「Umu. The regent was rather competent too. This is also regretful」

The conversation with the prime minister continued. I was summoned here only to tell him about the circumstances of the Juka Kingdom. If it is only that, the conversation should soon reach its conclusion. When I was about to return to my hotel and think about my future plans, the prime minister’s face changed.

「Well then, I summoned you here for a certain purpose. I have a thing I want to ask from you」

I wonder what? I don’t know about complicated stuff.

「Do you know the whereabouts of Falco, a Versam family’s magician?」

「Teacher Falco!? Do you know my teacher, Falco? The great magician Falco is my teacher. Unfortunately……」

「I see, so he passed away too. Is it possible for you to tell me about his last moments? 」

I told him about the fact that he lost his arms, was stabbed and eaten by the dragon.

「Such unsuitable ending. That person should be quite skilled since he was able to cut off his arms. It was right decision to not mess with the Juka Kingdom. Although we have twice as many soldiers, we would probably have been decimated」

「It might be presumptuous of me, but how do you know Falco?」

「You see, Falco and I are childhood friends. Right, Falco is a citizen of the empire. He was an excellent mage since the early days. Upon his graduation from the magic university, he was able to use almost all attributes. Especially fire magic, he was top class amongst the imperial magician. He was a magician with great future prospects」

「Then, why such a great magician came to the Juka Kingdom?」

「This is….He crawled into the princess’ bedroom at night. The guards were somehow able to stop him before the deed, but a number of them died」

……Teacher, what the hell did you do?

「If only it was only that, I would have been able to cover for him. After all, he was once in a millennium genius magician. However, at the same time, he was also an instructor in the magic university, and his teaching methods were rather brutal. He was able to use recovery magic, and with a mindset that it was fine to heal if you get hurt, he didn’t show any mercy. His lessons were too strict and a lot of people abandoned the studies」

I know your feelings~. I don’t know about them, but it was really hard for me. He really attacked until I was on the death’s door. He didn’t have any mercy even for a child…..After that, Eril joined us too……

The memories of the hell revived inside of me. Tears came out.

「In the empire, his reputation wasn’t the best. People called him an excellent magician with the worst personality. And at that timing, he “visited” the princess. Even I can’t close my eyes on it」

Right~? It is a route to certain death.

「Since it was Falco, he wasn’t executed in the end. He was just jailed for some time. Nevertheless, he escaped and crawled into her bedroom again」

Eh!? Twice?? Teacher, really, was the hell were you thinking!

「Her quick-witted attendant and luck helped her, but the problem lied in Falco. The empire even organized the suppression troops. At that time, he escaped to my mansion」

Troublesome as always.

「I tried to persuade him to give himself up, but he declared that he wanted to escape into another country. He is my childhood friend, I didn’t want him to die if possible. There, coincidentally, marquis Versam appeared. With the help of the marquis, he successfully escaped into the Juka Kingdom. I was in contact with the marquis since that moment」

Is it all right to tell it to me? Or so I thought, but I don’t think that the prime minister will divulge information detrimental to his persona. In other words, he has enough power to say what he wants without being affected by it.

It seems my teacher staged a nice play during his escape. He seriously injured the prime minister in front of the army (of course, he pretended), then, with a face full of suffering said「No…..I fatally injured Guremont, my childhood friend!!」and vanished. Sounds fake, doesn’t it? Or so I thought, but it seems that the prime minister was able to follow-up smoothly. In a certain sense, this excellency before me is a talent of his own.

While we were talking about it, a man entered the room and whispered something to the prime minister. What? Is it true? Or so he said. Just when I started wondering,

「It seems, his majesty wants to meet you. I apologize for taking away your time, but may I ask you to follow me to the audience hall? 」

I can’t just say no in this situation. I obediently follow behind his excellency. After wandering in the maze-like corridors for a few minutes, we reached a ridiculously large door.

「Please, wait here for a while」

The prime minister went first. After some time, the door opened and I was urged inside. I saw a big throne in the far end of the hall. As I was going forward, I noticed the soldiers ahead of me. Most likely, it implied that I shouldn’t go further.

I knelt and put my right hand on my chest.

「It’s my honor. I’m serving the Versam family from the Juka Kingdom, my name is Rinos. I’m glad to be of use」

For now, let’s make a favorable impression. Receiving permission to lift my head from the prime minister, I looked at the emperor.

He has a fearless face. He is a little aged but gives me the feeling of being full of energy. Is it because he grows a beard? After a while, the emperor opened his mouth.

「….trip….ku….uh…..and a….li….yo…fine」

What again? I didn’t hear a thing. Put some power into your voice!

I looked at the prime minister and he nodded. No, don’t you nod. I can’t hear a thing!

「For someone without a title to receive an audience with the emperor is an exception amongst exceptions. His majesty is willing to directly hear the story from you. You should be grateful and answer honestly」

Or so the prime minister said, after that, I told about Kushana and my previous conversation with the prime minister. Of course, I left the matter of Falco off record. The emperor listened intently and said with interest.

「…..did….end…..Yo…..to…od」 [¹]

I can’t hear his voice after all. His excellency is quite something since he is able to understand him. Do you have any specialized skills? While I was thinking that, his excellency indicated that I should leave and so I did.

After that, the prime minister said that he had matter to attend to and entrusted me to a guide. It seems he intends to invite me to his mansion the other day.

I came back straight to the hotel, once I was out of the imperial palace. The time was already approaching noon. Still, I’m beat. Let’s eat something.