Chapter 58
After leaving the Imperial Capital branch of the demi-human merchant guild, I boarded the carriage with Fiene.
Fiene was wearing a cloak as a disguise, just in case.
Seeing that, I thought for a moment.
"Is something wrong?"
"Fiene... are you okay around small children?"
"Um... d-do you mean your own children!?"
For some reason, Fiene asked nervously in return.
What had she misunderstood?
"No, no. I mean, are you okay with ordinary little children running around noisily?"
"Oh, I see... Then I'm fine! Ah, saying 'then' doesn't mean I'm not fine with my own children!"
"I know. Then, would you mind if we took a little detour?"
"Oh... a detour?"
"Yeah. I thought I'd go see an old friend."
With that, I told the attendant our destination.
■■■
The Imperial Capital was a vast circular castle town centered around Imperial Sword Castle.
The castle town was divided into several layers, and the farther out one went, the poorer the people living there became.
I was heading to the outermost layer.
There was a small swordsmanship dojo there.
"What's this place?"
"It's a dojo run by an adventurer I go way back with. He teaches swordsmanship to the children of the outermost layer for free."
"For free?"
"Most of the people in the outermost layer are short on money. The quickest way to escape is to become strong, but they don't have the money to learn swordsmanship. So people from the outermost layer teach them various things for free."
As I explained, I peered into the dojo through the window.
Fiene followed my example and looked inside as well.
Inside, there were...
"Hyaaaaaaaaaa!"
"Hiyahhhhhhh!"
"Whooooooaaaa!"
"Take thaaaaat!"
"You idiots! Hey! Cut it out! Just because the sticks are soft doesn't mean you can get carried away!"
"...Is this bullying?"
"No, the kids are just playing with him..."
Inside the dojo, a man was being attacked and thoroughly beaten by several children.
He had light brown hair and eyes of the same color. A slash ran from his cheek down to his neck, giving him a somewhat intimidating appearance, but that impression vanished when I saw him being mobbed by children.
His name was Guy. We had often played together as children.
Now he worked as an adventurer while looking after the children of the outermost layer like this.
"Teacher! There's someone outside!"
"Hah! Who'd fall for such a cheap trick? I'm not looking!"
"Aww, he's looking at us with exasperation! That's definitely someone you know, Teacher!"
"I'm exasperated at how stupid you are!"
"I'm not stupid!"
"Then look and see!"
"You little brats... Fine! I'll look!"
Saying that, Guy looked in our direction, and our eyes met.
Guy's eyes widened in surprise, while the children behind him grinned triumphantly.
I let out an involuntary sigh, and the children immediately pounced on Guy from behind.
"Now! Get him!"
"He really looked!"
"He's an even bigger idiot than we thought!"
"Gwaaaaaah! You little—this is a real customer! Hey! Wait! Calm down!"
"Hehe... They look like they're having fun."
"Having fun, huh..."
He probably didn't hate it, but whether he was actually enjoying himself was another question.
One day was one thing, but dealing with those hyperactive children almost every day had to be exhausting.
Eventually, Guy rapped each disobedient child on the head once, quieted them down, and came over to us.
"Oh! Al! Long time no see!"
"Yeah, you look well, Guy. But... is that really okay? He's writhing in agony."
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Don't underestimate the children of the outermost layer!"
"Well, if you say so..."
The children were probably a little younger than Christa.
They were at the age when they had the most energy.
There were only boys in the dojo. Perhaps the girls took lessons somewhere else.
"But what brings you here all of a sudden?"
"I was wondering how you were doing. We hadn't seen each other lately, so I was a little worried."
"You're the same as ever! Unlike you people, we're tough! We're not going to keel over anytime soon!"
With that, Guy showed me his arm.
It was the arm of someone who swung a sword. It was toned, with every necessary muscle packed tightly beneath the skin.
He had picked up a few more scars as well. Guy was a B-rank adventurer. He was probably starting to see A rank on the horizon, but he still wasn't overwhelmingly strong.
"Looks like it. I'm relieved. But wasn't this supposed to be a swordsmanship dojo? That looked more like playing."
"What's wrong with that? That's how we start. Attack someone. Getting hit back hurts. That's all they need to learn at first. Not everyone is going to become an adventurer. The ones with talent or dreams will start thinking for themselves eventually. Then I can teach them the finer points."
"Like you?"
"You bet! Don't underestimate people from the outermost layer! We don't need forms and other nonsense like nobles do. What children need to learn is that if they attack someone, they'll be attacked in return. And that getting hit back hurts. Once they understand that, they won't attack people recklessly. They should learn about pain early. Otherwise, they'll grow up like that nasty noble who bullied you."
"Gid, huh...? He certainly is a textbook example of someone who grew up without ever knowing pain."
As I chuckled, Guy prompted me with a look to introduce Fiene.
I murmured, "Ah," then covered Guy's mouth with my hand.
Then I told Fiene to let him see her face.
"Yes."
"Mmmph, mmmph!?"
"Yeah, yeah. Keep quiet. There'd be no point in coming here incognito if you made a scene."
As expected, Guy was stunned and tried to shout something.
He was probably trying to shout, "Azure Gull Princess!"
"!? W-what kind of trouble have you brought with you...?"
"I didn't bring any trouble. We were simply on our way back from working together, Fiene and I."
"Working with the Azure Gull Princess!? The nerve, Al! How dare you! Unforgivable!"
"Hey... I-I can't breathe..."
"Shut up! Take the resentment of every man in the Imperial Capital!"
"G-give up..."
"Um... Al-sama is going to collapse..."
"Oh, right. But he's fine. He's always been at death's door, so he's surprisingly tough."
Guy's face instantly transformed into a pleasant smile, and he released my neck.
This bastard...
He sure knew how to say whatever suited him.
As I thought that, one of the children poked his head out of the dojo.
Then, for some reason, the child ran over to Fiene and hugged her.
Ah, children at that height are practically always peering up at people.
"What a beautiful lady!"
"You little—you're so lucky!"
"Hehe! You smell nice! Hey, hey, are you Teacher's girlfriend, miss?"
"Hehe, who knows?"
Fiene didn't seem bothered by being hugged. She simply stroked the child's hair as she said that.
Perhaps the child was happy that she had smiled at them, because the child clung to Fiene even more, as though seeking affection.
Seeing that, Guy clenched his teeth in frustration.
"Are you jealous of a child...?"
"Shut up! There's no way you could understand how I feel!"
"Come over here!"
"Eek! Um..."
"Go ahead. Play with them."
"Y-yes!"
Fiene seemed quite happy to oblige.
She immediately entered the dojo and began getting along with the children.
As he watched the children cling all over Fiene, Guy began trembling with jealousy and fear.
"Aaaaaah... What do I do...? If I don't stop this soon, I'll be beheaded... But I want to keep watching Fiene-sama smile at the children... Aaaaaah... What do I do...? I'm so envious..."
"Either be jealous or worry about your own safety. Pick one."
"If I have to choose, worrying comes first. I really don't want to be beheaded."
"You did just strangle a prince, you know. Have you realized that at all?"
"You're fine. If you were charged with lèse-majesté, Elna would be arrested first, right? So I'm safe."
"What kind of logic is that...?"
Still, the fact that he could act so casually around me was why we had remained in contact even now.
When we were children, it was one thing, but people gradually became conscious of our positions as they grew older.
A prince was still a prince, even if people made fun of me. Quite a few people had drifted away once they became conscious of that.
That made Guy a precious exception.
"This takes me back. Elna and I were pretty good rivals."
"You lost nearly two hundred times. Calling yourselves rivals is a bit much."
"It was 197 losses. Get it right."
"You actually care about that...?"
As a child, Guy had been something like the leader of the gang in the outermost layer.
He often came up into the middle layer to cause trouble. That was how he met Elna and me.
I think it all started when I hid Guy after he stole some bread from a bakery. Elna found out, and the two of us were beaten senseless.
After that, Guy regarded Elna as his rival. He challenged her again and again, and lost every time.
But those experiences made Guy stronger. It was true that people from the outermost layer were tough. They never gave up.
"So? What did you really come here for? You didn't just come to see how I was doing, did you?"
"You're surprisingly perceptive. Actually, Leo is going to investigate the refugee problem in the southern frontier. Since you were originally a refugee, I wanted to ask you: do you think discrimination is still deeply rooted on the frontier?"
Guy was a refugee.
His parents had been refugees, and he had grown up amid discrimination.
Perhaps that had been the source of his rebellious spirit.
That was why Guy aimed to become an adventurer, where his refugee status wouldn't matter. Even after Father recognized refugees as citizens of the Empire, discrimination against them remained in the Imperial Capital for several years.
"There can be no doubt. It's been eleven years since His Majesty declared refugees to be Imperial citizens, hasn't it? From my perspective, that's only eleven years. Discrimination won't disappear that quickly. Nobles in particular won't change their attitudes. They've been taught to think that way."
"...I see. I'm glad to hear that."
"You're glad?"
"What happened in the southern frontier was the kidnapping of people from a refugee village. If no nobles are involved, honestly, it isn't serious enough for Leo to go himself. But if discrimination definitely exists and nobles are likely involved, then it's worth Leo going. I'm sure he can solve it, and it's a problem he needs to handle himself."
"You're still absurdly biased in favor of your little brother. Maybe you're comparing him to the Crown Prince, but people like that man don't come along often. Discrimination against refugees in the Imperial Capital also began to fade because he started giving former refugees important positions. He was special... He was special."
"Maybe so... But Leo has half the same blood in him."
"You do too, don't you?"
"I'm different. I am."
I said that with a wry smile.
Inside the dojo, Fiene was happily playing with the children.
I had brought Fiene along hoping it would give her a little break, and it seemed I had made the right choice.
"Oh, right. One of my students is at the castle right now. If you meet her, please look after her."
"A student?"
"She's quite talented. I recommended her for the knight training held at the castle. She should be receiving live-in training there now."
"Oh? What kind of girl is she?"
"She's a girl, but she's a noisy one. Really noisy. You'll understand when you meet her. She's noisy."
Guy was smiling as he said that.
Somehow, he really did love children.
In the end, after playing there for quite some time, Fiene and I left.