Chapter 58 :

Chapter 58 - Favor and Kinship (2)

“Get lost.”

I can say with certainty that those last words were not spoken by Jing.

At most, he had only been about to say something like, “Let us stop this now.”

Though if they had not listened, he could not be sure what words would have been exchanged.

Jing, who had been standing awkwardly, turned his head to find the culprit of the voice that had suddenly cut into the conversation.

Ratel, who had somehow approached before he knew it, was looking down at those sitting there.

With both hands full of bread.

“Didn’t you hear me telling you to get lost?”

Ratel spoke again to the young Jing and his companions, who were sitting blankly with their gazes stolen by the bread in his hands.

He had not made any particular threat, but everyone hesitantly rose from their seats.

Because among those gathered here, there was no one who did not call Ratel a lunatic behind his back.

“Ah, s-sorry.”

Even though the young Jing had been sitting there first, he even offered an apology.

“Then I will be going now.”

After awkwardly bowing his head once to Jing, he moved away from Ratel just like that.

Ratel dropped down onto the seat they had vacated.

This time, Jing did want to praise him, but he still thought it was not right to go around picking fights everywhere, so he gave a small warning.

“Do not go around picking fights like that. You never know what may happen among companions traveling together. In an unexpected moment, they may be the only people left who can help you.”

“I was not picking a fight. There were idiots taking up space, so I told them to move.”

Ratel answered as if it were troublesome, picked up one of the breads he had brought, and took a big bite.

“They are not bad people. They are just ordinary people of Abiran.”

“They are all just morons.”

At the aggressive choice of words, Jing smiled bitterly.

Because right in front of Ratel’s eyes, the moron he was talking about was sitting openly.

“You may not understand, but that is something unavoidable for the people of Abiran.”

“Do you feel a sense of kinship?”

Once again, Ratel made him close his mouth with a question that was hard to answer carelessly.

Ratel, who had been looking at him, turned his head again and focused on the bread.

Ratel and Jing implicitly did not ask much about each other.

Strangely, however, Jing often felt that Ratel knew far more about him than he knew about Ratel.

Just like now.

* * *

The young duke moved urgently with a heart as confused as his father’s, no, perhaps even more confused.

“Tollin, what on earth is going on?”

It was late at night.

A night where the three moons and the stars embedded in the dark sky shone especially bright.

Normally, it was a time when he should have fallen asleep long ago, but Tollin, who had come to his room unable to hide his urgency, ordered the servants to pack his belongings and then brought him out.

Moreover, unlike usual, Tollin did not open his mouth except for the bare minimum he had to say, and only urged his steps while looking ahead.

As he followed behind Tollin, who was walking as if being chased, the young duke pressed down the anxiety created by the silence.

The place where Tollin finally stopped was also familiar to the young duke.

No, since it had been at least a month since he last stepped there, it was hard to even call it familiar now.

It was the bedroom Agony Feedus had used before his death.

After briefly steadying his breathing and looking around, Tollin entered with the young duke.

“Young duke, I apologize for this suddenness. A letter came from the temple. It says they believe you must be brought to the temple for preparation for the ritual.”

As soon as the door closed, Tollin poured out the words he had been holding back.

“What does that mean? A priest is not visiting the ducal residence directly?”

For nobles, especially nobles of high status, it was common to summon a priest of the temple and hold the ritual.

And why are we talking about that in my late father’s room?

Looking at the young duke’s clear eyes filled with confusion, Tollin calmed his own heart.

“Yes. They said that because there is too little time to prepare for the ritual, once the 1st Princess announces the beginning of the ceremony, they must prepare the young duke’s Tinas ritual immediately afterward.”

Even as he continued speaking, Tollin’s eyes checked every corner of the room.

Tollin was a realistic person.

He did not even dream of the fairy-tale idea that one could live in Abiran and completely avoid the eyes of the imperial family.

In the empire, there was no one who was not the eyes and ears of Abiran, and there was no one who would try to go against their will.

Even taking all that into account, the temple’s movements were too fast.

Too fast, and too accurate.

That also meant information was leaking from the inside just as quickly.

“Do not worry too much. I will accompany you as well. No, perhaps I alone will be able to follow you.”

Tollin muttered self-deprecatingly.

At the grave atmosphere, the young duke looked at Tollin worriedly.

The time the letter from the temple arrived was before Pale had returned to the ducal residence and reported to Tollin.

The information had been delivered too quickly.

There was no longer anyone inside the ducal residence who could be trusted.

“Young duke, if you go to the temple today, there is something you must do.”

“What is it? If it is something I can do, I will do anything.”

Tollin looked into the gray eyes filled with firm will.

“The priests will say that before the ritual, you must cleanse yourself and conduct yourself properly, and they will tell you to change clothes. The belongings you originally brought will all be collected as well.”

When the young duke nodded as if he understood, Tollin continued.

“Carefully check where the priests collect and place your clothes and belongings. If my memory is accurate, the place where the ritual is held should be the second room to the left from the prayer room on the second floor of the wooden building. If there is nothing special, your belongings will likely be stored in the room beside it.”

The young duke widened his eyes at Tollin’s overly detailed explanation.

The young duke was familiar with the temple in the capital as well, since he had to go there periodically to offer prayers.

But he did not know exactly where rituals were held.

No, he had no reason to know.

The temple was open to every citizen of the empire, but at the same time, it was conservative and exclusionary.

Unless one was a priest of the temple, one could not know what happened inside.

Or unless one had experienced it personally.

Tollin noticed the young duke’s questioning gaze, but he added no further explanation.

“But that was also quite a long time ago. The temple was expanded six years ago, so the location may have changed. So even if everything is taken from you, if possible, do not let at least this leave your body. If you say it is a treasure of the family, they may let you keep it.”

As he said that, what Tollin held out was a pair of rings.

The young duke carefully received the rings and turned them this way and that just as carefully.

But soon, he concluded that they were simply rings made of gold, with no particular features at all.

They were smooth, plain rings with not even a common seal or engraving, only slightly thick.

Still, because Tollin had given them to him, the young duke believed there must be something he had not found and focused hard on the rings again.

Looking at the young duke’s face, Tollin finally let out a small laugh.

“Even if you stare at them that intently, nothing will come out. They are gold rings without any pattern.”

“Why are you telling me to keep these with me?”

“I am giving them to you just in case. If a difficult situation comes, throw even those at them. Among the temple’s priests, there are many more greedy people than you think, young duke.”

“…Is it all right to say that?”

At the quite shocking evaluation of the priests, the young duke looked around, even though he knew no one was there, and worried about Tollin.

“It no longer matters.”

Tollin answered with a gentle smile.

They were not words merely meant to reassure the young duke, but Tollin’s true feelings.

He knew very well that there was now nowhere to flee in Abiran, and no hole through which to escape.

They could not refuse the ritual and become rebels, and it was too late now to evacuate the young duke.

From the very beginning, this was not a fight they could win.

If so, then at least he had to protect the one remaining family member.

Tollin knew it was not exactly appropriate, but he carefully placed his hand on Plin’s head.

“Everything will be all right, young duke. Everything will be all right. So you must remember everything I teach you today.”

Everything would be all right.

He would make it so.

* * *

Is he going to die from stress at this rate?

Looking at Tollin’s flashing eyes, I clicked my tongue.

For some reason, the window to the young duke’s room had been closed, so I came in, but the two were having a far more serious conversation than I expected.

Tollin’s eyes, visible beneath the ceiling, were flashing to a frightening degree.

No matter who looked at him, he had the face of a person resolved to even face death for the young duke’s sake.

Tomorrow, huh…

I took the narrow gap in the ceiling and crawled back the way I had come.

“What is this? Is it all right for you to do nothing?”

El, whose body had now become almost the same size as mine after I transformed into a mouse, brought its face uncomfortably close and asked.

I ignored the creature’s words and moved my four feet.

“Look at this arrogant brat. If I speak, should you not at least answer?”

The creature followed behind me, lowering its voice and spewing anger.

It had always been insolent enough to pierce the sky, but after finding out that I was not the protagonist, it looked ready to pierce past the sky and through the universe.

Should I say he is transparent?

Contrary to my expectation that he would cling to me, saying he had to go to the owner of the prophecy immediately and asking me to tell him where Ratel was, El was very quiet.

“Child, I am asking whether it is truly all right to simply return from there. Is the child of Feedus not in danger? You seemed to care for him quite a bit, so is it really fine to leave him like that?”

No, he was not quiet.

He was loud.

Far too loud.

Once it was discovered that he could speak, the creature talked without rest, to the point that I wondered how he had endured it until now, and he did not keep his mouth shut for even a moment.

The creature’s endless questions continued without end until I left Agony Feedus’ bedroom and returned to the young duke’s room.

My ears were about to bleed.

As soon as I came down from the ceiling, I immediately returned to human form.

“No matter how I look at it, the one who cares for that child more than I do seems to be you.”

“Me? The child of Feedus? How could that be?”

The creature, finally hearing my answer, snorted as if it had heard something absurd.

The creature, who hated the imperial family despite being of the same imperial family, did not seem to particularly like Feedus, the sword of Abiran, either.

“Is it not you who has been looking after that brat quite a bit? Because you feel guilty about sending his father far away. Do not pretend otherwise. I already know everything.”

The creature puffed up as if it knew me very well.

It would have been nice if it had stopped there, but its chatter did not end there.

“Strangely, when you help humans, you try to hide yourself. Could it be that you are embarrassed? Humans rather jump up and deny it when their sincerity is discovered. Yes, when their weakness is touched, humans naturally thrash about even more. A human child around your age could be like that. I understand everything. Young children are originally like that. Still, there is no need to do that in front of me. I may look like this, but I am very, very old. I have often seen humans become buried in things of no value and miss what they truly need. So you too…”

“Right.”

The creature’s long, long speech began again.

I cut off El’s endlessly spilling words.

The creature struck the floor several times with its tail, as if displeased that I had interrupted it.

“You are right. I am bothered by the young duke.”

I was very concerned about how the young duke’s survival would affect the original work any further amid the overlapping incidents that arose as the original story was moved forward.

“So you need to stay here.”

“What?”

“You are fine with it too?”

The solution I suggested must have pleased the creature very much.

Because the creature began jumping up and down in place.

“What are you talking about? Why should I stay in a place like this?!”

“I can’t stay behind. I have to watch the owner of the prophecy arrive properly. If necessary, I also need to guide him.”

Yes, this was a matter of necessity.

It absolutely was not because the creature was too loud and I wanted to leave it behind.

“Are you saying that since you are busy right now, I should keep watch over the brat of the House of Feedus?”

“That’s right. No need to be shy. The young duke really likes small animals. If it is a squirrel friend, he will be completely weak to it.”

“I refuse! What if I miss the owner of the prophecy while doing that? Besides…”

The creature, which had been raising its voice in anger, suddenly stopped speaking.

“Besides what?”

“…Besides, I cannot stand children. Especially one that young…”

The creature frowned and mumbled.

“It is not a bad condition for you either. If you stick by the young duke like this, you will be able to meet the real owner of the prophecy.”

At the words “owner of the prophecy”, the creature snapped its head up.

Just from that, I could tell that it had already been half-persuaded.

Looking at him like this, he really was a transparent creature.