Heavenly Castle

Chapter 91: Trouble out of misunderstanding

「N-no, no, no, it’s really just an incredibly small country.」

I say that, but the two only shake their heads left and right at high speed.

「No, from the very moment I saw you I thought that Taiki-sama, no, that Your Highness possesses a dignity that no mere noble can come close!」

「Truly so! Compared to Your Highness, Count Inge is just a crap! A crap I say! Summoning us himself all the time and acting all high and mighty and yet haggling endlessly! That jerk should change his name to Count Minge!」

The two were in utter confusion.

I can’t help but feel sorry for Count Inge, whose name is getting dragged through the mud. I’m not even being humble, my country is truly very small. Why am I even getting compared with that Count Inge?

Being told that they, by all means, would like to build a close relationship with me, I reply in a typical japanese-like vague fashion.

After that, I received a brief excursion through the store’s interior, and while still astonished about the fact that the whole of the second floor was dedicated to slave trade I left the store.

「...I’m a bit tired.」

As I muttered such words involuntarily, Ayla showed an awkward smile.

「One cannot obtain connections with royalty that easily after all, even if one were to try. On top of that, it was even revealed that Taiki-sama is a king, so naturally, they’d be very eager.」

「Aifa-san......」

As I turned a reproachful look to him, Aifa made a troubled expression.

「I understand that it was my fault.」

Receiving a clumsy apology I made a wry smile.

「Well, it’s fine. I received something amazing after all.」

Saying so I take the knife that was hanging at my waist in both hands. This is a gift that I received in a set with a leather belt decorated with splendid embroidery.

Pulling the knife from the leather and metal sheathe revealed a thin yet imposing blade. A fully mithril knife. The length of the blade is about 20 centimeters. Surprisingly light, it is only about the same weight as a fruit knife.

The whitish silvery blade that sparkled brightly in the light, upon closer look showed a mysterious charm.

By the way, compared to Yuri’s blade the amount of mithril used was about a half as much.

But to be honest, I preferred this thin blade with little to no decorations to that extravagant dagger that Yuri had.

As I absentmindedly observed the knife, Yuri called out to me.

「By the way, Taiki-sama. Where are we going to stop today?」

The words that made me go 「Ah」.

「We should’ve asked at that firm the way to the aristocratic district. This way we could’ve stopped at a hotel for nobles or something... The public order doesn’t seem to be that good, but let’s search in this area for a place to stay.」

A1 is also here, so it should be okay.

When I made a suggestion with such thoughts, Aifa stepped forward without hesitation.

「I’d like you to leave this to me. I shall secure the lodging.」

「Ah, p-please do.」

I got overwhelmed by his forceful tone. Aifa dashed away the very moment he heard my reply. Thinking that it’s dangerous to go alone, I made a single robot follow him, accompanying Aifa going at a quick pace it soon disappeared from sight.

Left behind, we glanced at each other.

「For the time being, I guess we’ll leave the inn to Aifa.」

And as soon as we exchanged laughs after that line, a horse carriage stopped right next to us.

「Eh?」

I hear that foolish voice, as its sound reached my own ears, and then I blink.

A little period of stiffness, a short moment.

In that short moment, the door of the carriage opened and a man stuck his hand out. And with a force that was enough to make an audible sound, he grabbed a wrist.

「M-Me?!」

For some reason, I exclaimed such a thing.

For some strange reason, despite Yuri and Ayla being right next to me, the one dragged inside of the carriage was me.

「Pipe down!」

Before I could even say ah, I was already tied up by a brawny man and thrown onto a carriage seat.

「Ta-Taiki-sama!」

I heard Ayla’s voice coming from the outside, but steadily it grew more and more distant.

I have to escape somehow. Thoughts kept going around in my mind, but I was unable to come up with a way to accomplish that.

「The elven magician is not with you and dull a golem has no chance of catching up. Give it up.」

The man announced in a low voice.

Then, he glared at the knife on my waist.

「You are a noble, right? And in addition, one great enough to get a gift from that Reginshion company.」

I frown hearing those words and perhaps taking that as a positive answer the man snorted and pointed to his neck.

「......In the past, I was a slave to such a high noble.」

The man had a slave crest on a pretty noticeable spot on his neck.

「I was lucky enough to escape. But slaves died on a daily basis at the mansion where I was kept. Do you know why? Not getting enough food and sleeping at a place hardly different from stables surely were among the reasons, but the biggest one was the master’s violence. Usually, he’d regularly beat and kicked his slaves, but when he was in a particularly foul mood, an unlucky one might even get their limbs cut off with a knife.」

I gulp as he, seemingly seething with rage, told me of the dreadful livelihood of a slave. The contents were scary, but the bloodthirst directed at me was also terrifying.

As I kept silent and tried to take as little space as possible, the man, while still pointing his sharp gaze at me, spoke up again.

「So, we will take our revenge. We finally managed to get a foothold inside the aristocratic district as well. The number of ex-slave comrades exceeded one hundred. We even have accomplices. Just you look, nobles. I’ll make you cry.」

To that grudge-filled voice and gaze, I finally squeezed out a voice.

「a-A1......」

「......AaAh? What was that?」

The man narrowed his eyes quizzically.

And the next moment he raised a scream, as the roof of the carriage was torn off with a terrifying sound of destruction.