Interrogation

[Still Randall's POV]

Standing at the gates of a part of the castle, two rows of guards scrutinized and patted all of us down.

Yes, all of us, since we ended up bringing Ren along, with me giving her a piggy-back ride. 

'... Man, why can't I meet potential harem members in better situations? Why does it have to be like this??'

It was really unlucky, honestly.

First, meeting Jean as I was being summoned. Sure, this doesn't seem bad… Actually, it wasn't that bad.

We got to fight, and work together on helping the people from that razed village to get back on their knees…

'They might be unable to get on their feet for a long time, though.'

… Though, upon remembering the Princess' attitude, I genuinely wondered if we did the right thing. 

In terms of political relationships? We sure did. Losing a town is nothing compared to turning an entire nation into an enemy.

Yet… Her behavior was, and still is, enough for me to question whether her life was/is worth hundreds of sacrifices. 

Hopefully, she has taken her first steps towards attaining mental maturity.

Otherwise…

"Randall, we're here."

'... The Throne Room.'

I tightened my grip around Ren's thick legs while she kept her arms wrapped around my neck, and headed in after Jean opened the door.

Sitting on the throne, the old man with an "experienced" expression looked down on us. 

That's Fegendale's Monarch, Maximilianus Orwell.

"Good evening, Mister Randall, and Miss Verderift. Seems like you two took a bit longer than expected… Would you mind telling me why?"

Jean pretty much took care of reporting the stuff that went down on the mission. She did it cleanly, too. 

"Interesting… Now, forgive me for asking, but who is this one?" asked the King, while pointing at Ren.

"Oh, she's Ren."

"My name is n-"

"Oh, look, she's getting fuzzy. Monarch Orwell, would you mind telling us where the showers are? She can't sleep properly without taking a shower," I yapped, with a dumbfounded human woman staring at me from the side.

"... Mary!"

An elderly maid wearing the default uniform appeared from the shadows, and casually greeted the Monarch. "Sup."

"Can you show our guests to the bathrooms and bedrooms, please?"

"On it," uttered Mary, while bringing us both away.

'Well, that worked out.'

The old woman led us through the hall, a few corridors and hallways, until we finally arrived at a unique sector of the palace.

Unlike the outside of the castle, which had been built with multiple layers of stone, the architects of this humble sector chose to use a mix of multiple wood types, each having a different tone of brown. Some of these included a mild light brown, chestnut brown, neutral brown, deep brown and a uniquely dark brown. 

On these same walls, multiple items had been put up, and exhibited with pride. Among those, the most common "thing" would be the paintings, most of which depicted people dressed in overcomplicated royal attires, followed by a combination of yellow and orange threads, used to create multiple yellow flags with an orange star at the center.

Finally, a few plant pots rested on top of the many pieces of finely crafted wooden furniture scattered throughout the hallway, thus creating an exquisite sight, worthy of any fantasy novel, more common in the isekai sub-genre… Wait a fucking seco-

"Alright, with the bedrooms out of the way, now we gotta deal with Ren."

"For the seventh time, my name isn't…"

Her head fell on my shoulder, as her body finally gave in to exhaustion. "I guess that's that," I mumbled.

And so, Mary led us to our bedrooms.

"If you need anything else, don't hesitate to call-"

"Actually, Miss, can you fetch us a healer, please?..."

Mary hadn't finished talking. She sighed, and stated that she was also a healer.

"Alright, in that case, can you heal this one's wounds?" I requested, while pointing my eyes at the sleeping panda.

She nodded, and took the panda away.

"... I hope she's alright," muttered Jean, with a rather sad expression. 

"She will be. Don't worry," I assured her. 

… Yeah. If she managed to keep arguing with me in regards to her name, then she must have some sort of plot armor. 

Critically wounded people don't have that much energy to spare in petty arguments, right? 

"Anyway, enough about Ren. I owed you an explanation, didn't I?"

"... Right," replied the black haired magician. The worried expression she had quickly evolved into a cold, distant one.

And so, we headed to a nearby courtyard, and sat down on one of the wooden benches. 

A large tree provided some shade for us, and rainbow-coloured birds rested on the branches, chirping and singing to their hearts' content. 

The mildly hot and humid wind kept blowing, rustling and shaking the vibrant bushes and vivid tree crowns. This indirectly caused some birds to fly away, their colors highlighted by the bright afternoon glow of the faraway sun.

"So… Jean, what is exactly an Ego?" 

"... You don't know? You wielded it many times and you don't know??"

"Not really, no one told me a thing about it."

She let out a sigh, and massaged her temples. "To make it simple… The Ego is a manifestation of our sense of selves, into the physical world. As far as I know, it usually comes in the single shape of a weapon or armor that is often tied to one's self… However, it is not something everyone can use."

I nodded, and she crossed her arms around her chest, seemingly deep in thought.

A few seconds later, she shot a question.

"Sorry for asking. But, about your Ego... How? How can you do… 'that'?"

"Do what?"

Her right fist clenched slightly, as some air rushed in through her nose. Her head moved towards my neck, as her free hand pulled me towards her face.

'... On one hand, she's cute.'

"How… How did you manifest your Ego in three different ways?"

The occupied hand dug her fingernails deep into my skin, as her crimson, almost bloodthirsty eyes remained fixated on me.

'... On the other hand, time to spout some nonsense.'

"No idea. When I saw William do it, I just… knew how to do it… Is it strange?"

"It is UNHEARD of. Most people can only manifest their Ego in one way, while a select few can do it in two… after a few years' worth of training. But you? You have something special."

"Why, of course I do. It's called… uh, I can't remember the name, sorry."

She sighed, dejectedly, and backed off. "So… You don't know how?"

"Sorry, I have no idea… Did you want me to teach you or something?"

Her eyes widened, almost in surprise, but her lips denied it quickly… Yet, her gaze did not lie. She did, in fact, have that slight trace of hope.

This raised quite a few questions, but sadly, I couldn't afford to spend time indulging in them. Thus-

"... Let's move on. Do you know who you used to be? Where do you come from? Anything?" 

"I was just a nobody."

Wait, she asked where I'm from?... This is going to get so, so complicated… How am I supposed to explain the concept of "planets" and "solar systems" to her, a human belonging to a civilization that probably doesn't even know how the sun works???

'Nevermind, I have a plan.'

Putting on the simplest yet most charming smile my muscles could create, I gave her an answer that wouldn't shatter her current worldview.

I can't afford to end up like a second Galilei, after all. 

"As for my hometown… I come from a faraway land that has been surrounded in nothing but the shadows of its former self."

'Vague enough for now.'

Jean nodded her head, and now that I remembered Earth, I actually had a question.

Why are people here usually better looking? Is it because they can use mana-made stuff equal to Earth's skincare products? Do they just replace those with mana?

Or… is it a cruel way to represent the chasm between the superficial beauty and the rotting insides of the supposedly civilized societies?

Or maybe it's because they simply are better looking…?

She nodded her head, and bought it. She didn't even question it. 

'It is what it is.'