Water Magician

Vol 4. Chapter 745: Anguish

Several days after Ryo and Abel had that conversation.

The Knightley Kingdom party was still in the guesthouse.

“Nothing has come in since the second force marched out, has it?”

“No.”

“Why not? Shouldn’t the battle be over by now?”

“I cannot say. They may still be facing each other on the battlefield.”

“Ah. That is a possibility.”

Ryo was reading the magic formulas he had copied onto an ice plate, while Abel was reading a book he had borrowed from the royal palace library.

Both of them were avid readers.

Because they were having this conversation while doing that, neither of them sounded particularly committed.

“It seems even the army command has not received any detailed information.”

“What? Then the people in this palace do not know whether the two armies have clashed, or what state the battlefield is in?”

Only now did Ryo raise his head.

It was not exactly good for information from the front lines to be failing to reach headquarters.

“In the Central Countries, they would send information by messengers or birds, but I do not know the circumstances on the Dark Continent.”

“You mean there may be monsters that prey on birds.”

Ryo nodded at Abel’s words.

“Ah... that possibility does exist.”

“What? Did you mean something else?”

“As I said, I simply do not know the circumstances.”

“I overestimated you, Abel.”

Ryo sighed and shook his head slightly.

He had honestly thought, That’s impressive, too....

“You said earlier that even army command has not received any information, didn’t you?”

“I did.”

“Was that information from Scotty, from the lady-in-waiting?”

“Yes, Scotty, but apparently he heard it not from a lady-in-waiting, but from the adjutant of some general or other.”

“That adjutant... could she perhaps be a woman?”

“It seems so.”

“I do not know how to put this, but Scotty is amazing. I could never do that.”

“Nor could I.”

Ryo and Abel both shook their heads slightly.

In many different senses, Scotty was a valuable man.

That same Scotty had been one of Abel’s classmates during his days at the Royal Academy.

“Abel, you spent your Royal Academy days doing nothing but wicked things, didn’t you?”

“Wicked things?”

“You slipped out of school, went in and out of dens of delinquents, and caused endless trouble for the decent citizens of the royal capital, didn’t you?”

“No, I did nothing of the sort. As for school... sometimes I skipped class and read books, that is all. On campus, too.”

Ryo looked at him suspiciously. Abel shrugged.

“Scotty and Zack must have been incited by you and forced into a life of wrongdoing. Since you were the second prince, they had no choice but to obey... Poor men.”

“Were you listening to me? I told you I did not commit any wrongdoing.”

“Skipping class is wrongdoing.”

“Ah, no, well... that is...”

“If Prince Noah skipped class, would you praise him?”

“No, I would not.”

“See?”

At some point, Ryo had folded his arms in front of his chest and was acting extremely self-important.

While the two of them were having that kind of idle conversation, the door was knocked on, and Company Commander Scotty, the man they had just been discussing, entered.

“Your Majesty, Crown Prince Zorn has arrived.”

“Show him in.”

Crown Prince Zorn was the crown prince of the Bardael Chiefdom where the party was staying, and with Chief Battuzon away # Nоvеlight # on campaign, he was currently the person responsible for the palace.

The guesthouse where the party was staying stood in one corner of the palace grounds.

“Your Majesty Abel, thank you for giving me your time.”

“Not at all, Your Highness Zorn. Please, do not concern yourself.”

The two of them sat down on the sofas.

Zorn’s guard stood diagonally behind him, so Ryo also stood diagonally behind Abel and put on an air of being a bodyguard.

Partly because he was, admittedly, interested in the contents of the conversation....

“You may already have heard, but... for the past several days, we have been unable to contact the intercepting force.”

“Yes.”

“We have sent soldiers from the palace to confirm the situation as well, but... we have lost contact with them too...”

“...”

The expression on Zorn’s face was exactly suited to the word anguish, and seeing it, Abel could say nothing.

Abel understood how he felt.

They both stood in positions where they were responsible for many people.

A single judgment of their own could decide the lives of many people... The weight of that responsibility was something no one who had not experienced it could ever understand.

At the same time, Abel found the young crown prince before him rather likable.

His anguish came precisely because he worried for his people and soldiers and faced the matter seriously.

That also meant he held the possibility of becoming a good king.

“Problems come pressing in one after another... Father and Your Majesty Abel have continued dealing with things like this almost every day, haven’t you? I...”

“A nation is always exposed to danger. Those dangers only fail to surface because the people involved in government deal with them accurately and patiently every day. At present, the Bardael Chiefdom is missing its chief, the man who stood at that center. That is likely why the burden appears greater than usual.”

“Yes...”

“But Your Highness, there is no need to despair.”

“What?”

“There should still be people who have supported this country alongside the chief until now. They too are confused at present, which is keeping them from acting effectively, and the effects of that confusion are likely appearing in various places. But in time, the confusion will settle.”

“Do you think so?”

“I believe what matters is that you, Your Highness, as the temporary head of the country, trust them.”

After saying that, Abel smiled gently.

That smile healed Zorn’s heart.

From there, the conversation progressed and then returned once more to the fact that contact had been lost with the intercepting force.

“To be honest, I believe this country will soon find itself in an extremely difficult situation.”

“Your Highness...”

“Before that happens, I believe it would be better for Your Majesty and the people of the Knightley Kingdom to leave the chiefdom.”

Zorn’s expression as he said that was bitter once again.

Just as he had earlier, Abel could give useful advice as a king.

For the inexperienced Zorn, with his father absent, that was moreありがたい than anything else.

Moreover, the military strength King Abel carried with him... Duke Rondo in particular, who had single-handedly repelled tens of thousands of monsters, was an overwhelmingly powerful force.

If that power remained here, there was no doubt it would make dealing with the army advancing north much easier.

But Zorn believed it was something he must not wish for.

It was not entirely logical. Even on an emotional level, he felt he must not rely on them there.

As an independent nation, and as its temporary head....

Abel understood Zorn’s feelings and emotions as if he held them in his own hands.

Probably because, had Abel been in the same position, he would have spoken the same words.

“Relations between nations are difficult things, Your Highness.”

“Yes... Your Majesty.”

Abel and Zorn smiled wryly at each other.

At that moment, the door was flung violently open.

Under normal circumstances, it could never have happened.

But both Abel and Zorn understood. Something abnormal had occurred.

“What is it?”

“Forgive the interruption during your meeting! We have just received word that what appear to be mounted soldiers are approaching the south gate!”

Before that report had fully ended, Zorn stood up and ran out of the room.

“Abel, does this mean...”

“Yes. They are probably people from the oasis nation.”

“Then the intercepting force...”

“We should assume it has been destroyed.”

Abel nodded in response to Ryo’s question.

Then both of them left the room as well.

The riders were said to be approaching the south gate, so if they climbed the city wall or a watchtower, they would be able to see them.

“I do not think the crown prince will ask us for help.”

“I think so too.”

From their conversation with Crown Prince Zorn earlier, both Ryo and Abel could easily imagine it.

“But realistically speaking, when there is an army with hostile intent in front of the city, leaving the city... how would that work?”

“If they have not surrounded the city, it should be possible to leave through a gate other than the south gate.”

“No, yes, that is true, but... It feels like abandoning them, or something like that... Emotionally, it is just...”

Ryo spoke with a grimace, but halfway through, he could not continue.

He could not help imagining it.

The serious crown prince they had just been speaking with, the older woman at the market who displayed delicious fruit, and the man at the roadside stall who had sold him delicious meat skewers—all of them invaded and subjected to terrible things.

“I hate that.”

“I feel the same.”

Ryo spoke from emotion, and Abel agreed.

Ryo was surprised that Abel had agreed.

“I have not forgotten that the Kingdom was trampled.”

Abel’s words sounded calm.

But Ryo could sense it.

The regret, resolve, and anger lying deep beneath the words he had spoken....

The memory of his homeland being trampled was not something that vanished easily.

And now, the country where they were staying was about to suffer the same fate before their eyes.

“The desires that lure people into conflict... are terrifying.”

Ryo murmured, and Abel sighed as well.