WM V3C0710

Chapter 0710 Homecoming

Translator: Jay_Forestieri

Editor: Tseirp

 

Abel and Ryo, having left Jayclaire, the Union Capital, were about to cross the border together with the ten-thousand-rider escort.

 

“I wondered how you managed to gather ten thousand riders, but… you really scraped together everything you could, huh.”

“The lords from various regions who answered Rihya’s call sent them in haste.”

Sera replied gravely to Abel’s words.

 

“While Abel was away, Rihya had quite a rough time. When we return to the royal castle, make sure to take good care of her.”

“Y-yeah, got it.”

Sera said it in a tone that brooked no argument, and Abel accepted it.

 

It was a conversation inside the carriage carrying King Abel.

As Grand Knight Commander of the Kingdom, Sera was in charge of this escort operation… but she was inside the carriage.

Incidentally, she was lying with her head on Ryo’s lap.

Ryo wore a gentle smile as he stroked Sera’s head while she lay there…

 

Abel, sitting across from Ryo and Sera, did not say a word about the two of them.

He had decided that it was not his place to comment on it.

It was definitely not because he did not want to say anything weird and make Sera angry…

 

 

The ten-thousand-rider escort for King Abel.

Naturally, the Kingdom’s Knight Order was the core of it.

In addition were the Silverdale Knight Order, the Hope Marquisate Knight Order, the Heinlein Marquisate Knight Order, the Rune Frontier County Knight Order, and knight orders mainly from the nobles of the Kingdom’s central region, where the royal capital was located.

 

“I get Silverdale, but the Hope Marquisate is in the western part of the kingdom. How did they make it in time?”

Abel said with admiration.

 

Ryo had used Abel’s ‘Soul Resonance’ to send a message to the passive device that was supposedly improved by Viscount Kenneth Hayward, and from then until the welcoming party crossed the border, there should only have been two or three days.

From the western part of the kingdom, across the Fourth Highway, through the royal capital, down the Second Highway, all the way to Red Post… no matter how hard you pushed the horses, three days should have been impossible.

 

“That was just luck. The Hope Marquisate Knight Order and the Silverdale Knight Order were holding a mock battle in the royal capital. That’s how they made it in time.”

Sera answered.

Of course, while still on Ryo’s lap.

 

“And Heinlein and Rune…”

“They raced here via the restored Ro Bridge and joined up with us at Red Post.”

“I know it sounds weird coming from me, but man, the Kingdom’s knight orders are amazing.”

Abel muttered, shaking his head slightly.

 

 

Then someone knocked on the carriage door.

“What is it?”

“I apologize, Your Majesty. Actually, ever since a little while ago, two horses have been following us the whole time…”

“Horses?”

“A black horse and a gray one…”

“No way!”

As soon as Ryo said that, he leaped out of the carriage through the open door.

 

The gray horse spotted him and came running over.

“Andalusia!”

It rubbed its head against Ryo.

 

And then against Abel, who had come out of the carriage as well…

“Feiwan!”

It licked Abel’s face.

 

Both of them were expressions of affection.

 

The knights watching were stunned.

At the same time, they broke into smiles.

For a knight, a horse is a partner.

Seeing that the two they served also had horses they could trust and rely on naturally made them smile.

 

“And these two are?”

Sera asked.

 

“Feiwan. He’s a good horse, isn’t he?”

“This is Andalusia. He’s smart.”

Abel and Ryo introduced them to Sera with expressions filled with a pride that made it look as though they were bragging about their own children.

 

“They are certainly splendid horses, but…”

Sera nodded as she looked over Feiwan, but when her eyes fell upon Andalusia… she found herself unable to look away.

 

Ryo noticed that.

“N-no matter how much I like you, Sera, I’m not giving you Andalusia, okay? I don’t mind letting you ride him for a little bit, though.”

Ryo said this with an uneasy look.

 

“No, I have no intention of taking him from you.”

Sera gave a wry smile.

Hearing that, Ryo let out a sigh of relief and went back to stroking Andalusia.

 

What exactly could Sera see?

From Ryo’s body, what the elves called ‘fairy factor’ was pouring out.

She could see Andalusia absorbing that overflowing factor.

 

Of course, Sera and the other elves also absorbed fairy factor.

However, Andalusia was absorbing several times the amount that an elf would absorb…

Sera had never heard of an ordinary living creature absorbing that much.

 

Incidentally, with an ordinary horse, the amount absorbed was so tiny that even Sera could not perceive it.

In fact, she could not confirm any sign of absorption from Feiwan, who was right beside him.

 

Sera tilted her head.

“Can a living creature really absorb that much ‘fairy factor’?”

No one answered that question.

 

“Um, should we ride the two? Or should we take the carriage?”

“The carriage, please.”

Sera answered immediately to Ryo’s question.

 

Ryo tilted his head a little, but without objecting, he looked at the two horses and said,

 

“Andalusia and Feiwan, could you follow behind the carriage?”

When Ryo spoke, the two horses lined up together behind the carriage.

 

“They really are smart.”

“They’re amazing.”

“Probably because they’re not ordinary horses…”

Ryo and Abel praised them, and Sera’s mutter was too quiet for the two of them to hear.

 

 

The three of them returned to the carriage, and the group set off again.

Andalusia and Feiwan followed happily behind the carriage.

If anything, it almost seemed like the other horses ridden by the knights were watching the two of them with interest, stealing glances their way…

 

“Abel made such a grand entrance when he arrived in Jayclaire, didn’t he?”

“Grand… well, yeah, I guess he did.”

“That story will reach the kingdom eventually.”

“Probably.”

“In that case, wouldn’t it be better to stage a proper ‘King Abel’s arrival’ when we enter Red Post next?”

“Huh?”

Abel tilted his head at Sera’s words.

 

“Won’t people say things like, ‘Why did he answer the people’s cheers in Jayclaire, but hide himself away in Red Post, where his own subjects live…’?”

“Ah…”

Abel grimaced.

 

After thinking for a moment, Abel looked at Ryo.

“Ryo, in Red Post too…”

“Right. Let’s make our entry on the ice podium.”

While stroking Sera, who had once again laid her head in his lap, Ryo nodded as well.

 

“But if we do it in Red Post, we can’t not do it in the other cities, right?”

“R-right, I guess that’s how it would be.”

Abel’s face twisted further.

 

“At the very least, we should probably stage it in Wingston.”

“…Yes.”

Abel gave up on resisting even a little at Sera’s words.

 

And so, in later generations, a series of performances was carried out that came to be called “King Abel’s Return”.

 

 

 

In Red Post, crowds had gathered along the main street stretching from the city gate to the government office in front of it.

 

“Is the king really coming?”

“Rumor has it he spent a year traveling all over the Central Countries, right?”

“No, I heard he joined the campaign to defeat the Demon Lord.”

“I thought he was tracking some giant monster.”

“I heard he went to the Eastern Countries.”

“That can’t be right.”

Such conversations were being exchanged by the people of Red Post standing on both sides of the main street.

 

A line of mounted riders entered Red Post.

After advancing a certain distance, the line of cavalry stopped.

 

At the center was a single carriage.

Its door opened, and an ice podium appeared beyond it.

 

“Could that be…?”

“The one King used when he made the speech in Rune?”

“I’ve heard about that!”

 

Sure enough… a man dressed in red and white stepped out of the carriage door and mounted the podium.

He waved to the people.

 

The next moment, cheers exploded.

 

“Whoaaaa!”

“Your Majesty!”

“King Abel!”

 

An ice podium floating in the sky.

King Abel stood there, waving his hand.

 

With ten thousand riders at his back, King Abel moved forward.

 

The cheers traveled with him, and flower petals thrown from somewhere danced along the roadside.

 

 

“Incredible.”

“Abel is popular.”

Ryo exclaimed in admiration, and Sera answered with a smile.

The two of them were inside the carriage.

 

From inside the carriage, Ryo used magic to slowly move the podium Abel was standing on.

“As expected, Ryo’s magic is incredibly precise.”

“It still isn’t anywhere near as good as your ‘Wind Armor’, Sera.”

“That’s just from habit. In fact, when I fight at close to full strength, I get more tired without ‘Wind Armor’.”

“Yeah, that’s the feeling I got during the mock battle.”

Sera said, and Ryo agreed.

 

Wind Armor was a wind-attribute spell that increased every aspect of Sera’s speed in swordplay.

Ryo thought of it as a magic that was activated almost unconsciously… like breathing, or even like the beating of the heart.

 

“I want to become able to use water-attribute magic that well someday~.”

“You will. Or rather, you already can in short bursts, right?”

“So that I can do it all the time, even unconsciously…”

Ryo declared with renewed determination.

Seeing that, Sera smiled and nodded.

 

 

The procession moved down the main street under the people’s cheers.

Abel continued to proudly show himself as king.

 

“As expected of royalty.”

“It means he’s been trained from a young age.”

“I can’t even imagine that world.”

“Nor can I.”

Ryo and Sera both gave wry smiles.

 

“But this is going to happen in Wingston too, right?”

“Probably. It may happen in other cities as well. We need to let both inside and outside the country know that the king has returned.”

“Being king is rough, all right. Best to dump it on Abel.”

 

Ryo felt a little grateful to Abel for carrying out the role of king without a single complaint.

 

“Before long, I think a ‘role’ will be prepared for you too, Ryo.”

“Huh?”

“Those two horses from earlier might be just right for it.”

“Eh…”

Startled by Sera’s words, Ryo looked back at her without thinking.

Sera wore a smile, but she would not tell him any more.

 

And so, from Red Post all the way to the royal capital, the ‘King Abel’s Return’ event was carried out in every major city.

 

 

And after ten days of crossing the border, Abel finally arrived at the royal capital, Crystal Palace.

 

 

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