「Why are you making such a strange expression? You are misunderstanding something again, aren’t you. Our kingdoms presently have good relations with each other.」
「Really?」
「Yes. As I mentioned earlier, it was our previous generation that had the conflict. We are friendly now.」
「And yet you want the town to be indebted do you…」
「You never know how long peace will last. Something may happen when the next generation takes up rule. Having more information about the areas near the borders is always useful.」
So, he was trying to invest in the future generations.
If the town owed our country a favor, then they might be willing to sell us information when the opposing country did something suspicious.
A king always had to act while taking the future into account… Such a troublesome job would be impossible for me, and I would have definitely offloaded it to someone else.
「Anyways, this will be treated as a rank B request.」
「A rank B request?!」
「Yes. Subjugating the Kraken would be considered harder than a normal rank B mission. Since this mission will include its stone, then of course the request rank has to reflect it.」
Certainly, a request to obtain a Kraken’s magic stone and bring it somewhere would entail either subjugating a Kraken or buying the stone off of someone. Buying such a stone from someone required finding such a person and then negotiating with them.
So, looking at it like that, maybe it being a rank B request made sense…
「I just have to bring it there, right?」
「Yes, that’s it.」
「Okay, I accept this request.」
「Thank you. Just to make sure, are you going to go in that suffocating outfit?」
The king asked as he glanced at my Bear Suit.
「That’s the plan, why?」
Actually, there was no way I would enter a desert without it.
With my feeble body, I wouldn’t even be able to stand still at a desert for more than a few minutes before collapsing from heat stroke.
「Are you sure you’re going to be fine in such an outfit?」
「Yes, I’ll be fine.」
「Alright, that’s fine, then. I was only worried you might collapse in the middle of the desert.」
Just like Noa had already pointed out, my outfit seemed really hot to others, but the appearance couldn’t be farther from the truth.
The king reached into one of his drawers, pulled something out, and handed it to me.
「Here is a letter for you to deliver to the lord of Deserto. He’s called Balima. I wrote about you in this letter, so that you won’t cause too much of a commotion when you arrive.」
「I wouldn’t intentionally do that…」
「I’m just kidding. A girl wearing a bear costume most likely won’t be able to meet him, at least without a letter with the royal seal. Just show them the crest, and you should be treated properly.」
「Wait… Since you prepared this letter beforehand, doesn’t that mean you planned for me to go in the first place?」
「I prepared two letters, actually. One regular and one that talks about you.」
It seemed like the king had a back-up plan, after all.
He had prepared another letter in case I refused his request.
I unsummoned my Bears, and put the Kraken’s magic stone and the letter into the Bear Box. Just as I stood up from the sofa to leave, something came to my mind.
「Ah, that’s right. I wish to go see Princess Flora today. Would that be okay?」
I wanted to bring her the cakes that Elena-san had made.
「I don’t mind, but I would appreciate it if you would depart for Deserto soon.」
「Okay, I will be quick.」
Having received the king’s approval, I left the office and headed to Princess Flora’s room.
The king followed me, though. Was he going back to work?
As I was getting closer to Princess Flora’s room, the king was still behind me, so I started to wonder where he could be going.
When I stopped in front of Princess Flora’s room, the king stopped right next to me. It was then when it dawned on me.
「Um, you’re following me, aren’t you?」
「Well, you’re bringing Flora the cake you were eating earlier, no?」
「Yes, but why are you here as well?」
「Obviously, I should have some as well.」
What did he mean by obviously?
I was pretty sure that made no sense… Well, it was too late to rebuke him now, so I decided to ignore him and entered Princess Flora’s room.
「Flora, are you here?」
「Father?」