Leave a comment

「Your Majesty!」
「……that is what you want, isn’t that right, Inglis? Then so be it. You’ve saved the day again. And I’ve become a liability, yet again—」

Spoke King Charleas, lowering his head to Inglis.

「Your words are wasted on me! I only did what is obvious, no need to thank me.」

Inglis gracefully knelt before King Charleas, her head hung down.

「「「Lady Inglis! How profound you are!」」」
「「「And beautiful!」」」
「Marvelous, Lady Inglis! You had impressed us all before, and now you’ve impressed us all the more!」

At Redas’ words, the other Imperial Guards nodded their heads in agreement. But beside them…

「……Obviously! After all, all you had in mind was “Oh, that looks like a strong opponent! Yay! Fight, here I come! YEET!” …where is the need to thank a girl who only wanted to go berserk!!」

Rafinha, who had just walked up to Inglis, whispered something to her ear.

「Hush! Rani! You promised not to tell anyone!!」

Inglis whispered back to Rafinha, stopping her remark. After all, it’s just obvious to fight a strong opponent you just happen to run into. And since she only did what is obvious, there was no need to thank her at all.

But— how others interpret her actions is up to them. Patriotism, loyalty, or whatever it is, she wouldn’t mind. So long she got what she wanted, it wasn’t particularly a problem.

「……? Is something the matter?」
「It’s nothing! More importantly, I apologize for destroying the walls and the canal. I am deeply sorry.」
「That is unavoidable… let us not address it now. You’ve done well.」

King Charleas nodded deeply to Inglis.

「I have heard of your exploits in Alucard too. I wish to reward you in some way for your valor… is there anything you want?」
「……If so, how about the permission to let this man be punished by having to meet me in duels as soon as his body is healed!」

Inglis had gained many a thing in Alucard. A new power, the Dragon Roar. A vessel to maximize her use of Ether, the dragonscale sword. A delicacy and a cure-all elixir in one, the flesh of a Dragon God.

But then… there was one thing that Inglis couldn’t get. A partner with whom she could endlessly fight anytime she wanted. If only she could track down Abel’s cloning technology and duplicate herself, or bring back the Dragon God Vufailbane for herself, how nice it would have been!

The Mecha Dragon, Abel’s hidden technology, had fused with Vufailbane and thus became Mecha Dragon God and departed for the Highland. If only she could secure at least one of the two… that was why she still wanted a partner to fight her heart out.

Her ear was pulled.

「Glis……! What are you saying?! Aren’t you sorry?! Why would you give him a punishment worse than death right after he escaped death!」
「O-, ow ow ow……! N-, no, it’s not, it’s a very productive and noble endeavor to constantly build each other up! So I’m sure he’ll be happy to……」
「No, while I am happy to be chastised by a beautiful lady… forever repeating it until the day I die is something I’d rather not partake in. If anything, you might as well execute me where I stand.」
「See how he’s hating it?! Do that kind of thing to magic stone beasts only! Anyway, you can’t! Understood?!」
「Yup, understood!」
「Hm? You replied awfully fast……」
「Well, you just said that I can keep a magic stone beast, right?」

If she could, then she’d give up on Rochefort and keep a magic stone beast instead.

「 You can’t!」
「Eeh?! But you just said I could?! You’re not fair, Rani!」
「This and that are different! You just can’t! You can’t, I say! Understood?!」
「Uuu……」

As Rafinha kept rebuking Inglis, Arles bowed deeply to her.

「Th-, thank you very much!」
「No no, it’s nothing. If anything, I should apologize on behalf of Glis, for saying such stupid things. Just think about getting well, you two. Okay? I’m sure it’ll be fine!」

As Rafinha responded with a smile, she suddenly made a face as if she had realized something. And then, she bowed towards King Charleas.

「F-, forgive us, Your Majesty! We said all those things on our own!」
「No, I don’t mind… Someone, give this person a place to recuperate. As for the Hyrule Menace, she will be kept under surveillance and restraint. Will that do with you?」
「Y-, yes……! Many thanks for saving Ross!」

Arles hung her head deeply in front of King Charleas.

「Hahah… You’re making me cry here, Your Majesty!! To think you’d spare the life of an enemy general who very nearly killed you. You’ve got some loose screws too, don’t you?」

Rochefort offered King Charleas a smirk full of sarcasm. The king, however, wasn’t provoked by anything the general said. Much like how he had persevered till the end no matter how humiliating Abel had been in his own castle. Compared to that particular highlander, Rochefort’s little rebuke was pretty cute.

「Hm… between sparing you and making this girl our knight commander, which one, do you think, is crazier?」

He smirked back.

「Kukuku…… I see now. Mine’s pretty much nothing, eh? Well, sorry bout that then!」
「—Bring them away.」
「「「Yes sir!」」」

Redas and the knights nodded and took Rochefort and Arles away.

「—I see. Making Glis the commander of the imperial guards is as much of a bad thing as almost getting himself killed! His Majesty sure knows it well……」

Rafinha muttered as she watched Rochefort and Arles as they went away.

「How rude. Even if His Majesty and I are to duel, I’ll make sure he won’t get seriously injured!」
「No, that’s not the point at all!!」

As Inglis and Rafinha began their usual bickering, King Charleas called out.

「Rafinha!」
「Heh……? Ah, yes, sir—!」

Having never been called by name directly by King Charleas before, Rafinha stumbled with her words.

「You saved my life once again. This makes it the second time. Let me offer you my thanks!」
「N-, no… Glis said it too, but we just did what was obvious! You are our king, after all!」

Seeing Rafinha straighten her back like a pole, King Charleas found himself smiling.

「Do you have anything that you want? Your achievements are not less than those of Inglis!」
「No…! Both Glis and I don’t weawwy……?!」

Inglis pinched Rafinha’s lips, stopping her words.

「Whaff aff hfu whooing, Whiff~?! (What are you doing, Glis~?!)」
「We do have things that we want! Seeing that Rani is unable to speak right now, I shall speak for her too.」

Inglis smiled, and then she said—