Chapter 98: Who
“Y-Young lady!”
As I stood before the two Friez soldiers and they glared at me, the surrounding adults began to panic.
“I-It’s all right…! Hurry, run away!”
The person they had been harassing was an elderly vegetable seller.
The woman who had cowered under their shouting immediately changed when she saw me step forward and tried to help me escape.
“What do you mean, run away? Does this country have no desire to entertain its invited guests? This is why I never wanted to come to a backwater country.”
Not only Lunoa Kingdom and other countries, but even people from enemy nations such as Friez Kingdom and the Rosha Empire had been invited to the former emperor’s funeral.
But they were still enemies.
Sure enough, people from Friez Kingdom had begun causing trouble.
“Is that how an invited guest should behave?”
This was probably a performance—one kind of provocation.
Friez Kingdom held the advantage in the West, but Lunoa Kingdom and the Austin Empire held it in the East.
They were probably acting for some reason such as preventing us from becoming overconfident. They must have assumed that the Austin Empire, wanting the funeral to end quietly, would not turn it into a major issue.
“That is why the people of Friez Kingdom are barbarians—fools who know nothing of civilization. That is why you can casually massacre civilians in defiance of international law, you filthy swine.”
“W-Wait!”
“What is wrong with this child!?”
Seeing through their intentions, I continued provoking them no matter how much the surrounding adults tried to stop me.
“You brat! You want to be hit that badly!?”
The Friez soldier took the bait.
He clenched his fist and swung at me.
“Who do you think you are raising your hand against?”
Before his fist reached me, Emma caught and stopped it.
“You bitch, who do you think you’re touch—!?”
The enraged man tried to shake off her hand.
“Aaargh!? You—!”
But Emma forcefully restrained his fist and swept his leg, bringing him to his knees.
“Remain prostrate on the ground.”
In short, the man had underestimated Emma. Although she had military training, she was a woman and had less strength than a man.
Even Emma would have struggled in a straightforward fight.
But the Friez soldier had assumed she was merely a townswoman. She exploited his carelessness and forced him to the ground.
“It seems you need to be taught a lesson!”
Incidentally, without magic, I was a weak boy.
Emma could defeat me in five seconds.
It would therefore have been difficult for me to stop the other soldier as he tried to strike Emma after she brought down the first.
“…What?”
So I drew a handgun without hesitation.
“Aaaaaaaaaah!?”
A gunshot rang out.
A moment later, the Friez soldier screamed, clutched his wounded shoulder, and crouched on the spot.
“Aaaaaah!?”
“W-What have you done!?”
“What the hell are you doing!?”
As screams rose from the street, the Friez soldier pinned to the ground shouted.
“Do you know who we are!?”
“You should be asking who stands before you!”
Now I would turn the situation completely to our advantage.
I raised my voice theatrically.
“Hmm?”
“Before you stands Emma Lunoa, Second Princess of Lunoa Kingdom! Lower your heads and show respect!”
I removed Emma’s wig, revealed her blond hair, and took out her colored contact lenses.
It was a shame I did not have an inro. Perhaps a royal crest would do, but it was a little too small.
“…!?”
My declaration shocked everyone present.
“What!? …What!?”
“…You’re lying.”
The Friez soldiers probably intended to cause a disturbance, force the matter to be overlooked, and embarrass the Austin Empire.
But Emma and I had arrived.
It could no longer be dismissed. It had become a direct confrontation.
“This outrage against Her Highness Emma, the Second Princess, is something Lunoa Kingdom will never forgive! Now, what shall we do with you?”
Remembering period dramas, I continued with considerable enthusiasm.
“Wait. I didn’t think we were going to reveal my identity. And wasn’t shooting him a little excessive?”
Emma whispered to me with some concern.
“Leave it to me.”
I would manage somehow.
After I assured her with confidence, Austin Empire guards who had heard the gunshot came running toward us.
“What is going on here!?”