Read Novel Full Vol 1 Chapter 5 Part 1
Here’s the chapter, enjoy~
Chapter 5 – Sealed Monster
Part 1
The next morning.
Laila and Prince Zazu’s engagement was successfully called off, but the procedure would take about a week.
“Good grief, royalty is such a hassle.”
The three of them continued to search for the mastermind of the assassination until they left the Kingdom of Sahar.
“We still don’t know who’s behind the assassination, and we don’t know if they’ll come after her again. For Laila-sama’s safety, we must find out the truth at any cost!”
“But we can’t seem to find any clues…”
“You’re right. The only thing that concerns me is Prince Zazu’s yesterday’s testimony…”
To Lexia’s mutterings, Luna also agreed.
You were talking about the sound of a whistle coming from underground where it shouldn’t exist, right?
“Yes. I also heard such a sound before the earth’s moaning.”
“I don’t know if it has anything to do with Laila-sama’s assassination plot, but it certainly sounds suspicious.”
“Hmm. The royal castle has a secret underground passageway for the royal family to escape when they are attacked… but it doesn’t seem like that’s the case if Prince Zazu doesn’t know about it.”
“That just adds to the mystery…”
The three of them sat around the breakfast table, mulling it over when Lexia looked up.
“Maybe the mastermind dug tunnels underground to get the assassins closer to Laila-sama!”
“A-a tunnel all the way down here?”
“Yeah, that must be it! And the mysterious whistle must be some kind of signal!”
“But isn’t it difficult to dig a tunnel without anyone finding you…?”
“Right. So the entrance must be outside the palace, in an inconspicuous back alley or something! Oh, what a good guess! I’m afraid of my talent!”
“I-I see. That’s very good, Lexia-san!”
“Rather than go through all that trouble, there must be a better way.”
Luna calmly chided.
But Lexia stood up vigorously with the fire of a sense of mission in her large eyes.
“Now that I know that, I’m not going to sit still! Let’s get out into the city and find the entrance to the underground!”
The tunnel theory aside, the sound of the whistle had caught Luna’s attention, so the three of them changed into their traveling clothes and headed out into the city to look for the entrance to the basement.
“But will it be safe to leave Laila-sama’s side?”
“Well, don’t worry about being attacked. I’ve carefully set up a string around Laila-sama. I’m sure some of them have already been caught by now.”
“T-Wow, that’s great…!”
“As expected of Luna.”
“But even if it’s an entrance to the underground… it’s a pretty big deal to dig a tunnel to the royal palace, so even if one doesn’t want to, it would be noticeable, but there was nothing like that when we were sightseeing!”
“People in the city didn’t seem to be gossiping about it either. How to dig a tunnel without anyone finding it… Is it off-limits or something? But then again, that would be conspicuous…”
“Come to think of it; there were soldiers guarding the ruins back then.”
Lexia casually recalled and hastily pondered.
“Wait? The Sahar Kingdom was founded on a ruined city, and the ruins are still there, right? …In other words, there are ruins underneath the Kingdom of Sahar, right?”
“! That’s right.”
“I see, there is no ‘underground floor’ in the royal palace, but it is possible that there are ‘ruins buried underground’?”
“Yes! I thought the mastermind had dug a tunnel all the way down there, but it turns out that it wasn’t like that; the sound of the whistle echoes off the ruins where it originally came from! Alright, then, let’s charge in!”
Luna hurriedly stopped Lexia, who was about to run to the ruins guarded by soldiers.
“Wait, Lexia; we just got involved with the soldiers last night! We were saved by Laila-sama’s follow-up that time, but it’s not good to get into trouble with the soldiers any further!”
“We could have just said, ‘We’re lost,’ and we’d have gotten out of it!”
“That’s not going to happen! Stop! Calm down, calm… You resless horse!”
As Luna and Tito held Lexia down, a distant scream of “Whoa!” screamed in the distance.
“W-wait, what’s going on all of a sudden! Don’t go that way; stop!”
“Hmm? That voice sounds familiar.”
“It’s the voice of the [Sahar Camel] boy we met when we were sightseeing.”
“That boy is in a hurry. Could it be…?”
The three of them turned around and saw a large shadow rushing toward them with a happy cry──it was the camel that had carried Lexia when they went sightseeing in the Kingdom of Sahar.
“Bumoooooooooooo!”
“!? I knew it was that [Sahar Camel]!”
The camel chased after Lexia as she ran away, running in circles around Luna and Tito.
“Bumoooooooooo!”
“Nooooooooooo! Calm dooowwnnnn!”
“Le-Lexia-san!”
“How much does he like that girl?”
“Hey, don’t just stand there. Help me!”
“Good grief, it can’t be helped. [Avoidance].”
Luna released the string to the galloping camel and tugged at the reins.
“Alright, there you go. Good boy.”
“Bumomo!”
“Did you find Lexia and come over and break free from your owner’s hand?”
Then, the camel owner’s boy ran up to her, saying, “I’m sorry!”
The boy took the reins from Luna and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“Hah, hah… thanks for catching him! This guy suddenly started running… Huh? You were the ladies I met the other day, weren’t you?”
“Yeah, nice to see you again.”
“Bumomo!”
Tito smiles when she looks at the camel rubbing its head happily against Lexia.
“Fufu, he looks so happy. He really loves Lexia-san, doesn’t he?”
“Ugh, I’m happy to see you too. But I’ll be surprised if you chase after me suddenly, so come slowly next time…”
The boy looks up at Lexia and the others as he slaps the camel’s neck.
“Thanks for catching this guy! Would you like to join us for the feast tonight? I want to thank you.”
“No, you don’t have to thank us──”
“We have traditional dishes from the Sahar Kingdom and milk from the Sahar Sheep.”
“I’ve never had milk from the Sahar Sheep! Luna, Tito, let’s accept the invitation!”
“Hey, what about finding the entrance to the underground ruins?”
Luna’s half-lidded eyes made Lexia’s chest turn up.
“Of course, I haven’t forgotten about it. This is part of the information-gathering process. It is a common practice in all ages and cultures to gather valuable information at the drinking table. Besides, when you come to a foreign country, you have to experience the local customs firsthand and taste the traditional cuisine! This is also a necessary experience for growing up as royalty.”
“You are talking like that, but you just want to drink milk from the Sahar Sheep, don’t you?”
“That’s obvious.”
“You’re getting more and more open… or have you been for some time?”
“But you’re curious too, aren’t you, Luna, about the Sahar Sheep’s milk?”
“It’s not that──Nkuh, hey, Lexia, don’t poke me in the side!”
Tito laughed happily at the usual exchange.
“Come on, follow me!”
The three of them followed the happy camel and the boy to the outskirts of the city.
＊＊＊
As they passed through the busy street and the buildings became sparser, they heard the animal noises.
“Here you are!”
On the border between oasis and desert──on the outer edge of the royal capital, there were people tending to their livestock.
Sparse grass was growing on the dry land, and donkeys, sheep, and goats were crowded inside a series of fences.
“So, you are taking care of the animals here?”
“Yes. There is still time before the feast, so rest there and wait for it!”
The people are busy watering and brushing the livestock. Meanwhile, another herd returned.
Some of the animals were left unattended, and there was clearly a lack of manpower.
Lexia looked at Luna and Tito and said to the boy.
“It looks like you’re having a hard time. If you want, we can help you.”
“Eh, is that okay?”
“Yes. We just needed a change of scenery. Right, you two?”
“Yes!”
“Yeah. If there’s anything I can do, I’ll help you.”
“Thank you, that’d be great!”
Lexia laughed at the boy whose tanned face was glowing and raised her voice brightly.
“Then, let’s each help where there seems to be a lack of manpower!”
＊＊＊
“Hey, missy. Do you want to observe?”
As Luna was walking around looking for something she could help with, the residents called out to her.
The men were restraining a rampaging sheep.
“Are you shearing sheep?”
“Yeah, it’s pretty hard to do. This one, in particular, got scared…”
The sheep seemed to be frightened and became more and more violent as the shearing knife approached.
When Luna saw this, she rolled up her arms and walked forward.
“Would you mind stepping away for a moment?”
“Huh? Y-yeah. But what…”
Luna stood in front of the sheep and held out her hand as people watched──
“Hah!”
Snip-snip! And then, in the blink of an eye, the sheared wool piled up.
“…Baa?”
E──Eeeehhh? How did you do that?”
“Amazing, it was so clean in an instant…! Normally it would take an hour!”
The sheep, freed from fear and feeling lighter, rubs its head against Luna.
Luna laughed as she stroked the sheep’s head.
“If it’s okay with you, I’ll help you. Bring more and more of them to me.”
“A-are you sure? I’m so grateful for that…!”
“The Sahar Sheep are not scared, and the result is beautiful! You’ve got a talent for shearing, girl!”
“Phew, this is no big deal. After all, in the old days, they used to call me a headhunter──no, it’s nothing. Now, line them up right there.”
Luna shears the wool of all the sheep lined up in a row without missing a beat.
“Oooohhh! Amazing, I can’t see a thing, though!”
“T-the [Sahar Sheep] are starting to line up on their own…!”
“Baa, baa.”
Luna sheared the sheep one after another with her brilliant string work, and after a few minutes, a pile of fluffy wool was created.
＊＊＊
“Um, is there anything I can help you with…?”
Tito stopped to find the residents trying to carry a large amount of grass. Some of them were women and children, but they looked quite heavy and difficult.
A woman notices Tito and gently calls out to her.
“Oh, it’s rare to see a white cat beastman. Are you a traveler?”
“Yes. I can help you if you like.”
But the residents laughed and waved their hands.
“No problem, it’s heavy and hard work. I can’t let you do it, sweetheart.”
“But, um, I’d like to be of some help…!”
“Really? Thank you very much. But don’t push yourself too hard.”
“Yes, I’ll take care of it!”
Tito said and lifted up the pile of grass.
The residents rolled their eyes in amazement.
“Oh my! You’re so small, yet you’re so strong!”
“And you’re so exquisitely balanced… how do you keep it from collapsing…!”
“I-it’s very helpful, but are you sure you can hold it that well?”
“Yes! I’m also practicing force control, so let me continue to do it!”
Tito lightly carried not only grass but also firewood and foodstuffs and went back and forth again and again.
“Oh, look at that. The firewood is walking by itself.”
“Geez, Grandma. How is that possible──What is that? Oh, that’s not it; it’s a beastman girl carrying a pile of firewood! But how did she do that?”
“H-how could such a little girl carry something so heavy that it would take a horse half a day to carry it…? Could it be that my eyes have gone crazy…?”
Tito worked hard while astonishing the residents, and they were very grateful.
＊＊＊
“Well, that was great, thank you!”
“Hey, girls, you wanna come work for us?”
A little while after they started helping out. Luna and Tito, who had done a great job, were being sought after all over the place.
“You two are amazing! I have to work hard too! First, I have to carry the fodder…”
As Lexia worked hard, animals came to her.
“Baa, baa~!”
“Oh, no, you can’t go yet; you’ll have to go to the hut for your food. Be a good boy.”
“Neigh!”
“Kyaa? Don’t eat my skirt! You’ll get a tummy ache!”
“Bumomo!”
“So why are you so angry? Don’t pull my hair; it doesn’t taste good! Hey, wait… why am I surrounded by all these animals?”
“…That girl’s strangely liked by all the animals.”
Luna blurted out when she saw Lexia being swarmed by animals.
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