Water Magician

“Thank you very much, everyone.”

His Highness Willy bowed when he said so.

Diagonally behind him, Rodrigo was also bowing.

“No no, I’m glad we were able to arrive safely.”

“We were just fulfilling the request. Your Highness, please raise your head.”

Cohn felt awkward and Ryo replied in a hurry.

They were in front of the royal palace of the Kingdom of Knightley.

Volunteers of the Court Magic Group who escorted them had already disbanded and left to the royal palace.

Matthew and Luca also thanked the four and left for the Treasury, with an army escort appearing out of nowhere.

Finally, the escort adventurers, including Ryo, were bidding farewell to His Highness Willy and Rodrigo.

“Ryo-san, I have a final request!”

“Yes, Your Highness?”

His Highness Willy had never made any request to Ryo and Ryo lightly asked.

“Can I call Ryo-san 『Mentor』 from now on?”

“I’m sorry, please don’t do that …”

“I see … Then, I’ll leave it as 『Teacher』.”

“Eh……”

Feeling very disappointed, His Highness Willy compromised with 『Teacher』.

Yes, compromised … although Ryo didn’t find it to be a compromise at all.

The two then went into the royal castle to report their arrival.

“Now, we’re going to the Adventurer’s Guild, but what about Ryo?”

Cohn, Ryo, and the other adventurers were left.

Cohn and the others were going to the Adventurer’s Guild. Thereafter, it seemed that this temporary party would be disbanded.

Even though it was Ryo’s first time in the royal capital, he didn’t have anywhere to go urgently.

At most, he had to pop by and meet Advisor Arthur who told him to do so later.

Therefore, he tried to follow Cohn and the others but … he heard a familiar voice from a group walking out from the royal palace.

“Ryo?”

As Ryo turned around, Sera hugged him at the speed of sound.

“Guho … Se-Sera? Why are you here? And the Rune Knights?”

For a while, Sera was silent while hugging Ryo.

Instead, Platoon Leader Eden of the Knights replied.

“Well, we were asked to deliver something from Rune to the Royal Palace. We have just delivered it.”

“Eh … Sera too?”

“Yes, Sera-sama too … initially she wasn’t involved but she requested to participate in a hurry …”

“I couldn’t help it …”

Sera, who interrupted Eden’s words and raised her face, finally made a sound.

“Didn’t you send the letter through Sue from 『Switchback』? When I opened it, it said that you were going to the royal capital … Ryo is very precious to an Elf like me. …… I mean … Yes, as a source of nourishment. I would be greatly troubled if you aren’t around. I want you to be a little more aware of that!”

“Um … I guess I’m sorry …”

(What about being a source of nourishment … that’s the first time I was told that.)

“Yup, if you understand then it’s fine.”

Sera replied with a big smile.

The destructive power of that smile transcended everything.

For that smile, Ryo would be able to fight even if he had to turn the world into his enemy …

But he wanted to solve the query he had.

“By the way, that source of nourishment you mentioned …”

“Hmm? You see, that guardian beast you met somewhere said it too? About how it felt like their life span would be extended if they are near Ryo.”

“Yes, they did say that …”

“That’s it. As I said before, an Elf is like a half-Fairy. And I’m sure that guardian beast is also a guardian beast of the Fairy lineage. We call it 『Fairy Factor』and Ryo is a very valuable source of nourishment for those who have it. It’s like … the feeling of purifying evil spirits. It also has a refreshing effect. It’s good for you to remember.”

The knights who were listening next to them nodded and went ‘Hoh~’.

“Um … does it have effects on humans …?”

“No, not at all.”

Sera answers Ryo’s question bluntly.

“Um … does it has some effect on me …?”

“No, probably not.”

And Sera answered Ryo’s following question bluntly as well.

And for some reason, Ryo suffered from a feeling of defeat.

In the middle of such an exchange, Ryo didn’t realize that Cohn and the others had left, saying, ‘W-we’re going.’

“So, Luca has escaped to the Treasury, Sica is missing, and the unshackled Finance Minister is likely to change sides. In addition, there is a glimmer of Ilarion’s shadow behind them …”

It was the residence of the Duke of Flitwick in the royal capital.

In the office, two men were talking.

One person with a thin body who wore a monocle spoke while reading the report.

The other had a medium build but looked like a person with a somewhat eerie atmosphere and didn’t look like he belonged in a Duke’s residence.

“And the man who connects them is this guy called Abel?”

“Yes. It seemed that he was sniffing around the Knight-Captain too.”

Abel had already been noticed not only by Sica but also by the Duke’s subordinates.

In the first place, Abel was mainly an active adventure and not adept in espionage … so it couldn’t be helped.

“Where is Ilarion now?”

“Yesterday, there was a report that he left the royal capital and headed east on the second highway.”

“Is this an opportunity to get rid of this Abel?”

The monocle man thought a little.

Even if he tried to dispose of him, there was also information that he seemed to be quite skillful.

Sending a half-hearted assassination attempt may cause the tables to turn.

“If we want to take him down for sure … we should use them.”

“Yes, we have already prepared it.”

“Wow … as expected. So how will you do it?”

“We can use Gordon, Bellrock, and Roman. Gordon alone should be fine, but the other two are insurance.”

“Okay. Get rid of him before Ilarion returns.”

“Yes.”

Then the creepy man left the office.

The monocle man who remained in the room smiled and muttered.

“Attacked by Heroes …”