The First Test (5)
Of course.
Releasing the cure would spark a war with the Holy Kingdom, and freeing the people from the plague village would enrage the empire’s citizens.
“Haaaaah, so that’s how it is.”
Edwin let out a long sigh after hearing my answer. His face was full of worry and concern, far too heavy for a child.
“Why are you sighing?”
“It’s nothing.”
What useless thoughts was that small head of his cooking up now?
I glanced at Edwin’s complexion, then turned away.
“I’ll pick up the pace. We need to get inside before the gates close.”
I snapped the reins hard, and the carriage surged forward. A long shadow stretched behind the wheels as they kicked up clouds of dust. Today had been an especially long day, and it was finally drawing to a close.
Leaving the village was simple. The real problem began the moment we arrived at the Third Prince’s Palace.
“…Good heavens.”
Catherine’s face filled with shock the instant she saw Sage. It was only natural—she had watched me leave to bring back the prince’s teacher, only to return with what looked like a beggar.
“Whoa, you said you didn’t have a single thing to your name, but this place is pretty nice, huh? And everything really is high-class since it’s the imperial palace?”
Honestly, who would look at him and think sage? He was just a worn-out old street thug.
Sage strolled around the reception room with a lazy swagger.
“Uung?”
Just then the door opened and Princess Emilia walked in.
The moment their eyes met, Sage flinched and took half a step back.
“Gwanpa? Who you?”
“…Huh?”
Sage pointed at Emilia and swung his head toward me.
“What the hell is this puppy?”
“What? Ria not puppy! Ria a person!”
“Huh. The puppy talks.”
“Ria not puppy!”
“Aren’t you? A little shit puppy? Or maybe a golden puppy at this rate?”
“Nooo!”
Emilia threw a full tantrum the second the unknown old man called her a puppy.
“No! Nooo!”
“What’s no?”
“Not puppy!”
“Then what are you?”
“Ria a person! Ria a princess!”
“…A princess?”
Sage frowned, then his eyes suddenly widened as if something had clicked. He quickly squatted down to meet Emilia at eye level.
“Oho, so you’re that First Princess! Emilia Luce Ventrum!”
“Excuse me!”
Catherine raised her voice, unable to endure any longer.
“How dare you speak Her Highness’s name so casually! Show proper respect!”
“Jeez, why the hell should I bother with useless etiquette over a kid’s name?”
“Wh-what did you just say?”
Sage ignored Catherine completely. Instead he scooped Emilia up with both hands.
“Kyaaaak! Your Highness Emilia!”
When an outsider laid hands on the princess, Catherine screamed as if she might faint.
“There, there. Nice to meet you, our princess. Just call me Grandpa. Got it?”
“Uhh……”
Emilia stared at Sage with wide, startled eyes. Then her gaze landed on the bushy beard flowing from his chin and sparkled.
“Cloud!”
“Ugh!”
Emilia grabbed Sage’s beard with both hands and began shaking it wildly.
“Kyaaaa! Cloud! It a cloud!”
“Cloud my ass! That’s part of my body, you brat! Let go!”
“Ria wanna eat cloud!”
“Aaaagh! Don’t put it in your mouth!”
Sage tried desperately to set her down, but it was impossible. Emilia had clamped onto his beard with surprising strength and refused to release it.
“Aigo, my beard’s going to get ripped out before my hair falls off!”
“Ehehehe! High! So high!”
“What’s high?! Let go, you little shit puppy!”
“Ria not shit puppy!”
“Ah, ah! Fine, fine! I get it, so stop yanking so hard!”
In the end Sage found himself helplessly bouncing Emilia up and down. From a distance it looked quite warm—like a kind grandfather playing with his mischievous granddaughter.
“…Nanny,” Catherine whispered in my ear, forcing a smile. “So who exactly is that homeless—no, that elderly gentleman?”
“Didn’t I tell you? He is the one who will become His Highness the Prince’s teacher.”
“Hohoho, yes, you certainly did.”
Catherine’s cheek twitched as she watched Sage dash around with Emilia in his arms. When he finally surrendered to her grip and sprawled across the sofa, a vein bulged on her forehead.
“But no matter how I look at him, he doesn’t seem like a noble at all. He doesn’t appear particularly learned, either.”
“He may look like that, but he is an extraordinary man. There’s no need to worry so much.”
“Extraordinary? In what way?”
Catherine glared at Sage with open suspicion. He was currently feeding Emilia the snacks the maids had brought in an attempt to pry her off his beard.
“You weren’t swindled out there, were you? I know you’re not the type, but…”
“Contrary to appearances…”
I didn’t care if Sage was treated like a crazy beggar, but I refused to let my own judgment be questioned. I almost told Catherine the old beggar was actually the vanished Great Sage, then closed my mouth.
If I say something unnecessary and it causes trouble later…
It was better not to reveal that he was the Great Sage himself.
“Nanny?”
Catherine looked puzzled when I stopped mid-sentence.
“What exactly is contrary to appearances about that old gentleman? Is he some incredible person I don’t know about?”
“…Have you ever heard the name Great Sage Lil?”
“The Great Sage? Of course I have!”
Sage’s fame was even greater than I had imagined. Even Catherine—a noble of commoner birth from the remote provinces—knew his name. While the development of the scale disease cure had not become public knowledge, his other achievements were numerous.
“I heard he suddenly disappeared one day. Why bring him up now?”
“Actually, that man,” I said, pointing at Sage with a solemn expression, “is a distant relative of the Great Sage.”
“Whaaaat? Really?”
“It’s true.”
I whispered quickly, low enough that only Catherine could hear.
“It isn’t widely known, but the Great Sage’s relatives are all geniuses who rival him in talent. He is one of them.”
“I-is that so?”
Catherine looked flustered yet seemed to believe me. After thinking for a moment she asked again, puzzled.
“But would someone that amazing really agree to become Prince Edwin’s teacher?”
“…Yes. It somehow turned out that way.”
“W-wait a moment.”
Catherine pressed a hand to her forehead in confusion.
“But isn’t Viscount Lil a wanted criminal with bounties posted across the entire continent?”
“Correct. However, since he has been declared missing, he should no longer be pursued.”
“Aah, still… No matter what, even if he isn’t the Great Sage himself, sheltering a relative of a wanted criminal here would…”
Catherine looked at me with genuine fear.
“Besides, how did you even locate the Great Sage’s relative, Nanny? They say no one on the continent knows where the Great Sage or his family vanished to…”
“…I have an extremely personal connection.”
“I… I see.”
Catherine seemed to accept my words, yet the worry never left her face.
“Nanny, I’m truly concerned. Is it really all right to keep that man in the prince’s palace? It still feels wrong somehow.”
“Catherine.”
I turned quietly and took both of her hands in mine. Her face flushed and she looked flustered.
“N-Nanny?”
“Actually, the Great Sage was a very close acquaintance of my adoptive parents.”
“Really?”
“Yes. And through them he asked me for a favor.”
“Wh-what favor?”
“To help that poor soul who has been chased across the continent for over ten years simply because they share his blood. That man no longer has the strength left to keep running in his frail, aged body.”
With a single sentence, Sage—who had been living quite comfortably in the plague village—transformed into a frail, pitiful old man.
It’s all lies, but it can’t be helped.
The connection had been my past self, not my adoptive parents, and Sage was the Great Sage himself, not a relative. But I could not reveal the truth. Even the story of waking up in another person’s body after dying would be hard to believe—let alone the fact that I had once been an assassin. I would be lucky if they didn’t simply call me insane.
“Ugh…”
Catherine clutched her forehead, agonized, then finally sighed.
“I understand. Then it can’t be helped.”
“Thank you, Catherine.”
“Nanny, one more thing.”
She crossed her arms and gazed at Sage with worried eyes.
“How will we introduce him to others? We can’t say he’s the Great Sage’s relative. If we claim he is the prince’s teacher, his identity must be clear…”
“Don’t worry about that.”
I stood and straightened my clothes.
“The Founding Festival will begin soon, won’t it?”
Catherine’s eyes widened.
“Yes? Ah, that’s true. But why mention the Founding Festival all of a sudden?”
“Our palace must prepare to receive guests as well.”
Catherine furrowed her brow, trying to grasp my meaning.
“Prepare to receive guests…”
“I’ve been thinking about it for some time. The Third Prince’s Palace feels far too bleak.”
The garden was spacious, yet it contained only a few flowering trees and ordinary shrubs.
I watched Sage still bickering with Emilia and felt the corners of my mouth lift.
“Don’t you think it’s time we hired a dedicated gardener?”