“Whew… That was a close one… I would have been dead if Carol caught .”
If soone were to ask
what’s the best way to escape soone, I’d probably tell them to find a way to disappear from the face of the Earth. I followed my own advice and ran to Ebrilyon. This would have worked on any normal person, but Carol is one of the few people that can follow
here if she wants. She can probably easily deduce where I am too… Gotta watch my back…
I caught my breath in front of the fast-travel station. The streets on this side are always more bustling than on Three Records.
She wasn’t exactly that angry, was she? Would she actually follow
here just because of a little hug with Narumi? No way to know for sure. I ca here without thinking, but… What now? I should be able to blend in if I can just find sothing to do… What are Ririna and Sarasa up to? Maybe I should reach out to one of them…
“Ah! Iroha, there you are! I’ve been looking for you!”
The tallic clicking and clanking of a chest plate approached as a familiar face with wine-colored hair ran towards . She had a soothing aura and waved with a smile on her face.
“Hey, Flanne. What are you up to? Out on patrol?” I waved in return, but as soon as she got close enough, she grasped my wrist with both hands.
Catch~! “Patrolling? Yeah, sothing like that.”
Woah… I ca here to escape soone, so why do I feel like I’ve just been caught? By a girl who’s technically a soldier, no less…
“Ahahahaha… Okay, I see… So, uhmm… Were you looking for ?”
She’s not letting go. Her eyes were closed, and her smile only got wider. Why does she look so happy? So pleased? “Mhmm mhmm! That’s right! I need you to co with
to the castle. I need you to tell the princess how hard I worked so I can get so days off.”
“Why am I supposed to help you negotiate with your boss? Sounds like a pain!”
“Don’t be silly. That’s exactly why I need you to co with . Also, it’s another opportunity to et with the princess! Aren’t you excited?”
“The sa princess who dragged
into her problems a few tis now? Who would want to et her again?” Without her smiling face even flinching, she pulled
toward the castle. *Sigh…* It’s unfair to say she drags
into her problems… She’s helped
out a ton too, hasn’t she? “Okay, fine. You can stop pulling
now. I owe you one, anyway.”
Flanne opened her eyes, now with a normal, happy expression. “Very cooperative of you. Thank you.” She let go of my wrist, and we now walked side-by-side, with her just normally holding my hand. “Still can’t let you go, though. Can’t risk you running off on .”
“Wha-!?” We’re just holding hands then! No jokes, no gimmicks? Doesn’t she have any sha?
She instead just giggled. “Let’s go.”
We walked to the castle, looking like lovers and making
feel very conflicted on the way there. I can hug Narumi as a friend, but this might actually be cheating… What’s Flanne thinking?
The main hall of the castle was as tall and impressive as always, but it wasn’t our stop. Bea, for being a princess, isn’t as flashy as one would expect. Her office was pretty inconspicuous, and we had to walk through a lot of basic and twisting stone hallways to get to her.
“Listen… Thank you, Iroha…” Flanne said while guiding
through the maze.
“Huh? For what?”
“For dragging
back to the Forest of Illusion.” She calmly continued. “You see, when I renounced the title of Queen of Illusions, I was ready to give up on everything. I gave up on my ho, and I gave up on Hilde. If it wasn’t for you, I might have spent decades, maybe even centuries, in human territory without ever realizing that I still had a ho I could return to. So thank you.”
There was sothing very tender in her voice. Made
blush… “I- It was nothing, okay? In fact, I should be the one thanking you. You went there all the way with us even though you were scared of finding how they felt about you… That’s very impressive…”
We could have thanked each other back-and-forth for hours, but it wouldn’t have made our lives any more aningful. So Flanne just smiled.
This feels too real.
“So… If you can actually live for centuries, does that an you’re not human? I guess since you were born in the Forest of Illusion, that makes you a fairy instead, huh?”
“Well… It’s complicated… Personally, I’d say I’m both a Fairy and a human. Each Pillar of the world is sovereign over a specific elent, and every living being has a specific combination of those elents. I may not have beco a human like humans beco humans, but the combination of those elents in
is as close to a human as possible. It just happened that I was given life like a Fairy. What do you think? Which one am I?” She curiously turned her head to the side.
“Mhmm…” Complicated question… Very complicated indeed. “Well, it doesn’t matter. Human or Fairy, you’re still Flanne to .”
She didn’t seem unhappy with my answer. That’s good.
“More importantly, now that you know you can go back to the Forest of Illusion, are you going to go back ho?”
“Huh?! No way!” What kind of question was that? Flanne waved her hand in front of her in denial. “Didn’t you see how boring it was next to the Pillar? Nothing happens there, you know! I may visit Hilde sotis now, but no way I’m staying.”
“You hate it that much, huh…? At least you can see each other again. Good for you.”
…
Bea’s office was bright with a big window behind her desk and the sun shining outside.
She sat there while I borrowed the couch for guests, and a madwoman raved in front of her, singing her own praises.
“To sum it up, I was solely responsible for guiding our large party through the confusing depths of the Forest of Illusion. I played a vital role in maintaining cohesion, ntally and physically, and I successfully delivered us to the Pillar of Void, helping our group be so of the first humans to see the Pillar of Void. In light of my achievents, I believe the number of days off I receive should be increased as soon as possible!”
Flanne’s performance was almost theatrical, and Bea watched with an amused smile. Can anybody take this seriously?
“As a witness to my achievents, Iroha will attest to everything I’ve just said. Right?”
“Uh? Yeah… Flanne was a great help, and I’m very thankful for her.”
“Thank you, Iroha. There you have it, princess. May I hear your response now?”
Bea nodded without responding, then her eyes shifted towards . “Is she coercing you?”
“No…?”
“Are you sure?” Flanne, what have you done that she doubts you this much? “*Sigh…* Fine. If you want ti off, I’ll give you your ti off. Since everything is ready for the tournant, you can take the next three days. And you can clock out now too.”
“*Gasp!* Really?” Flanne was the happiest I’d ever seen her. “Princess… Thank you so much! I’ll take you up on your offer then.”
She skipped toward the exit, twirling before she left. “I’m going to start off with so soothing tea… And then… I still have to figure it out.” She then opened the door. “Take care of yourself while I’m away, princess. Ah, and you too, Iroha. Thanks and see you later!” She was already off in dreamland.
Her strange exit was supposed to leave a certain silence in the room. The kind that would leave us thinking, ‘what was that about?’, but instead…
“Heh… What an idiot.” Bea snickered.
“Bea? What was that? I don’t like the sound of that.”
“Don’t be scared, Iroha. I got her out of the room so the two of us could speak without any interruptions.” It was all part of a plan? I think I should be scared then. “‘Don’t say this, don’t do that’… It’s always like that with her. Without Flanne to nag , we don’t have anything to worry about.”
“I’d say you’re a reason to worry, but whatever. What do you wanna talk about? Did you really need Flanne out of the way?”
“It’s sothing that can stay between the two of us for now, yes.” Bea got up from the desk and walked around the couch, sitting across from . “You know how we have a tournant starting in the next few days? Are you interested?”
Tournants are fun to watch. I don’t know any of the fighters, but I’d probably have a good ti. “Sure… As much as anyone else, I think. It’s hard to get super excited when I don’t know what to expect.”
Bea pouted a little. “You’re as blunt with
as always. If a princess asks you about an event she’s organizing, you’re supposed to be excited even if you have to fake it, you know? Then again, that’s what’s good about you.”
Bea shrugged her shoulders, then leaned forward.
“Either way, I wasn’t talking about just watching. Are you interested in participating? Have you thought about it?”
“N- no… Not really… I only learned about this before leaving for the Forest of Illusion. I don’t know much about it. There was a prize, wasn’t there? Then Flanne said I wasn’t eligible or sothing, so I forgot about it.”
Bea nodded calmly. “See? This is why I needed her out of the room. She was assuming you wouldn’t be interested in the prize, but there’s nothing in the rules that says you can’t join.”
“Oh… That changes things… What’s the prize then? Is it good?”
Bea sat up straight with a smile, then poked her own cheek without saying a word. Is she thinking about how to explain it? “Huh?” She tapped her cheek a few more tis. “What? Are you going to tell
or not?” D- did I just piss her off? Her smile faltered, and she poked her face frantically now. “Wait… No way…”
“*Sigh…* You finally got it… That’s right! I’m the prize! The winner gets to marry !”
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