The Strongest In The World Doesn’t Have Any Abilities? - Volume 2 Chapter 91 King's Request And Life Decisions

Later that night, Aoi and I were invited by the king himself for tea. As much as I’m too shy of a person to acquaint myself with His Majesty, I find it very disrespectful to not accept his invitation.

“Thank you very much for coming here into this humble place with us tonight. Even during difficult times like this, we should still allocate some time to loosen up and enjoy a cup of tea,” the king said with glee upon meeting us inside the palace’s receiving room.

Nervous, I replied: “I-It’s been a great honor for us to be invited by Your Majesty for this small occasion!”

Seeing my tensed expression, the king laughed and said, “Oh my, the things my daughter told me about you must’ve been too accurate. Please be relieved, I may be a monarch but I am still a human being. I am nothing when compared to a real deity.”

As he laughed, I sensed something different with the glint of his eyes. Even Aoi noticed it, as her face quickly showed caution.

I don’t know what exactly the reason why he invited us here, but I think this meeting will not be just a simple chit-chat between the two parties.

We sat in front of the king, trying to apply the most basic of manners while in the palace. He then clapped his hands and a platoon of servants came immediately, bringing many kinds of tea and finger foods with them.

“Do you have a preferred variety of tea in mind, young man?”

“Eh? U-Uhh…I think I’ll go with the ones we have in Plate Town.”

“I see. How about you, Miss Goddess? What tea do you like?”

With a serious look on her face, Aoi replied, “…I’ll have what my big brother is having.”

“Very well. I shall have the same type of tea as yours,” the king said.

While the servants are preparing the tea, he asked me: “How are you now, young man? Have you finally recovered from your injuries?”

“Ah, yes. My strength won’t recover quickly, if not for the accommodation I’ve received these past few days. Thank you very much for letting me and my friends stay here.”

He shook his head. “If anything, we thought of it as a repayment for freeing us from the shackles that bound us all this time. If you died while in our care, it means that we failed not only in our vow to protect the citizens of Narashel, but as a human per se.”

The way he showed how much he’s concerned with my health, greatly reminded me of Miss Lerish. Well, it’s obvious why: he’s her father after all.

“More of that later. To be honest with you, the reason why I invited you here is because–”

“…I refuse,” Aoi bluntly answered.

“W…W-What?” the king looked at her, feeling confused.

“Aoi? What are you saying all of a sudden?! You should listen first before you react!” I scolded her.

Still adamant on her response, she said: “…I said what I needed to say. Whatever happens, I will never let myself and big brother get involved in your politics, mortal!”

“P-Politics?” I shifted my gaze to His Majesty, who got astounded with Aoi’s words.

When I saw his eyes earlier, I had a suspicion that there’s something with our meeting tonight. If what Aoi said was indeed true, does that mean…

“…I know that from the moment you found out about my real identity, the thought of using me to your advantage must’ve instantly crossed your mind. I mean, who wouldn’t want to get favors from me, the Death Goddess? Even in my current state, subjugating any rival country is a breeze. I’m sure you won’t let this opportunity slip that easily.”

As she spoke, her cold blue eyes stare straight into his face, as if looking directly into his soul. The king, petrified with fear, couldn’t stop his hand from shaking as the tea spilled from his cup into the table. A servant hurriedly come to his side, but he gestured that everything’s fine.

“Aoi, stop it. Let His Majesty finish with his words first. I’ll flatly refuse if that really is his request,” I said as I stuffed a piece of cookie into her mouth.

The king, having calmed down after I intervened, took a deep breath and said, “Thank you, young man…”

I lightly bowed my head. “While I deeply apologize for my sister’s behavior, I hope you understand why she’s acting like this.”

Even though Aoi’s desire to dominate the world haven’t changed much over time, she grew to be more reasonable and ‘upright’ compared to the girl I met at the desert. She still has a long way to go but as her brother, I’m proud of what she is right now.

Hearing that, the king placed his cup of tea on the table and spoke: “I’m aware of the differences between humans and gods, and I respect the Death Goddess’ wishes not to break through that barrier. However, that is not the reason why I want to talk to both of you.”

“”Eh?”” the two of us opened our mouths wide.

The king nodded. “Yes. What I’m asking from you…”

Dug-dug, my heart suddenly start beating faster as the atmosphere became filled with tension.

“What I’m asking from you…”

Come on, say it already! I can’t endure this much suspense–

“…is to take care of my daughter.”

.

..

…

W-Wait, what?

“Sounds unreasonable, isn’t it? You see, my wife and I have been thinking about it the past few days. We noticed that ever since she met you, our dear Lerish changed in ways we never anticipated. Unlike the delicate flower she was, she became more resilient, more joyful, even more beautiful…”

As he speak about his daughter, I couldn’t help but to feel worried. This man–is it really alright for him to let his precious daughter taken care by other people? Is it really that easy of a process?

“But that doesn’t mean that we’re disowning her in any way! We only wanted her to acquire as much lessons as possible before she succeeds the throne. The best way to do that, is to give her more exposure to the real world…”

‘Please, accept this humble request of mine!’ the glint of his eyes implied to me. However, ‘humble’ is not the word for it.

“Uh, Your Majesty…”

“It’s all right even if you refuse. It must’ve been foolish of me to even ask that to you,” he said as he showed a wry smile.

Meanwhile, Aoi–

“…Accept it, big brother.”

“Eh? Aoi?!”

“…This meeting won’t end unless either side concedes to the other. Also, you might not realize it yet but that girl has quite a lot of potential. I don’t want to let such talent go to waste,” she said with a crafty smile.

Ah, this is bad.

“So that’s a yes, then?” the king glanced over me.

Hrghhh…

“W-We should ask for her consent first,” I said in resignation.

Ah yes, consent. Well, everything has come this far because Miss Lerish didn’t gave her consent on her supposed wedding with Argus. Such thing is important especially when it comes to dealing with women.

“You’re right. You should ask her first about it,” the king agreed to my suggestion.

“Haaaah…”

I almost forgot, but the cup of tea in front of me has gotten cold now. Though I’m not fond of it, I still have to show manners in front of our host and drink it. Ahh…

While I’m enjoying my cold tea, the king spoke again: “If it’s alright with you, I have another request to ask of you.”

“”S-Seriously?!”” Aoi and I stood from our seats. Realizing that we did something rude, I sat again and said: “Uh…please go on, Your Majesty.”

Worried, the king said: “Are you sure it’s alright for the Death Goddess to hear it? I’m worried that she’ll react violently to the things I’ll say.”

“Ah, about that…”

I raised my hand, and asked the servants for the longest bread they have. A few moments later they returned carrying a three-foot long bread and placed it on the table. Knowing what’s going on, Aoi tried to resist, but I pushed the bread right into her mouth before she could even speak.

“Uhh…”

“Don’t worry, Your Majesty. My sister’s brain works simple; she can’t think and eat at the same time.”

With Aoi’s full attention occupied by the bread, the king felt relieved that he won’t incur Aoi’s wrath. He paused for a moment then he said:

“Alright. Listen to my request, Ren Mortel. I want you to…”

—–

“Is that true, Ren? Father asked you that?” Miss Lerish asked, her eyes opened wife with disbelief.

After I put Aoi to bed, I tried to sneak out of the room but unfortunately Miss Lerish caught me while she’s on the way back from the library. Using that as an opportunity, I asked her if she has any free time tonight to talk about our meeting with the king. She then guided me to her office, which she uses to receive her personal guests.

“Yes. The king asked to take you with us to Plate Town,” I said to her while looking down.

“And you agreed?”

“I was hesitant at first but Aoi saw something in you, that’s why she urged me to accept your father’s request,” I said.

It’s strange for Aoi to show interest in regards to other people, especially if the person is a girl. The thing she saw in Miss Lerish must be so valuable, that she made an unanticipated decision.

“That’s…too sudden.”

“I know. That’s why I’m asking you first if you’re fine with it,” I raised my head and stared right into her eyes.

This lady in front of me, is a true-blooded royalty. She might have adjusted herself quite well while living inside Pops’ house for a few days, but that’s because she’s still here in the capital. Compared to Harlin, Plate Town is more of a frontier, a town beside the desert. Not only is the weather unbearable for newcomers, the luxuries she could easily obtain here doesn’t exist there or in other nearby towns. It would be not easy for someone like her to live in a place like Plate Town without her privileges.

Pursing her lips, she said: “Can you…give me some time to think? I have to consider important things first.”

“Sure you can. No pressure,” I assured her.

“Thank you, Ren.”

She asked me if there’s anything else from our meeting with the king, and I said that there’s none other than that. I decided not to bring up the king’s other request to the discussion because it’s painfully absurd, and now’s not the time to tell her about that.

I say, let Fate do its thing.

“My, it’s already late now. Shall we head back to our respective rooms?” she suggested.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” I replied.

Apparently there’s a curfew time imposed onto Miss Lerish that she had to follow ever since she was a child. Even though there are a lot of things to do in the palace, she still makes a way for her to not break that rule.

“Good night, Ren.”

“Nn. Good night.”

As soon as we left the office, Miss Lerish looked at me as if she remembered something she has to say to me just now. When I asked her what’s wrong, she shook her head and said ‘please don’t mind it,’ then she bowed her head at me before she went back to her room, looking rather tense.

She’s acting strange all of a sudden. What happened?

—–

We’re supposed to stay here in the capital city for just two weeks but because of Miss Lerish’s dilemma, it got extended by FOUR more days. Except for those days that I’m asleep, I have learned and experienced new things, got a new ability, and most importantly, met new people. Though there are still problems here and there, I would say that this trip is one of the best things that happened in my life.

“Haaah…as much as we want to stay here for a little longer, we still have a business to run,” Saku grumbled as he packed our belongings inside the new carriage bought for us by His Majesty himself.

“Nah, don’t worry about that. You can visit us anytime you want,” Pops cajoled him.

“We’ll miss you so much, Pops,” Saki said while being teary-eyed.

“I’ll miss you too, younguns.”

Saying that, he began to hug us tight one by one. Even Aoi, who is repulsive at first, also felt sad that we won’t get to see him any time soon.

“Everything’s all set. Shall we get moving now?” Saku announced after making all the necessary preparations for our return trip.

“Not yet,” I said to him.

“Hmm? Is there something wrong, man?”

“No, not really,” I smiled at him. “I just thought that we should wait for a few more minutes, that’s all.”

Everyone’s confused because of my words, asking if I’m waiting for something or someone. I didn’t say anything, and instead focused my gaze on the way back to the palace.

“Brother Ren’s been acting weird since we left the palace. I wonder what happened to him?”

“For sure, there is only one reason he’s like that.”

“…”

After waiting fruitlessly for about fifteen minutes, everyone decided to hop into the carriage as all of them are already too eager to leave. Though hesitant, I yielded to their wants and also hopped in.

“I wish you all a safe trip,” Pops said.

“Nn!” the four of us nodded.

With Saku on the driver’s seat, our carriage slowly treaded across the paved road on the way to the city gates. However, upon reaching the exit–

“I’m sorry, but you are not allowed to leave the city,” the guard said to us.

“Why though?! We haven’t done anything wrong while we’re here! What’s the reason why you’re barring us to leave?!” Saku protested.

The guard then glanced behind him, and a man wearing a classy uniform appeared.

“Wait, Isn’t he…”

“Yeah. That guy.”

Miss Lerish’s personal bodyguard, Granz.

After that incident I haven’t heard anything from him, other than the fact that he hit his head on a rock, and had to recuperate at the same time as me. Except for the bandages wrapping his head, he still looked flamboyant and cool.

Realizing what’s going on, Saku said: “If he’s here, then that means…”

“Her Highness!”

At the same time, we saw Miss Lerish galloping her horse toward us. Wearing the same clothes she had when I first met her, she looked like an adventurer ready to set off to a journey.

“My apologies, everyone. Did I made you wait?” she asked while being assisted by Granz as she get off the horse.

I shook my head and said, “Have you finally made your decision?”

“Yes. I will go with you to Plate Town–not because Father wanted to, but because I want to help you and Miss Aoi in your future endeavors.”

“Ren, is that true?!” Saku asked me.

“You heard her, right?” I raised my eyebrow in return.

“Your Highness, your luggage has been already prepared for your journey,” Granz spoke, looking quite disappointed at his master’s decision.

“I see. Thank you for your service, Granz.”

Looking at my companions, I asked: “So…what do you guys think? Shall we welcome her to the Sandy Fish crew?”

Almost instantly–

“Of course!”

“It’s a great honor for us to have you in Sandy Fish, Your Highness!”

“…Well, I did said something after all; I have no choice but to welcome you as well.”

Hearing everyone’s approval, Miss Lerish immediately did a curtsy as she introduced herself again:

“I am also deeply grateful to be welcomed into your household. I am called Lerish–I will be in your care from now on!”