Chapter 66: An Old Friend’s Tea Party
A few hours earlier.
Belfast Castle, the General’s office.
In that room, three old friends of Randolph von Razbel had gathered.
“I see, so you were entrusted with Yuna-sama after His Majesty brought her along. But to think Rudolph had been given such a secret order…”
“You really should have told me! You idiot!”
Roosevelt and Randolph sent cold glares to the two sitting opposite them.
“Haa… I’m only revealing this now because the situation has completely changed, but His Majesty said she should live happily as a commoner without anyone knowing. Until a little while ago, I was even planning to send Rui back to Oldam.”
Rudolph replied to the two, looking downcast with a somewhat dejected expression.
“Honestly, how long are you going to mope around! Be happy about Rui-chan’s growth!”
Mary said with a wry smile, lightly smacking him on the head.
The two opposite them exchanged glances and asked Mary, “Did something happen?”
“This guy, you see, had a mock battle with Rui-chan and was instantly defeated. On top of that, he’s even being trained by him.”
“Guh!!!!”
“Heh, instantly defeating Rudolph, huh… I thought he was strong, but to that extent…”
Rudolph, gritting his teeth, said, “No. Rui is certainly strong, but I haven’t been able to go to dungeons since I left the country.”
“Huh? For these past fifteen years… the whole time?”
“Of course! How could a poor farmer in another country go to dungeons!”
“Using a Hunter ID would reveal your identity, wouldn’t it? I don’t even have one…”
The two of them had lived completely as farmers for fifteen years.
Learning this fact, the other two gave a wry smile at their scrupulous conduct, saying, “You haven’t changed.”
“But, how did you manage for money during that time?”
“I was originally planning to become a commoner, so I had been saving up for a long time.”
“Well, we eventually ran out, and it was a poor farmer’s life. It was tough, you know?”
Hearing those words, the two revised their perception.
For the two who didn’t know about the royal decree, there had been a lingering thought that Rudolph and Mary had run away and were enjoying themselves. They couldn’t shake that feeling.
Having lost their country and in despair, Randolph had been entrusted with Razbel at a young age and, moreover, had to operate under a new regime. The burden of responsibility was immense.
Roosevelt, who only had to manage the Knights Order, had it easier, but for Randolph, who was entrusted with everything, it was nothing but agony.
However, the General’s family was, in essence, a Ducal house.
The General’s family, entrusted with the protection of the country, was special even compared to the other Ducal house.
Given his family status and position, there was no one else who could have done it.
Even from their perspective, hearing that Rudolph, who had been praised for his talent, had become a resident of the slums without any supporters, they couldn’t help but change their feelings.
“Well, even if we were poor and it was tough, we were happy. Until Yuna-chan developed Magical Power Sclerosis, we had a very happy life…”
“Magical Power Sclerosis… That’s not a disease Yuna-sama should get…”
Magical Power Sclerosis. As the name suggests, it’s a disease where magical power solidifies and becomes immobile.
If it worsens, not only magical power but the body also becomes immobile.
The conditions for its onset are being born with too much magical power or harboring magical power exceeding one’s capacity.
It wasn’t a disease that people usually contracted after infancy.
“It seems Yuna-sama, hoping for Rui to have even a slightly more advantageous life, kept absorbing Magic Stones while she was still in Belfast. Apparently, she didn’t know much about sclerosis. She was someone far removed from battle, so she was probably ignorant about matters related to magical power.”
“Wait. You should have had her subjugate monsters! It wouldn’t have been a complete cure, but her life should have been saved!”
“About that… Yuna-chan didn’t say anything until her body became immobile. She said she didn’t want to be a burden…”
“You idiot…” Randolph gritted his teeth.
With sclerosis, if it progresses to the point where the body becomes immobile, it’s already too late.
If it progresses that far, even if monster subjugation is possible, the progression won’t stop.
“Haha, it’s just one big failure after another. I couldn’t help Yuna-sama, I put Rui in danger, and now I’m being trained by his son…”
He looked as if he’d burned himself out completely, his face ashen.
The other two were so struck by his wretched state that they couldn’t even speak.
“There were failures, but Rui-chan grew up to be kind and splendid. I’m proud of him. Compared to that, our Yume… It’s because you spoil her!!”
Mary smacked the wretched Rudolph, adding insult to injury.
“Th-that’s enough, isn’t it?” Randolph said hesitantly.
“Yume isn’t bad. Rui is just too amazing. That kid is truly incredible.”
“That’s right… It’s disrespectful, but he’s beyond comparison even to His Majesty Royce.”
“Heh, for Miss Mary, who has seen His Majesty firsthand, to say that… But isn’t saying he’s beyond comparison to His Majesty Royce an exaggeration?”
Royce was an excellent man.
He was brilliant and, despite his youth, could hold his own against high-ranking soldiers.
However, hearing that Rui greatly surpassed even him, Roosevelt muttered, looking slightly displeased.
“No, he’s truly amazing. Can a five-year-old take care of a sick person, doing not just ten, but twenty different things?”
“What do you mean, twenty? It’s usually ten, right?” Randolph interjected, and Mary rattled on.
“That’s right! Usually, it’s ten at best. Cooking, laundry, cleaning, and also bathing and personal care. Even just that, a child can’t do, right? At five years old, Rui-chan did it all more perfectly than I could…”
Mary stared into the distance with a faraway look in her eyes.
“Do you understand? Whether it was the taste of his cooking, his cleaning, or even his haircuts, he was so good I wanted to ask him to do mine… Even his consideration, he surpassed me in everything…”
“That’s just ’cause you’re bad at… Hebugh!!”
Randolph, who was sitting on the same sofa, had his mouth covered by Roosevelt with the force of a lariat.
“Randolph, have you forgotten how troublesome Miss Mary gets when she’s like this?” Roosevelt whispered in his ear, his voice so flustered he reverted to his old way of addressing her. Randolph’s expression twisted as if remembering the past, “S-sorry.”
“Are you saying he’s amazing in terms of daily life skills?” If that was the case, Roosevelt could understand him being called exceptionally more talented than His Majesty, and he composed himself.
“No. Everything. I didn’t teach him any studies, yet he knew everything. Rudolph only gave him three books, you know? He had even mastered unrelated subjects. We even tried to keep him away from others as much as possible until he was a bit older, thinking interactions in the slums would have a bad influence.”
“Come to think of it, when I had him investigated, they said he got a perfect score on the written part of the academy entrance exam…”
Mary nodded at Randolph’s words as if to say, “Of course.”
“And the most insane thing is his magic…”
“Huh? You said you didn’t teach him, right? I heard he learned from Yurisia?”
“Yeah, we didn’t teach him. But anyone can use Maso, right?”
“Oh, so that’s the kind of magic you meant,” the two said, looking convinced.
Anyone can use Maso if it’s just for basic use. They understood it as him being better at it than others.
“That kid, he can do anything with Maso. He was making something every single day, and he even made statues of us once.”
“He also created a model of our house, about the size of a wooden box. It had everything, from beds to a kitchen. In our actual lives, if we were missing something, Rui would usually provide it.”
“Is that amazing enough to be called ‘the most insane’?” Randolph tilted his head.
His imagination couldn’t keep up.
He hadn’t imagined Rui creating things like perfectly copied statues or astonishingly elaborate model houses.
To him, a five-year-old perfectly taking care of a sick person seemed far more abnormal.
“Besides that, he used some kind of magic once. He himself said he didn’t know what it was, so we never found out the details. We made him stop because it was dangerous, and that was the end of it…”
“It was an incredible sound, wasn’t it? I didn’t see it directly, but the ground shook.”
This was when Rui first created a cannon enlarged to its maximum limit.
By the way, regarding the gun, they believed Rui’s lie and thought of it as nothing more than a toy that made a loud noise.
They were easily deceived by Rui, who had demonstrated it making a loud noise like a paper popper.
“So His Highness’s skills were cultivated from that time…”
“Well, isn’t that a good story? I understand he’s amazing in many ways, but it’s undoubtedly through effort, right?”
Even if it was his mother, he willingly continued to care for her when she was sick. That alone makes him seem like a person whose character can be trusted to some extent.
The fact that he used Maso to substitute daily necessities for the family is also proof that he is a person who can act for others.
To have continued doing all of that with his own hands is something that cannot be achieved without effort.
“That’s right. Rui is a hard worker. Though when it comes to things he likes, he goes a bit too overboard…”
“That’s his only flaw, isn’t it? When he starts tinkering with Maso, he won’t sleep no matter how late it gets… It was a struggle to get him to bed.”
Randolph listened to their words, and a sense of regret for his actions towards Rui surfaced.
He had bowed his head and requested punishment because he had committed disrespect towards Royalty.
His actions towards Rui, too, would not have been a significant issue if a noble had done them to a commoner.
While the matter of the gifts couldn’t be said to be entirely without issue, if the recipient had been a commoner, it was quite common for gifts to be disposed of without ever reaching them. His actions were such that they might lead one to think just that.
Just because he had received expensive gifts didn’t mean he could allow a meeting with his daughter, who had become so infatuated. If he hadn’t possessed such jealousy, he could have handled things much better, but he was clumsy when it came to controlling his emotions.
The story that Yurisia had been told to choose her own marriage partner in case something happened to him was also slightly different in reality. His wife, taking into account that it was wartime, had suggested, “Let’s teach her how to manage herself if Randolph were to die.” That’s how the conversation had started. Having no intention of dying nor wanting to let go of his daughter, he had merely stated conditions that would absolutely never be met—conditions he could reject no matter what—just to leave things vague.
Normally, he would have rejected even that, but his wife’s words had a point. Back when it was Razbel territory, they were in a state where their lands could be seized at any moment. If Randolph died, the only heir would be his son, who was still just five years old. He had considered that if they were deemed incapable of managing the territory, there was even a possibility it could be seized by the Lestall Royal Family, like what happened in the south.
Even so, he wanted to keep her by his side. Randolph doted on his daughter that much, but his heart was now significantly leaning in another direction.
He had always thought of Rui as a fine young man. So much so that he had worried about not being able to subdue him by force.
However, their social standings were compatible, Rui was a man of character, and for his age, an overwhelmingly strong individual. He genuinely loved his daughter and was the eldest son of the esteemed Royce. Searching the entire world, there was no one more suitable to entrust his daughter to.
If he wished for his daughter’s happiness, then Yurisia’s marriage partner could be none other than him. However, pushing things forward in the current situation would only increase distrust.
In that case, this time, he would stake everything on earning Rui’s trust. Randolph had finally made up his mind.
Just then, he received a report that Prince Rui was calling for him.
When he went, he was told that the Daltone Army had moved up their advance by another day. “Then now is the time to be of service!” he thought with enthusiasm, and, fully prepared, began his preparations for war.