Vol 3 Chapter 73 – Early Morning Meeting【Empire War Arc】

Roy had called everyone to the conference room early that morning.

The party members, Stark’s veteran members, the village chief of the Shadow Clan Ombra, and Ange’s fan Union Knights… that was supposed to be everyone. Yet now, in the seat of honor that should have been Eiden’s, still empty until now, sat an old man in a tattered robe.

“Sarina, did you seduce another guy again?”

“It wasn’t me! And what do you mean, ‘seduce’!? Don’t treat me like some bitch!”

Yukino had been with him since morning, so it clearly was not her. Any man who so much as approached Ange got screened, so it was not her either. That left two possibilities: Shuten, the village chief, had misunderstood and invited him, thinking this was some old folks’ gathering… or the old man had really just wandered in here.

The old man, still sitting in the seat of honor with his arms crossed and eyes lowered, had not said a single word.

Yukino stood up from her seat and walked over to him.

“Grandpa, I don’t recognize you from around the manor. Where did you come from? If you’d like, I can escort you back home.”

When she spoke to him, the old man’s eyes flew wide open and he reached his hand toward Yukino. The direction his hand was headed was the very symbol of womanhood… Sensing that, Roy sent the shadow he had extended beneath Yukino’s feet up in front of her like a shield.

“Shadow Shield”—its defensive performance was so-so, but if it successfully blocked an attack, it would counter by thrusting out shadow spikes toward the target. It was an all-in-one offense-and-defense skill.

“R-Roy-san!?”

“Gramps, if you touch that, you’d better be ready to pay for it.”

The fact that the old man had tried to sexually harass her was shocking enough, but what surprised Yukino even more was that Roy had gone so far as to use a skill just to protect her.

Roy himself was inexplicably surprised by the feeling that surged up inside him in that moment. The idea of someone else touching Yukino’s chest—the chest he regularly touched as part of purification—just that thought alone sent a hot, rising emotion roaring through him.

“Roy-san, I have a shield skill of my own, so I’m fine, really.”

“Sorry. Guess I just got a little pissed off.”

The old man stood up and burst into loud laughter.

“The family Ignia gathered really is warm.”

“Hey! Don’t try to wrap things up all nice with the same mouth you were just using to sexually harass Yukino!”

Sarina came at the old man from the other side.

“Well balanced, aren’t you!”

“Huh? — Kyaaa!”

Squish, squish… smack!

After thoroughly kneading Sarina’s breasts, the old man took a full-force slap from her and went down. Panting and bright red in the face, Sarina grabbed him by the front of his robe and hauled him back up.

“Hey, knock it off. He might have his reasons, you know?”

“You’re the last one who gets to say that! And how about protecting me too?!”

“Who the hell expects there to be a second time… Anyway, the old man’s face is turning blue. Let him go.”

When Sarina released him, the old man looked about to collapse, so Roy quickly caught his body and eased him back into a chair.

“Whew, what a terrible experience. …Now then, shall we get to the main topic?”

“Please do… No, before that, mind telling us who exactly you are?”

The old man clapped his hands once, then conjured a silver staff by magic and pushed back his hood. At a glance, he looked like a sage straight out of a storybook—healthy complexion, razor-sharp eyes. There was no way anyone would mistake him for a commoner.

“You… you can’t be!!”

Sophia was so shocked by the sight that she sprang to her feet. Seeing her reaction, the old man nodded in deep satisfaction.

“I am Volga Imperium—the one this Empire calls its king.”

The people from the Kingdom and the group from another world were a bit surprised, but every Imperial in the room rose from their seats and dropped to one knee.

“Easy now, easy. All of you, return to your seats as before. Right now, I am here in the capacity of a single Imperial citizen.”

In response to his words, the Imperials returned to their seats. Roy’s group was left gaping, a beat behind everyone else.

“Judging from the mood just now, you’re the one running things here, are you not?”

Saying that, Volga stepped in front of Roy and held out his hand. Roy took it, a little wary. The handshake was far stronger than one would expect from an old man, which startled Roy a little, though he made sure not to show it on his face.

“Yeah. Since I’m the one holding onto the Ignia dagger, I’m acting as the person in charge for now. Should I give it back to you?”

“No, it’s safer in your hands. Now then, the reason I came here… I want you to help me rescue Ignia.”

“Did something happen to Eiden!?”

“Well, actually—”

All the information Eiden had brought him was made up of things he himself had not known. Finding that suspicious, King Volga questioned the subordinate who had conducted the torture, only to see behavior that suggested the man was being controlled by someone else.
In a situation where it was no longer clear who inside the castle might be under someone’s control, Volga left a trusted body double in his place and headed for the southeast with Eiden, to the place where Dark Matter had been discovered.

On the way there, however, they were attacked by a knight who wielded dark wind and a guild employee who used darkness as well, and Eiden ended up captured as a decoy to hold the enemy off. As King Volga spoke of this, he slammed the table several times in frustration in the middle of his explanation.

The two dark users King Volga described were almost certainly Dart and Lydia. For Roy, that alone was enough information to justify cooperating, but right now he was merely the one temporarily entrusted with the Ignia dagger. Because of that, he turned to the people seated around the table to ask for their agreement.

“Eiden still hasn’t come back, and this is the only lead we’ve got. Personally, I think we should go rescue him. What about you all?”

Everyone nodded; some even began clapping. In the Ignia estate, that response was proof that Roy was now recognized as someone they could trust.

“Alright then. Let’s go pick up our late-returning Eiden!”

Cheers went up as everyone left the room to begin their preparations. Now that Eiden’s whereabouts were known, the members of Stark, Ange’s Union Knights, and Roy’s own party all fired up with renewed energy.

That was thanks to Eiden’s character, and for Roy and the others who had spent several months with him, he was definitely someone they wanted to save.