The Conqueror from a Dying Kingdom, page 28
I looked to my left. Sure enough, the boss was on the main street, waiting for us to emerge from another alley.
“Wait! You damn brats!” he cried when he spotted us.
He began to chase after us. I reached into my wallet, pulled out several gold coins, and threw them onto the street.
We ran as fast as we could, leaving a trail of coins in our wake. The boss ignored them as he chased us, but the same couldn’t be said for everyone else. The sharp-eared paupers in the area heard the clatter of gold coins hitting the paved ground. They descended on them in a frenzy, blocking the boss’s path and preventing him from catching us.
I repeated the same trick as we ran. We lost him quickly, but that didn’t mean we were safe just yet. We kept running for as long as we had the energy to.
Carol was the first to give in. “Hah, hah, wait. Wait up.”
We’d made it far. I was also tired and starting to run out of breath. I was a confident long-distance runner, so Carol must’ve trained hard to have been able to keep up with me.
I looked back for signs of anyone following us. “Haah, haah... I think...we’re fine now.”
We’d been following one of Sibiak’s curved streets, heading north, until we reached one of the major streets that radiated out from the city’s center. The region grew safer the further we traveled.
In fact, this was a familiar street. I remembered visiting it with Rook, and knew we were near the capital’s center. We were likely to encounter soldiers from the royal guard here. The risk of being kidnapped was gone.
“Hah... I’m exhausted...” Carol panted. “Is he...still following?”
“I’m sure he’s given up.”
We must’ve run for three kilometers. The sun was setting, so the crooks had very little chance of finding us now.
Up until now, I’d forgotten that I still held Carol’s dagger at my waist. I returned it to her. “Here.”
“Th-Thank you...”
I was just as happy as she was to have my dagger back. I could always make up for money I’d lost later, but the dagger that Soim had given me was irreplaceable.
“I’m starved. Wanna grab food before we head back?” I suggested.
We hadn’t eaten since breakfast, so we were both fairly hungry.
“E-Eat and then go back?”
It was possibly Her Royal Highness’s first time going out to get food.
“This is all I’ve got left,” I said, reaching into my pocket to produce a silver coin. “We can’t afford a fancy restaurant, but it’s enough to get something.”
“Are you serious? Even after all that just happened?”
“You’ve gotta be hungry too,” I said.
Carol patted her stomach as if consulting with it. “I am.”
“There’s a place over there. I’ve been there with my dad before.” I pointed to a restaurant where I’d once eaten with Rook.
Carol’s blonde hair caused quite a stir when we entered the restaurant, but we were shown to a table—a secluded spot in the back for two—without anyone complaining about our lack of adult supervision.
“Now, what to have...” I muttered to myself.
“I-I’ve decided already. Meat pie.” Carol sounded nervous. It must’ve been her first time after all.
I guess I’ll have the same.
“Excuse me.” I raised my hand and a server came to take my order. “One meat pie and, um...two cups of milk.”
“Yes, sir. One meat pie and two cups of milk.”
“Will this be enough?” I showed her the silver coin.
“Of course, sir,” the server immediately responded.
I already knew from checking the prices on the menu that there’d be change left over from a silver coin, but showing the staff that I had money would put them at ease. They were bound to get a lot of homeless children coming in and trying to eat without paying.
“Very well. Your food will be with you soon.” The server bowed to us and then went to give our order to the kitchen staff.
“You’re...awfully calm after all that...” Carol sounded impressed.
“Calm? I’m still a little jumpy to be honest.”
“Really?”
I was all too aware that I hadn’t settled down yet. I felt light, as though my feet weren’t quite touching the ground.
“I’ve never been through anything as intense as that. I feel good about myself now,” I said.
Carol, on the other hand, seemed down, as if she was still worried about what might happen to us next.
“I see... You sounded confident the whole time. I thought maybe that was an everyday thing for you.”
“As if.” I laughed. What war-torn country does she think I’m from?
“But still, you didn’t panic.”
“Because I knew that only one of those men had any experience,” I replied.
Despite being unskilled, they’d tried to bind me up rather than kill me. I knew that I’d find a chance to run away at some point.
“I see... I’m new to this. All I did was panic...”
She sounded remorseful, but if anything should’ve served as grounds for some soul-searching, it wasn’t her hysteria at being kidnapped—it was her stalking. But I kept that thought to myself.
“Don’t worry about it. We’re lucky no one’s going to be angry with us. Everything worked out great.”
“Uh... A-Are you saying we should keep quiet about this?”
Now Carol appeared to be scared. Everything that had happened had left her feeling guilty.
“You shook off your escorts, didn’t you? Let’s say... Oh, I know—let’s say you got lost while exploring the hidden areas of the academy. It’ll explain why your clothes got dirty too.”
“B-But lying is...”
“After dealing with everything by ourselves, we’d have to be stupid to let ourselves get punished for it now.”
“B-But I don’t think it’s right. My escorts must be searching high and low...”
“Ah... Hmm...”
The escorts assigned to the princess might’ve been some of this kingdom’s most elite soldiers. Fooling them would prove difficult, especially since Carol had been running around the city with her blonde hair exposed.
I didn’t feel like I’d done anything to make them angry at me, but I could still be blamed for going out without permission and then getting myself into trouble.
“Honestly, if we act like nothing happened, I doubt we’ll get in trouble. You didn’t cause problems for anyone.”
“Oh, I think I did.”
“If anyone can be annoyed about that, it’s me, right? You probably caused a lot of fuss, but what’s it matter if your escorts are panicking? If I can get over it, then so can they.”
“Are you sure? Oh, here it comes.”
The same server came back with a tray of food.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Meat pie and milk for two.”
The server picked up the two cups of milk in one hand, placed them on the table, and then did the same for our food.
The large meat pie, which had been cut evenly into four pieces, sat imposingly on the plate. I’d worried that one might not have been enough, but this was going to be filling. It was also still sizzling hot, with clouds of steam rising from its surface. I was pleased to know it had been freshly baked.
“Thank you,” Carol said.
“Thanks.”
The server bowed and then left us.
“All right, let’s eat,” I said.
“Okay. It looks delicious.”
Carol took her knife, cut a small portion off the edge of the pie, stuck her fork into it, and lifted it to her mouth. As you’d expect from royalty, her movements were elegant and graceful.
“This is good. The flavor’s so rich.”
I tried some too and found that it really was tasty. I was glad we’d chosen it.
I was thirsty, so I lifted up the wooden cup, which was shaped like a small tankard, and tried the milk.
Carol was about to sample hers, but she seemed to be having trouble. She tried to drink from it while pinching its metal handle between her fingers, but it must’ve been too heavy for her, what with it brimming with milk and all.
The table manners she’d been taught probably hadn’t included any instructions for drinking from overly large cups. These were probably made to hold beer—they were too big to be suited for a child’s drink.
“Why not just grip the handle properly? I doubt your table manners were designed for tankards.”
“You’re right. I’ll try it.”
Carol fretfully gripped the cup with her hand and lifted it to her mouth. She took a few gulps before putting it back down on the table and dabbing her mouth with a napkin.
“There you go.”
Her manners were as refined as any royal family member.
Before I could compliment her on it, there was a bam as the door to the restaurant flew open. The sound of boots thumped in the restaurant.
“Princess Carol!” someone cried loudly.
I looked up and saw a pale-faced woman—fairly young, but obviously still older than we were—standing over us.
We’d entered the restaurant with Carol’s blonde hair on full display, but I hadn’t expected to be found so quickly. Then again, anyone escorting a princess had to be exceptional.
“Where in the world have you been?!” the woman demanded.
“Uh...”
She looks like a little girl about to cry because she’s been caught doing something naughty.
“I was t-taking a look around the city.”
“Have you no idea how dangerous that is?! Return with me immediately!”
“Please wait,” I said.
“Hm?” The woman looked at me.
“She may be royalty, but wouldn’t it be awfully disrespectful toward me if she were to get up and leave while we’re in the middle of our meal?”
The woman’s face turned into a scowl. “And who do you think you are?”
“It’s not a matter of my status. I’m simply expecting a member of the royal family to show a reasonable level of etiquette.”
“Well, you’ll have to excuse her.” The princess’s escort showed the bare minimum amount of courtesy toward me by bowing slightly.
“I think not,” I said, preventing her from taking Carol away. “Unless there’s an urgent matter or a war has broken out right here, leaving a meal halfway through isn’t something I can excuse.”
“Oh?” She clearly hadn’t been expecting that reply. She stood there dumbfounded.
“This area is quite safe, and there’s no emergency to the best of my knowledge. If there’s no good reason for leaving so soon, then shouldn’t the lady be allowed to finish the meal first?”
“The lady happens to be a princess of the Shiyalta Kingdom.”
“Is she? I’m Yuri Ho, by the way—heir to the headship of the Ho family.”
I took out my dagger from my pocket and laid it on the table so that the Ho family crest was visible.
Carol’s escort never could’ve expected this urchin with dirty commoner’s clothes and a bruise on his cheek to be the heir of a chieftain family. She looked quite surprised.
“I say it once more: I consider leaving the dinner table in the absence of an emergency to be rude behavior. I ask that you wait for us to finish eating.”
The escort just looked at me. She was hard-pressed to respond.
Admittedly, I was talking nonsense and being needlessly argumentative, but I knew that the escort couldn’t disagree if I called something ill-mannered and then backed up the claim with reasoning. Rudeness was subjective; if I acted offended there was little point in explaining why I shouldn’t be.
“Very well... I’ll wait.”
She’d given in. She knew better than to ignore objections from the heir to a chieftain family. On top of that, I was one of Carol’s new friends.
“Actually, I’d prefer it if you could wait outside. It’s hard to enjoy our meal when there’s someone souring the atmosphere.”
For a moment, the escort appeared shocked. But then she simply made a brief check of the restaurant to ensure no one looked suspicious and left without a word.
Everything was peaceful once more.
“See? Tell her you did nothing wrong and she can’t be angry with you,” I told Carol.
“You’re unbelievable.”
“We’ve already had our day off ruined by a bad experience. We should at least enjoy a good meal before we head back.”
“Well...maybe you’re right,” Carol mused while taking another piece of pie.
Royal cuisine must’ve used more subtle flavors, because it looked like she really enjoyed the pie. This sort of simple-yet-tasty dish was ideal for a child’s palate.
Once we’d finished, I thanked the server. “Thank you for the meal. Please keep the change as compensation for the trouble.”
All I had was one silver coin, so that was what I placed down on the table before getting up.
The escort outside had been glaring at anyone who’d tried to get near, so we’d had almost the whole restaurant to ourselves for a while.
“Sorry for the trouble. We really enjoyed the food.” Carol gave the staff a slight bow before leaving.
“You’re finished now?” Carol’s escort asked me as we emerged.
She’d been standing outside as if she was the restaurant’s gatekeeper. There was also a carriage waiting with the royal family crest emblazoned on it.
“Yes, we are. It was a very enjoyable meal. Now, if you’ll escort me home,” Carol replied.
“Yes, Your Highness. Your carriage awaits.”
As she boarded the carriage, Carol turned back to look at me.
“Yuri Ho. Thanks for today. I had fun,” she said to me with a grin.
It was the first time I’d seen Carol smile.
Afterword
I’d like to express my gratitude toward those who’ve chosen to read this humble work.
This book was originally serialized on Shosetsuka ni Naro starting in 2015, and I’ve continued to write more whenever circumstances have allowed for over five years now. This is my first time getting a book published as an author.
To begin, please allow me to tell something to all of you, dear readers.
This book would never have been published if it hadn’t caught the attention of an editor at Overlap. I expect that it had done so because the title was high in Shosetsuka ni Naro’s rankings table. Reaching that position was, of course, thanks to all the ratings left by my readers.
This work was initially lost among the mountain of contributions that are made to Shosetsuka ni Naro each day. It was hidden among them—just one of the many.
It was all of the readers—the ones who’ve supported me—who dug this work out from that mountain, read it, rated it, and raised it up high enough to be exposed to the light of day. It goes without saying that it would still be buried right now were it not for your support.
You may be reading the book, but I don’t know whether you’re one of those who picked it up on Shosetsuka ni Naro. If you are, then it’s thanks to you that this book was published. That’s the first thing I wanted to express. Although each individual reader may have played just a small part, it’s the support of those individuals that made the publication of this book possible. I am truly grateful to you.
Now, as you’d expect from a work serialized for so long, this book was based on writings of mine that were made five years ago.
It was written so long ago that when I re-read through parts that were to be included in the book, I found much of the content wasn’t good enough. I couldn’t just leave those parts as they were, so I revised the sections that were redeemable as best as I could and even added new plot twists.
For those who haven’t read the Naro version of this story, I expect that if you ever do, you’ll often find yourself thinking, I can see why this part wouldn’t work...
In fact, I would appreciate it if you’d wait for the publication of volume two before reading more of the story—it’s embarrassing.
A lot of pages have been allotted to the afterword, so I’ll continue writing. I’ll talk about how I first had the idea for this work.
The ideas at the root of this work were conceived of back in the summer of 2014. By some strange circumstance, I was traveling alone to Europe, tasked with investigating a sudden loss of communication with a European company.
I learned the cause simply by traveling to the location and spending half a day in discussions—there were no great hurdles to overcome, no strange twists, no comedy, romance, or mystery. Put simply, it was a small company reliant on a company president who’d died in a traffic accident, and no one in the company besides the president was able to speak English, so no one else was able to handle communications with their Japanese associates. That was all there was to it.
I’d employed a Japanese person via the internet to act as a guide prior to my arrival, and they turned out to be so competent that I finished up my work in just three days. It gave me the chance to enjoy a solitary trip to Europe, complete with a free flight.
During the day, I walked through the streets of Europe for the first time, and at night, I shut myself away in a guest house thinking about a novel.
It all started with a phrase that popped into my mind: “The world longs for a conqueror.”
Common sense will tell you that conquering means war, which normally includes an aggressive invasion, so it’s hard to imagine a country or region that actually wants to be conquered. But when you extend the concept to revolutions, you find that many conquests have succeeded because of a latent desire for change among a nation’s citizens, and so I began thinking that the concept itself might be interesting to explore.
I worked on this idea and came up with a scenario to go with it, but by that point, the phrase I was working with no longer felt right as the work’s title. That’s why there’s no trace of it left now. Still, it remains within the foundations of the story’s scenario.
In this fictional world, technology and intellect are progressing slowly but steadily, while an outdated governmental system threatens to forget about its people. It’s not enough to make the citizens explode with rage, but they live with pent-up frustrations. That’s how their world is.
