Chapter 238: Night Outing

How many times have I cried while saying that would be the last time I do? After that incident, I felt bad, but decided not to make any excuses for crying, and just cried as much as I wanted because I’m still a child. If I hold back, then I’ll end up crying a lot.

I heard that Ange didn’t answer anything during her investigation, and it was concluded that what she had said to me was simply malice and couldn’t be used as evidence for my kidnapping. I’m still not satisfied that they treated it as something else she did wrong since it wasn’t a big crime compared to her making Kingdom’s barrier sway, but even so, her punishment won’t get any heavier, so I don’t care about that anymore.

I knew that would be the conclusion and wasn’t as disappointed as Otou-sama. He was probably disappointed that I had been kidnapped and that he couldn’t see through Ange’s real character. But I’m not going to sympathise with him on that. Otou-sama’s a bit useless, so I hope that he will judge people a little better in the future.

I was finally allowed to go to town towards the end of my summer holiday, and at night-time too. Otou-sama reluctantly gave me permission to go because Alistair and everyone else will be leaving soon. But there were too many of us to go incognito.

“Nico, why are you here?”

If the Prince is here, then security will be tight.

“Hmm. Father finally went back to his old self.”

I thought that it was annoying that someone with too much curiosity had returned. Maybe I’m a bit cold.

“The royals will seem snobbish if they don’t go out in public, so when I heard that you were going into town, I asked Father if I can come along too!”

“Nico, you’re greath.”

I don’t think Lambert-ojisama would be able to refuse since he asked to go out now. And it seems that Nico’s opinion of his father has slightly gone down.

There were a lot of guards with us since Nico came along, which made us stand out more than I had thought it would since Alistair, Bart and everyone else looked like commoners. And there were two young infants wearing hoods on a summer night, so it was no wonder that we attracted attention.

“It’s not the number of guards that’s the problem, the amount of people in town also make it difficult to move around.”

“You’re sho shmarth Hansh.”

The naggy guard finally returned. When he returned, he was so exhausted that he didn’t even talk a lot, so the fact that he complained like this meant that he had recovered considerably.

“You can’th shay thhath even if ith’sh thhe thruthh.”

“You’re so strict, Lei.”

Bart laughed. Hans greeted Bart with interest, “You’re Bart? I’ve heard about you. I’m Hans, Leila-sama’s guard.”

“I’m a hunter, so I’m not very good at protecting people, but it’s nice to meet you.”

“You say that, but the way you carry yourself, and the way you keep an eye out is much better than the royal guards…”

“Tsk. Thath’sh enough.”

As the boss, I have to stop my guards from slipping up. I crossed my arms and puffed out my chest.

“Ah, Lei-sama, if you throw your chest out that much then you’ll fall over.”

“I won’th.”

Geez, he’s talking too much.

And so, our suspicious group was waiting for evening to come.

The faint light of day seemed to fade into darkness, but the town’s streetlights were being turned on one by one by the shopkeepers, driving out the darkness of the night. There was hardly anyone out at this time of the night in Wester, and the people who were out at night rushed around as if they were being pursued.

“The number of people isn’t decreasing, they’re increasing instead. See, look at that corner over there. They’re opening up their stores right now. I can’t help the chills that run down my spin no matter how many times I see it.” Bart’s expression was frighteningly serious. Unlike me, who was looking around town as if I was watching a movie, Bart, Mill, Kyaro, Clyde and Alistair were all looking around town seriously.

“But look at their faces. Just like in our town, some look relieved to be done with their work while others look like they’re enjoying themselves and are about to have a get together.”

Unlike me, who had never been to town before, Bart and everyone else seemed to go out to town a lot like Bart had said. It’s really rare for Frontier people to come to the capital. I was a little jealous, but I also hoped that they would make the most out of this opportunity.

“We’ve walked quite a bit. We’re hanging out with Lei today, so just tell me where you want to go,” Bart said, and I thought hard.

“You don’t have to think hard about it, we’ll just visit all the food stores first.”

“You know what you’re talking about!” Bart laughed heartedly while slapping Nico on the back, which caused the guards to get noisy for a moment, but Hans and I can only shake our head in disgust.

“Dishquawified.”

“Why, Leila-sama!?”

“Firshth. Ith’sh awready thoo wathe tho mawe a fushsh afther he’sh been hith on thhe bacw.” (First. It’s already too late to make a fuss after he’s been hit on the back)

“Nuh-uh.”

“Second. We’re incognitho, sho thhey shhouwdn’th caushe a fushsh. We’re shthanding outh.” (Second. We’re incognito, so they shouldn’t cause a fuss. We’re standing out) The guards straightened up at my words.

“Hah! You’re right! We’ll do our best!”

“Ai.”

““Buffo.””

Since when did I become an advisor to those who are protecting Nico? Yes, you over there, don’t laugh. I’m troubled that there are two people laughing now. Nico looked like he was ready to go.

“Then, let’s go to that delicious smelling store first. There’s smoke coming out from there, so are they cooking on open fire?”

Good timing. He must be remembering that time when we grilled fish at Mils Lake. Outdoor learning is important after all. I nodded to myself and twitched my nose.

“Judging from thhe shmeww, ith’sh meath. Leth’sh thry ith!” (Judging from the smell, it’s meat. Let’s try it)

“Okay! Let’s go!”

Nico and I ran off, hand in hand, and our hoods flew off as we ran.

“Oh my, it’s the Prince.”

“And he’s accompanied by violet eyes!”

The Prince’s identity was immediately revealed, and he was popular, even though people were looking at him from a distance.

“Ah, what should we do now that Lei isn’t tottering around anymore?”

“It means that she would take less time to get to places, and we can do more things together with her. Mill is really a disappointing guy.” Bart and the others were saying something behind me, but I didn’t care.

“See! Ith ish meath!”

A small piece of meat was sizzling on top of the iron plate. But we couldn’t see it the closer we got, and only the smell attracted us.

“Oh! But how do we eat it?”

“What? Bocchan, jou-chan, do you want to eat a meat roll?!” The owner called out to us from downstairs as he peered over the grill.

“Hmm. Father gave me spending money. Give me two of these.”

Nico nodded with a big smile, then he carefully searched his pants pocket, and stood tall with a large, shiny coin in his palm.

“A gold coin…”

This is the kind of thing Lam-ojisama would do.