Master’s Smile

Volume 5 – Kingdom Arc

C94 – Inside the Carriage

The royal castle is the most essential place where the king, the supreme authority of the kingdom, resides.

Of course, the general public is not allowed to enter.

In fact, even the kingdom knights are only allowed to enter the castle if they are recognized by the king or the entourage of the princes who have the right to inherit the throne.

It is a place where many important leaders who run the kingdom’s state, gather.

Hence, it is only natural to be so well guarded.

There was no way that I, the guildmaster of a dark guild, “Salvation Army (Yelquchira)”, had anything to do with this kind of place.

If I said I wanted to enter, I could easily expect to be caught and executed.

But that was just me….

“We can see it now. That’s the pride of the kingdom, the royal castle.”

The woman in front of me proudly said so.

The serious look on her face vaguely resembled Reese.

Her strong will oozed from her appearance, which I would have easily been convinced if she told me she was a kingdom knight.

In truth, she was even more amazing than that….

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More importantly, am I really allowed to enter the royal castle?

I’m the master of Yelquchira, which is the kingdom’s sworn enemy, you know?

…I don’t even need to think about it as it should have been impossible.

“Fuh, it’s true that I would not have brought you to the royal castle like this even if you sold yourself to me, but it was Ritter who recommended you.”

Saying so, she looked at the person sitting next to me.

There was a strong look of trust in her eyes.

The girlーーーRitter, who was the receiver of her gaze, was looking up at the sky in a daze, not caring about such a thing.

Her dark hair was cut quite short around her shoulders. I believe it was called a bob cut…?

Her eyes were colorless, devoid of any emotions.

In my guild, there was a girl named Schwarz who did not express much emotion, yet Ritter was even more emotionless than her.

In Schwarz’s case, she had strong emotions, but suppressed them with her will power.

On the other hand, Ritter’s emotions were just sparse in general.

Even so, she wasn’t intimidating, probably due to her good looks.

She was, indeed, my proud daughter.

Ritter, a young girl in simple knight armor, was beside me with her body swaying from the movement of the carriage.

…Umm, you are very trusting of Ritter, aren’t you?

“Of course I am. She’s one of few friends that stick with this troublesome me, and she’s also my strongest knight.”

The woman smiled and spoke highly of Ritter.

It was pleasing to see that she praised her.

I was delighted to the point that it was as if she was praising me instead.

…The only problem was that, Ritter, whom the woman strongly trusts, is a member of the dark guild, “Yelquchira”, of which I am (sort of) the head.”

…The problem was too big!

Rather, how did Ritter get this woman, who has a pretty amazing position, to trust her so much?

“……?”

I turned my gaze to Ritter, and her eyes, which had been staring into the void, caught mine.

Her eyes were so pure and it reflected my face like a beautiful mirror.

“…….”

Ritter, who had been tilting her head as if she didn’t understand why I was looking at her, clapped her hands as if she was convinced about something.

Then, without any expression on her face, she leaned even closer to my body, giving off an atmosphere as if she was saying “can’t be helped”.

To begin with, Ritter and I were already glued to each other in the narrow carriage, where the distance between people was already very close.

…Her soft things are hitting me in all sorts of ways, though.

“…Both of you seem to be very close. I’m a little jealous of you sticking that close to her.”

The woman sitting in front of me said so while smiling.

If it were a real smile, it would be like a mature woman teasing us about our relationship, but the seriousness in her eyes scared me.

The jealousy, of course, was directed at me for having taken Ritter.

…You’re not going to execute me for stealing your friend, are you?

“Master, what’s wrong? Your smile twitched a little.”

Ritter looked up at me, expressionless, but with a hint of concern in her tone.

I’m very happy that you’re worried about me, but the cause of this is your friend….

However, it was also true that I couldn’t disrespect Ritter’s friend.

Many of our guild members were extremely conservative… or rather, they didn’t even wish to make friends outside the guild.

Hence, it was not my place to say anything.

Recently, Laladi has gained a friend called Maho, and I’m sure Sorglos also talked to Lucille and Lucica.

In such a situation, I couldn’t afford to disrespect the woman who deemed Ritter, someone who seemed to have difficulty making friends, as her friend.

“…But still, to be called Master by Ritter,…who in the world are you?”

Yes, this was another problem that happened due to Ritter’s purity.

I told Ritter not to call me “Master” in public, and she nodded, but shortly afterwards, she called me so in front of the woman.

…Really, you’re too pure, Ritter.

I was in cold sweat when she said it in front of the woman, but I managed to cover it up by saying that I was Ritter’s swordmaster.

Ritter is definitely stronger than me, though.

“Seems like we’ll be arriving shortly.”

As I gave a vague smile to the woman’s question, she gave up responding and looked out the window.

I also took a glance alongside her, and was now looking at the beautiful scenery that was not far from the city.

Just as I was having butterflies in my stomach at the thought of the royal castle being so close, a very loud voice came from outside.

“THE FIRST PRINCESS OF THE KINGDOM, NEENA EVANS, HAS ARRIVED!!”

…I was reminded once again that the woman sitting in front of me had an incredibly high position.

Seriously, how did you manage to establish a friendship with the first princess of the kingdom, Ritter…?

“……?”

Even under my gaze, Ritter only tilted her head.