A few days later.

　The truth of the incident that occurred in the royal capital was never officially announced.

　Therefore, there were various speculations and rumors that flew around in the royal capital. The main ones were the defeated Knights, the King of the Karruk Kingdom, and the Golem of the Celestial Kingdom.

　That arrogant knights messed with the Celestial Kingdom and were defeated.

　The Karruk Kingdom is secretly engaged in a battle with the Celestial Kingdom.

　The Celestial Kingdom is trying to crush the Karruk Kingdom.

　There were many such rumors, but perhaps because of their flamboyance, the existence of Gray and his friends was strangely not mentioned.

''For some reason, though, the only sources of rumors are peddlers from outside and the Reginion Chamber of Commerce.

　Eira laughed in annoyance when Tyki uttered that with a laugh.

'Maybe it was a little unnatural. Perhaps Diego-san and the others were overstretched.'

　Then he looked up and looked at the view on the screen. On the screen were the townspeople gossiping in the square.

''According to the investigation, it seems that the Marquis will not be disqualified for this incident. However, at the same time, we have received a letter from King Karluk announcing a meeting.

　Eira said, and Maea nodded her head curiously.

'A meeting? With Master Tiki?

　Smiling at Maea, who didn't understand the flow of the conversation, Yuri opens his mouth.

''You know that the Celestial State is involved in this incident, and you must have guessed that they are protecting Gray-sama and the others. Therefore, since they punished their subordinate, the Marquis, they want to negotiate with the Celestial State by saying something to the Celestial State as well. However, we have no physical evidence, and if we can successfully hide Lady Grey and the others, we can let them pass unnoticed.

　'' explained Yuri, who had recently stopped giving off a completely natural air, and Taiki let out a dry laugh.

It's a very good idea to be able to have a look at your face. I have a shop next to the royal capital, you know. We have to take care of our neighbors.''

　Taiki said and stood up taller, then stood up from his chair and turned around.

'Aifa-san or. Shall we go?

Yes. I'll go with you.

　Aifa nodded at Taiki's words with a two-fold answer.






　Thick carpets, beautiful stained glass, and gorgeous chandeliers. High ceilings and soldiers in full-body armor lined the high ceilings and the left and right sides of the room, and King Karluk and his vizier were on the platform at the far end.

　It was that hall that he had come to once, but Taiki walked around it, looking at the surroundings with interest, as if he were in a tourist destination.

　Depending on how you look at it, he was a countryman without any sense of propriety, but that's not the case when it's done by the king of a powerful country.

　It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for in a good time.

　Therefore, the soldiers filling the left and right sides of the hall were inwardly filled with a strong sense of awe, and likewise the two men waiting at the back of the hall were becoming dominated by fear.

　Taiki walked on without noticing any of that, but Aifa, who was following behind, walked with a somewhat proud heart. A1 was at the back of the line.

　When Taiki reached the front of the stage and bowed, King Karruk and Inishida opened their mouths with a raised eyebrow.

''Thank you for your service, Lord Taiki, King of the Sky Country.

'It's my pleasure to be here. Your Majesty Inishida.

　The Prime Minister gasped as Taiki replied with a smile. His expression was bloodshot, like a sick man.

　Inishida pulled his chin with an expression as if he had bitten down on a bitter worm and muttered.

''........First, let me apologize for my rudeness.

What's that?

　Taiki tilted his head at Inicida's words. Then Inishida's face flushed slightly.

''........To be honest, we underestimated you. No matter what Taiki-dono talks about how slaves should be, it's not going to work no matter what.......but the results are what you see. I'm not going to be able to get any more of them. That's why we can't even open an auction.

'No, no, it was an accident. Oh, well, I guess you could call it luck, or whatever.

　Taiki thought he was being humble, but Inicida's face turned even redder at his words.

''........Furthermore, the existence of the golem that comes out when that slave is not treated well. That is something that we have no idea about. Those who were attacked by the golem, whether they were nobles or not, can't complain because they broke their promise before the original. Those who weren't attacked would have hurriedly changed their treatment of the slaves when they saw that. This also served to show the power of the Celestial Kingdom, didn't it?

'Really? Oh, no wonder, fewer and fewer people are doing terrible things to slaves.

　Laughing in embarrassment, Taiki nodded, and a vein floated on Inicida's temple.

Not only did you suppress the Blau Empire by force, but you also brought economic warfare against our Karruk Kingdom.......

　After muttering this in a hushed tone, Inicida looks up.

''However, I want a clear explanation for this time. What on earth happened in the middle of this royal capital? Initially, this one was working to defeat the dangerous people who attacked the nobles indiscriminately, but they were returned.......and that there were many witnesses of flying golems around.

　Narrowing her eyes sharply, Inishida looked down at Taiki.

''........Why did Lord Taiki lend a hand to such a dangerous person? And why is he still hiding that person even now?

　It was told so in a way that clearly affirmed it, and even Taiki returned a bitter smile.

''No, no, that's, well, how should I put it...''

　When he stammered on in a troubled manner, Inicida instantly regained her momentum and continued her pursuit.

''I would like to hear a convincing reason. In the first place, the agreement between our country and the Celestial State said that we would not touch the slaves bought and sold by both sides. Even though they have escaped, those noblemen hunters are probably former slaves. If any of them are not slaves, they must be judged by the laws of this Karruk Kingdom.

　I told him that and waited for Taiki's reaction, and he snorted and nodded his head thoughtfully.

''Indeed. It's only logical that those who break the law should be judged by the laws of their country.''

　The vizier, who hadn't spoken before, hurriedly opened his mouth to Taiki, who looked as if he was convinced by Inishida's words and was about to listen to him.

''Your Majesties, please forgive me for interrupting you! Well, I mean, I think that this was an unfortunate accident. So, what do you think? Let's assume that there is no blame in the land of the sky and then the surrounding countries will have no qualms about it.

　Saying this as if to ingratiate himself, the Prime Minister clasped his hands together and made a sound.

''I just have one request to Taiki-sama... well, I'm very sorry, but I would like to ask you not to expand the scale of the slave trade any further...''

　Inicida gave a small cluck of her tongue and crossed her arms at the vizier, who smiled with a sneaky smile and said so.

　As they wait for a reply, Taiki opens his mouth with a troubled smile on his face.

''Oh no, I'm sorry, but I have to decline.

　After a word of refusal, they stopped moving and looked down at Taiki.