16 - The Queen of Cartaffs 卡塔夫斯N王

As I walked through the streets of Cartaffs, Bahnseim, Aumsaas, Beim… I noticed the difference it had to the places I’d been.

當我走過卡塔夫斯、巴恩塞姆、奧姆薩斯、貝姆......的街道時，我注意到了它與我去過的地方的不同之處。

I hadn’t felt it in Zayin or Lorphys either. Cartaffs’ characteristic air.

我在扎因和洛菲斯也沒有感受到。卡塔夫斯特有的氣息。

The orderly townscape was the same, but the buildings looked much too practical. On top of that, the patrolling soldiers walking around.

井然有序的市容是一樣的，但建築物看起來太實用了。除此之外，還有走來走去的巡邏士兵。

The uniforms they wore were unified, and I couldn’t see any knights.

他們穿着統一的制服，我看不到任何騎士。

The first one to notice it was the Seventh.

最先注意到這一點的是七號。

『… I heard Cartaffs gathered its personnel regardless of class. I see, so they’re thoroughly ability-centered.』

『......聽說卡塔夫斯是不分階級地召集人員的。原來如此，他們完全以能力爲中心啊。』

They did have a nobility system, for what it’s worth, but that wasn’t everything. I think it’s a good thing they recognize talent regardless of social status.

他們確實有貴族制度，但這並不是全部。我認爲他們不分社會地位，承認人才是件好事。

But carrying out something like that would generate considerable opposition.

但這樣做會引起相當大的反對。

So I must assume Cartaffs’ leader has at least enough ability to subdue them. Or perhaps they had to learn to do so, or else.

所以我必須假設卡塔夫斯的首領至少有足夠的能力制服他們。或者，他們必須學會這樣做，否則的話。

The Third lay out his own thoughts.

三世闡述了自己的想法。

而我們在卡塔夫斯工作的同時，也在探索這個小鎮，直到時機成熟。除了熟悉我們的嚮導，我們還安排了今天的計劃。

伊娃看着推車和攤位。

諾維姆和米蘭達在這方面也很擅長，但伊娃無論在哪個城鎮都能輕易收集到信息，她肯定是個難以捉摸的存在。

周圍的小喫攤鱗次櫛比，稀罕的喫食一字排開。

Hearing that, I tilted my head, and after Eva looked around, and confirmed there were no soldiers around, she spoke.

The Fifth offered some admiration to Eva.

『Bahnseim to the south… Cartaffs is also a large country, but their national powers are too far apart. As this country can’t even cooperate with its surroundings, it’s thinkable it’s been refined by the threat of Bahnseim. But they’ve become this practical, have they… well, it may just be their character.』

這種觀點的力量也一定是卡塔夫斯的特點。

聽到這裏，我歪了歪頭，伊娃環顧四周，確認周圍沒有士兵後，她開口了。

So talented ones were respected, and the rest despised.

說到收集信息，即使在黨內，伊娃也是個高手。她有自己的信息網絡，可以輕易掌握我們其他人無法接觸到的信息。

The Nihil Tribe… it was a tribe that held meaning to the elves.

五世對伊娃有些欽佩。

『巴恩塞姆在北方......如果我們能在萊利行動時讓他們幫忙就好了。』

『You just don’t get it, Lyle. It’s best you don’t look at nothing but the good side of ability-centric government. To everything, there are merits, and demerits to be found.』

伊娃環顧四周。

“It seems sweets are precious here. Come to think of it, the ship had some sugar loaded as well. The sailors were delighted when they found it was undamaged.”

Character, or a geographic reason, whatever the case, there wasn’t a doubt it was a strong nation.

There were food stalls lined around, with line ups of rare edibles.

“It’s quite cold here. I should’ve brought a coat… even so, when you see demi-humans walking around so normally, it makes one think it’s a good country.”

『Bahnseim’s north… it would be nice if we can get them to help out when Llye makes his move.』

『But you would never think Cartaffs’ Queen was the Queen Eva-chan had sung of.』

我也是這麼想的，但現在的我還不夠重要，如果我請求援助，卡塔夫斯不會把我當回事。更何況，作爲他們如此痛恨的國家的貴族......』

“Doesn’t that mean they’re truly appointing anyone skilled irrelevant to status? It’s a good country, isn’t it?”

Even taking an elf like her around, the surrounding reactions were normal. A change from Bahnseim, Arumsaas or Beim, where at times, you could find some prejudice.

『Still, having brethren elves everywhere sure is convenient for gathering information. What’s more, just saying 【Nihil】 gets a different reaction. A relatively favorable one at that.』

五爺看着這個小鎮。

我看着走在我身邊的伊娃。

我還想了解一下在地形上應該注意些什麼。

"這裏很冷。我應該帶件外套的......即便如此，當你看到半人族如此正常地走來走去，還是會讓人覺得這是一個好國家。"

性格，還是地理原因，不管怎樣，毫無疑問，這是一個強大的國家。

於是，有才能的人受到尊重，剩下的人受到輕視。

虛無部落......那是一個對精靈來說意義非凡的部落。

『南邊的巴亨西姆......卡塔夫斯也是一個大國，但他們的國力相差太遠。由於這個國家甚至無法與周邊國家合作，可以認爲它是在巴恩西姆的威脅下被完善的。但他們已經變得如此實際了，難道......嗯，這可能只是他們的性格。』

『但你絕對想不到卡塔夫斯的王后就是伊娃唱過的王后。』

I questioned her use of, ‘makes one think’. So I tried asking.

船上裝載的大量貨物都很安全，維拉鬆了一口氣。國家正在與貝姆交易其不足的商品。

第四。

我對她使用 "讓人覺得 "一詞表示質疑。於是我試着問道

I also wanted to learn what to look out for on the terrain.

And as we were working in Cartaffs, we were exploring the town until the time came. On top of getting acquainted with our guides, we were scheduled to set up our plans today.

『不過，到處都有精靈兄弟，收集情報確實很方便。而且，只要說一句【虛無】，就會得到不同的反應。而且是相對有利的反應。』

Eva looked at the carts and booths.

When we walked down the street together, perhaps it was a relatively large town, as there were a lot of people around.

The Fifth looked at the town.

I thought the same, but the current me wasn’t significant enough for Cartaffs to take me seriously if I asked for assistance. What’s more, as a noble of the country they hate so…

“Look at it the other way, and useless people and demi-humans are looked upon coldly. The reason the Guild receptionist tried so hard to stay out of your way surely because you’re a skilled one. I tried asking a few of my brethren, but apparently the gap in treatment is a large one. It may be better than a class system, but it feels there’s no room to breathe.”

The Fourth.

"他們的肉類種類相當多。不過我感覺糖果之類的東西比較少。"

“They have quite a variety of meat. I do get the feeling sweets and the like are scarce, though.”

即使把她這樣的精靈帶在身邊，周圍人的反應也很正常。這與巴恩塞姆、阿魯姆薩斯或貝姆不同，在那裏，有時你會發現一些偏見。

When it came to gathering information, even within the party, Eva was a skilled one. She had her own information network, and she could easily lay hands on info the rest of us wouldn’t be able to touch.

"反過來看，沒用的人和半人族都會受到冷眼。公會接待員之所以這麼努力地不妨礙你，肯定是因爲你是個有技術的人。我試着問了幾個兄弟，但顯然待遇差距很大。這也許比階級制度好一些，但感覺沒有喘息的餘地。"

當我們一起走在街上時，也許這是一個比較大的小鎮，因爲周圍有很多人。

There, the Fourth explained it to me.

"那不就是說，他們真的會任用任何與地位無關的技術人員嗎？這是個好國家，不是嗎？"

『你就是不明白，萊爾。你最好不要只看到以能力爲中心的政府好的一面。任何事物都有優點和缺點。』

"看來糖果在這裏很珍貴。想起來了，船上也裝了一些糖。當水手們發現這些糖毫髮無損時，他們可高興了。"

Eva looked around her.

The large load of cargo loaded on the ship was safe, and Vera was relieved. The country was trading for its insufficient commodities with Beim.

在那裏，四爺給我解釋了。

The strength of that outlook must also be Cartaffs’ characteristic.

I looked at Eva walking beside me.

Novem and Miranda were also good at it, but as Eva was easily able to collect info in whatever town we stopped by, she was surely a hard-to-get existence.

And once that was over, we would finish up our preparations, an set out.

一旦結束，我們將完成準備工作，然後出發。

“… It’s right about time. Shall we head for the guild?”

"......時間差不多了。我們去公會吧？"

Saying that, the two of us set off for the guild, but hearing some rowdy voices, I turned in that direction. Eva was watching as well.

說着，我們倆就向公會出發了，但我聽到了一些吵鬧的聲音，就轉過身朝那個方向看去。伊娃也在一旁看着。

The surrounding people were walking around a group of feuding adventurers. There were some rubberneckers, but most went right on with their business.

周圍的人正圍着一羣結仇的冒險者走來走去。雖然有一些橡皮人，但大多數人都在做自己的事。

“Could it be a fight? Looks like it’s between adventurers.”

"會不會是打起來了？好像是冒險者之間的事。"

Eva was curious. Thinking of things as seeds for stories, showing such interest in these sorts of things was her virtue, as well as her flaw.

伊娃很好奇。把事物當作故事的種子，對這類事物表現出濃厚的興趣，這是她的優點，也是她的缺點。

From what I could see, some middle-aged adventurers were surrounding a party of younger ones.

在我看來，一些中年冒險者正圍着一隊年輕冒險者。

Looking at them…

看着他們......

“They’re the same as us.”

"他們和我們一樣。"

The young adventurer party with an extreme inclination in gender ration was surrounded by an elder party of five.

在性別配比上有極端傾向的年輕冒險者隊伍被一個年長的五人隊伍團團圍住。

0;It reacts to women… is it influencing their psyche?1;

如果他只是個懵懂無知的孩子，他一定會被嘲笑，然後就完了。但他散發出的氣場，讓人覺得他真的可以做到。

“… Then let’s go.”

伊娃扯了扯我的袖子，指了指四周。

“Lyle, look around. The ones who’ve stopped are almost all women.”

Perhaps irritated by the woman’s words, the young adventurer clicked his tongue at us. As the elder adventurers remained wary, they parted from the crowd.

The garments they wore had a sense of cleanliness, but their appearances were gaudy. Pierces and necklaces, they also had rings.

Around us, there were woman staring as if to bite into the young adventurer. There were woman who were different as well, but I couldn’t easily tell them apart.

When I looked at the adventurer, wondering if it were a matter of looks, the Fourth spoke.

The longsword on the man’s back alone was splendid enough to put it at odds with his other clothes. His age was perhaps a little over mine?

“Lyle, you’ve been seen.”

As Eva looked between me, and the young adventurer party, the bystanders that didn’t want to get involved opened up a path between us.

但他們確實有一種氣場。

"拉克大人，你可千萬別把自己捲進去。那兩個人......很了不起。和這裏的冒險家完全不一樣。"

“Larc-sama, you mustn’t involve yourself. Those two… are remarkable. Nothing like the adventurers you’d find in these parts.”

"啊？你是誰？哦，你身邊有個小可愛。嘿，她有用嗎？"

“Hand off the guide role? Are you sure you ain’t an idiot!?”

“I heard it. You’re guiding a party that defeated a Trident Serpent, aren’t you? Ans it seems they’ve got some pretty ladies with them. I’d like to try and meet them too. And unlike you small fries who needed to call adventurers from Beim to defeat something like a Land Dragon, I’ll go and take it out while I’m out guiding.”

But they did have an air to them.

當伊娃看着我和年輕的冒險者一行人時，不想捲入其中的旁觀者在我們之間開闢了一條道路。

0;I guess he looks cool?1;

One of the women following behind the man looked at me. It seems she noticed I had done something.

『無論你走到哪裏，你都會發現那些不講道理的強者。他們忠實於自己的慾望，不考慮給周圍環境帶來的麻煩。』

The elder adventurer shot back at the young one.

當我看着那個冒險者，不知道是不是長相的問題時，四世說話了。

年長的男性冒險者與年輕人對峙着。與年長冒險者一行人井然有序的裝備相比，年輕冒險者的裝備看起來並不可靠。

灰色的頭髮，綠色的眼睛......他身材高大，身體訓練有素。

I used Skills to try obtaining information on him. There, I was able to see the young adventurer was using some sort of Skill.

From the Jewel, the Third let his voice.

"把嚮導的角色讓出來？你確定你不是白癡！"

（我猜他看起來很酷吧？）

But it seems the one at fault was…

但似乎犯錯的是......

僅男子背上的長劍就足夠華麗，與他的其他服飾格格不入。他的年齡也許比我大一點？

從寶石中，三世發出了自己的聲音。

我們的目光相遇了，那個女人拉了拉冒險者的胳膊，然後指了指我。

他們穿的衣服很乾淨，但外表卻很華麗。穿孔和項鍊，他們還有戒指。

『… You’ll find unreasonably strong people wherever you go. Faithful to their desires, the type that doesn’t think of the trouble they’re causing to their surroundings.』

"......那我們走吧。"

『感覺有點不對勁。還有......萊爾，去看看他。』

『Something feels off. And… Lyle, go look into him.』

“And I’m askin’ if you’re an idiot. This ‘s an official request from the Guild. If you’re complaining to someone, complain to the Guild.”

跟在那個男人身後的一名女性看着我。看來她注意到了我做了些什麼。

The elder male adventurer confronted the young man. In contrast to the elder adventurer party’s orderly equipment, the young adventurers’ gear looked unreliable.

They were strangely calm, and it didn’t look as if an oblivious one was trying to pick a fight. Eva had noticed as well, as she quietly watched over them.

"萊爾，看看周圍。停下來的幾乎都是女人。"

他們異常冷靜，看起來並不像一個忘乎所以的人在挑釁。伊娃也注意到了，她靜靜地注視着他們。

“Now that you mention it.”

"萊爾，你被看見了。"

"我聽說了。你帶領的隊伍打敗了三叉戟巨蛇，是嗎？看來他們還帶了幾位漂亮的女士。我也想見見她們。而且，我可不像你們這些小角色，需要從貝姆召集冒險者才能打敗陸地龍這種東西，我會在外出做嚮導的時候去幹掉它的。"

我使用技能試圖獲取他的信息。在那裏，我看到這位年輕的冒險者正在使用某種技能。

"既然你提到了。"

Our eyes met, and the woman pulled at the adventurer’s arm, and pointed at me.

“Ah? Who are you? Oh, you’ve got quite a cutie with you. Hey, is she any use?”

年長的冒險者回擊了年輕的冒險者。

Eva tugged at my sleeve, and pointed around.

On the words of the young man pointing at Eva, the woman who noticed me nodded. And she even gave him a warning.

If he was just an oblivious kid, he’s be mocked, and that would be the end of it. But the air he gave off made it feel like he could actually do it.

聽到年輕人指着伊娃的話，那個注意到我的女人點了點頭。她還對他提出了警告。

"我在問你是不是個白癡。這是公會的正式要求。如果你要向誰抱怨，就向公會抱怨吧。"

在我們周圍，有的女人瞪着眼睛，好像要咬年輕的冒險家一口。也有一些女人與衆不同，但我不容易把她們區分開來。

Gray hair, and green eyes… he was of high stature, and of trained body.

（它對女性有反應... 它會影響她們的心理嗎？）

也許是被女人的話激怒了，年輕的冒險者衝我們 "咔嚓 "了一下。由於年長的冒險者們仍然保持警惕，他們從人羣中分開了。

Evaluating the situation, the Seventh spoke.

評估了一下形勢，老七開口了。

『What a troublesome fellow. When he hears he can’t win, he steps down that easily. Erhart, was it? It’s as if a guy like Erhart actually had some skill backing him.』

『真是個麻煩的傢伙。他一聽說自己贏不了，就那麼容易下臺。艾哈特，是嗎？就像艾哈特這樣的人其實也有一些技巧在支撐着他一樣。』

As the elder adventurers began walking towards us, the Third spoke.

當年長的冒險者們開始向我們走來時，三世開口了。

『Cartaffs looked fun, doesn’t it? A Queen, and a young, ambitious adventurer… doesn’t it sound exhilarating?』

『卡拉夫斯看起來很有趣，不是嗎？一個女王，一個年輕有爲的冒險者......聽起來是不是很刺激？』

The Fifth painstakingly voiced his opinion.

五世苦口婆心地說出了自己的看法。

『Is that so? Let’s defeat the Land Dragon, and get back safely.』

『是嗎？讓我們打敗陸地龍，安全地回去吧。』

The Fourth to the young adventurer.

老四對年輕的冒險者說。

『I wonder if that guy will raise some trouble. I want a chance for us to have an audience with the Queen. Do you think they’ll become the trigger for us?』

『不知道那傢伙會不會找麻煩。我想給我們一個覲見女王的機會。你覺得他們會成爲我們的導火索嗎？』

And as always, the Seventh let out an anti-adventurer declaration.

七爺一如既往地發出了反冒險家的宣言。

『That sort always brings trouble, but I wonder if it’ll go that far. How about we hunt down the buds of calamity while we still have the chance? That one’s quite dangerous, you know?』

A woman like that was now going through stacks of paperwork.

"我已經有一段時間沒有出去了，但是......我的屬下不允許。"

她回頭看了看引起她興趣的段落，輕輕地用舌頭碰了碰紅脣。

Sitting on a splendid sofa, she wore black garb that stuck close to her body. Near her, a long and slender sword leaned against her seat.

“Does logic even work on that lot at the guild? Buy it off, and they could’ve been the first to research it. I did tell them to collect rare specimens, but I didn’t tell them what to do when the specimens were too rare. Do I really have to give another in-depth explanation?”

The woman’s name was 【Ludmila Cartaffs】… Once called the princess knight, she was now called Queen, as a member of Cartaffs’ royalty.

“Still, how interesting. Shall I give a summons to that Trēs Trading Company? And the adventurers that came from Beim… I never thought I’d see the surname Walt come up. How interesting. He may not be of Bahnseim’s Walt house, but how curious.”

But it was also true that everyone supported her in becoming one. As the princess knight, she had earned much support throughout the country, and she was somewhat a symbol of Cartaffs.

這個女人的名字叫【路德米拉-卡塔夫斯】......曾經被稱爲公主騎士的她，現在作爲卡塔夫斯王室的一員，被稱爲女王。

"公會里那批人的邏輯思維行得通嗎？把它買下來，他們可能是第一個研究它的人。我是讓他們收集稀有標本，但沒告訴他們標本太稀有時該怎麼辦。我真的有必要再深入解釋一下嗎？"

… In the Cartaffs’ citadel city’s royal palace, a single woman read through a report.

她猛地只把最後一頁扔到一邊，走向房間裏一張奢侈的辦公桌。

“That Larc guy is asking for yet another audience? I told them not to deal with him, but… the one handling the reception was a woman, I see. Then there’s no helping it.”

“Now then, how should I call them out… but first…”

➐

但大家支持她成爲一名騎士也是事實。作爲公主騎士，她在全國各地贏得了很多支持，她在某種程度上是卡塔夫斯的象徵。

滿腹牢騷的女人把手伸向旁邊的劍。她從劍鞘中抽出劍，看着鮮紅的劍身。

『這種人總是會帶來麻煩，但我不知道會不會走到那一步。要不，趁現在還有機會，我們去獵殺災禍之芽？那可是相當危險的，你知道嗎？』

轉過身躺下，閱讀文件的女人一邊撫摸着自己波浪式的茄子色長髮，一邊抬起上半身。

Continuing down the intriguing document, it seems the ones who brought the materials to the Guild were instead a group of adventurers.

Saying that, she got back to work.

坐在椅子上繼續工作後，她的嘴角露出了一絲笑意。

在堆積如山的表格面前，柳德米拉捂住了眼睛，並用一隻手拂去劉海，以示確認。但當她睜開眼睛時，還是那座山矗立在她面前，一如從前。

Looking back over a passage that caught her interest, she lightly touched her tongue to her red lips.

"除非把它移開，否則一切都不會開始。"

"那個叫拉克的傢伙又在求見了？我告訴過他們不要和他打交道，但是......負責接待的是個女人，我明白了。那就沒辦法了。"

The fed-up woman reached a hand to her sword nearby. Drawing it from its scabbard, she looked at its bright red blade.

她是從前任國王手中暫時繼承王位的，並不是正式的王后。

......在卡塔夫城堡的王宮裏，一個女人正在閱讀一份報告。

她坐在華麗的沙發上，穿着貼身的黑色服裝。在她身邊，一把細長的劍倚靠在她的座位上。

收刀入鞘，她站了起來，把文件放在桌子上，翻看清單上的最後一項。

Turning to lie down, the woman reading the documents stroked her long, waved, aubergine hair, as she raised the upper half of her body.

"還是那麼有趣。要我給那個特里斯貿易公司發個傳票嗎？還有從貝姆來的冒險者......真沒想到，我還能看到沃爾特這個姓氏。真有意思他也許不是巴恩西姆的華特家族的人，但真讓人好奇。"

This time, her expression twisted in disdain.

"嗯，真有趣。他們打敗了三叉戟大蛇，是嗎......我聽說 Trēs 貿易公司的船遭到了襲擊，但是......"

After sitting in her chair, and resuming her work, a laugh came from her lips.

這一次，她的表情因不屑而扭曲。

說完，她又開始工作。

這樣一個女人，現在正在翻閱成堆的文件。

“It’s been a while since I last went outside, but… my subordinates won’t allow it.”

“Nothing will start unless this is out of the way.”

"那麼現在，我應該怎樣把他們叫出來......不過首先......"

繼續往下看這份耐人尋味的文件，似乎把材料帶到公會的反而是一羣冒險者。

Before the mountain of forms, Ludmila covered her eyes, and brushed away her bangs with one hand to verify it. But when she opened her eyes the same mountain stood before her, just as it had before.

Sheathing it away, she stood, placed the documents on top of her table, and looked through the last item on the list.

She violently tossed only the last page aside, and headed for an extravagant desk in the room.

“Hmm, how interesting. They defeated the Trident Serpent, did they… I heard the Trēs Trading Company’s ship had been attacked, but…”

Having been temporarily left the throne from the previous king, she was not an official Queen.