“What about me? I do not have any reason to draw it in the first place.”

I don’t have any intention of being the king either. Rather, if I ended up drawing it, wouldn’t that imply a rebellion…..

“Now, now, don’t say that. Try drawing it.”

“Are you for real?”

“Absolutely.”

Even in this dimly lit room, I could tell that the king wasn’t kidding, and so I extended my hand onto the sword. I immediately understood the moment I touched the sword. The fact that I could draw it. And I was right. I drew it easily. So easily that I can’t help but doubt the fact that it couldn’t be drawn.

“As I thought, you could as well. Well, what will you do? Will you try cutting me with that sword? If you do, I am sure you could rebuild this country as the Helan kingdom with your skills.”

“Please stop it. The status of a landlord of a remote region is more than enough for me.”

“I see. Then, put the sword down. Let’s return.”

The king just calmly started walking back along the way we came. I hurriedly stuck the sword back in again and followed after him. I felt like the king was in a good mood on our way back.

And we had returned to the audience room.

The king returned to his throne.

“Kururi Helan. You’re no longer the landlord of a remote region from today.”

“Am I getting fired?”

“Not quite. Helan territory is no longer a remote region. The power of Helan territory is no longer something that can be contained within a country and it would be unreasonable if I were to try and do such a thing. As such…”

“As such?”

“The Helan territory will be the Helan self-governing state from now on. And I want to appoint you as its leader.”

Self-governing state? You mean, a state I will govern myself?

“Are you serious?!”

“Very serious, yes. If you agree, it will be officially announced. Let’s have the documents made and announce it in the country and abroad within a month.”

I was anxious while coming here, thinking that he would give me a warning since I have been doing whatever I want these days but what’s this? A full blown release, the establishment of a self-governing state?!

I was so surprised that I was at a loss for words.

“What does a self-governing state do?”

I ended up asking such an ambiguous question.

“Nothing really changes. You can just keep doing what you like.”

Ah, I see. I could really agree with him there. I am glad I said such an ambiguous thing.

“If that’s so, then I, Kururi Helan, humbly accept this self-governing matter.”

“Thank you. But, is it okay if I add a condition?”

“Anything.”

“It’s fine even if it’s during my son’s time, I would like you to support us as much as you can.”

“I promise.”

The audience came to a close.

For now, only the king and I know of this. I feel happy enough to start hopping but also a bit scared. I was feeling this unstable feeling all throughout my body.

While feeling all that, I was passed into the guest room. Prince Arch, Rahsa and Iris were there. It seemed the three of them didn’t know of the details but could tell that something was up.

“It was something quite important, huh?”

Prince Arch asked me.

“Yup.”

“I have a good idea on what it’s about. You think we can keep up this relationship in the future as well?”

“Yes, it would mostly be like how it is now.”

It seemed ‘mostly’ caught their attention.

“Just the way of calling each other might change, I guess.”

“What do you mean?”

“The details will probably be announced by the king later on. For now, I don’t mind if Rahsa and Iris communicate with me like you’ve always done. Prince Arch, please add ‘Lord’ to my name from now on.”

“And how does it get to that?!”

Just do it! He came asking for the reason while I didn’t want to tell him. Such exchanges continued for a while.

I am greatly satisfied as I was able to mess with prince Arch a bit, mixing in some light jokes here and there.

I stayed in the royal castle for a few days after that and finally, the notice of Helan self-governing state was published.

It seemed like prince Arch had more or less guessed it but Rahsa and Iris were quite shocked and so they decided to come see me after looking up the meaning of “a leader of a self-governing state” in the dictionary.

“Would it be better if I were to call you Lord Kururi now, Aniki?”

“No, stop it!”

It isn’t something so great to have the royalty call me ‘lord’!

“Then, self-governing state leader Kururi?”

Iris also came timidly asking that.

“No, that’s even worse! Like before, just address me like you guys used to before!”

Rahsa and Iris looked at each other and tilted their heads, looking like ‘is that really okay?’, but then smiled.

“Seriously, father has made quite a drastic move. Can Kururi handle being the leader of a self-governing state?”

Prince Arch was muttering to himself, worrying about my future. You should add the ‘Lord’!

Thinking of how my name has spread throughout the lands recently, I couldn’t help but think how noisy it would get when this news gets out. It is true that it would be much easier to go about doing what I want compared to before but that just means that there will be more responsibilities on me. I should discuss it well with Eri so that it doesn’t become too big of a burden on me, mentally.

Besides, I am happy that it wasn’t something bad. What shall I bring to Eri as a souvenir? I wonder if I should get down into the town and buy some delicious potatoes?

While thinking of such things, I got on top of Poobe and left the royal castle behind me.

[Hey, the money wasn’t sufficient so go clear the debts later on.]

“……..Okay.”

Where did Poobe even go to drink……?