TL/ED – Miso
Have you ever had such an experience?
You warmly greet a friend you haven’t seen in a long ti, part ways promising to et again soti.
Only to realize you’re heading in the sa direction, leading to an awkward situation.
That was exactly the situation now.
“Karos, please take good care of Jern.”
“…Yes. I shall carry out your command.”
“Jern too!”
“…What do you an by that?”
Of all people, Karos had been chosen as the one to escort the imperial envoy.
Sharmia looked at the two of us, who were deliberately avoiding eye contact, with a puzzled expression, then soon smiled brightly and looked over the entire envoy group.
“Then please go and deliver my ssage. I’ve already sent word in advance, so you should be treated with utmost courtesy.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
“This is a transaction, after all. I’ll count on you next ti too, alright?”
Her last words were whispered close to my ear so the other envoys wouldn’t hear.
But that was the problem. I could feel it clearly with my current sense: the stiff eyes of the envoys in front of the Princess suddenly widening.
Even the knights in the back row began whispering softly.
[Was there ever anyone besides Karos that Her Highness treated so closely…?]
[That kid… the na that was just called, could it be-]
[No way. That’s just a rumor. Must have misheard.]
It was a very strange conversation. That I was rely a rumor?
Careful not to show any reaction outwardly, I hopped up onto the horse.
“…Have you learned horseback riding before?”
-Clop, clop. Karos, who approached as one with her horse, cleared her throat and asked.
She probably ant to pretend last night’s conversation never happened. I played along and answered.
“A little, I guess.”
“That won’t be enough. With just a little practice, it’ll be difficult.”
Indeed, the horse I was riding, perhaps because it belonged to the Imperial Family, was so massive that it made the others look like ponies in comparison.
As an 11-year-old child, I couldn’t even get my spurs past the saddle. But I replied casually.
“It’s fine. Let’s go.”
“Let’s go…? Without even using the spurs-”
Before Karos could frown and say anything, the horse began to move. Very smoothly.
Even if you were holding a cup full of water, not a drop would spill.
She looked surprised and slightly parted her lips.
“H-How…?”
“Hmm, I guess it likes .”
I had confird it the last ti I rode a horse. If I stimulated the muscles in the spot confird with my current sense, the animal would move easily.
If there were a status window, my horseback riding skill would probably show up as SSS rank. Thinking that, I urged the horse toward the Capital’s main gate.
“Shall we go, then?”
“…Yes.”
Karos followed, and the other knights followed after her.
[It seems like it’s true…]
[Then… does that an we’re all dead n…?]
…Seriously.
It seed like I needed to ask about that conversation later.
Clip-clop, clip-clop!
Certainly, the Imperial horses were different in breed as much as in size.
No, rather than a horse, it was closer to an open-roof sports car. To be precise, it felt like I was riding the wind.
“Are you… alright?”
“Yes. I’m fine. Don’t worry about .”
The wind had very little effect on my body.
As Karos stared in amazent at my hair, which maintained its shape even in the wind without flying about, she nodded and looked ahead.
“I originally thought it would take about a week, but it won’t even take half that. I’ll increase my pace as well.”
“Excuse ?”
I asked back with a baffled expression.
Even Karos, let alone the other knights, were barely keeping up with .
Considering what happened yesterday, I asked with a slightly mischievous smile.
“Can you keep up?”
“Though it’s impressive to maintain that speed despite riding a palace horse for the first ti, we’ve been riding our horses all our lives.”
Karos shouted toward the knights following behind.
“That’s enough, keep pace!”
“Yes, sir!”
In an instant, the knights kicked up dust and accelerated, lining up beside .
What the hell. I asked in confusion.
“Um, if you could do this, why didn’t you keep up from the beginning?”
“My apologies. I needed to confirm whether you were forcing yourself, or whether you could truly maintain that speed.”
“…Ah, I see.”
Karos said that as she looked over with hawk-like eyes.
It was so obvious what she was thinking that it made want to sigh. She was clearly trying to dig up information about .
I didn’t care. After all, what use would knowing that I’m just a bit good at riding horses be?
“Then I suppose it’s alright if I go a little faster.”
-Neigh!
I leaned forward and scratched the horse’s hide. The agitated beast bolted ahead at a much faster pace.
“…Hmm. Understood.”
Karos, glaring at , also leaned forward and galloped after like a madman.
For a full thirty minutes, the two of us kept up a speed competition.
“Um, Sir Karos?”
“Envoy-nim?”
Until the other knights were no longer in sight.
*
Honestly, I hadn’t expected her to keep up this well.
I was basically using a kind of cheat skill that let perfectly understand and control the horse’s condition through current sense, but Karos sotis even overtook and fully imrsed herself in the duel without a victor.
The greatest losers were the knights. They were practically killing themselves to keep up, so we had no choice but to set up camp a bit early.
However, Karos let out a satisfied hum.
“Hmm, at this rate it won’t even take 3 days.”
“…No, it’s fine if we slow down a bit.”
“You were the one who gave the order to go faster, Envoy-nim.”
“Aren’t we going to arrive before the courier who delivered the ssage? You said we shouldn’t do that.”
I shrugged and walked over to help the knights setting up camp.
“Ah, no. We’ll handle this ourselves.”
They waved their hands in surprise. Ignoring them, I activated magic.
Two stars lit up in my eyes. At the sa ti, the tent’s stakes, fabric, and poles floated into the air, and set themselves in place.
-Thunk, thud, bang! Eight large tents were instantly erected. It didn’t even take thirty seconds. Had the knights done it, it would’ve taken at least thirty minutes.
Most of it was just manipulating the air. The magic was only enough to stir the wind and make it look flashy. I waved to the knights who were left dumbfounded.
“No need to thank . We’re just helping each other out.”
“…You really have reached 2-Star at that age.”
“To be at the sa level as Princess Lumia, as expected… ah.”
“As expected? What cos after that?”
I walked over to the knight who had clamped his mouth shut, ignoring Karos who shook her head, and asked.
It seed like the right ti to dig into that strange conversation I had heard earlier.
He turned pale and shook his head.
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
“Nothing? Co on, just tell . I’m just curious.”
“Really…”
“It’s fine. I’m called an envoy, but it’s not like I’m being treated like a real envoy. Even if you get on my bad side, it won’t affect anything.”
Only then did the knight begin to speak, hesitantly.
“We received the imperial order just last night, so we haven’t heard much about you, Envoy-nim. And then, Her Highness said a strange na… Could it be that your na really is Jern, sir?”
“? Yes.”
At my answer, the knights murmured among themselves.
In the midst of it, I once again heard those sa troubling remarks like, “As expected… so it’s true,” and “We’re all dead,” so I frowned and asked.
“Do you all know ?”
“That is…”
“Jern, among the knights, and even among certain nobles, you’re being treated like a sort of secret weapon of the Empire.”
Karos sighed and walked over, adding an explanation.
It took a mont for to understand what he ant.
“Wait, why …?”
“Your first appearance was when you suddenly showed up and rescued the kidnapped noble children. A boy claiming to be a naless orphan, yet a natural-born wizard fiercely protected by powerful noble houses. Who would believe that?”
“There’s clear evidence I grew up in an orphanage.”
“Had you remained an orphan, that might’ve ended it. But then you suddenly beca Lady Dersia’s disciple, entered the Black Magic Tower as an apprentice, also beca Sir Brimdal’s disciple, and won multiple tournants. On top of that, you even entered the Imperial Palace.”
“…”
“After the appearance of the Crimson Circle, rumors began to spread. That you were an assassin created for ergency use, Her Highness’s Heaven’s Judgent Knight, a war weapon hidden by the Empire. There are many theories. But because your behavior is so bizarre and you rarely appear, the prevailing belief is that you’re just a rumor, soone who doesn’t actually exist. Of course, the more you act, the more that theory collapses.”
My mind went blank.
I had no idea such slander was piling up about behind my back.
Barely regaining my senses, I asked about the last part again.
“…Then. What do you an by ‘we’ll die’?”
“Why would a weapon move? They must have assud a declaration of war or a war-like ergency was imminent. They mistakenly thought you had been mobilized for it.”
“What the fu…. Can this be cleared up?”
“Endure it. And from now on, it would be best if you refrained from carelessly revealing that your na is Jern. In any situation less clear than this, it will co off either as the bravado of a kid trying to puff himself up, or as a death sentence from a ruthless murder weapon.”
“But I’m only 2-Star. Who would consider a 2-Star a murder weapon?”
“The problem is your age. At 11, being nothing special and being 2-Star is no big deal. But being 2-Star at 11 is a completely different story. Even if they’re stronger wizards or knights, they won’t want to provoke the future monster that the Empire has poured its heart and soul into raising.”
“This is all so twisted.”
“Indeed it is.”
A battle to give a cruel murder weapon real combat experience.
Apparently, the knights thought that’s what they were being dragged into.
Seeing the lingering fear still present in their eyes, I let out a sigh and opened the workshop door in the carriage.
“Aren’t you eating? No matter how worried you are, still.”
“I will eat. But not here, in the Capital.”
“…?”
“My master said I can’t skip training.”
The workshop didn’t lead to the workshop, but to a mansion.
It was thanks to the help of a 9-Star wizard. She had modified it so that during this journey, the door would connect to the mansion.
That ant I could return to the Capital at any ti during the trip.
If sothing happened, I could flee. I could wash up and sleep in a warm bed.
“…”
As Karos looked at with a bowl of porridge in hand, I felt an indescribable emotion in her gaze and, feeling slightly amused, asked again.
“Should I bring you so bread?”
“…No, thank you.”
*
(My supposed) hotown had sothing different about it, more than just being a desert.
“There are trees.”
“Life grows even on sand.”
That was true… but still, trees were a bit much.
I tapped the dried-up tree. It looked dead, but apparently, this was normal.
The desert itself was just as I had imagined, sand, sun, and wind, a hellish place.
The kingdom stood at the boundary dividing that hell from the plains. Seeing a kingdom slightly smaller than the Capital in such a place made unconsciously ask a question.
“Why would soone found a nation here?”
“Isn’t it the other way around? The desert chased the nation.”
“What do you an?”
“Have you heard of desertification?”
“Ah, yes.”
I knew. The sa environntal problem that was an issue back on Earth.
Karos, commanding the knights who had returned to a dignified manner as they organized their belongings, answered.
“According to records, this kingdom was originally built on the last grassland before crossing the desert. Now that it lies at the border between desert and plains, we can deduce that the grassland turned into desert.”
“Hmm. Wouldn’t that be a problem?”
“Of course it would. The fact that it hasn’t caused more is the real mystery.”
“I see.”
They must be having a hell of a ti, but the scene itself was awe-inspiring.
The boundary of desert and plains. A city placed in between.
I stared at it for a long while. Not just out of awe, I was wondering if anything would co to mind.
But in the end, I could only feel that it was truly my first ti seeing this place. If it had been in my mory, I wouldn’t have found it so mysterious.
“Ah.”
As I kept staring, gates opened.
There was still distance, so the people looked like ants. They hurriedly laid out sothing like a long carpet in front of the gate and began lining up around it.
They were preparing to greet us.
“Looks like it’s ti to depart. Maintain your envoy posture.”
“Even if you say ‘posture’, I’m not quite sure what you an.”
“Look as arrogant and condescending as possible while on horseback. Don’t show the slightest joy at the welco. Occasionally click your tongue, too.”
So this is what it ans to be an Imperial Envoy. Truly, it’s not a bad job at all.
“Wait a mont, may I wear this?”
“That is…”
Karos narrowed her brows as she looked at the mask I pulled out, then gave a nod.
“Do… as you please. But will you be alright?”
“What do you an?”
“Aren’t you eting your parents? That’s what I heard. The first eting should be face-to-face…”
“That might not be the case. Besides, what kind of parents are they when I don’t even have any mories? It’s more likely they’ll recognize and try sothing strange.”
“…”
I put on the black mask.
I didn’t feel any difference myself, but others would likely see as an adult now.
“Let’s go.”
I lightly mounted my horse, and unlike when we arrived, I drove it slowly.
Karos and the other knights had dismounted and were leading their horses on foot. I was told it was to make clear who the envoy was.
The mont we reached the laid-out carpet, an overwhelming welco burst forth, enough to make forget the advice I’d been given.
“Welco! Envoy of the Empire!”
“Welco!”
Scantily clad dancers scattered sparkling powders in the air, and hundreds of soldiers raised single-edged swords to greet our procession.
Rather than joyous, it felt pitiful. Their desperate determination not to offend the Empire was evident.
“ssenger of the Empire, thank you for coming such a long way.”
“…”
At the end of it all.
A middle-aged man with black hair, dressed a little more modestly than the others, ca to greet .
He wore a wide smile. It was clear he was the highest-ranking person here, so I dismounted and t his eyes.
“I do not know what business brings you to this small nation, but first, you must rest from your journey. Please request an audience when you are comfortable.”
“…I’ll accept your hospitality with gratitude.”
Ambiguous.
There seed to be so resemblance between us, maybe.
Without much thought, I reached out and took the hand he offered.
And then.
“…Hm?”
“ㅡ”
It was the hand of an ordinary man. Broad, warm.
Rather, the man himself seed ready to let go without any particular thought, but I couldn’t let go. I kept holding on tightly for a while.
“Y-Your hand is smaller than I expected?”
“…What the-.”
“Yes?”
The last words were whispered so quietly they were barely audible.
Barely managing to release the hand, I nodded.
“Yes. Please lead the way.”
“Of course! Escort the envoy to the palace at once!”
“…”
Fortunately, it seed I hadn’t slipped up.
The only one who noticed sothing strange about was Karos. She carefully approached, supporting my shoulder and whispering.
“What’s wrong?”
“…I got chills.”
I repeatedly opened and closed my hand as I looked down.
“Were you attacked?”
“No.”
I clenched my teeth and forced myself to shake off the sensation as I stepped forward on my own.
“It was so chilling, because his hand was so familiar. The size, the warmth, the shape. I only realized it the mont I touched what was engraved in my mind. Like brushing lightly over a scar with the very blade that made it…”
“Hmm, which ans.”
“Yes.”
I stared at the back of the man walking ahead and quietly muttered through clenched teeth.
“It’s almost certain that he’s my biological father.”
It seed Azrael hadn’t been lying after all.
Of all the possibilities Dersia and I had discussed, this was the worst-case scenario.
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