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Since we could not talk on the road in separate magic carriages, we decided to go to the Knights’ facility in the Lagart family’s magic carriage.
As we emerged from the entrance hall of the Royal Castle with Fabian and the others, we were met by a man passing by from the south corridor.
Curtis and Giselle immediately tried to kneel down, but the White Tigerkin with his knight escort lightly raised his right hand and called out to them.
“Oh, it’s fine, stay as you were. As I recall, you are the second son of the Lagart family, are you not?” (Tigerkin)
“Yes, Your Highness Baldwin, I’m Curtis. It’s been a long time, Your Highness.” (Curtis)
“I see you are getting along well with Fabian and Elmerine. I hope you will continue to do so, especially since Fabian is a bit of an oddball.” (Tigerkin => Baldwin)
“I don’t want to be told that by my brother alone.” (Fabian)
“Hahaha, I guess we are both unaware of it.” (Baldwin)
If Ernest, the first prince I encountered earlier in the hallway, is a mass of dark energy, this royalty named Baldwin feels like a mass of positive energy.
Caught by Baldwin’s gaze, my whiskers couldn’t help but twitch.
“Curtis, you seem to have a rather eccentric knight with you…” (Baldwin)
“Brother, Nyango is the trump card that I borrowed to become Elmerine’s bodyguard.” (Fabian)
Fabian answered on behalf of Curtis, happily telling Baldwin about my sparring with Giselle and so on.
So, I think he is blabbing too much about his trump card.
“Interesting, Frozen Prison Giselle defeated by an unbreakable shield… That’s interesting.” (Baldwin)
The hairs on my back stand on end and sweat beads up, as I stare into Baldwin’s luminescent blue eyes.
I don’t know what it is, but I sense something different, unlike the innocent curiosity of Curtis and Fabian.
I feel like I’ve been subjected to a similar gaze somewhere before, but I can’t remember where.
I mean, Giselle has a title that is known to the royal family.
“Fabian, I don’t blame you for taking in the best and brightest, and I greatly encourage you to do so, but you are in charge of tomorrow’s security, so make sure we have a meeting so that there are no conflicts.” (Baldwin)
“Yes, I understand.” (Fabian)
“I see, then that’s fine… Nyango, please take care of our sister.” (Baldwin)
“I will, Your Highness.” (Nyango)
Baldwin nodded toward us with a smile and left with the knight in tow with graceful steps.
I felt that he had been trained in the martial arts.
After seeing Baldwin off, we too headed to the carriage parking area and got into the Lagart family’s magic carriage.
The magic carriage started moving, and as it began to make its way toward the gate, Fabian cut in.
“I want Brother Baldwin to become the next king…” (Fabian)
“Is there some royal tradition, Your Highness?” (Nyango)
“Yes… a silly one.” (Fabian)
In this world, when two people of different races marry, the children born will inherit either the father’s or the mother’s race.
For example, if a lionkin and a tigerkin married, their children would be either lionkins or tigerkins, no hybrids like ligers.
The current king is a lionkin, but some of the queens are not lionkins.
Hence, there are non-lionkin princes like Baldwin and Fabian. …the royal custom is that a lionkin prince is chosen as king.
It is not a rule specified in the Royal Code, so it is not strictly necessary to follow it, but even so, the kings of the past have been only lionkins.
Baldwin is the second prince, but he has a different mother than Ernest, and their birthdays are only about two weeks apart.
Still, he is the second prince, and considering that he is a white tigerkin, it seems that Ernest is the next king of the kingdom.
“I can only talk to Curtis in places like this because I don’t know where people’s eyes and ears are inside the royal castle, but Ernest’s racism is too much to look at.” (Fabian)
“His Highness Ernest is not the king yet, and I am not the head of the Lagart family, so I kept quiet, but when he called Nyango an inferior species, I honestly felt my blood boil.” (Curtis)
“Inferior species… Did he really say that? Nyango, I’m sorry.” (Fabian)
“Oh, please stop. It’s not Your Highness Fabian’s responsibility.” (Nyango)
He was about to bow to me, so I stopped him in a hurry.
Fabian, Princess Elmerine, and even Baldwin don’t have any discrimination against catkins.
If you bow your head to commoners, they will end up feeling really bad instead.
“If Brother Ernest becomes the next king and still discriminates against other races, I will admonish him even at the risk of my own life.” (Fabian)
“Oh, and if you do, please invite me, I will join you.” (Curtis)
“Brother, I will accompany you.” (Elmerine)
I was a bit moved by the presence of the young royals and noble who were determined never to tolerate racism from Ernest, who was a proud racist.
Tomorrow, I will do my best. Even if it is a small part, I hope I can be of help to the young royals and noble…
With renewed determination, we rode into the Knight Order, but the atmosphere was not very welcoming.
Maniga, the deputy commander of the first unit, who came out to answer, gave Fabian a blatantly annoyed look as well.
“I am sorry. I understand the purpose of your request, but only the archbishop who performs the ceremony and those who have completed the ceremony and are performing it are allowed to use magic inside the hall. We plan to assign people to detect the movement of magical elements in the hall and order them to issue an alarm when they detect any sign of activation. Please refrain from using magic, even if it is for defense, as it will interfere with the work of these people.” (Maniga)
Even though Fabian insisted that my magic was for protection, Maniga did not shake his head in agreement, citing interference with detection as the reason.
He was very polite in his speech, but I felt a tinge of contempt in his gaze toward me.
Well, since they are part of the Royal Knights, they probably take pride in having been trained and polished as the cream of the crop, so it’s natural for them to resist against the suspicious catkin.
“Um… Then what about after the alarm is sound?” (Nyango)
“After the alarm is sound…?” (Maniga)
“Yes. If some kind of attack takes place, an alarm will be issued and the Knights will naturally prepare their magic and move into battle readiness, not on detection, right?” (Nyango)
“Well, I guess if that’s the case…” (Maniga)
“Then, if the timing is right, there will be no problem to cast magic to protect the princess, right?” (Nyango)
Maniga, while looking as if he was biting a bitter bug, still did not nod his head, but in the end, he finally allowed me to participate in making a void magic shield, after having tried it out.
I also decided on the watchtower where I would be stationed so that there would be no confusion on the day of the event.
I decided to take a position on the ramp on the opposite side of the aisle from where the princess was to attend the ceremony, as it might be difficult to distinguish her from behind.
I also got permission to step over the heads of the spectators to get closer to the princess in case of an emergency.
All that remained was to use all the strength I had to protect the princess and Aida.
We were able to remove the pulverization magic circle that had been set up in the cathedral, but if they were capable of that many tricks, they would use other means to attack.
Tonight, I will simulate being an escort until I fall asleep.
In the magic car returning to the royal castle after the meeting, Giselle bowed deeply and mouthed an apology.
“I am sorry. Despite His Highness Fabian’s request, you have received such a rude response.” (Giselle)
“It’s alright, I’m not worried about it. It probably stemmed from the search for the pulverization magic circles and the installation of the watchtower.” (Nyango)
“Yes, strong solidarity is the source of the Order’s strength, but it sometimes leads to alienation and resistance to the outside world.” (Giselle)
It seems that some knights reject the idea that others have their own way of doing things, even though they know that searching for magic circles and setting up watchtower s are useful.
Of course, there are also knights with a progressive mindset who are willing to adopt any meaningful method.
Just as the Royal Family has different views on race, there are probably people with different views even in the Knight Order that has unity as their motto.
After dropping Fabian and the others off at the Royal Castle, I headed with Curtis toward the mansion at dusk.
“What do you think, Nyango, have you been able to grasp the security a little better?” (Curtis)
“I can imagine what the venue will look like, but I can’t quite picture how they will attack.” (Nyango)
“I see, in fact, the security around the venue is very tight, and in the second district, any suspicious person would be noticeable.” (Curtis)
“Now we’ll see if they attack from the third district?” (Nyango)
“Tomorrow, the security at the gate will be tighter than ever. People won’t be able to get in that easily.” (Curtis)
“Is that so? If that’s the case, then they’ll probably attack directly from the third district…?” (Nyango)
“You can think about it all you want but get a good night’s sleep tonight and be ready for tomorrow.” (Curtis)
“Yes, I’m heading to bed early.” (Nyango)
“After tomorrow’s ‘Nest Leaving Ceremony’ has been successfully completed, let’s go eat something delicious.” (Curtis)
“I’m looking forward to it.”
The noble boy who stays in the Royal Capital talked about something delicious, so I can expect it to be delicious.
I mean, is this a flag…?
T/N: Just blast the villains away.
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