Master and Slaves

"After I parted from Hiroyuki-sama, I hurried to the Tres Kingdom on horseback."

Helene began speaking slowly.

"However, when I arrived in Torrestia, Torrestia had been occupied by the rebels."

As if recalling that time, she stared fixedly at a single point.

"Those who had sided with the king—that is, those who had been defending Torrestia—were all executed, and their families were sold as slaves. And... the members of the royal family as well..."

At Helene’s words, Tiria, who had been eating at my feet, stopped moving.

"...His Majesty the King and Her Highness the Queen were both executed, and the prince as well..."

Helene’s words caught in her throat.

At that moment Tiria crawled out from under the table.

"Helene-san, is that true?"

Tiria pressed Helene with a face that said she could not believe it.

"Tiria! Restrain yourself!"

At Tiria’s words and actions, Muriel sharply admonished her and stood up.

"Muriel, it’s fine."

I raised a hand to stop Muriel, stood up, and placed both hands on Tiria’s shoulders.

"Father is... Mother is... Theo is still..."

When I looked at Tiria’s face, the blood had drained from it and it had gone deathly pale.

"All three of them have passed away..."

Helene answered while looking into Tiria’s eyes.

Large tears spilled from Tiria’s eyes.

"That can’t be..."

Tiria was speechless and turned toward me.

And then...

"U... ku... uuu... aaaaaaahhh!!"

Tiria broke down crying.

I caught her.

I hugged her with both arms.

Tiria continued crying aloud against my chest.

...

Helene’s story was interrupted until Tiria stopped crying.

After that, no one took another bite of food.

Even Rine cried in sympathy and did not touch her food.

Rina was soothing her.

"Master, Tiria is... um... related to the royal family of the Tres Kingdom, somehow..."

While I was still hugging Tiria, whose shoulders were still hitching, Muriel spoke to me in a reserved, reluctant voice.

Oh, I hadn’t told Muriel yet?

"Yeah, Tiria was a princess of the Tres Kingdom."

"..."

Muriel’s eyes went wide and she froze.

The other Dules froze in the same way.

"Well, right now Tiria is Hiroyuki-sama’s Dule. Her origin doesn’t matter."

Helene said that to Muriel and the others while resuming her meal.

"Now then, may I continue the story soon?"

Helene asked me.

"Yeah, that’s right."

I sat in the chair and sat Tiria sideways on my lap.

Then I kept hugging her just like that.

Tiria looked at my face and shook her head, but I stroked Tiria’s head and continued hugging her.

Tiria, whose eyes were red and swollen, wore a bewildered expression but let me do as I pleased and rested her head against my chest.

"Then, the continuation."

After watching Tiria and me, Helene tried to begin speaking again.

"After that I tried to see Lord Mateus..."

At that moment there was a knock at the door.

The maid opened the door and came in.

"Excuse me. The knights have arrived."

"...Show them in."

"Y-yes."

Perhaps because her story had been interrupted, Helene glared at the maid for an instant and gave a short reply.

The maid bowed apologetically and immediately left the room.

Since guests were coming, I stroked Tiria’s head and released her.

Tiria knelt as she was, returned to where she had been eating before—at my feet under the table—and kissed the instep of my foot.

A little later, six men entered the dining room, led by a middle-aged man wearing a loose short tunic.

The Dules stood up and bowed deeply.

I could see Tiria still crouching under the table.

Helene and Julius stood up and welcomed them.

I also stood up, following Helene and Julius.

"Sorry, Helene, Julius. Appearing in armor would have been far too tasteless, so we changed."

"No, thank you for your consideration."

"Welcome."

The men did not sit in the chairs the maid pulled out, but remained standing and greeted Helene and Julius.

Julius and Helene each greeted the men.

"It has been a long time, Lord Hiroyuki."

Then the man in the seat across from me broke into a smile and greeted me.

Um... who was he again?

I felt like I had seen him somewhere...

"Haa..."

Since he offered a handshake across the table, I leaned forward and returned it.

"Oh my, you don’t remember? Well, we only met on the day you came to the royal capital."

The man sat down with his face still bright.

Met when I came to the royal capital?

Only one day?

And yet he was this familiar...

...Ah!

"Could you be Baldo-san?"

"Ooh, so you did remember."

That’s right. The man I had met at the gate when I first came to the royal capital. If I recalled correctly, he was Vice Commander of the Royal Guard.

"Yes, of course. I was in your care at that time."

It was obvious I had only just remembered, but I said it as a social courtesy.

"No, it is I who was in yours. Quite some time has passed, but I still remember when I met you."

Baldo’s eyes grew distant.

That’s right. Fifteen years had passed.

For me it was only the other day.

...No, so many things had happened that even for me it felt like the distant past.

"I was still young then. Well, I still do reckless things even now."

Baldo returned his gaze to me.

"However, it seems you keep quite a large number of Dules. I have heard from Helene, but my word..."

After that, Baldo looked around starting from Muriel.

From the men sitting on the opposite side I heard the sound of them swallowing hard.

Well, women with their breasts fully exposed were sitting in a row.

For a man, that was probably a natural reaction.

"Lord Baldo, Hiroyuki-sama does not know the others, so..."

"Ooh, that’s right. Then let me introduce them in order."

Helene prompted Baldo to introduce them.

As if remembering, Baldo introduced them starting from himself.

"Then first. I am currently the commander-in-chief of this Anti-Tres Kingdom Alliance Army. This is my adjutant, Bastian. He is my nephew."

"I’m Bastian. Nice to meet you."

The young man sitting next to Baldo stood up and offered me a handshake.

He looked to be in his mid-twenties.

His body was a little smaller and slimmer than mine, and compared to the men lined up on the other side he looked unreliable.

However, it was not that he looked sickly; it was that the men on the other side were all abnormally bulky.

"This one fights with his head more than his arms. I have high expectations of him as a staff officer. He also commands the magic unit. I rely on him."

Baldo laughed hahaha and clapped Bastian on the shoulder.

"And then..."

"No, wait a moment, please wait."

I forcibly stopped Baldo, whose talk would not end.

"What is it, Lord Hiroyuki?"

"I can’t see the picture... Ah, there were some words I wasn’t familiar with, so could you explain those first?"

I prompted an explanation from Baldo, who wore a puzzled expression.

What? Anti-Tres Kingdom Alliance Army?

Hearing that, Baldo looked at Helene, and Helene slowly shook her head.

"I have not yet told the story of these fifteen years."

"...I see."

Baldo muttered a single word with a grim expression.

"Hiroyuki-sama, I will explain later, so for now please accept these gentlemen’s introductions."

"...Understood."

I nodded at Helene’s words.

"...Then the continuation. Next to Bastian is Count Baden of the Cardilia Kingdom, Lord Bernfried Kuhlenkamp."

"A pleasure to meet you. I look forward to our acquaintance hereafter."

The elderly man sitting next to Bastian—Bernfried—stood up and bowed lightly.

His hair was almost entirely white, and the magnificent beard he grew from around his mouth to his chin was also white.

He was taller than me and well-built.

In this group he radiated a sense of intimidation that rivaled Baldo’s.

I immediately stood up as well and bowed my head.

"Next to him is Viscount Hessen of the Tres Kingdom, Lord Marcel Goltz. Then Viscount Steinfurt of the Cardilia Kingdom, Lord Giacomo Lothar."

"Nice to meet you."

"N-nice to meet you."

The two of them greeted me together.

I also bowed my head while still standing.

Marcel looked to be in his late twenties.

He had a gentle appearance, but his narrow, upturned eyes gave off a somewhat cruel impression.

His body was large compared to his long, narrow face.

That said, he seemed shorter than me.

Giacomo looked to be in his mid-thirties.

He had a fierce face that could be mistaken for a bandit’s, but right now, after only a perfunctory greeting, his eyes were glued to the Dules’ chests and he was shamelessly drooling.

Of course his body was also bulky, and he was by far the largest in this group.

Though right now he was hunching and shrinking himself.

Was he perhaps covering his crotch?

...Would this guy be all right?

"...Ahem. Well then... this is Lord Hiroyuki. The one who defeated the Demon King Geizer."

"Nice to meet you."

I bowed my head at Baldo’s introduction.

The other side all stood up at once and bowed their heads again.

There was about one guy who was late to stand.

"Well then, now that we have finished introducing each other, I would like to continue the story... Lord Baldo, may I?"

"Ah, I don’t mind."

Seeing that the greetings were finished, Helene asked Baldo.

When Baldo nodded, Helene began speaking the continuation from earlier.

"Where did I leave off... Ah yes, I had just entered the royal capital. After that I tried to meet Lord Mateus, but my body suddenly grew heavy and I collapsed on the main street leading to the castle. That was where Lord Baldo saved me."

"That’s right. At that time I was defending the eastern gate, but the western gate was breached. I hurriedly turned back to the royal castle, but it had already fallen into enemy hands. Attacked from the castle we were supposed to defend, I was fleeing helplessly through the royal capital when I happened to find Helene collapsed. Then I carried Helene and desperately escaped the royal capital. Together with my subordinates, who had been reduced to only a few."

Baldo added a supplement to Helene’s story with a bitter expression.

"And when I came to, I was on a simple bed."