Sharing the information

"On the other hand, Your Highness, this little one is greatly curious about the reason for your presence here… I do believe that Sir Zane here would be informed about you joining us, but… well, you can see how it is~"

At that point, there was nothing simpler than going on the offensive and interrogating the ruler of another nation for trespassing on the territory of a foreign country.

"...my ability…"

"Pardon…?"

Ace ended up lowering his head as if in shame and mumbling the answer, making the gold-haired girl lean forward and ask for clarification.

"It's for my ability. I believe that despite Veto Rex being a royal-type ability, it requires special circumstances to achieve its full potential, just like common types do. I am following what I believe is the ability upgrading quest…"

After taking a deep breath, the green-haired monarch didn't require any more encouragement and explained in a clear voice.

"Your ability unlocking quest led you… here?!"

"..."

Melinda called out with enough disbelief to make Ace look away in shame…

"...!"

…only for him to realize that it didn't sound as if she was doubting his words but instead was shocked about the location he ended up in!

"How would that work…? Zane, I don't get it. Are they diverging paths to unlock Veto Rex?!"

"There… shouldn't be…"

The gold-haired girl gasped, trotting over to the white-haired man, grabbing onto his shirt, and tugging on it while he furrowed his brows deep in thoughts.

That scene looked particularly funny as when Melinda moved all the Kobolds moved with her like baby chicks following the mother hen.

"Having the location and environment in mind… The unlocking quest leading him here would only make sense if it was making him follow the roaming mini-boss, Bismuth-feathered Roc… But that makes no sense. He would have to be on his third unlocking quest, and the Roc would have to be demon-crowned to be recognized as the target…! It's way too early for either of those objectives to be available!"

Zane glared at the silent Ace before leaning down to Melinda and whispering into her ear.

"I see…"

Melinda squinted her eyes while still holding onto Zane's clothes.

"..."

"...!"

She then suddenly turned her face towards Ace, making him flinch in unease, not knowing how he should react.

"Your Highness. By any chance, are you on your third unlocking quest?"

"Hey!"

Melinda ended up asking Ace point blank, which didn't sit particularly well with Zane, who called out while reaching for and grabbing the girl's shoulder.

"Kyaah~"

As he pulled her around, Melinda let out an excited voice, not even trying to conceal how much she was into being handled like that by the monstrous white-haired man.

"...haa… Her question still stands, sir Adonis."

"Hmhmhm~!"

Zane let out an annoyed sigh while holding the visibly overjoyed girl close.

"...it actually is… but how do you know about that…? I didn't tell Laz about completing the second quest… and you seem to be calling it an unlocking quest even though I called it an upgrading one…"

The green-haired man said cautiously, even more on edge than he was at the start of the encounter.

"..."

Zane closed his wide mouth and returned to glaring him down, clearly not intending to explain anything.

"I can answer that~!"

"...!"

Melinda called out rather cheekily, making Zane stare at her and lightly squeeze her shoulder to make her stop.

"Kya~!"

…which only resulted in the gold-haired girl releasing a sweet voice…

"Ehem. Your Highness might be aware that the last recorded person born with Veto Rex was from the Emeraldios Empire. Emeraldios Empire and Diamondium Kingdom are at the beginning of the route to reconciliation after a rather rough history together and do not willingly share detailed documents and records. Even one that is readily available, let's say, in the library of an educational facility like Jade Academy."

"...you don't mean…?"

Melinda raised her hand and affectionately placed it on Zane's knuckles before pointing out, once again, coming up with a completely made-up dialogue option that caused Ace to straighten his back and breathe in expectantly.

"Indeed, Your Highness~ We merely acquired some knowledge that will eventually be shared between the two nations anyway the tiniest bit earlier~ The truth is Veto Rex is unique amongst royal-type abilities exactly because it requires unlocking its full potential. That was the case with the last ability wielder as well as their predecessor and their predecessor. Actually, I've even read that the Empire's ruler before the Emperor of Emperors deeply grieved that the branch of bloodline carrying Veto Rex has died out within their borders."

"...I… I don't know what to say, young lady… I mean, I was guessing and hoping that I'm not imagining things, but with such confirmation at hand I…! I…!"

The gold-haired girl smirked while leaning back into the white-haired man's embrace as she watched the gradual change in the green-haired monarch's expression ending in his moved speech.

"That said… everyone? Did you notice Bismuth-feathered Roc flying over your quarry? Did it try to snatch one of you?"

While Ace was still in the middle of processing the news, Melinda turned to the side and asked the Kobolds.

"...Bismuth-feathered…?"

"Flying…?"

But with their expressions and confused screeches, it was obvious that the topic was too advanced at the moment.

"Yes, flying. Moving through the sky. A bird… a winged creature. Big, and probably extremely scary for someone your size."

The gold-haired girl didn't get discouraged and used simple terms to kick-start their dormant knowledge.

"...sky…?"

"Ohhhh! Sky…!"

At first confused, the Kobolds began raising their heads and discovered an overwhelmingly vast area above their heads that was previously locked out of their worldview.

"Oh! Oh! Me! I saw a big monster with weird flapping arms!"

A Kobold with particularly sharp-looking segmented yellowish scales that looked more like man-made armor than something that grew out on its own raised its clawed hand and jumped up and down to get Melinda's attention.

"That's so helpful! What do you remember about it?"

"Umm! It shows up and disappears from time to time… umm… maybe three…? Four…? Four times a week! But it never attacks us! But it… ummm… it… eats the… the…"

The gold-haired girl cheered encouragingly, and the armored Kobold began doing its best to answer, ultimately stuttering, seemingly out of embarrassment…

"...~"

Melinda calmly waited, sneakily nuzzling into Zane, given such a chance.