told me; it was just a simple deduction from the information I have. Capua has already finished with the arrangements, and there are only two people who could make that decision: Their Majesties. However, his personality is significantly more respectful and considerate of people than most royals. Someone like him wouldn’t disregard his position as a consort to ask for another country’s first princess as his concubine. Which means there is only one explanation: Queen Aura was the one to suggest it. Am I wrong?”

Freya looked awkwardly away as Yngvi detailed his logical, well-reasoned explanation, which had led to a false conclusion. They had known each other since birth, so there was no way he would miss it.

“Freya?” he asked hesitantly.

She remained silent, not meeting his eyes and instead letting her gaze roam across the room. Yngvi’s look turned into a lidded glare.

“Say, Freya, tell me clearly, who was the first to suggest this marriage? Who proposed it to whom?”

With the question put that clearly, there was no way for her to avoid it. She raised her hand weakly and answered, “I propositioned His Majesty...”

“What are you playing at?!” her brother demanded, his voice more strangled than Freya had ever heard it.

There was a long period of interrogation after that, where Freya simply grinned defiantly as she admitted everything that had happened. Her grin was solely because she had no other recourse to distract from the issue.

For his part, once he had heard the full details, the prince slumped back in his chair and turned his gaze to the dark ceiling.

“You asked to accompany him to a wedding in public, in front of Queen Aura... Has His Majesty simply gone past being ‘a kind person’ and instead lost all negative emotions?”

His comment meant that if the circumstances of the proposal had been clear to begin with, they wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place. If Zenjirou had simply told Uppasala that he was “marrying your shameless woman,” the upper echelons would have found it hard to refuse. And yet, he had hidden the truth of it and allowed the various comments about it being “out of the question,” him needing to “follow their traditions” to marry her, and “him being wholly unsuitable for her.” Even the Rite of Age he was currently undertaking in the forest was part of that.

“His Majesty avoids clashing with people as much as possible. This time, though, we were able to warn him in advance and he could take a much harder stance.”

“That was a harder stance?” Yngvi asked, aghast and amazed. Zenjirou would have been pained had he heard it. He had done his best to get Eric to the verge of violence and was still seen as “kind” from an Uppasalan perspective.

“It was. The marriage is considered a done deal in Capua, so I am almost certain he will do his best to ensure I’m comfortable.”

“You need to thank him for that.”

“I know.”

She saw his remaining silent and his kindness as part of him being considerate, but the truth was different. He had simply forgotten etiquette. He had been raised in Japan, so a woman making the first move wasn’t particularly remarkable. While he understood intellectually that this world was far more patriarchal, having an exception to that constantly at his side in the form of Aura made it hard to truly internalize. The only reason he was even in this world was because Aura had summoned him to be her groom, so nothing about it felt strange.

Having regained his composure again, Yngvi spoke up. “I have to say, their lineal magic is impressive. That alone would be worth two or three of you,” he said with certainty.

It was already common knowledge that Zenjirou was commuting between the forest and palace each day. It was inevitable that people would realize the value of the Capuan lineal magic that made it possible.

“There’s no limit to your rudeness, is there? I have to agree, though. But the Southern Continent is far more sensitive to lineal magic leaving their borders than we are, so bringing our children back here will be rather difficult.”

Aura had hammered that point firmly home in their initial negotiations.

“That makes sense. Still, with teleportation, you could visit fairly easily even after your marriage. So you might even be able to give birth here, no?”

The mental stresses of pregnancy leading to the mothers spending that time in their homeland was fairly common if the countries were neighbors. Still, Freya knew that her brother wasn’t suggesting it out of the goodness of his heart, and she offered him a slight glare.

“And if so?”

“Well, it’s all just hypothetical. I was just thinking that if your child was born here and my wife just happened to give birth at the same time and they were accidentally swapped, it would be just awful. After all, the two of us are twins, so I’m sure our children will look alike.”

“And His Majesty is a completely different race. Twins we may be, but our children are not going to look similar.” She sighed at him.

He grinned back. “That’s not necessarily true. A child from you and him would look similar to a child between me and a woman from the Southern Continent, I’d think.”

“Yngvi...if you seriously try that, that will make us enemies,” she said in a low voice, glaring at him.

He raised his hands. “Aha ha ha, I’m kidding.”

“Fine, then.”

Of course, having grown up with him since birth, she knew full well that he was not joking in the slightest. However, she also knew that his calling it a joke meant that he was giving up on the shady plan, so she wouldn’t pursue it any further.

Gaining the Capuan lineal magic would be the best result for them, but if that would cut off their only link to the royal family in the form of Freya, it wasn’t worth considering. Freya understood the strange criteria he had for evaluating things, since he had both deep ambitions and a willingness to let things pass.

“So, how much of it was a joke?”

“The mixing up of the children was a joke. We’ll take all possible precautions to make sure that doesn’t happen, so you can come back without worrying.”

“Which means marrying someone from Capua?” she asked leadingly.

“That would depend on the person, of course, but it’s something I’m considering. You’d be angry with me if I said it was ‘fortunate,’ but you are our first princess and marrying a prince consort. That means that I—being the next king of Uppasala—would be able to take someone from the high nobility of Capua as a concubine as well. The Northern Continent won’t be happy about having someone from the Southern Continent as a queen, after all.”

It was surprising for Freya to hear that he viewed the trade deal with Capua as that important, but he said as much with a serious expression. Still, Freya picked up on something she was well used to hearing but that she had to find fault with.

“That’s a risky thing to say. We might be good friends as far as royalty goes, and with no signs of factions splitting, it can be taken as a joke, but you should really stop taking every opportunity to say that you’ll be the next king while only being the second prince.”

Usually, such a warning would get an apology and a change of topic. Freya expected as much, but this time his reaction was different.

“I will be. Father will probably reign for another decade or so, which means Carl might be a contender, but Eric will not be the king of Uppasala.”

The specificity of his wording and Freya’s understanding of the political situation in the North let her come to a conclusion.

“Has it been officially decided?”

“It has. It can’t be publicized yet, but it seems like father has received the official demand. Eric will be the king of Ofus. The current king has finally given up on passing it down his line.”

“I see...”

Freya let out a breath at the new information and considered things. The Kingdom of Ofus was one of the northern territories of the continent, like Uppasala. The country was also in the midst of a particularly tricky situation. The current king was an old man over sixty, but there was currently no crown prince to succeed him.

There were several factors complicating matters, but the biggest issue was that the prior crown prince had died in an accident over a decade prior. He had been in his twenties and his wife had died as well. His only daughter was still young, and her corpse had never been recovered, but there was no chance of her survival.

Worsening matters was that the king had only fathered two children. The now-dead first prince and an older daughter. The first princess had already married Gustav and was Uppasala’s queen. She had already given birth to Eric.

The king had grieved personally over the loss of his child but had not been overly panicked in public. He was still in his forties at the time. He had originally not had more children in order to make succession easier, but he was still healthy enough to father more. Still, doing so would not ease his citizens’ fears over having no successor to the throne until the child was grown.

The king had then spoken to Uppasala and brought up the possibility of his grandson—Eric—being given a place in succession. Gustav, with several conditions of his own from their private meeting, had agreed.

Eric Uppasala had then been given both families’ names, becoming Eric Estridsen Uppasala. It was a temporary measure until the foreign king had a child with his new concubine. Everyone had seen it that way, but the situation had continued until today.

“While the king is healthy and carrying out his duties well, another child is unlikely at over sixty years old. Even if they were fortunate enough to have one, there would be no guarantee the king would survive until the child was able to succeed him. So Eric is officially second in line, but first in practice.”

The current first in line was the presumed-dead first princess. Women would ordinarily be lower in succession than men, and the king leaving his likely deceased daughter first in line suggested conflict within both himself and his country when it came to handing the right of succession to a foreign prince.

“We always knew it was a possibility, but Eric becoming their king rather than ours is surprising. The Estridsen family should still have people.”

Freya’s unhappy comment was correct. The royal family itself had not been wiped out. The direct line had been cut, but there were still collateral lines. Those lines were the problem, though.

“That won’t happen. Passing the throne to a subordinate line would force it down his brother’s line. The man himself aside, the majority of his descendants follow the church.”

Ofus was a country consisting of a large island right in between a peninsula of the northern countries and the mainland. Its location made it the closest to—and most influenced by—the church within the northern states. Over twenty percent of the populace followed the church’s teachings, so there was an inevitable consideration to their existence in their policies.

As part of that, the king’s brother had married a woman from inside the church’s sphere of influence, but his wife was the issue. Of course, calling the woman herself a problem was unfair. She just happened to be more devout than they had thought, and her children had been influenced by that.

The king and his brother were almost the same age. Passing the throne to his line wouldn’t be passing it to his brother, but rather to his brother’s children. In other words, it would be the ascension of a baptized king into the northern states. That was something that the king of Ofus—and indeed all of the other nations—wanted to avoid at all costs. So much so that he was willing to take another country’s prince as their next king, and Uppasala was willing to allow their first prince to be another country’s king.

There was a serious—yet still rather lively—look on Freya’s face as she listened to her brother detail the situation.

“I see. Then he really will be the king of Ofus...” she mused before breaking herself off as she considered the prior meeting with Eric present. “Wait, didn’t you imply that the notice only just arrived? Does that not mean that when he introduced himself as our first prince, it was already decided?”

“It’s still secret, and neither Carl nor I are the crown prince yet. That’s why our seats and introductions were the same as ever.”

The response was logical, but considering the knowledge Freya had of Capua’s state, it seemed clearly designed to mislead Zenjirou.

“Father explicitly stated that Eric would be king one day.”

“It’s true. He’ll be the king of Ofus.”

“It’s certainly true, yes, but is it not also clearly misleading?”

“Well, I am not father, so I couldn’t say for sure.”

Freya ignored her brother playing dumb and considered the situation. Why had he purposefully left Zenjirou with the impression that Eric would be the next king of Uppasala? The most obvious answer would be to further guarantee his safety. That had certainly been part of it, but it seemed unlikely that it was the entire explanation.

“Was he...using Eric as a windbreak?”

Yngvi’s silent smile was an agreement as far as she was concerned. Now that she thought about it, her father was the one who had started exploring intercontinental trade. He had arranged for Naglfar and the Glasir’s Leaf, along with ensuring they had captains capable of sailing them. He had also expanded Logfort into a port capable of harboring several such ships—both cargo ships and warships. Of course, it had not all been with a view to intercontinental trade, but that was definitely the main objective. Considering all the effort he had put in, he would want trade with Capua to succeed no matter what.

For better or worse, Gustav ruled as a king should. However bad it would have been for their reputation, if it had to be Freya who became a concubine to secure trade with Capua, he would pay that price.

Conversely, Eric was—again, for better or worse—a deeply emotional person who prized reputation and honor above all. Gustav would have easily been able to predict his son being so strongly against the arrangement. Yet he’d still had him present. He would have been able to keep him absent by saying that he would be the king of Ofus. Yet thinking back, he hadn’t restricted Eric’s behavior at all—as much as was possible—letting him do as he wished.

A simple view of that would be that allowing him to do so and earn Zenjirou’s ire was nothing but a negative. Just stopping Eric from speaking up wouldn’t have influenced things, though. It was obvious that the reluctance to hand the first princess to a consort was not limited to Eric. Many others of the leading lights in the palace had the same opinion. Therefore, he had been allowed to act as their representative and speak those thoughts. His subordinates were one thing, but a prince—and one they assumed would be the next king—having those opinions would not be easily removed from negotiations.

Ordinarily clashing in such a way could leave bad blood, but that was not a concern with Eric. After all, he would not be part of Uppasala in the future; he would just be their neighboring country’s king. Having Eric oppose the marriage would allow the opposition to vent, and a poor relationship between him and the Capuan royal family would result in the actual issues shifting to Ofus.

“Father...” she sighed, looking up at the ceiling. “And should you be telling me that now?” she then asked Yngvi.

What was his plan if that information reached Zenjirou through her? But the prince merely laughed at the question and gave a ridiculous answer.

“Well, he didn’t explicitly say so, but I’m pretty sure he wanted me to keep it secret from everyone.”

“Yngvi, what?”

“I’m providing cover, though. His Majesty isn’t particularly fond of this kind of scheme, is he?”

“I wouldn’t dispute that, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t understand them,” she said, almost defending him.

Yngvi’s smile deepened. “That’s exactly why. He might understand it, but it will be unpleasant for him. It isn’t a clean decision, but something forced on him. That discomfort will accumulate and could eventually overcome him. He is a good-natured person, though. Explaining our circumstances as best as possible and admitting that it will cause him trouble and asking him for his cooperation while emphasizing that we will be working for his benefit as well would be more effective for him.”

“Yngvi...” Freya murmured, feeling a chill go down her back at how well he understood Zenjirou without even speaking to him.

As a child, he had innocently claimed that he had never had his first impression of a person turn out to be wrong. It was rather delayed, but Freya was realizing just how useful that ability was.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Ten days had passed. Zenjirou and the group had finally reached the cliff they had been aiming for.

“So, this is the place?” Zenjirou asked.

“Mind your step, Your Majesty,” Victor warned him.

“Of course,” he answered, looking down the cliff. He had a thick rope tied around a sturdy tree—having been taught the knot by Victor. While he had that lifeline, the chill breeze from below struck him right to his heart.

With no real frame of reference, it seemed almost completely vertical to him. It also seemed to be at least as high as the view he’d had from the high-rise building he had worked in back in Japan. It had probably been caused by a now-dry stream. The fissures looked like someone had taken a massive carving knife to the ground.

“There’d be no saving me if I fell...” he mused with a shaking voice.

“Indeed,” Victor agreed.

A fall from this height wouldn’t necessarily kill someone, but the wounds it would cause would leave one incapable of anything afterwards, so the meaning was much the same. That would also be true for the animals in the forest.

Eventually, his hands sweating in his gloves, Zenjirou pulled himself back in and stepped away from the edge. His hands were numb from both the cold and fear as he undid the knot, and when the burden was off him, he rubbed his gloved hands together and breathed a sigh of relief.

“This is perfect,” he said again, looking over the torn-up ground. It was exceptionally convenient that those fissures formed a softened U shape. It would be easier to drive something into than a completely straight drop.

That said, Zenjirou didn’t have the skills to guide the forest wildlife as he wished. He would need to ask the specialists for their views.

“Victor, I’d like to drive some prey in the area over the cliffs. Teach me how, if you would.”

The man leading his escort put a hand to his stubbled chin and thought things over before replying. “In your case, baiting them would likely be better than chasing them. To chase them, it could take days to guide a target here. You would need to find them first as well. If you cannot find them before they find you, guiding their movements is close to impossible. Meanwhile, if you have bait, all you need do is wait. While they could take the bait and run, you need not worry about preparing more.”

Zenjirou nodded in understanding. It would be difficult for him to drive them as he wished. He had neither the agility nor the stamina to chase animals through unpaved woods. He had been imagining chasing them from behind, with the animal running straight ahead, but now that his naivety had been pointed out, he spoke slightly faster.

“Very well. I shall go with that. It might be worthwhile setting up a trap at the same time. It might not be much use, but it is worth the attempt.”

That was why he had not brought a bow or spear, and had instead packed a complement of traps. However, the expert rejected that as well.

“It would be better not to. If they spot the trap, they are likely to not approach at all.”

“Ah, I see. A dilemma indeed.”

It went without saying, but even wild animals weren’t idiots. They had the intelligence to stay away from traps that they spotted. What should be bait could end up being a warning and prevent them from getting close to the cliff. It would definitely be putting the cart before the horse, especially as Zenjirou would need to set any traps up on his own to pass the rite. He might have an expert at his side guiding him through the process, but assuming he would be able to hide it well enough to fool animals with sharper senses would be too optimistic.

“Understood, then. It is somewhat early, but I will return and prepare some bait. There is a lot to prepare, so I won’t be here tomorrow and we will resume the day after. Is there anything in particular I should bring?”

Victor answered his request for advice immediately.

“You should decide what you are targeting first. While there are commonalities between bears, wolves, boars, deer, and reindeer, their main diets change.”

“I see. What would be the most likely to work?”

“Well, there are advantages and disadvantages to each. Deer and reindeer are safer but will escape more quickly and may manage to get away. Meanwhile, bears and boars, particularly cornered boars, are extremely aggressive, so they likely won’t run. In fact, they will often attack first. Furthermore, I would recommend avoiding wolves. They hunt in packs, and finding a single one alone is rare. If we are attacked by a pack, we will all have to fight and that would contradict the rite.”

A fight between Zenjirou and a pack would mean that even if he managed to separate and kill one, he wouldn’t be able to protect himself from the rest. Having his escort defeat—or even drive off—the rest would be using their aid and end the rite.

“Very well. Thank you for your advice. I will avoid targeting wolves. I have a concern now, though. I have no confidence that a deer or reindeer would not escape, but I am afraid of the bears and boars. Would it not be safest to assume that there would be several failures and target the former?”

Despite the apparent cowardice, the previously mocking warriors now offered serious advice.

“Then you should plant the bait here,” one advised, pointing. “If we hide here, they can get around us.”

“When you do, get it as close to the cliff edge as possible. If they have their back to the cliff as they eat, there is more risk of discovery.”

“You should also pluck some grass and wind it around your shoes; it will disguise your footprints and scent.”

The course of events had led to them wanting his success more than anyone. After all, until he succeeded, they couldn’t leave the forest. If he had failed earlier, they could have temporarily returned home, but now that he had photographed the area, he could travel this far into the forest in an instant, where it would take even a skilled hunter five days to reach even in a straight line.

Considering he would be making the attempt within a few days even after a failure, they could effectively not return during that intervening period. They had made no preparations for an extended stay, so they now had to pray for his success.

“I shall take my leave for today, then. I will be counting on you from the day after tomorrow,” Zenjirou told them before leaving via teleportation slightly earlier than normal.

The five men began making camp, setting up bedding and a firepit with practiced movements.

“We have time tonight, so I want to go hunt for dinner,” the youngest said.

Victor offered a warning in his role as supervisor. “I don’t mind, but make sure you do it far away.”

“I know,” he replied with a sullen expression.

Zenjirou would be hunting in this area the day after tomorrow. Hunting in the same space beforehand would make the local animals warier, and they couldn’t risk that. Despite understanding and accepting that, the young man couldn’t help but complain about Zenjirou in his absence.

“We’ve gotta do all this ’cause of that coward. How much of a kick is he getting out of this?”

While he didn’t explicitly name anyone, it was clear he was unhappy with Zenjirou. If Zenjirou himself had heard it, he would probably have apologized ruefully, but that was not something an escort should be saying about their protectee.

“Watch your tongue. Our failings will fall back on His Highness for his wholehearted trust,” Victor said sharply.

Still, the young warrior just got angrier, not even paying lip service to an apology. Seeing the risk, Victor let out an exaggerated sigh.

“It is thanks to His Majesty’s kindness that we are not disgracing ourselves. We ought to be grateful, or have you not realized that?” he asked loudly.

It wasn’t just the young warrior who was pulled up at that. The other three stopped to look at him as well.

“So, none of you have realized,” he sighed before explaining. “There is no need anymore for His Majesty to even complete the rite. He could simply take our failings and use them to accuse His Highness of not fulfilling the agreement.”

The others still didn’t understand. The three of them were just looking at him in confusion, while the youngest had a sneer of anger on his face.

“He simply needs to say one thing,” Victor continued. “‘I think the area we passed through on the third day seems promising. We will start there tomorrow.”

“What? That’s ridiculous,” the youngest said.

Two of the others looked more confused, while the last turned it over in his head before letting out a gasp. Victor nodded at him.

“Exactly. His Majesty can teleport. There is no need for him to meet up with us each day. He can go to any of the places we passed within the last ten days.”

It was obvious once it had been said. However, the group had only been made aware of the possibility recently, so it was hardly a surprise they hadn’t seen the danger. They thought back to the conversation between their liege and Zenjirou.

“I see. Then I can assume there is absolutely no possibility whatsoever that I will be delayed by their circumstances?” and “If that should still happen, it will completely overturn everything thus far agreed. Are you prepared for that?” were the exact words he had used. Eric had agreed to both queries.

In other words, if Zenjirou said they would set out from where they were on the third day, they would have to make the trip in a single night. That was, of course, impossible. It would then “overturn everything thus far agreed.”

That would accomplish everything Zenjirou needed. It would make Eric a liar, and there would be no future for the ambitious warriors who had caused his trust to be proven false.

Finally understanding the situation they were in, all of the warriors but Victor paled significantly.

“Do you understand how kind he is being now? If you do, then do your best to live up to that. No one will trust a warrior who does not pay his debts.”

“Yes, sir!” the young warrior practically yelped before racing off.

“For the love of... That’s less understanding the kindness and more having the situation light a fire under him. Well, it’s all the same in the end,” Victor mused in exasperation, shrugging slightly.