I had no idea what had just happened, but for now I hurried into the building and headed straight for Your Highness's room.
After all, the self-proclaimed King had been so insistent about sending me back. If anything, it almost made me not want to go back... but thinking about it more carefully, I was her Royal Guard, and even if they said they didn't need me, disappearing for an extended period without permission probably wasn't a good idea.
Not that I'd planned on being gone that long!
Once I reached the door to Your Highness's room, I took a deep breath and made the window transparent.
Almost simultaneously, I heard Your Highness's voice.
"!! Klye, you're back! How was it?"
"Um... I'm home?"
She greeted me with her forehead pressed against the window, beaming with a huge smile.
...Wait? She didn't seem any different at all?
I scrutinized Her Highness's face. I'd been told I'd understand once I got here, but I couldn't see anything different whatsoever.
If anything, Her Highness's mood seemed slightly more upbeat than usual.
I shifted my angle to check the room behind her, but nothing was different either. Just the same empty room as always.
"Have you been well?"
"...Normal."
Her Highness's eyes went wide for an instant, then she declared flatly. Apparently she was normal.
What on earth had the King seen that made him rush me back so quickly?
In that case, I could have extended my trip by another day or so to pick up souvenirs.
I wanted to ask the King for confirmation, but unfortunately I had no way to contact him from my end. As I was tilting my head in thought, Her Highness looked at me with a somewhat restless expression.
"So... how was it outside?"
"Ah, it was pretty fun, actually. Each area has its own character depending on which royal manages it — oh, here, these are souvenirs."
I handed her the small spider I'd been carrying — it could barely move at this point — along with the enhanced equipment and supplements I'd sent ahead from Zaza and the others' place.
Her Highness looked a bit uncertain at having the gifts thrust upon her, but once I started telling her about the Code I'd experienced, her smile returned in a flash. At first she wore only a gentle grin, but as I talked she grew more and more animated.
It wasn't exactly a hilarious story, but having someone who enjoyed listening made all the difference.
Then, once I'd finished the whole tale, Your Highness spoke.
"So... Klye. When are you going to take me on a tour?"
"Huh?"
She looked up at me from under her lashes, eyes sparkling with excitement.
A tour of... the city? Had we discussed that? I'd only been wandering around looking for Treasure Weapons and sightseeing — and besides, the door to Her Highness's room wouldn't open.
The nobles must have forced it, but the door was locked by the King, and even Clahi couldn't open it.
Her Highness hadn't complained about being imprisoned, but — come to think of it, did you actually want to go outside?
"Well, I mean... the door won't open, you know."
"...Eh?"
Her Highness let out a stunned voice, her expression one of utter shock, like a pigeon hit by a peashooter. I felt the same way.
And there was another important issue: there was a possibility our exchange was being watched right now. At the very least, the self-proclaimed King was almost certainly observing this scene.
It went without saying, but if I tried to take Her Highness outside, I'd be exposing myself as an enemy of the forces keeping her confined.
Well, it was just a matter of bearing with it until Kaiser and the others rescued her...
I cleared my arms, folded them, put on a stern expression, and said: "Honestly, Your Highness. There's no way I could open that door — the King decided it, after all. Right?"
"That's... but! Then why did you say you wanted to escort me!? You went to check the escort route for taking me outside, didn't you?"
"...Your Highness thinks a bit too highly of me. The door won't open, so..."
"S-Stop saying that over and over!"
Tears welled up in Her Highness's eyes.
Well, this was just for appearances. Once we escaped this city safely, she'd be able to walk around outside as much as she wanted... Not being able to say that out loud was the hardest part.
"So then... I'll be stuck in here forever?"
"...Well, if that's what the Code King has decided."
"!!"
Her Highness covered her mouth with her hand as if struck by shock.
"But come on, Your Highness — you've been living this way all along, haven't you? You'll be fine."
""
Her Highness froze at my words.
...Something was off about Her Highness's reaction. It was far more intense than I'd expected.
She'd been living comfortably in this room all this time, hadn't she? She'd been smiling away just moments ago — why had she suddenly started saying things like that? I had no idea.
I waited for a while, but Her Highness remained frozen solid. I waved my hand in front of her face, but she showed no response, as if she couldn't see a thing.
What should I do now... As I was hesitating, a voice suddenly echoed through my head.
"Hey!! Who told you to make things worse!? Is this how a Royal Guard behaves!?"
!?
It was the King's voice. Magic could do similar things, but the city's system was a mess.
"No, I don't think I made things worse — I didn't do anything at all... and there was nothing different when I got back, was there?"
"...Do you have no heart?"
...Huh?
"Are your eyes painted on!? Look properly at Alicia's expression! When Alicia recovered her energy, I thought she'd at least be useful with a score of four — but I cannot fathom why those outsiders consider you a master strategist!! And then to twist the knife like that—"
"No, I asked if she was feeling better and she said she was normal —"
Coming from a man who'd been calling Her Highness a "spare" until recently, these words seemed out of character. Had he changed on the inside?
I glanced at the still-frozen Her Highness, then focused on the conversation in my head.
"Any fool can see she's putting on a brave face! If you're a Royal Guard, learn to read your master's moods!"
That's an unreasonable ask... but even I could tell that something extraordinary was happening inside Her Highness right now.
"I know. If my reasoning is correct, it seems like Her Highness wants to go outside."
"Anyone could see that just by looking at Alicia right now! Don't say it like it's some great deduction!"
I was getting scolded left and right. What had I done...? No, I hadn't done anything, so was that the problem?
But now wasn't the time for this discussion. What mattered was the future.
"...But in practical terms, there's nothing I can do, is there? For one thing, I never promised to take her outside in the first place."
"Alicia should have simply accepted her confinement in silence! It was you — with your useless antics — who changed that! Abusing the Royal Guard Armament Soldier system... I can't believe you actually thought of that — no, 'that one' was also the type to notice holes in the system — but her mind works faster than expected. Her mastery of the system is considerable as well. I only now understand why a system for manufacturing people requires the King's authorization."
The self-proclaimed King was muttering fragmented, hard-to-follow thoughts.
True, Her Highness had probably been a bit quieter before I arrived, but saying that now didn't help.
And the Code King continued, since I had no real solution to offer.
"...It is impossible to remove the lock on Alicia's door. Her confinement was decided by everyone — and a King does not go back on his word. Reversing that would create unnecessary misunderstandings. Order would be disrupted. Understood?"
"Ah, yes."
Even in the Zebuldia Empire, while the Emperor held supreme authority under the law, there were things even he could not do freely. The same principle held true even in this Code where the King wielded immense power.
Poor Her Highness. If I were the Code King, I'd just ignore the rules... But if someone called me irresponsible, I'd have no defense.
After a stretch of silence, the Code King spoke again in a heavy voice.
"I will not open the door. Therefore, if you wish to take Alicia outside her room, you must remove the lock yourself. Exploit a hole in the city system to do it."
"I... I wasn't planning on taking her out, and besides, I don't know any holes in the city system."
Honestly, my real wish was to keep a low profile until Kaiser and the others handled things.
If the nobles — the root of all evil — discovered I was an agent of the Explorer's Guild, I'd be done for.
"...Listen! You are going to open Alicia's door! I should punish you, of course — but unfortunately, that won't be happening. There isn't enough time."
This guy was saying increasingly insane things...
The torrent of rapid-fire words left me speechless, and the King continued in a weary voice.
"Don't show me that child grieving any more. Understood? To think that at the end of my days, I'd have to deal with such worries — life truly is full of strange twists."
Grieving!? She was grieving!?
He left behind those oddly enlightened words, and the communication cut off. I waited for a while, but the voice never returned.
I looked at Her Highness's frozen face. Now that he mentioned it, her eyes were glistening and she did look as though she might be in pain.
...Somehow, that man just now had seemed like a real king.
But it also didn't quite fit the situation. I'd come here to stop the ambitions of tyrannical nobles plotting world conquest, yet the only person I'd found imprisoned was Her Highness, and the one imprisoning her was the King himself — and he was telling me to open the door. Nothing made any more sense.
...No good. Thinking alone wasn't going to get me anywhere.
First things first — I had to do something about Her Highness. I pounded on the door and said: "I get it, I get it, Your Highness! Don't be so sad! I'll open the door for you!"
"...!? ...How?"
She moved. Her Highness's eyes regained their light, and she asked me back in a fragile voice.
...How, you ask? A hole in the... system?
"Well, obviously? I'll exploit a hole in the system."
"That's... impossible. ...And besides, to go against the will of the great Code King—"
Her Highness's rebuttal came in halting, broken sentences. Mm-hmm, you're right. I think so too.
I put on a hard-boiled grin and said with absolute confidence: "It's fine, it's fine. Because it *is* the Code King's will."
As though she'd been waiting for those exact words, the door to Her Highness's room slid open.
!? No... wait? I haven't done anything yet? Huh? What happened to the hole in the system?
...This city's system was riddled with holes.
"!? ...??? Eh? ...Eh?"
At the door that had suddenly opened before her, Her Highness froze once more.
After a moment, her arm rose slowly, and her fingertips reached toward my cheek.
Her Highness's fingers were faintly cool and trembling. Those beautiful emerald eyes blinked several times, and she tilted her head with a slightly vacant expression, as though she were caught in a dream.
"H-...How... did you...?"
"I exploited a hole in the system. ...Be sure to thank the Papa who was kind enough to leave that hole for you."