Chapter 142
“So, where are these fake Imperial soldiers, and how many are there?”
“They’re still a little to the south, about 3,000 of them. They’re camped there without a care, so they must be waiting for some kind of signal.”
Sazaby answered my question briefly. I see. The commander of some knight order sure got the numbers right, at least.
“I-is this going to be all right?”
Halveri-sama, the lord, who had been listening to the report with us, went pale.
I understood how he felt. The only troops in town right now were 1,000 handpicked soldiers from the Roa Unit. Their opponents might be thugs, but there were 3,000 of them. If anything happened to the prince, Halveri-sama’s family would be in a precarious position.
But these were 1,000 “handpicked” soldiers from the Roa Unit. Some had charged alongside me at Hakusha, and above all, they were the best of the best among those who had fought their way through Zetta.
Three thousand thugs? I thought even 500 of us would be more than enough.
In fact, Halveri-sama was the only one looking worried after hearing the report. Even Prince Zeland just went, “Hmm.” He’s really grown.
We needed to think about protecting Prince Zeland, too. For now, maybe I should put Ryuzel or Frein in charge of 500 soldiers and have them sweep the thugs away, while the remaining 500 guarded Prince Zeland. No, wait...
I shifted my gaze from Sazaby to Prince Zeland.
Prince Zeland noticed me looking and turned toward me, then leaned back and edged away.
“Lord Roa, you’ve got a very evil look on your face,” Wickhart pointed out, startling me. Huh? Was I really looking that evil?
Well, whatever. More importantly...
“Prince Zeland.”
Prince Zeland, still backing away, answered, “W-what is it?” He still seemed a little frightened, so I tried to smile as reassuringly as I could and continued.
“Since this is such a special ritual, why don’t we add a little pageantry?”
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Gong! Gong! Gong!
A gong suddenly rang out from the lord’s manor, drawing the attention of everyone who had come to watch the royal ritual.
“Hey, look over there!”
“What’s that? Isn’t that the prince?”
At the head of the procession, moving to the beat of the gong, was Zeland, dressed in splendid attire. The outfit had been brought along for use in the ritual.
The people parted to make way for Zeland, watching his valiant figure pass amid the continuing commotion.
At the head of the procession, Zeland was anything but calm. After all, he had never experienced anything like this before.
The only time he had led troops was when Frein had taken him along. Marching like this while people watched was an entirely new experience.
His heart had been pounding wildly for a while now, but Lord Roa had told him not to let any emotion show on his face.
But I only had to hold on a little longer. A little farther and we’d reach the plaza on the main street. Once I completed one more task there, my duty would be done.
After the royal ritual, I would have to appear in public often. I would face scenes like this many times. I didn’t want to disappoint Lord Roa or the members of the Roa Unit. That thought frightened me terribly.
Clenching my back teeth, I did my best to keep a cool expression and finally reached the plaza.
I raised my hand to halt the unit.
Lord Roa, Wickhart, Ryuzel, and Frein lined up right beside me.
When I raised my hand once more, the surrounding commotion fell silent in an instant.
I sucked in a quick breath and braced my diaphragm, trying to project my voice as loudly as possible.
“I am Zeland, eldest son of Zeurasia, King of Rudek! I have heard that bandits who threaten us have appeared near this town! But fear not! I will lead a force and drive them off at once! This land is sacred to our royal family. To defile it is a crime punishable by death! Everyone, go about your business without fear!”
The people stared blankly for a moment after hearing my words, then erupted into feverish cheers. The cheers spread one after another, and the whole town seemed to be shouting. I got goosebumps.
When the time seemed right, Lord Roa said quietly, “Shall we go?” I nodded and drew my sword.
“We march!”
At my command, the Roa Unit set off once more. Buoyed by the people’s cheers, they marched out of town with firm strides.
“Good work, Prince Zeland.”
Roa congratulated me with an easygoing expression, then said, “We’ll take it from here,” giving me a reassuring smile.
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“Doesn’t it seem kinda noisy?”
The thugs watching the shrine town from a distance tilted their heads at the sudden gong and cheers.
“Is that the signal?”
“No, the signal was supposed to be smoke.”
“Then have we been found out?”
“But they should’ve left only the bare minimum of soldiers in that town, right? They said about a thousand.”
“Then we’re fine. We really can do whatever we want, right?”
“Hey, weren’t we told to kill the prince first? Do whatever you like after that.”
“Sure.” Amid their crude laughter,
“Hey, troops are coming out,” someone said.
Looking closer, a group clearly smaller than their own was approaching them.
The thugs grinned as they readied their various weapons.