"So, you're saying these guys attacked Roman and now they're trying to deny it?" "That's exactly right."
The captain of the guard, who had been listening to the conversation between Fiona and , glared at the group of four rookie-robbers with such intensity, it looked like he might kill them on the spot.
What if he had believed their lies? What if, because of their connection with the Grand Duchess, he had turned on and frad as a criminal?
By now, that captain would probably be stripping off his uniform.
In the captain’s eyes, those four must look like assassins who tried to drag him into the abyss.
"Grand Duchess, please believe . I will take full responsibility for this, conduct a thorough investigation, and reveal all their other cris. I’ll ensure they receive the punishnt they deserve." "Can I trust you?" "Yes! Captain of Guard Squad 17, Burden! I swear on my career!"
As expected from Fiona. She knows how to command respect.
While Fiona was disciplining the captain, I turned to the four who looked even paler than before and sneered at them.
It seems they thought their connection with the captain would save them.
But strong connections always fall in the face of even stronger ones. That’s how the world works.
'Consider this a valuable life lesson.'
The demons grumbled in disappointnt that I didn’t deal with them personally, but I much preferred this outco. After all, I’m not so psychopath who enjoys killing.
Plus, it’s cleaner this way.
Fiona, who had swiftly settled the situation, left the captain with a warning to stay vigilant and then approached .
"Roman, I’m sorry you had to see this ss." "Not at all. They were just making baseless accusations."
Although they nearly succeeded.
But in the end, they didn’t.
Fiona’s expression lightened a bit, and she smiled warmly.
"Shall we move to a more comfortable place rather than stand around here?" "Well... wait a mont. a, is that alright with you?"
I turned to a, who had been quietly observing the situation from behind. After all, I was still under her guidance.
Realizing a’s presence, Fiona quickly introduced herself.
"Oh, I’m so sorry! I should have introduced myself earlier. I’m Fiona McManus, an apprentice explorer from the Sigun forces. Roman and I trained together at the academy. And you are?" "a. No surna. I’m from the Telema school." "Telema school...?"
Fiona squinted as if trying to recall sothing. It seed she couldn’t place it.
Her eyes narrowed further until, at last, recognition dawned on her, and her eyes widened in realization.
"I rember now! Telema school... right. Sorry, it’s just been so long since I’ve heard that na..."
Fiona waved her hands frantically in apology, but a didn’t seem to care much.
"It’s fine. It’s a minor school." "Ah... sorry about that." "Let’s just move to another place."
Even with the Grand Duchess, a spoke casually, but Fiona didn’t seem to mind.
Her indifference to such authority—was this just an elf thing?
In any case, the three of us followed Fiona’s lead to a reception room.
Once we were seated, Fiona asked, "So, Roman, have you joined the Telema school?"
"No, not really. I’ve only applied for training."
"Hmm..."
An odd response.
I wonder if she’s still bothered by the fact that I turned down her suggestion to join Sigun that night. She must think that because I’m training with a minor school like Telema, I’ve beco a target for rookie-robbers.
With a present, I quickly changed the subject.
"So, Grand Duchess, weren’t you supposed to be heading out on an expedition?"
"Originally, yes, but I decided to tour the three divisions of Sigun instead. If you had joined the expedition, I would have been there with you."
Right. Fiona is the Grand Duchess, possibly the future ruler of the city.
Though she’s third in line, no one knows what the future holds. It makes sense for her to solidify her support by touring the divisions.
But the way she ntioned in her reasoning makes think my guess was spot on.
"Haha..."
"Don’t worry. I was only joking. At first, I was disappointed, but now I think you made the right decision."
"Thank you for saying that."
Her gaze was warm, almost like that of a mother watching her son grow up, or perhaps a master watching a disciple leave to find his own path.
Fiona... is younger than , though.
"By the way, Grand Duchess, have you heard anything about an undiscovered ruin?"
"An undiscovered ruin?"
Fiona’s question wasn’t one of confusion. It was one of curiosity, as if she were wondering how I knew.
"Actually, Theresea went to investigate it."
"Theresea?"
Number 11 from our academy days. Fiona’s close friend. A promising mber of the Blostma school.
As I quickly ran through the details of Theresea in my mind, I rembered she had decided to do her training at Blostma, her original school.
"a, it looks like we might be too late."
"Seems that way."
If a large school like Blostma was involved, it was practically over. Even if we followed, they would’ve already taken the best parts, leaving us with scraps.
"But there’s sothing suspicious about it."
"Suspicious?"
I repeated, curious.
"I heard the information ca from a man nad Vallen, also known as the Shadow Hand."
"You know that too?"
"I heard it from those rookie-robbers."
"For a bunch of rookie-robbers, they sure knew a lot. Or maybe it’s only natural... Anyway, Roman, you’re right. But the problem is..."
Fiona frowned, her face reflecting a mix of displeasure and unease.
"The problem is that Vallen denies having provided that information."
"...False information?"
"I don’t think so. It seems too credible to be a simple lie."
She explained that there had been disturbances in the mana field and reports of monsters leaving their territories, suggesting that sothing unusual was indeed happening.
"Roman, could you investigate it for ? Honestly, I only learned of this after sending Theresea, and sothing about it feels... off. I wouldn’t want to suggest that sothing happened to her, but... Well, never mind. It’s between us."
Between us?
That’s a bit too suggestive of a phrase, don’t you think?
Especially with a’s gaze growing even sharper as this conversation continues.
"If you need anything, just tell Sigun. I’ll make sure they listen to you."
"Thank you very much."
"Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just between us."
Yes... between us. It’s not just reading too much into this, is it?
"Alright, then. We’ll head off too. We’ll check in on Theresea if possible."
The conversation with Roman didn’t last long.
Fiona had other duties to attend to, and she couldn’t keep Roman for too long.
But surely, a brief mont to savor the afterglow of the encounter was permissible.
Fiona held the teacup Roman had been drinking from, feeling the faint warmth still lingering on the handle.
As she traced the rim of the cup with her finger, she reflected on the Roman she had just seen after almost a week.
'He’s found a place that suits him better than Sigun.'
Had Roman joined Sigun, she would have given him access to a vast amount of research on demon warlocks. That included highly confidential information about the nas and sigils of demons.
Telema likely didn’t have access to that kind of information, and even if they did, they wouldn’t share it with an outsider like a re trainee. Roman would have had to establish himself, prove his worth over ti, and eventually earn that knowledge through tradition.
But Roman had chosen Telema over Sigun.
'A school of demon warlocks... It has a long history, but it’s on the verge of collapse.'
Instead of choosing the easier path, Roman had chosen the harder, deeper path.
'That’s just like him.'
Roman was a hard worker.
Fiona admired people who worked hard.
She yearned for that title herself—because it was one she could never claim.
She worked hard, harder than anyone in her family.
Every morning, she rose before dawn to ditate, expanding her mana vessel. She practiced magic until she collapsed from exhaustion.
But her achievents were never labeled as "hard work."
'As expected of the Grand Duchess of McManus!' 'What remarkable talent!' 'The great bloodline continues...'
They looked not at her, but at her heritage, her talent, her family.
Fiona’s hard work was overshadowed by the great McManus na.
So she made a vow.
She would be different. She would look not at soone’s na, or birth, or talent, but at their effort. She would rember the sweat and tears they shed in secret.
And she knew.
She knew the effort Roman had put in back at the academy.
It was the sa now.
Even if she couldn’t see him, Roman was still working hard sowhere, just as he always had.
Not just today, but tomorrow. And beyond.
"...I need to train more."
She wasn’t ready to be surpassed just yet.
As soon as we left the guardhouse, we departed the Main Base.
If the ruins were real, we needed to reach them as soon as possible. And if they were a trap, we would need to help Theresea if she’d fallen into it.
So, we hurriedly left the Main Base, barely giving it a glance, and walked for a long while.
a’s gaze never left my face the entire ti.
Once we reached a less populated area, a finally broke the long silence.
"Roman, what exactly are you?"
"What do you an?"
"Between us."
"Ahem."
"The Grand Duchess practically oozed honey when she spoke to you."
"It wasn’t that much."
"Could it be... is it that?"
a asked in a shaky voice, which was unusual for her.
I answered imdiately.
"No. Absolutely not. Don’t even joke about that."
"Right. It wouldn’t be, would it? After all, she did say 'between us.'"
a quickly accepted my answer without any hesitation.
Well, that stung a little.
"Hey."
"Yes?"
I wondered what she was going to say this ti. Then, completely out of the blue, a dropped a bombshell.
"Do you want to teach you how to summon my contract demon?"
"Theresea! From now on, just trust this senior!" "Yes, yes." "That’s not enough spirit! Show more energy!"
Sigh.
Theresea let out a small, almost inaudible sigh that no one else could hear.
This senior is... really sothing.
Her energy level is too much... this pink-haired...
Before Theresea could complain, their companions intervened.
"It’s still daylight, Senior Priscilla. Please go easy on her." "Yes, you know how things are for Theresea." "Oh... that’s true. Ahem, alright. But! Once we get inside, you’d better give it your all! Understood?"
Why did it have to be this person leading the group?
Theresea answered with a mix of regret for not choosing Sigun and resignation.
"Yes."
She was already feeling drained, and they hadn’t even entered the ruins yet.
'Let’s just finish this quickly and go back.'
With Priscilla's energetic pep talk, the eight-mber exploration team from the Blostma school entered the ruins.
A day passed.
Out of the Blostma exploration team, only two survived.
Reviews
All reviews (0)