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“…H-He’s a lolicon!!”
“Momo, your voice! You’re being too loud!”
“S-Sorry! That just kinda slipped out!”

I clamped my hands over my mouth—too late to take back what I’d just blurted about the king.

But it was how I truly felt. I mean, sure, Master might be an adult on the inside, but outwardly she looked like a little girl. How could marriage even be a topic?

“J-Just to confirm… how old is this king, exactly?”
“He looked pretty young, but… low estimate, maybe twenties?”
“He’s a lolicon!!”
“He must be destroyed. This is the unanimous will of all the disciples.”
“Wait, wait, hold on, time out! Let’s just change locations and talk, okay? If we keep this up here, my stomach’s gonna dissolve!”
“Understood. Then please hop on, Ms. Hoshikawa!”
“Eh? Really!? I can!?”

I leaned out from the hatch and held out my hand. Ms. Hoshikawa looked kind of happy as she paid the fare and jumped over to Kyodaigorou.

I pulled her up and into the hatch, and the moment she stepped inside, her eyes lit up as she started exploring the interior.

“Ahh, I see! So the cockpit’s separate, and this part is the living space… It’s like a giant RV! Oh! And when it transforms, this area opens up, so the parts must fold inward…”
“Well now, this glasses girl sure knows her stuff.”
“Ah, sorry! I got a little too excited and started rambling…”
“I get it… Transforming robots are just that cool.”

There was so much I wanted to talk to Ms. Hoshikawa about, but Master came first.

Once everyone was seated and I’d made sure they were safe, Kyodaigorou started walking again, heading back toward the inn.

✦✧✦✧✦

“Arrival! This is our inn for the night! And now, please—tell us everything, Ms. Hoshikawa!”
“You’re so impatient…”

As soon as we arrived at our inn and parked Kyodaigorou in the designated spot, we all gathered in the room and crowded around Ms. Hoshikawa.

Even after calming down and thinking it over, I still couldn’t understand it. Why would Master, who had run away from Rigel, end up getting married in this city?

“F-First, let’s all take a deep breath, okay…? I say ‘marriage,’ but it’s really just something the king said on his own. He proposed, and she turned him down. That’s all.”
“R-Right…? Phew… I’m glad we don’t have to go slap a king.”
“It’s okay, Momo. Laika already took care of the slapping.”
“That’s our Master. But… why did it come to that in the first place?”
“Well, I only heard about it through the grapevine, but… First, you have to understand something. The king who rules over this city, Regulus—he’s the greedy type.”
“Greedy?”
“Once he decides he wants something, he has to get it, no matter what. This entire city actually started from his desire to have a country of his own.”

The view outside the window was a fantasy-like scene, with water and lights glowing in the night. It was beautiful.

Rigel and Aldebaran were wonderful cities too, but if we were judging on looks alone, Regulus definitely took the top spot.

If he really built this whole city just because he wanted a country… then I had to admit, that was pretty incredible.

“I see. So the king set his sights on the little missy.”
“Lady Laika’s ability as a wizard is exceptional. It’s not unreasonable that he’d want to keep her close.”
“But still… Master isn’t some object you can just want and take!!”

Ms. Roche had said the king wasn’t a bad person, but I was sure this had to be some kind of mistake.

She was probably being tricked. Sure, the king here might be an impressive figure, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a bad person.

“So… did he… r̲a̲p̲e̲…Teach?”
“Grape?”
“No, no, nothing like that! After she slapped the king, she went into hiding. But it seems like she hasn’t left Regulus.”
“And how do you know that?”
“This, a dowsing machine I made on the spot. It’s just a quick build, but it gives me a rough sense of where the person I’m looking for is.”
“Whoa, that’s super convenient!”

Ms. Hoshikawa took off the necklace hanging from her neck and held it up in front of us, letting it sway.

The diamond-shaped crystal tied to it slowly swung back and forth—until it suddenly stopped, pointing straight downward as if pulled by a magnet.

“This tells us that Laika hasn’t left the city. Most likely, she’s hiding somewhere hard to find.”
“So Master’s still in the city…”

But if even the king couldn’t find her after putting out a wanted notice, then how was I supposed to? I didn’t think I had any hope of finding Master if she was seriously hiding.

There had to be a reason she hadn’t left Regulus. I was sure the attack on Mr. Arnitta’s workshop had something to do with it—some kind of lead must be here.

And Master did say, “I’ll see you later.” There had to be a reason for that too. If I wanted to meet up with her again…

“…Alright. First, we meet the king! That’s probably the right move!”
“A-Are you gonna slap him!?”
“I want to, but I won’t! If the king is also looking for Master, then staying close to him is the best way to find her.”
“Hmm. That does make some sense. But how do you plan on getting close to him?”
“It’s fine—I have a great idea!”

The king was an important person. If we just showed up at his doorstep, we’d probably be turned away without a second thought.

But we had something that would definitely get his attention. A trump card we picked up back in the desert.

“Mr. Valka asked us, remember? To summon the king! So instead of going to him, we’ll make him come to us!”