After walking around aimlessly, Caralsdoni finally reached the dried river bed. He had endured the itchiness as he had no clothes to change. Plus the fact that he was naked underneath so he can’t jump into the river with just his underwear on like he did when he was young.

” Hm…… ”

Caralsdoni had been thinking but not before long, he gave up. Yep, there was no other way. Caralsdoni, who reached enlightenment, jumped into the river with his robe on.

” I’ll just take this chance to wash it as well! ”

He cried in exultant.

Forgetting the bitter reality, he swam. His younger happy days about playing in the river came back to him as he began to play around too.

And it happened when he finally started to get out of the river.

Losing his balance and slipping on a rock, his upper body fell backwards into the river and he hit his head on the riverbed, hard. In a word, he tumbled. Tumbled.

” *Glub glub* ”

As he slowly lost conscious, he cursed the G.o.d. Oh G.o.d, why would you do this to me?! Was it because I sold that vase higher than it was supposed to be? No, maybe it was that carpet? Various things started appearing in his head but it was not the time to start regretting now.

As he fainted, his body drifted down the river.

” Ah! That is.. ”

A short and stout bear-liked man mumbled, having seen something from the bridge over the river he was standing on. Or rather, he was a bear.

Ah, no matter, the moment he said that, he leaped off the bridge in a movement that was very different from a normal person. Landing in the river without breaking a sweat, he carried the driftwood-like thing (Caralsdoni) under his arm and leaped out of the river again.

” To think I would be of use here. ”

Laying that driftwood(?) down onto the riverbed, the bear said.

” It is… artificial respiration and heart ma.s.sage, right? ”

Saying that, he tipped Caralsdoni’s chin up. Yes, it was as you had guessed, he was Buhual-san.

Who is he? Please remember. He was one of the shadows trio that attacked Will 3 years ago.

The moment Caralsdoni woke up had been a nightmare.

He can feel something soft on his lips. His soaked rope was chilly to the touch. The only thing calming him down was the rugged sensation on this back as he gulped down a breath.

…..Something on….his lips!?

He opened his eyes with hope, and the thing that entered his sight was a s.h.a.ggy, bearded bear-like uncle.

…..Which means..

Caralsdoni touched his lips as he turned pale. Di, did he did it with a man….. He had no idea what the situation was but all he knew was the lingering sensation he had on his lips.

It was- it was a nightmare…..

” Eh, eh, eh, ehhh, ahhhhh, erm… ”

His mind was totally in chaos. Throughout his long history as a merchant, he did panic before but even his panicking during his first sale was nothing as compared to now. Jumbled words leaked out of his mouth as he sat there, stunned, and it seemed like he was going to be in that state for a while.

Then Caralsdoni began to recall the situation before he fainted. Smelly, itchy, river….. fell.

Yes.

Caralsdoni tried to find an explanation that he could accept. Of course, Caralsdoni, who did not have the knowledge of artificial respiration, could find none.

Buhual-san, who had been glancing at Caralsdoni, came to knew that his ‘artificial respiration’ worked, stood up, placed Caralsdoni under his arm and started walking, almost skipping.

” Ma…. Maria, what is going to happen to me..? ”

[TN: Caralsdoni is from kansai! He is using Kansai-ben, something similar to either New York or Texan accent.]

Caralsdoni moaned, half-crying.

What does the future lie ahead? Before he realized, he drowned in the river and when he thought he was saved, he was then abducted by a bear. Caralsdoni, with his bleak future, truly wanted to curse G.o.d.

Escorted by Alc.u.medes-san, it was late afternoon by the time I reached the Academy.

And from then, the afternoon cla.s.s were a continuation of the morning cla.s.s regarding summoning beasts. Everyone were to summon their beast and developed a deeper bond with them.

As for the morning cla.s.s, it seemed to be about giving a nickname with their respective beasts, which had no connection with me having named mine.

That’s great, that’s great.

It was kinda impossible for me to fall behind in terms of studying but I had been missing a few of my practices. I can’t really tell my cla.s.smates the reason for not being able to attend was because ‘I was summoned by the King ☆’….

The Hero of the Nation, Father and the Leader of the Nation, the King. The 2 people who were greatly respected. Who am I, who knew the both of them? Ah, though I am Father’s son. It was going to be hard if I was to be compared to them.

…..An Ikemen King… Which novel did he take inspiration from, d.a.m.n it.

Father was my only salvation.

Though through all the rumors and hearsay, I found that the people of this nation had been beautifying him. I wondered if they were troubled about what reaction to give when they really met him in person. Ah no, they actually screamed enthusiastically. For what reason, it was a mystery.

A-h, I had been rambling about useless stuff.

And thus, cla.s.s ended without any problems and I was dragged back to our room by Zen….

” And, what did the Headmaster say? ”

Zen, who was not even hiding his curiosity, attacked me with his question.

” It was not the Headmaster. I was summoned by someone else. ”

And the image of Alc.u.medes-san popped into my head.

” Eh!? What what? Who was it, who was it?? ”

This guy really only took this kind of bait. I grinned.

” His Majesty. ”

” ………eh. ”

Zen simply let out a foolish sound in respond. As he tried to digest the truth, Zen’s eyes fell out of his sockets as he used his brain…..which, of course, did not really happen as it was just a metaphor.

How amusing.

Noticing the grinning me, Zen shouted.

” You can’t trick me, you’re lying! ”

” I’m not, I’m really not! ”

Laughing, I looked at the ceiling, wanting to explain everything to Zen.

” …..If you want a proof, how about asking that person? ”

Like always, Zen had a blank look on as he went ‘Huh?’ and looked up towards the ceiling, giving me no time to warn him before something heavy falling could be heard.

The family motto that was pa.s.sed down with the Ninja family since the era of the First Founder was this.

[Instead of hearing it a hundred time, see it for yourself once.]

[TN:『百回聞くより一回見ろ』Biyaku kai kiku yori yi kai mi ro]

It was said that this motto was told by the First Founder to the head of the family at that time. It was short and to the point. Being the one who dealt with information, he knew the importance of authenticity. Of course, rumors and hearsay was not said to be unimportant as well. Information can also be taken from knowing why and how rumors started.

But, no matter how much he had heard, he could not determine the authenticity without seeing it for himself. It was not to say people were lying. When people retold information, it would be tainted with their perspective and opinions and wouldn’t be objective.

Which was why Zirco held the motto close to his heart. This fact was made clear to the King multiple times so the moment he brought Williams’ name out, it was understandable that he was given approval to investigate.

That’s right.

The King knew about it…….

Zirco, despite having deep respect for the King, could not believe his ears. He was perplexed as how he could not even believe his partners, who had brought him much information and had never lied to him.

Which was why, he did something that was unbecoming of an intelligence officer.

Normally, it was a highly covert activity to gather information. And it was also why the Ninja family had been working and supporting the King for so many years.

―――― The Wind attribute.

For some reason, the Ninja family could produce people highly talented in the Wind attribute. And it went without saying, it was very effective for espionage. Its theory was unclear, but they were able to use wind to erase any noise they produced and was thus able to erase their presence. Plus, intelligence officer like Zirco had many years of experience in that skill. He was able to keep all of his mana inside of him and even when using, he was able to direct the mana back into himself and was almost impossible to detect.

Did he grow careless because he was just 8 years old?

No, he did not.

Zirco rejected the reason he came up himself.

Even if he was only 8 years old, he was recognized by the Gion-sama. He was sure he had 120% of his guard up. And in this job, he cannot afford to be careless. He was always keeping his guard up. It was easy to lose everything if he relaxes.

But.

Why was he detected? Did his magic fail?

No, it can’t be.

Did his mana leak out?

No. Not possible. Will was rumored to have defeated Abi so he had kept his mana from leaking out to the limit that he could avoid being sensed.

It can’t be, to be able with just that?

Normally, that reason was the easiest to accept but Zirco just can’t. He could not believe it. He had underrated him.

Again, he came to understand Kesamu’s magnificent ability and his own inexperience. Even if his heart had not understood and was not well satisfied, he had finished processing his own feelings and information.

――――Even if he was caught by his opponent, there was no hostile feelings coming from him.

In that case. Zirco slouched and reached for a panel from the ceiling. Even if he hated revealing himself, it was deemed to be the best thing to do in this situation. The rumor about defeating Abi immediately became credible as well.

As Zirco came to a conclusion, he reluctantly removed a panel from the ceiling and landed into Will’s and Zen’s room.

As I stared at the ceiling, a panel was removed cleanly with a *cluck* and from that hole, a man dressed completely in black came flying down. Zen, bewildered to the point that his voice won’t work, stared at me.

I had felt a wind presence. The moment I walked into my room, I felt that presence and that he was trying to hide it. I was a kid who had just told the King I defeated Abi. I guessed this was someone, maybe a ninja, was sent by the King to confirm that fact.

But I had not guessed his appearance. Which was why I cried out without thinking.

” …….《忍者》? ”

[TN: Ninja]