06: Arrival At The Castle

After walking for about an hour, they reached a familiar castle. Kuuga recognized it from the fountain pool.

The little birds, who played nonstop on his head, didn’t intend to follow as they rushed towards the forest instead, still frolicking around.

Perhaps wondering about the birds that had been on his head all this time, Gadillas watched the flying birds with a strange face.

The people of the castle greeted them and looked frightened when they saw Kuuga. They also showed various expressions when they realized that Kuuga had chosen Gadillas. Their faces uniformly showed that they didn’t think Gadillas was qualified.

Indeed, it was an accident that Kuuga chose Gadillas since he didn’t actually go to Gadillas to choose him.

However, even without that, Kuuga was confident in choosing Gadillas. No matter who was the right person to be king, he would have selected Gadillas of his own will. He’s truly worth it… though some things couldn’t be ignored.

Kuuga looked around at all their faces. He firmly remembered those who were pleased that Gadillas was chosen. It must be useful for something. Unfortunately, he could only find two people.

Gadillas then took Kuuga to the audience hall.

Some people objected because of the danger that a beast like Kuuga pose, but Gadillas and the other royal family members dismissed them as “fools.”

It seemed like the perception of the Divine Beast was different between the royal family and other people. Apparently, the royal family was educated like the people in the church. Kuuga wanted everyone to be adequately educated, if possible.

[Being watched like this, I can’t help being alert.]

Here’s a black beast that’s about the size of a lion. If it went wild, it’d be tough to handle. They had that awareness, and even Kuuga would be wary.

Kuuga had an audience with the old king amidst the extraordinarily vigilant knights. His impression was the same as when he saw him at the fountain pool. The king, who looked dignified and had an unusually tired look, looked at Gadillas and squinted slightly.

“Were you chosen?”

“That’s right.”

The old king didn’t show an unpleasant expression against Gadillas… was it an illusion that the king didn’t care either way?

Also, Gadillas’ indifference towards the position was astonishing. It seemed like he didn’t care like the old king.

The king, as if freed from a burden, bowed deeply when he saw Kuuga.

“Divine Beast, thank you.”

[…about what?]

“I’ll use this opportunity to descend the throne. I’ll leave the rest to you, Gadillas.”

“Please be there at the coronation ceremony.”

Even after that, Gadillas was still as curt as ever to the old king who was willing to throw the position away. Kuuga wondered if it’s okay for the new king to be like this.

Confused by the audience that was quite different from what he had imagined, Kuuga hurriedly followed Gadillas, who wanted to quickly leave the place.

While thinking about the tired old king, they went to the king’s office.

There was a man waiting there with a large stack of paper on the desk. The tall man with red hair and blue eyes bowed deeply to Gadillas and Kuuga when they entered the office.

“Congratulations on your succession to the throne. Your Majesty Gadillas.”

In contrast, Gadillas exhaled profoundly and put a finger between his eyebrows.

“Uros… why do you want me to work now?”

“Now that you’ve become the king, you have to know your duties as king as soon as possible.”

“…slow down today. There’s still the coronation ceremony…”

Gadillas sighed again and crossed the room briskly, before sitting down on the sofa in front of the office desk and laid sideways with rough movements.

Kuuga rushed toward Gadillas, who seemed to want to rest.

[No, wait a moment. Introduce me.]

“…what is it?”

[It’s not ‘what is it’…]

Kuuga put his forefoot on Gadillas’ foot and shook it to appeal to him but was then thrown off. Gadillas couldn’t understand Kuuga’s plea and just looked at him with a confused expression.

Giving up, Kuuga approached the man called Uros.

This man seemed to be the person whom Gadillas often talk to when Kuuga was watching (also called peeping) Gadillas in the fountain pool. According to his impression at that time, Gadillas casually spoke to this person the most.

He looked older than Gadillas, who was in his early 20s. Although his long eyes and cold expression made him seem cold, he’s actually the relatively gentle type. This man was someone who could be trusted.

[I’m Kuuga Tsukimiya. Nice to meet you.]

“…Divine Beast-sama?”

Kuuga sat in front of Uros and greeted him, but Uros just looked at him, not knowing what he wanted.

Disappointed that Kuuga wouldn’t get a reply for his self-introduction, Gadillas, who seemed to understand the meaning of Kuuga’s actions, finally approached.

“Ah, right. Did you want to know who Uros was?”

So you do get it! The happy Kuuga looked at Gadillas and nodded many times. After seeing the situation, Uros realized that he should introduce himself and knelt in front of Kuuga.

“I’m Uros Kagoi. I am the Prime Minister. My warmest regards.”

[President? Oh, Prime Minister. You’re young.]

“Until yesterday, I was His Majesty’s assistant.”

[As I thought, that’s the case.]

That relationship between boss and subordinate seemed to have been carried over even today. However, Uros didn’t seem to care and was even somewhat happy.

Kuuga rubbed his cheek against Uros’ cheek to convey that he had no hostility. Uros’ body shook in surprise at this moment, but he gently patted Kuuga’s neck even though he had a terrifying appearance.

Ah, that felt good. A little firmer.

When Kuuga inadvertently pressed his body against Uros’ hand, his intention seemed to be transmitted, and he was stroked with a firmer force on the neck.

“It’s pretty cute, right? The Divine Beast-sama. I wonder if I could touch it more often.”

“…he didn’t seem to hate being stroked. When doing so, it looked more like a dog.”

Perhaps interested, Gadillas approached and looked at Kuuga. When Kuuga rubbed his face against him, the other man couldn’t help but stroke him wildly.

“But Divine Beast-sama is quite intelligent.”

“Ah. It seemed to understand what I’m saying. Occasionally, the Divine Beast will appeal to me for something like just now… unfortunately, I don’t know what it wanted to say.”

“Then why not let it be more communicative?”

“Huh?”

[Huh?]

Uncertain about the meaning of Uros’ words, Gadillas and Kuuga stared at Uros at the same time. Uros began to explain to one man and one dog while not mentioning that they have the same expression, which was quite funny to him.

“To find out what Divine Beast-sama wanted to say, we’ll guess and ask. I think Divine Beast-sama will answer by nodding or shaking his head.”

“…well, you’re right.”

“If so, don’t you think there are very few choices, just yes and no?”

Kuuga nodded when he thought about it. In that case, he could only compromise and agree if it’s somewhat correct.

“For example, nod twice it that’s the case and once if it’s close or roughly hit the main point. Or shake once if it’s the same but different and shake twice if it’s completely different… how’s this for the signal conditions?”

“Certainly, if we recognize each other’s meaning, then our thoughts will be transmitted. What do you think?”

[I think it’s okay.]

As Kuuga agreed, he nodded twice, and Gadillas put his hand on his chin to think about something.

“If that’s the case, it might be good to decide on some words that you might often use like sign language.”

Kuuga was immensely grateful that the human side had the will to communicate. Kuuga was happy and nodded again and again.

Uros slightly squinted while stroking Kuuga’s head as he saw its tail swinging. Kuuga was a bit amazed that the two men didn’t even smile at his cute gestures.

“Since you’re thinking about it, why not take a look at your new bedroom if you’re not working today? It’s ready.”

“…that’s quick.”

“I knew that the ritual was today.”

Hmm, so no matter who became the king, the royal power will change. That meant they had prepared what was needed in advance.

“Dinner will be ready soon, so I’ll go to the bedroom first to relax.”

“Please do so…. what are you doing, Divine Beast-sama?”

[I’ll go too.]

Though he wasn’t told to follow, Kuuga was relieved he wasn’t stopped when he stood up and followed Gadillas.

Speaking of which, Kuuga wondered where he’d sleep. He didn’t know if it’s okay to use the same room as Gadillas.

---

Translation Notes:

Some FYI, Gadillas didn’t really use -sama or any other honorifics when he called out to Kuuga, so when you see a speech that just called out Divine Beast or Kuuga (soon), that meant Gadillas was talking. The others mostly attach a -sama when calling out to Kuuga.

Also, do you want me to write who’s speaking what at the end of the speeches?

For example:

“Hello.” (XXX)

Or something like that? Some dialogues in the future might be confusing, but I’ll try to modify the tone to the way they usually speak. Also, there’ll be a paragraph before or after that. It would basically explain who’s saying who, so I don’t really want to bother.

Anyway, unless I get complaints that it’s too confusing on who’s saying who, I’ll refrain from adding any.

Hope you enjoy reading.