Let’s Go to the Palace
The end of the secret passage.
I had already explained to Shia that it led to a room next to Eric’s bedroom.
“So this is the place then.”
“Groof-grooff.”
I also explained it to Grulf, as he had missed it yesterday.
Both Shia and Grulf knew that Eric was the king.
Perhaps that was why they started to inspect the wall seriously.
“Sniff-sniff.”
“Snuffle-snuffle.”
Shia and Grufl began a thorough inspection of the wall.
It was no surprise, as Grulf was a wolf, but as a beastkin, Shia also had a sharp sense of smell.
She used not only her eyes, but her nose to check things.
Luchila and I watched them silently. I didn’t want to bother them.
“Cluck-cluck.”
Gerberga on the other hand, seemed to have no interest in the wall. He was searching for bugs and eating them.
After all, to the great God Fowl Gerberga, the king was only human.
Perhaps he did not feel that the king held any authority worth noting.
“I have used my Scout abilities to check the wall. I saw nothing strange.”
It was a relief to have Shia say this.
Shia wasn’t only a B Rank Warrior, but a talented Scout.
“Well, I did cast some spells on it before leaving yesterday. It’s good that it looks like an ordinary wall.”
“I would expect nothing less of your magic, Mister Locke.”
“So, what would you do if you wanted to break through this wall, Shia?”
“I would bring a hammer and smash it.”
I kept a hammer in my magic bag 10 years ago. But not anymore.
I had only just acquired my new magic bag, so it was nearly empty.
“I would have like to test it if we had a hammer with us…”
“Then it cannot be helped.”
“Yes. Oh well. I might as well deactivate the magic now.”
Just as I raised my hand in order to do so, Luchila became frantic.
“Mister Locke! Please wait for a second!”
“What is it?”
“We’re next to the king’s bedroom. Are we really just allowed to open it?”
“…That’s true.”
“Cluck.”
That was true. And Gerberga seemed to agree.
“But didn’t you tell him yesterday that you would be visiting?”
“I did.”
“Then His Majesty is likely prepared to receive you at any time.”
“That’s right. Maybe it is as Shia says.”
“Cluck.”
Now Luchila was agreeing with Shia. And so was Gerberga.
“I see. That’s one way to look at it.”
“Yes!”
“Then I will deactivate the magic.”
“How very exciting!”
“Grr!”
Shia and Grulf’s tails were wagging vigorously.
Once I deactivated the magic, it returned to being a normal wall.
And since it was only rocks that were stacked hurriedly, they could crumble with a push.
Someone would probably get hurt if they were standing on the other side. As these rocks were heavy.
“Shia, Luchila. Let’s carefully remove the rocks and place them on this side.”
I said in a quiet voice. I didn’t want to alarm any maid who might be in the other room.
But then again, this was Eric.
He had probably warned people not to enter the room.
But it didn’t hurt to be careful.
“Understood.”
“Alright.”
Shia and Luchila answered quietly.
Just as we were about to start moving the rocks, we heard a voice from the other side.
“There was a voice. That’s strange.”
And then,
“Hey!”
A shout. And then a single rock shot out from the wall towards us.
There was now a fist sticking out of the hole.
“Ahh!”
“Cluck!”
“Grr!!”
Luchila, Gerberga and Grulf all looked surprised.
The person on the other side had punched through the wall.
They must be pretty strong.
The hand began touching the surrounding wall as if searching for something. Then it pulled back in.
I cautiously looked through the hole to see the other side.
Just then, an eye appeared on the other side and looked at me.
“H-hello.”
“Oh, is that your voice, Ruck?”
It was the queen, Refi.
Refi had been in our party until she had children with Eric.
She was always the type of person to solve problems through brute force.
“What are you doing there?”
“It’s a long story. But can you move away for now? I need to take down these rocks.”
“Of course.”
I waited for Refi to move away, then I used magic to take down the rocks.
As long as I knew there was no one right behind it, I could take down the wall without being too careful.
At least I knew that I wouldn’t be flattening any maids.
And so I only needed to cause the wall to crumble and throw the rocks into my bag.
It wouldn’t be heavy to carry in my bag, and I could throw them away later.
And so I removed the rocks and entered the room where Refi was waiting.
“It’s been so long.”
“Yes, it really has.”
Refi was wearing fine but not extravagant clothes.
Obviously, she only walked around naked during the night.
After that, I introduced everyone.
Refi seemed to be very fond of Grulf. She petted him frequently.
“Still, Ruck. You really haven’t aged at all…if anything, you look younger?”
“You haven’t changed much yourself, Refi.”
“You are much better at flattery than before.”
Refi said with a laugh.
“Eric said that no one must enter this room. And so I was suspicious and decided to wait here.”
“Well, we planned to do some construction work today. He must have not wanted anyone to get hurt.”
“Then he should have just told me that.”
“I’m sure there was some reason.”
Perhaps he wanted to surprise her after the secret passage was complete.
As I thought such things, Eric came running into the room.