Chapter 56: Five Days Later

Five days had passed since we defeated the Abystortas. In that time, word that the Abystortas had been slain had apparently already reached the royal capital, where Rain was.

Hayate had brought the crystal-like magic tool that allowed people to speak over long distances back to the mansion. I planned to shop in Japan tomorrow, then have Hayate carry it back with her.

“Oh, the defeat of the Earth Eater is huge news in the royal capital! I hear Soraval is in an uproar, celebrating. When I think of this as the first achievement of our Boundary Round Table, led by Kakeru-kun, it really moves me!”

“I’m not leading it…”

“Exactly. We named it the Round Table so no one would realize Kakeru was at its center, so watch what you say.”

“Only its members need to know that Kakeru-sama is at the center.”

“………………”

No, after seeing those three fight, even I wasn’t shameless enough to claim I led them. Aoi’s meteor spell and Yuuka’s final blow during the battle with the Abystortas had literally changed the terrain… Unique Skills really were outrageous.

Incidentally, after discussing it together, we had settled on the name Boundary Round Table for our alliance. “Boundary” indirectly referred to the Blessed People, while “Round Table” came from King Arthur’s Round Table. Apparently, because it was literally a circular table with neither a seat of honor nor a lower seat, it symbolized that everyone seated there was equal.

Before that, Rain had proposed the mysterious name “Blessed People’s World Front,” or SSS for short, but the rest of us rejected it. We had happened to fight a monster this time, but I was also against putting the word “Front” in our name. Aoi then suggested “Boundary Round Table,” and that was what we chose. Rain seemed extremely taken with the phrase “round-table conference” as well.

Well, we were a secret organization of Blessed People helping one another, so I doubted we would ever publicly use the organization’s name. Still, it fostered unity and a sense of fellowship, so I thought it was a good choice.

“No one around here has discovered who defeated the Abystortas, but is everything all right in the royal capital?”

“The adventurers’ guild here in Berlia questioned me as well, but I managed to throw them off.”

Because the Abystortas had been cut cleanly in two, the adventurers’ guild had apparently asked whether Yuuka, the Sword Saint, had defeated it. She told them she probably couldn’t have cut through that hard shell by herself. And since it truly would have been difficult without Aoi’s power, that wasn’t a lie.

Of course, that only raised the question of who had defeated a monster that even Yuuka, an S-rank adventurer, couldn’t. It had become a topic of conversation even here, in a town some distance from Soraval.

“Everyone in the city is talking about who defeated it, but we moved properly in secret, so I don’t think we’ll be exposed. That said, I’ve been rather active in several ways lately. If incidents like this keep happening, Father alone might figure it out…”

Now that he mentioned it, the Fourth Prince, Rain, had once been so inconspicuous that people barely heard any rumors about him. Then, after he befriended Yuuka and Aoi, this incident happened. I wanted to believe nothing else like it would occur, but if incidents continued whenever Rain, Yuuka, and Aoi all took action, someone might put the pieces together.

“Rain’s father… You mean the king of this country?”

“Yes, that’s right. Even if he discovered your existence, Kakeru-kun, Father is tolerant of Blessed People, so I think he would be more likely to cooperate with us. Besides, if he tried to make an enemy of you, he would also make enemies of Aoi-chan and Yuuka-san, who defeated the Abystortas. I would risk my life to stop him!”

“Yes. He had better be prepared for that.”

“He may come if he is prepared for his entire country to perish.”

“No, no! If that happens, we’ll all run away to another country!”

Why did this have to turn into a war against an entire nation…? We would flee with everything we had before it ever came to that.

“I absolutely cannot afford to lose you either, Kakeru-kun! Gustav is still running all over the place doing everything he can to conceal what happened, so I’m sure it will be fine.”

The three of us fell silent.

Gustav-san, I was truly sorry. He had said the Japanese cake was delicious, so I would buy plenty for him.

Even if my existence were exposed, I would have no regrets. Thanks to everyone, we had protected Soraval, a town filled with people who had helped me. We had also preserved the pride of my benefactor, Bruno-san. I was sure he was delighted.

It was truly incredible that they had defeated such a tremendous monster. Aoi’s magic, Yuuka’s swordsmanship, Rain’s Hostility Detection, and his royal authority… Once again, the Boundary Round Table was one seriously dangerous organization.

I was deeply grateful to everyone for going along with my request. I would bring them all sorts of things from Japan again.

Author’s Note: Major developments on the Japan side in the next chapter?!