“—!!”

Trash was really starting to struggle for some reason.

Hmm . . . His Excellency, the Wise? Must have been a pretty impressive guy. If he was that smart, then . . . I looked over at Rishia.

“Your father?”

“Fehhhh!”

Rishia shook her head emphatically. So it wasn’t her dad, then.

“Do you know who she’s talking about, Rishia?”

“Yes, I do. It’s that man. The king is the Seven Star Staff Hero.”

“Huh?”

Dumbfounded, I pointed a questioning finger at Trash, who was still struggling for some reason.

“It’s thanks to the king that Melromarc and the other countries still exist today.”

Hold on. She was saying that Trash—that this stupid, power-hungry fool—was a seven star hero? No way! I had never seen him holding any kind of staff. And His Excellency, the Wise? Seriously? More like His Foolishness, the Daft!

“Good one, Rishia. You almost had me there for a second.”

“!”

Trash snorted and glared at me.

“It wasn’t a joke. I’m sure that this all must be some kind of strategically planned act. Mom and dad always said that Melromarc would remain peaceful and secure as long as the king were here.”

“And that right there is why your mom and dad ended up ruined nobility.”

“Fehhh . . .”

“Mr. Naofumi!”

Raphtalia reprimanded me again. But it was probably true.

So from what she was saying, if we were talking about my world, was he like some kind of famous military strategist? Was he the kind of character who couldn’t be underestimated because he was always several steps ahead, and even if he acted foolishly, it was sure to be some kind of trap? Yeah, I wasn’t falling for that.

“I get it. The guy exists, but this is some kind of political decoy, right?”

I pointed at Trash defiantly. Unable to stand it any longer, he made a fist and lunged at me.

“I will not allow it! Icicle Prison!”

“!?”

Now encased in a cage of ice, Trash glared at the queen.

“Or maybe the real Trash died, and this is some kind of replacement?”

“Not at all. This is all true. Right, Trash?”

“!”

“Ah, yes. You can’t speak because of that collar. Think about it, Mr. Iwatani. Why do you think I made Bitch my slave but didn’t do the same to Trash?”

She had a point. Trash seemed to have given up relatively quickly and I figured that’s why she had let him be, but now that I thought about it, maybe his punishment had been a bit underwhelming.

“I am sure you already know this, Mr. Iwatani, but it is not possible to enslave a holy hero or a seven star hero.”

“Ah . . . So what you’re saying is that you can’t make Trash a slave and that’s why you’re keeping him quiet with a collar. But does the collar really work?”

“Yes. Of course, he could easily break it if he wanted to, but he doesn’t because he knows he would be punished for doing so.”