Chapter 26

Teil Bamon (2)

At my words, the knight's movements froze.

He alternated his gaze between me and Ashel, his face looking as if cold sweat was about to trickle down, then he subtly glanced at the woman again.

"What are you doing! That scoundrel called me vulgar! Tell him to kill me quickly!"

She was shouting in a high-pitched voice, seemingly half out of her mind, like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum.

'Really, she's something.'

I clicked my tongue and said,

"If you heard it as a joke, draw your sword. Otherwise, take your noisy self and get lost."

The knight glared at me intently before finally removing his hand from the hilt of his sword.

It seemed he had clearly realized the difference in strength after personally testing it against Ashel.

Instead, he opened his mouth and spoke in a threatening tone.

"......I don't know who you are, but you're making a big mistake. This person is the mayor of this city......"

I didn't respond but gestured to Ashel.

As she reached for the hilt of her sword, the knight couldn't finish his sentence and closed his mouth.

"Th-This......!"

The woman, who had been causing a commotion, trembled with anger and slapped the knight's cheek.

The knight silently endured the repeated, fierce slaps.

After venting her anger, the woman turned her gaze back to me with a venomous look.

"You, you really will kill me. Do you know who my father is? He's the mayor of this city. The entire city belongs to our family."

"......"

"I'll make you pay for your insolent tongue. I'll make sure you can't walk with your legs again unless you crawl between my legs and beg."

With that, she turned and strode out of the shop.

The guard followed her out, and the shop became quiet. All the eyes around us were on us.

'Wow......'

She's really something.

I watched her disappear, somewhat in awe.

Baros also looked at the door she had left through with a cold gaze, then spoke to me cautiously.

"Sir, if you give the order, I will meet with the mayor of this city. That arrogant woman......"

"Enough."

I didn't want to cause a commotion in another dominion, not Enroque. My whereabouts could be revealed to other rulers, and that could attract unnecessary attention.

But what could I do now?

I knew things would get complicated from the moment I intervened.

Thinking about meeting the mayor who raised such a formidable troublemaker tomorrow, I dismissed the matter.

"Are you okay?"

Ashel helped the fallen employee up.

The manager and other employees, who had only watched, approached her with apologetic faces.

After handing it over to them, Ashel returned to her seat, looking a bit embarrassed.

At that moment, a man who had been standing awkwardly also approached.

He was the one who had tried to intervene before Ashel and almost had his wrist cut off.

"Hey, thank you. Thanks to you, Sir and the knight, I survived. I almost ended up as a one-handed man for life."

He smiled and thanked us. I nodded.

He looked like an ordinary traveler.

Still, he was the only one who had stepped in among the people who had only watched the madwoman's actions, so he seemed quite brave. I wasn't blaming those who didn't step in.

'......?'

But, wait a minute......

Feeling a faint sense of familiarity, I carefully examined the man's face again.

It was the same feeling I had when I first met Ashel.

As I stared at him intently, he looked back at me with a puzzled expression.

I asked him,

"What's your name?"

"Excuse me?"

He seemed momentarily flustered but soon smiled again and answered,

"My name is Lian, Sir."

Lian.

Then, a character from my memory came to mind.

A young man with blonde hair and green eyes, exactly like the one standing in front of me.

'Wow.'

I was surprised and felt a strange sense of wonder at this unexpected encounter.

I repeated his name, not the alias he had just given but his real name.

'Teil Bamon.'

The youngest prince of the neutral country of Ershill, who had been abandoned.

He wasn't the main character in the Lassa world, but he was one of the most important supporting characters.

The episodes related to him in the neutral country of Ershill were among my favorite parts of the game's main story.

Right, it's five years ago, so he's probably still wandering around Caledric and hasn't returned to the kingdom yet......

"Here...... the food is ready."

At that moment, an employee brought the completed dish to the table.

The basket was filled with mouth-watering fried chicken pieces.

I looked at the chicken, then at the table where Lian had been sitting, and back at him.

I asked,

"Since we've met by fate, would you like to have a meal together?"

"......Excuse me?"

Lian's eyes widened in surprise.

Ashel and Baros, who were sitting in front of me, also looked at me with puzzled expressions, wondering why I was acting this way.

But the context didn't matter.

I wanted to talk to him.

I thought there might be something to gain from this unexpected encounter.

***

The Caines family had held the position of mayor of Bilpek for nine generations, a prestigious family in the 5th Dominion.

Mayor Colton Caines was having a slightly late dinner with a distinguished guest who had visited his mansion after a long time.

"So, I heard a rumor that the newly enthroned 7th Dominion ruler immediately crushed a merchant guild......"

Colton asked casually, and the middle-aged squire nodded.

"The owner of the workshop the guild was trying to manipulate had some connection to the ruler. I don't know the details, but the guild was completely marked by the ruler's castle."

"......That's chilling. What kind of person is he, in your opinion? I heard he's a complete outsider."

"What do I know? I'm just a lowly administrator. I don't know anything special that you don't."

He was Lyca, an administrator from the 7th Dominion, who had stopped by on official business.

He was also a personal friend of Mayor Colton.

"He hasn't done anything else besides the merchant guild incident. They say he spent all day looking at a map before I left the castle."

"Huh? A map, what for......"

"Given the tense atmosphere in Sainthea and the neutral countries, it might be related. I'm cautious about saying too much, so don't ask too many questions."

Even though they were the only ones in the room, they couldn't casually gossip about the ruler.

They soon changed the topic.

At that moment, a commotion broke out at the restaurant entrance.

Colton raised an eyebrow at his daughter, who was stomping into the dining room.

"You're back early, my dear. You said you were going to the night market, but the sun hasn't even set yet."

His youngest daughter, born to his wife who had passed away, was a precious treasure to him.

Denvry greeted Lyca first.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your dinner."

Lyca nodded. He was a bit annoyed but knew Colton doted on his youngest daughter, so he let it slide.

She turned to Colton.

"Do you know what kind of insult I just suffered, Father?"

"......Hmm?"

"Some lowborn scoundrel dared to call me vulgar! And that fool couldn't even draw his sword to defend me!"

Colton's expression hardened, and he wiped his mouth with a napkin.

Lyca, intrigued, leaned in to listen.

Denvry was known in the city as a troublemaker. The fact that she had been humiliated by someone was surprising.

"Tell me what happened in detail."

Denvry then recounted the events at the restaurant.

The employee who had spilled a drink on her dress, the guard who had intervened, and the insults from the guard's master.

As she spoke, Lyca's expression became increasingly incredulous.

It was absurd that she had resorted to such violence over such a trivial matter.

Colton's expression, however, grew more serious.

For him, the important thing was the insult to his daughter, not her behavior.

"Do you know who this person is?"

"No idea. Probably some lowborn scum."

"Hmm......"

"I feel so humiliated, Father. I can't live unless I make him bow and apologize to me."

Colton turned to the guard, Jerold, standing beside him.

"How skilled was that guard? Be honest."

"......He was far more skilled than I am. I'm sorry."

Jerold bowed his head in apology.

Colton sighed and stroked his chin.

Jerold was a skilled knight, which was why he had been assigned to protect his youngest daughter.

If the person he was protecting had a guard more skilled than Jerold, he was likely not an ordinary person.

He was probably not from a noble family in this area but from another dominion or a distant city.

"I see. Wait here."

Denvry's expression brightened.

No matter who this person was, in this city, Colton was as good as a king.

Not only had he insulted his daughter, but he had also ordered him to be killed?

"What do you plan to do?"

"Bring him to me."

Lyca's question was met with a simple answer.

Colton planned to bring him to the mansion, see who he was, and then decide how to handle the situation.

If it could be resolved smoothly, he would do so; otherwise, he would make him pay for his actions.

"What did the people look like?"

"A black-haired man and a white-haired woman as his guard."

Colton immediately called for his knights to find and bring these two to him.

Lyca, who had been listening, tilted his head.

A black-haired man and a white-haired woman? That sounds......

'I must be thinking of something ridiculous.'

He dismissed the absurd thought and chuckled, finding it quite a coincidence.

It had to make sense. Why would the 7th Dominion ruler, who was in the castle, be here in the 5th Dominion?

Regardless, Lyca thought it would be quite entertaining to see what would happen and waited for the knights to bring the fearless individuals.