episode_0169

That day, the nobles who visited the imperial palace recalled the memories of the banquet day.

The fear of being bare-handedly exposed to the murderous intent of something that is not human.

The shame of forgetting face and shaking and screaming.

A deadly vortex was roaming around the imperial palace.

Everyone was holding their breath and cowering to avoid the fear that was walking around.

—

“Depending on today… It seems to have a particularly strong momentum. Did something unpleasant happen?”

Leopold glanced in my direction and asked in a trembling voice.

An expression full of trouble. The back of the imperial uniform was wet with cold sweat.

“It’s nothing.”

“Then please calm down… . If this continues, everyone will collapse.”

… I’m still trying to restrain myself as much as possible.

They made me wear stuffy uniforms and tolerated my desire to smoke.

The ring Lacey gave me was also worn properly.

But we can’t ignore the prince’s earnest request…

“Isn’t it wrong for them to be cowardly and weak like a rat? Actually, His Royal Highness doesn’t mind at all.”

“… Do I look fine right now?”

Leopold held out his slightly trembling hand as if showing off.

The inside of the pure white gloves were damp.

“Umm… .”

“Please, at least laugh. Anyone who sees it will think that I have come not to protect the royal family, but to commit murder of the royal family.”

Smile?

I forced the corners of my mouth to smile.

Leopold’s face turned pale in an instant.

The eyes that were looking at me vibrated as if an earthquake had occurred.

“That… I made a mistake. Please stop making that creepy laugh.”

“Excuse me.”

I chose to just close my eyes.

If you do this, you won’t make eye contact with me, so at least no one will faint.

“No… , but if you close your eyes, you won’t see anything.”

“You don’t have to worry. Most things can be distinguished just by using other senses.”

The sounds you hear, various smells, even the vibration of the air touching your skin.

Combined with his sharpened sixth sense, it was enough to understand the surrounding situation even if he couldn’t see.

Leopold was a little skeptical, but when he saw me walking around fine with my eyes closed, he sighed as if he understood.

“It’s truly amazing… . Is it possible for a master to do something like that?”

“Well… ? Nigel can’t say it.”

I tried it once just for fun, but I ended up hitting my forehead against the wall.

I don’t know what other masters are like.

“Hmm. Then yes. After all, there’s no way something like that could be possible with a human… .”

Leopold nodded, muttering in a very low voice.

So, are you saying I’m not a person?

Isn’t it great to see him successfully dethroning the throne today?

I silently followed Leopold, staring at the back of his head that made me want to punch him.

“That is the true appearance of a beast-man predator… ! It’s truly scary… .”

“Hmm… It is true that they are ‘beast-like’ predators… ? It looks like they don’t just prey on beasts of prey… .”

I decided to ignore the pitiful nonsense coming from behind.

I can feel myself shaking just by hearing your voice… Is it possible for a person with such a small liver to properly govern his territory?

Perhaps because everyone was so frightened, no one mentioned the dark scandal they had initially worried about.

That’s a relief, that’s a relief.

If I had heard it, I would have torn off one of my limbs.

—-

Aside from having to move around, being the prince’s bodyguard was quite leisurely work.

Well, if you think about it, it would be rare to find people in the imperial palace so crazy that they would openly attack the prince.

Thanks to this, I had plenty of time to rest in between.

It was still the same now.

Leopold was chatting with the Lady of Vienna and Adelaide at a table in the garden.

I was watching them and smoking a cigarette in a corner of the garden a little away.

As I was leisurely taking in the smoke, my morning irritability had already subsided considerably.

“No, His Highness the Prince’s bodyguard gave up guarding and started smoking… !”

A knight suddenly appeared, wheezing and arguing.

Do you think you have ten lives?

“What are you.”

With the tobacco in my mouth, I turned my eyes to look at him.

Gorgeous armor unique to the Royal Guard.

His bare, helmetless face was frowned with anger and contempt.

Looking at his smooth face without a single wrinkle… I’m probably in my early twenties at best.

It must have been a while since you became a Royal Guard. You see, there isn’t even a scratch on the armor.

These guys are always the problem… .

First-time executives are inflexible and stubborn due to their lack of experience but high status.

He was the type of person that only made me tired even if I tried to persuade him.

“Royal Guard? Oh, by the way, I said I would use one more escort. By my replacement.”

“Supplementary notice… ?! It’s not too rude to be rude! Guarding members of the royal family is the role of our Royal Guard from the beginning!”

ha… .

I’m losing my mind, this.

I stretched out my left hand and grabbed his right shoulder.

As the startled knight tried to draw his sword, he grabbed his wrist with his right hand.

” Rudeness is what you are saying to me right now. Do you know who I am? Where did Naburaengi, a knight who wasn’t even a master… come from? .”

“Lee, let go of this! No, what power… !”

The driver seemed to be embarrassed and pulled his right arm, but the wrist in my grasp did not move.

As he added a little more force to his left hand, his shoulder blade began to cave in.

I turned my body around and headed toward the guy’s back like I was dancing a waltz.

As if swayed by my movement, its right arm stretched out to the side.

The knight, who had his shoulders and wrists suppressed in an instant, groaned and twisted his arms, but his straight, straight arm did not move at all.

I put my head to his ear and whispered a warning.

“Close your mouth and take note. It’s not a problem to rip out your arm like this, right?”

The knight broke into a cold sweat as he saw the armor he was holding distorted with just the force of his grip.

“It’s good to consider etiquette and principles, but you also have to do it while looking at people. Did you mistakenly think I was in the same class as you, just because we were the same escort? I am Aishangior. Don’t you know what this means?”

The Royal Guard is just a knight.

They may have decent skills, but in most cases, their status is at best that of a noble family.

This means that you are not in a position to criticize a princess from another country.

The reason I let Ophelia and the others treat me comfortably was because they spoke in an unobtrusive manner in the first place, and it didn’t mean that my status was the same as theirs.

Maybe it was the early days of exile before I was properly recognized, but now there are less than seven people in the empire with a higher status than me.

A single knight is being rude and intellectual.

“In the first place, I am doing this with permission from the ‘Prince’s Highness’, right? This is not a matter for you and others to argue about. Did you understand what I said?”

The trembling knight nodded his head weakly.

“Okay, I hope you understand. All you have to do is do well in the future.”

After lightly letting go of the knight, he crossed his arms and nodded.

“You probably know who I am by now… So, what’s your name? Since we’ll be working together for a while, we should at least put our names in.”

“Qu… . Yug, Jug Persval. That was rude.”

He reluctantly bowed his head and introduced himself.

Once again, I grabbed his shoulder and crushed him.

Persval gritted his teeth and suppressed a moan.

“Oh? cow? I can’t come to my senses. Did you learn to talk like that to the royal family or members of the royal family?”

“… Jug, this is Persvall. Excuse me… !”

Persval must have finally come to his senses and bowed his head deeply to show respect.

Yes, that’s right.

Think of it as having taught you etiquette in advance.

If you go somewhere and spread out like that, you’re likely to die.

My attitude may seem a little harsh, but this is all about suppressing the initiative.

This guy could be the empress’s liaison, or even if not, he might fall prey to the empress’s temptation and betray her at any time.

If you do that, you have to at least hint that all your limbs will be ripped out, so you won’t hesitate when faced with that situation, right?

—-

“Ah, the wonder of Persval. Your complexion is really bad. Did you have any problems with Princess Aishangior?”

Leopold, who came back from the chat, asked curiously.

It was a natural question. One side of the armor was distorted into the shape of a finger, and his pale complexion was dripping with cold sweat.

“It’s nothing. As a senior, I just gave you some advice. Right, Lord Persval?”

I lightly tapped Persval on the shoulder and glared at him to tell him not to say anything unnecessary.

If you are the kind of person who will expose everything to the prince without any notice… I guess I’ll have to judge it as irreparable.

“Yes… ! No problem!”

Persvall, standing upright and at attention, shouted in a stern voice.

It was an attitude that seemed problematic to anyone, but Leopold nodded calmly.

That guy knows my personality well, so he probably doesn’t care about this much.

“I’m glad there’s no problem. I think we’ve already introduced each other, so there’s nothing more to say… Well then, please take care of me in the future.”

“It’s an honor!”

I gently lowered the hand that was tapping Persval’s shoulder.

At least, I’m glad you seem to have at least some sense.

Just do it. Because I don’t really expect any special skills.