When I woke up and looked outside the window, the sun still had yet to rise.

“I was thinking of waking up early since I have a test, but this is too early no matter how you look at it.”

Afraid of oversleeping if I went back to sleep, I decided to get up and turned on the light magic tool. Then, I passed the time by reading a book that Fia-san had given me. I got so absorbed in it that before I knew it, the sun had risen. I should get ready soon.

I went to the inn’s backyard to wash up and then returned to my room. There, I found an envelope on my desk that wasn’t there before. I picked it up, feeling curious. The envelope had a message written on it, saying “This letter is from Ars-sama, so it’s not dangerous,” and next to it was the crest of the royal family. I had just studied what the crest of the royal family looked like recently, so I knew it was authentic.

“I wonder if one of Ars-san subordinates left this here while I was out? Ars-san would do something like that, but…”

I decided to open the envelope and check its contents. The letter was short, saying “Come to the castle with Guldo.” I wondered what it could be about, but for now, I decided to consult with Guldo-san and put the letter in the “Useful Box” before going downstairs. After having breakfast, I headed to the guild with the adventurers at the inn, as usual. When we arrived at the guild, I went over to Guldo-san, who was lounging at the reception desk.

“Good morning, Lark. Let’s train hard today,” Guldo-san stood up and headed towards the basement, but I stopped him.

“Oh, wait a minute. I have something to give you.” I took out the letter from Ars-san from the “Useful Box” and handed it to Guldo-san.

He took the letter and furrowed his brow as he looked at the crest stamped on the envelope. Then he opened the letter with a serious expression. As soon as he read the contents, his temple throbbed, and he soon crumpled the letter in his hand. “That bastard, using the seal for such a trivial matter…”

Feeling bothered by the tone of his words, I asked a question, “By ‘seal’, do you mean the thing that’s stamped on letters?”

“Yeah, this seal is a pretty special item, imbued with the magic of the royal family. If you ignore it, it’ll be considered a disobedience of the royal family’s orders, and the soldiers of the castle will chase you down no matter where you go.”

“…So he used that seal just to call you to the castle?”

“That guy always dives headfirst into anything that seems interesting. This summons will most likely turn out to be a big pain in the neck… Today, training and study sessions are canceled. Lark, you were scheduled to take an exam today, right? I’ll tell the master to reschedule it, so wait outside the guild for a bit.” With that said, Guido-san climbed up the stairs and disappeared.

After waiting outside the guild for a few minutes, Guldo-san came out, and we headed to the royal castle together. Since it’s quite far from here, we were going to take a carriage on the way.

After catching a carriage near the plaza, we leisurely proceeded towards the castle. In the distance, I could see a castle that seemed like it came out of a fairy tale. Thinking about going there now made me quite excited.

After being rocked in the carriage for about thirty minutes, we finally arrived in front of the castle gate. I go off the carriage and looked up at the castle. A giant castle wall that was at least several meters towered over me.

“Wow, it’s huge…” I unconsciously muttered these words.

Standing beside me, Guldo-san looked up at the castle and said, “Well, anyone would think that if it’s their first time seeing it. After all, this castle is unusually large, even compared to other countries. After that idiot took the throne, he said he wanted a bigger castle! So he used his own money to expand it.”

“Wait, the king earned money himself?” When I repeated the unexpected words, Guldo-san scratched his scarred eye.

“He used to be an adventurer like me and Lark in the beginning.”

“What!?”

“It’s a bit long, so let me explain as we walk. Let’s go,” Guldo-san said while pushing my back to start walking.

There was a gatekeeper in front of the castle gate, so we explained the situation and were let in. As we were guided through the path leading to the castle, I was told about Ars-san’s past. Apparently, Ars-san had been an adventurer as part of his training in the past. Ars-san, who was a genius in both magic and swordsmanship from childhood, quickly rose in rank at an astonishing speed and was able to accomplish high-ranking requests alone. And it was said that he spent all the money he earned from requests on the reconstruction of the castle.

“I’ve been thinking this since I met him the other day, but he doesn’t seem like a king of a country at all.”

“I thought the same thing when I first met him… like, is this guy really a royal?”

While we were talking like that, we arrived at the entrance. The gatekeeper who guided us opened the door, so we entered. There were luxurious decorations I had never seen before and various paintings on the walls throughout the castle.

“The king is waiting for you in his study on the second floor.”

“I got it. We know where the study is, so we’ll go by ourselves. Thank you for guiding us,” Guldo-san expressed his gratitude to the gatekeeper, who bowed gracefully before leaving toward the direction where we came from.

I followed Guldo-san to the study where Ars-san was said to be waiting for us. When we knocked on the gorgeous door embedded with gems and entered, Ars, who was sitting on the sofa, stood up to greet us. “Good morning, Guldo and Lark-kun. Thank you for coming.”

“Good morning, Ars-san.”

Ars-san and I exchanged cheerful greetings. However, Guldo-san remained with his arms crossed and a sour expression.

“…What’s good morning? You called us out here for nothing.”

Ars-san replied to Guldo-san’s complaint. “Well, if I don’t do that, Guldo won’t come, right? By the way, it’s definitely true that Lark-kun was kicked out of his house, isn’t it?”

“Huh? Yes, that’s right.” As I was suddenly asked this question, I answered while feeling somewhat perplexed.

Guldo-san looked at me with a puzzled expression, “What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

Ars-san said “Well, something,” and smiled as he looked at my face.

As a result, I decided to honestly tell them about my background. ” Well, in case you’re wondering, I have the title of ‘The Abandoned Child,’ and I also had the title of ‘Nameless,’ although it’s gone now that I’ve reassigned myself a name. So, I’m pretty sure I was kicked out…”

“I see, even your name was erased. Sorry for bringing up painful memories.”

“No, it’s okay. But more importantly, why are you asking about that?”

Instead of answering my question, Ars-san took out a piece of paper from a drawer and showed it to me. The paper stated that a noble’s child had been killed by a monster.

“Um, what’s this?”

“That’s a death certificate sent from a certain noble. And I think it was probably your biological parents who sent this paper. In other words, I think this paper is Lark-kun’s death certificate.”

“Huh?” my voice trembled with surprise.

Guldo-san, who was listening next to me, seemed to be asking Ars-san, “W-What did you say?”

“I didn’t pay much attention to it at first, but I remembered this death certificate when I met Lark-kun the other day. The child described in the death certificate had the same characteristics as Lark-kun. So, what do you think? Isn’t this about Lark-kun?”

Upon hearing Ars-san’ words, I looked at the death certificate again. There, it was written that the deceased was an “incompetent boy with rare silver hair.”

Certainly, I have silver hair, and I was judged as useless in the appraisal ceremony, so the characteristics match. Furthermore, the name written on the paper was the same as my father and mother who had kicked me out.

“Yes, it’s true that my biological parents wrote this death certificate.”

“As I suspected. I also thought it was strange and investigated various things. However, the body of the child mentioned in the death certificate was never found. That’s why I speculated that Lark-kun might be that child. But, there is one characteristic in the death certificate that doesn’t match.”

“…Do you mean the part about being useless?” Guldo-san remarked as if to confirm Ars-san’s suspicions to which the latter nodded and continued speaking, “Well, I heard from my master that Lark-kun was a splendid new adventurer, so I don’t think he’s a child who was thrown away as incompetent. So I placed a spy near Lark-kun for a few days, and they reported that he was practicing magic at the inn. So I’m wondering what that’s all about. I want to hear about the situation around him,” said Ars, cutting off his words for a moment and bending down to meet my gaze.

“Why is that?” Guldo-san glared at Ars-san and asked.

“I don’t know why. I just want to know why he was using magic even though he was supposed to be incompetent,” Ars-san replied nonchalantly.

Guldo-san was silent for a moment, but then he exhaled once and spoke up, “… Lark, can you fill him in about the situation?”

I nodded and explained about the “God’s Veil” to Ars-san.

“I see. That’s how it is… From what you’ve told me, it seems to be one of the top skills with a camouflage effect. Impressive,” Ars said.

“Yes, when I was thrown out, I thought it was a disaster, but now that I’m living like this, I’m glad I have the ‘God’s Veil,'” I added, and Ars-san smiled at my words in return. I was worried about what would happen when I was called to the castle, but everything turned out fine.

With the conversation coming to a close, Guldo-san spoke to Ars-san, “Ars, if that’s all you wanted, can we go home now?”

“No, no, Guldo. You came to the castle after a long time, so why don’t you stay overnight? You don’t have any plans for later, do you?”

“I did cancel my plans, but… That doesn’t mean I want to stay overnight. I have to send Lark to the inn, too.”

“Well, why don’t Lark-kun stay overnight, too? I’ll have my subordinates contact the inn, so don’t worry,” Ars said, sounding a bit flustered.

Guldo-san narrowed his eyes and approached Ars. “Ars… What’s your intention?”

“Well, you know, I went to the guild yesterday without permission, right? Emma is angry with me because of that. I thought she’d calm down if there were guests around… Please, Guldo. Think of it as helping a friend!” Ars grabbed Guldo-san’s shoulder and pleaded, but Guldo-san brushed off his hand, saying, “It’s your own fault.”

By the way, I forgot to ask what kind of person Emma-san is. Since I have the chance, should I ask now?

“Um, Guldo-san. What kind of relationship does Emma-san have with Ars-san?”

“She’s Ar’s wife, in other words, the queen. This guy can’t refuse his wife. Let’s go, Lark.”

“Oh, okay.” While inwardly surprised at Ars-san’s unexpected weakness, I left the study with Guldo-san. However, at that moment, the door suddenly opened, and a boy who looked a little older than me entered. His facial features were somehow similar to Ars-san’s.

The boy looked at Guldo-san and exclaimed with excitement, “Guldo-san! You really came!”

“Hm? Rio? You’ve grown up.”

“It’s been three years since we last met, so, of course, I’ve grown…wait, you’re with a child, Guldo-san! Did you get married!?”

The boy, called Rio, looked at me, who was next to Guldo-san, and exclaimed in surprise. However, he seemed to realize his mistake soon after Guldo-san explained the situation.

“I see…um, sorry for my hasty assumption. I’m Riolas A Recommetys. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too. Are you Ars-san’s son?”

“I am indeed his son, but do you call my father Ars-san, Lark-kun?” The prince, who introduced himself as Rio Lass, asked back.

Oops, I was told that it’s only okay to call him Ars-san outside the castle.

“Uh, you’re the king’s son,” I quickly corrected myself, and the prince put his hand on his chin and thought for a moment before speaking up, “I see, so you’re the reason why Father was scolded by Mother yesterday. Father was just making an excuse to see an interesting child…Anyway, Guldo-san, have you finished talking with Father?”

“Yeah, I have,” Guldo-san nodded in response to the question, and the prince’s eyes lit up.

“In that case, would you like to have a mock battle with me? I’ve improved my swordsmanship quite a bit since three years ago, so I think I can give you a little challenge, Guldo-san.”

“I might get dragged into some trouble if I stay in the castle any longer…well, I guess a little won’t hurt. Rio won’t listen even if I say I don’t want to anyway.” Guldo-san didn’t seem too enthusiastic, but eventually agreed.

So, we moved to the training ground within the premises. The castle was large, but the grounds were unbelievably vast, and it took quite some time to arrive. After arriving at the training ground, Guldo-san and the prince began their mock battle with wooden swords, after some warm-up exercises. When I gave the signal to start, the prince dived towards Guldo-san.

“Hmph!”

Guldo-san caught the sharp blow that the prince delivered with his wooden sword. The dull sound of wood colliding echoed throughout the training ground.

“Wow, that’s some good moves… ”

“Well, I’ve been training for years since then. Let’s keep going!” The prince then demonstrated his quick sword techniques one after another, while Guldo-san was forced to defend himself and couldn’t quite counterattack.

However, suddenly Guldo-san turned to attack. “Rio, your old habits haven’t changed!” he said. Guldo-san dodged the prince’s sword and struck him in the side.

“Ugh…!” The prince was blown away a few meters and seemed to be unconscious.

“Jeez… At first, he was doing well, but then he went back to his monotonous movements and left himself open,” said Guldo-san, carrying his wooden sword on his shoulder.

To be honest, his level was too high, and I couldn’t tell where the weakness was at all. One of the soldiers who had been watching the mock battle rushed to the prince and applied magic with both hands. The next moment, the prince’s body was enveloped in white light. They were probably using healing magic on him.

While the prince was receiving healing magic, another soldier excitedly talked to Guldo-san, “As expected of Guldo-san, you haven’t lost your touch at all.”

“No, I’ve definitely lost some of it. And speaking of Rio, he’s improved quite a bit over the past few years.”

“Yes, he trains with us every day. The captain said that his swordsmanship has improved even more than that of Ars-sama’s.”

“I see. Tell him to do his best when he wakes up. Alright, Lark, let’s go home.”

I nodded and left the training ground together. However, as soon as we left the training grounds, Ars-san and a group of soldiers encircled us, seemingly waiting for both of us.

“Guldo, you can’t escape~!” Ars-san and his soldiers slowly approached us.

He seems quite desperate. Is he that afraid of the queen?

Suddenly, Ars-san cast some kind of magic towards Guldo-san. When Gudo-san dodged it, the magic hit a nearby tree and instantly froze it. Guldo-san called out to the soldiers who continued to tighten the encirclement, “Hey, what are you guys doing? Shouldn’t you be stopping Ars, who is going out of control?”

“Guldo-san, I’m sorry. We received orders from the king, so we can’t help it…,” one soldier answered apologetically.

“That’s abusing your power for a ridiculous reason…” After mumbling that, Guldo-san picked me up and held me under his arm. He then whispered to me to cover my ears.

As I covered my ears with both hands, Guldo-san let out a loud roar towards the approaching Ars-san and his soldiers. The volume was so overwhelming that I couldn’t help feeling dizzy even though I had covered my ears. If I felt that way, then Ars-san and his soldiers would have been even more stunned. As expected, Ars-san and his soldiers staggered and their formation was broken. Guldo-san immediately broke through the encirclement and rushed towards the gate at full speed.

When we arrived at the gate, several soldiers and a beautiful woman were standing there. The woman was stunning, with a slender figure, beautiful golden hair trimmed around her shoulders, and eyes similar to those of a prince.

Guldo-san looked at the woman and narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “Emma, whose side are you on?”

“Of course, I’m on your side. That person needs a little punishment, so can you help me?”

“Okay, here we go. If Emma gives permission, I won’t hold back either,” Guldo-san said so before putting me down, then turned around and ran towards the soldiers and Ars-san.

The woman came towards me and spoke, “”I’m sorry for involving you in this commotion. Are you Lark-kun?”

“Oh, yes. That’s me.”

“I’m Emma A. Recommetys, the wife of Ars A. Recommetys, who’s causing trouble over there. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.”

I bowed my head to the queen, who greeted me with a smile. It’s funny how in just yesterday and today, I’ve become acquainted with so many royals through Guldo-san. As I thought this, I vaguely observed the scene unfolding in front of me. Guldo-san was single-handedly mowing down the soldiers. Well, the soldiers didn’t seem very motivated either, and they all fell down dramatically with just a little push.

In the end, after about five minutes, the army led by Ars-san was suppressed. Guldo-san returned after delivering an iron fist punishment to Ars-san. Ars-san, who was groaning and holding his head, was taken away by the soldiers brought by the queen.

The queen called out to Guldo-san as he returned. “I’m sorry, Guldo-san, Lark-kun. I had him under surveillance so he wouldn’t escape, but it seems he had forcibly escaped from my sight.”

“Don’t worry about it. More importantly, make sure to give him a proper punishment.”

“Yes, I understand… Hey, why don’t you both stay the night as a thank-you for today? Rio and the others will surely be delighted too,” the queen offered us to stay overnight.

Guldo-san scratched his cheek and answered, “I’m fine since there don’t seem to be any more troubles… What about you, Lark?”

“I’m fine too.”

And so, it was decided that we would stay at the royal castle.