「We don’t have the scope to spare manpower for such a thing!」

「It can’t be helped since the Prince’s Coming of Age ceremony is less than a month from now! Even now, it’s because of these preparations that we’re lacking in manpower!」

「Don’t you want to let His Highness Chennel return to his own country!?」

In the spacious room, the meeting was thrown into a chaos. I, while noncommittally listening, pulled my hood over my eyes and laid face down, stifling a yawn. l was exhausted.

I was always tired of these regular meetings, held once a week to ensure the smooth sailing of life within the royal palace. Why? It was because they were only crunching numbers and nobody expected me to say anything.

I thought, if that was the case, it’d be fine if they just didn’t bother calling me at all, but it seemed that as long as you showed your face, it was tolerated. Our captain-dono said that it was due to the past, that our positions had remained unchanged, but when I thought of how they were all attending the meeting while thinking the same thing, it was all a giant waste of time.

However, if we ended up not even being called to this meeting, the increasingly declining prestige of our Order would become more and more noticeable. I, a single-minded youth, chose the seat prepared in the most inconspicuous corner, trying to stifle my yawns throughout the meeting.

Incidentally, I did not have the position required to attend this meeting. Actually, it was the captain who was supposed to attend, but he, being well past his prime, would be sleeping soundly every time, unfazed by all the eyes on him. As expected, censured by the rest of the attendees, our captain, who felt bothered, ended up pushing it onto me.

Captain told everyone around, 「The second-in-command, Nidel shall attend in my stead from now on.」, but I was not even really the one next-in-charge. It was because even the ones amongst us who were meant to be the next captain, were actually also elderly people who dreaded going out, and thus this burden was pushed onto me. Our Order was filled with a bunch of shut-ins.

Thanks to that, it was mostly up to me to show my face for official matters.

「Certainly, in our views, it’s most welcome for Chennel-sama be returned to his own country, but the travel might be dangerous.」

When the Prime Minister was talking, the King, who until then had a long face in the center of the room, looked over to us and lowered his head.

「This is a request from the King. I’m sorry everyone, but please cooperate.」

When the King said that, even the ones who had been loudly expressing their disapproval, made a sour face and remained silent. As expected, when the King made a request, they wouldn’t dare to say 「Don’t wanna」.

Even though our king was not a talented person full of unique wisdom, his personality was gentle and pleasant, I had always thought of him as a good ruler.

To begin with, our country’s Kings had always been docile, no matter what era. With people around him always being reliable, perhaps it was balanced out.

Incidentally, the ones with power were the three main divisions: the Prime Minister, the Royal Knight Order and the Royal Palace Magic Order . It could easily be said that these three controlled the country.

Even within the meetings, people had always said that.

Today’s meeting topic of discussion was a prince of a foreign country, Prince Chennel. Even if I did address him as a Prince, he was just the third prince, merely seven years old. Prince Chennel’s country was a small rural country (our country too wasn’t a particularly large one), but it had a heartwarmingly good relation with our country in the past, and for the sake of cultural exchange, relatives of the royal family had often stayed here spanning to several months.

This time, under the pretext of our country’s Crown Prince’s Coming of Age ceremony drawing near, they had come to play all the way since last month.

I had also seen him numerous times, with a bright and gentle face (which was indeed countryside-like), he was a cute prince.

Prince Chennel’s homeland was relatively peaceful, but unusually, there had been discord and disputes arising over blood lately. It seemed that they were fighting over the throne. The sparks extended to even Prince Chennel, and for that reason, they were aiming for his life.

He probably judged that it was safer to stay in our country as compared to his homeland, and thus he was to stay in our country as planned till the internal conflict in his homeland had calmed down. Moreover, there had been a request from the other King, who said「I’m sorry, I want you to strengthen the guards around Chennel.」.

Even if we were in peacetime, we were now in the middle of preparing for the Crown Prince’s Coming of Age ceremony or something like that, and we could barely spare more than the bare minimum strength for some foreign country’s Prince. That was the truth, but we couldn’t possibly say that upfront.

Even our country had appearances to maintain.

「Can’t they just send guards from over there?」

Suddenly, the Squad Commander-dono of the Royal Knight Order spoke. From the Knight Order and the Royal Palace Magic Order , three people each were attending. One could easily tell that they had massive strength just from the numbers.

「It seems that the circumstances there, do not allow for people to leave the country as of now. I’ve heard this will last till just before the Coming of Age ceremony. Someone else who has planned to attend will come along, and after the ceremony, will take His Highness Chennel back home.」

「I see…」

After hearing the Prime Minister’s reply, Squad Commander Legato said nothing more, and obediently withdrew. He scowled just a bit and made a complicated expression.

I gazed at that figure from under my hood. The best way for me to kill time during the meeting was to gaze at the Squad Commander of the Royal Knight Order, Legato.

Because I was only stealthily observing from under my hood, the other party wouldn’t notice.

I’ve held a one-sided interest, or should I say, a special affection towards this squad commander. And of course he’s a person that was worthy to look at.

Legato and I had a lot of things in common. First of all, our age was the same. He was the youngest amongst the attendees of this meeting at only twenty seven years old. That meant that he had reached this peak position capable of attending this meeting at this age. I too was attending as well, but it wasn’t as if I had an official post, so our circumstances were different.

The time when we began working at the royal palace was also the same. We both entered the Royal Knight Order and the Technological Magic Order respectively at the age of eighteen.

There were two magic Orders in our kingdom. The Royal Palace Magic Order and the Technological Magic Order .

Of course, it went without saying that the Royal Palace Magic Order were better than us. Our Technological Magic Order got the dropout treatment so to speak. Our numbers only totalled fifteen, and we resided in a dark, narrow, old and tiny tower at the edge of the Royal Palace premises. We were thought of as irresolute and doing work without understanding anything. Thanks to that, we were made fun of, even within the Royal Palace, and our status was exceedingly low.

Well, it wouldn’t be wrong to call us dropouts, being a gathering of people who couldn’t adapt to the Royal Palace Magic Order , magicians who didn’t have any particularly special talents or ones whose usage were difficult, or those with absolutely no social skills.

But, in my opinion, in terms of ability in magic, we definitely wouldn’t lose to them, and in terms of variety, we surely excelled over them. Of course, I possessed the strength to think that I was the best in that field within the kingdom.

In the Technological Magic Order, there were many instances when the work was simple. Repairing a magic tool, and other mediocre things like that.

Because it was filled with people who only had thoughts of magic throughout the day, shut in the tower, we were quite friendly amongst each other, but we had absolutely no social interaction towards outsiders. Thanks to that, even I, who did not particularly possess any social skills was seen as 「Extremely Sociable」by them, and all contacts with the outside was pushed onto me. I thought of pushing that work onto my juniors once they grew up a bit, but for now the reality was that I was left with no choice but to undertook the work assigned by my shut-in senpais.

Because all the members of the Technological Magic Order , wore sultry black robes, pulling the hood over their eyes hiding their faces, and lying face down walked unsteadily, I thought it couldn’t be helped that we were looked down upon.

It was too different from the brilliant white robed figures of the Royal Palace Magic Order, or the imposing figures of the Knight Order .

And, the time when Legato and I reached our current position was also the same. He took the position of squad commander last year. The Royal Knight Order had to be more nimble than the main force, so since time immemorial they have had comparatively younger leaders, but that did not change the fact that he was chosen.

I also assumed the post of public relations or rather, I was the one who went out when there was need for someone to go out in the Technological Magic Order. I was certainly thought of as the 「vice-leader」 by everyone around. I didn’t intend for that though.

Legato was a fine man even from the eyes of a man like me. He was tall, and as a knight who had attained balance, he had an ideal body type. And since he had been selected for the post of captain, he was capable. Even though he was capable, he indeed did not have strong and rugged looks, but was refreshing and cool. His ashen hair was cut in a neat style, his eyes had a tinge of blue in them, and his features were also good.

Certainly he was a subordinate, but he seemed like a someone from a noble peerage. Maybe that was why he had elegance. His nature too was earnest and he was a hard worker, and he was modest too. His attitude toward the people who held a lower position was courteous, and he was never arrogant. The fact that both his hand in sword and his position as a captain were fruits of his hard labour, was something that one could understand just by looking.

That degree of perfection was somewhat obnoxious, but the reason he was not disliked was because he was teased by his superiors for being a type to sometimes go round in circles. Being too serious would become his foe, and occasionally he would even be a bonehead. That was certainly worth teasing. He was said to be a lovable person.

Anyhow, even if that was included, he was still a man who left nothing to be desired.

Just as our personal histories were similar, and our positions were also similar, I felt, in one way and another, that he was treated as a doormat by the main force’s members just like me. I often saw the main troops push bothersome work onto the squad. The squad commander Legato, without voicing a single complaint, would do the work earnestly. He was too obedient. You could feel his good upbringing.

If it were me, I’d definitely complain.

Legato, being the same age as I, might have been slightly bothered about me, but if I had to say then it felt as if he were keeping away from me. I’m sure he, who was diligent, couldn’t tolerate someone like me who seemed the insincere type.

A person who did nothing but stifle yawns all throughout the meeting.

It wasn’t as if I particularly wanted to get close to him, but the part of me that held a sense of closeness to him wanted him to do his best.

「Anyhow, I know that we lack the manpower, but we shall provide guards to Chennel-sama for this one month. Tomorrow evening, the concerned people shall gather again. Till then, please sketch up a guard plan.」

When the prime minister spoke, members of the Knight Order gave out a sigh, yet replied in the affirmative. I once again stifled a yawn. The guard matter had nothing to do with our order.

Like that, I listened to it completely as someone else’s matters, but when the king suddenly turned to me and said a few words, I shook my body in surprise.

「Nidel, won’t you go out as a bodyguard from the Tech side?」

Told by the king I stared in wonder for a moment. Incidentally our Technological Magic Order was often called 「Tech」or 「Tech Order」in short.

It seemed I was not the only one surprised by the king’s words, simultaneously from my surroundings bewildered voices were raised. Incidentally, the ones who showed the strongest displeasure were the Royal Palace Magic Order.

「Your Highness, what do you mean by that!? That we, the Royal Palace Magic Order would lack ability if we went by ourselves!? To borrow the strength of Tech!」

「N-No…That’s not it, it’s because we’re lacking in manpower, that I thought of seeking the cooperation of Tech…」

The king offered an explanation even while being overwhelmed by the vigour of the Royal Palace Magic Order.

「It’s impossible for Tech to become bodyguards! The coordination will unnecessarily be in disarray! Even if you do not worry, we shall join hands with the Knight Order and become proper guards!」

「I-see…I’ll leave it to you…」

The king nodded while being forced by their vigour, but he still turned his gaze towards me in a regretful manner. I was uneasy at the king’s gaze; it seemed as if he wanted to say something, but he added nothing more.

The Royal Palace Magic Order too threw a scowling gaze, and I nonchalantly averted my eyes from that gaze. I had no intentions of burdening myself with unnecessarily troublesome things.

The Royal Palace Magic Order had incredible pride and hated our Order putting our noses in their affairs the most. That gaze eloquently conveyed that it was best that Tech stealthily worked behind the scenes under the feet of the Royal Palace Magic Order.

Moreover, I who had no qualms whatsoever, wouldn’t adopt a defiant attitude. We were not suited for the role of bodyguards. Anyhow, if I accepted such a job, I could see it coming back to me.

Tech being Tech, at present there was a dizzying rush. As we inched close to the prince’s coming of age ceremony, small jobs such as repairing the magic in toolset within the palace piled up like a mountain. I didn’t want to add jobs needlessly.

The meeting closed, leaving behind the Knight Order and the Royal Palace Magic Order who were discussing in all seriousness, the others were all scattered and left that place behind.

I, while traversing the royal palace, hastened my steps towards the tower that was my haunt.

It seems the black robe that each of the Technological Order were wearing was not the uniform per se, but because everyone else was wearing it, I too decided to do the same. When you wore the hood, you could block out the gazes from the surroundings as well as the sunlight so it was convenient.

I myself had black hair and black eyes, thus had a familiarity towards black, and felt at peace for some reason while wearing it, so I was fond of this robe.

When I left from the black door of the royal palace and walked to the depths, from the corner, the short tower of the Technological Magic Order where I worked stood. From the time the king’s palace built it, that tower that stood unchanged was considerably old and shabby. However, we occasionally repaired it by ourselves, so the inside was comfortable compared to its outer appearance.

Entering the dark and chilly tower, when I showed my face on the single floor room where everyone was present, the black masses that were crouched down on the gaps between the piled up tools disconnectedly rose their heads.

「Hi Nidel…How was the meeting?」

Looking at the senpais who approached restlessly or the kouhais who only raised their heads and stayed where they were, it somehow gave of a feeling of a gathering of black insects.

「An excellent problem came. On the matter of Prince Chennel.」

「Ahh…They’re aiming for his life, right? It seemed as if the disputes had been settled, but it seems the rebellion members paid an assassin, and the assassin wants to execute it.」

Hunon, who was scheduled to become the next leader, nodded with a know-it-all look. I wondered why he knew such information, but Hunon was an abnormally well-informed person. I always thought he’d go out for the meeting, having the capability to get such information, and being scheduled to be the next leader, but Hunon was a person who hated troublesome things. I suspected he had the intention to let me continue being the one to show his face outside even if Hunon became the captain. Most probably, that was for sure. He had a greater ability than I, and it was not possible to defy Hunon, who was twice my age for real, and I felt heavy-hearted from then on.

「If our work increased with the task of becoming bodyguards at such a busy time, everyone would be having a headache, right?」

At Hunon, who completely considered it someone else’s job, I shrugged my shoulders.

「Because the king entrusted the job of becoming bodyguards to us, the Royal Palace Order were enraged」

「Eh, us!?」

At my words, everyone in the room shook in surprise, and looked towards me with frightened eyes. I waved my hands with a bitter smile.

「The Royal Palace Order aren’t angry anymore, so it’s fine.」

「Haa…Thank goodness…」

「If we became bodyguards…we’d die.」

「At such times, the Royal Palace Order are reliable.」

The air of relief overflowed, and retrospective statements filled the room in mutters.

「Tomorrow there’ll be another meeting, so I’ll just show my face.」

「Ohh, Nidel, please.」

The usual air returned inside the tower again. It might have seemed dark and gloomy on the outside, but this suited my nature more. I truly felt glad from the depths of my heart that I was here, not in the Royal Palace Magic Order.

Sitting in my usual place that had been decided somehow or the other, I took the magical tool that I had set about since yesterday in my hand. It was a magic device that, if placed among a group of ants, would repel them from the area. I didn’t know exactly what it was made for, but since a request to repair it had come, I had to do it. Thinking there might have been an outbreak of ants in the kitchen, I wound the tool around.

At that stage, I had already completely expelled the thoughts of Prince Chennel‘s bodyguard from my mind. I thought it had nothing to do with me now.

However, a few hours later, there was an unexpected correspondence from the king.

Nobody other than the royal family knew of it, but actually, in this tower where the Technological Magic Order resided, there existed a mechanism that directly connected to the King. From the past, whenever there had been a situation where a problem arose that couldn’t be taken care of by the Royal Palace Magic Order, the King would personally contact us. Everyone in the Order said that Tech Order might have most probably been a secret Magic Order, original formed exclusively for the royal family.

Incidentally, the last time there had been a correspondence was a few years ago, and its contents were a request to make a tool to liven up the nightlife with the Queen; it was extremely vulgar talk, but still it was an important task.

It was the leader’s job to personally talk to the King. Captain, who had a drowsy look, rushed to the communication room in surprise when the signal of communication from the king came.

We, who were left behind, looked uneasily at each other’s faces.

The communication from the king was the greatest happening in this tower.

After a while, leader came out of the room. While scratching the white hairs growing on his chin, he made a sullen face.

And then, as he was beckoning everyone in the room with his hands, we each stopped what we were doing and stood up and gathered in front of Captain with some bustle.

I wonder if everyone had a bad premonition, but the atmosphere in the room felt heavy. Receiving everyone’s clammy gaze, Captain sluggishly opened his mouth.

「Just now, there was a request from the king.」

‘Gulp’, the sound of someone swallowing their spit was heard.

「It was a request that he wants to ask us to be His highness Chennel’s guard behind the scenes too.」

The moment leader said that, everyone let out sighs simultaneously. As there were no sounds of surprise, maybe everyone had already predicted it in their hearts.

「It’s not as if he doesn’t trust the Knight Order and the Royal Palace Magic Order, but the king is a cautious person. Everyone else is busy now, so he must have thought that we have room to be able to easily do it. Moreover, His highness Chennel is a person with a nervous disposition, so if he stays close to guards all day, he might not be able to sleep at night. Therefore, he requested us to be his guards for the night.」

Then, Captain looked at me. I had a bad premonition.

「When I consulted with the king, I said it. We have just the person for this. Nidel!」

「Aah, …It’s me after all…」

With a thud, I fell to my knees. I knew that the people around heaved a sigh of relief on knowing that the work hadn’t come around to them. I too wanted to heave that sigh in relief!

「The king is bothered by the Royal Palace Magic Order, so it’s an agreement only between us and the king. You, stay close to His Highness Chennel at night for this one month. You have your animal transformation magic that you’re good at. And you can use offensive magic too, you’ll surely meet the minimum for a guard.」

「Haah…」

I ambiguously nodded. Certainly, I’m good at my magic of transforming into animals. You could also say that I extraordinarily good at it. It was talent second to none in this country. However, I had not told it to the people around. No one other than my colleagues knew of it.

If the fact that I specialise in this magic gets out, I’ll be forced to do espionage as and when required, and there’s the chance that if the enemy saw any animal, they’d suspect it to be me.

Due to that, I hid the one thing I specialised best at. It was to the extent where occasionally, when I would be free, I’d become a bird and fly in the sky to release my accumulated stress, and when my things fell in places my hands couldn’t reach, I’d turn into an animal that made it possible and recover them. I didn’t have ways other than that that I could use it for. I can use magic quite well, so there’s no need for me to especially feel tired.

「Every night, for a month, I see…」

「It can’t be helped, there’s no one else suitable for this job. In exchange, you can rest easy in the afternoon.」

Wouldn’t be nice to have some rest…thinking so, I looked into the distance. Certainly, in the midst of being so busy, it’d be hard to tell someone to devote themselves to only being a bodyguard, even for me.

「Understood. Because it’s a request from the king, it cannot be refused…」

When I said that, resigning myself to my fate, the people around said words like 「You spoke well」, 「Nidel, do your best…」in a perfunctory manner.

Captain had long returned to his work, for I had agreed.

「How should I get closer to the Prince, I wonder?」

「You have to transform into an animal the prince would like, and then enter the room.」

Hunon and everyone else pondered with me.

「An animal a 7 year old prince would like…a dog?」

「A Cat?」

「A Bird?」

「A bird won’t enter a room…Which one is Nidel good at?」

「It’s not as if I’m particularly good at one…well, but it’d be nice to be one that’s easy to move in, being a bodyguard.」

If an assassin actually appears, I’ll return to my human for (I can’t use offensive magic in my animal form), and it would be nice to have an animal that could move about accordingly.

I scratched my chin and thought. Various animals crossed my mind, but the one I decided on in the end was――.

「Well, cat it is.」

「That’s right, they think there’s the the danger of being bitten, and not let you come close to the prince if you’re a dog?」

Hunon nodded. Because there were completely fascinated voices raised by the people around, I thought for a bit, and then snapped my fingers.

「Ooohー」

「It’s a catー, a black catー」

「Nidel’s transformation magic is always perfect, no matter when I look at it…」

Everyone surrounded me, I who had turned into a cat. When I became a cat, everyone looked gigantic, and I shrugged my shoulders in my heart. Maybe it wasn’t seen as anything more than a twitch with my catlike body.

「…But it seems a bit uncute. Or should I say rude.」

「Or self-important」

「…Nidel’s personality comes out that way.」

「I wonder if the prince will like it. Couldn’t you make it a bit more kitten-like?」

At my colleagues, who said what they felt like, in a murmuring tone, I was annoyed. I thought for a bit, and with a jump, called again for my magic.

「Ooh, he became a kitten…」

「Cute…」

「Isn’t he cute…」

「It’s a cuteness unthinkable of Nidel…」

Voices of admiration leaked out from the surroundings, and my colleagues who had been standing up until now crouched all at once and stretched their hands out towards me. It seems the loveliness of my appearance made them want to pat. Humans are self-interested. I, who was hated, was at their mercy as a kitten.

「Nidel, if it’s like that, then you’ll be too powerless. You’ll be trampled before you can become a bodyguard.」

Because Hunon calmly interfered, I who intended to completely agree, thought a bit, and once again called upon my magic.

This time, it was a bit more grown-up than a kitten, but not exactly an adult; a supple young cat. It was ideal for moving about.

「Hm, this is good. It’s quite cute, and seems nimble too.」

After getting permission from Hunon, I groomed my fur that had been patted quite roughly by my colleagues. I hadn’t transformed much as of late, but I spent the whole day in transforming in my teens, so I was well versed in the art of pretending to be an animal.

「Make hay while the sun shines. Show yourself to the prince at once.」

At Hunon’s hasty order, I raised my voice in dissatisfaction with a 「Nyaー」, and reached an understanding with an “I see”. It’ll be hard to find a way of being liked by the prince before becoming a bodyguard, and not be thought of as suspicious by the other guards.

Saying「Nyaー」, and expressing my consent, I nimbly ran out of the room. From behind me, powerless cheers of my colleagues saying 「Do your best」were heard.