◇
"--We"re indebted to you."
"No no, it"s just right to help each others in times of needs."
The wars.h.i.+p"s captain said his thanks to me who saved the wars.h.i.+ps from the Sand Demon.
It might seem hypocritical coming from the one who made the situation in the first place, but I couldn"t exactly leave wars.h.i.+ps sinking before my eyes so I intervened.
This wars.h.i.+p"s captain and officers are wearing Arabian-like clothing.
A crew with sharp-looking eyes whispered something to the captain"s ear.
It"s the guy who was controlling mini gargoyles awhile ago.
"Your excellency, those drifting s.h.i.+ps were the sand pirate where Belbe and the others had snuck in."
"Just as we thought, so where"s Belbe and the others?"
"We couldn"t find a survivor inside."
"Which means, we should consider that the medium s.h.i.+p earlier had Haifdono on board..."
Attentive Ears skill caught their conversation.
Afterward, the captain turns toward me.
"Earl Pendragon, about the sand s.h.i.+p that was attacked by those sand pirates--"
"A girl on board of it wielded her wand, and then they escaped from the Sand Demon with some kind of magic."
She did wield the wand when she insisted to get on our airs.h.i.+p, but I"m the one who used the [some kind of magic] part, therefore it"s not really lie.
The officer with sharp eyes has G.o.d Urion"s gift [Eyes of Condemnation] so I"d like to avoid telling lies here.
I don"t think the gift is capable of distinguis.h.i.+ng lies, but I"m still wary of the intuition of people who have this kind of gift to see through criminals.
"Who"d have thought that H-the 『Clan of Wand』 possessed such hidden technique..."
"Were they your acquaintances?"
The captain stopped speaking when I asked him.
He reworded her name to the clan itself, but I don"t think there"s any point in doing that.
"No, my subordinate reckoned that they might have been the gang who stole the kingdom"s treasured wand..."
The wand Haifa carried with her belonged to the [Clan of Wand] so he"s not telling the truth here.
Of course, there"s also a possibility that the [Clan of Wand] possessed the national treasured wand due to their influence.
"I see, that sounds terrible."
I replied like it was none of my business.
"We will only get in the way if you"re going to pursue that s.h.i.+p. We will be on our way then."
"P-Please wait."
Not wanting to get involved in something troublesome, I was going to leave as soon as possible, but the wars.h.i.+p captain stopped me.
"Yes, what is it?"
"I"d like to express our grat.i.tudes for your help. By all means, please visit Clan of Sword during your time in Sania Kingdom. Our clan will gladly welcome you."
Looks like this captain is a direct descendant of the [Clan of Sword].
"I"ll be looking forward to that."
I can"t promise that I"ll go.
I mean, I can just feel trouble brewing there.
I climb up the rope ladder hanging down the airs.h.i.+p and leave their s.h.i.+p.
And saw one mini gargoyle flying toward Sania Kingdom.
It appears to be a mini gargoyle functioning like a carrier pigeon.
◇
"Master, lots of mushroom houses around, so I report."
"They rather look like snails instead."
Nana"s and Liza"s impressions are reasonable.
Peculiar shaped buildings are lined up at the royal capital of Sania Kingdom.
"Master, there are flying objects approaching us."
Some men riding on magic tools shaped like flying carpets with legless chairs installed on board are flying toward us.
It looks like a magic carpet, but if I have to say, it looks more like the time machine a certain cat robot from the future rode.
The magic carpets got near the airs.h.i.+p and flew parallel to us while gesturing that they weren"t hostile.
"We a.s.sume that you"re Earl Pendragon-sama of s.h.i.+ga Kingdom. We will be your guide, please follow us."
Looks like the mini gargoyle was to prepare for this.
I"d have liked them to come after we toured the royal capital from above once.
Chances are high that they"d be attacking us with magic and magic artillery if we really did the tour though.
"Thank you for guiding us."
I shouted that to reply them and informed the brownie in control of the s.h.i.+p.
"Someone"s watching from there~?"
"Tama"s right nanodesu. It"s like, flash flash, nanodesuyo."
Tama and Pochi were dangling on the airs.h.i.+p"s handrail before I knew it.
I call the two while folding my arms.
"Tama, Pochi?"
"I-it"s not like that nodesuyo?"
Pochi shook her head buzzingly.
It seems she doesn"t like the cheek squash punishment.
"Break time~?"
Tama asked me with flopped ears.
Fumu, I guess it"s fine if it"s break time.
I"m not sure if I should really give my consent here, but since I"m intrigued by what Tama and Pochi found, I look at the direction in question.
There"s a palace in the center of the capital, boys and girls who look like Haifa are in one of the spires there. The gazes seemingly come from them.
They"re probably Haifa"s relatives, but they look so similar like they"re either twins or clones.
Judging from the intensity of their gazes, I"m guessing that their personalities are also similar to Haifa, I should try not to get involved with them.
◇
"--Trial of G.o.ds?"
I"m having an audience with the king in the well ventilated Sania Kingdom"s Palace.
Even though the king is only in his thirties, he looks like a weak-spirited middle aged man.
The military officers from the [Clan of Sword] standing by in the audience room look more important instead.
I"d better deliver a gift one ranking lower than what I gave the king earlier to these [Clan of Sword] people.
"Yes, King of Sania. I came here to Sania Kingdom in order to take a Trial of G.o.ds."
I honestly told him my business since there was no particular need to hide it.
"What kind of trial is it?"
"That will be up to G.o.ds. It should be revealed by the G.o.ds at Heraruon Temple."
That"s why, let me off this already.
"You ought be tired from the long journey. We shall send a messenger to the temple, have some rest in mine own palace tonight."
Well, guess that"s only natural.
"This Pendragon shed tears of grat.i.tude for Sania King"s kindness."
I ended up using some weird speech due to the old fas.h.i.+oned speech of the king here.
No choice, let"s accept the hospitality today.
I just hope that there won"t be any weird flag getting raised.
※ Next update is planned for 10/15