I'd completely forgotten about Mark, so I've added a scene with him.
"Excuse me... Huh!"
"Knock knock~... Wow!"
The moment Tida and Luna stepped inside the carriage, they gasped at how spacious the interior was. Tida's voice sounded like she couldn't believe what she was seeing, while Luna's was brimming with interest.
"Don't just stand there at the entrance—have a seat for now."
Having entered the carriage first, I urged the two who were standing there, dazed, to sit down.
"Oh, yes!"
"Oka~ay"
Once the two took their seats, Aura promptly brewed tea and served it alongside some sweets.
After finishing serving the tea, Aura stood behind my seat together with Jeanne.
"Jeanne, Aura, you two sit in those seats over there... Tida and Luna won't mind, right?"
Just because the two in front of me were royalty didn't mean I intended to show them any deference.
It wasn't because they were younger, or because of what had happened earlier—simply put, I had no intention of showing deference to someone I couldn't respect... With someone like the Grand Duke, I'd at least read the room a little.
The seats I had designated for Jeanne and Aura were the ones right next to mine, which happened to be diagonally across from Tida and Luna.
"I can't, Lord Tenma, I can't! Sitting together with royalty... I'm just a slave and a maid!"
"Tenma, I can't either! It would be disrespectful to the princes!"
The two refused, but I had no intention of allowing that.
This wasn't just for Jeanne's sake—it was important to me as well, and it also served to make clear the standing I had with Tida and Luna.
It was a calculated move for the future when Tida would inevitably inherit the throne—in a sense, a form of conditioning.
In other words, I intended to include the threat that I would not bow to authority—that I possessed the power to back it up—and that if anyone tried to force me into submission, they had better be prepared for the consequences.
Though, the latter part had apparently already been drilled into him by the King.
"Don't worry about it. Right now, she's just a kid riding along in my carriage. It'd be nice if you could just relax like you always do."
And so, I forced Jeanne and Aura to take their seats.
Jeanne and the others were quite tense, but Tida and his group didn't say a word and showed no signs of displeasure.
"By the way, what kind of guy is the minister who put them up to it?"
Currently, the country's organizational structure had the King at the top, followed by the Vice King, the Prime Minister, ministers, deputy ministers, and various departments.
The Vice King wasn't simply ranked above the Prime Minister—since they also served as the King's proxy, it was technically a higher position, but most of the time it was held by candidates for the next King, which was why the hierarchy went in that order.
There were four minister positions: the Minister of Military Affairs, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Minister of Internal Affairs, each with their respective departments underneath.
"It's the Minister of Internal Affairs. Duke Kaizen von Daraam."
"He's a fat, bald old man!"
What I learned from questioning the two of them was this:
The one who had instigated them was the Minister of Internal Affairs, a man named Duke Kaizen von Daraam.
Kaizen had pointed out that the two—especially Tida—lacked real combat experience, and told them where to find calves.
The cows were numerous, and since they needed to be thinned out, it would be fine to kill the calves.
Or so he had apparently said.
On top of that, he was fat, bald, and had a habit of ogling women with lecherous eyes, making him the number-one most unpopular man with women in the entire castle! (According to Luna)
Furthermore, he apparently didn't get along well with the other ministers—especially the Minister of Military Affairs and the Minister of Finance.
"I see... Well, that alone isn't enough to tell what kind of person he is, but I guess it's none of my concern."
As we chatted while snacking on sweets, Tida and Luna seemed to have warmed up considerably. Jeanne and Aura had also relaxed to some extent.
"Um... Tenma-san, when you appeared earlier, did you see something like a bird flying around?"
Tida asked while looking around the room. Luna, drawn by the question, started looking around too.
"Oh, you mean Solomon. Come out, Solomon."
Thinking it probably wouldn't hurt to show him, I called out to Solomon, who was hiding in my bag.
At the time, Solomon had disliked the commotion and had hidden himself in the bag of his own accord.
"Kui?"
"Eh?"
"Kyaa! So cute!"
Seeing Solomon pop his head out of the bag, Tida froze in surprise, while Luna let out a shrill cheer.
Solomon did a little hop and landed on my head. Luna, seeing that, reached out towards Solomon while squealing, but Solomon deftly dodged her from his perch on my head.
Seeing this, Tida hurriedly grabbed Luna in a headlock to stop her.
"Luna! What if the dragon gets angry! Calm down!"
At Tida's words, Luna reluctantly nodded and returned to her seat, though her eyes remained fixed on Solomon.
"He rarely gets angry unless you do something he dislikes. Solomon, say hello."
I picked up Solomon and turned him towards Luna. Solomon looked at Tida and Luna, then chirped—
"Kui!"
—and sat down next to Luna.
"Kyaa~ So cute~! Big brother, can I have him?"
"No."
I answered Luna's question instantly, and Solomon, moving away from her, relocated to where Jeanne was sitting.
As Jeanne pulled Solomon into a hug, Shiromaru immediately stepped in front of Jeanne, keeping Luna at bay.
"Luna! Don't be so pushy! What if Solomon gets angry and eats you! I'm sorry, Tenma. I'll make sure she understands — please forgive her."
With her handling things like this, there shouldn't be any need for me to step in... though I wasn't entirely satisfied.
"Luna, if someone else asked you for your mom or dad, would you just give them up?"
Luna thought about it for a moment, then shook her head.
"I'm sorry..."
She apologized. When I saw that and patted Luna on the head, Solomon seemed to realize I had forgiven her, and he flew back to her side.
"Listen, Luna. Even if Solomon looks cute, he's still a dragon through and through. If you push him too far, there's no telling what he might do to you. The same goes for any other creature. And of course, it applies to people too. You'd do well to remember that."
Toward the end, I glanced over at Tida, and she seemed to be deep in thought, mulling over my words.
After relaxing in the carriage for a while, the noise outside suddenly picked up, and a horse came galloping alongside us.
"Is something wrong?"
The knight on horseback was Din, and he wore a troubled expression as he answered my question.
"We've got trouble. A massive pack of wolves has picked up our trail... They probably caught the scent of the cattle's blood."
At those words, I leaned out of the carriage to search for the wolves. Sure enough, a pack of fifty to sixty was running alongside us from about fifty meters away.
"Dark-colored wolves, one and a half to two meters long... Dire Wolves? These are D-rank designated wolves."
"Right. A single one is D-rank, but around ten makes them C-rank, and twenty or more puts them at B-rank designated."
As Din had said, a single Dire Wolf wasn't hard to take down, but they excelled at coordinated attacks, making them increasingly dangerous the larger the pack. Technically, they weren't Monsters, so the "designated" label was usually tacked on, but the guild treated them the same as any other Monster.
"They've probably merged from several smaller packs, but at this count, we're looking at difficulty equivalent to an A-rank quest or higher... Tenma, I hate to ask, but lend me a hand."
Din turned to head back to the other knights to prepare for battle, but —
"I think Shiromaru alone should be more than enough against some wolves. Shiromaru, go have some fun."
With that, I removed Shiromaru's collar and sent him outside.
Once the collar was off, Shiromaru returned to his original size and came bounding toward the pack of Dire Wolves, wagging his tail.
"That's Shiromaru... Why is he a different size?"
"This collar is a magic item. I got it in a dungeon, but it's extremely useful, so I've had Shiromaru equipped with it."
Not just Din, but everyone who had been watching Shiromaru — Jeanne and Aura included — were stunned by the transformation. Shiromaru himself, however, couldn't care less about any of that and was already chasing the pack of Dire Wolves around.
The Dire Wolves clearly hadn't expected a wolf far larger and overwhelmingly superior to themselves to come charging at them. They scattered like spiders fleeing in every direction.
"Oh, looks like Shiromaru has pinned down the one that seems to be the leader. I'm going to head over for a bit."
After watching the chase between Shiromaru and the wolves for a while, I could see that Shiromaru had successfully pinned down one of the largest wolves in the pack, and it appeared to be the leader. I decided to fly over and get a closer look.
Din seemed like he wanted to say something when he saw me heading toward Shiromaru with flight magic, but I pretended not to notice and flew to Shiromaru's side.
"Good work, Shiromaru. Hold him down a little longer."
I patted Shiromaru on the head, then peered at the Dire Wolf pinned beneath him. The wolf let out a growl as if to intimidate me, but I clamped both hands over its mouth and unleashed a moderate burst of killing intent.
"Grrrr... Guh, guh-uhn, guh-uhn, guh-uhn..."
The instant it was hit by the killing intent, the wolf's demeanor completely changed from before. It began whining in a terrified voice and, still pinned under Shiromaru, tried to roll over and bare its belly in submission.
"Shiromaru, you can let him go."
I told Shiromaru to release the wolf, but the wolf in question stayed right where it was, belly up, refusing to move.
"There, there. I'm not mad anymore, so you can get up."
After rubbing its belly and speaking to it in a gentle tone, the wolf slowly got to its feet while keeping a close eye on me, staying in a submissive posture.
The other wolves were watching me and Shiromaru from a distance, clearly on guard. When I turned my gaze toward them, they backed away slightly, ready to bolt at a moment's notice.
"Are you hungry? If so, all of you can share this."
I pulled three cattle carcasses — still unbutchered — out of my bag and set them down where the wolves could see them.
The wolf crouched nearby stared at me with a puzzled look, but it quickly got up and started sniffing at the scent of cattle.
Once it confirmed the smell, I was about to head back to the carriage, but—
"Shiromaru, come back! That's for the wolves! Your portion is separate, so don't worry!"
Shiromaru was nose-to-nose with the wolf, sniffing the cattle scent for all he was worth.
"Wooow— kyuh, gyaawooof!"
Shiromaru refused to leave the cattle no matter what, so I had no choice but to grab him by the collar — now that the collar had shrunk him down to a manageable size — and force-carry him back through the air.
I ended up grabbing the collar, which made Shiromaru let out a strained yelp, but I decided to ignore that.
"I'm back, Din. I think the wolves are fine now, so let's press on."
Din looked surprised, but when he saw me climb back into the carriage without acknowledging it, he let out a soft sigh, returned to the knights, and got the group moving again.
Once inside the carriage, the first thing I did was give Shiromaru a cattle horn to chew on. I gave one to Solomon as well on a whim, and the two of them gnawed away looking incredibly happy — at this rate, they might come begging for seconds.
"Um… Tenma. Why did you give those wolves cattle?"
I was watching the two of them when Tida came over and asked with a curious look, so—
"Tida, those wolves are victims in their own way too. A herd of several dozen cattle disappeared, which means their food source vanished along with them. Think about it that way, and giving them a little cattle is no big deal."
"Oh, is that so?"
Tida seemed convinced by my explanation. In truth, though, the lion's share of my reasoning was that the wolves were cute and I just wanted to treat them. What I told Tida was one of the reasons too, so I'd keep this part to myself.
After that, nothing much happened, and before half a day had passed, we arrived near the Royal Capital.
"Shiromaru, let's get some exercise in before we enter the Royal Capital… Go on, have a run!"
I decided to let Shiromaru run his heart out before we entered the capital, so I opened the carriage door and stepped outside.
One of the knights came over to see what was going on when Shiromaru bolted out, but when I explained that Shiromaru needed to burn off energy because he'd have to stay put once we entered the Royal Capital, the knight nodded in understanding and went back.
"Shiromaru, don't wander too far from the carriage! And if you see any strangers nearby, come right back to the carriage immediately!"
"Woof!"
Shiromaru let out a single bark and took off at a lively sprint.
Solomon also wanted to come out, but since I hadn't told the knights about the dragon, I convinced him to stay in the carriage and keep quiet so as not to cause any unnecessary commotion.
"Wow, so fast! Shiroman is full of energy!"
Shiromaru darted around the carriage at an impressive speed, occasionally overtaking knights and teasing small animals like rabbits as he played.
Luna watched him with glee, cheering him on.
"Hey, Shiromaru! Where do you think you're going?!"
Without warning, Shiromaru changed direction and bolted ahead. There was a carriage running along in that direction, and Shiromaru seemed to be heading straight for it.
The carriage's occupants appeared flustered by the suddenly approaching Shiromaru, but for some reason, they immediately started heading toward him.
"He's in danger! He might mistake them for enemies and try to fight!"
I hurriedly jumped out of the carriage and flew toward Shiromaru.
Meanwhile, in that other carriage—
"Lord Merlin! A lone wolf is charging toward us! It's moving at incredible speed!"
Upon hearing that report, I thought to myself what kind of foolish wolf would attack alone against this many people. There was no way one wolf could take on this many.
However, there was also the possibility that this wolf genuinely believed it could win against these numbers, so I decided to take a look just to be safe.
"What in the—! That one possesses considerable Magic Power! Everyone, stay on guard! It's a formidable foe!"
One glance told me this was no ordinary wolf. I relayed that to the knights and had them take up defensive positions, but—
"Hold on—could that be...? Everyone, call off the attack! That's Shiromaru!"
As it drew closer, I recognized the fur color and the familiar signature of its Magic Power. There was a high probability that wolf was Shiromaru.
"Wait—Shiromaru... Is that really true?!"
Chris gasped in surprise, and Edgar's eyes went wide as well.
"It seems so! Look! It's running toward us, wagging its tail! And I don't sense any hostility!"
I couldn't hold back any longer and took off flying straight toward Shiromaru.
Edgar and the others scrambled to chase after me, but I reached Shiromaru before they could catch up.
"Shiromaru~ Where is Tenma—*gubwah!*"
The momentum sent Shiromaru crashing into me, and I was sent flying through the air.
"Oh no! Shiromaru just bowled someone over!"
I looked at the person Shiromaru had collided with and been sent flying, and for an instant I thought Shiromaru had killed someone.
"Please be alive! Whoever you are, stranger!"
As I drew closer to Shiromaru, I could tell the person who'd been knocked away was, in fact, still alive.
They had been launched into the mud of a grassy patch and were stuck headfirst in the ground upside down, like something straight out of a gag manga.
"Shiromaru! What have you done?! Are you okay?!"
I was about to rush over to the person stuck in the mud when—
"Tenma~"
"Tenma-kun~"
I heard voices calling my name. When I looked toward the sound, the carriage that Shiromaru had been heading for earlier was drawing close, and two knights riding horses in front of it were waving their hands while calling out to me.
"That's... I'm pretty sure... um..."
The faces were familiar, but I couldn't remember their names. Shiromaru seemed to recognize them, wagging its tail as it waited.
While I was racking my brain trying to remember, the two knights quickened their pace, rode up to my side, and dismounted.
"You really are alive! Thank goodness!"
"It really makes me happy to see you! It's been so long!"
Seeing the two approach me so warmly up close, their names finally came back to me.
"If I remember right, you're Edgar from the King's Royal Guard, and… Chris?"
When I called out their names from the depths of my memory, the two nodded and reached over to pat my head.
"That's right! Edgar! I'm so glad we were able to meet safely…"
"Yes, really…"
The two of them seemed overjoyed to have found me alive, their eyes faintly glistening with tears.
"Come to think of it… why are you two here?"
"We were looking for Merlin and Tenma… so where did Merlin go?"
"He ran off ahead of us…"
It was then that I remembered who Shiromaru had knocked over earlier.
"Wait— Grandpa!"
I hurried over and pulled the person embedded in the mud out of the ground, and sure enough, it was Grandpa — the Sage, Merlin.
"Grandpa! Don't die on me!"
I quickly stacked recovery magic on him and helped him spit the mud out of his mouth, and somehow Grandpa managed to open his eyes safely.
"Tenma… Tenma! We finally meet again… Tenma…"
The instant he opened his eyes and recognized me, Grandpa burst into tears and tried to embrace me, but…
"Grandpa… you stink…"
The foul odor wafting off him made me instinctively pinch my nose and lean away.
"What… what kind of thing is that to say! This is an emotional reunion, and — *cough* — you stink!"
Grandpa complained about me while sniffing his own clothes, then immediately pinched his nose and threw off his garments.
It seemed the spot where he'd been impaled had mud mixed with animal dung.
Grandpa quickly washed his body with a sphere of water summoned through water magic. I tossed a bar of soap into that water sphere, lathered it up, and used the opportunity to wash my hands too.
"Hey, Tenma~"
While I was washing my hands, a familiar voice drifted over from the carriage that Edgar and Chris had abandoned earlier.
"Uncle Mark! You were here too!"
Uncle had stopped the carriage and come running over, pulling me into a hug.
"Thank goodness! You really are alive!"
Uncle kept repeating how relieved he was while tears streamed down his face... At that moment,
"Whoaah—! Mark, how dare you have an emotional reunion with Tenma before me!"
Grandpa's voice echoed across the area, having finished washing his body. Uncle looked completely bewildered, but after seeing Grandpa's state and receiving a whisper from Edgar, he seemed to understand the issue was that he'd embraced me before Grandpa had. He bowed his head repeatedly in apology.
"Anyway, I'm just glad Tenma is safe and sound! ...By the way, what did you do after defeating the Dragon Zombie?"
After thoroughly complaining at Uncle and drying off, Grandpa hugged me again as if starting fresh, asking about what happened afterward.
"After defeating the Dragon Zombie, I passed out and collapsed, but Shiromaru and Slarin carried me on their backs and escaped with me to a place without zombies. I guess I didn't wake up for several days after that, and since I didn't know where I was, I followed the river for a while. When I reached a village and asked about Kukuri Village, I heard that more than half the villagers had died... I didn't have the courage to confirm everyone's fate, so I just set out on my journey."
I embellished the story somewhat for Grandpa, but it was true that I'd been terrified to check for their bodies because I thought Grandpa and the others had died from the Dragon Zombie's breath.
"After that, I spent nearly two years living as an adventurer in Gunjou City, and recently I'd been challenging dungeons in Seigen. I decided to enter the tournament, so I headed for the Royal Capital, and I was thinking about visiting someone from Kukuri Village along the way."
"So that's how it was... But here we are, safe and sound once more! From now on, you're with Grandpa!"
"Ah, but after the tournament is over, I plan to return to Seigen and keep challenging dungeons. I'm renting a room there too."
When I told Grandpa that, he seemed to remember something.
"Now that you mention it, Tenma, you were taking on disciples in Seigen, weren't you? Right, I understand! I'll go with you then!"
Behind Grandpa making that declaration, Edgar and Chris were grinning from ear to ear.
"Now, now, Merlin. Let's head for the Royal Capital first."
Edgar said that and opened the carriage door, but—
"I'm riding in Tenma's carriage. Right then, let's be off, Tenma!"
So saying, he grabbed my hand and tried to take off flying toward the carriage using flight magic.
"Edgar, Chris, Mark, I'm heading on ahead! Shiromaru, keep up and don't fall behind!"
Leaving the knights he'd brought along completely behind, Grandpa went flying toward my carriage.
I was left dangling in midair, so I had no choice but to use magic to fly on my own. Glancing behind me, I could see Edgar and the others scrambling to catch up in a panic.
Before long we reached the carriage, and Grandpa moved to barge right inside.
Just then, another carriage pulled up alongside ours, matching position. It was the Grand Duke's carriage.
"What's this — you're still alive, Merlin?"
"What a thing to say, you piss-drenched old fool!"
I had no clue what was going on with this sudden war of words.
While I stood there dumbfounded, their insults only grew nastier.
"You two, perhaps you could cal—"
"Shut your mouth!"
Din tried to step in between them to calm things down, but the two of them shoved him aside and kept right at it.
Having been pushed aside, Din caught my eye and silently signaled me with a look.
"Grandpa, calm down!"
"Your Excellency, please calm down too!"
Din and I simultaneously moved behind each of them and locked them in a double arm hold, prying the two apart.
"Te-Tenma, won't you stop them?"
"Let go, Din!"
The two were struggling, but they were no match for the combined strength of Din and me. They were dragged apart, scraping along the ground.
"Grandpa, you knew the Grand Duke?"
At my question, Grandpa made a bitter face.
"We're just old acquaintances! And Tenma, don't you go calling that guy 'Your Excellency' or anything like that — just call him Pee-Brain!"
"Well… he is technically the Grand Duke of this country, so I can't exactly…"
As I hemmed and hawed over Grandpa's outburst,
"Who are you calling Pee-Brain, you pervert!"
From about ten meters away, the Grand Duke's furious voice came flying at us.
"That's the truth, isn't it?! Have you forgotten what happened when we were in the middle school at the magic academy?! Or have you gone senile?!"
"That was just an accidental spill on my pants! And look who's talking — you charged into the women's bath completely naked!"
"That was an accident! A magic spell backfired and sent me flying, and I just happened to land in the women's bath! And to prove it, that was well outside bathing hours!"
Their insults back and forth gradually devolved into a mutual airing of dirty laundry, and the people around us were visibly taken aback.
It didn't get any better when Edgar and the others caught up — in fact, the stories only got worse — so,
"Both of you, cool your heads for a moment!"
I leaped back from behind Grandpa and conjured spheres of water with a water spell above both Grandpa's and the Grand Duke's heads, then dropped them. The instant I leaped back, Din had already moved away from the Grand Duke's side, so he didn't get drenched.
"Cold!"
I'd made the water balls cold as a bonus, and the two finally stopped arguing.
"What do you think you're doing, Tenma!"
"I am the Grand Duke, you know!"
"The Sage and the Grand Duke, both making fools of themselves — what kind of example is that! The knights are all dumbfounded."
At my words, Grandpa and His Excellency the Grand Duke both looked around at their surroundings.
Every single knight averted their gaze, deliberately looking away from the pair.
"Please just get inside the carriage for now."
When I opened the carriage door, Jeanne and the others who had been peeking out from the doorway hurriedly scurried back to their seats.
"...A temporary truce, then."
"...Let's just get inside."
With that, the two of them bustled into the carriage without another word.
"Tenma, that's still the Grand Duke you're talking to — maybe ease up a little..."
Din gave my shoulder a light pat and began organizing Edgar's group into a formation, assigning each of them to their positions.
It seemed Edgar's group had been stationed around my carriage. I held a quick briefing with Din and the others, then gave Tanikaze the order to get moving.
Incidentally, during the whole discussion, Chris had been so absorbed in petting Shiromaru that Din had to scold her.