Chapter 73 – The impending danger
The second day’s morning, the demon general who finished his meal came over to the giant tree region for a stroll.
His first line when he saw Sue was “Good morning”, and his second line was “Hohohohoho…..”
Sue had gooseb.u.mps when she heard the laugh: “What’s wrong with you laughing like that in the wee morning?!”
“Nothing, I just realized something interesting.” The demon general laughed and shrugged his shoulders: “Do you know, that wolf brat went to find Slane again, but this time he isn’t actually pranking him.”
“He’s a kid, maybe he wants to change to a new toy?!” Slane was his uncle, so Fedrus would obviously stop pranking him. But Sue could not reveal that fact and merely glossed over it.
“But do you know this?” The demon general’s smile became even more mysterious, curling his lips and said: “Slane did not curse that brat today at breakfast, and when that little brat went to see him, his face smiled till it was quite disgusting to look at, as if he was looking at his illegitimate son……”
[This idiot……]
Sue silently despised Slane’s lack of cautiousness: “…… He’s an adult after all, would he really want to get accountability from a child?”
“Oh.” The demon general nodded nonchalantly, and did not continue to pursue this matter, as if he was really there to just randomly gossip. He turned to his next topic quickly: “Come to think of it, my clan members outside the forest sent me a message yesterday night, it seems there’s another group of human adventurers who seemed to have entered the forest.”
“Oh?!” Sue asked: “To inspect the Tree of Life?! Or to collect plant samples?!”
“That team did not register at the adventurer’s guild, maybe they are personally hired for personal reasons?!” The demon general chortled merrily: “By the way, it seems that someone discovered the duke of the Tobias Kingdom registered as a member of the adventurer’s guild. He’s the younger brother of the queen, I wonder what exactly he is doing in this little place…… That means your future business is quite abundant.”
“…… Thanks.” Sue gritted her teeth and barely managed to curl the corners of her lips.
The demon general’s gossiped ended, and brought a “hohohoho……” mysterious smile and bowed out of the area. Sue waited patiently with effort until he disappeared out her eyes and sent out the little white tiger to bring the little prince back for interrogation. (TL: One thing that isn’t really made clear by this TL because of the lack of a direct word, you know the cats always bite the nape of the kittens to bring them around? That’s how the white tiger ‘brings’ the prince back in that form.)
The chibi was successfully caught after a while, with Slane and the Merfolk team leader behind him. She grabbed the chibi who was thrown onto the ground by tiger and asked: “What’s your uncle’s name?!”
“Huh, Slane……” He was confused.
“I’m asking for his true name!”
His real name is Slane….. Slane Salvotos……”
“If you have anything you want to ask you can find me!” Slane immediately shouted loudly upon hearing his name. This d.a.m.ned con-girl was bullying his nephew again, it was fortunate that he followed the tiger.
“……” Sue’s body shook and almost puked out black blood……
[You *$#@! Don’t you know the first thing you should do when you pretend to be a commoner is to change your s&*)(@ name!!!]
The merfolk team leader asked when he saw Sue’s flushed face: “Sue, what happened?!”
“……” Sue resisted from getting angry and turned to the merfolk: “Do you know all the names of the Tobias family?!”
“I know this! I can tell you all of them, Sue.” The chibi struggled from Sue’s hold and raised his hand to have the chance to answer.
“I’m not asking you!”
“Well…..” The merfolk team leader squirmed: “I only know the active royal members, but to say I know all of them……”
Sue waited patiently again “Is Slane amongst the active members?!”
“Of course I am, I’m considered the best bachelor amongst the ladies in the capital.” Slane proudly shook his head once.
“Sue, is there a problem?!” The merfolk team leader finally realized something was wrong.
Sue said painfully: “…… The demon general came over to tell me two things.”
“What about them?!” Slane interrupted.
“First, there’s an unknown group of humans who entered the forest. Second, someone discovered that the duke, who is the younger brother of the queen, A.K.A Slane, yes you, registered in the adventurer’s guild’s data.”
“What!” He yelled.
“Do you mean to say?!” The merfolk team leader took in a deep breath.
“Slane used his real name from the start. If someone wanted to search for it, they could easily discover where he appeared from….. I also don’t think the demon race would be free enough to tell me these unrelated gossips. He means to warn us that someone has discovered Slane’s tracks and are now searching for him.”
“The demons are actually that kind?!” Fedrus shouted in disbelief.
“Don’t be foolish, what are you basing on to say they are evil people?! Just because your silly mind has been filled with your teachers’ or parents’ impressions of the Demon race?!” Sue looked down on him: “I don’t know if the Demon race is bad or not, but I believe they are not idiots….. I even suspect that the rumors about you and Ash are rumors that were created on purpose to cover the wool over everyone’s eyes. Today that demon general even came over to tell me about your relationship with Slane became disgustingly good overnight…… It’s possible that the demons already know that you’re prince Fedrus and specially got me to tell you to stop acting so close to the point that people will get suspicious!”
If the demons knew that Slane was the duke, it was possible that the other races knew about his ident.i.ty.
A duke disguising himself and entering into the Magical Beast Forest just for the sake of getting along with a beastboy?! Even a fool would know something was wrong!
“Urgh…..” The merfolk team leader also wanted to say that the demon race was up to no good, but the prince stole his line. However, once he heard her explanation, he had a red face and said awkwardly: “Your Highness, Sue isn’t wrong to say this, perhaps the demons are warning us out of their kindness……”
“This is too much! These people actually want to lay their hands on my pitiful little Fedrus!” Slane was angry.
Sue was furious to the point she wanted to whip him: “If you’re not stupid enough to the point of not changing your name, how would these men be able to find you and track down this little brat in the first place?!”
Slane shook his head and changed the topic with a serious demeanor: “That isn’t important now, what is important is the situation about that group of humans……”
“……” Sue was speechless.
The merfolk spoke after the silence: “Duke Slane, the best solution is for you to leave this place with the prince…… May I know if your men are ready?!”
“Uhh…… No.”
“……..”