Chapter 135

「I am an adopted child, and when I entered the royal family, Gram-sama had already been pulled down from his position as prime minister, so I’m not sure either… . 」

Ria said this and glanced at me .

Even so, I nodded .

「It doesn’t matter . Tell me Ria’s impression of Gram . 」

When I stared fixedly into her eyes, perhaps it was because she had succumbed, as she sighed in resignation .

Amelia and I sat back into our chairs and listened to her speak .

「Gram-sama was born as the current king’s, Igsam Lagoon’s, older sister’s only son . It seems that the current royal family had not been blessed with an heir, so when Gram-sama was born, they had been extremely delighted . 」

Aah, somehow, I could see that .

I picked up a snack that was similar to a cookie .

「And so, following the current king’s example, those of the royal family spoiled Gram-sama, and growing up in such a way, he… . developed that arrogant personality . It’s reached the point where he’s deluded that the entire world is his plaything . 」

Because he had been born into the royal family, for better or for worse, he was in an environment where he got whatever he wanted .

How nice, he was born with a silver spoon .

Although you couldn’t choose the circumstances of your birth, wasn’t that too much of a gap?

「He had implored the king and after taking on the position of prime minister, he did as he pleased . He made women wait upon him, sold children, recruited men into his faction . He would make use of the mercenaries that he employed and had them kill those who opposed him . …truly, it seems that he was the type of person who, aside from those who he was interested in, did not consider people as humans . 」

And then, he was removed from his position after all of that was exposed, after which he became the guildmaster .

Perhaps Ria had her own thoughts as well, as she quietly lowered her gaze .

「He continued doing as he liked even after being appointed as the guildmaster, and the king could no longer stop him either . 」

I tilted my head in confusion .

Although he was the king’s nephew, did he have that much authority?

「For the beastmen, you would let even your nephew hold political power? Even though he was removed from his position . 」

Amelia had asked what I had wanted to say .

That’s right, that’s what I wanted to ask .

「No, the only power that Gram-sama holds is from being the guildmaster . The problem lies in that military strength . 」

「The mercenary that he employed, huh?」

Ria nodded at my words .

After moistening her mouth with black tea, she continued .

「That’s right . Those mercenaries…are disappointing, but even the kingdom’s strongest forces are unable to make a move on them . Because they had also taken illegal drugs that are circulating in the underworld, their physical ability were raised to unimaginable levels . …now, they were no longer human . They can not speak either, and most likely, they can no longer lead ordinary lives . 」

Seeing Ria biting her lips, I sympathized with her in various ways .

It seems that, she’s seen those mercenaries before .

「What were they like?」

Stuffing many sweets into her mouth, Amelia asked this .

This girl, was she actually tasting the food .

Luxury items like sweets, were not food that you can eat often .

「Let’s see…this is just from what I saw, but it was as if their bodies were moving against their will . It’s probably, due to a drug . They have turned into killing machines, only following orders . I’m still not entirely sure, but it seems that there is a drug that makes it possible . 」

From what she was saying, it didn’t seem like a type of narcotic .

「A drug that circulates in the underworld, huh…if that’s the case, the guy who created that is either a doctor or an alchemist, someone who has an occupation of that nature . It would be impossible for normal people to create a drug such as this . 」

「Yes . even the country is investigating this, but they have yet to discover anything . 」

Our occupation had the power to influence our common sense .

That, was something that I had experienced more than enough times since I came to this world .

My classmates and I, none of us had the power to kill monsters and the like when we were in Japan .

The difference between us who were in Japan and the current us was the existence of our occupations and our status being visible .

This was a huge difference .

If our occupations were decided when we were born, then there would be no worries for the future .

And, the fact that we could see our status meant that we could see our own strengths and weaknesses .

Unlike Japan, there was the danger of dying, but this world was easy to like in .

However, what’s similar to Japan was that, there’s always people who abuse that power .

If they could create a drug that turned people into killing machines, then they could probably create drugs that saved people who contracted diseases as well .

「It probably can’t be helped that the country could not find them . They’re people from the underworld . 」

「Yes . King Igsam was of the same opinion . I’m guessing that, inviting Akira-sama this time was also related to this . 」

I looked up at the royal castle that came into view and sighed .

Let me see, would the beastman King Igsam’s summons be auspicious, or ill-fortuned .

For the time being, I didn’t have any bad premonitions, but ever since I came to this world, I have fully understood that kings, these types of people, could not be trusted .

It’s better to be safe than sorry .