179. Confusion 4

…am I serious about the war, you ask?

No, our country and this country are already in a state of war.

And this time, separately, my own [Yamano Kingdom] (population: 1 person) also started a war.

Capture the wars.h.i.+ps, seize the resource and commodities…

Yeah, it might be delicious.

I wonder if I can get a letter of marquee from my king. Just in case…

"…wait, please wait!” (the King)

When I reached the front of the door, I heard a call from the King, breaking through the silence.

However, since he's just saying the same thing as before, I completely ignored him. The guards in charge of opening and closing the door doesn't move either, so I tried to open it myself, and…

"No! I'm asking you to listen, not ordering you not to move! Sorry, it was bad! I take everything back! So, listen!" (the King)

I'm surprised!

No way would a king apologize in front of the va.s.sal to a foreign n.o.ble, no matter how much he thinks I were a member of the royal family!

The va.s.sals and guards are also surprised.

So he does have enough selflessness  required to be a king. Is this the so-called [I'm the king. I'm a member of the royal family…]?

Well, it'll leave a bad aftertaste if I were to continue withdrawing even though he admitted his mistake. I don't want to leave the country because I had a fight with the king either. If possible, I would like to stay here as it is.

If I move my base to another country, all the personal connections and business routes I have built up to now will be coming to nought and going back to square one, and the product store … well, that's a lease, so there's no problem.

Of course, I was going to withdraw all my bank account money, buy gold bullions and leave the country, or buy it later through the Rephilia trade. Well, Rephilia would have to wait until various preparations are complete before she could abscond the country…

If the account were frozen, of course, I was going to get it back in gold ingots. From both the bank and the Royal Palace's treasury, including penalties.

…since I won't leave a small note or a calling card with cat pattern on it, the fact that I voluntarily recovered the a.s.sets I deposited in this country wouldn't be exposed. It's going to be a fuss about a mysterious great phantom thief. (Note: the small note is reference, and the cat card is Cat's eyes reference.)

Well, it takes time, but starting over in another country is not that hard to be honest. I could even do better next time because I just have to repeat what I already did once. …but what makes me reluctant to leave is…

Yeah, the girl named Micheline who became my friend is only exist in this country.

That's why, although it's a bit regrettable to give up the chance to make a gross profit, it's a bit like deliberately starting an avoidable war for the sake of making money, so let's yield here.

"…If you say so…" (Mitsuha)

When I turned towards the throne and said so, the King seemed relieved.

But I don't think it's going to be a big problem just by putting a little girl from another country in a bad mood…

Even if it's become a war, they might think that my home country is a small distant country at best, so both land and sea forces would not have the power to pick a fight with this country. I mean, it seems like a great opportunity to occupy my homeland and annex it as a colony, I wonder why he became so timid…

"Then, let's pretend that the matter earlier has never happened… Let's say that I was sleeping on the second floor of my store and I didn't go anywhere, nor did I meet anyone today. I dreamed of meeting the king of this country, and it's strictly just a dream…" (Mitsuha)

"U-umu, right, that's right! The [First meeting in reality] would be in the next time…" (the King)

You're going to call me again!? If you're sleep-talking do it when you're sleeping… tte, I'm supposed to be inside a dream now, I guess it's okay…

(Note: Sleep-talking has the same kanji as talking nonsense)

We somehow managed to avoid a catastrophic incident, and he learned the hard way, I guess he won't be pushy anymore. If he's being decent from the beginning, I wouldn't do anything like that, mind you.

…well, I'm rus.h.i.+ng to lower the national power of this country, so it's not my place to say that though. The king also think that it wouldn't be a good idea to continue the talk with the current atmosphere. Considering that my mood has worsened now, I guess that's reasonable if he thinks it would be better to continue the talk later when my mood has restored, rather than forcing to continue the talk right now.

In the first place, even if I promised something after this, I could just say [Eh? I don't know. I didn't go anywhere that day because I slept in my store] and it'll be over. The king, too, might be wary of that possible outcome…

Anyways, it's seems fine to call it a day.

Alright, withdraw!

After giving the king a proper parting speech, I left the audience chamber. Then follow the guard in charge of guiding me to the castle gate.

…no, I would get lost if I were alone, and they wouldn't allow other people roam the royal palace alone either, usually…

And when I'm following the silent guard…

…hmm?

I can see a somewhat familiar figure ahead…

"Eh? Viscount Yamano?" (the Prince)

Aaaah!! This guy is one of that DQN b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, the son of Count Wonrade, Viscount Efred!

The s.e.xual hara.s.ser who ridiculed my refined modest figure!

Why is he here… tte, the royal blood seems to run in that DQN family, so it's nothing strange… tte, there's no way that's the case, you idiot!!

There's no way such a coincidence could happen!!

d.a.m.n, they got me! They fooled me!

I thought that hairstyle and mustache of the King and Count Wonrade were a bit different, but they weren't completely different, something like that can be easily changed. What a blunder!

There are also wigs and false mustaches…

Seeing this guy walking in the palace alone like this, even a moron would realize!!

… Now you've gone and done it, Count Wonrade…

Then it means that this guy who doesn't wear a disguise or anything strange like the king is the crown prince, and that he doesn't have the plan to meet me…

Maybe the King kept it secret from this guy? To prevent him from making a mess again…

And, as he feared, this guy has made a mess, again.

Well, even if he were present in the audience chamber earlier, together with the King, it would be as good as pus.h.i.+ng past the limit.

No, I guess this is not this guy's fault this time.

If he didn't know that I'm coming to the royal palace, it can't be helped if he encountered me by chance. After all, for this guy, this place is probably [Workplace and Home], so it's normal if he wanders around.

…but nevertheless, he has no reason to act all friendly towards me. After all, this guy is the same person as that [Viscount Efred] who ridiculed me, in other words, this guy is still the same unpleasant… terribly unpleasant rascal from back then!!

In addition, if I'm involved with this guy in something strange, the king might use it as a bargaining chip for information gathering later.

A wise man once said, stay away from danger. There's nothing better than staying away from this guy.

"…what happened? Please guide me out of this place quickly!" (Mitsuha)

As might be expected, even tough the Crown Prince spoke to me, I couldn't just ignore him and continue walking, so the guide stopped. And when I said that the guard makes a frightened expression as if he remembered the moment during the audience and walked in a hurry.

Apparently, he seems to have come to realize that there's no way that the Crown Prince could withhold the girl who turned on the King without hesitation. And he seemed to decide that it was better to continue walking rather than letting the evil dispute begins.

…Yup, correct!

If your danger detection ability is not good, you can't survive in this evil spirit nest!

And I quickly leave, ignoring Viscount Efred who is saying something.

No, since I only know this guy as [Viscount Efred], I'll deal with him that way, and there should be no problem.

An angry young lady, who had previously been severely insulted in front of a large number of n.o.bles, ignored a Viscount from other country who just happened to pa.s.s at the Royal Palace.

…there would be no problem.

n.o.body would be blamed, yup.

Alright, withdraw!

"…what!? You met Viscount Yamano!?" (the King)

"Yes, just at the corridor there …if you called her, why didn't you tell me!?" (the Prince)

The king dropped his shoulders and hanging his head down after hearing the Prince's words.

"Even though we somehow managed to make her agreed to pretend that the failure from before has never happened so that we can patch things up from now on… of course she would realize. I don't think that Viscount Yamano is stupid… hmmm, what should I do…" (the King)

It seems that the future of the king will be full of difficulties….