"Weakling, what are you thinking? That's a sentence."
Klye watched the proceedings with a suspicious expression.
Throughout the escort so far, the words and actions of that level-eight youth had been, from Klye's perspective, completely incoherent. Going this way and then that way — and just when Klye wanted to offer advice as a party member, the youth shot him down... Truly, this was the "Thousand Transformations."
The Zebuldia side was no better. If they had something they wanted, they should just come out and say it instead of being so roundabout.
Human society was complicated and different from Spiritfolk society. Klye had thought he understood this based on his activities since arriving at the imperial capital, but now that he was personally involved, there were plenty of things he still couldn't grasp. At this point, he'd chalk it up to experience, watch how things played out, and keep his mouth shut.
"It happened when I first left the imperial capital to travel to another town — the carriage I was riding was attacked by a bandit group of more than ten."
The princess spoke in a subdued voice, as if steeling herself. Neither the Emperor nor Franz interrupted.
Listening to the story that followed, Klye nodded to himself without showing it on his face.
I see... indeed, her luck is quite bad. That's a sentence.
The princess's account left Klye with no choice but to concede that she was truly unfortunate. Well, she was the princess of a great nation. There would be reasons for her to be targeted, but Zebuldia should have deployed guards with that in mind.
And yet, every time she went outside — attacked by bandits, attacked by monsters, shelves toppling near her from earthquakes, lightning striking close by. Not getting a "great fortune" from a fortune slip felt like she was just grasping at straws to complain about. But her father, the Emperor, had worried enough to bring her all the way out here, so it couldn't be helped.
Klye Andrich listened while nodding sagely.
Perhaps he had some inkling of what was going on... Weakling's behavior had always been unpredictable. It wouldn't be strange if he came up with some outlandish solution this time too.
When the story concluded, Princess Mylina fell silent. A strange silence hung in the air for a moment, and then Klye's eyes went wide.
"Huh? Where's the punchline?"
"!?"
"Like, you dig a hole for hot springs and subterranean people crawl out, or what you thought was an earthquake was actually the precursor to an ancient dragon waking from its long slumber —"
"...Don't be ridiculous! What did you think you were listening to the whole time?!"
"...So it was just a regular bandit attack? There's no twist about fox servants or anything like that?"
"There... isn't... one..."
The princess, who had mustered her courage to speak, clenched her fists tight and slipped half her body behind Franz. Klye pondered for a moment, then furrowed his brow as if put out.
"Lightning struck nearby but didn't hit you, so your luck isn't bad — isn't it a bit hasty to call that unfortunate?"
"!?"
Klye shrugged as if to say "good grief, countryside folk," making an insolent gesture. No one rebuked him.
Even Franz was frozen in shock.
"Rest assured, Your Majesty. That was just coincidence. It happens all the time. Besides, if we're going that far — lightning specifically targets me, I've never drawn anything other than 'great misfortune' from fortune slips without cheating, and if I use magic it backfires and turns my employer into a frog."
There's no way a guy like that exists! That's a sentence!
He nearly blurted it out, but held his tongue at the last moment, figuring it was probably a joke meant to lighten the mood. The Emperor narrowed his eyes and spoke in a low voice.
"Bandits bold enough to target the noble Zebuldia royalty are exceedingly rare."
"With all due respect, Your Majesty, there are more than you'd think. I'm a level eight, and I've been targeted relentlessly."
He truly had no fear. Even from Klye's Spiritfolk perspective, this man — who met the overwhelming majesty of Radlick Atolum Zebuldia, ruler of a great empire, with casual jokes and quips — had there ever been anyone like him before? At this point, Klye was beginning to feel a certain respect for him.
And that was when Klye finally understood — long overdue — why Weakling had never once been flustered.
For Weakling, the incidents that occurred during this escort mission were probably nothing to get worked up over. The dragon, the bandits, the Treasure Hall — he'd known about all of it and had been confident he could handle every last one. Hence — his natural composure.
But regardless of whether he meant any harm... to everyone else who was flailing about, he just looked like he was stirring them up on purpose.
"Franz has been using the 'Armor of Calamity Transfer.' It redirects damage from attacks on Mylina to him — but Franz has already died seven times. What do you make of that?"
"...Only seven? That's within the margin of error. I've lost count of how many times I've used the Barrier Ring just during this trip alone."
"!?"
When did this guy get a Barrier Ring... — wait, that thing! That thing that kept having me charge up Treasure Weapons!
Klye's face flushed crimson and he clamped his mouth shut. No good, he couldn't interrupt now.
But still, he had no idea when the ring had been activated. Klye Andrich had spent most of this escort in Klye's company. He didn't think there had been that many attacks...
And then Klye nodded with full confidence.
"Putting the escort aside — well, I think I know a way to handle something of that level."
"What!? What method?"
"Train her."
Franz's eyes went wide. Mylina's eyes went wide. And Klye watched with eyes equally wide.
But Weakling, with grandiose gestures, declared: "Get strong enough and you can defeat bandits. You could fall from several hundred meters up and be fine, survive a lightning strike with no problem, and Franz's calamity transfer would hardly affect you anymore. Once you don't need it, give me that armor."
"Wh-wh-what are you — Train — Princess Mylina!? She's a princess — do you even understand that!?"
Franz's face had gone deathly pale from shock.
"If I may be so bold — surviving this world without strength is impossible. Your Majesty, you yourself are renowned as a warrior. Without question, that talent has been passed on to her. It would be a waste not to train. If you don't, you'll regret it when the time comes. I regret it all the time myself."
Quite the argument. Even a loyal subject wouldn't dare speak such brazen words to the Emperor of a great nation like Zebuldia. Even Klye, who was unfamiliar with human society, understood how far outside the bounds of common sense that was.
If he was going to go so far as to recommend training the princess, then "I tried it and it didn't work" wouldn't be acceptable. For that matter, the whole thing was supposed to be just an escort mission.
Hearing such a brazen proposal, the Emperor rose to his feet. His right eyebrow lowered, and a crooked smile crossed his face.
"Hmm... I've never received such a recommendation before. But there's merit to it. I thought it was too early, but — as a member of the royal family, she must be strong. Thousand Transformations — you believe you can make that happen?"
From those sharp eyes came an indescribable pressure. Could this be the majesty of a great empire's emperor? His Mana Material absorption rate certainly didn't seem lower than Klye's.
Weakling met that gaze head-on and declared: "I can't do it myself. But my Clan has plenty of members, and Ark Rodan is among them. Leave it to me — he will surely make the princess into a hero!"
§ § § I'm screwed.
The moment I got back to my room, I sank deep into my chair.
I'd only meant to listen. I was planning to decline the next escort too. But somehow, before I knew it, I'd not only agreed to escort the princess but also to train her.
It was all my Deflect skill's fault. Because I always intend to deflect, whenever things get troublesome or I get cornered, I end up taking on whatever job is offered.
The escort was one thing. The princess's bad luck was considerably less than mine, and pinning everything on her and pretending not to notice while looking the other way would be too heartless. But training her... hmm...
"Weakling, I've got plenty to say, but you can explain everything to me later at length. That's a sentence. Right now, we're drawing up the escort plan. That's a sentence."
"Yeah, Klye. Leave it to you. I'm tired."
"............"
Klye frowned, circled around behind me without a word, and before I could escape, locked in a choke sleeper.
Those supple arms wrapped around my neck and squeezed tight.
Chokeholds are one of my weaknesses. Could it be that the Forest Noble had perfected hand-to-hand combat too...!?
"Hey, I'll pretend I didn't hear that! That's a sentence! Stop acting cool and get to work! That's a sentence! You're so stiff...?"
The Barrier Ring activates and I'm done for, activates and I'm done for — it's draining steadily. The only reason I'm not hurting yet is because the Barrier Ring still has charge, and even that won't last long when measured in time.
This was a technique Lucia had used primarily before making the Lucia Punch her main weapon. She'd stopped using it at some point, but it had been a complete counter against me. To pinpoint my weakness in just a few weeks — truly terrifying... That's it!
Perhaps because I was panicking, divine inspiration descended upon me. The Barrier Ring still had charge, so Klye's grip — which had essentially become just a hug — was still something I could deal with. I slapped the hands away and said: "I've got an idea."
"...You say 'I've got an idea,' but has it ever actually been a good one? That's a sentence."
The Emperor's new challenge was escorting and training the princess. Both were difficult and carried heavy responsibility, but all it took was a change of perspective.
Escort and training.
In other words — escort-training.
"Escort-training. If we do both at the same time, we save time, and I can focus on other things I need to do."
"That makes no sense, and there's nothing else you need to do besides those two! That's a sentence!"
"Huh?"
"For starters, how are you even planning to do it!? That's a sentence!"
Well, obviously... I'd ask the ghosts. Just me and Klye and the Kill Knight weren't enough hands, so it couldn't be helped. I was always in the ghosts' debt. If training with ghosts didn't work out, I could ask Ark after we got back to the imperial capital. Today I was comfortable and sharp.
The princess would arrive soon after changing clothes. I needed to work something out with the ghosts before then.
I went over to the Kill Knight Version Alpha lurking in the corner of my room and summoned the handy Citry ghost as usual.
"Citry ghost, I'm lending you a disciple for a short time."