~Chapter 30~
I realized the meaning of what Ered had said not long after.
Since there wasn’t much to do while staying awake, I dozed off next to Sertien.
I couldn’t relax enough to lie down completely, so I ended up falling asleep leaning slightly against the chair. Then, suddenly, I sensed some commotion outside.
It was just about dawn.
At first, I thought it was just one of the passengers who had woken up early and was moving around. But the commotion continued.
At this point, it started to feel strange.
There was something about the way they moved—like a skilled person at work.
Just as I decided to check it out and started to open my eyes, the movement stopped, and with a loud crash, the door to my room broke open.
“Ah!”
Everything happened in an instant.
A person wearing a black hood and holding a dagger barged into the room.
Sertien screamed from behind me, and Ered, somehow knowing what was going on, grabbed the intruder’s hand and blocked the attack.
Without thinking, I instinctively struck at the intruder’s weak spot.
The masked man groaned in pain as he was pushed out of the room, but he quickly stood back up, ready to attack again.
But there was no way he could defeat me, the best in combat at the royal palace.
I easily struck him down again and restrained him.
Holding him down firmly, I shouted.
“What on earth is going on?”
“That man attacked Sertien.”
“Sertien?”
I was shocked.
Why would anyone attack Sertien?
I glanced at Sertien, who was clinging to Ered’s leg in fear.
If someone were going to be attacked, it would make more sense for it to be me, Latryne, or Ered—people of higher importance.
Why would they target Sertien, just a child?
The man beneath me still seemed to have some strength left as he shouted.
“Let me go!”
“…Why did you attack this child?”
“I have no reason to tell you.”
“Do you not realize whom you’ve attacked? I’m the commander of the royal knights. You should watch what you say, or you might lose your head.”
“…”
The man clamped his mouth shut.
It seemed clear that no matter what, he wasn’t going to reveal why he had attacked Sertien.
I could torture him to get the truth, but not with Sertien watching. And even if it weren’t Sertien, there were too many people around to do something like that here.
We’d have to take him somewhere else and question him properly…
As I glanced around sharply, I heard Sertien mumbling.
“Mom, I’m scared…”
Realizing I might have been showing too much hostility, I softened my demeanor, but I noticed people were already starting to gather because of the commotion.
I was worried that Latryne might find out I had followed him.
And sure enough, among the people approaching were members of the royal palace delegation headed to Sylvia.
One of the palace members, seeing the chaotic scene, froze in shock and muttered with a tense face.
“What’s going on… No… Commander? Your Highness? Why are you both here… Who is this man?!”
All I could think was that I was in big trouble.
It was certain now that Latryne would find out I had followed him.
Just then, a familiar voice cut through the crowd as someone pushed their way forward.
“What’s happening?”
“Oh, uh… Latryne, hello?”
A familiar man with sleek black hair appeared.
Latryne looked at me, his eyes widening in confusion, then glanced at Sertien.
Latryne didn’t say anything, but his expression made it impossible to tell what he was thinking.
Instead of speaking to me, Latryne turned to Ered and asked.
“What’s going on?”
“To put it simply… that masked man attacked your son, and that’s why all this is happening.”
Latryne’s face darkened immediately.
Just as I was thinking I really shouldn’t have followed him, the man I had pinned down suddenly sprang up and swung a small dagger at me.
“Litya! It’s poisoned; be careful!”
Ered shouted at me.
I barely managed to dodge the man’s attack, having been caught off guard.
As soon as the man freed himself from me, he started to run away.
Ered immediately gave an order to a nearby palace knight.
“Catch that man immediately!”
“Yes, yes!”
Latryne quickly approached me, having seen me stumble while avoiding the man’s attack.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes…”
I responded to Latryne while turning my head to watch the man who was running away.
I wondered how he thought he could escape since we were on a moving train.
At that moment, the man did something unbelievable.
He glanced at the train window and then jumped straight through it.
The knights who had been chasing him stopped in shock, and both Latryne and I looked at the broken window in disbelief.
For a moment, there was complete silence on the train.
“Well, there’s nothing we can do now. We needed to capture and interrogate him, but he jumped out of the window…”
After the commotion had settled down, we moved to the compartment where the royal palace delegation was.
There were a lot of things we needed to discuss.
Latryne was holding and comforting the frightened Sertien.
It seemed Sertien was so shaken by what had happened that he didn’t want to let go of Latryne.
On top of that, Sertien seemed to be scared of me, maybe because of my earlier hostile demeanor. He didn’t want to come near me.
I felt a bit disappointed, but considering Sertien was still just a child, it was an understandable reaction.
Latryne looked just as serious, clearly shocked by the news that Sertien had been attacked.
Count Claude, one of the delegation leaders, seemed very surprised that Latryne and I were on the train.
“I never imagined His Highness and the commander of the knights would be here.”
“Well, I hadn’t planned on coming, but it just happened.”
“You must have been concerned about this diplomatic mission! It’s incredible how you pay attention to even the smallest matters, Your Highness!”
What’s with this flatterer…
Count Claude was a minor character who wasn’t even mentioned in the original novel.
I’d learned about his existence only after entering this world, but this was my first time meeting him in person.
My first impression of him?
He seemed shallow and a bit foolish.
Of course, I know I shouldn’t judge people too quickly, but that’s just how he came across to me.
I couldn’t help but think, “How is someone like this a count?”
Ered must have been thinking the same thing because he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, and then Count Claude started speaking to me as well.
“You’re incredible too, Commander. Even though you’re not feeling well, you’re still looking out for our delegation!”
“Uh, well…”
It had been a long time since I’d received this kind of flattery.
Ever since I started working at the palace, I’d been so busy that I hadn’t had much time to interact with people.
If that was all, I would have just thought of Count Claude as an amusing person.
But then, he suddenly grabbed one of my hands with both of his.
“W-what are you doing?”
At that moment, I saw Sertien, who had been hiding his face in Latryne’s arms, suddenly turn his head toward me.
With an overly intense gaze, Count Claude said to me:
“You must have been startled when that stranger burst in… I’ve heard you’re not feeling well, but… you don’t need to worry anymore, now that I’m here!”
“Uh, well…”
“I’ll protect you, Commander.”
And with that, he kissed the back of my hand.
The gesture made my skin crawl.
Ered, standing nearby, was stifling his laughter, clearly finding the situation hilarious.
Is my suffering that amusing to you?
To make things worse, Sertien, glaring with wide eyes, jumped down from Latryne’s arms and shouted at Count Claude.
“Who do you think you are, bothering my mom like that?!”
“W-what? Mom?”
How does a three-year-old even know the phrase “bothering my mom”?
I was so baffled that I didn’t say anything, just watching Sertien’s actions.
Count Claude, equally surprised, started getting angry too.
“Mom? Are you out of your mind?”
Based on his reaction, Count Claude seemed to have a very low level of maturity.
“She’s my mom! An ugly guy like you can’t even dream of getting close to her! And my mom is a hundred times stronger than you—how could you protect her?”
I couldn’t say anything, just watching the scene unfold, while Ered, clearly entertained, whispered beside me.
“Wow… Latryne’s son is something else. How does a little kid talk so well? His future is going to be interesting.”
Tell me about it…
But I realized that if I didn’t stop Sertien, things could get out of hand.
Thankfully, it seemed Latryne had the same thought. He picked up Sertien again and said:
“Sertien, you shouldn’t cause a scene on the train.”
Yet Latryne didn’t deny anything Sertien had said.
Count Claude, still fuming, turned to me and said:
“Anyway, it looks like we’ll be traveling together from here on out.”
“That seems to be the case.”
“Then, allow me to escort you to your room, Commander.”
Is this guy really an idiot?
Having seemingly forgotten about his spat with Sertien, Count Claude was back to trying to awkwardly flirt with me.
Before I could respond, Latryne stepped in to stop him.
