The next day, Lobelia collapsed by the entrance.
It was caused by having discussions all throughout the night with important people about the aftermath of the Azure Skies incident, and how to deal with it.
Qualia was the first to find her.
“Q-u-a-l-ia. I request a piggyback… Princess Lobelia’s stamina has bottomed out. Come spoil your big sister.”
“Request received.”
Her still young body that spent the whole night throwing opinions back and forth with adults was clinging to Qualia’s back.
As a result, two big bumps sent a sweet static to his brain through his shoulder blades. It felt bigger than what he felt on his body when Ina hugged him the previous day.
“Error… Minor unexpected calculations…”
“Oh? Are you turning red, Qualia?”
Lobelia sounded interested as she poked Qualia’s cheek and watched his face from the side, whose expression broke just a little. It was like she was waiting for him to react like a boy.
“Ah, but I’m glad to see that you rested yesterday. Are you feeling better?”
“…There are no errors in the hardware.”
“I’m not talking about your body. You were pretty shocked yesterday when that beast person called Mind was killed.”
“Optimal solutions are being calculated. As a human, Qualia will use yesterday’s matters as feedback for future calculations.”
“…Well, that’s a normal response for you. I’m sure you’re feeling tired after your first mission. It’s no exaggeration to say that the capital is still here thanks to you.”
She said as she pat the back of his head, and she was still holding him from the back.
It reminded him of all the sensations from Ina, as if he was being hit with a gentle light. It also reminded him of his promise to Ina. To remain human.
On the other hand, Qualia also sensed minute changes in Lobelia.
“You are extremely tired. Qualia is guessing there are other reasons besides being active late at night.”
“The discussions were pretty heated.”
Lobelia clung to his back, and puffed her cheeks with displeasure.
“A lot of people there wanted to execute all the beast people that surrendered and were captured, to serve as an example.”
“Terminate the vital activities of the beast people from Azure Skies?”
“I’m completely against it. Even if it’s unavoidable for the masterminds behind that plot, killing thousands of members of Azure Skies is wrong… And they’re just using this as an excuse to oppress beast people.”
“That is wrong.”
Lobelia buried her face in Qualia’s back, and mumbled.
“Right? That’s not a world where everyone can smile… That’s not the world Love would’ve wanted.”
“…Proposal. You require rest.”
“Yes, I want to sleep, but I’m expecting a visitor. Someone I want to exchange opinions with about the Azure Skies incident. I just need to change first…”
“Request explanation. Who is visiting?”
“Uncle Kernel.”
Qualia recognized the name. It was said by Lobelia and Spirito after Qualia took down the fifth division of Troy.
Duke Kernel was pretty high up in the hierarchical order.
“He’s in the Wirgin faction and has his quirks, but he’s reasonable. And he’s trying to get to the bottom of this incident… Apparently there was someone pulling the strings behind the scenes.”
“And you’re going to exchange information about that?”
“And I want to talk about the ancient magic stones too. How about you join us? I want to do a Hello World meetup too.”
“Request received.”
Afterwards, Qualia dropped Lobelia off in the office, and after saying thanks, she told him his next instructions.
After seeing Lobelia close the door, Qualia headed back to the entrance.
He looked for Ina, but unfortunately, could not find her.
“Human detected.”
And along the way, he saw a wagon reach the entrance through a window. Just as Lobelia explained, he saw a suit-clad man that appeared to be around fifty years old with slicked back green hair and slightly thick lips descend from the wagon, along with two knights.
“Humans detected. Matching Clearance, the chivalric order directly under Duke Kernel.”
The knights around him wore the armor of Clearance, the chivalric order that took away Edwin, the leader of the fifth division of Troy. That led Qualia to believe the person in the middle was Duke Kernel himself.
Qualia took a shortcut by jumping out the window, which naturally, Kernel and the two knights from Clearance saw.
“What an aggressive little one. I haven’t seen your face before. Are you perhaps a guest of Princess Lobelia?”
His voice was higher than Qualia expected, and his speech patterns seemed different than a male’s.
But there was no doubt that it was Duke Kernel who stood in front of him.
“Qualia is a member of the guard knight chivalric order Hello World. Qualia’s role is to create ‘tasty’.”
“Oh, are you the one…?”
The two knights standing behind him looked at each other and whispered.
“I could have mistaken you for a girl judging by your appearance alone, but you have a nice voice. Like there is no hesitation to it.”
Kernel showed no signs of losing his cool, and simply introduced himself.
“I am Duke Kernel Acacia. A cousin of the current king, Wirgin Acacia? I came here to have tea with Princess Lobelia and discuss the Azure Skies incident from yesterday. And with you as well, Qualia of Hello World.”
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