Outaishihi ni Nante Naritakunai!! Chapter 421

At Princess's order, I rushed to the inn where Abel was staying.
Searching for a particular person without any clues…
I was strangely curious about how Abel would respond to the request that even I couldn't do anything about.
I knew the inn he was staying at. It was a luxurious establishment located on the main street for people who want to use their plentiful money. I entered inside and talked with the innkeeper. When I asked him to call Abel while slipping some money into his hand, the innkeeper silently went towards Abel's room. After a short while, Abel leisurely came down from the upper floor. He rubbed his eyes and sleepily yawned.

"Sleepy. I didn't sleep last night at all… Just who wants something from me?"

When he noticed me, he blinked his eyes.

"Oh, isn't it Mr. Shinigami? What is it today?"
"Princess has a request for you."
"A request? Not from Mr. Crown Prince, but Mrs. Crown Princess? Eh? Seriously?"
"Yeah."

I nodded to Abel, who was wide-eyed in surprise. Abel muttered, "Crap, ain't I popular?" and beckoned me.

"Let's go upstairs. This isn't the talk for a place like this."
"… Yeah."

I accepted the invitation and went up the stairs. Abel's room was in the corner upstairs.
I entered the room without reservation and sat on a sofa. Abel similarly sat on a sofa in front of me and asked, "And?"

"The request from Mrs. Crown Princess. Tell me the details."
"Yeah."

I told him the contents of Princess's request.
When I finished the story of the Princess of Irvine having been kidnapped by her own knight and told Abel that he'd be paid the asking price, his eyes opened wide.

"Seriously? Can I really rip her off?"
"If you can find the princess, do as you like. I won't say anything."

I'd thought he'd say that anyway, and Abel indeed jumped at the 'asking price' part. He was fidgeting happily.

"Amazing… Ain't Mrs. Crown Princess a super-rich customer…? It's the best. Rather, I wonder if I could have Mrs. Crown Princess hire me exclusively. It's the first time I can work with such a happy feeling…"
"Since you're saying that, I take it you have no problem accepting the request?"
"Yeah! I accept it with pleasure! Leave it to me!"

Abel nodded without hesitation and stood up from the sofa. He looked at me and asked.

"I want to search for that princess. How does she look? Please tell me as accurately as you can."
"… How will you do it?"

When I asked out of pure curiosity, Abel said, "You'll understand just by looking." I nodded and described Princess Ophelia's appearance.
While at it, I described the appearance of her kidnapper, Edward, and Abel nodded.

"Alright, got it. The time of the crime was… from late night yesterday to this morning, you're sure?"
"Yeah."
"Alright, then let's ask them."

With these words Abel approached a window, opened it, and reached out his arm. Right away, a pigeon landed on it. It was an ordinary small grey pigeon.

"A pigeon?"

What the hell will he do with a pigeon? While I was tilting my head, Abel talked to that pigeon.

"Ricky, please. I need your help. I'm searching for a person. Could you ask your fellows if any of them has seen a person I'll describe now? The time is from late night yesterday to this morning. ―― Yeah, please."
"Coo coo."

The pigeon replied like it understood Abel's words and flew away. After watching it leave in a daze, I suddenly came to my senses.

"No no no! Why did you talk to a pigeon!? Ain't it strange!?"

As I shouted, Abel looked at me blankly and answered.

"Nn? Is it about Ricky? This is between you and me, but I actually understand what birds say. They also seem to understand my words. It's my primary method of information gathering, since it's just right for that. Birds are everywhere, right? Nobody pays attention to birds, so they can freely gather information."
"… You understand what birds say? Are you serious?"

That statement made me doubt his sanity. But Abel readily nodded.

"Yeah. At the beginning, I also wondered if I was going crazy, but it's the fact that I understand their words and they understand mine. Ah, it has nothing to do with Hiyumas' techniques. I simply inherited it. Feel free to believe it or not."

I was indifferently told that.
Hearing him say it like it was nothing, I intuitively understood he wasn't lying.
Just like he said, he understands what birds say.
And he uses that ability as an information broker.
I felt like I understood one of the reasons why Abel was called a brilliant information broker.

"… Why did you tell me? It's something you'd normally keep a secret, right? I'll talk to Princess. You understand that much, right?"
"Nn? It won't really be a problem. You can talk to her if you want. After all, this is all thanks to my special ability. Nobody can replicate it, so it's no problem even if it's known."
"Is that so?"

Certainly, even if he told me that he understands what birds say, I can't do anything about it. At best, I can be careful about birds.
Abel said regretfully.

"This power is convenient, but I think it's awfully incomplete. Those guys only understand my words. They don't understand what others say. Really, why is it only me? I always wonder~."

I looked at the man who lamented that he'd have an easier time with information gathering if they understood everything.
Abel stared outside the windows, but before long he grinned.

"Ricky is back."
"… Is he your pigeon?"

Abel even gave him a name. I expected they'd been partners from Sahaja, but Abel denied.

"Nah. We only met three days ago. From talking with him he appeared like a boss here, so I asked for his cooperation."
"…"
"Ah, I properly reward him, okay? We have an equal relationship contract. I feed him once a day…"

I could only answer, "Is that so?" as Abel declared something as outrageous as having a contractual relationship with a pigeon.
… What is this?
I feel like ever since meeting Princess, everyone I meet is far removed from common sense.
I'm aware that I'm broken, but going by the people I associate with, am I not actually a man of common sense? They're so strange as to make me think that.
Abel especially. I'm seriously concerned that there's such a strange guy among Hiyumas.
A man who understands what birds say.
I didn't hear about such a man from Dad.
He said he inherited it, so was it his father or mother who could do the same?
While I was looking at Abel with complicated feelings, the pigeon landed on his arm, and they had a mysterious conversation..
Abel talked to the pigeon like usual, but the pigeon cried, "Coo coo," as if answering him. The scene that certainly looked like a conversation was a little incredible.

"Mr. Shinigami."
"… What?"

I was a little surprised as Abel turned to me and looked at me with a serious face.

"Ricky's fellows happened to see a man holding the person you described leaving the castle early in the morning. And they know where he's hiding now. It seems they'll show the way, so I'm going, but will you come too?"
"Naturally."

I hurriedly nodded.
I was surprised to have the request fulfilled easier than I'd expected, but it's better for Princess like that.
The pigeon took off from Abel's arm.
Together with Abel, I rushed out of the inn.

The pigeon guided us to one of the warehouses in the Royal Capital harbor where goods from foreign countries were stored.
The warehouse was quite big, it was probably used to store food.
The three-story-high building appeared sturdy, and other than the large entrance for transporting goods, there was no other way to enter.

"… They're inside?"
"Looks like it…. Ah, lucky. There's a window above. Won't the inside be visible from there?"
"… I'll go."

I followed Abel's gaze and located the window he was talking about.
It was close enough to leap. Judging so, I used the secret art and moved to the window. I looked into the cloudy window and saw a green-haired person lying limply right beside a pile of bags filled with wheat.
Apparently, she fainted. Her hands being tied behind her made it obvious it wasn't consensual.

"… Found her."

This person who at a glance looked just like a man was Princess's friend, Princess Ophelia. Next to her, her dangerous guard and likely kidnapper was gazing at Princess Ophelia with spellbound eyes.

―― Scary!

His eyes were completely mad.
By committing a crime, he must've completely lost the reason he had been barely holding on to before.
He was now a dangerous man no matter how you looked.
I turned my gaze to Princess Ophelia.
There was no evidence of her being violated so far. Her clothing wasn't disarranged, and they didn't seem to have company. Having confirmed it, I jumped down to Abel.

"Oh…"
"How was it?"
"She's there. For the time being, she seems safe… Listen, I'll go call Princess now, so…"

Could you stand watch instead? I wanted to ask that, but Abel nodded before I could do that.

"You want me to stand watch, right? I know. I won't act like it's over because I found her. I need to treasure rich customers. I have to create a debt of gratitude when selling my services!"
"O-Okay… Listen, Princess says it's fine so it's not a problem, but don't rip her off too much."

No matter what price he states, Princess will pay without batting an eye. I knew that, but I didn't want my master to be inconvenienced, so I still told him that.
Abel looked me into the eyes. The expression on his face was unexpectedly serious.

"I know that. I intend to only demand the regular price. I can somehow tell that it won't be good if I'm greedy here. Besides, I can probably have a good relationship with that Crown Prince and Princess in the future. I won't make a bad impression on such customers."
"I see, then it's fine…"
"Though, I feel like just as the pay will be good, the requests will be absurd too."
"…"

I unintentionally fell silent. Princess certainly has such an aspect.
However, I don't think they'll be too absurd for him. He offered his services only because he was sure he'd be able to fulfill them.
As I made a complicated face, Abel nodded with a self-satisfied look.

"That Crown Prince and Princess are really well-matched. Or rather, they're unbeatable? Somehow, I can't imagine Wilhelm losing with those two together."
"I agree… I feel like no opponent stands a chance."
"Yeah."

Abel nodded seriously.
Princess can use neutralization magic, but she fundamentally can't do anything special. Nevertheless, she possesses incredible luck. No, really. The level of her luck is unbelievable.
The Crown Prince is so strong I seriously doubted he was a human at the start. Princess is on his side.
I can only describe picking a fight with Wilhelm where ability and luck come together as stupid.

"Well, and that's why, since I hold myself dear, I want to draw closer to them. I'm useful in this way, so I'd love to work with them in the future! And so, I'll keep watch and if anything happens to the hostage, go save her, so go call Mr. Crown Prince while you can."
"Got it."

Abel's point was persuasive. Convinced, I decided to leave it to him and hurriedly leapt towards the Royal Palace.

Editor: Valkyrie

Chapter end