Chapter 198.3
“I am Baron Suleiman. So you are the “Ash Crowned Princess” I have heard so much about. I had only heard half of the rumors, but you are far more beautiful than His Highness has told me, Mistress Layton.”
“…My name is Aria Layton.”
Upon hearing the rumor, I glanced lightly at Dalton as we greeted each other, but Dalton shook his head and shrugged his shoulders slightly.
As the beastmen of the Munza group had heard “rumors” from the traveling merchants, it seemed that my prestige was spreading in strange places. I was surely aiming to be feared, but I had a feeling that I would be in more trouble than I had anticipated.
The “Highness” that he told me about was Ron, who, according to Camile, was the third prince of the Khalfaan Empire, and from what Baron Sulaiman told me, he was an ally of the third prince, an imperial soldier, at Ron’s request. Baron Suleiman led his troops to search for me, I was told.
The explanation of the situation was better suited to Jesha, one of the parties involved and former head of the Adventurers’ Guild, than to me, who was not very talkative.
Although my explanation was a little rough, with not much honorifics, Baron Suleiman, who understood the general situation with the help of Dalton, not only offered to share the food that we were running low on, but also to allocate a man to guide us on our way to the empire.
The guides were two knight barons who were close associates of the baron, and a unit of the mercenary guild, 15 people, who came forward to explain the situation to the empire and to help them get acquainted with the situation.
In consideration of the battle, the mercenaries’ guild also prepared some skilled men, but mercenaries are as rough as adventurers and are not suited for maintaining security. It costs money just to hire them, so we had to send half of them home, but those mercenaries willingly raised their hands to accompany us on our way, they said.
Mercenaries and adventurers sometimes lose themselves to banditry for lack of provisions.