Ossan Saikyō Chapter 12 Part 03
After asking Rani to cut through the spiderwebs in the trees, the Garuda Moth, now free, spread its wings wide and soared into the sky.
The Garuda Moth flew around above us for a while, but then made a wide turn, rapidly gaining altitude before disappearing beyond the mountain ridge.
“It kind of looked like it was thanking us at the end.”
“I felt that way too. I think Soushi-sama’s feelings reached it.”
Rani and Freynil said that, but at the very least, since it had not attacked us even after being freed, the Garuda Moth really must not have been a monster. I felt relieved that my judgment had apparently not been mistaken.
I wrapped the scale powder Rani had collected in a leaf and stored it in the【Item Box】along with the corpse of the Queen Killer Spider. After taking a short break, we returned to the town of Barbadoza.
We arrived in town around sunset. While we were turning in our deliveries at the Guild and completing the procedures for the quest, a middle-aged woman who appeared to be the Guildmaster came over to Mariane.
She exchanged a few words with her, handed Mariane a letter, then glanced at us before leaving.
Mariane finished the administrative procedures for completing the quest and handed the letter she had just received to me.
“Count Lautrec has summoned you, Soushi-san. He asks that you come as soon as you are able.”
“I wonder what it could be. Don’t tell me the Royal Family has already summoned us?”
I opened the letter and read it. It stated that there was a message from the Royal Family and that I was to come as soon as possible.
I thought they had said they would wait three weeks, but that had been brought forward considerably.
Could there be something that had caused the Royal Family to take a special interest in us?
For now, we were a fairly ordinary party that had simply risen through the ranks somewhat quickly... though calling us ordinary was admittedly a stretch.
Even so, I did not think we were important enough for the Royal Family to summon us in such a hurry.
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After changing clothes at the inn, I went alone to the Count’s mansion. After speaking with the guards at the castle gate, Reisai came to meet me as my escort, and I was taken directly to the Count’s office.
“First, I shall give you this. It is a summons from the Royal Family. You will need it when entering the Royal Capital and again when entering the Royal Castle, so do not lose it.”
The Count handed me an expensive-looking sealed envelope. I never imagined that I would one day receive a letter bearing an actual wax seal.
“Thank you. By the way, this summons is considerably earlier than what I heard previously. Is there some reason for that?”
“I have heard nothing in particular. Perhaps it is written in the letter?”
“That is true. May I open it and check here?”
“Hmm, yes, that would probably be best. Letters from nobles are often difficult to understand, after all.”
With the Count’s permission, I opened it there and read the letter.
First, it stated that I was to “come to the royal castle as soon as possible”, with a specific deadline given. The wording was certainly rather roundabout, but that was fine.
The problem was that at the end where there was an additional statement:
「Furthermore, please be advised that there is a possibility that your party will be given a reward during the audience, as well as being entrusted with an important long-term request.」
The idea of receiving a request from the Royal Family was completely beyond anything I had anticipated. No matter how many secrets our party had, I did not think we had enough achievements or trust behind us to warrant something like that.
“What exactly will we be asked to do in this ‘request’?”
“I do not know either. Hmm... ‘an important long-term request’ is rather weighty wording.”
“It says there is a ‘possibility’, so can I assume that it has not been decided yet?”
“That would be my understanding. Presumably, they will actually observe you and, if they determine that your abilities are sufficient, they will give you the request.”
“I see. In that case, there is a greater chance that we will not be given the request, so I suppose there is nothing to worry about.”
When I said that, the Count burst out laughing.
“No, no, it is the opposite. With your attitude and achievements, you will undoubtedly be given a request. You have Dedicated Officers assigned to you, and you hold the titles of〘Dragon Slayer〙and〘Twilight Slayer〙.
…
On top of that, you are the re-discoverer and conqueror of the Wandering Dungeon. Your achievements and reputation are far greater than those of your average A-Rank party.”
“Haah...”
Now that he mentioned it, I suppose we did have quite a few titles attached to us.
“Furthermore, you have Freynil-ojou, formerly of a Ducal family, and Sphenia-dono, a high elf. Even the Royal Family cannot afford to ignore people like them.
…
And the other one is the daughter of the Chief of the Wolf Beastkin tribe, is she not? It would be impossible for them not to take notice.”
(E/N: -ojou suffix is generally for referring a high class girl/lady younger than yourself.)
“I see... Hmm?”
It was only natural that the count knew about Freynil and Sphenia. But that last part, “the daughter of the Chief of the Wolf Beastkin tribe”, who was he talking about? Well, there was only one person it could be...
“Rani was the chief’s daughter?”
“What, you did not know? The Chief lamented that she had run away from home saying she was going to become an adventurer and had disappeared without a trace.”
“Eh...? Count-sama, are you acquainted with the chief of the Wolf Beastkin tribe?”
“The settlement of the Wolf Beastkin borders my territory. From the sound of things, you did not even know that the Wolf Beastkin are the largest faction among the Beastkin tribes?”
“I apologize. I was simply not well-informed.”
Good grief. The Royal summons alone was enough to give me a stomachache, and now I had learned yet another heavy fact on top of it.
Why did all these women with such heavyweight backgrounds gather around me...?
It would be rather shameless to pretend I did not see reality for what it was. Looking away from reality would accomplish nothing, so I would simply have to deal with things as they came.
For now, I had to improve my abilities, build up our achievements, make connections, and establish a solid foundation for the party. That was probably all I could do.
◇◆◇
“So, we will be heading to the Royal Capital immediately, then?”
When I told everyone over dinner that we had received a summons from the royal family, Freynil looked slightly anxious.
As a former daughter of a Ducal family with circumstances of her own, she probably had a lot to think about when it came to meeting the Royal Family.
“Since they have summoned us, we cannot exactly refuse to go. Don’t worry. Fray is an important member of the party, so even if they tell me to remove her from the party, I’ll refuse.”
“Soushi-sama... Yes, thank you.”
When I said that, Freynil placed a hand against her chest and blushed. Rani watched her and muttered, “Good grief, Soushi...”
Perhaps noticing that out of the corner of her eye, Sphenia gave a faint smile before turning her attention to me.
“Even so, this has been brought forward considerably from what we were initially told. Do you think there is some reason for it?”
“Apparently, they want to ask us to undertake some kind of request. I assume it must be something urgent.”
“A request? If it is a request from the Royal Family, then it must be something serious.”
“Hey, Soushi, have we really become that famous already?”
Rani’s question was perfectly reasonable, but honestly, I wanted to know the answer myself.
“I don’t know about that. But the reason we were originally supposed to be summoned was because we defeated the Twilight Kin. It seems they also know that I’m a〘Dragon Slayer〙, so perhaps they evaluated us based on that as well.”
“Oh, right. I forget because Soushi always acts like it’s no big deal, but we really have done some pretty amazing things, haven’t we?”
Sphenia nodded at Rani’s words.
“That is true. Looking back,〈Saul's Guidance〉has overcome several events that an ordinary adventurer might experience only once in their entire lifetime, if at all. Perhaps we have been evaluated without our knowledge.”
“I cannot say this too loudly, but〈Saul's Guidance〉is one of the parties receiving the most attention from the Adventurer’s Guild. It would be more surprising if the Royal Family did not take notice of you.”
Mariane dropped quite the bombshell with a completely expressionless face. I would have liked her to tell us something like that sooner... though I suppose it was too late to complain about it now.
Amid the awkward atmosphere, Freynil poked my hand.
“Then, Soushi-sama, we will be leaving the day after tomorrow, correct?”
“Yeah. Apparently, it takes a week to reach the Royal Capital even at an adventurer’s pace. Let’s rest tomorrow while making all the necessary preparations, then set out the following day.”
“That sounds good. Knowing Soushi-sama, I am sure you will end up doing something along the way.”
Freynil said that with an adoring look in her eyes. Meanwhile, I could tell that Rani and Sphenia were smiling with their eyes.
“No, it’s not like I’m doing those things because I want to.”
That explanation was certainly not a lie, but I had to admit that it sounded rather hollow.
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E/N:
Let Ossan live peacefully, ya fool Mr.【Bad Luck】! 😂 Well, that's never gonna happen, for a long time…
Stay tuned!
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