Once you've camped three times, you start getting used to it.
Since I can't go back to sleep anyway, I guess I should get up.
Or rather, this flimsy canopy was flapping so loudly in the morning wind that it woke me up.
"Morning, Wearrel."
"Good morning, Lord Asha. You rise early. Is something amiss?"
"Nah, I just woke up early. I'll get ready myself, so take your time, Wearrel."
I call out to Wearrel, who had been keeping watch outside the tent.
Then I wash my face and change clothes inside.
Normally I'd call for Nomariola or a maidservant, but they're probably exhausted from this unfamiliar journey, even if we are traveling by carriage.
Looking outside, the sun has only just begun to rise, so I'd feel bad waking anyone still asleep.
(Sephira, you there?)
(Just returned.)
(Where'd you go today? Anyone wandering around at night?)
Sephira doesn't sleep, so she seems to go out at night when she's bored.
She's been doing that since we were at the palace, but now that we've left, there's so much she hasn't experienced before that she seems to be thoroughly enjoying nature.
Hearing her stories has become my entertainment during the journey.
Separately from that, when camping like this, people sometimes come to scout this defenseless tent.
Of course, I'm on guard against assassins, so I've set up simple tripwires with bells inside the tent, and tireless Sephira has erected magical defenses as well.
But I think they're probably still just reconnoitering.
Because the goal is to keep me away, so there's not much need to obstruct the path I'm taking.
If so, they'd only seriously attempt to take my life after we've properly left the Imperial Capital.
Or on the return trip to the capital.
(Scanned the nearby forest. Discovered wild-growing Golden Root within walking distance for Master.)
(Huh, wild? The kind that documents say can only be grown at the palace during good weather years?)
It seems Sephira has found a rare medicinal herb.
It looks plain with its yellow roots, but it's called Golden Root because of its extraordinary effects that can somehow remedy most internal organ disorders.
Wild specimens are especially potent, and she says it's within ten minutes' walking distance.
But if I go to get it, Wearrel will probably follow.
I'd feel bad since he's keeping watch, and even if not, I'd have to wake others to stand guard.
(It's completely bright outside now, so if I go and return using optical camouflage, I should be fine in ten minutes?)
(Understood.)
The moment I think it, Sephira agrees and activates optical camouflage.
Well, since I've decided, I should hurry up and...
"And then I got careless, rushed, and messed up."
I mutter, sitting down in the forest.
It was fine until I entered the forest and dug up the Golden Root, but I got carried away and became careless on the way back.
That's when two Imperial Guards were strolling through the forest, and I startled them with the sudden encounter.
Sephira didn't warn me either, so it was too unexpected, and I slipped.
"...Whoa."
"What's with 'whoa'?"
The two guards say that while looking down at me where I slipped.
It seems they couldn't see me the moment I fell due to the optical camouflage, but they heard the sound and peeked over.
Our eyes meet perfectly where I've fallen on the slope.
When I fell, Sephira couldn't cover me in time and the optical camouflage broke, so though they can see me, the guards are making disgusted sounds and trying to leave.
"I heard something. Is someone there? Ah, could it be... Are you alright?"
I hear a woman's voice and the sound of someone sliding down the slope.
Looking, from a position where the guards couldn't see, at the same low height as me, someone who looks like a female knight approaches.
She has black hair in a ponytail, orange eyes filled with firm resolve.
And pointed ears characteristic of an elf, wearing a military uniform.
"You would be the First Prince. Have you been injured?"
"No, I just slipped from above while taking a walk. I think I came down skillfully. Only my shoes suffered damage."
Just got dirty with leaf mold, I suppose.
Ah, and my socks too.
Looking up, the two guards are still there.
But when they meet eyes with the black-haired elf, they leave without a word this time.
"Hah? Hey! Aren't you going to lend His Highness a hand!?"
"Ah, it's fine. Those people probably just think they were demoted because they disobeyed His Majesty's direct orders."
"Huh, eh?"
"I recognize one of them. Quite a while ago, when I was meeting with His Majesty, they tried to make three-year-old me kneel and committed rudeness, so His Majesty scolded them. I suppose they think they were demoted because of that."
Nowadays only Okappa accompanies me, but there used to be others in the past, and I remember people in various uniforms.
The reason numbers decreased was, well, because they weren't the type to do incomprehensible things like Okappa.
There were those assigned to open and close doors in front of rooms, and other guards apparently remained at the boundary with the main building.
The result of Father keeping everyone but Okappa away because they were meddlesome and obstructive.
"Well, if they tried putting their hands on their sword hilts facing me now, it wouldn't be a mere demotion anymore."
I look at the grove where the two guards are hiding, pretending to have left but eavesdropping.
The black-haired elf was already looking that way, having apparently caught something before I did.
According to Sephira, it seems they were gripping their hilts.
Those Imperial Guards who were excluded by Father.
"...They appear to have truly left this time. Are those really Imperial Guards?"
"They're genuine."
The black-haired elf lends me her hand to stand me up.
I could see anger on her face.
When she notices my gaze, her expression becomes concerned, so it seems she was angry on my behalf.
"There is actually precedent for those who put their hands on their sword hilts toward me resigning, so I think colleagues who don't want to be dragged in will stop them if they go berserk."
I said that deliberately as a warning.
According to Sephira, the one who didn't grab his sword was the one who stopped him and dragged him away.
Imperial Guards ordered by the Emperor to protect me resent me because they think they were demoted because of me.
It's troublesome if they're sycophantic like military officials, but rebelliousness that only tightens the noose around their own necks is also annoying.
The one who arranged this unpleasant personnel matter was probably one of the dukes.
I wonder where they're putting their ingenuity into selecting people who are subtly inconvenient for me to use.
"So, what is your name? First, I want to know what to call you to express my thanks."
"I merely did what was natural. However, if you ask, I shall answer. I am Captain Selinuntiare Likten Salvir of the Command Headquarters Attached Squad Management Team."
"Thank you, Captain Salvir. Could I ask you to escort me back to the tent?"
"Leave it to me."
She's serious.
And apparently not from noble birth.
Her name doesn't sound like an Imperial baptismal name, so she might not be Imperial-born.
How is it that people who don't emphasize respect for the Emperor treat me more like a prince?
"You seem to have strayed quite far from your tent. Did you become separated from your attendants?"
"Huh, it's right there. I just came quietly to get something rare I spotted."
When I show her the dug-up Golden Root, Captain Salvir is surprised.
"This was growing wild? And you recognized it immediately. You possess excellent knowledge."
Praised more lavishly than expected.
I think Captain Salvir is also impressive for knowing about rare Golden Root.
"Ah, look. Over there... Oh, it seems they noticed I slipped out."
"This close? Did I walk that far?"
Captain Salvir looks around dubiously.
I don't have time for that due to Ikt's silent pressure at the forest's edge.
And Wearrel, unable to bear it, comes running toward me.
"Lord Asha, if only you had called out...!"
"Sorry, I meant to return quickly but fell. Captain Salvir here escorted me back."
"Then, thank you very much."
"No, you must also have a difficult position. First Prince, while your wide knowledge and initiative not to miss opportunities are admirable, you should take better care of yourself."
Though I got reprimanded for walking alone by Captain Salvir as well, it seems I didn't leave too bad an impression.
"...So this is what Wald was talking about."
Captain Salvir leaves just like that, so I couldn't confirm, but it's a name I've heard before.
But before thinking about that, I have to tell my attendants what happened in the forest first.
"Likten? That is the clan name of Lord Wald. She must be an elf of the same clan."
Wearrel, who is half-elf, immediately tells me the answer.
Come to think of it, the hair and eye colors are the same, but the inheritance of physical colors in this world is questionable, so I hadn't paid attention.
Of course, after this, with Helkov arriving late, I ended up getting lectured by them.
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Next: March and General 4