Volume 3 Chapter 24: Departure

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Author: 夜州 (Yashu)

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In front of the king sitting on the throne, Hagen was down on one knee, bowing in his silver armour.

Behind Hagen, four of his subordinates in the same silver armour were also in the same pose.

They had arrived in Esfort the day before, and after having spent a night there, they were now in an audience.

Cain had now also joined the ranks of higher-ranked nobles, and was also standing in line with the rest of the nobles present.

“You may look up. Good job regarding this case.”

Hagen raised his head.

“To the King of Esfort––”

They then exchanged formal greetings, after which Hagen read a letter which included a formal apology from the pope.

“I have indeed received an apology from the pope. I shall give you a reply letter later.”

Then, it was decided that they would be leaving the next day with the Saint.

“So, you’re departing tomorrow. Take care of the Saint-dono on the way. I’ll have the royal knights accompany you until you leave the country.”

“Understood. On our honour as the holy knights, we will make sure she safely reaches the holy kingdom unharmed. And then, Your Majesty, I have one request.”

“Alright, if it’s not something too major.”

Hagen nodded and continued on speaking.

“Could I have a meeting with this Cain-dono whom the Saint-sama received her oracle about? I would like to meet him in person.”

The king frowned at that, seemingly a little bit troubled. Then, glancing at Cain, he nodded slowly.

“All right then. I’ll have it arranged for after the audience. Magna, if you would.”

“Right away, Your Majesty.”

Magna nodded and started giving out instructions to the officials standing behind him.

“Thank you very much for listening to this request of mine.”

Then, the audience was over, and after the royal family had left, Hagen and his companions also made their way out.

And while the nobles were the last ones to leave, Cain was guided over to a reception room by a servant.

“I guess I couldn’t escape it after all…”

Becoming gloomy while wondering what they wanted to say to him, Cain followed the servant.

Then, the servant knocked on the door, then opened it.

Inside the room, the holy knight Hagen, Dime, and Magna were sitting down.

Magna was sitting in the middle, with Hagen and Dime sitting face-to-face with each other on either side of him.

Cain went and stood by the seat next to Dime’s, and greeted Hagen.

“I am sorry for making you wait. I am Count Cain von Silford Drintor.”

In response to Cain’s greeting, Hagen released a small bit of killing intent.

“Hagen!!”

Having noticed that, Dime immediately tried to stand up, but Cain pushed him back down by his shoulder with an unperturbed face.

“It’s no problem, vice commander Dime. If it’s just this much…”

Cain answered with an unwavering smile.

Actually, it was nothing near the killing intent of monsters and other non-humans. Yuuya’s killing intent, for example, had been so powerful that the first time he’d been hit with it, Cain had thought he would lose his consciousness for sure. In comparison to that, this much was nothing.

Suppressing his killing intent and standing up from his seat, Hagen bowed to Cain.

“Sir Cain, sorry about that. I tested you a little. Whether you were actually all Hinata-sama’s oracle said you would be… You were hit by my killing intent, and didn’t budge at all. At your age, I would have been completely overwhelmed.”

“I was also surprised by Hinata-sama’s oracle. I didn’t know anything about it either, and then she just went and declared it to everyone.”

“So Sir Cain was in the same situation as us as well…”

Next to Hagen, who was sitting with his arms crossed and a troubled face, Magna opened his mouth.

“I wonder if it’s alright though. This oracle from the Saint-sama is not something that can be decided so easily. Sir Cain already has three fiancées. Moreover, they’re Her Highness the Princess, and two daughters of dukes. And then if the Saint-sama were to also join them…”

Magna glanced at Cain’s face, then turned back to Hagen.

“Well, on our side, we’ll have to have a discussion including the pope and the upper echelons of the holy country once we return, otherwise this will get nowhere. And then, even if it is an oracle… If it would be possible, if Sir Cain could also come along to the holy country…”

Hearing that Cain might have to go to the holy country, Dime frowned.

“Hagen-dono, I’m afraid that really would not be possible. Not only is Sir Cain a noble and the lord of his own territory, he is also a student. He might be allowed to go to other countries while fulfilling the role of a noble, but until he’s grown up, the country will in no way be sending him as a special envoy.”

Magna instantly shot down the idea of Cain going to the holy country.

Depending on circumstances, the words of the head of a noble family could be the words of the country’s representative. Even if it was a minor uttering them, the weight of the words would not change.

“Is that so… alright. Then, we’ll be leaving tomorrow, as per schedule.”

“Yes, I’ll have the royal knights go with you until the border. Dime, I’ll leave that to you.”

“Understood, Prime Minister Magna.”

After that, they talked about things to come, and Hagen and Dime divulged that they had known each other for a long time.

Hagen was not a member of the pope’s faction, but belonged to the neutral holy knights, so he declared that he would definitely protect Hinata, and also observe the movements of the hardliners.

After that, Cain attended his last meal with the Saint.

On the day of the departure, under the clear blue sky, the nobles, including the royal family, had all lined up to see the Saint Hinata, the holy knights, and the royal knights off.

Some of the holy and royal knights had left the royal capital earlier, with the captured captain of the Saint’s old guards and his henchmen in a cage on a cart. There was no way they could be present at the departure ceremony.

And while an orchestra played music, Hinata, wearing pure white robes coloured with golden thread, walked out of the royal castle with the king.

The day before, she had asked the king to allow Cain to accompany her to the border, but the king had politely refused.

And while Cain’s power would indeed be necessary if some unforeseen events happened, the king had judged that it would not be good if the holy knights, who belonged to a different country, were to see that power in action.

However, at Cain’s request, a necklace made by him was given to Hinata.

The necklace was similar to the one he had given to Telestia and Silk, in that if she were in danger, all Hinata would have to do was let some of her magical power flow into it, and not only would it notify Cain, it would also create a shield around her.

Of course, all that was explained to Hinata was that it was a magic tool that could create a shield around one when it received magic, not that it would also notify Cain.

Having had Cain’s present handed over to her, Hinata had had a huge smile on her face, and had simply nodded along to the king’s following words while not paying any attention to what he was actually saying. Needless to say, her mind had already completely focused on the necklace.

Making a lonely face at having to part from Cain, Hinata walked along slowly past the nobles while holding the necklace she had been given the day before.

At Hinata’s request, Cain was walking behind the king.

Then, they arrived in front of the carriage. The Saint turned around and sent a divinely smile towards the lined-up nobles.

And the nobles, as if they were still children, all felt like they were being sucked in by her beautiful smile.

“Thank you everyone, for having me. I’m happy I came to visit the Kingdom of Esfort.”

Hinata thanked them, bowing deeply.

Then, Hinata raised her head, turned to Cain, and smiled.

Then, she near-sprinted up to him.

Hinata drew her face closer to Cain’s, and––

*kiss*

“Eh…”

“““““Ah–……”””””

Hinata kissed Cain’s cheek.

“Because we won’t be able to meet for a little while…”

Said Hinata, her cheeks dyed red, in a voice so quiet only Cain could hear, before sprinting up to the carriage and getting in it.

What she had just done was so shocking that no-one was able to comprehend it.

That included the holy and the royal knights who were there to protect the carriage.

As he gradually came to understand what had just happened, the king’s face turned visibly redder. Then, the veins on his forehead swelling dangerously, he opened his mouth.

“Cain… you know what’s going to happen later, right? We’re seeing her off right now, so I won’t say anything. But we’re going to have a nice, leisurely chat later, got it?”

Cain flinched at the king’s overwhelmingly intense words.

“––Yes…”

As if having waited for Cain’s resigned answer, the king turned to the knights and spoke.

“Well then, I wish you all the best. Dime, I’ll leave the rest to you.”

At those words from the king, Dime gave out an order to all the knights.

“Depaaaaaaaarture!”

At Dime’s words, the knights began to move as if having finally returned back to themselves.

Having seen the carriage off until it disappeared into the distance, all gazes now tuned to Cain.

Eyes full of jealousy, questioning whether he understood what had actually happened earlier, all stared at him.

Some people even had killing intent mixed in in their gazes.

“Well then, Cain. Don’t those gazes hurt. Let’s have a nice long talk in private.”

The king patted Cain on the shoulder quite violently, then took him by the shoulders and steered him back to the royal castle.

After having listened to the king ranting at him for an hour in the private room, the one waiting outside was, needless to say, an angry Telestia with a slightly red face and her hands on her hips.

“Cain-sama, I wonder if you could come with me for a bit…”

“––I didn’t even do anything wrong…”

That day, the maids paid witness to the scene of Her Highness the Princess dragging Cain through the royal castle by his clothes.

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TN: woohoo volume 3 over (technically). Volume 4 is called ‘A Transfer Student from the Baisas Empire’. Now, I’m just guessing here, but I have a feeling that said titular ‘transfer student’ is: a) a girl; b) the daughter of the emperor, but not liked by him; c) going to fall for Cain (political marriage?????); d) a himedere; and e) likely a red-head (I don’t remember anyone having the last two traits yet, so that’s why they’re there). Feel free to try your own hands at the ‘make your own transfer student’ game though lol

Yes, next chapter is idle talk 5 and I’m releasing it today

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