CH 64

Chapter 64 The Shock Comes All at Once

At Count Brand’s mansion, Chris told me a shocking fact.

I’m fine about the matter of the illegitimate child.

…… No, it’s not fine, but… it has been showing up in my status for quite some time, so I had a vague idea of it.

But… what does he mean that Esther and Elsa are slaves!?

「Jink-kun! I’ll explain it properly, so calm down for now! The members of the <Sacred Flame> who brought them are also still staying at our place!」

「Ah… sorry…」

I couldn’t help but get angry.

I did something bad to Chris, huh….

「Please wait in the reception room for a while. I’ll call for the two and the <Sacred Flame>.」

While suppressing the urge to go find the two of them myself, I took a deep breath and waited in the reception room.

After waiting for a while, I heard footsteps and… Esther and Elsa entered the room.

I’m glad they came, but…

「Esther!? Elsa too… why are you dressed like that!?」

Why are they wearing those rags!?

Both of them are dressed like slaves, and they are silently kneeling down on the floor instead of sitting on the sofa….

They didn’t even look up when I asked them….

What the hell happened to them…?

「The two of them strongly wished to train as servants at our house. …… They wanted to be treated like slaves, so we give them the same treatment as our slaves. I’ve told my subordinates not to use violence, but… I really want to hand them over to you before something bad happens to them.」

They’re treated like slaves….

The Brand family is somewhat lenient on slaves, but… their clothes are rags and barefoot, their meals are hard bread, goblin meat, and vegetable scraps, and they sleep together in a barn, right?

「… By the way, I’ll ask just in case. …… Whose idea was this?」

Who tricked the two of them?

「…… It was your younger brother. It seems that he paid a large amount of money to the <Sacred Flame> to legally get out of Nonland’s family register. The servant training was also his idea, and Elsa-san agreed to it…. Even my mother was overwhelmed by his enthusiasm….」

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It was Esther!?

Ugh… I can’t kill the mastermind if that’s the case…

This is bad… I feel dizzy….

「…… I got it. If it was his idea, then he probably has a good reason…. I’ll cool down my head.」

It’s okay… let’s look at them calmly.

They are wearing rags and are dirty, but they don’t have any serious injury and their HP hasn’t been reduced.

…… They are a little thinner than when I saw them before, but they are healthy enough.

It’s okay.

It’s not an urgent situation….

A few minutes later, the three members of the <Sacred Flame> also came to the reception room.

「Jink-kun, welcome back. We have been waiting for you.」

「Karen-san, Will-san, Bogard-san… it has been a while. It seems that my brother and nanny have caused you some trouble… I am very sorry.」

If Esther made an unreasonable request as Chris said… I’m sure it would’ve caused some trouble for the three of them.

「We are also sorry. …… You were surprised, right?」

「Yes…. Actually, I am still confused and have not been able to grasp the situation at all. What happened?」

「…… I will explain it from the start. First….」

「Jink-kun, are you okay?」

「Somehow….」

What Will-san explained was quite shocking.

I felt like I lost 10 years of my life when I listened to it….

・ The information that I’m an enchanter reached Rosalta.

・ Grandfather and Father were forced to participate in a meeting to blame them.

・ The crown prince revealed at a meeting that I was the king’s illegitimate son.

・ The blaming, including against the royal family, was held every day.

・ Esther, who was under house arrest, made contact with the <Sacred Flame>.

・ Esther grasped the situation and escaped from Rosalta.

・ The Nonland Family was decided to be destroyed.

・ Grandfather was executed. He was exposed from the neck down, and the angry people beat him up.

・ Father witnessed the execution, and he became a criminal slave.

・ The nobles couldn’t decide who to choose as a new king, and the political struggle intensified.

・ Esther and Elsa arrived at Qualarute and began the slave training at the mansion of the Brand family.

・ The king, who resented the crown prince for revealing the secret, broke the surveillance and beat the crown prince to death.

・ The queen was outraged. The queen returned to her homeland and declared war on Rosalta.

・ Esther and the others are waiting for my judgment (We’re here now).

「The resentment must have been so strong…. The crown prince’s body was in a terrible state that the one who was in charge of dealing with the aftermath vomited on the spot when they saw the corpse. Well, it all happened because the king acted on instinct, so it was an unreasonable resentment.」

…… He’s absolutely right.

I never thought that the king also acted like an orc….

「Well… the queen’s homeland, the Nazar Kingdom, is a large country, so it is only a matter of time before the Rosalta Kingdom is destroyed.」

Having decided that a full-scale political change would occur in Rosalta, Will-san and the others cooperated with Count Brand and the adventurers from the same faction to gather information while waiting for me in the capital.

Thanks to that, I was able to learn about recent events.

It gave me a headache and made me want to puke, but I was very grateful for the valuable information.

What Will-san told me is related to me… or rather, I was the origin of the big uproar.

I’ll have to dig deeper and ask for more details for the sake of the future, but… I feel sorry for the two who have been kneeling down since a while ago, so let’s settle this matter first.

「…… Esther, good job. If you and Elsa were to get dragged into it, I would’ve gone to Rosalta even if I have to risk my life. …… Elsa too, I’m glad that you came to see me.」

「Esther-kun, Elsa-san… talk to Jink-kun. It’s an order~」

An order, huh….

I never thought that my family would be ordered around by other people….

「…… I am very sorry for what my blood relatives did to you. You may use me as a meat shield during your labyrinthine exploration, a sandbag to vent your anger, or… you may sell me. Please punish me as you see fit.」

「Even though I’m your nanny, I could not do anything… and I put you in danger. Please punish me.」

「I don’t mind about it. …… I’m glad you’re safe. You two… come one, cheer up already.」

The two of them are sincerely apologizing to me, but they didn’t do any harm to me, so there’s no need for them to apologize….

That said, I punished Ian even though it was Leftover-kun’s fault, but… I was only going along with him and I wasn’t serious about it.

I told them I wasn’t mad at them, but neither of them showed any sign of lifting their heads… so I forced them to sit on the sofa.

Well, I made Esther, who had a pale face, sit on my lap, and then I gently pat his head.

This kid is surprisingly stubborn, so he won’t be convinced even if I say it.

That’s why… I’ll make him understand with his body that I’m not angry at all.