But, those are the things that I cannot say.
The dimension gate is a secret that only passed to the King and the Saintess to begin with. If I let him know that I'm knowledgeable about that, maybe they will suspect that I'm a spy.
"I'm just a humble adventurer to begin with, Your Majesty. His Highness cannot be older than fifteen, he's just a young boy. There's no way I could ignore such a young man to fall to his death when I could help it. The heavens do work in mysterious ways."
Because humans and elves generally worship different gods and deities, the term "heaven" is more neutral. I'm trying to be the least offensive that I could be. This is the king of the large kingdom. Even one of his guards could probably beat me to death.
Well, the human me.
If it's this half-elf me... If it's one-on-one I can still win. Maybe. I don't know, I haven't really gauged my own strength to compare to others.
"Then please receive this token, Alovera. It's Officionale token, given to those who the royal family is indebted to. If one day you will request something out of us, please return this token. We will do our utmost to fulfill your request."
He reaches out with his hand balled to a loose fist. I don't dare to dally around and choose to kneel before him, receiving that token while bowing my head.
Only after I feel the weight on my palm that I stand up and step back.
This will be very handy in the future. I think it can buy me a castle on my own, if I were to wish to do so.
"You may stay in this room until you fully recuperate. We shall tell the guards not to hinder your movement were you to leave this place. And I trust that you will keep the matter about the Crown Prince's existence to your own ears."
"May the heavenly lightning strikes my body to ash if I am to reveal the secret of His Highness' existence to other people."
Of course. If people know about him, his life will be in danger. He is necessary to the end game, there's no way I can let anyone harm him.
He seems to be satisfied with that oath. After a series of proceedings, he leaves the room, enabling me to breathe again.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
It's more about his status as a king than about himself. Without the memory of my life as Arata, I wouldn't be this nervous. I've seen kings and nobles before as this half elf. But my Arata self was an ordinary man. I have to bow to my boss, let alone a king.
I regret not asking him about the crown prince's age, though. That way, I can figure out how much time I have left before the start of the game. That small stature of his couldn't pass 15, right?
Fate works strangely. If I wasn't near that river, I wonder how he survived and reached the game's plot. I'm not scared about the heavenly oath either, because soon, the Crown Prince would be known to the world.
He would even become betrothed to the Saintess.
It signals the beginning of the game, and I have to prevent that from happening.
The worst part is... he's not the only one that I have to prevent from ever approaching the Saintess.
~•~•~•~•~•~
[The Saintess' Prayer Ascends The Sky]. That's the overbearing title of the adult otome game where the saintess is in danger of being sexually assaulted by six men.
...Okay, assaulted might be too strong of a word.
She would enter into relationships with them and would engage in sex with them. Of course. It was marketed for adults, after all. And according to the game, she grew to like it. The first part was the hardest though, no pun intended.
I watched my twin sister, Yue, played exactly the crown prince's route. I didn't pay attention for the most part but I should know enough about the major incidents that would happen. Based on my shallow knowledge about dating sim games, the major incidents shouldn't be different with each route, so I should probably be able to figure what to do.
Since the game was for adults, none of the depicted capture targets were younger than 18. So if the crown prince is still 15, I have three more years to plan my route to go home. That's plenty of time.
More than that, I have to find the other seven people and ensure that their lives aren't in danger. There are bad ends to this game, as if without the danger of death, the plot wouldn't be that exciting.
Well, maybe it wouldn't, but it spelled a lot of trouble for me. Especially since I don't remember how they look like, or at what point will they appear in the game. I think some of them did appear in the Crown Prince's route, but... which one of them, again?
Let me think...
...I remember there are two shota-type characters. One of them is a blonde elf, and the other one is the dark brunet crown prince.
How could they pass as 18 was a mystery to me, but I'd just leave it to the game developer.
I also remember two similar-aged people. Red and blue. One of them had fiery red hair and big bodybuilder type body. The dark blue-haired one is the mysterious type. Elf, if I'm not mistaken, but he wears hoodie in the game disc cover.
There are two older characters. I don't know if the king was one of them, but... based on his looks, maybe he was? I mean, he'd be too pretty to pass as someone unimportant. Besides, he's the king. What other reason would the game need? But the other one... is even more obscure. He should be black-haired, though.
...
I'm lacking information. Too much.
But I have to do this.
I can do this. I have to go back home.
For that, I have to protect the capture targets' lives, the Saintess' chastity, and the plot to progress the way it should be.
Let's do this thing.