Fracton and the surviving disgraced knights had already been restrained by Arnold. There was no reason for me to step in.
With this, my debt to Rose and Anna was fulfilled. All that remained was to retrieve Grasshopper Man and the others.
Still, what should I do now? According to my memories, I was supposed to head to where my mother was, but having finally been freed from the shackles of my family, I wanted to see the world at my leisure.
Traveling costs money. Since I was at it, maybe I'd obtain a hunter's license to earn travel expenses. If so, nearby Balse might be best. The Silke Sea of Trees, a den of monsters, was right there. Yes. Let's do that.
Just as I took a step toward the forest—
"W-Wait!"
Fracton called out to stop me.
"I-I am the sword and shield of Prince Gilbert, the next king! Join our side! With power like yours, the prince will surely make great use of you, even if you are an incompetent Gift Holder!"
"You bastard, you dare spout such nonsense at a time like this?!"
Arnold grabbed him by the collar, enraged. His fellow knights had been wounded and nearly violated. On top of that came this absurd drivel. I could understand why he was furious.
"Silence, commoner! I am a count, a count, I say! The worth of my very existence is different from lowborn trash like you!"
Truly hideous. This human world was the most vile and beyond salvation. A kingdom where such worthless scum ran rampant would be better off destroyed.
"Didn't you constantly despise me as an incompetent apostate and go out of your way to harass me? Why in the world would I ever take your side?"
That was one choice that was utterly out of the question.
"T-That can easily be covered up with the prince's authority, no matter the results of your Gift! You can have all the money and women you desire!"
"Is that how you manipulated those foolish knights?"
When I merely shifted my eyes toward the knights bound by Arnold, they let out tiny squeals and began to tremble.
Absurd. A truly pathetic bunch.
"His Highness Gilbert will soon ascend the throne. When that happens—"
I stepped up to the man and grabbed his face in an iron grip.
"Listen to me. I've had quite enough of your hypotheticals. I don't care in the slightest who ascends the throne. Whichever of you pests governs, it amounts to the exact same thing anyway."
"Are you intending to treat even Lady Rose like a pest?!"
Anna shrieked noisily. Having put her clothes back on, she seemed to have reverted to her usual irritating self. Well, judging by the expressions of the other knights, they all seemed to share her sentiment. Only Arnold didn't direct a look of disapproval at me, instead watching the scene with an intrigued expression.
"Indeed, of course I am. Let me put it in more concrete terms so it's easier to understand. The royalty and nobility are parasites that cling to the people and suck their lifeblood."
In the first place, they too sorted people through this nonsensical thing called a Gift and persecuted races that lacked one. In the end, they were hardly different from Fracton here. They were nothing more than pests infesting this country.
"You bastard—!!"
Anna flew into a rage. As if responding to her, the other knights also placed their hands on the hilts of the swords at their hips.
See? This was their true nature. The moment things didn't go their way, they immediately resorted to force. And they genuinely believed that the other party should always submit silently and listlessly to whatever was done to them. That was why I loathed them to death.
"Oh? You want to take me on? Fine by me. Let's go all the way until one of us is destroyed."
When I let go of Fracton and turned to face them, Fafnir lowered her stance and let out a growl. Astaroth gave a heavy sigh, his expression shifting into that of a glaring beast as he cracked his knuckles.
The opponent was the Amelia Kingdom, a major power. What's more, they had the legendary Hero. He held the Gift of the legendary Hero, after all. He was likely in an entirely different league compared to the greenhorn Sword Emperor and his attendant. The old me would probably have hesitated. But I was different now. There was no way I would ever bend the knee over something so trivial.
No matter how powerful the opponent might be, if they chose to oppose me, I would thoroughly obliterate them!
"Stop this at once!"
At that dignified voice, Anna and the other knights hurriedly straightened their posture. Arnold bowed as well.
"Hah! The ringleader makes her appearance. Well? What will you do? Intending to execute me for insulting you?"
The royalty and nobility of this country had done so since ancient times. For the sake of an intangible, worthless concept like bloodline, they had claimed countless lives and violated countless souls.
Discrimination based on Gifts was, in short, nothing more than a petty scheme concocted by the rulers to intentionally create a discriminated class, redirecting the populace's discontent—which should have targeted the royalty and nobility—toward them to let off steam. As long as this royalty stood at the top, it would surely be repeated.
"Hardly. Rather, I am delighted."
"Huh? Have you lost your mind?"
What was this woman suddenly talking about?
"H-How insolent—"
As expected, Anna tried to snap at me, but—
"I said stop! Did you not hear me?!"
Struck by a tone so fierce it hardly sounded like Rose, Anna shrank back.
"It was the first time."
"Ah?"
"It is the first time in this kingdom I have met someone who shares the same sensibility."
"Did you not hear me?! I just told you that you royals and nobles are the root cause rotting this country!"
"That is why I said I agree with you. This kingdom is rotten. While poverty, plague, and crime run rampant, the royal government takes no measures whatsoever, striving solely in pursuit of its own profit. If the current regime continues like this, this country will surely collapse in the near future."
"Probably. But so what? Are you going to spout that you could govern benevolently? That won't be a fundamental solution, you know."
"Yes, you are right. My individual strength and ideas amount to very little. But what if every single citizen could participate in governance?"
I was surprised. The idea of the people governing by their own hands and for their own sake was distinctly alien in this real world. Even I would never have arrived at such a thought had I not read the vast number of books left behind in that labyrinth. Hmm, I'd grown just a little bit interested in this woman.
"Where did you get that idea?"
"It was featured in a story of a different world, written in a book my hunter uncle gave me when I was young."
"A story of a different world?"
"Yes. It was a world governed by a concept different from ours, called science. A society where, regardless of high or low birth, each citizen could determine their own path by their own will and walk it."
Ten to one, she was referring to the very "science" that appeared frequently in the labyrinth's books; there was virtually no doubt about it. In that case, that book was a text from an alternate world. Of course, it seemed to be merely a story, and likely different from the books I had read.
"That is strictly a fantasy story. It's no utopia, you know."
Those books depicted the sins and karma of that alternate world to an exhausting degree. Everything always had two sides. Given that what Rose read was a story, it was highly likely that only the bright side was written.
"I understand full well what you wish to say. Even so, I found myself wanting to see such a world. That is why this is my dream."
Rose placed both hands on her chest and tightly closed her eyes.
This princess wasn't normal. In the first place, an ordinary person wouldn't think of realizing the world of a story, no matter how wonderfully it was depicted. Furthermore, the price she offered to pay was her own royal status. That wasn't a normal line of thought. No wonder the nobles tried to make a sacrificial pawn out of her.
"You really are crazy."
"You, disrespecting Lady Rose again—"
Anna flew into a rage once more at my plainly astounded remark, but—
"Anna."
At Rose's unquestionable voice of restraint, she hurriedly held her tongue.
Rose erased all emotion from her face, turned back toward Fracton and his men, and—
"Fracton, and the knights who aided him: I shall report this matter to His Majesty the King. In particular, this incident involves the worst possible offense—collusion with the Empire. Expect nothing less than capital punishment."
She declared what amounted to their utter ruin.
"That cannot be! His Highness Gilbert will—"
"Is my younger brother the kind of compassionate person who would risk his life to save someone suspected of collusion with the Empire?"
He must have finally realized that he had committed an irreversible blunder. Fracton turned pale and began to tremble.
Leaving Fracton behind, Rose—
"As of this moment, I, First Princess Rosemary Loto Amelia of the Amelia Kingdom, appoint Kai Heinemann as my Royal Guard!"
She made such an idiotic, self-righteous declaration.
Royal Guard, huh? It was the highest honor for anyone aspiring to swordsmanship in this Amelia Kingdom, so of course I knew of it. If I recalled correctly, it was the title of the highest-ranking knight bestowed by those possessing the right of succession to the throne.
A Royal Guard was the guardian of a royal successor, a symbol of military might and authority. Appointing an incompetent like me, a target of contempt, to such a post was sheer madness. She really was insane.
"W-W-Wait just a moment! He is an incompetent apostate! To appoint him of all people as a Royal Guard is simply unforgivable—"
As expected, Anna tried to object with a frantic look on her face, but—
"Silence! Then let me ask you in turn, Anna: who do you think is suitable?"
Rose cut her off again with a sharp tone and threw the question back at her.
"W-Would the traditional and prestigious Royal Palace Imperial Guards not be appropriate? At the very least, that is how it has always been done!"
"Fracton, the foremost authority of that royal palace, has betrayed us this very day, has he not? What is more, you were nearly violated by the knights he hired. Broadly speaking, they were my brother Gil's personal guards. I am sorry, but I can no longer trust the royal palace itself."
"Even so, to appoint such an apostate as a Royal Guard..."
Anna murmured, biting her lower lip.
"An apostate? How ridiculous! Did you not witness Kai's swordsmanship, which surpasses even the Sword Emperor? He stands in a realm that the superficial talent you so love could never hope to reach."
"That is..."
"These may be harsh words, but if I were God, I would bless him, who is overflowing with ability, far more than you. An omniscient and omnipotent God would surely bless him all the more."
"—-!!?"
Not blessed by God as much as me. Struck hard by a point that truly couldn't matter less, Anna looked down and fell silent. Perhaps it was a prime example of how humans are hurt most when rejected within the framework of their own values.
Be that as it may, that was that. I had been planning to embark on a journey to roam the world. Getting held back right from the very start was the last thing I wanted.
"Don't go appointing me on your own without my consent. In the first place, I have no intention of accepting."
At my words of refusal, sighs of relief leaked from the surrounding knights.
"No, I insist that you become my Royal Guard!"
I hadn't thought this woman was someone so pushy. From her right now, I could even sense something akin to obsession.
"A Royal Guard is the face of one who holds the right to the throne, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is often compared to a vase used to arrange a flower."
"Then, for the flower to shine, it needs a vase worthy of it, right? In particular, I am incompetent. I am the furthest thing from fitting the role of that vase. Look elsewhere."
"There is no one more suitable than you!"
"Suitable, huh? What about the kingdom's Hero? He's supposedly quite strong, and isn't he by far the most popular figure in this kingdom?"
"The Hero is the primary fighting force against the Demon King's army. If I were to make the Hero my Royal Guard, other factions would erupt, potentially leading to civil war. Above all, I do not trust that Hero to such an extent."
"Then you just need to have that Knight Commander of the Kingdom over there take the post once the King retires, don't you? In terms of both strength and character, he's truly the most suitable."
"It is decreed that a Royal Guard serves only one monarch in their lifetime. Even if His Majesty the current King abdicates the throne, Arnold remains my father's Royal Guard."
"Then leave it to your subordinates. Don't drag me into this."
"A Royal Guard is the title of the highest-ranking knight. Absolute strength is required to protect an heir to the throne. It is terribly regrettable, but my subordinates do not yet possess the skill to be entrusted with it."
"..."
At Rose's merciless—in a sense—remark, Anna and the surrounding knights grimaced in silent frustration.
"Above all, I want you to become my Royal Guard!"
Rose cast a brief sidelong glance at the surrounding knights and declared so forcefully.
"That's your logic. It has nothing to do with me. Look elsewhere."
"No. There is no one else for my Royal Guard but you."
"I flatly refuse."
"Are you certain?"
Feeling a chill run down my spine at the faint smile Rose wore, I asked:
"What do you mean by that?"
I pressed her for the basis behind her behavior.
"If you will not accept, I intend to appoint Lena Grot as my Royal Guard."
"Huh? She's an amateur who's hardly ever fought, you know."
This incident had made it clear. The enemy was scum, but cunning. It was an entirely different matter from slaying monsters. I couldn't imagine sword skill alone being enough to protect her. It didn't suit Lena in the slightest. Rose should have been the one who understood that best.
"Yet she is the Sword Saint. In swordsmanship alone, she already surpasses even that Hero. Above all, the fact that the Gift Holder of the Sword Saint—said to have saved the kingdom multiple times—becomes my Royal Guard carries immense weight in this country. It will serve as the perfect deterrent against the other heirs to the throne."
"What about her own will?"
Surely even that good-natured girl wouldn't want to get involved with an utterly troublesome, scummy organization like the royal family.
"She told me she would gladly accept if it is what I wish."
That complete idiot of a girl! Come to think of it, she had that troublesome personality where she couldn't refuse when a friend asked a favor.
"What would Lena's position be if she doesn't accept the Royal Guard post?"
"To the kingdom, the Hero and the Sword Saint hold immense significance as figureheads against the Demon King's army. We cannot afford to lose them under any circumstances. Her duties would primarily involve rear support. However—"
"Enough. I understand. You're saying the danger level will be on a whole different level if Lena accepts the Royal Guard position, right?"
"Yes."
Just as Rose said, that fool named Gilbert wasn't sane. After all, he was willing to sell his own biological sister to the Empire. If Lena were to become Rose's lead knight, her life would undeniably be targeted relentlessly. And right now, I had clear memories of my childhood. That was probably why. At the very least, I simply couldn't tolerate a child named Lena meeting misfortune.
Even so—she had another thing coming if she thought the current me would yield to a threat resembling a hostage situation.
"In short, you are blackmailing me, aren't you?"
I questioned Rose, my voice laced with anger. Just from that alone, the surrounding knights—who weren't even the direct targets of the hostility—let out small shrieks and fell onto their backsides. Anna was trembling, her face completely pale. The only ones remaining composed were Arnold and Rose, who was the actual target of the hostility.
"I offer my heartfelt apologies for resorting to such methods. However, what I wish for is an equal pact with you."
"A pact? Do you honestly believe taking away my choices unilaterally can be called equal?"
That was an excessively arrogant way of thinking. Well, one could say it was typical of royalty, but I had thought this princess was someone who would never do such a thing. In the end, that was merely an impression from when I was Kai Heinemann, lacking life experience. Mistakes were bound to happen.
"I have robbed you of your will. Therefore, if you hold my will, it becomes equal. Is that not so?"
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"I shall use this."
Rose took a ring embedded with a golden gem from her skirt pocket and handed it to me.
When I appraised it—
―――――――――――――――――――――
★ [Ring of Subjugation]: The wearer of the golden ring can command the wearer of the red ring. However, it has no effect on entities whose [Magic Resistance] is significantly higher than the user's [Magic Power].
- Item Rank: Intermediate
―――――――――――――――――――――
A ring that strips away the will of others, huh? And on Rose's left index finger, a red ring was worn. So this is what she meant by me holding her will.
Willing to sacrifice even herself if it meant fulfilling her ideals, was she? She probably thought of it as a spirit of self-sacrifice, but this woman didn't understand in the slightest. Sacrificing oneself required resolve. That resolve was something squeezed out from within oneself. It was emphatically not something established by relying on such a dubious item. Moreover, her method didn't make a shred of sense. In fact, it was utterly reckless.
"This is a Ring of Subjugation passed down through the royal family for generations. Several are granted to each royal to prevent betrayal. As for its specific usage—"
"I roughly understand this ring's effects, so there's no need for an explanation. More importantly: if I were to use this ring to control you and throw the kingdom into chaos, what would you do then?"
Cutting off Rose's proud explanation, I voiced a question filled with half-exasperation.
"You are not the kind of person who would do such a thing."
Rose uttered those entirely baseless words with complete confidence.
"Fool. Humans are fundamentally creatures steeped in desire. Everything you see is merely a superficial illusion."
This was really starting to feel ridiculous. In short, this woman was nothing more than an immature brat, just like that Sword Emperor.
However, with such a naive outlook, she would certainly die next time. If the enemy was cunning and despicable, we needed to devise schemes to ruin them without a shred of hesitation, but considering this woman's childish words and actions right now, that would be impossible.
If counterstrategies couldn't be devised, she needed to think of a concrete way to protect herself from that fool named Gilbert. But since Arnold wasn't Rose's lead knight, he wouldn't be able to guard her forever. In other words, this woman would soon be completely defenseless. Perhaps this foolish act of hers was born from that impatience as well.
"I am truly sorry for bringing up Lena. However—"
"Enough."
Letting out a deep, deep sigh, I crushed the golden ring Rose had handed me.
"Wha—what are you—"
As Rose turned pale and tried to question me, I shattered the red ring on her left index finger into pieces using my left thumb and index finger. Then, turning to Arnold, who was watching our exchange with his arms crossed, I said:
"Al, you're this tomboy's guardian right now, aren't you?"
"I suppose so."
Arnold nodded.
"Then give this foolish girl a lecture. We'll talk after that."
This girl was far too reckless; I couldn't bear to watch. It was likely true that she was Lena and Keith's friend, and it was also true that abandoning this child here would leave a slightly bad taste in my mouth.
Either way, I didn't have any clear objective I had to pursue right now. If it was only until I could find a Royal Guard capable of protecting Rose, I didn't mind playing along with this farce.
"Right, let's do that."
Arnold grabbed Rose's small right hand and began pulling her toward the tent.
"A-Arnold, but my conversation with Kai isn't over—"
"Princess, it's already over."
"What does that—"
"More importantly, regarding your conduct just now, there are things we need to discuss at length."
Arnold replied with an obvious forced smile, pulling Rose along firmly as they entered the tent.
"Master, thou takest upon thyself far too many troublesome matters."
To Astaroth's exasperated words, I simply said:
"Leave me be."
Shrugging my shoulders, I stepped into the forest to retrieve Grasshopper Man.