Volume 3 - CH 11

Act 3-11: An Unexpected Thank You

Our time is limited. Especially in this crown contest, we only have four years. Now that I’ve decided to have Rose win this contest, I don’t possess any intention of losing. I’m going to educate Rose to win the crown contest, then continue with my original plan to roam around the world.

Since there were so many things to do, Rose, whose job was to handle the core part of the development plan, first headed toward the Akinashi territory with Phoenix.

In the last ten days, we made a few preparations for our plan in a few cities such as Barse or the royal capital. Only after making sure that we had done all the preparations did we depart to 【Demonic Forest】.

Then, seven days later, we were cutting down the trees in 【Demonic Forest】, forming a circular open space away from the secret base of Wind Cat.

Both Faf and Myu were excited about this from the beginning to the end. They enjoyed the camping activity. Anna seemed to be worrying about Rose, but she didn’t say anything. She just performed her job, babysitting Faf and Myu.

「Master, Master! What’s this!?」

Faf showed her hand to me with a sparkling look in her eyes.

「That’s a cicada.」

「What about this one?」

「N-NOO!!」

When Anna saw the thing in Faf’s hand, she let out a scream. Then, she threw away that thing and hugged Faf as if she were protecting her from it. I grabbed the closest object around me, which happened to be a comb, and threw it at that thing, instantly killing it.

「What’s the matter, Anna?」

Faf, who was being hugged by Anna, looked up at Anna with a puzzled expression.

「Faf, that’s a scorpion. It’s a dangerous animal. You absolutely can’t hold it with bare hands since it’s poisonous.」

Faf received a mild scolding from Anna. Naturally, such weak poison wouldn’t cause any problem for Faf, but Myu was another matter altogether.

Yup, Faf truly lacks common sense. This is a huge problem. I have to think about a counter-plan for this problem as fast as possible.

「Yes… nodesu! Sorry-nodesu!」

Although Anna was still tightly embracing her, I gently patted the dejected Faf head like usual.

「Well then, it’s time for dinner. Help me out with the preparations.」

Faf’s depressed face shone again upon hearing that it was the time for dinner.

「Yes, nodesu!」

She raised her right fist as her mood went back to normal.

「Ye~s.」

Mimicking Faf, Myu also raised her right fist in the air.

I poured the soup into their bowls while observing their slovenly faces.

After dinner, Faf and Myu peacefully slept in my handmade tent. Those two got along like real sisters. I felt relieved seeing that Faf was truly enjoying the camping activity.

As I was cleaning the tableware in the nearby river…

「Thank you!」

Anna expressed her gratitude in an ambiguous way while turning her face away from me.

「Thanks for what? Even though I’m not helping you with anything.」

「No, uhm… It’s about the matter of Rose-sama. I mean, compared to before, Rose-sama has become… livelier nowadays.」

Anna kept talking despite stumbling with her words of choice.

「Is that so? She seems rather haggard though?」

「That’s not what I mean!」

Anna stood up from her wooden chair as she denied that with her everything.

「Pipe down! You’re going to wake up Faf and Myu.」

「M-My bad!」

Although she played with her fingers as she sat, her eyes never left me. The tense look on her face was preventing me from all kinds of wild imagination.

「You should already know that social status is everything in this kingdom. The same goes for houses of knights like us. Even though we understand Rose-sama’s vision, deep inside, we might have already given up on realizing it. But, everything changed after Rose-sama met you.」

「Is that so?」

Well, Rose’s vision is alien to this Amelia kingdom. She might have literally turned everyone into her enemy by the time she charged Fracton for treason. Moreover, both her sister and brother were peas in the pod, whose train of thought was pretty much the same as those sh*tty nobles.

「I believe that choosing you will allow Rose-sama to win this crown conte―」

I raised my right hand to stop Anna and looked at the bonfire. The flame there formed a human shape.

This Fire Majin was kneeling in front of me, bowing down as he horizontally raised his palm.

『We bow before our Supreme Ruler.』

He respectfully said.

This fella’s name is Ifrit. Yes, it’s the evil spirit who had proclaimed to be spirit king. He has become an extremely obedient fellow after receiving a thorough education from Girimekhala.

Girimekhala is the one responsible for the mission in this forest. Thus, he had mobilized all members of his faction.

「You may rise. So, have they made their move already?」

『Reporting! They have already mobilized human troops in the lake southwest from this place.』

「What about their number?」

『There are around a thousand of them.』

A thousand, is it? Still within the range of my expectations. Now we can finally proceed to the next stage of our plan. But, let’s gather more information first.

「Girimekhala, send a part of their force to this place. I’m gonna cross-examine them myself.」

『As you wish!』

The austere voice of this man resounded as soon as I gave the order. As per his request, he was also responsible for guarding us.

In fact, we’re currently camping in Girimekhala’s cursed realm. The permit to enter it aside, this is a closed realm, which prevents any leakage of information from inside. The reason my 【Divine Eye】 didn’t work properly a while ago was because of us being in this world.

「Well then, the festival is about to begin. Everyone, prepare a warm welcome for our guests.」

Upon hearing my remark, the still-kneeling Ifrit got inhaled into the bonfire.

「Kai…」

I turned around to see Anna’s anxious look.

「Don’t worry! My plan went really smooth, almost without any hindrance at all.」

I threw some firewood into the bonfire as I convinced her in a strong tone.