I, Hiccuped Migga, sat back in my chair and thought about the last time this happened.


　The knights who were hunting down the beastman boy. The girl who was protecting the beastman boy right in front of those knights. The girl who was hugging the beastman boy with her small body, doing her best.


　No matter how much the knights tried to touch her, she couldn't do it. No, they couldn't reach her. That's what I'm hearing.


　When I reached out, I could touch the girl. But the knights couldn't touch her. Why is that?


　The question pops into my head over and over again.


　I stopped the knights from chasing the human girl and the beastman boy who were riding away on the griffon because I had a bad feeling. I have a bad feeling that we're about to touch something that we shouldn't touch, or maybe we have touched it.


　That's what I'm thinking.


　Because, after returning to the base, I realized once again that the girl might be a godson.
　There has never been a time in history when two divine children have appeared at the same time. So, even though it was a possibility, if the Kingdom of Fairytlov had secured a divine child, it was unlikely that the girl was a divine child. But then, why couldn't the knights touch the girl?
　That's all I'm thinking about.


　I have so many things to think about: the girl, the boy, the beastman, my father. This time, even though I was able to catch the wolf beastman, I couldn't even get the location of the village and tortured him to death. I didn't want to do it myself, and even if I didn't torture him directly, my subordinate did, so it's as if I did. And yet, I couldn't catch the other wolf beastmen.


　The story goes that the village of wolf beastmen they found was a wasteland. The story goes that the wolf beastmen must have escaped and moved south. It was not worth the effort to chase them south into the untamed forest. As a result, the knight was killed and we had almost nothing to show for it. ---Father will find me useless. Because I haven't been able to carry out his order to capture the beastmen as he expected.


　That strange girl is human, but she walks with the beastmen. If, indeed, if that girl is a divine child, then we are making enemies of the divine children. If the girl might be a divine child... or even if she is not a divine child, but she has magical powers... if I report her to my father, I might be able to escape his disappointment. If I were to make such a report, he'd be the first to try to capture the girl.


　---If anything, reporting it would make my delicate position a little better. I think so. I think so, but I dare not report it to my father. I judged that I should not raise ....... No, I decided I didn't want to report it. He wouldn't expect me to be so obedient and not report it. Then he could keep it to himself. About the mysterious girl.



"If that girl is the Divine Child...




　If, indeed, the girl really is a divine child, as I have come to believe, then ---- will she kill me?
　That's what I'm thinking.


　I'm following my father's orders and I'm doing something atrocious. I am fully aware of that. I've given orders to execute people who may or may not be guilty, I've reduced beastmen to slaves, and I've killed a wolf beastman who never told me where his village was. I've been committing sins all my life.


　I know my father's orders are not always right.
　But you're the king. When the king says it's right, it's right for everyone else. So I keep obeying. Even though it hurts me, even though I know it's not right, I can't go against him. I don't have the strength to disobey, and I'm sure I'll continue to obey him. And I will continue to do atrocious things. I'll buy a lot of resentment and hatred. No, you've already earned it.
　No, you've already bought it. I'm still alive and no one will kill me, even though I'll be hated and resented just for being a prince.



　While I was thinking like this, there was a knock at the door.





　And I received a report, "Master Hiccup, a message from His Majesty has arrived.
　I wondered what orders my father would give me next. How will he try to use me? ---Whatever the order is, I'll carry it out. And I have to keep accepting the consequences of my actions, even if I want to turn away from them.




　---- The prince did not report.
　(The prince has come to the conclusion that the girl is not a godchild. (The prince has come to the conclusion that the girl is not a divine child, but he does not report it to the king of his own volition.