Chapter 593: Permission
Editor: Tseirp
Ryo and Abel passed through the palace gate.
Of course, it was a free pass.
That said, they stopped just past the gate for a moment.
Not to feel out the movements of the watchers, but to wait for someone to guide them…
Because the palace is far too large.
“Lord Duke Rondo, where to today?”
“I’ve visited because there’s something I wish to consult His Majesty about. Strictly speaking, I ought to have sent word ahead, but an issue arose—at short notice…”
“At short notice, you say?”
“Yes. I’m sorry to trouble you, but could you ask whether an audience with His Majesty would be possible? Five minutes would be plenty.”“P-please wait a moment.”
When the palace guide answered so, another guide who had been listening behind him hurried off toward the inner quarters.
Naturally, barging into the palace and saying you want to see the Emperor is impossible even for a prince.
Perhaps it would be possible for an imperial prince, though.
Thinking that way, Ryo’s request amounts to a request on the level of an imperial prince.
“If the imperial princes hear about this, they’ll definitely raise a fuss that it’s tyrannical.”
Following behind Ryo, Abel muttered as much.
They might even call it an act that disturbs order within the palace.
But in truth, Abel suspected Ryo understood all that and deliberately came to the palace to make the request.
A variant of that ‘probing’ Ryo mentioned earlier.
“Lord Rondo, His Majesty will receive you.”
“Oh—my thanks.”
And so the two were shown not to the Emperor’s private rooms, but to the Taiji Hall.
It is the center of morning governance.
It’s close to an office where the Emperor hears petitions and, conversely, summons officials to question them.
Moreover, because debates among courtiers are sometimes held before the throne, it is quite spacious.
“Duke Rondo, what’s the matter? I hear you came in haste?”
“Your Majesty, my apologies for troubling you when you are busy.”
Emperor Tsuin asked with a smile, and Ryo bowed his head, grateful for the time spared.
He seemed to be in the middle of work; as usual, the Grand Eunuch waited just behind and to the side, and the Emperor’s desk was piled with documents.
And to Tsuin’s left stood a man.
The Third Prince, Imperial Prince Churei.
A prince inclined to the martial, gifted with the sword.
A crease sat between his brows.
Perhaps Ryo’s sudden audience had been inserted at the very time of his petition or consultation.
Thinking so, the pained look made sense.
By no means, one wanted to think, was it that he disliked Ryo and thus wore such a face…
“The truth is, just now we were being watched by six people.”
“Watched?”
Ryo did not gild his words and stated the facts as they were.
At that, Emperor Tsuin cocked his head.
“Yes, Your Majesty. I am also an adventurer, so I went to the famed Adventurers’ Mutual Aid Society of the imperial capital to broaden my horizons. That in itself was very interesting, and the guide taught me many things. However, it seems that after we left the Society, surveillance was put on us.”
Brazen as brass described it perfectly.
The pure tour had been yesterday; today was different.
Still, it wasn’t impossible to insist that they had toured the Special-Rank Hall…after all, they had seen the inside.
And before that, he had gone out of his way to say he himself was an adventurer—Abel, listening from behind, caught a glimpse of Ryo’s sly calculation in that.
Yes—that was how Abel felt hearing it from behind.
Of course, he didn’t show it on his face.
Beside Emperor Tsuin and the Grand Eunuch, the Third Prince Churei was shooting sharp looks.
He kept his face knotted the whole time, but when Ryo spoke of being watched, his expression moved just a fraction.
Perhaps one should say the scowl deepened even further.
“It displeases me that there are those who would watch Duke Rondo, who is Our honored guest.”
Emperor Tsuin openly scowled as he spoke.
“I am sorry to burden Your Majesty’s heart.”
“No, this is not something for Duke Rondo to apologize for. That some would do such a thing in this imperial capital may be a challenge to My authority.”
The Emperor wore his displeasure on his face.
“In fact, there is a favor I would ask of Your Majesty.”
“Hm? Shall I assign guards to protect you, Duke Rondo?”
“No, I would like Your Majesty’s permission to seize those men. And then, after apprehending them, I would ask that the Censorate conduct the interrogation.”
“Oh? You need no assistance?”
“There is no need to trouble Your Majesty. It is a simple matter.”
“As expected of Duke Rondo. Worthy of the songs of the bards. Very well—I grant permission in the Emperor’s name. Seize them and do as you see fit. I shall inform the Censorate.”
“I am most grateful.”
The two left the palace.
“We have secured permission from His Majesty the Emperor, the absolute authority. We can do anything.”
“Indeed.”
“And we learned one thing. They are not the Third Prince’s men.”
“Ah, you noticed too, Ryo. Even when you asked permission to have the Censorate investigate, that Third Prince—Imperial Prince Churei, was it—his expression did not change.”
Both of them had been keeping an eye on Prince Churei’s reactions.
“Only, Abel—we overlooked major movements besides the imperial princes.”
“Movements besides the imperial princes?”
“Yes. Those phantomkin folks.”
“So the ones watching us could be agents of the phantomkins.”
“That’s what I think.”
At Abel’s words, Ryo nodded vigorously.
“If I recall, negotiations are still ongoing, right?”
“Yeah. It’s been, what, ten days now? I hear the envoys come to the palace every day.”
Abel asked, and Ryo shrugged as he answered.
Diplomatic negotiations take time.
“However… we can’t confirm the movements of the phantomkins. Their public envoys would just be going back and forth between their lodgings and the palace. As for those moving behind the scenes, there’s no way for us to know.”
“That’s the problem.”
At Abel’s point, Ryo grimaced and nodded.
“If only the phantomkins would attack the palace once more, it would be easy to understand.”
“They’re not going to do that.”
“But they did attack once. A second or third time wouldn’t be strange.”
“No, no. That first attack… that was a kind of declaration of war.”
“And yet now these so-called envoys are brazenly marching in.”
“Right?”
Frankly, Abel couldn’t make sense of the moves of this so-called Choouchi Empire.
He felt there had to be some ulterior design… but if asked what, he couldn’t answer.
With a small sigh, Abel suddenly sensed something.
“We’re still being watched, aren’t we?”
“We are. Have you finally picked up on it too, Abel?”
“Yeah—vaguely, but I can tell.”
“Ugh… I want to say ‘vaguely, but I can tell’ too. It sounds cooler!”
“Mm, I don’t get what you mean.”
It seems the grass is always greener on the other side.
“Once we’re a bit closer to the manor, let’s grab them.”
“R-right.”
Ryo said it as if it were nothing, and Abel accepted it.
But the next remark shocked even Abel.
“By the way, Abel, I’ve decided to give our manor a name.”
“…Huh?”
“In Darwei, houses have names. The Su family’s place is the Su Residence… and for the imperial princes, their places are called such-and-such royal residence. For that Third Prince Churei we just saw, it’d be Churei Royal Residence, right? As for us, we’ll go with Rondo Manor.”
“O-oh…”
Having declared it, Ryo began happily singing, Rondo-rondo—doing a rondo at Rondo—♪
Abel didn’t quite get it, but figured if Ryo was pleased, that was fine.
Compromise is surely the first step toward world peace.
“Well then, shall we get to it?”
“Hmm?”
“”
That day, some citizens of the imperial capital happened to see six trailing behind a red-haired swordsman in a black mantle and a black-haired magician in a white robe—each wagon laden with icy objets d’art.
And later they gossiped:
“Lately, even the ice sellers have great presentation”.
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