Riot Grasper

"Is that it?... Speaking of which, Howl Oulu was one of the bandits."

"Mmm... well, yeah"

"Hey, banditry or something near here..."

"You did."

I confessed!

"No, I'm having trouble being so prestigious."

Instead of running away, the captain leaned over to lay his back on the trunk of a tree that was nearby.

"Do you want to get me? If you're challenged from the front by someone who's going to blow up that demonic monster, you just have to give up."

Perhaps you are referring to the fight with Dino.

"Er..."

"I did hit a wagon in the street near here, but you know what I was carrying?

"Well, hardware, food?

"I'm a slave... subhuman. You know how badly this country treats its subhumans. It's cute enough to throw up words of contempt, but it's not uncommon to fall for the identity of a slave just for committing a minor sin. What if your beastly lady walked through the city and was enslaved just because she hit you on the shoulder by a nobleman?

"No, that's goopunch the face of the aristocracy..."

If it's Rim right now, I might not have to help.

"Right? That's why I attacked the carriage and freed the slaves. That's all."

He said it was all those unhappy subpeople that were being transported.

"But it even cost you a bounty, didn't it?

"Oh, so you've come looking for this place. Well... this isn't the first time. I know you buy a lot of grudges from nobles in the country."

The Night Ringing is a bunch of disgraceful bandits.

If you show up somewhere within the Empire, operate for a while and move the base elsewhere.

Targets include aristocrats who are unfairly fattening their private bellies, and it seems that the gold they take is given to poor villages.

"This one's moving around for a lot of purpose. Fine. So... what do we do?

What do you mean?

"I mean, for the lady there, are you going to tie up someone who could be the benefactor of her mother's life with a rope for the bounty?"

Mr. Millet was helped by this captain to lose his memory and fall. For Lim, he's definitely a benefactor this guy can't thank.

"Thank you so much for that verse"

Half of it may be a joke from the atmosphere of my voice, but if I were to make such a cowardly statement, it would be as clear as ever.

How polite of you to thank Rim.

"No, you don't have to say that. I'm not going to catch you."

Even I thank this man who fought for me when Dino attacked my stronghold.

"Or is that how you stand relaxed because you don't think I would do that from the start?

"Ha, I guess so"

Nodding, the captain let himself off the tree where he was leaning.

"Still, I think this is a long way from the ruins you used to base... hey, you don't live there anymore? Then I'll take your place..."

For a moment, the captain gave a glimpse.

Maybe this guy has something surprisingly childish about him, too.

It's like a secret base in the back of the woods.

"No. It's our stronghold."

I told him about coming to Imperial City a while ago at the request of the Alliance, and that I have been asked to do so in Imperial City for a while now.

Exactly. I'm not going to even talk about the emperor coming down from the sky, but I'm going to ask him anyway about the relationship between the emperor and the minister.

Because the captain would be purchasing all kinds of information as he rolled around, and I thought he might be able to listen to a lot of things.

"Hmm? Why would you want to know that? Oh... you're about to stick your neck in some trouble, even if you don't"

I didn't ask at all.

"Well, to the best of my knowledge, I'll tell you. Talk to me."

"Ah, yes. Well... I somehow know that Minister Gilbaran can't ignore his remarks when he's an emperor in a heavy town where he's been in politics for a long time."

"Oh, while the Emperor's authority is weakening. Besides, because of his engagement to Andel, the minister's son, that chest shit bad minister will be wielding more power than ever."

"But no matter how powerful the minister is, I don't think it's possible to force the emperor to get engaged."

Mihasa herself also said it was resistant to get engaged to someone she didn't even like.

What the hell is the reason you have to choose someone you don't want?

"I can't marry you! I say no... I don't know how I can."

My heart squeezed up cuddly to the words that Rim snapped and I was attacked by a cold feeling as if my blood supply had lagged behind. It's not like I was told.

No, no, I'm serious right now.

Not if you're being sensitive to that.

I'll just switch my head.

"The Emperor Mihasa's mother... is a woman by the name of Alisha"

The captain started talking after a short while.

"Alisha was originally a Fulbright family courtier, and she said she was a beautiful woman. The former emperor had married several wives, but Mihasa seems to be the only child born"

Ooh... the one called Polygamy.

No, I think it's important for a great guy to leave a succession, but if he's got a bunch of wives and he can't have kids, I guess he's got more problems with guys.

Well, whatever I've said that hasn't contributed in any way to the prosperity of my descendants, I haven't even thought about it in my heart because it might sound like seclusion.

"But Alisha is missing some time after giving birth to Mihasa. Sometimes, right after the death of the former emperor."

... I see.

If you say so much, I can speculate to some extent.

"... the minister did something to you, or something?

"I can't be sure, but I'm sure it's likely."

I only saw her once, but the girl who smiled gently when she entrusted me with a letter.

I'm sure that kid can't turn against his mother if she's taken hostage.

You said you couldn't leave the Imperial Palace because you said that if you did that, you might harm your own mother.

I was forced into an engagement with someone I didn't even like, because the emperor himself didn't have the instrumental capacity to say no with perseverance...

Have you kept your mother away from the Emperor, who was still a baby, and held her hostage and threatened her forever......

"Something's making me a little angry"

"... as well"

Rim, who was next door, also quietly exposes his anger.

"Well, that's about all I know."

The captain, who finished the conversation, exhaled small.

"But why do you know so much about it?

Ask me, what is this amazing information network of bandits?

"... nothing, that's not the information you really want to know, is it?

Mm... I did get exactly what I wanted to know.

"By the way... what happened to the pair I was with you guys? I don't think he's here today."

You wanted to change the subject, the captain said that.

A pair...... that probably means the twins Ray and Ren.

"Ren went to Erindal. Looks like I'd like to talk to your brother some more. Ray was in Imperial Capital with me... but he went back the other day."

"... right"

"Can I help you?

"No, I'm just a little concerned because I don't see him"

- That's how we rode Luke and said goodbye to the captain.

"Then refrain from being impotent in raising the bounty."

"You guys, don't stick your necks in trouble."

Luke's wings grab the wind vigorously.

I went up to the universe and looked back somehow - there was no longer a captain there.

◇◇◇◆◆◆◇◇◇

- By the time I got my mind on it, I had no father or mother.

At a young age, the ladies who looked after me around me were very gentle, but the way they treated me as if dealing with swelling somewhere was something that also made my child feel a little uncomfortable.

Perhaps there was no such thing as love that parents directed at their children.

Just a given, graceful and extravagant day.

It's not like I can be told that I'm an emperor, or do anything in particular, but after hearing the contents of the writing that the civilian reads out with respect, all I can do is snort...... boring days.

It wasn't until then that changes came to those days.

"- I laid down Mihasa's educator. Best regards,"

The man, who named himself Duran, had the impression of being nice, but he was arguably quite tough as an educator.

The knowledge necessary for those who rule the country is not enough, no matter how much.

I can't count the number of times I've been scolded, so much so that I've seriously thought about escaping at a young age.

However, when he spoke of things he was feeling uneasy about, he was listening to it until the end. Even if he ever depressed the gavel, he never uttered a word that would block him along the way, but he just listened to me in silence.

I was very happy with that for myself then.

Speaking of which, the presence that scolds me was also about him.

I asked Duran that one day.

"I know your father is dead, but how is your mother doing?

The answer was, it didn't come right back.

"... all I can say is that. But Master Alisha loved Master Mihasa very much. That's for sure."

Duran said he knew his mother well before she went missing, something he talked to me about.

What a strange feeling it felt to see his mother's figure shaped by stories he had heard from others, but he seemed to have so much fun when he talked about his mother that he was kind of happy this way.

"I'd really like to meet my mother."

Duran made his face slightly stronger but immediately smiled gently and nodded at me.

"... ok. I don't know how powerful you can be, but I'm going to try and find out where Alisha is."

"Thank you, Duran"

"- Ugh."

In a private room in the Imperial Palace, Mihasa exhaled as she glanced over the paperwork.

Sometimes she reminds me of old times like this.

"If I do not do such a favor..."

The sound of a light knock on the door sounded, and Mihasa drew consciousness back to reality.

"Go ahead."

Encouraging him to enter the room with a resolute voice, the minister Gilbaran looks at him.

"Oh? With all due respect, Your Majesty the Emperor looks a little pale. If there's anything troubling you, I'll talk to you."

Mihasa deliberately held her mind down diligently against someone who would say those words with a firm look.

I'm angry that the man in front of me is the culprit of everything, but he can't be cut off.

"Don't worry. I called you because I wanted to ask you something."

"And when they say it?

"You had recently received a request from a nearby village to exterminate some demons. I should have ordered you to send soldiers as soon as possible. Yet the report here only states that marching is difficult… What does this mean?

"We need time before we can choose the people we need to know exactly what's going on."

I give the most obvious reason, but Mihasa also knows that it is pre-built.

If we were to march, the cost would be enormous.

But the tax revenues from small villages are insignificant.

I mean... that's what I mean.

"If our own people suffer, it's the state that supports each other."

"Master Mihasa had a fine educator, so you must know that such an ideal alone cannot rule the country. Whoa... Speaking of which, that guy was already gone. No, I'm very sorry."

"Huh..."

Without evil, Mihasa chewed her teeth to push and kill remorse when the minister uttered words mourning Duran's death.

"It would have been fun for you to keep your mother away from me when I was young and to divide your affairs as you please. Besides, if I am formally united with your son, you will have more power than ever."

With that much mouth, Mihasa said away slightly reinforcing her tone.

"... you will have had enough. Give me back my mother."

"Ha...? I don't know what Mihasa is talking about. But something seems to worry me a lot. Mihasa is an emperor and at the same time an important fiancée of her son, so why don't you rest a little so she doesn't get sick?

In a smile as cold and solidified as ceramic, the minister, slightly mixed with a grin of joy, bows his head respectfully and tries to leave the room.

"Then I will let you back down with this."

"Yep... back off"

"Oh."

On leaving, Gilbaran added a word like nothing.

"If you're so worried about your mother, let Mihasa know when I get any information, too. Right... I'll do the same with the letter."

"Become, you, no way..."

"Now if you'll excuse me."

Pathan, and the sound of a door that closes quietly.

Mihasa, who often stood still, slowly walked back into the quiet room to her bed and let her body sink in to fall.

Perhaps as an emperor, it's not a good idea to crush words like this.

But I could no longer stop that voice, which leaked naturally.

"Somebody... help me"