True, Climb’s social standing was lower than theirs, so they probably wanted to express their displeasure when Renner wasn’t around. Climb understood that, and he didn’t protest.
But those feelings made for a blank expression in response, which the maids mistook to mean he was ignoring them. This further increased their dislike for him, resulting in a vicious cycle to which Climb was completely oblivious. In fact, if he were better able to realize these sorts of things, he would’ve been better at handling all sorts of situations.
The young soldier was a bit dense, but walking through the palace like this did place a little mental strain on him.
Naturally, there were other members of the royal family around besides Renner and Ramposa III.
Ack!! Seeing one draw near, Climb shifted to the side of the hallway, stood at attention, and raised a hand to his chest in a salute.
There were two people. The one bringing up the rear was tall and lean with blond hair slicked back. His name was Marquis Raeven, one of the six great nobles.
The problem was the plump man walking in front of him. His name was Zanac Valléon Igana Ryle Vaiself. He was second in line for the throne, the younger of the two princes.
His feet stopped, and his flabby face twisted into a sarcastic grin. “Oh, if it isn’t Climb! Going to pop in on the monster?”
There was only one person Prince Zanac called a monster. Though Climb knew it was disrespectful to speak out, he couldn’t just stand there and do nothing. “Your Highness. With all due respect, Princess Renner is in no way a monster. As kindhearted and beautiful as she is, one could say the princess is the kingdom’s treasure.”
If a woman who proposed policies like eliminating slavery to help the populace wasn’t a treasure, then who was? Due to the nobles’ interference, not many of her plans had seen the light of day, but Climb was certain. He knew how much Renner thought about the people.
Zanac, who did nothing, had no right to utter even a single word about the kindhearted woman who shed tears before Climb every time her proposals were mocked and rejected.
He was taken by the urge to shout the prince down, to pummel the rotund man with his fists.
Zanac’s words were not something a person should say about their blood relatives—half siblings though they may have been. But it would be unforgivable for Climb to reveal his inner rage.
Renner had warned him, “My brother is trying to provoke you into saying something defamatory. He wants an excuse to separate you from me. Climb, don’t ever show him any weakness.”
Climb remembered the day he had sworn to her sorrowful countenance—to his master denied by her own family—that he would never betray her.
“It’s not like I was calling Renner a monster or anything. You must just think she is, in your heart…is what I would say, but I won’t spout anything as clichéd as that. But a ‘treasure,’ huh? Do you think she actually expects her proposals to pass? I have the feeling she brings them up knowing all the while that they’re futile…”
That can’t be true. Impossible. This is just the envy of a man who can only make groundless accusations. “I do not believe that to be the case.”
“Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh. So you really can’t see that she’s a monster, huh? Got any eyes in that head of yours? Or is she just that clever? …It wouldn’t hurt to doubt her a little bit, right?”
“Doubt her? Princess Renner is the kingdom’s treasure. My conviction on that point will never waver.” Everything she does is right. Climb could declare that precisely because he watched her closer than anyone.
“I see, I see. How amusing. Then will you tell the monster something for me? …Our elder brother thinks her a tool in his schemes, but if she cooperates with me, I can revoke her succession rights and set her up with a domain on the frontier.”
Climb was assailed by an unpleasant feeling. “…You jest. I can’t believe you would speak of such a thing here. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear it.”
“Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh. That’s too bad. Shall we, then, Marquis Raeven?”
The man who had been silently observing the two bowed his head slightly.
Climb wasn’t sure about where the nobleman stood. Marquis Raeven always seemed to keep his distance, but when under his gaze, Climb got a different feeling from him than the other nobles. Renner had never told Climb how to behave around him, either.
“Oh. The marquis agrees that she’s ghastly. No, it would be better to say that we’ve formed an alliance because our opinions align on that matter.”
“Prince—”
“Let me tell him, Marquis Raeven. So, Climb. If I thought you were too far gone I wouldn’t say this, but…I have to warn you, since you might be getting duped by that beast… She’s a monster!”
“I beg your pardon, but allow me to inquire. What is it that makes you think Princess Renner is a monster? Is there anyone who thinks more of the people, of the country, than her?”
“It’s because almost everything she attempts ultimately ends in failure. Too many of her plans go nowhere. At first I thought she was just bad at laying the groundwork, but then I spoke to Marquis Raeven one day, and suddenly it dawned on me: What if it’s all according to plan? When thinking about it that way, everything started to make sense. If that’s true, then that would mean that a woman who doesn’t even have a decent contact with the nobles, who is basically shut up in the palace, is still somehow manipulating them all… If that’s not a monster, then what is?”
“It’s just a misunderstanding. Princess Renner isn’t that kind of person,” Climb declared.
Those tears couldn’t be fake. Princess Renner was a compassionate, kindhearted person. Climb, whom she’d plucked off the streets, knew that better than anyone.
But his words didn’t reach the prince. Zanac flashed a wry smile and walked away with Marquis Raeven following behind.
In the now-empty hallway, Climb whispered, “Princess Renner is the kindest person in the whole kingdom. I may be a nobody, but I guarantee it. If…” Climb swallowed the words that came next. But he continued his monologue in his head. If Princess Renner ruled the kingdom, it would be a wonderful country that always considered its people.
Of course, considering the succession, it was an impossible wish. Still, Climb couldn’t abandon the thought.
3 Late Fire Moon (September) 8:11 AM
Eventually, Climb arrived at the room in the palace he visited the most.
He scanned the area a couple of times before turning the knob. Not knocking flew in the face of common sense, but that was the princess’s wish. She wouldn’t allow him to knock no matter how much he protested.
So Climb gave in. He would be in too much of a spot if the princess started crying. He did manage to get her to allow for special circumstances. For example, certainly when the king was watching, he couldn’t enter without knocking.
It was true, though, that pushing the door open without knocking caused him a lot of anxiety. It was no wonder he got stressed when the thought running through his head was There’s no way this is okay.
He was about to push it wide open when he heard a heated exchange through the crack, so he stopped his hand.
There were two voices, both women’s.
Climb was still outside, but the owner of one of the voices didn’t notice him because of how absorbed she was in the conversation. He didn’t want to ruin the moment, so he stood immobile and listened in on the voices inside. He did feel guilty for eavesdropping, but he would have felt worse if he disrupted such passionate discussion.
“—what I’m telling you. People generally focus on the immediate benefits that are right in front of them.”
“I dunno…”
“Your plan is to rotate different crops. And…I don’t really think that’ll make them grow better, but…when would we see a result?”
“By my rough calculations, it would take about six years.”
“So during those six years, what are the estimated financial l
osses due to changing crops?”
“It depends on the crop, but…if we say a usual yield is one, then point eight. So a point two loss. But after six years we should end up with a steady gain of point three. And if we can get the livestock grazing in a cultivated pasture, that should increase even further…”
“If they were only hearing that last bit, anyone would go for it, but will they accept a point two loss for six years? I wonder.”
“…What if the government lent that point two with no collateral and no interest and only asked them to pay it back once they could? I don’t think there would be a problem… And if the yield doesn’t go up, then they won’t have to pay it back, or something like that. If the yield does go up, they’d be able to pay it off in four years…”
“Seems like a hard sell.”
“Why?”
“I’ve been telling you! People focus on the immediate benefits they can see—most people want stability. Even hearing they’ll have one point three times more in six years, it’s only natural to hesitate.”
“I…don’t really get it. The test fields are doing fine…”
“The tests might be going well, but that doesn’t make the results absolute.”
“…That’s true—the results aren’t certain because the test can’t account for every possible scenario. Considering variations in soil quality and climate, and we’d have to do a pretty large-scale test…”
“So it’s not very persuasive. I don’t know if that point three increase is the minimum or the average, but it won’t be very convincing in the face of all those qualifiers. You have to be able to promise enough long-term benefits after promising immediate benefits.”
“So if we offered them the point two without asking them to pay it back?”
“That’ll make the opposing nobles happy, since the king will lose some of his power.”
“But if after six years we can really get that boost in agriculture, the kingdom’s power should increase…”
“That means the nobles against us would get stronger, too. And the king’s power would lessen. The nobles supporting him will never allow that.”
“In that case, we could appeal to the merchants…”
“You mean the wealthy ones? They have their own considerations. If they cooperate too much with the king’s faction, they could potentially lose business with the other faction.”
“This is hard, Lakyus…”
“Your plans fall through all the time because you’re no good at laying the groundwork and making the necessary preparations… I mean, I understand that it’s harder because there are two large opposing factions… How about implementing your plan only on lands directly within the king’s demesne?”
“My brothers would never let me.”
“Ah, those idi— Honorable men who left all the wisdom inside your mother for you.”
“…………Well, it’s not as though we share a mom.”
“Then it’s from the king? Really, it’s so sad if the royal family can’t even agree.”
The room quieted down, and Climb realized there was a lull in the conversation.
“Oh, you can come in anytime. It’s okay, right, Renner?”
“Huh?”
Climb’s heart nearly leaped out of his chest. He was shocked she had noticed him, but it also made sense. He slowly opened the door. “Excuse me.”
The familiar decor appeared before his eyes.
This room was luxurious without being gaudy, and at a table near the window sat two blond-haired ladies. They were both beautiful, and their pretty dresses suited them.
One was obviously Renner—it was her room.
Across from her sat another woman. Both her green eyes and pink lips had a healthy glow. She wasn’t as beautiful as Renner, but she overflowed with a different sort of charm. If Renner had the glitter of a jewel, then this woman was filled with the spark of life.
Her name was Lakyus Alvein Dale Aindra.
One would never guess from the pale-pink dress she wore at the moment, but she led one of the kingdom’s only two adamantite-rank adventurer teams, as well as being Renner’s best friend.
Her overwhelming natural ability must have been what allowed her to perform so many feats and achieve adamantite rank at the young age of nineteen. Sometimes, deep inside, Climb felt jealous in spite of himself.
“Good morning, Princess Renner, Lady Aindra.”
“Morning, Climb.”
“G’morning.”
Having greeted them properly, Climb moved to stand in his usual spot behind and to the right of the princess, but she stopped him. “Climb, not there, over here.” She was gesturing to the chair on her right.
Climb was confused. There were five chairs around the circular table. That was the usual number. But there were three cups of tea: one in front of Renner, one in front of Lakyus, and one at the place next to Lakyus—not where Renner was indicating he should sit. He scanned the room but didn’t see a third person.
Feeling strange, Climb gazed at the chair.
His master was asking him to commit the disrespectful act of sharing a table with royalty despite being a commoner, had ordered him to come in without knocking (as a favor for her), and more. Most of his master’s orders weighed heavily on him.
“But…” Climb looked to the other woman for a lifeline.
His plea to be spared from sitting with them met a simple rejection. “I’m fine with it.”
“B-but…Lady Aindra…”
“I told you before, you can call me Lakyus.” Then to Renner, she said, “Climb’s special.”
“…Grah.” At Lakyus’s syrupy tone, as if the sentence was punctuated by an affectionate heart, Renner forcibly smiled as she voiced her displeasure. If it was possible to call upturned lips with completely serious eyes a smile.
“Lady Aindra, no more jokes, please.”
“Okay, okay, Mr. Straitlaced. Maybe you should learn a thing or two from me about how to relax.”
“Huh? You were joking?” Renner asked in surprise.
Lakyus froze in response as if on purpose, then let out an exaggerated sigh. “Of course. Well, Climb is definitely special, but it’s because he’s yours.”
Climb awkwardly averted his gaze from Renner as she blushed and held her face in her hands when his eyes suddenly popped open.
Melted into the shadow remaining in the corner of the room was someone sitting against the wall, holding their knees. A woman wearing all black, formfitting clothing, she didn’t match the atmosphere of the room at all.
“What the—?!” Taken by surprise, Climb reached for the sword at his hip, lowering his center of gravity, and moved to protect Renner.
Lakyus sighed. “See, you surprised Climb because you’re dressed that way.”
There was no caution or panic in her composed voice. The tension left Climb’s shoulders as he realized what that meant.
“Got it, boss.” The woman sitting in the darkness leaped to her feet.
“Ah yeah, you haven’t met her, huh, Climb? She’s one of my team members—”
“Her name’s Tina.” Renner finished Lakyus’s thought.
Climb’s understanding was that the adamantite-rank team the Blue Roses comprised five women: the leader, a faith caster, Lakyus; a warrior, Gagaran; an arcane caster, Evileye; and the two who had mastered thief skills, Tia and Tina.
The former three he had met before but not the other two.
She’s… I see. She’s just like the rumors said. With her slim body swathed head to toe in clinging black fabric, she certainly looked the part.
“…Please excuse me. How do you do? My name is Climb.” He bowed low to Tina.
“Huh? It’s no big deal.”
After waving off Climb’s apology, she approached the table almost soundlessly with sleek movements akin to a wild animal. Then she pulled out the chair next to Lakyus and sat down. Apparently, the cup was hers.
There were three cups on the table, so the number
alone suggested she wasn’t here, but Climb intently scanned the area anyway for the other woman he hadn’t met.
Lakyus realized what he was doing immediately. “Tia didn’t come. Gagaran and Evileye also said they hate formalities… It’s not even that fancy! I dressed up just in case, but it wasn’t like I was going to force them to,” she said. In reality, formal dress was the correct attire for meeting the princess. Climb, however, didn’t have any intention of pointing that out to a woman who was Renner’s friend and a noble besides.
“I see. But I’m very happy to finally meet the famous Lady Tina. I hope you’ll remember me kindly should we meet in the future.”
“How about sitting down and then chatting, Climb?” Renner said, serving tea into a fresh cup. Steam rose from the tea pouring out of the magic item, Warm Bottle, as if it were freshly steeped.
The Warm Bottle would maintain any drink’s temperature and quality for about an hour and was one of Renner’s favorite items. She used it especially often when welcoming guests who were important to her. In fact, she rarely used it otherwise.
With no avenues of escape left to him, Climb accepted his fate, sat down, and took a sip of tea. “It’s delicious, Princess Renner.”
Renner beamed, but in truth, Climb had no idea whether it was delicious or not. He just figured that since she had prepared the tea, it must be.
Suddenly, he heard a level voice whose emotions were difficult to discern. “She should be out collecting intelligence today—on the orders of someone who gave her work even though we were supposed to all come to the palace together. It’s all our demon leader’s fault.” It went without saying the voice belonged to Tina.
Averting his eyes from Lakyus and the terrible smile that appeared on her face in response to the words demon leader, Climb said, “Is that so…? I’d like to meet her sometime.”
“Climb, Tina and Tia are twins, and their hair is about the same length.”
“So seeing one of them is enough.”
It wasn’t about what was enough or not, but Climb indicated his understanding for the time being.
The Men of the Kingdom Part I Page 6