Chapter 201: Encounter

I decided to dismount and walk.

A noble who does not ride a horse — and a member of the royal family at that! Are you not ashamed as a noble!! — it would not be strange if someone said that. As general aristocratic theory it was unthinkable, but right now my own body was more important. Riding a horse would only make me a perfect target, I thought.

The knight was apologetic, but that did not matter. If necessary I would even have the knight mount and act like an attendant myself. Only, doing that would merely make the knight a substitute target. Still, I wanted to advance quickly. Because the knight stubbornly refused to ride while making me walk, saying he could not mount himself, we ultimately ended up walking five people surrounding the horse.

"People are coming from ahead!"

Stevie cried. I still could not tell. Lily also frowned. Yet the knight’s face blossomed into a smile as he said,

"Could it be that the welcoming party has already arrived?"

Even after I had said all that, his mind only went in the good direction. I began to think that when the critical moment came this fellow might be useless. Looking back later I understood that because he had never placed himself in such a desperate situation, hopeful observation had taken precedence.

From ahead, three mounted people and several on foot came into view. However, none of them were wearing knight-order uniforms. Even among the mounted ones the clothing was mismatched and not unified. This was strange. They had not come from the checkpoint. If they were from the checkpoint there would be uniforms. Looking at the knight’s face, he wore an "eh?" expression. Were there no familiar faces?

"Halt!!"

When the other side approached and the distance closed to about two hundred feet, I called out. Obeying that, the other group stopped walking. I did not feel anything like killing intent from them.

"I want you to go over to those people and determine whether they are truly a welcoming party."

When I said that,

"Understood. I shall go!"

The knight walked toward the group at a leisurely pace. I wanted to shout, "Does the word ’carelessness is the greatest enemy’ not exist in your dictionary!?"

"Lily, Stevie, be ready to fight at any time. That group only gives me a bad feeling."

I instructed in a low voice.

""Understood.""

Replies came back in low voices. Unpleasant sweat ran down my side.

I thought that group was the enemy, but they might actually be allies. Ah — in the first place, who were allies? If Maxim had truly seized power, I would simply have to obey, but would I be permitted that? The personality that stretches such persistent hands toward someone like me is unpleasant.

The knight was speaking with the representative of the other group. From time to time he looked this way and explained something. Because his face was smiling I began to feel that things might not roll in the bad direction? I felt as if a slightly brighter tomorrow was coming into view.

"Prince Robin, it’s all riiight! There’s no mistaaake, they’re people related to the checkpoint—!"

The knight waved his hand with a cheerful face. Expectation two-tenths, suspicious feeling eight-tenths, perhaps.

"Why are those people not wearing uniforms? Even if the attendants’ clothing being mismatched is unavoidable, the fact that the clothing of the mounted ones does not match is strange, is it not?"

I thought this might be a bit forced, but I asked.

The representative made an "ah" face and was momentarily stuck. Then he said,

"We are people sent from the margrave’s house to the checkpoint. Those who serve the margrave’s house have no prescribed clothing, so mismatched clothing like this cannot be helped."

He said something that sounded exactly like what one would say.

"If you are of the margrave’s house you should possess the margrave’s crest. Show it!"

At my question Stevie said something insolent: "Robby-sama, do you even know the margrave’s crest?" Yes, of course I did not. I thought the margrave’s carriage had a crest, but I did not remember it.

"This is it!"

The representative held something up. It was some kind of crest, but I could not see it well. Even if I could see it I would not know it, so it was meaningless. There the knight said,

"Prince Robin, I understand your concern, but these people are without doubt members of the margrave’s household. They have come to the checkpoint many times and I have met them."

So "people of the checkpoint" meant people whose faces one had seen at the checkpoint? Then say that from the beginning. Look, the representative is also giving a wry smile, honestly!

"Even though I say ’pleased to meet you,’ I have seen Prince Robin’s figure before. I am Chris Squire, a retainer of the Wake-man Margrave’s house who has been granted the title of knight. Please remember me."

He gave a beautiful bow. When he came out like that,

"I apologize for casting baseless suspicion. After leaving the margrave’s mansion we were attacked, wandered through the forest, and had become unable to trust people. We encountered that knight... (Lord Alan White, Lily whispered from the side) White at the edge of the forest and were being escorted to the checkpoint. Your appearance is truly a help. Please take care of us until the checkpoint."

At my words Squire smiled brightly and said,

"Leave it to us. From here the margrave’s house will protect you."

The middle-aged handsome man thumped his chest. Oh no, what is this — my heart is racing! And Stevie is saying "He might be reliable."

This time I felt relieved, mounted the horse once more, and headed for the checkpoint with Squire leading. If the margrave’s house had sided with Maxim I would already be finished. At that time I thought I would simply give up.

"Now we can finally feel at ease, ufufu."

"Yes, at last."

Lily replied to Stevie’s words. Hey hey, you must not raise that kind of flag — I would later come to hate the me who thought that...