Chapter 122

The little dragon, who was fiercely waving their huge tail and snorting their nose, glared at us.

“The cub doesn’t seem very reassured.”

“Sir, please refrain from your tendency to be wary of anything you’re unfamiliar with. Do you think I’ve seen small dragons only once or twice?

“Besides that, how is that information relevant to the dragon growing up safely?”

“I don’t know why you’re asking me that because what I’ve said was not for the purpose of addressing concerns over the cub’s wellbeing. I merely said that emotional stability is key when young dragons are suffering from growing pains. P&G also helps take care of the cub by feeding them, but they’re not always there to do so.....No, actually Princess, what is the connection between P&G and the dragon?”

The subjects of the conversation, Popo and Griffin, were excitedly rolling around in a pile of jewels.

Whether it was due to the amount of accumulated jewels in the vicinity or simply because they were distracted from playing around, P&G had not been paying attention to what was going on even though it seemed that they had originally dragged us down here because the cub was sick.

Izek, who shot a look of disapproval towards my runaway friends, gave a bitter sigh.

“I don’t think the cub is a dragon”.

“.......What?”

“No matter how much I look at it, the cub must be putting up an act on purpose. The obese lizard cub just wants to live their life being petted and having someone catch their food for them. Geez, why do people these days commit the crime of coveting any man’s wife?”

After he came to a strange conclusion that I couldn’t make sense of, the finest paladin of the North seemed to be in a state of mental confusion.

I slowly raised my hand and patted his limp, drooping shoulders.

“No one told you that you had to take responsibility and take care of them”

“It doesn’t look like it, but I don’t want to do it! But if I don’t do it, then who would? There are many that want to harm the cub! Damn, as one of the Holy Guardians of the North, I will summarily arrest any blasphemous bast*rds who dare to interfere with the cub’s daily bread, even if they are priests!”

(T/N: I wasn’t sure if the “daily bread” part is supposed to be a hidden pun as a reference to God since....Izek...is a paladin....so I just left it as is in the event that it’s just a normal phrase that’s used everyday in either SK or whatever time period setting HTGMHOMS is supposed to be in. After spending an hour stuck on this damn section, I give up and if anyone isn’t clear, tsundere Izek is planning to start taking care of the dragon by feeding him and etc. like a foster parent)

I’m not sure how this logic came about, but it seems like he’s genuinely worried.

I liked the idea so much that I couldn’t help but laugh at the terrible reality of Izek being a nanny for a grumpy little dragon.

“I think the cub will be happy if we both take good care of them and give them the opportunity to grow up safe and sound. It will be like we’re their parents.”

“...... Is that so?”

I can’t even begin to describe how the legendary Knight Commander of the Longinus Paladins, who was said to have encountered two young adult dragons, began to look at the other knights with an incredulous expression.

Sir Barons immediately turned his trembling gaze away and opened his mouth in a solemn manner to address the knights standing on the other side.

“Are you here to fool around?”

Oops, I had entirely forgotten the presence of the other three.

I don’t know why they’ve been so quiet as if they’re asleep this whole time.

“That’s not it at all, Commander. Do you know how worried we were?”

”Stop with the shenanigans and pull out the jewels you’ve taken. Are you happy about stealing toys from a baby with a stuffy nose? Can you still call yourself a paladin!”

I could not believe that the Commander of the Northern High Order of the Holy Knights was referring to the devil of Satan as a little boy with a runny nose.

It has become increasingly confusing to determine what kind of beliefs the aristocrats hold in this Kingdom.

“I didn’t mean to touch the jewels, it’s just been rolling and falling all over the place······By the way, we were worried and thought we were going to die at one point. Was the cub going to go after that birdhead and raccoon pig even though they were protecting him? There’s also no way for us to know if it’s growing pains or something else. I don’t even-”

“How dare you complain so much in the face of the Princess! The spirit and practice of chivalry are nowhere to be seen! The problem is that young people these days think that anyone can automatically be a knight just because they wield a sword!”

***

Snow was spilling out of the window that was half-closed.

There was an outpour of heavy snow at any given time as winter began in earnest because it was the North.

My father-in-law opened his mouth.

At the end of his words, Father-in-law spoke in a meaningful tone and left an odd, lasting impression.

“The Pope said he sent a Gonfaloniere (Enzo).”

(T/N: After 122 Chapters, there is finally a bit of information on Enzo and what he does. Gonfaloniere has several definitions, one of them being a medieval term for an Italian official. According to Wiki, it is the holder of a highly prestigious communal office in medieval and Renaissance Italy, notably in Florence and the Papal States. Another definition specifies that it is the chief magistrate or other official of any of several republics in medieval Italy. The title seems to denote what kind of authority one has in an organization / government similar to titles like ‘supervisor’, ‘team leader’, ‘ceo’, ‘cfo’, ‘president’, etc.

MTL T/N: the other definition is a papal official at Rome who bears the standard of the church)

“······.”

“Officially, Enzo’s visit to his sister is meant to convey the Holy Father’s message of condolences to the people of Erendil, who have gone through a hard time, but unofficially, the purpose of the visit here will be to hold a negotiation on the issues at hand (Cesare’s assault on Ruby, Southern delegation visit to the North, Pope’s plans, etc.). In this situation, we won’t know what to do with the Gonfaloniere until after we meet with him.”

In other words, Enzo, the Pope’s second son and the general commander of the Pope’s army, would come to Erendil under the Pope’s secret orders.

It was only natural that he would feel it was necessary to send someone to salvage the political situation.

“Can you tell me what kind of person he is?”

It didn’t seem like the objective of the question was to ask about Enzo’s reputation.

My father-in-law, standing by the window with arms folded and staring at me, looked somewhat cautious and serious. It wasn’t an unreasonable question.

Let’s see, how do I feel about Enzo······ I don’t have any particular feelings about him.

“He’s just my brother.”

“He’s just an older brother······?”

“Yes, he’s just an ordinary, older brother. Even though he can be a wild troublemaker, he is different from his father and brother. Maybe that’s why he’s coming.”

The Pope’s message was clear.

Enzo had fortunately never been in any accidents (‘scandals’) but he also wasn’t talented in diplomatic negotiations, yet it remained true that the Pope still favored his son.

There may be some hidden feelings of disdain or contempt behind the show of sincerity of sending Enzo over to fix the problems Cesare had caused, but above all, it was clear that he was using Enzo to persuade me to look over the mess.

In other words, he’s trying to appeal to me in order to appease the Omertas.

The move aims to make a thorough negotiation of the situation possible by raising suspicions of the motive of Cesare’s attack on Omerta’s Princess.

Aside from the question of Enzo’s ability to persuade or coax anyone properly, he is the only one in my family who I have no resentment towards.

In addition to everything else, I didn’t know there would come a day when my father, who was Cesare’s partner in crime, would try to hold a negotiation with me like this (strategically sending Enzo in because he feels threatened by the possibility of retaliation by the Omertas). As expected, you have to live for a long time before you can witness the unimaginable taking place.

“······I see. That’s understandable. This time, then, could you tell me what his usual personality is like objectively?”

Yes? Isn’t objective information about his usual personality already well known?

At my puzzled expression, my father scratched his beard in embarrassment.

Why are you suddenly going back and forth again?

“What happened?”

“Actually, the Southern delegation had already arrived at Erendil three days ago but the Gonfaloniere had disappeared off to somewhere else by themselves and there was no way to know where they’ve gone.

“······.”

“The results of the report state that it was confirmed that the delegation had arrived together at the port of Elmos, but it seems that he must have left somewhere in the middle after arrival. The delegation is also in trouble because he can’t stay still in one location for long, wanders around freely as if he’s still in the South, and gets in trouble easily....So, would you have any idea where the Gonfaloniere would have gone first and where & what he would be doing by now? He could be visiting an acquaintance in Erendil.”

Now it was my turn to look embarrassed.

What would you think if all factors were to be considered? It’s obvious!

No matter how innocent the visit may look on the outside, you would still wonder if he has been sent on an important mission, because if it is Enzo, it is more than possible.

“Ruby?”

“Yeah, he’s probably around the entertainment area.”

Oh, why am I suddenly feeling embarrassed?

Regardless of how long you’ve been away or how distant you may be from home, you can’t completely escape your family’s upbringing or consistently keep up the act of being different from them.

(T/N: No lie, the MTL version of the sentence above took me 2 hours of spacing out before I could understand what the content was about. It’s kind of a sad, nature vs. nurture comment regarding Enzo’s lifestyle and how he was raised still affects him despite having a temperament completely different to Cesare or the Pope)

For a moment there, my father-in-law did not respond. He didn’t seem to have heard what I said.

“What ······?”

”Every time he visits a new place, he must experience the true face of the city by going to the gambling houses and bars······”

A sense of humiliation welled up and clouded my words.

Oh my, you moron! My face is burning because of you! Isn’t it actually cold in this weather?

Father’s face, which showed a bewildered expression, slowly began to distort.

It was truly a terrifying sight.

”So now, the first place the Gonfaloniere of Romagna ran like an arrow to, as soon as he arrived at the city where his in-laws reside, was an area like that. Is this what you’re saying?”

(Nodding head)

“He’s been playing around in such a seedy place during all three days? Are you really saying that even under these circumstances, he’s the kind of person who would do that?”

(Nodding head)

What can we do? It’s sadly true.

Darn, I feel my tears coming up all of a sudden.

I was fine when I talked about it just now.

Father-in-law was rubbing his throbbing temples and growling after witnessing the sight of me holding back tears in my eyes and nodding helplessly, which must have made me look pitiful.

“Okay, I understand. We might as well ask the city guards for help too if we want to search through areas like this. Damn, the brothers take turns in making Erendil’s guards chase after them in pairs.”

To be specific, all three siblings are pretty troublesome.

Though it was not my intention to cause any trouble, let’s not think about the time I previously ran away and caused a disturbance.

“But the more I think about it, the more uncomfortable the situation becomes. To what extent is the North and the Omertas being underestimated?·····.”

“No, father-in-law. I don’t think he’s looking down on you. He just doesn’t understand the gravity of his actions. He’s normally careless regardless of the place and time. During the Rimini march not that long ago, he almost even lost a long-fought battle because he thoughtlessly drank all night long.”

“········Hearing that is not very comforting, but it’s slightly better to know that it’s from negligence rather than malintent. Despite that, I’d rather not mention this to my son.”

“Ah······.”

“If my son hears about the activities Enzo does for leisure, instead of running over and being concerned with making a good impression as soon as the brother-in-law arrives, he’ll beat him up and try to put him to sleep. If it were my son, I would have broken his leg with a stick·······.”

The Pope had already broken his leg several times. (Yikes)

The problem was that it yielded no results.

On the other hand, it was confounding that Enzo was always weak to others who were perpetually in trouble and tried to help them.

***

Anyways, that’s pretty much what has happened so far.

Under the supervision of his sister-in-law and the butler, Enzo was kept busy during his visit to Erendil, learning how to do new housekeeping tasks carefully and taking care of a dragon suffering from growing pains.

-end of ch 122-