Chapter 271

Translator: Kell | Editor: Weasalopes

King of the Nation with Dreams

It’s a studio apartment, Hikaru thought . Cheers greeted them once they arrived in the nation—capital? town?—of Dream Maker . People overjoyed by the return of the navy crowded the harbor . Their roars grew even louder as Grucel, covered in dirt, raised his hand in response .

First, the Healer that Luke Landon escorted was immediately led to the king . In the meantime, Hikaru’s party was given some time to rest, with watchers of course . Hikaru was shown to a building in the shape of a matchbox with precise layout and furnished only by the bare necessities .

「Deena . There’s no need to get us one room each . In fact, separating us will only be an inconvenience . Please give us a room good for three . 」

Next they were shown to a pad with three bedrooms, a dining room, and a kitchen . It even had a balcony .

「It’s like an apartment for a whole family . 」

Even though it was located on the fourth floor, it was fully installed with a water supply . Apparently there was a water tank above where the water flowed from .

「We finally made it . This layout was definitely introduced by Eiichi . 」

The place was fully furnished . Hikaru took a breath as he sat down on a chair .

「Hikaru, Hikaru!」

Lavia, who was out on the balcony, beckoned Hikaru .

「What is it?」

「I haven’t seen this kind of townscape before . You don’t find this in our continent . 」

They could see Dream Maker’s main road from the balcony . People were out on the streets . Donkey-like creatures with six feet pulled on carts . Houses stood close to each other with only little gaps between structures . It was overall a well-organized city .

「You don’t look that surprised . 」Lavia said .

「Yeah . The place looks similar to where I came from . 」

It looked familiar, indeed, but it was still quite different from modern Japan . Although, Ponsonia and Vireocean’s European style cityscapes were way more different . Just the sheer number of neat apartment complexes here reminded Hikaru of Japan .

「You want to talk to the king, right?」

「Hmm, I’m not sure . The current king isn’t the man from Japan anyway . I would be interested if he left some sort of notes behind, though . 」

「Will he recover?」

「No idea . If even Paula’s healing magic doesn’t work, that means he’s beyond saving . 」

Lavia chuckled, covering her mouth with her hand . 「You really trust Paula, huh?」

「Somewhat . I did tell her my secret, after all . 」

Lavia leaned closer to Hikaru and held his arm .

「I think we’ll get along well just fine and it makes me happy . 」

「Us three?」

「Drake included . 」

「Oh, pet included, huh . 」

「Meanie . 」Lavia giggled .

Paula was inside, happily tidying up their luggage, making tea, giving Drake feeds—no, a meal .

The white drakon had done nothing but complain nonstop about the continent’s awful stench, frowning most of the time . Whenever he did, his gums would show, making for an extremely fiendish appearance .

「Well, well . I thought we’d have some time to rest, but that’s not the case I guess . 」

Five soldiers were running down the road below that led all the way to the king’s residence . Luke’s Healer couldn’t do the job, so they wanted Silver Face to come .

Only the palace greatly differed from the rest of the buildings . First of all, a wall surrounded the place, the nation’s history carved into its surface . Second, there was a garden inside . The town didn’t have roadside trees or lawns, but the palace did .

As they walked through the guarded gate, Hikaru saw a wooden house covered with black scale-shaped bricks which were meant to be roof tiles, except the shape was quite different . It could be that Eiichi’s memory was a bit off, or perhaps time had caused it to change .

It was a single-story residence, but a tall one at that . The huge double doors even resembled a temple gate . Inside, the floors were covered in carpet, and one could enter with footwear on . Lamps burned in the dimly-lit palace .

「This way . 」

Grucel, who awaited Hikaru’s party’s arrival, guided them . On the way, Hikaru saw a room with its door open . Inside was a dejected Healer and the knights escorting him led by Luke .

The knight spotted Silver Face and tried to approach him, but the soldiers stopped him . Hikaru merely raised his hand at Luke, wordlessly telling him to wait . Luke nodded quietly .

「How’s your arm?」Grucel asked out of the blue .

「Arm?」

「Yes, your arm . You shot the Yamamaneki, didn’t you? I heard you got injured . 」

「Oh, that . I’m perfectly fine . My Healer’s great . 」Hikaru said .

Paula, who was walking behind giggled . Focus, please! Hikaru thought .

「You saved us . Thank you . 」

「Where’d that come from?」

「Deena said she asked you help . 」

Just when Hikaru thought the man was getting better with the language, he still struggled a bit .

「I would’ve fired a shot anyway even if she didn’t ask . We would’ve been in danger too . Besides, I just happened to find its weak spot . You guys exposed it . 」

「Either way, we owe you . 」

I sank one of your ships, though . I guess he doesn’t mind, Hikaru thought . They deserved that, of course, after kidnapping Paula .

「Do Yamamaneki’s appear around here often? Actually, you don’t have blast cannons in the city? It felt like you ran out of resources there . It would’ve been a disaster if we arrived a day late . 」

「I have a lot more to say about that, but for now King Doriachi is waiting . 」

Grucel stopped in front of an iron double door guarded by two soldiers .

『I, Grucel, have arrived . 』he said in their language . 『I brought with me Silver Face, the Healer, and one more person . 』

The door opened . Too bright, Hikaru thought . On the ceiling was a depiction of people fighting, gilded in gold . Light reflected off of it, making the place bright . A large carpet was spread out inside, and furniture lined the walls . At the center was a bed surrounded by eight people .

Including Grucel, that’s nine leaders of each clan .

As expected, Duinkler was also present, nodding lightly at Hikaru . There was no trace of friendliness from him like when they were on the ship . The man was overflowing with dignity .

「Oh… I apologize… for calling… you… all the way…」

The man coughed, unable to finish his sentence .

『Your Majesty! You should not talk!』

『Please just relax!』

That must be the current king lying on the bed . Doriachi had the same black hair as Hikaru .