388. An Unexpected Reunion

“Ohh, I can see why it’s called a capital.”

The royal capital, Alban, is the first big city that I’ve been to ever since I came to this world.
There are many tall buildings with red roofs, and even the streetways are paved.
In my previous world, this may have been just a passing thought, but it certainly feels refreshing to be standing on hard ground that isn’t soil or earth.

As I look around the many different infrastructure of the city, Alo clings tight behind me.
She must not be used to being around this many people.
The only other people she’s been with were from the Lithuvar Tribe, so her nervousness is understandable.
Although, it doesn’t seem to affect her excitement since she’s still looking around despite hiding behind me.

Compared to Alo, Naiko (a.k.a. Nightmare) on the other hand is just watching out for people passing by us, but other than that, she’s not the least bit interested in being in a big city.
Either she’s just way too on-guard, or she really doesn’t care at all.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Ouroboros”

A tall topless man with silver hair carrying a big sword on his back stands out in the crowd.
It’s Volk.
Upon arrival in the city, Volk told us to wait here while he went to a special stable where Steel Horses are specifically kept.

I have a sudden urge to punch Volk on the head for mentioning my species name in a crowded city like this…… but, I won’t.
No one’s going to believe that a rank A evil dragon is strolling around the capital city anyway.

“You don’t have much time, right? I’ll help you with your search”

He’s right, I have a time limit.
To avoid arousing suspicion, I’ll need to maintain my〖Human Transformation〗even after leaving the city, which means I can only change back when I return to the Great Alban Mine.
Which leaves me with only 90 minutes to investigate in the city.

It’s been a while since I’ve been in a place with this many humans. I really want to stay around and explore the city more.
But for now, I’ll stick to gathering information about the princess, a.k.a. the Demon King.
The information I want to obtain is; proof of the Demon King switching places with the princess, as well as the Demon King’s current fighting strength…… and if possible, I would also like to know about the strengths of those three knights who serve as the princess’s shield, though that may be asking for too much…… but, if by some stroke of luck that we somehow manage to obtain information about what species the Demon King is, then we’ll hit the jackpot.
I don’t really know where to start, so let’s just gather any rumor we can find about the royal family.

Volk kinda already knows about the general events occurring in the royal city, so we can scratch that out of the list in our search.
After all, Volk, despite being a sword-freak, is still a civilized person. Even though he doesn’t look the part.
He told me everything he knows about the royal family, like the strange movements of Princess Chris and quite a few common info about the three head knights, on our way here to Alban.

Ever since the sudden decline of the royal family from an unknown disease, Princess Chris, the youngest to the throne, took over the succession as the only survivor from the mysterious purge.
With the current ruler being a young maiden, the royal vassals are the ones handling most of the political affairs.
According to custom, the man who Princess Chris chooses as her husband shall become the new king.

From what I’ve gathered so far, Princess Chris is sickly and doesn’t go out often.
But ever since she became the sole survivor of the royal family, she started organizing a party to hear stories from adventurers of afar, replaced the three head knights and appointed the new ones as her personal aides, and even deciding who her future husband will be to anyone who offers her the rarest and most expensive gift.
Honestly, if she was just a spoiled child, then I’d be fine with that, but this only confirms the information I’ve been told, like hosting a party for adventurers to turn them into exp points, meddling with the top leaders to possibly overrun the whole palace with monsters, and even stirring up internal conflicts between the feudal lords to decline the number of humans being in charge.

As for the three head knights who protect the princess; one of them happens to be a bishop from the Church and is known to many as a man of his character, Roguehale; another is a former adventurer who decided to join the imperial knights only because he liked the princess, Thermal; and as for the third one, I heard that she originated from the slums, and that her natural talent as a fighter was recognized so she was accepted as a knight, then she kept rising up the ranks until she became a head knight. I think her name is Mephisto.
There are quite a few of the citizens who have concerns about how and why they were selected…… I mean, a priest, an adventurer, and a beggar? Those are quite a unique array of knights there, but apparently Volk doesn’t care about that and is only interested in how strong they are.
Volk also voiced his opinion about Thermal, saying that he must’ve been selected because of his handsome looks.
…… Hearing about all this, I can only wonder if the princess has weird tastes for choosing those kinds of people as her personal bodyguards.

“It’ll be difficult to run an investigation on the princess…… so we should focus on the three knights for now”

And with that, we begin our search for the three head knights, though it’s mostly just us walking around the city, hoping we run into them by chance.
If their status shows that they’re monsters, then not only will it confirm that the princess is actually the Demon King, but it also increases the possibility that there could be other monsters hiding in the royal palace.
Plus, if we’re able to determine the fighting strength of the three head knights, we can make a guess on how strong the Demon King is too.

But…… a direct confrontation is too risky, so I’d rather avoid that if possible.
If they find out about me and my identity is revealed to them, the Demon King will be onto us.
If only I can find someone here who can tell us more details so we don’t have to take risks…… listening to rumors can only take us so far.

I don’t have much time, we need to hurry this up.

As I look around where to go next, I notice Alo looking at a particular shop that’s displaying different clothes and pretty dresses.
Her eyes show excitement and enthusiasm.
She pulls my hand towards the shop as she points it with her other finger.

“Alo…… we’re running out of time, you know? I mean, I’m interested too, but like, we have a time limit, so……”

“R-Right, of course! I…… understand”

Alo says with clear disappointment in her tone.

“Really sorry, Alo. Maybe after everything is over, and when we find time again, we can look inside the shops together, so wait till then. The future of this city…… no, the future of Ardezia is at stake here, possibly even the fate of the world. We can’t spare much time on this yet, so just be patient, okay?”

When I said that, Alo tightens her resolve and nods.

“…… I-I will, do my best and help you with all I can, Ryujin-sama! I will follow you wherever you go!”

After Alo expressed her feelings full of emotion, I give her a pat in the head, but then, I heard a voice from a woman in the distance. It sounded familiar.

“I'm still surprised that Princess Chris invited me to her party, hahaha! I really like being an adventurer, but I don’t know how I’d respond if they invited me to be part of the knights……!”

Even when there are so many voices mixed among the crowd, for some reason, that voice sounded nostalgic.
Well, the way she talks is definitely loud, so her voice sticks out like a sore thumb, but I feel like that’s not the only reason.
It’s like I suddenly feel homesick or something.

Turning towards the voice, it was from a blonde-haired woman.
She’s dressed in light armor and carries a sword on her waist.

She’s apparently an adventurer too.
And like Volk, she was invited to the princess’s party as well……
But, I wonder why I’m getting nostalgic vibes from that woman…… hm? Have I met her somewhere before?

“Ah……!”

I remember now.
Back when I was a kid plague dragon, two female adventurers came to my old cave and attacked me.
No wonder I felt nostalgic, she reminds me of my old home.
Though, I’d rather not remember a memory where I got my butt kicked……

But, if I let her go to the party, she’ll be in danger.
Should I warn her? Would they even believe a single word from a random guy in the streets?
She looks really happy that she got invited, so it’s gonna be hard to persuade her.

If I remember right…… doesn’t she have a beastwoman companion with a huge mallet?
I look to see who she’s talking to.

“Are you sure…… I keep hearing bad rumors about the royal palace. They say anyone invited by the princess will be surrounded by the three royal knights and will never be seen again……”

A black-haired girl walking beside her said.
The girl wears a white robe, with a wand held by her gloved hands.
Her huge eyes are seen under her trimmed bangs.

I felt my eyes widen upon seeing her.
As if by instinct, I hide behind a house.

The blonde woman’s companion isn’t the beastwoman with a mallet.
It’s the very first human who ever showed kindness to me even though I was a lowly monster. Millia.
W-Why? Why is she here?! Did she leave her village and joined the party of adventurers who went after me?!

I-I want to go talk to her.
Should I follow them? But, what if they spot me?

While I was busy hiding from a girl, Alo looks at me with cold eyes.
Those eyes were exuding the very death from Alo’s〖Undead〗. W-What’s wrong, Alo……?

“Ryujin-sama, we can’t spare much time, those are your words, please follow through with them……”