Translated by Refulgent for Four Slimes Translation

Chapter 1 – 12

Celia's Thoughts

It was a two hour ride in the King's coach to reach Kukuri village. While inside the coach, I came to realize that this King was quite the terrible man.

Q. Why are you going to Kukuri village?

A. (Official Reply) Some rumors have reached the royal capital, suggesting that the Forest of the Elder has become strange lately. Because an inspection of Hausto Frontier Earldom must be taken at least once in 10 years, the king thought that if he did the inspection himself, he could better understand the citizens.

(Honest Reply) Lately, the chancellor has been quite annoying and causing high stress levels, so I needed a change of pace.

[TN: the author is referring to the concepts of Tatemae and Honne]

Q. Couldn't Hausto Frontier Earldom make the report themselves?

A. (Official Reply) Even if only the king was involved in the inspection, it would still put a mild burden on them. After the inspection, the fewer people that need to return home, the less fuss it creates.

(Honest Reply) Since it's for a change of pace anyways, having the Earl's followers around would be annoying.

Q. Won't that become a problem later on?

A. (Official Reply) In order to be able to deal with issues swiftly, it's imperative that the king himself is the one who confirms it.

(Honest Reply) It's annoying, so the Chancellor can deal with it.

Q. Is it really okay for the king to do it?

A. (Official Reply) We surround Ourselves only with the best and brightest people, allowing Us to do more for the country.

(Honest Reply) I'm king after all, so it's fine!

Excerpts from the question and answer session.

It's a wonder there aren't more rebellions.

The most shocking thing of all was,

“Ricardo!”

“Alex!”

An old fart and yet another old fart… rather, father and the king shared a solid hug.

When the two of them were young, it seems they had been adventurers together. They formed a five member party along with mother, Cruyff-san, and a currently serving imperial guard (not present in Kukuri). They were a fairly famous party when they were still active, apparently even taking down a dragon. By the way, gramps had also defeated a dragon, solo.

In this world, it's not uncommon for young n.o.bles to become adventurers for a time, in order to deepen their understanding of society. There seems to have been a time when the king studied directly under gramps, too.

“Because he had only average intelligence, his magical power was about average as well. He would occasionally do something stupid and really mess things up, so watching over him was never boring.”

It was that type of situation.

While I've been telling you all this…

“Tenma, I told you to avoid danger, didn't I?!”

….Mount Celia is erupting once again.

“Celia, Tenma saved us. Please forgive him.”

Celia glared sharply at him.

“I mean, nothing!”

Yep, the king is useless!

Or rather, mom, just what kind of person are you?!

“Celisama and Marisama… The King's wife, Queen Maria von Bloomel Klostin, became close friends with Celia, as they were both in the Magical Academy's lower divison. They are so close they call each other best friends now.”

Explained Cruyff-san from behind.

“Huh.”

“Additionally, the King has a certain weakness when it comes to the Queen.”

“A henpecked husband?”

“That's right. Even now, Celisama and Marisama still send each other letters quite frequently.”

“If she spills all about what happens here it would be troubling…”

“It would be interesting if it turned out like that.”

This butler seems to be a good guy.

“Tenma! What are you saying!?”

“No, Cruyff-san was just… he's gone!”

Where did that butler…

“Tenma, you still don't get it, do you?”

This is bad! Mount Celia is gathering strength, there are no G.o.ds here… No wait, I've met them before but…

“Celia, please forgive him. Though it may have been reckless to intervene when it seemed so bleak, him doing so turned the tides of the battle. That's courage, and it should be praised.”

“Merlin.”

Mother's anger was directed at gramps.

Oh, gramps, are you a G.o.d?!

“It's been a while, Merlin-dono.”

The king greeted Merlin.

“Hmm, it's been quite some time, hasn't it?”

Gramps nodded, looking quite composed. Shouldn't he be way more nervous?

“His Majesty is respectful toward Merlin, as if he was his own father.”

Once again Cruyff appeared. Ignore him, ignore him…

“When His Majesty was little, he was quite the brat and even despite being a.s.signed a personal tutor, he would often cause all kinds of mischief. His pranks could be cruel and many tutors quit, but Merlin-sama's lessons ended up getting through to him, and bit by bit he became more mature.”

Whoa, gramps is pretty amazing.

“Things like how to torment people efficiently, how to better skip out on boring instructions.”

“That doesn't sound good.”

“Because it seemed fun and he would teach things that other people wouldn't, he embraced it.”

Well, I guess it doesn't really matter. I'm convinced that I'm surrounded by weird people already.

“Tenmsama is also a little strange too, hm?”

Don't read my mind! It's you who's the strange one, Butler! I don't wanna hear that from you!

The king's group is planning to survey Kukuri Village and the Forest of the Elders tomorrow. The day after that they'll return to the royal capital. The king and Cruyff-san stayed overnight at our house, and the rest stayed with Merlin.

It was a long and noisy day, so I decided to go to bed early. Good night.

That Night

“But Alex hasn't changed, has he~”

Finally reunited after 10 years, Ricardo spoke to the king quite earnestly.

“I have changed! But no matter how long it's been, I'm still me!”

“It's like he still hasn't grown up! You know sire, gaining power alone makes for a poor quality man.”

“Cruyff-san's tongue is as just as sharp as ever.”

Alex said to Cruyff, and then continued on toward Celia.

“My authority exists for a reason!”

A bold statement from this country's highest power.

“Tenma got caught up in all this because of it.”

“I'll be sure to tell Maria all about it.”

Ricardo was laughing, but Celia's eyes showed she was clearly not amused.

“If you would be so kind, Celisama.”

“That's enough, stop right there! Cruyff, you're my butler aren't you?!”

“I am Marisama's butler as well, you see.”

“Ara ara, how terrible~”

Talking like this was very nostalgic for them.

“anyways, when did you have a kid? It would've been nice to let me know via letter.”

Alex realized the direction the conversation was headed in and changed the subject.

“I told Maria all about it, though? I said once Tenma is over 15, we'd come for a visit.”

“I never heard that.”

For Alex, it seemed to be a rather large surprise.

“Had you told him, he most likely would have been trying to push his duties aside, with the visit in mind.”

“Probably. Since it's Alex, he probably would've. He's here now, after all.”

“Indeed, it's Alex-sama we're talking about.”

Both of them agreed with Cruyff's a.s.sessment. Alex had n.o.body on his side.

“W-well, putting that aside. Tenma is really something, isn't he? In a one on one fight, n.o.body within the royal capital would win against him, would they?

“Perhaps. Provided it was a fight without magic, among those we brought along, John could possibly win. If magic is involved, then even Din might lose.”

Cruyff said decisively. Din was one of the group's old party members. A swordsman who could also use high level magic, he now serves King Alex as captain of an Imperial Guard squadron. He could be said to be the strongest man among the Kingdom's military.

“Wow, you'd rank him that far ahead?”

Cruyff had acted as the former party's scout, so his eye for reading an opponent's abilities was rumored to be the best in the kingdom.

“I want Tenma to serve my son or even grandson in the Imperial Guard.”

“…If that's what he wants to do…”

Alex couldn't help but notice the shadow that came over Celia's face.

“Is there something about Tenma I'm missing?”

Alex put on a face worthy of being king, and Celia started telling him bit by bit.

About how Tenma was an abandoned baby. About how the card left with him read Ootori, possibly connected to a n.o.ble family somewhere. About the fact that, when you know that you yourself aren't the real parent, just them leaving the house seems to cause anxiety, among other things.

Listening to Celia's explanation surprised not only Alex and Cruyff, but also Ricardo.

“Celia,you were that worried? I'm sorry I didn't notice earlier.”

Though there might be a difference between male and female parents, Ricardo had thought that the bond with Tenma built up over 10 years was thicker than blood. Even if Tenma's real parents turned up right now, Ricardo optimistically thought that Tenma would probably choose himself and Celia over them.

Celia thought differently.

A man never endures the suffering and pain that comes with a child developing directly inside of your belly. A woman puts their own life at risk when it comes time to give birth.

Maybe Tenma would choose his birth mother over me, if she just suddenly turned up. Wouldn't he? Maybe when he compares me to his real mother, I could be moved down a notch. Couldn't I?

These were the thoughts that Celia had been holding. This was the reason she had been so overprotective of him.

So I can protect him from this woman I've never seen, the woman who gave birth to my child.

Of course it was done unconsciously, but Celia herself really did view it like that and believed it.

After hearing the mother's inner distress, the men were left unable to say anything in return.

A heavy silence fell over the room. The one who broke it was Merlin, who opened the door and entered.

Merlin gently placed his hand on Celia's shoulder.,

“You fool, there is no doubt that you are Tenma's mother. Just by looking at Tenma you can tell.”

Speaking with a kind voice, he continues.

“He calls out to you, mom, mom! When you've become angry, he looks sad in return. When you shower him with praise, he looks delighted and laughs. Certainly, there have also been times lately when it seems he hasn't listened and caused you no small amount of trouble. But it's not that he doesn't hear you. It's exactly because he thinks of you as his mother that he's able to do things without holding back, is it not?”

He took a moment before he continued,

“Believe in Tenma more. Put your trust in him. Because you're Tenma's mother.”

With those words, tears trickled down Celia's face.

“…yes.”

was all she could whisper.

Ricardo pulled Celia close and gently stroked her hair.

After some thought, Alex said,

“I haven't heard of anyone with the name Ootori, but I'll keep an ear out and if I hear anything, you'll be the first to know.”

Cruyff added,

“I certainly haven't heard of that name, but the p.r.o.nunciation is close to “Oodorii”. It's the name of a distant royal family, so it's hard to believe they would be a match.”

Afterward, it seemed the time for talking had pa.s.sed. The weariness that had once formed a dark shroud over Celia finally lifted.

[Author's Note]

The king has become more and more of a light type of character.

The king and his guard had a tough time with the orcs because they were attacked by surprise. Combined with both the orcs superior numbers and the Orc King strengthening them, it became the perfect storm and they were left unable take the initiative against them.

Celia really coughed up all her worries. I haven't yet decided how the stories changes from here going forward.

[Translator's Note]

Thank you to Senketsu for QA on a couple tricky lines!

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