Episode 3 — Princess Isis Is Not the Heroine
If the troll factor had given Lee Han his astonishing recovery and brute strength, the gnoll factor had given him a sense of smell, and an instinct, beyond anything human.
Instinct would take too long to explain, so he let it pass. Smell was exactly what it sounded like. It was not a hunting hound's nose, but it was three times keener than an ordinary person's, and that keenness granted him a peculiar power: the ability to remember people by scent alone. The way a dog with poor eyes remembers its master's smell, and years later still rushes up in welcome the moment they meet. Not entirely by choice, Lee Han had come to know people the same way—by smell, more readily than by face.
...Once you got used to it, it was handy enough.
"...I'm heading out first."
"Your day's pay?"
"Put it in the bank like always. And you know what happens if you skim it."
"I don't know about the other bastards, but I wouldn't dare pocket yours, Rihan. I'm too scared of what comes after. Hell, I'll pay you double. Just don't go work anywhere else. You've got to promise me that!"
"I know."
He answered the construction foreman offhandedly, hauled water up from the well, and dumped it over himself. A quick rinse took the sweat and dust off him, and a towel left him presentable enough. He changed into reasonably clean clothes and stepped outside.
"'That person' is waiting for you."
"...Haa."
A man who looked every inch the veteran butler bowed as if to welcome him, and the sight pulled a sigh out of Lee Han before anything else. It was a familiar face. The old man made him profoundly uneasy.
"You've had a hard day of it too, sir."
"Haha, what hardship is there to speak of? Come, come. Let us go."
"Hoo..."
There were many reasons Butler Albert put him on edge, but three stood out. The first was that the butler held a baron's title. Not just any noble, either—a baron of a renowned house sworn in loyalty to the royal family, a man even those of higher rank could not treat lightly. Lee Han usually couldn't have cared less what nobles thought, but a heavyweight of this size was awkward to deal with.
And yet, high as he sat, he treated commoners and beggars with the same gentlemanly courtesy, and even ran an orphanage. An exemplary man. That was the second reason Lee Han found him so difficult to face. If the old man had picked fights or looked at him coldly, Lee Han could simply have ignored him. He was too upright for that.
And the last. The greatest reason he could not treat this man carelessly.
"Ho. Your sinew has improved again. Steady progress is a fine thing to see. Heh heh."
"Ah. Yes."
"At this rate, you might land a blow on Baltar someday. Keep at it."
"...Haha."
Because this gentleman was one of only three Aura Users in the kingdom.
For the record, Baltar was captain of the Third Knight Order, and the very man who had dragged Lee Han into the knights.
This one's pretty insane too.
A man of character, no question. Even so, Lee Han couldn't fathom what someone hailed as a Superhuman could possibly lack that he was content to work as a butler. Then again, Baltar himself was no supreme commander of the army. He lingered as captain of the Third Knight Order, a post little better than a sinecure, so he was strange in his own way. Recalling that the last of the three had a career just as peculiar, Lee Han could only suspect that Aura Users were cranks, every last one of them.
He didn't let it show on his face. He knew a poorly managed expression could get him hit. He had fought this old man once.
Brutal.
A born gentleman in ordinary times, but the moment a weapon touched his hand...!
"—You're late."
...Ah.
Before he could follow the thought any further, he found himself beside an elegant carriage waiting in a silent alley.
"Late? I did not delay on purpose."
"Pretty words, Albert. You were late slandering me, or else chattering."
"Heh heh. You misunderstand me terribly. That is too cruel, Princess."
"Hmph! Don't make me laugh."
The tone alone was arrogance itself, sharp and aggressive, yet the poise and presence in the voice were, without exaggeration, of the highest grade. Feeling a presence steeped in nobility, Lee Han shot Albert a thoroughly unwilling look.
Do I really have to get in this carriage?
"If you would."
Albert answered by opening the door with perfect courtesy and shoving him inside.
...A cruel old man.
Two maids waited within, and jewels and magical articles glittered everywhere, a show of splendor. What he had seen from outside was only the tip of the iceberg; the interior was remarkable. Even so, set against the noble bearing pouring from the veiled woman, the jewels themselves had no choice but to lose their light.
Lee Han smiled wryly and bowed his head in a carriage wide enough for five grown men to lie down.
"It's been a while."
"Hmph. Heartless thing. How can a man who calls himself a friend send no word at all?"
"Life's been busy."
"Nonsense. If you had only accepted my patronage, you would have had ease to spare."
"Haha."
"There you go again, trying to smooth it over with a laugh."
She had used the word friend.
At a glance, it didn't fit at all. The nobility pouring off her marked her as a noble of the very highest rank, and it was hard to believe she could be friends with a Lee Han who showed neither poise nor anything out of the ordinary. And yet, astonishingly, they were. The flaw was that the gap in station was the difference in brightness between a firefly and the sun.
"Your Highness the Crown Princess can't have been idle either, can you? So we're even."
"That insolent tongue of yours never changes. I should like to cut it out this instant."
"You're joking."
"I am not."
"...I'm sorry."
"Hmph. Still so quick to bend."
The fan cracked against her palm. Isis Irene de Pendragon, shining at first in the royal line of Pendragon, snorted with arrogant scorn—while letting slip a beauty no one would believe belonged to a woman in her forties.
The crown princess. When they had met before she had been only a princess, but in a mere three years she had seized power no one could approach and become, in name and in fact, heir to the royal house.
Some still made the outdated claim that a woman could not be king. Those who said so were, by now, probably fish food on the bed of some wide river, or else fertilizer in the ground.
A truly frightening woman. She had taken a corner of power while still in her twenties, and even brought Albert, an Aura User, under her wing. Already she wore the dignity of the next monarch. Thinking that his friendship with a woman this terrifying had been pure coincidence, he found life ironic indeed.
"Your Highness the Crown Princess, what brings you out today—"
"Enough. Do not call me by such an embarrassing title. Call me as you usually do."
"But our positions are different now..."
"Do you mean to make me say it twice?"
"—Big sister! Your sworn younger brother pays his respects!!"
"Ho ho. Now that is more to my liking."
Isis laughed brightly, as if his antics pleased her, and for an instant he could have sworn a flower had just bloomed. She was unmistakably in her forties, and still that beauty shone. Then again, he had heard that those of the Pendragon royal house kept their youth until a hundred, so there was nothing strange about it. Their lifespan averaged a hundred and fifty besides.
Was it that without stress and overwork, they could live to two hundred?
...Impossible, for anyone of the royal house.
"...You really haven't changed, big sister."
Three years ago, just as the war ended, Isis had visited a garrison to encourage the soldiers and been attacked by assassins. Fortunately, a brave soldier had saved her. His name was Lee Han, and from that moment the bond between Isis and Lee Han began.
...Don't get any strange ideas just because a bond began.
There was no romance. None at all.
No—if there were romance, that would be a serious problem in its own right.
Because.
"Ho ho. Even so, I am a good deal gentler than I used to be."
"Is the child growing well?"
"Would you like to see?"
"Ooh?"
"......"
"He simply will not be parted from me."
She was a married woman, after all. One who had already borne a child.
"......"
Lee Han's mouth fell open.
He knew who the child was. He had seen him once from a distance, back when the boy was a newborn. Which was why, impiously, he scolded her as if taking her to task.
"...B-big sister, I know I shouldn't say this, but... have you lost your mind?"
Far from offended, Isis seemed delighted. Her laughter only deepened, as bold and fine as any man's.
"I am perfectly sane. I bring him with me precisely because I trust my people."
"...The more I look at you, the more idealistic you get."
"I know."
"Ooh!"
"Ho ho, yes. What a bold laugh. Well, a child of mine ought to have boldness. Of course he should."
"Mmm..."
Hadn't a friend from his past life said it? That people in politics were all missing a screw? His friend's words, it seemed—
had been exactly right.
Crown Princess Isis's only son, the legitimate grandson of the royal house, babbled and beamed like that, and Lee Han's stomach hurt. All he wanted was to get out of this place at once. What made it sadder was knowing he couldn't.