Chapter 79 – Arcadia (4)
“My older brother Richard is probably at the training ground. He’s with the Golden Eagle Knights.”
“I see.”
I guess so. Richard in my memories was also a hard worker who spent most of his time training himself.
However, rather than telling Iris that he knew everything, he responded by saying that he learned what he didn’t know thanks to Iris.
“Should I send someone to my brother?”
When I responded by arguing, Iris asked, feeling a little better. I shook my head. He didn’t even want to reveal the fact that Richard and I were in contact.
“I will send the crow. Just say Iris sent it.”
“Ugh. Then you’d better take this.”
Iris rummaged through her pockets, and he pulled out a small stamp and handed it to me. A seal with a pair of spread wings depicting a golden eagle was an item proving that he was a member of the imperial family.
“If I show this to my brother Richard, he will believe it too.”
I nodded, received the seal Iris gave me, and passed it on to the crow. The crow disappeared as it permeated the shadows.
“I am always surprised. Crows…”
Iris’s eyes lingered for a while in the shadow of the crow’s disappearance. She didn’t even notice the Aura Master, Arnold, so she’s definitely amazing.
Rather, they didn’t mind letting crows loose in the imperial palace.
Trust me… , I felt good when I thought about it.
I said to Iris, who was still staring at the shadow.
“It’s also in the imperial palace. Intelligence department.”
“There is… A little different, right?”
Iris slurred her words. Well, a crow that can be brought back to life at any time with my presence, and who can freely move through the shadows with the help of my power, would be unrivaled in this field.
Besides, since I’m sharing my authority, it’s possible to move organically with each other.
It’s not that the Imperial Palace’s intelligence department doesn’t have talented people, but it’s safe to say that individuals can’t overcome groups, and that the crows move as one under my authority and leadership.
“In a head-to-head match, the Golden Eagle Knights probably lose, though.”
“It’s amazing in that the comparison target is the elite knights of the imperial family.”
Is it like that too?
But. It was a huge deal at the point where the best elite knights formed purely for combat and the crows, only two of the four units were combat units, were comparable.
Of course, it’s only possible to compare, but if they actually fight head-on, in nine out of ten cases, the crow will be pushed back in an instant.
“I wonder what it would be like to be in the shadows.”
“Nothing. Should I say it feels a bit like being in the water?”
Something like that
While they were chatting about trivial things, the crow that had been sent to Richard returned.
“I did as you commanded and returned.”
Iris, who had been sitting on her lap, hurriedly got up and tried to leave her seat. She grabbed her by the waist as she tried to get up, and she sat her back on her lap.
“Boo, shame on you. Drop me off.”
“What are you ashamed of?”
“He sees it!”
It doesn’t matter if it’s just the two of you, but since there’s someone watching, you can’t do skinship because you’re shy?
Then.
“Aaaaa Where can I touch you!”
I grabbed Iris’ butt. As expected, a high-pitched scream erupted. Iris held on tight as she struggled, shaking her leg and trying to get away.
“Let go! Let go! You’re going to touch me again!”
“If you don’t be quiet, I will touch you again.”
When I said that, it became quiet like a ghost. Her face was as red as a tomato.
Should I say that it has a taste for teasing?
Anyway it’s fun
After arguing like that for a long time, Iris, who belatedly realized that a third person was watching from the front, buried her head in my chest with a face that was about to burst at all and muttered.
“I don’t know anymore. Do it yourself…”
Pat Pat. He lightly touched her back and nodded her head.
“What did Richard say?”
The crow, who hadn’t budged even once while the two of us had been fooling around for so long, opened its mouth as soon as I said it.
“He said he would come to see me at midnight today.”
“Okay. Good work.”
The crow held out the seal that Iris had given her earlier, and sank into the shadows again.
“… Went?”
“Huh.”
“…”
Fight against each other. Iris slapped my chest with her hand. She wasn’t very sick. Feels like a cotton ball. Iris felt like she was just complaining.
“It’s embarrassing.”
“Okay. I won’t.”
I’ll do it.
I smiled softly and comforted Iris.
Turning her head slightly, she checked her watch. It was just past 7 o’clock. She grabbed Iris by the waist and whispered in her still muttering ear.
“We have about five hours left before Richard arrives?”
“Yes? Yes, but… , Oh. Now wait.”
What. Didn’t do anything
Just waiting is boring, so play a little.
Tickling her or teasing her while giving her a dirty kiss.
I spent time doing that.
*
Midnight.
A long time ago, Iris was wiping her wet hair with a towel after washing her face, saying that she couldn’t face Richard like this with her disheveled face.
“Iris.”
“No.”
“You know what I will say.”
“Something like a pervert…”
I have nothing to say because it’s true.
When I rolled my eyes, Iris sighed lightly.
“Do you know the feeling of being shattered by the fact that the person you admire is actually a pervert?”
As she said that, she glared at me, then slightly lowered her eyes before adding another word.
“Instead, she came to like it that much…”
It’s cute that he notices that I’ve been hurt for no reason.
She poked Iris in the side and said playfully.
“If you say you longed for 100 in the past, how much is it now?”
“Ugh, uhm.”
“Fifty?”
“Ten… ?”
Isn’t that a bit too low?
Still.
“Then do you like it as much as ninety now?”
“… One hundred and ninety?”
Sneaking, glances at me, then turns away and avoids my gaze.
Iris who hesitated, pursed her lips, blushed, and said such an embarrassing voice was very cute.
“One hundred and ninety? Two hundred is the maximum?”
“One hundred is the maximum.”
“But why am I one hundred and ninety?”
“… Because I love you so much…”
Is it like breaking the limit?
Anyway, since I’m passing the time like that, eventually.
Smart.
Along with the knocking sound, a low voice was heard.
“Is it okay if I come in?”
“Ah, Brother Richard… Come on in.”
The door opened softly, and a gray-haired handsome man opened it and entered the room.
The man who entered the room, Richard Arcadia, looked at Iris closely next to me and stiffened slightly, then saw me next to me, nodded, and walked closer.
“I heard that the relationship between the two is unusual, but they certainly seem very close. Iris.”
“Brother…”
Only then did Iris try to slip away, perhaps remembering that she was clinging to me, but I held her by the waist and held her next to her as if to show it on purpose.
Iris’s body trembled as if the shameful experience in front of her crow earlier had overlapped, but she pretended not to know.
“Long time no see. Prince Chepes.”
“Hmm. You are very old. From the outside, you look older than me. Shouldn’t I be respectful?”
Although I said it as a joke.
To be honest, it’s true that mine is much younger.
From my point of view, I was hesitant to think that a man over 40 years of age wanted to use honorific words for me.
Conversely, Richard glanced at Iris as if asking what the hell he was talking about.
I shrugged her shoulders.
“It was a joke.”
“I guess…”
Richard sighed lightly. I gently scanned his body. Unlike the pot-bellied Edwin, his body was perfected to some extent by training diligently every day.
“Do you train every day these days?”
“Yes. I do it every day without skipping.”
Thump.
Richard lightly patted my chest. It was a modest move, as if he was proud of himself.
But I know Iris.
That this man was the least gifted among the Emperor’s children, a man with a talent less than that of the common man.
And that, probably, Richard himself, knew better.
Even so, he wielded the sword every day.
“Is it.”
When his older brother finally failed to even reach the wall and became frustrated, Richard swung his sword once again rather than give up.
Effort does not betray, Richard did not believe in such words.
But he didn’t want to give up, just because he had no talent, he didn’t want to become weak like his brother, so he didn’t let go of the sword.
It’s okay if the level doesn’t rise.
Wielding a sword is just a proof of oneself that one does not give up.
The Richard Arcadia I knew was such a man.
I didn’t like that kind of hard work.
And since he’s such a person, he’s probably the most suitable person to help us.
“I need your help. Richard.”
“I will listen.”
