Part 1
Bang bang bang!
Selphie woke up to the sound of someone repeatedly hammering on her door. She was not a morning person to begin with, and she was in the worst of moods this morning.
It wasn't that she wasn't feeling well or anything —she just wasn't in a good mood. It was likely a lingering effect from yesterday when she had killed someone for the first time in her life.
"Selphie, something huge happened! Some. Thing. Huge! Hurry up and get out of bed already!"
"Argh~ ……I'm up~"
Even she thought that, 'ugh~, I sound so dead.' But it couldn't be helped. She really didn't have the energy today.
But Yuri, her newfound friend, wasn't one to hold back. Yuri slammed the door open and rudely entered Selphie's room before the latter had let her in.
"Aha! You're still sleeping! But today isn't a day where you can just lounge about as you please, Selphie. Something huge really just happened!"
As soon as the words left her mouth, Yuri roughly pulled off Selphie's covers while the latter was still trying to sleep. Selphie had not had the time to stop her.
"Kyah! Wh, what are you doingg?!"
Selphie instinctively hugged her chest and curled up in a ball.
"What do we have here?"
Yuri let out a snarky laugh dripping with hidden meaning. She continued,
"what's this? You're sleeping in your underwear even though it's this cold? Well, aren't you being sexy? ……Minus points for the stripes though."
"Please leave it be! I look like a child anyway!"
Selphie pulled back at her covers in a huff. Unfortunately, however, her opponent proved to be the stronger of the two.
"Like I was saying, don't try to go back to sleep and wake up already."
Selphie stubbornly pulled back at her covers at first, but she eventually gave up after realizing that she would never win and asked,
"so what happened, exactly?"
"Listen and behold,"
Yuri said before taking a deep breath as if she had been waiting for the moment,
"some high general named Safir, who was thought to have died in the previous battle, is apparently still alive! He apparently came back to the castle last night!"
"Eh?"
Selphie raised her voice.
She then immediately questioned timidly,
"……who is that again?"
"Oh, that was my reaction too!"
Yuri laughed brightly. She continued,
"I also thought, 'who the heck is that?' when I heard about it from the other squires. I mean, we commoners don't really care about the names of the nobility and stuff like that. Especially because I don't like a lot of them."
The prim and proper Selphie didn't readily agree with Yuri's bad-mouthing, but she completely agreed with the sentiment on the inside.
Even Selphie knew that there were seven high generals including Rain prior to the last Zarmine War.
However, even Selphie, who had always wanted to become a knight, could only name about three~four of them at most.
They had just left that little of an impression on her…… To put it bluntly, they had been the unpopular generals. Selphie had come to Galfort Castle upon hearing that Rain was recruiting new knights and thinking, 'I want to serve under him since he was originally a commoner!' but otherwise, she had been considering a career path as a government worker in another country.
The high generals of this kingdom were simply that lacking in both popularity and ability. Someone as talented and capable as Ralphus was the exception among exceptions.
Besides, there was a reason that Selphie disliked the high generals from the nobility on a personal level.
"Selphie?"
Her friend's voice brought her back to her senses.
"Oh, yes?"
"What's wrong; are you hungry?"
Selphie's shoulders slumped down.
Couldn't she had at least asked, "are you worried about something?" instead?
"No, not really. So, is there a problem that Mr. High General Who No One Really Cares About has returned?"
Selphie stood up and picked up some clothes to change into.
"Yeah, so about that…"
Yuri sat down on the edge of the bed with a plop and explained,
"That Safir idiot is apparently spreading rumors that he was entrusted with King Douglas' will."
"His will?"
"Yep. Well…… It happened just yesterday, so it's still only a rumor, but apparently it said that the King "entrusted all future affairs to his most faithful servant, Safir.""
Huh, is that so?
Selphie was about to give an off-handed reply as she did the buttons on her clothes, but……
Her hands stopped moving as she gradually digested Yuri's words. She turned her head and stared at her friend with wide-open eyes.
"Isn't that……pretty bad?"
"Yeah, it's really bad, mhmm. If things go south the coronation today will all~ go to dust."
"A, all~ going to dust…… Th, that's really, really bad!"
"That's why I was saying that it was something huge from the beginning,"
Yuri said nonchalantly.
Then, after watching Selphie fluster about in amusement, she thought of something even more incredible and continued,
"plus, that Safir guy didn't come empty handed —he apparently brought along a bunch of knights and soldiers with him. Safir's already here, and his men are on their way to this castle right now. It's been like we're preparing for war of something this morning."
"Eh, ehh!?"
All of the drowsiness that had remained in her body had been completely blown away. Come to think of it, it's been pretty loud outside in the hallway…… How did I sleep through all that without noticing……?
Selphie grew disgusted at how carefree she had been. This wasn't the time to be moping about.
"But how did it come to this? Isn't he technically our ally?"
"He might be, but putting General Ralphus aside, there's no way that he considers General Rain as someone of the same rank as himself. 'Cause he's a noble while General Rain's a commoner. And, if the rumor about the will is true, Safir will basically be able to do as he pleases. He could even dismiss General Rain in a blink of an eye."
"Eh, ehhh!? That's not good at allll! That would really put me on the spot!"
she blurted out her honest feelings without realizing.
General Rain is dismissed → Selphie, his retainer, is also fired → Wandering on the road → Living in the night, with her body having lost its virtue.
The aforementioned diagram briefly ran its course through Selphie's head. She always ended up considering the worst outcome possible in times like this because she had experienced the setback of a life of poverty multiple times in the past.
Yuri should have also been in a similar situation, but her friend was as calm as ever.
Rather, Selphie felt that Yuri was having fun watching her panic.
"You're so calm about this…… Ah, geez!"
She tried to do her buttons over and over again, but Selphie eventually gave up on a few of them because her fingers were shaking too much. Instead, she took out her frustration on her friend and said,
"is this really the time to be laughing?!"
"No, sorry. It was just too funny because you reacted just as I thought you would."
"It wasn't funny, it wasn't funny at! All!!"
Selphie retorted in a huff.
Yuri started to look a little more serious, possibly because she had reflected on her actions.
"Now, now. You don't have to get so worked up. I doubt that that General of ours will obediently say, "oh, a will, is it? And I'm dismissed? Then there's nothing I can do. I'll go back to the countryside and become a fisherman or something," do you? He doesn't have the right personality for that."
"……No, forget about the thing about fishing. But it's the late king's will, you know? Aren't those usually absolute?"
"Hm~m. Selphie, you really don't get him even though you've fallen for him. Listen up, alright? For starters, General Rain never gave the late king a second glance if he could help it. He's not the type of person to care enough to follow something like the late king's will."
Is that really so?
The ever-serious Selphie was in heavy doubt. No matter how rebellious he was in spirit, as long as he was a knight, Rain should still be loyal to his liege's orders. That was normal, Selphie thought, and was probably publicly considered to be common sense.
But, when Selphie voiced her thoughts, Yuri confidently declared,
"well, just you watch. You'll get it soon enough. ……It's just…"
She furrowed her brows.
"It's just what?"
"The problem is in how General Ralphus will take action,"
Yuri said somberly.
~~*~~*~~*~~
Shelfa was spacing out in her room as footsteps hurried about in the corridor outside.
Things had been progressing so quickly that she felt like she was watching a dream.
Last night, a lady-in-waiting had woken her up and Shelfa had been greeted by Safir, whom she had only met a handful of times previously, upon his return to the castle.
That had all been good and fine, but Shelfa had been rendered speechless after the lady-in-waiting had informed her about the existence of her late father's "written will."
According to the will, her father had apparently left all future matters in Safir's hands, but Shelfa had never heard about anything of the sort before and this was the first time she had even heard about the will to begin with. However, her father, who was always rather cold to her, would have never told her about it in advance anyway, so it wasn't that usual for her not to know of it. Safir had even showed her the written will in question, so he was probably telling the truth.
Putting that aside, Shelfa wondered if the coronation ceremony that had been planned for later in the day had been suspended due to the recent turn of events.
Shelfa actually welcomed the delay to her coronation; instead, she was worried about something else.
I wonder what Lord Safir is planning to do?
To get straight to the point, this was the gist of Shelfa's worries. She had no objections to stepping down from the seat of the throne. Actually, she would be more than happy to hand it over to him.
However, even Shelfa could tell that Safir and Rain were not on the best of terms, so Safir's attitude had the potential to become problematic.
She didn't even want to think about it, but——
Rain could even lose his title as general.
Even then, that was still better than the possibility that Rain could be banished from the castle, rendering him unable to stay by her side.
That was one possibility that she could never accept.
She had no power to speak of, but if that ever happened, she would do everything she could to change Safir's mind.
Shelfa firmly steeled herself.
Everyone had something that they could not accept no matter what. For Shelfa, this was none other than "a life without Rain."
"Oh boy~. They're all up and ready in position even though they had no orders to do so. Well, not that I don't know where they're coming from,"
Rain said in a low voice.
He had his back to Shelfa and was looking down at the castle's courtyard from the window. His steady back was perfectly composed and did not betray even the slightest sense of movement.
"Rain……"
Shelfa's voice trembled slightly as she called out to him.
Rain turned around, perhaps because he had noticed the anxiety in her voice. His expression softened a little as he moved closer to her.
"What's wrong; you don't look too good."
"Um……"
"What is it?"
"We'll still be together from now on, yes?"
she asked while staring hard into his black eyes. There was little point in asking, but she knew that she would feel relieved, as if it would really happen if he put it into words, as long as Rain answered, "that goes without saying."
"……I keep my promises. And I promised that I'd stay by your side after the war ended, didn't I? I'll stay by your side as long as our promise doesn't become a nuisance to you."
"Something like that will never happen!"
"——! You surprised me. Don't shout all of a sudden like that, it's not like you."
A wry smile formed on his virile face. He continued,
"then, there's nothing to worry about. Just leave everything to me. But, a turbulent life might await you if you do. I don't mean to threaten you or anything, but you'd best prepare for that. Also, depending on the situation……no, well, I don't think this is very likely to happen, but……anyways, depending on the situation, you might not be able to live as a princess anymore. Is that still okay with you?"
"Oh, that."
Shelfa felt all of her anxiety vanish at once as relief washed over her. She continued,
"I'm so relieved. As long as you're by my side, Rain, I don't wish for anything else."
"That so?"
Rain said with a hint of laughter as he began to play with Shelfa's blonde hair with his large hands. He continued,
"that aside, I'm more worried about the guys who were after you than I am about Safir."
Rain returned to the window with Shelfa following close behind. He bitterly looked down at his men who were running about the courtyard for no actual reason.
"Are you talking about the assassins from yesterday?"
"No, it seems that their circumstances were different from what I'd thought it was."
"What did you think it was, Rain?"
Shelfa gently wrapped her arm about Rain and drew closer. Rain threw a quick glance at her but didn't reprimand her either, so she took the opportunity to stick even closer to him.
Still looking outside, Rain began to speak.
"Actually, I knew that Safir was coming from Gunther's reports. I thought that he might be the one targeting you because the timing of his arrival was too perfect."
"He's……targeting me?"
"I thought that he might try to get rid of you to take over the throne. We~ll, he might still be aiming to be king anyway. Still. Last night, after interrogating the brat we caught yesterday, I started to think that something was off……"
Rain said as he shook his head and began the tale of the boy's interrogation last night.
The boy who appeared to be the leader of the assassin's offensive unit had not become a corpse as Rain had feared, but had been surprisingly docile when Rain checked up on him.
A sarcastic smile had arisen on his face upon seeing Rain open the heavy doors into the dungeon. He looked as if he had become freed from his past, or as if he had seen the fate that was in store for him.
"I thought you'd come see me soon enough,"
the boy spoke up first.
He sat up from the thin bed he had been lying on and stared at Rain. His eyes were completely empty. They were the eyes of someone who had lost all hope.
"Heh. Pretty nice attitude you have there. Are you willing to answer my questions then?"
Rain asked, still standing.
"……You wanna know who the client is, right?"
"Bullseye."
"Let me tell you this first. You're making a misunderstanding something here. I just got this intel myself, but……you're probably thinking that Safir, who'll be arriving soon, is the client, aren't you?"
"You're right. As expected of an assassin guild, intel travels fast. But I've given up on the "Safir's The Mastermind Theory.""
The boy raised his brows at this, so Rain continued,
"My comrades——Ralphus' unit, to be precise, anyway, I told you earlier in the day that they raided your base, right?"
"……And?"
The boy, finally interested, pressed Rain for more information.
Rain readily showed the boys his cards.
"Your guild had already been wiped out by the time Ralphus got there. Someone……no, it probably wasn't just one person, a group of skilled people probably killed off all of the remaining assassins. Ralphus was beaten to the punch."
He silently observed the boy after speaking.
Then, after watching the boy's face for a while, Rain nodded and said,
"like I'd thought, you don't look too surprised. Which means you have an idea about who raided your base."
He paused for a moment and bluntly asked,
"is you client Zarmine, by any chance?"
"……What do you think?"
the boy asked back with a cunning gleam in his eyes that did not befit his age.
"Let's see… Just like you said earlier, Safir doesn't have the guts to destroy your guild. Besides, he doesn't have any subordinates who are skilled enough to do so. Which leaves Zarmine……but they're probably not your client either."
"What makes you think that?"
"King Leygur already knows that you guys are no match for me. I doubt that he'd use an assassin's guild this late in the game. And it's a given that I'd get in the way of anyone who target's the Princess."
Rain said his piece and leaned back against the cold stone wall. He crossed his armed and looked at the boy in the eyes before continuing,
"so how about you 'fess up already? Who……or which organization is your client?"
"I don't feel like telling you everything,"
the boy said rather curtly.
He stole a glance at Rain and continued after confirming that he wasn't getting angry.
"But, there's still something that doesn't sit too well with me either. So I'll give you a bit of a hint. ——Our organization was threatened."
"Threatened? You guys were still an assassin's guild, albeit one on the smaller side."
"Exactly. As stupid as it sounds, it's the truth. "Kill Princess Shelfa. You'll receive a handsome sum if you succeed, but you'll be annihilated if you refuse," they said. We laughed away the messenger of course, but the fact remains that several senior members of the guild died one after another a few days later. They were all highly skilled, but they were killed almost without resistance. They couldn't touch us while we were still inside of the guild, but people were killed the moment they went outside."
The boy drew a line across this throat with his hand.
"Some people had their throats slit open like this, and others were cut down by a sword. Our guild leader tried to pretend that everything was okay, but he finally caved after several members of the top brass died. "Kill her as quickly as possible!" he said, so we had no choice but to take the commission. And this is the result,"
the boy said regretfully with his face twisted in frustration.
Rain waited in silence, but the boy would say no more. Then, Rain voiced his doubts,
"there's one fatal contradiction in what you've said just now. Why wouldn't those guys…… I'm just calling them those guys for now, assuming that they do exist, why wouldn't they act on their own if they're so amazingly strong? If they had confidence in their abilities, they could have just come at me themselves."
"They apparently said that "they didn't want to come out in public" or something. Publicly, they wanted to say that our guild received a commission and killed the princess for some regular client."
"Hmm~m. Well aren't they annoying? And you don't have any intent on revealing their identity. It can't be that you guys don't know who they are either, do you?"
"……But we have more information than you do."
The boy grew serious and his eyes betrayed how displeased he was, but he closed his mouth before saying anything. After a while, his face returned to his original irritating expression and he said,
"I won't bite. Figure out the rest by yourself. Though I doubt that it'll be that easy to figure out their identity."
Then, he began to laugh in a hollow voice and said,
"they're strong, you know. Then again, you're also undoubtedly a monster. You monsters should just finish each other off……hehehe……hahaha……gah!"
The boy started choking mid-laughter.
By the time Rain jumped to his aid, a strange noise had sounded from his throat as he coughed out a clot of blood and his eyes rolled back.
Rain did not know exactly how, but the boy had probably prepared poison or something in his mouth beforehand.
He felt the boy's wrist, but could not find a pulse.
"……I wonder why they're always so eager to die…"
he whispered after closing the boy's eyes.
Come to think of it, the boy had never given his name. He was probably a pure-bred assassin who had been raised and trained in the guild since infancy……
Rain shook his head and left the dungeons after one last look at the boy sprawled out on his side.
"And that's what happened. In other words, if we believe the brat's words, these "somebodies" did away with the guild because they didn't want others to figure out their identity,"
Rain finished his long tale while still looking down from the window.
Shelfa steeled herself and nodded.
She did not want to disappoint Rain by being fainthearted.
Then, as if he was rewarding her resolve, Rain wrapped an arm around Shelfa's waist and hugged her tight.
"Don't let it get to you. I only told you about this because I thought that it was only right that you know, since it concerns you. If someone comes for you again, I'll be right here."
"Thank you very much,"
she said, grateful from the bottom of her heart.
If Rain had not been there with her……she probably would have died a long time ago.
"Anyway. I'll be continuing to be your bodyguard for a while. I'll try to be by your side as much as possible."
"Um, yes!"
"Hey, don't say that so happily."
Rain tapped down on Shelfa's head with a fist. It was a tap so gentle that he might as well have pet her instead, prompting Shelfa to joyfully reply, "I'm sorry." Despite the content of her words, the light spring in her cheerful voice that betrayed her real feelings.
She knew it was imprudent of her, but she honestly did not mind being targeted by people if it meant that she could always be with Rain.
Still resting against Rain, Shelfa gently closed her eyes.
Then, someone knocked.
"Who is it?"
Rain called out before Shelfa could.
"It's me."
"Oh, it's you."
Rain gently freed himself from Shelfa's arms and opened the door.
Standing on the other side was Gunther, whom Shelfa had gotten used to seeing, with his usual sullen visage. He nodded briefly at Shelfa before bowing deeply before Rain.
Most people would think that he was being rude, but Shelfa thought otherwise. Shelfa had come to a conclusion regarding the morose man after having watched him for a while.
The man called Gunther Valoa was a highly conscientious and proud person. Thus, he refused to easily lower his head to anyone other than his own master, Rain.
Ironically enough, the taciturn and obstinate man's actions only served to increase Shelfa's trust in him. Though, of course, the fact that he was Rain's "right-hand man" played the biggest factor in her evaluation of him.
In any case, Gunter turned to Rain, his one and only master, and began his report as always.
"All of our preparations are underway. The rest is up to your discretion, Lord Rain."
"Hm~m…"
Rain replied casually as he brushed back his black hair. He continued,
"I think it's more up to our opponent's discretion than mine…"
Then, a lady-in-waiting dressed in a maid outfit came up to the door and stopped before Shelfa and the others.
"Your Highness, do you have a moment of time?"
"Yes?"
"Lord Safir wishes for you to come see him in the audience chamber. ……And…"
she timidly looked up at Rain and continued,
"he has called for General Rain as well."
"Me too?"
Rain scowled magnificently as the lady-in-waiting gave him a low bow. He continued,
"Since when did that idiot become important enough to call for people like that? I'll beat him up good when we're done. And who does he think he is to use the audience chamber as he pleases?"
"My report is a step too late, but,"
Gunther interrupted,
"Safir's car has just arrived. I believe that he has timed his arrival on purpose."
"Heh, it finally starts."
A fearless smile formed on Rain's face.
The lady-in-waiting had brought a hand up to her lips when Gunther called Safir without his proper title, but no one, including Shelfa, paid her any attention.
"I see. That means my bad hunch will probably come true. Man, it's a good thing we laid out our groundwork in advance."
"By your will."
"Um…"
This time, it was Shelfa who interrupted, unable to hold it in any longer. After she spoke, she remembered the lady-in-waiting, who was also piping with curiosity, and said, "I'll be there soon."
Reluctantly, the lady-in-waiting did a right about-face and left. Then, Shelfa started again,
"Um, I believe I asked you yesterday as well, but…… What are you talking about?"
Rain help up a hand as if he was telling her to wait a moment and gave orders to Gunther first.
"Alright. I'll give you some kind of signal if anything happens. Though it'd be best that nothing does. And I'll trust you to explain everything to everyone. ……Let them act on their own decisions if possible."
"Understood,"
Gunther replied curtly before bowing again. Shelfa got the feeling that something was about to happen, but she did not have a clue as to what that could be.
"You look like you have no idea what's going on."
Rain placed a hand on Shelfa's shoulder. He continued,
"you'll understand soon enough. In any case, why don't we go and see what that idiot Safir has to say?"
Rain showed off his white teeth as he flashed a grin.
~~*~~*~~*~~
Rain and Shelfa saw Ralphus walking ahead with his back turned toward them when they turned the corridor on their way to the audience chamber.
Rain immediately called out to him.
Ralphus turned around and smiled a pleasing smile upon recognizing them. He gave Shelfa a polite bow and nodded lightly at Rain. His behavior was the exact opposite of what Gunther's had been earlier.
"What's this, have you been called down too?"
"Yep. Though I have no idea what about."
Ralphus' pleasant smile quickly disappeared and he looked at Rain anxiously instead.
"That's fine and all, I suppose…… I've left my men on standby, just as you've wished. You're not seriously thinking of doing something ridiculous, are you?"
"What do you mean, something ridiculous?"
Rain fell in step with Ralphus and grinned.
He looked at his friend out of the corner of his eye and continued,
"and besides. Even if I did end up doing something ridiculous, you're not the kind of person to simply take advantage of that, right?"
"Yeah. I didn't ask for the details on purpose, because I knew that you would never be mistaken about me regarding that point…… But do try to keep your tempter in check. If anything happens, I plan on raising a protest against Safir as well."
"——So, in other words…"
Rain raised a hand in acknowledgement as guards from the other end of the hall saluted them and curled up the ends of his lips. He continued,
"that means you're thinking something along the lines of this, too: "Safir might try to use the will as a shield to get something done." That's why you quietly agreed to my seemingly ridiculous request, no?"
"……I believe it's possible that he will, unfortunately,"
Ralphus readily agreed as he knit his elegant brows. Lord Ralphus is worried about the same thing, thought Shelfa.
Before she realized what she was doing, Shelfa interrupted the two with a determined voice.
"In that case, I too will protest against Sir Safir when the time comes!"
The two high generals exchanged looks and smiled.
Then, Rain gently replied,
"Well, the fastest way to find out what he's thinking is to ask the man himself…… But still, thank you. We appreciate your feelings. ——And huh, there's a bit of a fight going on."
It was exactly as Rain had said.
It was taking place up the stairs in a hallway without a lot of people. They could see the large doors to the audience chamber right before them, but there were four guards standing in front of it instead of the usual two, and they were divided up into two groups of two and arguing against each other.
"……Two of them look like their Safir's subordinates. As for the other two……I don't know them, so they're probably yours. Besides, your troops were on guard duty today,"
Ralphus deduced.
"Lessee~"
Rain squinted and continued,
"Yeah, I recognize their faces. Hey!"
He walked straight up into the middle of the fight and said,
"what's going on here? Why are there four of you here today?"
"——Oh."
The two guards that Rain "recognized" became visibly relieved.
One of them, who had a bit of a baby face, angrily rattled on,
"while we were guarding this area, Lord Safir brought a large group of people over out of nowhere and pushed their way inside. And not only that, but these two here——"
he pointed at the other two guards,
"said that they were going to guard the area starting from today. They said that us commoners were unnecessary here."
The youth's voice wavered in fury, hinting that his humiliation went beyond what he had already described.
He looked at Rain directly in the eyes and bit down on his lips.
Finally, Shelfa realized that one of his cheeks were a little red.
"My deepest apologies, sir. We tried to stop Lord Safir and his entourage, but…"
Both the guard and his partner lowered their heads.
Shelfa felt dark clouds forming in her heart. Without a doubt, Sir Safir had——
"Don't sweat it."
Rain slapped the youth across his shoulders and continued,
"he's a high general like me and all. There was the possibility that he would cut you down, and we can't have that, so it couldn't be helped. Actually, I should be praising you for trying to stop that idiot even after he hit you. Good job! Er, you're Miran, right? You were on guard duty here today, I see."
"Ye, yessir!"
The youth called Miran smiled broadly and looked extremely happy for some reason.
"Alright. That's enough for today. Go to the courtyard. That's where everyone is."
"Huh? I mean, yessir!"
Miran looked like he was about to ask a question, but then he changed his mind and bowed instead. His partner followed suit. Rain, in turn, returned the salute in a more serious fashion then he normally did.
Once Rain's loyal guards had left, Ralphus suddenly turned to the other two guards that remained.
"I won't repeat myself. Leave!"
He spoke in a stern voice that left no possibility that it was a jest. His voice held a kind of tone that caused listeners to instinctively straighten up.
Shelfa stared at Ralphus' face in a bit of a shock. She had only ever seen him smile gently until now, so the change surprised her.
And, more importantly, Ralphus' words were extraordinarily effective on the two guards.
They had been sneering at Rain and Miran until then, but now the color was visibly draining from their faces. They seemed to have been taken completely by surprise. It was possible that they hadn't expected to be rebuked by Ralphus because there existed an abnormally strong sense of camaraderie amongst the nobility.
One of the guards attempted to mumble vehemently,
"How, however, we were…"
"Weren't you two listening?"
For once, Ralphus had cut someone off before they could give their excuses.
Speaking of which, this was also the first time that Shelfa had ever heard him take such a casual tone with someone who wasn't either his friend or his comrade.
"I said I wouldn't repeat myself. There's no point in wasting your words if you plan on protesting any further. I'll personally be your opponent, right here, right now."
He was neither getting worked up nor putting on an act of arrogance, but had simply made the suggestion with a relaxed attitude.
However, the two guards peered deep into Ralphus' azure eyes and broke out into a sweat after feeling "something" in their depths.
They understood that he was completely serious.
They immediately made themselves scarce without uttering another question or thought. They had left so swiftly that it left their onlookers dumbfounded.
Rain watched the whole thing unfold with a grin on his face and said,
"Damn, get a load of this. I'm gonna call you over whenever I wanna chase away people I don't like. I think it'd be faster than punching them away."
"Stop teasing me."
Ralphus had promptly returned to his usual gentle smile. It was his face that he usually wore when he was with Rain that Shelfa had become used to seeing.
Still, I can see why the ladies-in-waiting are always making gossip about him.
Shelfa was impressed, as if the issue had absolutely nothing to do with her.
She thought that it was only natural that he was popular with members of the opposite sex, excluding herself.
"Now then. Shall we go and have our audience with our idiot Safir?"
Rain placed his hands on the double doors that were twice his size in height. "Be careful," Ralphus warned, and the three of them stepped inside.
~~*~~*~~*~~