Chapter 98

Norfe would have liked to have asked Chouze why the orange girl had been in the room, but he decided to greet the merman first . After all, the merman on the sofa looked familiar to him .

Chouze was too young to remember it . However, the royals of every country must meet the merfolk chief when they are young . That’s why Edwy remembered Amia as well .

“Merfolk chief . ”

“So, you remember me, human child . ”

“I remember meeting you when I was very young . What brought you to a place like this?”

Norfe couldn’t help but ask the question .

“I merely answered the request of the child . ”

Amia said as he looked at Chouze . She was smiling happily at him .

“No, that’s not what I meant . Why are you even in Highland in the first place?”

“I was in the lakes of the dwarf lands last month . ”

Amia said . It was as if going from lake to lake was the most natural thing for him .

“Well…that is… But merfolk are almost never seen in these parts . ”

Surprisingly, Norfe seemed to realize that something was going on . Amia leaned on his elbow and shrugged carelessly .

“I could ask you the same question . Why are you here, when it’s not even the hottest season?”

It’s odder that you are here . Norfe was at a loss for words, however, this was the reason .

“I didn’t think that it was you, but I heard the news that a merman was taken by the mirror lake . And I was ordered to bring this merman to the royal capital . ”

Amia raised an eyebrow .

“The royal capital? Of Highland? But there are no waterways that connect to that city . It’s impossible . ”

“Yes . And so a large lake will be prepared . You can stay there…”

Norfe was sweating as he said this . In fact…

“I want to see the captured merman . So bring him to me . There is a large lake near the palace if it needs water . ”

That was the actual order . He hadn’t really thought much of it at first . But now that he was facing Amia, the whole thing looked incredibly insolent and rude .

“Water that does not move? It will not do . ”

“Then we shall prepare clean water that flows . Will you come then?”

Norfe was persistent . Unlike the other royals who were merely curious, Norfe had always wanted to invite the other races to Highland . Even if it was not possible now, they could draw water from the mountains in a few years’ time .

“I discussed this with that child already . If you want to meet us, you should come to the merfolk island . There are always many of us waiting there . They especially enjoy meeting children . ”

“However, we would have to pass through Midland in order to reach it . ”

Norfe wanted to tell him that it was no easy thing to do .

“Borders may as well not exist . Besides, you are all humans . ”

“Maybe that was so in the past . But royals cannot just pass through Midland . There is no way to avoid traveling through Midland or Lowland in order to visit the other territories . ”

“And you do not want to do that?”

Norfe nodded .

“Still, the Highland capital is not so enticing that I would go against my instincts in order to visit . ”

“If not you chief, perhaps some other merfolk can?”

“I doubt anyone would want to visit . ”

Norfe was troubled . An order was an order . Failing was not an option . Chouze watched them both with a worried expression .

“Will you not consider it? Think about it for one day . ”

“No . ”

The chief would not budge . Norfe bit his lip . But…

“I will visit you again tomorrow . ”

He said as he tried to leave the room .

Norfe…”

“Chouze . You come too . ”

Norfe said to her as he looked back . Then they both left the room .

“It’s perfect . If I run away, then he’ll have an excuse for not being able to take me back to the capital . ”

To Amia, Norfe was also a child .

He could leave right now if he wanted to . Amia thought as he looked out the window, where the guards stood . With a swing of his hand, they would fly into the air . However, if the beloved children were going to come for him, that would be more amusing . His tail slapped the sofa happily .

At the same time, Maki and Chiharu were on a road that was quite far from the lake town . Aaron was very angry with them . To be precise, he was very angry at Chiharu .

“Why is it always you!”

“Yes, I’m sorry . By the way…”

“By the way?”

“No, um, yes…”

“Are you really sorry!”

And on it went . However, the reason that it went on longer than it should, was because Chiharu was quite distracted . She kept looking at what was behind Aaron . As for why that was…

“I had heard the rumors, but the upwards wind current in Highland sure is nice . ”

“It’s only one day from Midland . ”

“Next time, we should quietly sneak into the royal capital . ”

Very loud indeed .

“Chiharu?”

“Ahh! But, um, I…”

“I didn’t see anything . ”

Aaron did not look behind him . As for Maki…

“Huh . So this is the current Saintess . ”

“It’s just as Sauro said . She looks very easy to carry . ”

“And very cute, just like Saikania told me . ”

She was surrounded by brown birdfolk and seemed quite stunned .

“Edwy, Zynis . Isn’t this supposed to be a secret mission?”

Maki asked .

“I heard that it was . That’s why I invited eagle birdfolk, because they don’t draw attention when flying up high . ”

Answered Edwy .

“Hmm? We didn’t come here for any mission . ”

“We’re just sightseeing in Highland . ”

“Because Sauro told us that once we cross the sea, all the human lands are connected . ”

“And while we birdfolk don’t like flying long distances, if we do our best and cross the sea, we can then play as much as we want!”

The birdfolk said . That Sauro! He always brought the most troublesome types . She wasn’t sure how many of them there were, but with so many noisy brown birds around, Maki was reminded of sparrows . And they would still stick out, no matter how high they were .

“Since they came all the way here, I asked them to carry us to the villa . That will be faster . ”

Edwy said with a shrug . It was like he didn’t care much anymore .

The carriage they had used was already being driven to the next town . Maki and Chiharu were supposed to rescue the merman and then fly with the birds to the border .

“You can fly during the night as well?”

“It’s harder to see, but normal flight shouldn’t be a problem . ”

Kleo said .

“Now, let’s practice!”

“Practice?”

“We don’t have much experience carrying humans . So we want to practice to see how long we can carry you . ”

“Practice for you!”

Chiharu was surprised . Even though they weren’t Sauro, they were just as odd . Then Kleo turned to Chiharu .

“Now, baggage . ”

“I’m not baggage!”

“Line up! First, you must fly down towards their backs and grab onto them before rising into the air . After that, we’ll do it while they are running . Start!”

“Are you listening?”

However, Maki and Chiharu, and even Aaron and Edwy as well, were forced to train with the birdfolk until the sun came down .

“Ah . It’s perfect, thanks to you…”

Maki sat down and looked at the sky . Even though they were small, these birdfolk were strong . In fact, the birdfolk were still flying around energetically after training . Maki was sure that people would be able to see them from the road . Chiharu, who was sitting next to her, said,

“But, Maki-chan…”

“What?”

“Why did everyone need to train? It only needed to be one birdfolk for each human . ”

Maki looked at Chiharu with surprise .

“Chiharu . It took you that long to notice…”

“So-sorry…”

Chiharu was tired as well . After all, so much had happened that day .

And then the night of the mission arrived .