Volume 2 - CH 120

Several guests were invited into the dazzling, spectacular room.

Anyone present was sitting at the recommended table, with a look that said they were about to have a serious conversation.

The chairs are a little hard, like couches.

Several people sat side by side.

Baltic, a member of the royal family, was sitting alone in a seat that could accommodate two people, with the guide who had led us here and Valadim standing next to him at the back of the room.

On the other side of the desk was me,.

It was a sofa that could seat four people, but there were five of us here.

However, two of them are children, so they could sit on the four-person sofa without any problem.

After making sure the place became quiet, Baltic quietly spoke up.

“Once again, …… Ouren-kun. Then, Uchikage-kun and Satella-chan. We are grateful to you for rescuing Alena. Now there will be no war in the Kingdom of Salettana. I’ll prepare a reward for you later.”

After saying that, Baltic looked at Reizen.

Reizen looked at Baltic with a puzzled look on his face.

“… So, Ouren-kun. Who is he? I assume he is a good person, since he is someone you are bringing with you. …”

“It’s nice to know that you trust me. Let’s see, this guy is a good friend of mine. He assisted me in rescuing Alena as well. Come on, say hi.”

Then Reizen stood up, put his right hand on his left chest, and bowed his head lightly.

“It is my pleasure to meet you for the first time. My name is Reizen. I am currently traveling with Ouren-aniki.”

Huh? !　What’s the matter, Reizen, did you eat something bad?

I can’t believe you greeted him like an aristocrat!

As I was thinking this, Reizen glanced at me and made a face like, “Hey, isn’t this perfect?”

I was tempted to give him a shot, but I managed to save myself.

When I looked at Baltic, he let out an impressed “Oh”.

“I was surprised~. I thought since he was Ouren’s friend, he would not be a man with good etiquette.”

“I hear you.”

“Ha ha ha. Just kidding. On the contrary, you guys don’t suit the aristocratic courtesy. Reizen-kun. You can make yourself at ease too. It’s obvious that you’re trying too hard because you look so awkward.”

“Seriously……”

Reizen seemed a little shocked to be told that his greeting was too awkward.

From my point of view, I considered it to be a reasonably neat greeting.

Sitting down, Reizen muttered, “I’m not used with this kind of thing”.

Well, it’s not like we’ve been living in a place like that for a long time.

I guess it can’t be helped.

But I guess Reizen had a certain amount of confidence.

Although it seems that this time it ended in failure.

Baltic was not offended by Reizen’s change in attitude and continued to smile.

However, the guide behind him looked a little disinterested.

He didn’t change his expression when I asked him something…… 

Hmmm. So it’s okay for me, but not for Reizen?

I wonder why.

“Ah, I am the brother of the king, Asure Courselette, Baltic Courselette. Nice to meet you, Reizen-kun.”

“Thanks for having me here!”

They shook hands firmly.

Reizen seemed to be a little inept at using his strength, and Baltic seemed to be in a bit of pain, so I immediately slapped Reizen on the head and scolded him.

I understand that you are excited to be in a place like this, but you are dealing with a royal family.

I’d like you to have at least a minimum amount of moderation.

The most important thing to remember is that the best way to get the most out of yourself is to be a good person.

Please reflect for a while. I’m sure everyone is a little bewildered by the situation, but please excuse me.

“Let’s see, ……, then, Ouren-kun. May I ask you to give me your report first?”

“Yeah. There were no problems at all on the way. It is after we entered the Kingdom of Salettana.

…”

Recalling what had happened so far, I gave Baltic the details.

Alena had been held captive in the home of a nobleman named Ramleys.

She was being used as an experimental subject.

I told him about Dolce, the slave trader who had given me the information.

I told him that I had entrusted the child slaves I had helped them to a woman named Irza.

And …… the fact that Lequam, who was a bouncer for the Ramleys, had experimented on slaves and had gotten into a fight with Lequam.

Thanks to Uchikage’s occasional additions to the story, the story seems to have gone over smoothly.

Baltic, who was listening to the conversation, reacted blatantly when he heard Lequam’s name.

After all, Lequam is an S-rank adventurer and seems to be very well known.

“I see that ……Lequam is ……. Ouren-kun, I’m amazed you made it out alive. ……”

“I really thought I was going to die at that time. If Reizen hadn’t arrived, we would have been in real trouble.”

“…”

Reizen is still plopped down at his desk, but he gave a quiet thumbs up.

Apparently, he was listening to us for now.

When I told them that it was Reizen who helped us, the three of them, including Baltic, looked clearly surprised.

The only thing we told them was that Reizen repelled all of Lequam’s attacks.

Yet, even that was impressive enough, apparently.

He had repelled all the attacks of the S-rank adventurers.

This is something to be proud of, apparently, but …… Reizen gave me a slightly complicated look and wondered how he could be praised for that alone.

Even if you ask me,…….

But I couldn’t even defend against that attack, let alone repel it.

So, in a very real sense, Reizen’s defensive abilities are outstanding.

“So, Baltic. What’s going to happen to Lequam?”

“These things are usually left to the Adventurers Guild. …… Human experimentation is totally prohibited. Even if they were slaves. Not only will they confiscate your adventurer card, but you’ll be chased as a criminal.”

“But …… we haven’t told that to the Kingdom of Salettana’s Adventurer’s Guild yet. ……”

“… If that’s the case, there’s a good chance he’s getting away with it. But you know, they saw the basement, and they took the slaves. There are many witnesses. And there will definitely be an investigation, which means he might be able to escape scot-free, but he won’t be able to escape his crimes. Well, I’ll let the Adventurers’ Guild know about Lequam.”

By the time we were returning to the Kingdom of Garott, they would already be on the run somewhere.

In addition, Lequam was using a transfer magic circle.

If he used that, he would be able to get to any place, no matter how far away it was.

Once that happens, it will be difficult to catch him.

But as I reported to Baltic, we have not told the Kingdom of Salettana about Lequam at all.

So it is safe to assume that Lequam is already not in the Kingdom of Salettana.

But if that is the case, what will happen to the slaves?

Baltic promised to tell the Adventurers’ Guild about Lequam to the Kingdom of Salettana, but it is highly unlikely that those slaves will be safe.

They were cursed, even if only for a short time.

They will probably not be saved.

The thought of it suddenly made my heart ache.

The word ” can not be saved” pierced through me.

The slaves were being kept alive by Lequam.

If I thought about it for a moment, I could understand what would happen if Lequam ran away from that place.

At that time, I thought that the slaves would be alive at least until I returned.

But that was only if I did not meet with Lequam.

The fact that I had rescued the slaves was also exposed by confronting Lequam.

Will Requam stay where he is and continue the experiment?

Of course not, he would run away.

He would not be stupid enough to stay in such an unsafe place for a prolonged period of time and continue the experiment.

It has been more than a week since then.

There was no way they could survive more than a week without eating and drinking.

Irza was the only one I told about the basement.

But I didn’t tell Irza that she had to rescue them.

I didn’t tell her that there were other slaves imprisoned there, either.

She may have been aware of this, but having left her four children in her care, she would not have been able to take any action.

It is unlikely that she will be able to take action.

Maybe she reports it to the guild, but even if that successfully helps them, the curse will not be lifted.

Even if the slaves were helped by other adventurers or soldiers, I cannot heal them because I have to hide my skills from them.

I can’t help them either way.

“… Ouren-kun. It’s not your fault.”

I tried to act nonchalant, but apparently it showed on my face.

I found myself clenching my hands.

I felt like I was trembling.

“But …”

“If you hadn’t helped the children, there would have been more damage, there would have been more wars. You may not have actually helped as many people as you could have, but you ended up helping them hundreds of times more. You did all you could. You don’t have to shoulder the blame.”

Batic looked me in the eye and said in a stronger and lower tone than usual.

I was a little relieved to hear that.

I was neither blamed nor criticized.

And the fact that he understood me made me feel relieved again.

But as Baltic told me, it still comes to my mind when I think of myself as the only one who could have helped those slaves.

It was a small sacrifice, but it was a necessary one.

“Ouren-kun. For the sake of those who died, let’s capture Lequam so there will be no more damage.”

“… Ah, of course.”

This is the kind of thing that needs to be split up.

But it’s hard for me, who has never had to deal with this kind of thing before.

It may be difficult for us to make up our minds right away.

However, we will do our best to catch Lequam to avenge those who have died.

He cannot be forgiven.

We will catch him and make sure he pays for his crimes.

“All right. Okay, so the next topic on the agenda …”

Balt turned to Alena and Satella.

“Alena-chan, Satella-chan. You have the power to restore your birthplace. Will you work with Valadim to revive your hometown?”

Alena and Satella have not lost their status yet.

Therefore, they have enough power to restore their homeland as long as they are alive.

Alena and Satella are still very young, but with Valadim, there should be no problem.

He had served Azbal for a long time, after all.

He should know what needs to be done.

In the reconstruction, a small contingent of soldiers from the Kingdom of Garott will be dispatched.

According to what I have heard, the people of Azbal’s territory have already been freed from slavery and are preparing for reconstruction.

However, it seems that only the people in the Kingdom of Garott have been freed from slavery, and those who were taken to the Kingdom of Salettana have not yet been freed.

They said that a messenger will be sent from the Kingdom of Garott to the Kingdom of Salettana later, and that they will leave the rest to them.

There are many people working on reconstruction.

The people are also enthusiastic about the reconstruction.

The only problem is that there are no rulers.

However, Alena and Satella have returned.

They may not qualify as lords yet, but everyone knows that they are Azbal’s daughters.

The villagers will adore them.

Satella was the first to move when she heard the story.

Without even a hint of concern, she raised her hand.

“I’ll do it! I’ll do my best!”

“Reconstruction is a difficult task. Can you do it?”

“Yes! I want to live in the same place again!I want to keep living where I used to live with my mom and dad!”

Baltic nodded with a smile upon hearing this.

But Valadim’s face was downcast again.

He seems to be crying again.

What a troublesome escort.

Now it’s Alena.

Baltic turned to Alena and asked, “What about you?” He asked.

Alena thought for a moment, then shook her head and smiled as if to dissipate some thoughts.

“I…. will do it too”

However, Alena seemed somewhat unenthusiastic.

She seemed to be saying, “Satella does it, so I do it too” kind of vibes.

It seems as if she was influenced by others and said she would do it too …….

No, I think this is completely influenced by Satella.

I remember seeing this kind of thing a lot, it seems like …….

If I had a memory of my previous life here, I could say it clearly, but I don’t …… have one, so I can’t be sure.

Is Alena okay with this ……?

“I understand, then Valadim.”

“Yes”

Baltic and Valadim apparently were unaware of Alena’s reaction.

Valadim moves out of the way to leave the guest room.

Although Baltic looks very satisfied but ……

I look at Alena and she looks a little sad.

She wants to say something, but can’t. She looks like that.

Let’s ask her ………….

“Valadim. Wait a minute.”

“yes?”

I crouched in front of Alena.

I look Alena in the eye and ask her just one question.

“Alena. What do you really want to do?”

“eh……”

When asked this, Alena began to make her excuses, apparently flustered.

She wants to rebuild the place where she used to live, and she doesn’t want to lose the place where she has memories of her family.

That’s what she said.

However, I could not miss the words “I’m fine with that” in small voice.

Satella’s intention was “because I want to do it,” she said.

That was her true intention.

But what about Alena?

She was mostly just reciting what Satella had said.

Perhaps Alena just doesn’t want to let her sister Satella know that she’s not interested in the restoration that she’s trying to do.

She wants to do something more than that.

If I don’t ask that here, if I don’t let her make the decision, it may be something she may never be able to do in her life.

If she continues to work on the reconstruction of the territory, most of her time will be taken up by it.

If that happens, she won’t be able to do what she wants to do.

“Alena. That’s not what you want to accomplish, am I right?”

“*shudders…”

“I can tell by your reaction. You want to do or be something different than rebuilding your hometown, don’t you?”

When I asked her that, she kept her mouth shut.

I knew there was something on her mind.

Then there was a little bit of silence.

The silence seemed to last for a very long time.

No one says anything, just waiting for Alena to speak.

But it was Satella who broke the silence.

“Alena. Can you tell me?”

“…”

“……hey?”

“…………I……”

“Hmm?”

“… I want to be like Valadim.”

‘I want to be like Varadim.”

Satella was a little unsure of the meaning of these words, but the others all understood what she meant.

Valadim was the man who had protected Alena and Satella’s father, Azbal.

In other words, Alena wants to be able to protect what she wants to protect herself.

Valadim had his mask pulled down to his chin, completely concealing his face.

He must have known what she meant by that.

He must be crying profusely under his mask at this very moment.

“… Alena. May I ask the reason?”

“… I don’t want to lose …… my family anymore and I want to be with people I want to be with. But because I was weak,……. I lost my father and …… my mother.”

Tears welled up in her eyes halfway through, and she told us her reason, albeit in a sobbing, sputtering manner.

But I have yet to hear her answer.

I must ask her this.

“… your answer is?”

“I want-! I want to-! I want to be strong and protect what is important to me like Valadim!”

“Great! Well said!”

I gently hugged Alena.

Alena then cried in my arms.

It would take some time for her to stop crying.

While I was holding Alena, I turned my face to Baltic and Valadim.

Baltic nodded deeply, though only once.

Valadim nodded many, many times.

His face was hidden by his mask, so we couldn’t see his face.

Both of them respected Alena’s wishes.

I will thank them properly when Alena is not around.

“Uuuuu …”

“Reizen….. Why are you crying too….”

“It’s impossible, to not … cry  …”

Before I knew it, Reizen was crying too.

He’s a man with a soft spot for tears.

Alena will be taken care of by us.

The party members would be me, Reizen, Uchikage, and Alena.

Alena is very young, but she has shown us the strength of her will.

Let’s give her a chance to show us how strong her will is.

When Alena stopped crying, it was time to break up the group.

By then it was already dark outside and the moon was in sight.