「Are you okay with it, Lahti? Do you have the resolve to lead this Kingdom? There is no going back from here, you know?」
「I……」
「The fact that they went to the trouble of taking Pullum with them means our enemy plans to use Pullum in one way or another. This is why, while I know we need to hurry……I believe Pullum will be alright for a while. It wouldn’t be too late if we go to the capital first. Do we still prioritize Lekrea nevertheless? Of course, I will accompany you even if you decide to do so!」
Furthermore, Lahti left his own country to study in the Charalia Kingdom. If he still chooses to go directly to Lekrea and resolves himself to take over the throne, he won’t be able to continue studying in Charalia.
Rather than getting swept by the momentum that would take him down a path he couldn’t go back, it was infinitely better to be aware of the choices he had in front of him and make his mind with determination, so that he would have less regret later in his life.
Inglis herself, in her previous life as King Inglis, also became a Hero and a King as she was burdened with too much expectation from her people, and before she even realized it, she was already past the point of no return.
It was precisely because she had that experience herself that she could see the junction where Lahti now stood. And since she already knew what would happen, she would show his options to him. After all, Lahti was a close friend of hers.
「We still have time to think. Use it and think well.」
After Inglis left those words to Lahti, she turned to Rafinha.
「……Aren’t you going to get angry?」
Rafinha did say she would get angry at her if she said some nonsense.
「…I’m sorry.」
For some reason, she apologized instead.
「No, you don’t have to apologize……」
「……Inglis, you really jab where it hurts from the most unexpected place, don’t you? Just how does your mind work……」
「Indeed. Even though you usually seem to think about nothing but food and fights!」
Leone and Liselotte looked half amazed and half dismayed by Inglis’ comments. They seemed to agree with what she said though.
「I guess. Well, you can call it…life experience, maybe?」
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Inglis tried to be honest with her answer, but the three girls obviously didn’t understand what she meant and could only tilt their heads in confusion.
「……No, I don’t need any time to think! We’re departing for Lekrea!」
Lahti stated, his face was serious.
「Are you sure? You won’t regret it?」
「Damn sure! It’s not about Pullum alone. Just like those children we saw, people are starving to death everywhere. Time is of the essence for them. We gotta go to Lekrea, take all the food stashed there and give it back to them!」
「Yeah……You have a point.」
「And, to be honest, there were times when I thought I’d hate to inherit the throne. I have an older brother, you see, but he’s not my old man’s real son, he’s adopted! He’s the son of my dad’s older brother who died when he was young. For that reason, people kept saying I should be the one to inherit the throne. But I’m a Runeless, while my brother isn’t. He’s brilliant. So I thought, maybe it would’ve been better for Alucard if I was gone and my brother inherited the Kingdom instead, you see……And I’m not the only one who feels that way, since a lot of dad’s retainers should also feel the same. Take Hallim, for example. He and my brother are like best friends!」
Pullum and Ian had actually told Inglis a little about Lahti’s situation when the person wasn’t around. They must have deemed it to be a necessary piece of information before they infiltrated Alucard.
「But……After you said that to me, I’m ready for it. I am going to Lekrea, save Pullum, and help all these people who’re suffering, and even become a King or whatever the hell they want me to be! And once I do that…」
「Once you do that?」
「Ah, no……it’s nothing. Forget that.」
「No, speak your heart out. We’ll be able to help you without worry if you do!」
「R-, really? Well…since Hallim has done so many atrocities……the reputation of Pullum’s household will inevitably suffer from it, right?」
「A household of a cabinet minister, right?」
「Yup. It’s a prestigious household that’s been around for generations. But, with what is happening right now……nobody can tell how they’ll end up, right? But if I become the King, I can protect Pullum if something ever happens to her, so…」
「I see…You’re right. If Lahti is the King and Pullum is your Queen, no one will be able to say anything to her! That is indeed the best way to protect her. That’s what you mean, right?」
「I……I’m not exactly saying she’ll be my Queen or anything……I mean, it feels a bit rushed for that…but, yeah, that’s what I mean. Up until now, she’s been the one who’s protecting me, a Runeless. That’s why, from now on, I’ll be the one who’ll protect her! Saying I want to be a King just for that might sound naive, but that’s how I honestly feel! If it’s for Pullum, I’ll be a King or anything!」
「Fufufu. I see……I get it.」
How very innocent. But, if that was his motive, then so be it. It wasn’t that much different from King Inglis who went on wars without any thought and found herself seated on a throne by the end of it purely because of her accumulated achievements.
It doesn’t matter what his initial motive was as long as Lahti played his role as a King properly from thereon. However, what is important is to make his own decision now so he won’t regret it in the future, that is.
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Not to mention, Lahti’s innocent, childish motive seemed to be pleasantly well-received by the similarly childish girls before him.
「That sounds good! Then, once we’ve saved Pullum, you’ll go and propose to her right away! This is getting exciting!」
「You’re right. There will be people that we can give a happy ending for! That sounds very rewarding.」
「Oh, I’d love to see you two getting your happiness, for future reference of course!」
Rafinha, Leone, and Liselotte’s eyes were sparkling.
「No, why’s the topic going there?! I’m not doing that in front of people!」
「Aw, come on, we want to see it! I’m sure we’ll be able to save Pullum if we give our best, so consider it a reward for us! Being proposed to is every girl’s dream, you know! Hey, Glis, you want to see it too, right?」
「No, I’m not interested…Being able to fight a Hyrule Menace is enough of a reward for me. However, I see that everyone is pumped up.」
「We are!! So excited!!!」
「Let’s go for it! We’ll get to Lekrea and save Miss Pullum for sure!」
Liselotte raised her fist in the air passionately.
「「「Ooo!」」」
The three of them were in perfect sync. As for Inglis personally, though, having the three of them being so pumped up was troublesome, as that meant she would lose a fair share of opponents to fight!
「Good grief……If only I had power and wasn’t a Runeless, I’d say something cool like going to save Pullum by myself!」
「It’s all right. Once you’ve become a King, your own personal battle strength will be meaningless. A King is only good as the role he plays, and personal battle strength isn’t part of it.」
After all, had that not been the case, King Inglis wouldn’t have made the request she did to Goddess Alistair at her deathbed.
And, now that she touched the topic, she wondered… would the Goddess have made me a male again if I had specified to be reborn as a male? Well, sure, I was reborn as a daughter of a Knight Commander because I didn’t think that far back then… But, this isn’t exactly a bad thing at all. In fact, I learned a lot of advantages of living as a female. I don’t regret it and I can continue to enjoy my life as Inglis Eux too.
「……Battle strength is not needed for a King, huh? Now that you mention it, my old man isn’t that strong himself……」
「Right? That’s why you shouldn’t worry about it. If anything, I’d be troubled if you were strong, Lahti, since that would mean I’d get fewer opponents for myself in the fight.」
「Why are you even here……didn’t even need to ask, huh…」
Needless to say, the purpose of this sortie was to experience a battle against strong opponents and to savor Alucard’s delicious local cuisines. Ultimately, it would also benefit Lahti, the Kingdom of Alucard, as well as the Kingdom of Charalia, so getting her share of fun on the sidelines of such a noble cause shouldn’t be a problem.
「Fufufu…Well, just leave it to me, okay? I won’t do anything too bad.」
「…Wish I could trust those words and leave it at that…… My brother’s pretty strong, after all…」
「That strong? I wonder if he’ll fight me after we leave Lekrea?」
「Y-, you better not! It’d be way too messy if you defeated him!」
「But, the more experience you get, the better!」
That was when Inglis’ stomach started rumbling. Hunger had already become part of her day-to-day life, and so the rumbles became a part of the daily background sound.
「……At any rate, we’ll head to Lekrea first. We’ll be able to fight there and considering they should stack up a lot of food there, we’ll be able to eat our fill too once we clean up the area!」
「You’re right, Glis! Once we conquer Lekrea, we’ll finally be able to eat Alucardian food! We should give our best, for the sake of our stomachs too!」
「That’s right. We’ll finally be able to eat Alucardian’s specialty, spicy food!」
「I can’t wait! I’ll eat and eat and eat and eat a whole load more!」
「We’ve already endured so much, after all.」
「Oi, oi, don’t eat too much, okay? The food belongs to the people of this Kingdom, you hear? We gotta return them to… Oi, you hear me?!」
Either way, now that they have decided on their next destination, Inglis would focus on how to fight the Hyrule Menace. Hopefully, there would be delicious food and more challenging battles waiting for her there!
「Okay then, let’s depart!」
Inglis and her platoon hurriedly made their preparations and set off for Lekrea.