I Was a Small Fish When I Reincarnated, but It Seems That I Can Become a Dragon, so I Will Do My Best - Extra Chapter 49
2-36. Denial
When it was announced that King Sreiz of the Gharott Kingdom was leaving the castle, the soldiers seemed to get restless and earnestly began preparing.
However, he halted all of that and instructed them to return to their duties.
“Good. Get back to work.”
“A-Are you planning to go without any guards!?”
“There will be guards. It’s okay, so keep it quiet from members of other ducal houses.”
“It would be impossible!”
Ignoring the flustered soldiers completely, Sreiz-san left the castle with us. Uchikage-Ojichan followed silently without trying to stop him.
Is this really okay? It feels like we’re causing trouble…
Come to think of it, when Uchikage-Ojichan left the Oni Village, it was a similar situation. It seems that when important people leave, everyone worries…
But well, Kenra-san is here, Uchikage-Ojichan is strong, and even Amariaz is with us, so it should be fine. I can sense no signs of danger, too!
With that in mind, we walked to the destination under Sreiz-san’s guidance.
Passing through the noble district with large and beautiful buildings, we descended to the lower town.
We passed through another set of walls we had traversed earlier, went past a shop where we left the carriage, and walked a bit more to reach our destination.
Amariaz behaved strangely, hiding behind me.
It was an ordinary house. The surroundings were residential, and this house didn’t stand out as anything special. It blended well with the surrounding houses, skillfully using stone and wood, presenting a surprisingly modest appearance.
“This is it.”
“Why did Sreiz-san know about this place?”
“Hm? Oh, I was investigating who was responsible for spreading those troublesome lost child reports throughout the country. I found the address to give them a stern warning. I left the rest to the soldiers.”
“I see…”
“If they had asked adventurers or something, it wouldn’t have caused so much trouble. Well, you can see that he’s fixated on Amariaz just from that incident. It might be natural as a parent, but it’s a bit excessive.”
With a sigh, Sreiz-san knocked on the door. There was no response for a while, so he knocked again, and we heard sounds from inside.
Amariaz shivered, shrinking and hiding completely behind me.
After a while, the door of the house opened. A slightly tired-looking woman came out, staring at us.
She seemed to see Sreiz-san, who, despite being of royalty, looked modest, and without getting too flustered, she tilted her head.
“…Who are you? A child… Oni…?”
“Are you Atoa’s mother?”
“…Yes, that’s correct.”
Sreiz gestured for me to step aside and, as I obediently moved a half step to the side and put Amariaz forward, for some reason, I was glared at.
Well… there’s no helping it.
At that moment, a person who seemed to be Amariaz’ mother suddenly burst in.
“Atoa!!!!”
“Gyaahhhh!”
It seemed unavoidable, and Amariaz was firmly held, unable to move. Despite his strained groans, his mother continued to embrace him without loosening her grip.
Normally, this would be an emotional reunion, but due to what we knew about Amariaz, it felt somewhat difficult to connect emotionally.
“Where have you been!? I was really worried!!”
“Ggh… Ugh…”
“I apologize for interrupting your reunion, but if you continue like this, he’ll be crushed.”
“Hah!”
“Buha!!”
Sreiz-san, considerate, spoke up and released Amariaz. Although he coughed a few times and tried to step away, it seemed his mother had no intention of letting go, holding onto Amariaz’ hand tightly. It seemed like he was trying to break free, but with the strength of a five-year-old, it wasn’t possible.
“T-Thank you so much! Really, thank you!”
“I apologize for the abrupt visit. I am King Sreiz Courselette of the Gharott Kingdom.”
“Eh!? Y-You are the king!? Um, I’m- I am Atoa’s mother, Mirea!”
“Calm down.”
“N-No! Um, yes…!”
Sreiz-san seemed to have anticipated this turn of events and calmly responded. Mirea also managed to compose herself and began fixing her appearance.
“Now, where should I start…”
“Regardless, you have things to say. Let’s get it over with quickly.”
“True. Mirea, or rather, Atoa was found in the Oni Village.”
“Oni Village!? Why there!? Atoa, why did you go to such a distant place? How did you…”
“…”
Amariaz didn’t respond to her question and turned away. Come to think of it, we hadn’t asked him how he got here…
Did he walk?
Amariaz could probably manage that.
At that point, Uchikage-Ojichan started speaking.
“Mirea-dono. In truth, Atoa got involved in a strange incident. His situation became dangerous to live in the Gharott Kingdom. Therefore, after discussing with Sreiz-dono, we decided to protect him in our village, the Oni Village. However, since it involves your opinions as parents, we came here to discuss it…”
“In… an incident…?”
“I can’t go into detail. It’s not the kind of thing that can be disclosed.”
Upon hearing this, Mirea began to deeply contemplate while looking at Amariaz. However, her contemplation was brief. She quickly turned around and spoke.
“I decline.”