Episode 282.1


    (EP-282.1) King #1


    282 – Bandit King #1


    As I sat in the carriage, lost in thought, someone suddenly poked me in the side.


    “Theo, what are you thinking about?”


    It was Narmi. It seemed that Narmi and Mirna had indeed switched ces. I shrugged my shoulders casually.


    “Nothing much. I was just wondering if we’d reach Big River before evening. I heard it should appear if we follow this river.”


    “I see! I thought you were thinking about that Tefer you heard about earlier. The missing archmage girl.”


    The missing archmage girl.


    It was certainly an intriguing story, but I figured that the White Mage Tower would already be handling the situation, so there was no need for me to intervene.


    They mentioned that the White Mage Tower was in Big River, where we’re headed. Once in the city, it’s enough to simply check in and hear a report about the situation.


    “But do you really think that Tefer was taken down by bandits? A Rank 5 Archmage would be practically invincible to bandits, wouldn’t they?”


    At Narmi’s curious question, I nced out at the river stretching alongside us, deep in thought.


    Rank 5 mages were few in number, with less than 20 in the world.


    Naturally, the individual strength of each of them would be strong enough to be counted in the double digits if limited to mages.


    In contrast, bandits were weakpared to mages.


    They’re weak, vile people, which was why they resort to banditry.


    Normally, even if arge group of bandits gathered, it would be difficult for them to stand a chance against a genius archmage of the 5th rank…


    As I was deep in thought, Ste added ament.


    “Fighting isn’t something you can quantify with numbers or calctions. Especially when ites to survival, there are countless variables. With those variables, even an archmage can lose to bandits.”


    “And what kind of variables are those?”


    Narmi’s bold question seemed to catch Ste off guard for a moment. She crossed her arms with her eyes closed, and after a brief pause, responded lightly.


    “The most ssic variable would be having someone to protect. Or perhaps the bandits, being the cowards they are, took a hostage. The mages of the White Mage Tower are kind-hearted.”


    A hostage, huh.


    That certainly made sense.


    “By the way, this is Narmi-yang, right? You’re quite different from your sister, Mirna-yang. I wonder if you take after your mother, na, rather than Aleister seonbae?”


    “You know my mom? And calling my dad ‘seonbae’? Isn’t the Professor older?”


    Narmi’s innocent question made Ste chuckle lightly as she responded.


    “The way elves and short-lived humans calcte age is different. I suppose if I were topare myself to an average short-lived human, I’d be around 23 years old now.”


    Is that so?


    It reminded me of how people often say, “A 15 year old dog is 80 in human years.”


    Maybe elves calcte their age simrly.


    Narmi giggled at this.


    “Then, if I calcte my age the elven way, I’d be about 120 years old! Theo, I’m 120 years old!”


    Lady Narmi was always so bright.


    What about me?


    Considering my original age was about 25 years, if I calcte that in elven years, I’d be over 150 years old.


    “Then, since I’m currently 25 years old, that makes me older than Professor Ste in elf years. Please use honorifics to me as a sign of respect from now on.”


    “What? Th-there’s no such rule!”


    “Uh-huh, who dares to speak like that to their elder?”


    “Whaaat?”


    Ste was flustered.


    And so, we spent our time in the carriage chatting away. It’s nice to sit quietly and enjoy the scenery, but traveling was more fun when you can chat like this and make time fly by.


    Thanks to that, we managed to arrive at Big River just before the sun set. The hippogriff pulling the carriage was incredibly fast.


    “It took us nine hours, but if we go by elf time, it’s like we arrived in less than an hour, right?”


    At my question, Ste’s pointed ears twitched slightly through her hair.


    “Alright, alright. I admit I was wrong, so please stop. That whole elf-age thing is just an elf joke, nothing more.”


    “I was joking too.”


    Hihi.


    Teasing elves was quite entertaining. It’s fun.


    Maybe the nymph genes deep within me instinctively find amusement in bothering and teasing elves.


    Anyway, when we passed through the gates of Big River, a ratherrge city in the north, we were met by a group of guards who blocked our carriage.


    “Are you Sir Theo Gospel, Lady Draco, and yourpanion, Ste Von Bellhawk?”


    Just as anyone would feel a bit uneasy if the police suddenly pulled them over even if they’ve done nothing wrong, it’s natural to feel a bit nervous when guards start checking your identity.


    “I am Theo Gospel. What’s the matter?”


    My calm yet confident response prompted the guard captain to bow his head respectfully after checking our identification.


    “We’ve been expecting you. An escort will arrive shortly, so please wait a moment.”


    We disembarked from the carriage and sat in the guards’ office. Although I didn’t know what was going on, at least it didn’t seem like they intend us any harm.


    * * *


    After waiting for about five minutes, a man with a splendid white beard entered the guardroom.


    Dressed in a well-tailored suit with a stylish monocle and leaning on a curved cane, he looked every bit the distinguished old gentleman.


    When he bowed to us, Ste, who had been sitting in her chair looking bored, suddenly widened her eyes.


    “Aren’t you Dolches?”


    “For the Fairy Princess to remember this body, it is an immense honor.”


    Dolches?


    As I racked my brain, trying to recall where I’d heard that name before, Narmi leaned in to whisper to me.