「Seiji-sama, I have to talk to my otousama about this.」
「Oh well, let’s go?」
We went to the audience hall using【Teleportation】.
「Y-, You are! Ah, Elena! How wonderful, you’ve come back safely. Hurry, come over here!」
In the audience hall, other than the King and the magician who summoned me, there was only a small number of soldiers.
「I didn’t come back.」
「Elena, what do you mean?」
「I went to the『Scab village』with the Hero.」
「What did you say!?」
「The『Scab village』was ruled by the goblin army led by the goblin prince. The people who were abducted were forced to work.」
「Forced to work? What do you mean?」
「The people were threatened by the goblins and were forced to make【Magic stone of Human transformation】.」
「【Magic stone of human transformation】? What is it?」
「Look here, this is the【Magic stone of Human transformation】.」
I showed the【Magic stone of Human transformation】to the King, the King ordered the magician to used【Appraisal】on it.
「It’s certainly a【Magic stone of Human transformation】. It’s『A magic stone that can transform the appearance of the user to Human.』.」
「What did you say!?」
「We also found out that the orcs have snuck into the【Slums】of『Shinju town』using this『Magic stone of Human transformation』.」
「Speaking of『Shinju town』’s『Slums』……」
「That’s right. As for the merchant from the slums who reported that the『Scab village』had been attacked by the demon lord’s army, I think it was a goblin or an orc disguised as a human using【Magic stone of Human transformation】.」
「That’s ridiculous.」
「Otousama, you’ve been deceived by the goblins and orcs! Please stop this war immediately.」
「……」
「Otousama!」
「……No, it’s different.」
「What do you mean by ‘it’s different’?」
「The start of the war against the demon lord’s army… wasn’t because of the『Scab village』.」
「Huh!? Then, what exactly was the cause?」
「In addition to that, a demon snuck into this castle and tried to abduct you, Elena.」
「N!? I haven’t heard such a story.」
「I thought it would scare you so we remained silent.」
「B-, But, was it really a demon?」
「Oh, I’m sure. The demon snuck in but as soon as it was discovered, it ran away. There were 3 maids and a gardener who saw its appearance.」
「King, just a moment.」
「What is it, Hero.」
You’re still calling me Hero? Oh well.
「The maids and the gardener, can you call them here?」
「I-, I understand. Oi, somebody go and call them.」
After a while, one of the soldiers brought the 3 maids and the male gardener―
But. This gardener smells like something.
「All of you, tell us about the time when you saw the demon.」
「Yes.」
One of the maids began to answer.
「There was a report that someone invaded the castle so we went to confirm the princess’ safety. When we arrived in front of the princess’ room,『something』suddenly appeared, it was many times larger than a Human. When we screamed, it ran away. That’s all.」
What?
The gardener began to answer next.
「When, I went to, check, the garden. There was, demon. Demon, escaped.」
The witnesses’ testimonies are over and it’s my turn to interrogate.
「First, let me ask the maids. The one you had seen, was it really a demon?」
「Eto…we weren’t sure because it was dark.」
「Do the 3 of you have the same answer?」
「「Yes.」」
「But, it’s certainly not a human.」
「Then, the next question is for the gardener. ……You, what is your objective?」
「…… don’t understand, the question.」
「Well then, I’ll say it again clearly. An orc sneaking into a human castle, what is your objective?」
「!?」
「What are you talking about, Hero!?」
「How should I put it, it smells like a rotten fish!」
The gardener who had its smell pointed out suddenly ran away.
「【Electric shock】!」
「Gyaa!」
The gardener was paralyzed by the electric shock and collapsed on the ground. For the time being, it seems that it’s still breathing.
I approached the gardener and searched its body. I found a『certain thing』.
When I took away the『certain thing』from the gardener―
*Buwatsu!* The gardener’s body grew blurry and its appearance suddenly turned into a black orc.
「An orc!? H-, Hero, what is the meaning of this!?」
「Isn’t it like what Elena said? It’s the【Magic stone of Human transformation】.」
「C-, Could it be……」
「That ‘something not human’ that the maids had seen, was it this fellow?」
「I-, I don’t know…… probably.」
「King, what are you going to do? The demons have been falsely accused.」
「Otousama, since you now know that it wasn’t a demon’s work, please stop the war immediately.」
「……」
The King fell silent. Well, if you suddenly learned such a thing, it’s only natural to be confused.
「Otousama! Please, do it quickly!」
「Elena…… It’s already too late, the war can no longer be stopped……」
「Why!?」
「Mobilizing this kind of large-scale army, the demon lord’s army won’t stay silent too.」
「That……」
The audience hall was wrapped in a heavy atmosphere.
「Well then, shall we stop the war?」
「S-, Seiji-sama!」
「S-, Stupid, it’s impossible to do such a thing!」
「Such a thing, you won’t know if you don’t try.」
「I-, I understand. But, leave Elena behind!」
「Otousama!」
「King, do you know?~ Elena is strong, she even defeated the goblin prince, you know?」
「W-, what……」
「Look here.」
「Yes.」
「But…… it’s possible that Elena is their target. We won’t know what will happen if she get dragged into the war.」
「Target? What do you mean?」
「The demon…… No, when this orc invaded, it was aiming for Elena’s room. Its purpose was probably to abduct Elena.」
「You’re the one to talk, even though you trapped Elena in prison.」
「That’s different.」
「What’s different about that?」
「That’s…… the safest place in this castle, is that prison.」
「N!?」
「There were several layers of locks and also, a large amount of soldiers were deployed to guard it. But, you, Hero, managed to abduct Elena from there.」
Well, locks didn’t have any effect against【Teleportation】.
「Since then, we conducted a large-scale search. Though we finally found a trace, we tried to take her back using an underhanded method. But it was easily seen through, after that, we could no longer find any trace.」
Well, there were times when we had to return to j.a.pan and because we were using【Teleportation】, it wasn’t easy to be discovered.
「As it is, if we mobilize a large-scale troops to take her back, there would be a possibility of being discovered by the enemy. More importantly, it’s definitely safer under the Hero’s protection than inside the castle. After my discussion with Lyle Gewalt, I decided to let the Hero protect Elena as is.」
「I see, so that was why there was no one who came after us.」
「Still, otousama, I’ll go and stop the war with the Hero. This is my『Obligation』who was born as a Royalty.」
「E-, Elena……」
「Well, with such a reason, please give it up.」
「I-, I understand. But Hero, you must protect Elena at all cost.」
「Oh, I know.」
This fellow is seriously caring for Elena. But he is hopeless as a King……
「Now then, let me do some things before we go and stop the war.」
「What do you need to do, oniichan?」
「First, it’s this fellow!」
I approached the unconscious black orc, ripped its clothes open and shoved the【Magic stone of Human transformation】into the breast pocket. Its appearance returned to that of the gardener.
And then, I tied its hands behind its back and forcefully wake it up by splashing water over its face using water magic.
Because it seemed it couldn’t speak words while in orc form.
「Oi! Wake up!」
「*b.u.motsu*」
「Orcy-sama, tell us everything! What are the goblins and orcs up to?」
「Ugu…… at, failure…… information, speak, no good.」
「If you don’t talk, I’ll make your eyes horrible.」
「Failure, death…… *gutsu!* *gugetsu!!*」
The gardener suddenly started to groan and instantly ceased to breathe.
Its appearance also reverted back to being a black orc.
「I-, It’s no use. It’s already dead.」
「Why did it become suddenly like this!?」
「It might be under a curse.」
We weren’t able to get any information and left a bad taste in our mouths.