Route Secured
We headed over to the inn the Beast Lord was staying at despite the fact that the sun had already started to set. We really wanted to get this over with and out of the way as soon as possible.
The reason I felt that way was because the Beast Lord struck me as an impatient person. There was a good chance he would just randomly up and leave because he no longer had any business in Ulmutt.
Our biggest blocker was that there was a chance we wouldn’t actually be allowed to see him given how late it was. We could always just sneak in, but that wasn’t really too great of an idea given he was currently staying at a super high class inn that typically housed royalty and whatnot.
Fortunately, my worries ended up being needless. The inn’s staff let us in the moment they heard Fran’s name because the Beast Lord had apparently told them to act upon her requests with the highest possible priority.
「Oh, hey Fran. What’s up?」
The Beast Lord raised a hand to give us a friendly greeting as we entered his room. The impression he was currently giving off was drastically different from his usual one. He was acting in the same manner as would any other easy-going man in his 30’s.
「Did you need me for something?」
「Nn. Looking for ship to visit Beastkin’s Country.」
「You’re planning to head over right away? That’s perfect, you can just hitch a ride with us ’cause we’re planning to head back soon anyway.」
Well uh, that happened.
I honestly wasn’t expecting him to immediately give us the green light. Allowing a stranger to join a group that included an incognito king really didn’t sound like that great of an idea. Royce seemed to share my opinion, as he immediately joined in on the conversation and voiced a complaint —
「Lord Rig, I believe you have may forgotten to complete one of the tasks on our agenda. You are a royal, and as such, it would be rude for you not to pay the King of Kranzel your respects after visiting his country.」
— Or so I thought. Turned out the reason he was interjecting wasn’t because he didn’t want Fran to accompany them, but rather, because they had more shit to do before actually leaving.
「Ugh, do I really have to?」
「Of course.」
Royce’s point was valid, the Beast Lord clearly had yet to fulfill all his duties as a king. We’d been planning on heading over to Kranzel’s royal capital as well, but only because we wanted to take part in the auction. I didn’t think it’d be realistic for us to follow him all the way to the royal capital before actually leaving the country, though it did seem like they’d probably hire us as guards if we asked them to.
「Fine, but then how are we supposed to accompany her back?」
「There is no need for us to personally escort her. She’s an adventurer, one strong enough to defeat Gold. She’ll be able to handle herself.」
「Eh, yeah, I guess you’re right.」
「Besides, all she asked for was for us to help her find a ship.」
「Huh, really?」
「Geez. I know that she’s about the same age as the princess, and that you’ve got quite the interest in her, but do pay more attention.」
「Princess?」
「He’s talking about my daughter. She’s 15 this year, and I really can’t help but see a bit of her in you.」
It seemed that the only reason the Beast Lord treated Fran as kindly as he did was because she reminded him of his own daughter.
「That said, I really would love for her to visit our country. I am sure our Master would be delighted to meet her.」
「Right?」
「We would also be able to put her to good use.」
Shit! He just said that right to Fran’s face! I was shocked at first, but a bit of further consideration led me to believe that Royce had said what he had on purpose. He wanted Fran to know that he would be using her for politics’ sake if she decided to visit.
Royce was one of the Beast Lord’s aides, and clearly highly competent. He wasn’t about to let Fran, a Black Catkin that’d actually managed to evolve, slip right through his fingers. He knew and wanted to take advantage of the fact that revealing her to his country’s people would cause their attitudes to make unprecedented swings and changes.
「Will run away if gets too bad.」
「Hahahahaha! They’d probably need to send someone at least as strong as me after you if you actually got serious about wanting to escape our grasp.」
「That’s fine. We are not requesting that you become one of Lord Rig’s vassals, after all. Personally, I was considering that we could just… help each other out. All we need is for you to demonstrate that you and Lord Rig get along.」
Yeah, that doesn’t really sound too bad at all.
「To that end, I will be giving you this.」
「This?」
The thing Royce handed Fran seemed to resemble a thin sheet of metal with some sort of crest engraved on it.
「The item I just gave you is an identification card bearing both Lord Rig’s name and my own. Many of our country’s merchants frequently travel between Barbra and our motherland. The card I just gave you should allow you to board any one of them with ease.」
「Really?」
「Really. Just look for a ship with our crest engraved on it, and you should be good to go.」
It seemed we somehow managed to get ourselves into what we considered the ideal situation. We were pretty much set.
Apparently, Barbra had a boat set sail for the Beastkin’s country about once every three days. The ones we were looking for, the ones with the country’s crest with a crown mounted on top, worked directly under government supervision. Showing them the crest we were given would cause them to not only let us on board, but also treat us as they would a guest of honour.
In other words, they’d given us something much more convenient than what we’d been expecting.
「To be frank, I doubt the crest we’ve given you is even necessary. Most of our country’s merchants have already likely learned both of your name and your appearance. I can all but guarantee that they would allow you to board so long as you just asked.」
That was true and all, but having something that was actually 100% guaranteed was much better than something that was just highly likely.
I was completely satisfied with the whole boat ordeal now, so the only other thing we really wanted to know was the info they promised us about the god-tier blacksmith.
「Question. God-tier blacksmith, located where?」
「That’s something that shouldn’t be too hard to figure out after you get there.」
「We have already issued an order for you to be given a letter of introduction upon your arrival. Unfortunately, that is all we can do. There is no guarantee that the smith will be willing to see you even with the letter.」
「Oh yeah. Try telling that smith to actually handle our shit if she ends up taking a liking to you.」 [1]
It seemed the god-tier blacksmith had a rather free spirit seeing as how she was willing to turn down even the king’s requests.
I couldn’t really make any guarantees, but personally, I was willing to put in a good word or two for the Beast Lord and his buddies if the blacksmith really did end up liking us, so I didn’t see any issue in accepting their request.
「Nn.」
「Alright, good luck with everything.」
「Our master is currently residing within the palace. You should be able to find her with ease so long as you make your way towards our capital.」
「Got it.」
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[1] Tentatively gender = female because someone in the contents said so iirc