30 - The Youngest is Hiding a Lot
Episode 30
Ahem, ahem! Obron, who had been clearing his throat for no reason, clapped his hands once with a stern face.
"Alright! That's all for today's training!"
He was a good adjutant, covering for his superior's shortcomings.
I watched Obron's retreating figure and approached the shade of a tree on one side of the Training ground.
"Uncle. Why are you sleeping here?"
Snore, snore. A dazzlingly handsome man was asleep.
"Wake up!"
I shook him awake, and he opened his eyes blearily. Scattered documents lay nearby.
"Ah, I was working."
"Liar. You were sleeping."
No matter what I said, Uncle stretched languidly and straightened up.
"All done playing?"
"I wasn't playing!"
It was such hard training.
"Why are you working here anyway? Leaving your perfectly good office."
"I can't see well there."
"……?"
"Let's go get a snack."
Uncle scooped me up.
Perhaps because I was eating well and exercising hard, I had become quite a bit heavier than before. I seemed to have grown taller too (Void looked dubious), but Uncle still lifted me up with ease.
'Is the northern water good for me?'
I felt stronger every day.
"Ah, I'm going on a tour of the fortress walls tomorrow!"
"Is that such an exciting thing?"
"It is exciting, of course. I wanted to go!"
Uncle's steps, which had been striding forward without hesitation, stopped abruptly. My eyes met his purple eyes head-on.
"You wanted to go, but you didn't say anything?"
"Huh?"
"Since when have you wanted to go? I would have taken you if you had said something."
I pursed my lips and blinked.
"Is that so?"
"Ruby, I told you."
Uncle said with a sigh. He brushed my messy hair back.
"If there's something you want, don't hesitate to tell me."
"But I didn't want to bother Uncle……."
And I thought of a way to do it myself, so I felt a bit reluctant to ask.
"Why would your request be a bother……."
Uncle stopped talking.
His gaze, lowered, stared at me.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Even in Iosia……."
"……."
"When you lived in Iosia, was it the same?"
I closed my mouth. Uncle moved his lips and added after a long pause.
"To your, uh, parents."
"Oh, no."
I awkwardly avoided his gaze.
Ah, my lies are improving, improving. I felt a stinging sensation in my heart again.
But half of it was true.
My parents……. That is, I had never asked the King for anything.
'I didn't want anything there.'
And he wasn't curious about what I wanted either. Not even when I was very young…….
'Huh?'
I suddenly felt a sense of unease.
'Come to think of it…… what was it like when I was very young?'
My brow furrowed involuntarily. My body stiffened. Very young? When I was young?
"Ruby?"
Somehow, my memories weren't smooth.
I remembered the scenes, but the connections felt awkward. It was as if someone had forcibly created and pieced together my memories.
"Rubian!"
"Huh?!"
I lifted my head sharply. Uncle's deeply embarrassed expression filled my vision.
"Don't think about it. I'm sorry."
Uncle hugged me tightly. I leaned my head on his solid shoulder and blinked.
"Huh?"
What was I thinking about just now?
"I made you recall bad memories. It's Uncle's fault. I'm sorry."
No, it's not Uncle's fault…….
But I somehow didn't have the energy to say more. So I just buried my face in Uncle's shoulder. A warm, large hand stroking my back.
It was a strangely nostalgic sensation.
\ \ *
The next day, I went on a tour of the fortress walls as promised.
"Wow! It's amazing."
An endless expanse of gray stone walls. The thickness was so great that it seemed impervious to the claws of any Magical beast.
"Don't run around too much, it's dangerous."
As I faced the whistling wind, the hood of my cloak was blown off.
Obron, who was standing behind me, put the hood back on.
'Huh?'
As I looked up at him, a spire suddenly caught my eye. Several towers were built on the fortress walls at regular intervals.
"What are those bells at the top of those towers?"
"Are you talking about the bells in the watchtowers? They ring them when Magical beasts attack or something happens to the fortress walls."
"Oh, like an emergency alarm!"
"Alarm? Well, it's true that they ring it in emergencies."
Obron nodded.
"Are they all along the fortress walls?"
"Yes. You never know where something might happen."
I stroked my chin and chuckled.
'I found it.'
The place to plant the Barrier Stone. And the tools!
If I planted a Magic Stone in the bell of that watchtower, I could spread a Barrier Field along the fortress walls. And that's not all.
'If an intruder gets caught in the Barrier, it will automatically ring the bell to alert everyone!'
And if I connect it to my magic power, I'll be the first to know.
At that moment, a hand suddenly slipped under my knees.
"Tsk, you're interested in all sorts of things!"
The Old Duke, Grandfather, who had been following me around since morning, had finally come along on the fortress tour.
"Eek!"
As my view rose higher, the blue sky became closer. The wind blowing from the high place felt somehow more refreshing.
I looked at Grandfather, who was walking steadily along the fortress walls, and asked.
"But why did Grandfather come?"
"Hmph! I came to check the discipline of the fortress after a long time!"
Grandfather pouted.
"Ah, okay."
"Tsk. I thought you had gained some weight lately. You've become a tiny thing again overnight."
Grandfather glanced at me and muttered discontentedly.
'Uncle said that this morning too.'
Uncle and Void had slept in my room last night as well.
At this point, I couldn't help but realize.
'I think I have somnambulism.'
Otherwise, why would they be watching me all night…….
I suddenly felt a sense of crisis.
Nothing special had happened, so they probably hadn't touched my body.
'Gasp, am I saying nonsense in my sleep?'
I suddenly got goosebumps.
That's when it happened.
Ding, ding, ding. The bell in the watchtower rang madly.
I covered my ears at the high-pitched sound that tore at my eardrums.
"Sir Obron! It's a sudden attack. A horde of Magical beasts!"
"Tsk, I wiped them out a few days ago, so I thought it would be quiet for a while."
A subordinate ran over from afar. Obron, who was standing nearby, changed his expression and placed his hand on his waist.
"What's the scale?"
"Thirty, no, forty Grizzlies!"
"Tsk, Duke Balock."
"I know."
Grandfather's eyes flashed sharply for a moment.
My body shrank slightly at the hardening air.
"There's nothing to be afraid of. They're just small fry."
Grandfather said, fastening my cloak tightly.
"Yes."
I wasn't afraid. After all, I knew that Grandfather and the knights were very strong.
The aura of the Magical beasts was getting closer.
I felt a tingling magic power, but I didn't show it.
"Send the defense knights. What about the report to the main castle?"
"A messenger should have already gone."
"Hmm, I see."
A subtle tension settled in.
But even that seemed to be a daily occurrence here, as no one was panicking or flustered.
They simply moved in an orderly fashion, as if it were a habit ingrained in their bodies.
"Ah, it would be good to test the Arrowhead that came out this time, Your Excellency."
Obron said to Grandfather.
Grandfather, who was heading towards the stairs leading down to the fortress walls, nodded.
"Yes, test it and report back."
"Yes, sir! Then please take Rubian to a safe place quickly."
"I'm going, I'm going."
"Prepare the archers. Tell them to guide the enemies so they don't scatter……."
The sound of Obron giving orders to the junior knights faded away.
Grandfather headed towards the stairs with me held tightly in his arms. The moment he took a step.
Kwaang!
A tremendous roar shook the heavens and the earth.
"No way!"
I whipped my head up.
The presence of the Magical beasts had disappeared?
"Ruby! Don't lift your head!"
Grandfather's rough hand pressed down on the back of my head. Thanks to that, I saw gray smoke rising from outside the fortress walls, but I didn't see anything else.
Grandfather roared harshly.
"What's going on! An explosion, do you not know who is here right now!"
"Your Excellency! Vice-Captain!"
Someone ran over frantically.
"What on earth is going on?"
"That, that's……."
The adjutant, panting, said quickly.
"The Magical beasts have suddenly been annihilated!"
"What?"
It was as expected.
"Someone suddenly appeared and wiped them all out……."
"Who on earth?"
"That, that's……."
At that moment, Grandfather's aura cooled down sharply. The unique aura of a swordsman who had surpassed the limits of his body began to leak out.
"Is it an enemy? Don't tell me…… is it a wizard?"
I got goosebumps at the voice filled with animosity.
"I don't know. However."
The adjutant added urgently.
"He looked like a boy……!"
This time, I couldn't help but lift my head.
