Chapter 135: The Declaration of War

After that, Shin and I headed back to the villa, carrying Alisha with us.

On the way, we met up with Lily, Fitis, and the others. We returned to the room where Shin and Alisha were and laid the still-unconscious Alisha on the bed.

Shin was next to me, holding Alisha’s hand.

「Big sis…I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…And thank you. 」

Shin said those words while trembling, but he didn’t let go of his sister’s hand.

「So, Kyou, what exactly happened? 」

Lily and the others seemed relieved to have found Shin safe and sound, but when they saw Alisha’s injuries, they became worried and asked me for an explanation, and I honestly told them what I saw.

「…I see, that Manticore…」

Lily looked at Zahak, who was standing next to me, with a somewhat sad expression on his face.

Of course, Zahak told Lily that he had erased Shin from the Manticore’s memories, but he also told her that it was what the Manticore itself wanted, so she didn’t blame him.

「…We have to make a place for Shin here for the sake of both Manticore and Alisha. 」

「Yeah, we have to do something about that guy Masauda’s royal battle. 」

Yes, ultimately, for Alisha and Shin to both live peacefully in this kingdom, we needed to stop Masauda’s interference, and as a prerequisite, we absolutely must win the royal battle. But…

「Brother, Kyou. You were here? I’ve been looking for you two. 」

「…Rostam. 」

「Rostam! 」

Turning toward the voice, I saw the Emperor Hero Rostam appearing from the door.

「There was some commotion in the palace. Did something happen? 」

「Well, there were a lot of things going on…」

Or rather, this guy hadn’t even noticed the previous turmoil.

I wasn’t sure if he was bold or absent-minded.

「More importantly, Kyou, brother. I’ve been doing some research on this Masauda guy, and I’ve got some interesting information. 」

「Really, Rostam!? 」

「Of course. Despite appearances, our empire’s intelligence network is excellent. We didn’t get any major insights that would get us to the heart of the matter, however we still managed to get some information. 」

Honestly, getting some information on Masauda was reassuring.

Whatever it was, I wanted as much information on my opponent as possible. It would be great if it could be used in the actual match, and it could also be a trump card.

With that in mind, I waited for Rostam’s next words, but…

「First of all, he’s a womanizer. 」

「Huh? 」

But then, I couldn’t help but ask to repeat the information Rostam had just given me.

Humm, what exactly did that mean?

「Well, you see, he has a bad reputation even within the palace. He’s not only known for abandoning the women he’s once won, but he also steals and devours other women, regardless of whether they’re other men’s or married women. Well, being a royal male isn’t uncommon for such impurity, but frankly, I’d say he’s a scumbag. 」

He was certainly right.

To be honest, Masauda was even worse than I thought.

「…But that alone won’t be enough to use against him. Just because he’s a womanizer doesn’t make it a crime…」

Zahak, who had been listening next to me, spoke up.

That was true. This was little more than gossip.

Even so, I had no intention of criticizing Rostam, who gathered this information in just half a day after arriving here.

I was grateful for the information he gathered.

「Well, actually, there’s more to this story. It seems his bad habits with women got him into trouble with a certain someone in the past. 」

「Trouble? 」

This suddenly turned into a palace scandal, and I couldn’t help but ask what happened.

「Apparently, he’d been courting someone of considerable importance. I couldn’t find more information, but it seems he spent a lot of effort trying to cover it up. In fact, someone who heard the rumors was assassinated. So I never got to find out who he was having trouble with, unfortunately. 」

「I see… 」

I touched the area under my chin in thought after hearing the information from Rostam.

Perhaps the matter was quite important.

Seeing how Masauda had frantically tried to erase even the evidence and rumors, it seemed that knowing it would lead to a fatal revelation.

If we could find out who that was, we might be able to find his weakness and stop him from threatening Alisha, Shin, and the others.

「Lady Alisha. Excuse me. 」

But at that moment, the door to the room opened and a figure presumably a royal guard entered.

The moment the soldier entered, he was clearly flustered at the sight of Alisha, his intended target, lying on the bed, but Zahak calmly responded.

「…I’m sorry. As you can see, Lady Alisha’s condition is not good. If there is something you need, I will be all ears and tell Lady Alisha later… 」

「Ah…is that so? 」

Zahak’s prompt response and his position as the brother of the Emperor of the Albrus Empire convinced the royal guard, and he conveyed his request and left the room.

Later, when I asked what he had come to tell me, Zahak gave a somewhat unimpressive response.

「…Things will get a little complicated. I have a message from Lord Masauda regarding the Royal Battle you mentioned earlier… 」

「What kind of message was that? 」

Judging by Zahak’s expression, I expected it to be something bad, but the truth was even worse.

「…The Royal Battle will take place tomorrow. And it will be a duel with real swords…It will be a battle where either one side admits defeat or loses their life… 」

「Tomorrow… 」

「…If we don’t show up, he’ll consider it a forfeit, and Shin and Alisha will be forced to leave the country… 」

That was the worst message to receive in the current situation.

Alisha, who was meant to take part in the Royal Battle, was currently lying unconscious after being poisoned by the Manticore.

Of course, the poison had been neutralized by Dorage-chan’s tentacles, but it would be extremely difficult for her to fully recover by tomorrow.

Even if she did recover, it was difficult to say whether she would be able to fight at full strength immediately.

Requesting the Royal Battle at this horrible timing.

It was likely that Masauda had received word that Shin had gone missing and took advantage of the confusion to challenge Alisha.

If the enemy was mentally disturbed, it would be easier to strike first, making it the perfect timing to launch an attack.

However, the situation was actually even more troubling than that.

「What on earth should we do…? 」

A voice rang out as we worried.

「I’ll…participate. 」

Everyone in the room, including me, turned at his words.

There it was, Shin, holding Alisha’s hand.

His expression was different from the fearful one he’d had before; a strong, determined resolve dwelled in his eyes.

「I’ll…participate in the Royal Battle in place of my sister. 」

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