534 Attackers and Fifteen Years Gone By

“Mmm! Delicious! Okaasan, this is really good!”

Elna was recommending what looked like a cream anmitsu she’d eaten at a sweets shop to Elze.

Elze, who was sitting next to her, took the offered spoonful of cream and sweet bean paste and popped it into her mouth.

“Oh, you’re right. This is delicious.”

“Hahaha, I’m glad to hear that.”

Tatsuma-san, who had guided us to this shop, smiled in satisfaction.

By the way, when Elna says “Okaasan,” the people of the Dragon Kingdom think it’s just a nickname for Elze. Well, that’s understandable—most people wouldn’t expect a child this big. They probably see her as more of a big-sister type filling the mother role.

As for Kuon, he properly uses “Yumina-sama” in front of others, and calls me “Your Majesty,” so there’s no issue. No, wait—Yumina seems a bit unhappy about that, so maybe it is a bit of an issue.

“I’m glad this shop is still around. Though the interior’s changed a lot in fifteen years.”

When we said we wanted to tour the royal capital after finishing treatment at the clinic, Tatsuma-san volunteered to show us around. He said he wanted to walk through the capital for the first time in fifteen years, too.

It was at Elna’s request—she said she was a little hungry—that we ended up at this sweets shop.

It’s a shop with a distinctly Taisho retro atmosphere. Well, that’s from my perspective. To the people of the Dragon Kingdom, it’s probably a trendy and cutting-edge dessert spot.

“Did the Ryuutei really come to a sweets shop like this?”

“In disguise, yes. I was good at sneaking out of the palace.”

“Do you have any idea how much trouble that caused me? How many times have I been chewed out by the bureaucrats for chasing you down?”

“Oops, touched a nerve there?”

Tatsuma-san and Ryuuzan-san chuckled as they reminisced in response to Kuon’s question. These two really are close.

“Back in the day, I’d often bring Houka here too. We even came to this sweets shop in secret once.”

“Your Majesty Houtei had quite the sweet tooth, after all.”

Even someone called the Wise Emperor had to take breaks now and then. I get it—when I’m buried under paperwork at the castle, I feel like running off somewhere too.

‘With Your Majesty, you literally teleport away using magic,’ I could almost hear Kousaka-san’s voice say, but I chose to ignore it.

“Still, it feels a bit wrong to thank you for the magic drug treatment with just a trip to a sweets shop…”

“Please don’t worry about it. Dragon Kingdom is already an allied nation. Helping each other is only natural. That’s what an alliance is for.”

It wasn’t me who said those admirable words, but Kuon—to Ryuuzan-san. Wait, Kuon-kun? Isn’t that your dad’s line? If the son’s too competent, won’t that make the father look like a slacker…?

We left the shop feeling satisfied and began walking, talking with Tatsuma-san about where to go next.

We were looking around curiously, but so was Tatsuma-san—it was his first time back in the capital in fifteen years.

“Has it changed that much?”

“Yes. There are many new things, and many old things are gone. It’s like walking in a different city. Fifteen years is a long time. I’m honestly a little worried I won’t be able to adjust.”

He probably feels like he’s the only one who was left behind. People he once knew have had fifteen years of experience, while he hasn’t changed at all. It’s understandable to feel uneasy.

“But when I think about what comes next, I also feel excited. I was lucky enough to grab a second chance at life. I intend to enjoy it to the fullest.”

…Yeah. He’s like me—someone who died once, and is now walking a second life. I can’t help but feel a sense of kinship. I hope his future is a bright one.

‘Hey…’

“Hm?”

A faint voice reached my ears while I was deep in thought. Where did that come from?

Kuon, walking behind me, silently tapped the short sword at his waist. Oh, was that Silver?

‘Young Master’s pops… we’re being tailed.’

“What?”

Really? I didn’t sense anything at all… Have I gotten rusty?

‘It’s no wonder. The tail’s not human. It’s a golem. Been following us at a distance ever since we left the sweets shop.’

A golem? A golem is tailing us? For what reason?

Without turning around, I used the eyes of Kougyoku, who was perched on my shoulder, to look behind us and confirm this so-called golem.

Hmm, there are quite a few golems in this city. Which one is it?

‘It’s the blue one with armor plating like a knight, and the one with claw-like hands.’

“That one, huh?”

Sure enough, just behind us was a golem fitting Silver’s description. But why is it tailing us? Who sent it?

“Should we grab it and force it to talk?”

“It’s a golem, you know? I doubt it can talk.”

Yeah, thought so… My son shot me down with a dead-serious response. I was joking, but okay.

Would it be fine to just ignore it if it’s only following us? It hasn’t actually done anything harmful.

“More importantly, who’s the real target here? Is it Father, Tatsuma-sama, or perhaps Ryuuzan-sama, the Prime Minister?”

Hmm, being followed like this might become a problem down the line.

Let’s at least inform Tatsuma-san and Ryuuzan-san quietly. I’ll tell the two walking ahead, and Kuon will fall back to inform Yumina and the others.

“We’re being tailed… Who’s behind it?”

“Well… I have a few ideas, but no solid proof. Neither the Ryuu nor the Hou factions are monolithic.”

Both Tatsuma-san and Ryuuzan-san frowned deeply. Since no actual harm’s been done, maybe it’s not worth worrying too much yet…

“There were people opposed to joining the World Alliance, and no doubt there are those who dislike the return of the former Ryuutei, Tatsuma-sama. And of course, there are factions that want to remove me from my position as Prime Minister. Narrowing it down won’t be easy.”

Yeah, no use acting until we know what they’re after.

While I was mulling that over, Tatsuma-san made a suggestion.

“Shall we split up for now? Ryuuzan and I will turn down that street, and Your Majesty’s group continues on ahead. If the golem follows one of us, we’ll know who the target is.”

That’s true—if it follows the Brunhilde group or the Dragon Kingdom group, we’ll know who the target is.

If it turns out Tatsuma-san is the target, we can double back and pincer it. If it’s us, we’ll just turn the tables.

“Alright, let’s go with that plan.”

I separated from Tatsuma-san and fell back to where Yumina and the others were walking, explaining the situation to them.

"Oh my, this is getting interesting. That golem—it's okay if I blow it up, right?"

"Well, it only followed us, so I’d prefer if you didn’t blow it up, if possible..."

Elze gave a warlike grin, and I winced a little. In the end, we agreed that we could retaliate if they attacked us first. Self-defense is important, you know?

"We'll need proof that they attacked first. Let’s get ready to record this."

My son’s calm response made me wince in a different way than I did with Elze. Like, seriously, can’t he be just a little more tense? ...Well, it’s a bit late for that now.

As I sighed inwardly, Tatsuma-san and his group, who had been walking ahead, turned into a narrow alleyway to the right.

We ignored that path and proceeded straight ahead, just as planned.

Using the vision of Kōgyoku perched on my shoulder, I monitored the tailing golems behind us without turning around. So... which way would they go?

Eventually, the two golems entered the path that Tatsuma-san and the others had taken. Hmm, so their target is over there.

"Alright, let’s go back."

We quickly changed direction and headed for the narrow alley where Tatsuma-san and his group had turned.

Just as we turned the corner, the golems suddenly dashed forward, leaping toward the two in front of them.

Dangerous! I thought—when suddenly, both golems froze in place. It was as if time had stopped.

"Both of you, get away from those golems!"

At Kuon’s voice, Tatsuma-san and the others swiftly distanced themselves from the golems.

So, it was Kuon’s magic eyes! Those two golems had been stopped by Kuon’s "Magic Eye of Immobilization." They weren’t frozen in time, just locked in place—then they collapsed to the ground.

"It’s dangerous! Please do not approach them!"

Just as Kuon shouted that, the two golems exploded in a massive blast, blown to pieces.

Fragments of the golems were scattered everywhere. Luckily, none of us were harmed, and it looked like Tatsuma-san and the others were safe too. Phew, that was close.

"Suicide golems, huh... That was close. But how did you know, Kuon?""I used the 'Magic Eye of Foresight' to predict the future simultaneously. I saw a vision of the explosion..."

So he used the "Magic Eye of Fixation" with his right eye and the "Magic Eye of Foresight" with his left? That’s pretty damn skilled.

"You’re amazing, Kuon! Even more quick-witted than Touya-san! As expected of my son!"

Yumina hugged Kuon as usual, patting his head. Oof... did my wife just diss me casually?

No, it’s not like I didn’t think of anything. I was considering teleporting the two away with【Teleport】,okay? It’s just that Kuon’s magic eyes activated first. His method works just by looking—it’s naturally faster...

"Are you both alright?""Y-Yes. Somehow. Just a little scrape."

Tatsuma-san had scraped his elbow, apparently from falling during the explosion. Elna immediately rushed over and healed the wound with recovery magic. What a sweet kid...

Watching them out of the corner of his eye, Kuon spoke to Ryuuzan-san.

"There’s no doubt those golems were trying to take you both out in a suicide blast. Do you have any idea why someone would target your lives?""I hold the position of Prime Minister... So, I suppose it’s not impossible I’d be targeted. But Tatsuma-sama..."

As Ryuuzan-san said, Tatsuma-san had been dead until a few hours ago. Normally, there’d be no reason to target him.

But what if someone stood to lose something by Tatsuma-san being alive? If there’s a reason he must not live—or someone who needs him to stay dead—then it’s a different story.

"Could it be someone who finds Tatsuma-san’s presence inconvenient? Someone who would be troubled if he returned as Ryuutei...""Tatsuma-sama already declared he will not return as Dragon King. The Houtei clan should no longer have any reason to target him. Not to mention, even the dragon clan... no, wait... could it be... Tatsuya-sama?"

At Ryuuzan-san’s words, Tatsuma-san’s expression darkened.

Tatsuya? If I recall, he’s Tatsuma-san’s younger brother, right? The one who didn’t even come running when his older brother came back to life. Cold guy...

"No, Tatsuya used to be a good, honest child. But we were twelve years apart, and I had duties as Ryuutei, so I couldn’t spend much time with him. Maybe because of that, he gradually started acting out... got mixed up with bad people, became more and more unmanageable... Our relationship wasn’t very good.""It’s true that Tatsuya-sama is hot-tempered and has a rough side. But to go as far as to assassinate his own brother..."

...That’s debatable. The wise older brother and foolish younger one—it’s easy for resentment to build from constant comparison.

When the older brother died, maybe Tatsuya felt free. No more comparisons. But even in death, people kept comparing them. The deceased brother was brilliant. And the younger brother, in contrast...

No matter how much he hated his brother, the man was already dead. There was no target for Tatsuya’s anger.

And then—his brother came back to life. For someone constantly belittled, maybe this felt like a chance to finally release years of frustration. Sure, it’s a completely misdirected grudge, but still... not out of the question.

Of course, that’s just my speculation. There’s also the possibility that political enemies targeting Ryuuzan-san were behind this.

"In any case, we should get out of here. People are gathering after that explosion. If the city guards arrive, it’ll be troublesome. I’m counting on you, Your Majesty."

Kuon glanced around cautiously as he spoke. He wants me to teleport everyone. I mean... my own son is calling the shots on the field. Being used by my kid like this—is this how fatherhood is supposed to be?

"【Teleport】"

Well, what he said wasn’t wrong, so I teleported everyone to the front of the Ootori palace.

I need to return to the Your Majesty Houtei for now and report this...

“…Tatsuya?”

When I turned forward in response to Tatsuma-san’s words, I saw a man just shy of thirty and a sharp-eyed young woman in her early twenties about to board a carriage in front of the palace.

Both were dressed in blue ceremonial attire, clearly members of the dragon clan.

The woman had long black hair and blue eyes, giving off a calm impression. She was beautiful, but her narrow eyes gave off an intimidating aura.

The man was tall and had a sturdy build. He had short black hair and a beard, and there was something about him that resembled Tatsuma-san.

They seemed to have noticed us too, and when the man saw Tatsuma-san, I could clearly see him gasp.

“Kh…!”

He then made a face like he’d just bitten into a bitter bug and quickly boarded the carriage.

The sharp-eyed woman with him gave us a cold glare before silently following him into the carriage.

The carriage immediately took off at full speed.

“Wait—!”

Even Tatsuma-san’s attempt to stop them was ignored as the carriage quickly vanished from sight.

“Could that have been…?”

“Yes… that was Tatsuya-sama just now.”

I knew it. I nodded at Ryuuzan-san’s answer. He did kind of resemble Tatsuma-san. So that’s the estranged younger brother, huh?

“Is it okay not to catch him? He could be the one who sent that self-destructing golem, right?”

“No, the golem is already in pieces, and we have no evidence. We can’t just arrest someone on mere suspicion. Besides, in the Dragon Kingdom, we’re outsiders. We should leave this to the people of this country.”

“Ah, um, y-yeah… you’re right…”

Elze seemed unsure in response to Kuon’s explanation. True, no matter what we say, we’re not in a position to do anything here. It should be left to the people of this country.

Of course, we’ll explain what happened and testify. If they ask for our cooperation, we’ll be willing to help. We just can’t act on our own. First, we need to report to the top of this country. Everything starts from there.

When we returned to the palace, Your Majesty Houtei immediately flew over to us.

“Welcome back, Tatsuma-sama! …What happened? Did something occur?”

Sensing our heavy mood, Your Majesty Houtei’s once-bright expression turned dark.

When Ryuuzan-san reported the earlier incident, Your Majesty Houtei underwent a dramatic change.

“Whaaat!? Tatsuma-sama was targeted!? Who the hell was it, that insolent wretch! Trying to take Tatsuma-sama away from me again!? Don’t mess with me!!”

At the sudden outburst, we were left speechless with our mouths agape. Huh? I thought Your Majesty Houtei was a more refined and graceful person…

The one slamming the table in anger in front of us—is this even the same person?

Ryuuzan-san was holding his head, and even Tatsuma-san looked stunned.

Eventually, realizing our stares, the aura of rage around Your Majesty Houtei faded.

“Oh my, how embarrassing. Ohoho…”

Too late to play it off now. The kids have seen your true colors and are recoiling slightly.

“Fufu. Houka hasn’t changed a bit. I remember how she used to throw tantrums just like this when she was a child.”

“Th-That’s not true! It’s not! I just got a little… overly excited…!”

Face red as a tomato, Your Majesty Houtei hurriedly made excuses to Tatsuma-san. Watching the scene unfold, I suddenly had a hunch. Probably, I was right.

I quietly whispered to Yumina beside me.

“Hey… could it be that Your Majesty Houtei has feelings for Tatsuma-san?”

Yumina stared at me in disbelief.

“Eh, you’re just realizing that now…? Anyone paying attention would’ve seen that from the beginning… What were you even looking at, Touya-san…?”

Huh!? Why is she looking at me like I’m some tragic disappointment!?

“Father… That’s a bit…”

“Dad…”

“Touya’s denseness isn’t anything new, really.”

The children and the other wife also looked at me with the same kind of eyes. No way...

Yumina let out a small sigh before opening her mouth. Please stop with that sigh...

"Precisely because she loved him, she went to such lengths to bring Tatsuma-sama back to life, didn’t she? And then, just when it seemed like she might lose him again, how could anyone expect her to stay calm? I think Her Majesty Houtei’s anger is completely justified."

Well, that’s true too. Your Majesty Houtei already knows the fear of losing someone precious in an unfair way. Of course, she wouldn’t want to go through that grief a second time.

"She almost lost the person she’d been holding feelings for over fifteen years, you know? If it were me, I’d tear the entire world apart to find him and punch him with everything I’ve got."

At Elze’s extreme comment, both Kuon and I stiffened with a "Hyeh…". Surprisingly, Elna was nodding along.

"...Elna, you think so too?"

"You’ve got to give it your all for the person you love. I heard a girl in love is invincible, so it’s okay!"

"Wh—Wait a minute, Elna!? Who told you that!?"

"It was Karen-oneechan, of course."

That idiot sister…! What kind of nonsense is she feeding a little girl like Elna!? Isn’t it too early for her to be talking about love...!? It is too early, right!?

"So, that Her Majesty Houtei wants to protect Tatsuma-sama he loves so much is..."

"Um! If possible, could you please not talk about that kind of thing in front of the person herself!?"

"Ack."

Before we realized it, Her Majesty Houtei had turned a deep red—past that, more like a boiled octopus—and was on the verge of tears. Tatsuma-san stood beside him, looking equally lost, staring into empty space, not knowing what to do.

Even Tatsuma-san's ears had gone completely red. Meanwhile, Ryuuzan-san was grinning mischievously at the scene.

"Well, um... anyway... I’m grateful to Houka. Really, thank you."

"N-No, um... you're welcome..."

The tender, fresh atmosphere between the two of them cast an indescribable feeling over the room. They’re both grown adults, but still...

I’m really glad I’m already married. If they weren’t, I might’ve thought, “Just go explode already.”

Anyway, I want to make sure nothing happens that could bring misfortune to those two.