I, Rururia, am in a forest a short distance from Vali, the city of flowers in the Empire of Feyrath, and I could only wonder why.

“Not here either… And here…”

“Hmm… Your Royal Highness?”

His Royal Highness was muttering to himself while looking around for something.

“The way you put it, it’s like you don’t believe there’s anyone suspicious in mind, but you do have someone dangerous in it.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The sun shines through the trees, and your beautiful face is framed by gold in your hair… The reflection is not kind to my eyes.”

“Is that it? You’re trying to pick a fight with my delicate blonde hair?”

“It’s not that there’s something wrong with you. The problem is, why are we here.”

“We’re looking for the Imperial twins, right?”

“You say that as if you’re quite certain of it, Your Royal Highness.”

“No, no. I’ve already heard that one.”

The wise man who reminded me of a dead tree, of the Empire, had offered to find the twins for His Royal Brother, the user of rare transfer magic.

“Let’s not ask what kind of attitude the Withered Tree Sage had.”

“I know he’s desperate because those are the only twins in the Empire who have the right of succession because of the last civil war, but what about letting other citizens find an heir?”

“Maybe he’s that desperate…”

Until now, we hadn’t even crossed paths with anyone on the Imperial side of the search.

Even though the heir to the throne had been kidnapped, there was nothing unusual about it, except that the soldiers were in armor. There was nothing but calm in the capital, except they were on high alert.

The attack on the road and the nightclub last night were suspicious as well.

Too suspicious for the Empire…

To be honest, I just wanted to go home as quickly as possible.

“So, what I wanted to ask you was… Why am I here?”

“Your Aide Necro is at home, where I should be.”

“Yes, I don’t think it’s right for me to accompany the search when my Aide isn’t with me.”

“I’m going to make you hear my blood-curling scream. I am a lady! So!”

“That is obvious.”

As if asked about the laws of the world, His Royal Highness said flatly and without hesitation.

“It’s true, and I can’t just leave a dangerous thing like Lady Rururia out in the open.”

“What the hell are you calling me? For you, I’m not a person. I’m a thing, a dangerous one too!”

“Me glaring at you,” His Royal Highness smiled at me, “I’m not backing down.”

“After riding a small Dragon and then coming face to face with a large Dragon, what’s the point of arguing with you?”

“Do you want me to give you more reasons?” And when asked that with a wicked face, I did my best to turn away from His Royal Highness.

If you ask, you lose, I don’t know what it is, but you lose anyway.”

“I feel like I’ve lost the game, and I’ve lost the fight.”

“No! If the loss is not confirmed, the game is still on.”

“Well, we’ve already been through everything I wanted to see. Where would you like to go next, Lady Rururia?”

“Huh? I thought you were looking for the twins.”

“The way you’ve said it sounds like you’re more focused on strolling around.”

This kidnapping looked like a trap set by the Empire, making the twins look like hostages… I felt sorry for the twins.

“I feel pity for them.”

“Pity, huh? Really? From you?”

“Well, to the ruins of the famous Colossus.”

“Yeah, I’ve never been out of the country, but I’ve already given up the temptation to visit the tourist sites.”

“Don’t worry, those twins are already twelve years old, and they’ve been trained in sorcery, body arts, and swordsmanship at home.”

“In the first place, on a day when all the nations are in a state of tension, the fact that they kidnapped the heir to the throne of a fallen empire alive, or whatever you think of it, it stinks.”

Even though His Royal Highness looked like an evil god, he was probably the son of a man.

If the twins were in danger, they probably would’ve looked for them already. Maybe. Yeah, maybe.

“Nice. What a royal landmark, huh, Lady Rururia?”

“Sure, it’s the number one spot in the Vali of Feyrath, but oh, no!”

“It says, If you come to the Feyrath Empire, you have to go there. (Source: Tourist Attractions of the World – Feyrath)

“Well then, shall we go?”

---

His Royal Highness brought me around to different places all day.

Transportation magic was so beneficial.

“I can see why people say that transition magic is awesome. If you’re a merchant, you’ll be on the rise; if you’re a mercenary, you’ll be on the rise; if you’re an adventurer, you’re going to be very successful.”

“In comparison, even if a high-ranking nobleman can use it, it’ll hard to protect him if he tries to move around irresponsibly. If he uses transference magic without permission, for example, and goes to another country, this can be a huge diplomatic issue.”

Come to think of it, from what I’d seen; His Royal Highness was always unofficially on the move.

“Your Royal Highness, we are wasting time here!”

“Oh! Well, well, well. His Royal Highness Persius of the Lemaire Kingdom! And, uh, ma’am.”

As I moved to the Colosses Ruins entrance, we were welcomed by someone who looked like a gatekeeper…

“Why is this little girl with you?” He looked at me weirdly.

Even I still think that the two names in the cards and our faces didn’t match up.

“Arigato gozaimasu for the heirs of the Wagga nation! Come with me!”

“How monotonous… yet appropriate.”

“He is too big to be a gatekeeper at a famous tourist attraction, and he was a scarred, stick-up brother.”

“It’s too obvious that he’s hiding something…”

“Is it a trap? It looks like a trap.”

“The dialogue is unnatural. He’s acting and very bad, by the way!”

“Take it easy hands, don’t start shaking now…”

“Oh, no, I wonder if that is not a trap, then maybe he’s just disguised as a trap…”

“Are we going to go along with this? I guess it can’t be helped,” His Royal Highness whispered back and forth as we followed behind the fake gatekeeper quietly.

“Let’s see… what’s the term to use when you want to say that you saw two children here? A testimony… yes! There was an eyewitness account!”

“Just go ahead and act some more, go ahead and look at the lines on the palm of your hand as well.”

He seemed to have reached his… destination just as he began to worry about how to keep this horror show going…

“Thanks to Your Highness not so stellar sense of direction, we went the wrong way, and I’ve missed the famous fighting sword room at the Colossus ruins, the Maihime Room! Shoot!”

“I couldn’t even eat Colossus Bread!”

This tour felt so dull…

“Here it is!”

He said it like a hotshot actor who was glowing with happiness that his part was over.

He led us to the door of a dimly lit room, which took us through some hidden and underground passageways to get here…

“It’s such a secluded room where no one could be a witness for anything…”

“I wonder who testified to this! I’m very, very curious…”

“He’s not concerned about us, who can only look at him with suspicion. He’s just going back the way he came.”

“That one looks like he’s going to live a happy life.”

“Let’s go inside.”

“Sure.”

“Maybe the twins are in this room alongside the mastermind behind all of this.”

“Nothing to worry about…”

I wanted to go back, or at least back to the Aide’s room.

But the door was mercilessly opened by His Royal Highness.

---

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