What on earth was His Majesty thinking?
Franz Aargman had served as the long-honored commander of the Zeroth Knight Order under Radlick Athrum Zebuldia for many years, but never before had he been so completely baffled by the Emperor's thoughts.
He had always known that His Majesty Radlick possessed a free spirit, and he'd previously considered it a natural quality born into one destined to rule. As a loyal subject, it was only right for Franz to follow — but making statements that threw the escort plan into chaos was another matter entirely.
He understood why His Majesty had relied on Thousand Transformations. That man's innocence had been proven by Zebuldia's greatest treasure, and a certified Level 8 was an absurd number.
Whether he was concealing his presence or not, Franz couldn't sense a thing from his appearance, but the Mana Material he'd absorbed must be off the charts — even compared to Franz, who never missed a day of training.
But setting all that aside, his personality was far from trustworthy.
Franz prided himself on his ability to read people, but he had never met anyone as ridiculous as Klye Andrich. The way he hid information, his completely lackadaisical demeanor, his gaudy outfit — none of it was acceptable for someone tasked with protecting the Emperor.
Compared to him, even Kechachacca, who dressed in an obviously suspicious manner, or the Spiritfolk who naturally looked down on humans, were better options. After all, they at least proved useful during the escort — whereas all Thousand Transformations had done in front of everyone was turn the Emperor and the Imperial Princess into frogs. Utterly hopeless.
He would have to file a formal complaint with the Explorer's Guild once all of this was over.
Before commissioning Thousand Transformations on the Emperor's orders, Franz had pulled up his record. The branch master's overall assessment had read "a bit of a troublesome one," but that was an understatement of epic proportions. His compatibility with an escort detail was the worst imaginable.
Emotionally, he wanted to crush the man using whatever power his family could bring to bear, but since His Majesty had forgiven the frog incident, he couldn't very well act on it. No — perhaps the man had even anticipated His Majesty's pardon and planned accordingly.
His frustration only continued to mount. What infuriated him most was that the man had forced Franz to override the Emperor. Just remembering it made him want to kill him.
Whether it was true that there had been no other way to reverse it was also questionable. It wouldn't be surprising if it had been nothing more than petty harassment.
If the man caused any more trouble, he would absolutely not be forgiven. If he so much as endangered His Majesty from now on, Franz would throw him in prison without hesitation.
And if he was truly the brilliant strategist people claimed, he should have prevented problems before they even started!
But he couldn't afford to keep fixating on Thousand Transformations. Hunters were merely the last line of defense — protecting the Emperor was the Knight Order's job.
The journey to their destination would be by air. The airship had never crashed before, and it was said to be far safer than overland travel, but if the fox's agents had infiltrated the interior, there would be no escape. That was something he absolutely had to prevent.
In that sense, regardless of how it had come about, spending three days on preparation might not have been such a bad thing after all.
Conversely, if an enemy managed to infiltrate despite all this, it would be Franz's head on the chopping block.
A subordinate from the Knight Order burst into Franz's room, where the commander had been issuing orders without so much as a moment's rest.
"Commander, we've received word that Thousand Transformations wants to bring something aboard the airship."
"What...? What kind of thing?"
"Potions."
"I already approved bringing personal items necessary for the escort. Don't bother me with trivial matters!"
"Yes, sir. I told him as much, but apparently the quantity is... considerable—"
The subordinate looked at Franz, who had instinctively lashed out in frustration, with a bewildered expression.
§ For a Treasure Hunter, the hunt began with the preliminary preparations.
Gathering intelligence, resupplying materials, coordinating logistics — it was no exaggeration to say these factors determined the success or failure of a commission. A top-tier Party might even have its own exclusive connections.
The one who managed all of this for the Mourning Specter was the Alchemist Freak.
It was partly her personality, but being an Alchemist, her preparations were always impeccable.
As she nodded with satisfaction in front of countless boxes, Franz — summoned by one of her associates — came rushing over.
Franz stared at the rows of wooden crates for a moment in stunned silence, then immediately glared at me.
Lately, I felt like I'd only ever seen Franz's angry face.
"H-Hey, Thousand Transformations, what's the big idea?! Where did you get all this?! We've already prepared the basic potions!"
"...You know what they say — forewarned is forearmed."
"There's a limit, you know! Are you planning to open a shop in Toizant?!"
I'd asked the Alchemist Freak to prepare as many potions as she could, but the number of crates far exceeded my expectations.
There had to be over a hundred crates in total. For an ordinary Treasure Hunter, that would easily last a full year. This wasn't even their hometown, so where on earth had the Alchemist Freak sourced them all? I didn't even know how much it had cost. No bill had been submitted.
But there was no reason to get angry just because she'd gone out of her way to bring extra supplies. It wasn't like she was planning to send an invoice.
...Or maybe I should send one?
"Calm down, Franz. These are in case you run out of your potions. Besides, look — I didn't just prepare potions. I brought food too."
Technically, the Alchemist Freak had prepared everything, but...
Franz said with a demonic expression on his face. I was completely hated.
"Gh— damn...! Food! We already! Have plenty prepared!"
"It's for when you run out. The desert is vast, and if the airship crashes, the food you've prepared won't be nearly enough, right? I brought water too."
When it came to the desert, getting lost was a given. I was wearing a Treasure Weapon shirt, so I'd be fine, but even the Barrier Ring equipped by His Majesty couldn't protect against the sun's rays.
"............"
No words came in response to my confident explanation. I looked up to check Franz's face and couldn't help but catch my breath.
The expression that had been beet-red just moments ago had gone completely blank. He stared at me with an emotionless mask, like a Noh puppet.
Had I said something wrong? As I tensed up, Franz spoke in a voice that seemed to echo from the depths of hell.
"...What... is going to happen?"
"Huh...?"
What was he even talking about?
Franz closed in on me as I stared with wide eyes. The subordinates who had come along didn't even try to intervene.
"What's going to happen, I asked you! Thousand Transformations! Are you messing with me?! If you know what's going to happen, then prevent it in advance! Report to me!"
"?!"
He grabbed me by the collar and shook me violently, my vision spinning. Grappling attacks were one of the few things the Barrier Ring couldn't defend against.
"I d-don't know! I don't know!"
"Don't lie to me! I'll kill you!"
I retorted weakly, but Franz didn't believe a word of it. The look on his face was terrifying.
I wasn't a god — how was I supposed to know what the future held? Everything I was doing was perfectly normal for a Hunter.
"C-Calm down— It's just prep-preparations! That's all!"
"Just preparations?! When you're bringing enough supplies to open a shop?! That's how it works?! Are you making a fool of me?!"
"I'm! Right here!"
After being shaken for a while, Franz finally seemed to calm down somewhat and released me roughly.
Honestly, nobles could be such bullies. The quantity was admittedly a bit much, but... it wasn't like I was asking them to load every last crate. I was simply asking them to take as many as possible. Could this not be considered a rare instance of doing my escort job properly?
Breathing heavily, Franz spoke.
"The airship... will not crash. It never has."
"Y-Yeah, yeah, you're right. Franz makes a good point. I'd say there's about a ninety percent chance it won't crash, too. So this really is just preparation. Ha ha ha... I'm just a cautious person, that's all."
I'd try to laugh it off and hope for forgiveness.
As I flattered him with hollow laughter, Franz said with a strained expression: "So what you're saying is... that the Zebuldia Empire's pride and joy — its state-of-the-art airship, which has never crashed despite every kind of weather and monster attack — has a ten percent chance of going down?"
"............"
There seemed to be a misunderstanding. Why did everyone latch onto the exact words I said?
And for the record, a lot of what I said was pretty much off the cuff. I wasn't really thinking when I spoke. Sometimes I even had Citry write me cue cards.
Franz seemed to be a nervous wreck over the Emperor's escort, but I didn't think the mission would fail. With Term around, things would work out somehow.
Trying to reassure the on-edge Franz, I said: "...It's alright, Franz. Even if the ship goes down, I'll pick up His Majesty."
"...Gh—! Hey! Double-check whether the airship has any mechanical issues! And verify the backgrounds of everyone boarding! Find every possible cause of a crash! You have two days! I won't let it crash! I'll absolutely not let it happen, Thousand Transformations! I won't let things go your way! Damn it!"
Franz was trembling, but he immediately barked orders at the nearest subordinates and fixed me with a piercing glare.
Not that I was the one who was going to crash it, but...
I'd shown that I was a useful Thousand Transformations, so why was I the one getting yelled at?
...Well, whatever. I was used to being yelled at. Once the escort was safely completed, I'd make up with Franz.
I'd given the instructions that needed giving. What I needed to do now was the truly final preparation — practicing with my carpet. I'd been killed plenty of times by it, but I'd thought of a good way to get along with it.
My plan was to bribe it with gifts. I didn't know if it would work, but it was worth a try.
Now then, did this town sell any cute carpets that a rowdy carpet would fancy?