Chapter 260: They Were Well…

The Chancellor muttered, "The ’makeup box,’ is it, Raide’s secret..." with both hands on his head. King Adom looked at the Chancellor’s worrying face and smiled like he was enjoying it.

...Even if you call it my secret. All I can say is that I knew...

The problem is the reason I knew... I am not smooth with words, and if I lie Croana will notice with magic.

If I put the "makeup box" on the table I thought it would go as I expected.

The Chancellor lifted a sour face, one hand still on his forehead, and looked at me.

"I will ask while I am at it. If I hear your secret. Will we be able to accept it?"

"To be honest, I think it is a difficult story..."

"Haa... you are human, right?"

"I am sorry, but could you not ask me the same thing Tetrin did? I am human. Just a combat instructor, and a tavern keeper."

"Where is the ’just,’ you fool... aah, my head hurts."

The Chancellor put both hands on his head again and started worrying. All I could do was watch him with a troubled smile.

Croana used magic to move her beautiful back-hair and stroke one of my cheeks, sara sara.

Sharle had been rubbing the back of my neck and my shoulders for a while, taking care of my body.

The two of them’s pleasant scents settled me a little when I was tense.

Suddenly Sanai-san put a hand to one ear the way Sharle and the others do when they contact their own, nodded a few times, then started smiling wryly.

...Ah. Bad way to put it, but we hooked one.

Sanai-san lowered the hand from her ear, took one step closer to King Adom, and spoke.

"King Adom, both wives are heading this way with the ’makeup box.’"

"Hmm... Raide. You knew it would go this way, did you not?"

"With respect, my skill is Feint. I cannot do things like prediction."

"You cannot predict, but you could guess?"

King Adom rubbed his chin with one hand and grinned happily. Seeing that, all I could do was smile with a troubled face.

A man you cannot take lightly. The reason he had not cut into the Chancellor’s words on purpose was because he had predicted it.

He had probably seen the later moves the moment I said "makeup box."

I do not have that kind of calm. I felt like I had glimpsed the size of King Adom’s vessel...

Hearing Sanai-san, the Chancellor looked at the ceiling with distant eyes and, rare for him, let out a big sigh.

He had predicted it too, which is why he had been working his head so hard to dodge it.

He dropped his eyes from the ceiling to me and rubbed his temple with one hand as hard as he could.

"Have drinks ready, you idiot. Working an old body like this..."

"Yes, Chancellor. And thank you."

"Haaa... I will say it first. I do not need tonic."

"Um, I am sorry, but that is something my lovers made. I was not involved."

Could you not look at me with that blank face? If anything, I am one of the ones it was mixed into.

Seeing the Chancellor, King Adom covered his mouth and laughed happily. Croana shook her shoulders laughing too.

How many bottles have been made, who they are given to, the materials? I have no idea at all.

If I know anything, it is that they use a little white token powder... that is about it.

When I said that with a troubled face, the two of them blinked, then laughed out loud.

"Kuhahaha! What, you got it mixed in too!? Fuhahahaha! Galt, this is funny!"

"This, kuha! I heard something funny! Kukuku, fine! I will play along with your scheme this time."

"I will tell you two. We will faint before this one does, you know?"

"Ha...?"

"Ha...?"

No no, what are you talking about, Croana?

I poked one of Croana’s cheeks with a finger, trying to stop her from saying it, but it was already too late.

The two startled faces started questioning Croana in a rush. She answered them modestly.

Even if she spoke modestly, having that time talked about was too embarrassing to stand.

King Adom and the Chancellor trying to hear it in a rush almost made me look into the distance this time.

Wanting to change the topic I held Croana’s body tighter, cleared my throat once, and opened my mouth.

"Ah~, Croana. Before the queens get here, shall I tell you about Alek?"

"Kukuku! See? Cute, is he not?"

"Hmm... from next time shall we call Teacher Croana to the castle with him, Galt?"

"No, King Adom. If it is that, better to call the wives... no, Sharle and the others are here."

"Croana..."

"Sorry, sorry. Will you tell us?"

I held Croana even tighter to tell her to spare me. She turned her face, looked at me, and smiled happily.

Sharle gently stroked one of my cheeks from behind. Even without seeing her face I could tell her expression was kind.

I glanced at the grinning King Adom and Chancellor, let out a small sigh, and started talking.

"Croana, the day everyone forgot Alek’s ’face’ and ’voice.’ When do you think that was?"

"The day they forgot? Mmuu... the day he was executed?"

"As expected, Croana. Correct. Now then, how... the village Alek was in last had a treasure. Bern set his eyes on it. He tricked Alek, lured enemy soldiers to the village, and had the Ryudo couple’s unit fight them. I will skip the details, but he caught Alek, who had been a lump over his eye, and the village was destroyed as he wanted. But there was no treasure there."

"There was not...? In the first place, what kind of treasure did Bern want badly enough to go that far?"

"A gift from the goddess that grants one wish."

"A wish?"

I stroked Croana’s hair as if combing it at her doubtful look, smiled with a troubled face, and nodded.

King Adom and the Chancellor seemed to have no mind to cut in. They folded their arms, closed their eyes, and stayed still.

There was something a little bitter on those faces, but they were interested in my story too.

The treasure passed down in the village. A gift from the goddess.

The village Alek was in had guarded that treasure for generations.

But Alek and the others happened to visit, grew close with one girl, and Bern learned of it then.

At the time bandits were common near the village, and nearby a war with the enemy country had broken out.

So Bern left Alek behind to call support soldiers, went to a nearby town with the Ryudo couple, and Alek was to guard the village alone until the soldiers arrived.

You can probably guess most of it. Bern leaked that our soldiers were hiding in the village to the enemy country... the village was destroyed, leaving Alek.

By Bern’s scheme the one who leaked the information was made out to be Alek, and he was caught by the Kingdom of Libertonia.

Alek was excellent, and he had been close to being given a medal, so the matter grew large.

Alek was taken to the capital and executed by order of the previous king.

"Then Alek used the treasure before he was executed, is that it?"

"No. If you are caught, everything you have is confiscated. Same for Alek at the time."

"Nnn???"

"From here is the hidden part. In truth Alek was not the only survivor of the village. The girl he had grown close with was protected together with him."

He could not save the villagers, but Alek staked his life and held that one girl.

Yes. The girl was the one who had the treasure.

When she heard Alek would be executed she wished, that everyone would forget "our" "faces" and "voices."

When I explained that far, Croana made a hard face and opened her mouth.

"Is that... not strange? Then they would not notice he is ali..."

I put the index finger of one hand in front of my mouth and shook my head a little so Croana would not say the rest.

That motion must have made her notice. Her eyes went wide, then she nodded with a happy smile.

Bern had been acting strangely for a long time, and the previous king had been on guard.

Then the incident that happened was Alek’s case. But the matter was too large. They could not gather it up, and outwardly the arrangement became execution.

That is why no one stood witness, and those involved were told it was done quietly.

...What Alek wanted more than himself was for the girl’s village to be restored.

But the girl chose Alek. She chose to live together in a world that had forgotten them.

I turned my face to King Adom, whose eyes were closed, let out a small breath, then spoke.

Spoken to, King Adom opened his eyes quietly and looked at me with a tired face.

The Chancellor was the same. I smiled at the two of them and said it quietly.

"...The Guild Master and his wife were well."

"...? Why does talk of the Guild Master and his wife come up so suddenly? ...I see. No, I see... they were well. They were there... in the capital."

"...Raide, was this not a better trade than the ’makeup box’?"

"I do not know what you mean. I only brought up the Guild Master suddenly."

King Adom covered one eye with a hand and turned his face away. Sanai-san smiled happily, bowed to me, then stood right beside him as if hiding him.

The Chancellor smiled at my words, happy but also fed up, and shook his head a little.

As I thought. In my mind you are the hero, Blogger... no. Alek.