Chapter 68
Maseguru 68: Investigation Results with the Royal Capital Group
When Ainz and Chris went to the monster arena, the Royal Train had just returned to the Royal Capital. Incidentally, the purpose of using the royal train this time was also for Kadyma to inspect the magic city of Ist.
「Let's go nya」
Both Fhalla and May were provided with rooms next to Kadyma's. Most of the time, except for sleeping, everyone gathered in the large living room which was much more luxurious and well-equipped than the inn of Ist they had stayed in last night. The royal train with all of that was even more of a surprise to Fhalla.
「K-Kadyma-sama? Have we arrived at the Royal Capital?」
「Yup. Good job on the long trip nya. Huh? Come to think of it, we've gotten far away from Ist...」
「Y-Yes! It was the first time I've ever been out of the slum, let alone out of Ist... It was full of surprises even before we got to the inn」
Dill, who was standing nearby, had an indescribable expression on his face when he saw Kadyma laughing nyahahaha continuously. Kadyma's attitude did not change, even if she was dealing with Fhalla and the others.
「Hey hey hey Kadyma-san! How big is the Royal Capital!? What's the castle looks like!?」
「It was hundreds of times bigger than the inns you were in yesterday nya. Come on, May, are you ready nya?」
「Yup! Because I don't have any luggage! I'm empty-handed!」
「That was certainly the case nya!」
The sound of their laughter echoed through the train.
Kadyma and May seemed to be getting along well, and they often kept having a laugh together during this trip. From Dill's point of view, it was refreshing to see Kadyma taking care of such a small child.
「...This is how I used to take care of Olivia nya. So, don't look at me like that nya!」
「M-My apologies!」
Kadyma, who has a good intuition, knows exactly what Dill is thinking. Dill, who was easily detected, wore an uncomfortable expression.
「Good grief... Well, whatever nya. Come on, Dill, you get ready too nya!」
「Okay. Now all I need is a word from Kadyma-sama, and I'll be on my way」
「Umu umu. Good nya! Well then, let's go nya!」
「Ou!」
「Y-yes!」
May's loud reply was followed by her sister, Fhalla. After this, they would get off the train and head for the carriage station before continuing to the castle. In contrast to May's happy attitude, Fhalla was nervous and uncomfortable.
***
「Big sis!」
「I don't know what's going on anymore...」
「Fufufu~n」
May is enjoying the view from the window. Next to her, Fhalla is having a particularly hard time understanding the situation. In front of them, Kadyma is humming happily and Dill is sitting quietly.
May is enjoying the sight of the slowly approaching castle... White King of Ishtalica. How can there be such a big building? She is simply amazed and even feels as if she has traveled to another world.
Fhalla, who was sitting next to her, was pestered by May to take a look at the scene, but she couldn't be as happy as May. She's not sure how much of this is reality...
「Kadyma-sama. We're coming through the gate」
「Okay nya. ...Now, both of you, I'm going to ask you both to meet some people first nya. I want Fhalla to show me the power that you have. Are you feeling okay nya?」
Warren and the other intellectuals are in the castle. And possibly even the king of Ishtalica, Sylvird will be there too. This matter is that serious. After all, the value of a user of valuable healing magic cannot be easily measured.
「My health is rather better than it has ever been. I've been given so many delicious meals... so I'm not going to complain about anything!」
「May too!」
「I'm glad to hear that nya. You're a good girl, May, I'll give you some more sweets later nya!」
「Really!?」
It may seem surprising, but Kadyma is actually very sweet to small children. She was even sweeter than the sweets she was about to give them. In fact, Kadyma is very attached to small children.
「It seems we have arrived nya. Well... I'll leave it to you Dill」
「Yes!」
The carriage arrives at the gate... and stops in front of the castle's big door, where the carriage always stops. First, Dill goes down and escorts Kadyma and the others.
「Please come this way, Kadyma-sama」
「Umu!」
Dill lends a hand to Kadyma as she descends. There's nothing wrong with going down alone! Kadyma always says that, but she can't complain too much because it's a kind of manners. Next, he lends a hand to Fhalla, and finally, he picks up May and sets her down.
『I was treated like a lady!』 There are many nobles daughters, but May was honestly happy about it.
「Thank you very much!」
As soon as she said that with a smile, Dill's face would loosen up. But for now, he was still in the middle of his duties, so he decided to be as strict as possible and not be ashamed of being a knight of the royal guard.
When May got off the carriage, she was still smiling, holding hands with Fhalla.
As the three of them went down, the people who had been watching them approached Kadyma and the others.
「Welcome back, Kadyma-sama. How was your visit this time?」
「I'm back nya. Thanks to Ainz, it was a fruitful visit nya. I'll tell Father about it later, and I want Warren to hear about it too nya」
「Hahaha. I'm glad to hear that. Now... let's get right to it, are these two people?...」
Warren and a few of his subordinates were there to greet them.
Warren had come all the way down here to greet Kadyma and to entertain the important guests she had brought with her.
「Both of you, this is Warren nya, the Prime Minister. I want you to introduce yourselves nya」
『Prime Minister? What's that?』 With such a look on May's face, Fhalla, who has a fair amount of knowledge, gets very nervous again.
The crown prince and the first princess... were enough to make her faint, and now the prime minister?
「M-my name is Fhalla! I've been working as a lowly street doctor. My sister, May, was helped by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince...」
She doesn’t know how to use proper honorifics. In fact, she doesn’t even know what manner of speech she should use. After all, she had never been out of the slums until recently, and had never thought of dealing with the country's bigwigs, who were not just aristocrats, but people on top.
「Well, well, thank you for your kind attention. My name is Warren Lark. I am the current Prime Minister of the unified nation of Ishtalica. I have heard a little bit about Fhalla-dono and it seems you've been living a hard life. I apologize for making you come all the way to such a distant place」
Fhalla's worries were easily blown away into the clouds. Was it out of concern for her? Or was it just a social courtesy? Rather than thinking about it, the fact that he said such kind words to her nearly brought tears to her eyes.
「Well then, what is the name of this young missy here?」
Warren continued to lower himself and bring his eyes closer to May's. He then asked May to introduce herself.
「I'm May! Nice to meet you!」
「Nice to meet you too, May-dono. You must be tired after a long train ride」
「Not really. It wasn't cold, and the floor wasn't hard, so I was fine!」
「M-May! ...I'm sorry for my sister rudeness, mister Prime Minister...」
May's impression of the room was that the floor was soft without any drafts blowing, which she appreciated more than anything. That alone made the room incomparable to what they had been used to.
In order to prevent more children to experience living in poverty, many policies have been implemented in Ishtalica. However, in the large city of Ishtalica, things did not always go as planned.
Warren had a pained expression on his face for a moment, ...but in the next moment, he exuded good-naturedness again and started talking to May.
「That's good to know. Have you eaten lunch yet?」
「Not yet...!」
「Let's go ahead and get some food. What about you, Kadyma-sama?」
「We can eat together nya. Just arrange a room and we'll eat there nya. Dill will come with me nya」
「Yes!」
Warren implicitly asked if she was going to have dinner with Fhalla and the others. Warren knew that Kadyma had been very considerate of them.
After all, they had been brought to a place that could be called another world, so it would be better to have a familiar face by their side.
「Please come this way. Please take a rest and some food to eat ... I hope you will be able to recover from your long journey first」
***
「I got it」
He said he could have the information to him by the end of the day tomorrow, and as he said, the information was prepared and delivered immediately.
It was right after Ainz had found Warren's men yesterday, and after a night's sleep. When he woke up in the morning and finished breakfast, while he and Chris were discussing what to do today, a person from the inn came to his room with some documents.
It was tightly sealed and wrapped like a letter used between nobles.
「They sure work so fast」
Chris takes the documents and comes back to Ainz's side.
She was dressed in her private clothes again today. She is wearing a simple outfit: a white thin shirt and skinny pants made of a denim-like fabric.
Even though it was simple, it was a fashion that looked good enough for Chris's style.
「Yeah. They've done a lot of research in less than a day, I'm so impressed」
「Maybe we can create some fluff out of the dust we beat」
「...Ainz-sama. Such a dirty thing is」
「I know, I'm just messing with you. Well, let's see what they've got for me then」
In response to Ainz's words, Chris opened the seal on the document. The string unraveled as if it had been cut by something.
「Did you use magic?」
「I just let the wind flow around my nails」
「What's that? Isn't that convenient?」
Feeling a little better, Chris smiled and handed the document she had taken out to Ainz.
「Fufu... Here you go, Ainz-sama」
「Thanks. Well, I'm excited to see what it says」
The reason for that incident was indeed him. It may have been force majeure, but it was still true that he was the one who caused the wyvern to stop working.
But reading to what he said afterwards, there was no doubt that he was a stinky person. Both in the sense of injustice and body odor.
Remembering his body odor made him sick, but seeing Chris next to him now, in his private gear, made him feel better.
「...?」
Chris noticed Ainz's eyes on her and turned her head to ask what was wrong, but Ainz shook his head, saying it was nothing.
「Let's see more first...」
"I see" Ainz thought. Ainz read the first line and was convinced. Or rather, what was written from the first line was too disturbing.
『List of victims of forced sexual activity』 This shouldn't be. The fact that they gave a lot of money and claimed it was legal makes it even worse.
There are criminals everywhere. It was the same in Ishtalica, but he still couldn't stop himself from feeling depressed when he saw them.
「...Are you okay?」
A worried face peering in from next to her. Chris didn't miss the uncomfortable expression on Ainz's face as he looked over the documents. It made her worried and she asked.
「I felt like I was covered in dust. Here, Chris-san, you should see it」
「Yes. Now, if you'll excuse me」
――...
He hadn't expected her to close the distance and peek at him from the side. She must have been taking a shower after waking up, and he could smell the nice scent of shampoo from her long hair.
「I knew it I should've cut him down」
「Well, the number of victims didn't increase yesterday or today, so it's okay. I'd rather have checked it out first... But this guy, I'm pretty sure he's guilty」
「It's not worth the trouble to fight for him. What are you going to do now?」
「Look here」
「That's the Kraken that pig has, isn't it?」
「...W-well you can also call him that」
He gets nervous when someone spits out "pig" so easily. It's not that Ainz is a masochist, but when a woman like Chris says something like that, he can't help but look at her face.
「E-err... Is there something wrong with my face」
「No, it's nothing. I'm just feeling a little woozy」
「...?」
「A river master with a gangster attitude」
「...Even though it's a Kraken, it's the master of the river?」
「It's not gonna cool to look like when it fell out of its territory though」
In other words, he is a frog in a well. They seem to be doing whatever they want in the territory they live in.
It destroys the ships of his people, devours the fish from the fishing grounds and devours the small monsters in the neighborhood because it is big. It was reported that they are doing whatever they want.
He pities the fact that they are doing what they want under the influence of their owners. They are doing damage because they have not been taught that it is wrong.
「To tell you the truth, I thought it was a pity that they were allowed to do whatever they wanted for their owners' convenience. But it's a little different when it's causing some damage to the people」
「And that's against the law, too. Anyone who keeps monsters is obligated to compensate for the damage it has caused. Probably because that pig is not doing that」
「No mistaking it」
While talking with Chris, he looked through the documents that had been compiled. Then an interesting piece of information came to Ainz's attention.
「...If I had only found out about it on the day of the duel, I would have been very surprised and felt like... Damn it! I think I would have felt like」
Even she, who spits venom today, follows suit and looks over the documents.
「That would certainly be the case... What would be his final line? "I never said the duel was one-on-one! Or...」
「I feel like every word is useable. Want to bet he'll say it when the day comes?」
「Very well」
「I was thinking the same too though」
「...I don't see how that's how a bet works」
The Kraken he possessed was two Krakens of the same species. He was probably planning to take one of the monsters with him anyway, and then it would be two against one and he could do whatever he wanted. It was a very typical tactic for small fry.
I mean, how could they think of keeping them in the river when there are no waters in their territory? I wonder if they like squid?
「But this kind of thing is exciting because you'll know about it on the day. If you know now, you won't get excited...」
With a sense of mysterious disappointment, he takes a look through the next one.
「Wow, that's amazing. Embezzlement, fraud, all kinds of illegal activities」
Hearing Ainz's voice, Chris also peered at the document from the side. Their faces were so close to each other that it wasn't very kind to Ainz's heart.
「Sometimes there are these things, but this one is pretty deep-rooted」
「These kind problems, I wonder how should I get rid of it」
Tell people to stop committing crimes. Just like saying so doesn't make crime go away, it also doesn't make cheating go away. That's a given, but feeling sorry for yourself is another matter.
「But thanks to this, we don't need to go to court anymore, so we can execute it right there. That's good for the treasury」
「Is that already too much to ask for an absolution?」
「Yes. And I'm sure his residence is being monitored, so it's almost impossible for him to escape」
「...I see. Then, I think it's time to figure out a date for the duel. But I'm a little relieved」
Relieved? Chris wondered, but Ainz was quick to give him the answer.
「I was wondering if I should let El or Al fight, because if it was going to be two against two, I figured it would be better」
「...I think it's going to be pretty miserable」
「Miserable?」
「Yeah. I'm sure you know why the sea dragons are the strongest in underwater combat at...」
At first, he thought about letting the twins fight. He didn't want them to get hurt, and he didn't want to put them in danger.
But he was relieved to know that they didn't seem to have to worry about that.
「In fact, one-on-one was a better chance for the Kraken to win than two-on-two」
Is it still too much for a young sea dragon? That's not true at all. This is why sea dragons are called kings among underwater monsters ...Ainz will see the reason for it on the day of the duel.
「By the way, Chris-san. You have one misplaced button on that shirt」
「Uh... U,uuh... You should have told me sooner...」
...What should we do for today? Shopping would be nice. Looking at Chris, who was looking embarrassed, Ainz started thinking about his plans for today.
「It's another beautiful day...」
――A few days after this, the date for the duel between the monsters of Viscount Sage and Ainz will be set.
In the meantime, he would enjoy the streets of this Ist and investigate... He was energetic in his activities, including visiting Professor Oz's room one more time.
And so, the planned two-week stay in the magical city was drawing to a close. The end of it and the date of the duel were gradually approaching.