6-year-old Wise Man Wants to Walk in the Shade : Chapter 12
Chapter 12 - One-on-one negotiations with the King
"Oh my. I wondered who you were, but you're a pretty small visitor."
The king sat leisurely in an armchair and stared at me without changing his position.
"Your Majesty? Is something wrong?"
I heard a soldier's voice from outside the door.
The king shook his head as I watched, wary of the possibility of a fight.
"Don't worry about it. There's no problem."
"Huh...!"
Is it okay if an intruder appears via teleportation?
Hmm. The king is a bit strange.
"It seems you didn't even set up a barrier against teleportation magic, so aren't you being careless, King?"
"I'm not so senile that I would mistake the presence or absence of murderous intent."
He seemed quite at ease.
But he didn't seem to be complacent.
From his flawless presence, I could tell he was a very capable person even without using detection magic.
"More importantly... you're the person I was looking for, right? Can you explain what that means?"
"You're not going to let me say you weren't involved in the search for a sage in the Kingdom of Madison."
"Oh. So a kid like you're the sage and savior?"
The king laughed in amusement and then waved his hand at me.
He must be looking at my status. The king's eyebrows moved slightly.
"... These magical ability values. Hahaha, interesting."
"So you get it now?"
"I wonder. This is still just a child with an abnormally high magical ability value."
"I'm glad the king isn't the type to just accept what I say right away."
That being said, my magical ability value is clearly abnormal.
I can't imagine there being more than one child like that in the world.
It was clear to me from the time I had these values that I was a special person, and the king was of course aware of that.
I realized this because the king's sharp gaze began to show curiosity.
"Yeah. How is Princess Clarice?"
"She's under house arrest in her room. She must be regretting it by now."
The king narrowed his eyes meaningfully as he said this.
So she's under house arrest because she hid my existence.
I've done something bad to Princess Clarice.
Secondhand, I was worried about the princess, but I casually changed the topic so she wouldn't realize it.
"I don't have much time for small talk. I have a curfew."
"Curfew? I don't know how serious you are, you brat."
It's all true though.
"I'll get straight to the point. Can you just leave me alone?"
The king grinned at my words.
"Apparently, you don't like to be in the public eye. The princess kept quiet because she understood your wishes, right?"
"When someone like the king finds out, he forces me to do all sorts of work, and it's annoying."
"No matter how much money or honor you give me, with your power, it would be easy to save the world."
"I have no intention of doing anything for the country or the world."
I'm tired of that sort of thing.
More than money or honor, what I want is a carefree life.
"Hmmm. Well, it's fine. I never intended to rely on your kindness. But what will you do? The world will not leave you alone."
"Well said. You were the first to try to stir things up, weren't you, King?"
"Don't get me wrong. Our country wants to protect you. We don't expect you to do anything right now. However, we will need you someday. We want to avoid losing your wise powers before then."
"What do you mean someday? Are you going to start a war with some country?"
I held my forehead in exasperation.
Then the King leaned forward with a fearless smile.
"My goal is world peace."
"World peace..."
It's a big difference when it comes out of the mouth of a King with a terrible face.
"The demons are strong. If they were to seriously start a war, the human world would not stand a chance. The sages would act as a deterrent."
"You need me, not for your own country, but for the world?"
"I don't think there is another king who would use your power so righteously as I do."
You say that yourself?
And he's smiling with a mischievous look on his face.
I don't dislike this king's humanity.
But that is a separate issue from what I want.
"I have no interest in world peace at all."
"I have to agree with you."
"Hey, King. Stop being so threatening to a child. To be honest, even I know it's a pain to keep refusing now that my existence is known."
Right now we're talking peacefully like this, but even this king would resort to forceful measures if he was really in trouble.
"You were unlucky when our country noticed you."
"That's true."
That can't be helped. After all, the prophets of Maylie have been passed down from generations of talented shrine maidens.
Maylie itself is a country that specializes in magic, and the reason this small country has not been invaded for hundreds of years is because other countries are afraid of magical retaliation and are hesitant to interfere.
Even though its territory is small, Maylie's hidden power cannot be underestimated.
...Well, it's nice that despite its power, it doesn't try to invade other countries or expand its territory.
In that sense, the world peace that we talked about earlier might not be such a joke.
"The princess said that there's a chance that other countries will notice me."
"There are other countries that have prophets. If there's no contact, it's unlikely that they've noticed the Savior's awakening. But that's just at the moment."
"I guess so. -- I've decided. Then I'll give you some conditions."
I raised my index finger.
"First, you'll only help me on school holidays or after school. Only to the extent that it doesn't affect my homework. Don't get in the way of me going to school. I'm still only level 10, and I don't have much stamina or magic, so I won't be of any use unless I learn."
"...Hmm."
"Then, if other countries try to contact me, I'll ask for your help."
"That would be great. If I could have the Sage all to myself."
"And above all, this is the most important thing. Don't interfere with my peaceful life!"
That's a pretty important item.
"I want to live a normal, ordinary life, without standing out or drawing attention."
"...You have all that power, and yet you want to be ordinary?"
The king blinked repeatedly, then after a beat he started laughing loudly.
"Haha! Interesting. You are truly a chosen sage. Very well. I'll accept your conditions. I would also like you to become even stronger than you are now. Don't neglect your studies, young sage."
"Of course. I'll do my duty as a normal, ordinary child."
...But what I intend to learn is not the power of a sage, but the life of a normal child.
"But you, young wise man, you are a brave boy. Even though we are a small country, you speak like that to me, the king of this magical powerhouse, Mary. Even the kings of other countries don't do such things. But it's not recklessness due to your youth. Rather, you are deliberately provoking me, aren't you?"
"What are you talking about? I have no idea."
"Ha. You're a worthless child."
"The same goes for the king. You're quite the odd one out to seriously negotiate with a child like me, aren't you?"
"Haha, I'm sure of it."
The king and I looked at each other and smiled.
"Also, this is a personal question."
"What?"
"How can you be so clever despite being a child?"
That's such an irrelevant question.
I shrugged my shoulders and answered like this.
"I don't know. It's because you're wise, isn't it?"
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